Web of Intrigue

Web of Intrigue

Chapter 1: A Prologue in Blue

“So, you’re definitely ready to do this? It’s a big job, ya’ know,” spoke the voice of a stallion, hidden within the shadows of the alleyway. The only visible features were his golden, dragon-like eyes.

“Obviously. How hard can it be? They’re just six civilians,” came the reply of a grey mare. She stared at the stallion, narrowing her red, dragon-esque eyes.

“Just civilians? As if! These are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. They aren’t just ‘civilians,’ so don’t underestimate them. Did you read the mission file?”

The mare snorted. “Yes,” she deadpanned. “They don’t seem that tough without their precious elements on hoof.”

The stallion’s eyes narrowed. “Just remember, Nocturna, I have someplace else to be, so I can’t bail your flank out if something goes wrong.” Although it wasn’t visible, he smirked. “After you’re done, you know where to meet me. Just don’t screw up, or the boss won’t be too happy about it,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Not that she’s ever happy.” With that, the mysterious stallion vanished in a flash of yellow light.

“Hmph,” grunted Nocturna. “How hard could this be?” She brushed her unkempt mane, consisting of both dark and light blue, out of her eyes. She stepped out of the alleyway and into the night time streets of Ponyville. Upon her flank were a few blue swirls resembling a flame. Curiously, next to her cutie mark was a strange symbol. She glanced both ways down the street, standing under a streetlight. “And now, the fun begins.”

Nocturna’s horn flared to life with a deep blue aura. “Maybe if I lure them out, I can take them all out at once...” she said to herself, smirking. The grey mare turned towards the nearest house, wasting no time in firing a jet of blue flames, setting the home ablaze. With that, Nocturna took several steps back and waited. She could hear muffled screams of a mare who lived inside.

The door of the house burst open with a soot covered mare stumbling onto the street as her house continued to burn. She caught herself by kneeling down, coughing to clear her lungs of smoke.

Nocturna stepped forward with a sinister grin as the distraught mare was shrouded with a deep blue aura, hoisting her into the air.

The purple mare’s attention whipped towards a smirking Nocturna, fear overtaking her thoughts. “Somepony help me!” she cried, terrified for her life. She did little more than tremble in the air.

“Yeah, go ahead, cry for help as loud as you want,” Nocturna encouraged.

“Help me!!” the mare continued, louder than before. Nocturna glanced around, seeing the frightened eyes of many ponies from their windows. But they didn’t matter. None of these common ponies mattered. The pony who mattered most of all was-

“Twilight!”

Nocturna whirled around to see who her hostage had yelled out to. Glaring at her was indeed Twilight Sparkle, standing a distance down the road. Nocturna grinned ominously. “So, you’re Twilight Sparkle, huh?”

Twilight shuddered at the sight of the mare’s eyes, but shook herself and took a stance. “Who, and what, are you? Your eyes... they look similar to Nightmare Moon’s.”

“Name’s Nocturna Flamma, world’s strongest fire mage,” she boasted. The hostage mare was levitated in front of her, where she shivered in terror. “See her? She’s firewood if you don’t do what I say!” The trembling hostage looked at Twilight with pleading eyes.

Twilight cast a long gaze at Nocturna. “It’s okay, Cheerilee. Don’t worry; everything will be okay,” she soothed before turning her gaze sourly to the grey mare currently holding the teacher in her magical grip. “What do you want?”

Nocturna’s ominous grin widened. “I want you to gather your five special friends here first, then we’ll talk,” She demanded, snorting blue flames.

The unicorn snorted. “Fine, but out of curiosity, if you’re the best fire mage around, then logically we wouldn’t stand a chance, so you don’t even NEED a hostage. Perhaps you’re not as tough as you-”

A grey hoof suddenly gripped Twilight by her muzzle before twisting her off her hooves with apparent ease, leaving her amethyst muzzle ground into the dirt. Twilight’s thoughts were flustered from the sudden attack. When did she...?

“You may have a point, but she’s more to ensure that you move quickly. So stop talking and move before I decide to singe your pretty little flank on the way out.”

Twilight nodded silently, something which wasn’t easy to do under Nocturna’s grip.

“Good... now get going.” Nocturna released her solid grip on Twilight, swiftly jumping back over near her hostage.

Twilight took off like a shot, though it seemed she ran more for the sake of Cheerilee than for herself. She was confident, though scared. How admirable for a civilian.

After watching Twilight run off, Nocturna turned to Cheerilee, grinning. “I hope, for your sake, that your friend does what she’s told,” she mocked, snickering afterwards.

Twilight ran, she ran full gallop as lives depended on her. The first house she hit was Rarity’s, which led to a very flustered alabaster unicorn moving off to get Pinkie Pie and Applejack while Twilight swung out to Fluttershy’s place so she could wake up Rainbow Dash. All the while, she was pondering in her mind how she could stop this vicious assault on Ponyville, and keep Nocturna from hurting anypony else.

“Oh, Twilight!” Fluttershy exclaimed, then squeaked and hide behind her mane. “Um, what is that cloud of smoke over in Ponyville about?”

“Trouble,” she replied. “I need you to find Rainbow Dash, wake her up, and meet me at the library. Right now, I need to get a letter to Princess Celestia!”

Fluttershy branched away from the group, making a beeline straight for Rainbow Dash’s home with the utmost urgency.

Twilight spun around herself, charging back to Ponyville and more specifically, her library. Her mind had run itself ragged, but little option presented itself. They couldn’t fight Nocturna with Cheerilee held hostage, and if she was some kind of nightmare, they’d need the elements.

