Chapter 1
The light of the full moon shone down upon a massive clearing between the Everfree forest and the Canterlot Mountains. In front of the forest is a dark mob that faces, unmoving, towards the mountains. At the base of the mountains, there is another mass; this one shines in the moonlight, with the radiance of the sun, the reflected moonlight bouncing off in random directions. It too stares unmoving, across the clearing awaiting orders.
Against the dense forest behind there seems to be no end to the army that stands in front of it. The ground is covered in row after row of unicorns all staring off into the distance. And in the skies above, a swarm of pegasus hovers, casting down a breeze with the beating of their wings.
All clad in the black and dark purple armor that represented their leader were soldiers. Although they called themselves ponies, they were reptilian in nature. Born and raised in the Everfree forest these ponies had adapted to the lifestyle that the dark and dangerous forest had prepared for them.
Unlike most ponies in Equestria they did not come in every color of the rainbow and all the colors in-between. In the forest there wasn’t much light and it was eat or be eaten. Blending in was the only way to survive and the ponies adapted to their surroundings by only being born with dark hued coats. They melted into the shadows of the forest and were able to move unseen in the darkness. Equipped with night vision and a stronger sense of smell than a bear, and hearing better than an owl, these were the perfect predators of the night.
In the air, leading the swarm was a jet black pegasus that paced back in forth impatiently awaiting orders, his dark grey mane blowing in the wind. He went by the name Nightwing, and was the leader of the pegasus faction of the army. Nightwing was hoof-picked to become the leader of the army because he was a bloodthirsty monster when it came to fighting. He felt no mercy for those he targeted and he made sure that when he was given a job to do he left nothing alive.
His wings had a thin bat-like membrane instead of feathers and were razor sharp. He used them along with his jagged fangs to tear apart and torture his enemies to death.
“Nightwing, settle down.” A voice from below called out catching the pegasus’s attention. Nightwing stared down at the ground, his glowing red eyes piercing through the darkness, searching for the one that made the outburst.
“Hey down here,” the voice called out again, this time Nightwing was able to find its location.
The first thing he saw was the glowing green, dragon like eyes of a grey unicorn below him and when he did his own eyes began to glow with anger.
“What was that, Blacklight?” Nightwing yelled out to the unicorn. “How about you pay attention to your soldiers and stop worrying about what I’m doing, cause it looks a little sloppy down there.”
Blacklight knew better than to reply back to Nightwing’s comments because it would only provoke him even more. And when provoked, Nightwing was dangerous. If it came down to it, he knew that in a fight he would lose against the pegasus.
Blacklight wasn’t the strongest of ponies but he was quick, in mind and in body. His speed rivaled that of even some of the pegasus and they knew it. Blacklight was chosen to lead the unicorns of the army for his smarts.
Being born in the Everfree forest meant that you either had to be strong enough to overpower your foes or smart enough to outwit them.
Blacklight was a genius, a rarity in the primal forests that he lived in. He was also one of the very few Everfree unicorns that knew advanced spell casting.
They did not receive a proper education in the forest and most could barely do a simple telekinesis spell. Blacklight however, spent his time searching for the secrets of the long forgotten ruins that were scattered throughout the forest, learning the spells that were engraved into walls and slates.
Even though, he knew the spells that did not mean he did not know how to fight. He was also a brutal warrior and specialized in assassination techniques.
His horn, sharpened to a deadly point, was sharp enough to pierce through bone. Many times he had taken the lives of opponents with a simple stab through the heart, or through the head. He would use his magic to lengthen and harden his horn and use in as a lance when charging at an enemy. His speed and knowledge of anatomy caused him to be a deadly opponent to almost any creature in Equestria.
Blacklight knew to be careful when speaking to Nightwing, and after a few moments, he said “All I’m saying is you’re wasting energy doing all that pacing.”
“And all I’m sayin is that I’m practically falling asleep up here, it’s so boring waiting. I mean come on what are we even waiting for, I can see them from here. I want to go kill them so bad, but I’m stuck here doing what? My wings are itchin for some blood. ” Nightwing replied while doing some lazy loops in the air.
