> Duel of the Dark > by CreatureofTheNight > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Duel of the Dark > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the Kingdom of the Changelings, Queen Chrysalis was sitting on her throne. Her mind was filled with thoughts of a glorious revenge towards the ponies of Equestria, on impaling their supposed Princess of the Light with her horn, and just watching her blood trickle down, making their new Crystal Princess' face covered with her spell and watching her choke to death on it, smiling even wider as she watched their newest Princess, as reported by one of her changelings in disguise, watching all of these atrocities and then crushing her head under her leg as she watched all her friends die. These thoughts of a glorious vengeance coursed through her mind, that is, until one of her changelings walked into the door. Chrysalis groaned. "I was having a quite pleasant thought, what is the meaning of this?" she roared. The changeling glanced at her and scooted over a bizarre looking book. "A book? What is the meaning of this?" she asked looking at the book. The thing was pitch black, and had several spikes on the top of the front of it. It looked evil; Chrysalis loved it. The Changeling was quiet. "Well? Answer me!" Chrysalis demanded, trying to keep up her facade of anger while she was boiling with excitement to open it and feel the old pages between her hooves. The changeling nodded. "This is a book on Dark Magic, written by the original maker of the magic of Hatred and Fear, King Sombra," he said to his ruler. "It just showed up suddenly, my lady. There was a page of the book that is book marked." The book was covered in Chrysalis's green magic as it floated to her. She opened it to the page and paused. "What is this lunacy?" she asked. "Necromancy, the art of raising ponies from the dead." She giggled excitedly, then masked it as a laugh of annoyance. "Old mares tales, nothing more. She groaned as she looked at her changeling, trying to be annoyed. "What sort of idiocy is is this?" The Changeling looked at her, his wings buzzing slightly as he shrugged "Really, look at this buffoonery." She read the first paragraph, which was highlighted. "For the body of the King is weak, the soul is there, with my power I resurrect the soul of the King in a new form, with free will in front of my eyes here." Not noticing that the book was oozing a dark sickly magic underneath. She laughed out loud at that. "I mean really, only a damn fool would believe that would even..." She was interrupted by her horn glowing the color of Dark Magic and uncontrollably firing near her changeling. The blast erupted a pillar of darkness as a thick black crystal started to surround the area. The heat of a roaring black fire filled the room as something slowly rose from the ashes. The Crystals started to rotate and spin at an amazing speed as the pitch grew green eyes with red irises and purple smoke coming out of them. A deep voice emanated from the crystals. "Finally, some foolish pony read the incantation. I would thank you for this, but now I must destroy you!" A smile full of teeth appeared on its face. "After all, I can't have you warning your precious Princess of the Light, can I?" The crystals spun faster than ever before as an explosion of Dark Magic formed the fallen King Sombra right before Queen Chrysalis's eyes. He paused as he looked at Chrysalis's eyes. "What?" "You've got to be kidding me?! It actually worked?" Chrysalis exclaimed, standing up. "I hate to break it to you Sombra, but I am no pony. I am Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings." Sombra looked at her, a strange look in his eyes. "Changelings? The ones exiled from Equestria from the Great War?" he asked. She rolled her eyes, "That was 1000 years ago, my great, great, great, great, grandmother lead the way, before she was humiliated." She then paused as she remembered all the rumors that happened involving the Crystal Empire's return and the fall of this King Sombra. King Sombra, the unicorn of dark magic, a master of payback, and a way for revenge. "However, that is the past after all, it seems we have a common aim, if the rumors were true about your recent, set back" Chrysalis bated Sombra. Sombra glared the Queen. "Yes, I was defeated by those cursed ponies, they dare destroy me and take my kingdom from me!?" He cried in anger. "I am King Sombra, the ruler of all of the Crystal Empire, the rightful King of Equestria, and I will not have some damn idiotic alicorns taking my