Spike awoke with a start as Twilight hurled into the library and up the stairs, practically screaming his name. He toppled and fell against the door, only for it to open a moment later under a purple glow. “Spike! Get up! Hurry!”

Spike grumbled. “What’s the big deal Twilight? I was sleeping. It’s night time, you know. Did you get back from Vinyl’s block party already?”

Twilight was frantic. “No no no, Spike! There’s a big problem. Some strange mare is attacking Ponyville, and she wants the bearers of the elements! She’s taken Cheerilee hostage and set at least one building alight. I need you to send a letter to the princess now! I’ve already written it!”

Spike gaped for a long moment, then nodded. Twilight hurled the letter at him magically, and he caught it in a blast of fire before it hit him. They’d been practicing his aim.

After a moment, the scroll vanished along with the fireball, and Twilight finally released a breath. “Okay, that’s done. Now to stall her... Spike, the elements should arrive by dragonfire. Please bring them when they arrive? I’ll be over by Cheerilee’s place.”

The baby dragon nodded, and shuddered. “You had to send them by dragonfire?”

“We don’t have time. Cheerilee’s life may be at stake.”

Spike grumbled. “Fine.”

Her objective fulfilled, Twilight took off again, out the door and towards the flames of Cheerilee’s burning house.

Nocturna was leaning on a lamp post, whistling idly while she watched Cheerilee’s house burn to cinders. The fire had already spread to a few of the surrounding houses; the inhabitants had long since abandoned their homes and abandoned the area.

“So,” the grey mare began, glancing towards Cheerilee. “I’ve got about ten seconds till I’m bored of keeping you here.” Her tone was casual, as if she truly had no qualms with murder. “Better hope Twilight shows up to save the day,” she mocked.

“It’s done. They’re coming, now let her go,” the lavender mare said as she trotted out of the shadows. “It’s us you want.”

Nocturna whirled around to face Twilight, narrowing her eyes. “Well... aren’t you a big damned hero,” she deadpanned. “But you aren’t getting her friend back ‘till I see all of your stupid friends here. You’d better not be screwing with me!”

Twilight shuddered, but kept her voice even. “They’re coming. Don’t worry about it. In the meantime, we can talk.”

“Talk? About what?” she asked. “I have no obligation to answer questions or anything.”

“No, but isn’t it a villain’s obligation to monologue? Might as well do it now before the rest of them show up so you don’t do it in the middle of the fight and lose as a result right?”

Nocturna narrowed her eyes. “What’s there to monologue about? Basically, I’m going to kill you, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me because I’m more powerful than you and your friends!”

“Not bad, but you want to really be the callous, sinister villain right?” Twilight asked.

“Just what are you getting at?” Nocturna scowled.

“Monologuing is required by the megalomaniac code of conduct. I read it in a book.”

Nocturna dismissively waved a hoof. “Book schmook! Do I look like I care? Now stop stalling! Where are you friends? If they aren’t here in ten seconds, this pony’s dead!” she yelled, levitating Cheerilee next to her.

“You really think Rarity will be here so soon? Really?”  Twilight shook her head in disbelief. “Even in an emergency it takes that mare twenty minutes to take care of her hair. What’s the rush? It’s not like we can do anything.”

“Shut up!” she spat. “I’ll do this however I want!”

“Granted, but it still makes sense that if you have time, why not practice the megalomaniac angle? It would add some flavor to your style I think.”

“One more word out of you, and the mare’s firewood!” Nocturna threatened. She was done with this petty back-and-forth between her and Twilight. “Great, now I have to count all over again...”

Twilight smiled. “Oh? What were you counting? I hope it’s not the stars. There’s too many, and you could just ask Luna.”

Nocturna gave Twilight a deadpan stare. “Congratulations; you just killed the hostage.” A sudden pulse of light came from her horn. Just as the aura that levitated Cheerilee was about to burst into flames with her inside it, a burning piece of wood, shrouded in a lavender aura, slammed into Nocturna.

Twilight snorted. “Leave her out of this. You want us? You deal with us.”

Nocturna shook her head for a brief moment. She gritted her teeth, tossing Cheerilee away. She landed on the ground with a thud, but climbed to her hooves. Cheerilee mouthed a thank you and gave a curt nod to Twilight before fleeing.

The grey mare stared daggers at Twilight. “Why you...” Nocturna ominously approached Twilight. “Oh, I’ll deal with you alright!” A ball of blue flames suddenly erupted from her horn, speeding towards Twilight.

Twilight’s horn glowed as she blocked the fireball with a spherical, purple shield. “Unh!”

Keeping up her assault, a jet of searing blue flames spiralled out and high into the air,

forming the shape of a dragon’s head. “Take this!” The massive dragon-shaped flames opened its maw, letting out a terrifying roar before arching downwards towards Twilight, ready to engulf the mare in a blazing hellfire.

Twilight’s response was a bit less predictable, as she suddenly teleported and appeared before and below Nocturna, spinning to buck her in the face.

Nocturna’s eyes widened, glaring at the mare. The flames from her horn ceased as her head jerked far to the left, avoiding Twilight’s buck. Just as the grey mare was about to blast her with fire, Twilight vanished in another flash of light.

She appeared a distance behind Nocturna. “So you can make flames. You’re not fireproof. Threatening Cheerilee was a bad idea. Now we talk. Who are you, what do you want, and who sent you?” she voiced threateningly, her eyes widening slightly, perhaps in surprise at her own aggressive reaction.  Her horn was glowing, though what it was affecting remained unseen.

“Not fireproof, huh?” retorted Nocturna, ignoring Twilight’s questions. The aura shrouding her horn expanded quickly, covering her entire body. The aura tightened around her, fitting her like a skin tight suit. Her entire form was now enveloped in a calm, deep blue glow. “I am now!” she boasted, turning around to face Twilight.

