[Steel The Mind]

Feeling the spell wash over me, I take one look at Ponyville and turn around. It was a single village, and at the end of the day, stopping the eternal night was far more important given its potential to kill most if not all life on the planet. So maybe a few hundred people would die; if a few thousand more lived, then why did it matter. 'Perhaps?' Scowling, I dismissed the thought of outright destroying the village and everyone in it, I didn't know who Celestia was, but I doubt she was significant enough to warrant such extreme measures on my end.

Now then, the castle, how to find it inside the forest? Well, if it isn't broken, don't fix it. Bending my legs, I once more flood them with magic and jump far exceeding the tree line, and this time I choose to create a far more stable platform from hard light. Raising my hand, the platform moves forward, allowing me to look for anything that stands out, and while I see smoke coming from under the trees, nothing would suggest a castle was there. Floating through the sky, I eventually find a cliff edge with a broken rope bridge and, lo and behold, the castle on the other side.

{Are forests always this big? I was too busy burning them down to notice.}

I consider Satanael's words as I land on the other side of the bridge with little issue. The forest itself felt strange, and while I wasn't sure I'd call it chaotic, something about it was unsettling. A topic for another day.

As I approach the castle, I can't help but notice how worn down it looked. Hell, worn down was an understatement. The entire building was a ruin that looked like it was being held together by thoughts and prayers. The whole thing was also surrounded by an unnatural mist, the very air within it saturated deeply in magic which was likely an illusion to either trap people inside or to make them leave. I couldn't be sure, but the spell itself looked familiar, almost akin to the illusions of the Scarlet Dragon Emperor of Subjugation.

{Oh, that's Adam, right?} Grunting, I ignore Satanael and move into the mist towards the castle; my mind was too well guarded for an illusion of any caliber to deceive me. With Satan in my soul, the improbable became impossible.

'Why aren't there any cultists?' It seemed strange, I could sense the life of one person, being the moon god within, but aside from them, everything was empty. It's not like the note of orders helped, as they never specified a time except for when all the sacrifices were complete. 'Were they all still in Ponyville? Usually, gods have a token guard force to show their importance.'

{Probably doesn't think they need them. Hehehe~ dumbass.}

I shrugged; it wasn't like they'd have helped outside of slowing me down. Taking in the castle, I noticed one of the towers seemed to be in better condition than the rest of the building. It was probably transmuted into a more stable form. Destination now in mind, I start my approach, and with a snap of my fingers, my magic flares briefly, allowing me to teleport towards the entrance. Seeing a hole beside the massive front doors, I use one of Satanael's tendrils to lift myself up.

"Hm." With a light grimace, I look through the hole to see the corpses of cultists all lying on the floor in an almost organised fashion. Hopping down to see if they had anything to help understand what was happening more, I noticed that they all had similar bat-like features of the men earlier. 'Native species? Probably.'

{~Na na, na na, na na, na na, na na, na na, na na, na na Bat-men!~}

"Ha hmhm." Softly chuckling at Satan, I kick one of the bodies over to see its throat had been carved into with a knife, a knife that happens to be rested at the corpse's side. Looking at the other bodies, I notice a trend and run my tongue along my bottom teeth in annoyance. 'Thoughts?'

{Ritual Sacrifice, duh.} Humming in agreement, I can't help but recall the bad feeling about this place. If these guys had willingly killed themselves and offered their souls to Nightmare Moon, then this just got a bit more complicated.

'Going to have to assassinate her.' I'm all for defying the odds but attacking a moon god on the night of a full moon was hard enough, as evident by Lucifer and Tsukuyomi's Midnight Sun. A moon god -kneeling and dipping my finger into the blood pool, I click my tongue in thought- two hours after a ritual sacrifice in their honour. This was problematic.

{Still going to fight them, though?}

"Obviously." Well, as much as assassinating a god appealed to me, I seriously doubted my luck would hold up, especially with who I have shackled to my soul. I sigh, feeling rather poignant about the days I didn't have to consider how lucky I was before doing something. I scratch my chest and -I still have fucking angel blood on my-!'- move further into the castle; unfortunately, at this point, I had little idea as to where I was going outside the tower I could sense her in- "She isn't there anymore."

{Ohoh yeah, we're not attuned to this planet's thaumashpere or its arcane core, are we?} My body stills at Satanael's words as I recall precisely what that meant.

'My magic doesn't perfectly blend in with my surroundings anymore.' I haven't exactly been trying to hide either. Tensing, I lower my body slightly to prepare for a fight. Let's see, moon god then, potential God of the Night too, so I should probably expect the first strike to be from-'

Dust lands on my shoulder.

"Eh?"

"RRRAGHHH!"

Eyes widening, I leap forward and clear half the room as the ceiling above me collapses, and Nightmare Moon hits the ground where I stood like the Hammer of God, which was fitting given the massive hammer she undoubtedly used to cave in the roof and crush the bodies of her dead cultists.

