The Devil You Know

Daybreaker wasn't expecting to suddenly get slammed into, the air knocked from her lungs in the process. The sound echoed like a shot, not too unlike thunder. Somehow she remained airborne, and responded with a vicious bite and a flare of solar magic to bring room between them again. Queen Powēhi shied away from the beam of light, growling when the bite scored on her shoulder.

Her eyes snapped fury, but she was the one who had said she was going to fight dirty so Queen Powēhi wasn't entirely surprised that Daybreaker was responding in kind. In her mind Daybreaker was nothing more than an irritating gnat buzzing in her ear, but wasn't going down as easily as she thought. The sudden smack against Powēhi's left flank got her attention, and she turned to see Nightmare Moon flapping her wings to remain aloft after firing a jet of darkness at her. A flash of irritation crossed her face, she hadn't anticipated this one turning against her. No matter. Taking down two ponies for the price of one would be easy.

As Nightmare Moon flared her wings outward and dropped her head to loose another volley, Queen Powēhi opened her mouth and collected a fiery ball of shadow magic within it. This rapidly swelled until it was loosed in a multi ray attack, firing beams of flame and umbra on both Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker. Both of the other mares responded by trying to block the attack as best they could, but Powēhi wasn't a queen for nothing. Her powers eclipsed both of these dark princesses, and it would soon become obvious to them.

While assessing the stances of the ponies who'd both opted to use their wings to deflect the bolts of fire and shadow, Queen Powēhi decided to throw a concealed dagger at Daybreaker while using her wings to shove her body forwards before tucking them close to her body in a falcon's stoop rushing at Nightmare Moon. Distant thunder rolled and boomed, the storm called from the fires still raging in the city below. This was a calculated move, hoping to keep the ebony and ivory mares from staying on top of their game before they decided to team up against her. For now it seemed like a free-for-all.

Nightmare Moon squealed when Powēhi slammed into her side, wings flailing every which way as she began to fall out of the sky. She tried firing off a jet of magic, but due to her head lolling from the impact she missed Queen Powēhi and nailed Daybreaker instead. With a shriek of rage, Daybreaker summoned her magic, opening her mouth and raining fire at the tangled duo plummeting from the heavens. Nightmare Moon squeezed her eyes shut while waiting for impact, then opened them again when Queen Powēhi cried out then snarled.

Turning away from Nightmare Moon's body, the latter pony took the sudden opportunity and viciously bit into the exposed shoulder of Powēhi. Queen Powēhi responded with a wing slap, trying to buffet Nightmare Moon away from her. Nightmare Moon flared her wings and managed to shift backwards to gain some room between them, before shooting upwards both to avoid hitting the town again and to also regain the height advantage she'd had before. Panting, Nightmare Moon tried to calculate her next move while Daybreaker used her magic to fling her sword through the sky and keep Powēhi's attention on her.

Twilight Sparkle had been watching the trio in the sky, unable to do anything else from this hilltop. Fear and worry alternated flowing through her body, as she truly didn't know who was going to come out on top from this fight. Deep within her mind, she wondered if she had done the right thing by calling in this pony from the stars since it had been clear that Nightmare Moon needed help bringing down Daybreaker.

"Please, please let this have been the right choice," Twilight Sparkle prayed, her eyes riveted on the scene playing out above her. She wanted to try and get closer to them, but for now this place was best as they kept flying around over the city and colliding with the force of the growing storm behind them. Their armors crashing against each other rang out like the thunder booming in the clouds, lightning flashing as though to underscore the fight raging on as though the fate of the world depended on it. Perhaps it did, there was no real true way to know.

Alternating between sitting and pacing, Twilight Sparkle kept her attention upwards while trying to see who was leading the fight. From her perspective it seemed fairly even, but Nightmare Moon had been wounded before Queen Powēhi had joined the fray and now that tiredness was beginning to show. The midnight pony seemed to be responding slower to hits, trying her best to defend herself but even from down here Twilight Sparkle could see that her sides were heaving as she panted heavily. Daybreaker was doing better, but seemed to be favoring her left side over her right. Perhaps a blow was struck that Twilight hadn't seen, but Queen Powēhi had noted this weakness as well and was pursuing it mercilessly.

The cry of rage and pain made Twilight Sparkle stand again as she watched Daybreaker fire off multiple volleys of light at Queen Powēhi, some managing to hit their target while others were blocked. Nightmare Moon used the opportunity to kick out with her hind legs and nail Powēhi in the right flank, scoring a direct hit while Powēhi shrieked and her leg buckled. Whirling on Nightmare Moon, Queen Powēhi bit down onto Nightmare Moon's neck and causing the dark princess to scream. Daybreaker refused to lose out on such a chance, and rushed the pair. Slamming into Queen Powēhi's unguarded side, all three were knocked about as the bite was broken and the alicorns did their best to remain airborne.

In an unprecedented motion, lightning arced through the clouds and struck Queen Powēhi. Unfortunately since the princesses were still so close to her the electricity ran along her armor and jumped to their bodies, providing lesser shocks than the actual bolt that had hit. Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon both fell away from her, using their wings to regain both height and distance. Both princesses took the moment to try and rest, blowing hard with sides moving like bellows in a forge. Queen Powēhi shook off the lightning, but it was clear that mother nature getting involved had hurt a lot more than it had looked.

Blood streamed from cuts on all three bodies, dripping from armored hooves to fall to the city below unnoticed. Bruises abounded on the exposed fur, while Nightmare Moon had a few bent feathers in her wings Daybreaker had a few that were missing entirely. Only now was it starting to occur to them both that they very well may lose the fight against this powerful foe. Those swirling amber eyes were full of contempt as Queen Powēhi leveled a smirk at them both.

"Again," she said, grinning and lowering her head to attack. With no other choice, Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker moved to obey.