Raven VS Luna

The princess of the night's eyes went wide after hearing its words and seeing its actions. Every other pony on the ship was hiding or shivering in fear. The two foals on deck took their leave and ran inside, but not before taking two barrels filled with fireworks. The thestral colt currently steering the vessel was staring at the Princess with fear in his eyes. Even Oleander, the prodigy that the Princess once knew, was frozen stiff in fear. The only exceptions were the light gray bat pony who popped her head out the window screaming, 'Say that to our faces yo-" A zebra and another thestral pulled her back in before she could say anything else. The other exception was this hairless creature with one eye.

Its words of disrespect and clear signs of aggression put Princess Luna on edge. It just stood there staring at her with its one yellow hate-filled eye. The raging sea and sky, the air of authority, or even being in the presence of Princess Luna did not phase him at all. The creature spoke again; even with the howling winds and so high in the sky, Luna heard it loud and clear. "You didn't hear what I said, trash? Leave, or we're going to have problems." Again this creature called her 'trash'! Luna felt something inside of her head snap. "Now!" She signaled.

The Lunar Princess brought ten-night guards with her; six were currently flying near below the front of the ship, ready to ambush the creature and the unicorn. The other four were hidden somewhere high in the sky, waiting on Luna's orders. Once the six received their signals, they jumped into action. They all carried modified wooden crossbows; instead of firing bolts, they fired non-lethal sleeping darts at the target.

All six were nearly over the railing and had sights on the enemy, half of them would go for the creature, and the other half would go for the unicorn. Once the darts subdued both targets, the guards would rescue the foals and bring the ship back to port. A simple plan, but there was one problem, the creature spoke. "Interdiction" Black vines pulled the nearest four-night guards into something, and their world became nothing but pain. Luna could hear the guards' agony-filled screams throughout the night.

"Interdiction." Raven held his claw out as he said that one word. The human-created a dome filled with Valasia, large blackthorns, and vines. The vines shot out, grabbed their victims, and brought them into the venomous domain. The effects were instant; The vines and thorns started to dig and cut through any exposed piece of flesh. The Valasia did quick work on destroying the guards' armor, and that same gas was filling their lungs, slowly killing them from the inside out. Blood started to spill out from their eyes, ears, and other orifices; pain couldn't' describe what the four guards were feeling.

"So this was what my gut was telling me, how didn't I notice them?" Raven thought as he cast his skill on the unfortunate guards. "Guess I'm getting rusty? So this is what adult thestrals look like as well. I might as well finish them off. A aura made of Valasia surrounded his blade, and he got ready to finish them off with one slash, effectively ending their lives and the pain. Another thought came to him."No." Released the domain, dropping the now unconscious guards in the water."Little reason to kill them; they aren't my enemy."

"That royal bitch is!" The small voice in Raven's head snarled out.

The cyborg glanced at the remaining guards and saw that both were shocked. They watched their fellow guards be taken down in a matter of seconds. Raven clicked his tongue in disappointment; these guards haven't seen much of battle if their reaction was this. "I suggest you go after your fellow guards if you don't want them to drown and get them medical attention; I give them 47 minutes before the venom kills them." The Human said casually.

The remaining guards flew off the boat and went after their comrades if it was out of respect, obligation, or just plain fear; Raven didn't know. What he did know was that he and his charges were leaving Equestria, and no one was getting in their way, not even an Alicorn.

Princess watched in stunned silence as the creature dispatched four of her knight guards in less than three seconds. And if her assumptions were correct, the ape didn't even finish his attack as it looked like he was going to swing his sword but stopped and released his hold on the guards. A dark blue aura surrounded the Princess of the night. "I need to take down this creature quickly!" but she wanted to test this creature as well. From what she could tell already, this beast could only fight from mid-range to close-range. Her horn flared to life, and she let loose three magic bolts—all of them heading towards the creature.

To her surprise, the creature deflected each blast with his sword. Also, as she thought, the beast couldn't attack from down there, and he could not fly. "Let's see if I can wear it down," she thought with a scowl on her face. Her horn flared to life again, and she let loose a barrage of magic bolts.

