Chapter 3 - Releasing control art restriction to level zero

“We have arrived at your destination, your highness,” the royal guard driving the magically self-propelled carriage informed the recently crowned princess with a professional tone, snapping Twilight back to reality.

The lavender mare blinked a couple of times, realizing only now that they had already traveled all across Harmony Avenue and were now in front of the Royal Palace. Had she fallen asleep? Or was she just lost in her thoughts? Twilight couldn’t be sure. It wasn’t even midday, and yet she already felt exhausted, both physically and mentally.

Her distraction didn’t pass unnoticed to her friends, who were now looking at her with different degrees of concern. In reply, Twilight offered them a tired smile, as if to assure them that she was just a bit sleepy due to the lack of proper rest.

None of the other mares seemed convinced by her dismissive facade, Fluttershy seemed even to be about to say something, but after Rarity discreetly touched her shoulder, she followed her friends’ decision and remained quiet.

Twilight didn’t blame them, if anything she was actually grateful that they had not asked her if she was fine, because they all knew that she wasn’t. Not after all that had happened in the last twelve hours.

Twilight was the last to get off the carriage. She put her feet on the carriage’s ladder without problems, but when she moved to step on the cobblestone road, her foot touched the ground sooner than expected, causing her to trip. Panicking, she frantically waved her arms, trying to reach a nearby handhold, while erratically flapping her wings in a futile attempt to stabilize herself on her wobbly legs, but it was all in vain and the ground became dangerously closer and closer to her face.

“Woah nelly!” A big strong hand gently yet firmly grabbed her arm and brought her back on her feet before she could hurt herself.

“Thank you, AJ,” Twilight said gratefully while her friend helped her regain her balance.

“Yer fine, sugarcube?” The orange mare asked, showing evident concern on her freckled face.

Twilight nodded and gave her a sheepish look, clearly embarrassed for her own clumsiness. “Yeah, it’s just that I’m still getting used to the changes of my body.”

It had been almost a month since her transformation, and yet Twilight still found it strange that she was now able to look at Applejack in the eyes without having to raise her gaze. The earth pony mare was still bigger than her in terms of muscular mass, but the height difference between them now was barely noticeable.

Her ascension to become an alicorn had been like going through a second puberty, but getting taller and receiving a pair of wings that would make many pegasi envious had not been the only changes that her body had undergone. She was now faster and stronger than before, and she could also perform with barely any effort spells that before her transformation would have put a strain on her powers.

“... it’s because your boobies are bigger now, isn’t it?” Pinkie Pie asked with childish innocence, pointing at the alicorn’s chest.

And there was also the aesthetic factor, of course. She had passed from a slim, almost scrawny figure, to a body for which every model would kill, with wide hips, a slim waist and a chest that had more than doubled its original size, putting her on the same level as Rarity.

“Pinkie!” her five friends scolded the Element of Laughter in unison.

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaat? It’s true, you gotta be careful, or they throw you off balance! I know it from direct experience, I went through the same thing during high school,” she said, bouncing on her feet and causing something else to bounce. It was a rather hypnotic sight.

“Sometimes I’d like to be as aerodynamic as Dashie, even if that would mean that my fun-bags would be less funny,” she said, staring at the really modest chest of the pegasus. “A loooooot less funny.”

The rainbow maned pegasus glared silently at Pinkie Pie, or more precisely at the generous chest of her friend, before turning around while grumbling something about ‘milk-jugs’ and ‘melons’.

“Pinkie! That wasn’t nice,” Fluttershy exclaimed, grabbing Rainbow Dash and pulling her in what she thought was a comforting hug.

“Really?! Nuuuh, Dashie! Please don’t be sad,” she said, joining Fluttershy in the hug and effectively trapping Rainbow Dash’s head between their generous bosoms.

The pegasus tried to draw the attention of her two oblivious friends by waving her arms in a rather frantic way, but failed.

“Yah know, Dash? Many ponies would die to be in your place right now,” Applejack said teasingly.

“I’ll be the one to die if I don’t get out of here!” was the muffled reply of the pegasus.

Mercifully for Rainbow Dash, Rarity decided to intervene. “Girls, please. As much as I’m sure Dash appreciates the fact that you care for her, the poor dear still needs to breath,” Rarity said politely, although not without a trace of amusement.

Despite herself, Twilight couldn’t stop from finding the situation funny too and soon a tiny smile appeared briefly on her lips.

‘The Maker only knows how much I need a laugh, after all that has happened,’ she thought. The news of the return of Sombra and the fall of the Empire had made her terribly worried for Shining and Cadence, but she had risked a real emotional breakdown when she received a letter informing her that-

Twilight shook her head, forcing that awful memory in the deepest corner of her mind. ‘She’ll be fine,’ she repeated to herself. Even her father had told her so. There was no point tormenting herself on what could have happened. All that mattered now was to save her brother and sister-in-law.

The young princess felt a delicate hand gently touch her shoulder. “Everything is going to be fine, Twilight,” Fluttershy reassured her with her soft voice, looking at her with her big blue eyes.

“I hope so, Fluttershy,” Twilight replied.

“You have to try to be positive, darling,” Rarity said. “The princesses must have a plan, otherwise I doubt they would have asked us to bring the Elements,” she added, gesturing to the decorated casket that Applejack was currently holding under one arm. Twilight was grateful that her friends had the diligence to take the magical artifacts with them before their departure from Ponyville.

“You’re right, girls. Let’s go save the world once again,” Twilight Sparkle said while looking at her friends with determination, knowing that, no matter what, they would be beside her.

“Aww, yeah!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “That’s the Twilight we know!”

Save for returning the salute of a few servants that they met, the journey of the six young mares through the castel proceeded quietly and in silence. Thanks to their familiarity with the castle, the girls found the way to the throne room without problems and after one last turn, they finally reached their destination.

