A nightly guardian

A nightly guardian

Chapter 11

Desperation

Luna sat by Lyras bedside in the hospital wing of the castle. Several tubes were running in and out of the Unicorns body, supplying her with all the nutrients she needed, while removing the waste products. It had been Luna who had found her three days ago. She had wanted to tell her the final part of Zeos story, even so she knew that it might have had dire consequences. Had her student refused to do, what she would have asked of her, her last chance would have been gone....

The Princess of the night had walked into Lyras bedroom, a little surprised that the Unicorn was not yet up and barraging her with questions. From the moment on she had set a hoof into her study, she had felt uncomfortably nervous, even so she could see nothing wrong with the place. At the time, she had chalked it up to fears about her students reaction to her terrible secret. Once she had opened the bedroom door however, she had been stopped in her tracks by shock. The room was a mess. Drawers stood open, the dresser on the right side of the room had been smashed to pieces, and the bed was nothing more then a pile of wood. Between all the debris, the Alicorn saw a mint green and white streak stick out from under what had once been the dresser. Without hesitation, she used her telekinesis, throwing debris left and right until she had dug up Lyra. Her student and friend was barely breathing, and blood flowed from her muzzle with each breath. She had immediately put her onto her back, and galloped back to the exit of the archives. Once she was back in the library again, she ignored the shocked looks on Lyras fathers face, and teleported to the hospital wing....

There she had stayed for the last three days and two nights, without leaving Lyras side even once. All the while the younger of Equestrias ruler was crying her heart out. The accusatory looks her students family had given her, didn't help one bit either. Her father was surely blaming her for what had happened to his daughter, while her mother couldn't bring herself to even speak to the Princess. Luna felt a wing on her shoulder and looked up. It was Celestia, trying desperately to comfort her.

“Have the results come in yet? Will she be alright?”, Luna asked hopefully, for what seemed like the millionth time.

“No, dear sister. The doctors seem to be at their wits end. They have tried everything they can, but not only is something preventing her wounds to close, but they say she would not survive the surgery that she would need. Several of her inner organs are injured, while several of her ribs are broken. Not to mention her right foreleg.... I am sorry dear sister, but they said it is highly unlikely that she will wake up again....”, Celestia whispered in a comforting tone, a tear running down her cheek.

“It's all my fault... I can't explain it, but this is my fault! Had I not insisted on trying again, after what happened to Starswhirl...”

“Shh... it's not your fault Luna. You have tried to do what you thought was right, and I supported you in any way I could...”, Celestia began to say, but her sister interrupted her.

“No! You have not helped me in EVERY way you can.... He would... he could safe her....”, Luna began to shout, but broke out into sobs again.

Celestia knew exactly what her sister was getting at. She had, so far, refused to help Luna with much more then looking for students, or covering up any mishaps that happened during the training of those, she deemed worthy. She had been afraid that, should the procedure fail, Equestria could loose both Princesses, but she just could not watch her little Ponies succumb to this any longer. She had two options in this predicament. She could either banish Luna to the moon once again, or....

“I have neglected my duties as your sister it seems... I will help you, if you so wish.”, Celestia sighed in defeat.

Luna could not believe her ears. For years she had begged her sister to reconsider on the matter, and now she was the one offering it out of her free will. Celestia had been the first one, to learn any of Zeos spells, under Lunas instruction, but had chickened out in the last moment. The younger sister struggled to regain a modicum of composure, before nodding. She threw a final look back at Lyra, who would not live for very long anymore, if the doctors were right...

“It will all be alright... I will fix this... my friend...”, she whispered, almost only to herself, as the two of them walked out of the hospital wing and straight into the archives.

Half an hour later

The royal sisters stood in front of the door to Zeos study, considering what they were about to do for a final time, in case one of them wanted to back out of it.

“I wonder Luna... Why has your student never ask why I didn't do it instead of her?”

“I lied to her... Told her Alicorns could not do it. But in fact, I have performed many more sins, and I have much more blood on my hooves then I like to admit. This little lie... is nothing compared to the atrocities I have performed over the years....”, Luna responded, her head hanging low.

“I am sure she will understand, and you are not completely to blame for everything that has happened over the years. I could have stopped you at any time I wanted, but I did not, for I know how important this is to you. I can not imagine how it must feel...”, she trailed off, looking at the door in front of them.

