//------------------------------// // Chapter Ninety Six // Story: HiE - A Hollow in Equestria // by Charlie_K //------------------------------// Chapter Ninety Six The halberd actually shattering at the point of contact with Nightmare Moon's neck, like a crystal chalice shattering against the hard marble floors of Canterlot palace, hadn't been a development Luna had anticipated encountering. It left her in a stunned sense of disbelief, her mind trying not only to process what she'd witnessed, but what had ultimately happened. Her concentration must've slipped, that was it! She'd simply lost sufficient focus to lose hold on her halberd. Throwing yet another right hook at Nightmare Moon's face to keep her distracted, she focused on summoning it forth once again. This time she wouldn't be so careless, and she'd end her opponent rightly before she had time to recover. Weakness was the next sensation Luna experienced. Weakness and vertigo, forcing her to shut her eyes tight as she swayed on her makeshift perch, nearly toppling over as her vision suddenly went blurry. What was happening to her? Why did she suddenly feel so sick? It'd only been seconds since she shut her eyes, but it felt much longer than that to her. When she finally did manage to open them again... something about her surroundings was very, very... off. Everything looked like it was bigger for some reason, taller than she remembered. Even Nightmare Moon's prone form felt different to her now. Her improvised perch on the aforementioned demon suddenly disappeared out from under her in the form of speckled mist, leaving her to fall rump first on the ground, only further adding to her state of confusion about things. "Well now, Little Luna, it looks like I win this one after all..." The sound of Nightmare Moon's crooning voice instantly brought her attention back to the present. In her confused state, her opponent had taken the opportunity to reform herself, fully healed and showing no signs of ever having been beaten to within an inch of her life. Her injuries were healed, her coat immaculate, her sharp teeth all present and accounted for, and her eyes shining with a high degree of malice as she stood before her, looking larger than life as if she'd grown dramatically. "And now that I've won, I'm going to savor my victory..." The tone of voice used, and the look Nightmare Moon was giving her, served to send an uncomfortable chill up Luna's back. She didn't want to think about what Nightmare Moon had in mind. She stood up to attack -to counterattack, to do anything- but found her efforts were far more involved than she'd anticipated them being. Her legs simply didn't want to cooperate and coordinate properly as she stood up, and her reactions felt weighted down and slow, like she'd managed to get herself stuck in a tar pit. Looking down as she tried to stand up properly, she discovered that Nightmare Moon hadn't grown, but rather she shrank! She was much smaller than she'd been previously, and her coat was no longer the elegant dark blue it had originally been, but was a much paler, sicker shade; a shade of blue she hadn't seen since her last encounter with Nightmare Moon, back when she'd been freed by the Elements of Harmony. It all made terrible, frightening sense now. Her magic was gone, and she was now in the same state Celestia had been after the transfer; powerless, helpless, and weak. And all at the mercy of a very vengeful Nightmare Moon who had her in her sights. She was roughly jerked up and off the ground, leaving her back hooves unable to touch anything, and left dangling by the telekinetic hold Nightmare Moon had around her neck; made all the more uncomfortable by the fact that she felt like she was being choked, and yet still left able to breathe enough to retain consciousness. "And part of that savoring, is going to involve you, and payback for everything you did to me," Nightmare Moon continued as she pulled Luna closer to her. "If you thought what I made Rainbow Dash experience was horrible, then I assure you it'll be nothing compared to what I'm going to put you though," she warned further, emitting a long, slow exhale as she spoke, right into Luna's face, causing her to shiver uncomfortably and squirm about in a desperate effort to get free. The struggle did little, other than apparently excite Nightmare Moon all the more at the prospect of her quarry still having some fight left in her. "I'm going to break you in mind and body in the slowest, most painful way imaginable. I'm going to make your sister watch too, and then I'm going to do the same to her while you watch. And the things that I'll make you and Celestia do to one another for my own amusement," Nightmare Moon paused and shivered excitedly at the thought. "I just can't wait! And all your friends will be there too! Won't that be just wonderful?" she asked mockingly, practically nose-to-nose with Luna now. She then extended her tongue and licked her along the entire length of her face, slowly, and deliberately, as