An Ally of Nightmare

"Yes, until that SOW, Starlight Glimmer freed Twilight and her friends, corrupted my subjects with friendship, and stole my entire hive!" Chrysalis said bitterly to Cozy.

"You should both remember that those ponies have weaknesses. I used Discord's weakness to turn him against his own "friends" that he calls," Tirek said as he put 'friends' in air quotes.

Cozy Glow ate a s'more whole and savored the taste of it.

"Hm, Discord was really a powerful enemy to Twilight and the others, until he allowed friendship to ruin him," Chrysalis said.

"But what was really funny, is when you both should've seen Twilight's face when I had her friends trapped in bubbles all around me! She was all, (incoherent babbling)."

Cozy and Chrysalis giggled and laughed a little at Tirek's impression.

"Twilight's always so stressed out all the time when things get tough," Cozy said.

"When I posed as her former foalsitter on the day of her brother's wedding, I thought she was going to implode!" Chrysalis laughed. Cozy and Tirek laughed.

What the villains didn't realize was that there was a hidden presence heading their way.

"I wish I could've seen Twilight's face when I nearly erased all the magic in Equestria into nothing," Said Cozy Glow.

"All the magic in Equestria seemed a little excessive, don't you think?" Tirek asked bluntly.

"Hey, you gotta think big. Besides, it would've been worth it just to see Twilight and her friends bow down to me," Cozy said with an evil grin.

"It would indeed. Who wouldn't love to see all those pretty ponies realize that soon, they would lose everything?" Said Tirek.

"One who would want to see them free of death," A voice answered in Tirek's head. Tirek looked around confused.

"Did you two hear something?" He asked the two females.

"No?" Chrysalis said in confusion.

"Hear what?" Cozy asked.

"I was certain I heard someone talking," Tirek said.

"Maybe it's the voice in your head," Chrysalis said jokingly, but Tirek only gave that thought.

"Actually, you may be right," Tirek said.

"I am? Er, I mean, yes, of course I'm right," Chrysalis said with a smile.

"There is only part of truth in his words, Queen of Changelings, but the voice in the centaur's head is not his own," The voice said in Chrysalis' head.

Chrysalis looked around herself with confusion as well. "All right, now that I definitely heard in my head."

"You heard it, too?" Tirek asked Chrysalis.

"Yes, but it wasn't my own voice," Chrysalis said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Cozy asked confused.

"They speak of the one who speaks through their thoughts... As I speak through yours," The voice said in Cozy head lastly.

"Whoa! O-Okay, now I heard what you guys did," Cozy said a little scarcely.

"I will set you all... free," The voice said to the three villains all together.

Suddenly, the three villains huddled together and prepared for combat.

"Whose there?" Asks Chrysalis.

"Show yourself!" Tirek demands.

"W-Wh-Who are you?" Cozy asks in a scared tone.

"The ones who shall shatter the shackles of this world that confine you."

"Confined? We aren't confined to anything!" Chrysalis says.

"Your pain cannot be hidden from the dead."

"We are not in pain, whatever pain you're thinking of anyway," Tirek says.

"I shall unveil the truth unto you."

"What truth?" Chrysalis asks.

Then, a rustling came from the bushes in front of Cozy Glow. "Who's there?" Tirek demanded. The rustling got rowdier.

"SHOW YOURSELF, INTERLOPER!!" Chrysalis screeched.

"M-My good friend T-Tirek is gonna b-blast you if you d-don't go away!" Cozy said scarcely. Then out of the bushes came...

"A... rabbit?" Cozy Glow said in confusion.

Tirek and Chrysalis looked at each other, and then Cozy Glow. Then, they burst out in vile laughter, pointing finger and hoof at the pegasus filly.

"Stop laughing at me!" Cozy Glow demanded irritably, but the two continued to laugh their heads off. "STOP IT!!!" She screamed furiously.

Suddenly, these bloody red crystals came up and trapped their hooves, wings, legs, horn, and wrapped around the centaur's hands.

The trio gasped and they tried to free themselves.

Chrysalis tried charging her horn, but it sparked and sputtered out in an instant. "I-I can't use my magic!"

Tirek tried to form an orb with his magic, but nothing appeared. "Neither can I!"

Cozy tried to stretch her wings, but the crystal were very tight on their grip. "I can't stretch my wings! I can't fly!"

When Chrysalis continued struggling, she suddenly felt like she was getting... weaker. "These crystals... are... draining my... energy..." Then she collapsed to the ground.

Tirek started feeling the same way. "That's not... good," He said before he passed out.

"Oh no..." Cozy Glow said. Then, she suddenly felt herself getting weary and cold, even with her coat on. "H-How c-c-c-can I g-g-get c-cold?" She said before she fainted as well. Before the 3, a figure came out of the bushes with the same crystals in his claws, except fur and blood was donned on them.

2 Hours Later...

Cozy Glow, Chrysalis and Tirek were all in a deep slumber, but they whimpered and moaned as they found themselves in a realm beyond their sensible fears.

The veins in their eyelids were very visible and were colored crimson, bloody red mist seeping through their eyelids.

Cozy felt cold, yet she was sweating, feeling as if she was under a moderate fever.

In the Realm of Nightmare...

There was nothing but pure dark smoke and flashes of red around the area, eerie red mist soaring all around the area.

What Chrysalis and Tirek didn’t understand was why they were even scared at all. They hardly feared anything save for Grogar, but yet here they are greatly weakened and frightened of the many whispers of madness and screams of agony.

"S-So... c-c-cold..." She moaned.

The figure turned to her and walked over. He lifted the filly's head up onto a small rock.