"Shit!" Raven cursed as he watched the alicorn rain down magic on him. He could dodge them, but he wasn't sure if the boat could handle an attack like that. This boat was their only way out of here, and he needed to defend it with his life. He took his usual stance and got ready. Time started to slow for him as he watched the first bolt of magic come in range. He swung his sword upwards and deflected the attack. Next, he swung down, then right, left, left, up, down, and it kept coming and coming. He missed one, and that same bolt he missed hit his right shoulder, and to his surprise, it didn't hurt as much it just stung.

Of course, super armor took the brunt of the attack and didn't do much damage to it either, but he wasn't planning to take any more hits or do this forever. He needed help and fast. The human looked from the corner of his eye and saw that Oleander was still sitting and most likely having a panic attack. He has never seen this calm and collected unicorn like this before, possibly history between her and that flying eyesore. It didn't matter; she needed to get her act together. "Oleander!"

Oleander just sat on her hunches as she watched things play out, from Princess Luna showing up to Raven dispatching the guards with ease. Everything she had repressed from that day came flooding back: Her mother disowning the unicorn, the looks of utter disgust she received from her fellow ponies, finally getting her cutie mark, and the final words she heard from the Princess of the night 'I will find you Oleander!'. And true to her word, Luna did find her. "She's going to take me back, and she is going to throw me in the dungeons and"

"Oleander!" Raven's voice brought the panicking unicorn out of her thoughts, and remember that they were in a battle! The unicorn watched as the Human deflected incoming magic bolts from Princess Luna. Raven gave her one glance before refocusing on the task ahead. "I understand that you're not in the best state of mind right now, but you have to focus." Another magic bolt nicked the Human on the shoulder, causing him to grunt. "I can't keep this up forever, and I can't reach Luna either from here. I need your help." Those last four words bounced around in her head. The Human was right! She needed to do something quick! And she did, Raven just needed to fly, and she had a perfect idea.

Oleander jumped up and got on all four of her hooves; she opened the Unicornomicon and started reading the contents aloud. "You who dwell in the dark hear my call! As the shadows of old being to Fall! The hooves of time will bend to mine! And break before me sundered twined. FHTNG TH§ NSP§KBL, I summon thee!" Black energy started to flow out of the book as the occupants on the boat heard sinister laughter on the ship's deck. A chill ran down Raven's spine; he remembered this feeling.

"A demon!" The dreadful thought came to the Human.

Once finished, the black mass took the form of a skull on top of black energy that constantly moved and writhed. The head had four draconic horns, a diamond-shaped hole in the middle of its forehead, and four eye stocks that glow red. The demon was at least a head taller than Oleander and didn't even come close to reaching Raven's height. The demon opened his mouth and let out a laugh. "HAHAHAHAH, it's good to be free from that book!" The Human cringed at hearing its words; he could feel every word enter his head and scrape at it, and it wasn't just one language he heard but others behind that voice.

Oleander didn't waste any time and stomped her hoof. "No time for that, Fred; I need you to help Raven out!" The unicorn pointed a hoof at the cyborg who was still deflecting Luna's attacks. "Help him fly and reach Luna, transform into a roc, a dragon, manticore, anything with wings!" The unicorn nearly yelled at her familiar. Fred placed a tentacle under his chin and examined the Human. Raven was rather large, but turning into a dragon or any of that sort would be a waste of energy.

Fred's form shifted and changed, causing the skull to be engulfed into the black mass of energy. Fred quickly shuffled his way over to raven and slithered between the Human's legs. This, in turn, caused the Human to falter a bit and get hit by another bolt, striking his leg this time. "Hurry it up!" Raven hissed out in annoyance.

"Patience, primate." It took another few seconds before the black mass under him started to lift him. Meanwhile, black tendrils came up and started deflecting the magic bolts. Even Luna, high up in the sky, wondered what was going on, then she saw it, the black mass finally took shape.

Raven sat upon an equine that looked Saddle Arabian, but that would be a disservice to the creature the Human rode. The mount was taller than the cyborg by two heads; its coat was ash black, and its mane was pitch black and messy. Muscular legs ready to crush anything under its gray hooves, outstretched feathered wings on its back ready to take flight at a moment's notice. Bone and flesh covered the steed's head, the top portion of it being bone, having the same four glowing eye sockets and horns, flesh made the lower half from of the head.