Luna flinched and closed her eyes in disgust at what she was being forced to experience. "Now then, my pretty, let's get this party started..." "Over my dead body you will! LET HER GO!" Spike had been expecting some sort of explosion when he decided to go for the melee approach to addressing Nightmare Moon's shield. He knew what to be expecting, and had enough sense to shut his eyes just before the hammer made contact with the target. All that said, he hadn't been expecting an explosion of that yield, nor being blown back as a result of it. If he had, he would've been smart and just thrown the damn hammer. He'd wound up being thrown back by the sheer force of it, although he had no idea of how far. He was sore, he was dazed, he was confused, maybe even unconscious for a few seconds, he didn't really know one way or the other. How he'd kept hold of his hammer throughout it all, he didn't have a clue. All he did know was that by the time he got his senses back, the situation was decidedly not in their favor. Whatever had happened while he was incapacitated, it'd wound up taking a bad situation and somehow making it even worse, with Nightmare Moon apparently in control of the matter now. In control, and promising to do horrible, unspeakable acts to Luna in retaliation. Aw, hell no! That was not going to happen on his watch. Even if he was drastically outclassed by Nightmare Moon, he still wasn't going to let it happen. Unlike the last time, this was indeed a situation where charging head on and screaming like an idiot was warranted, as he quickly made his way to where they stood. "Let her go, or so help me I'll-" "You'll what, dragon!? You will what, exactly?" Nightmare Moon asked pointedly, immediately turning both her focus, and her glare, in Spike's direction, causing him to freeze in his tracks. "You were so bold and brave just a second ago, where's all of that bravado now?" she asked further. But she didn't allow him even a moment to respond before continuing further. "What do you honestly think you can do to me if I don't comply with your impotent demands for compliance? Hm?" Spike didn't blink in response. He just glared harder in return as he scowled at Nightmare Moon. "Let her go or I'll pound your skull until there's nothing left of your head but a puddle of chunky red meat jello, garnished with jagged bone shards," he warned as he tightened his grip on the hammer's handle, ready to leap into action. Nightmare Moon was, understandably, taken aback by the explicitness of threat leveled against her. "He-" Luna wheezed as she squirmed, "he will do it, too. He will not even hesitate. The little dragon has issues." Spike hadn't even gotten to take a simple step forward before Nightmare Moon's shocked expression slowly morphed into one of amusement. First it was but a smirk, then a snicker that managed to slip through, and then actual laughter she no longer even bothered to try and suppress. "Oh, little dragon, I so admire your spunk," she stated, before taking a breath and growing quite serious once again. "You'll be doing none of that. In fact you're not going to do anything except drop that hammer, step away, and be quiet. Because if you try and attack me, you'll be colliding with my new shield here," she continued and thrust Luna forward to hold in front of her. "Is your aim good enough to avoid harming your precious little pony princess in the process?" That made Spike pause. He'd been planning to charge Nightmare Moon and go all out, but now he was glad he hadn't. This was the same sort of hostage situation as back in town, except there he had the advantage of surprise. That advantage was all that he had going for him, but it was gone now. If he attacked, he could possibly power on through and get to her, but not without putting Luna at risk in the process. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, he did the only thing he could realistically do, and slowly let the hammer fall to the ground. "You win," he grumbled, hating every syllable he'd been forced to utter. "A wise choice," Nightmare Moon replied with a sinister smile. "Now then, why don't you be a good little dra-HURK!" Whatever demeaning statement Nightmare Moon had in mind was suddenly -thankfully- cut short as Rainbow Dash immediately flew into the picture and proceeded to deliver a sweeping front kick with her left hind leg right to her throat, catching her just under the chin with her shod hoof, and delivering enough force to break the telekinetic hold she had on Luna, letting her drop to the ground. "Pick on somepony your own fucking size!