Revisions of Past Mistakes

by SC_Orion

Battle Royal

'It was no surprise that the nobles figured out that something had happened,' Princess Celestia thought, 'just surprising they realized so quickly.' In response she had postponed several of her legislative responsibilities, and joked, in private with her sister, about wanting to declare martial law.

She pushed these thoughts aside as she came to the room in the Canterlot Hospital where Twilight was staying. She slowed down as she neared, noting quiet whispers coming from inside. 'Twilight must be awake.' She had stopped by last night to check on Twilight, and was concerned by the dark magic that had taken hold of her. She promptly purified it, but left shortly after, giving Twilight and her friends some privacy. Twilight wasn't awake when she had stopped by last night, and she would probably want to see her mentor sooner rather than later. And Princess Celestia wanted to see her student- no, her daughter.

She casually strode into the room, making sure she had a bright smile as she did so, to comfort them. "Hello my little ponies," she greeted. Immediately everypony present turned towards her. They started to get up, but she held out a hoof, stopping them.

"Princess..." Twilight acknowledged, and sat up a little straighter.

"It is good to see you are well, Twilight." Celestia beamed.

"Yeah... The doctor says it'll be a few days before I'm completely back to normal, but... I feel fine." she paused, "As long as I don't think about what happened..." she grimaced. Princess Celestia nodded in understanding.

"Uh, Princess?" Applejack's voice drew her attention back to the others present, "Can you maybe tell us anymore about what happened?"

Princess Celestia contemplated Applejack's valid question for a few seconds, then answered, "While it would be better to discuss this with Eclipse and my sister present, I believe I know the gist of what happened..."

Celestia paused to remember what Luna had told her, "The group arrived at the castle without problems... While searching for Nightfall and Starlight Glimmer, my sister encountered Nightfall in the Throne Room, and promptly engaged her in battle. Meanwhile, Twilight sought out Eclipse and found her. Once Eclipse was retrieved, they made their way to the Throne Room. Once there, Eclipse attempted to talk Nightfall down. That did not work, so Twilight and Eclipse wielded the Elements of Harmony in an attempt to strike Nightfall." Twilight made sure not to make eye contact with Princess Celestia at the mention of the Elements.

"The Elements failed for some reason, I do not know why." Silence. Princess Celestia shook her head, and continued, "Nightfall attacked Twilight and Eclipse, resulting in the injury to your head, Twilight." Twilight grimaced.

She continued, "Nightfall has the Elements of Harmony now..."

"What... What will we do now, Princess?" Fluttershy asked softly.

"I do not know... But we will stop her." she answered with determination.

"How did I..." Twilight paused briefly, still having trouble coming to terms with it, "Get infected by dark magic?"

"The injury you sustained to your head left you vulnerable to the infection. The castle has a strong presence of dark magic, and Nightfall's presence may have had a hand in the infection as well. It is also possible that when Eclipse cast her spell, some of the dark magic could have infected you then. Truth be told, I am not entirely sure of the source." Celestia answered at length.

Twilight's eyes darted about as she considered the information, and the implications. "Wait... You said Eclipse cast a spell?"

"She used her life force to fuel a mass-teleportation spell to bring everyone back to Canterlot." Celestia answered.

Twilight felt a pang of guilt in her chest, "She's used her life force to power spells before... That has to take it's toll... Even on an alicorn." Everypony present, including Celestia, grimaced at the potential implications.

Celestia looked to Twilight, "You are doing okay, right?"

"I'm... I'm still here." Twilight answered after a pause.

"How are you holding up- emotionally? This... Can't be easy on you. And I know you, Twilight..." Celestia grimaced.

Twilight sighed, her ears fell. "It's... It's hard. I try to stay positive, to look on the bright side... But... Knowing what I've done... Even if it isn't me..."

Fluttershy shook her head, refusing to believe it was Twilight who had done those things, "But... You haven't done those things, Twilight."

Realizing that the conversation wasn't going to be pleasant for Twilight, Princess Celestia changed the subject, "I'm surprised Rainbow Dash is not here."

"She hasn't been here since she left last night." Rarity casually answered. Rarity frowned, "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Eclipse yet either..."

Pinkie Pie immediately spoke up, "Oh don't worry, Rarity! They're probably just sleeping in! Eclipse has been through a lot, and is probably exhausted. And Rainbow... Well, I mean, I know she's fast, but she doesn't exactly have a ton of endurance, flying from Canterlot to the Castle of the Two Sisters had to have taken its toll on her."

"That... Actually makes sense." Rarity stated after a few seconds to process what Pinkie had said.

"I am sure you will see them sometime today, it is still early after all." Celestia reassured.

"Princess... Um... Do I... Have to stay here?" Twilight asked, hoping to get out of the hospital early. "I feel fine!" she quickly added.

"I... I will talk to the doctors and have you released... Take it easy though, I do not want you straining yourself."

"Thank you, Princess."

---

Rainbow stretched out her arms and legs as she awoke, then opened her eyes and looked around the room. "Good morning, Rainbow." Eclipse's voice called from the bed to her right. She turned towards the source of the voice, Eclipse was laying on her bed, reading a book she didn't recognize. Eclipse glanced towards the clock, "Or afternoon, I should say." Eclipse amended.

"Morning, Twilight." Rainbow replied, ignoring the fact that, according to the clock, it was almost noon. Rainbow leisurely slid out of the bed she had slept in, having refused to leave the previous night.

Rainbow stretched out her wings, and glanced at Eclipse. Rainbow scrutinized Eclipse's appearance, she had obviously been up long enough to shower and groom herself, "How long have you been up?" she asked curiously.

Eclipse glanced at the clock, "Oh about... An hour and a half..." she grimaced, "That night wasn't good for my sleep routine..."

"You sound like you're feeling better." Rainbow noted with a smile. Eclipse levitated the book over to her night stand, and gently let it down, then hopped off the bed.

