As per tradition with Zebrican nobility, Twilight and Mwana Nguvu remained in their bedchamber for a month. None were allowed to enter. Servants would lay trays of food in the dumb waiter, pull on the cord looped through the pulley system to raise the tray to the dumb waiter into the couple's room and tug on a velvet cord attached to a bell to let the couple know that the food had been delivered.

Maneo Laini lurked near the kitchens as servants prepared the evening meal for the couple. A servant mare walked out of the kitchen, pushing a cart that was holding two covered dishes. He reached out with a hand and the shadows lengthened. When the shadows reached the servant mare, she froze in place, body rigid and still as a statue, her eyes staring ahead blankly.

As Maneo Maini reached for the covered dish that was Twilight's, his reflection on the metal cover was an alicorn-like mare with fur black as midnight, teeth like daggers and turquoise eyes with slitted pupils. He removed the cover from the dish, pulled a glass vial filled with a blackish-green powder from inside his vest, popped the cork from the top and sprinkled some of the powder into the bowl of soup. He returned the cover to the dish, the black-furred mare that was his reflection threw back her head in a wicked laugh that none could hear.

Maneo Laini quickly glanced around the hallway, ensuring that there were no guards or other servants. He released the spell and the servant mare continued walking down the hall, unaware of what had happened.

***

After the month was up, the couple emerged from their bedchamber. Servants, guards, and the high king and high queen gave a cheer. Twilight was unaware that she was a month pregnant. She was also unaware that she was being slowly poisoned.

***

Two more months passed and Twilight was starting to show a slight bump. From his spot in the throne room, Maneo Laini screamed curses in his mind. The poison was supposed to kill the foal growing in her belly and make her slowly wither away. He surmised that her alicorn physiology made her highly resistant to poisons, even potent ones, like rot root, which he had been adding to her food in small doses . Rot root was a potent poison, small doses administered over a few weeks were enough to make its victim wither away and if they were pregnant, it would also kill the fetus. Yet here was Twilight looking healthy as ever...and starting to show her pregnancy to boot!

Maneo Laini decided that if small doses over a several weeks weren't doing the trick, then he'd give a single massive dose. To any normal pony or zebra, a single massive dose would be enough to send them into violent convulsions that would send them into a coma where they'd slowly die over the next few days. He patted his vest over where the vial, now half-empty, was hidden. When the chefs were preparing the evening meal, he'd empty the remainder of the vial into her dish. Once she, along with the foal in her belly, lay dead, the first step of the Nightmare's vengeance would be complete. Then the Nightmare would be free to twist the mind of the high king, sending him further and further into the depths of madness and compulsion, until he was compelled to launch a full-on invasion of Equestria.

Then the Nightmare, possessing the body of Maneo Laini, would personally assassinate the king, making it look like an Equestrian plot, then it'd be freed to spearhead the invasion of Equestria and it would not stop until the other five Bearers were dead, Celestia lay broken, bloody and dying at its hooves, and Luna was once again in its clutches. In the reflection of a nearby window, the Nightmare threw its head back in laughter.

Twilight sat in a small dining room, next to her husband, Mwana Nguvu. They both sat in high-backed chairs made of elaborately carved ebony. At the head of the table, sitting in high-backed, elaborately carved ebony chairs, adorned with gold filigree and lacquer that had powdered gems mix in, were High King Hatua ya Kukimbia and High Queen Anga Inayong'aa. The table was an antique, used by the royal family for private meals for centuries, made from iron wood and was simple in design. It was well maintained and kept up, though it did show its age with a few discolored spots from old stains that couldn't be scrubbed out and scratches that couldn't be buffed out. To the side of the table, at a smaller, less elaborately carved ebony chair sat Maneo Laini.

Servants entered into the small dinning room, pushing carts holding covered dishes. Twilight salivated at the smell of the food as the dishes were uncovered. She had quickly fell in love with Zebrican food, the spices they used to flavor their foods, the various sweet and savory fruits and tubers they used in their dishes, the wild honey they used to sweeten their pastries, the variety of flowers and sweet grasses they cooked in their dishes, she enjoyed it all.

