The Duality of Souls

"I'm sorry, but could you run that by me again? I could have sworn that you said you have Nightmare Moon captured." Even after millennia of ruling, Celestia was still held speechless at times.

"I agree dear sister for I stand before you, not the monster that inhabited my body. Explain yourself human."

"Oh come on! I have already explained it three times now! What is so hard to understand that her plan backfired, and now she is stuck in a body she has no control over, this is getting ridiculous!"

Relyks was less than pleased with his current predicament. He was busy arguing with the royal sisters, an event he never thought possible. Even though he was agitated and engaged in a conversation, he was unable to help but look around from time to time. He had seen the castle on TV when he would watch "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic", however the pastel colors and brief images seen on the small screen could not compare to the sights around him now.

White marble took the floors, so clean they were that you could see your reflection. Large spires seemingly made of a similar material shot above his head, helping hold the roof which towered over him by at least 20 feet. Banners lined the walls, each bearing some sort of sigil or emblem with an image of the two royal sisters. Lush crimson carpet was placed under his feet that stretched down the halls. Yet the sight of the castle paled in comparison to the visage of the royalty standing before him.

White with flecks of pink in her fur was the first thing he noticed about Celestia. Luna held a royal blue to her coat. While Relyks had always been a fan of Luna's personality watching the show, he was stunned the first time he laid eyes on the sisters. Having known what they looked like he thought he was prepared, however he didn't expect their faces to hold such emotion, to look almost human to him.

Rubbing a hand down his face, Relyks decided to try again. "Alright look, lets just start over from the beginning, alright? While you may find it amusing to play 20 questions all day, I get tired of repeating myself... again."

~**~

A few hours earlier.

She had found him, the human filled with anger that would soon play her new host and weapon. "There you are"

Relyks paused. "I'm sorry, come again? Have we met before, or am I just having a stroke?" He asked incredulously.

He was already running on adrenaline and trying to process everything happening before him at once. Mind working at a mile a minute, trying to figure out why she would be looking for him. He was also trying to figure out why he wasn't freaking out more at seeing living representations of a TV shows villains.

"Ohh yes, young one. I have been looking for som-" Nightmare Moon began to say before being interrupted. "Yea darlin, thats great and all, but here is the catch. You threatened my sister, and appear to be the ones who kidnapped my friends. This is something I don't take very kindly to. Also, for the record, why isn't anyone helping me up here?" He asked turning his head to view the plethora of other people in the chapel with him.

It was like looking at a 3D picture in person. Every man, woman, and child was frozen in place. Quickly looking to his sister he noticed that she too looked like the rest, frozen in place with a hand mark on her shoulder from when he grabbed her just moments ago. Quickly looking back to the characters who seemed to share a palate of colors to choose from, he noticed that the light violet mare before him, Starlight Glimmer if he recalled correctly, seemed to have a glow coming from her horn. Having put 2+2 together, he lunged for her attempting to cancel out whatever magic she was channeling. With his fist raised he made it a couple of steps away from her before finding himself unable to move.

"Now now young man, you should learn to respect others and not just attack them blindly." Nightmare said in a mocking tone.

"Let me go you bitch before I shove her head up your ass and make you her new horn you stupid c-" It was with a swift strike to the head from Sombra that he stopped in his rant dazed. Getting hit in the head hurts, anyone could tell you that. Getting hit in the head by a hoof? That was something else entirely.

"Yes, you will indeed work for what I have planned. Your anger makes you weak and easy to control." Nightmare said with a chuckle. "But for now I believe it is time we made our way back, and you my little friend," She said moving over to the man, head still swimming from the blow. "You are going to be coming with me!"

With these final words that Discord snapped his claws and the twelve of them, Sombra, Chrysalis, Discord, Starlight, Tirek, Nightmare, and the now six captured humans vanished.

~**~

It was like moving through a kaleidoscope, when he was able to see straight again, Relyks could see colors and images flash by him in a blur. Some of the images looking to be from his past, while others looked to be from Equestria. In the end however he was unable to make anything out until a single black dot appeared off in the distance. As it grew closer to him he was able to make out the appearance of Nightmare Moon. Getting ready for some type of fight he put his arms up in front of him, but before he could do anything, her form collapsed and sped up in a blur of what appeared to be a piece of the night sky. Not expecting the sudden increase in speed he was caught off guard when the nightmare flew through his arms, and disappearing inside his chest.

White pain flared through his body, his insides feeling like they were being constricted and compressed. Holding a hand to his chest he proceeded to try and breath while continuing to float through the aether he was currently in. Suddenly to contrast with the pain inside of him, a deep fury rose within him. It was with this that he finally understood what it was the nightmare was doing to him. Knowing that it took the lunar princess by using her jealousy and anger, he realized that it was attempting to have him loose control over his emotions.

