Chaos Reborn: The Corruption of Harmony

Chapter 18: Free at Last

The sky was dark and cloudy as Luna approached the energy field surrounding Canterlot. There were no signs of any guards. Still, she hovered low hoping the gate around the city would provide some cover. The princess traveled around the edge a ways, hoping for a straight shot to the site of their recent battle. Luna lifted herself higher and attempted to peak in and find her bearings. The bubble of dark power blocking entry to the kingdom was dark and murky, like staring through muddy purple water, but in the distance she caught a glimpse of light coming for the head of the Discord statue.

Luna landed nearby, and took a deep breath to prepare herself. “There no other way.” The shadows of nearby trees, rocks, and other objects crept towards the princess of the night, separating from their sources and pooling around her. Luna lifted her head high and closed her eyes as she was engulfed in darkness. Her shape grew and changed, transforming her into Nightmare Moon.
The shadows broke and subsided as she opened her glowing eyes and winced. The dark alicorn gritted her sharp teeth and struggled to fight off the hunger for power and revenge that flooded her mind. She shook it off, trying to focus on the task at hand, and attempted to reason internally with her darker side. If they fail at this task, there will be no kingdom to rule. Everypony will die and her quest for revenge will be stolen from her.

Nightmare Moon lifted her hoof and placed it on the force field. She gave a small push to test her theory and surprisingly she was able to push through with little effort. Her inner darkness prevented Luna from being recognized as a threat. With her concept confirmed, she took to the air and pierced through the barrier, darting as fast she could to her target. The Princess landed next to the statue and scoffed.
“Hardly a task worthy of us.” She surrounded the statue with a magical field, getting it ready for teleportation, but as she turned to face her destination, she was met with black tendril striking her with enough force to fling her to the edge of the crater.
Nightmare Moon, still knocked on her back, looked up and faced her opponent. Approaching her, was a tall and faceless equine creature. Protruding from its back, were a set of tendrils that lifted it up into the air like the legs of a spider.

Recognizing her thin pony like attacker. Smiled arrogantly, spitting a small amount of blood on the ground nearby. “You!… Do you honestly think you can stop me? Stand down or be destroyed.”

Slendermane lowered himself down on his hooves, retracted his tendrils partially, and stood there staring at Nightmare Moon. Confidently, she attempted to walk around him but was stopped by another powerful strike from his tendrils.

The princess of the night stood up once again, enraged. “How…dare you!” Her wings spread open as she positioned herself to attack. “You insignificant, mindless beast! You dare to oppose us? Be gone!” A barrage of energy bolts fired from her horn, striking the slender pony repeatedly, kicking up dust from the force of the impact. Nightmare Moon ceased fire and panted heavily. Using that much magic had taken a lot out of her. Confident in herself, she sneered, “Pitiful.”

But as the dust cleared, there he stood, unaffected and unmoved by the attack.

She gawked in disbelief. “That’s…not possible.”

The creature’s legs extended, lifting him a few feet into the air. The tendrils on his back wiggled and thrashed violently. The slender pony looked down at his opponent, as his face began to tear open, forming a crooked mouth that stretched from ear to ear. Inside were rows of sharp, shark-like teeth that seemed to go on infinitely into the dark abyss inside. It let out an unnatural roar as what looked like blood drooled out of the new opening.

Nightmare Moon was taken by surprise by this terrible transformation and with her confidence shaken, took to the sky to distance herself from the monster. She had a plan. The Princess of the Night flew back to the edge of the barrier surrounding Canterlot and whipped around, hoping to see the foe in pursuit.

The creature followed slowly, its long tendrils once again lifting it high off the ground in a spider like fashion.

She hovered in place but high enough to avoid his reach until he made it to the far end of the energy sphere with her. This was her chance. The dark alicorn dove down as fast as she could, her trajectory towards the stone encased master of chaos. She landed and sneered at her foe before teleporting away with her prize.

The monster turned to pursue, but was not swift enough to prevent her escape. She was gone along with the statue before he had a chance to get back. The slender pony let out a low growl and lowered himself back on his hooves, turning his sights to Ponyville. His tendrils wrapped and folded around each other, forming wings. They flapped, lifting him off the ground, high into the air.
The slender pony flew out of the barrier and hovered over the edge of the kingdom, staring down at town of Ponyville. The monster calmed itself, its mouth closing and sealing back up, once again resuming its faceless white form and took flight to reclaim the object he’d been tasked with protecting.

The girls waited impatiently in the library anticipating Luna’s return. Future Twilight was back on her hooves, but still weak. She stood at the Doctor’s bedside as Fluttershy tended to his injuries. Celestia was sitting above on the upper floor with the other Twilight, looking down at the rest of the ponies. Pinkie Pie blew a party horn trying to loosen up a very tense and irritated Rainbow Dash while Applejack and Rarity kept watch out the windows and doors.

Twilight could tell from Celestia’s composure that she was worried, and tried to make conversation to take the edge off. “I’m sure Luna is fine. She’ll probably be back any minute now.”

Celestia looked down to Twilight and forced a half-hearted smile in order to ease her student, but it didn’t last. She looked back down at the rest of the ponies, watching as they carried on, pausing for a few moments. “It’s not just Luna I’m worried about. It’s all of you. The entire kingdom is in danger, and my subjects have no way to defend themselves. And now our desperation has forced me to awaken Discord to help us. He may not be evil, but I’m sure the cost for his help will be high. Then again, none of that may matter if Luna doesn’t return with the statue.”

Twilight was at a loss for words. Nothing she could say would lessen the gravity of their situation, so she just sunk her head in sadness.

Then, from outside, a flash appeared through the windows catching everypony’s attention.

Applejack , who was peering out the window, looked a bit worried.
“Uh oh. Luna’s back with the statue, y’all!...but she ain’t lookin’ like herself. She’s all done up like Nightmare Moon.”

Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow rushed to the windows and gasped. The door was engulfed in a magical aura, then flung open as Nightmare Moon entered. The girls bowed to greet the Princess of the Night as she came in.

The dark alicorn glared up at Celestia. In that moment, the jealousy and hatred that has sparked the war so long ago filled her heart, but she kept herself in check. The crisis at hand was too great, for the time being. She would have to set those feelings aside.
“I have returned with the statue as tasked, my…" she paused, forcing the last word out her mouth in disgust, "...sister. Shall we awaken him?”

Celestia had a feeling this might happen. Luna had summoned her dark powers to bypass the barrier, but now they had taken hold of her once again. Still, after centuries of battle with Nightmare Moon, she knew that her sister was intelligent enough to understand what was at stake. She would cooperate, at least until it was no longer mutually beneficial for her to do so, and maybe her extra might would help in this fight against their common enemy.
The white alicorn rose, and internally weighed the consequences of the alliances she would have to forge to save the kingdom and how they would affect her subjects once this was all over. Without a word, she glided down and stepped outside to stand by the imprisoned former King of Equestria. Nightmare Moon begrudgingly followed behind her.
Celestia looked to her sister and the statue as doubt crept in. If they turned on her, there would be no way for her to stop them both, but if she didn’t take this risk, none of them could stop Discordia. The princess closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reassuring herself that this was the only way as her horn began to glow. She turned her gaze to take aim at the statue and fired a beam of magic at the glowing crack at Discord's head.

The crack grew and splintered as chucks of stone slowly moved and flexed. The pieces began to flake and fall the more it moved. Then suddenly, Discord broke free casting, debris of his stone encasing in all directions. The other girls quickly surrounded him as he nonchalantly yawned and stretched.
Free at last, Discord looked at everypony and smiled mischievously.