place! You, though...why do you care about these rumors? What do you mean by a common aim?" Chrysalis's tone shifted as memories of her own defeat swirled in her mind, and in. "Changelings feed on love, and dear Equestria has so much love that taking over it is essential to feed myself and my subjects," Chrysalis replied coldly as she approached Sombra. "We had a perfect plan, and thanks to dumb luck we ended up being cast out back to home." She paused for a minute, then continued. "Plus, since the blast was full of love, my subjects and were at least fed for a while; however, we've been leaching off other locations for food in secret." Chrysalis groaned. "Less appetizing then Equestrian love, but I can deal with it." Sombra looked at her. "So, if you want Equestrian love, why don't you just go back there and feed in secret?" he asked. "I tried, it didn't end well..." A sigh emanated from Chrysalis. "Let's just say I was humiliated is a gross understatement, but conquering Equestria is a bonus! Now I want the only thing that should matter to me." Her teeth gritted and anger seeped into the air. "Revenge, for the humiliation at those fools hoofs!" Chrysalis completely forgot her poise as she giggled slightly, images of revenge swirling in her mind. "Celestia will lie dead on the ground in a heap of her own blood, her sister on the moon for all eternity if she doesn't agree to turn into Nightmare Moon and help me crush those witless fools. Cadence and Shining Armor will be on their knees begging for forgiveness, but I will not give it as I execute them! Then, I will destroy the so called 'heroes' of Equestria, make everypony kneel before me and my glory as my subjects take over the Kingdom for our new home, and, the kicker for all of this, I'll make Equestria's newest Princess watch this all happen! Only when the hope fades from her eyes as she sees my glorious rise to power will she gain my mercy as I kill her!" She laughed in total glee. "Then, and only then, will she gain my mercy and I shall let her die!" Sombra just looked at Chrysalis, amused at her actions and gaining a bit of affection for one almost as cruel as he. "You certainly have a goal set." he said to her. "I admire your drive, for I seek vengeance for what they have done towards me." Sombra smirked. "My goal is a bit less homicidal as yours, but it is easily as cruel. I take back what is rightfully mine, and then have Equestria at my mercy. I will not grant them the peace of death," he looked at Chrysalis. "No, no, I will have then begging me to end their suffering, begging me to kill them, but I will not be so kind as to grant that request. Those damn fools of a ponies will all be working constantly, making all ponies of Equestria my slaves, and none of them will be spared the pain. None of them will be slaughtered, even as they beg their king for such mercy. " Sombra cried out in pride as he practically was salivating at the thought of this vengeance. He then looked at her, an evil expression on his face that she returned knowing fully well what he was going to ask. "Perhaps we can work together towards a compromise, if you are interested," he proposed. Chrysalis looked at Sombra. "I'm listening," she said with great interest, after all, this is an offer from a King. Sombra walked to her. "You just want revenge for your humiliation more than Equestria, don't you?" he asked. Chrysalis nodded after a long bit of silence, admitting to herself that's what she wanted. "At the end of the day it is what I desire." "I want Equestria at my mercy, begging me for forgiveness after I exact my own vengeance for humiliating me so. So here's my compromise: You get revenge, you slaughter all of that accursed purple unicorn's little group, and then we can divide Equestrian rule for our own desires, or you can just go home with your changelings, makes no difference to me," Sombra said. Chrysalis smiled at that and said "All of Equstria at our mercy, my changelings getting the perfect meal to last them for thousands of years, and finally..." She pauses, her face covered with an evil glee. "Finally, I will see those damn ponies suffer for their actions. I will make them suffer as I have suffered!" "I have just one minor request before we start planning," Sombra added. Chrysalis paused at that, but the King smiled and said, "I request a tour of your kingdom, nothing more. I need to see where I will be staying where I will be planning our glorious rise to power after all." Chrysalis looked at him oddly, but then again who was she to argue with