//------------------------------// // Land of Nightmares // Story: The Umbra Queen // by Car Cloth //------------------------------// If others were still fighting, Rarity didn’t know nor care. She stared up at the colossal monstrosity in front of her, conveying as much emotion through her gaze as possible. In the short second where everything was still and her vision a tunnel focused solely on the Nightmare Gem, Rarity thought she had reached him. Then came a low rumble; a dark, terrible growling that originated from the very core of the Ruin Worm. The Nightmare Gem, already a dark blood red, suddenly became darker, turning a shade of reddish-black. Everything began to shake, including the castle, and the shadows that were once fighting the ponies began to twist and warp about as if in agony. “S-Sombra, no- you don’t understand,” Queen Chrysalis said, still in the form of Rarity. “That’s a changeling! She’s trying to trick you! Everything is going according to plan!” The Ruin Worm rose up slightly and screeched at ear-shattering levels. Everypony in the nearby radius had to shield their ears or risk losing their hearing. Rarity, unable to balance on the window sill and cover her ears, fell back into the castle with her hooves wrapped around her head. When she looked up she was surprised to see the shadows in the room spreading over everything, muting colors and reducing visibility. When the shadows crept over Rarity she felt a powerful sense of hate along with them. A deep-seated hate that coursed through the darkness… Perhaps it was hate for being manipulated, perhaps it was hate from being left alone for so long… perhaps it was hate for not seeing the truth of the matter… Rarity didn’t know. All she knew was that it was Sombra’s hate she was feeling. And it was fueling the terrible power of the Nightmare Gem. “Sombra!” she tried to call to him from within the throne room. He was going to lose himself to the Nightmare Gem if he allowed his hate to grow. “Sombra! Please calm down! You’ll only make it worse-” KA-BOOM! CRASH! The very end of the throne room exploded downward as the tail of the Ruin Worm smashed away the every end of the castle. The throne, the wall behind the throne, and another stained glass window went sailing down to the bottom of the valley, leaving a huge gaping hole in their place. Wind rushed inside and Rarity could see the Ruin Worm thrashing uncontrollably. Queen Chrysalis managed to jump from the creature to the shattered throne room, landing heavily and then rolling into a standing position. She turned her gaze straight to Rarity and glared. “What. Have. You. Done.” Rarity attempted to stand but the changeling queen was too fast. Chrysalis impaled Rarity in the shoulder with her unicorn horn and then threw her to the ground. Rarity’s soft white coat was stained crimson along her front left leg, but she didn’t immediately feel the pain. Adrenaline took care of that. Rarity’s shadow, not fast enough to stop the queen from getting to her, lashed out, attempting to harm Chrysalis. With a burst of powerful magic, Chrysalis destroyed the shadow, shattering it into the magical fragments before it wasted away into incorporeal dust. Chrysalis advanced on Rarity again, but this time Rarity was ready. She used her telekinesis to bring the shattered remains of the stained glass window over in a hail of deadly projectile objects. Chrysalis easily stepped out of the way and allowed the glass to the shatter against the nearby wall. Her gaze never left Rarity. “Foolish child,” Chrysalis hissed in her odd two-tone voice. “What were you planning!? Your presence here will ruin everything!” She lunged for Rarity. Frightened, and unable to stand in time, Rarity closed her eyes and braced herself. Chrysalis threw her onto the ground with a powerful shove. Planting her hooves on Rarity’s chest, pinning her to the floor, Chrysalis stood over her. “What did you think would happen?” Chrysalis repeated in a dark voice. Rarity gulped down air and tried to think. Her gaze slowly shifted to the shadows in the room. They were… turning into monsters! She was watching them form into twisted nightmare creatures with barely any form, just shadowy bodies with no faces! Dragons, chimaeras, wolves… every nightmare possible! Even the colors had left... drained from the room and the once beautiful windows. “W-what’s happening?” Rarity said, though it was hard to breathe with the changeling resting heavily on her lungs. “The Nightmare Gem! It feeds on hate, you stupid pony! How can you not have seen!? Was this what you planned all along!? Revealing