The Living Darkness

Part Two: Nightmare of Equestria

'Over one thousand years into the future...' Clearwin mused. 'Ice Draught might not even exist any more.'

Sitting on the cold metal platform next to the big hexagon as the mad stallion fruitlessly banged on his ruined controls, she gave a resigned sigh and buried her face into her hooves. 'What use is it now? Everypony I ever cared about is dead now.'

'I could take you back to your time,' the stallion grunted. 'Or rather, I could if I had hands to repair my console with! How you built a civilization without any fingers is a mystery I'd really like to examine sometime!'

Again with his talk of 'hands' and 'fingers'. Clearwin was awfully weary of his complaining. 'Look, just who are you, anyway?' she asked him, hoping to change the subject.

'I'm the Doctor,' he answered simply.

She glanced over at him, noticing that his cutie mark was an hourglass. 'Doctor who?'

'Just “the Doctor” will do. And you?'

'Clearwin, governess to Queen Zima of Ice Draught.'

'Oh, a governess! A young Queen then. Is she fun to play with?'

Clearwin pursed her lips, thinking about her answer. 'I suppose so,' she said. 'She can be very withdrawn, but I do love her. She needs me more than ever on account of her parents dying. Well, she did need me; she'd be long gone by now.'

'I'll get you back, don't you worry,' he told her with a slight smile. He had a very sweet face, his features soft and gentle. Rather pretty really; daft, but pretty. Clearwin wondered if the Doctor had a girlfriend.

He stopped his assault on the hexagon and stepped back, shaking his head. 'Right; we aren't going anywhere like this. Our only option is to go outside.'

Clearwin shuddered, remembering the skeletons littering the snow. 'I'm not looking forward to that at all.'

'Really, I'd prefer you to stay behind,' the Doctor told her, trotting past with a thick dull-coloured scarf now adorning his throatlatch and crest. 'You don't belong to this time and you run the risk of changing this world's future. It's normally very safe in the TARDIS, but in this state I'm not certain you would remain safe. Besides, even if this isn't your time you know more about this place than I do.'

'So I'm the expert now? Lovely.' She pushed the door open. 'After you, Doctor.'

He trotted out into the snow and Clearwin followed, the door creaking shut behind her. She turned around to see just what she had been standing in, and found a tall blue rectangular wooden structure that was too narrow for the both of them to have stood comfortably together. Clearwin blinked and circled around it, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. The little building had a small light mounted on the top, two square windows on each side, and above each window was written:

POLICE BOX

PUBLIC CALL

'That is some amazing magic,' Clearwin said. 'Who enchanted it for you?'

'Not magic at all; the TARDIS is Time Lord technology. Bigger on the inside.'

'“TARDIS”...?' she asked.

'“Time and relative dimension in space”,' the Doctor explained, examining a skeleton partially buried in the snow, its jaws hanging wide open in a silent scream. 'I can go anywhere I want with her, any place and time, so that's what I do, travel. That's me, the madman with a box.'

'You're visiting Equestria then?'

'No, I crashed here. Someone wanted me in this place though, enough to have broken in and disabled the controls so I'd have to land. I think that when I initially landed was an accident by the saboteur, and it used you to take us to the time it really needed.'

Clearwin nodded slowly. What he was saying couldn't be true, and yet, after all that had happened was there another explanation?

'OK...' she said, 'either you are the maddest pony in Equestria, or the most amazing pony in Equestria!'

The Doctor turned his head and grinned. 'Now, who says I can't be both?' he uttered in a low tone. Clearwin stared at him, dumbstruck. Maybe it was the smooth way he said it, or the outrageous claim he was making, but her heart was beating a little faster and her stomach was fluttering.

He suddenly stood up, facing her with his large green eyes. 'So, Clearwin! Tell me about Equestria!'

She stumbled back with a cry, her flank and tail landing in the snow. 'Oh! Erm, Equestria was founded when Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies formed a union, and that's commemorated on Hearth's Warming Eve, which is tomorrow. Or was the tomorrow in my original time. We're ruled by Princess Celestia and her younger sister Princess Luna, and if anypony from my time is still alive it would be those two. They raise the Sun and Moon respectively.'

'Raise the Sun and Moon, do they?' the Doctor asked. 'I'd like to see that.'

'I do too.' Clearwin looked at the oppressive black clouds hanging overhead. 'The Sun especially.'

Hooves crunching in the snow (and the occasional bone), Clearwin and the Doctor marched up a rocky hill. 'This can't be Ice Draught,' Clearwin said. 'The terrain is too different. We must have moved.'