Twilight twitched. “Well, that’s a bit awkward. Oh well.” She shrugged, and hit Nocturna with the burning house.

The large pile of burnt, charred wood took Nocturna by surprise, burying her within the rubble. A muffled scream of rage sounded, followed by an explosion, discarding the burnt rubble. Still shrouded within her magic, Nocturna stood. “Oh, now you have really pissed me-”

Twilight had already vanished.

“-off?” Nocturna glanced quizzically around the battle scarred street. “Ah horseapples!”

Twilight ran, and she ran fast. The screams of distant ponies sounded as more smoke filled the skies. Was she simply attacking the whole town now? More lives could be in danger. She knew she had to get the girls and the elements. Those had to work.

Nocturna’s voice in particular rang out, rather threateningly. “If you don’t face me, Twilight, I’ll burn the whole town to the ground and everypony with it!” Her voice was laced with venom, clearly more than just agitated. An explosion thundered somewhere behind her, splintered wood flying into the air.

Twilight skidded to a stop and spun to face her attacker. “What are you? Have you no respect for life? Is an entire town a rounding error to you?!” she snapped furiously. To her, the thought that someone could be so callous... even Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, and Discord had not been so.

Nocturna stepped out of the wreckage of the destroyed building and into the street, eyeing Twilight with a dastardly grin. “It doesn’t matter what I am! All that matters is that you and your friends end up dead!” The fiery mare’s horn unleashed a flurry of several blue fireballs at Twilight.

Twilight’s shield suffered the impacts with aplomb as the searing bolts turned the ground around her into charcoal. She snorted. “Stop this. Wanton destruction is only going to bring the princesses down on your head. I’d bet they can see the smoke from Canterlot right now.”

“This will be over quickly! Even if they got here, I’d bet they won’t make a difference!” Nocturna boasted, conjuring several large orbs of blue flame around her. One by one, they were launched at Twilight, arching through the air and down towards their target.

The mare kept her shield up, bracing for impact. In her mind, she was running at several hundred thoughts a second. She was analyzing it; All of it. The environment, her opponent, and the trajectory of the fireballs... it was almost more than she could track at once, and her shield almost flickered as a result, but it held.

This stalemate held for an incredibly long moment. Twilight ground her teeth, but she was smiling inwardly. Her magic reserves were massive. “Is that all you’ve got?” she gasped shakily, “I could do this all week!”

Nocturna narrowed her eyes, glaring at the lavender mare. “Those were just warm ups,” she replied. A blue light appeared at the tip of her horn, and began to grow, slowly. It was an orb of... compressed flames? While that happened, the skin-tight shroud of deep blue magic enveloped her body. Even she needed protection from this level of heat. The ground Nocturna stood on blackened as the orb increased in size. The grey mare gritted her teeth all, the while forcing a great effort.

Twilight reinforced her shield. This was going to hurt. She only hoped the time she was buying was enough.

“Almost... there...” Nocturna grunted. In mere moments, she would have poured as much power into the attack as she could control. It was strenuous, and put a large drain on her magic pool, but it was a fierce and destructive attack. “And... there!” The orb of compressed fire magic reached the size of a basketball, but was far more potent than it appeared. The surrounding air was searing hot. Nocturna forced a grin, staring at dead ahead at Twilight. “That shield... isn’t gonna help you!” she claimed.

Twilight snorted. “My brother can shield an entire city against an invasion, and he wasn’t raised in magic since he was four and taught by an alicorn. I know my shield won’t protect me from that much concentrated heat. Magic used as a barrier can’t stop heat any better than normal material” she smiled. “Which is why, according to Starswirl the Bearded’s postulates, I also know that you have to be concentrating extremely hard to maintain that fireball. Now, ” she said. “What happens if you get distracted, say by the pony standing behind you.” At that moment, a cheery voice sounded.

“Ohhh! Are you the Meanie-McMeaniepants that started burning down everpony’s homes?”

“Huh!?” Nocturna whirled around to see who was behind her, staring daggers.

Sure enough, there was a pony. The pink one of the six she was told to take care of. The pony just smiled obliviously. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!” Then her face fell. “That wasn’t really nice of you to burn the town you know. Ponies could have gotten hurt!”

Nocturna snorted. “Shut up. I’ll deal with you in a second.” She then spun around to face Twilight again, only to find her nose to nose with the mare in question. “Oh...”

“This is for threatening Cheerilee!” She promptly struck Nocturna with a concentrated bolt of pure magic.

It was like getting hit by a train, even with the protection of her shroud. Nocturna soared backwards like a bird as she dropped the orb from the tip of her horn. Her less-than-graceful fight was interrupted by smashing into an unused wagon.

Twilight, meanwhile, teleported back to her original position and took cover, dispelling the illusion of Pinkie Pie she’d conjured. There was no telling if that magic would go off or-

BOOM!!

Nocturna’s spell exploded violently on the ground where it landed, its blue light filling the entire width of the street and beyond. The nearest buildings on each side of the street were blown away, their flaming debris further spreading the destructive fires. A searing wave of heat expanded beyond the explosion, making Twilight’s mane singe a little.

Twilight staggered to her hooves as the dust cleared, shaking the char from her mane. “Unnhhh... what?” Then, she beheld the devastation. A massive, charred crater, stretching beyond the width of street, was all that remained before her.

“No... Ponyville... the fire... so many innocent ponies’ homes...” Her face fell. “Why...?”