The massive double doors of the throne room was guarded by a pair of guards, both stallions covered head to toe in a heavy set of armor that left only their stoic, emotionless expressions exposed. When they were close enough however, one of the guards, a grey unicorn roughly the same age of her father, looked at Twilight with a warm gaze and flashed her a little smile.

Twilight’s expression brightened a bit as she recognized the gray unicorn as Double Edge, and she returned the smile.

A smile that she was barely able to maintain when she was hit by the disconcerting realization that even if she knew the stallion since she was just a filly, she didn’t really know anything about him aside from his name and a few other details.

Glancing one last time at the stallion while she and her friends entered the throne room, Twilight felt a twinge of regret and shame growing inside her chest. The worst thing was that Double Edge wasn’t an isolated case. Guards, maids, heck, even her classmates when she attended Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, all of them were simply faces with a name that her mind had barely deemed worthy of attention.

‘Focus, Twilight,’ she thought, forcing herself to clean her mind. The time to make amends and reconcile with the ponies of her past would eventually come, but right now she and her friends had much more urgent matters awaiting for them.

The heavy wooden doors closed with a dull sound behind them, and the first thing that the six young mares noticed was the silence.

At this hour, the throne room would usually be bustling with activity, with a constant stream of petitioners seeking audience with the princesses, ambassadors coming from other nations to discuss important matters of international policy, and emissaries bringing reports from every corner of the reign.

None of this was happening right now, as the room in front of the six mares was unusually empty and quiet, resembling more like a cathedral or a mausoleum, with its high ceiling, the rows of columns disposed at the sides, and the numerous stained windows that projected beautiful colorful plays of lights on the floor.

The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony however weren’t alone. Standing tall and straight at the other end of the room was a midnight blue alicorn whose mane and tail resembled a galaxy of stars, dressed with a long dress a few shades darker than her own coat.

Princess Luna seemed to ignore or being simply unaware of the approaching group of ponies as she stared with a thoughtful expression at one of the windows, the one showing the banishment of Nightmare Moon over ten centuries ago. When the six mares were halfway across the room however, she turned her head to look at them with the same stoic expression that she usually wore in public, showing to the group of friends how the last events have took their toll on her body. Even with her dark fur, Twilight could see the black circles that Luna had around her eyes, but despite the clear signs of tiredness and stress, the face of the blue alicorn quickly turned into a warm and sincere smile.

“Greetings, my friends,” Luna welcomed them, before walking toward the group of mares to meet them. Even after her growth spurt, Twilight was still noticeably shorter than the royal sisters, yet she didn’t feel intimidated by their imposing stature. If anything, the sight of the over seven foot tall mare was somewhat reassuring. Luna placed her hands on the shoulders of her fellow princess and looked at her with concern. “My sister and I have heard what happened to your mother, Twilight Sparkle. How is she?”

Twilight shuddered, as the recent memories that she had tried to contain flooded her mind. In the previous night when her parents had been informed of the fate of the Crystal Empire, her mother had been so shocked and scared for the lives of Shining Armor and Cadence that she had fainted, hurting herself in the fall.

Twilight and Spike were still completing the preparation for the trip to the capital with the rest of the Bearers scheduled for the next morning, when they had received an urgent missive that informed them of the incident. Once the little dragon had finished reading the content message, Twilight had grabbed Spike and teleported both of them in front of Canterlot General Hospital, almost burning out the magic reserves of her body in the process.

Rainbow Dash had been the first of their friends to reach them that same night. By sheer coincidence, she was passing in front of the library when she noticed the door open and the lights still on despite the late hour. Once she had found the message from the hospital lying on the floor, she had proceeded to alert her friends and then she had flown all the way from Ponyville to Canterlot, while the rest of the Bearers had boarded the first train that left at dawn.

“She broke her left wrist in the fall and hit her head against a coffee table,” Twilight said, trying her best to keep her voice steady. “The doctors said that luckily the head trauma she suffered is of minor entity and there shouldn’t be long term effects, however they will keep her under observation for the next few days to make sure there are no complications.”

“I see.” Luna nodded with a somewhat guilty expression. “I’m really sorry, Twilight. We should have called your parents to the castle and informed them personally, instead of sending a messenger. Maybe that way, hearing the news from us-”

“No, Luna,” Twilight said forcefully, blinking to clean her eyes from the moisture. “You have nothing to apologize for, nor does your sister. If there’s somepony to blame, that’s Sombra,” Twilight said with a clear hint of anger in her voice when she pronounced the name of the stallion. “Even indirectly, that monster is only able to cause suffering.”

“He will pay for all his crimes, my dear friend,” the blue alicorn assured her firmly.

“Yeah! I personally can’t wait to kick that bastard in the balls before we blast him into Tartarus with the orbital friendship cannon,” Rainbow Dash said, showing her eagerness for a fight by punching at an imaginary opponent.

“Same here, pardner,” Applejack said in agreement with the pegasus, cracking her knuckles. “After the beatdown we’ll give him, Ah seriously doubt he’ll dare to try to escape.”

“There won’t be any imprisonment, nor we will rely on any magical artifacts to solve our problems. This time we’ll make sure once and for all that Sombra will never again be a threat,” Luna said.

As soon as the six Bearers realized the full meaning of Luna’s words, their expressions turned to ones of shock.

“You- you mean…?” Fluttershy started asking, unable to finish the sentence.

Princess Luna kept her stoic expression and gave a single solemn nod. “He’s far too dangerous to be left alive. The first time we banished him because we didn’t realize the full extent of his powers. That is a mistake that we will not repeat again.”

“Eh, he kinda deserves it,” Rainbow Dash said bluntly after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

“Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy exclaimed, looking in shock at her childhood friend. “Do you realize what you’ve just said?”

“Of course. The princesses are going to kill a cruel tyrant to prevent him from bringing more misery on this world.”

“No matter how horrible a pony might be, you shouldn’t cheer at his death.”

“Well, you didn’t seem to feel bad when the Crystal Heart destroyed him last time either,” Rainbow Dash noticed.

