Nightmare's Reign

by NorrisThePony

Trance (XIII)

While Luna slept peacefully on the hardwood floor of Princess Celestia's abandoned beach-house, Nightmare Moon was left alone in the darkness, accompanied only by her own thoughts. She'd been looking forward to waltzing through Luna's dreams but was disappointed when Luna's assertion that she 'did not dream' proved to be correct.

Luna had also made it quite clear that she was not comfortable with Nightmare Moon traipsing through her mind, and by extension having full and unbridled access to her deepest secrets and greatest fears. Nevertheless, she had unfinished business that she had to conduct, and would much prefer if Luna did not know about it. Either way, it wouldn't hurt to make sure everything was fine.

The first thing she noticed as she opened her eyes to the fields of the mirrored Equestria was that everything was in fact NOT fine. The previously twilit sky was now jet black with a starless and moonless night, and the ascending particles of darkness had been replaced by a thick black fog which gathered in clouds over various places over Equestria. She was somewhere in the outskirts of the Everfree Forest, but the gigantic arachnids were all but gone, as were the trees themselves. The only way Nightmare Moon recognized it as the Everfree Forest at all was the large stumps that lay where the great trees once stood.

Taking a deep breath and reminding herself that she was really perfectly fine in Dusk Falls, Nightmare Moon lifted into the air and flew off, with the intent of leaving the Everfree and re-entering Equestria. Not long after she did, did she notice that the fog was thick, in fact, it was like flying against a heavy wind, and it took her nearly thirty minutes just to clear the Everfree Forest and touch down in the Equestrian Plains. She hadn't the heart to fly in the direction of Canterville, and she knew exactly what she would find there anyways; nothing at all.

The clouds of black fog congregated closer to the ground now, looking thicker and more intimidating than the thin stuff she had flown through. Where it was coming from she did not know, but she had a pretty solid idea and was praying she was wrong.

It would be them. And they wouldn't be happy to see her. In fact, there was a high chance they would try to kill her then and there. To be honest, she truly did not blame them. But what they were doing was sick and wrong and she wasn't going to let it happen any longer.

Breaking suddenly into a swift gallop, Nightmare Moon charged head on towards the first overhanging cloud of black fog she saw. As she approached it seemed to grow wider as if welcoming her, and a few stray rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning seemed to emanate from it's epicenter.

Without giving herself time to hesitate, Nightmare Moon bolted straight into the cloud and skidded to halt once she was inside. All sound, even the sound of her own nervous breathing, seemed to vanish completely, and although there were a few more flashes of lightning, no thunder followed.

The black mist swirled wildly around, dancing about as if it were trying to communicate. In response, Nightmare Moon cast her magic upwards, the mist momentarily flashing from black to dark purple. The spell she had cast was intended to give the mist a surrogate voice to communicate to her with, but it was complex magic that was prompt to failure.

"Uh...hello, I suppose," she greeted, unsure of how to begin.

"The traitor arrives..." A great multitude of accusing voices rung out at once, all around her. They were every pitch and every volume all at once, at the same time. Thousands of voices, speaking as one. It looked as though the spell had worked too well. "Come to beg for forgiveness, Nightmare Moon?"

"Hardly," she said bravely in reply. "I've come to stop you from infecting the mind of my frie—"

"You shall not speak of your prey as such! The Lunar Princess is no more than a tool to be used, and nothing more!"

"Bullshit," Nightmare Moon spat, her anger growing to a level she did not remember it ever achieving. "She's more than us parasites will EVER be. And you can't win. I'm not going to let it happen."

"You DARE speak against us? Do you forget your place?"

"No, I don't forget it. I reject it. I'm not like you and I never will be."

"You may say that, but the act of saying it does not discredit it as the truth. You cannot change what you are. And what you are is us."

"Perhaps. But that doesn't mean I have to be like you."

"You will suffer if you do not."

"Yeah, well, I'm ready for that."

"You cannot stop us."

"YOU know that isn't true!" Nightmare Moon screamed, even as she felt the fog start to swirl violently around her. She found that she was unable to move her legs, they seemed to be magically cemented to the ground she was standing on.

"You will die. You will both die."

"Been there, done that. Listen, I don't know how you're spreading across Luna's mind, but I was here first, alright? Luna is MINE! And I'm going to say it because it's true and because I know it'll piss you off; Luna. Is. My. Friend!"

"You—"

"Shut up!" she snarled, breaking free from the mist's grasp and shooting a random burst of magic upwards. The hole it cut in the fog quickly filled again, and when she went to fire another she found that once again she had been immobilized completely. It felt as though the air was getting thin in the cloud, and Nightmare Moon realized with growing fright that it was. They were trying to kill her.

"You will die." They repeated.

"As will you! All of you! I'll make sure of it! I get it, you're trying to erase Luna's consciousness and take her over. But it isn't going to work!" Nightmare Moon once again tried to break free but found that it was completely impossible. She coughed a bit and gulped back as much of the thinning air as she could.

"You are a traitor and you shall die for your actions. You have betrayed your kind. You chose to save your friend and by extension leave us all to starve."

"Oh, give it a rest!" Nightmare Moon gasped, her vision starting to swim. "You didn't have to try to kill Luna to survive! I never asked any of you to get overly ambitious and try to take over Equestria!"

"You then asked us instead to live out the rest of our lives as parasites. Never to leave the cold of the moon. Never to grasp the light of hope or to feel the welcoming warmth of life."

"You don't deserve it," she said, collapsing to the ground. Apparently the Nightmare Forces had granted her the luxury to die sitting. "Don't kill me. Not yet. There's still a chance for all of us."

"You are begging for mercy?"

"No. I'm telling you that you're making a big mistake if you think killing me is going to solve anything. You'll have sealed your own fate."

"You believe there is an alternative?"

Nightmare Moon couldn't find the strength in her to reply. The black cloud seemed to be dragging away everything, stealing away not only the air she needed to breathe, but the warmth and sound and light of the world. She couldn't fly or use magic, and now she couldn't even speak.

And she wasn't afraid. Because she had gotten their interest. They'd brought her down to her very weakest, but they hadn't killed her yet. Which could mean only one thing; they still needed something from her. Taking light sips of the remaining air, Nightmare Moon managed to compose herself enough to speak again.