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she reeled back, and slammed her right hoof into Nightmare Moon's face, slugging her with all her might, actually managing to stagger her in the process. Both Rainbow Dash and Luna were quickly enveloped in an aura of periwinkle blue magic, and forcefully yanked back, away from Nightmare Moon. Seeing the opportunity presenting itself, Spike didn't hesitate to reach down, grab his hammer, and hurl it at Nightmare Moon as hard as he could, catching her right in the face with a very satisfying explosion, just like last time. This was followed up by Rainbow Dash immediately reentering the fray, delivering a flying tackle to Nightmare Moon that actually made her hooves leave the forest ground, as she was taken high above the rest of them where they couldn't follow. "Luna!" The yell from Twilight brought Spike's attention back to ground level, and he saw the others dashing to Luna's current position. Taking their lead, he did the same to join them by their side. "Luna, are you alright!? What just happened?" Twilight asked, unable to keep the panic out of her voice as she spoke. "I... I do not know," Luna admitted, her voice both soft and weak as she spoke. She tried to stand up properly, but her legs simply didn't want to cooperate and she nearly toppled over, saved only by Pinkie bracing her with her own body. "One moment I am fine, and the next... I find myself like this once again. I cannot even feel my own magic." Spike, having lived with Twilight for most of his life, could tell the mare was in full blown panic mode right now at this revelation, but still doing her best to not make it apparent to the others. Unfortunately her best in this case was none-too-good, and he wouldn't be surprised if everypony was onto her present anxiousness. "I-it'll be okay, you'll be fine," she stated, voice shaky as she spoke, and the underlying question if she was trying to assure Luna or herself of it being the truth. "We-" "Twilight..." Twilight looked over to her left and saw Rarity standing next to her, a hoof being placed atop her trembling withers as she spoke. "I know you're afraid, darling, frankly we all are right now. But we don't have the luxury of being scared about what's going to happen, we need to focus on what we have to do. Luna's down, that means you're in charge now. We need you to focus, and formulate our next move from here on out. What do we do next?" Twilight just looked at Rarity, mouth still hanging open from when she'd been speaking just seconds ago, as she tried to comprehend what was being said. Slowly, she closed her mouth and nodded in response. "You're... you're right. Thank you for reminding me." The situation was quite bad, possibly even dire. But then again so were so many other incidents that they'd managed to persevere through. If they could do it then, they could certainly do it now, they just needed to be smart about it. If they couldn't defeat Nightmare Moon through strength, then they'd just have to go an out-think her. She just had to put her mind to it and formulate a plan, rather than panicking because of a few inconvenient setbacks. "Alright. We know we need to get Luna back into fighting shape. The first thing we need to do is perform a mana transference like that time in Canterlot, so she can properly recharge and revitalize herself, so she can reengage Nightmare Moon," she explained, her mind switching back over into full analytical mode where it belonged in the first place. "What's the second thing?" Applejack asked. "I'll explain that after we get Luna to where she can recharge; it'll take too long otherwise," Twilight stated as her horn began to glow in preparation of the transfer. However the glow was quickly extinguished as Rarity placed her hoof against the tip of Twilight's horn. "Rarity?" "It's best if I do it, Twilight. Out of everypony present, I have perhaps the least prowess in matters of combat. My mana won't be missed nearly as much in this as yours will; as far as magic goes you're currently our heaviest hitter. We need you in top form, mentally, physically and otherwise," Rarity explained. Again, Twilight silently nodded, unable to argue with the logic of the point being presented. "Let me help, too," Fluttershy spoke up, "the burden won't be so much if we both share it." Rarity, in response, looked to Twilight for answers. "Can that actually be done? A non-unicorn sharing mana with another?" Again, Twilight nodded. "So long as there's another unicorn to oversee and regulate the process. Fortunately we have a spare." "In that case I'm helping too! The more the merrier!" Pinkie added without a second thought. "... Fine, whatever, let's just do this quickly! We don't have time to waste on this!" Twilight stated. It took Nightmare Moon a moment for her senses to properly clear, and allow her to evaluate the situation. Being hit in the face by that accursed hammer had been far more painful and disorienting than being hit in the back of the head. Everything was just white noise and bright lights for what felt like the longest time before she could make heads or tails of where she was again, and what was going on currently. Wind rushing over her body and through her coat was the first sensation she became consciously aware of, followed by it tickling at her ears. Sight soon reasserted its existence over the washed out wasteland of light-blindness she'd been subjected to. After