“I haven’t really stopped thinking about it,” Fluttershy muttered, looking away with an uncomfortable expression. “Most of the time he just looked like an ominous cloud of scary smoke… and when he assumed his true form I was too scared to look.”

“Yeah, thinking about it, maybe it was for the best. I mean, his wasn’t exactly a pretty death. Remember his panicked expression and his screams of anger and agony just before he exploded into a bazilion pieces?”

“Yes, Pinkie. Thank you for bringing back that disturbing memory,” Rarity deadpanned. “Anyway, I’m sorry darling, but as cruel and unladylike it may sound, I have to agree with Rainbow Dash. Sombra brought his own destruction on himself and what princess Cadence did activating the Heart was the right thing to do.”

“Yeah, same here. Ah reckon Ah slept like a filly that night knowing that we no longer had ta worry ‘bout that monster,” Applejack admitted. “Just like Ah think those crystal ponies fellas did.”

“Those poor dears,” Rarity said sympathetically. “I still remember their expressions of terror when they tried to remember their past. I can’t even imagine what kind of horrors they went through.”

‘I have a fair idea of how they felt, Rarity,’ Twilight thought while her mind went back to her quest to retrieve the Crystal Heart.

The memory was still fresh in her mind like it had just happened yesterday. She and Spike had found the Crystal Heart, hidden in the tallest point of the palace, but in her eagerness to complete the mission that Celestia had given her, Twilight had inadvertently triggered a trap and the next thing she knew was that she was trapped inside a cage made of black crystals.

She had tried repeatedly to escape, but each time she tried to teleport away, she kept reappearing inside the cage. It had been only with an impressive feat of self-control that she had not panicked, instead she had ordered Spike to bring the Heart to Cadence.
And then, after her little assistant had left, leaving her alone, the walls of her already small prison had slowly started moving toward her.

Twilight had summoned a force field around her only to feel the walls pushing mercilessly against her magical barrier to crush her. With each passing moment she grew more and more tired as she used all her powers to maintain her force field, struggling to ignore the sense of claustrophobia growing inside her. And then, just when she was about to consume her last strain of magic, the magical shockwave generated by the Crystal Heart had freed her, vanishing her deadly prison and its creator, along with the last residuals of dark magic that had poisoned her mind when she had been forced by that cursed door to see her worst fears.

“From what we know, the Crystal Heart shares many similarities with the Elements of Harmony. I think that if there was a chance to save him from his corruption, the magic of the Heart would have purified him of his dark powers instead of destroying his body,” Twilight said cautiously, afraid that the more vindictive part of her mind could say that Sombra deserved a far worse fate than last time.

“I still don’t like the idea that somepony must die in order to maintain peace. It sounds wrong,” Fluttershy said with an unhappy tone.

“Death is always a terrible thing, Fluttershy,” princess Luna said, putting a hand on the shoulder of the butter colored pegasus. “But you have to think of Sombra as a rabid animal. Ending his life would be an act of misery.”

“Last time it was just like smashing a statue. A living, breathing statue that screamed as he was brutally torn apart by that energy shockwave…” Pinkie continued with a distant tone, looking with a thousand yard stare at the stained window depicting the defeat of King Sombra.

Was it just Twilight, or were the colors of her friend turning darker? And why did her mane seem to be far less curly than usual…?

“Hmmm, chimicherrychanga,” Pinkie Pie said suddenly, licking her lips with a dreamy expression while her hair and coat returned to their usual appearance. Twilight decided very wisely not to try to find out how her friend had made a connection between exploding dictators and food, for it would only cause her mind to fall into an unholy abyss of madness and sugar.

“Aaaaanyway,” Luna trailed off, sparing one last worried glance at the pink chaos-spawn. “There are a few things that you have to know....”

Luna updated the six Bearers on the last report they had received from the Empire before their spy was captured, earning shocked reactions from the girls.

Rainbow Dash looked simply horrified when she learned about bewitched armors and how they forced the ponies wearing them to obey even the most cruel order without hesitation, in a display of loyalty that resembled some kind of perverse twisted version of the Element she represented.

But what really shocked the girls, in particular Twilight, was the news that Sombra had managed to corrupt the Crystal Heart itself and repurposed it for his own plans. The implications were simply disconcerting.

“But… if we can’t get past the barrier that surrounds the Empire, then how are we supposed to defeat Sombra?” Twilight asked with evident concern after Luna had completed her brief exposition.

“Celestia and I have a plan to bypass the energy shield,” Luna said cryptically. “It’s risky, but given our current situation, we have come to the conclusion that we don’t have any alternatives.”

“Perfect,” Rainbow Dash said with a cocky smile. “Risky is my middle name, princess.”

“You mean that your full name is Rainbow Danger Professional Risky Dash? Wow, and I thought that Pinkamena Diane Pie was a mouthful.”

Rainbow Dash promptly facepalmed.

“So, what’s the plan, princess?” Applejack asked, ignoring the antics of her friends.

The princess of the night seemed to hesitate. “I’ll explain it when my sister and Selena arrive. They should be here at any moment.”

“Oh, good!” Pinkie Pie said, before assuming a confused expression. “Who’s Selena?” she asked, tilting her head.

Luna flinched visibly, but before she could answer, the doors of the throne room opened once again, this time revealing princess Celestia.

At the sight of her old mentor and friend, Twilight rushed toward her and the two exchanged a warm hug. Now that she was closer, Twilight noticed that the she too showed signs of fatigue, just like her sister. Her pure white coat appeared less bright than usual, while judging from from the eye circles, she doubted she had properly slept since the news of Sombra’s return reached Canterlot.

“It’s good to see you, Twilight,” Celestia said with warmth, caressing the head of the younger mare. “I only wish it was under better circumstances,” she said bitterly as her gaze saddened.

“Me too, princess.”

Before any of them could say more, their short heartwarming moment was brutally shattered.