"No...no alternative..." she managed, "You...you don't even have the option...to survive."

The second the words left her lips, she knew there were only two things that could happen now. She'd made them angry, but what they did with that anger would determine both her and Luna's fate. They could kill her now, and end all hope...or they could believe her words and chose to delay the inevitable.

"You are threatening us? After leaving us to die and helping the pony?!"

"What are you going to do about it?" Nightmare Moon goaded. They had to have been furious now, as well as incredibly suspicious. They thought she had some sort of plan, and the mere presence of the possibility was enough to dissuade them from immediately taking any action.

"You may speak." They finally replied, after what seemed like an eternity. "But swiftly. Your next words shall determine your fate, so make them wise."

With that, the fog's hold on her seemed to give way, and she leaped to her feet and took a long and relieved gasp of air.

"See the thing is, if you were to kill me now, Luna would find out. And she knows that I'm the only thing keeping you guys back. I don't think you realize what lengths she's willing to go to stop you and Discord from ruling Equestria. But I can guarantee you that sacrificing herself isn't off the table."

"You fool! Her death would allow us to prosper! Her corpse would provide the most sufficient vessel!"

"I never said she would kill herself. I said she would sacrifice herself."

A sudden explosion of thunder resounded and the fog's hold resumed, all the air in the cloud instantly dissipating for a brief moment.

"YOU SHALL MAKE YOUR MEANING CLEAR OR DIE!"

"Fine! The Moon, you idiots! Good luck ruling Equestria from the Moon! She's banished herself there before, and with the Elements, or the Tome of Manifestation, she can do it permanently. You really going to take the chance of going back there..." Nightmare Moon formed a wide and threatening grin. "...forever..?"

Smiling confidently, Nightmare Moon started pacing now, practicing the freedom of walking within the black cloud, as well as guaranteeing every last bit of it bore witness to her patronizing expression. She was Nightmare Moon, and they were some pathetic, loathsome clump of parasites with no individuality, nor emotions to distinguish each other. She'd broken free, and they were still trapped.

"I'm telling you all to wait. Because if you don't..." she pointed skyward. "It's a one-way trip to Crater City. Now, I don't think you want to go there. So stop trying to force your way out of my friends mind and let me deal with this."

"You expect our trust that you shall save us, even after your betrayal?"

"Nope. I don't expect that at all. I'm merely telling you that if you continue trying to forcefully take over Luna's mind, then it's curtains for all of us."

"You make a most convincing argument."

"Damn right I do," she said. "Now, my turn to demand answers. How in Tartarus did you all get here?"

"You travel alone. We cannot expect you to understand the actions of your own kind."

"Are you going to answer me or not?"

"You may not wish to know the answer, but if you so choose then the truth shall be told. We are but a small fragment of the corruption that your presence is spreading across Princess Luna. You ask for the source of our creator and yet you need not look any further than the closest mirror, Nightmare Moon. Since you willed her to the act of fratricide, you have slowly been eating away at her morality and her own desires, replacing them with the inner hatred that has made you complete."

"M...me...?" The color and resolve instantly dissipated from Nightmare Moon's expression as she stuttered for a response.

"You have not even known it, due to the lies of friendship and compassion you have been telling yourself to disguise the truth. You've gotten Princess Luna's trust and you have been feeding on her darkness that has only grown since Princess Celestia's murder. In the act of deceiving her, it seems as though you have simultaneously deceived yourself. "

"That's...well, if I created you then I can end you, too!"

"You cannot. Only the Elements of Harmony can split Luna and you apart. And you have destroyed any chance of wielding them."

"There has to be another way! There's still gotta be a chance!"

Instead of replying, the cloud of black fog once again began swirling, but this time it looked as though it were breaking away. It spread and covered the area further and further away from Nightmare Moon, ascending up into the sky until it was no more and she was standing all alone in the Equestrian Plains again. Whatever the answer to Nightmare Moon's question, it looked as though they did not want her to hear it. But by not telling her she already knew the answer.

There were still dark clouds hanging over many parts of the Equestrian Plains. She may have dissuaded them from action for a brief while, but it was by no means long term. Hopefully Luna had gotten enough rest, because it was about time they got moving.

---

Queen Chrysalis trudged through the wildly billowing snow, never able to make it more than ten minutes at a time before collapsing to the cold ground and having to force herself back into action, leaving a patch of stained red snow behind each time. Still onwards she trekked, gritting her teeth against the wind that was grasping her cloak and sprawling it behind her. The grey fabric shook and danced wildly like the sail of an old schooner, the pathetic twine tugging at her neck and threatening to come undone any second.

If there really was a Crystal Empire, the ponies were fools to have ever built it this far North. The cold and snow proved too harsh for proper vegetation to survive, for she had passed the treeline long ago. Walking through that one final forest had been a somewhat daunting task, with the knowledge that after it would be dozens of miles of flat ice and swirling snow. She'd rested two days total in that forest, building a fire and consuming the last of her moldy bread by the end of the first day. The pathetic pony food had proved to be next to worthless, so she had set out looking for something else in the forest.

Before long she'd come across prints in the snow, and following them stealthily she eventually came across a herd of caribou. There were several makeshift looking houses built out of and sometimes into the large trees, but they all seemed to be milling about in the clearing around them. Huddling nervously out of sight she watched. They were speaking in a language Chrysalis did not know, but the fear and uncertainty in their voice was instantly recognizable despite the unfamiliar words they spoke.

Fear as an emotion was edible to a changeling, it was how Chrysalis had been staying alive, but it was foul and provided little to no nutrition. There was certainly no shortage of fear amongst the caribou, but Chrysalis could detect trace amounts of love, too. In fact, it was rich and condensed, the scent of it was dripping with warmth. If her instincts were correct, she was detecting maternal love.