Twilight picked up a spoon, staring at a dark colored gelatinous dish called black pudding. It was a dish that was made especially for expecting zebra mares and was high in nutrients. Though the black pudding tasted a bit like somepony or somezebra had mixed cocoa powder with dirt and made it into a gelatin, she couldn't get enough of the stuff, which the doctors said was perfectly normal and as her pregnancy progressed, it would get to the point where that's all she'd want to eat.

Maneo Laini watched with wicked glee as Twilight ate the black pudding. He had mixed the last of the rot root powder into the black pudding while the chefs were still cooking it.

Once dinner was finished, the high king and high queen went off to handle the affairs of high court and deal with the evening's petitioners. Twilight and Mwana Nguvu departed to handle the affairs of low court for the evening. Twilight and her husband sat on a pair of simple thrones, she on a silver one and he on a golden one, as they attended to the petitioners who entered the low court...mostly commoners, though there was a significant number of zebras from the jungle clans and okapi from different parts of Zebrica.

The zebras of the jungle clans were long and lanky. Nearly as tall as the zebras of the savannah clans, but were of a lean build, similar to the desert clans. The jungle zebras also wore very little, both stallions and mares wore loincloths of green and brown, the mare also wore similar colored wraps about their chest. That made sense as the Emerald Jungle was very hot and humid, so wearing very little helped to keep the body cool. The clan elders and holy-zebras of the jungle clans wore the skulls of small creatures in their hair and around their necks strung together on twine like beads. The jungle zebras who were married forewent the gold collars and bracelets that the other clans wore to signify they were married, instead wearing brightly colored belts about their waists made from twine woven in intricate patterns.

There were representatives of three different tribes of okapi at the low court. She was familiar with the tribe from the Emerald Jungle, the males and females both wore similar green smocks, with vibrantly colored thread stitched around the neck, arm holes and bottom to signify family. The okapi from the Great Basin, a massive bowl-shaped depression where a thick forest, broken up by winding rivers grew. The forest okapi were different in traditions and appearance, males and females wore brownish-green dress-like garments with stylized flower patterns sewn into the bottom of their garments to signify their families. They were also a bit shorter and bulkier than their jungle cousins. The final group of okapi were from the Broken Lands, a rough and rugged region of canyons, jagged hills and buttes. They wore very little, the Broken Lands being a region that was very hot and dry, males and females only wore simple unadorned loincloths, but being in the capitol city of Zebrica, the local law said that unless it was part of a stick fighting or wrestling match, zebras(and okapi) had to wear more than just a loincloth. The males and females of this tribe opted to wear chest wraps. These were also by far the tallest and largest of the okapi, but lacked the same grace as their smaller cousins.

Twilight was the most familiar withe the okapi from the Emerald Jungle, being as one crashed her wedding to stop an assassin. The okapi of the Great Basin had a different coloring from their jungle cousins, the top half being medium brown with white spots, similar to the fawn of a deer. The okapi of the Broken Lands had a different coloring too, their top half was a slate grey in coloring. All okapi had some very close similarities, the bottom half of their bodies were striped like a zebra, though there were some variations in the size and patterns of the stripes, depending on the individual, they all had necks that were longer than those of ponies and zebras, atop their heads were a pair of nubs similar to what a giraffe has atop their head and their hooves weren't the single solid piece of keratin like ponies and zebras have, but were much closer to the cloven hooves of deer, with three distinct digits that ended in smaller hoof-like protrusions and a pair of smaller digits at the back of their hooves, almost like a pair of smaller hooves. All okapi also had seven digits on each hand, rather than the five that ponies and zebras had.

Currently Twilight was listening to a jungle okapi family elder petitioning her to allow seven of his sons, who were also present, join her personal guard. She held up a hand to stop his words. "Won't that leave your family a little weakened if all of your sons are here in the capitol guarding me?"

The okapi clasped his hands in front of his chest and bowed. "Nay, good lady Isis. I have thirty-three younglings by twelve different females."

