Boulder found himself running through the streets of ponyville, his breath struggling to catch the fresh air of the night, regardless of the multiple flames consuming the once beautiful town. Sweat ran down his cheeks, as he sped his march towards a safe zone, a place away... from him.

In the distance, Ponyville´s town hall gave Boulder the opportunity he needed to escape the nightmare. He ran as much as his legs could, for using his only wing left was only a waste of time.

Behind him, the sounds of heavy steps echoed, making his head hurt, and his heart race faster. Boulder could hear the monster getting each time closer, and closer to him, to the point where he could even hear breathing. In a last ditch of effort, he took as much strenght as he could and raced towards the door.

Then the beast grabbed him.

Tears flowed from the eyes of the changeling, silently praying for his tormenter to release him, but this beast had no ears. Boulder soon found himself staring directly into that single white eye, into the face of Nemesis.

Loud screams came from the Changelings mouth, wishing somepony could hear him and rescue him, but it was too late. Skin and meat were starting to be ripped apart under the monster´s might. The pain was great, and excruciating, as his limbs were torn from Boulder´s body...

Then he woke up at the final hours of the reign of the night.

Boulder took a huge deep breath in order to avoid screaming. He could feel his body sweating greatly and his heart beat going so fast that his heart almost jumped out of his chest.

Boulder looked from left to right, almost as if he was sure Nemesis would come for him, but only the darkness of the woods greeted him, alongside the rest of his brothers. He took a minute to relax, taking deep breaths until his pulse was back to normal then placed his new hooves on his face, instantly feeling the discomfort of his new appendages.

With a grunt, he retired them from his face and looked at them. It was hard for him to feel the sensation on not feeling his arms at all, yet he could move them as if his demonstration had never happened. Still, it exasperated him the uncomfortable feeling of the wood colliding and joining with the rest of his organic body. He wished he knew some kind of regenerative spells, as Boulder was aware about how weak wooden limbs could be, they would certainly not resist a very strong impact and it concerned him greatly.

Sure, he could enhance them with magic, but that sickening sensation would not place his mind at ease. Going back to his memories of the first encounter with Nemesis, Boulder´s breathing began to accelerate as he passed through the images of his torture. The Changeling winced, once again feeling the sensation of being torn apart.

A green glow emanated from his new appendages, going from the hooves to the bone-like wings on his back, yet he took notice of this, as his mind remained in the past with Nemesis, the cause of his nightmares.

Closing his eyes to contain the bad memory once more, Boulder calmed himself, once more inhaling deeply before letting out his breath. As soon as he was relaxed, the Changeling opened his eyes, as a surprise greeted him. Boulder cocked his head to the side in confusion at what had happened to his appendages, which were now hand-like claws instead of hooves.

It did surprise him, knowing that the more time he passed, the more abilities he learned he could make. Shape shifting seemed to be more than possible for his new claws, but he knew it would not reach the capabilities of a normal Changeling, as such, he remained without the ability to shape shift entirely. As frustrating as that thought was, he was still glad these new body parts seemed to do more than just replace his loss... if only he could enhance them.

Setting the thoughts aside, Boulder lifted his head to look around him, spotting the several Changelings peacefully sleeping around him and under the comfort of the dark forest. They were close to their destination, a destination that he knew would bring nothing to them and would just end up being another failure.

The Changeling released a sigh, remembering the losses they had suffered in this journey of madness, thanks to the stupid decisions of their now delirious queen. Changelings were a strong race, especially in great numbers, but tiredness still affected them; days upon days without anything to feed, so little to drink, so little to live, yet, Boulder knew he could not trust Sombra either, for as soon as he helped the fallen king, he would betray them.

Boulder was placed in a hard decision, as he would struggle to pick a side. Take his chances with Sombra, or let the now mad queen eradicate his brothers and sisters. A difficult choice for a Changeling that used to be the same as the rest, he guessed power came with a prize.

Standing up from the floor, the restless Changeling made his way towards a small opening, being careful not to wake up any of his family. Soon enough he found himself gazing at the bright light of the enormous moon that rested above them, completely free for everypony to gaze upon. Lowering his sight, Boulder caught eye of the place they would soon be arriving to, the ancient temple that Chrysalis thought, would give her answers to open the box. If only he could...

"Quite the night, uh?"

The voice caught Boulder by surprise, who turned around to spot Sombra over a large rock, laying down and simply gazing at the large moon, though, the Changeling didn´t know whether the fallen king was admiring it or simply used the moment to think. Boulder just gave him a look so that he knew he was being listened.

Without taking his gaze off from the moon, Sombra spoke. "We´ll be arriving at that damned temple tomorrow, with nothing but false hopes of having an edge on what truly matters." He finished with a sigh, as he shook his head.

Boulder gave him another look, before casting one side glance at the moon, then turned around to leave the fallen king alone. "You know?" Sombra talked again, stopping Boulder on his tracks. "I used to respect your queen before, in a when she actually used her brain, before she lost her sanity at the loss of her battle." Casting once side glance towards Boulder, Sombra spoke again. "You can still help me and prevent your brothers and sisters from dying for a mad cause."