“We must wait for her to arrive; she will give us our orders and then-”
“Oh come on, I’m sick of waiting. You know what? I think I’m gonna go get a head start on the action.”
Nightwing opened his wings and was about to shoot off towards the other side of the clearing when a voice from behind him made him freeze dead in his tracks.
“You shall do no such thing soldier, for I, your Princess command it, for we have a job for you.”
***
Set just at the base of the mountains of Canterlot stood an army that glowed as bright as the sun. Their gold and blue armor shone in the light of the moon above. The unicorns stand tall and proud in the clearing awaiting their orders. The pegasai above waited patiently on the cliffs above, waiting for the order to attack.
There’s an assortment of colors and hues in this army, from ponies of pure white to neon green with every color in-between.
On a cliff above them all, lies a camp, row after row of tents are pitched that serve as temporary homes for the soldiers and act as medical tents for the injured. At the back of the camp is a massive tent. Outside stand two guards, a unicorn and a pegasus. They stand in front of the main flap of the tent and stare straight ahead, protecting the tent from unwanted guests.
Inside the tent there is a long table covered in maps and clipboards. Sheets of paper are thrown everywhere about and charts on the walls show different battle formations and strategies. There are five ponies sitting at the long table in the middle of the tent, three of which are yelling back and forth at each other about different battle strategies.
On one side of the table sits two pegasai.
“We need to wait for my scouts to get back before we make a decision on anything!” A brown pegasus yells across the table to the unicorns sitting on the other side. “Without them we have no information on the enemy’s forces and if we attack it will be suicide!”
“Obviously they have failed their mission; I knew we should have never sent pegasus on a stealth mission.” The white unicorn on the other side yells back.
“WHAT?” This time it’s a blue pegasus who speaks up, slamming his hoof on the table, “I hoof picked those two, there is no way they would have failed. They are fastest ponies we have in the royal air force, much more efficient than any unicorn that you have.”
“They may be the fastest in the air force but nothing is faster than a unicorn’s teleportation spell. If we would have done that in the first place we wouldn’t be having this discussion.” The white unicorn replies.
“Oh, and who was going to do that, Halberd, definitely not you. Shall I remind you that you can barely cast a simple fire spell, let alone something as complicated as teleportation?” The brown pegasus retorted.
Halberd narrowed his eyes at the pony in front of him. “Is that so Cyclone, I don’t want to hear about my shortcomings from a pegasus who lost an eye because they couldn’t out maneuver a griffon.”
Cyclone put a hoof over his right eye feeling only an eye patch where his eye used to be.
“Alright that’s enough out of all three of you,” said a gruff elderly voice from the back of the room.
All three heads turned to the lime green unicorn who had been quietly discussing strategies with the fifth pony who sat at the end of the table in the back of the tent, his long grey beard and mane spilling out onto the table.
“Unlike you three, the princess and I have been discussing instead of arguing over every little petty matter.”
“But Starswirl sir, I was-” the blue pegasus quickly shut his mouth as Starswirl shot a look at him.
“Vice Captain Frost, it does not matter what you were trying to do, you must focus on what needs to be done. Now then, Captain Cyclone, I need you to go find out what is taking your scouts so long. Check the tents first and then check with the rest of your troops, but do not go any further than the front of your squad, is that understood?”
“Yes sir.” Cyclone replied. He saluted to Starswirl and then bowed to the princess as he walked out the front flap in search of the missing scouts.
Frost and Halberd watched as the Captain left the tent.
“And what are you still doing here Vice Captain?” Starswirl asked Frost who jumped in his seat, turning around to face the unicorn. “You are his right eye, are you not?”
“Y-yes sir!” Frost half yelled as he saluted Starswirl, quickly bowed to the princess and galloped out of the tent after Cyclone.
“As for you Halberd, go check on your troops. Make sure that they are in the correct formations and have them be ready to move at a moment’s notice.”
