The Devil You Know

Daybreaker awoke lazily, like a leopard sunning itself after a hunt. She had been having the most fun, and the nap had also helped to pass the time. Blinking to alertness again, she lifted her head and looked around. It took a few moments, but she didn't see anything that looked that different. Some of the fires had spread, others had died down.

Apparently while she'd been resting, not a lot had been happening. Disappointing. Glancing up to the castle, Daybreaker sighed as she'd hoped that the royals within would have sent somebody to challenge her by now. Something much better than feeble little ponies who were no better than offal beneath her hoof. Not even close to an effort to kill and dismember.

Settling herself against the fountain again, she sighed a bit while resigning to wait a little longer. Daybreaker was confident that eventually someone would come, to alleviate her boredom despite the joy she'd been having earlier. This time she kept her head up, alert though no ponies darted across her plaza now. They had learned, and quickly. It was a surprise to her then, when she heard the gentle sound of wing beats.

Nightmare Moon landed without any of her usual fanfare, splashing in a pool of blood and kicking up a few stray sparks. Looking about, she had a pensive expression on her face before turning to the burning mare resting on the edge of the fountain. Her expression shifted to curiosity, and a grin slid across her face. "You must be Daybreaker," she said without any preamble.

"And you are?" Daybreaker replied, speaking with a mixture of humor and derision. She made no attempt to get up from where she was, but at the same time her sword didn't lift into the air either. Nightmare Moon took the response in stride, after all this wasn't someone she'd encountered before and it was obvious this was not someone she could just browbeat into submission.

"Nightmare Moon," she purred, gliding closer to her alabaster counterpart. "I was once the being who wanted to rule Equestria in an eternal night, banished to the moon for a thousand years." She gave Daybreaker a wink, her armor gleaming in the light as she moved.

"I see," Daybreaker said, following the ebony mare with her head. Tracking, like a hunter does to another hunter. Or perhaps like a hunter does to prey. "I am impressed."

Nightmare Moon gave a little laugh, tossing her head. "I assumed as much," she responded, the words flippant. "You are the only one to truly come up to my standards when it comes to bringing a kingdom to it's knees." She moved slowly, easily, not yet pacing but she did keep going back and forth. Remaining in front of the other mare.

Daybreaker gave a little bow of her head, chuckling. "Good to know I can bring such emotions out of the common rabble," she said, amusement radiating from every inch of her.

"My dear sweet little Daybreaker," Nightmare Moon began. "You will find that I am not part of the common rabble, nor that I am someone who can be so easily beaten."

A brow raised on Daybreaker's face. "Excuse me?" She said.

Nightmare Moon scoffed. "You heard me," she shot back. "I know you have ears and you're not deaf."

Daybreaker scowled at her mirror image, dark against light.

"I know that all you want to do is beat me, but darling I can't be put down as easily as the smaller, younger ponies," Nightmare Moon continued. The smug confidence poured from her, an aura that put a sour taste in Daybreaker's mouth.

Slowly, gracefully, Daybreaker got to her feet and stood up from the fountain. Her face had twisted from humor into anger, all but bristling before Nightmare Moon. "I am the one who will rule this kingdom in blood, not you," she hissed, all traces of laughter vanished.

"Bring it on," Nightmare Moon replied, and flapped out her wings to take flight. Daybreaker responded by opening her own wings, and they took to the sky to begin their battle.

Twilight Sparkle had stayed behind when Nightmare Moon had left, hoping beyond hope that the ebony mare would stay on the trail of fighting Daybreaker. In the immediate silence of her departure, she had breathed out a sight of relief and sank down onto her rump. That had been way too intense for her, but thankfully it had been out of sight, out of mind. A little miracle.

She'd told the soldiers to stand down, to retreat from the outside of the castle and return indoors. They had been more than happy to oblige, grateful that they were now being taken out of harm's way. With that done, she wasn't sure what else to do from this end. Princess Luna hadn't given her any orders before shifting.

Puffing out a sigh, Twilight Sparkle decided to move to a different location within the castle. Perhaps it was best if she just held down the fort for now, waiting until later. Then again, she could do more research. Moving in that direction, she'd only shifted a few steps before remembering. Princess Luna had mentioned that there was no known way to defeat Daybreaker, so right now Nightmare Moon was their best shot.

Another sigh, while Twilight tried to think things through. With Nightmare Moon hopefully out there taking on Daybreaker and the Equestrian army back behind the walls of the castle, for now there really wasn't anything to do. Research had brought her Daybreaker's identity, so maybe there was something else within the library that could help. Turning back in the general direction of the library, Twilight Sparkle tried to rack her brains and come up with something. Anything.

Then it dawned on her, the phrase she'd read before. Of course! She could research that and see how that could help them. Twilight Sparkle then took off at a restrained trot, heading back to the books. The pages of the tomes had long since guided her, never letting her down. Feeling inspiration and hope swelling within her, she hurried to do what she did best.

Something deep inside Twilight Sparkle said this was the right path to take after convincing Princess Luna to shift to Nightmare Moon in the hopes that her righteous fury would take her straight to Daybreaker and not distract her with anything else. Now, she just had to figure out the other thing and perhaps it would all work out in the end. Take down the villain, without sacrificing the hero. Should be pretty easy, right?

Just had to hope that she hadn't made a monumental mistake.