The pair exchanged a look, then both nodded their agreement. They both knew that, if this failed, Equestria would most likely fall. Celestia had, without Lunas knowledge, sent a letter to Twilight Sparkle in which she ordered her to gather the elements of harmony. Ever since the incident with Discord, the necklaces resided in Pony-ville, with their respective bearers.

“Should this decision bite my flank off, at least there will still be hope for Equestria as a whole...”, she thought to herself as she walked alongside Luna into Zeos study.

******

Doody was sitting by his daughters bed, holding one of her hooves in both of his own. He had once read that comatose patients felt it when somepony touched them... His hopes about getting his daughter back however, were lost the moment he had spoken to the doctor responsible for Lyras treatment...

“What do you mean you can't help her? This is the royal hospital for Celestias sake!”, he had shouted at the young yellow coated mare, with a pink mane and tail.

“I...I... uhm, I'm sorry. The treatment does not seem to be working and.. ehm... it might be better if she didn't wake up...”, the mare told him timidly.

“What is that supposed to mean?”, he had growled at her in anger, to which the mare, that called herself Fluttershy, shrank back a few steps.

“Ehm... I.. ehm...”, she had stuttered, until one of the older doctors had intervened, obviously unable to take the mistreatment of his younger co-worker any longer.

“Mr. Heartstrings, what doctor Fluttershy is trying to say is, that we can not do anything for your daughter at the moment. If she were to wake up, she would only be in immense pain, and I can not see you wanting that, now do you? All that keeps her alive right now is her will to survive, and the machines we have attached to her body. If either of that fails... well... I think it better if you stop shouting at the Ponies that actually do their best to help, and go to see your daughter. I don't know how long she still has...”, the elderly brown stallion with gray mane and tail had told him, in a comforting tone.

******

Celestia and Luna walked right past all the stuff in the main room of the study. The comfy couch and all the devices on a nearby table were all but ignored. Their goal was the door at the far end of the room, on the left side of the fireplace.

As Luna opened it carefully, Celestia saw that this room had not been cleaned up like the main room. The floor was covered in a thick layer of dust, in which she could see several hoof-prints. They all ended at a specific point in the room. She could now tell where her sister had been all those times she had been unable to find her...

“You have slept here, haven't you Luna?”, she asked in a tone that only asked for a confirmation.

Luna simply nodded, following the path through the dust to a blanket and pillow that lay on the ground where the bed had once been. All that was left of the once beautiful four-poster was dust and some of it's gold-rim. Next to these stood a statue that was as big as Celestia herself, surrounded by whirling pale blue and pure black magic. It was a statue that perfectly resembled her brother in law. His face showed a shocked expression, his long leather coat, now made out of stone, seemed frozen in a non-existent breeze. Both of his hands clutched something, and Celestia was reminded of that fateful night over a thousand years ago, when he had tried to free Luna from Nightmare Moon once and for all....

“Luna, you DO know that this is risky, don't you?”, she asked, still hoping her sister would reconsider.

“I know, but I have to try. Lyra tried to help me, and now look at her. If I can safe her life by doing this with you, then so be it!”, Luna responded, never taking her eyes of the statue of her husband.

“I will not be able to help you, once we have started this Luna. I will only act as a relay, and will therefor be unable to intervene in the fight that is sure to come. Are you sure you can take her on?”

“I am, this time more then ever before. Besides... I trust him.”, she smiled with determination and longing in her eyes.

Celestia sighed and began to intone the spell, once Luna had given her the go ahead. Her horn began to glow in an intense golden light, and her eyes shone brighter then the sun, illuminating the whole room. Slowly but steadily the object in the statues left hand began to phase through the cold stone that was holding it. As soon as her magic made contact with it, Celestia could feel the sinister magic and will of the original Nightmare Moon. With a quick use of telekinesis she grabbed her sisters prosthetic horn, and removed it at exactly the spot where it had been broken off so long ago.

Luna winced as her sister began to cut off her horn, but she tried to stay as still as the statue in front of her. This pain would ultimately lead into her friend being saved, her being rid of Nightmare Moons influence, her getting finally getting rid of the Death-root magic inside of her and....

She saw her original horn float to her forehead at a steady pace. The pale blue magic that came from the statue tried to pull it back into it's grasp, but Luna could see that her sister would have none of it. Each time the pale blue magic tried to envelop the horn, Celestia would overpower it with her own magic. This didn't even slow it down....