Eclipse smiled weakly, "Yeah... I am... I still feel... A bit..." she shook her head, "But I'm feeling more optimistic today." Eclipse paused, and lost her smile, "Just don't bring up the past... I can't go through that again... Not yet, anyway."

"Hey, it'll be okay, alright?" Rainbow reassured her with a brash smile. "If you ever need to get something off your chest, just find me, okay? I promise I won't abandon you no matter what it is you tell me."

Eclipse looked at her hooves forlornly, "That really means a lot to me, Rainbow..." She looked up and shook her head, "But there will be time for that after we beat Nightfall." She bobbled her head, "If we beat her." she amended with cautious optimism.

"Look at what we have on our side compared to her side. Five alicorns, two of which are the bearers of the Element of Magic,-" Eclipse grimaced, "-one raises the sun, one raises the moon, and the other is the princess of love! That's not even including the Royal Guard, your brother, and us!"

"Nightfall is a corrupted alicorn, former bearer of the Element of Magic, responsible for killing Princess Luna, and she has Starlight Glimmer, a unicorn who can remove ponies' cutie marks, on her side." Eclipse listed.

"So what!?" Rainbow flapped her wings and hovered in front of Eclipse, "You beat Starlight Glimmer one on one, I'm-"

"I did not." Eclipse pointed out. "She beat me the first time... The second time we fought, it was a stalemate..."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, "We've got this in the bag, Twilight."

"She has the Elements of Harmony." Eclipse replied. She sighed, "I needed them to fix everything... But that won't happen now."

"How many times am I gonna have to say we'll stop her?" Rainbow asked.

Eclipse shook her head, "That has nothing to do with Nightfall. It involves my original plan..." Eclipse walked over to the balcony door, and opened it with her magic, then stepped outside. Eclipse looked out across Canterlot, Rainbow flew over to the balcony and landed beside her.

"You... You never did tell us what your original plan was, you know. And we can still get the Elements back from Nightfall, it's not like she can destroy them... Right?" Rainbow's expression became worried at that thought.

Eclipse shook her head, "I don't believe she can... She does seem to know more than I do, however..." She turned to Rainbow, "Even if we get the Elements back, I can't fix things now. I... Uh... Kinda destroyed the other item... I needed... For that... Last night..." Eclipse turned away from Rainbow, who stared blankly at her.

"You... Why?"

"You saw how I was last night... Thanks for stopping me and staying the night, by the way..." Eclipse replied softly.

Rainbow's expression softened, realizing how Eclipse must feel about that, "Yeah... Don't mention it..."

The two sat on the balcony for several minutes, until the peace and quiet was broke by the sound of Rainbow's stomach. She smiled sheepishly, Eclipse rolled her eyes. "Hungry?"

Rainbow chuckled, "Yeah..."

"I could go for something to eat too... What do you want to do, go to the Dining Room? Room service? Go out to eat someplace?"

"Uh... I could go for a hayburger right about now." Rainbow grimaced, "They probably don't serve those here, do they?"

Eclipse shook her head, "We'd have to go out for that." Eclipse eyed Rainbow's abnormally disheveled mane, "You should probably take a shower first, though."

"Uh right. Think you could give me a lift?" Rainbow asked, glancing at her horn.

Eclipse winced, "About that... Remember that mass teleportation spell I did last night?" Rainbow nodded, Eclipse continued, "Well I kinda need some time to recover from that... At least as far as teleporting something other than myself... Unless you want me to fly you to your room, that is."

"N-no, that's fine." Rainbow quickly answered.

"Well, you're welcome to use the shower here."

Rainbow eyed her wearily, "You sure about that? Will Twilight be fine with that?"

Eclipse nodded, "Yes I'm sure it would be fine. You can blame me if it's not."

"Haha... Thanks... I guess..." Rainbow replied, rubbing the back of her head.

---

Nightfall walked towards the door, Starlight paced impatiently, then paused and turned towards Nightfall when she noticed her approach. "Are you ready yet?"

"Yes. I have gathered my power, and I am prepared for the assault." Nightfall glared at Starlight, "Do I have to go over the plan again, unicorn?" she asked mockingly.

"No." Starlight stated, "Your plan in simple enough." she said in a degrading way. Nightfall glared at her.

"Just stay hidden until it is time." Nightfall chided.

"I will do my part." Starlight affirmed.

Nightfall nodded, then lit her horn with magic. There was a flash of sickly purple light, and the room was empty.

---

Twilight sighed as she shut the door to her room behind her, then glanced around the room.

"I didn't expect you to be moving around yet." Eclipse casually acknowledged Twilight's entrance from bed.

Twilight turned towards Eclipse, "I'm surprised you're surprised. Alicorn physiology comes with quick healing rates, you should know that."

Eclipse closed her book, then rose from her bed, and walked towards Twilight, "I meant you should still be in the hospital."

"Princess Celestia convinced the doctors to let me go early." Twilight smiled.

"Are... Are you okay?" Eclipse asked softly.

Twilight pursed her lips, considering the question and how she felt. "I'm... Okay... Just... I'm..." Twilight trailed off, Eclipse nodded in understanding.

"We..." Eclipse paused to think, "We need to talk about Nightfall and the Elements... Rainbow and I were going to go get something to eat, you could join us and we could discuss it over lunch."

Twilight nodded, "The hospital released me before I had a chance to eat anything... Wait, where is Rainbow? i haven't seen her since last night."

"She's in the bathroom." Eclipse stated. "She spent the night here, with me."

"Oh." Twilight paused, "That was nice of her." Eclipse nodded. Twilight looked down and shook her head, "What happened last night, with the Elements?"

"That's something we need to find out..." Eclipse grimaced.

"Well, maybe we should invite the rest of the girls to come along, they should know what's going on." Twilight suggested.