'A lot can change in a single year, let alone one thousand,' the Doctor pointed out. 'Don't be surprised if you turn out to be as alien to the inhabitants as I am.'

Clearwin fell silent. Could Equestria really be that different? It did look like some terrible war had taken place since she had left. Could Sombra have done it?

At last, they crested the hill, and to Clearwin's surprise there was a town below. It was buried in snow and she couldn't see anypony, but it was still a town. A big circular building sat at the centre, surrounded by smaller building. Everything was dark and ramshackle. Nopony had lived there for years, perhaps centuries.

She turned to the Doctor. 'Should we even bother looking?' she asked.

'Clearwin, listen to me,' he said, giving her a sidelong glance. 'Whenever there has been a catastrophic event that you don't understand, always look, always explore. You never know where you might find an answer.'

'All right,' she grumbled. 'I suppose I can get a fire going, at least.'

Trudging through the snow, they approached the lifeless town. The buildings had thatched roofs and timber frames, many collapsed and full of holes. Clearwin examined the buildings, hoping to find one intact. She did not fancy marching back to the TARDIS at night – who knew what lurked at night in this place? – so finding a place to sleep in the town might work.

The Doctor picked his way through the town square with nervous energy, his head turning this way and that. At the rate he was going, Clearwin guessed he was bound to find something.

He spun around to face her suddenly, his eyes twinkling. 'So, a dead town covered in snow, not too different from anything else we've seen so far. Right! But there is something different here, Clearwin! Have you noticed it yet?'

She frowned and scanned the area. 'There are buildings here; that's different.'

'Look at the streets,' he urged in a whisper. 'Look carefully.'

Clearwin looked at the paths buried in the snow. Except for their hoofprints the snow was clean and smooth.

'Wow – more snow!' she said sarcastically. 'Nothing escapes your notice, Doctor!'

'It's not the snow, it's what's in the snow!' he insisted. 'Or rather...what's not in the snow...'

She blinked, realising that he was correct. 'Oh! There haven't been any skeletons around here!'

'And isn't that a bit odd for a town?' the Doctor asked. 'The bones I examined had suffered extensive damage, likely the result of falling in battle, but the bones were also scraped.'

'Scraped?' A queasy knot formed in Clearwin's gut.

The Doctor pursed his lips, looking like he was struggling not to smile. 'Someone cut all the meat off their bodies.'

Clearwin turned away and marched off. 'I'm gonna go find us a house to sleep in,' she said bluntly, hiding how unnerved she was. Trotting off to some buildings further off, she caught sight of a large circular two-storey one with the first floor resembling a carousel. The windows were boarded up but the door remained free. The paint had peeled off and the pony figures on the carousel floor had fallen off, but it looked mostly intact. A pang of sadness touched Clearwin's heart; in better times it would have been a beautiful place.

Something moved behind her, just in the corner of her eye. With a gasp, Clearwin whirled around just in time to see a grey stallion in a top hat and overcoat disappear behind a building. 'Wait!' she cried, giving chase. She rounded the building, but nopony was there. She frowned and shook her head, unnerved. Even if she had only imaged the stallion she didn't feel safe in the town.

Her magic opened the door to the carousel building, then illuminated the cluttered interior with a warm amber glow. In that instant, she spotted something with large eyes staring back at her. With a scream Clearwin, took a step back, afraid to move any further.

It's the fiend that scraped those dead ponies! I'm next!

'Clearwin!' His hooves tearing through the snow, the Doctor was at her side in an instant.

'All right, whoever you are!' the Doctor proclaimed, jumping in front of her. 'You don't wanna mess with me! I'm trained in Venusian aikido! Although I have no idea if I can use it in this body. And, that's something I should never say to an opponent...'

Ignoring him, Clearwin stood back up and stepped forward cautiously. The thing moved closer too, it's eyes wide and scared. Brown eyes, just like...her own.

She reached out and touched smooth glass, her light illuminating a full-length mirror. She gave an exasperated grunt, relieved but also embarrassed to have fallen for such a scare. If it weren't for the Doctor making her nervous with his macabre observations then she wouldn't have gotten spooked so easily.

'Never mind, false alarm,' she said, peering at her reflection. She was a mess, the neat bun she usually had her black mane in had come undone, spilling across her withers. A hot bath would have been very welcome.

