Five years. It had been five long years since the Princess of the Night was forced to banish her arrogant sun-loving sister to the moon. A memory of the incident quickly flashed by, bringing a smile to the mare's face. Though after a moment, it turned once more into a frown.
"I have given them everything they could possibly need; food, shelter, safety, a purpose in the new era of Princess Nightmare Moon. So why do they still loathe me?" The question of course was rhetorical, with the princess already knowing the answer. With a heavy sigh Nightmare Moon rose from her throne, making her way to a stained-glass window depicting a scene of her defeating her elder sister and imprisoning her in the moon as Celestia had done so many centuries ago.
"Even in exile, you still punish me so sister." Nightmare's voice was low and devoid of emotion, though with every passing moment a sudden anger began to flare within the mare.
"Tell me Celestia! Tell me what I did to earn the ire of our subjects! I have given them everything that you have, even more! So why do they not respect me the way they respected you. Why do they hate our wonderful night?" Nightmare boomed in her royal Canterlot voice, followed by a hoof finding its way through the stained-glass window. Retracting her hoof, the princess noticed a small amount of blood from the broken glass cutting into her. The mare continued to gaze at the red colored liquid staining her regal coat, though she was quickly brought out of her trance as the doors to the throne room suddenly burst opened.
"Princess Nightmare Moon!" One of her guards called, scrambling up to the princess with his silver armor in disarray.
"Princess, there is a revolt going on right now! A large group of resistance fighters have broken through our defenses and are heading this way as we speak." The stallion managed to relay through ragged breaths. Nightmare Moon could only sigh at the news, knowing full well it was about time another revolt was brought against her regime.
"Ready the guards and await my orders. If it's a fight they want, then it's a fight they shall receive," the princess stated. The guard quickly saluted the princess before scurrying away to ready the others. With one last look towards the broken window, Nightmare Moon began to assemble her own set of enchanted armor. The cold steel on the mare's coat caused Nightmare Moon to shiver as she fastened the rest of her silver armor to her body.
"I was hoping to forgo the death of my subjects for such petty reasons, though maybe a little bloodshed will ease my tension," the mare stated, a small smile growing on the mare's muzzle before making her way back to her throne.
It took no more than an hour for the resistance group to force their way through the castle. The sound of clanging swords echoed throughout the halls, growing louder with each passing minute. With one final assault, the throne room doors were forced open as twenty fighters adorned in royal gold armor made their way into the room, spreading out in a formation that left little chance of a surprise attack. At the forefront of the group of fighters was a gruff old stallion. His dull grey coat and black mane managed to show his age, while his battered and worn armor dictated is experience as a guard.
"Nightmare Moon! You have committed crimes against Equestria and it's ponies. Killing hundreds of your own kind to satisfy a petty squabble amongst siblings. It is with great honor that I, General Stonewall of her Majesties Royal Army, will see to it that your reign of terror ends here so that future generations may prosper and." The stallion was cut short by a drawn out sigh from the mare on the throne.
"If your intentions were to bore me to death with your little speech, then consider it highly effective general. Though if I may add, words alone will not bring you victory on this day, nor will the delusion of the moral high ground you claim to possess." Nightmare stated before elegantly landing in front of the General with a single leap. The tiles beneath the mare's hooves shattered upon landing, displaying the immense power the Alicorn held. Instead of fear or hesitation she expected to incite in the stallion, she was met with what she could only describe as a shit-eating grin.
"I do know that, and it is for that reason I have summoned a warrior who will best you in combat," the stallion stated, smugness evident in the tone of his voice. Nightmare Moon could only wonder in amusement of what this stallion was talking about. No creature on Equis could match the power she held as an Alicorn. The only species she could possibly consider a threat would have to be from the dragon clans to the north; and even then they would only pose a mild inconvenience for the mare. So why was this old stallion so sure of himself? Not taking any chances, Nightmare flew back several meters from the stallion, before erecting several barriers for herself.
"You seem to have confidence in this mysterious warrior I have yet to lay eyes upon. Or perhaps they be only a figment of your senile old mind," Nightmare retorted with a small chuckle. She was quickly cut short from her bout of laughter as a certain presence entered the room through the main doorway. By no means was the presence about this creature threatening in any manner, what worried the mare was the lack of magical essence they emitted. As the mare quickly put two-and-two together, she quickly flew back an even greater distance as she scanned the room for all of her possible exits. What she had failed to realize during her conversation with the stallion was the formation of the ponies that had now gotten to every corner of the room. Before the mare could even call out for assistance, a large magical barrier coated the entirety of the walls and ceiling. Cursing her luck, she turned back towards the stallion with the same grin plastered on his face before averting her eyes to the creature in front of her. She knew exactly what this creature was and how foolish she had been for underestimating the resourcefulness of her opposition. Sensing the change in atmosphere, General Stonewall could only chuckle as the mare took a defensive stance.
"It seems you know of his kind?" He questioned, though continued with his musings.
"I'm not going to lie, the ritual in order to bring one of his kind into this world cost me a few good soldiers." He stated with a frown. "Though their sacrifice will be worth it to obtain the peace you stole when you banished our true princess!" The stallion yelled at the defensive mare. With his patience waning, the stallion motioned towards the bipedal creature with a hoof. With a simple nod, the human proceeded towards the Alicorn mare with blade in hand.
"S-stay away from me!" Nightmare shouted, firing several magical bolts of energy at the approaching figure. Her attempts to the stop the human were in vain as the magical energy faded upon contact to the desired target. The human made no motion of stopping and continued towards the mare, all the while Nightmare searched the archives of her mind for all of the information she could remember about this creature.
