Page 38, Advanced Magic

Magical Domains

This is one of the more complicated parts of magical combat. A magical domain is a magical and visual extension of the source of your magic. This works by changing the essence of the ambient natural magic. Yes it is difficult, and yes, everypony can do it, including earth ponies and pegasi. Their function is to increase the power and impact of a certain type of spell. Contrary to popular belief, they do not guarantee a hit.

For example, you could cast a domain for all unicorn magic, and all unicorn magic would become stronger within it. This can be specialized into more obscure branches of music.

If two individuals each try to cast a domain, the one with a stronger conviction will win the magical tug-of-war. Everypony is capable of their own unique magical domains.

Simply put: Your domain makes your attacks stronger.

Princess Celestia

The flawlessly white moon shone brightly, casting a cool light over Equestria. Not a scene nor sound penetrated the silence of the night, but Celestia knew she would be lucky for it to remain silent for long. For on the other side of the elevated plateau stood Nightmare Moon, freshly released from the moon. Canterlot castle lay behind Celestia, and the rest of Equestria with it. The newly-freed mare stretched her neck, and after what had felt like hours, finally addressed Celestia.

“How fitting!” Nightmare Moon sneered, “my prosecutor has come to welcome me to my new kingdom.” Celestia shivered. Her face did not show it, but she was afraid. She didn’t want this. Not again.

“Luna, please!” Celestia cried out, the desperate plea failing to resonate within the Nightmare, “we can talk about this!”

“Talk? TALK?” Nightmare Moon shouted, beginning to approach the disheveled solar princess. “You gave up that option when you sent me to the moon. I have no words for you besides my request for you to surrender.”

Celestia looked down, shaking her head. Just loud enough for Nightmare Moon to hear her, she said, “I cannot allow you to harm the citizens of Equestria.” She said, solemnly. She took a deep breath, but it stuck in her throat, “I… I will fight to protect my little ponies. I’m sorry it must be this way.” A single tear fell down Celestia’s cheek. She let it fall this time, descending and splattering upon the rocky ground. Nightmare Moon eyed her with suspicion, and straightened her posture.

“Since you refuse to surrender,” Nightmare Moon stepped forward, and lit her horn aflame with magic, “do you want to have a bad time?”

“Very well then.” Celestia shoved any emotion besides calm into the backseat. She currently longed to embrace her sister, to tell her how much she was missed, but logic told her she would only make Nightmare Moon angrier. I will lose here, but I will buy Twilight enough time to gather the elements.

“Let’s start then, shall we?”

Break

Nightmare Moon

That’s strange, Celestia’s never worn that armor before. I thought she lost it. Luna’s voice echoed within the walls of her mind.

That’s because you did all the fighting, Luna, Celestia was always the diplomat.

Nightmare, her lack of diplomacy worries me. Look at her! She’s waiting for us to make the first move!

Us?

My body, heretic.

Sure enough, Celestia’s stance was open, maybe even inviting. However, Nightmare Moon knew her defense was water-tight. “She’s never made it easy for us,” Nightmare Moon grumbled, her face contorted in rage, while Celestia stared back, emotionlessly.

“Well, if you’re going to stand there like a love struck filly, I’ll make the first move.” Celestia’s horn lit up with magic. Nightmare Moon growled, and took a defensive stance herself. “Magic domain: Temple of the Sun God!”

The beautiful view of Equestria vanished completely, replaced with a clearing, surrounded by thick jungle trees on all fronts. On one side was Celestia, on the other side was Nightmare Moon, eyes wide in fear. Well this is fun! Luna said to her oppressor, but Nightmare Moon was too shocked to register her words. The ground suddenly shook violently. The ground beneath Celestia fractured and… rose?

A golden (aztec) pyramid rose from the earth, on top of the rising mass was Celestia, looking down on Nightmare Moon with nothing in her eyes. It was like Celestia was fighting a ghost.

