Chapter Ninety
Being thrown against a tree and coming to a sudden, dead stop, was hardly the most pleasant thing in the world to experience.
Being thrown against a tree with enough force to completely shatter its trunk and go flying right through it like it wasn't even there, was decidedly even less pleasant to experience.
And unfortunately for Raindragon, she had the misfortune of learning this fact for herself firsthoof in her fight against Luna, who was currently dominating the engagement with great ease.
Rainbow Dash had been tenacious, and simply refused to give up no matter how hard she was beaten; mostly because she'd undertaken a suicide mission for the sake of protecting the rest of Equestria with her very life. The Espada possessed physical strength unlike anything else that had been experienced in this world, ferocity that rivaled anything that lived in the Everfree Forest, and a viscous streak that had to be at least a mile wide, considering some of the things that had been done so readily.
But when it came to Luna, she was an absolutely different story, on an entirely different level! That mare had offensive magic, and she wasn't the least bit afraid to use it either. The mane tendrils had just been the tip of the iceberg, even if they did have the power to break a tree in half with a single strike; something that had been demonstrated during her desperate efforts at evading them.
Getting flung away had been a stroke of good fortune for her, as she wasn't sure how much more of a whipping she could've taken had Luna simply focused on beating her butt like she had been. But none of that meant her efforts at escape and evasion were proving to be any easier. Luna was absolutely relentless in her pursuit, and hadn't been giving her so much as even a second's rest throughout it all. It didn't matter where she went, or how far away from their last location she traveled, or how she attempted to hide, the alicorn was practically right there waiting for her! And she was pissed!
Just beneath that calm, seemingly placid veneer that the alicorn wore, was a raging, seething bundle of fury the likes of which she had never encountered before, and certainly never wanted to ever again! The utter fury that her blows carried with them said a great deal without the need for words, and every hit landed -magical or physical, it didn't matter- left her without doubt that she was going to die if something didn't change fast. Even if her body was made of fog, of which there was a plentiful supply, that did nothing to change the fact that there were limits that couldn't be bypassed; something pointed out previously by Rainbow Dash in her own unique way.
Her efforts at getting back onto her feet after being thrown right through the tree, however, were stopped as she found Luna's front hoof pinning her down on the ground, applying a great deal of weight to the barrel.
"You look fatigued. Perhaps you would like a rest before we continue?" Luna asked as she looked down at her, her tone dripping with enough sarcasm it was practically drool at the moment. "I swore an oath early on into this mess that once I found the one responsible for hurting my friend, the punishment inflicted upon them would be legendary even in Tartarus. Being royalty, I cannot go back on my word. So that means I must figure out just how to fulfill my oath!"
The next thing Raindragon knew, she was being treated to the sensation of her left front leg being enveloped in Luna's magic, and wrenched with such force, the limb was forcefully ripped completely loose from her body.
The pain of feeling her body ripped apart so violently was more than she could possibly process. She tried to scream out in agony, only to find out that she couldn't. She didn't realize until what seemed like an eternity later, that she had actually been screaming the entire time; she simply hadn't known such because she'd been in so much pain that her brain had temporarily stopped processing information being picked up by her ears.
"For being nothing but a fog construct, you have quite a set of lungs to you," Luna idly commented as she examined the severed appendage with interest, before simply discarding it and returning her focus to her quarry.
"No more!" Raindragon gasped desperately, her throat aching from the sheer degree of screaming she'd done just moments prior. "Please no more!"
"I am sorry, my ears are still ringing from all of your screaming. Perchance were you asking me for an encore?" Luna asked, although her grin conveyed the fact that she knew full well what was being asked of her.
Before Raindragon could even protest, her other foreleg was violently ripped away from her body much like the first, sending her into a new wave of pain before the last one had even finished subsiding, renewing her inarticulate screams of pain and protest once again.
"I would advise you to save your screams, as you will really be needing them for later. But if you wish to burn yourself out now, Nightmare Moon, that is fine as well. Just do not blame me when you are croaking because you have nothing left to offer up!" Luna stated as she pressed her hoof down harder on her rib cage.
And then her hoof went right through Raindragon's rib cage, as her body completely dissolved away into fog, resulting in her hoof slamming against the forest floor. "What sort of trickery is this?" she asked as she looked about to see where her quarry had gone.
She got the answer to that question shortly afterwards, as she saw Raindragon hovering a good distance away from her, her forelegs now completely restored; as was the rest of her form.
"Alright. I'll admit Nightmare Moon might've done some pretty heinous stuff in the past. But you? You're being evil for the freakin' fun of it, you monster!" she yelled.
"Hello, Pot, my name is Kettle," was all Luna had to say in response with a frown. She did not like the fact that Nightmare Moon was comparing her to herself, and was making her out to be the worse of the two. "You are deserving of every last bit of evil heaped upon you, foul demon! You have murdered far too many innocent ponies to be shown any mercy! Beyond that you have devoured the souls of thirty four poor, innocent foals who never had any chance at living their lives! Beyond all of that you have seriously pissed me off to levels I did not even realize were physically possible! I am going to continue ripping you apart, until such time that there is no more fog left for you to hide behind!" she declared furiously.
"Whoa, now, easy," Raindragon quickly said as she held up her front claws defensively. "Can't we talk this over? Maybe come to some sort of an understanding, like civilized ponies?"
"Stupid force field," Rainbow Dash grumbled as she chomped down on a chocolate-covered protein bar in an aggressive manner. She knew full well that she had a long way to go before she was ready for another fight, she wouldn't even try to deny that. But what really burned her was the fact that the protection of the dome was also obscuring her view of the battle going on.
It wasn't so much of a problem since Luna and Raindragon had been fighting where she could see them, and observe every vicious beating her dragon doppelganger was subjected to. But when the battle had moved beyond the range of her vision as said doppelganger tried to escape, and she hadn't been able to follow after them, that's when the force field became a major and unwanted hindrance to her. Was it really asking too much to be able to see what was going on? She sure didn't think that it was.
"The least she could've done was leave me a first aid kit or something," she mumbled as she -once again- wiped the blood away from her face, all the while wondering when the cut on her head was going to stop bleeding. The fur on her forelegs was getting saturated in the stuff, and it wouldn't be long before she couldn't wipe it away anymore. She bet if she looked in a mirror right now, she'd be redder than even Big Macintosh.
At least the cut on her flank had finally started scabbing up. She'd been kind of worried about that one.
A loud crashing commotion against the side of the force field drew her attention away from her own thoughts, just in time to see Raindragon sliding down the side on her back, before collapsing in a heap on the forest floor.
"I guess that's a "no" then," she mumbled to herself, laying prostrate on the ground.
"Oi!" Rainbow Dash barked as she made her way over to the side of the force field and beat her shod hoof against it. "Hey! Raindragon! If you couldn't even kill me, what sort of chance do you think you have against Luna? You might wanna give up now and make it easy on yourself!"
"Your concern for my well being is touching," Raindragon commented sarcastically as she picked herself up off the ground, dusting herself off as she did. "But your precious Luna is going to be the one wishing she'd given up by the time I'm done with her."
Rainbow just glared in response.
"That is what you think."
"That's what I know!" Raindragon shot back. "Wait. How'd you say that when you didn't even move your lips? And why did your voice sound so different and..." she paused as she slowly realized what was going on. Slowly, ever so slowly, she looked behind her, her eyes falling upon the sight of Luna standing behind her. "Oh crud!"