Eclipse shook her head, "Look, I... No. Just the three of us, it will be better this way. There are some things I really only trust you and Rainbow with... I... I know they won't abandon either of us... But this makes it easier, I would trust Rainbow with my life."

"I trust each and every one of them with my life." Twilight countered.

"I... It's complicated." Eclipse stated. Twilight sighed.

Twilight frowned, "You know, you don't exactly make this easy on any of us." she chided her older self. "You came back in time to fix everything, but refuse to tell us what happened! How are we supposed to stop whatever happened if we don't know what did." Twilight's outburst of anger caught Eclipse off guard.

"Twilight, you just have to trust me." Eclipse stated. "The princesses trust me, the girls do, you do." Eclipse closed her eyes, then sighed. "As for fixing everything... I screwed up with that. I'm going to have to come up with another plan."

"Let me help you then!" Twilight exclaimed.

The bathroom door opened, and Rainbow Dash walked out, cutting off Eclipse's response. "Oh hi Twilight." she greeted.

"Hey, Rainbow." Twilight replied, putting on an air of leisure.

"Right, so lunch?" Eclipse jumped in.

---

Nightfall walked through the streets of Canterlot, going over her plans, and making minor adjustments. Adjustments to account for any unforeseen variables. Unforeseen variables ranging from going up against the entire Royal Guard, having to face Shining Armor, Cadance, or Discord, or... Them.

Her plan of attack was simple, walk right up to the princesses and engage them immediately. She paused mid step as she thought about that aspect. She would be facing at least two alicorns at once, in combat. Possible four alicorns, it would be a difficult battle. She had the vast majority of the Changeling's power at her disposal now, however. As to how well matched she would do against Celestia, Luna, Eclipse, and Twilight... She wasn't entirely sure.

She would survive the battle, however, she knew that. She continued walking. They didn't have the competence to end her, and they would regret that, if they did manage to beat her, which was unlikely.

Of course, attacking the princesses in broad daylight would incite panic, which would lead to fear, which would result in misery. She grimaced. "It will all be over soon..." she spoke aloud, drawing the curious attention of several nearby ponies. She payed them no mind and continued on, leaving several confused ponies to wonder what she meant by that.

She soon found herself smiling, fantasizing about all the ways she could bring the princesses close to death, but leave them alive to see her work... Alicorn's had more strength and endurance than earth ponies, very rapid regeneration, and lots of magic, leaving her with many options to explore.

She paused once again, 'That's not right... They would be in pain...' She frowned at the stray thought, then shoved it aside, 'She did this to me... She will suffer for this again...'

---

"I didn't know this place had hayburgers." Rainbow commented as she stared at the beautiful culinary treat before her.

"One of the perks growing up in Canterlot." Eclipse mused. "I'll have to tell you... Actually I'll let Twilight tell you about it sometime. I'll just share stories of what hasn't happened yet."

"Like wgah?" Rainbow asked with a mouth full of hayburger. Both Twilight and Eclipse chose to ignore Rainbow's lack of decency, remembering their own habits...

"Well, I'm sure I have plenty of embarrassing stories to share..." Eclipse chirped.

Rainbow swallowed, "I take it the side effects are over now?"

Eclipse nodded, "They seem to be... Mostly."

"How did you hold up last night anyway, with those spells affecting your mind?" Twilight asked. Eclipse grimaced and glanced at Rainbow, who was looking at her.

"Not... Well..." Eclipse replied cryptically. "And that... Brings us here. I uh... Destroyed something important last night." Eclipse paused, upon seeing Twilight's horrified expression, she amended, "Something important to my goals, that is. I don't think I'll be able to fix everything now... I'll still try but..."

"But...?" Twilight inquired.

Eclipse sighed, "We have more pressing matters."

"Nightfall." Rainbow stated. Eclipse nodded.

"She has the Elements." Twilight added.

"I'm sorry... I... I thought we could defeat her together... Celestia and Luna did it once..." Eclipse's ears fell, she sighed. "Least we're all still alive..."

"You couldn't have known..." Twilight attempted to comfort her.

"I should have." Eclipse spoke dejectedly. "I thought that maybe the Elements would help us des... Defeat her, right then, right there... I was wrong."

"We'll figure something out." Rainbow reaffirmed.

"We have to." Eclipse stated. "If we defeat Nightfall, and reclaim the Elements, I will have decades to work on the problem I came back to fix..." She levitated the hayburger in her magic, and took a bite. She chewed it in silence, then swallowed.

"What did you come back to prevent, specifically? You've always dodged that question..." Twilight shook her head.

"I will deal with it, Twilight..." Eclipse looked at her hooves. "I... Just need to figure out how."

---

Princess Celestia heard the door opening, and sighed, "I said I did not want to be disturbed." she shook her head, and returned her focus to the document she was preparing. A gift, for Twilight.

"Princess Celestia."

A lump formed in her throat, she would recognize that voice anywhere, no matter how twisted and wrong it was. She looked at the document one last time, then teleported it away, along with the quill she was using. "Nightfall." she acknowledged as she stood up, continuing to keep her back to the corrupted alicorn.

"You know, it's kind of funny. It's been over a thousand years since I last saw you... Yet you have never seen me."

"If you came here to ask for forgiveness, Twilight-"

Nightfall snorted, "Forgiveness? Please. I have better things to do than beg for mercy from you..." Nightfall paused, "You know... You could have averted this several times by now... But... You just... Kept making so many... Mistakes..." Nightfall shook her head.

Princess Celestia cautiously turned around, and looked at Nightfall, she clenched her jaw. Standing before her was a twisted mockery of Twilight Sparkle, an alicorn corrupted more by hatred than dark magic. Nightfall's coat was a dark shade of purple, a shade lighter than the night sky, her wings were clearly alicorn wings, lacking the corruption Nightmare Moon had, yet her eyes... They were the same predatory slit eyes that Nightmare Moon had. Her made was almost black, with dark purple and violet highlights.