“Well, let’s see what you’ve got!” Nightmare Moon snapped out of her shock, now grinning. She was done being amazed by Celestia’s theatrics, and was now excited to fight. Celestia somberly nodded.

“Rise,” Celestia said nonchalantly, and she floated into the air, rising with the sun. She then pointed towards Nightmare Moon with a hoof. “Solar Flare.”

Nightmare Moon laughed. Celestia’s strongest move, one that Luna helped to create, was now being used against her. The sun grew, getting closer, until it was just behind Celestia. It filled the entire sky. Tendrils of plasma from the star’s violent surface collected on Celestia’s horn. She closed her eyes, and when they opened once again, they were glowing brightly.

“I’m sorry, sister.”

Then, Celestia cast that energy into a giant orb of superheated plasma and gas. At first it moved slowly, but then it picked up speed, and by the time it left Celestia’s temple, it was traveling at a third of the speed of light. Marvelous yellows, reds, and oranges filled Nightmare Moon’s vision. She grinned in the marvelous sunlight, knowing it would be the last she would ever see.

“Moonbeam.”

Nightmare Moon aimed her strongest attack at the ground, then sliced up. The Moonbeam cut clean through the solar flare, causing it to impact the ground on either side of the unfazed Nightmare. The moonbeam continued going up, and Celestia barely conjured a shield in time to block it. Her eyes were now wide as she looked back at Nightmare Moon from the top of the pyramid. Green wisps of smoke dissolved from either side of Celestia’s head, but Nightmare Moon was too focused to care.

“Let’s bring you back down to earth, shall we?” Nightmare Moon raised her front hooves and slammed them into the ground. “Magical domain: Eternal Night!”

breAK

Celestia

“Magical Domain:” Nightmare Moon yelled, “Eternal Night!” An infinite plane of perfectly flat grass spread around Celestia and Nightmare Moon. The space was liminal; there were no clouds, nor trees, or any details that could possibly bring the kinda-creepy plains to life.

She doesn’t seem to think anything is up, Celestia thought to herself, her face contorted in a grimace. My attack worked perfectly, but I’m still going to lose. Despite this, Celestia stood up tall, and readied her most powerful attack once more.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes narrowed. “Looks like the sun carried over from your domain, Celestia,” Nightmare Moon powered up her magic, but not to attack. Instead, she summoned the moon within the domain, moving it until it was perfectly eclipsing the sun.

“This is where the fun begins,” Nightmare Moon exclaimed, preparing to attack.

“Moonbeam!”

“Solar Flare!”

The two opposing attacks closed in, bright white beam vs. gigantic ball of plasma. However, Celestia would not make the same mistake twice. Just before impact, Celestia condensed her attack to the size of a water droplet, similar to the one falling down her cheek. When Nightmare Moon saw this, her seemingly permanent smirk vanished. The attack eviscerated Nightmare Moon’s Moonbeam… and made direct contact with the dark mare.

Celestia silently walked over to Nightmare Moon’s paralyzed body. Every breath she took was labored. Even a single Solar Flare was exceedingly taxing, even for an alicorn. Two? Unheard of. Soon, Celestia stood over Nightmare Moon’s alive, but limp body.

“Oh, Luna.” Celestia’s voice cracked, the words barely a whisper. “I’m so sorry.”

.

..

…

Celestia wept.

And Nightmare Moon took her advantage.

break.

Aevum

Aevum awoke to a scroll hitting him in the side of the head. “It seems destiny herself has chosen to wake me up today. He got up, and after a quick stretch, looked out from the tower. Interestingly enough, it was still dark out, even though his internal clock said it was currently supposed to be twilight. He shrugged this off, as it was out of his control, then decided he felt much better today than he had recently, so he would start using magic once again. Expecting a struggle, he called on his magic, which unexpectedly came effortlessly. He turned to his enchanted sword and tilted his head slightly.

“Huh,” Aevum said in surprise, “That went well! Now let’s see about this rude little scroll, huh?” The sword spun in agreement.