The best way to describe what the Human was riding would be a horse, an ancient ancestor of the ponies. The horse opened its mouth and let out a hellish neigh, causing Raven to grin savagely. "Let's ride!" The Human kicked the side of Fred's barrel, signaling him to fly up. It only took two flaps of the pegasus's wings to take to the air and head straight for the Lunar Princess.

Meanwhile, Raven kept deflecting Luna's attacks, which decreased as they closed the distance. Pulling back his claw, and formed compressed Valasia. in the palm. Once they were close enough, he threw it and slashed at Valasia with his sword. "Dispersion!" exploding Valasia consumed the rest of Luna's attacks and were heading straight for her.

Luna performed evasive maneuvers and got out of the way of the attack, but before having some of that black gas hitting her left foreleg. She nearly cried out in pain as the flesh under her fur started to sizzle and burn from only coming in contact with the venom. But she didn't have time to dwell on that; as the horse-riding Human closed the distance again, he swung his sword at her. Out of instinct, she conjured a transparent blue long sword. She deflected the initial strike but couldn't stop him from slashing at her with his claw.

The Princess gritted her teeth as she felt the claw dig into her barrel slightly. Thankfully the injury was shallow but hurt immensely; she felt that same stinging sensation again as the wound slowly closed up. Her alicorn healing factor wasn't as significant as her sisters but did the job, all the same, expelling the venom from her system with ease. But the Human came at her again and again, not giving her any respite. He either swung at her with his sword, claw, or the things he kept shooting out of his claw.

Then she finally noticed it; the creature and his steed were pushing her back and away from the escaping boat. She had to save the foals and bring Oleander to justice at any cost! "After them, my guards!" She called to the rest of her night guards, who came flying out of the dark clouds and towards the ship. The creature's mount changed directions instantly and flew towards her guards, leaving themselves open. Luna was waiting for this opportunity; three lightning strikes came out of the dark clouds above them after using her magic.

The first one missed, but the other made their marks and struck the rider and his steed. This enlisted pained howls from both of them. A lesser pony would be knocked out and sent plummeting to their deaths, but these two weren't ponies, and they were made from sterner stuff. The lightning strike threw the both of them off balance for a few seconds before they regained their composure and flew back towards Luna. "'Your fight is with me, creatures!" If they wanted to play aggressively, she could be aggressive and then some!

Raven hated many things, and right now, he hated being struck by lightning and facing opponents with regenerative capabilities. Valasia is powerful and versatile, but it has downsides besides its effects on the host body. One of its weaknesses is being weak to healing magic; the venom starts breaking down as soon as it comes in contact with healing magic in any shape or form. The other weakness is fire, mostly when the Valasia takes form as a plant lifeform; this isn't a problem, but fighting opponents proficient in fire magic or fire-based attacks becomes a chore.

"Duck!" Raven ducked his head as lightning sore over his head, missing him by a few inches. "Shit!" He cursed; the human glanced back at the escaping boat; he couldn't help out his charges, not with Luna here.

The demon sensed his rider's worries and spoke up. "Have faith in them; they can handle themselves, especially Olly." Raven couldn't believe it; a demon was easing his worries right now."what's next hell freezing over?" Fred dodged another in-coming lighting strike and spoke once more. "Now get your head back in the fight; we're facing off against an alicorn if you haven't noticed!" Raven nodded.

Fred closed the distance between them and Luna again; if she's going to keep using the clouds to her advantage and cast lightning, she might as well get closer, so she risks hitting herself as well. On the other hand, Luna had no intentions of getting in sword fighting range with the Human. "Moon ass is smart enough not to get in my sticking range." He thought angrily, but he smirked; he didn't need to get close for his next attack. He held out his claw and aimed with it. Once the Human had a clear line of sight on alicorns' retreating form, he attacked.

"Invasion!" The Spiral of death made up of black vines and thorns came rocketing out of the claw and heading towards Luna. Raven's claw ached after performing such an attack; he maybe had one more in him for the day? But it didn't matter because the drill was about to contact Luna, effectively ending this fight...But it never made contact because Luna blinked out of existence! "Goddess, damn it!"