The moment the horn was attached to her forehead again, Luna could feel her original powers return to her. It began to heal in the fraction of a second, and she was once again a full Alicorn. Not only a Pegasus with a crippled horn.... But she could already feel it. Nightmare Moon had already noticed that it had been reattached, so she could not waste any time now....

Celestia panted heavily. Reattaching a horn that had been separated for that long should have been impossible , but Zeos spells had made it possible. The upside to the magic of Nightmare Moon residing in it, had been that the horn was still as fresh as it had been on the day it was broken off. The downside was that the hardest part was yet to come, and she did not know if she had it in her to channel another one of his spells after only such a short time of rest.... But she had to try, once Luna had done her part in this...

Luna struggled, stomping her hooves on the dusty floor, having her eyes closed and shaking her head violently. It was hard to concentrate all of a sudden. If this went on much longer, she would not be able to do what she had come here to do. With a tremendous effort, she shoved the whispers at the back of her mind aside, and started to use the last remainder of Nightmare Moons magic, that she had held present in the horn. Her will however, was already attacking her mind once again...

The white Alicorn settled onto the dusty floor, since this could take a while. She was already exhausted, and wanted to safe up every bit of strength she had left. Suddenly, her sisters eyes began to glow with a silver light, that showed her that she was intoning a spell with her Alicorn magic. Soon a brilliant burst of silvery light burst forth from her horn, and shot directly at the statue. The stone began to crack in places, and the swirling pale blue magic seemed to rip off the parts that where breaking. Soon she would have to hold her promise to her sister....

******

Zeo slowly came to. He lay on a dusty floor of a room that seemed both familiar and unknown to him. His body hurt all over, and he raised his right hand to see that it still held a transparent gemstone. The hair he had wrapped around it, however had withered away...

It came all back to him, when he heard a familiar voice call out to him. He looked up and saw Luna, black magic whirling around her, while she seemed to struggle against an invisible enemy. In the far corner of the room sat Celestia, her horn aglow with her own magic, ready to cast a spell.

“Zeo!”, he heard her shout.

“Celestia! You foolish mares! Why did you let her do this?”, he raised himself up to his feet. His knees were a little unsteady, and he felt a headache coming on that was stronger then the worst hangover he had ever had, but that didn't stop him from glaring at the ruler of all of Equestria with anger.

“There is no time for this! Are you ready for a mind-link?”, she asked, shaking her head.

“Mind-link? ARE YOU MAD? It'll kill her!”, he growled, steadying himself by leaning against the wall. He wanted nothing more then to go over to his wife and hug her, but at the same time he wanted to slap her for her stupidity. Usually Zeo would have never harmed Luna, but this was just too much...

“There is no TIME! Are you ready or not?”, Celestia asked again, a tone or urgency in her voice.

Zeo nodded, and pointed his left hand at Luna to intone the spell, but Celestia never gave him the chance to complete it. Instead he felt himself being pulled out of his body, and right into Celestias mind. He was wondering what the meaning of this was, when Celestia pushed his mind out of her head, and towards Luna. Then he understood.

“You clever mare.... You clever, clever mare... Spreading the strain of interspecies mind-link between the two parties and a relay... brilliant!”, he thought to himself as he began to enter Lunas mind.

******

Luna flew through the gigantic library that was her mind, Nightmare Moon hot on her heels. While she had used the counter-spell for the imprisoning-spell the dark Alicorn had used against her husband so long ago, it had ceased the opportunity to break open the doors behind which the Deathroot-magic had been sealed. After absorbing it, Nightmare Moon was once again stronger then her. Bolts of pure black magic struck left and right of her, as her dark counterpart tried to ground her.

“Stop this running, and submit yourself to me! This time there is no human that will save you in the last minute!”, Nightmare Moon laughed.

“I WONT'T GIVE IN TO YOU AGAIN!”, Luna screamed, turning herself onto her back mid-flight, returning the fire with her own magic. All of her attacks struck true, and the dark Alicorn was knocked out of the air, landing in one of the enormous book-shelfs.

“Did I get her?”, Luna wondered hovering and watching the cloud of dust that rose up from the place, where Nightmare Moon had landed.