That made Twilight almost choke. "Y-you have twelve wives?"

The okapi cocked his head to the side. "Wives?"

Twilight placed her hand on Mwana Nguvu's shoulder. "Yes, wives and husbands. He is my husband and I his wife. We pledged ourselves to one another in a ceremony, that bonds us in matrimony as husband and wife."

"Oh! Like a coupling, but permanent? We okapi don't do that."

That's when Twilight learned that okapi don't have the concept of marriage, but instead participate in communal sexual intimacy.

After the fifteenth okapi petitioner, Twilight decided that a change in court proceedings was needed. She held up a hand to silence the next petitioner and spoke in a loud, clear voice. "I want to thank every zebra and okapi who has come here this evening to petition themselves or their foals to become a member of my guard. I cannot choose based solely on appearance, or petitioner, or number of petitioners, so I will be setting up a screening process in the next few weeks to determine who is physically and mentally fit to serve as a member of my guard. There will also be a limit on the number of offspring who can volunteer or be volunteered so as to avoid any favoritism, intentional or not, towards those who have been more...fruitful."

Twilight placed a hand to her stomach. It felt like a very tight knot had formed in it and she suddenly felt very queasy. She leaned over to her husband. "I'm not feeling very well and I think I'l go lay down for a bit. Have Shadout take over for me and if there's anything that needs my immediate attention, she can send a handmaiden to come get me."

Twilight turned her attention to the crowd in the throne room and stood up. She realized that she maybe shouldn't have done that as the whole room started to seesaw, but she put on a courtly face to the best of her ability. "I thank you everyzebra and kapi for coming out this evening. I apologize for departing before the court has ended, but I am feeling unwell. My personal handmaiden, Shadout, will take over in my stead."

Twilight began to walk to the antechamber. The room began to spin as well as seesaw, which made her feel incredibly sick. The knot in her stomach twisted itself tighter until the pain became overwhelming. Sweat soaked her body and her muscles started to tremble. Groaning with pain, she collapsed to her hands and knees. Her stomach heaved, bile and partially digested food mixed with blood splashed on the floor. She didn't feel any better, she felt worse. Her stomach heaved again, this time much more violently and she screamed, which quickly became gurgling as more vomit poured out. Sweat was now dripping off her body. Each heave of her stomach, she screamed, which quickly became gurgling as more vomit mixed with blood came out.

The guards quickly cleared the throne room. Shadout quickly ran to fetch a doctor.

After what felt like an eternity of heaving and vomiting, Twilight's stomach was now empty, but that didn't stop her stomach from lurching. With each heave she screamed, but no more bile came out, replaced by strings of saliva and blood. Suddenly a pain erupted lower in her belly, like somepony had rammed a red hot prong into it and started twisting. She clutched onto her belly, feeling the muscles there flex and contract with no rhythm or control. Merciful blackness overtook her.

Mwana Nguvu leapt from the throne the second his wife collapsed to the floor and rushed over to her. He could only watch in impotent horror as blood and vomit poured from her mouth, creating a spreading pool on the floor. His impotent horror became paralyzing dread as she gripped lower on her belly, went limp and a few seconds later started thrashing about wildly.

Doctors rushed into the throne room, only to freeze in horror for a few seconds as they saw Twilight thrashing about wildly on the floor. Training and instinct quickly took over as they began to treat the seizing alicorn.

High queen Anga Inayong'aa shoulder blocked past guards at the entrance to the throne room for the low court and froze in shock at the sight of doctors and paramedics strapping a violently thrashing Twilight to a gurney. She had seen something like this before...back when she was young and still living in Alexzebria. Somezebra had poisoned one of the priestesses with rot root. She felt the blood drain from her face and thought she would faint for a moment.

Anga Inayong'aa gathered herself and grabbed a nearby guard by the collar. "Seal off the throne room. Nozebra comes in or goes out until the investigators get here. The crown princess has been poisoned."