Silently creeping around the perimeter of the clearing, her instincts were proven accurate when she caught sight of a mother dear softly singing a lullaby to an infant fawn. Hating herself for doing so, Chrysalis began to salivate as the love she was detecting nearly overpowered her senses. This love would surely be enough to last the journey to the Crystal Empire. However, in her current state pulling off a semi-functional species change was risky at best, meaning the only other alternative would be to forcibly suck out the emotions, by using her sharp fangs. Feeding in such a manner was a practice highly looked down upon by the hive. Changelings who performed such an act were often called 'blood-suckers,'or 'leeches,' both relatively childish names to describe a crime severe enough to get one banished from the hive, or worse.

Licking her protruding fangs, Chrysalis swore to herself that she would never stoop to that low under any circumstances besides the most dire. She might've been a changeling, but she was no carnivorous animal.

And yet the saliva she was forced to repeatedly swallow begged to differ.

Backing away slowly before the desire to feed overpowered her morality, she moved to leave the herd behind and look elsewhere for something else to feed on. As she did, a sudden snapping sound echoed from beneath her hooves as she blindly crept backwards. Nearly every reindeer in the clearing started at the noise and turned towards the bushes she was hiding.

"No no no no..." she thought frantically, cursing the broken stick underneath her now shaking hoof. The deer were moving in her direction now, they would soon be in eyesight and it would all be over.

Adrenaline pumping, Chrysalis closed her eyes to the sight of imminent danger as she visualized the species she was aiming to transform into. She had no energy and felt incredibly weak, but her panic and willpower were pumping as she tried anyways.

A harsh couple of words were suddenly screamed in her direction, and slowly opening her eyes Chrysalis faced the deer who had said them.

He was a full grown, almost elderly stag with enormous antlers. His breath was projected in front of him as quick bursts of billowing vapor in the cold air and his antlers were angled towards her. He beat the snow several times with his hoof, looking more like a raging bull than a reindeer. She wasn't exactly familiar with their behavior but she was almost certain this was an offensive stance.

With dread Chrysalis slowly turned her eyes to herself and saw that she was indeed still the same young changeling queen, and not the caribou doe she'd been aiming for.

The same words were spat at her and she darted her attention back to the caribou stag, still breathing like a bull ready to charge.

"I...I'm sorry. I only speak Equish..."

A few of their ears darted up in surprise at her words, and they all took on a look of uncertainty. For a long while they simply looked at each other in bewilderment, but eventually another stag stepped forward. He looked a lot younger than the first one who had spoke, perhaps only a year or two older than Chrysalis was herself. To her surprise, he bowed respectfully towards her and spoke in near-perfect Equish.

"He has asked who and what you are, my dear."

"Oh..." she said bluntly. "I am the leader of the Changeling Race, Queen Chrysalis."

"It is a pleasure, Miss Chrysalis," he responded, once again bowing. "My name is Corolla. I must apologize, we were not expecting a representative of royalty to be visiting us."

"Thank you. But, I assure you that I am royalty only in name. My species is extinct."

A hushed whisper erupted throughout the gathered company. It would seem that despite the language gap, the word 'extinct' was well known amongst these creatures, too. The first caribou, the one who had shouted at her, said a few words softly to Corolla before he, too, bowed in front of her.

"King Alder, our leader, extends his condolences to you and your species."

"Please tell him that I appreciate his concern," Chrysalis said evenly.

"A lot better than those selfish ponies, anyways," she kept to herself. The title 'king' seemed a little too high a claim for the leader of several dozen, but she reasoned that it was really the same as her going by 'Queen' when she was in fact Queen of nothing.

"What is a creature like you doing this far north, Miss Chrysalis?" Corolla asked.

Normally, Chrysalis would have felt irritated and defensive at these deer's nosy behavior, but unlike the ponies, she had not spent long enough around these creatures to start hating them yet. Besides, they were acting significantly hospitable and she didn't have the strength to waste on pride at the moment. And if they could potentially help her, she would be much better off.

"I am searching for the Crystal Empire. I aim to rid Equestria of Discord's tyranny."

At the mention of Discord's name, another whisper crept across the herd of caribou, much more frantic then the first time. Several began asking her questions in their foreign language, as if expecting her to suddenly understand. In an attempt to stave back their growing excitement, Corolla translated what she had just said and added a few extra words in a stern tone of voice.

Silence fell amongst everyone, even Chrysalis dared not speak again as the King raised a hoof to motion for the attention of his people. Wordlessly he turned and started back towards the clearing, everyone following him as he lead the way forwards.

Once they were in the clearing, the King spoke, presumably to his people, because when he was done they quickly nodded or murmured in agreement, bowed first to him and then to Chrysalis, and scrambled away into the houses or off to the side. Soon, Chrysalis was alone with just Corolla and King Alder. Alder addressed Chrysalis directly, even though Corolla continued to speak for him.

"He says that changelings are not welcome amongst his kind," Corolla began, and she instinctively bared her teeth in fury, not caring who she offended. Alder raised an eyebrow and scoffed, before continuing. Corolla once again translated for him. "But assuming what you state is true, we will do the best we can to prepare you for your journey north."

"Tell him that I appreciate it, but there's nothing you can do to help and I don't need it to begin with."

"Stubborn," he suddenly spoke gruffly, in rough Equish. Even Corolla looked a little to surprise by his leader's spontaneous words. "Like your mother."

"Call it what you want. I've got my own affairs and I don't need you nor anybody else sticking their snouts in matters that don't concern them," she shuffled a bit and cleared her throat. "Uh...with all due respect."

Alder once again rose an eyebrow, and pointed a hoof towards the north. It was trembling, and Chrysalis suddenly realized how ancient he must've been.

"Suicide," he said, pointing again in the direction of the Crystal Empire. "Especially for a changeling. One night."

"I'll survive for longer than one night! I'm not an incapable little filly!"

"No, no," Corolla shook his head and stepped forward. "He means stay here for one night. Please."

"One night?" she looked around at the makeshift village, and the creatures who had been infinitely more hospitable than Equestria's ponies had ever been. Anyways, there might very well be some truth in what she had misinterpreted from Alder, and a little more than breadcrumbs and an improvised cloak was certainly welcome. "Fine. One night. But not a second longer."

---

The fireplace lay motionless and cold, nothing but ash laying where the log had once been blazing. Gathered in a pile were several more cans of tomato soup that Luna had drank, doing her best to ignore the fact that they were ice cold and at times even slushy. Food was food, but it was by no means pleasant.