“Oh, please. You two really make me want to throw up,” a female voice dripping of disgust said all of sudden. The voice resembled vaguely that of princess Luna, although it sounded more mature, with a distinct note of malice and arrogance. Twilight could have sworn that it sounded awfully familiar, but she couldn’t recall exactly where or when she had already heard her.

Twilight broke the hug with Celestia and peered behind her. Standing behind the princess was a unicorn mare, apparently a few years older than Twilight and her friends, dressed with a plain purple dress with matching flat shoes. Her blue coat and her cerulean mane resembled in an uncanny way those of princess Luna shortly after she had been purified by the Elements. She had a lock of her cerulean shoulder-length hair strategically combed so that it covered her right eye, shadowing most of her face and giving her an air of mystery.

Rainbow Dash wasted no time and in a moment she was right in front of the newcomer. “Hey, who do you think you are to speak that way to the princesses?” Rainbow Dash shouted angrily.

“You can call me Selena, my dear,” the unicorn replied, completely unfazed by the hostile pegasus just a few inches from her face. “Now, out of my way.” Before the pegasus could react, Selena put a hand on Rainbow Dash’s face and unceremoniously shoved her aside, almost making her stumble. Without sparing the pegasus a second glance, she walked toward the only purple alicorn in the room.

“Twilight Sparkle!” The unicorn saluted the young princess with a smile completely devoid of any warmth, ignoring the dumbfounded expressions of the pegasus and her friends while they still tried to process what had just happened. “It’s been so long since we met last time. Tell me, is it just me, or are you getting taller?”

Twilight didn’t respond, instead she carefully studied the mare in front of her. “I’m sorry, but who are you?” she asked cautiously. “You seem awfully familiar, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t remember where I’ve met you before.”

The other mare simply moved closer to Twilight, until she was just a couple steps in front of her. “Oh, don’t tell me that you have really forgotten me?” she said with a little pout, brushing aside the lock covering her face to offer an unobstructed sight of her eyes to the young princess. “Because I have not forgotten you and your friends,” she said coldly while the round pupils of her teal eyes turned to thin slits like those of a reptile.

Twilight gasped in shock as realization hit her like a hammer and took an unconscious step back.

“Darling, what’s wrong?” Rarity asked, concerned.

“Yeah, Twilight. What’s wrong?” Selena asked in faux concern. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“You,” Twilight almost growled, narrowing her eyes.

The blue unicorn smirked. “Ah, seems like your pretty brain finally solved the puzzle. So, aren’t you happy to see me again?”

“Hardly, Selena… or should I call you Nightmare Moon?”

As soon as the name left Twilight’s lips, her friends too realized who was standing in front of them.

Fluttershy emitted a startled cry of fear and promptly hid behind Rarity, whose white face turned even paler if that was possible; Rainbow Dash and Applejack meanwhile seemed to be ready for a fight, although their body language betrayed their own nervousness.

Pinkie Pie emitted an exaggerated gasp of surprise. “It was you all the time!” the pink mare exclaimed, theatrically pointing a finger at the blue unicorn.

“This is the first time in almost two years that you saw me,” the blue mare deadpanned.

“Oh, right. Why the false identity, though?” Pinkie Pie asked, voicing the question that was likely passing through the mind of all her friends.

“It’s the name that she chose when we decided she needed a pseudonymous,” Celestia responded. “The last thing we needed was the population panicking at the news that the mare that banished me to the sun and tried to plunge the world in an eternal night was spared by the Elements and kept prisoner in the castle.”

Celestia shifted a bit uncomfortably on her feet, before clearing her throat. “And, we didn’t want to make the guards too nervous in her presence. The tales of how she defeated my honor guard in a matter of seconds during the Summer Sun Celebration is common knowledge.”

“Well, maybe you should add the chapter ‘How to deal with demigods and other overpowered enemies’ to their academy textbook. I’ve noticed that it has become a recurring theme lately,” Selena joked, before refocusing her attention to the latest addition to the royal family. “So, where’s your talking pet lizard? Did you leave him behind like you always do when there’s an important mission?”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Spike is with my parents,” she replied coldly, glaring at the other mare like she was about to punch her.

Selena didn’t miss her change of attitude and merely offered her a provocative smirk, almost challenging her to dare to do something.

Rainbow Dash, maybe due to bravery or maybe just for her loyalty to her friend, decided to break the rather intimidating staring contest between the two mares. “So, Nightmare Mo-”

“Selena,” the blue unicorn mare said firmly, much to the confusion of the six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. “I refuse to hear my true name being associated to this weak form that I’ve been forced to assume.”

“Alright. So, Selena, why don’t you look like, well, you know?” Rainbow Dash asked while gesturing vaguely at her body.

“A night goddess? The living incarnation of beauty?” Selena offered with a smirk, glancing casually at her fingernails.

“Actually, I was about to say a power-hungry psychotic bitch,” Rainbow Dash deadpanned, causing one of Selena’s eyes to start twitching dangerously.

“The reason why she looks like a unicorn instead of an alicorn, like after the Elements separated our bodies, is the inhibitor collar that she wears around her neck,” princess Luna explained, entering into the conversation before the situation could degenerate into a brawl. Even without powers, Nightmare Moon was still capable of kicking and punching, like several guards had learned firsthand during the first weeks of her imprisonment. “When we first brought her to Canterlot, her body was severely weakened and her magical reserves were almost non-existent, but we knew that she would eventually regain her powers. To avoid it, we forced her to wear a special enchanted choker that prevents her from replenishing her magical reserves to their normal levels. As you may all know, alicorns are even more dependent on magic than any other kind of pony, so, in order to cope with the insufficient levels of magic, her body regressed to a form that required less energy, turning her into a unicorn.”

“Which brings us to the reason I’m here,” Selena said.

“Which would be?” Twilight couldn’t help but ask, unable to see the connection between their current crisis and Nightmare Moon's depowered form.

The blue unicorn smirked. “I’m here because your beloved teacher was so desperate that she asked for my help.”