He is a human, extremely rare and extremely dangerous. His kind were banished from this world many centuries ago. They possess an affinity for combat and can drain magic with but a single touch. Weapons of stone and steel effect the entity, but offensive or defensive magic is nullified.
Nightmare Moon soon emerged from her thoughts as a plan formulated in her mind. If she were to have any chance of emerging victorious from this fight, she would need to kill this human with a tangible weapon. Smiling lightly to herself, Nightmare summoned her iconic weapon, a crescent moon scythe. The mere sight of such a weapon was enough to send the average pony cowering in fear, but the human didn't even bat an eye at the tool. For some reason this irritated Nightmare more than it should have, forcing the mare to swing towards the approaching human. The blade of the scythe was easily parried from the human's sword as the creature now broke into an all-out sprint towards the mare. Nightmare quickly flapped her massive black wings, nimbly dodging a thrust from the human's weapon. From what the mare could gather, the thrust was well practiced but not experienced, meaning that this particular human was relatively new to combat. With another smile forming on the mare's lips, she began to exploit his inexperience of combat with a flurry of attacks he was barely able to block.
After Nightmare's Scythe was parried a fifth time, the human made his first mistake. Following through with another thrust, Nightmare easily dodged the attack, before landing the blade of her scythe along the human's arm. A resounding shriek escaped the human's mouth as he gripped his injured body in an attempt to dull the pain. Nightmare only chuckled, confident in her abilities to best the human in combat. Expecting an outburst of anger or rage from the recently injured human, Nightmare was surprised as the look in his small green eyes held neither. Instead, a cold, harsh glare found its way borrowing into Nightmare's own eyes. The two continued to lock eyes before the human threw down his sword with a scowl on his face. Within the next few moments, the human charged at Nightmare.
The mare was promptly startled by how quickly the human was upon her. Using her scythe once more, Nightmare arched the large weapon bringing it across where the human's neck would be. Unfortunately, the human slid under the scythe, the blade gently grazing the hairs of his black mane before leaping at the frozen mare. The human's outstretched hand wrapped itself around the mare's throat, his momentum forcing the mare to the ground as he straddled her in victory. The impact knocked the wind out of Nightmare before the mare started to thrash about from the contact with the human, already feeling the effects of his magical drain on her reserves. Even as she tried to struggle, the human's grip help fast, draining the mare until she was barely able to lift a fore hoof, let alone move. The feeling lasted only a few more seconds before the human removed his hand from around the mare's neck, a look of indecision plaguing his features.
Passively watching the entire ordeal, General Stonewall soon made his way over to the immobilized mare. The grin from his face never faltered as he stared down at the mare.
"It seems that my confidence in this warrior was not misplaced, as you so claimed," the general mocked with a hearty chuckle. He slowly drew his sword from his scabbard, relishing in the feeling of the weight in his magic before smiling at Nightmare.
"I am afraid it is time we sent you back to Tartarus but I assure you Princess, you won't be missed." Stonewall stated. It was in this moment that Nightmare fully grasped the situation she was in. Because of the human, she was reduced to nothing more than a simple mortal mare. The Princess of the Night played the word over in her mind, letting it roll off her tongue as to fully understand its meaning. 'Mortal' as in the ability to die. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, the prospect of mortality terrified the mare. So as the stallion in front of her lifted his sword high above her head, she couldn't help but plead mentally for somepony to save her. It was by her surprise that a hand quickly shot out from the human as it caught the handle of the general's blade.
From what Nightmare could gather, his face contorted into a scowl as he glared at the general. A heated conversation ensued; the general and human arguing with one another in a language the princess had no prior knowledge of.
Her fears were quickly realized again as the general shoved the human to the ground, grunting in the process before the blade was held high above the mare's head again. In that instance, time seemed to slow. She watched as the steel of the blade inched itself closer to her body. The mare desperately closed her eyes with a whimper, thinking back to all of her life's choices that had led to this fate. Only a moment passed with the mare in thought before a warm liquid coated Nightmare's armor and body.
As the mare slowly opened an eye, she was startled at the sight of a decapitated general's head lying next to her, albeit without the grin. The mare's eyes slowly traced the head to its former body before fixating her gaze upon her blood-coated crescent moon scythe that was now being wielded by the human. Her eyes widened as she witnessed a look of utter rage resonating from her enemy. If she had any ounce of strength left in her body, as un-warrior like as it would be, she would have retreated to the farthest reaches of the castle. Instead, she was now forced to watch the human slaughter what remained of the general's guards.
The human made quick work of any opposing opposition, even as they threw down their arms and begged for their lives. Nightmare knew it was a futile attempt. The look in the human's eyes said it all to her.
"No prisoners, no surrender, no mercy." The mare thought aloud, grimacing as the blade of her scythe pierced the last guard through his abdomen, the poor stallion coughing up copious amounts of blood before slumping over dead.
The human in question stood over the deceased stallion, before unceremoniously planting his foot on the stallion's chest and retrieving the scythe. Despite how battle hardened Nightmare Moon had become, she still shivered at the sight of total disrespect this human held for the deceased. Her thoughts soon died though, as she realized that she was now the only other living being in the room with the human's focus solely on her.
Using all of the strength she could muster, Nightmare was able to roll herself over onto her chest before trying to stand on wobbly legs. The attempt was naught as the mare quickly collapsed onto the ground, whimpering from the pain and knowledge that she was about to die. Resigning herself to her fate, the mare closed her eyes for the last time, allowing the fatigue of the battle to pull her into a heavy slumber.