Turning her attention the furniture, Clearwin spied a series of old rotting dresses hanging from coat hangers and a row of mannequins made from a hard, shiny substance unfamiliar to her. Precious jewels of all shapes and colours were strewn across the floor like so much litter, shining dully in the light. Rotted drapes hung limply from the ceiling and wallpaper peeled off like dead flesh. Clearwin touched a mouldering gown that looked like it had been very grand when it had first been made. 'I would've liked a dress like this,' she said wistfully.

'Admiring my work?' a voice asked behind her. Clearwin and the Doctor whirled around in shock, Clearwin coming face-to-face with a pony in a filthy, stained brown hooded cloak. Clearwin gasped, but held her ground.

'We come in peace!' the Doctor insisted. He reared up on his hind legs and wiggled his forelegs rapidly. 'But if you don't then it's really time to break out the Venusian aikido!'

He plopped back down to the floor with a bang, a surprised look on his face. 'Oh, right, I'm a pony now...' he muttered.

The pony drew the hood back, revealing a white Unicorn mare with sad, tired azure eyes and a limp purple mane that badly needed a wash. She smiled weakly at them, her horn glowing a light blue.

'I don't recognise you from Cloudsdale,' she said. 'Have you been surviving on the surface all this time? Or am I just imagining new customers?'

'We're real,' Clearwin said, relieved the newcomer seemed friendly. She pulled the dress she liked out with her magic. 'You made this?'

The mare shut her eyes and tears formed at the corners. 'Yes,' she said, her voice on the verge of cracking, 'long ago. I made beautiful dresses famous across Equestria...'

She wiped her eyes and sniffled. 'That was back when life was normal and Sweetie Bell and Opal were still...here...'

She collapsed to her knees, burying her face in her hooves, shuddering with silent sobs. Unsure of what to do, Clearwin glanced at the Doctor. He grimaced, and approached the crying mare, kneeling beside her. Hesitating, his hoof hovering over the mare's shoulder, he at last stroked her gently.

'I'm so very sorry about your losses,' he said regretfully, 'but we are in desperate need of help. If I could hear more about what's going on then I'll what I can to help you in return.'

The mare looked up, her face streaked with tears. 'How could you not know?' she asked in bewilderment.

'We come from far away,' the Doctor told her.

'Where? Trottingham? You have the accent for it.'

'Ice Draught, actually,' Clearwin interjected.

The mare turned to her, her eyes growing into shocked saucers. 'There's impossible,' she whispered. 'You couldn't possibly have come from Ice Draught!'

'Why?' the Doctor demanded. 'What is so strange about Ice Draught?'

'That's where it began!' the mare shrieked. She stumbled away from them, her eyes bulging in horror, backing up against one of the mannequins. 'That's where they first attacked!'

Clearwin's fur prickled, as though the room had gotten colder. '“They”?'

The Doctor placed his hooves on the mare's shoulders. 'Please listen, we need help, and you're the first...pony we've met out here! We don't know what's –'

'You're one of them!' the mare accused. 'Rainbow!'

One of the boarded windows exploded in a shower of splinters and glass. Clearwin yelped, throwing her forelegs over her face and backing away. Something thudded against the floor, and Clearwin lowered her hooves. A light blue Pegasus mare crouched with wings extended, teeth bared and rage burning in her cerise eyes. Even dull and matted, her spiky mane and tail were a spectacular rainbow pattern.

'What's going on here, Rarity?' the Pegasus growled.

The Unicorn – Rarity, apparently – raised a quivering hoof to the Doctor and Clearwin. 'I think they're spies for the Dark Ones!' she hissed.

'I swear to you, we aren't!' the Doctor pleaded. 'I don't know what a Dark One is! Do you, Clearwin?'

'I never heard of a Dark One in my life!' Clearwin insisted. 'Do you mean Sombra? He was pretty dark to me.'

'Liars!' Rarity screamed. 'You couldn't possibly be ignorant of the Dark Ones for this long!'

'Yeah,' the Pegasus snarled. 'I don't buy that either.'

'You know, we'd make pretty rubbish spies by claiming ignorance of something everypony knows,' Clearwin pointed out. 'Not to mention admitting we come from Ice Draught. Would we do that if we were really them?'

The Doctor nodded his head wildly. 'What she said! We're just looking for help!'

The Pegasus glared at them and opened her mouth, but immediately closed it. She seemed to mull over their words, then folded her wings and backed off. 'That...actually makes sense,' she said. 'I think they're telling the truth.'