Twilight widened her eyes. “What?!” she exclaimed after a brief moment of shock, before looking incredulously at her former mentor.

Celestia sighed and nodded. “Due to the nature of her powers, she’s the only one able to pass through the energy barrier generated by the corrupted Crystal Heart and allow us to get inside the Empire,” Celestia explained.

The initial shocked expression of Twilight quickly became one of confusion. ‘In order to break the spell, Selena should be able to use her magic, but she can’t do it as long as she wears-’ Twilight’s eyes turned to pinpricks. ‘Oh, please, no.’

“Please, princess, tell me you’re not saying that… ?” Twilight asked with a growing sense of dread, hoping that she had just jumped to the wrong conclusion.

“Yes, Twilight. In order to do so… we must first set her free.”

Twilight Sparkle stared at the mare that she considered like a second mother as if she had just grown a second head.

“Celestia,” the young princess started slowly with a calm tone. Too calm. “ I’ve always supported your decisions and I would entrust you with my life, but… ARE YOU INSANE!?” Twilight yelled as loud as she could, looking at the white alicorn with both anger and incredulity.

“I assure you that both my sister and I are in full possession of our mental ability, princess Twilight,” Celestia replied, apparently unfazed by the remark or the tone used by her former student, however, her tone had lost a part of its natural warmth, while her gaze had hardened almost imperceptibly.

Hearing her former mentor address her using her title, Twilight winced, knowing that she had crossed the line. “I apologize for my outburst, princess. But what you are planning to do is extremely dangerous.”

“We are aware of the risks, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said. “Do not think that we took such a decision lightheartedly.”

“There must be another way,” Twilight said, frantically thinking to find an alternative.

“I wish there was,” Celestia said with grim resignation, shaking her head. “But unfortunately, any other alternative would need time to be enacted, time that we simply don’t have. With every passing moment, not only does Sombra get closer to starting a war, but the lives of Cadence and Shining Armor are in danger.” Celestia closed her eyes and rubbed her face. She looked even more tired and stressed than before. “She agreed to help us, but only if we first removed her inhibitor collar.”

“As the griffins would say, everything comes with a price,” Selena said casually.

“The fact that you’re taking advantage of a situation like this for your personal interest is simply disgusting,” Rarity said, looking at her with contempt.

“Not everypony can be the Element of Generosity, darling,” she replied, not sounding minimally offended by the remark.

Hearing the mare use her favorite endearment term caused the fashionista to cross her arms under her bust and look away in indignation.

Unfazed by the reaction of the white unicorn, Selena moved her gaze to look at the other Elements. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were glaring at her with unconcealed hostility, Pinkie Pie was clearly feeling uneasy from the atmosphere in the room, Fluttershy was doing her best to pass unnoticed by keeping her head low and hiding her face behind her long mane, while Twilight was looking at her worriedly, probably trying to imagine the worst kind of scenarios that could happen.

“Oh, come on, Twilight. It’s not like it’s the end of the world,” Selena tried to cheer her up, although it was clearly evident that she found her anguish amusing.

“After Discord, you are the closest thing to a harbinger of the apocalypse that exists on this planet,” Twilight deadpanned.

“Aww, thank you. You make me blush,” Selena replied, fluttering her eyelashes.

“And let’s not forget that you tried to kill us several times the night of your return,” Rainbow Dash said as a matter of fact.

“Good times,” Selena sighed with a dreamy gaze, as if she was reviving a fond memory. “We should really do it more often.”

None of the other mares in the room seemed to be amused by her joke.

“Soooooo, how do we know that Queen Meanie will not, you know, betray us the very moment we set her free and proceed with her evil plan of casting an eternal night which would cause a deadly planetary winter?” Pinkie Pie eventually asked with her usual tact.

“Don’t worry Pinkie Pie. As much as watching you and your friends slowly die of starvation or hypothermia would be incredibly amusing, I think I’ll be nice and kill you with my bare hands instead.”

“Oh, thank you! That’s really considerate- Wait, what?!” The pink mare exclaimed, widening her eyes in fear.

“Don’t listen to her,” Celestia said reassuringly to the Element Bearers while casting a nasty glare at the blue unicorn, who simply smiled at her innocently. “The reason why you’re here with the Elements of Harmony is exactly to prevent her from pulling out some dirty trick once she’s free. It took us a bit of researching through the archives, but we found a spell that will prevent her from betraying us.” The princess produced a scroll from a hidden pocket in her dress and handed it to Twilight.

Twilight opened the yellowed parchment and soon her eyes widened in surprise. “But this is the handwriting of Starswirl the Bearded!” she exclaimed, recognizing the calligraphy from the book of spells that had allowed her ascension.

“Indeed. Before my-” Luna started to explain, but paused to give a sideway glance to Selena, “-our banishment to the moon, Starswirl the Bearded studied the Elements of Harmony thoroughly. Although he was only able to scratch the surface of their true power, he discovered a way to use them to contain dark entities without actually destroying them.”

Twilight returned her attention to the scroll and studied the spell carefully. It was rather complex, but well within her abilities, especially now that she was an alicorn.

“Once you and your friends will have performed the spell illustrated in this scroll, my sister and I will use our powers to remove her collar,” Celestia continued. “This way she’ll be able to use her magic again, but the Elements will prevent her from using it for malevolent purposes.”

“Whatever,” Selena huffed. “Anything if it means that I’ll no longer be forced to be, well, this!”

“Uhm, is it really that terrible?” Fluttershy asked timidly, speaking for the first time since she had entered in the room.

