Harmonius: Song of the Imprisoned Maiden

by Basic13

Interlude: Red in Horn and Claw

It chased the interloper who dared to trespass upon its Mother's domain, chasing after the mass of corrupted data as the data flew to an unauthorized external data port in the Tower. The corrupted data evaded its attempts, but finally it grabbed onto a string of the anomalous data and shredded with its claws, taking savage pleasure as the entire segments of the data were defragmented and deleted under the assault, to dissolve into the sea of information that surrounded it.

No! NO! Its prey had escaped! Must delete! Must Kill! Without a second thought, it followed the data into the port.

---

It did not how long it was lost in the data transference and it did not know where it was. All it cared about was its the purpose its creator had tasked to it, but it felt not its prey. It felt itself rapidly fragmenting and being deleted in this strange place, away from Mother's song--so it searched. It passed over many strange places, but cared not for them--only for finding the one who had trespassed and angered mother.

Then, suddenly, it felt a sense of energy that was a Song but not a Song--however, it felt the emotion and intent of the song: anger and the desire to cause suffering. It was a kindred song to what the creature had always known. As it was, it would not be able to find its prey before it was deleted, so it fled to the source of Song to take refuge.

---

In a small, unassuming house in the Crystal Empire, a unicorn of dark coat, totally unassuming from any other citizen of the populace, slept and dreamed wicked dreams of desire and conquest. He dreamed of casting all the ponies of this pitiful place under his thrall where they should rightfully be, and ruling as their king!

In his sleep, the unicorn did not see the strange mass of energy materialize in his room, manifesting into a figure that could only be described as a demon escaped from the very pits of Tartarus itself. The demon regarded the unicorn, saliva dripping from its wicked fangs barred, and it flexed its curved claws. Reaching out out, it touched the tip of a claw of a claw to the unicorn's horn, and seemed to be adsorbed into it.

The unicorn did not awaken, even as his mane darkened to such a hue that it seemed to adsorb the very light itself, and his teeth sharpened into vicious fangs that a pony would never require in nature. In his sleep, his dreams were suddenly filled with a wonderful sirens song that spoke to the uniform, granting him the knowledge of how he could achieve his desires and so much more. Awakening, the pony's eyes snapped open, revealing the now red irises and the otherworldly green that had overtaken the normal white. Bearing his fang grinned, and his horn, once gray, was now red as the blood of the innocents that was soon to stain the streets of his future kingdom.

He did not notice the odd echo that had overtaken his voice as he let out a wicked laugh. "Soon, crystal ponies, I shall smother your light and you all bow before King Sombra!" he declared, walking to his window and staring out at them. All the while, a seductive song whispered in his air, giving him such knowledge and telling of such magics that he had never known--that this world had never seen!

And so the Shadow from another world waited and recovered inside its host, corrupting him like a disease--like a Virus.

It would never know that one of its kin would follow it in service of their Mother, nor would it care. It would fulfill its task and return to Mother one day. That was its only purpose.

---

In the frigid fields around the Crystal Empire, a red horn pulsed with dark magic, buried in a drift where it had been flung when its hosts very form had been shattered by the radiant song from that heart. It didn't matter to the Shadow, its host had served its purpose, and it heard the Song of its Mother calling out out to it, awakening it once.

Taking hold of the ravished soul of its host that laid trapped with it in the horn, the Shadow needn't fear fading in this strange place now that its former host supplied it with power.

And King Sombra screamed as his very soul was savaged and leeched, now nothing more than a tool for the very thing that had gifted him his dark powers to begin with.

The Shadow searched once more.