Looking at Twilight Sparkle in such a state... Was painful. Their eyes met, in that instance, no words were said. Complete silence filled the air, not a word was passed between them.

No words were needed. The pain Nightfall had felt was clearly evident, not even masked by the hatred she held. Princess Celestia could practically feel her pain.

"I am sorry, Twilight." Celestia softly stated.

Nightfall shook her head, "Sorry doesn't fix anything. It changes nothing of what happened." Nightfall lit her horn with magic, an action Celestia followed a half second later.

"You don't have to do this, Twilight." Celestia softly pleaded.

"No, I don't." Nightfall stated matter-of-factly. Celestia clenched her jaw. "But when you have lost everything, when it is taken from you... You have nothing left to lose."

Celestia steeled herself for the imminent attack from Nightfall, but it never came.

"Fighting in here will result in collateral damage." Nightfall smirked, "You don't want that, do you?"

Celestia grit her teeth. It was obviously a trap, Nightfall wanted to draw her out of the relative safety of the castle. She did have a point, however.

---

A large explosion shook the building, Eclipse's smile immediately vanished, to be replaced by concern. A quick glance out the window revealed two ponies fighting each other in the sky. Purple and yellow magic met, the purple magic easily overpowered the yellow magic, there was a faint flash of light, and the source of the yellow magic had changed positions.

"Nightfall..." Eclipse grimaced. She looked at Twilight, and then at Rainbow, both of whom were fixated on the battle happening in the skies over Canterlot.

"She's fighting Princess Celestia..." Twilight spoke with fear.

"...And winning." Rainbow said softly.

Eclipse's eyes shot back and forth rapidly, within the span of a second, she formulated a plan, and analyzed what little she knew of the situation. "We need-"

"Princess Luna!" Twilight shouted, pointing a hoof at the sudden appearance of another alicorn in the sky. Eclipse watched as Luna joined the battle, aiding Celestia. They were still being overwhelmed.

"Twilight." Eclipse spoke firmly, immediately drawing both Twilight's and Rainbow's attention, "We need to go help them."

Twilight took a second to process it, "R-right. Let's go."

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Rainbow shouted as she jumped into the air, rushing towards the door.

"No, Rainbow. Stay here." Eclipse commanded, grabbing her tail with her magic, causing the pegasus to stall.

Rainbow turned towards Eclipse, "What do you mean stay here!? They need all the help they can get!"

Eclipse shook her head, "They do. But... I don't want you to get hurt..." she replied softly.

"I'll be careful. Come on, we need to go!" Rainbow fought against Eclipse's grip, but she held tight.

"Eclipse... We need to go, Rainbow could help us."

Eclipse shook her head, "This is an alicorn's fight, Rainbow cannot help."

"I could distract her!" Rainbow shouted in frustration.

"I see there's no use in arguing with you..." Eclipse released Rainbow's tail from her magic.

"Thank y-" Rainbow's reply was cut off as Eclipse hit her with a spell, knocking her unconscious.

"Eclipse!" Twilight shouted as she rushed over to Rainbow. "What did you do?"

"She is unconscious, but otherwise unharmed." Eclipse replied quickly. "We need to go."

"We can't just leave her here... Why did you do that!?" Twilight glared at Eclipse, who shook her head.

"She will be fine. If she were to come with us, Nightfall might..." Eclipse steeled her resolve, "I'm not letting her kill my friends." Eclipse lit her horn with magic once more, "I am going to help Celestia and Luna, with or without you." Eclipse cast her teleportation spell, and disappeared in a flash of light. Twilight bit her lip, and looked between Rainbow and the battle going on outside.

---

Eclipse reappeared in a flash of light high in the air above Canterlot, she immediately spread her wings, and flapped them to retain her altitude. She first looked up, scanning the sky above her to make sure she had teleported above the fight, then she moved to check the horizon, then she looked down. She had appeared a few hundred feet above the battle, Celestia and Luna were combining their magic in an attempt to push back an attack from Nightfall, to no avail.

Eclipse had never been a fighter, it was because of what she had been through that she happened to learn battle magic.

Eclipse had never been the most skilled flier, having been born a unicorn, only later ascended to alicorn status.

Eclipse wasn't as powerful as Nightfall, or Luna, having failed too many times...

Eclipse had never been the most physically fit, having been a bookworm.

Eclipse inhaled, and exhaled, lighting her horn with magic. She closed her eyes.

---

Nightfall's magic was strong, far stronger than it was when she faced her last night... 'How could she have recovered so quickly!?' Luna thought in a panic as Nightfall's beam finally surged forwards, overwhelming the effort her sister and herself were putting forth. Luna had to teleport out of the way as Nightfall's beam of purple magic shot forth towards them.

Reappearing to the right of Nightfall, Luna did a quick glance around to find her sister, who had appeared opposite of her. Celestia nodded at Luna, who narrowed her eyes, understanding what her sister wanted. Nightfall continued to face where they previously occupied, preventing her from attacking either of them, and since you could only channel beams of magic in the direction you were facing...

Both Luna and Celestia lowered their horns at the same time, pointing at Nightfall. They charged their horns with magic, and released it in a steady stream, continuously pouring more magic into their beams. Where the two beams should have met, however, a sickly, dark purple barrier formed. They held the attack for several seconds, before breaking off.

The barrier held firm, despite their combined efforts. Luna grimaced. There was a flash of light, and Nightfall had disappeared. Luna immediately raised a barrier on instinct. The barrier barely formed before Nightfall sent out a shock wave at nearly point blank range, the force of the blast was absorbed by the barrier, but it still threw her the opposite direction.