"To the left!"

Raven brought his attention to the left to only see Luna flying a reasonable distance away, with something he didn't expect. All around the Princess of the night were floating blue crystal swords; if the Human had to estimate, there were around hundred twenty-seven of them. Each blade was kept in place by white ley lines. Luna had all of them pointed at Raven and Fred. "Run!" Raven couldn't agree more as he gave the horse a swift quick to the side, suggesting that he increased the flight speed, which the demon did.

Luna launched her attack, sending out two swords first, then four, then six, and so on. She filled the sky with swords and would not stop until her opponent fell. On the other hand, Raven swung his sword every which way, destroying each blade with one strike, but more kept coming. One of them made it past his sword swings and lodged itself in Raven's left leg. Thankfully Super armor and the knee brace he worse stopped it a few inches in. Unfortunately, Super armor was shattered by that attack and won't be coming back for a while.

"Left!"

"Right!"

"Duck!"

"Up, then Down!"

Fred grunted in pain as one of the blades lodged itself in one of his hindlegs. A mass of black tendrils quickly swallowed the blade and sealed the wound. "I can't keep this up forever! do something!" Raven's mount yelled at him, causing the Human to bite his lower lip in thought. He had no other choice; he needed to use that skill. He looked around and made sure they weren't anywhere near the boat, and thankfully they weren't.

Then an idea came to the Human; he created three Valasia seeds using his claw. "Take these." A black tentacle formed on the demon's withers and grabbed the seeds. "Once we're out of view, I want you to fling me into the clouds and throw these seeds at the blue bitch. If this fails, be ready to catch me." Fred grunted in agreement with the plan.

Raven raised his claw high in the air and got it ready. "Brace yourself, Fred, because this will hurt." He warned the demon they needed to break the line of sight, so one thing came to mind. "Creepy fog!" Raven unleashed a wave of vaporized Valasia in his immediate area, engulfing him, Fred, and the swords in the area. Something felt off for Raven, the fog he just created felt colder, and he swears someone was watching him. Not Luna but something different and sinister.

"The Gates of Hell have opened.”

A few minutes earlier, back on the ship

The four-night guards glided down towards the fleeing ship. Princess Luna is currently occupied with slaying the beast. Once they secure the boat and the foals, they will return and offer her assistance. Two guards landed nearby the passenger cabin, and their ears picked up the sounds of foals trying to silence each other.

The two guards needed to be careful with this; the scared foals are skittish and might do something rash. Considering these two were thestrals, they might try and flee. The guards slowly made their way towards the passenger and opened it, but not before saying, "It's alright, Princess Luna sent us to" The guard stopped speaking as they saw what was in front of them. In the far back of the room. A white thestral, a dark grey thestral, a winged zebra, and a green foal covered their ears with their hooves.

A few hoof steps away from the guards were two fillies holding what looks like a barrel filled with Fireworks. The light pink one had an evil grin on her face, while the red one had a manic smile. The barrels they held had a lit fuse already and were ready to go off; before they did, the fillies spoke. "Bye, bye!" The pink one said while the other one said. "KA-BOOM!"

The two guards tried getting out of the way, but it was too late; forty fireworks rockets came flying at them. As soon as they made contact, they exploded, sending the both of them flying back; for some reason, the red earth pony's explosions were bigger. Both guards landed in the water with new injuries; most of them burned and possibly destroyed eardrums.

One unfortunate guard decides to take control of the boat by going to the cockpit, it was a mistake, and it would be the last mistake he'll ever make. The thestral put a hoof on the doorknob, ready to open the door, but then what when he heard it. Singing, he heard no words, just the voices, such beautiful voices, and they were calling for him! The thought of following Princess Luna's orders left his mind as he went searching for the singers.

The guard flew up, searching for the source of that beautiful melody. "It's as if harmony itself is singing to me," He mumbled to himself. Then he saw them, on the shores, the most beautiful ponies he had ever seen in his life—all of them singing in unison. The thestral couldn't resist; he needed to be with them! He flew over to them as fast as he could. "My ladies, I have found you!"