As the dust settles, I finally get a look at her, although it's rather tricky in the pitch black, full plate armour she was wearing that was radiating what I could only assume was pure malice wrapped around her like a cloak. The only thing I could see was her scowling face which looked about as pale as the full moon itself, which managed to convey regal superiority and long-controlled hatred in her teal eyes that seemed to stain her sclera a lighter blue. Her most identifying feature by far, save her armour, was undoubtedly her hair which listlessly flowed aethereal in a breeze that touched only her, painting a picture of the night itself.

"So, you're the little rodent, scurrying around where you are unwelcome. Tell me, did those incompetent fools just let you flee, or did they at least try to stop you." She states, her tone commanding, authoritative, and everything but patient. My back straightened instinctively, and I clenched my fist until they cracked.

"I wasn't in Ponyville when they arrived, although I did kill two of them before coming here." I shifted on my feet. "I wouldn't call them professional either, and honestly, seeing you in person makes me wonder why you even have them." I inform her with a helpless shrug. Her left eye twitches before releasing a melancholic sigh.

"Before my banishment a millennia ago, I could have done twice the work with a fraction of the men. This modern era is pathetic. A thousand years of peace, bah!" She waves her hand in irritated dismissal. "A thousand years to erode, to grow soft. I intend to drag Equestria back into its rightful place at the top of the world." I lean back to take that in; I wouldn't call it evil. Didn't the cultist say she would bring about eternal night? Seeing as she wasn't trying to kill me right now, I may as well ask.

"What about your eternal night? Wasn't that your... goal?"

"Eternal night? Now!? Hah, I'd be surprised if there was a survivor past the first week." I feel myself deflate somewhat, the entire reason I was here was to stop that from happening, and if she wasn't going to do it, then I suppose this was a waste of time. Besides, even if she did it later, that would mean I could actually prepare for the fight, which more than tipped the scales in my favour.

{Seriously!?} I bit down on my tongue to prevent Satanael from using my mouth to speak. {AAARGH! The whole reason we came here was to kill her! To rip her face off! To devour her miserable soul!} Letting out a pained exhale as Satanael's tendrils coil around my organs like an enraged serpent.

"Eh ha, haha, hn!" Biting down a laugh as I cough into my hand, I look at the black, tar-like, hyper-condensed mana in annoyance. Looking up, I see that Nightmare Moon appears to have taken a step back, although she has an intrigued expression on her face.

"Careful, Satan, your Lucifer is showing."

{Go fuck yourself.}

"Fuck me yourself, coward."

{You! Ugh... well played.}

"Ptu," Spitting Satan's magic out of my mouth, I offer it a short glance as it dissolves through the ground. "Cnngh, apologies, but I promised my devil a fight." Rolling my neck, I reach back and pull a knife made of broken glass from my backpack, barely held together by glitter glue and a torn police banner.

"Fascinating. It would seem we're more alike than I'd thought possible." The rage in her eyes appears to have almost entirely faded, leaving abject curiosity in its place. "I had intended to slay you for trespassing but know I think I'll study you."

"Alright, but only if I can be on top." Satan and I say with a wide grin on our face. The innuendo isn't missed by Nightmare Moon, who immediately scowls.

"Tch, vile cur i'l-" Uninteresting in whatever she has to say, we interrupt her speech with a thunderclap to the face.

"The time for talk is over! Now hurry up and punch us in the face, you sexy bitch!" Our minds stall for a moment, trying to comprehend what we just said. 'Are we taunting or flirting?'

Either way, the half-second it took for us to regain focus was enough for her to lunge back at us, hammer in hand, and swing. A laugh erupts from our throat; we reel our head back, and as the hammer approaches, we headbutt it with enough force to shatter the ground under us and break both our knees. Unconcerned, we rise and swing our knife at Nightmare, who was composed enough to dodge to the side and follow up with a hammer strike to our ribs. Coughing up sludge-like, black blood, we grin through the pain as we wrap our arm around the hammers handle and lift upwards, forcing Nightmare to let go.

Looking at her hammer, we shrug and throw it to the side, the hammer easily going through the wall on the far end of the room and outside the castle into the forest. With a grunt, I throw my knife at her, which she dodges again, causing the blade to shatter against the wall behind her.

"Enough, you mad beast!" Raising her hand, cerulean energy coalesces in her palm, only for her to shoot it at me. A tendril erupts from our back and sticks to the ceiling allowing us to quickly jump the attack. While mid-air, we shake our hand and summon a [Tormented Flame]. Reeling our fist back, we flood the black flame with cursed magic into a purple geyser of manifested sin, suffusing the flame with the concept of starvation and madness. With a strike forward, we throw it at Nightmare, who dodges only to get caught in the explosion, which sends her upwards through the ceiling and beyond several rooms.

