Shadows fall and screech across the land for all eternity to remember. Time itself can stand still, waiting, yearning for a reason to be called upon to remember. Adventures happen, wars are waged, dynasties raised and felled by the will of whatever group of enemies they had. However, peace lulls those it touches, wills them into believing they are so safe in their havens and homes. Those who know this prepare and constantly worry about the shaky peace. They know for a fact that there are villains in the universe that would destroy the peace and plunge the world into chaos. Some of these villains are defeated. Some are redeemed. Some fade from existence into the murky shadows of life and death. Who is to say which of these fates is truly permanent and which is but a vague and immeasurable concept with no real substance?
Nobody in existence can truly calculate the truth and impossibility behind the world. People who are impossibly smart comprehend less than even those with a scrap of book smarts seem to grasp with certainty. Those with such innocence that they do not comprehend even the smallest scrape of the natural world can rise to power and lead their peons and aristocrats to selfless recognition. Such is the probability that even the smallest dose of reality will draw out the rot and decay of weak leaders and serve to solidify the very belief that all rulers are mad, even in the face of a benevolent leader that works their absolute hardest to protect the people from the evils of the people that they regard so coldly, so cynically, and so fearfully. It is a cold world, full of love and wanton innocence, yet sharp and unknown hatred that lies just below the surface of warmth. The world so coated in recognition of beauty and ignorance of sacrifice. Darkness branded on those who walk in the light, not a one understanding the plight of the people who pull the strings.
Nobody knew the cold harshness of the false innocence than Princesses Celestia and Luna. Two princesses, both with their share of mistakes, could scarcely believe the graveness in the universe, coalescing in somewhere in the far East. The latter, once known as Nightmare Moon, did not even know whether or not this was the work of someone as powerful as them. However, Celestia knew what Luna herself did not.
"Tia, dear sister." Luna began the nickname from their childhood so natural on her tongue. Her voice, full of richness and power with the slightest tone of concern and warmth tucked away, cut the silence of the castle and the cold air of the night. She turned from the open window, the light filtering from the moon untainted by glass playing off of the room, highlighting the shadows along her face, before continuing. "What do you suppose it is? What could draw such malicious and vile power like that? Never before has anything like this been drawn out and revealed in such a vast quantity at once!" The lack of immediate response from Celestia worried Luna. Drawn out silences almost never occurred between them. Her sister was always the very textbook definition of calm and calculating. Nothing could ever shake her enough to not have an answer at attention and out of her mouth.
Sometimes, Luna believed that nobody in the known world could ever put her off guard. But sometimes, the emotion that Celestia kept bottled up leaked out, with violent outbursts. She herself was an example. Luna had become jealous of the radiant Alicorn. She wanted the love of the ponies they led all for herself. The jealousy overtook her and she became the very thing that they had fought together many times. Nightmare Moon. The very incarnation of her jealousy and power. Evil and anger bonded with seeds that misunderstanding had planted. For her sins, she was banished to the moon for a millennium, imprisoned and allowed to let her rage fester. It become more potent over the time. When she returned to the world, however, she was defeated by Six Ponies. Led by Celestia's pupil, Twilight Sparkle, these ponies rediscovered the Elements of Harmony and cleansed Luna of the taint known as Nightmare Moon. Celestia forgave Luna, but something inside her told her that words were easily given but feelings mended slowly.
"Luna." Celestia began. "This is a grave threat to the entire world. Something so dark. I fear that somebody is gathering as much power as they can for a dark deed. I can only hope that we have the preparations in order to defend. A power of this mass could wipe us off the map for good." The gravity of the situation was very clear in the tone of Celestia's voice. Something was the matter in the world. Could something be forming. Or was something coming back to this world? Either way only one course of action could truly prepare them for this. "Get a hold of Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance at once. Prepare to send a message to Twilight and her friends. Above all get ready to cast some powerful counter magic!" Celestia told her sister. "And above all: don't let anybody chase after that power just yet!"
Celestia turned back to the window as Luna made her way to carry out those orders. Her face lit up with worry even more so than it had before.
"What are you planning..?" She muttered softly to herself.
Cold, irritable power blossomed across the snow, miles outside the Crystal Empire. Changelings, so evil and vile, roamed the snows so far from their home, looking for something. Tendrils of blackened light touched the ground, melting large amounts of the glacial ground, all radiating from one source. Atop a small plateau sat the queen of changelings herself. Queen Chrysalis, surrounded by large groups of ponies, eyes glazed and kneeling to her, each one of them leaking off their own glow, which the Changeling Queen hungrily absorbing the essence. Their love. It was all so sickeningly clear. She was using the love collected from these poor, misguided souls, in order to fuel her search. Whatever she was looking for, it was powerful, a tool for great evil. The very thing that Luna and Celestia feared was at hand. She was a cold, heartless, and wretched being. Her comeback was at hand. Her revenge, so sweet and disgusting, was close enough for her smirk to be explainable without words.