“As you command sir.” Halberd said repeating the same routine as the other two did before leaving the tent.
After Halberd left, both Starswirl and the princess breathed a sigh of relief.
“You handled that well Starswirl.” Princess Celestia said to the old wizard.
“Well these young ones must learn what is important in these times of war.” Starswirl replied.
“Your majesty, if I may, I would like to ask you a question.”
“What is it?”
“Out of all the ponies that you could have picked to lead the army, why did you chose those three. There are many more that are much more qualified. As Cyclone said, Halberd can barely use basic destruction spells which are essential unicorn battle magic. And Cyclone himself is missing an eye, which as Halberd said, he lost to a griffon in a test of maneuverability. Griffons are known to be the least agile in the air out of all the winged creatures in Equestria. Why, I, myself have witnessed a full grown dragon outmaneuver a griffon in aerial combat and it came out without a scratch. And that ‘right eye’ of his is practically fresh out of flight school.”
“Well you see Starswirl, when you have lived as long as I have and seen as many wars as I, you tend to learn a few things. I did not choose them to lead the army; they were chosen by the ponies of this land.”
“Wait, what?” Starswirl asked confused.
“I know very little of the affairs of the ponies of this land for even though I call myself a ruler I know next to nothing of what goes on outside the castle walls. That is why we are in the predicament we are in now. So therefore I allowed those who know what is happening to pick out who will lead them.”
“So how were they chosen? There must have been others that could have taken their seats.”
“Starswirl, do you recall the Timberwolf incident two years ago?”
“No, I cannot say I do your majesty.” Starswirl replied.
“That is because Halberd single hoofedly took care of it himself.”
“Come again?”
“Two years ago, during the beginning of the night shift when the guards were switching their posts, a pack of Timberwolves snuck in through the west gate of the city. Halberd happened to be one of those that was switching out posts, when he came across the pack attacking a shopkeeper who was closing up. He charged at them and threw the shopkeeper out of the ring of wolves. At the time he was only on gate duty because he failed his magic test and that was all he was qualified for, but it turned out that he had been practicing in secret.”
“But he can’t do any spells; I was his examiner so I should know.”
“He may not be able to perform the basics but he is a master in conjuration.”
“Conjuration spells are high level techniques, how could somepony like him be able to cast any?”
“Well according to multiple witness accounts, Halberd defeated the pack of Timberwolves with what were described as glowing swords that seem to float in the air around him. And this pony prides himself on keeping that white coat of his clean. Have you ever seen what happens when a timber wolf is cut? They spray their sap-like blood everywhere, very messy, and when he was brought before me after the ordeal he came out completely spotless.”
“So the citizens picked him because he was he was their savior.” Starswirl said. “Well I can understand that, but about the other two? If I’m not mistaken Cyclone lost his eye before he even joined the air force.”
“Like Halberd, he is trusted by the citizens. The reason why he lost his eye was because he was rescuing a filly that was taken by a griffon. He lost his eye when the griffon tried to use the filly as a decoy so that it could take out Cyclone instead. And as for Frost, well he was chosen by Cyclone himself. Seem that he was the filly’s older brother and wanted to pay Cyclone back for rescuing his sister. Frost graduated at the top of his class in flight school so there is no denying the gift he has. He is willing to fight alongside Cyclone as long as he has to to pay back what he owes.”
“Well I understand all this but ho-” Starswirl began before he was cut off by a guard coming in the tent.
“Princess Celestia there is an urgent message for you from Captain Cyclone.” The guard said.
Holding out a piece of paper, Celestia took it in her magic and began to read the message.
Princess Celestia,
Of the two scouts that were sent out only one has returned and he is in critical condition. We do not know how much time he has and request that you come to Medical Tent #1 immediately for you may be the only one that can help.
-Captain Cyclone.
Celestia looked up from the letter and at the guard standing in front of the table.
“When did this arrive?” She asked him.
“Just now your majesty, I brought it in the moment I received it.”