that it was just a matter of time before she realized that Rainbow Dash had decided to engage her. The pegasus was brave, she'd give her that. Unbelievably stupid, but at least brave. A quick flexing of magic was all it took to separate the two, flinging the armored pegasus away like she was nothing more than trash. Unfortunately, she was quick to recover and regained control, leaving the two of them to regard one another while hovering high in the air, just waiting for an opening to present itself. "You know," Nightmare Moon began, "I seem to remember you could barely even stand up just a few minutes ago. Is it really wise for you to be trying to take me on in your condition?" she taunted. Rainbow Dash, in response, snorted dismissively and flicked her tail in annoyance. "I got better." "So I can see," Nightmare Moon replied, equally dismissive. "You're either brave or crazy, thinking you can actually take me on all by yourself. I've withstood the best efforts of two princesses that drastically eclipse every other pony in Equestria, and whatever that biped is. What could you possibly do to me? What could you even hope to do against the likes of me!?" "Win." The statement nearly made Nightmare Moon do a double take. It was so simple compared to the sort of bold boasts she'd anticipated encountering, and delivered in such a matter-of-factually manner of speech, it completely caught her off guard. It was all like some humble inversion of arrogance or something. Did this foalish mare really believe her own hype that much, that she honestly believed she could persevere through this? She laughed in response. An honest to goodness belly laugh overtaking her, the whole thing just too outrageous to believe. It was enough to make her eyes water with amusement. Laughing, as it turned out, had been a very bad idea on her part in this situation; a fact she learned only after her eyes had closed, as she felt herself being kicked right in the chin with a shod hoof, delivering enough force to make her head snap back. And as she was currently hovering off the ground, the degree of force proved sufficient to move the rest of her body as well. Apparently she was going to need to continue paying attention. Snapping her head -and her focus- back forward, she caught sight of Rainbow Dash readying another assault against her. In response, she reached out and ensnared the fierce pegasus in her magic, halting her forward travel entirely. "Well now, you're certainly a spirited wench," she commented, amused by the futile struggles to try and get free. "Usually it's only villains who attack when somepony has their eyes shut." "I'm learning," Rainbow Dash grunted, "like how you're afraid of me." Secure in the knowledge that Rainbow Dash was... well... secured, Nightmare Moon allowed herself to be amused once again by the latest statement. the first one had been hilarious enough, but this was just pure gold! "Oh really now? And whatever gave you that idea, little pegasus?" "Would I really be ensnared like this if you weren't afraid of me?" Rainbow Dash asked pointedly, before giving what was ultimately a futile struggle against her entrapment. "We both know the truth. If you didn't have your stupid alicorn magic to hide behind, you wouldn't even last five minutes against me; I'd rip you limb from limb in a physical fight, and you know it!" The more she talked, the more Nightmare Moon was uncertain if she should feel amused or offended by what she heard. "Little pegasus, you have no idea who you're dealing with..." she muttered in response. "I could crush you as easily as I would squash a bug under my hoof." "Oh really? You think you're so tough? Go ahead and put your ass where your mouth is!" Rainbow Dash retorted. Nightmare Moon blinked slowly in response, trying to make sense of what she'd just heard. "And why exactly would I want to-" "You know damn well what I mean!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "I've been kicking your ass pretty good so far, let's see if you can actually walk the walk. Show me that there's more than big talk and fancy magic to you! Show me that you aren't just another Trixie!" Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes in response, glaring at Rainbow Dash in utter annoyance. She certainly had a lot of nerve talking to her like that. And that last comment... that was just plain uncalled for! "And why exactly would I feel motivated to do something like that? Why should I lower myself to your pathetic little level?" "Pride," Rainbow Dash stated flatly. "Nopony's going to respect a queen that's afraid to get a little dirty in a physical confrontation to defend her title. You're gonna be the laughing stock of all Equestria and beyond. If you aren't already, that is." As hard as it was to believe, Nightmare Moon found it possible to glare even harder at Rainbow Dash. This cocky, arrogant pegasus was mocking and openly taunting her without an ounce of regard for the consequences of her actions. Was she unaware of the fact that