Cozy Glow blinked a few times before she regained her full vision. When she looked around, she saw Chrysalis' and Tirek's heads on rocks as well as hers.

"T-T-Tirek? C-C-C-Chrysalis?" She said to the two. The two moaned and groaned weakly.

"W-What... happened?" Chrysalis asked.

"I... I don't... know," Tirek answered weakly.

"Me..." Said the same voice the trio heard earlier.

They all turned their gazes to a creature that they had never set eyes on before in their entire lives.

He had Spike’s body height and body structure, but with a few inordinate features.

His scales were alabaster white, his arms and legs armored with arm braces and legbands and crimson crystal claws, a tail club and horns of pure crimson crystals at the end, his scleras tarry black and piercing red irises with snake pupils, armored head to tail with black carapace plating and pure crystal spikes, and visible crimson veins pumping pure Nightmare through the body.

They were too tired to scowl if not glare, and the creature was drinking what seemed to glowing green mist from the forehead of Chrysalis' Ophiotaurus meal, it turned smoky red with black light.

"W-What... are you doing?" She asked weakly.

"As you feed on love, I feed on nightmares yet to be born and dreams yet to be twisted," The creature responded. His voice was comparable to to that of a ten year-old, but he could speak full sentences like an adult.

"How... are you even speaking? Your lips... didn’t even sway..." Tirek pointed out.

"H-He’s... p-p-probably a... m-mind-talker," Cozy Glow shivered.

"Your words are truthful, pegasus," The figure said, "You should know, Chrysalis. You have done it before."

"Controlling a victim is different from telepathic speech," Chrysalis stated. She tried to get up, but then she fell limp. She exhaled, "What did you do to us?"

"You are all under moderate tedium... For now." Then, the creature turned to the trio, not looking at them though.

The trio looked at his eyes and saw that they had no pupils and no irises either, similar to a changeling's, but dead and emotionless. His expression was completely neutral and blank.

They also saw that he wasn't looking at any of them.

"He's... blind," Says Chrysalis.

"Yes, but one learns to accept it."

"Then... how are you looking at us then?" Asked Tirek.

"Eyes that see only darkness and black, but the light and darkness of another's pure or vile heart."

"You m-mean you... c-c-can t-tell who is-s-s... g-good or b-bad-d-d?" Asked Cozy Glow as she shivered.

"Yes. The friends and caretakers are spared, the taskmasters serve. But the abusers die, and become my fuel for sustainability."

"You mean... you need fuel to not lash out, as well?" Asked Chrysalis.

"You should know. But my curse is far more dire than yours." Then the creature pulled out a small mug and filled it with herbal tea, colored sapphire-blue and golden-yellow. He walked over to Cozy on his hind legs, and presented the mug to her.

Cozy could see soft steam and the colors of the liquid. "W-W-What is i-i-i-it?"

"Your medicine."

Cozy Glow grimaced a little at the liquid, but it was as flexible as water, and it was warm. She slowly and weakly raised a hoof to grab it. But by cruelty's bargain, the creature retracted it from her.

"For later."

Cozy simply shuddered with a weak breath. "W-Why?" She whimpered weakly.

"I know that none of you can be trusted, but I would at least give some hope that we can reach an accord with each other."

"An... accord?" Asked Chrysalis.

"You all seemed to be creating one after your failures to climb the peak. I want my fair share of this villainous bond."

The trio only looked at each groggily, feeling too tired to even be cranky about being sick and ail. This creature may have put fevers and fatigue on them, but it does seem rather useful for someone like him. Not to mention that he could also pull off the same crystal nullifying spell that Sombra used to put on Shining Armor's horn once. But what really gets their attention, is that this creature somehow knows that they are in pain - not physically, but emotionally and mentally. If he knows about their pain, could he also possibly relate to them? If they were going to find out, they simply had no choice but to accede his wishes.

Chrysalis sighed, "All right, creature... thing. You have our attention."

"Where do you want to start?" Asked Tirek.

"I have sensed that Chrysalis was to do an impression of this Twilight Sparkle who seems more pathetically stressed than one should be," The figure responded, looking over at Chrysalis’ heart.

"I would, but I don't think I can do that if I'm sick," Chrysalis pointed out.

"You are the strongest of your kingdom, Queen Chrysalis. I would suspect to recognize how much your pride means to you."

Chrysalis scoffed, "If you didn't sound dead, that would've sounded like a compliment."

The creature simply cocked his head in affirmation, and his inner eyelids blinked.

Then, the creature tapped his right toe, giving Chrysalis a small whiff of restored ability.

Once Chrysalis felt her changeling ability return, she transformed into Twilight Sparkle. "Oh, I'm such a pathetic, soggy little pony princess. I even made a very detailed list in all the ways that I'm an absolute failure," She pretended sob.

Cozy and Tirek only chuckled due to sickness, but the creature himself would have smiled at the impression. This caught the trio's attention.

"I thought you would've laughed at that," Chrysalis said.

"No emotions... No joy... No love." The creature seemed to have done his homework with changelings, even if he really didn't have any emotions.

Chrysalis was a little taken back. "Oh... noted."

"You know, working with you two, at least, may not be the worst thing in this world," Said Tirek, referring to Cozy Glow and Chrysalis.

"Perhaps... As long as it means the total destruction of our enemies," Said Chrysalis.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Said Cozy Glow with a weak smile. Then she looked at the blank hybrid. "N-No offence, but..."

"We haven't really met properly," Tirek finishes.

The creature simply blinked, "All in good time. Would her gracious and deceptive majesty care to continue her impression?"

Chrysalis turned into Twilight again and started making sad and soggy faces again. Cozy and Tirek laughed softly if not hard.