"My headache seems to have intensified," she reported, stretching as she rose to her feet and grimaced. "I fear I do not have much longer."

"I know. I saw for myself."

"I TOLD you not to—"

"Yes, I know. But you're going to like this. I found out a lot of information about the Nightmare Forces in your mind."

"Ah yes? Pray tel."

"Well, they seem to have come over from Discord," Nightmare Moon said, her natural tone of voice perfectly veiling the lies she was forcing herself to tell. "Main reason would have to be lack of sufficient 'food.' In addition, I managed to convince them to hold off trying to take control of you."

"Brilliant! How ever did you accomplish that?!"

"Uh...well, I told them that if they continued, you would banish yourself to the moon indefinitely. I was bluffing, obviously, but I think it worked."

"Temporarily, I presume," Luna said, finding her saddlepack with the book still tucked inside and quickly clipping it on. It belonged to Celestia and she felt a little guilty about stealing it, but she probably needed it more than her sister at the moment. "Well, I suppose we are as ready as we're going to get."

"I don't feel ready."

"Nor do I," Luna admitted, starting towards the door and pausing before it. She turned to give Celestia's home one more curt nod, and pushed the door aside again and stepped out onto the partially collapsing veranda. Clouds had gathered during her slumber, and it was beginning to snow, ever so lightly, but it would make flying a little more of a burden.

Finding Discord would be difficult, but attracting him would be simple. A beacon into the sky, or perhaps an amplification of the Royal Canterlot Voice, and then her return would be known over all of Equestria.

Taking a step forward, Luna instantly collapsed to the ground and screamed out in shock, as a biting pain exploded across her hoof. Her pained voice echoed across the derelict town and in one of the buildings a frenzy of surprised birds taking flight was heard.

"Luna! What in Tartarus is the matter?!"

"This....this isn't possible..."

"What is it? Are you alright?"

"My hoof...like before, my hoof is broken! The same one! But...but I was just walking on it!"

"What? How can that be?"

Cautiously Luna raised the hoof in question and prodded it lightly against the ground. The same pain bit back. It was as if her injury from the Underworld was back again, despite it all having been a dream. With a chill, Luna thought of her broken horn and missing wing. If her hoof injury had seeped it's way into reality...was it possible..?

"Do you have an explanation for this, Nightmare Moon?" Luna asked.

"I...I don't. That's a first," she replied, sounding wary and nervous. "Is it just your hoof?"

"I believe so. But perhaps my additional injuries shall come over time."

"That's likely. This whole situation is...impossible! Are you SURE it's broken?"

"Do I look to be jesting? It's broken, Nightmare," she moaned, struggling to her feet whilst avoiding stepping on her left forehoof.

Despite this strange and implausible setback, she still had many things that had to be done and now it looked as though she had to work even swifter. Other than the hoof, everything else seemed fine and after prodding both her wings to make sure they wouldn't fail her as she flew, she took off.

Celestia's house looked just as sullen and sad from above, the lonely light from the still lit candles within casting orange streaks across the snow-covered front lawn. It was facing the black ocean which in itself was forever stuck in a state of low tides caused by the frozen moon at the start of a never-ending night. The snow was slowly turning the sand from yellow to white, and the ice was stretching it's reach further and further across the salt waters. Despite it being a beach-town, it was colder here than the Everfree, in fact as the crow flew it was closer to the Crystal Empire than the Castle.

Suddenly, Luna got an idea.

But just as quickly as it flitted through her mind, she quickly noticed something much more troubling than her hoof or the state of the Frozen North.

"Nightmare Moon...I just saw something from my Dreamworld. Here. In reality."

It had been swift, if she would have blinked then perhaps she would have missed it entirely. But for a split-second one of the rising black rectangles passed out of the corner of her eyes. Likewise, the ambient drone from the Underworld was back, albeit much, much quieter.

"Is it possible that you're still dreaming...?" said Nightmare Moon, who had apparently noticed it too.

"No. I don't dream, Nightmare Moon."

"Didn't stop you before," Her words carried a sort of skepticism in them and it was quite obvious to Luna that Nightmare Moon did not really believe what she was saying.

"But once I considered the possibility it took me mere minutes to figure out that I was unconscious. There is a fine line between reality and dreaming, but when you know what you're looking for you can see it clearly. Centuries of practice have made it very easy for me to decipher the two apart."

"Well then something's seriously wrong here, Luna, said Nightmare Moon, who seemed far beyond worried. "Like...I'm talking potentially catastrophic. I'm going to be gone awhile figuring this out, so in the mean time...keep busy. Do something productive. Just don't be stupid."

"Wait! What are you—" Luna began, but sighed and stopped mid-sentence. Nightmare Moon was gone.

Instead, she looked to the North and started flying in that direction, deciding with a little effort to leave dwelling on the impossible for a later time. Do something productive, Nightmare Moon had said. And Luna knew just what had to be done.

---

Back in the Underworld, Nightmare Moon wasted no time in beginning her gallop towards Canterlot Mountain.

Something sinister was happening here, something that greatly transcended what she had initially suspected. There was more going on than simple mind corruption at the hands of the Nightmare Forces. Elements and events from Luna's dreamworld were somehow seeping their way into reality, and if that was allowed to continue, Nightmare Moon couldn't imagine the damage it could do. It certainly didn't help that Luna's dreamworld was basically an equidistant Equestria that was extremely similar to the real one. If two parallel worlds collided, the damage could potentially be apocalyptic. Of course, all she had to fuel her fear was a broken hoof and a worst case scenario, but even the possibility was enough to have her concerned.

Dreams were becoming reality. And reality had already been a dream for so long.

For the first time in her life, Nightmare Moon did not even have a theory to explain the situation she now found herself in. She lived most of her life in confusion and dissonance, but nevertheless she was completely clueless as to how and why such an anomaly to reality was taking place. Reality and dreams simply didn't blend together, under any circumstance. And to her knowledge there was no magic in the known universe that could change that. It seemed as though her knowledge was incorrect.