After opening it, Aevum struggled to find where to start, the burn marks, or the horrendously rushed handwriting. This is what he made out:

Aevum,

Nightmare Moon is back, protecting the elements. I’m gone.

Equestria depends on you

-Celestia

Aevum’s world shattered around him. Celestia? Gone? But she was the single most powerful Alicorn he had ever met, ever. If somepony had bested her, then Equestria was doomed. Solutions flew through his mind, one after the other, each idea worse than the one before, until the idea of another time-nap formed in his mind.

Yes, I could definitely time-nap again, I’d avoid danger, and have a second chance at meeting others then! Aevum was pleased with his idea, going to pack up all of his things, when the last few words of Celestia’s note: I’m gone, Equestria depends on you. Celestia was not necessarily dead, just gone. And if Aevum let Nightmare Moon take over, there would be no Equestria to wake up to in three-thousand years. How would Celestia and Twilight feel if Aevum bailed on them? Aevum shuddered, but got to planning anyway.

Where would Celestia get banished to, if not dead? Wait, if Nightmare Moon was imprisoned on the moon for a thousand years, and she’s evil, then she likely sent Celestia to either the sun or moon indefinitely. If she’s on the sun, then I can’t do anything about it, but if she’s on the moon…

He didn’t bother getting his journal out, no single pony had a bond with either celestial object from his time. Except for Discord, but he had yet to show his ugly, long face. So if I can sever Nightmare Moon’s connection with the moon, even for just a minute, Celestia will be able to return. But that still leaves the issue of holding a domain against a pony who defeated Celestia! Then Celestia and I buy time for whomever the element bearers are to get their behinds into action!

An excellent plan!

Break

Twilight

“I am Nightmare Moon, and I bring with me, THE ETERNAL NIGHT!”

“Run!” Twilight spun to her friends, eyes wide with panic. “We can escape within the Everfree!” Rainbow Dash tried to charge Nightmare Moon, but Applejack caught her by the tail before she could take off.

“You know, Twilight,” Rarity chuckled nervously, “your ideas are starting to grow on me.” Rarity then made a break for it, closely followed by Fluttershy, Twilight herself, and Applejack, who had managed to wrangle Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie blew a raspberry at Nightmare Moon before bouncing behind them.

“Run if you wish, my little ponies,” Nightmare Moon shouted after them, “You cannot outrun darkness!”

break

The Everfree Forest was not by any means a welcoming place, and it had been dark for hours. Twilight Sparkle and her friends had been ravaged by the everfree when they made it to Celestia’s old and forlorn castle, nestled smugly within the forest’s green overgrowth. Of the two stone towers that once stood tall and proud over the forest canopy, only the lunar tower remained.

Twilight Sparkle was struggling with staying awake; she felt as though she would fall asleep standing. Her friends were not faring much better, except for Pinkie Pie. Thinking back, she questioned the wisdom of staying up all night to study Nightmare Moon. Instead of getting 8 hours of sleep – something the princess expected from her – she didn’t sleep at all, and was now paying the price. The only thing keeping her going at this point was the support of her 5 friends, who currently stood behind her.

You were right about friendship, Princess Celestia. Have I done it properly? Twilight turned to face her friends. “You guys wait out here. Get some rest. I’ll go in and see about the elements.”

Rainbow Dash flipped back upright, and turned towards Twilight, and with little regard to the possibility of Nightmare Moon being near, shouted,“WHAao-” The Rainbow-maned pegasus had no chance to continue as Applejack put a hoof over her mouth.

“Ay Dashie,” Applejack said quietly, “you gotta be quiet ‘cause we don’ want Nightmare Moon to hear yer blabbering.” The pegasus rolled her eyes and flew just out of Applejack’s reach.

“Uhhh, how did Pinkie get up there?” Fluttershy said softly, but nobody listened. Sure enough though, Pinkie Pie had managed to fully scale the ancient stone building, whilst also attracting zero attention.