Nocturna climbed out from under the wreckage of the wagon, her shroud no longer active. She grunted as she pulled herself out. Her body was somewhat bruised, but it would take more than that to stop her. The destructive mare quickly climbed back onto her hooves, spotting Twilight on the other side of the crater. “You made me drop it, you idiot! I could have been killed too!” she yelled, glaring at the lavender unicorn.

Twilight didn’t respond. She simply gazed at the burning buildings and the massive crater in the middle of the road. “So much destruction, for nothing but the sake of destruction...”

Nocturna took off towards Twilight with swift speed. She jumped, clearing the width of the crater with assistance from her levitation. The grey mare landed on the other side of the crater, staring daggers at Twilight. “And I still don’t see your friends!” she spat, walking towards enemy.

Twilight looked up. “Why did you do this? You didn’t have to destroy anything. Why do you want to kill us? If you wanted to settle something with us, you could have done it away from the town. These ponies didn’t deserve this!”

Nocturna smirked, furrowing her brow ominously as she came to a stop. “Collateral damage doesn’t mean a thing to me,” she answered. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate these ponies, but I just don’t care.” Nocturna’s horn shimmered with magic once more, unleashing a stream of blue fire at Twilight.

Twilight’s shield half-heartedly rose, blocking the stream of flames, but it began to grow stronger. “You don’t care? Is that all you have to say?! These ponies have lives and families of their own! They’ve never hurt anypony, and many poured their heart and souls into their homes. Look at the town! Does that mean nothing to you?!”

The fire blast came to an abrupt halt, with Nocturna’s eyes scanning the surroundings. It was true, buildings were on fire, many of them now abandoned by their frightened inhabitants. Smoke blocked the night sky and its moon, and would have darkened the streets if not for the various raging fires that had broken out.

“Doesn’t that mean anything to you? Are you no more heartless than Nightmare Moon!?” she demanded. “Have you no piece of goodness left in your soul?”

Nocturna stood in place, her expression betraying light shock. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth as memories flash in her head, memories of times that have long since passed. She seemed... troubled? However, she quickly shook it off, shooting a glare at Twilight. “I came here to do something, and I’m gonna deliver!” Nocturna shouted back.

Twilight shook her head sadly, then catching a sudden glimpse of alabaster.

“Twilight?” a voice said. Both Nocturna and the mare in question turned their heads, and saw Sweetie Belle.

“Sweetie, run! Get away from here!” At that moment, Twilight’s distraction was enough to drop her shield.

Nocturna’s head whirled back around, seeing Twilight’s shield drop. Acting quickly, her entire body was once more shrouded with magic. Her hind legs kicked off the ground, sending Nocturna forward with graceful, swift speed. She angled her head down, pointing her horn at Twilight, unleashing a fireball.

Twilight realized her mistake instantly, and her horn glowed to bring the shield back. The fireball impacted against the energy field just as it began to conjure. The force shattered the shield and knocked Twilight back, having narrowly prevented a direct hit from the fireball. However, Nocturna was hot on her tail.

“It’s over!” she shrouded mare yelled as she dove on top of Twilight, pinning her. The lavender mare’s fur began to singe from the heat radiating from Nocturna’s shroud.

Twilight grunted in pain, glaring at Nocturna. “Not even close!” She attempted to buck the lunatic mare off her, but to no avail. Nocturna hardly budged, only grunting before letting out an arrogant chuckle.

“You’ll have to hit me harder than that!” she claimed, conjuring flames at the tip of her horn. “Now die!”

Twilight closed her eyes, and her horn flared in an attempt to get away. There was no way she’d be able to teleport in time. She knew it. Incredible to think that after all the fiends... the lunatic gods and evil royals she and her friends had beaten... she’d die at the hands of somepony she knew absolutely nothing about. That was when Rainbow Dash did her best freight train impression.

“Gah!” cried Nocturna as she was sent hurtling off Twilight, smashing into the wreckage of a nearby building.

Twilight groaned as Rainbow rushed back over and helped her up with a wing. “Unnh... thanks, Dash. She...” Twilight shuddered. “She almost got me. She really wanted to kill me. She almost did.”

“What!?” Raindow Dash shouted angrily. “Oh, this pony’s gonna get it!” She quickly glided over towards Nocturna, who was just now climbing back onto her hooves, bruised and panting.

Twilight grunted, using her magic to grab Rainbow’s tail, pulling her back. “No. She’s too dangerous to take on your own.”

Rainbow’s head whipped around to Twilight. “Oh come on!” the pegasus groaned.

Twilight shook her head. “No. We need the others. There’s no way we can take her alone... she’s -unh-” she grunted, staggering a bit. “She’s the same as Nightmare Moon.”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by what sounded like an explosion. Both mares instantly snapped to focus on Nocturna.

There she stood, not only once more within her shroud, but with blue flames emanating directly from her shroud. “Now you’ve really made me angry!” Her voice was an angered growl, intimidating both mares.

Twilight winced as she took a step to steady herself, and almost toppled. Rainbow caught her. “Easy. Don’t overdo it.”

Twilight nodded, then turned to Nocturna. “You know, you made a mistake.”

Nocturna only took off full gallop in response, using the same swift speed as she did when she first subdued Twilight earlier that night.

A deep blue glow resonated across the ground before her, the only warning she had before it rose straight in a vertical wall several meters thick. A pained thud sounded as Nocturna slammed headfirst into the wall, staggering backwards.

“Twilight Sparkle! Are you alright?” came a voice from behind them. That voice... it was so familiar. Twilight and Rainbow Dash turned around to see the Princess of the Night, Luna, land behind them. “I could see the fires of Ponyville from Canterlot.”

Twilight gaped for a moment. “Princess Luna? What? How?”