“Starswirl an urgent matter has come up to which I must attend to.”Celestia said as she stood up and left the tent, after which she took flight in the direction of the medical tents near the front of the camp.
It only took her a few moments to reach the tent at the front of the camp and when she arrived, the scene outside the tent was enough to show how serious of a condition the scout was in. Before she even landed she could hear the sounds of the medical ponies inside the tent rushing around yelling for more bandages and Cyclone and Frost voices as they asked what had happened.
Outside, there was a trail of blood that led from the Cliffside to the tent. Bloody feathers were strewn across the crimson path leading towards the tent, and as Celestia landed she felt something under her hoof.
She lifted her leg only to see a shredded length of a leg lying on the ground in a pool of blood, the fur soaked to the point of the original color no longer recognizable.
Celestia took a deep breath and braced herself for the worst as she walked into the tent, but nothing could have compared her for the sight that she witnessed.
In her many millennia of rule, she had seen countless wars and participated in many. Injuries on the battlefield were always gruesome, and as time went on the more ways to kill only increased. Magic became more powerful and destructive, and the pony body could only take so much abuse before it was torn apart.
She had seen ponies who had their limbs blown off in explosion, stomachs cut open and innards fall to the ground leaving a barely alive and hollow pony, desperately trying to scoop their intestines back into their homes.
Even back during the medieval ages where torture was accepted and brutality common, had she never seen something this terrible.
The pony that lay on the table before her could no longer even be identified as a pony. There were multiple cut wound on its body, with four major cuts running along different places on the body.
One started between the legs all the way up to the collar bone slicing straight through the middle of the ribcage. The only reason that this pony hadn’t lost any of their organs was because they were being held up by the intestines which were tied to the jagged edges of the ribs.
On both sides of the torso, just above the wings there were cuts that sliced into the bone that connected the wings to the spine.
And from the base of the tail to the end of the spine, there was a long slice that just barely missed the bone, and had left the spine protruding out through the open skin.
The face was beaten into a bloody pulp, the only thing left intact was a single eye, which was bloodshot and distant. The ears looked as if they had been bitten off. The cheeks had been ripped open leaving the lower jaw hanging down in to the open ribcage. There were no teeth left inside of the destroyed mouth and the tongue had been ripped out as well.
The blood that was pouring out of the wounds had overrun the table and was pooling our on the floor and yet somehow the pony was still alive.
The bandages that the doctors wrapped around him were no deterrent to the blood that flowed forth from the wounds and a few could no longer even stand to look at the carnage before them and had given up. There was obviously no way to save him and there was no use in trying.
They only thing that showed that this pony was even alive was the fact that his heart and lungs were visible through the hole in his chest and was still moving.
Celestia could no longer bear the scene and made her presence clear.
The nurses and doctors that were still working on the pegasus stopped what they were doing and backed away a Celestia approached the body.
Frost stepped back and looked at the princess with a look of fear in his eyes. Cyclone however continued to ask questions, begging the pony to stay conscious and tell them what happened.
Celestia gently pushed him away and he went silent.
She stood next to the body looking into the face of the pony lying on the table, his eye distant as if already dead.
Without saying a word to any of the other ponies in the room, she closed her eyes and began to focus magic into her horn. She took a deep breath and slowly lowered her horn to the forehead of the pegasus.
The spell worked perfectly, and her subconscious slowly entered into his mind.
Once inside the brain it was like stepping into a long hallway with thousands of doors, each door containing a different memory that the pony had experienced all she had to do was find the right door.
She began to slowly drift down the hallway, looking at each door for any clues as to which one held the information she needed.
As she went deeper and deeper, she reached the end of the hall. She came across a door that looked ragged and beaten. Holes and slashes covered the door and it gave off a sinister sensation. She slowly approached the door and pushed it open.
Inside the room a memory played on the walls it showed the memory form the view of the pony it belonged to. In the front of the room closest to the door, the sound of Frost’s voice could be heard giving the orders. It showed them inside of a tent with Frost standing in front of him talking. Next to him was another pegasus, a mare, who was watching Frost taking in every word that he said.
