//------------------------------// // Ruin Worms // Story: The Umbra King // by Car Cloth //------------------------------// Rarity ran through Ponyville, her eyes on the sky. The moon was still up, despite the fact that she knew the sun should be there. Sweet Celestia, she thought. What is happening? Suddenly her shadow pointed. Rarity turned her head and stutter-stepped to halt. Rising out of the Everfree Forest was a massive, house-sized monster of a worm; black, covered in spines, coated in slime and with a maw like a lamprey. The circle-rows of teeth were nightmarish, to say the least. Rarity cringed away, despite the fact she was in town and the worm in the forest. “Where is Twilight?” Rarity whispered to herself. I thought she was handling this! The ponies of Ponyville began screaming and erupted into a panic. They practically stampeded through the streets, pushing ponies out of their way in their dread. Rarity scanned the crowd looking for anyone she knew. What was going on? The monster worm smashed through the trees and slithered up into Ponyville, leaving a ditch in its wake from its pure massive weight. The worm was creeping closer to the houses and ponies and Rarity took it upon herself to do something. Rarity exerted herself using what magic she had to break the support beam of a water tower, having it crash down in front of the worm. The nightmarish creature hissed and screamed, its cries shattering the eardrums of everypony nearby, before wrapping its circle-mouth around the water container. In one powerful bite the water tower was split in half. Rarity backed further away, disheartened by how little of an effect she had at slowing the creature. The worm continued its rampage into town, stopping only when it came to a building. Rarity took the momentary reprieve to help ponies escape the monster. When she ran across two foals she froze in terror. “Sweetie Belle!” she gasped. “Where is Sweetie Belle!?” Before Rarity could gather her thoughts and act in a rationale manner, a second Ruin Worm crashed out of the Everfree Forest, carving a path of destruction from the tree line all the way into Ponyville. The sheer overwhelming situation was almost too much for Rarity. She gulped down air and wildly looked around, trying to orientate herself. A piece of thatch roof fell from a nearby building, just above Rarity, but her shadow lashed out and broke it before it struck her. Rarity watched the shadow slither back into place, thankful it was there to save her when she could barely contain her fear. Turning to run, she made her way toward Sweet Apple Acres. Sweetie Belle is normally there… and Apple Jack will know where Twilight Sparkle is… I have to get to them! Running against the crowd, Rarity found it difficult to make it all the way across town. She wasn’t an athlete and didn’t enjoy tiring herself, but at the moment there were more important things. She would run herself to death if it meant helping her friends and family. Rarity had never been so happy to see the wooden arch over the entrance to Sweet Apple Aches. She ran through it and only slowed once she got to the house. Apple Jack, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith were all outside, hastily packing their belongings on a wooden cart. “Apple Jack!” Rarity gasped between breaths. “Have you seen Sweetie Belle?” “She’s not with you?” Apple Jack asked, panic in her voice. “I thought she and Apple Bloom-” Apple Jack cut herself off. The realization everyone had at that moment left them utterly silent. Granny Smith shakily sat up from her seat on the cart. “She said she was going to Zecora’s!” “No,” Rarity whispered. No! Not the forest! Anywhere but the forest! Rarity and Apple Jack ran from Sweet Apple Acres in unison, both of them on a common quest. Apple Jack was faster but Rarity never gave up. She pushed forward, fueled by her sisterly love for Sweetie Belle. She was just a filly! What was she going to do again a giant monster? Despite the fact it was snowing, Rarity didn’t feel cold at all. Running generated body heat and the two scarfs she was wearing were more than enough. When they reached the edge of the Everfree Forest, Rarity turned and saw the two Ruin Worms were still wreaking havoc on the edge of town. Apple Jack didn’t slow as she ran into the trees. “Apple Jack!” Rarity called out behind her. “Wait! There are-” Bats flew out of the darkness around her, startling her for just a moment. Rarity pressed on, continuing to follow Apple Jack to Zecora’s hut. The tiny hut in the forest was still intact by the time Rarity reached it. She was grateful, but immediately panicked when she didn’t see anyone nearby. “Sweetie Belle! Sweetie Belle!” “Rarity?” Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Apple Jack ran out from behind Zecora’s hut. “Zecora is helping Twilight,” Apple Jack shouted. “We should go!” Rarity half-turned to follow them out of the forest, but they all stopped when yet another Ruin Worm burst from the soil, destroying Zecora’s hut in its wake. Rarity shielded herself from the falling rocks and globs of mud. “Run!” Apple Jack yelled. Twilight flew over the worm and blasted it with a bolt of raw magic. The worm cringed and writhed in pain. Soon the worm had its attention focused on Twilight in the sky, ignoring the ponies down below. Rarity hesitated. She could run and leave Twilight or she could stay and try and help the young alicorn princess… The Everfree Forest had patches of near-indestructible thorny vines. Rarity used her magic to grab a few and lash them to the giant worm. It hindered the worm’s movement, allowing Twilight to continue fighting. It was during this struggle that Rarity realized Twilight was wounded. The magic didn’t seem as though it were working. The worm was hurt but it was minor. It eventually pulled from the thorny vines Rarity had used to bind it and began thrashing through the forest. “Rarity! Run!” Twilight commanded. Rarity turned to go when she realized Sweetie Belle had stayed behind to be with her. She grabbed her sister in order to take off through the darkness of the night-soaked trees but Rarity made it but a few feet before the worm thrashed its body through the forest, striking Rarity with enough force to send her flying. She shielded her sister from the blow, but in doing so, ensured her injury. Sweetie Belle tumbled from her grasp but pulled herself up almost instantaneously. She ran back to her sister and pulled on her hoof. “C’mon, Rarity! We have to go!” Rarity got to her feet but quickly fell back to the ground. She turned her head and saw that her back leg had been twisted and broken. Not wanting to alarm Sweetie Belle, Rarity leaned her body over the injury and motioned for her sister to continue. It was painful, but the adrenaline of the moment numbed the pain. “Go, Sweetie Belle! I’ll catch up! Get out of here before-” A large tree trunk fell next to them, Sweetie Belle’s gasp of surprised haunting Rarity for the split second she thought something terrible had happened to her sister. “Go, Sweetie Belle!” Rarity repeated. “S-stop being dramatic,” Sweetie Belle pleaded, her lip quavering. “Get up, Rarity! We need to go together!” “Sweetie Belle, I mean it. Go.” Rarity silently scolded herself for all the times she had ever overdramatized a situation. She needed to make Sweetie Belle realize she was serious. Sweetie Belle grabbed Rarity by the neck. “I can’t make it without you!” she said, showcasing her childish fear of the unknown. Rarity used her magic to separate herself from her sister and to move her away. Another tree smashed around them and Rarity knew she could never live with herself if something happened to Sweetie Belle. “Go!” Rarity angrily shouted. Confused and hurt, the little filly slowly fled the scene, glancing over her shoulder as she went, tears in her eyes. Rarity shielded her head when dirt rained down upon her. Twilight was finally winning against the single Ruin Worm, but Rarity knew there were others in town. Twilight would need to hurry… The shadow that had been directing Rarity suddenly came to her aid once more. It helped her up, somehow partially corporeal, partially not. When finally standing she limped away from the chaotic fight and trotted behind a boulder to put solid matter between her and the Ruin Worm. Without warning, the shadows of the forest began to quiver and wake. “Sombra!” Rarity gasped. She was gleeful! Perhaps he would be what Twilight needed to help her win! Her joy quickly faded to horror-filled realization when she saw the shadows around the Ruin Worm slowly began feeding it and healing what wounds Twilight had managed to inflict. The worm had been gigantic before, towering over the trees, but it was getting larger now… practically twice its size already… “Sombra!” Twilight called out. “I know that’s you! What’re you doing!?” The shadows themselves echoed King Sombra’s voice. “It occurred to me, Princess… That I could do without you… Good luck stopping a fully mature worm on your own…” His dark laughter filled the forest as the shadows began to disappear. Rarity knew it was the Nightmare Gem talking… he was under its control once again! “Sombra!” Twilight called out in anger. “Sombra, I-” The worm lashed at Twilight with blinding speed, much faster than it was ever before. Acid slime began to drip from its body and now the creature reeked of death and pestilence. Rarity walked around the boulder and turned to her shadow. “Take me to him!” she shouted at it, not even entirely sure if that would work. Lucky for her, it did. The shadow pointed the way through the forest, leading her deeper into danger…