The Devil You Know

Buildings crackled and fell under the onslaught of wind and magic from the battling sisters. Words were forgotten as they both opted for sheer might, flying at each other with a speed that seemed to defy logic and created shattering waves of sound that boomed below. Horns and hooves were flying while they both seemed keen to beat the other down, physically and mentally. Only their armor provided enough protection to remain airborne as they fought in all-out war against the other.

The safety of the ponies had been pushed aside, as neither alicorn was above collateral damage. Blood flew from Nightmare Moon's mouth as one of Daybreaker's hooves landed a particular nasty punch, and the rage that filled her eyes seemed to echo in the air around them with crackling energy. Rapidly charging her horn with the void colored magic of darkness, she fired several rays at Daybreaker in retaliation for the hit. It managed to get some distance between them again, which helped get some time to breathe and think.

Daybreaker responded to the rays of shadow flying at her by suddenly glowing with the brightness of the sun, and the intense heat burned away the black magic that would have otherwise dealt a serious blow to her. Nightmare Moon's eyes glowed then as she summoned more of the night, surrounding herself in an ebony shield while the light barreled towards her. The intense flames from the heat of the light burned away her shield, but it gave Nightmare Moon time to dodge out of the way and fire bolts at Daybreaker.

Daybreaker used more fire from her mouth to deflect it, then grinned at her opponent. "I'm stronger than you," she taunted, though she was a little out of breath as she spoke from the exertion. "And when I beat you, you will be the first to bow at my hooves on the throne of Equestria."

Nightmare Moon snarled at the glowing mare. "I will cut you down!" She challenged, baring her fangs at what used to be somepony she knew. "You will not beat me, Daybreaker!" The problem though, was that it seemed the other mare was right. Nightmare Moon had barely been holding her own against the other alicorn, especially because the sun was high in the sky at the moment.

Flaring her wings wide, she flapped them for a moment before zooming at Daybreaker again. She needed to attack, and fast. Speed was on her side, and she needed to utilize that to her fullest potential if she was going to have any hope of coming out of this as the victor. Launching her renewed spree, she turned on a dime while wheeling about to rain more blows on the other alicorn.

She couldn't help the smirk when she hit Daybreaker hard enough to nearly knock her helmet off of her head, and refused to let up on this sudden advantage. Nightmare Moon turned, a perfect corkscrew while she flew with one hoof outward to follow up on the blow and completely remove the piece of armor that had been protecting her. Daybreaker's eyes widened at the onslaught, too slow to react to this in time.

Nightmare Moon hit her so hard her helmet then went flying down to the city below, and Daybreaker had to shake her mane out of her eyes before staring down the midnight mare with murder in her eyes. Blood ran from a cut above her eye, streaming down her face and muzzle. She spat out a tooth, blood trailing before giving a crimson smile. Her wings flapped casually, with only enough force to remain airborne.

"That was a lucky shot," Daybreaker said, almost idly. "You won't get another one, Nightmare Moon." Without warning she threw her forelegs apart, dropping her head low with a growl. Her horn lit up in a brilliant amber, before she fired off a bolt of fire and followed behind it like a living meteor. She was no longer holding back.

Crying out at the impact of the white mare slamming into her body, Nightmare Moon did the first thing she could think of and promptly bit the snot out of Daybreaker's shoulder. Drawing blood from the scored hit, she spat it out as she let go while Daybreaker roared in pain. "Looks like that was another lucky shot," Nightmare Moon said, grinning. "I'm not out of this fight yet, sister."

Twilight Sparkle had hurried along the city, moving quickly towards a location that would be both big enough and high enough to give her a vantage point so that she could get a good grasp of what was going on. Every now and then one of the shadows from the foes fighting above would make her glance upwards, then continue scurrying forwards on her path to a hill she'd spotted on the horizon.

While she was making good progress, she still had to dodge falling lumber and burning buildings on top of trying to keep track of the princesses fighting above her. Twilight was about halfway to her goal when suddenly a helmet clanged off of the cobblestone in front of her, scaring her half to death. Once her shriek had faded away, she crept closer to examine it. The markings and coloring were unmistakable, this was Daybreaker's helmet. Twilight looked up again, squinting past the smoke when she saw two objects harshly collide.

Looks like she needed to really get going in overdrive if she was going to make it before the tide of the fight swept too far, so she promptly took off at a gallop. Speed was something she had, and she hopped over fallen ponies and dodged under smoldering ruins while heading closer and closer to the hilltop that would help her make her decision. Twilight just hoped that she would get there quickly enough, since there was no way to know how much stamina Princess Luna had used up as Nightmare Moon fighting to try and bring her sister back to her senses.

The crackle of thunder had her instinctively duck under a doorway, peeking out she looked up at the smoky sky. It was hard to see beyond it, but it looked like the fight had grown so intense it had drawn the attention of mother nature, and she spied a few more bolts of lightning along the clouds. Rapidly assessing her situation, Twilight Sparkle then resumed galloping towards the hill so she could get to the top of it and get above the smoke choking the city.

Urging herself on, it wasn't too much longer before she reached her goal and shot above the line of smoke as she crested the hill overlooking the city. Looking around as fast as she could, Twilight tried to figure out where the fighters were in relation to her. The gathering storm wasn't much of a help either, with booming thunder and bolts that lit up the sky in warning.

That is, until she spotted a figure illuminated by the lightning. From where Twilight was standing they were no more than a pinprick, but the coloring was profound. Daybreaker was there, and she dove with the fury of the light while fire flared out around her before slamming into a dark object that Twilight realized had to have been Nightmare Moon. "No!" She cried, watching in horror as the princess fell towards the earth, wings akimbo from the blow.

"Come on, you gotta wake up!" She shouted, but from this distance they wouldn't hear her. "You have to beat her, or else we're all doomed!" Twilight could then only watch as the dark blob disappeared, and a faint trail of smoke and dust rose to show where impact was. From there, Daybreaker flared her wings wide, the lightning crashing behind her before she rained down rays of light and fire towards Nightmare Moon's body.

Horror spread along every inch of Twilight Sparkle's body, not believing what she was seeing. Nightmare Moon was losing, and badly. If she didn't do something now, then Equestria was done for as Daybreaker took each and every one of their lives to fuel a kingdom conquered in blood. Tears filled her eyes, and she sat on her rump. "Oh Celestia, I wish you were here right now," she lamented. "You'd know what to do, how to help."

"I'm so alone." Twilight broke off crying then, her little body heaving with sorrow. After a few moments, her eyes snapped open and she jumped to her hooves, filled with determination. "No," she said, though she was talking to herself. "I know just what to do to make this right."

With that, she began to chant, the words memorized from the tome she'd read. Over and over she spoke the words, her fervent belief filling her and flowing out into the universe with her call. Twilight Sparkle hoped and prayed that this would work, as the faint sound of Daybreaker's laughter filled her ears.

A particularly loud clap of thunder flattened Twilight Sparkle's ears against her skull, but she didn't let up her chanting. Not until she looked up to the heavens, and gasped. So it had worked, and the ancient one had indeed heard her call. Now she could only hope that they were friend and not foe, otherwise much more than their kingdom would be doomed.