Suddenly, the dust moved into a different direction, and Luna knew what was coming. She tried to brace herself, but it was too late. Nightmare Moon dashed out of the cloud at amazing speeds, and tackled right into her. The two of them exchanged blows with their hooves and horns, while plummeting to the ground.  By the time they did, Nightmare Moon was on top, holding Lunas legs down with her own hooves.

“Looks like this is it “Princess””, the dark Alicorn laughed. Lunas attacks on her had barely left a scratch on her opponent, while she herself was breathing hard and found it impossible to free herself from her grasp. If Nightmare Moon killed her here, she would have free reign over her body, and nopony would be able to wrestle that away from her again, since it would be hers then...

Luna closed her eyes, awaiting the final blow that would end her existence. Why wasn't Zeo coming? Had his circuit not regenerated since he had been imprisoned? It was a possibility, but most books she had read told her that it should have... Did he maybe not want to help her?

At that moment Nightmare Moon screamed in terror and the weight was lifted off of Lunas legs. Her eyes snapped open in an instant, as she saw her opponent enveloped in pale blue strands of magic. They lifted her up, while she struggled against them. A few meters behind Nightmare Moon, stood a figure Luna knew only too well, and had missed greatly over the last millennium.

“ZEO!”, she shouted out in glee as she galloped towards him. He however rose his free right hand to stop her. His expression was a mixture of joy and utter fury.

“We will talk about this later Luna. You have ALOT to explain. Just pray that the plan I made up works, or you'll be a widow this time...”, he snarled before he disappeared with Nightmare Moon in tow...

******

Celestia could feel that Luna was loosing her struggle with Nightmare Moon, since her magic got weaker and weaker, but she could not help her. She could only hope that her brother in law would be able to do it, while tears continued to run down her face. Suddenly her eyes snapped open. The spell had been broken! For a moment she wondered if her concentration had wavered enough to make her drop it, without intending to, but she found that this was not the case. Instead she could see Luna stumble a few steps, before falling unconscious.

Celestia rushed to her side, checking carefully for any traces of Nightmare Moon as she went. In Luna, she could find none... Zeo however...

She looked over to her brother in law that was slumped against the wall he had been leaning against. Again pale blue magic began to course around him, like it was battling the pure black magic that was now coming from his body as well. In an instant she knew what had happened. Zeo had extracted Nightmare Moon from Luna and taken her back to his own mind with him...

The white Alicorn dragged Luna over to the pillow and blanket her sister had used, when she had spent the nights here. She looked so peaceful as she slept. Celestia could not help but smile. For the first time in over a millennium, her little sister would not be plagued by nightmares, for Nightmare Moon, and her Death-Root-magic had finally left Luna. She threw a worried glance over to Zeo, whom she would have liked to place next to her sister, but did not dare to do so.

She was feeling weak and useless as she watched her brother in law doing everything he could to safe his wife, while she was spent and unable to assist him in his mental battle with Nightmare Moon...

******

Nightmare Moon trotted through the darkness that was all around her. She was not scared, far from it since darkness was her element. Still, it was a little unnerving. Usually she would be able to control the darkness and shadows, but this darkness refused to listen to her commands....

Just as she was wondering where she was, a voice sounded from the shadows around her, and a small portion of her surroundings got illuminated by a spotlight.

“So I guess I got you where I wanted you. The question now is, what I should do with you now that you are here.”, a male voice spoke up that she knew all too well. Looking around she saw the owner of it step out of the darkness and into the light.

“I don't want to do this.”, she said, holding the stare of the man that now made his way towards her.

“Neither do I, dear. But... I must wonder... You tried to kill me back then, and now you are having second thoughts? I only survived by sheer luck since your spell was incomplete, and imprisoned me instead. Had you finished it, we wouldn't be having this talk right now.”, he said, still coming closer.

Nightmare Moon took a few steps backwards, knowing that he was right.

“You left me no choice. You would have killed me! I saved your life back in that cave, don't you remember? Why would you betray me like this?”, Nightmare Moon stammered, trying to avoid his gaze.

“Dear... You were going easy on me the entire fight. Had you gone all out I wouldn't have been able to ground you, even if I was in top form. And I think you know perfectly well why I had to do it then, and have to do it now. The way you are now, you are a danger to Equestria. As much as I was delighted at my discovery, that it was you, I was also very sad. You should finally get your peace, not be the corrupted and power hungry thing that you are now.”, he sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbing the scar that she had inflicted on him so long ago.