That was the last time anyone saw that poor pony.

The last guard wanted to subdue Oleander, considering she was the second biggest threat around; this was reasonable. What wasn't reasonable was attacking her alone.

The final night stood there, watching the dark unicorn's every movement while holding his spear at the ready. Oleander, on the other hand, just stood there looking bored. "This won't end well for you know." The unicorn taunted the night guard, causing the thestral to grit his teeth in anger. He launched himself forward without saying a word with wings spread, and spear pointed at the unicorn.

He did not get far, though; a giant claw came made out of the same stuff that Fred went out of the book and grabbed by the guard by his barrel. The next thing the guard knew, he was being smacked around on the deck as he felt his bones crack and break. After another few more seconds of thrashing, the final guard was thrown off the boat and landed in the water.

Oleander snorted in disgust, closing her book. "Bucking royal guards, bucking night guards. Useless" She didn't' have any more time to waste; she needed to concentrate and keep Fred out as long as possible. If Fred were to disappear mid-fight, it would be all over. "Please be okay, Raven." She said before opening up the Unicornomicon again.

Back in the Sky

Luna watched as the creature released dark blue fumes from his claw, creating fog within the air. Thankfully Luna was out of range of that toxic fog. Unfortunately, she lost sight of the creature and his mount; even worse, the swords in the fog started crumbling and breaking apart. It shouldn't even be possible; the blades were made from crystals! The alicorn shook her head; this wasn't the time to lose focus, as the current spell she was using required a large amount of magic and concentration . It still didn't mean she couldn't use two spells at once. A second aura appeared on the Princess's horn, overlapping the first one.

If Luna or her swords couldn't go in that wretched fog, the Princess would blast them with a beam of magic. If they came out of the fog, her flying swords would make quick work of them. So she hovered there, waiting for any signs of attack or movement. A whole minute passed, and she still didn't see anything. "did they flee?" Her answer came the form of three giant seeds covered in thorns, which came flying out of the fog.

Princess Luna countered with her crystal swords; she sent them forward, meeting each seed. Both the swords and seeds were destroyed when they came into contact. The alicorn wasn't done yet; she had a good idea where her opponents were now. She unleashed a magical blue beam in the fog, and the Princess was rewarded with the sound of a pained whinny. The demonic horse pegasus fell from the mist a few seconds later, but where was its rider!? Her answer came in the form of sharp pain in her back, forcing her to look back.

One of those thorny seeds lodged into her back, and vines sprouted out from the now bleeding wound. "How?! He can't teleport! That wretched demon did something!" At this point it didn't matter; she needed to find out where the creature went. The beast came rocketing out of the clouds, surrounded by a black and white mist. This aura formed a cone in front of him.

Luna didn't waste any time and cast her crystal swords forward at the enemy. Once they made contact with the mist, they either bounced off or were destroyed. She got a teleportation spell ready but felt something wrapped around her horn. She looked up in horror as the black vines wrapped themselves around her horn, preventing her from using any more of her magic. The Princess tried to get out of the way, but it was too late.

"Chilling breath!"

40 seconds earlier

"What in Tartus is this stuff! it burns!" The demonic horse coughed as he breathed in the fog. The Human kicked the horse's side in annoyance, he didn't have time for this. Fred growled in annoyance and wrapped a tendril around Raven's torso and flung him higher into the air, while at the same time, he used that same tendril to throw the seeds. Raven felt his clothes dampen as he soared through the dark clouds, then he found himself falling at the perfect angle. He held out his claw and shot out a Valasia seed. He was about to perform one of his old skills, and he hadn't used it since the academy. It was now or never.

"Awaken!"

Raven gathered the necessary magic to perform the skill, which wasn't much."Power Assult!" Instead of falling, he found himself flying forward at an angle and headed straight for Luna. But something felt wrong; he felt so cold. It wasn't from his surrounding but coming from within himself. His claw was releasing Valasia on its own and not its usual color; it came out as white and black; and it started to surround him.

