Royal Nightmares
While Prince Fledge Dreamwings had been busy in Equestria, attempting to find the destined "Maiden" who could save his kingdom from going extinct, at border where the Sovereignty ended and the Land of Nightmares began something serious going on. In a huge crater was a bubbling black lake. In the center of this black lake with four waterfalls cascading boiling water in each direction was a black crystal castle. It was as ugly as Prince Fledge's palace was beautiful. It was repulsive, decaying and dark. A flock of crows and ravens were continually circling above it and it just was the general idea of what nightmares would be. It was as far the opposite of the Golden Sovereignty could be this was a land of the ruined dreams and just death of faith, innocence and purity.
Flying at a high speed to a large balcony was that flash of jet black, snow white and silver from before. This blur turned out to be Princess Jadis. She was giggling like an insane killer which was what she was hoping to be. She'd been waiting for days to strike the Golden Flouting Palace. When she finally saw that the handsome stallion returned to his home, she was more then ready to charm him with her newest seductive lures, which she'd been working on for the past week. It only made sense that she'd be his queen. She was after all the most gorgeous, powerful and had the finest bloodline of all other ponies, so he should be hers. To her shock he brought six little ponies and a chubby dragon back from the Land of Equestria. She knew she ought to laugh which she did at first. After all what could six little ponies from the back of beyond no-talent dolts do against her and her mighty powers? It was then she become aware of that one of the ponies, a little lavender pony of no extraordinary beauty or talent came through. The thing was this pony was an ALICORN! Meaning she was a princess in the Land of Equestria!
This really got the icy blood in Jadis' body boiling! She wouldn't have anypony take Fledge away from her! This little snippet had no idea whom she was messing with! No idea at all whom she was messing with! She could see out of her shimmering jade eyes that the way Fledge and this princess looked at each other, that there was some mutual attraction, well she wouldn't have any of that. Prince Fledge Dreamwings would be her husband and hers and no-one else. No way in heaven or hell was some unintelligent repulsive little princess from some place as unrefined as Equestria was gonna steal her true love away from her! She'd make sure of that!
Therefore as soon as the rest of the ponies were rushed inside the palace by Prince Fledge she took her chance to at least give this princess a word of warning. Fledge may've thought she was trying to murder Twilight, but her aim was off on purpose. It was a warning and she better heed it. No-pony but herself was gonna be the bride of the Prince of Dreams! No-pony! She was pleased that she had injured the princess and sent all the other ones running scared. At least they'd get it quickly that this place was no vacation spot. This was war and she was gonna win it! She was giggling madly as she arrived home at the Palace of Nightmares.
Turning to face the dusk she let out a long happy sigh. Tossing back her ebony head she laughed once more and smiled wickedly. "Ah, such a glorious decaying view! More and more ruined dreams! Well a job well done! You pick at a pony's confidence long enough sooner or later they'd realize that dreams are foolish little fantasies that aren't ever gonna happen! And with each ruined dream the more powerful I become! In next to no time there'll be enough ponies giving up their dreams to truly make the Dark Crystal of Nightmares powerful enough to overthrow the Golden Crystal of Dreams! When that finally happen darling Prince Fledge will be mine! Oh won't Mom be happy when I tell her the news!" she laughed evilly and galloped inside to the throne room.
Just like how the Golden Palace was a refuge for mythical creatures of light and purity, the same held true for the Dark Palace, only the creatures who took refuge here were of the most evil and wickedest breeds of any worlds. Hobgoblins, banshees, imps, demons and other such creatures were running amok within in the Dark Palace whose torch light was not normal color fire but dark purple with green highlights. She finally arrived in the center of her home and saw three towering thrones of black gems with a massive picture in the floor of an eclipse. It was her family's crest of course seeing how their dream was to annihilate all beautiful in all worlds, and turn them all into ashes, that would be reborn as living nightmares! In order to achieve their goal they must be like an eclipse where the sun and moon overshadowed them both.
"Mom! I'm home! And I bring some news you might want to hear!" Jadis called out in a singsong tone of voice to her beautiful mother. Queen Belladonna looked up from her crystal gazing for she'd been gazing into a large dark crystal ball. Like her daughter her coat was as black as ebony, her mane and tail on the other hand were so red that they're almost black. Her eyes were blood red but her wings were sliver tinted a touch of blackish red. She was very beautiful in her own opinion and both mother and daughter seemed to think that they're unmatched in their beauty. Whether that was true or not was up for debate, still that wasn't the point of the meeting.
"My darling daughter, welcome home! May the moon block out the sun so we may win this war! So what information do you bring? The imps were most unhelpful when I sent them out spying on the Golden Palace. The blasted flower fairies from Prince Fledge's garden erected a new barrier to stop us from spying within its walls. So I hope whatever information you're able to glean from your scouting is good. Now my beautiful daughter, tell me all that you've learned!"