Nightmare Moon had decided that flying against the black fog would be slower than the dedicated gallop she was currently dashing across the land at, and she didn't want to risk using her magic to teleport for fear of interfering further with whatever freak anomaly of nature had infected Luna's mind. If the dark energy of the Nightmare Forces slowly spreading seeped out, it could infect the land of Equestria and bring even further despair to an already doomed land. So instead, she took off on foot to Canterlot Mountain, where hopefully King Sombra still resided and she could press for information.

Even if he was a projection of Luna's guilty psyche, Nightmare Moon had no doubt that the unicorn tyrant wouldn't be too happy to see her. After all, she was at least partially responsible for his defeat when she abandoned him for Luna, and Nightmare Moon was sure Luna herself had known about it. Despite what she had said, Nightmare Moon knew that Luna felt bad about her actions to protect the Crystal Empire, even if they had ended the battle before Sombra had a chance to banish the entire kingdom forever.

She had been quiet in those times, lurking in the background of Luna's psyche and only lightly tapping the strings to drag her into insanity. Really, she didn't have to do much; the actions of the war against King Sombra showed in vivid clarity to every pony in Equestria what their Lunar Princess was capable of. Coupled with Luna's growing jealousy and Celestia's failure to confront it, Nightmare Moon was little more than a cog in the wheel of progress.

Nevertheless, as Nightmare Moon understood it, this world's Sombra was essentially a personification of Luna's violence, and that violence would soon be directed at her as she interrogated him for answers. Whether or not he would have any to give her remained to be seen.

---

Cautiously, Chrysalis raised the bowl of warm brown liquid and gave it a nervous sniff.

It smelt worse than the bread.

But with a dozen set of eyes locked on her, and her growling stomach proclaiming to each and every one of them that her denial would be an insult, she had no choice but to tip the bowl upwards and take a large swig of the soup. Swallowing the once boiling liquid as swiftly as possible so as to prevent her tastebuds from reacting to it as it flowed by, she downed it in it's entirety and set out her bowl graciously for more. She'd learned a broken version of the soup's name in the reindeer's language, and after hailing over a nearby reindeer and repeated the words until he understood her request for more.

It was some sort of concoction created using a large quantity of fungi that the caribou had collected and were using as their primary food source. She found it ironic that equines saw her own eating habits as disgusting and uncivilized when they were willing to eat mushy growths collected from the dirt, but she kept those observations to herself.

Although the gathered reindeer were all staring at her with curiosity, they were all off to the side and quite deliberately keeping their distance. They had more than likely never seen a changeling before, but she could imagine they'd heard stories about her species. Even the King, who had thankfully remained hospitable, had left her shortly after she had decided to stay. He'd apparently given orders to have food taken to her, because not long after he'd left the bowl was brought over and placed in the snow directly in front of her by a doe who quickly trotted away as if in fear.

And so she was left sitting alone, wondering why she was there wasting time to begin with. At least her request for more food was heard, because in time Corolla trotted over and set the bowl down in front of her as if she were some sort of animal in a zoo. She gave him a curt nod and floated the bowl up in her magic, not even noticing that it was working.

"Do you mind if I sit?" Corolla asked hopefully, sitting down before she had a chance to tell him that she'd prefer to be alone. "Good soup, isn't it?"

"Changelings don't normally eat this sort of thing," Chrysalis replied, moving to take a large gulp of the soup and quickly altering the elevation of the bowl so that it was a light sip instead. "By nature we find almost all material foods disgusting in terms of taste. However, your soup seems to be the most tolerable food I've eaten yet."

"You're quite the charmer, Miss Chrysalis," Corolla chuckled, before shifting the conversation. "So you're going to take on Discord all alone? That seems very brave..."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried. But it's not like I have anything to loose."

"It's hard to believe that such a young changeling like yourself would have to bear so much responsibility."

"I may be youthful in the petty scale of years," she spoke through a mouthful of soup. "But I'm also the daughter of the greatest changeling Queen of all time, Queen Elytra. And it is for her soul that I am fighting."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Miss Chrysalis."

This time it was her turn to chuckle.

"Oh, you are, are you? Well you won't be nearly as sorry as Discord or Princess Luna when I'm done with them," she threw the wooden bowl to the ground and watched it roll across the snow. "They took everything from me. And after I've spilled draconequus and alicorn blood into the soil, I'll gladly take this pathetic world of shadows as a surrogate to my lost kingdom."

If the air between the changeling and caribou stag wasn't tense, it certainly was after Chrysalis had finished speaking. Corolla shuffled a little bit back and picked up her fallen bowl, fearfully turning it over and over in his hoof.

"I like your species, Corolla. If I really am successfully in seizing control of Equestria I'll make sure you all receive the same treatment that you have given me."

Looking around at the vast majority of his own species purposefully shunning and silently judging the young changeling Queen, Corolla wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. If what Chrysalis had said about Luna was true, then she was more than overly ambitious. She was insane.

"What...why do you bear a grudge against Princess Luna?" he ventured, cringing as the question left his lips.

"Why? Because she is the reason for this eternal night! Have you not heard the rumors that she murdered her own sister, Princess Celestia?"

"Those are mere rumors—"

"That exist for a reason! There are eyewitnesses who state they saw a shadowy figure with the same backside mark as Princess Luna! They say the magic used to kill Celestia belongs to the Elements of Harmony! Who, but Luna, could have wielded them?" Chrysalis was on her feet now, nearly shouting down at the terrified stag. If she had not had an audience amongst the reindeer population, she certainly did now. "All evidence points to the Lunar Princess! And therefore she'll get the same treatment as the draconequus!"

A few shocked gasps rung out from the observing population, and Corolla continued looking up at her with wide eyes, still endlessly juggling the wooden bowl. Even the King was looking at Chrysalis and slowly shaking his head disapprovingly. Out of the corner of her eye, Chrysalis saw the mother fawn from earlier shield her infants ears and usher them into the protection of one of the wooden tents. Taking a deep breath, Chrysalis fluttered her wings in annoyance and rolled her eyes.

"What are you all looking at?!" she exploded, only causing them to cower further. Sitting back down, she took another deep breath and took to fiddling awkwardly with her cloak. "So...uh...Corolla. Where did you learn to speak Equish?"

Corolla did not answer.