Selena turned sharply toward the meek pegasus and glared at her with such intensity that Fluttershy instinctively took a step back in fear. “You have no idea,” Selena hissed coldly while her expression turned into a deep scowl. “I’m tired of being trapped in this pathetic excuse of a body, unable to feel the magic flowing through me, or the soft touch of the wind on my wings, or the power of the earth under my feet. You can’t even imagine the humiliation from looking into the mirror every morning, only to be reminded that I’ve been turned into a shadow of myself. It would have been much better to get it over with it once and for all on the scaffold, but your glorious princess,” she spat with venom, glaring at Celestia, “thought that it was better to take my wings and cut off my powers to keep me tamed, all because instead of being wiped away that damn night, the Elements decided for some obscure reason to spare me.”

“Your imprisonment was a decision that we both took,” Luna reminded her.

Selena looked at Luna and scoffed. “Please, spare me the part of the independent strong mare, you little spineless brat. Under the mask of the tough princess of the night lies a filly who’s still worried about disappointing her sister and her subjects, unable to forgive herself for betraying not only her family but also those she had sworn to protect.”

The throne room once again fell silent. “You don’t know anything about me,” Luna finally said, glaring at the smaller mare.

“Oh, I beg to differ, Luna. After all, before these wretched fillies got involved, we’ve spent a long time together.”

“I have changed, Nightmare,” Luna said with gritted teeth, purposely using the real name of the mare.

“Right. I just wonder when it happened. The moment when your sister unexpectedly defeated us and banished us on the moon? Or maybe after the Elements separated us and you realized you could no longer give me the blame of our actions?”

“It was after I realized that you had tricked me and that I was a prisoner inside my own body! I’ve spent centuries trapped in a horrible nightmare from which I couldn’t escape, nor scream for help, watching helpless as you plotted your schemes of vengeance to destroy my sister and everything I hold dear on this world!” Luna stomped a foot on the floor. “We may have been one and the same once, but no more! You’re nothing more than the fading scream of a bad memory! The result of a mistake-!”

“A mistake?!” Selena exploded. “I am a living monument to all your sins! We were partners in crime, Luna! I may have been the one that physically fought Celestia and tried to assume control of the reign, but you wanted to do it even before we met! In all the rare occasions you visited me while I was imprisoned, we’ve never had a serious conversation about what we’ve done. But it shouldn’t surprise me, because you don’t have the courage to take responsibility for your actions and face your demons. You prefer to play the part of the victim, wallowing in your self-pity while blaming the darkness that took advantage of your heart filled with pain, when the truth is that you were so vengeful and power-hungry that you welcomed me with open arms!”

“Enough!” Luna yelled with all her force, slapping Selena in the face.

The only sound in the throne room was Luna’s panting breath as she stared at the mare in front of her, before she slowly realized what she had just done. Lowering her head, she looked in horror at her offending hand with her now dilated and watery eyes.

Selena just stared back at her, casually wiping a bit of blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand.

“I’m- I’m sorry,” Luna babbled with a broken voice. “I don’t know what took me-”

“You know? You’re even worst than you sister,” Selena calmly said. “At least she had the courage to do what she did all those years ago even knowing the consequences. You? You can’t even be honest with yourself.”

She looked at Celestia, who was still shocked by what had just happened. “Let’s get over with this ridiculous pantomime, so that your pathetic little utopia may continue existing for another day.”

Celestia stared at the blue unicorn with an unreadable expression before nodding. “Let’s proceed.” Selena walked wordlessly toward the center of the room, followed by the two sisters.

“She’s scary even in this form,” Fluttershy said quietly to Twilight, who could only agree with her friend.

‘She’s pure poison.’ Despite her lack of powers, Nightmare Moon still knew how to hurt other ponies, and even after years since her purification, Luna was clearly still recovering from the scars of her past.

The group took position, with Celestia and Luna standing a dozen feet in front of Twilight and her friends, while Selena stood in the middle.

Celestia’s horn glowed brightly as she used her powers to move the sun across the sky until it reached its highest point and a few moments later the bell of the castle’s clock tower announced that it was midday.

“The sun is in position,” Celestia said. “It’s your turn, little sister.”

Luna closed her eyes, took a deep breath to calm herself, and concentrated on her task, letting the magic flow through her body. She unconsciously widened her arms and wings while her horn started glowing brightly.

The six Element Bearers looked out of a nearby window and much to their collective amazement, they saw the moon rise above the horizon. The sight of the pale orb in the daytime sky was beautiful yet unsettling at the same time. Eclipses were not an unheard phenomenon to the ponies, but due to the unique role of their rulers, they were still a rare event that usually occurred during special ceremonies.

The moon kept rising in the cerulean sky at a steady pace, until it finally reached the sun, slowly covering it. The entire process took a couple of minutes and when it was complete, the sun resembled a menacing eye standing in the red-grey sky.

The two alicorn sisters then used their magic to create two streams of golden and blue energy, aiming them a few feet above the head of Selena. Once their magic met, if took the form of a bright sphere of energy the size of a soccer ball floating in the air.

“It’s your turn, girls,” Celestia said with a hint of strain in her voice.

“Just try not to zap me to oblivion, miracle filly,” Selena warned the young princess.

Twilight and her friends exchanged a quick look, then the six of them closed their eyes and started looking inside themselves for the spark that would ignite their hidden powers. It didn’t take long and soon they felt a familiar warm feeling spreading inside their chests that caused a serene smile to appear on their lips. The six mares appeared to fall in a sort of trance as the magic of the Elements grew stronger, slowly levitating them into the air until they were floating a few feet from the floor, but they barely seemed to notice it.

Each of the five necklaces started glowing a different color of the rainbow, emitting tendrils of magic that converged toward Twilight. The young princess furrowed her brows in concentration as her tiara channeled the magic coming from her friends, using the spell contained in the scroll to adapt it to their current purpose. After a few moments, a familiar rainbow of magic emerged from the Element of Magic, crossing the air in a curve trajectory until it met with the globe levitating above Selena’s head, merging with it to form a miniaturized multicolored star.

The star split in eight smaller versions of itself that began spinning, slowly at first, but then faster and faster, until they looked like a single bright halo.

