Legion's Plague

The satyr's small horn began glowing a crimson aura. Then, his body and sword began to radiate it too. It quickly grew in intensity as his eyes narrowed. Another gale of wind, this one strong enough to strip clothes off of human beings, blew past; yet the satyr remained firmly in place on Lyra's back. Nick and Glory struggled to stay in place, as if the wind was hellbent on toppling them. The soldiers couldn't keep a good balance either, and some were struggling just to become airborne.

Purple lightning danced and clashed in the quickly-dimming sky. The gale blew much more fiercely, this time with enough force to bring down buildings and tear trees asunder. Now the satyr and the unicorn he rode in on couldn't help but notice that something was waaaay too off, but neither could point out exactly what.

The soldiers were hoisted up by some force that certainly wasn't the gale. In fact, the raging thunderstorm grew bigger and bigger and swallowed everything up. Amazingly, Glory, Nick, Lyra, and the satyr were still awake and found that, for some reason, a good patch of the clouds could be walked on despite the lack of wings everyone shared.

"This is new." Glory said, poking at the clouds with his hoof. Everyone heard a shouting woman's voice, and that voice was angry enough to make a grown man cry like a child. Gryphon soldiers were being torn asunder by a swirling purple-blue mass dotted with white specks. Said soldiers kept charging forward at the source like a bunch of ants taking on an armadillo.

"What the hell is this?" Asked the satyr, his right eye twitching.

"Oh no..." Lyra said, ears folded back and tears welling in her eyes. "I know that voice...."

Suddenly, the owner of the dotted wisps showed itself. It had a black body and eyes of turquoise, and odd wings with bulky feathers came out from its back. It had a purple helmet, shows and armor that was adorned with the crescent moon. Another crescent moon against a purple splotch sat on the creature's flank.

"What the?!" Glory shouted, taking up his battle stance.

Thunder crashed below, shaking everything.

"IT'S NIGHTMARE MOON!" Lyra shouted, unable to take the stress anymore. She shook her head as if wanting to flee, but just as she slipped out from under the satyr, her tail was grabbed and she was pulled back.

"Oi, Lyra! Chill! We got this!" Said the satyr, sounding a bit antsy.

Nightmare looked at the satyr, seemingly curious. She folded her wings awkwardly for a moment, then unfurled them once more.

"You've....changed? I don't think there's any magic in Equestria that can permit such an anomaly to occur." She said, eying him still.

Thunder crashed once more, shaking everything slightly.

"Wouldn't Discord be forbidden to walk the realm of the living ethereal had that been the case?" Retorted the satyr, rather impressed by Nightmare's choice of words.

Nightmare put a hoof to her chin and rubbed it a bit. "And I dare ask if the same would apply to Sombra?" She said, raising a brow.

The satyr nodded once.

"Why aren't you...?" Lyra started, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Attacking you?" Nightmare finished for the unicorn. "The world around us is in too much distress for simple grudges to take root. For some reason, I cannot revert to my other form."

"Waitwaitwaitwait." Started the satyr, wide-eyed and ears perked as he finally took notice of her cutie mark. "Are you....Princess Luna's other ego?"

"More or less." Nightmare answered, folding her wings again. "And....why do you have pony ears?"

Thunder crashed yet again, this time with radiant highlights of lightning.

"Blame Twilight." Answered the satyr quickly.

"She's still alive?! After all these years of hell?!" Nightmare asked, aghast.

"So are the rest of the Mane Six. Right now, they're holed up at the base. As are a lot of other ponies." Answered the satyr once more, this time ears folded back. "But there's four of us that are bad sick."

"Anything else in this hellhole? As in, the town we were taken from?" Nick asked, raisin his hand.

"I found nothing except for this odd stone, which I have between my armor and chest." Nightmare replied somberly. More Gryphon soldiers charged at her and were sliced by her magic before being thrown into the thunderstorm below.

Lightning flashed below, this time brighter than ever before.

"I have created this storm solely to scout out survivors. Since there are none except for Lyra, we need to leave. Fortunately, with my magic, I am more than capable of aiding you." Nightmare said, grinning as her horn glowed with a very bright blue. When the light ended, all five beings were alive and accounted for in the living room of the base.

The crystal ponies quickly cowered in fear upon seeing Nightmare Moon. "Do not fret, dear ponies. I feel my other form is needed, given the situation the world is in." She said, softly.

The three-legged colt looked at her and stood up. He walked over, thankful that he was given his prosthetic leg earlier.

"What happened here?" Nightmare asked in a soft voice, kneeling to nuzzle the colt.

"He....err.....he was found with three legs, so they gave him another one. That's what I heard, anyway." Answered the satyr once more, putting his sword on his back.

"What's the plan now?" Havoc asked, holding the wingless Moogle in her talons like a baby.

"Even that, I am not sure of." Nightmare answered, finding a spot to lay down on.

Natalie descended the stairs, her hooves gently tapping the wood in the process. Anna quickly followed, and so did Lance.

Nightmare looked at the trio who came into the living room. "They've changed too?" She asked, raising a brow.

"Change is a part of life, no matter if it's great or small." Anna answered, a half-smile on her face.

"And some are what you want them to be." Natalie continued, a cat's grin on her face.

"And then there's the ones you didn't expect at all. As you can see, mine was." Lance finished, ears perked.

"And what of the Crystal Empire?" Nightmare asked, sounding worried.

"It's....." Lance's voice suddenly became very saddened and even a bit cracked. "...gone." He answered in a faint whisper.

"Gone? Care to elaborate?" Nightmare asked, unable to believe what she had just heard. The Crystal Empire, gone? Bloody preposterous! There was no way in Tartarus that could have happened. She thought, raising the other brow.

An elderly mare stepped forward. "Cadence and Shining Armor are dead. The Empire has literally crumbled." She said for Lance, harshly.

"W-What?" Nightmare asked again, completely dumbfounded at what she heard.

"You didn't hear me stutter. The Crystal Empire is no more." Repeated the mare, her tone unchanging. "Sombra is to blame." She added.

"We were....too late. We couldn't save the leaders..." Natalie said, quietly in defeat.

"But we did save their foal." Anna said, ears flat.

"Their foal...? They had a foal?" Nightmare asked, bewildered and nearly slack-jawed.

"Yeah.. He's perfectly fine. In fact, he's asleep right now." Anna answered, biting her lip as her ears perked up again.