“Flashfire, Quicksilver, this is a mission of high importance…” The voice trailed off as Celestia moved deeper into the room and the memory jumped to a later time.
A few feet down the next memory was playing. This time they were in the flying in the air closing in on the Everfree forest, the mare was speaking.
“Alright remember Flash, this is a stealth mission so we have to separate and find out as much as we can.”
Celestia moved on to the next memory which is now set outside of a fire pit in the forest. There are two what of what like ponies sitting around the fire, long shadows being cast behind them. Looking closer Celestia sees that there is what seems to be maps and battle plans in front of them. They are talking and she can just barely make out the words that they are saying.
“…we will ha… clouds will cover th... we will have no…”
All of a sudden the mare from before drops out of the sky and lands next to the ponies sitting near the fire. She lands on her side and lies unmoving. Then a pool of blood begins to form around her and Flashfire backs away getting ready to run.
Celestia moves on to the next memory where this time the Flashfire is moving quickly through the air, tears in his eyes make the memory blurry but suddenly he stops as a black figure appears in front of him.
The tears slowly disappear and a sinister voice plays.
“Why hello there, you seem to be in a rush. How about you stay and keep me company for a while. I promise it will be fun. Well at least for me.”
The image clears up to reveal a pony with bat-like wings hovering in the memory. Fangs glistening and eyes glowing red in the moonlight.
“I hope you’re more fun than that other one,” the voice continues on. “All I had to do was bite her throat and she was down for the count.” The pony said while opening its mouth and slamming it shut for emphasis.
Flashfire immediately took off straight up into the air trying to outrun the monster below him.
It only lasted a few seconds before Flashfire’s voice could be heard screaming out in pain. He looked down to reveal that the beast had latched on to his hind leg and with a sharp turn of his head Flashfire was flung down and a chunk of his leg came off in the things mouth.
A scream escaped Flashfire’s mouth but he tried to regain his balance and go on the offensive. Flipping upright he tried to lock onto the enemy’s position, all that happened was another scream as a blur came in from ahead of him and Flashfire turned to see that there was a massive slash running along his back, deep enough to see the bone. The blur quickly turned around and came and sliced right above his left wing. His wing went limp and he immediately began to plummet.
Another scream revealed that the same had happened to the right side and Flashfire went into a nose dive to the ground.
The tree tops approached quickly and as they did, evil laughter rang out from the memory.
“Oh come now, we can’t have you dying yet. I haven’t had nearly enough fun.” The pony thing said who just happened to be right in front of Flashfire’s face in a nose dive of his own.
Right before the tree line it grabbed Flashfire by his tail and slowed down. No longer in free fall the blood coming from the wounds flowed down his body and onto his face.
He was flung back into the air and with one swift movement the thing sliced him open straight up the middle.
The blood sprayed up into the air and Flashfire fell to the forest floor, flat on his back, blood splattering the trees around him.
Screaming in pure agony, Flashfire couldn’t even move his body.
The laughter started up again. “Yes, yes, yes! Scream some more! Oh how I love that sound.” The pony thing said.
The screaming stopped but the memory was shaky as if Flashfire was holding it in so that the thing wouldn’t have the satisfaction.
This only made the thing mad. It lunged forward and using it’s fangs began to tear at Flashfires insides biting into the organs and spitting out the blood soaked body parts. It bit down an tore at his legs and anything else the blood red eyes saw. Laughing as Flashfire could no longer hold in the screams.
Then as suddenly as he started he stopped. He looked up and off into the forest.
The memory suddenly went dark and a sickening, sinister, and dangerous feeling washed over Celestia.
A feeling of magic so familiar and yet so much more evil began to leak from the memory and everything began to shut down. Like black flames the magic began to spread and Celestia ran out of the the room and down the hall.
She immediately made her way back to the beginning of the hallway and found the exit.
