Inside her deepest, darkest dreams, sometimes darker than imaginable, Sin could feel ice cold chills run through her spine late at night. Whenever she would be outside camping by streams all alone, she’d dream and feel the same sensation, as if something was there. Something, or somepony beckoning to her. Sin and Wilderness decided it was good to rest for a bit. For two days, they stayed at the cabin, but now, it was time to resume their course whether they wanted to or not.

It was still evening when Sin woke up, the air feeling ice cold. Her companion, Wilderness, stood up from the couch beside her. “Did you hear that?”

Sin lifted her shivering self up. “Heard what?”

“That sound…”

Sin listened, but heard nothing. Almost nothing, that is. A crack, most likely from a twig, but that was all. “It was probably just an animal,” Sin said.

Wilderness, however, was more cautious. “Even an animal can be threatening…”

As the door was creaked open, the changeling left, and the mare slowly followed behind. The hut had an eerie aura to it that night. No fog, nothing like that. It was more as if someone was watching behind every tree and shrub, waiting to ambush whoever might come looking.

The fire that had almost gone out shined a dim red on the green leaves surrounding the front entrance. Everything else was too shaded to make out. “Let’s go back inside,” Sin said, startling Wilderness a little.

“Shh…” He spoke softly, calmly whispering, “Look, over there.”

Sin came close, and just in the distance behind the darkness was a set of white eyes. They resembled the kind changelings had. She loomed out from the shroud, into the light, staring blankly at Sin.

A white mane with dark, charred edges laid next to weak looking, holed hooves. She was only the size of a filly, fangs showing. Once Wilderness could see her more clearly, he began backing away with Sin watching.

“Who are you?” the filly said, her voice crackling like that of an old lady.

“Sin, we need to leave.”

Sin looked next to her. “Why? Who is this?”

Without looking away, Wilderness said, “Sister! Now we need to leave!”

He froze in time. Everything around Sin changed. The house they were just living in began to decay at an alarming rate, the tall grass was blown away by the winds, and the bushes completely disappeared. Up above, the stars were blotched out by a sickly blue, all but the moon. The bright, full moon high above Sin and the changeling stranger.

“Who are you?” Sin asked

Every step closer sounded as though where she walked was by Sin’s side, but she wasn’t getting any closer, either. “Sister… You’re powerful, aren’t you?”

Sin looked back at the grey stallion next to her, his face expressing pure shock. “Your name’s Sister… And what power are you?”

“The void.” Sin looked down to see Sister standing before her, that same, amazed look in her eyes. “Nothing is my specialty. You’re something powerful, and it’s hard to destroy you.”

Sin backed away. “Destroy me?”

“I would’ve done this to him first, but I still remember him saving me once before. So I’m sparing him this time. You, however, have been summoned by me in your dreams. The greatest quantity of darkness is where void lies, and where I’m sending you. It’s… a bad habit of mine.”

Sin nodded while gulping, her mane hiding her eyes. “Don’t force me to choose my route. We can leave peacefully, or there can be a conflict. It’s your choice, not mine.”

She just kept coming closer, and things seemed as if the closer Sister got, the weaker Sin felt. She was fading away. Though, her will would not be forced like this. For a short while, she and Wilderness had found momentary sanctuary. For all that to be taken away by nothingness wasn’t what they intended to let happen.

With her horn suddenly surging with yellow lightning jumping through the loops, Sin pointed it to the sky, but then brought it crashing to the ground. Everything blurred and distorted as though she were pulling herself and everything else back out of nothingness and into reality once more.

With a headache, Wilderness came thumping to the ground, back in real time. Sin huffed, a miniature crater under her head, and looked up. Before her still stood young Sister, hidden again by the shadows. Wilderness pleaded, “Sin, get away from her!”

Ignoring him completely, the mare trotted closer, staring down the filly. “Why me?”

Sister hissed, “You’re everything that can stop darkness from taking this land. Pure light… We were birthed as enemies, and we’ll see each other again.”

With the blinking of her eyes, Sister was gone. Sin and Wilderness was stunned for a few seconds, but recovered. They looked at each other, and then back behind them. Everything was gone. Instinctively, the two changelings jumped back to find the house completely replaced with a square outline of grass.

“What happened?” Sin asked.

“She needed something to eat… Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t having any dreams?!”

“What? How was I supposed to know about her?”

Wildlife turned quickly, his chest pushing against Sin’s. “To dream of nothing is to dream of her! Anypony that dreams of nothingness for a few days straight will see her face within the void. She is that void which many of us visit in sleep.”

Sin looked over towards where the home once was. “I never saw her in my dreams.”

“Think hard, Sin! She said it, didn’t she? You were told of how she lured you here so she could eat you, or as she likes to call it, send you into nothingness itself."

“She needed something to eat… So she took our home.”

“Because you were too strong…?”

“I kicked her out of my mind…”

“What?” Wilderness asked. “How?”

Sin looked up, and explained simply, “I just thought about what I wanted, and it happened.”

She warily glanced at Wilderness backing away. He looked at her with these serious eyes, worried, and showing it. “If you’re that powerful, to tell Sister she’s not allowed near here, and to defeat Inferno, too…”

Sin started walking. Over a few hills and through the trees, the two resumed their course. After that encounter, Wilderness started looking at Sin with a hint of fear in his eyes. Never had he even heard of another with such accumulated strength.

Sin wondered when she’d see Sister again, and asked, “That girl was like a ghost.”

The two were passing by some random forest during mid day when Sin finally struck up a conversation. “If a ghost is the closest you can come to describe her when she had you caught, then the rumors are true.”

“Who else have you met, other than me?” Sin looked his way. “Other changelings, like Evolvers.”

Wilderness acted as though he wished to keep that secret. “It’s probably best you just trust me when I tell you to back off of somepony we meet next time.”

He took the lead, magically removing branches from his path. Sin followed close behind, crouching a bit, and missing their home. For two whole days, they were allowed to rest up, but all that was over. Equestria and all its wonders were soon behind the changeling’s trail, and sands laid just beyond the foggy landscape. Along with a new area came territory they were bound to trespass upon.

Author's Notes:

Original Cover Art:

Prequil Cover Art:

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