While Luna attempted to bleed the speed from the sudden acceleration, Celestia teleported directly above Nightfall, and tucked in her wings. As she started to fall, she angled herself downwards, pointing horn first at Nightfall. Celestia's downwards velocity was added to the velocity of the beam of magic she shot forth. With a powerful flap of her wing, Nightfall rolled out of the way, avoiding the beam of magic. Celestia soon found herself falling past the point where Nightfall previously occupied, and flared her wings to reduce her speed.

An action that nearly costed her dearly, as a beam of dark purple magic shot passed one of her wings, missing by inches. She rolled over, so that her back was facing the ground, and pointed her horn at Nightfall, then sent a stun bolt flying towards her, all in the span of a single second. Nightfall flapped her right wing harder, sending her to the left, right into Luna's flight path.

The pair collided, Nightfall was momentarily dazed by the collision, but recovered before Luna could push her away. Nightfall pointed her horn at Luna's wing, and released a blast of kinetic energy at point blank range. The kinetic energy created a shock wave, which rippled through the air, creating turbulence, along with throwing Luna back awkwardly, her wing having caught the brunt of the force. Celestia flew towards Nightfall, sending spell after spell at her, forcing the corrupted alicorn to turn her attention away from her sister.

Luna watched a purple blur, falling at incredible speeds zoom passed a couple dozen feet away, she furrowed her brow in confusion. She locked her eyes on the object, attempting to figure out what it was. It took her a second to realize it was Eclipse falling through the air. Luna was about to attempt to save her from becoming a splatter on the ground when a flash of light indicated she had teleported. Luna's heart skipped a beat, 'Teleporting at those speeds could prove lethal! What are you doing Eclipse!'

Another purple flash of light drew her attention back to Nightfall, who was sent careening as a massive shock wave exploded outwards from the location where Eclipse had appeared, and was now hovering. Luna barely had time to cast a barrier around herself before the shock wave hit, staggering her. For a few seconds after the wave hit, her ears were ringing, and that was the only sound she could hear, even as Eclipse flew towards her, and moved her mouth, attempting to speak to her.

"Luna!" Eclipse shouted, the ringing in her ears stopped. Luna blinked rapidly several times.

"Eclipse?" Luna asked, dismayed at the aftereffects of being hit by that shock wave.

"I figured you could use some help." Eclipse smiled weakly.

Luna shook her head, "I do not know how much help it will be. Despite our best efforts, she continues to weaken us."

"Luna, Eclipse!" Celestia shouted from a distance, both of them turned towards Celestia, catching sight of a rapidly approaching beam of magic.

Both Eclipse and Luna teleported, reappearing to the left and right of Celestia, respectively. "We need a plan." Eclipse stated as the trio hovered, watching as Nightfall casually flew towards them.

"We need to keep her away from Canterlot, there would be too much collateral damage." Celestia stated, wearily eyeing the damage that had been done to the city thus far. A few buildings had been damaged, and there were a few fires, if the smoke was an accurate indication.

There was a flash of purple light, and Twilight appeared a few dozen feet below the group, she immediately looked around, getting an idea of the situation. Her eyes fell on Nightfall, who watched her like a hawk. She cautiously flew towards Eclipse, not once taking her eyes off of Nightfall. "Princesses..." she greeted wearily, aware that Nightfall could strike any second.

"Twilight... This is too dangerous, you shouldn't-"

Eclipse cut her off, "Celestia, we need her help." Twilight looked between Eclipse and Celestia, the latter of which reluctantly nodded.

Celestia grimaced, "Be careful, Twilight."

Twilight nodded solemnly, "I wi-"

"SCATTER!" Luna shouted suddenly, her command was instantly obeyed by everypony present, all of whom teleported off in varying directions to avoid Nightfall's beam of magic.

Eclipse reappeared twenty feet away from Nightfall, heart racing. She watched the beam as it raced passed her previous location, the danger of being hit by one of Nightfall's beams was not lost on her. She glanced around rapidly, performing a mental check, making sure everypony was accounted for. As she did this, Celestia and Luna began attacking Nightfall with channeled beams of their own magic.

Eclipse frowned at the sight, her analysis of Nightfall's combat technique, and how she reacted... 'It's wrong...'

Twilight intercepted a pulse of magic Nightfall had launched towards Eclipse with a beam of her own magic, 'Eclipse, what are you doing!?' she thought, watching as Eclipse just hovered in mid air, watching. 'Right... Look for an opening...' She watched as Celestia sent another beam of magic towards Nightfall, followed seconds later by a beam from Luna. The beams impacted Nightfall's barrier, doing nothing. 'That barrier is remarkable... How can it withstand so much-' "AH!" Twilight shouted as she jumped higher into the air, avoiding a pulse of magic sent towards her.

Celestia panted, she felt sweat rolling down her forehead. The exertion of the battle was starting to catch up to her, she wearily glanced towards Luna, who was barely matching Nightfall's beam with a beam of her own. Celestia beat her wings harder, and swooped towards Nightfall, forcing her to break off her attack on Luna to defend herself. Nightfall's horn glowed brighter, and a ball of light began forming in the air a few inches away from her horn. The ball of light grew in size, giving her enough pause to slow down her approach.

Nightfall threw back her head, and the ball of light erupted, sending a wave of force in all directions, and creating a partial vacuum in the immediate area surrounding Nightfall. The spell had a twofold effect, the pressure wave expanding rapidly outwards threw Princess Celestia violently away, and created an area of low pressure, resulting in a rapid influx of air as it was displaced, creating turbulence.

Eclipse raised a barrier around herself to block out the force from impacting her body, but she was still affected by the turbulence, breaking her train of thought, and forcing her back into the battle. In the wake of Nightfall's attack, she teleported above her, head facing the ground, and released a spell. Nightfall grunted as the spell hit it's mark. The wing the spell hit had become partially numbed. Nightfall immediately turned towards the source of the spell, Eclipse, and retaliated with a beam of magic at point blank range.