the former King of the Crystal Empire. "Okay, then, I don't see why not." She looked at one of her Changelings. "You, prepare the subjects for King Sombra's arrival, we are going to tour the Kingdom starting with my castle. Do not delay." The Changeling nodded and left quickly. Sombra paused at that, surprised at such actions from someone who was just gleefully talking about disemboweling Celestia earlier. "You are very, kind to your subjects," he noticed almost in silent contemplation. "But perhaps I am wrong." Chrysalis, oblivious to the tone, had a small smile, which caused Sombra to pause and look away from her almost like he was embarrassed. "Yes, they're great, so loyal, so obedient, and so much more powerful than they let on. They had their so called heroes beat." Sombra had to admit that was pretty impressive, but still this doesn't feel right to him. She groaned remembering the second part. "Then they got lucky." She looked at him. "Forgive me, let me begin the tour." Chrysalis started to walk to parts of the Castle, Sombra following behind her, slowly thinking about something that crossed his mind from time to time. The tour proceeded as intended, Chrysalis leading Sombra around her castle, and eventually her kingdom. Along the way she started to chat with her subjects who treated their Queen with the utmost respect-almost on the level of Princess Celestia back at Equestria-and Sombra was taking notice of this, and looking down every time. Every time Chrysalis complimented her subjects on their work, even when they failed, Sombra kept jotting it down as he started to think about something underneath Chrysalis's notice. Underneath all the rage and demur, she's no different that Celestia, at least to her own subjects, he noticed critically. Eventually the tour ended as Chrysalis started to walk towards her throne room. "There we go, the mightiest Kingdom in all of the world." She got about half way to the throne room when suddenly she found herself surrounded by Black Crystals. The Queeen zipped around and noticed Somba's horn glowing. "What is the meaning of this!?" She screamed at him. Sombra glared at her and said "You are weak! You claim yourself to be a strong ruler, when you are but a buffoon, a damn fool deluding herself into having the title of Queen." Sombra walked to her throne and sat down. "You treat your subjects as your equals, that is not how a Queen is supposed to reign. The Queen is supposed to be ruler without equal. The Queen is supposed to make her subjects fear and hate her as much as she fears and hates the world. You're not a Queen, you're a child playing a game that you cannot win, no different from the very thing you hate!" That caused Chrysalis to glare at Sombra. He smiled cruelly. "I think that it's time for a change in management around here..." He looked at Chrysalis. "Never send a Queen to do a King's job!" "You dare," Chrysalis said as her horn glowed a sickly green color. "Try to take my kingdom from me, you little worm!" She lifted her legs up and stomped on the ground, shattering the crystals to pieces. Chrysalis glared at Sombra with her eyes like slits. "I do believe that our deal is at an end, Mr. Sombra. I rule my subjects my own way. " Sombra returned her gaze. "Then you will always fail in your plans; you are not strong enough to kill anypony, much less me!" he whispered in a deathly serious tone. He stood up as Chrysalis readied herself for battle. "Darn, and I was so hoping that we did not have to end this with violence!" Sombra smirked, enjoying himself. "We may not have to..." His body soon turned into a black smoke as he quickly passed through Chrysalis's body and caused her eyes to look just like Sombra's. "Enjoy facing your fears, you weak ruler. " He then turned and walked back to the throne, firing a green energy ray at the throne, twisting it and contorting it to his own version, sitting on it it with pride as he watched Chrysalis lied down screaming in total fear on the floor, watching in pure bliss. Sombra sat laughing at Chrysalis's pain as she screamed in agony. He started to laugh harder and harder. He mocked Chrysalis. "You're the Queen of the Changelings? Right, you're not fit to rule an ant, you're as pathetic as ignorant foolish ponies!" Suddenly out of the corner of his eye he saw that one of the bottled plants turned into one of Chrysalis's subjects. Sombra started to shoot at the thing but it ran as fast as it could practically sprinting down the room and then straight at Chrysalis. It lifted one of its legs and pegged