//------------------------------// // Destruction of Faith // Story: Day & Night // by Reminisce //------------------------------// The Nightmare sat alone in what used to be her ruling chambers. She could feel her insides turning from the accursed stallions trickery, not even a single one of her children could be trusted. They were all byproducts of her godly magic and even they sought to undermine her greatness. Nightmare Moon shook with unbridled rage, he paid for his crimes with his life, and even then that didn't serve to satisfy her. Those ponies, those intruders would also have to pay for their crimes against a god, they would have to suffer for every second they breathed to disobey her.  The large black Alicorn stood to her full height, she could feel them near. She could also strongly sense the strengthened state of their elements, she almost laughed at their folly. To think they’d have such faith in powers that were unable to destroy her once, now all that was on her mind was who she’d torture first. Nightmare Moon then ran her long narrow tongue across her fangs, they were so close that she could literally taste them now. Her eyes were set on the entrance of the chamber she occupied, unblinking as she awaited their arrival. They stopped beyond the doors, obviously feeling her magical pressure, feeling her intimidating presence. But she would wait no longer, lighting her long black horn, she effortlessly ripped the large doors off the hinges. Revealing the five shocked ponies beyond it, she could taste their fear as they failed to approach. “Forward, thou deaths await thy five.” Nightmare Moon calmly addressed them, her blue bat like eyes sizing up her prey. Forward they moved, all five of them filed in. Nightmare Moon was amused to see all of their elements were released, not to mention they all had new toys that would serve them no purpose. The Nightmare wore a crooked grin as she stepped forward as well, she could see their eyes set on the bodies she had drained. Their expressions were priceless, the yellow Pegasus had to hold back the vomit threatening to spill from her mouth. But it was the expression of her child, the orange pony saw through the Nightmare clearly with the eyes of honesty, she could see the full extent of their failings. The stallion may have betrayed her, but he left everything in the hooves of fools; they had no way of extracting the element from her body. “I-impossible…” Applejack stuttered, stopping completely. “Applejack?” Pinkie casually questioned. “Yes, Honesty, tell the truth of what thou am, what I harbor inside me.” Nightmare exclaimed. “Loyalty.” Applejack bleakly spat out. “Wha- How is that even…” Twilight couldn't comprehend it. “Rainbow!” Fluttershy cried, lunging past everypony to rush at Nightmare Moon. A foolish move that made zero sense, a move the Nightmare Moon would take full advantage of. Without hesitation, Nightmare Moon lit her horn and a black spike erupted from the ground, preparing to impale the Pegasus much like the traitorous stallion before her. Luckily Twilight was quick enough to yank Fluttershy back with her magic, but combat had been initiated, and the Nightmare immediately followed up. A barrage of magic rushed the group, in which Twilight reacted again with a powerful barrier enhanced by her released element. Her eyes shined white as she struggled to maintain it against the Nightmare’s unrelenting attack. “Twilight!” Applejack shouted. “I’m fine, we need to find an opening…” Twilight grunted after a particularly powerful blast struck the barrier. “She has to have a weakness!” Applejack readied her lasso, and Pinkie put a hoof on her dreamcatcher. The two of them nodded to each other in some form of agreement. “Ok, let down the barrier in three, and be sure to scatter. We all don't need to be standing in the same spot if she decides to incinerate somepony.” Pinkie calmly said. Everypony just nodded. “One…” “Two..” “Three!” Applejack was the first to act by dodging one blast as soon as the barrier dropped and launching her lasso at the Nightmare. Nightmare Moon was quick to swat away the feeble rope with a hoof, but her simple action broke her concentration long enough for Pinkie to slide right underneath her. Still she seemed unconcerned, lighting her long black horn, she was prepared to strike. Yet again she was interrupted by a swift kick to her horn, Nightmare swore she saw pink fluff out of the corner of her eye, yet the Pink pony was still beneath her. And in that same moment Pinkie bucked Nightmare Moon right in her barrel, nearly causing the godly Alicorn to fold over. Noticing Pinkie and Applejacks success, Twilight decidedly stuck to the offense. With her element fully released, she managed to open the strange book with ease. The book immediately flipped several pages over and only a few words formed on the pages to be legible to the small Unicorn. Looking up from the book she saw two Pinkies swarming