Selena flinched involuntarily as the ring of light slowly began to descend toward her, but then she shut her eyes and clenched her fists, banishing the painful memories of her previous interaction with the elements in a dark corner of her mind, refusing to show further signs of weakness.

The spinning orbs continued their descent, then, once reaching the floor, they suddenly disappeared in a blinding flash.

While the six bearers were slowly brought back on their feet by the same power that had levitated them in the air, Celestia and Luna moved on to the last part of the ritual.

Once again the two sisters called the magic inside of them, only this time on a bigger scale, as shown by their now white-glowing eyes. Their glowing horns released a thin steady flux of magic aimed at the inhibitor collar around Selena’s neck, causing an intricate series of glowing runes to appear on its surface. Then, they started chanting.

The language they were using was ancient and almost forgotten, a relic of an era preceding the unification of the three tribes and the foundation of Equestria. Due to her still limited knowledge on the subject, Twilight could understand only a fraction of the words, and yet she and her friends could clearly feel through the air the power that the words carried.

With each line of the spell, one of the runes would glow brighter for a brief moment, before evaporating into thin air. The entire process kept going for several minutes, until the last rune disappeared. Celestia and Luna closed their eyes and severed the flow of magic.

The small collar around Selena’s neck finally opened with a soft click and fell on the marble floor. The mare looked at it in disgust and kicked it, throwing it across the throne room.

“Did it work?” Fluttershy asked timidly, stealing a nervous glance at Selena, who was now massaging her neck in relief.

“It’s done, my little pony,” Celestia assured her, looking at the six Bearers with pride. Both her eyes and those of her sister had resumed their usual, if now even more tired, appearance.

“Good job, everypony,” Twilight said with a little satisfied smile, still a bit dizzied by the use of the Elements.

“Wait. That’s it?” Rainbow Dash asked in surprise with a hint of disappointment. “All those flashing lights and the mysterious litany just to open a collar?”

“Rainbow Dash, that collar was the pinnacle of containment magic that exists outside of Tartarus,” the purple alicorn patiently explained. “What we just did was not an easy feat. We should be proud.”

“I dunno. It feels wrong. We usually use the Elements to punish bad guys, not to set them free.”

“Sometimes you need a monster to fight against another monster,” princess Luna said.

Celestia looked at Selena, who was currently looking up at her horn. The sight of a faint blue glow around its tip was enough to cause a wide excited grin to appear on her face.

“You should be able to recover part of your powers within the next few weeks,” Celestia commented, noticing her enthusiasm. “Although, I’m not sure how long it will take for your body to fully return to your original appearance.”

The smaller mare gave her no reply, instead she slowly turned toward one of the stained windows that decorated the throne room. It was the one depicting her defeat by the hand of Twilight and her friends, and by sheer coincidence the eclipsed sun was located right behind her own picture.

Twilight didn’t know why, but she felt the hair on the back of her head stand on end.

“We have abided our part of the agreement, now it's your turn. If you would be so kind to follow us, we can discuss-”

Whatever thing Celestia was about to say was abruptly interrupted when Selena started chuckling, much to everyone’s confusion. The chuckle quickly turned into a full psychotic laugh as the mare closed her eyes and threw back her head.

“What’s so funny?” Celestia asked warily.

“Oh, Celestia. That’s what I love about you. You consider yourself a master planner,” the blue mare said with a condescending tone without looking at the princess. “When in truth you’re just a filly who plays a game that she doesn’t fully understand.”

The white alicorn narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?” she demanded with a harsh tone that Twilight had only heard when they had met Discord for the first time.

Selena finally glanced over her shoulder to look at the eight ponies in the room. “You did your little magic trick,” she said, flashing a malevolent smile. “Now it’s my turn.”

With a deafening noise, the stained windows exploded inward without warning as what Twilight could only describe as tendrils of liquid shadow burst violently inside the throne room like a flooding river.

“Everypony, behind us!” Princess Luna shouted to be heard over the noise of the howling wind.

“Is this supposed to happen?!” Pinkie Pie screamed while a now terrorized Fluttershy hugged her tightly.

“I seriously doubt it!” Rainbow Dash replied, trying to hide her own nervousness by sounding sarcastic.

Princess Celestia inadvertently brushed the tip of a wing against one of the closest tendrils, but the brief contact with the dark mass was sufficient to make her retract her wing with a startled cry. The princess quickly inspected the damage, discovering that the tips of a few of the most external feathers appeared to be blackened, almost singed.

It confirmed her worst suspicions.

‘Dark magic,’ she thought in horror while the shadows started swirling furiously around Selena like a miniaturized hurricane, completely ignoring everyone else in the room.

A multicolored barrier suddenly surrounded the blue unicorn, cutting her out of reach of the dark magic. The mass however seemed to have its own will and, after what could be described as a moment of hesitation, it started attacking the barrier, hitting and lashing at its surface with violence. The barrier seemed to be able to resist at first, but soon cracks started to appear on its surface, getting wider and wider with each strike, until it finally collapsed with a sound of breaking glass, turning into a thin cloud of sparkling dust before disappearing.

No longer held back by the magic of the Elements of Harmony, the darkness swarmed Selena and engulfed her in a black cocoon made of shadow.

“Girls, the Elements!” Twilight exclaimed with urgency. Without wasting time, the six Bearers took position and started summoning their powers.

“Wait!” Celestia cried, trying to warn them, but it was too late.

The bodies of the six mares glowed briefly and started floating in the air, before they were abruptly dropped on the ground in a state of physical and mental weakness.

“What happened?” Applejack weakly asked while she helped Rarity get back on her feet. The rest of her friends didn’t seem to have fared better. Fluttershy looked like she was about to faint and was leaning against Rainbow Dash for support, while Pinkie Pie’s face had turned to a light shade of green.

“It’s just as I feared. Using the Elements is taxing for their Bearers, as their bodies are subjected to levels of magic far beyond the normal,” Celestia explained. Of the entire group, Twilight seemed to be the one less affected, but only due to her being an alicorn and her natural affinity with magic.