The next thing Raindragon knew was her tail being grabbed by Luna's magic before she could run, and being pulled back towards her. She tried to halt herself, digging her talons into the ground as she tried to pull herself forward, but all that did was cut channels as she was pulled backwards regardless, by a strength much greater than her own.
"So I am going to be the one wishing I had given up, am I? Let us put your prediction to the test, shall we?" she asked rhetorically as she magically pulled Raindragon closer and closer to her.
"Stomp that ass, Luna!" Rainbow Dash called to her in support.
"You know, that is actually a very good idea. Thank you very much, Rainbow Dash!" Luna called back and grinned.
"Wait, what're you gonna-" Raindragon started to ask, only to stop and scream as she felt the crushing weight of all of Luna's shod hooves land on her back at the exact same time! She was being jumped on!
It wasn't even a single crushing jump either, no! It was multiple jumps, each one a crushing stomp on her back! And with each jump came Luna's comment of "bouncy!" to obnoxiously add insult to injury!
"This is the way we stomp the jerk, stomp the jerk, stomp the jerk! This is the way we stomp the jerk, so early in the morning!" Rainbow Dash belted out off key, serving to further infuriate her!
"This is the way we stomp the jerk, stomp the jerk, stomp the jerk! This is the way we stomp the jerk, so early in the morning!"
And then Luna joined in, mockingly singing equally off key as she repeatedly jumped and slammed her hooves down on her back, more or less pounding her into the ground like a tent stake all the while. The alicorn seriously needed to lay off all the snacks!
She didn't know which one of them thought it to be a good idea to shout "Olé!" at the end, nor did she really care at this point. All she wanted was for it to stop!
"I must admit, Nightmare Moon, I never would have thought that I could have this much fun with you," Luna admitted.
And then her attention was torn away as Rainbow Dash started screaming. Blood-curdling, mane-straightening screaming, the likes of which she'd never heard from the pegasus before. Immediately all attention was turned to the pegasus behind the force field, who was alternating between frantically running about, and furiously rolling about on the ground.
Immediately all thoughts on revenge -petty and otherwise- were abandoned as she leaped off of Raindragon's back and teleported inside the force field, anxiously wrapping her forelegs around Rainbow Dash to pull her close for security.
"Rainbow Dash, whatever is wrong? What is happening?" she asked frantically. But the mare's incoherent screaming wouldn't abate for anything whatsoever, no matter how loudly she asked, or how tightly she held her. If anything she was screaming even louder ever before! What was causing this? How could this be happening?
Immediately she turned her sights on Raindragon, who was currently getting up off the ground.
"What did you do to her!?" she shrieked loudly, burning with fury and rage, overcome with a strong desire to outright murder the one responsible for all of this suffering.
Raindragon just smirked in response. "This."
The next thing Luna knew was pain. Overwhelming, excruciating pain unlike anything she'd ever felt before. No longer was she burning with fury but rather fire! She was literally on fire! Every single nerve in her body was light up brightly. She howled loudly in pain as the flames incinerated her fur, her skin blistering up with blisters popping and oozing as the flames consumed her.
And then she wasn't on fire any longer. She blinked in disbelief, before seeing herself completely unharmed. There was no sign of flames, no fur absent, nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever. Nothing except for the memories of what she'd just gone through, and the uncertainty of whether it'd been a mere instant, or countless hours; with so much pain being experienced, even a second could seem like an eternity.
And then there was peace. No more screaming in pain, no more thrashing about, nothing. Looking down in her forelegs she realized that Rainbow Dash had lost consciousness. She was still breathing, confirming that she was certainly alive this time around. She could only assume that the pain had been so intense, her mind had shut down in order to stop processing it.
"I'm sure by now you realize that not being immersed in the fog is no defense against an attack. The fog just plants the seeds of terror, and Nightmare Moon can trigger a fear response in any exposed pony, at any time she wishes, regardless of their location. And there's not a thing you, or anypony else, can do to stop it," Raindragon explained with a wicked, sadistic grin at their suffering.
"Oh I am not so certain of that," Luna said as she slowly eased Rainbow Dash onto the ground, allowing her to stand back up again. "I am certain that killing you would do wonders to put an end to the terror you are spreading like a social disease."
"Wow. You're really dead set on believing that you can do what the Elements of Harmony couldn't do. That's either dedication, or stupidity," Raindragon commented.
Luna frowned in response. "So long as you feel like talking, how about an explanation on that matter? Just how did you survive the Elements of Harmony? Why are you not dead yet?"
"Really? A former Bearer yourself, and you still don't understand it? You're pretty dense, aren't you?" Raindragon asked, before plopping her haunches down on the ground to sit. "Alright, lemme break it down so even you can understand it. The Elements of Harmony can purify evil influences that might possess somepony, and they can imprison evil individuals so they can't hurt others, but they can't kill living beings; doesn't matter how evil that pony might be, the Elements can't and won't kill them. When you and the Mistress were separated from one another, that wasn't the end of the story. Being a living entity with sapience, sentience, whatever you wanna call it, she couldn't be killed. But lacking a physical body, she couldn't be imprisoned either, so she was more or less just kicked to the curb. You following so far?"
"More than I would care to," Luna grumbled in annoyance.
"Good. Now since the Mistress was a non-corporeal entity as a result of the separation, and finding herself without alicorn magic for the first time in a thousand years, she was forced to sustain herself off the primal fear of the various creatures inhabiting the Everfree Forest, working hard towards regaining her strength in hopes of reclaiming what was once hers," Raindragon continued.
"From the looks of it, your "mistress" has been working overtime at achieving her goals," Luna commented sarcastically. The way her adversary was referring to Nightmare Moon in such a revered way, and as if she were talking about a separate pony entirely, was grating on her nerves more and more with each utterance.
"Oh you don't even know the half of what the Mistress has been through since her defeat. Every single second of every day since then has been devoted towards her inevitable return to form. Holidays, the coldest of winters, hottest of summers, all for the sake of her resurrection. All of it up until..."
"... What? Until what?" Luna asked anxiously. As much as she hated listening to her adversary talking right now, admitting that the sudden end left her wanting to know more was something she hated even worse. Even if she was only admitting it to herself, she still hated it quite a bit.
"Oh don't worry. You'll find out soon enough," Raindragon assured her. "That is... provided you're strong enough to last that long."
"You need not concern yourself with my well being. I assure you, I am more than strong enough to weather whatever you may have to offer up," Luna stated, before teleporting back outside of the force field again, ready to go another round against her scaly adversary.
Raindragon smirked. "At first your optimism was cute. Now it's just annoying. No matter what you do you'll never be able to- GURK!"
Once more, Raindragon found herself forcefully interrupted in her narrative. But this time around it wasn't due to impalement, but rather the fact that her head was forcefully slammed to the ground, with Luna now standing atop it.
"As I said once before, you should know better than to trust a skilled illusionist," Luna stated. "Now then. I have had to deal with countless nightmares on the part of Rainbow Dash, filled with many heinous acts that have sickened me. So now I am going to pay you back with what you have paid out. I think it only fitting that you learn what it is like to experience these acts yourself firsthoof," she said with a malicious grin, even if her prey couldn't see it.