the defensive Alicorn, she saw the one dreamscape Pinkie engaging side by side with her counterpart. How the two of them were occupying the same space was unknown, but not unwelcome. Also Applejack had managed to get her lasso around the Nightmares neck. All while shouting predictive commands to the Pinkies, Twilight however focused back into her book. Reading the line a few times, she was pleased to find that it was an offensive incantation. “Move!” Twilight shouted. Applejack and the Pinkies did just that, leaving a stunned Nightmare Moon standing center, seemingly unscathed by their onslaught. “Insolence!” Nightmare Moon growled. Twilight responded swiftly with the incantation from the book, causing her magic to flow directly into its pages without her lighting her horn. Nightmare Moon was quick to notice the danger, Still she stood her ground and shot a swift blast of magic towards the concentrating Twilight. Twilight didn't even look up from the book, she couldn't afford to. Instead Rarity jumped in front of the blast, horn shimmering a bright blue. A small wall of magic formed in front of the young Unicorn, but she knew it wouldn't be enough to stop the blast of dark magic. She was no prodigy like Twilight, yet she wasn't entirely forfeit when it came to her intuition. Right before the blast made impact, Rarity tilted the magical wall slightly up. The Nightmare scoffed at her foolish attempt at deflecting the blow, and with one swift motion of the Alicorns hoof sent the magical projectile on an angled trajectory as well.  Rarity eyes went wide when she saw that the blast was going to fully impact her barrier regardless. The young Unicorn could do nothing when the furious mass of dark magic shattered her barrier and impacted the ground in front of the mare. The effect of the blast was utter destruction, a large crater was left in the stone slab and Rarity skidded a few feet away, singed and severely injured. “Rarity!” Fluttershy screamed, rushing to the aid of her friend. Applejack also hurried to  help Rarity while the Pinkies stayed on either side of the Nightmare, unsure of their next move. The flat mane Pinkie nodded to her counterpart, causing the floofy mane one to salute and rush to the Unicorn as well. The Pinkie they all knew now stood alone, and was the only thing that separated Twilight and the monster. “Pathetic worms!” Nightmare Moon cackled hysterically, all the while casually moving closer to the desperate Twilight. But she stopped when she felt an obvious shift in the air, and took no time to light her horn in defense. Immediately after Nightmare Moon's acknowledgement, a familiar deafening boom filled the entire chamber. The blast sent rubble and debris flying all over the place, obscuring everypony's vision temporarily. Pinkie stood skeptically from behind her cannon, chances were that the Alicorn had either dodged or blocked the blast. When the dust settled, Pinkie gave a tired sigh when she saw Nightmare Moon standing triumphantly in place. Everything around her was destroyed and the full moon was visible from the decimated outside wall, the Nightmare was silhouetted perfectly while standing in front of it. “Zero of two…” Pinkie dead-panned, her dull blue eyes never leaving Nightmare Moon. “My turn.” Nightmare Moon smiled. Pinkie frowned, then felt a sharp stabbing pain erupt from her midsection.  The other Pinkie that was attempting to help up the injured Rarity gasped before turning to confirm her fears. Applejack did so as well after seeing the fluffy maned Pinkies reaction, and her honest eyes couldn't believe it. From behind her cannon, the Pinkie they knew was stabbed straight through her barrel by the overlapping shadow of Nightmare Moon from underneath her. But the strangest part was that there was no blood, nor did Pinkie struggle or scream. Her fur started to fade, revealing the nothingness that laid beneath it. Even her full blue irises faded, leaving nothing but the white of her eyes, giving the impaled Pinkie a ghostly appearance. “Tanny!” The fluffy mane Pinkie yelled frantically.  “That's what thou is, I must give thy credit for creating such an intricate Tantabus.” Nightmare Moon maniacally laughed. “But no such tricks shall compare to my power!” The impaled Pinkie that was just revealed to be a magical construct simply replied with one futile attack. With her pony form broken, the Tantabus was prepared to mimic the Nightmare by elongating its hoof to create a spike aimed at the monster's skull. Nightmare Moon, unblinking, then lit her horn in response. And like that, the impaled Tantabus faded from existence before her last attack could connect, being entirely dispelled by Nightmare Moon. Everypony gasped when it happened, then they looked to the last Pinkie standing and noticed the cursed tattoo reforming up her right hoof. Also she took on the trademark features of an Everfree pony; such as fangs, a thicker coat, and everything