Boulder snarled at the mad king, before going back to his bed on the floor. He felt at an impasse between the two parties who could end up bringing death to many Changelings, one´s madness could be stopped if he chose to help Sombra, yet the fallen king wasn´t an idiot. Boulder knew he was not nearly as strong as the two of them, but he also knew his power could grow, the question was, with which one of the two would he allow to take the risk.

On one hand, Chrysalis was bringing damnation to the Changelings and her mind was beyond reason and helping Sombra would allow Boulder to prevent any more casualties to his breeden; on the other hand Sombra was not somepony to be trusted and even though right now he would not risk himself to anger the Changeling horde, Boulder knew they were loose canons. Sombra was a traitor, someone who would not share the power he required and he was also quite powerful.

Yet, in the end, the fallen king was more reasonable and hadn´t lost his mind as Chrysalis did, that was a plus for the shadow king. Boulder´s thoughts came to a stop as he spotted a tent you a few meters away from the place his breeden was resting, a tent in which he knew Chrysalis rested.

Boulder gritted his teeth at the sight, not understanding how she could sleep so well and easy amongst so many comforts, while the rest of the Changelings found themselves suffering in the wild. This did not help her cause that much when it came to deciding who to follow.

Looking from the Changeling camp to the tent, Boulder finally chose where to go, as such, he began to walk towards the queen´s place. As difficult as it was for him, Boulder managed to be as quiet as possible while walking towards the tent, noticing how his new claws helped his equilibrium a lot.

After a few more struggles, Boulder found himself at the doorstep of the hut, where he used his right claw to push away the fabric letting him get inside. As carefully as he could, the Changeling entered the place, noticing with anger the luxury of the place, the royal-like carpet giving way to the enormous bed at the middle of the hut, resting at the middle of the four wooden pillars that held the tent.

Changelings, even though could emotionally be set apart from each other, have always been used to work as a hive mind. For somepony as Boulder, making a separation from the rest of the have and his own mind, allowed him to see what was happening and he hated what he saw. A mad queen that cared too little for her subjects to actually make sure they were alright.

Boulder frowned at the queen as he got closer to her bed, looking at her with a frown on his face. It wasn´t long before he found himself just centimeters away from Chrysalis, whose face resounded with the comfort that her tent provided and Boulder hated that.

The horns atop his head began to glow a turquoise blue, as he snarled at the resting queen, then slowly raised his claw. Just before he did anything, his eyes spotted something on a desk alongside her, something that had placed him on this impasse between her and Sombra.

The shadow king´s horn rested in there, not entirely hidden and ready to be taken. Boulder lowered his claw, contemplating the answer; he could take the horn in that moment and take it to Sombra, or he could go right ahead and kill Chrysalis, keep the horn and kill Sombra.

The downside of killing Sombra was that he was not strong enough to take him and he actually needed the fallen king´s help against Nemesis. Weighting his options, Boulder closed his eyes for a moment, making sure not to breathe too hard that it could wause the queen to wake up.

Just a few seconds passed before he took a decision... take the horn and give it to Sombra.

Now, all he needed was...

"Boulder!?"

The Changeling almost jumped in his place, as the voice of Chrysalis caught him by surprise and canceled his further plan and thoughts, in favor of a position where he had no idea what to do.

"What are you doing here?" Chrysalis asked, lighting her horn with green light so she could be able to see better, then looked at the startled face of the Changeling. The queen got up from her bed and sat up, rubbing her eyes with her right hoof before looking back at the Changeling, letting out a deep sigh. "You scared me to death!" She said with a chuckle.

Yawning like there was no tomorrow, Chrysalis laid down once more, covering herself with the sheets of her bed and looked attentively at Boulder, who simply remained immobile on his place. He looked down at her, trying to come up with an idea that could get him out of the mess he was now in, for it was more than sure that problems were about to start and he was not willing to risk his life once more.

A few seconds of silence passed between Boulder and Chrysalis, who remained in the same position, smiling at the Changeling, almost as if she was admiring him, then her eyes shifted from Boulder´s gaze to the now wooden claws. Between gentle breaths, Chrysalis reached with her right hoof towards one of the appendages, rubbing it gently as she admired the work of magic.

"Does it hurt?" She asked, keeping her gaze on his arms. Boulder took a few moments before shaking his head in a negative.

A moment of silence passed before Chrysalis returned her gaze to Boulder´s own eyes, smiling at him, then moved to the side of her bed and patted unto the bed. "Sit with me."

Boulder looked at her in silence, doing his best to prevent the queen from noticing his fear, then after having silently relaxed, he proceeded to do as he was asked and sat besides the queen, his back facing the entrance of the hut and his face facing Chrysalis. Boulder felt eaten by the glare, yet it also felt exciting to an extent; even though he didn´t think kindly of the fair queen, Boulder had to admit there was some kind of exotic beauty on Chrysalis. His heart began to race faster, as the thin hoof of the queen rubbed Boulder´s chest, up and down, in an almost seductive manner, then Chrysalis smile fell.

"Why is all of this happening?" She asked, lowering her gaze, but keeping her hoof on Boulder´s chest. "Once we had so much, and so little to worry, but now..." Chrysalis sighed, looking up at Boulder once more. "Ever since the wedding, I have struggled to think how to keep my Changelings safe." Boulder frowned at this, an expression that went unnoticed by Chrysalis. "We lost so much on that day and I have tried to do anything on my power to reclaim what would have been ours." She sighed. "I´m afraid Boulder, afraid that I have been making the bad decisions, but there is just so much on my shoulders, so much weight that has never haunted me as much as it on these days."