Eclipse didn't have time to react, the spell hit her, and threw her further into the air. She blacked out from the sudden shock, her body limply flew through the air, tossing and turning with no control.

Twilight swallowed her growing fear as Eclipse was thrown away like a piece of trash. She was torn between trying to help Eclipse, or helping Celestia, who was Nightfall's new target. Celestia's golden barrier was showing signs of stress under Nightfall's continuous point blank assault, but Eclipse had yet to recover. She glanced at Princess Luna, who nodded at her and flew towards Nightfall. Twilight channeled more magic into her horn to teleport, but her horn sparked uselessly. Twilight very quickly found her heart and mind racing, having overextended her magic, which hadn't had sufficient time to recover from her accident last night...

Luna flapped her wings harder, accelerating towards her sister and Nightfall. She pushed herself harder, despite her growing magic fatigue. 'I should conserve my magic.' she noted as she neared Nightfall. She pushed her wings harder, propelling herself faster, turning her own body into a weapon with which to strike at Nightfall. Princess Luna impacted Nightfall hard, the latter quickly righted herself, and retaliated with a blast of force, stalling Luna's forward momentum.

Eclipse opened an eye, and then immediately closed it. She slowly opened both her eyes, and looked around. She was vaguely aware of the air rushing passed her, and the feeling of falling. She looked up, and frowned, 'Why does the sky look like the... Oh.' Eclipse gathered her magic in her horn, and began converting her momentum into stored energy, then she looked for Nightfall. She hovered in place for a few seconds, then did a quick calculation, and teleported.

Nightfall paused to catch her breath, and get a better idea of where everypony was, and what was happening, the lull in immediate danger served as a perfect opportunity. Her wing was still tingling from the spell Eclipse hit her with, she momentarily glanced at her sluggish wing and grimaced. 'They're not worn out enough... Not yet...' She glanced down at Canterlot, getting her bearings. She heard a popping sound from above her, and immediately raised a barrier just in time to block a wave of kinetic energy from Eclipse. She glanced upwards at the alicorn, and snorted in frustration.

Eclipse's momentarily distraction provided a window of opportunity for Luna to fly underneath Nightfall, and strike from below. Nightfall flapped her wings hard, dodging to the right as a beam of magic shot downwards from Eclipse. Luna's eyes widened as the beam of magic narrowly missed her, Eclipse winced at her stern glare.

Celestia quickly looked around, it was obvious the fight was taking it's toll, Eclipse seemed to be doing the best of them however. 'Twilight...' she looked towards Twilight, who's horn was no longer surrounded by a magic aura, she grimaced. 'She pushed herself too far...' She should have known better than to let Twilight get involved with this...

"Sister..." Luna's voice caused Celestia to jump slightly.

"Luna... How are you holding up?" Celestia asked in a tired voice.

Luna shook her head, "Not well..." She glanced at Twilight, who was now approaching them, "It seems Twilight has overexerted herself."

Celestia nodded, "I feared as much..."

Eclipse appeared beside Luna, "This isn't working."

"You cannot stop me." Nightfall stated from a distance away, yet her voice easily carried through the air, reaching the group. Everypony looked at her wearily. "You only delay the inevitable end... If you give up now, I will be merciful, Celestia." Nightfall spat her name with hatred. Celestia and Twilight both winced.

"Nightfall, you are outnumbered. It would be in your best interests to surrender at once!" Luna spoke firmly.

"Yes, I suppose I am outnumbered... Your group of friends are still no match for my power..." Nightfall seemed to smile, "But, that is a double edged sword..." Nightfall lowered her horn, and sent a beam of magic at the group. Since everypony was watching her, they all reacted, immediately teleporting away, save for Twilight...

Twilight's heart raced as she ducked underneath the beam, and watched it fly passed her. 'I shouldn't be here.' Twilight turned her head back towards the location Nightfall had previously occupied. She quickly spun around, frantically searching for Nightfall's whereabouts. Nightfall had taken it upon herself to engage Princess Celestia, they had locked into combat, beam meeting beam. Twilight felt her blood run cold as Nightfall's beam steadily encroached upon Princess Celestia's position. Both Princess Luna and Eclipse saw this, and both quickly moved to assist the besieged princess.

Princess Celestia redirected her magic away from attempting to hold back Nightfall's beam into forming a barrier around herself. With no resistance, Nightfall's beam surged forwards, and impacted her barrier, cracking it. The force of the impact knocked her back, but she quickly righted herself, and fought against the beam, which was ever so slowly starting to erode her barrier.

Nightfall turned her head towards Princess Luna just in time to raise a barrier to block out Luna's magic pulse. The distraction gave Princess Celestia time to recover from her attack, and retaliate with a barrage of pulses. Each pulse slammed into Nightfall's barrier, causing a faint shimmer radiating outwards through the barrier as the energy was dissipated, but otherwise having no effect.

Eclipse saw an opportunity, with Nightfall preoccupied maintaining her barrier against both Celestia's and Luna's assault, she couldn't retaliate. She performed a quick teleportation, reappearing equidistant between Luna and Celestia, some distance away from Nightfall. She quickly swung her head down, bringing her horn to bear against Nightfall, and released a steady stream of magic. The stream lurched forth, and impacted Nightfall's barrier, creating a steady drain on both of their magic reserves.

As more and more magic was pumped into Nightfall's barrier, it seemed to become brighter and brighter. It was shrinking under the sustained bombardment, the strain of maintaining it perhaps too much for the fallen alicorn. Eclipse continued to analyze Nightfall, even as she poured more of her power into the attack. Soon, Nightfall's barrier left her with no room to flap her wings, and she brought them forwards, protecting her neck and face.

The barrier exploded outwards as Nightfall threw her wings back out, sending a massive wave of energy out in a sphere, rapidly expanding. Eclipse immediately raised a barrier of her own, and braced herself for the impact. The force of the wave washing over the barrier popped it like a bubble, and sent her careening towards the ground. The other three fared no better, Twilight faring the worst, being unable to raise a barrier anywhere near being able to protect from the shock wave.