she could be crushed like an empty soda can, or did she simply not care about such facts? Still, there was the nagging -even if it was extremely remote- possibility that she was right in what she was saying about the matter of respect. If she was to rule unopposed, the spirit of resistance would have to be crushed into dust, so nopony got the bright idea to oppose her. Not that they would, as there would be no witnesses left to tell anyone. But then again, what if there were? Celestia's prized pupil was unbelievably intelligent and always up to something; who knew what sort of magic she might be utilizing right now. For all she knew, the fight was being broadcast all over Equestria in an effort to undermine her effectiveness, and weaken her image as a mighty ruler. The way Rainbow Dash was talking, that certainly sounded like it was a possibility. She knew that such magic existed, as it existed over a thousand years ago, and there was no reason to believe it had been forgotten about with the passage of time. Trying to conquer and rule all of Equestria would be difficult if its citizenry didn't properly fear her; trying to take Manehattan alone would be an arduous task if the entire city saw her as nothing more than a joke to be mocked and ridiculed right to her face rather than feared. If that was truly the case, that was simply unacceptable. There would be none of that to be had. If this pony was so eager to march to her own death, then she'd willingly oblige her. And with that thought, she gave a wide, toothy smirk to her opponent as the glow of her horn faded. "Well then, you annoying little cockroach," she practically purred through her smirk. "If you truly believe that you can live up to your own hype, then by all means. I'll give you your five minutes to prove your worth against me in physical prowess," she stated. Or at least she tried to state such, in an effort to convey just how hopeless this endeavor actually was. She hadn't even gotten past "five" before being plowed into as Rainbow Dash went on the offensive, slamming both front hooves into her abdomen, and not even waiting for her to finish her sentence. As much as she was loathe to admit it, that was unexpected, and that had actually managed to hurt. In hindsight, maybe she really should've been anticipating that, but she'd been in the moment... Having donated mana for a worthy cause once before, Rarity knew what she was going to be in for when she volunteered to assist this time around. Although with the others helping share the burden, it wasn't nearly as exhausting to experience; she was winded, but she was hardly down for the count. "Thank you, my friends," Luna stated, the infusion of mana from them already serving to do wonders on her appearance, with color already returning to her cheeks, and overall leaving her looking more refreshed than just moments ago. "I believe I can take it from here, now." "Good," Twilight replied and nodded hastily. The sooner Luna was able to recharge and get back into battle, the better off they'd all be. Thankfully, Luna had wasted no time in casting the necessary spell to begin forcefully drawing in mana from the surrounding area to expedite the process. She knew better than anypony what the stakes were, and wasn't about to waste time with unnecessary talking. "A'right then," Applejack spoke up, "now that we've got Luna situated an' all, wha's the second thing ya were talkin' 'bout?" The second thing Applejack had spoken of was more or less an unspoken matter at the time, but Twilight wasn't about to waste time splitting hairs on that particular issue. "Right. Until Luna's in a condition to get back into battle, she's going to be vulnerable if Nightmare Moon tries to attack. That means we have to guard her, and prevent that from actually happening," she explained. "Wait, wait, wait," Pinkie interrupted, "we're the filler?" Twilight could only sigh and nod in response. "We're the filler." "Filler sucks!" Spike objected at hearing this. "Don' we all know it," Applejack agreed as she looked off absently, not at anypony in particular, but rather beyond them. "There's been too dang much filler goin' on lately if ya ask me..." "Well, be that as it may, we still have a job we need to do, and a duty to protect Princess Luna, as she can't protect herself," Rarity pointed out, before snorting and flicking her mane back as she continued speaking. "Filler or not, Nightmare Moon is not going to be getting past us without a fight. If the wench wants a victory on this night, then she's actually going to have to go about earning it." Despite the ambient temperature, Pinkie felt a shiver run up along her spine, as if she'd just been exposed to winds from the arctic north. Never before could she remember Rarity's tone being so... intimidating, so... frightening! And yet despite the sheer menace it contained, she still sounded just as refined and sophisticated as ever when she was speaking. It made her -and likely the rest of them- thankful that Rarity's ire