"Geez you things are sensitive," she muttered. "If you're just going to sit there being mopey—"

"This isn't my tribe. I'm an elk. Surely you noticed?"

Her mother had always been trying to drill in the minute differences between every single equine species, and she had more often than not ignored her mother's teachings or else forgotten them completely. The sad truth even she knew was that there had probably been changeling drones that were more knowledgeable than she was about shape-shifting.

"I grew up close to a small pony village. We did a lot of trading and such there, and many of the other elk already spoke Equish to begin with."

"How did you end up with these lot then?"

"I..uhh...I'm the last one of my tribe. I was out gathering mushrooms from a nearby cave and when I returned...well, everyone was...gone."

"They left?"

"No. They were dead."

"Ah, I see."

"So I fled North."

"Obviously."

After a few moments silence, Chrysalis motioned around at the reindeer who had finally begun to ignore her and go about their normal routines.

"So how'd you end up with all these deer—"

"Caribou."

"Whatever. How'd you end up with them?" She already knew the answer, obviously, but if she could somehow trick this idiot into feeling some sort of connection with her then she might be able to feast on a little bit of his emotions. She'd felt it since he'd first sat down with the bowl of soup; Corolla obviously had some sort of sympathetic drive towards his kind actions towards her. While it was incredibly unorthodox, it wasn't completely impossible to manipulate a creature into expressing emotions that could be feed on, without even transforming. She'd never seen or heard of any changeling doing it personally, but it was always possible.

"This is too easy," Chrysalis thought to herself as she wordlessly watched the stag talk and talk while adding in the occasional nod or exclamation to make it look like she actually cared. What she was really thinking about was whether or not she would keep Luna alive long enough to show her what her kingdom had become under the reign of changelings. Make her understand how it felt to have everything you care about stolen from you.

With a start, she realized Corolla was looking at expectantly for some sort of response to some question she had not heard.

"Yes...uhh, certainly," she muttered, putting on a smug grin. Corolla laughed and nodded his head.

"I thought you'd say that. You're a lot nicer then you seem, Miss Chrysalis."

"You aren't completely despicable yourself."

"Are all changelings as bad as you are at compliments?" Corolla let out another boyish giggle. The moment the words left his mouth and he saw Chrysalis's reaction, her instantly realized what he'd just said and cursed in his own language.

"I'm sorry, Chrysalis...I wasn't thinking."

"Yes, well, it's quite alright," Internally, she was running through a dozen insults and trying to find the one that best suited him. "Not like you wouldn't understand the feeling of being completely alone, right?"

Nearly squealing with gleeful delight, Chrysalis suddenly felt a massive surge of what very well could have been love energy suddenly bursting to life. It was difficult to believe, but it seemed like she was actually doing it. Against all measures of possibility, she was actually manipulating a creature without using anything other than her own tongue. Of course, it came at the massive price of having to swallow all her pride, and she wasn't exactly going to look back at this as one of the greatest moments, but if she really was successful then she would already have done something her mother had already deemed 'impossible.'

For more than an hour she stayed with Corolla, long after the rest of the caribou tribe had gone into their homes and off to sleep. She continued talking with him, occasionally slipping in a compliment or some exaggerated tragic bit of her past for him to seethe and sympathize over. The fact that he was even still with her and had not left yet proved he found something interesting about her, and all she had to do was stoke the flames. Over the course of the time they were speaking, Corolla had slowly repositioned himself to a more casual position than his seat at least eight feet away from a creature he'd initially regarded as terrifying. Now, he was sitting almost right next to her. After a grueling eternity of dialogue, Chrysalis felt like she was finally reaching some sort of emotional breakthrough with Corolla.

"So your species can shapeshift at will?" he asked her. She was almost relieved for a question about herself, listening to him speak about his own trite and boring life was starting to get tiresome.

"Well, yes. We're called changelings, I really though it was pretty obvious."

Apparently he took her insult as joke, because he chuckled lightly at it and continued.

"Can you show me?"

"No." she said firmly, shaking her head. "Not that I don't want to. Normally I could, but right now I have barely enough energy to stay alive, let alone shapeshift at will. Sometimes, changelings get stuck in a disguise because they don't have the energy to change back out. I don't want to end up trying to cross the Frozen North in the body of a monarch butterfly."

"I'd imagine that would be troublesome," Corolla agreed. "So...wait, you mentioned energy...you mean food, right?"

"Is Equestria really this oblivious to changeling biology? We should've invaded you years ago," she grinned, but really was only half joking. "No, I don't mean food, like that brown goo you gave me earlier. Changelings feed on things like love and hate and fear. The latter two are vile and sometimes even harmful depending on the changeling."

"But...but love is good?"

"Love is great. Love is the best."

"That it is," Corolla said idly, and for a second Chrysalis could have sworn he'd leaned in towards her. He was blushing slightly and the scent of love in the air was almost enough to make her cough.

"You know these aren't just for looking good, right?" she warned, pointing a hoof at her long, razor sharp fangs.

"W...what?"

"Oh, come on! I'm not stupid! I know what you're thinking."

"I guess I can't really hide emotions from you, can I?"

"Even if I wasn't a changeling that'd be a given," she sighed. "Sometimes I wish I was as dense as you Equestrians. I'd have a lot less worries."

Corolla didn't reply to her gibe, it looked to Chrysalis like he was reminiscing about something. With growing fear, she started to realize that as he continued thinking, the scent of love was also growing. It would seem that it hadn't been her at all that she'd assumed his emotions were directed at. She must have just reminded him of someone he knew, and caused him to think about them.

"I...I don't suppose you saw any of my tribe on your journey?" He asked eventually.

"No," she muttered irritably. "You're the first ones I've seen since the ponies in Canterville."

"Dammit. I know some of them survived, and I've been looking everywhere for them. One of them was...well, she was close to me."

Chrysalis didn't reply right away, for she quite enjoyed dragging out the awkward silence so long as it was not at her expense. Corolla didn't add anything to his previous statement, but she could tell by the consistent measurements of love in the air that he was still thinking about her.

After awhile, she felt cold, curious eyes on her and turned to face Corolla, who was looking at her as if she'd just transformed into a minotaur.

"You didn't seriously think that I...and...and you..."