Princess Luna, who was closest to Nightfall, went limp from the blast wave. Her wings and body flailed through the air. Princess Celestia quickly righted herself once she caught sight of her sister, and teleported to her aid, catching her with her magic. Celestia scanned the sky, watching as her daughter and Eclipse were thrown to the ground, landing a vast distance apart in Canterlot. She slowly turned her head towards Nightfall, who was slowly approaching her.

Eclipse grunted in pain as she rose to her hooves, the force of the impact dampened by several spells she had cast in the last few seconds before impact. Sadly, one of those spells did not include replacing the table she landed on with a mattress. She could feel the sting of splinters as she cautiously flexed her wings and legs. She eyed the ponies surrounding her wearily, having landed in the middle of a cafe. She slowly shook her head, ruffled her wings, and scanned the horizon.

'Twilight could be hurt worse than I am...' she grimaced. She took a step forwards, wincing as splinters cut into her more. Fortunately, the wounds would heal quickly once the battle was over. She quickly debated helping Twilight, or helping the princesses.

Her choice was made for her as Princess Celestia and a still unconscious Princess Luna appeared in a flash of light down the street. The pair's exhaustion showed, Celestia slumped to her knees, and panted heavily. Luna's breathing was labored, and she remained unconscious. the sight brought back several bitter memories... Eclipse shut her eyes, refusing to let what happened weaken her. 'What happened, happened. I can't change that... But I can make a difference now.' She opened her eyes, and steeled her resolve.

She lit her horn with dark magic, and cast her spell. She felt sick to her stomach as the dark magic washed over her body. She briefly collapsed to her knees, panting heavily. She inhaled deeply, and rose to her full height, determination plastered on her face, and fire in her eyes. She took in the newly provided magic, and teleported over to Celestia and Luna.

"Eclipse..." Celestia panted, eyeing her wearily.

A crowd had started to gather around the trio, confused and starting to panic at the sight of Princess Luna, lying unconscious and breathing heavy. Both alicorns still conscious looked around, Eclipse looked Celestia in the eye, she nodded.

Eclipse ran over to Luna's side, switching places with Celestia, who ran over to the crowd. Eclipse closed her eyes, lit her horn with magic, and touched her horn to Luna's. Magic surged forwards from her horn, and Luna jumped awake. Her head nearly smacking Eclipse's head. "Luna, you still with us?"

Eclipse stepped back as Luna slowly rose to her hooves, "I... Am..." Luna slowly answered. She looked around at the crowd around them, realizing the danger they were in. She frowned, "CITIZENS OF CANTERLOT, IT IS UNSAFE HERE!" she shouted in the Royal Canterlot voice.

Everypony present immediately broke into a panic, running away. Celestia turned towards Luna with an unamused expression. "It was quicker this way." Luna answered.

A flash of light drew their attention to the arrival of Nightfall. The alicorn had her wings spread wide, and was smiling, showing her sharp teeth. "You cannot evade me." she stated.

The other three alicorns exchanged glances. They slowly walked into a small v formation, Eclipse at the head, flanked by Celestia and Luna. Eclipse stepped forwards, and turned towards Celestia and Luna. She mouthed 'Run,' the two alicorns exchanged a glance, and shook their heads.

"We will not leave you, Eclipse." they stated in perfect unison.

Eclipse grimaced, but nodded. She slowly turned her head back towards Nightfall, who had not moved an inch since her arrival. Eclipse's heart skipped a beat when she saw the unicorn standing to Nightfall's left, however. "Starlight Glimmer..." she whispered. Celestia grimaced, Luna merely snorted.

Eclipse bolted forwards, dropping her head downwards as she did so. Luna and Celestia jumped into the air, an action mimicked by Nightfall. Eclipse charged her horn, and sent a pulse of magic at Starlight, who raised a barrier to block it. The barrier held, showing no signs of strain. Eclipse gritted her teeth.

A flash from her left made her turn her head, Nightfall lowered her horn and released a blast of kinetic energy at her, throwing Eclipse into the adjacent building. She impacted the wall hard, and was thrown through the window, leaving her with several cuts and gashes of varying size, length, and depth.

Celestia grunted in effort, matching Nightfall's beam with her own, using the last of her magic. Her magic lasted a few more seconds before failing, forcing her to roll out of the way as the beam was sent flying towards her. Eclipse shot out of the building she had been thrown in to, and tackled Nightfall. The two broke out into a hoof fight, both attempting to bring their horns to bear against the other, but neither succeeding.

Luna kept her eyes locked on the unicorn before her, matching her step for step. Both of them circled each other, walking in opposite directions in a circle, sizing each other up. She was surprised at the determination this unicorn showed, few unicorns could match power with an alicorn for even the briefest periods of time. Granted, she was not as powerful as Twilight Sparkle had been as a unicorn, but she had displayed superior military powers and tactics.

Starlight pulled a feint, and then attacked where Luna moved to defend from her fake attack. Luna met Starlight's beam with her own, and slowly pushed her beam back. Starlight grunted in effort, unable to match Luna's strength, even in her weakened state. Luna would have won their tug of war, but Nightfall complicated things by hitting Luna with a blast of magic which caused her to fall over and roll on the ground. She attempted to stand up, but Nightfall struck her again, pushing her back down. Luna glared at Nightfall, and attempted to rise to her hooves once more, Nightfall didn't let her this time either, hitting her with another blast of magic. On the bright side, Nightfall was starting to breath heavily now.

Eclipse slammed into Nightfall, horn almost lodging itself in her neck, throwing her aside. Celestia rushed over to Luna, and helped her up. Luna nodded her thanks, Celestia's lip twitched into a slight smile.

