Chrysalis, queen of the changeling swarm, made her way down the dark, slime-covered tunnel towards her throne room.

As repulsive as the slime was to the casual observer, it was vital to her race's survival. Closer inspection of this slime would reveal the multitude of cell-like eggs that would eventually spawn into more of her subjects. Yes, this cavern was the nursery of her children.

Chrysalis sidestepped a changeling drone as he dashed past her, offering a quick bow as he passed his queen, before continuing on to the much busier birthing cavern behind her. Despite all appearances, changeling eggs only had a fertility rate of about ten percent, therefore any drones not assigned to any current task of gathering love from the various outposts near pony settlements were assigned to assisting in the hatchery for any eggs that made it past the slimy stage these eggs next to the queen were currently in.

Rest well, my children. Chrysalis thought to herself, a small smile coming to her face. We will soon need your strength.

The queen continued on her way down the dark halls of her colony, not noticing the black, oily substance starting to spread over the eggs in the cavern she had just vacated.

Soon, soon she would be able to make another attempt on those ponies who had decimated her subjects after her ill-fated bid on Canterlot. Her vengeance would be swift, her spies had already infiltrated their capital and began relaying vital information on guard placement and the new defenses, magical and physical, that had been erected in the last year.

The results were honestly disappointing. If anything, their defenses had only gotten weaker since her invasion about a year ago. The Elements of Harmony were no longer kept close to the princesses, Captain Shining Armor was no longer a member of the Equestrian Royal Guard, having moved to the Crystal Empire, so there was no longer any problems with a giant bubble shield being erected over the city to keep her vanguard from entering once she collapsed their flimsy house of cards from under them.

"Foolish ponies," Chrysalis muttered under her breath, "their arrogance will be their downfall."

Finally reaching the large, obsidian double doors to her throne room, she entered after they opened of their own volition, her guards saluting her as she walked regally past them.

"Greetings, Queen Chrysalis." said a deep voice from ahead of her.

"Who goes there?" Chrysalis said into the darkness obscuring the other end of the throne room, her guards rushing in and taking defensive positions on either side of their queen.

"Ah, forgive me, I was merely making myself comfortable." the voice said from the dark shadows at the other end of the room. As if on cue, the shadows began to retract as if being sucked in by a sponge, revealing a dusky grey unicorn reclining on an obsidian throne, her throne.

his mane was an inky black, his eyes were a mix of green scleras and scarlet irises, wisps of dark purple smoke emitting from either side as he bared his sharpened canine teeth in a grin. And atop his head was a long, curved horn that was tinged an unnatural red color.

The strange pony got up from the throne and stepped flawlessly into a low bow, "allow me to introduce myself, my name is -"

"King Sombra." Chrysalis stated, venom sneaking into her voice as she uttered the name of the famed warlock.

"I see my reputation precedes me," Sombra said, straightening up out of his bow, "I assume that we can skip the formalities?"

"What do you want?" Chrysalis said, her annoyance with the former tyrant growing.

"I wish to propose an alliance between us, your majesty."

"And what could you possibly offer me, former king of the Crystal Empire?" Chrysalis scoffed.

"Quite a lot, my dear." Said Sombra, a mad gleam in his eyes, "power for one, and an army so potent that not even their precious Elements of Harmony would be capable of halting our legions for even a moment."

"And where is this 'all powerful army' that you speak of, warlock? All I see is a mad king with no crown."

Sombra chuckled softly, "Why, that is where our partnership comes into play, my dear." The unicorn's horn flashed, releasing the spell that had been cast on the throne room.

That's when the screams of terror reached Queen Chrysalis' ears.

"What have you done!?" Chrysalis exclaimed, lighting up her own horn and turning to face the now cackling tyrant.

"I merely upheld my end of the bargain, my dear. My army should be complete once the screams die down." Sombra said, his mad laughter echoing through the throne room.

"You depraved tyrant!" Chrysalis screamed, tears streaming down her face as she and her guards fired bolts of green energy at the warlock. Just before the blasts could hit him however, they crashed against a wall of black crystals that sprang up from the floor between them.

"Tut, tut, your majesty. That lack of composure is unbecoming of one of your status." Sombra said, retracting the crystal wall and looking at the last surviving changelings in the hive as if he were chastising children for rude behavior. "I have not broken my word. We shall have our dark army, however, you shall not be the one leading it."

As if on cue, three blobs of inky black darkness seeped out of the floor where the wall of crystals had emerged, scarlet eyes glowing from within their depths.

"Don't worry, you will have your place." Sombra continued, drinking in the queen's despair like a fine wine, "We just need to make a few... alterations..."

And with that, the three blobs of dark matter fell upon the hapless queen and her guards. Sombra turned away from the grisly scene while the three once-changelings screamed in terror as they were consumed by the parasites that had now latched onto them.

A small smile touched Sombra's lips, "We're not done yet, every army needs a general. And unfortunately, you don't make the cut my dear queen." His horn glowed again as a red beam began to etch a circle into the floor of the throne room.

"However, I do know where I can find one..." He let his voice trail off as a batch of his newly created servants bought forth a large grandfather clock carved from dark crystal and placed it in the center of the completed spell circle.

"Let the ritual begin!" The dark king declared, stamping his forehooves on the edge of the circle. Six emerald flames sprang up at each of their designated areas, bathing the clock in the center a sickening shade of green. "Let the world distort!" Sombra continued, the six flames beginning to circle the clock until their motion grew so fast that it became a blur.

"I incite the chant of the thirteenth hour to summon a being of chaotic nature from across the reaches of reason!" Shadows began to gather around the pyre in the center of the circle.

"O equitem tenebrarum surge et servite domino vestro . Excita in tertiam percuteret cecidissetque hostes innocentium!"

In the darkness, a clock began to chime.

Author's Note

And there you have it! What unspeakable evil will Sombra unleash on our poor little ponies?

Who could possibly stop him?!

WHEN WILL SOMEONE TEACH ME LATIN SO I DON'T HAVE TO USE GOOGLE TRANSLATE?!

Find out whenever the next chapter comes out!

As always, your critiques are wanted and appreciated!