the treachery has only enraged him!” It had never occurred to Rarity that Sombra would lose himself to the Nightmare Gem entirely. She thought… she thought Sombra would turn on Chrysalis and that he would fight for her, not become a destructive force on his own! Rarity found it hard to think with her lack of air. The shadow monsters were drawing closer now… encircling Chrysalis and Rarity. Right before the shades attacked, a bolt of chaotic energy washed over the room. The magic dispelled the beasts, but only for a short time. Moments after they were destroyed the shadows began to form again. Black crystals were now lining the edges of the room… Rarity turned and saw Discord and Fluttershy fly into the throne room. From the vacant look in Discord’s eyes she knew this to be General Ecdysis. “My queen!” Ecdysis called out, running to Chrysalis’s side. “Sombra has been attacking our changeling forces! Call him off! I beg you!” Even in his Fluttershy illusion he looked pained and broken. Rarity wasn’t sure where Apple Jack was, but she was certain Apple Jack gave him his fair share of bruises. Please let her be safe. “The Nightmare Gem controls Sombra now, thanks to this mare! He knows he was being manipulated! His angry, fear and hate drove him to this! We’ll kill this one and try to salvage what we can- tell the warriors to focus on fighting Celestia!” Ecdysis shook his head. “My queen, you can’t kill this one or else you’ll never be able to control Sombra again! And the warriors cannot face Celestia! She would destroy them in an instant!” Chrysalis hissed in disgust but didn’t disagree. Rarity remembered what the changelings workers had said about impersonating dead ponies… changelings couldn’t feed on their love then. “Hhiiisss…” A twisted shadow creature suddenly slashed at Ecdysis, cutting him on his flank. Chrysalis lazily turned and destroyed the shadows in the room with her powerful magic, but Ecdysis now had black crystals sprouting up on his body. Wherever the crystals sprouted his illusion faded, and they continued to spread throughout his body. Falling to the floor, Ecdysis writhed in agony. “My q-queen… Make it stop…” He was rasping his words and Chrysalis looked at him in annoyance. With a tiny portion of her magic she stopped the growth of the crystals but did not remove them. He was no longer in pain, but his back leg couldn’t move and his illusion had been dropped. CRASH! The entire castle shook and another ear-shattering screech filled the air. As Rarity struggled to breathe she realized nothing looked as it did before. Everything was black and white, the castle was covered in black crystals and now cracks were forming in all the walls. It was a nightmare world all around her… the power of the Nightmare Gem at work… “Enough!” Rarity turned and saw Twilight Sparkle and Celestia fly through the gaping hole on the throne room. Although all color had drained, Rarity could still visualize Celestia’s glowing radiance and Twilight’s lavender coat. She was glad they made it. “Ecdysis, order your beast on them.” Although barely able to move, Ecdysis motioned with his arm. Discord immediately flew into action, attacking Celestia first. Twilight and Celestia were ready, both combining their magic to create a field of magic that slowed everything down but them. Discord slowly came at them, but they moved away from him and quickly went for Ecdysis. With one powerful blast of magic, Twilight rendered the weakened general unconscious. Discord suddenly went limp, still caught in the slowing spell. “Surrender, Chrysalis!” Celestia demanded. “Command Sombra to stop and-” The Ruin Worm suddenly destroyed another chunk of the throne room, this time collapsing another wall. Debris flew through the air, covering everypony and everything. Chrysalis took this unexpected distraction to leap off Rarity and use her super-charged magic on Celestia. In one debilitating blow, she hit the white alicorn in the chest and caused her to seize up in pain. Celestia fell to the floor, stunned and unable to breathe correctly. “No!” Twilight gasped, ready with her own spell. It hit Chrysalis and stunned her for a moment, but it wasn’t nearly enough. The changeling queen began laughing manically. “Don’t you understand!? I’m god-like! I’ve fed on enough of Sombra’s love to rival Celestia! You’re nothing to me! And once I’ve taken care of you, I’ll find a way to gain control of Sombra again and then rule all of Equestia! Nay, not all Equestria- the world! Me and changelings! Forever!” The Ruin Worm finally burst through the wall, its massive head