She couldn't quite make out what Raindragon had said, seeing as her face was slammed into the ground, but she was certain it was something appropriately dirty.
There was an uncomfortably, heavy sensation hanging in the air, in the aftermath of Celestia's words being spoken. That much was pretty much undeniable at this point. If one were to be particularly melodramatic, it was a heaviness that was threatening to crush all of them.
To be fair, however, it wasn't everyday that the leader of the nation told you to determine whether or not you were up for coming along to witness a state-sponsored killing. So the drama and the perceived weight of the situation were at least somewhat justified.
"My word," Rarity breathed as she brought her left hoof to her mouth.
"The only word we really have isn't good," Twilight stated, not knowing what else to really say in light of all this information.
"I... I-I don't know how to deal with something like this," Pinkie stated anxiously as she began pacing the room.
Looking around the room, Twilight could easily tell that it was a sentiment shared by the rest of them; even Fluttershy and Applejack, who had voted in favor of Ulquiorra's euthanasia plan, looked just as lost and confused and uncertain as all the others. But then again this wasn't an injured foal who was going to die regardless, so it made sense.
She had no idea just what they were going through right now, but she was fairly certain that it wasn't anything close to what she was feeling. Unlike the rest of them she'd been directly involved in a number of deaths, and see more of them than she cared to remember. First it was the changeling invasion of Ponyville that Ulquiorra had forced her to participate in, and then the manticore attack she'd indirectly been responsible for by going along with Pinkie's idea for a party. How many deaths did she have to her name anyway? If she counted the changelings it had to be forty at least, that was for sure. Until she final tally of manticore victims from Ponyville General, there was no telling just how many ponies had been murdered, or how many she'd unintentionally played a part in.
And then, there was the matter of her efforts at trying to murder Ulquiorra. She still hadn't gotten over that yet; neither her attempts at doing such, nor the fact that she could so readily come to making such a decision. It was scary to think about the possibility that she could so easily contemplate revenge being acceptable.
And now here they were, with talk about getting involved in yet another killing...
+++
"The truest definition of murder is the unjustified taking of life through an act of malice. What is being suggested, is an act devoid of any malice. In fact it could be argued that suggesting to the contrary would be the truly malicious act, as it would serve to only inflict greater suffering on one that is helpless."
"It isn't the act of killing that scares you. Nor is it the emotional reaction you would face after having to take a life. What truly scares you is the thought that one day you might not feel anything. You look at me, and the ease in which I have killed others, and it scares you to think that you might become like me. You fear losing the regard you hold for the lives of others, and will have no qualms with murdering them for whatever reason. That if you proceed down this path, one day you might even come to... enjoy the prospect of murdering someone."
"You're attempting to apply your world's logic and values to a wholly alien matter. Enjoyment and a sense of fulfillment aren't requirements for being skilled in a particular field. Killing is not something I have any particular care for, I merely do it because it proves to be a necessity. You have to remember, killing is an everyday necessity in Hueco Mundo where only the strong survive. Only the strongest Hollow may assert control of a Gillian and seek to evolve into a Vasto Lorde. There is no room for hesitation or reluctance."
"The matter at hand is quite serious. If you truly intend to go through with this, then make sure it is for the right reasons. Do not seek out praise, or revenge, or even attempt to avenge those that have already died. Do not act out of anger, or fear, but rather because you believe it's the correct decision. Do it because you believe the act is justified by the circumstances, because no other alternative is feasible. And if you can't do that, then acknowledge the fact early on while you still have the chance to make the decision, rather than attempt to wait until it's too late."
"There will be times when hard decisions have to be made. When one must weigh the potential outcomes of whatever course of action they choose to take, and must be done quickly; sometimes in the space of time it takes one to blink. Sometimes even faster than that. The decision to weigh six, in exchange for six million, is something that may have to be regarded as being a distinct possibility at some point. But simply because we accept that a specific course of action must be taken, doesn't necessarily make it any easier to actually see it through to the end."
+++
And just like that, Ulquiorra's words came forcing themselves to the forefront of her mind, much like the Espada himself had a tendency to do when the matter was important enough to warrant such a course of action.
But unlike the last time she'd heard Ulquiorra's words, this time around there was a sense of strength to be had in his message. A sense of strength that she could feel herself. And while they weren't exactly any words of comfort, they did serve in helping settle her nerves, and enable her to feel more certain about this than she had been just a moment ago.
This wasn't a murder that was being planned, this was a justified killing because the situation not only warranted such, but it was currently the only available option they had. And this wasn't some poor foal cut down before their life really began, nor was it a misunderstood species that had been treated wrongly; rather this was Nightmare Moon herself, possibly the most evil threat Equestria had ever faced in recorded history. Just thinking about that particular fact was enough to leave her fur feeling bristled, and her blood boiling.
Nightmare Moon had killed so, so many innocent ponies already. And if her plans for eternal night were ever allowed to come to pass, that death toll was going to increase exponentially, until Equestria -and by extension the rest of the entire planet- was nothing but a mass graveyard in a barren wasteland.
It was like Ulquiorra said, needing to weigh the lives of the many, against the lives of the few. The fate of many millions was hanging in the balance, being weighed against the life of but one. One who was a remorseless villain who thought nothing of harming others for her own selfish benefit and entertainment. One who was practically evil incarnate, considering everything she'd done so far. One who feasted on the souls of the innocent in order to maintain herself! All the hurt she'd spread because it suited her. The changelings that had been massacred because she'd directed their invasion. The destruction of her relationship with Celestia. The lives that had been ruined by the hallucinations she'd caused with the terror fog. The lives that had been put in jeopardy by the mental trauma they'd been subjected to! The lives that had possibly been ended because those afflicted that simply couldn't weather the trauma through to the end...
"I will fucking kill that whore myself!" she bellowed, exploding with an unyielding rage that absolutely refused to be silent any longer. For so long she'd been completely helpless. Helpless to do anything but stand by and watch in horror as one by one, not only her best friends, but countless other ponies were mentally brutalized. Unable to do anything but listen as they recounted their experiences so reports could be forwarded to Celestia for review, and offer shallow and false platitudes that everything was going to be alright, because she couldn't possibly tell them that they didn't have a clue what was going on. Unable to do anything to help her friends when they were suffering from wounds that she couldn't possibly tend to, no matter how much she tried. It had all pushed her to the edge.
And now she'd been pushed completely over the edge! This was no longer the time for being meek and afraid of what had to be done, this time was time for bloody action! They'd worry about the consequences later on, after everypony was safe and sound.
It was only then, in the aftermath of her outburst, did she realize that everyone in the room was staring wide-eyed at her. That was enough to temper her rage, at least for the moment.
"Sorry. Sorry, I'm just... a little testy at the moment," she offered up in her own defense.
"If that's testy, darling, I'd hate to see you when you're absolutely livid over a situation," Rarity commented, followed by several nods from around the room. Really, the idea was positively terrifying, and reminded her far too much of what happened in Canterlot. She'd never seen Twilight more furious than she did in that moment, and she never wanted to see that ever again. And if even that wasn't the pinnacle of Twilight's rage, then she really didn't want to be anywhere in Equestria proper when that was unleashed.