"Well, Prince Fledge has finally returned from his 'quest'. I believe he's still searching for that stupid maiden of his. The one who supposedly has dreams of gold and a heart just as pure? I'm positive that she doesn't exist, after all no-pony has dreams of gold or a heart just as pure. It's a wild goose chase if you ask me, Mom."
"I agree, still we better hope he never finds this 'maiden', even if she does by some weird reason she might exist. Though frankly speaking I believe just as you do that she doesn't exist. Still we must continue to ruin as many ponies as possible dreams if we wish to keep the balance of power tipped in our favor. So sorry for getting sidetracked, back to business. Tell me what going on? Now, please, Jadis, tell me more of the news now that the Prince has returned?"
"He did bring back some 'help' and I use that word very loosely. He brought back six little ponies and a fat baby dragon to help him!"
"He brought some ponies and a dragon back? That's the best he could do? What are these ponies like? Are they powerful or special?"
"They didn't look very powerful to me. One is clearly a hick, another is a fashion diva, one is a complete airhead whom eaten too much sugar, another one is just this shy little twit, and the other flying pony is nothing more then a jock dolt. The dragon looked a bit chubby and not very powerful."
'That's only five ponies. What about the sixth?"
"The last one is the only one who might pose a slight problem. She's an ALICORN!"
"An ALICORN PRINCESS?! He brought back a PRINCESS?!"
"Yes, but I already sent her a message telling she better watch her step. I know I hurt her enough that she's badly injured. So at least they've gotten the message we aren't to be trifled with. Still he must have some reason for bringing them. Still I doubt any of them pose much a threat other then the Princess. You don't become a princess without good reason. So we must watch this one out carefully."
"You're right a Princess is far more dangerous then any of these other riffraff. Still we must air on the side of caution. Prince Fledge Dreamwings is no fool. He didn't become who he is by making stupid choices. Not to mention his parents were powerful and cunning enough if they manage to pass the Crystal to him and slewed your father at the same time. Therefore Prince Fledge my beautiful daughter isn't a fool at all."
"Still, they're just a bunch of ridiculous little ponies, Mother. We can take them out without a problem. That princess will watch all of them die first then I shall kill her!"
"I love to see you so bloodthirsty, still let's not make a mistake this far into the game. We cannot win the war if we make foolish choices or ill made decisions. So for now let's just find out what we can about these ponies and their pet dragon. Once we've got a clearer idea of what we're up against then we can determine the best course of action. So shall we gaze into the crystal?" Queen Belladonna suggested as she tilted her head back to the dark crystal ball she'd been gazing into.
"Ohh, I love how your mind works, Mother. Let's see what we can see with a sight beyond our own sight! I need the practice so I shall do it. So come let's see why Prince Fledge brought these dolts!" she replied with a murderous relishing in her voice. She jumped high into the air and fluttered in front of the large black crystal ball.
"Remember, Jadis, let go your conscience mind and let your inner eye see what can be seen," reminded her mom as she approached her throne.
"I know, Mom! I know! Don't distract me!" she snapped angrily in reply. Turning her glowing green eyes she soon became enveloped by a dark blackish red aura, an identical aura encompassed the crystal ball. Almost immediately there was a crackling of dark lightning and every thing went cold as a night in a forsaken graveyard. An image began to little by little flood the crystal ball and they could see within the walls of Prince Fledge's dinning hall. Despite the fact that it wasn't exactly a clean crisp look to either of them. The spells erected by the attractive but tiny magical fairies prevented a full comprehensible look. So it was like trying to tune into a very fuzzy bad signal of a TV. Still they could make out somewhat of what was being shown in front of them. Not great but not so bad that they couldn't see anything at all, though hearing was also not perfect either, yet both Jadis and Belladonna could read lips very well.
The grand hall that was the dinning room was as always stunningly decorated and beautiful. The food looked very delicious as well. Standing like a guard in the corner was Helena who looked very solemn and concerned at the same time. Pair of stunning nymphs was serving everypony a large scrumptious piece of a huge golden apple pie. Nearby a troop of naiads were doing a water ballet for Fledge's guests entertainment. They all seemed to be enjoying the ballet very much which only was enhanced by golden swans swimming with the naiads. Princess Jadis's anger grew when she saw that that pony princess was sitting in the chair at the right side of Fledge. That was HER rightful SPOT! Now they began to hear in a somewhat muffled tone what was being said.
"So, you sure know how to show a few ponies a good time. I love the beauty and elegance of your naiads' water ballet. It's so beautifully done," said the princess with a bit of a giggle. Her lavender skin was a touch of light pink when she said this.
