The Devil You Know

Both Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon moved to try and knock Queen Powēhi out of the sky, using their wings as speed and leverage to hit the shadowy mare in her exposed side. With the combined effort they managed a massive blow, one that staggered the queen into falling a short distance. As she began to recover with a shake of her head, Nightmare Moon fired off rays of darkness at the bigger pony in a near desperate attempt to bring her down. Queen Powēhi countered a majority of it, the rest either missed or were absorbed as acceptable blows to her body.

Daybreaker fired off her own volley of fireballs at her opponent, but had to dodge the rebuffed attacks that seemed to hit her as hard as a freight train. Sweat poured from her flanks, foaming against her armor as her sides heaved like a massive pair of bellows. She was flagging badly, tail drooping even as her wings beat at the air to keep her aloft. Nightmare Moon didn't look much better, panting with lowered ears and a tail just as low behind her wounded rump. Even from this distance, Daybreaker could see the crimson marring her mirror image's ocher hide.

This wasn't turning out how she'd hoped, even with Nightmare Moon sullying her original plans of slaughtering her foes and ascending the throne in eternal sunshine. The initial joy in the bloodshed she'd reveled in had long since faded, anger over being interrupted had shifted into determination. Daybreaker had been confident she could take out this opponent, but the pony from beyond the stars had proven to be more than enough of a match. Powēhi was formidable, and though she'd combined efforts to try and take the interloper down, it was clear that she was in a whole other league altogether.

As the pair of dark princesses took stock of the situation, they stared down this impugning queen. Three gazes measured each other, and there was a little spark of recognition that this fight was coming to an end; soon. Two of them failed to make the grade, though it was not without saying that they had been fighting each other quite hard before player three had entered the game. Either way, it was time to gather up the last vestiges of strength to try and defeat Queen Powēhi once and for all. Until she was no longer a threat, the throne of Equestria was at stake.

Lightning crackled across the heavens as Daybreaker lowered her head, inhaling deeply. Whinnying a challenge, she declared her intent. To her left Nightmare Moon mimicked her, the sisters ready to see this through to the end. With a toss of her mane, Powēhi pawed a hoof and smirked at them. Challenge heard and accepted. Flaring her wings outward in a show of dominance, the queen whinnied a return declaration.

Twin ponies moved, as though they were attempting a sonic rainboom. Speed was their ally, twisting about each other in a tight corkscrew formation as both Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon fired off a volley of shadow and flame, the combined attack spiraling ahead of them in a desperate attempt to score a major hit against their opponent. Without realizing it, both ponies had begun to scream as they hurtled towards the other mare.

It was an impressive show of power, one that had Twilight Sparkle's jaw unhinged while she watched from afar. She had never seen such skill, such grace as two polar opposites worked symbiotically together in a beautiful display of harmony. Dark played against light, and the swirling of their magics was both terrifying and awe-inspiring. Twilight found herself on her hooves as she watched, tail lashing back and forth with ears swiveling towards the fighters before pinning against her head as her emotions cascaded through her lavender body.

While a part of her mind wished to jot down notes with a furious speed, she knew that right now it was much more important to give this moment her full attention. Everything hinged on the action of the three ponies, not just the Equestrian throne but the future of their world as they knew it. There was just no way to know how this was going to go, and her withers quivered from the trepidation that it all might go wrong. Twilight's eyes remained glued to the scene above her head in the sky, knowing that this was something that would be recorded in the history for millennia to come.

Queen Powēhi gritted her teeth as their magics rushed towards her, pulling her wings in close in front of her face as she used her horn to summon a shield. With a grunt, her hooves skidded back several inches as she did her best to block the attack and deflect it away from her. Unfortunately this left her wide open for a physical maneuver, which both Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon had been counting on.

Nightmare Moon edged out slightly in their spinning dive, screeching as she slammed into Powēhi's body in a show of defiance. The impact knocked them both out of the sky, but Powēhi was quick to react. Twisting around as she fell, she fired a jet of magic at the Mare of The Moon that struck home. Without missing a beat, Queen Powēhi flapped her wings to regain the height she had lost.

As Nightmare Moon fell, and landed hard in a pose of defeat, Daybreaker was still making her move. She'd pulled up sharply out of the falcon's stoop, spinning around before repeating the dive with a cry of righteous frenzy. Her snowy body gleamed like sunlight against the stormy atmosphere, armor reflecting the flashes of lightning as though she was gathering it into her in one last assault. Flames seemed to crackle in her eyes, one foreleg held in front of her as she braced herself for impact while counting on her speed to catch Powēhi off guard.

Closing her eyes and turning her head, her entire body prayed that this would work. At the last moment, in a tumultuous display of strength, Queen Powēhi caught Daybreaker head on and tossed her away like a rag doll, neighing to the city at large who was the superior pony once and for all. While she flew towards the ground with dizzying velocity, Powēhi followed her down at a more leisurely pace.

Daybreaker's body hit the earth with a sickening thud, the crack like the thunder overhead. In that moment, the fight was decided. As Queen Powēhi landed and then moved towards her opponent, her gaze took in the remnants of the midnight twin to this alabaster one. Both had been felled easily, though Powēhi respected them for how long and how hard they had fought back against her. The heavens finally opened then, tentative sprinkles dusting fur at first before finally the deluge came. This fight was now over, and even mother nature seemed to agree.