Boulder´s face relaxed, letting go of his frown upon being surprised by Chrysalis words. Almost as if the mad queen that had remained the last few days, was now gone, giving way for a more mentally stable Chrysalis to talk.

"This quest to open that damned box, as much as it would seem like a waste of time, is the hope that I hold unto." She said. "You think I wouldn´t want to just magically get back what those ponies took from us?"

Boulder lowered his gaze, thinking about the queen´s words and actually taking them into consideration. It was weird for him to see the remnants of that old queen that every Changeling could look up to, one that actually seemed to care for her subjects, but he wondered how much of this sanity was real and not just some kind of fever. Boulder´s thoughts came to a stop as he felt the queen´s hoof rubbing his body once more, forcing him to look at her, whose face remained fixated on the Changeling´s eyes. It was a moment of unease, between the assaulting eyes of the queen and the faint noises of the forest that did not help Boulder´s nerves.

"I had no idea I would end up creating something special when I gave you this power, Boulder." She said, a smile forming on her lips. "And I thought I would never feel the same comfort I felt ages ago, the same warmth I had no idea I missed so much." Once more, Boulder´s heart began to race, as the seductive tone of the queen assaulted his ears and his eyes became magnetized by Chrysalis´.

Slowly raising up from her position, Chrysalis got closer to Boulder, as she began to wrap her hooves around the Changeling´s neck. "I so longed for somepony to make me feel and you..." Getting closer, the queen placed her mouth on Boulder´s ear and whispered. "Are perfect."

It wasn´t long before Chrysalis pushed her lips against Boulder´s, pulling the enormous Changeling against her, as they both went down unto the bed. For a moments, Boulder felt like struggling, but he soon fell for the Queen´s charms and let himself go into the emotion.

Between kisses and caresses, the two of them moved around the bed, moving almost in rhythm to the ritual that was taking place amongst the green light of Chrysalis horn.

The queen felt herself liberated from a great stress, as she lost herself on the moment of passionate love and it wasn´t long before the first moans began to escape Chrysalis´ lips, but then something happened that she did not expect.

"Urk!" A faint cry of pain came out of the queen´s mouth, as green blood was sprayed on the beds sheets. It happened too quick for Chrysalis to notice the moment when Boulder used his one claw to slit her throat.

She looked at him in horror, noticing the hateful expression on the Changeling´s face, as he slowly let her go. Chrysalis raised her hoof towards Boulder, almost as if she pleaded for him to save her, but she only saw the cold stare of the Changeling as she drowned on her own blood. The green light of her horn began to diminish, until it disappeared alongside the queen´s life, leaving Boulder in the darkness of the tent.

The Changeling took a few moments to breath, then slowly got off Chrysalis´ bed, then sat on the floor as he placed his left claw over his head. He had done it, he had just killed the queen without so much of a second thought and while he knew there would be consequences, Boulder knew there was no going back.

It would be a few hours before the rest of his brethren felt the loss of their queen and he had time to come up with a plan to make it look like a suicide. Getting up from the floor, Boulder illuminated the room with his own horns, trying to avoid gazing at the blodied body that still held a hopeful expression, then looked passed her unto the object that made him get into the tent in the first place...

Sombra´s horn.

Picking the horn with his magic, Boulder directed his sights towards the dead body of Chrysalis and tainted it with some of the former queen´s blood, then placed it over one of her hooves. The Changeling took some time to clean up his claws, then directed his steps outside of the hut and just before he got out, Boulder casted one last glance at Chrysalis before stepping outside.

Boulder silently made his way towards his "bed" on the ground, making sure he was not heard or seen and it seemed he went lucky. Everything was going in order and if it continued like that, Chrysalis´ death would be taken as a suicide and the one in charge would be him, at least until they found another female to serve as mother of the rest. It wasn´t such a difficult task, as all they had to do was choose one of the female Changelings and power her up in a ceremony to become fit for the position, still, that would have to wait. The hive mind functionality would become a problem, but Boulder hoped his new abilities would allow him to find a solution.

His thoughts were cut short as he arrived at his place, then laid down before closing his eyes, getting ready for what would being the next day.

Another day had passed and the Elements found themselves at the train yard, getting ready to depart towards Ponyville. They had arrived on hour earlier and were waiting for the train to be ready.

They had slept so little, considering the fact that Twilight had decided Nemesis could stay in the room with them, causing the other five to literally form a pillow fortress on one of the corners of the room and as far away from the monster as possible. This was already starting to be a problem, as their faces reflected the little sleep they got, but still had enough force to stay wake up until the train was ready.

Celestia, who was standing alongside them, in front of a big statue of her, couldn´t help but to chuckle at the scene, then turned her gaze from the Elements and to the castle, letting out a deep breath as she thought about her sister and their most recent confrontation. She had never seen Luna act that way, sure, she did worse two thousand years ago, but the difference was that this time she could see her hurt rather than invaded by jealousy.