The guard blanched, then snapped a quick salute. "Y-y-yes, your highness! At once, your highness!"

***

Mwana Nguvu could only stare in horror and shock at Twilight laying unconscious on the bed in the hospital's intensive care unit. She had so many wires from so many machines stuck to her, and so many tubes going in and coming out of her that she looked like some sort of bio-mechanical abomination from a bad sci-fi horror movie. Tears stung his eyes as anger and despair burned in equal measures in his heart. He grit his teeth so hard that they groaned and creaked from the pressure. He clenched his fist so hard that his nails drew blood, staining his palms red.

Anga Inayong'aa gently placed a hand on her son's arm. Her turned his head to her and the second their eyes locked, tears began to leak down his cheeks and his lips began to tremble. He wrapped his arms around her and began to bawl into her shoulder. Together they wept in sorrow and fear. Sorrow for the foal who was taken away before it could experience the world. Fear for the life of the crown princess and future high queen of Zebrica who lay fighting for her life in a hospital bed.

***

It had been several hours since Anga Inayong'aa had left the hospital. She sat in her office reading over reports from the doctors who were treating Twilight. Rot root poisoning was very serious, but with the medical advancements Zebrica had, if one could get medical aid, it wasn't automatically a death sentence. She propped her head on her hand. She was exhausted, but could not sleep.

Anga Inayong'aa shouldn't be losing this much sleep over an Equestrian pony, but sleep evaded her exhausted mind. Twilight was different from the other alicorns, she was much more personable...probably because she lived for years in a small farming town working as a humble librarian. She didn't have the same raw beauty and sex appeal as Cadance, but that didn't mean she was lacking in beauty, it was more akin to a working filly who had that rugged beauty. She didn't exude the aura of power like Celestia, instead exuding a charm that made you want to sit next to her and have a lively discussion. She didn't exude the aura of mystery and coldness like Luna, but instead exuded an aura of warmth and friendliness that drew you to want to be closer to her.

Twilight quickly assimilated to Zebrican culture and was very respectable, even asking questions about customs and rituals she didn't understand. When under Anga Inayong'aa's tutelage, she devoured knowledge like a starving beggar suddenly thrust into a buffet. The way she quickly learned Zebrabranan to the point where she only had a slight accent was astonishing.

What impressed the high queen the most was Twilight's willingness to pledge herself to the crown prince in marriage, abandoning everything and everypony she knew to save her homeland and a land she barely knew from a war that would surely be destructive to both nations.

Then there was Tumba. She was the stick fighting champion of the Golden Grass Clan. When she took the assassin's bullet meant for Twilight, Twilight could have easily run to save her own life. But instead she chose to stay and save the mare's life. This earned her a life-debt and the savannah clans don't take a life-debt lightly. But the relationship between Twilight and Tumba were deeper than the life debt, there was a true closeness there.

Anga Inayong'aa was snapped from her thoughts by a flash of light in her office. There stood Luna. The alicorn of the moon, mistress of dreams and lady of the night. She exuded an aura of mystery, power, menace and cold. From behind Luna stepped a zebra, wearing the traditional frock of the highland zebras, along with an alchemists apron, and the golden rings and charms of a highland shaman. "We apologize for being late. When our sister and We received the message that fair Twilight had been poisoned with rot root, Our sister immediately sent for Zecora to concoct an antidote."

Anga Inayong'aa stared bewildered at Zecora. The sole highlands shaman who survived the quest into the Spider Mountains to cast the lich witch into into the Black Pit, then after having a vision, made the journey north, was standing here before her alongside Luna.

"Once I heard my friend Twilight had been poisoned by rot root, I set out to find the cure. The antidote is equally dangerous to boot, as it requires extract of the screaming mandrake that is pure." Zecora pulled a small potted plant from her backpack and the high queen recoiled. "Do not fear, the mandrake's scream is not dangerous if you plug your ears."

"Screaming mandrake is dangerous. Won't we have to stop up Twilight's ears too?"