That being said, she couldn't fault her friend for feeling such. Just thinking about what Nightmare Moon might've done to Sweetie Belle before tonight filled her with anger. And the worry about her little sister being in the Everfree Forest wasn't helping matters any. While she had no lust for spilling blood herself, she couldn't deny that there was a certain... desire for unloading on that wicked fiend. Lady or not, if her little sister were harmed, there would be absolutely no mercy shown. At the very least, a vicious beating was in certainly order.
Celestia simply remained silent as she returned to her own efforts of finding where Luna had gone.
"It's way too dangerous to go out there in the forest. You girls stay here, I'll go."
Everyone in the room, outside Celestia, turned to look at Spike in response to hearing what he'd just said. He wore a stern, serious look on his face as he stood there, clutching the handle of his hammer. The only conclusion they could reach right now, was that he was serious in his statement, and not making an effort to soothe their nerves.
"Tha's a mighty nice offer, Spike, but Ah reckon goin' off inta the forest all by yourself is too dangerous ever fer a dragon," Applejack stated. She didn't care if his hammer was enchanted by Celestia, going it alone out there in the Everfree Forest was simply a bad idea. Even going with others wasn't all that wise, and best done only when it proved absolutely necessary.
Rarity nodded: "Quite so. While it's incredibly brave of you to volunteer to go into the forest like that, Spike, I'd hate to see anything happen to you."
"Yeah, Spike, it's like, super duper dangerous out there!" Pinkie quickly added.
"And how exactly is staying back here any safer?" Spike asked in response. Several of them opened their mouths to say something, but nothing came. They just looked at each other in uncertainty, before shutting their mouths once again. It was just as he'd thought; none of them could give an answer as to how staying in the library would be any safer, than going out into the Everfree forest. Even he could see that fact. "Without the Elements of Harmony, this is the first time since Twilight and I got to Ponyville, that we've all on equal footing in a crisis. Say whatever you want, I'm coming along, and that's all there is to it. Those are my friends out there, too, and I'm not just gonna sit around and wait," he stated as firmly as he could, adding a toss of his hammer up into the air to emphasize his point, and catch it by the handle as it spun and came back down.
Or at least that's what he tried to do anyway. The end results of his efforts at being cool and collected in the face of coming danger were hampered by his missing the handle, and fumbling with the hammer several times before it ultimately dropped to the ground with a thud.
"Damn it," he grumbled and picked the hammer up again. "Alright, that slip up aside, I'm still going out there. And nopony's gonna change my mind about it."
"It would appear we now have three willing to pound Nightmare Moon into the forest floor," Zecora spoke up for the first time in a long while. "Perchance is somepony volunteering as number four?"
"Why will you not die!? How much of a beating must I administer in order to finally put you down once and for all!?" Luna roared furiously.
She had been viciously thrashing Raindragon in a completely unrestrained fashion, administering all manner of brutality upon her scaly hide all over the forest, to the point she couldn't even see where her force field was any longer. If she'd been a living entity, any one of the delivered assaults would've been enough to cause severe internal trauma that would undoubtedly be lethal. But no matter how much she pounded away at this thing, it simply refused to succumb to its injuries. All she was met with were screams of pain, varying obscenities, and it slowly picking itself back up again, ready to go another round.
It was like an obscene bastardization of those stress relief toys on the market.
"What is it, are you some sort of masochist? Do you get off on being beaten to a pulp? Is that it!?" she demanded to know.
Raindragon merely groaned as she slowly sat up from the latest beating she'd been forced to weather.
"Regardless of how hard you pound me, as long as there's fog, I'm not dying anytime soon. And like I said, there's more than fifty gallons of fog to deal with," she state simply, tired of having to continually bring up such a point. "You could chuck me out of the fog bank and dissipate me, but I'm just come right back, more annoyed than ever. Really the only thing you can do to kill me is cause the fog to evaporate. But you know you can't really do that without putting the rest of Equestria at risk, by seeding the clouds and contaminating the ground water, allowing the Mistress to spread her influence to tens of thousands more ponies in the process," she pointed out.
Luna frowned, not expecting that fact to be presented to her like it had been. Apparently Nightmare Moon had been more aware of their plans than she'd first assumed, if she was bringing that particular point up.
"We do not need to evaporate this fog. We have alternative methods of disposing of it," she shot back.
"Oh? Like what? You mean that plot to freeze it solid? Sorry, that won't work either," Raindragon commented and grinned. "Just because you change the form of the fog, doesn't mean the Mistress can't utilize it however she sees fit. Freeze it, boil it, condense it, it doesn't really matter. The form can change, the substance remains the same."
Luna frowned harder than before in response to hearing this. Not only had Nightmare Moon been aware of everything they'd planned, she was even informing her that it still wouldn't have mattered.
"So then why did you brutalize my sister if her plan proved no threat to you? Was it for simple shits and giggles?" she demanded to know.
"Oh, unbelievably so!" Raindragon barked with riotous laughter. "She so deserved it! And you gotta admit, making her think she murdered her own niece was pure gold!"
Luna said nothing as she approach, and instead opted for rearing up on her hind legs, in order to slam both her front shod hooves down on Raindragon's midsection to silence her laughter.
However things didn't work out as she'd intended. Instead of her hooves meeting their intended target, she found one of them suddenly being intercepted and she was held up, as a scaly claw was slammed into her abdomen several times, each one of them more than sufficient to thoroughly knock the wind right out of her, leaving her gasping for air. Which in turn left her vulnerable to being kicked off and sent flying by Raindragon's powerful hind legs, and crashing into the force field back first.
As she crashed to the ground, struggling to suck in the air that had been stolen from her, all she could do was stare at Raindragon in disbelief, as she got back onto her feet again.
"What's the matter? Surprised by this sudden turn of events?" Raindragon asked, her tone making it clear the question was entirely rhetorical, and without the least bit of sincerity. "I'll let you in on a little secret. You really haven't gained any ground in all this, I've been letting you and your two friends pummel me this entire time!"
"Why," Luna coughed as she fought to catch her breath once again, "why would you do something like that? It does not make any sense."
"Why, to stall you of course. Every minute that you and your friends are prevented from carrying out your plans, is another minute for The Mistress to harvest more fear, and get all the stronger. You wouldn't believe how much difference a single minute can make in the grand scheme of things," Raindragon stated.
Luna merely grunted as she pushed herself back up to a standing position. She'd been played like a foal, and she wasn't the least bit happy about it. She was going to make Nightmare Moon pay for her actions, one way or another.
"I do not care if you stall for an hour, it will do you no good!" she stated loudly, preparing to once again enter the fray, and take no prisoners.
Trophies, most definitely. but prisoners, absolutely never!
"Wow, you're really arrogant. You just don't get it, you can destroy the fog, but that still won't stop the Mistress. Especially with that ally of yours helping us out like he is."
"... What? What are you talking about?" Luna asked. What ally of theirs was helping Nightmare Moon?
"Wait, wait, you really didn't know?" Raindragon asked, before she broke into mad laughter. "Alright, lemme break this down for you. That pale biped friend of yours; the Hollow, the Espada, the Angel of Death, whatever he calls himself. He's been helping the Mistress since the very beginning."
"Ulquiorra Cifer is no traitor! He would not serve the likes of you!" Luna loudly protested, unwilling to even consider otherwise. He'd helped them far too much for such a ridiculous notion to hold even a grain of truth.