Several Lunar Guards descended from the sky, landing behind Princess Luna. “Allow me to reiterate: I saw the fires from Canterlot, and came to personally investigate,” she replied with a serious tone.

Twilight nodded limply. “The fire... all those homes...” she whispered sadly, then her eyes sparked. “Princess, be careful! That mare, she came to kill the bearers of the elements! She’s like Nightmare Moon!”

“What!?” bellowed Princess Luna, reverting to the Royal Canterlot Voice. Her magic took hold of the rock wall, and lowered it back to the ground, glaring at Nocturna, who was momentarily dazed. “Seize her!”

“Careful!” Twilight called. “She’s dangerous!”

The four Lunar Guards gave a curt nod before moving swiftly, surrounding Nocturna. “You’re under arrest!” one of them barked.

Nocturna shook her head rapidly to regain herself before glancing around quickly, prompting a growl. “Do the interruptions never end!?” The grey mare’s horn activated, bringing back her magic shroud yet again. With that, deep blue flames erupted from the shroud’s surface.

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Look out!”

The heat radiating from Nocturna’s form prompted the guards to step back, each raising a hoof to block some of it. “Wanna know the best part about this spell is?” the flaming mare rhetorically asked. “I can generate fire from any location on my shroud!” She performed a buck, sending two fireballs from her hind hooves at the guard directly behind her.

Twilight twisted and dragged Dash down, trusting the princess could handle herself. Meanwhile, the lunar guard barely managed to avoid the sudden fireball attack by swiftly going airborne, hovering in place. The other three rushed Nocturna en masse.

Nocturna spun around quickly, releasing a wave of flames from her body. The three lunar guards, unprepared for an attack of such ferocity, tried to escape into the air, but it was too late. The torrent of heat and plasma swept over them and set them ablaze, the wall of air in its wake casting them about like tenpins.

Princess Luna’s horn quickly shrouded the three of them with magic, simultaneously snuffing out the flames, and levitating them over towards her. They hadn’t been on fire long enough to be fatal, but given the intensity of Nocturna’s power, they were in no shape to fight.

The single airborne guard gulped nervously, seeing three of his comrades dispatched in a single attack. He knew he didn’t stand a chance against the monstrous mare. His fear only intensified when Nocturna turned, staring up at him.

“You’re next, buddy,” she taunted.

“No!” Luna bellowed. “Stand down, Night Glide. You don’t stand a chance against the likes of her. I will fight her instead.”

“But, Princess Luna...”

“Do not worry about me!” she retorted. “I order you to stand down.”

“Yes, your Majesty.” The Lunar Guard gave a reluctant nod before swiftly flying over to Luna, landing behind her.

Nocturna’s dragon-like eyes followed the guardspony, watching him as he retreated behind his princess. Her gaze then focused on the injured guards, then on Princess Luna. “Well, isn’t that noble? Protecting your guards like that,” she spoke, giving Luna a somewhat approving grin.

Princess Luna’s gaze was placid as she returned the smile with a deadpan gaze. “I will give thee one chance to surrender.”

Nocturna’s grin held, but her brow furrowed. “Sorry, Princess, but I can’t do that,” she answered arrogantly.

Luna’s lips curled faintly into a ghostly smile as she flexed her wings. “Good. I have not had a good fight in far too long.”

Nocturna arched an eyebrow. So, she was eager to fight? The grey mare didn’t know how strong one of the princesses was on the battlefield, but she felt excited to face one of them. It would be a wonderful test of her power. Nocturna even felt a bit jittery, maintaining her grin.

The princess took a slow step forwards, then another, and crouched. “I must admit that we are curious. Why are you attacking this town?”

Nocturna snorted, raising a hoof, and pointing directly at Twilight Sparkle. “To kill her, and her friends.” Her smirk intensified as she looked into the eyes of Princess Luna.

Her arrogance truly knew no bounds.

“Indeed. And why, pray tell?”

“That’s for me to know, and you to find out!” The mare’s horn conjured a single, large orb of fire before launching it at Princess Luna. Then, there was a pulse from Nocturna’s horn, causing the large fireball to burst into dozens of smaller ones.

Luna reacted with admirable control, her horn glowing in conjunction with a flap of her wings to throw a wall of frozen air... no. Rather, a vacuum into the path of the bolts, extinguishing them.

“Not bad, but let’s spice this up a bit!” Nocturna’s horn released more power as she raised her head. A blue inferno erupted from the ground, surrounding the two in a decently spacious ring. The wall of flames surrounding them stretched into the air, reaching as high as most buildings in Ponyville. Despite the impressive display in magic, Nocturna felt herself growing more drained, but refused to falter.

Luna looked around blandly. “Impressive, but pointless. Such power has no direct impact, and as an alicorn I have the physiology to survive a thousand years without air, or heat. Do you really think this will do anything tome?”

“Hmph!” Nocturna snorted, suddenly jumping back. The fiery mare disappeared behind the veil of flames. A fireball then burst through from behind Luna, speeding towards her with ferocity.

The alicorn snorted, taking several meters into the air with a single powerful flap and spinning to hurl a barrage of ice, created on her feathers by her previous vacuum attack, with telekinesis at the point the fireball penetrated the wall.

A flaming blue form suddenly blindsided Luna from the left, tackling her in mid-air.

Luna was surprised at the sheer speed of her opponent, but countered by barrel rolling in mid air, throwing her attacker off and to the ground with a grunt. “As fast as you are, you forget that attacking an alicorn means you must face earth pony strength!”