Then he heard the voices; they whispered to him, along the lines of 'let us help the captain.' 'we will guide you.' 'even in death will serve' 'we stand by you.' He couldn't block them out; they were in his head! Some unknown force sped him up, and that aura and mist started to form a cone in front of him. Raven didn't know what was going on, but he was sure this wasn't power assault any longer. He watched as Luna's blades bounced off the aura and mist and was delighted to see that the Valasia vines were doing their job.

"CHILLING BREATH!" Raven yelled out as he made contact with Luna tackling her. He was rewarded with hearing two of Luna's ribs snap. He looked into her eyes and saw nothing but pain, fear, and spite. But for a split second, he saw that her pupils became slit and going back to normal, but not before she coughed out. "Luna should have used my powers.." A chill ran down Raven's spine. "Was she holding back this whole time?"The thought unnerved him, but it didn't matter; this fight was coming to an end.

Horeshoe Bay

Full hooves groaned as he woke up from his forced slumber. He sat up, rubbing his head with a hoof. "What happened?" He looked around and saw that he was on a small boat. "Where am I, and where’s the ferry?" Then it all came flooding back; he remembered what had happened to him. The unicorn, the foals, and that monster with them. "I have to warn somepony!" He scrambled off the small boat and galloped down the docks.

After this, he would lose his job but needed to save those foals from that evil enchantress and her monster! Or tell somepony else more qualified. He stopped in his tracks when he saw something in the sky. Full narrowed his eyes at sight. "Is that a shooting star?" It was getting closer, far too close for his liking. Oh, buck!" Whatever it was, it was heading straight for the docks. He galloped the other way, trying to get away.

Moments later, the mysterious flying figures came crashing into the docks, destroying most wooden walkways and any boat in the way. The seawater below was frozen solid, which caused ice shards to form around the area. Anypony who wasn't awake were certainly awake now, as the whole port town heard the crash. There was the feeling of dread in the air as braver ponies trotted over to the crater in the middle of the docks. What they saw horrified them.

Raven stood over the now barely conscious Luna. The Princess of the night's crown was gone; her regalia was chipped and cracked everywhere. The crash landing bent her left-wing at odd angles; the bone in her right hind leg was also sticking out. Some parts of her coat were frozen over or covered in frozen blood. Princess Luna's eyes still held fire behind them, even in her current state. The human respected that.

Unfortunately, Raven wasn't in any better condition; his armor was torn up and damp. He had two lacerations on his right leg: at least three broken ribs, fractured bones all over his body, second-degree burns from all those lightning strikes he took, and internal bleeding. The Human was in a lot of pain, but he won, and that's all that matters.

"Kill her!"

"No the fights over, and shes unarmed."

"Shes a noble!"

"Royalty." He corrected himself.

"All the same, they're all the same!"

"She isn't even from Velder"

"All of them are the same! LYING BACK STABBING FILTH! Raven's mind raged at the mere thought of letting any noble live.

"The fight is over!"

"KILL HER!”

Raven placed a claw on his head in pain; his thoughts were confusing and conflicted. He didn't know what to do. But screaming from above brought him out of it. Raven looked up and saw that Fred, still in his horse form, glided down in the crater with him. "What the hell are you doing?! Get on, Olly can't keep this up any longer; we need to head back now!" The demonic horse yelled at him.

The Human limped over to his temporary steed and climbed on but not before looking back at Luna and saying. " Come after me or my charges again, and I won't be so merciful next time." He snapped his finger causing the black vines around Luna’s horn to crumble away. Besides the few scratches, her horn was fine. Raven gave the alicorn one final glance and climbed on Fred's back. Fred started flying up and out of the crater, earning more screams from the nearby Ponies.

Before the horse could fly off, there was a flash of light. Somepony took a picture of Raven and Fred. Raven groaned internally; no doubt news of this is going to spread. "Why couldn't things be simple?" They flew off into the night.

Footnote:
Raven

NEW ACTIVE SKILL:
Chilling breath - - Raven surrounds himself with ice fog from the under world and charges forward at the enemies, causing frost damage.

Author's Note

Alright, finally finished this chapter! Hope you liked it and hope I characterize Luna correctly!

Also sorry for doing the night guards dirty like that, but what can I say?

Also, going to have the alicorns do actual spells and not just shot beams of magics from their Horns. Still got to come up with something for Candace.