else. Twilight didn't understand what really happened, but she gritted her teeth in frustration. Pinkie bought enough time, the incantation was complete and Nightmare Moon was going to pay. Again the Nightmare turned her attention to Twilight and rolled her eyes at the book aimed towards her. She was going to light her horn again, but something interrupted her casting, she remembered it fondly. However this time its casting was completely cut off, it felt like her magic was being rebounded back at her to cause the cancellation. Looking to the left she saw the smirking Rarity that laid on the ground with a dagger gripped in her mouth, the Unicorn's horn glowed a bright red and so did the dagger as it was piercing a puddle of her own blood. The dagger slowly lengthened and transformed into a sword by using Rarity’s own life force combined with Nightmare Moon's dark magic. Nightmare Moon knew a vampiric blade when she saw one, but that one was being wielded by an element. The confusion aided Twilight, because once she spoke the magical incantation it activated in a flash of light, causing Nightmare Moon to cringe from the brightness. It took not even a second for the monster to recover and attempt to take defensive action. But her attempts were failed ones, her magic was still surprisingly cut off and the incantation activated from above her. A beam of concentrated light engulfed Nightmare, causing the monster to buckle under the intense magical pressure.  The Abyss The darkness had become normal to the chromatic Pegasus drifting aimlessly through it. Even the little magic cloud pony thing that currently floated by her side ceased to amuse her. It took the small sight of something other than darkness to stir the Pegasus, it seemed like a little bit of light had pierced the abyss she occupied. It even got the magic beside her to jump in surprise, not only that, it seemed like she could feel it. The light pierced not only the darkness, it pierced her, and that scared the Pegasus. The magical cloud didn't seem concerned, it moved enthusiastically towards the pinprick of light. It deformed from a pony back to a shapeless cloud, the Pegasus thought it was trying to escape the prison without her. But instead it attempted to widen the piercing light to allow more of it to breach the darkness, and it succeeded. The chromatic Pegasus couldn't comprehend what she saw once the hole was large enough, she rubbed her eyes to make sure it just wasn't an illusion. Before her was a clear picture, there were the elements all standing before her. Some of them looked badly hurt and her friend Fluttershy just seemed terrified for her life, it was all so surreal for her, and the worst part was the fact that they all seemed to be staring at her in defensive positions. That made the Pegasus’s mind go a mile a minute; where was she, why were they hurt, and why did she feel so much pain.  Her back and wings ached for a moment while a tingling sensation enveloped the rest of her body. Something was happening, something that the darkness inside and around her didn't like. The hole she was peering through quickly began to close despite the little magical clouds struggling to keep it open. It didn't take long for the darkness to completely consume them again, and the Pegasus was left with a flurry of panicked thoughts. Castle Nightingale Everypony looked at the scorch mark that replaced Nightmare Moon, they just knew it wouldn't have been that easy to defeat an evil Alicorn. Twilight and Applejack both stayed focused on the scorch mark, fully expecting a counter attack. Fluttershy looked tearfully over Rarity’s injuries, and they didn't look very good. Fluttershy could tell that her friend was holding back her tears, her pain. Her entire left hoof was singed and there were at least a few places where she was visibly hit with shrapnel of stone; it was a miracle that she was even still conscious.  “...” Rarity didn't respond from where she laid, she just looked off in the same direction that Nightmare Moon once was. The now large blade she possessed still pulsed with Nightmare Moon's magic, the monster was still there, she knew it. Pinkie’s fluffy tail started to spontaneously twitch, and her bright blue eyes grew wide. “Watch ou-” Her warning was cut short by Nightmare Moon's telekinetic grip around her neck. Pinkie's eyes nearly bulged out of her head from the force of the dark magic, it was clear that Nightmare Moon was going to kill her. Twilight was the first to attempt to dispel the magic but failed, Applejack scanned the room and saw no sight of the Nightmare. Not even the eyes of honesty could discover the source of the dark magic strangling her friend. Rarity sighed darkly as she watched her friends panic, there wasn’t much more she could give, still the blade called to her as it pulsed with active magic. Using her magic, she shakenly levitated the artifact near her, the pain was borderline unbearable. That