Chrysalis in the face, forcing her eyes to turn back to normal. She looked at her Changeling and patted it's head. "Thank you, now run. Your Queen has a vermin to exterminate." She looked at Sombra and her horned glowed with her magic as she fired a blast at him, for which Sombra countered with a blast of his own. The two auras collided and they shooters struggled against each other. Eventually the combined blast couldn't sustain itself and blew the both of them back, well, to be more accurate, Chrysalis on the floor and Sombra through the floor. Sombra growled and stood up. The gray stallion laughed at her as he removed one of the pieces of wood out of his body.He continued his evil laugh as blood dripped down his coat. "I've cheated death twice, you can not hope to kill me, I'm immortal! I am a GOD!" A dark fire coated Sombra's wound and it slowly healed. "I am the master of Hatred and Fear, the strongest of all magic!" He stomped his hooves and several black crystals appeared above him shaped like spears, "I am King Sombra, I'm perfection itself! A little worm like you cannot hope to destroy me. " He launched the spears at Chrysalis, forcing her to be on the defensive as she fired back at the spear, her magic shattering them; however, Sombra anticipated this and darted towards Chrysalis and bucked her in the face, sending her flying. He smirked as he made his signature crystals appear like spikes behind Chrysalis's back so she would be impaled by them . Chrysalis flapped her fly like wings as fast as she could, forcing herself to stop the momentum. Sombra glared and started blasting at her rapidly, trying to hit her and knock her out of the sky. Queen Chrysalis bolted towards Sombra at lightning speed as her leg slammed into his face, causing the Dark King to go flying and spinning rapidly into the air, slamming into a wall. He coughed up some blood, then fell off the wall as Chrysalis landed. Sombra started to stir and Chrysalis got on guard. The two dark rulers bolted towards each other and clashed horns, Chrysalis and Sombra locked in a duel as the two of them started to push against each other, showing that despite Chrysalis being taller than Sombra, he still could match strengths with her. Eventually, Sombra bucked his front leg into Chrysalis's knee and then he blasted her back, sending her to the ground. Chrysalis was about to get up when suddenly more of Sombra's crystals appeared. "Like I said, weak minded," he sneered. Chrysalis prepared to dodge, but felt one of her legs give out when suddenly the dark crystals pierced Chrysalis's leg causing her to be unable to do anything but scream out in agony and pain. Sombra walked to her and smirked, taunting her as he knocked her down, causing the crystals to go in deeper. Sombra stepped on her leg and said "You truly are a pathetic little bug aren't you?" He pet Chrysalis's face and continued. "And we started off so wonderfully! Oh well, that's what happened when the strong overcome the weak." Chrysalis glared through the pain. "Oh don't worry, your Kingdom will be in good hands, as they will clean up your corpse and then we will take over those damn ponies in Equestria." He started to laugh. "I wonder how they will like me, oh well...it's not like I'll give them a choice...then again, it may be an improvement from a ruler just as soft-hearted as the ponies she claims to hate." Chrysalis sagged in defeat but then got an idea as Sombra closed his eyes and started laughing, her horn glowed as one of the Crystals in her leg slowly came out of it, causing her to bite her lip to prevent herself from screaming in pain. Sombra's eyes opened and then he turned to see the crystal floating there. In lightning speed the crystal pierced Sombra's eye, causing him to back up screaming in pain as blood shot everywhere. Chrysalis stood up, removing the other crystals in the same way. "Long live the Queen," she said as one of the crystals pierced Sombra's other eye, and the other right between his eyes, and the final one into his mouth, impaling his jaw on the crystal, forcing him to fall over dead. Chrysalis, not taking any chances, lit up her horn and blasted him again, taking his head clean off his body. She was about to fall over when her changelings came in and grabbed her. Chrysalis looked at them and smiled quietly, "Half of you take me to my room, the other half of you clean up this mess, let us never speak of this again" "Yes your majesty." Chrysalis's horn was glowing. "One more thing!" Her horn fired a blast at the book, turning it to ash.