For her, Nemesis had made things worse ever since his arrival, with actions that would normally lead to a severe punishment, yet deep down she knew nothing she did to him would stop him, nothing not involving teleportation spells. She could simply move her horn a few inches and send the stupid monster to the sun, yet she feared that all she had taught her subjects would be gone to waste. Nemesis had shown how docile he could be, especially with the fillies and Twilight, but she could still feel certain hatred towards him and would not waste her time giving the other cheek.

It was more than obvious she would keep an eye on him.

On their part, Twilight alongside Nemesis where back at the castle, more specifically inside of their room, where the alicorn was preparing a few things before heading to the station. For obvious reasons involving a certain monster, the group had decided to depart and although Twilight found it tiring, she agreed on them waiting for her at the yard.

"I think I have everything." Said Twilight, as she pulled her bag over the bed with her magic, before closing it with her things inside, then turned to faze Nemesis. "I can´t believe how quickly this little visit to Canterlot went by, it seemed like it was yesterday when we arrived."

"Stars." Nemesis replied, letting out a chuckle from Twilight.

A purple aura took hold of the bag as it was magically placed alongside Twilight, then let out a sigh before walking towards the door. "Ok, time to go!"

Without saying anything, Nemesis followed behind as the two began to make their way towards the station, not noticing that Twilight had forgot her train tickets. There where moments where the two sped up the chase so they could arrive on time.

Nemesis couldn´t lie, he was actually excited to go back to Ponyville and away from the annoying alicorn of Celestia, yet Nemesis had the feeling he would see more of her, which of course, he did not like at all. At least he expected to have a quiet time back in town, maybe even take care of the fillies who had accepted him since the beginning.

Twilight wasn´t feeling nervous about going back to Ponyville with Nemesis, as she though he had more than shown how he could contain himself, however, as her mind passed through memories of the town, she ended up on one she did not want to go back.

Her castle, her waiting on a window for Flash to return, only for him to end in such a disturbing way.

Twilight had been doing as much as she could to contain that sadness from consuming her, but not only did the pegasus´ loss was shocking, but it was something that kept her awake at night. Suddenly the cheerful alicorn turned sombre, as the both of them continued their way towards the station, passing through the great gates of the castle and unto the streets of Canterlot.

Nemesis did not notice Twilight´s change of humor, as he was taking his time to look at the structures around him. It actually surprised him to see how much the ponies in the city still feared him and ran away as soon as they caught sight of him.

Half an hour passed before the pair found themselves at the train station, where the Elements and Celestia greeted Twilight, doing their best to ignore Nemesis, who simply stood behind Twilight.

"Geez! You took your sweet time, Twi!" Rainbow said, siting over the bags she had placed on the floor. "For a moment we thought you had a problem with..." She then got closer to Twilight´s ear whispering on her ear so that Nemesis wouldn´t hear her. "20% uglier here."

Twilight rolled her eyes in response. As the rest of the Elements returned to their former chats, Twilight set her bag alongside her, then looked at the train that was preparing for departure thinking about her upcoming travel. She was worried that Nemesis´ height wouldn´t allow him to enter the train, but realized that as long as he remained on the floor, there would be no problem.

It had been a few crazy days in Canterlot and she was eager to actually sleep on a bed of hers back at the castle. "The castle... ugh, Flash." She whispered as soon as she remembered the last moments Twilight saw the pegasus.

The thought of her waiting by the window for his return the sudden attack by Chrysalis and the subsequent loss of the Harmony box; the destroyed city and the wave of Changelings destroying everything on their path, it all came back to her as the former excitement to go back home turned into hesitation. Twilight closed her eyes at the thought, trying to suppress the memories that would not allow her to enjoy the travel.

Unknown to her, Celestia was watching.

"Twilight..." The sudden voice woke Twilight from her trance, as she turned around to spot Celestia behind her, looking at her a look of sorrow. "What is on your mind?"

Releasing a deep breath, Twilight calmed herself and successfully avoided the tears, then turned to face Celestia. "I never thought I would say this, but... I don´t want to go back to Ponyville." Taken aback by this, Celestia placed her hoof over Twilight´s shoulder and waited for her to continue. "It´s that I don´t know how much I want this memories to go back to me, I don´t want to look at the windows of my castle and think Flash will come, or stare at the streets of Ponyville and think about how Chrysalis took the Harmony box." Releasing a sigh of exasperation, the alicorn closed her eyes for a moment before looking at Celestia again. "I have failed so much during the last days that..."

As Twilight finished talking, she placed a hoof over her template. Celestia was sure that the last occurrences would haunt Twilight for a long time, but she had seen her so stable that the princess doubted it would take more from here.

Taking back her hoof from Twilight´s shoulder, Celestia lowered her body, so she could be at the same eye level. "You have not failed anypony, Flash´s death is not your fault and regarding the box?" Celestia smiled, trying to comfort Twilight. "I´m actually sure it will be of no use to her and besides, I´m more happy that you are alive and well, so get that smile back on your face and try to enjoy your way home."

Twilight sighed in response, before nodding at the princess, then a confused expression appeared on her face. "What do you mean by ´it will be of no use to her´?

"It is not called the box of Harmony without a reason, it is bonded to the Elements and can only be used by them." Answered Celestia, letting out a chuckle. "My guess is that the fair queen will spend a lot of time trying to open it, then will come back in search for answers."

Twilight scratched her mane in confusion. "So you want to wait for her to come back?"