"This is beyond pleasing to the eye, Fledge. I've never witnessed such beauty, poise and grace. Not in any of the models I've had over the years for all of my fashions. You're so lucky to have such wonderful models for your own private pleasure. I'm impressed," the fashion diva unicorn spoke kindly as she seemed memorized by what she was seeing.
"Thank you both for saying such kind things. It is a pleasure and honor to be able to share my people wonders with new friends," he replied in equal kindness. He then turned to the redneck and spoke for a second time in that soothing dreamy velvet voice everyone loved so much. "Thank you so much for bucking the trees in the orchard and helping making this pie, Applejack. You and Pinkie Pie did a great job working together to make both this pie and the yummy cake which is now being served. So, thank you two very much."
"Oh, shucks, Fledge! It wasn't any trouble. I must've bucked a zillion trees by now. It wasn't any problem to buck a few more. Though I'm happy to report that my rear end is finally healed, it would've hurt worse then stepping on a porcupine tail, if I tried to buck with a sore rump. So I'm happy to say it's finally healed."
"That's super duper zany great to hear, Applejack! I'm so happy to know you're not in pain anymore. And both your pie and my cake surly make things so great! I'm so happy! Happy, happy and happier! This is so much fun!"
"Calm down, Pinkie Pie, no need to overexert yourself."
"Applejack is right, Pinkie Pie. We all got to remain calm and relaxed. So just take a deep cleansing breathe and think peace, quiet, and tranquility. Let's all do that now. Everypony inhale and exhale and say it with me. Peace, quiet and tranquility." Fluttershy instructed as she did a few yoga moves at the same time.
Everypony did as she said except Rainbow Dash wasn't feeling it. She was still too busy flying wildly around the crystal chandelier. It was hard enough to rein in Pinkie Pie's exuberant personality, nevertheless Rainbow Dash was just hard headed and hard willed and she just was too pumped up to calm down in any sense of the word. Still she did mange to calm down some when Helena shot her a blazing glance so she just settle back down into her chair. Everypony seemed to have calm down enough that they could start planning to overcome the evil here. However, before they'd did that they had to stop Spike from eating a big pile of jewels that he'd snuck under the table and was about to eat. He pouted for a few minutes as Twilight used her magic to send the precious gems back to where they belonged.
"Oh! Twilight! I spent all day gathering those beauties up! I'm famished! Can't I have just one itsy bitsy gem?"
"Spike! I've told you already, you're not gonna eat any of Prince Fledge's home up! Now can we focus on what is at hoof? Which is finding out how to stop these evil immoral night mares and their wicked curse, and replenish the power of the Golden Crystal of Dreams?"
This was about all the crystal ball could show the two royal night mares. The fairy's magic and the Prince's own magic made any further spying impossible. The crystal ball went black as night and showed no more. Jadis looked incensed and smacked the sphere in a bout of fury. Her mother Belladonna had to use her magic to stop the crystal ball from breaking on the floor. She glared her blood red eyes at her daughter in a bit of disgust.
"Jadis! Be more careful! We've got only one black sun crystal ball and there isn't another we can use if you break it! So please be kind enough not to smash our family's heirloom to pieces alright?"
The nightmare princess didn't appear to have heard her mother's words. She was so livid and she just shot a bolt of magic across the room and singed a silk tapestry on the opposing wall. "I'm gonna KILL THAT TWILIGHT! I don't care about those other ponies, but Twilight will be dead when the time is right, and she gonna watch everyone else and everything she cares about die first. Then only when she is in absolute anguish and agony will I release her from her pain! We shall murder all of them in due time, nevertheless I'm gonna to personally murder that foolish joke of a princess!"
"Daughter, I have the same opinion as you. We shall kill them all when the time is right, still we've got to first learn more about them, and then and only then can we figure out how best to do the deed. Till then we must continue to do our best to keep the Plague of Disbelief spreading. The more ruined dreams the weaker Prince Fledge Dreamwings's powers are. So we must first spread a bit more of that to weaken him. Then we can figure out how best to eliminate these stupid little ponies."
The evil princess turned to face her mother. She was still in a furious rage over what she'd just watched. All the same she started to take a deep cleansing breath of her own to calm down enough. "Yes, Mother. That's exactly what we shall do. You get busy with that. I must do my best to prepare to meet this Princess Twilight face to face. So come we have work to do and not a lot of time to do it in!"
The pair of them just laughed their evil laugh and a dark storm was brewing. The outside was matching the evil within the dark palace. One thing was crystal clear no-one was safe from their wraith and Twilight and her friends hadn't a clue how bad things had gotten but they better be prepared for a wraith from a more wicked place then hell.