Back inside her own mind she gasped and jumped back from the body on the table.
“EVERYPONY GET DOWN!” she screamed.
Being soldiers Cyclone and Frost dropped to the ground instantly out of reflex, but the medical staff wasn’t as quick. Some still in shock from Flashfire’s condition didn’t even hear the order and still stood staring off into space.
Celestia quickly took the table in her magic and launched it through the roof of the tent with Flashfire on it.
She then turned and dove knocking down the medical staff that was still standing, lying on top of them as a shield.
A second later a massive explosion rocked the tent causing one of the nurses under her to scream.
The shockwave afterwards was not seen by them but Celestia heard the sound of ripping fabric.
A few moments later Celestia looked up to see that the medical tent had been ripped off its pegs along with a few near it.
She could hear the sound of flapping wings and pounding hooves as the royal guard approached the location.
Remembering there were ponies under her she quickly stood up and backed away to give them room.
It seemed that two of the nurses fainted while the doctor had stood and thanked her for rescuing them.
Celestia turned around to see that Cyclone and Frost were both on their own four hooves and were going around to the other tents checking on the other ponies.
A flash of light appeared behind her Celestia turned to see that Starswirl had teleported her.
“Princess what happened here?” Starswirl asked concern filling his voice.
Celestia looked to the sky at where the explosion took place. Then suddenly it hit her.
“Starswirl,” Celestia began, her voice straining, “she tried to kill me.”
The guard arrived at the scene and as Frost and Cyclone began barking out orders to them telling them to check all the tents and search for injured. But all of this was nothing but background noise to Celestia.
“She… tried to kill me.” Celestia repeated again.
“Princess what do you mean ‘She tried to kill you’?” Starswirl asked, only to have his question fall on deaf ears.
“She tried to kill me,” Celestia repeated again. “She tried to kill me with one of my own subjects… she knew that I was going to read his mind… she had him tortured… he suffered… she planned this.”
Celestia continued to ramble on, lost in her thoughts.
It wasn’t until the war horn was blown that she was snapped out of her trance.
A pegasus from the front lines flew over to Cyclone and told him something. Cyclone nodded and as the pegasus left he went to Celestia.
Bowing in front of her he said “Your highness, I have just received new from the front lines that Princess Luna has been seen riding in on a chariot.”
“I must go see this myself.” Celestia said and she began to walk to the edge of the mountain.
Cyclone looked up when he heard the princess speak. Her voice was filled with rage and it sent a chill down his spine.
Starswirl heard the tone too, but didn’t say anything as she walked by him to the edge of the cliff.
Stopping at the edge Celestia looks across the valley below her for her sister.
Above the tree tops she makes out the silhouette of the chariot in the sky, its being pulled by two ponies that resemble the one that attacked Flashfire.
The chariot makes its way to the front of the army in front of the forest and stops. Now in the full light of the moon Celestia saw her in full view.
She looked much older than the last time Celestia saw her. Luna looked just like Celestia, her mane and tail, instead of its previous silky, nature was now glowing purple with stars twinkling in them, blew in the breeze.
She was now a full grown Alicorn. There was no doubt that this was a forced growth for she was not yet old enough to look the way she did. She had no idea how she had done it but it was in no way something that should have been done. Forcing growth in an alicorn body could have serious side affects .
Now Celestia was filled with mixed emotions. Feelings of anger and worry swirled around in her mind, they conflicted each other driving her mind into deeper turmoil.
“Citizens of Equestria lend me your ears,” Luna called out across the field using the royal voice, catching Celestia’s attention.
“The one you call your glorious sun princess is nothing but a tyrant. For countless millennia she has ruled over us. This land and all its subjects bow to her every whim. She rules over us forcing us into blind servitude, but if you come with me I will show you the path to freedom.” As she speaks a dark mist begins to form around the carriage engulfing Luna.
“Change will come, and I Princess Luna, no, Nightmare Moon, shall lead you into a new glorious era.” A flash of bright light comes from the chariot, when it is gone a much more sinister looking alicorn is left where Luna used to stand. Her mane and tail much more wild than before whipped around wildly in all directions.
