The Devil You Know

Rainbow lifted the lifeless body of Twilight Sparkle from the sarcophagus and set her down onto the cold, hard floor of the crypt. Her eyes were open, that horrible listless expression frozen on her face as she lay there.

“Damn it, egghead. What am I supposed to do now?” she whimpered, staring at her own blood-soaked forelegs.

She sat down and held Twilight’s head in her hooves, gently closing the mare’s eyes as a choked sob escaped her lips. She should have said or done more to stop her! All she had done was just stare as the unicorn had killed herself. And for what? Nothing had happened!

The sound of heavy stone blocks collapsing in a clatter echoed through the corridor leading into the central chamber.

What was that?! Rainbow knew she couldn’t stay long. What should she do? What… would Twilight have done?

Should she go to Ponyville and tell Commander Sunset what had happened? No, they’d never believe her. She still didn’t believe it. They’d likely just execute her for cowardice as an example to the others. If any were even still alive, that is.

She couldn’t just leave Twilight’s body here, with this dark and evil tomb as her final resting place. As much as she hated the mare for what she represented, she still respected her. Twilight had faced more in one night than most anypony could possibly endure, and through it all, she had somehow kept her sanity.

Another loud crash, with the sound of heavy falling rubble, reverberated through the crypt. This time, it seemed to shake the whole building. Not even the Umbra could have…

Then, silence. Rainbow waited, but they must have given up. She looked down at the dead mare once more, blinking away a tear which formed in her eye. Why did she even care?

It was funny, she had probably talked to this unicorn more than she ever had to any other pony, save for Shining. Despite all that had come between them, she missed the stupid egghead already. Even if all they ever did was argue, that connection was there. And now, she was gone.

The sounds of shifting stones once again drew her attention to the passageway. Now, five sets of eyes stared back at her from the flickering shadows.

How? It didn’t matter. None of it mattered now. They had given it their best shot, and they failed. Death would be welcome at this point.

She stood, placing herself in front of Twilight’s body. “You’re a bit late for the party,” she chuckled darkly. “But I’m still here, you little shits, if you want to play.”

Their heads twitched for a moment before the beasts stepped to the side, allowing space for a new arrival. Behind them, a massive shadow entered the room, its skin black as coal and its body a distended mockery of anything natural. There were no eyes, but Rainbow could feel that it knew exactly where she was.

Rainbow gasped, eyes widening as a split formed up the thing’s middle, revealing its horrific mouth in a leering grin. Fear paralyzed her as she saw Meadow’s body dangling there, her head soaked in blood and drool, bobbing slightly amongst its grinding teeth. Most of her coat had been dissolved off, leaving only scattered patches of gore-soaked fur clinging to the twisted muscle and sinew of her battered remains.

The horror rolled forward, carried on a multitude of small black legs. It took its time, for she had no weapons, and its tendrils were beginning to show, ready to catch her before she got into the air.

She stood up on her hind legs, using her wings to balance herself, her forelegs ready.

As it neared, a tendril shot from within the black mass. She tried to hit it away, but she was no earth pony. It wrapped itself around her neck, squeezing her throat. She fought and struggled, but it began reeling her in like a fish on a hook. She beat her wings furiously, but with every beat, the grip tightened. Her breath now came in strangled, desperate gasps, a red tinge forming at the corners of her vision as she neared the beast.

Its mouth opened, revealing several rows of jagged teeth, the remains of Meadow’s body reduced to slivers of meat, clinging to bone within. The fetid stench of partially digested flesh and organs rolled over Rainbow like a wave, causing bile to rush up from her stomach. She coughed and spluttered, mucus and spittle dribbling from her mouth as she fought to stay conscious.

Rainbow wanted to give up, to just accept the inevitable, but something screamed at her to fight. Shining had taught her to never give up, and she wasn’t going to now. The least she could do was give the damn thing indigestion as she went down.

Then, it stopped, its grip loosening just enough for her to get a breath in. A pained gasp brought oxygen back to her burning lungs.

The tendril’s grip slackened, and she dropped to the floor, expecting to be set upon by its minions, yet none came. All their attention was on the sarcophagus.

The room suddenly felt cold. Very cold. Rainbow’s breath came out in visible puffs from her mouth as an irrational fear gripped her heart.

Above her, the light of the moon flickered like a torch in a strong gale. Rainbow’s eyes were drawn upwards, and she let out a gasp of shock. The Mare in the Moon had bled from the Moon like ink from a page. A cloud laced with stars streaked straight towards the temple. It slammed into the open sarcophagus, a beam of pure white starlight shaking the room from the impact.

Then, as quickly as it came, it vanished. The light coming from the Moon had returned back to its usual white.

That’s when she heard it.