"And I never said he did, just that he helped us," Raindragon was quick to point out. "He greatly accelerated Nightmare Moon's return with all the terror he caused when he massacred the changelings, and blotted out the sun high above Canterlot. You have no idea how plentiful, and how exquisite the harvest of fear was! Hundreds and hundreds of ponies all throughout Equestria overcome with genuine, absolute terror at seeing their friends and family members being murdered, and left thinking the world was coming to an end. There was more terror harvested on that one day alone, than in all the months prior! Thanks to his actions, the Mistress returned to power once more, and could implement her own plans for growing stronger than ever before, and reestablishing her rule. And it was all thanks to him..." she said with a wicked, malicious grin.
Luna was horrified at hearing this news, her eyes going wide at the realization. She had suspected something had been up, but her mind had simply refused to consider such possibilities before. It couldn't possibly be the truth, but at the same time it made so much sense! There had been so, so many nightmares in the aftermath of the changeling incident, she'd just chalked it up to Ulquiorra's actions. But she'd never stopped to consider that his actions might've had such a drastically negative effect.
"Him pounding the dragon to a pulp? That was definitely an unexpected complication to the plans. Him discovering and uncovering the changeling invasion in a short amount of time? A major inconvenience! Him accurately theorizing that someone was behind them both and necessitating a change of plans as a result? Completely unacceptable!" Raindragon roared furiously. "But in saving all of you from other disasters, he unknowingly caused an even greater disaster to come to pass, by allowing Nightmare Moon to make a triumphant retur-"
Raindragon found her rant cut short as her face forcefully met the forest floor, before being ground into it for added insult on top of injury. But finding nothing keeping her held down, she picked herself back up again, and looked in Luna's direction with a scowl.
"Are you quite through? I did not come here to listen to you gloat, Nightmare Moon, I came here to end you, and save the others. And your delusional ranting about the greatness of your plans is cutting into valuable screaming time. Now take a deep breath if you can actually process such, for I plan on pounding you so hard, you will not even be able to remember how to breathe!" Luna stated.
"You just don't get it," Raindragon sighed as she stood up straighter, before rearing up on her hind legs and used her tail to help stabilize her balance. "You don't stand any chance against the Mistress; certainly not now. Here, let me show you just what I'm talking about, since you obviously won't understand the truth on your own."
Luna watched, too stunned and confused to think about reacting, as Raindragon's body seemed to be absorbing the fog around it, causing it to grow in size. Before her scaly hide was more or less around the same size a regular pony. But in almost no time at all her mass had increased enough to rival her own. It was only afterward she realized that she'd been allowing her adversary to make herself stronger at her own leisurely pace.
And then Raindragon lunged at her, flapping her large wings to propel herself forward. She barely had time to respond before her adversary plowed her front claws into the ground where she'd been standing. It was more instinct than conscious thought the allowed her to avoid the blow, her wings flaring outward as she leaped back. However the victory was short-lived as she found her right foreleg ensnared by her adversary's claw. she was violently yanked forward, and rapidly slapped across the face back and forth, unable to keep track of how many hits she was subjected to before she managed to violently kick her assailant away in the barrel, allowing her to escape.
Her heart was pounding rapidly in her chest, threatening to smash its way right through her rib cage if she didn't get it under control immediately. It was only as the rush of adrenaline started tapering off, that she realized just how much her face hurt from all the revenge slapping she'd been subjected to.
Several paces away from where she landed, Raindragon had hit the ground hard from the force of the kick. But not hard enough to keep her down, as she just picked herself right back up again, looking completely unfazed by what would've been a lethal blow under different circumstances.
"Not bad, but not good enough," Raindragon stated mockingly. "I still don't think you understand the sheer weight of the situation though, so allow me to reiterate one more time. Every minute that passes by, the strength of Nightmare Moon just continues to grows greater and greater at exponential levels. The ponies don't have to be terrified out of their minds for their fear to be harvested, it just adds to the enjoyment of the procedure. No, their current levels of fear are sufficient, since it encompasses hundreds of ponies all at the same time. We have quantity going for us to make up for a lack of quality!"
"Then I will just have to work quickly at eliminating you once and for all," Luna shot back. Although first she had to figure out how to go about doing such. If everything that had happened up to this point had been Nightmare Moon toying with her as she claimed, that made things significantly more difficult. She would simply have to try much harder now.
Rainbow Dash bolted up with a shriek, frantically looking all around her, before looking herself over.
Fire. The last thing she remembered was fire; more specifically her being on fire. But there was no fire to be found, no burnt fur to smell, and no excruciating pain that reached down into her bones. She had something of a headache, and was a bit disoriented, but other than that she felt alright.
"What the hay happened?" she asked herself as she shook her head.
The last thing she remembered, before being set on fire, was Raindragon getting beaten pretty hard by Luna. But looking around she didn't see any signs of either one of them. The fog couldn't really have gotten that thick, could it? Even if it has, she would've been able to hear the sounds of the beating continuing, and gotten some kind of clue where they were.
"Screw it, I'm not waiting around here," she stated to herself.
Tapping at the force field didn't really give her any indication of how strong it was. She had no idea of how many molecules thick it was, or what the overall tensile strength amounted to. But she knew enough to know that going through wasn't going to be an option. Instead she was going under. She might not be an earth pony, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from moving enough dirt to get loose again.
Or at least, not until she found out just how hard the ground really was.
Being locked up in Canterlot for weeks, she hadn't been privy to what the weather situation in Ponyville and the surrounding area had been like. She had no idea how much rain had fallen, or hadn't fallen, or what the weather of the Everfree forest had been up to in her absence. The ground was dry and tough like it hadn't received rain in weeks, making her efforts at escaping all the more difficult. It was enough to make her wonder if Nightmare Moon had specifically picked his area for just such a reason.
"I'm gonna get answers one way or the damn other," she muttered to herself as she scratched ferociously at the forest floor, trying hard to open up a way out.
A loud crash against the force field not far away from her head startled her out of her own thoughts. Looking up from her own efforts, she caught sight of Luna's back pressed against the wall of the force field, as she slowly slid down to the ground and landed with a thud.
"Luna!" she yelled, pounding her shod hooves against the wall in a desperate effort at getting out to see what condition the alicorn was in. Just the fact that she'd been thrown like she had, that wasn't good at all. "Luna, are you okay!?"
Luna groaned as she slowly pushed herself back up onto her hooves. "That hurt..."
"Not so fun being slammed against a force field, is it!?"
Both Luna and Rainbow Dash looked in the direction of the voice and saw Raindragon slowly walking into the impromptu clearing.
"Damn, someone's been taking their vitamins," Rainbow Dash muttered to herself, surprised at the greater physical size their opponent was now sporting. The probably explained how Luna had been chucked so easily; all that mass had to come with a corresponding increase in strength.
"More like the fear of all the foals being held captive," Luna commented in response.
"Oh that's not even close to being fair," Rainbow Dash growled. "Lemme outta here and we'll double team that bitch! I'll hit her high, you hit her low!"
Luna shook her head in response. "As much as I appreciate the offer, I do not believe even the both of us working together would be enough to topple her. She has far more physical strength and speed than her form would suggest."