"Aww, the two sisters helping one another out... How cute." Starlight mocked, forcing both their attentions back towards the unicorn.

The two sisters exchanged a glance and grimaced.

Eclipse was thrown to the ground beside Luna, breathing heavily. Her horn sputtered and sparked, unable to produce a constant glow. She slowly stood from the ground, watching as Nightfall landed beside Starlight Glimmer. "You-" Eclipse coughed, "You don't have to do this, Nightfall. You can still stop-"

Nightfall smiled, "Do you not see the futility?" Nightfall shook her head, 'I can save the monologue for later. Besides... I can't tip her off just yet...'

"Twilight, please... Stop this and return to us!" Celestia pleaded. Starlight briefly glanced towards Nightfall, and hid a smirk.

Nightfall shook her head, "No." She turned towards Starlight, and nodded. Starlight pointed her horn towards Princess Luna, and prepared her spell.

Eclipse jumped in front of Luna, "No. I will NOT let you do this."

Nightfall smirked at Eclipse, and picked her up with her magic, and threw her aside. "Killing you now would be pointless. You will live to see..." she trailed off. Nightfall grabbed Celestia and Luna in her magic, holding them as Starlight cast her spell...

---

Nightfall, Starlight Glimmer, and two alicorns without cutie marks appeared in the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest. The pair of cutie marks Starlight had stolen were now orbiting around her horn, held in her magic.

Starlight had wanted to take Eclipse's cutie mark, but Nightfall rather forcefully told her not to.

Nightfall dragged both alicorns on the ground, pulling them to the Throne Room, followed by Starlight Glimmer. She threw open the Throne Room doors with her magic, and approached the pair of thrones, dragging the princesses across the cold, hard stone floor. Bits of rock found themselves matted into their coats, manes, and tails.

Nightfall forcefully threw them onto the thrones, hard enough to crack the rock further.

Starlight Glimmer turned her attention to the two cutie marks she held within her magic, thankful she wasn't on the receiving end of Nightfall's wrath. She smiled, and lowered the sun cutie mark to just in front of her muzzle, staring at it in awe. 'So much power...'

Luna and Celestia weakly lifted their heads to face their captor, they looked dull and lifeless, something not aided by the fact their manes now longer flowed. They looked into Nightfall's eyes, but said nothing, still somehow holding onto their resolve.

Starlight slowly moved towards the wall to the left of Nightfall.

Nightfall snorted, and turned towards Luna. "Luna, the fallen princess... You tried to bring about eternal night... Out of jealousy, no less. You were NEVER fit to rule." She turned towards Celestia, "And YOU..." She violently shook her head, "YOU did this to me. YOU got what you deserved before... Doing it a second time would be all the sweeter... But instead, You will bear witness to the fruits of your own sowing..." She leaned in and whispered, "The end of everything you ever held dear, the destruction of your sun, and the nation you raised for thousands of years..."

Celestia swallowed, her mask was faltering. Nightfall pulled back, "Starlight, give me their cutie marks, and then we shall spread equality across the world..." Nightfall smiled, showing her teeth at both princesses.

A beam of magic impacted Nightfall, the magic arced outwards through her body from the point of impact, injuring her further, and throwing her into the wall. "Yeah... About that, I don't think so. I know all about your plan, Nightfall..." Starlight approached with her horn lit. Nightfall, briefly dazed from both impacts, was slow to realize the betrayal. It was the feeling of her coat becoming damp that broke her stupor.

Nightfall turned towards the unicorn, and lit her own horn in preparation to retaliate. Her retaliatory strike was intercepted by Starlight, who easily destroyed the pulse of magic. She clenched her jaw tightly, and gazed at the unicorn, glancing over her body, searching for the source of her sudden strength. Due to how Starlight was facing her, she was unable to see her flank, however, the aura around her horn was infused with yellow and blue. It was brighter than normal too, confirming her suspicions.

"You cannot comprehend the forces you play with, unicorn..." Nightfall warned.

"Oh save the dramatics, Twilight." She stepped forwards, "How about I just kill you now? You're far too dangerous to keep alive."

Nightfall smiled and chuckled, "Finally somepony who understands that..." She shook her head, "However you are FAR too incompetent to kill me, unicorn." Nightfall's remark was punctuated by a flash of light signaling her teleportation.

Starlight quickly spun around, expecting the corrupt alicorn to strike her back. Nothing. She looked around the room, the only ponies present were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. She smiled.

Starlight sauntered towards the pair of alicorns, smiling mischievously, "So... About moving the sun and moon..." The two alicorns looked at each other, and grimaced.

Author's Note:

Woo, it's over 9000! Please don't hate me.

Alright this is a rather big Author's Notes, at least for me.

To start with, originally this chapter had Eclipse and Rainbow waking up in the same bed. Obviously I changed that, I still have that chapter in this, but I don't plan on publishing it. Perhaps I could include that or something similar in a later chapter.

Alright so, I was split about stopping here, or continuing on, making this longer. Next chapter coming out on Sunday, unless something interferes. Don't worry, this story's not over yet! From what I'm thinking, this could stretch on for a while longer with my current ideas.

My original idea for this story basically involved ending it at this point, with an epic showdown in Ponyville between Twilight, Eclipse, and Nightfall. Twilight and her friends were going to wield the Elements of Harmony, but Nightfall was going to attack Twilight, thus forcing Eclipse to wield them. Eclipse would have succeeded, and then it would have ended with This is still a spoiler for what happens, so I'm not sharing it... Yet. Perhaps you already know what will happen though?

Anyone know anything about groups? I don't know what to do in regards to them, and I'm the type of person who...

Alright, I may take a break after next chapter is out, need time to think about how the next arc's going to go, but then again, I might not.

As usual, comment below.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Will Starlight Glimmer appear or at least be mentioned in this story?

[i_am_the_jam]

You'd THINK that somepony would have called out an APB on Starlight...