"My queen." One of the scurry changelings announced. "We have found exactly what you have sent us to find." Darkness seemed to grip the air, and he held out the one thing that had drawn this ruckus. A horn shaped object, mostly red and speckled with pewter coloring, roughly 6 inches in length and curved greatly. Such a thing was almost grand, in it's majesty, yet at the same time ugly. Evil, and yet at the same time, kind. Such a thing existing was an oxymoron of existence. So many conflicting things about the horn existed to describe it, yet at the same time: none. Whatever this was, it had strength, evil, and life. And these Changelings were going to take advantage of it, no doubt.
"Very good, my slaves." Rattled the voice of Chrysalis, such malleable contempt present in her voice and visible in her eyes that it seemed to drip invisibly to the ground. "With the horn of King Sombra, I can bring him back and plunge all of Equestria into darkness! I can finally have the vengeance I so deserve!" Her laugh at her own words was just as scornful as her tone of speaking, and the drone of all the changelings even more so.
Sudden silence gripped the glacier as Chrysalis raised her horn skyward, the tip aglow with black light. Clouds above, struck by a sudden pillar from the tip of her horn swirled like whirlpools, all centering on an army of evil beings. Far above the clouds, lightning crackled, making its way to the bottom and arcing from cloud, streaking the sky with light even in the unnatural darkness. It seemed only natural that the clouds loomed overhead, it fit the mood of hatred and cold that filled the air. For a while, the wind did not exist, but as the clouds began their slow descent towards the changeling people, it kicked up, stirring dust and ice.
Chrysalis was stroking the horn with a look that seemed very suspiciously similar to endearment. She seemed unconcerned with what her magic was doing. In fact, she knew exactly was going on. She planned on carrying the thousands of changelings back to their land of Siofra. Of course, she not only planned to do it, she was going to do it. The power she had from the pony slaves was so potent it was enough to conquer anything she wanted. But, she knew better than to challenge Equestria without equally powerful back-up. As for whether Sombra would be enough to defeat anyone Celestia had tucked away? She'd drop back ten and punt. But as for now, she didn't know yet. Too many variables.
As the cloud touched the ground around the party of changelings, lights in the cloud flashed, causing the tornado-like cloud to distort before slowly shrinking into a microscopic ball, which proceeded to explode into a blast of white light.
Travel through this form of magical projection was almost beautiful, in Chrysalis's eyes. With the darkness, speckled with the occasional star and rock, it was melancholy. Touches of sound roared in the ears of everyone, though they ignored them rather easily with a bit of training. Very few knew of this kind of magic. And anyone who did rarely used it as it expended more magical power than it was worth. Besides that, for every person transported, the cost exponentially shot up, something that was excusable for one or two people, but almost murderous when the band exceeded five, and genocide at the level the changeling queen was performing at. It was taxing, very taxing, but the reason she could handle it was the very nature of the changeling.
The more love she absorbed from a living being, the more powerful she got. It was a pure power source, much stronger than pure hatred, but it was harder to extract safely. In preparation for this very journey, she had turned hundreds of ponies into dead husks, besides just the ones she was carrying with her now. Sucking them dry required little to no effort on her part. Just a small amount of hypnosis coupled with a few sweet words and they were eager to feed her their lives, their willpower, and their hearts. The thought of it, exhilarated her greatly and made her laugh with darkness.
Touchdown was smooth as the cloud deposited them in Siofra, a place that was gloomy, covered in black and blue, and smelled vaguely of blood. Most races would shirk away from any form of interaction here, but Chrysalis loved it. No place like home, so they say.
But now she ignored the home she would usually revel in. Too much to do at this present moment to love her home. Her movement brought her swiftly to her castle, and she stormed to the back room she had prepared. The door opened by her gesture with her horn and revealed a stone statue, roughly in the shape of a unicorn without a horn in the very center. All part of the plan that needed to unfurl before the ponies could be defeated. All part of a well crafted scheme that had taken time to shape, yet shaped together so perfectly it was almost like machine worked piece of artwork. Anything that got in the way of this plan was as good as dead. Anything that tried to stop anything that Chrysalis dead was quickly stomped, burned, and brushed out of sight. Out of sight and out of mind. But nobody could ever get in the way enough to be a massive nuisance.