“Applejack is right, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity had taken a break from observing her cut-short tail, mirror still held in the air by her magic. “The Elements of Harmony may be the key to defeating Nightmare Moon, but we will surely fail without the element of surprise.” Applejack nodded, having won this bout of argument, but still, Rainbow Dash seemed to have more to say.

“So how come you get to go into the cool, abandoned castle, but we have to stay out here?”

Twilight breathed in to reply, but Applejack was already talking. “What?” She taunted, “yah afraid of the monsters that live ‘ere?”

Rainbow Dash paused, then curtly replied with, “Nah, that’s what Fluttershy’s here for.” The pink-haired pegasus shot a timid smile at Rainbow, who paused to return the favor. Pinkie Pie gave Fluttershy a playful back bump, which earned a surprised squeak from the latter. It was once again ignored. Applejack, realizing that she had interrupted Twilight, took a respectful step back.

“Quiet down, y’all,” Applejack said to the group, and turning to Twilight, “what were you bout’ to say there sugarcube?”

“Thanks, Applejack!” Twilight said, turning towards the rest of the group. “You all should stay here. Applejack, you’re in charge.” Applejack nodded. Twilight then trotted into the castle before Rainbow dash could protest.

Mere seconds after she set foot within the temple, a dark and powerful voice echoed, resonating within the castle’s ancient halls. “Hello, Twilight Sparkle. I have been expecting you.” Albeit visibly shaken, Twilight pressed on. Welp, there goes the element of surprise. Through the central pavilion she walked, before chancing upon a regal-looking doorway. “Nightmare Moon” Twilight gasped, taken only by a slight surprise..

“Yes, yes. Who else would it be?” Nightmare Moon’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “I suppose you’re here for the elements?” She said slowly, walking over to where they were displayed. “To… defeat me?”

“Y- yes.” I don’t think that I can make it to the elements before she does. But maybe if I can make her mad, get her away from the elements, I could teleport away and get over there while Nightmare Moon is distracted by-

Twilight’s train of thought was shattered by the loud and obnoxious arrival of her five friends. Twilight frowned. Well, there goes that plan. It’s unfortunate, I really liked that plan.

Her horn glowing with magic, and malevolent gaze directed at Twilight, Nightmare Moon picked up the elements from their dilapidated resting place.

“Ooh, I love guests, come in, come in, young Twilight is… all alone.” The elements spun around the armored mare, like a twisted and dark halo, before smashing into the ground, one after the other. Nightmare Moon brought the last of the elements, the Element of Honesty, to her eye level. “Hello, my old friend!” The element glowed as it resumed circling her. Twilight, frozen with shock, did not respond, but her friends did for her.

“Hehe, you’re so funny Twilight. An eagle could make a nest in that mouth of yours!”

“Now’s not the time for jokes, Pinkie Pie!” Twilight said.

“I mean, it woke ya up, Twilight” Applejack added.

“This pony, is not very nice, is she.” Fluttershy growled.

Rarity sneered, “And her fashion is sooo a millennium ago.”

Nightmare Moon got up, and trotted towards the six ponies, in order to leave in the same way that Twilight and her friends entered. “This is nice and all, but I really need to manage my new kingdom. Good-by, my little ponies!”

“Not so fast!” Twilight said, now glowing. Light pink magic shut the door in front of the alicorn. This caught Nightmare Moon’s attention. “It took me a while to figure this out, but those rocks you just crushed are not the Elements of Harmony”

“Oh?”

“Rainbow Dash, although your words sometimes cloud your true intentions, you would always come to our aid, despite us only meeting a few short days ago.” Rainbow was now glowing, the broken element of loyalty floating around her.