was until Rarity felt a calming washing over her, it was very strange until Rarity saw Fluttershy focusing her element. Fluttershy knew she had to help, she had to do something. Even if she didn't exactly know what she was doing, Fluttershy just felt that she could with her artifact. Which was currently floating around Rarity, she could feel the butterfly soothing her friend's pain as she acted. The butterscotch Pegasus knew that she wouldn't like the results of her aide, but they had a fight to win. With a dulled sense of pain, Rarity was prepared to cancel the magic herself and pay the price to reveal Nightmare Moon. However that plan was destroyed by the Nightmares magic gripping the rest of them by their necks as well. Twilight dropped her book to attempt to free herself from the magical chokehold, and everypony else struggled as they were slowly lifted off the ground. The shadows around them shifted and lifted off the ground, spinning until the dark Alicorn was once again standing unscathed in front of the gasping five. “Enough.” Nightmare Moon calmly stated. She then levitated the five of them together so that they were all staring at their deaths in its cold and unfeeling eyes. Nightmare Moon levitated them higher, they got close to making the monster slip, everything it fought for nearly got extinguished by a bunch of insignificant mortals. The Nightmare strengthened its grip, and it watched them all slowly stop fighting, one after another they began to go limp. A satisfied smile graced the monster's maw as she savored every second of it. That was until a small red gem fell out from between the ponies, it bounced off the stone slab and rolled to the hooves of Nightmare Moon. “Pointless.” Nightmare Moon chuckled darkly. “Thou have already lost.” Nightmare Moon took its eyes off of the ponies to look at the artifacts scattered across the chamber floor. The book, lasso, blade, and the dreamcatcher were all disposed of and useless. However the Alicorn felt like it was forgetting something, something very detrimental to its success. Nightmare Moon looked up and counted them all out and counted the artifacts on the ground… four… “Pegasus!” Nightmare shout, violently yanking the crying mare forward with her magic. “Where is thy artifact, or must thou kill the others quicker” As she was going to commit her treachery, said artifact was floating gently behind Nightmare and landed on its flanks. Nightmare Moon froze instantly at the foreign contact, her magical grip loosened a bit, allowing the five to breath. The Abyss There it was again, that strange hole slowly opened and the cloud of magic acted to widen it. The Pegasus wanted to turn away or close her eyes, she wasn't happy with what she saw before, who knew what she’d see now. Just when she was trying to avoid the light beyond the abyss, the magic swirled around her, clearly indicating it's frustrated with her reluctance. With no other choice, the Pegasus opened her magenta eye just to be taken aback by the sight. Through the abyss her friend was being dangled by her neck in front of the Pegasus. The Pegasus frantically reached out to her friend to help, and was shocked to find a black hoof move towards Fluttershy as well from beyond the abyss. The Pegasus stopped reaching as soon as she realized the effect it had on her terrified friend.  The cloud of magic shimmered alongside the mare, causing the magic that was strangling Fluttershy to abruptly cut out. Allowing the other ponies to fall to the ground rubbing their necks as well. The floating Pegasus was filled with rage, she wasn't very smart, but she wasn't an idiot either. Wherever she was, she was being used… it was a simple fact, and she was being used to harm her only friend. No, she knew Applejack and Pinkie, could they be her friends as well? No matter what was happening, she felt stronger, she felt in control, even if it was for a brief moment. Concentrating hard on herself, she could feel the darkness wane and give way to the recently suppressed sensation deep down. For some reason, her head gravitated downwards, where the view from beyond the abyss followed and she was able to lay her focused eyes on the little red gem at the bottom of some black hooves. The determined Pegasus tried her best to reach for it, but the darkness was creeping back. The view the little cloud of magic had fought for was quickly closing, but the Pegasus still tried, she could still fight. It was to no avail however, their view snapped shut and some mysterious dark tendrils surrounded the Pegasus; restraining her arms, hooves, and wings with ease. The cloud of magic dissipated as well, the Pegasus couldn't tell if it was the effect of the darkness or it just fled the tendrils grasp. But she was alone again, left to suffer her unknown fate at the hooves of the darkness. Castle Nightingale Nightmare Moon was flabbergasted at her loss of control, she felt something touch her and everything