Rarity blinked, her eyes widening with realisation. Her ears drooped and her looked away, guilty. 'I'm terribly sorry,' said she. 'These past few years have been so horrible. I might be losing my mind...!'

The Pegasus moved beside Rarity, putting a sympathetic wing around her shoulders. 'We'll win this war,' she uttered. “I swear it!'

Smiling, the Doctor tapped his hooves on the floor. 'Yes! Never give up hope in the face of adversary! I like that spirit!'

The Pegasus looked up at him, as if remembering they were they at all. 'So, who are you guys?'

The Doctor stomped hard on the floor. 'I'm the Doctor; she's Clearwin, and we are in need of help!'

'Good to meet you both,' Rarity said, 'although I'd like an explanation of how you came from Ice Draught.'

'That's a long, funny story that I don't quite understand myself,' the Doctor said. 'You see...'

As he attempted to tell the two mares their tale, Clearwin glanced over her shoulder, the cold coming in from the open door and busted window making her shiver. One of the mannequins stood perched at the door. Had it been knocked there in the confusion? It looked too deliberate though, like somepony had just happened to stick it there. Maybe it was nothing, but after being attacked by shadows it wouldn't hurt to point that out. She hadn't seen Rarity enter, so perhaps she had moved it.

She turned back to the mares, opening her mouth to speak, then her jaw dropped. Behind Rarity and her Pegasus friend, the mannequin had turned its head to look at them, though it had no eyes. The Doctor had noticed too, having stopped in mid-speech to stare at the living mannequin.

'What is it?' Rarity asked, noticing the looks on their face.

'Get away from that mannequin!' Clearwin shouted. Instead of getting away, Rarity and her friend looked behind them, just in time for the mannequin to clobber the Pegasus in the muzzle with an artificial hoof. Rarity scream, her horn igniting with blue magic. Her aura surrounded the living mannequin and hurled it into the mirror with enough force to shatter it into hundreds of glittering shards.

Clearwin took the Pegasus, helping her up. 'Ow!' she muttered, rubbing her reddened muzzle. 'I'm OK guys!'

'Don't celebrate just yet,' the Doctor warned. Clearwin looked up, and to her horror the other mannequins were creaking to life, stepping off their stands and turning their featureless faces toward them.

'These are new,' said the Pegasus. She flapped her wings, lifting into the air, eyeing the mannequins.

'First they took my family away from me!' Rarity despaired, backing into Clearwin and the Doctor. 'Now they're turning my belongings into soldiers?'

'Well, there's something I didn't expect to see,' said the Doctor. 'Rarity, is there a lot of plastic on this world? As in, constant everyday use?'

'I've no idea what you're talking about!' Rarity answered. 'What's “plastic” and what does that have to do with anything?'

'Plastic is what these mannequins are made of,' he shot back. 'Durable and light.'

'We'll see how durable!' The Pegasus zoomed into action, flying into the eerie figures with hooves swinging. Clearwin gasped at the mare's speed and rough grace. Effortlessly, she bowled the strange faux ponies over with powerful blows that would have put any normal pony in the hospital. These weren't normal ponies though; every time they fell they got right back up, showing no damage at all.

'Just clear a path so we can escape!' the Doctor yelled. 'You can't hurt them!'

'Sure I can!' the Pegasus boasted, kicking one over. 'This is Rainbow Dash you're talking to!'

Immediately the mannequin sprang back up into Rainbow Dash's face, its mouth splitting open to reveal a nozzle where the tongue would be.

'No!' the Doctor cried, throwing out a hoof, but it was too late. Before Rainbow could react, the nozzle squirted a cloud of green smoke into her face with a sharp hiss. Rainbow coughed, pulling away with clumsy, stumbling steps. Her eyes rolled up, and with a sigh she collapsed to the floor, going limp.

'Rainbow!' Rarity called, reaching out to her, then her head was engulfed in the same green smoke. She pitched forward, landing on her face. Clearwin looked up to see that the mannequin that Rarity had thrown into the mirror was standing up again with its nozzle extended. It pointed at her and fired more gas, but Clearwin called up her wind spell, blowing the gas back onto her attacker. There was no effect though, and it just kept up its gas attack

A chorus of hisses came from behind, and a vast cloud of gas came rolling into her vision. She shut her mouth tightly and held her breath, her magic blowing at the cloud, but having not prepared for it and not being accustomed to holding her breath for long periods of time, her lungs began to cry out for oxygen. Beside her, the Doctor was also holding his breath, but the mannequins were upon him. One threw its forelegs around his throatlatch while another delivered a solid kick to his barrel. Eyes bulging out, the Doctor let out a strangled cry before succumbing to the gas.