"We are still searching for her, but for now it is the best course of action." Responded Celestia. Twilight sighed in response, feeling unnerved by her inability to avoid this situation, noticing this, Celestia placed her hoof over Twilight´s shoulder. "Don´t worry about that, Twilight right now you should really enjoy the way and prepare for tomorrow."

"What´s tomorrow?" Asked a confused Twilight, but when she saw Celestia´s face fall, the purple alicorn found the answer she was looking for. "Nightmare night, right?" She asked, getting a weak nod from Celestia, as she turned to look at the enormous castle in the distance. "Have you talked to her again?"

Releasing a sight, Celestia turned to look at Twilight, then lowered her face. "I tried, but She is just too hurt and the worst part is that I do not know why. She has never responded like this before and I do not know what it was that triggered her." It wasn´t long before a warm smile appeared on the princess´ face, just as the conductor of the train announced everypony that the train was ready to depart. "Do not let my problems get to you Twilight, just enjoy your travel."

Releasing a smile of her own, Twilight went to hug the alicorn princess, who returned the affection. As they broke up the contact, Twilight turned around and entered the train after the other Elements did the same, with Nemesis going behind her, however, he was stopped by the voice of Celestia, whose eyes remained locked on Twilight, not even bothering to look at the monster.

"She may trust you, but mark my words," The princes turned to look at Nemesis, frowning at the monster who simply remained unfazed by her, "if you hurt her or any of my subject, I will personally turn you into the first being that takes a trip to the sun."

Nemesis looked at her for a few moments, then broke the contact and kept walking, only to stop right by the statue of the princess. Nemesis turned around to face Celestia, then raised his fist, causing the princess to cock her head to the side in confusion at the weird action.

Smash!

In a single movement, Nemesis punched the head clean off Celestia´s statue of herself, with the head obliterated by the punch. This action cause the princess to snarl at the monster who had just proved his point. Nemesis turned around, leaving an angered princess behind, who disappeared in a bright light seconds later. Just as Nemesis was about to enter the train (somehow), another alicorn went outside.

"Ups! I have to get back to the castle, I forgot a few things." Twilight said, catching the attention of her friends who rushed behind her as she prepared to teleport.

"Ya better hurry, Twi, ´cause this train here gonna leave any minute now." Said Applejack, who got a nod as a response, seconds before Twilight disappeared in a purple light.

As if faith wanted to screw over with the alicorn, the train began to move, forcing the rest of the Elements to get inside the machine before the doors closed. Like that, the train began to march towards its destination without anypony noticing a certain night alicorn hiding in the compartment all the way to the back of the train.

Just as the train left, a purple light flashed just alongside the now headless statue of Celestia, giving way for Twilight to step into plain sight, catching the attention of the beast walked walked towards her. "Sorry for that, I almost forgot this book." Said Twilight, before showing the aforementioned book with the title ´The secrets of Hope and Fear´ to Nemesis, who paid it no mind as grunted once, Twilight did not mind, as she knew Nemesis would not find interest in it. "I just started reading this, it talks about an universal entity, responsible for these..."

Her face fell as she as she noticed the train disappearing in the distance. "Ugh, this is great." She couldn´t believe how wrong her day had already started and all hopes of relaxing while arriving to Ponyville were now gone with the train itself, now she had to use the fastest way possible: Teleportation.

Letting out a grunt, Twilight turned to look at Nemesis, who was getting closer to the alicorn as he extended his arms. "Guess, I´ll have to trans-" Before she could finish her sentence, an enormous hand took hold of her and placed Twilight on the arm of the beast.

Before Twilight could react, the beast jumped into the air as high as he could, forcing the alicorn to release a scream at the sudden action. The air rushed against the terrified mare, who was still trying to figure out what was happening and while she was not scared of heights, this was most certainly going to leave a mark. Although terrifying, the view was something to be praised, from the clear blue skies the moments they were high into the air, to even the fast views of forests when Nemesis made his land.

It surprised Twilight to see how Nemesis could reach these heights with such an enormous body and how strong his bones had to be to resist such an impact upon falling and without breaking a sweat. Such strength that allowed Nemesis to propel like this and keep momentum and control when deciding where to land and where not to.

One thing Twilight hated was the sensation on a certain place when she fell from a high place, that tingling feeling that as harmless as it was, felt rather unpleasing and it was worse when she saw a forest for a moment before propelled into the air once more. Although she didn´t have enough time to appreciate where she was exactly, she did know what Nemesis was trying... a jumping express to Ponyville.

Half way through, Nemesis took a moment to look at Twilight. "Stars." He said, catching the attention of the now more calmed Twilight, who rolled her eyes at the monster.

"You do know I could have transported us back, right?

Nemesis grunted in response, leaving Twilight to admire the view once more, as she thought about how much envy Rainbow will feel when the alicorn tells her about this adrenaline express, considering how the pegasus loved to be on those kinds of situations.

It wasn´t long before both Nemesis and Twilight arrived at their destination and way before the train arrived. The alicorn was relieved that she had left her bags inside the vehicle and she trusted her friends for them to keep it safe.

Normally, the girls would be waiting, but they had arrived so early that the only ponies waiting where the ones that had nothing to do with her or her friends. Sadly, most of the ponies around freaked out after the huge behemoth landed, causing the majority of them to flee in terror.