Nocturna rolled as soon as she hit the ground to displace some of the momentum to soften the blow. She quickly staggered onto her hooves, and glanced up at the alicorn, with neither her shroud nor the ring faltering. She took a moment, panting while thinking of a way to take on Luna. Despite making direct contact with her shroud active, Princess Luna received the most minor of burns, where a normal pony likely would have died.

Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by Luna dropping down with her forehooves aimed at her head. She was fast!

Nocturna’s legs reflexively kicked off, sending her in a backwards jump. A burst of fire magic from her shroud increased her speed for just a moment. Following up, the fiery mare immediately launched another fireball to intercept Luna’s path.

Luna blocked with a wing just as her hooves touched down on the ground, and the stench of burning feathers filled the air. “Good! You react swiftly... but now you’ve burned my wing. My sister will be furious.”

Nocturna panted as she stood in place, facing down Princess Luna. “I’ll burn... more than that!” she claimed, spreading her hooves in a wider stance. The light around her horn grew more intense, mirroring the turmoil of the ring of fire that enclosed them. Then, with a final grunt, Nocturna’s horn let out a sudden pulse of light. The swirling inferno around them arched in, the entirety collapsing in on top of them both.

Luna’s horn could just be seen glowing as the fire cascaded down, that same obscenely calm expression on her face.

When the torrent of flame cleared, it remained hard to see anything through the veil of smoke. Nocturna’s shroud was no longer active, her body kneeling down, panting. She was just about at her limit, having used so many high level fire spells.

In the soft background of the few remaining flames crackling, a hoofstep was heard. The grey mare’s ears perked up, her eyes locking on the direction of the hoofsteps.

It was Luna. She was a bit charred, but generally unhurt.

Nocturna’s eyes shot open wide, awash with incredulity. “H-How?”

“Your weakness is that you focus so much on purely fire magic. Fire is not a perfect weapon, you know,” Luna said. “It requires three things to function, heat, fuel, and air. All I have to do is remove the air.”

Flames shot out of her nostrils with a snort, glaring at Luna. “What else am I supposed to do? It’s my special talent! I suck at just about all other magic except levitation!”

Luna sighed. “All that power, and you cannot see the truth... oh well,” she shrugged with her horn aglow. “Monsters like you have too much power already.”

“Princess Luna, wait!”

Luna paused at the sound of Twilight’s voice. “Yes, Twilight?”

“She’s a Nightmare like you were, doesn’t that mean...?”

Twilight was interrupted with an orb of fire narrowly missing her head, scorching her mane lightly as it passed. “Ah... horseapples!” blurted Nocturna, who was hunched over in exhaustion. Her aim had been shaky, given what little magic she has left to draw from.

Luna shook her head sadly. “You may speak, Twilight,” she snorted. “She cannot harm us at the moment.”

“Like Tartarus I can’t!”

Luna snorted and telekinetically swatted the foul-mouthed mare across the face with a large piece of wood. Nocturna yelped as the wood broke across her face. The grey mare fell onto her side with a hard thud. “Uhhhnn...”

Twilight winced at the sound of the mare’s yell, and shook her head. “What I meant to ask is, if she’s a nightmare like Nightmare Moon... wouldn’t the Elements of Harmony...?”

Luna paused for a moment. “In truth, I do not know. I was, you could say asleep, and don’t know what happened while I was Nightmare Moon. However, I do remember the feel of a nightmare, and this... this is different somehow.”

“Really?” Twilight’s eyes shone in spite of themselves. “Can you tell me how? Maybe I can-”

“No, Twilight, I’m afraid I cannot.” At the sight of the mare’s ears drooping, Luna sighed. “However, it may be that the elements may indeed have some effect on her. My chief worry comes from that.” There was a long pause before she continued. “The Elements of Harmony are an incredibly powerful force of magic that could be used for good or ill. Thus far, they have only been used on immortals, such as alicorns or a draconequus such as Discord. However, this mare is neither. What if that immense magical power doesn’t simply cleanse her, but annihilates her as it would to me had I not been immortal?”

Twilight shuddered. “You mean the elements-”

“-can kill?” interrupted Luna. “Yes, I believe that is possible.”

“But, we have to use them! We have to try to get that monster out of that mare’s head. Whoever she is, she deserves to be free!”

“Yeah!” added Rainbow, who stepped forwards.

“I agree, darling,” Rarity said, trotting up. Sweetie trailed behind her. “Sweetie here ran to get us at the library as soon as she escaped. Are you alright?”

Twilight nodded wearily. “Yes, just a few minor burns. I’m pretty tough. Comes from growing up with a baby dragon.”

Rarity sighed in relief.

Applejack arrived next. “Sorry, I had t’get Derpy and Dinky out of their house. They were having trouble packing their muffins. By the moon what happened here? Ah’ Princess!” she yelped, noticing Luna. “Beggin’ your pardon, princess.”

“It is fine, Applejack. That leaves only... ah there they are.” She smiled. Sure enough, Pinkie Pie was approaching, and she was running on her back legs like a diamond dog, her forehooves up in the air as she made the most bizarre sound they’d ever heard.

“OOLOOLOOLOOLOOLOO!!”The only way to describe it was nonsensical, and for a long moment they just gawked, though less from that and more from the fact that Fluttershy was in Pinkie’s forehooves looking like she was sitting in an electric chair.

It was only a moment later when Pinkie arrived and set the traumatized pegasus down. “Ready-ready! Fluttershy got all twitchy, so I had to carry her. Where’s the big Meanie McMeaniepants that did this?”

Twilight gestured to the concussed mare not far from Luna, and Pinkie nodded. “Okie dokie loki! What’s the plan?”

“We use the Elements of Harmony,” was the lavender mare’s solemn reply. She turned to face Luna, who spoke next.