slithering into the room, bringing with it the smell of death and rotting carcasses. Rarity stood up and glanced out the shattered wall. Canterlot was in ruins. The citizens had fled or were dead. The supports to the city were crumbling. The colors were gone and the monsters of nightmares and shadows were feeding on the bodies left behind. Were these the nightmares trapped in the dark magic that Sombra had to suffer through? Were these the beasts that ate fear and hatred? The very shadows themselves? With Luna incapacitated, Celestia on the verge of collapse and Twilight unable to damage Chrysalis… what were they do to do about Sombra? His hate had to be quelled or else this darkness might consume everyone- not just him. Twilight flew in front of the Ruin Worm. “Sombra! I command you to- erp!” A powerful shadow tendril launched her from the throne room, leaving behind a trail of purple feathers. The Ruin Worm crawled further inside, slanting the floor with its weight and pulling down the whole room. General Ecdysis slid toward the hole in the wall where the throne had once been, unable to stop himself. He was too weak to fly. “Ch-Chrysalis,” he gasped. She ignored him. He tumbled out of the room with quick inhale of shock. With shadows pouring from its very pores, the Ruin Worm turned its attention to Rarity and Chrysalis. Queen Chrysalis immediately stepped forward. “Sombra! It’s me! I’ve come to be with you!” Rarity, barely able to walk, limped closer to the Ruin Worm. “No! Don’t listen to her! It’s Chrysalis! The changeling queen!” “I would never lie to you!” “Please! See that it’s me!” The more they pleaded with him, the more powerful the shadows became. He was confused, frightened, angry… everything the Nightmare Gem needed to consume him and drive him toward evil. Rarity had to try something different! This would never work! She needed some way to prove she was the real Rarity before Sombra would give her a chance! “I… I know about your brother and your s-sister!” Rarity grasped for anything. “I know why you lost your cutie mark that night in the snow! How you found the Nightmare Gem in the first place!” “She’s a trickster!” Chrysalis insisted. “I know about the arctic timberwolves as well! Changelings can feed on your thoughts! Don’t listen to her! She’s only trying to confuse you!” No! Rarity forcefully closed her eyes and tried to think. There was nothing she could say if Chrysalis knew his thoughts! She could parrot anything Rarity said... Rarity opened her eyes and felt the floor tilt just a little further. The Ruin Worm was waiting, as though debating on what it should do. Rarity was ready to take that decision into her own hooves. Without warning, Rarity summoned the last of her strength to leap at Chrysalis. She hit the changeling hard enough to send them through the hole in the wall, right passed the Ruin Worm. Together they went, over the edge, plummeting to the valley below. Chrysalis stared at her with wide-eyed disbelief as they began their quick descent. In that fraction of a second she realized Rarity’s plan and her expression turned to pure maddening rage. Chrysalis had two options. She could transform, allowing her to fly and save herself, but in return, revealing her true nature to Sombra. Or… they could both fall to the ground, wherein Rarity would die and Chrysalis would most likely live, but it would sever Chrysalis’s power with Sombra and ultimately leave her to the mercy of the enraged Ruin Worm. Everything was happening in slow motion for Rarity. She saw the Ruin Worm turn to watch them fall, its dark reddish black “eye” never breaking line of sight. She saw Chrysalis fighting the battle within herself to make a decision. And she also saw the ground coming up fast, as though she were playing an especially deadly game of chicken, one in which she didn’t have the option to swerve. But… this was it. Her final gambit. Her trump card. Once, a few years ago, Sombra had been willing to give up everything to protect her. Even his life. Now… she was ready to return that favor. Moments before the landing, Chrysalis dropped her illusion form and took flight, saving herself and watching as Rarity continued downward. There were only seconds to spare, but that was all Sombra needed. The shadows at the valley floor flooded in like land-dwelling clouds and caught Rarity before she shattered against the earth. The Ruin Worm coiled off the wreckage of the castle and slithered its way down the mountain, not bothering to heed any structure or creature in its way. It was coming for Rarity and she waited with bated breath.