" When one is near death, the mandrake's scream can bring their soul back from oblivion, but there is a risk it may cause them to breath their last breath. Though the though of losing a friend makes me quake, it is a risk I willingly take."

***

Upon the instructions of Zecora, all hospital staff and guards had been cleared out to a distance of fifteen meters. She wore bells on her wrists and fetlocks, and had a length of cord tied around her waist...just in case something went wrong.

Zecora stood by Twilight's bed. She inserted earplugs and snapped her fingers by her ears to ensure she couldn't hear anything. Lifting the potted mandrake in one hand, she wrapped her fingers on the other hand around its stalk. "Gods above and gods below let this work, so that my good friend Twilight can take her vengeance on the jerk." She took a few quick breath and stamped her hooves to work her courage up. With a swift yank, she pulled the mandrake from the soil.

A ghastly shriek echoed through the hallway, causing the zebras and okapis who were gathered behind the barricade to wince in fright as their fur stood on end.

Twilight twitched and moaned in the bed. Zecora placed the pot aside, gave the mandrake a quick slap to silence its screaming, then picked up a syringe and plunged the needle into it. She drew back the plunger, filling the syringe with a milky white liquid. She inserted the needle into the lavender alicorn's neck and shoved the plunger down, injecting the milky white liquid.

Zecora put the mandrake back into the pot and packed dirt around it. "Rest and sulk, your work is done and now the saving is up to we zebra-folk." She removed the earplugs. "There is no more need for fear, you can now come in here."

High Queen Anga Inayong'aa hurried into the room, followed by her son and Twilight's husband, Crown Prince Mwana Nguvu. The doctors were immediately behind them, started checking the readouts on the medical instruments. Shouts of rejoicing came from their lips as Twilight's vitals started to become more normal.

Mwana Nguvu, letting out a sigh of relief, placed his hand on Twilight's. Almost immediately lavender fingers tightened around his. His heart leapt for joy, though only knowing her for a few months, he had grown fond of her and the thought of losing her filled him with immense sorrow.

Zecora made sure the soil in the pot was packed tightly around the screaming mandrake before putting it into her pack. "Come in the morning she will feel very unwell, but for now she needs rest. I feel that is best. Now I must bid my homeland once again farewell." She secured her pack and turned to leave the room.

The doctors in agreement, quickly ushered everyone out. "Right now for her rest is best.", one doctor said. He then placed two fingers above his eyebrow. "I forgot how infectious the Highland Shamans' rhyming schemes can be."

Anga Inayong'aa escorted Zecora back to her office where Luna was waiting. She paused seeing the Mare of the Moon sniffing at the air. "Princess, what is it you're smelling? The night-sickle blooms?"

"Nay. Though the night-sickle does smell sweet. It hast been long since We smelt it, that's not We have caught the scent of." Luna grabbed the High Queen's arm, pulled her aside, leaned in close and whispered, "Mine ancient enemy, the Nightmare lurks nearby, though We canst not determine where. This assassination attempt was meant to remove fair Twilight and plunge the dagger into Our heart. Be wary, though greatly reduced, the Nightmare is still dangerous."

"The Nightmare?! You mean he monster that was--"

"Aye. Aye. The second-born of the father of monsters whom attached itself to Mine soul. But We fear it is not acting alone. There is another stink along with it. Something old, foul, reeking of rot and darkness and the grave. The stink of a lich."

Anga Inayong'aa recoiled slightly. "But the last lich was defeat thrown into the Black Pit by..." She gestured her head to Zecora. "High Shaman of the Highland Clans, Zecora Mukhatat. Nozebra escapes that place."

"Mayhaps. But if Tirek great-grandson of Tirac managed to escape Tartarus once, then mayhaps they hast escaped the Black Pit." Luna walked over to Zecore, then turned and bowed to Anga Inayong'aa. "Be well and reign in power, O High Queen. Guard thine-self and thy family with all of thine wisdom, cunning and strength." She lit her horn, preparing a teleportation spell. "Remember, fair Twilight's special gifts art magic and friendship. That is where her strength lies." In a blink of light she and Zecora disappeared.