Nemesis placed Twilight on the floor, as she took a moment to sit on the floor to let the adrenaline wear off, then with a sigh of satisfaction, she turned to look at Nemesis. "Wow! That was one Heck of a journey!" She said, letting out a chuckle. "Let´s not do that again in some time, alright?

"Stars." Nemesis replied, glad he did not have problems with the alicorn and while he did know Twilight could have teleported them, he simply enjoyed jumping his way towards any destination he like... yet another perk that came from his transformation.

"Guess we´ll have to wait for the train." The voice of Twilight cut Nemesis from his thoughts, who grunted in response before sitting over a bench close by, however, his body mass was something to bear in mind and as soon as he sat, the bench collapsed under him. The sudden noise scared the rest of the ponies brave enough to stay and it wasn´t long before the station was completely empty.

On his part, the sudden sound didn´t really scare, but rather surprised the ruthless monster, who instantly became infuriated when he discovered he couldn´t simply sit. It just angered him when he couldn´t do things and it certainly showed.

Twilight let out a sigh as she noticed this, then her gaze returned to Nemesis, who found himself smashing the rest of what was left of the bench with his fists, while he roared in desperation. Left and rights where launched as pieces of wood flew everywhere.

Twilight looked at him for a few seconds, noticing how he was more concerned about the fact that he could not sit than the scared ponies running away from him and it almost made him looked child-like. As she looked at the scene, Twilight couldn´t help but to give the beast a warm smile, before using her horn to help the frustrated Nemesis. "Here, let me give you a hoof." She said, levitating the pissed off and placing him alongside her, then directed her attention to the destroyed bench and began reconstructing it, using a spell to make it more durable and more in line with Nemesis´ structure.

What was left, was a slightly bigger white bench with wider space and a curve like base, with an equally curved back. Twilight released Nemesis from her spell, to let the beast admire the recent work of art, whose structure didn´t bother Nemesis at all, he just wanted to sit. Looking from Twilight to the bench, Nemesis released a grunt, before walking towards the resting place, releasing a smile on Twilight´s face.

The monster turned around, as he prepared to do what he had intended in the first place, when suddenly...

"Nemesis!"

Three voices said in unison, as the aforementioned beast released a frustrated sigh, before he felt three forces colliding against his body, which from Twilight´s perspective it looked like three fruits colliding against a concrete wall, as the beast remained unfazed. Three huge smiles looked up at Nemesis´ face as they were hugged tightly to his chest.

"Did you bring us something?" Asked Sweetie Belle.

"Did you destroy anything while being there?" Followed Applebloom.

"Did you kick princess Celestia´s butt?" Finished Scootaloo, whose question forced Twilight to interject the meeting.

"Wow! That´s disrespectful, girls!"

The three turned to look at Twilight, seemingly unfazed by princess´ interjection, and only shrugged their shoulders. "Why? Didn´t he?" Asked Scootaloo.

"Well, yeah! But that´s not the..." Suddenly a loud noise interrupts Twilight, which came in the form of the train they were waiting for. The three fillies instantly got off Nemesis and rushed towards the incoming train, ready to receive the rest of the Elements and leaving Twilight grunting at their response. On his part, Nemesis gave out a low growl in the form of a chuckle, causing Twilight to face him. "Don´t you start!" She said, before leaving the beast behind to receive her friends.

Soon, the train stopped and it wasn´t long before the doors opened, revealing several ponies who looked confused by the lack of receivers. Twilight mentally chuckled at this, as she thought about how Nemesis had single handedly made everypony flee. Her thoughts where soon interrupted by the familiar faces of the other five Elements appearing on the doors of the train, then three loud roars took hold of the moment as the fillies ran towards their families.

On her part, Twilight received both Fluttershy and Pinkie, before her attention returned to the rest of the group. Acquaintances were quickly made, and in between, Applejack handled Twilight her bag, which she received with a smile and a roll of her eyes.

Noticing the odd arrival, the fillies asked Twilight how she had got there first, and her response excited the fillies, who immediately ran towards Nemesis to ask for a lift, but the beast denied. Initially, Applejack, Rainbow and Rarity had almost stopped the fillies from going close to the monster, but Twilight stopped them with a smile, signaling for them to not be worried and although Nemesis had neglected the idea of having to jump around, he did receive the fillies in a way the other Elements would never expect from a monster as him.

Once everything was settled, everypony was ready to depart, when suddenly a noise caught them all off guard.

"Last time I do things without thinking!" As soon as the ponies heard the voice, they turned around to spot another passenger they had no expected, in the form of...

"Princess Luna!?" Everypony said in unison, forcing the aforementioned princess to release a sheepish smile, before getting close to the group.

"... Hi?" She finally said, before stretching her limbs.

"What are you doing here, princess?" Asked Twilight, scratching her mane in confusion.

Luna finished stretching her neck before smiling at the group "I figured I could wait for Nightmare night here in Ponyville."

Twilight tilted her head in confusion, an expression matched by the rest of the group with the exception of Nemesis. "Why didn´t you simply teleport?" The alicorn asked.

"Celestia would have noticed and try to stop me from coming, she might still think I am inside of my room." The princess answered, getting looks from the group, which caught her attention. "What?"