“Then you are certain? You will risk it?”

Twilight swallowed, but her expression didn’t change, nor did her resolve. “I just want to help her. I trust the elements.”

Luna nodded. “You are really willing to bear the burden of killing her then?”

The other mares snapped to attention at that. What did the princess just say?

“Twi?” Applejack questioned.

The unicorn took a deep breath, and nodded. “Yes. Even you can’t stop her if she keeps fighting or escapes. Imagine the damage she could do to Manehatten in retribution. We have to stop her. We have to try. I’ll bear that.”

Luna nodded, and prepared to step out of the way, when a sudden eruption of flames caused her and the other ponies to stagger on their hooves. Their heads all whipped towards Nocturna, who stood on all four hooves, glaring venomously at them. The insignia next her cutie mark was glowing, while the rest of her body was shrouded with a familiar blue glow, only it was unstable. “I... will not... lose!”

Luna took a battle stance, and nodded to the bearers. “Take cover. I will keep her busy.”

“Are you sure, Princess? Your wing...”

“I can manage for now,” Luna assured before turning her attention back to the enraged mare.

Nocturna unleashed a swirling, continuous torrent of flames from her horn at Princess Luna. The front end took the shape of a dragon’s head, opening its infernal maw as it closed in on the dark alicorn.

Luna spun and threw herself sideways, telekinetically hurling large chunks of debris at her opponent while she was busy directing the salamander. “You waste time detailing your fireballs? are you so narcissistic that you make art out of destruction too?”

“Shut up!” Nocturna bolted the same direction Luna did, mentally directing her dragon-esque torrent of flames to swerve towards Princess Luna.

Luna continued to rain wood and rock in Nocturna’s direction, while mentally focusing herself on avoiding the dragon. It was much like a dance, with each partner trying to hurt the other.

Nocturna swiftly dodged around the debris, spinning, sliding, and even jumping until Luna’s assault ended. With a grunt of frustration, she ceased her previous attack. The dragon of flames dissipated rapidly. The fiery mare pawed at the charred ground with a hoof, staring down Princess Luna. It was then that a wicked grin manifested on her features. She began to pool her magic at the tip of her horn, all into a condensed, infernal sphere. Dust and ash were continually swept away from her body, a heated wind emanating directly from the orb.

Luna’s horn glowed in response. “Have you learned nothing? Fire doesn’t work in space.”

At a respectable distance from the conflict, Twilight turned to the other five girls. Rarity spoke first. “Twilight, dear... what was Luna talking about?”

“There’s a risk, that if we use the Elements of Harmony, there’s a chance, a possibility, you could say, that they might not heal that mare, but kill her.” She took a deep breath as everyone, even Fluttershy, who was just starting to recover, gasped in horror. “The Elements are incredibly powerful, and thus far we’ve only used them on immortal entities like Discord and Nightmare Moon. That mare... she’s no immortal, no matter that she’s a nightmare.”

There was a long silence among the six mares, in spite of the roar of the fires and of the battle between Luna and Nocturna, then Fluttershy spoke first. “I... I think...” she began, hiding behind her mane, then her voice strengthened “I think we should do it. ”

To say the others gawked would have been an understatement. Of the six of them, Fluttershy was the first to be willing to risk another pony’s life?

Twilight was the first to recover, giving a curt nod. “Well, girls?” the lavender mare spoke. One by one, the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony followed Twilight’s example, each giving a nod of approval. In the end, it was the best solution. They had to protect Ponyville, its inhabitants, and themselves. Even if there was a chance that Nocturna could perish, they had to give it a chance to save her. Besides, Luna herself had told them what it was to be a nightmare; to be trapped in your own skin as something took over. Death was better than being a prisoner in your own skin.

Their attention was broken when a wave of heated air rushed past them. They turned to find Nocturna’s spell had reached dangerous levels of power, a wicked grin plastered on her face. “It’s done!” Nocturna exclaimed. “Do you really think... you can just stamp out this much power!?” Her rhetorical question was followed by a sinister laugh.

Luna snorted. “You are fire. Without fuel, you cannot burn, without air, you peter out. Heat you have in excess, but all you are in the end is hot air. I’m used to hot air. I get enough of that from having to deal with politicians kissing my hooves every evening. I used to want to be loved. I still do. But I know the difference between somepony trying to kiss my royal flank, and a colt that truly adores me and my work.”

Nocturna held her tongue, pawing at the ground with a hoof. She growled under her breath, glaring venomously at Princess Luna. She had nothing further to say to the alicorn. Nocturna’s head reared as her smirk returned. Then, as quickly as it came, her grin vanished.

Nocturna’s eyes shot open wide, looking behind Princess Luna. A look of fear overtook her features. “B-Boss?! What are you doing here!?”

Luna smirked. “Do you take me for a fool? A year ago I might have fallen for that, but spending time having a prank war with my immortal sister makes it hard to be surprised anymore.”

The princess of the night suddenly felt something tap her shoulder. She perked up, turning to see nothing more than a floating piece of wood.

Nocturna’s plan worked. The mare’s head whipped forward, sending the dangerously unstable sphere of compressed fire magic hurtling towards the distracted alicorn.

Luna realized what was happening, and threw up a magic barricade, but it wasn’t enough to completely block the impact. The massive explosion managed to break her barrier, blow her off her hooves, and crashed into the remains of a house, scattering splintered wood everywhere.

Nocturna herself was knocked back, skidding down the charred road as her shroud of magic dissipated. Her burst in magic power was over, and she weakly staggered onto her hooves, looking on at the destruction she caused, this being the second time she used her most destructive spell. A new, charred crater was left in the wake of the explosion, this one just as big as the first. With a grimace, she stepped forward and glance across the crater to make sure the princess was out.