“We must resist, we must fight against the tyranny. Lives will be lost, but they shall not be in vain, for when the dust settles, and the ashes clear, we will have found our freedom.” Nightmare flaps her wings taking to the sky, her mane and tail flaring up as her eyes begin to glow. “Now I ask of you all, ‘Do you stand with me, or do you stand against me, willing to blindly follow the words of that old fool?’ For in the end we will have found our freedom, in this glorious night!”
The forest erupts in cheers as Nightmare raises her forelegs in the air and turns toward them.
They began to chant, “NIGHTMARE MOON, NIGHTMARE MOON, NIGHTMARE MOON!”
They stomped and cheered, and the ground shook like an earthquake, small rocks shifting and rattling on the ground.
Nightmare turned back and faced the royal army. “Soldiers lay your weapons and we shall no need for this violence. Follow us and you shall no longer suffer as you have under her rule.”
Suddenly from above the valley on the cliff where Celestia stood, a bright light began to shine, coating the field in pure sunlight.
Celestia no longer felt any worry for the being in front of her, only anger. Her blood was at a boiling point and she reached into her powers unleashing them at full force, the light blinding Luna’s army.
“Luna, this is as far as you go, stop this madness now or suffer the consequences.” Celestia said, her voice echoing across the valley, her eyes glowing bright and mane up in flames.
“Oh dear sister, this is what we mean. You rule by threat and force, and yet call my methods madness? I wish only to show the citizens of this great land what they could have.”
“By doing what Luna? Taking away the sun? Is that what you mean? These ponies need the sun unlike those that follow you. It has be 3 weeks since the land has last seen the sun. The crops no longer grow, the citizens are starving, and you say that you will cause them to no longer suffer? I will allow this to go on no longer, I will stop you myself.”
Celestia shot of the cliff and towards Nightmare. Moving at full speed, she charged towards the chariot. However halfway there Celestia felt her power begin to wane and she slowed down.
Suddenly it was all gone. She had no power left in her body, the glow emanating from her eyes disappeared and her ethereal mane and tail had turned into regular hair. The pink strands fell limply around her neck, shoulders and her legs.
Celestia searched inside of herself for even an ounce of magic, only to find none.
With her magic gone, Celestia could only rely on her physical energy to move her wings, but that was just enough to keep them from giving out from the weight of the body they supported.
“Oh my, look at this.” Nightmare said from her perch. “Is there something wrong Celestia?”
Celestia looked up into the direction from where the voice came from, her eyes trying to pierce what seemed to have be a wall of darkness.
She looked around searching for the voice’s owner. Almost everywhere she looked there was a wall of complete darkness. In front, above, below, left and right, nothing but impenetrable dark. Behind her however were the faint lights of her base camp. But to her those lights seemed so far away. She could make out the outline of the army that wore her insignia on their chests, but they too seemed to far away.
“What is going on here Luna?!” Celestia cried out.
Suddenly she felt something smash into her back. Without magic to support her, her wings buckled and she went into a freefall.
In the darkness she couldn’t tell how high up she was and the fall felt as if hours had gone by. When she finally hit the ground her legs were splayed out to her sides and all the wind was knocked out of her lungs.
Celestia gasped for breath as she tried to refill her lungs with air.
She didn’t even hear the sound of hooves dropping down only a few feet in front of her.
She was still gasping when she felt something grab onto a tuft of her now limp mane and lift her head up.
There was a flash of purple light as the ethereal mane of Nightmare lit up only inches from Celestia’s face, the light casting shadows making the glowering face even more sinister looking than before.
“Don’t ever call me by that name again.” Nightmare said pulling on Celestia’s mane for emphasis causing her to wince. “I no longer go by that name and I never shall again.”
Nightmare locked eyes with Celestia who had managed to catch her breath.
“What did you do to me?” Celestia asked returning the glare.