"And it's only gonna keep growing!" Raindragon boasted loudly as she approached, keeping her pace nice and slow for the maximum effect of tension, secure in the knowledge that there was little that they could do to oppose her. "The more terror your ally milks from the foals, the stronger the Mistress grows. And there's not one thing you can do about it," she stated with a wide, toothy grin.
"Oh that is where you are most certainly wrong. There is indeed something I can do about that," Luna paused and then inhaled deeply. "ULQUIORRA CIFER! YOU ARE TERRIFYING THE FOALS, AND MAKING NIGHTMARE MOON STRONGER IN THE PROCESS! LEAVE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY!"
Raindragon stared in disbelief, not expecting Luna to actually try something like that. There were a lot of things that could be done to a pony. But there was no way she could block out something like that. "You didn't just do that!"
"Oh I so just did that!" Luna quipped and smirked. "What do you intend to do about it? Let us see where you stand now, blabbermouth!"
Raindragon just continued to stare in disbelief. "You are so going to get it now..."
"Perhaps one day I will. But it will not be from you, and it will not be on this night. On this night it is your turn to get it, and I am the one who will bring it!" Luna declared as she flared her wings, holding the parallel with the ground, before angling them forward at just past a ninety degree angle.
The vantage point Rainbow Dash had was terrible for telling what was happening outside the force field. She flapped her wings and took to the air as best she could to try and rectify the matter, but it did her little good. All she could really see was a glow emanating from the tips of Luna's primary feathers, as well as her horn.
All at once the glow erupted into dozens -no, hundreds!- of magical bolts discharging in a rapidly repeating pattern, slamming into Raindragon's frame and everything around her! She had no idea how strong the blasts were, but they must've been packing a punch since they forced her to shield her face behind her forelegs. Meanwhile the bolts that weren't making contact with her body, were making contact with the trees beyond her, knocking the bark right off the trunks is they struck close to the edge, while making holes in the trunks if they struck directly.
She had no idea what such a technique was called, but it was absolutely awesome!
Unfortunately the awesomeness didn't seem to be acknowledged by Raindragon. Through the numerous, bright, miniature explosions of magical bolts occurring against her hide, Rainbow Dash could see that she was slowly advancing her way forward, showing little concern for the pelting that she was taking.
"Luna, look out!" she yelled, her voice cracking in the process as she did.
But it was already too late as Raindragon was already upon her. In one swift move she reached out and grabbed Luna's horn, before throwing a balled claw forward, punching her first in the left eye, then in her snout, and then lifting her off her front legs to punch her straight in the barrel, before finally throwing her against the force field wall once again.
"Do you have any idea just how much that hurt? I didn't appreciate it at all," she growled.
"You leave her alone!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she slammed herself against the force field in a bid to escape.
"You stay out of this, or I'll set you on fire again," Raindragon warned, before promptly catching two back hooves straight to her barrel that both broke the hold she had on Luna, and promptly sent her flying backwards from the force behind them.
It went without saying that the kick came from Luna, as there was no one else around to actually do such.
"You did not just threaten one of my friends while right in front of me," Luna stated with a scowl.
"Oh I did just do that," Raindragon stated right back. "The question is, what're you gonna do about it?"
"Well in a different time, in a different setting, I would proclaim that I am going to pound you so hard, the royal concubines would be jealous," Luna admitted, her voice carrying a hard edge that indicated she was just barely keeping her rage restrained.
Rainbow Dash, naturally, lost it at that and started laughing.
"But since that is no longer appropriate in this day and age, I will simply have to settle for this instead," Luna added as her horn began to glow.
And then without warning she found her horn being grabbed by Raindragon and squeezed hard. Very hard.
Luna grunted in pain, quickly finding herself totally overwhelmed by the sheer amount of excruciating pain coursing through her entire body, starting from the tip of her horn and working its way down at a rapid pace. It was more than enough to send her to her knees, as her vision began to swim.
"Should've spent less time talking, and more time doing something," Raindragon commented, before using her free claw to punch Luna in the face again.
A volley of angry obscenities and hollow banging sounds erupted as Rainbow Dash slammed her hooves against the force field in response to what she was witnessing. But she paid none of them any mind, as she focused more on Luna, and delivering an appropriate beating.
"You put up a good fight, but your time is at an end now," she commented with a grin as she gripped Luna's horn tighter. Already she could feel her defensive magic weakening and dwindling. And once her defensive magic was gone, it'd only be a matter of time before her life followed. "You know, I've got a very interesting question to ask. Can your immortality sustain you through having your throat slit? I don't think it can, but I say we find out for certain rather than guess," she said as she unfolded her clenched fist to bring her sharp talons back into view.
And then she heard a strange sound, not at all unlike that of glass breaking.
The next thing she knew, she found her claw being forcefully ensnared and held in place, before a violent kick was delivered to her face by a shod hoof.
"Get!"
The yell was followed by another kick to the face.
"You fucking claws!"
Another kick followed.
"Off!"
Yet another kick.
"Of my sister!"
This time it was a volley of five kicks, all being delivered in violent and rapid succession.
The assault would've continued on much like that, had Raindragon simply not extended her foreleg, forcefully moving Rainbow Dash right out of striking range, and slamming her to the ground on her back. Followed up by pinning her to the ground with her right hind leg, in order to free up her claw.
She could only guess that squeezing Luna's horn so hard had weakened the magic used to sustain the force field, to the point the obnoxious pegasus proved too much for it to resist.
That or perhaps Luna had let the shield drop in a bid to save herself by sacrificing her friend. Whichever came first.
"You know, at first it was kind of cute. But now it's just getting old, and tired, and annoying," she grumbled to them. "I don't know which one is more pathetic. The fact that you actually believed you could contend with an alicorn-grade threat all on your own, or the notion that Luna could ever be your sister."
Luna grunted and tried to stand back up, but found it impossible, under the nearly-crushing weight of the grip on her horn.
"Do not question my loyalties to those I care for, foul demon, you could not possibly comprehend them," she spat in defiance.
Rainbow Dash had little to add to the conversation except for grunts as she squirmed about in any manner she believed would aid in her escape, furiously swinging and kicking at anything blue and scaly within reach of herself.
"... Alright. You know what? I'm tired of this, and the Mistress has plans, so this is what we're going to do," Raindragon stated, deciding to change the topic of discussion. Immediately she turned her focus to Rainbow Dash. "You are gonna stay alive long enough to watch me murder your dear "sister" in a brutal fashion. Then I'm going to break your spine so you can't move, but will still be alive for a while. If I'm feeling particularly generous, I'll leave you lying on top of Luna's dead body, so you can snuggle her while you die and she rots!"
"You do that, and you die next," Rainbow Dash grunted, "you're gonna have to take your foot off me sometime. And when you do, I swear to whoever's listening, I will find a way to kill you!" she roared furiously.
Raindragon regarded Rainbow Dash skeptically, before smirking, deeply amused by the threat.
"You sounded so serious there just now. Almost like you actually believe it," she stated, grinning harder as Rainbow Dash glared at her. "Let's see if you can actually follow up on that promise, shall we? Now watch this bitch choke on her own blood!" she roared as she brought her talons to Luna's throat.
But before she could actually go about piercing Luna's throat and causing her to bleed out, something white and moving at extremely high speeds slammed into her from the front, doubling her over while simultaneously sending her flying backwards, relinquishing her hold on both her captives at the same time.