This hadn’t gone at all how it was supposed to. She was supposed to take out the element bearers, at least one or two of them, then vanish without being noticed, but she’d gotten out of control and attracted one of the princesses. The mistress would be furious at her for blowing their cover. For blowing all their covers. Years of caution and careful planning to stay hidden, and now a princess had seen it. Even if others had, the fire could easily be attributed to an oven being left on or something, but a princess... No, this ruined everything.

“Unh... well played, Nightmare,” the lunar alicorn grunted, trying to get a hoof under herself and rise to continue, but she had difficulty doing so.

“No... no! How are you still alive!? No pony is supposed to survive that!” the grey Nightmare screamed. She stomped on the ground with her hooves repeatedly in a fit of rage, grunting and growling all the while.

Luna groaned and shook the dirt off her wings. “So you say. I guess that just makes me inequine. By the way,” she added with a victorious smirk. “You lose.”

At those words, Nocturna snapped. Her head drooped as her body trembled, growing more unstable with each passing moment. Then, her head shot up, with her back legs kicking off.

 “Rrrraaaaaaaaahhhhh!” Nocturna blindly rushed forth at Princess Luna as fast as her legs to take her. No more strategy, no more reason, just rage.

Luna’s horn glowed, her confident smirk widening into a mildly disturbing grin. It was about a half-second later that bars of solidified magic erupted from the ground. At the speed she was going, Nocturna couldn’t possibly stop in time.

Pain. Pain was all she could feel, her mind almost going black. Nocturna fell onto her side with a hard thud, dazed from the pain of having run head first into magically conjured bars. Blood trickled down her face from her forehead, her mind teetering briefly on the edge of consciousness.

Luna’s horn continued to glow, materializing more magical bars until her dazed opponent sat in a luminous cage, and she smiled, gesturing beyond Nocturna. “You forgot about the bearers.”

Nocturna groaned, raising her head as she fought to stay conscious. Her eyes widened as she turned to face the group of six mares, whom she had been sent to murder.

Each of the mares stood in a familiar formation, and wore a golden artifact. A smug and very content baby dragon stood off just to the right, watching with a grin she could only describe as that of a brother seeing the bully that hurt his sister get their just desserts. Even as she watched, they began to float, held aloft by the energy of the arcane relics they bore.

“Horseapples...” Noctura muttered, looking on in horror. This was it... she lost.

The rainbow formed. So that was what it looked like... it was beautiful. To think something so magnificent could carry such destructive power.

The rainbow light of the Elements of Harmony engulfed her, swirling around her as she let out a final scream, floating several feet off the ground. She was lost from sight within its immense light. Such power... Nocturna couldn’t describe the feeling if she tried. Her entire life flashed before her eyes, lamenting the failure of her mission. It was supposed to have been easy, and yet, she failed miserably.

Then, there was mostly silence, broken only by the sounds of crackling fires that remained. The power of the Elements of Harmony had since dispersed, leaving dust cover in its wake. Then, a thud rang out from within the cover of dust. The mane six, Spike, Princess Luna, everyone. They watched silently as the dust cover eventually dissipated.

Lying on her side, was a pale yellow unicorn mare, whose mane and tail were colored with stripes of yellow and red. Plastered on her flank were orange swirls that resembled a flame. The mysterious symbol was completely absent. The mare was unconscious, her breathing steady, but audibly pained. Her body was bruised all over, her forehead continuing to lose blood.

A soft rain began to fall as everyone gathered around the unconscious pony, looking her over. Twilight was the first to break the silence. “So she’s alive after all...” she spoke, giving a sigh of relief, smiling.

“Indeed,” replied Princess Luna, trying to remain impassive, but failing to hide a relieved smile that matched Twilight’s.

“I was so worried... what if-”

“If it had killed her, you would have carried that guilt for the rest of your life. I know, Twilight. I carry enough already for a hundred lifetimes. I’m thankful that it didn’t turn out that way.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. “Me too, Princess.” A frown crept its way onto her features. “But, what happens now? With Ponyville, and this mare?”

The princess grimaced. “I have little option but to take custody of her. My sister will want to talk. Beyond that, I cannot say, but if all goes as I hope... perhaps you’ll see her again someday, and be friends, not enemies.”

“We were never enemies with this mare,” Twilight whispered, shaking her mane. “We were enemies of Nocturna.”

“My sister has rubbed off on you, Twilight. You sounded just like her for a moment. I’m glad... and proud. I’m sure she is too.”

Twilight quivered a bit. She talked like Celestia? “Princess?”

Luna sighed. “Nevermind Twilight. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to Canterlot. The fires are dying out already thanks to this rain, and I’m sure the repairs to the town will go swiftly from what we’ve seen in the past. I will speak to my sister about this as well. For now... you should rest.”

Twilight nodded limply, and Spike placed a claw on her shoulder. “Come on Twilight... let’s get you to bed.”

With that, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony split up, heading back to their respective homes, leaving Luna, her guards, and the unconscious mare alone in the street. Princess Luna turned to the only conscious guard. “Night Glide, we shall return to the castle immediately. Please take this mare, fly her back, and directly to the castle infirmary. I will take care of the others.”

The guard nodded smartly. “Yes, your majesty,” he replied, and got to work. Luna watched him for a bit, and stared absently into the clouded skies. The rain felt cool and soothing on her burns and her charred wing, but deep down, she felt... no, she knew this was only the beginning.

That night was the night they learned that Nightmare Moon wasn’t the only Nightmare lurking about in the shadows of Equestria.