She wasted no time jamming the horn into the statue, the cracking from horn upon stone resounding in the chamber and echoing for several seconds. The horn jammed into the statue glowed, covering it with an eerie green layer of oil-like power. With a blast of purple magic, Chrysalis struck at the horn and statue combo, sending shocks of purple bolts and sparks over the stony surface. Cracks began to run along the Petrified piece of art, cracks that allowed black and green to pass through them. Minutes passed, cracks forming in greater and greater quantities, statue beginning to shake and roar. Light began to bathe the chamber even more than it had earlier. It all built up until, suddenly and very explosively it shattered, spraying rocks everywhere.
Chrysalis was forced to shield her eyes, sprays of rock and washes of dust bombarding her, causing a stinging feeling in her skin. The air became even heavier than it had been, everything in the room seemed to slow, and to fall to the ground. Evil leaked about, touching everything with a vile yet sweet feel, like lapping up water covered in oil whilst parched. It burned, yet gave an agonizing pleasure. Everything about it was joyous, momentous, powerful. It inspired fear and hatred and awe. Everything was revealed to Chrysalis in this very moment. Everything of how others, those she had conquered, felt in her presence. And she loved every second of it. To know how much her presence caused distress only enhanced her desire to rule and destroy everything of her own free will. It made her yearn, a burning in her chest, a cry in her mind. Everything about her wanted to make every being in the world feel the dread she currently felt. She wanted to make them feel it tenfold! No! One Thousand Fold. It was amazing, just how much it caused her to want to spread destruction. The very feeling made her realize what she wanted in this world. But her wild, rampaging desires were cut short by a growl in that grated across her ears.
"So. I awaken after only a month. This time it was quick." The voice was deliberate, yet somehow full of the maddening qualities that a killer possessed. The brew that was sound foamed and seethed with the derision and contempt that it was holding. Scorn scorched where notice was given and heat built up in the air. "Changeling queen, you are very good. However, I do not know that I will ally with you. I have no idea what you want."
Chrysalis looked up from covering her eyes. The unicorn before her , King Sombra, so surrounded by magic and clouds of what seemed to be heavy power filled balls of gas, glared at her with an intensity it his eyes. An intensity that was only magnified by the green-fire glowing about them. Something about him cut through the happiness that Chrysalis had felt at reviving him. Made her into a fearful heap of emotions. Something about him made her feel worthless. Suddenly everything felt hopeless, as if all the light in the world drained away around this man. She had trouble focusing. Her breathing seemed as if it came out thousands of times slower than it actually was. She felt as if she was drowning. The very presence of this demonic Unicorn was causing her to become almost impossibly gone. She was too far from life, too far from love.
And suddenly it hit her. He wasn't just called Sombra. His magic, that lived around him, made everyone somber. He was the very spirit of depression. He could mask the room with shadows and cold, and make everything seem gone. But something about him seemed sort of bemused. The power he radiated was his own choice. He knew exactly what it did to everyone around him. And he enjoyed it. Everything that he touched or gazed at, became a ball of uncertainty. Everything he wanted gone, could disappear. Everything he hated, would shrivel up and die without much effort on his part. He was so powerful, and yet something about him seemed oh so weak. He could not stop. Once he had tread down the path of darkness, nothing could bring him back. But she had to leash him. She had to use her words to bring him to her side. Even if that meant she lied about how certain she was that her goals, no, not just hers, but both of their goals could easily be realized.
"I am going to conquer the world." She began, lowering the amount of fear she allowed to leak out. "I am going to kill every pony who dares oppose me. I will conquer the rest, and crush their spirits until nothing is left. But I must destroy the Princesses and their little subjects as well. I must kill all who can defeat me. And who have defeated not just me, but you, before. And for that, King Sombra, I need your help."
Sombra's smirk of hatred quickly turned into one of knowledge. Now she was speaking his language. Just as suddenly as it began, the oppressive feelings rolled off of Chrysalis. She began to lose all of the despair she had previously felt. And she didn't know why. But Sombra just stood, sticking his horn to her without speaking. After a moment, she got his meaning and crossed horns with him as to combine magic. The power flowed out of their horns and shot away quickly.
It left Siofra, and within minutes turned the sunlight into a blood red tint. Everything that the light once nourished became mottled and angry. Every bit of happiness in the air was crushed down by a blot of hatred and fear. A dark cloud rolled up, passing over every bit of land, killing large amounts of plants and blocking more and more light as it went. The cloud, grew in size and speed. And it was headed straight for Ponyville.
Author's Note
Whoever can point out the reference to another piece of Fantasy gets brownie points.
Anyone who can tell me what Siofra means also wins brownie points.