Her eyes watering, her throat burning, Clearwin couldn't keep it up. Her mouth had gone numb, and there was no way she was slipping past so many mannequins. Alone now, she was the only target left. The mannequins advanced upon her. Clearwin decided to make it easier and sucked in a deep lungful of gas. Her vision blurred at once and the room spun. She could even feel her body hitting the floor. As she sank into blackness, she thought, I certainly am getting knocked out a lot these days.

'I'm sorry, Clearwin.'

Hooves pounding against the snow, she couldn't seem to move forward. Her legs were a blur, but she couldn't escape the loud scrape of the heavy scythe right behind her. Daring a peek over her shoulder, Plough Drag lumbered behind, his scythe clenched in his teeth. He was slow, but he was catching up. Clearwin turned back and focused on her running.

'Once I have it I'll raze Ice Draught, and Plough Drag may do with the ashes as he wishes.'

Looming above on a slanted hill pointing high into the night was Sombra, his thick black mane billowing in the frosty winds, his eyes blazing with hell fire.

I have to save them! I have to save Zima and everypony else!

The huge trees towered over her, flanking the narrow path. Between the trees the darkness undulated and slithered, watching, waiting. Why wasn't it ending? Ice Draught was just up ahead, wasn't it?

Her hoof beats were joined by another. Somepony was right beside her, on her left. She glanced over and found the Doctor running beside her. Abruptly, he sped up, zooming ahead of her. Clearwin cried out and tried to keep up, but he was just too fast for her.

'Doctor! Please, wait for me!' she begged.

The Doctor vanished through a helix of white light, twisting and burning through the air. Clearwin took a running leap into the helix. Past the glittering lights was a tunnel of flames, yawning on and on as far as she could see. Too late to stop herself, Clearwin went tumbling in, falling into an inferno.

'Doctor!' she screamed.

'Clearwin! I'm here! I'm right here!'

Clearwin's eyes snapped open with a gasp. Her eyes darted around, expecting to be surrounded by fire. Instead she was surrounded by ice. The Doctor, Rarity, Rainbow and herself were chained together by heavy iron collars and in a large iron cage on the back of a cart being pulled by a pair of ponies in heavy black plate armour. Marching in formation beside them were the living mannequins. They were travelling down an icy tunnel. Clearwin thought at first it was carved from solid ice, but a closer look told her that it was a stone corridor that had frozen over.

'Where are we?' she asked.

'Canterlot,' Rainbow answered. She struggled against her bonds, the veins in her throatlatch bulging as she tried to tear them off, but even a strong mare like her was stuck.

'If we're lucky they'll torture and interrogate us,' Rarity said, looking grim.

'Lucky?' Clearwin asked.

'If we're alive we can be rescued,' Rarity explained, her voice dropping to a whisper. 'Otherwise they might just kill us the moment they realise who we are. Rainbow and I hold two of the Elements of Harmony; if the Dark Ones decide we're too much trouble they'll kill and leave two Elements without keepers.'

Clearwin's jaw dropped. 'The Elements of Harmony? The ones Celestia and Luna used against Discord?'

'Duh,' Rainbow said. 'You know any other Elements of Harmony?'

“Rainbow dear, they explained they came from another time,' Rarity reminded her. 'Be gentle with them. They're not up to speed.'

'Yeah, I find time travel is just a little bit of a stretch,' Rainbow grumbled.

The Doctor sighed. 'This complicates matters. It's gonna be much hardier to repair the –'

He looked up, past Clearwin, his green eyes wide. 'Oi! My TARDIS!'

Clearwin looked over to see the TARDIS had been loaded onto another cart, slightly behind theirs. It was on its side, pulled along by more armoured ponies.

'What is that?' Rainbow asked.

'It's my ship,' the Doctor explained, wriggling with excitement. 'It's our ticket out of here! Well, it would if it were repaired, and I need quite a bit of assistance with that because I am clever, oh so very clever, but being clever doesn't mean a thing when I can't manipulate my surroundings!'

Rainbow looked at the TARDIS get carted off, then back at the Doctor with a sceptical eye. 'That thing's gonna get us out of here?'

'Oi, don't knock it till you see it!'

Clearwin looked at the mannequins. 'Where did these things come from? Were they waiting for us?'

