Nightmare Free Equestria

"STOP!"

The single word got the attention of Moon Shadow and Queen Chrysalis. Moon Shadow dropped back to her hooves and both turned to look at the source of the shouting.

A hole in the storm clouds allowed the light of the moon to shine through it and the window Moon Shadow had come through. The form that stood there glowed a silvery white. With a gentle flap of her wings, the figure left the window and floated down toward the floor of the throne room. The silver light fell away, revealing the emaciated pink form.

"Cadence?" Moon Shadow and Queen Chrysalis both said as they recognized the alicorn standing before them. Her horn began to glow with the pale blue energy of her magic as she started to walk forward. The magic encompassed the changelings around her as she walked by, the damage to their carapaces repairing itself.

"What are you doing?" Moon Shadow asked. "You should still be resting."

"I've..." Cadence stopped as she stumbled, loosing her balance a second. She shook her head gently and straightened up.

"I've come to stop you from doing something you'll regret." The princess moved closer to the two. "Don't kill her."

"What?" the black alicorn pointed at the injured changeling queen. "You want to show her mercy? After all she's done? To you? To the ponies of this city? To the stallion you were to marry?"

Cadence placed her hoof on top of Moon Shadow and gently lowered it. She looked toward the prone form of Chrysalis.

"I know. She did some terrible things. I love.... Loved Shining Armor and will miss him. To say nothing of the future we might have had together." Cadence wiped a tear from her eye and straightened up, taking a deep, slow breath before letting it out.

"Shining Armor was a soldier," she continued, "a good soldier, and a good stallion. He would accept a surrender and show mercy. Most importantly, he would not want someone to suffer because of him. He would not want anypony -- any sentient creature -- to be killed because of him."

She turned to look at Moon Shadow directly.

"I can't outpower you, we both know that. So I am asking you, Moon Shadow. Please, show Queen Chrysalis and her hive mercy. For me, for the memory of Shining Armor, and most of all, for you."

Moon Shadow took a step back.

"Me?"

"Look at her." Cadence motioned toward Chrysalis. "Can you honestly say that you can live with yourself if you killed her like this? Weak, injured, and begging for mercy?"

Moon Shadow stared at Cadence a moment, then turned her attention to Queen Chrysalis.

It would be so easy to kill her. A good hard stomp to the back of the neck, and it would all be over. With the queen dead, the drones would probably scatter. Without any queen in charge, it would probably be easy to hunt them down. The ponies could even make a sport of it. It would be so much fun to track down and-

By my dear moon, Princess Luna thought, what is wrong with me? This was not her. Something about being Moon Shadow -- of tapping into the power that once made her Nightmare Moon -- seemed to be affecting her mind.

"By the request of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," Moon Shadow said as she straightened up, "I shall grant you mercy and allow you to live."

"Th... thank you..." Chrysalis whimpered as she tried to stand.

"Do not thank me yet. There is a condition to this." She looked out toward the moon.

"When the sun rises, you will have one day to collect the remnants of your hive and leave Canterlot. At that time, I will return with the princesses, and a large number of ponies who will not be as forgiving as Cadence. Any changelings I catch will not be spared. Understood?"

Queen Chrysalis looked at Moon Shadow. Her good eye narrowed to a lit as she glared at the alicorn. The changeling's lips pulled back as she bared her fangs.

"Understood," she snarled.

"Good."

Moon Shadow levitated Cadence from where she stood, and set the princess on her back. The black alicorn felt a burst of pain as Cadence's weight settled against her, pressing against the burned spot against her back. She grit her teeth and started walking for the front door.

"Do you think a day and a half will be enough time?" Cadence asked, looking back to watch Chrysalis be helped up by the drones around her.

The doors to the throne room pushed open. A dome shield formed around the two as they stepped out into the storm, keeping the pair dry and safe.

"...I don't know," Moon Shadow finally answered, "but I don't trust her. If we give her too much time, she will be able to heal, regain her full strength, and consolidate her power base. That will make it even harder to defeat her and reclaim the capital since she will be ready for us."

"I guess I can understand that." Cadence let out a sigh and laid her head down, watching the castle behind them. As she was carried, the building faded, turning into a blur by the rain before disappearing from sight. Her gave lifted up, watching the shimmer of the dark blue shield as the rain drops pattered against it.

"I need to thank you," Moon Shadow said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You were right. If I had done, if I had... killed her... I would have enjoyed it. I would have felt like I did something." She shivered. "And then I would have regretted. I would have been responsible for taking a life, and that would have eaten at me. That is not who I want to be."

Cadence shifted, uncertain what to say. "You're welcome" did not seem appropriate. They did not actually know each other so claiming she knew that Moon Shadow was not that kind of pony would be a lie. In point, it was Trixie who had realized what was happening.

That thought made some things click in Cadence's mind.

"Actually," she said, "you should be thanking Trixie. She's the one that believed you were a good pony deep down and convinced Twilight to let me go when I insisted on coming to talk to you."

"Trixie, huh?" Moon Shadow asked, trying to look at Cadence from the corner of her eye. 'I'm going to have to thank her when we get back." She gave a smile. "Princess Luna has a wonderful student."