Tilting our head, we jump after her, climbing through each of the holes and into a massive chamber that seemed empty except for some stone pedestal holding up five stone orbs with gem outlines carved into them. Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling we get from looking at them, we turn to Nightmare Moon, who shoots out multiple dagger-like projectiles. Batting most of them aside, we grimace as some stab us. 'Moonlight infused?' We charge Nightmare and allow the mana blades to fade except the last one, which we grab, curse, and throw, which once more explodes, but she was prepared enough to cast a shield blocking most of the damage though not before a shard of stone stabs through her cheek.

Wings of magic emerge from her back, lifting her off the ground without hesitation; she immediately blitzes towards us, and with a last-second turn, her foot slams into our jaw, forcing us to the ground. Seeing an opportunity, she lifts her foot again and drives it down into our face before doing so again and again...

And again...

And again...

And catching her foot before it hits our face, we violently twist until the metal of her armour cracks. Refusing to let go, we force ourselves back upright and tighten our hold as we lift her by the ankle and, with another twist, cause her to crash face-first into the ground. Watching her try to get up, we summon another cursed flame around our foot and kick her in the ribs hard enough that the armour around her torso shatters. Her body is sent skipping across the floor until Nightmare smashes against the pedestal causing the orbs to fall off and break against the ground.

We frown at the feeling of a foreign magic scan over us before ignoring it in favour of Nightmare Moon, who seems to be struggling to stand with her hand grasping at where we kicked her. We wonder, has she never had her ribs shattered before? Walking towards her, she forces herself back to her feet with her face contorted into agonised wrath, her eyes glowing white from sheer fury.

[Good enough]

Once like the night sky, her hair becomes nebulous as her pale skin grows darker to the point of being absent of light, and we take a step back, less from fear and more from curiosity as her power spiked. With a scream that shook the castle's foundations, we found ourselves trapped as our eardrums burst and our equilibrium in tatters. We fell to a knee as Nightmare pointed her hands at us, still screaming, and unleashed a wave of pure, hate-fuelled destruction that rapidly approached.

Trying to dodge, we felt all our wounds hit us at once and cursed our rotten luck as we trip over ourselves, all but waiting for imminent death. Snorting out a laugh, we raised our hands forward with a grin in a vain attempt to power through the attack. Closing our eyes, we grit our teeth for the feeling of disintegrating flesh and smile almost nostalgically. 'Nothing better than fighting a god.'

...

"What?" Opening my eyes, I see six glowing crystals spin around each other and absorb all the magic power Nightmare Moon unleashed.

"The."

{Hell is this?}

Feeling our synchronisation sever in confusion, the six crystals stop spinning before uselessly clattering to the ground. 'Did someone... help us?' Shaking my head, I recall multiple occasions when a foreign magic tried to communicate with me only to brush it off thanks to Satan caring more about the fight. "Huh." Collapsing to my knees, I take deep breaths through my broken ribs, long since used to the feeling.

"Fascinating." Grunting, I turn around only to receive a holy-powered boot to the face that forces me to slide along the floor until I hit a wall limply. "By the Garden Iscariot, just go to sleep."

"Helel, what...?" I gaze up at the black-clad man being worn like a suit by The Grigori, Helel, and try to stand only to see him roll his molten gold eyes.

"You're no longer a subject of study, so just stay quiet." He says with an apathetic shrug. "You, on the other hand..." Walking towards the barely conscious Nightmare Moon, he hums. "No, no, that vessel won't do at all."

As my consciousness fades, the last thing I hear is the agonised screams of Nightmare Moon.

Author's Note

Okayyyy, first up is that no, Iscariot and Satanael are not the Element Bearers.

To oversimplify:-
Satanael = Chaos. Iscariot = Order. Chaos + Order = Harmony.

There's more to it than that but it was mostly my Stand [Ass Pull] were, whenever I forget something important I can reach up my own ass and pull out an almost believable reason as to why everytjing is still working.

Also, my first real fight, sure I've done some other stuff but this is the only one I feel vaguely proud of even if it's bare bones as shit.

Let's see... Oh yeah.

"..." is Iscariot.
{...} is Satan internally.
"..." is Satanael externally/Satanael + Iscariot talking at once.
If Iscariot starts saying referring to himself as "We" or "Us" then Satanael and him are working as one instead of working together just in case that needed clarification.

Another thing, why did nobody say that a story could derail so fast. Iscariot was not supposed to start agreeing with Nightmare Moon but it would have been out of character for him to press the issue if she wasn't going to immediately cause eternal night because, again, it would give him time to actually prepare. Hell, the entire reason Satanael threw a fit mid-chapter was because I needed the fight to happen for story to continue because Iscariot would have ended up helping Nightmare Moon if he didn't. Interesting as that may have been, its so far from what little I have planned that it's not even funny.

Speaking of, what do you think of my interpretation of Nightmare Moon and her disdain for Modern Equestria. To me, Luna is the more aggressive sibling in general and Modern Equestria would seem, while pleasantly peaceful, quite lacklustre in terms of strength when compared to a millennia ago. This is then taken to the extreme with Nightmare Moon who postponed eternal night for a more serious issue. Purging the weak from Equestria.

Am I making any sense?

Fuck it, I'm going to sleep.