“Ooh, I like this, I feel like I could do a hundred sonic rainbooms!” Rainbow dash exclaimed, punching at the air with her hooves.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened with realization, then went back to her normal condescending glare, all within a very short second. Stepping forward and interrupting Twilight’s monologue, she said, “So your friends possess the elements of harmony. Too bad you can’t use them!” She gestured to the orange gem that had given up on floating around her and had implanted itself into Nightmare Moon’s breastplate.

Crap! I totally wasn’t paying attention! Twilight thought, how did she get that?

Applejack and Rarity evidently had enough of watching the psychological torture of Twilight Sparkle, judging by the unbridled rage on their faces, and the growling coming from Rarity. Applejack charged forward, and Rarity threw several stone bricks at the evil alicorn.

“Oop, somebody is quite angry. Why don’t you sleep it off?”

Nightmare Moon’s eyes glowed as she began chanting in an unknown language, and her friends started wobbling, and they eventually dropped to the floor. Twilight and Rainbow Dash, however, with their respective elements protecting them, did not succumb to the dream realm.

“No!” Twilight shouted as all her friends fell into a magic slumber. I don’t have the power to wake them up, Nightmare Moon’s magic is leagues ahead of my own.

“Twilight, gah, run!” Applejack shouted, her status of being the last of them awake, lost.

Twilight ran and Rainbow flew back into the forest, Nightmare Moon laughing all the while. Soon enough, even Rainbow Dash fell victim to Nightmare’s sleeping spell. They had not even left the castle.

Break

Applejack

It was a struggle, but Applejack forced her eyes back open, then forced herself to her feet. Spike was asleep where Twilight once stood, Fluttershy was sprawled out on the floor. Pinkie Pie was snoring loudly from the corner, and the fate of Twilight and Dash was still unknown to her. All she knew was that Nightmare Moon had not gone to pursue them yet.

“Still awake?” Nightmare Moon teased, “how odd!”

“Still alive an’ kickin’,” Applejack grunted, “I won’t let you go after Twilight!”

“We’ll see about that,” Nightmare Moon said, approaching Applejack with a confident saunter, “you’re just an earth pony!”

“I’m fighting for somethin’ much bigger than myself, ya hear?” Applejack panted, forcing her own legs to carry herself between Nightmare Moon and the door, “and ah can’t let you hurt ‘em.” This challenge was a statement of defiance, and nothing more. Applejack’s legs were noodles, her breath was soggy, and her head felt heavy. She would be ecstatic to even exchange a single blow with the enraged moon goddess.

“Oh, you poor thing!” Nightmare Moon crossed her left foreleg over her right, “you can barely stand up straight! I’d like to see you even try and hit me!” Nightmare Moon was now trying to pull off a posh, noble face. The look was horrible, or in other words, a perfect target for Applejack’s hoof.

She took a step forward, and her muscles failed her. She mustered her remaining strength, and took another step. Her strength had failed her again, but Nightmare Moon was so close! This time, Applejack bolstered herself with pure will. One last step, and her head grew heavier. Nightmare Moon looked down on her with contempt. She would regret that.

Everything she had. One single punch.

She let out a yell, and wound her hoof back, before launching herself – and her hoof – off of the ground. In midair, she threw a devastating uppercut, which made contact with an invisible barrier just under the dark mare’s chin. Nightmare Moon sighed with tangible disappointment, and Applejack thought she had it coming. Applejack yelled louder, but her vision was slowly darkening, NO! she thought, and her hoof began to glow. Cracks splintered the invisible barrier Nightmare Moon put up, before shattering entirely, allowing Applejack’s hoof to reach up, and make contact with Nightmare Moon’s chin. Nightmare Moon didn't even flinch on impact.

Defeated, Applejack finally gave in to her body, and let herself fall into the abyss of sleep. “You should be proud!” Nightmare Moon whispered, “You are the strongest earth pony I have ever met. A normal pony would have died touching my shield!” Nightmare Moon then stepped over Applejack’s body, leaving the throne room, and leaving Applejack to fall unconscious all by herself.

End Chapter 6

Author's Note

Hey! New chapter, fun!

-Squid