//------------------------------// // Prologue: The Nether // Story: Born of Light // by Skyflash12 //------------------------------// Sombra sat in the Nether, staring out at the few things that were there with him, trying to think of a way to escape... or atleast let Darkness reign over Equestria again. Nightmare Moon and a Nightmare Force were arguing about who failed their task while they still existed on the Non-Etheral Plane (or as it is normally called, Equestria). "We did my job Luna. We gave you the abilities to crush Celestia and because you were incompetent, you failed." The Nightmare Force shot at her, he had a purplish color, a lion-like form and spoke with a commanding tone in his voice. "You obviously didn't account for the Elements of Harmony, that broke your power and banished me to the moon you shadowy fucks!" Nightmare Moon attempted to push the Nightmare Force, but just ended up falling flat on her face on the dimly lit red clay. She sprang up in an instant and prepared a spell, before she could cast it, a dark grey Nightmare Force stepped in between the purple one and Nightmare Moon. "Kuja, that's enough." Kuja snorted. Following the dark grey Nightmare Force was another Nightmare Force, accompanied by 2 bunnies. This Nightmare Force had a dull grey color and looked like a large toad. Kuja didn't stick around to listen to the 3 either hammer him with insults or continue bickering, so he went to Sombra, the one pony in this realm that he could stand to be around. Sombra looked up at Kuja as he approached. "Perfect timing, Kuja." Kuja shuddered at the darkness he felt near Sombra. "I believe I have found a way to get a pawn invulnerable to the Elements of Harmony." "Really now? I would love to hear about that." Kuja sighed, disbelief in his voice. Sombra stood up and walked over to a glistening pool that reflected anything the viewer desires, a "gift" from Hades before throwing them in the Nether. "This pool is your ticket out Kuja." Kuja tilted his head like a confused dog. "Allow me to explain: This pool can allow us to see whatever we want, but we cannot interact with anything on the other side. I have been studying this pool extensively and I came up with something very simple." Sombra turned his attention from Kuja to the pool, Kuja still had his head tilted to the side. "Get to the point." Kuja said impatiently. Sombra did just that. "If I apply a little magic, I can possibly make a portal of enough strength to let only 1 pony through -but in your case 1 Nightmare Force." Kuja was still confused about one more thing. "Why can't we send Shadowfright through instead of me?" Kuja asked, Sombra darted to Kuja in what seemed like a flash of black lightning. Kuja stumbled back half a step. "Let me explain something to you," Sombra was growing impatient, "Shadowfright's spirit has been crushed since his last defeat at the hands of Twilight and her whore friends." Understandable... Kuja thought as Sombra kept on with his lecture. "Next, they have already seen Shadowfright, but they haven't seen you. Out of all of the arguments I have heard with you and the other Nightmare Forces, I have noticed that they are not exactly pleased with your absence when Rarity was corrupted." Kuja turned bright red, mainly in annoyance that he'd bring it up, but he simmered down almost immediately, he knew what his "friend" could do when he was pushed passed his temper and thankfully he hasn't been on the receiving end on anything. He'd like to keep it that way. "And plus, our target is Twilight Sparkle's new foal." Kuja was somewhat surprised, but his shocked expression melted away, leaving a sinister grin on his face. "You want me to influence the foal, am I right?" Kuja asked, his excitement bubbling at the rim, like a volcano ready to erupt at any given moment. Sombra nodded, almost mirroring Kuja's expression "Right, I believe that the foal can have a hereditary resistance to the Elements due to being born to a Bearer of Harmony." "Not a bad theory, but don't you think that'd be a bit risky? I mean, Luna once was the bearer of some of the Elements, but she was defeated by that same power." Sombra's hard gaze softened and he paused for a bit before continuing. "That maybe the fault of the Nightmare Forces presence inside Luna. How do I know if my plan can work or not is just something that we're going to have to risk. Enough questions, we have to get you in the other side before Hades catches onto what we're doing, and I fear that may not be too long." Kuja nodded and hurried over to the mirror-pool. Sombra's horn lit up and he tapped the pool with his shadowy grey hoof. The pool shined and the glass's surface became almost water-like. Kuja stared at Sombra. "Get going. Good luck Kuja." Sombra almost shouted, Kuja didn't hesitate to jump into the pool as he said that. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At that same moment... Twilight woke up feeling groggy and nauseous, like she did on most days for nearly 7 months now. Her belly was extended by nearly 3 inches. She felt like every movement was either gonna make her throw up or break her back, but despite that, she got out of bed and dragged herself down the stairs. She was greeted by Spike and Nyx rearranging books in the Library, a smile slowly spread across her face. "How did you sleep last night, Twi?" Spike asked half-concerned for his friend. Nyx smacked him in the arm with a paperback book, one of the few that were there. "Instead of asking that, why don't you just turn around?" "Incase you hadn't noticed, I'm kinda in the middle of something at the moment." "Doesn't seem like much to me..." Twilight smiled, the way that Spike and Nyx argued made it seem like they were as close as brother and sister, despite Spike being a few years older than her and being a dragon and all. She made her way into the kitchen and made herself something to eat and went back upstairs. Nyx took a break at ridiculing Spike and turned her attention towards Twilight. "Why are you going back upstairs?" Spike would've said something similar to what Nyx had said to him before, but he wasn't really paying attention. "Well Nyx, I didn't get much sleep last night, your brother kept me up all night." "Oh." Nyx turned her attention back to helping Spike (or just back to bickering with him would be more accurate) but she managed to catch a small glimpse of what seemed like a purple shadow stalk her adoptive mother back up the stairs. She placed the books down and walked over to the staircase staring up the stairwell, not seeing anything, she just shrugged it off as her mind playing tricks on her and went back to what she was doing.