Rainbow Dash wasted no time and jumping to her hooves, and quickly scrambling over to Luna's side to check on her, and make sure she was alright. The lack of blood caused her to give a sigh of relief, but she was still far from relaxed.
"What," Luna panted, still overcome with pain, but not nearly as much as when her horn was nearly being crushed. "Whatever happened?"
"I'm thoroughly convinced. Regardless of what your cutie marks suggest, you ponies have a natural talent for getting into trouble when I'm not around."
Both ponies looked up at the sound of the easily recognizable voice, to see Ulquiorra coming in for a landing on the ground, hands tucked into his pockets, his black shirt thoroughly ruined at this point and more or less just hanging on his upper body rather than being worn. But regardless of how he looked, he was a sight for sore eyes right now!
"Wait, wait, wait. Is that really you, or are you just another fog menace that's come to screw with us?" Rainbow Dash asked. Considering some of the things she'd been experiencing tonight, she wouldn't put it past Nightmare Moon to pull something like that. "Quick, tell us something that only the real you would know!"
"If I told you something that only I would know, you would have no way of knowing if it were true or not, thus meaning you'd have no way of verifying whether I'm myself or another fog construct," Ulquiorra pointed out in response.
Rainbow Dash only blinked once at hearing this, as her brain worked to process the information she'd been given.
"Good enough for me," she stated, before breaking into a flying tackle and throwing her forelegs around him, bear-hugging him with all her might, relieved that the three of them were together and safe again.
Luna was far more reserved as she approached. "It is good to see you are well, my friend. There was concern that Nightmare Moon had lured you out here for the purpose of possessing you, and using your body as her new vessel," she explained.
Ulquiorra wouldn't deny that it was one of the more interesting theories he'd heard since his arrival here. If that had been Nightmare Moon's plan all along, luring him out here to a remote area and moving to possess him when he least expected it, then it was certainly a creative way to go about removing one of the top threats she would face in her bid to return to power. But so far he hadn't actually seen any evidence to suggest that was what she'd had in mind. If it were, he doubted the Kurostruct would've been fighting him as hard as it had, since such would only inconvenience her further.
Even if she made such an effort, it was unlikely
"Barring new evidence to suggest otherwise, I'm still myself," he replied. "The foals have been located, but so far all efforts at rescuing them have ultimately proven futile. They're surrounded by a force field that's proven capable of withstanding my Cero at close distance," he added, quickly changing the topic to something of more relevance and importance, than whether or not he was really himself.
That was enough to make Rainbow Dash stop in her efforts at hugging the stuffing out of Ulquiorra, and look up at him wide-eyed in disbelief.
"How could it withstand your Cero?" she asked as she disengaged him and hovered at eye level. "You're like the most destructive force in Equestria right now. How could her force field just no-sell you like that?"
"It is indeed a fair question. But at the moment I believe we have more pressing matters," Luna stated and gestured over to where Raindragon had crashed.
"Oh wow!" Rainbow Dash stated as she looked to where Luna had indicated, not believing what she was seeing.
She hadn't seen what Ulquiorra had thrown at Raindragon to send her flying, but now she could, and what that was, was Scratchy! And it had been in a way that had firmly wedged Raindragon's neck right between Scratchy's horns, firmly entangling the both of them together, and trying desperately to extract themselves from one another.
"Holy crap. Dude, you've got wicked aim," she stated as she looked back at Ulquiorra, and then back at the two as they tried to pry themselves free.
"If that were the case, the dragon would've been impaled through the chest by the Kurostruct's horns," Ulquiorra replied as he watched the display. "And why does the dragon have your color scheme?"
"Let's just say that I didn't really believe what you said about Spike's message, and Nightmare Moon thought it'd be funny to use it against me," Rainbow Dash replied, not really wanting to go into detail about it all right now.
"Perhaps it would be best to attempt rescuing the foals now, and talk about this matter later? I do not think it wise to wait for our enemy to get into a position that is favorable," Luna pointed out. Just standing around to watch the two fog agents try and pry themselves apart didn't strike her as all that wise of an idea to be engaging in. "We will find them, we will get them to safety, and then we will administer as much violence and Tartarus as it takes to put Nightmare Moon down once and for all!"
"Rescue will be easier said than done at this point," Ulquiorra pointed out. If his own Cero wasn't going to crack that force field, there was no telling what it might take. Perhaps his Gran Rey Cero? Would his Cero Oscuras be needed in this case? His Lanza Del Relampago?
Or perhaps they would be going the path of least resistance and dig a tunnel to allow them to escape out into the open? He had planned on going that route prior to being ambushed, and would have followed through if not for the need of continually reengaging the Kurostruct whenever it bounced back from the last beating he'd delivered. It had quite literally gotten to the point of such utter ridiculousness, that the foals had actually been cheering him on like it was a wrestling match, and encouraging him to utilize more violence.
It was actually enough to make him wonder -but not actually care- if he was being a corrupting influence to them in his efforts.
There was going to be a serious need for physiological counseling after this matter was finally resolved. There was no doubt about that.
"Perhaps so, but we must still try regardless. Now then, which way to the foals?" Luna asked.
"The only place any of you will be going is into an open and shallow grave!"
Rainbow Dash groaned at that voice and turned around to look back. Every single fucking time they took their eyes off of these things, they just found new ways to surprise them. And looking back at them, she wasn't disappointed. Both Scratchy and Raindragon were free, and looking right at them. And they looked pissed.
"Oh come on," she sighed as she looked at them. "Look. We'll get to you in a little while, just let us collect the foals and get 'em outta here before things actually get serious!" she yelled. Was it seriously asking too much to let them get the foals out of what would become the line of fire?
"Yeah, you know what? I'm gonna say no," Raindragon commented idly as she flapped her wings and hovered above the ground, crossing her forelegs over her front as she did. "The Mistress has plans for those foals. Or... at least what's left of them anyway..."
"What's left of them? Whadda you mean by..." Rainbow Dash paused, the realization of the words finally smacking her right across the face.
Nightmare Moon hadn't simply been holding the foals here in the forest as mere hostages to restrict the destruction Ulquiorra could lay down upon her. Nor had they been bait purely for luring him out here. She'd brought them here so she could go about eating their souls completely undisturbed! They'd been too late even before they'd gotten here!
"How... how many?" Luna asked, simultaneously not actually wanting to know, but needing to know.
"How many so far? Doesn't matter really, the Mistress isn't done yet, and you really don't need to know," Raindragon replied and shrugged dismissively.
Rainbow Dash was beside herself as this point, sucking in ragged breaths through clenched teeth, bristling with absolute fury at what she was hearing right now. They'd been too late to do anything, and now they were being mocked for it! She couldn't stand this! She wouldn't stand this!
"Spare us the posturing. You've managed to claim the souls of a grand total of two foals in the time since my arrival in the forest. That's hardly outstanding for something of Nightmare Moon's caliber," Ulquiorra stated bluntly.
That snapped Rainbow Dash out of her rage. Two dead foals was still completely unacceptable, but at least it wasn't every foal in Ponyville being before they got here.
Raindragon snarled in response. "Shut your face, your pasty-skinned biped, nopony asked you a bucking thing!"