"That I thought you saw me as any less than an insect-like freak? No, I assure you I didn't think that."

"I didn't mean that!" he protested.

"But you were thinking it. I'm not offended. I'm quite used to it. My species isn't renown for our 'hug-able' nature." Chrysalis felt a shiver rush down her spine and straightened her cloak so she was both covered by and laying on it, instead of on the snow. "We're not renown for anything, really. My mother said that once, Princess Luna formally declared us 'pests.'"

"Really? She did?"

"Yes. Good to know it was made official," Of course, Elytra had been on relatively good terms with Princess Luna long after that statement had shook and insulted the changeling population. If she remembered her history lessons correctly, Luna and Celestia had once fought a bloody battle to liberate a griffon city that had been taken over by changelings, and Luna had made the statement shortly after.

"Anyways," she shook her head clear of archaic changeling history and cleared her throat nervously. The pulsing of the love had grown dim again, and if she didn't do something she would loose it. "Enough about myself. Tell me about your...umm, doe is the term, correct?"

"Yeah. It is."

And with that, Chrysalis tuned out of the conversation and instead shifted her focus on detecting the trace fluctuations in love energy being triggered by his memories. It would seem that she'd become very talented at simply watching someone's lips move while completely disregarding whatever it actually was that they were saying. An odd, numbing calm seemed to seep over her, preventing her from being surprised when she noticed she was once again salivating, her hunger growing in sync with the pulsating measurements of love in the air.

Suddenly, a massive spike in love energy caused something even she did not truly understand to happen. In a moment, her desperation and instincts overpowered her self-control, and Chrysalis suddenly leaped to her feet. As Corolla started to rise as well, she used her magic to paralyze the elk stag, and before he even had a chance to cry out, she sunk her sharp teeth into the side of his neck, disconnected, and spat blood out into the snow. She'd never fed by way of leeching before, but nevertheless it seemed to be coming natural to her.

Too scared to do anything much more than whimper, Corolla had little defense as she once again fired up her magic and used it to forcibly suck out every ounce of love energy she could. In mere seconds she already felt life start coursing through her veins, and for the first time in years felt like she wasn't inches from fainting from exhaustion. The last bit of love coursed it's way through her horn and into the rest of the body, and she felt relieved and satisfied.

"Oh, shut up," she muttered down at the convulsing elk as licked the blood off her teeth. "You'll live. My apologies, by the way. Circle of life, Corolla, I know you'll understand."

Swiftly, she moved to take to the air and make a hasty escape, but found that her flimsy insect wings were still being pressed against her side by the heavy cloak she was wearing.

Of course, she swore internally. She'd forgotten she'd even had the wings after not having to use them for years.

A loud, furious yell interrupted her thoughts, which were oddly calm and collected, and she whipped around to face half a dozen mortified reindeer. To her knowledge, she'd struck silently and taken enough measures to have prevented being discovered at least for a few seconds, but it seemed like she'd miscalculated a bit. The expression on their faces was the most horrified look Chrysalis had ever seen, and yet she didn't feel any real guilt for what she had just done. It had been to survive, and it wasn't like she hadn't tried to find a violence free solution.

With their translator currently immobilized, Chrysalis had no way of really explaining herself, then again she couldn't think of any words that existed that could justify what she'd just done. She thought of ripping off her cloak and taking to the air, but promptly decided she would still need it if she was heading north.

"I'm sorry about all this," she addressed no one in particular but was genuine and honest in her apology, even if she knew it was in a language only she understood. "A minor little cut is a small price to pay for the survival of my race."

With that, she gave them a curt and only semi-sarcastic bow, and began looking around. Her mind was still operating at a sluggish calm, but despite it she found an opening in the clearing and carefully examined it. It was thick with a great multitude of sharp looking underbrush. The branches and brambles were so dense that Chrysalis could see patches of dirt where snow had failed to perviate through, but it still looked possible for a relatively small changeling like herself to traverse through. Quickly she sprinted towards it, leaping over Corolla and tearing off into the night. The rest of the reindeer were hot on her tail and she was more than certain they would be faster then her, and would catch up in very little time.

Doing her best to ignore the dozens of branches instantly decimating her sides as she ran, Chrysalis shot a quick burst of magic behind her which exploded into flames and caked a large portion of thin underbrush in ashes. In seconds it, too, burst into flames, even despite the snow. The fire quickly crept up the trees but didn't make it a lot further up in the wet and cold. The fires she'd created didn't last longer than a minute as she ran, but the cover of smoke was fantastic for blotting out the path of her escape. Fortunately it seemed like even the wind was on her side, because as she fled it was blowing in her direction, forcing the smoke out of her escape path and into that of her pursuers.

Wincing as a particularly sharp branch dug into her side, Chrysalis tore through the thick foliage and carried on, never ceasing nor even slowing her sprint. After minutes of solid running, she tore through the last of the gradually thinning foliage and tree cover and into the Equestrian Tundra.

Collapsing in a heap, Chrysalis let out a triumphant cheer as she turned to face the forest of billowing smoke, screaming a few choice words at the reindeer and generally feeling fantastic. Her mood did not even damper when she examined the injuries she'd sustained during her escape, nor when she noticed that it was in fact a dull arrow and not a stick that had dug into her side. Grimacing as she yanked out the rusty projectile, she screamed a few more insults in the direction of the forest and piled some snow onto her injuries. Her thick cloak had for the most part helped to shield her, but it was torn in shreds and the icy wind was now no longer a friend and instead a nuisance.

Using a bit more twine from her saddlepack to fix her cloak, Chrysalis crept to her feet and let out a long, exhausted sigh, watching her breath rise and dissolve. Feeling energetic, confident, and only slightly guilty for what she had just done, she took her first step forwards, knowing that the culmination of thousands would eventually bring her to victory.

---

The echoing slam of the huge doors resounded across the entirety of King Sombra's castle as Nightmare Moon flung them open and marched dutifully across the empty room. It seemed like just yesterday that she and Luna had first been here, with so much more drive and motivation then either of them currently possessed.

"I am here to speak with King Sombra!" she announced, her voice carrying intrusively across every corner of the castle. "And yes, it's Nightmare Moon! Stay your guards, Sombra, because I don't want to have to shed any of their blood on your nice clean marble floor."