spun for a moment and she lost control. “R-rain- She's in there…” Fluttershy stuttered as she made as much distance between herself and Nightmare Moon. Twilight thought about how close they were to failure, and the situation they were in. At first she believed that they were an element short, in reality, Loyalty was gift wrapped inside Nightmare Moon. Brilliance wouldn't do the former element of Loyalty justice, now they just had to follow up and breach the seemingly unbreachable Nightmare. They caught a glimpse of what lay beneath, victory was possible. That was until she saw Rarity injury again, and the state of fatigue that Pinkie was in. Those two were the biggest distractions they had to offer, without their efforts the chances they had were abysmal. There had to be a way to turn the tables in their favor, and Twilight instantly brought up Nightmare Moon's reaction to Loyalty’s gem, it was the catalyst. The lavender Unicorn was quick to teleport the gem back to her hooves. Nightmare Moon acted immediately by spreading her wings and flew straight at the Unicorn, but was abruptly yanked back by a lasso wrapping around its neck again. Applejack had expertly tousled the monster, and had the lasso firm in the grip of her mouth. With the lasso combined with her eyes she could clearly see Nightmare Moon's next move. “It's tryin’ ta smash that gem!” Applejack alerted with the rope still somehow firm in her grip. Nightmare Moon recovered fast and yanked back on the lasso herself, causing Applejack to stumble forward due to its unexpected strength. Still the Everfree pony stood strong, and just dug in deeper, not wanting to get any closer to the Nightmare. Now annoyed, Nightmare Moon lit her horn, wanting to decimate honesty and her artifact. But her casting was again interrupted by a blood magic counterspell. Nightmare Moon turned sharply left to eye the offending pony responsible, but was met with a comically sized mallet to the face. The mallet however had little effect as it splintered over Nightmare Moon's head. “Oh phooey…” The fluffy mane Pinkie frowned, and then rolled back out of the way before it got really mad. Twilight didn't have time to marvel at their efforts, she instead levitated her book back while she could Still keep her element activated and hoped for something useful. The pages in the book magically flipped without Twilight's intervention, landing on a rather long section that slowly became legible to the Unicorn. “Enough!” Nightmare Moon roared, causing a shockwave of pure magic to blast Applejack and Pinkie both back into a wall. Then she followed up with a quick bolt of magic towards the pestering injured Unicorn who was somehow standing again with a butterfly on her shoulder and the artifact of generosity in her magical grip. Taking advantage of the calm, confidence, and courage Fluttershy's element emanated. Rarity stood fast and held the long blade in front of her, and as if she had been doing it all of her life, slashed downwards and completely absorbed the dark magic. Nightmare Moon's eyes went wide, there was no conceivable way that they were already proficient with the artifacts that they recently discovered. Just when the Nightmare had thought it had passed its state of shock, Rarity reversed her magical grip and slashed upwards. Send the Nightmare’s bolt of magic right back at her, but the monster was quick to dispel the attack inches from impact. The monster heard the book wielding Unicorn rambling off an unknown incantation from behind her, she was distracted. Whipping around on a dime, Nightmare Moon saw the red gem react to her words and glowed dimly as it levitated on its own, unassisted by any Unicorn. The gem then transformed before their very eyes, causing everypony to freeze at the sight. When it stopped glowing, the gem was still there, but was attached to an end of a long black shaft. And on the opposite end of where the gem was embedded, a Sharp blade that was crafted to resemble a lighting bolt was on top of it. Nightmare Moon was enraged at the sight of the spear, she had never touched the element, that should've been impossible. Twilight saw the emotions on the Nightmares face and smirked at their new found leverage. Not wasting any time, Twilight gripped the spear with her magic while she still had the opportunity and launched it squarely at the Nightmare at a speed that only magic could accomplish. Everypony hoped it would work, Twilight had faith that it would affect the monster someway, she just wanted to make it out alive at this point. Nightmare Moon watched the Unicorn cockily launch the spear with an eye twitch. Either way, Nightmare Moon has no intention of making it that easy for them, and with a surge of instinct the Alicorn caught the spear with a swift hoof. Twilight let out a frustrated scream at how close she thought she was. Nightmare Moon just looked blankly at the offending mare and turned the spear in her hoof. “Die.”