"Hmm what do we have here, ah I see. You feel this anger in your heart due to your father? How interesting." It was when he realized the voice was in his head that he felt fear, something that the nightmare wanted as it would make him even easier to take over. "I feel it is time that you joined me here in your mindscape. No sense in delaying the inevitable."

With those final words she forcibly ripped Relyks' conscious mind away from the waking world, and pulled him to herself. Unknown to Relyks, Nightmare Moon was a master of a different type of magic, one that was made forbidden in times before Luna's exile. Soul magic. While she may have pulled his consciousness to her, she pulled it into the portion of the mind where the soul could take form. It was known as the soul vault. It was here that she planned to trap the man and leave him so she could take his place.

The soul takes the form of how the being sees themselves. If one truly believes they are really a reincarnated chihuahua, then that is how they would appear. While Relyks looked like he normally does, Nightmare Moon once again took form as she once did when in possession of the lunar princess' body. The Soul vault when not being tampered with looked like a black abyss. One would be standing and could feel something solid under their feet, however they would be unable to tell where the floor ended and the endless expanse began.

It was here that she made her grave mistake. Believing to be in control, once the man was fully present she moved closer and attempted to restrain him. However, she did the one thing that she shouldn't have, she underestimated human tenacity and fury. Relyks would sooner see himself destroyed with Nightmare than let his body become a puppet. As she drew closer to him his hand shot out and grabbed her by the horn. In a realm where the soul is laid bare, he was able to glimpse into her thoughts, just as she was able to look into his.

He saw things he didn't understand, spells that his mind was not prepared to try and comprehend. He was however able to gleam that since this was his body, and he was not yet trapped, that he had the most control over the events that were to take place.

"You wanted me to be angry huh? Well then I will show you angry!" Just as he could see into her thoughts, she could see into his. Shortly after his statement, she found that he had learned what it was he could do here, what he could do to her here, and that it was too late for her.

Ethereal chains shot out of the ether and wrapped themselves around Nightmare's body pinning her to the non-perceivable ground. Thinking of ways to make her suffer while locking her in place, he began to think of all sorts of weapons and locks. He had her pulled down by the chains, several holding each wing spread apart so she could not use them. A thin spike found it's way being embedded in her horn from the tip to the base. Not knowing if this would stop her magic, he was hoping his gamble would pay off. After securing her in place he had a cage form around her, being wider than usual it was short and gave no room for movement.

Once all was said and done did he finally let go of her horn. "You may think that you have won this day boy, but remember that I am still here, and while I may be currently disabled I still hold more power than you could hope to contain. The more you let your anger cloud your judgement and control you, the more vulnerable you will be. Mark my words, your body is MINE!" Relyks looked down at his new captive, a cold anger continuing to burn in his chest. He could feel her stoking the fires, trying to make him loose control.

"Well then moony, I guess I better be careful then huh, and you better get comfortable. I have a feeling that you and I are going to be stuck like this for a long time." With this he turned around and left, his mind returning to the forefront of his body.

When he was once again both awake and in control, he noticed that the swirling colors had stopped and that he was laying on something hard, felt like stone of some sort. Taking note of his surroundings he stood and looked around, everything looking to still be in a blur.

"-said halt!" Realizing that someone was talking to him he turned around to confront the voice directly. Upon doing so he noticed several things, first and foremost was that he was surrounded by equine guards. Each wearing golden or obsidian armor, each bearing either the symbol of the sun, or the symbol of the moon. The two types of guards looked to be very different from each other, but there was one thing they currently had in common, and that was they were all pointing spears at Relyks. He also noticed that while still being in a tall room, he was no longer in the chapel where he once was. Finally he saw the two royal pony sisters, both garbed in armor and wielding weapons themselves. Celestia held what looked to be a claymore in her magic, while Luna interestingly enough looked to be wielding a scythe. Once he finally took note of just how much trouble he was in, he said the first thing that came to mind.

"So uh, Nightmare Moon is now trapped. You can thank me later for that."

~**~

"And now we are here." Finally finishing his story for the umpteenth time, he noticed that he had obtained new listeners during his story. Said listeners being the bearers of harmony themselves. "Huh, I keep missing things until they are right in my face. I must not be rolling my perception check well or something." He thought with bemusement. "Or it could just be the fact that you aren't very bright. I would bet my bits on that." Nightmare said. "Oh and just so you are aware, just because I may be contained doesn't mean I am gone." He could hear the grin in her voice, knowing that she was going to do everything in her power to drive him crazy.

"Oh just SHUT UP already!"

"Um, nopony but you said anything." Was the response from the purple unicorn in front of him.

With a pause Relyks could only sigh in frustration. "Great, now they think I am cra-" He paused, once again noticing something he should have seen earlier. "wait. If Glimmer helped bring us here, this should be after season five." "Why do you six have the Elements of Harmony?"