It hurt Nightmare Moon to hear him say these words. Part of her wanted to agree with him, while another one wanted to crush him where he stood. It was an equal match, but the later eventually won...

“Then you leave me no choice! Remember that I'm doing this simply out of self defense!”, she screamed, while charging at him. Zeo was ready, not even attempting to block her blows, but redirecting them instead, so she simply hit the ground behind him.

While sidestepping another one of her frontal charges, five magical strands shoot from Zeos left hand. Trying to wrap them around her neck, he didn't see her mane start to act differently. The moment he was sure he would be able to get a hold on her, it lashed out, knocking him back to the edge of the illuminated area.  Before he was able to stand up again, his eyes fell upon six spell-bolts that were coming for him.

Unable to dodge them he took them head on, creating a shield spell to protect him from the worst of the damage. Explosion after explosion Zeo had to recreate his shields in rapid succession. The dust they created, obscured his vision momentarily, hiding his opponent from his sight. Being more experienced then his wife, he knew what was coming from the start and was prepared for it. One especially long and thin strand formed at the top of his left index finger, as he awaited an attack. He was not disappointed, for Nightmare Moon tried to jump at him from the side.

Raising his left hand, he met her charge with his ultra thin strand. Knowing that she could take serious damage from this, the dark mare tried to evade it. To her credit, she almost managed it but it still grazed her face, leaving a deep cut behind. Instead of blood coming forth however, the color of her coat changed at this particular spot. Instead of black, it turned a dark blue.

“You may hide under illusions, now that you have lost contact to Lunas powers for shape-shifting, but I still recognize you.”, Zeo panted as he stepped out of the dust cloud.

Another strand formed at the tip of his right index finger, and he started to use them like whips, bringing then down on every part of his opponent that he could reach. They did not seem to hurt her in the slightest. She did not cry out in pain, each time she was hit, but ran from them nevertheless. Each time they cut into her body, another part of her fell away like black slime, only to evaporate on the floor. Her coat was now almost completely blue. All that remained were some dark spots on her coat, her waving magical mane and tail and those turquoise draconian eyes...

Nightmare Moon stood at the very edge of the spotlight, trying to escape into the darkness beyond, but found a barrier that prevented her from doing so.

“You really think I would bring you into my head, without taking precautions? You must really think that I'm an idiot.”, Zeo snickerd, but it could not have been more evident that he was not enjoying this. With a quick flick of both of his hands, he created a strand on each and every one of his fingers, forming a tight net out of them above Nightmare Moon.

“Don't do it!”, the black and blue Alicorn cried out.

“I have to. You deserve your peace.”, he said, a tear running down his cheek.

In the moment the net came crushing down on her, Nightmare Moon closed her eyes. A single tear began to run down her face as well at the realization that she could not hold back any longer, if she wanted to live. Just nanoseconds before the first strand made contact with her mane, she teleported out of it's reach, and came out just above Zeo. The surprised look on his face told her, that he had not anticipated this. A quick flash of her horn later, and a gigantic pillar of dark flames raced towards him. He raised his arms and one more shield-spell. It held, but the flames drove him back against the barrier he had created to act as their little arena.

Soon enough the shield-spell failed him, and Zeo was enveloped in her dark flames. Just before they would have killed him, Nightmare Moon interrupted her spell and floated down to the now barely conscious Zeo. She landed right in front of him, as one of his magical strands, shot up from one of his hands, slashing her right across the eyes. It caused her to close them for a second, before she could look down at him again. He lay there, breathing heavily. His coat was nothing more then a burnt mess, and the shirt he had worn was completely gone, as was his short black hair. All the skin her flames had been in contact with, had been burnt away, and the flesh beneath was sizzling as if it was being cooked.

Nightmare Moon knew that this damage was only present on the spiritual level, but it still hurt her to see him like this. Her eyes began to tear up, and she already regretted having done this, even so it had been in self defense...

“Why do you hate me so?”, she asked, keeping her eyes closed once more.

“I.... don't.... hate you.”, he pressed out between pained breaths.

She opened her eyes, showing him their mismatched colors for the first time. One was turquoise, while the other was brown like his own.

“Then please don't make me do this, dad!”, she cried while tears ran down her beautiful face.