***

High King Hatua ya Kukimbia sat on his thron, staring ahead blankly. Maneo Laini stood by his side, chanting softly as a shadowy finger twisted itself in the High King's mind, weaving a waking nightmare. The High King's eyes became glassy and foggy as Maneo Laini leaned in close to whisper in his ear.

"Young Twilight lays dead. Poisoned by Celestia. She would rather kill her beloved student and the foal she was bearing than lose her to Zebrica. She seeks to blame all of Zebrica for her student's death and is now conspiring with her fellow princesses to invade Zebrica and overthrow you."

Sweat beaded on Hatua ya Kukimbia's brow, his face twisted and distorted in agony, fearful gasps fell from his lips. A horror show of Celestia burning all of Zebrica as she cackled like a witch played out before his mind's eye.

"Yes! Yes! Hear my words and see my nightmare, and let them become your truth."

The High King's nightmare scene changed to his beloved wife and son conspiring against him, whispering sedition and betrayal behind closed doors. 'Hatua ya Kukimbia must be overthrown. He is unfit to rule and by week's end I shall kill him.' 'My father is unfit to rule. Send word to Equestria. I am now High King of all Zebrica and we are ready to bend the knee to Celestia.'

"You see my High King, even your own household seeks to usurp you. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! You cannot trust them, my High King. You cannot trust anyzebra except myself."

The rattling of the throne room door caught Maneo Laini's attention.

"Who locked this door? Guards! Unlock this door immediately." The High Queens slightly muffled voice came through the locked throne room door.

Maneo Laini quickly withdrew his spell. "Remember, my High King, you cannot trust anyzebra but myself." He quickly retreated out a side door.

A second later a key clicked in the lock, a guard swung open the door and High Queen Anga Inayong'aa walked in. She turned to the guard who unlocked and opened the door. "Find out who ordered this door locked." After the guard bowed and left, she looked to Hatua ya Kukimbia. "Beloved, why are you sitting all alone in the throne room?"

"Celestia ordered Twilight murdered."

"What?"

"She'd rather have her beloved student and the foal in her belly be slain than lose her to Zebrica."

"Celestia is many things, but a murderer is one thing she is not. And if it was her intention to kill Twilight, she would have done it with her own hand, not sent an assassin skulking around in the shadows to poison her."

"But that does not change the fact that Twilight is dead, along with the growing foal in her belly. Poisoned, both of them."

"No. Twilight lives. Though not her growing foal, sadly. You know as well as I that it takes more than that to kill an alicorn." Anga Inayong'aa laid her hand on her husband's cheek and quickly withdrew it. "Husband, you are soaked to the bone! Are you unwell?" She grasped his hand in hers. "Come. Let me take you to our chambers and give you a bath. Then I'll give you a rub down and then..." She raised her eyebrows twice.

***

It was morning and Twilight was wide awake in the ICU. She would have been bitterly crying if not for...

"Bleh!"

The two nurses, one holding the basin that the Crown Princess of Zebrica was currently voiding her stomach into and the other holding her mane, both gagged at the sound and smell, but bit back on their reflexes out of a sense of professionalism.

Twilight leaned away from the handheld basin, wiping her mouth. "I think that's the last of...*urp*...nope!" She immediately leaned her face back over the handheld basin.

After several long minutes of voiding her stomach and getting a shot of anti-nausea medication, Twilight was feeling better...physically. She swung her legs over the side of the bed to stand.

The nurses held their hand in front of them, trying to get the lavender alicorn to lay back down. "Please, our Crown Princess, lay down and rest. You're still unwell."

Using her magic to move the nurses aside, Twilight stood to her hooves and strode to the door. "Bring me my clothes. An assassin poisoned me and ripped my foal from my arms before they could hold it in my arms! As long as this murderer still lives, I shall not rest."

"But your majesty, please!" The nurses grabbed Twilight by the arms, in an attempt to coax her back to the bed, but the lavender alicorn simply shoved them off.