The ragged hiss of a sharp intake of breath came from the sarcophagus. With it, came a soft, nebulous mist that oozed from the open coffin. It shifted, as if alive, seeping into the cracks in the stonework.

Rainbow felt a deep, instinctual terror grip her, freezing her to the spot.

What’s more, it seemed to be affecting the Umbra as well. They stood fast, chittering amongst themselves excitedly. Even the large one had turned, a silent ripple passing through its skin.

One of the Umbra stepped forward, hesitantly. It looked back at its comrades and cringed. Claws flexed and scraped against the stone floor while its head bobbed from side to side.

It approached the sarcophagus, its body seeming to quiver as it peered inside.

Suddenly, it shrieked a high-pitch shrill of sheer panic as something burst from the sarcophagus in a blur of motion. Then, the dessicated form of the Nightmare rose from her tomb, hefting the struggling Umbra up in her jaws.

There was the sound of crunching bone as the Nightmare clenched her jaw on her struggling prey. The Umbra let out one pathetic cry as its head was torn from its body in a quick jerk. Black ichor spurted from the Umbra's neck, bathing the Nightmare in gore.

She released her grip, and the body fell, collapsing in a heap on the floor, its lifeblood still spurting against the stone, even as it began to dissolve. As it did so, the Nightmare's skin began to reform, her skeletal face taking on flesh once more. She was incomplete, barely a walking corpse, but she turned to eye the other Umbra hungrily with the burning turquoise orbs in her skull. She rose to her hooves, her skeletal wings flaring in challenge while her mane rapidly grew out and shifted to its own whims.

At some silent order, the Umbra rushed forward in a skittering pack of five. There was a desperation in their moves, none of the assured ferocity that Rainbow had seen before.

The first got close and had a forehoof driven through its open maw and out the back of its skull. Fragments of skull and what counted as its brain exploded outwards onto its comrades. The Nightmare stalked forward, tossing the body at the other Umbra. Sidestepping the Umbra’s pounces with speed and grace that were at odds with her monstrous form, she set upon the straggler. A stomp of both forehooves came down on her cringing foe, its head exploding as it slammed into the rock.

The remaining three turned to attack again, but found themselves violently assailed in return. Dodging one Umbra's gnashing jaws, the Nightmare grabbed its foreleg, throwing it down onto its back. Gripping the flailing limb, she twisted it in its socket, a crack of shattering bone resounding as it succumbed to her overwhelming strength. It shrieked, writhing in agony as she released her grip.

Leaving the wounded Umbra, she strode forward to the last two. With every step, more flesh returned to her body, her mane becoming more luminescent.

They made one last desperate attack, but both immediately found themselves trapped in the turquoise aura of the mare’s telekinetic magic. They writhed and struggled, but it was to no avail. With a little jerk of her horn one Umbra’s head exploded, the skull and spinal column torn from its body in one terrible motion.

The other’s body found itself compressed within her shimmering aura while she watched, a leering grin stitching itself together upon her newly-reformed muzzle. A savage, joyful expression filled her face, her slitted, turquoise eyes rolling back in sadistic pleasure. With a final telekinetic squeeze, the Umbra simply burst into a cloud of ichor, gore and bone.

Rainbow’s mouth hung open in disbelief, her mind trying to process what was happening. The Nightmare was carving through the Umbra like they were nothing, grinning all the while like it was a game. With every one she killed, her body regained yet more of its vigor, returning to life once more.

The last of the Umbra had tried to crawl away, to escape its impending fate. The Nightmare let out a low, sinister chuckle that made Rainbow’s fur stand on end.

“Oh, I’m not done with you yet,” the alicorn spoke, at last, her voice deep and regal. Striding forward, she closed the distance quickly, stomping onto the Umbra’s back with a forehoof.

With a grin, she ground her hoof against its spine, bones shifting beneath the overwhelming force. Her mane swept over it, a sparkling field of stars on velvet, almost caressing the creature with its touch. It struggled, perhaps sensing its fate, rapidly clawing at the stone to get away. Her mane then smothered its head, slowly twisting it around, bit by bit, until the sickening snap and crunch of bone brought an end to the creature’s fight.

As the last one faded away, the Nightmare stood, her body now fully restored. Her coat was almost black, tinged slightly a dark purple, as were the tips of her feathers. The crescent moon cutie mark on a patch of deep purple burned a searing white. She stood there defiant, panting slightly with excitement burning in her eyes as she awaited her next challenger.

The colossal Umbra shifted, its whole body rippling as it faced down the alicorn, who merely tilted her head at it as if daring it to make a move.