"Force me then if it bothers you so much," Ulquiorra replied, unmoved by the hostility as she slipped both of his hands into his pockets. "Otherwise stay out of our way. We have more important things to tend to, than an enemy with an inferiority complex, who feels the need to target foals that can't fight back."
This time it was the Kurostruct the growled in response, but otherwise remained silent.
"Biped, you have no idea what you're doing," Raindragon growled viciously. "You couldn't comprehend the forces that you're up against."
"That's been the status quo for nearly two months now. One more day won't make any difference in the matter," Ulquiorra stated.
Ever since Discord had brought him to Equestria, he had been fortunate to know which end was up. He was surrounded by things he could barely understand, could barely comprehend, and often times found himself unable to do anything beyond simply going with the flow of things as everything unfolded before and round him. He honestly couldn't see how that changed this particular situation any.
"Fuck the both of you!" Rainbow Dash yelled, primed and ready for a fight.
"I am with Rainbow Dash on this matter. I have had enough talk for one evening. Let us proceed with putting this night whore down once and for all," Luna stated.
"If either of you get involved, you're likely to die in short order," Ulquiorra stated, interrupting their efforts at charging headlong into something that was beyond their ability to handle. Out of everyone present, I'm the only one capable of withstanding whatever Nightmare Moon has to throw at us. You two proceed north and attempt a rescue, I'll remain and deal with this annoyance myself."
Raindragon howled with laughter, gripping her sides at hearing this.
"Oh that's just so precious! You think you can actually stop the Mistress? Like that and by yourself? Think again, biped! The Mistress can strike anywhere within the fog as she sees fit, and you can't stop her from doing it. You could no more stop the fog, than you could force the waters of a river to heed to your will."
"That fact is perfectly understood. However there's a key fact that you don't understand. Out of everyone in this world, I'm the only one who hasn't been raised on the legend of Nightmare Moon, and has absolutely no respect for her. She's nothing but trash as far as I'm concerned," Ulquiorra stated. "That, and I will be the one who kills her before dawn is supposed to break."
"Wow! I didn't actually think you could be so egotistical," Raindragon stated in disbelief. He was really full of himself from the sound of it. "Disrespect aside, you honestly think you have any chance against the great Nightmare Moon? You could barely keep up with your own executioner. What could you do against the full ire of the Mistress being directed against you?"
"This."
Before anypony could ask what Ulquiorra was up to, or what he was planning on, they were interrupted by a feeling of intense pressure against their skin, and the air taking on a strange quality not entirely dissimilar from watching humidity evaporating above hot pavement. Both Luna and Rainbow Dash watched as It was dancing, and jumbled, and suddenly it felt a lot heavier to experience; harder to breathe in and out. It was like the air had an actual weight to it, and was now pressing down on them.
Raindragon and Scratchy were also being affected by the sudden change in their surroundings. But lacking the need to breathe, they were more properly able to be confused as their bodies fluctuated without any apparent reason.
"What sort of black magic are you working!?" Raindragon demanded to know.
"Up until this point you've experienced little beyond my raw physical strength," Ulquiorra stated plainly. "Now you're experiencing the strength of my reiatsu-"
"Talk in terms I can at least understand!" Raindragon roared furiously.
"Very well then. My body possesses a vast amount of reiryoku, which some could call spirit energy. It generates reiatsu when released, otherwise known as spirit pressure, and that pressure directly interacts with the physical world," Ulquiorra explained. "What was experienced before was the reiatsu my body cannot naturally suppress, due to how much there is to contend with. What's being experienced now, is the reiatsu generated when I don't bother with suppressing it. As you can see you're vulnerable to even this limited amount."
"Cute trick, but the Mistress won't be stopped by something like this; not at her current level of strength!" Raindragon shot back.
"Then I'll simply have to demonstrate further, of just how screwed Nightmare Moon is," Ulquiorra stated dismissively. "This is roughly equal to the amount of reiatsu a Shinigami holding the rank of Lieutenant would be able to generate; approximately one fifth of the amount I can generate in this form."
Luna felt her knees trembling and threatening to buckle at the sudden increase in pressure being generated by Ulquiorra's body. It was pouring into the surrounding area like a faucet that had forcefully been wrenched all the way open. There was just so much of it, and this was but a mere fifth of what he could generate?!
Rainbow Dash fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, her armor clattering in the process, unable to resist the weight and pressure on her body in her current state, and feeling like all the air had been pressed out of her lungs. It was way too much for her to ignore; way more than she'd experienced in Canterlot during the changeling invasion. Obviously Ulquiorra was serious this time around if he was churning out so much force. Unfortunately that seriousness left her feeling like she was being crushed and suffocated at the same time. The air was just so heavy and so thick.
She had reason to laugh though, at least to herself, since that one fifth of his strength, was of the one fifth that he was currently operating at, meaning it was only like four percent of what he was truly capable of. If he unleashed his resurrection, Nightmare Moon didn't stand a fucking chance.
And speaking of which, immediately after Ulquiorra started flaring his strength, she could see both Raindragon and Scratchy being disintegrated, as all the fog in the immediate area was scattered like dust in the wind, putting them in the middle of a large clearing of fresh air free of annoyances and irritants.
"Most excellent, Ulquiorra Cifer," Luna stated, "now would you be so kind as to please restrain your pressure once again? I am having a hard time even catching my breath currently!"
"I can't even stand up," Rainbow Dash grunted from where she currently laid.
"If not for the fact my reiatsu is the only thing keeping the fog back, I would do such. If I stop flaring it, all of the fog for a half mile area is going to come flooding back in once again," Ulquiorra explained.
"One half of a mile area!?" Luna asked in disbelief, eyes going wide as the words registered in her mind. He was holding back all of the fog for such a large area, with nothing more than the pressure generated by the mana within his own body? "Ulquiorra Cifer, I did not wish to believe my sister when she proclaimed such, but it would appear I have little choice in the matter. You are indeed a monster!" she stated.
Beyond that, she had been quite right. He had been bullshitting them! Her sister owed her serious coinage!
"And he's on our side," Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle, before letting out a groan. "Seriously, though, I don't think I can stand up with you flaring and flexing like that. Put it away already!"
"And I have concerns that the foals will not be able to withstand the pressure either; I am not certain that it would not kill some of them, and Nightmare Moon has already done more than enough of that. We may have little choice but to proceed without your spirit pressure as quickly as we can manage," Luna added as she tried to catch her breath.
Ulquiorra wouldn't deny that the concerns Princess Luna was expressing were valid. What they were currently experiencing was but one fifth of what he could demonstrate in his sealed state. And despite being an alicorn, and having the ability to crush him with ease if she so desired, even she was having difficulty tolerating his reiatsu, now that it was truly out in the open. What would a bunch of young foals suffer from if they were to experience it for themselves? Sweetie Belle had stated that she'd felt his resurrección all the way from Canterlot, so there was no telling just what sort of effect he was having on the entire area.
Granted these two were in a weakened and fatigued state from everything that had been happening, so that might make them more vulnerable. But that didn't change the fact that the concerns were indeed valid.
"A fair point," he said as he relented and stopped flaring his reiatsu. Although he didn't bother with completely suppressing it once again. "I would recommend moving quickly while we still can, before Nightmare Moon can make her way back to us."
"I concur," Luna agreed, before taking a deep breath again. "Now then, which way to the foals? The sooner we rescue them, the better off we will all be."