"With all due respect, princess, but wouldn´t princess Celestia come here once she discovers you´re not back in Canterlot?" Asked Twilight, looking at the alicorn with a confused look.

Luna casted one quick glance to the castle in the distance, before letting out a sigh. "I do not think she will come..." A frown appeared on her features, before looking back at Twilight. "I know she will not come." The moment turned silence, before the angry expression disappeared from Luna´s face, to let out a thin smile. "Let us not worry about that for now, and let us keep going... wherever you are all going."

The group shared looks with each other, not feeling good about being between the two sister´s problems, but they had no other choice. Without confirmation, Luna began to walk, forcing the rest to follow her.

"So, do you have space in the castle, Twilight?" Asked Luna, getting a grunt for response from the you princess, before nodding with her head.

Nightmare night was close, and even though, so many things had happened, everypony was in the mood to celebrate it, especially Luna, who still had Nemesis in mind.

The first screams of the morning had finally came, Boulder had been expecting them, making the wait the reason for his lack of sleep. Pretending to wake up, he spotted several of other Changelings running towards a direction he knew so well, the entrance to a slaughter that had just occurred a few hours and the loss of a mad queen.

He stood up slowly, getting prepared for whatever was about to come, then after stretching his neck until a loud ´Crack!´could be heard, Boulder began his march towards the former Queen´s tent.

Changelings passed beside him, he could notice surprise on their faces and could only imagine how they would look like once they discovered her queen had "committed suicide". The opening finally came, giving way for the green tent extending a few meters in lenght. Boulder had not the chance to fully appreciate the place and even if it was hard enough for him to see it with all the Changelings surrounding it, the colors and structure were clearly seen.

Stepping behind one of his brethren, he waited. "Boulder?" The Changeling turned around to spot Sombra looking at the tent with eyes wide open. "What happened?"

Without a word, Boulder grunted to himself, as a group of Changelings appeared from the inside of the tent, carrying the corpse of their former leader with their magic. From a quick glance, Boulder could see that Sombra was quite surprised at the scene and it wasn´t long before he gave a smirk. "You chose well, Boulder." The Changeling didn´t answer and remained his sight glued to the body, causing Sombre to chuckle. "You have more guts than I thought you had."

Without another word, Boulder decided to make his approach, opening his way through the horde of Changelings, who moved to the side as the muscular figure walked towards the tent. Once there, the other four Changelings gently dropped Queen Chrysalis to the floor for Boulder to watch and he saw that what was once alive, was now gone. That smile evaporated, those eyes lacking a soul and that black color of her skin now turned a sick gray, pale as death.

Leaving the princess on the floor, Boulder got inside the tent, looking for the horn that had fallen to the side of the bed. So far there had been no problems, leading him to believe they all had fallen for the set up. Boulder picked up the horn with his right claw, clenching it within his hand, before turning around to exit the tent. Once outside, he bent over and in front of every Changeling, used his fingers to close the Queen´s eyes, the last time all would look at them.

Standing up from his position, Boulder looked around him, noticing his brethren waiting for him. They trusted him and it showed on their faces, for as hurt as they looked, all seemed to have hope for Boulder.

Looking back from Chrysalis´ body to the crowd, Boulder took the decision and took a deep breath

"An Era has ended!" A rough and grave voice came out from his mouth, surprising the rest of the Changelings, who were taken aback by it. "A new dawn has come! I lead you to victory, from bloodshed and vengeance! Torture and murder!" The once fallen expressions of the Changelings had begun to spark once more in confidence, confidence for one of their own that would show them the way. "Chrysalis weak! She took easy path, but they forced her! They will pay for this death!"

An uproar took hold of the place, as Boulder spotted the satisfied face of Sombra looking at him, then with a shake from his head, the Changeling called him to his side. The fallen king made his way amidst the crowd, his smirk flashing the rest of the Changelings who opened a path for him to follow.

He would finally have it, his horn back, his power back and an army to back him up. As surprising as it could seem, Sombra did not considering betraying Boulder... yet. He would need the Changeling.

Having finally arrived, Sombra placed himself in front of Boulder, who looked from him to the rest of the expecting crowd. "Sombra, ally! Fallen king help reclaim what is ours!" With that final shout, Boulder placed the horn over Sombra´s head, a dark light taking hold of the area, surrounding everything as a laugh was heard coming from the middle. Even, though the rest of the Changelings had backed away, Boulder remained unfazed until the power explosion had died down and the once weak king was now full of power.

Releasing an excited laugh, Sombra rubbed his horn with his hoof, feeling its power draining him full. "At last, after so much time I finally have it!" The excitement died down, but the smile remained on the king´s face, who looked from Boulder to the rest of the Changelings. "Your leader has gained an ally! An ally that will help you on your campaign against you enemies and from now on, no more hopeless travels! No more deaths in vain! We will be smart and strike to recover what they took from us!"

"How exciting." Suddenly, a voice caught them all off guard, as the Changelings, Boulder and Sombra turned to look at their right, amidst the darkness of the forest, and the place where to voice had come where they only saw two yellow eyes.

"Show yourself!" Growled Sombra, pointing with his horn towards the place, an expression mimicked by Boulder, but the only answer they got was a chuckle.

