Nightmare Dove Arc

The night grew cold as the sisters passed over the Western woods and entered through the bluffs of the Smokey Mountains. Their breaths hung in the air like wisps before dissipating in the harsh winds. Their paths remained resolute, however, and as they passed mountain villages and the intertwining railway tracks which lined their bases, a noticeable expanse came into view. The night obscured their vision somewhat, but as they dove beyond the final two peaks the ocean's darkened yet starlit image stretched out before them. Just before that, was Dove.

The path behind her was blackish-grey, somehow more noticeable now contrasted against the surrounding darkness and moonlit waves. It seemed to expand ever outward the further back the sisters' traced their vision, but they quickly removed their gaze and fixated on the figure ahead. Dove's form seemed to glide faster than the express train, her hooves no longer moving but instead dissipating in the blackened cloak. Celestia curved Southwest, followed by Luna, then steeply lowered her elevation. She tucked her wings in close, the winds rolling across her body and just barely through her diminished wingspan. Dove continued on her trajectory. Her ears seemed to perk a moment, and she jerked her head to the sisters mounting their assault. Her jaw clenched, and a span of fog shot forth from the mass. Celestia curved, her sister drifting to the opposite side, then dropped her altitude as another streak soared past.

Another swathed between them, followed by another, and another. At this closer distance, the strikes hit closer, their paths becoming difficult to predict. Luna diverted one just above Dove, finding another streak before her before she could close the gap. Celestia reared her horn, summoning a great light which dissipated the streak, its wispy deterioration flowing back to Dove herself and pushing away the black clouds about her. Luna dove in.

She pinned Dove to the murky grass; their forms sliding across the plain before halting at the ocean's nearest bank. Before the fog could rise over Luna, Celestia appeared at her side, and Luna's horn spurned forth a deep purple tinge. She shut her eyes, lifting her head quickly, and as Dove writhed beneath her, the landscape beneath them began to shift. Celestia gripped herself to the circular design now beneath her, and the grasslands rolled past, giving way to the Smokey Mountains, its rocky lower path cascading beneath them within otherwise darkened surroundings. The Western woods became an amalgamation of blurred greens and browns, until finally the white and gold of the castle entered view. The impact of high nest's brick wall was the next sensation.

Amid the torn brick and shattered remains of window panes, Celestia rose to a stand. The throne room was a dust cloud of debris, but their angle of descent ensured their position lay nearest the throne. Celestia looked to Luna, also rising, somewhat haphazardly. As she situated her hooves to a stable stance, they pivoted their heads forward. The debris cloud calmed itself about Dove. Her neck stretched and turned up and down in frantic display, her form fully exposed with no blackened fog about her body. She snapped her head to the sisters. Her piercing thin eyes danced between them erratically. Luna stepped forward beside her sister.

Celestia reared her head back, then swung it forward to release a massive yellow burst form her horn. She held it at a continuous stream, but suddenly found it broken in front of her as Dove's furious eyes darted toward her. She swiftly shifted her stance backward, allowing Luna to enter and take the brupt of the force, her own horn colliding against Dove's. The fog was slowly reforming from out Dove's back, and the thin trail in her wake slowly began to reform around her. She fell back into it, then, recoiled outward, pushing Luna to the throne steps. Luna shook her head, lifting it before quickly stepping back to avoid a second blow. Dove shot forward for a third, but her body was torn from its momentum as Celestia crashed down on her.

Celestia retucked her wings as the two slid from the central rug and across the marble flooring. A luminous set of rays spurned from her horn and cast out in all directions. The throne room glowed in an insatiable yellow as Celestia held herself over Dove, the latter writhing and pushing out beneath her grasp. Dove's skin seemed to gradually phase out within the light. Luna clasped a wing over her eyes and bent her stance to the luminescence. Celestia's eyes burned a borderline orange tinge as she muscled her head down to Dove. Dove's skin seemed to seethe, then disappear, gradually fading from her hooves to the rest of her body. Celestia gritted her teeth as the darkness peeled away.

Dove flashed her eyes upward, however, and returned Celestia's ardent stare. A burst of darkness spurned forth from Dove's torso, impacting against Celestia's stomach before carrying her up to the roof. Her light ceased as the darkened torrent continued its assault, before receding and dropping her limp form to the marble floor. Luna rushed toward her, her singed wing receded and her hooves still a mild yellow tint. Cupping her sister's head up with her wing, she scanned over her unconscious form. She let her down, then, shifted herself to Dove, who's lanky form now heaved heavily with staggered breath. The form lifted its head spitefully to Luna, the darkness around her back spreading gradually outward through the room.

Luna stepped forward, then softly closed her eyes. She breathed a short breath, then, raising her head, seemed to absorb the bits of starlight flowing through the mosaic windows into her horn. The fog flowed out to her, nearing her hooves as she reopened her eyes. The luminous orbs flashed a moment before disappearing under a sudden shroud of darkness. The room was near pitch black, with swathes of darkened blue and little jewels of floating starlight. Dove's form bent its head forward, craning its neck from side to side as bits of starlight slowly rose and fell about her, a few droplets tickling against her skin and eyes.

They scattered as Dove touched them, and spanned out ahead as she walked forward. Her steps brought her across the central rug, but her step to the marble greeted a sudden strike above. Dove reared her head upward, but no figure remained; even the starlight left only a murmur. She traipsed on, the fog about her nearly covering the entirety of the room's floor, bringing to view a grey tide in the darkness. Another strike from behind, sending Dove skittering across the marble tile. She wrenched her head back, a wave of fog rising where she once was. Another strike, this time at her side. She expelled a current of fog from her back, but it grasped only at echoes. A series of strikes berated her, and she braced herself as her hooves slid across the tiles. The fog found nothing behind her. Her sharpened teeth clenched, and her eyes became vivid. The fog began to dance about, and her back seethed with darkened fog, flowing out at a strained rate. Her eyes twitched with stress as it continued pouring and a pained yell echoed out her mouth and across the walls. Another series of strikes. The waves grew higher. Another series of strikes. The waves grew higher. Another series of strikes.

Dove wrenched her vision to the upper starlight. For a brief second, she glimpsed Luna's silhouette gliding near the ceiling, the fog diminishing the effects of the dark. Dove yelled out as a torrent poured from her back and a wave scattered to it. The silhouette pelted down, but the wave followed, and carried her to the ground. The crack of the marble tile resounded across the halls. As the wave dissipated into the surroundings, Dove marched forward. She stopped over the sisters, their bodies worn and their limbs tattered, laying opposite either side of the scathed central rug. Dove's hooves lay planted before them. The fog seemed to expand about the room, disfiguring it under a thin, translucent veil. Dove simply stood there, watching over their dejected forms with pained silence.