With a piercing, alien roar, it charged, nearly trampling Rainbow as it lumbered forward. It barrelled into the motionless alicorn, jaws outstretched to swallow her whole. The sarcophagus exploded into a cloud of dust as the Umbra bit down upon the Nightmare and charged straight through the stone coffin and into the far wall. The whole tomb shook from the force of the impact, the enormous Umbra thrashing wildly as it tried to pulverize the black mare with brute force.

It roared in fury, tossing the Nightmare across the room like a rag doll. She crashed hard into another stone wall, causing a crack to run up to the ceiling and rain bits of stone down on her head.

The Nightmare emerged with a huff, now covered in a thick coating of dust. Thin trickles of blood oozed from numerous wounds on her body. “That actually hurt, you insolent cur.”

Standing square, eyes burning with anger, her horn glowed once more. “Redeo!”

A long, curved wooden shaft of black oak appeared before her with a crescent moon of silver built into one end. With a soft tap on the ground, a curved blade of baleful energy crackled into being, jutting to the side to form a scythe.

A trio of tendrils shot forward from the Umbra but were sliced off with one effortless swing. The smouldering stumps recoiled back into the beast’s body with a pained shriek.

The Nightmare did not allow it a reprieve. Teeth gritted and fangs bared, she launched herself forward with a single powerful thrust from her wings. With one downward swing of her blade, she tore into the shadowy monstrosity, slicing downwards right to the stone beneath it.

The beast howled, black ichor bursting in torrents from the gouge the weapon had torn. It staggered backwards, its blood spreading across the room like a flood.

With one horizontal swing, she cut deeply through, into its mouth and belly. Gore and organs, including chunks of half-digested pony meat, tumbled from the gash as it let out one last pitiful whimper before falling to the ground.

The Nightmare let out soft pleasure-filled whinny as her wounds closed almost instantly. Her mane billowed like a flag in a storm, her wings unfurling to their full majesty.

Then, her eyes turned to Rainbow, a terrible bloodlust in them. They weren’t focused on her, Rainbow realised, but on her chest plate where Celestia’s sun cutie mark was emblazoned. She began to move, the blade of the scythe dragging along the ground and an angry frown gracing those noble features.

“What is a dog of my sister’s doing here?” she demanded, the blade sliding up under Rainbow’s chin.

It felt so terribly cold, even though it was not even touching her, the blade pulsating and crackling, eager for more blood to sate its hunger.

Despite the fear gripping her, Rainbow remained resolute. “Celestia sent us to resurrect you. The Umbra…”

“So, she couldn’t even do such a simple task right,” she muttered, her wings bristling. “You always were weak, my sister.”

“We need your help.”

“You mortals always need my help,” she spat. “Weak and feeble. Even now, you come crawling here, begging on your bellies.”

The blade fizzled away, the Nightmare standing at ease, looking away and clearly feeling no threat.

“We got your sorry flank off the moon, didn’t we? What, you were just having a little holiday up there for the fun of it?” Rainbow growled. “Some goddess you are!”

The dark alicorn regarded her once more, chuckling to herself. “So, it appears the dog has some bark! You are brave, young one, but I warn you, my generosity only goes so far.”

Rainbow gulped but held the mare’s gaze before she turned and began to trot towards Twilight’s body. “Where are you going?”

“To claim what is mine.”

Rainbow didn’t like that savage glint in her eyes. What was she planning? Poor Twilight has already suffered enough on her account.

She rushed to stand between the Nightmare and Twilight’s body. “No. She’s given you enough already. Leave her alone you bitch!”

“I warned you, pegasus,” the Nightmare said, her horn beginning to crackle. “It seems the dog requires discipline.”

Pain exploded through every fibre of Rainbow’s being. Her body convulsed as dark energy fired off every pain receptor it possessed, all at once. She clenched her eyes, an egregious howl escaping her lips as the pain intensified. Even through the agony, she stayed standing, refusing to give in.

Suddenly, the pain ceased and a booming laugh echoed through the shattered tomb. “My, my, it seems you are made of stronger stuff than I gave you credit for! Or perhaps I’ve lost my touch in my slumber,” the Nightmare laughed. “I do believe I’ll keep you, my little pegasus.” With that, the sun-emblazoned armour fell off Rainbow’s chest, clattering to the floor.

“Leave her be,” Rainbow whimpered. “Please.”

“You speak as if you have a say in the matter. She is mine,” the Nightmare said. “If I was you, I’d worry more about myself right now.”

“I don’t care about myself! I won’t let you touch my friend!” Rainbow cried.

The Nightmare paused, tilting her head down. “Your loyalty is commendable, but I do not have time to bandy words with you, welp.”

With a telekinetic shove, Rainbow was tossed away, barely managing to recover before she hit the ground.

The Nightmare loomed over the fallen unicorn, her horn’s light bathing Twilight’s body in a gentle aura. “Wake up, my bloodsworn. Your duty is not yet finished.”