"I wouldn´t push my luck if I were you, I am here to offer my help." Once again, the voice spoke, not leaving the darkness and even after what it said, both Sombra and Boulder remained on guard. "You see, I need something from your world, something that could cause problems to me."

Finally something made click on Sombra´s mind, as he wide opened his eyes in surprise. "You brought Nemesis here!?"

Once more, an answer came in the form of a chuckle. "I didn´t bring the monster here, I have nothing to do with it, be he has much to do with me."

"So, you are here to reclaim him." Sombra stated.

"I did not come here to reclaim it, I came here to erase it." The figure answered, gaining a confused look from Sombra.

His patience wearing thin, Sombra charged his horn with magic, ready to strike against the creature. "Give us a reason for us to not kill you where you stand!"

"Because you can´t." Answered the figure. "The Elements in your world prevent me from completely materializing and I can only use an astral image of me."

Sombra lowered his defense to give the figure a confused look. "Are you projecting?" The figure remained in silence. "From where?"

"From a place similar to yours, a place where the Elements have perished, where I have made them perish." As he said this, Sombra looked more and more interested, contrary to Boulder, who simply remained gazing at the appearance, ready for any attack.

The figure knew Sombra doubted him, forcing him to show the fallen king the truth. As Sombra got closer to the source of the voice, he became perplexed by what he saw, but before he could give any description, his vision went blur, with the only thing he saw, being those yellow eyes.

As id he had been transported, Sombra saw Equestria, but not the same one he knew. This one was on fire, the houses, the castles, the citizens remained burning with nopony left to mourn them.

Sombra found himself at the streets of Ponyville, where he saw nor sensed anything about the Elements... then he raised his head. Atop, several ships sailed the sky, triumphantly marching through the scorched place. Marching through the streets, the fallen king could spot several ponies walking across the solace of Ponyville, sporting what looked like a complete red armor, with black stripes all across its design, but the helmets were the things that had caught his attention, as they sported several yellow horns forming the figure of a crown... this was all the figure allowed him to see, as he was pulled back to reality.

Sombra took a few moments to compose himself, taking a quick look at the Changelings and Boulder, who remained in place, then turned to stare at the figure. "How?"

"The are greater forces working, forces more powerful than Hope or Fear." The figure replied.

Sombra shook his head once more before looking back at the silhouette. "How do I know this was not a simple vision placed in my head."

"I guess you´ll just have to trust me." The figure answered, before getting a chuckle for an answer from Sombra.

"I have to say, those visions where a delight, but you have done nothing for us to trust you."

Regardless of his words, the figure remained calmed, his eyes simply looking at the fallen king, then in one movement, he raised his arm and a moment later two figures screamed in anguish as they got closer to the crowd of Changelings. Sombra wide opened his eyes as he recognized the two ponies as Canterlot guards.

The two screaming beings where brought just in front of Sombra, who remained on a loss for words, until the creature spoke again. "These two have been following you for a few hours, have I not revealed them, you would have the entire army of Canterlot behind you." Sombra remained in silence, only looking from the figure to the two soldiers, whose expressions looked like they were about to have a heart attack. "About that trust?"

Shaking the surprise off, Sombra turned to look at Boulder, before giving him a nod, then, in an instant, the two soldiers were graved by a green forced that covered them, before being ripped apart amidst the sounds of screams.

For Sombra, even though he did not know who this figure was, decided to take his word. "Speak."

"There is a being from the monster´s world that will arrive at any moment to this camp, this being´s name is Albert Wesker." "The figure said. "He will try to convince you that he is here to help..."

"Like you?" Asked Sombra, who could faintly hear the figure grunt in response, causing the fallen king to smirk.

The silhouette, however, shook off the anger and continued talking. "You will listen and do everything he says, then a great turmoil will shake Equestria to its core." He said. "He will ask you several objectives to break the monster, but you will go beyond, you will act with cruelty and violence."

"And won´t this Wesker feel there is something off?" Asked Sombra, getting a chuckle as a response.

"He will not care, his objective requires the Elements to be destroyed and fear will lower their power, but you will not destroy them... I need you to corrupt them, which you, the master of corruption should be able to do with ease once they are weak."

Getting interested on that part, Sombra cocked his head to the side. "And what would you gain from this?"

"It will allow me to enter your world and do what this traveler will not. Kill Nemesis." Answered the figure, only managing to confuse Sombra further.

"And what exactly would you gain from that?"

The figure remained silent, closing his eyes for a few moments, before the two yellow pearls appeared once more. "He´s here!"

"Wait!" Screamed Sombra, however, as the figure had said before, another creature came from behind, who much to the surprise of the fallen king, did not notice the shadowy figure standing there. Taking a few seconds to compose himself, Sombra greeted the man with a smile.

Wesker stood there, looking at the crown, the smirked. "You look like you could use assistance, something that belongs to me has come to your world and I´m here to help you eliminate him."

Looking back from Boulder to Wesker, Sombra smiled. Whoever this figure was, he seemed to be right and if he spoke the truth, this being would try to use them to his ends; but the mysterious figure? He had seemingly destroyed Harmony in a plane of existence similar to his, more than proof that Sombra could trust him more. "I guess we could use your help."

The day had just gotten more interesting.

Author's Note

Also "Releasing an excited laugh, Sombra rubbed his horn with his hoof"
How easy this could be misinterpreted...