"You!" Sombra's familiar voice growled in response, sounding out from the shadows of the dimly lit room. "The monster herself! I must admit, that new look quite fits the pathetic mare you chose to lend your power to!"

"Oh, don't ask so surprised. Nor so hostile. I simply want to ask you a few questions."

Without any further hesitation, King Sombra appeared in front of Nightmare Moon in a fashion she herself had become accustomed to doing. Except while she had appeared and disappeared in a purple mist, King Sombra's was a reddish-black hue that complimented the magic of his horn. He was wearing the same gradient red cape that he had before, along with a silver crown which seemed to be directly connected to his horn, which flowed with a magical aura even when he was not using it. The way he was glaring at Nightmare Moon, it was clear that he intended some sort of assault against her.

"Don't even think about it, Sombra," Nightmare Moon sneered. "You lost to Luna in the past, and I can guarantee you'll meet the same fate against myself."

She kept walking until she was face to face with the unicorn king. Taller than both Celestia and Luna, Nightmare Moon easily dwarfed Sombra, too, and she had to look down to lock eyes with him. It was a good feeling to feel so superior to such a notorious foe. Sombra didn't look even remotely intimidated by her stature, but she had not been expecting him to show it even if he did.

"First of all," she began when he did not speak. "I hate to break it to you, but you aren't King Sombra. And this isn't the Crystal Empire, and out there isn't Equestria. You're living in a fantasy world, Sombra. A dream."

"You're insane. You always have been."

"Well, yes. Obviously. But what I said is true. You're a projection, Sombra. A product of Luna's memory, brought to life by the world of dreams, thinking—"

"Then how d—"

Sombra's sentence was abruptly cut off as he was flung backwards by a sudden blast from Nightmare Moon's horn. He hit the marble floor harmlessly and quickly scrambled to his feet, stunned and surprised but otherwise perfectly fine. Injuring him had not been her intention, after all. The second he was back on his feet he started towards Nightmare Moon and shot a magic bolt at her which she deflected, causing it to ricochet off the roof above and shatter one of the painted glass windows.

"Don't you dare interrupt me again," she spoke, her anger blooming but the volume of her voice remaining consistent. "I don't have time to waste here. Every moment is precious, so shut up and co-operate! Or the next time I'll throw you out one of those windows instead of onto the floor."

"I have no fear of you, Nightmare," Sombra said, letting her name slide of his tongue coated in malice and sarcasm.

"If you weren't such an idiot, you would. All I want is answers but if you want to make this difficult then I'm more than happy to oblige. Surely you, too, have noticed the changes taking place here?"

"Mayhaps I did. Why would I benefit from telling you?"

"Because right now I'm the only pony standing between peace and chaos..."

Realization dawning on her, Nightmare Moon let the rest of her sentence dissipate as the last word she had spoken echoed in her brain. Chaos...of course. She should've known.

"Discord was here, wasn't he? In Luna's mind?"

Sombra shook his head smugly in a refusal to answer. Nightmare Moon let out a frustrated scream of fury that was loud enough to shatter the remaining glass windowpanes.

"Answer!"

"Yes! He was!" Sombra rolled his eyes and looked at Nightmare Moon with an expression that clearly told her he took her for a fool. In retrospect, it was quite obvious.

"Alright. I gathered that much. Lured us both down here, tried to trap Luna forever while I took her place. But this place is colliding with...with reality. How can that be?"

"What are you talking about?" Sombra muttered, clearly lost, yet intrigued. Nightmare Moon took solace in this, after all, it kept him from trying to attack her for the time being.

"Look, we're in a Dreamworld now. Dreams are fake. They disappear when we wake up. That much is obvious. But what happens when our nightmares start bleeding their way out of minds and into reality...?" It was said as a question, and surprisingly enough Sombra answered.

"Fears...fears that could only exist without the confines of reality, suddenly running rampant across the waking world. A nightmare none could rise from."

"And Hearth's Warming Eve to a chaos god," Nightmare mused. It looked as though she was finally getting somewhere. She'd worked out the why, but the how was still a mystery. "Look, Sombra, I realize you hate me and I understand why you do, but I really need your help here."

"What do I gain from helping you?"

"Well, I was trying to be nice," Nightmare Moon lulled, her calm voice a stark contrast against her threatening words. "I'll be more blunt. Help me or I'll end you. Capiche?"

Sombra laughed, a raucous and patronizing laugh. The threat flew completely past him and he put on a wide grin.

"Yes, hilarious," said Nightmare Moon, contemplating flinging the stallion out the window and deciding against it. "Too bad I'm not joking. Is there anyway something like this can be achieved?"

"Why are you even asking me?!"

"Because I need SOMEONE to rant to! Point is, this whole place has been constructed by Discord using Luna's memories, including those of you, and it would seem he's done something additional. Something that allows him to terrorize ponies using their own nightmares."

"Princess Luna's specialty is dream magic, yes?" Sombra pondered, closing his eyes as he thought. "And Discord's magic is that of chaos. So then is it not possible that he could have forcibly used Luna's magic in the realm of dreams in conjunction with his own relative omnipotence?"

"Right. Perfect," Nightmare Moon murmured. "She has the ability to manipulate and walk through dreams, and it looks as though he's tapped into that magic somehow."

"Indeed. If Luna is capable of crossing into other ponies dreams, it is probable that other ponies fears might start manifesting themselves as well. I do not even need to tell you that you can't let that happen."

The dull crunching of glass under Nightmare Moon's hooves were the only reply he received as she paced back and forth. It was somewhat clear to her now what was going on, but she couldn't even begin to think of a way to solve any of it. There existed much worse things in the nightmares of ponies then what could be found in Luna's dreams, and if what Sombra was saying was right, then there would be a whole new level of chaos they would have to deal with.

"You're thinking of ways of preventing this?" Sombra asked. "Well, unless you have some way of preventing ponies from dreaming, there will be no end. My advice to you is to pray Luna defeats Discord fast enough. Anything else is out of our control."

Comments

[Razzy]

Chryssie is a smooth criminal.

Cya
Raziel-chan