"No! I will walk out of this hospital wearing only this gown if I must! They ripped my foal from me before I even had a chance to hold! NOW STEP ASIDE!" Twilight grabbed the door and violently swung it open, nearly tearing it from its hinges. Outside Tumba was waiting. She shot a glare at the first friend she made in Zebrica. "Don't you dare try to stop me too!"

Tumba held up her hands. "I would never." She looked to the two bewildered nurses. "She is a mother filled with grief from losing a foal and rage because the murderer still lives. I do not have the power to stop her."

Twilight stomped down the hallway of the hospital and turned the corner. She froze in her tracks upon seed Tumba's husband, Hassan, and their two daughters, Al-Gallib and Zeta. Her lips trembled as tears stung her eyes and her legs began to quake like jelly. She brought her hands to her belly, becoming acutely aware of the emptiness where life once grew.

Collapsing to her knees, Twilight covered her face with her hands and sobbed into them.

Immediately Hassan, Al-Gallib and Zeta rushed over to Twilight, enveloping her in a group hug. Tumba rushed from behind and joined the group hug.

Twilight said between heaving sobs, "I was ready! I was ready! They stole my foal from my arms before I could hold it. It hurts so much! I was ready!" She threw her head back and let out a loud keening wail that echoed across the hospital, palace and city.

Zebras and okapi that had come to pledge themselves to Twilight, upon hearing the echoing keening wail, dropped to their knees, tore at their clothes and poured dust over their heads. They cried out in loud voices, "Lament! Lament, O Zebrica! Lament for our returned goddess' foal that was murdered in the womb! Lament!"

Maneo Laini, upon hearing the keening wail, quaked in fright and locked himself in his office. The Nightmare possessing his body trembled in fear. It knew its enemy would hunt it to the ends of the world once she knew of its existence.

***

Far away in the Spider Mountains, a hag, the lich witch who had been hurled down the Black Pit by Zecora, felt a dark trembling. A massive singular red eye appeared in the darkness. "O great Agh! Firstborn of the Father of Monsters! Welcome!"

Out of the darkness strode Agh, the one-eyed demon spider and firstborn of the Father of Monsters. "Enough of your grovelling, Zecoro."

The lich witch curled up the corner of her undead lips in a sneer at the mention of her long discarded name. "That name is no longer mine. I sacrificed it to the Lord of the Pit for power over life, death and darkness."

"And yet you choose to linger here in my domain." Venom dripped from Agh's mandibles and sizzled on the ground. "You forget that it was I who drug from the Black Pit after your sister broke your phylactery and hurled you down it. It was I who used my father's black arts to drag your soul from the Outer Dark so that you could capture it once again in another phylactery. But that is not why I am here."

"Then why have you come, O great Agh, eater of souls and consumer of life"

"My sister, Nightmare, whom you found when all that was left of her was a singular black mote. Nursed her back to strength when you could have eaten her and gave her possession of the body of the High King's seneschal's recently dead body. She could be working to plunge this world into beautiful darkness, instead she blinds herself on this quest of revenge against the younger alicorn, her quest of vengeance against Celestia and her quest to recapture Luna. Just like my father was when he sought his quest for vengeance against Williams. When the younger alicorn discovers my sister and strikes her down, you will not raise a finger to save her. Just as I refused to raise a claw to save my father when Celestia shattered the Rainbow Bridge as he was crossing it. Let her fall and let her cry out and let her weep in her suffering. Those who lose sight of the dark path deserve to suffer and die." Webs of darkness surrounded the demon spider. "The gaze of the sisters searches for me so I must depart for now. Continue on the dark path and do not let your thoughts of vengeance on your sister, Zecora blind you."

The lich witch bowed her head low. "I hear and obey, O great and terrible Agh."

Author's Note

Now the dark players are all revealed.

Is this a reference to G1 and Megan Williams? Yes and no. Yes it is a reference to G1 and Megan Williams. No, it is not the canonical Megan Williams, but instead an alternate universe Megan where when she crossed the Rainbow Bridge, she entered into a world of humanoid ponies.