'They're Autons,' the Doctor said. 'Plastic soldiers animated by the Nestene Consciousness, which is sort of a big globby brain from outer space. Except that makes no sense at all because from the sound of it this civilisation hasn't yet discovered the means of creating synthetic polycarbon-based polymers, and that's what the Nestene Consciousness requires! So, what is it doing here?'

'You know these things?' Clearwin asked.

The Doctor gave a deep nod. 'Considering I just explained what the Autons are, yes, I do. I've met them invading more plastic-based societies. They blend in well with societies that use lots of plastic. Here they stick out like a sore thumb.'

'They still caught us though,' Clearwin grumbled.

'What's a “thumb” and why would a sore one stick out?' Rarity asked.

'They're not from outer space!' Rainbow insisted. 'They're Dreamspawn! The Dark Ones created them as freaky foot soldiers! The Dark Ones must've figured out that Rarity would revisit her old store sometimes and created these new Dreamspawn as a trap!'

'Just what happened to Equestria, anyway?' Clearwin asked. 'It wasn't anything like this a thousand years ago.'

Rarity opened her mouth to answer, but the cart stopped with a lurch, and the lock on the cage clicked as one of the guards removed it with magic. The other guard's magic yanked the quartet roughly from the cage, dropping them to the floor in a tangle.

'Up,' one guard commanded in a deep masculine voice. 'The Empress shall see you lot now.'

An Auton stepped up to Clearwin, it nozzle extending to point at her. She got the message and followed the guards, the others sullenly trotting along. Behind them the Autons marched, ready to gas them if they tried to escape.

Slogging through a the frozen corridors of Canterlot, Clearwin had to laugh; she had always wanted to visit Canterlot, and now here she was, getting a tour of sorts in chains.

At last they approached a huge set of double doors, the guards' magic pushing them open for their benefit. The throne room beyond was covered in dark blue ice, the throne itself a vast jagged spire. Standing on the icy spikes jutting from the sides were three ponies in black hoods and cloaks, plus a slender Unicorn stallion with a dull white coat dressed in a black and white striped jester costume. The only colour on him were his vivid purple eyes, very similar to Darkheart's actually. He noticed them and pursed his full, black lips.

'Oh, ho, ho, ho!' His was high and feminine. He leaped down and trotted over to them, putting an exaggerated sway in his flanks as he did. 'What have we here? Oh, do my eyes deceive me?'

He touched Rainbow's chin and made a cooing noise. Rainbow growled and tried to move her head away, but there wasn't much she could do with that collar. Clearwin didn't blame her; she wouldn't want that stallion touching her either.

The stallion did a skilful back flip, landing gracefully on his hind legs, hie forelegs thrown out in celebration. 'The proud, unyielding Rainbow Dash, holder of the Element of Loyalty! One of Celestia's most treasured cronies!'

He turned his attention to Rarity, a sick grin stretching across his face. To Clearwin's horror, the stallion possessed a pair of curved fangs. Rarity turned away and winced.

'And the gorgeous Rarity, holder of the Element of Generosity! My, my, my, this is such an honour!' He nuzzled his face against her mane and purred. Rarity shuddered.

'Don't touch her, you creep!' Rainbow growled, straining against her collar.

The jester turned to the Doctor, then to Clearwin. Pursing his lips again, the jester inspected them with a cocked head. 'But who are you two?' he inquired. 'Not any of the Element bearers, that's for sure. But could you be the ones foretold? Our saviours?'

He spun away on his hind legs, laughing all the while. Stopping abruptly, he bent over backwards until his head was almost to the floor.

'The ones with the blue box?' he roared. His voice shook the room, startling all of them.

'Enough, Monochrome,' said a cold, high voice that turned Clearwin's blood to ice water. She looked to the throne and saw there was another pony she had missed on the throne itself, a tiny one hidden behind a luxurious mane of dark blue, purple and magenta, as well as an icy white. A pale gold crown sat on the figure's head, and her snow-white foreleg encircled a gold sceptre topped with a large diamond.

Clearwin's mouth went dry, her heart sinking into her stomach. 'No...'

The figure slid around on her icy throne, a Unicorn filly, gaunt and hard-featured. Her eyes were cold and without pity, a red tint rimming the sclerae. Everything about her seemed dark, cold and lonely. Even so, she was still easily recognisable as Queen Zima.

Author's Note

Another one of these. I feel quite good about this story. It went on a bit longer than I intended. It was originally to stop after the group was gassed, but I wanted to go further. I hope you enjoy this latest part.