wasn't directed at her. Rainbow Dash's assault was as furious as it was fast. The instant she'd felt the magical restraint on her begin to fade she'd charged forward, opting not to waste any time in listening to whatever self important nonsense Nightmare Moon might have to say on the matter. She'd plowed full force into the larger mare to shut her right up, and immediately followed up the initial assault with a rapid series of hard blows from her shod hooves to any body part available that was within striking distance. She was going to have this situation in the bag and under control, and not allow the enemy the chance to recuperate. Except that's not how things went. That's not how things went at all. She'd started out ferocious, tearing into Nightmare Moon with the same zeal as she'd seen Gilda rip into a piece of prime meat when they were still friends and on speaking terms. But that ferociousness just didn't seem like it was enough in this case. Within a half dozen or so blows, her hooves were seriously aching and had forced her to break off her assault as she cradled them. Aches and pains were nothing new to her; they went with the territory of being an athlete dead set on impressing the Wonderbolts. She'd learned to tolerate all kinds of discomfort and push them out of the forefront of her mind. But this was something new entirely. This was a pain that felt like it radiated deep, right in her very nerve endings, with a deep throbbing sort of burn that she just couldn't seem to get to in order to try and sooth it. It was like she was going up against the solid steel door to Ponyville's bank vault, or something like that. Making matters worse was the fact that Nightmare Moon didn't look any worse for wear after all that. Even after taking a hoof right to the face, she looked more annoyed than in pain. She also looked disappointed, like she was actually expecting something more. Or maybe she was looking amused. it was too hard to tell. "Oh? What's the matter, little pegasus? Did you find out that you can't actually contend with the big ponies like you thought you could?" she asked in a tone that was thick was sarcasm and mock concern. "Do you need to go back to building blocks and crayons?" "Me? Worry about yourself," Rainbow Dash grunted stubbornly and tried to shake the pain out of her hooves. "I'm just getting warmed up." "You're certainly taking your own sweet time at warming up. If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were trying to court me instead," Nightmare Moon retorted with a smirk. "Frankly, if I was interested in a kiss, I could just go see your mother instead." Now it was Rainbow Dash's turn to glare angrily in response. "Don't you dare bring Mom into this..." Rather than engaging in a battle of wits and petty taunts, Nightmare Moon opted to demonstrate the fact that she could indeed dodge, by moving her head back and out of the way of Rainbow Dash's right hind leg swinging at her. She'd already demonstrated that she could easily tank a blow without suffering any ill effects in the process, as well as evaluated the amount of force her opponent could muster against her in this fight. Simply shrugging off her attempts as if they were nothing -which they were- would certainly serve to break her spirits. But to demonstrate that she could easily avoid injury all together without even having to try, that could potentially do much worse psychological damage, as she'd have to realize that she simply couldn't keep up, no matter how many spin kicks she threw. The idea of breaking the speedster all over again by demonstrating just how slow she really was tickled her greatly. Yes, that would work just f- "GURK!" Her wicked monologuing was suddenly interrupted by a painful, unexpected blow being delivered right to her exposed belly, all but doubling her over as she cradled herself in pain and surprise. That... that had hurt! That wasn't to say the previous blows being delivered hadn't hurt, but this has been especially bad, and felt like it was right up there with being impaled through the chest. Something was very, very wrong with all of this... Over where Rainbow Dash currently hovered, she was experiencing similar yet opposite questions about what had just transpired. She knew that her kick had connected with Nightmare Moon, as she'd felt the impact with her back hoof. What she hadn't felt, however, was the excruciating pain had been following as a result of the impact. And how had she actually kicked Nightmare Moon back when the previous blows hadn't done anything? Something very weird was going on here, but she didn't know what it was just yet. This was going to take some investigation. But she didn't have time for that at the moment! She didn't have the time to just stand around and egghead the situation like Twilight would; she had to deal with Nightmare Moon first before she had the chance to get her bearings back! She'd reengage now, focus on the task at hoof, and then and only then would she... Huh. "Son of a bitch..."