“Your bodies need time to recover before you can use the Elements again,” Luna finished, before firing her magic against the globe of swirling darkness, only to see the attack being deflected. “Dammit! We can’t simply stand here and do nothing while she recovers! We need to-”

Tendrils made of darkness burst out from their shadows and grabbed their limbs, holding the Bearers and the princesses in place, while others sealed the doors of the throne room, preventing the guards from coming to help. Luna recognized it as a form of shadow manipulation, an art that she had mastered when she was barely an adult, so it didn’t surprise her that Nightmare Moon was able to use it. When she tried to use the proper counterspell, however, another tendril wrapped around her horn, disrupting her magic and nullifying any attempt to get free. A quick look around revealed that Celestia, Twilight and Rarity were in the same situation.

“Sister, try to evoke the power of the sun to vanish the shadows!”

“I can’t!” the white alicorn replied while she struggled with all her forces to get free. “The eclipse is still in act, it interferes with my powers!”

The core of the cocoon started glowing brightly of a menacing crimson light, outlining the silhouette of the mare inside it.

Then the transformation began.

The ponies in the room could only stare in wonder as Selena’s body started growing in size in front of their eyes, slowly passing from that of an average tall mare to the amazonian size of princess Celestia. Her feminine curves became more accentuated and powerful muscles grew at prodigious speed under her flesh. Her horn grew longer and pointer, easily doubling in length, while two little stubby appendages burst out from her back, quickly becoming a pair of completely formed feathered wings, far bigger than those of any pegasus. Lastly, her mane and tail grew longer, assuming an aethereal form.

The glowing sphere collapsed with a shockwave that would have thrown the ponies in the room off balance, were it not for the magical tendrils holding them in place.

The mortal mare known as Selena was gone. In her place now stood the imposing form of an alicorn, black as the darkest depths of space, and with a mane and tail resembling a blue nebula.

Nightmare Moon took a deep breath as she stood under the light of the eclipse in all her terrifying glory, beautiful as a goddess yet terrifying as a demon. Whereas Celestia was gifted with more generous curves compared to Luna, who in contrast had a more athletic physique, Nightmare Moon looked like a combination of both their body-types.

She snapped open her huge powerful wings to their full extension and flapped them experimentally a couple of times, admiring them for a few moments before focusing her attention to the rest of her body. The few ripped pieces of clothing that had survived the transformation barely covered her powerful yet feminine physique, but she didn’t seem to care in the slightest, too enthralled in admiring and testing her newly reacquired form.

“Freedom. At last. But there’s still something missing.”

A pool of a glowing liquid that vaguely resembled mercurium formed around her barefeet and quickly started climbing up her legs, gradually covering her body with an amorphous layer of silver that quickly reshaped itself and hardened in the various components of her armor.

The entire process took less than a minute, but the final result was something that would have required at least a year of work to be achieved by the best blacksmiths and metal artisans of the reign. Nightmare Moon was now covered head to toe by a beautiful yet intimidating armor made of pale cobalt colored starmetal, brighter than silver yet stronger than steel, giving her the appearance of an ancient war deity.

“The queen is back!” Nightmare Moon exclaimed gleefully, then threw back her head and released a long bloodchilling laugh.

“Not if we can stop you!” Twilight exclaimed, narrowing her brows and clenching her jaws in concentration. Sweat was starting to flow down her forehead and her head was aching, but she ignored it, calling on all her powers. Sparks started emerging from her horn and a few moments later, the tendril holding it exploded in a purple flash of magic.

‘Yes!’

Without wasting time, Twilight fired the most powerful combat spell she could muster but, much to her astonishment and horror, Nightmare Moon simply raised her left hand without even looking at her, deflecting the beam with the palm of hand and sending it crashing against a pillar.

The black mare slowly turned her head to look at the ponies in the room, flashing a psychotic smile filled with fangs.

“Is that really the best you can do, princess Twilight?”

Her eyes glowed bright white and barely a moment later lightning bolts burst from her still outstretched hand.

Twilight widened her eyes and opened her mouth when she was hit, but she couldn’t tell if the screams she was hearing were her own or those of her friends. The only thing that she knew for sure while her body was crossed by the electricity was that it hurt. A lot.

After a series of long, interminable painful moments, Nightmare Moon severed the spell, and Twilight fell on the floor, followed by her friends.

A part of her mind vaguely realized that the tendrils must have disappeared if her body was now lying on the cold surface of the marble floor, but her body hurt too much to actually care.

Using all her willpower, the young princess managed to raise her face from the floor and look at her friends. Rainbow Dash was still conscious, although barely, probably because she was used to dealing with electricity on a daily basis due to her work with Ponyville’s Weather Team; Applejack emitted a weak grunt, but despite her best attempts she wasn’t able to move her body; Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were lying on the ground, still breathing but evidently passed out.

Gathering her strength, Twilight forced her body on her hands and knees, but new tendrils emerged from her shadow, holding her in place, just like Celestia and Luna were.

The sound of heavy metal boots started echoing through the throne room. Twilight slowly raised her gaze and saw Nightmare Moon slowly advancing toward them with the same confident gait of a predator that had cornered her prey.

When she was just a few feet away, she stopped and looked down at the struggling form of Celestia, who was still trying to get back on her feet.

The princess of the sun yelped when a blue aura enveloped her and yanked her violently from the ground, levitating her until she was in front of Nightmare Moon.

“I have long dreamt of this moment, Celestia,” Nightmare Moon said without ever dropping her evil smile.

“Do your worst, witch,” the white alicorn spat, looking with defiance at her nemesis.

“Oh, I will.”

Author's Note

And here we are with another chapter of Angel or demon?
The title of this chapter is a reference to the anime Hellsing, when the vampire Alucard is allowed to use his powers to their full extent, while Nightmare Moon's transformation was inspired by the song Nemesis, from Halo 4.

I hope you enjoyed the reading and please leave a comment