Nightmare closed her eyes and let out a long breath into Celestia’s face.
“Always one to ruin a moment, aren’t you Celestia?”
“What did you do tome me?” she repeated.
Nightmare released the grip of Celestia’s hair causing her face to fall into the ground.
“What did I do you? What, do you not know of how your own powers work?”
Nightmare stood up straight, looking down at Celestia.
“Ah yes that’s right, you never had to rely on your powers to save your own life for a long time have you? Not since Discord have you used your full power. And even then you did not know of its strengths and weaknesses.”
Nightmare looked up into the darkness above her and took a deep breath, her mane and tail flaring up like a fire, the intensity growing with each breath.
“I am the Princess of the Night, I gain my powers from the darkness and shadows that surround me. The darker it gets the more power I gain. You however are the Princess of the Day, you draw your power from light. Our powers are very similar, but they are also polar opposites.”
Celestia tried to get up and force herself up onto her legs, but couldn’t muster the energy.
“Don’t even bother,” Nightmare said noticing the attempt. “it’s useless for you to even try. Darkness saps your energy like a sponge. Haven’t you noticed how weak you have been feeling lately? How you crave the warmth of a fire or a candle? You need the light just as I need the darkness. My magic is sapped by that dreadful sun that you would always raise. Why do you think I slept during the day?”
“Well you were always saying that you needed your beauty sleep.” Celestia retorted.
Nightmare looked down at Celestia with a grin on her face.
“You know, I had hoped that I wouldn’t have fought you so soon. I wanted you to be around long enough to see the fruits of my labor when I brought about my new rule.”
“That will never happen.” Celestia said with a serious tone.
“Come now, you have no power. And who do you think will stop me if you can’t? But I’d rather be on the safe side.”
“Safe side?” Celestia asked. “What does that mean? You know that I can’t be killed. Neither of us can die.”
“You know, same rules apply for Discord, but where is he now?” Nightmare asked.
“What are you implying? You’re going to use the elements to turn me to stone? Impossible! They would never work for somepony as tainted as you are.”
“You catch on quick Celestia, but you seem to forget some very important information. The world we live in is full of fascinating creatures that can do many different things.”
Nightmare flashed her horn for a quick moment and suddenly a box appeared in front of her.
From inside came multitude of sounds. Scratching, hissing and clucking all at once came from the box, and even wrapped in the powerful aurora of Nightmare the thing inside was still moving around violently enough to make the box move.
Celestia stared wide eyed at the box.
“W-where did you get a cockatrice?” She stammered.
“Can you believe that one of the tribes raises these things like pets? They don’t seem to like confined spaces though.” Nightmare said smiling as she brought the box closer the Celestia. “I don’t know if this will actually work but it’s worth a shot, don’t you think?”
Just as Nightmare was about to open the box a blast of green light came and launched the box from her magical grip. Nightmare flinched back looking in the direction from where the blast came from.
Another blast came, this one splitting a line between the two princesses. The line flared up into a bright green flame that illuminated the area.
Then there was another green flash next to Celestia. She tried turning her head and to her surprise she could. Standing next to her was Starswirl. His beard and cape flowing in an unseen wind as stared across the flame that he created at the pony he once knew as Princess Luna.
Without a moment’s hesitation he shot a green bolt straight towards Nightmare striking her in the center of her chest. A shimmering sphere of light appeared around her and pushed her farther back into the darkness.
Nightmare looked around at the ball that surrounded her like a cat at a ball of yarn. She playfully poked at the sphere causing it to ripple.
“That’s not going to last very long,” Starswirl said to Celestia, “we need to get out of here now.”
Celestia nodded in agreement and Starswirl placed a hoof on her shoulder. With a flash of his horn, the two disappeared leaving Nightmare standing inside of her prison looking at where Celestia once lay.
“Interesting.” She said, and with a flick of her hoof the barrier shattered.
“Very interesting indeed.”
Luna's Speech came from the video that is linked. I really liked it so i changed it a bit but am still going to give credit to the original.
