Of Might and Magic
"Come on girls, there's no time to lose!"
"Dangnabit Twilight, wait for us!"
The purple unicorn paid Applejack no heed however; galloping onwards and leaving the rest of the herd to catch up. So focused was she on their goal, Twilight didn't notice that the bridge spanning the gully separating them from the castle ruins was broken until she began pitching forwards over the cliff edge with a cry of fear. Fortunately for her however, Rainbow Dash was a lot quicker off the mark than anypony else; darting forth and managing to grab Twilight's tail in the nick of time before yanking her back off of the precipice.
"What's with you and falling off cliffs today?"
The purple pony was far too busy panting and trying to get her heart rate back down to normal to reply to Dash's wise crack, though that didn't stop an overprotective Midnight from dropping down to her side. "Lady Sp- Twilight! Are you well?"
Thankfully there was no damage done, but as Pinkie pointed out, they now had a new problem.
"Now what?"
Rainbow merely rolled her eyes at the party pony's exaggerated sigh while waggling her wings. "Duh, I'm a pegasus."
Pinkie brightened up at the realisation, while Midnight saluted with one foreleg across her chest in respect. "Good luck to thee Captain. I shall maintain watch until thy return."
The cyan-coated speedster gave an awkward imitation of the gesture in return before setting about her task. "Uh... yeah, sure thing 'Night. Just you watch, I'll have that bridge up in ten seconds flat!"
So saying, Dash took off and dove into the mist enshrouded gorge; grabbing the dangling ropes on the loose ends of the bridge and flying up to land on the opposite side. Just as she was about to tie the ropes off and secure the rickety structure however, a whispered voice on the wind caused her to whip round in surprise. Was that... somepony calling her name?
Back on the far side, the small herd of ponies and one war charger waited anxiously.
"After all that boasting, I rather thought she'd at least try to be punctual."
Applejack shook her head at Rarity's statement, recognising the nervousness underneath. "Somethin' must be wrong. 'Taint like the filly at all ta take so long."
Sheltering by their armoured protector's side, Fluttershy was beside herself with concern as she stared out over the abyss. "Oh no, I hope she's all right. Um, excuse me M-Midnight, but can you see anything on the other side?"
Taking advantage of her height as the nearby clustered ponies looked on at her expectantly, Midnight narrowed her eyes in an attempt to better see through the rolling mist that had begun to cover the bridgehead. An equine shape that resembled a winged pony had to be the elusive Rainbow Dash, but who were the other three that had seemingly materialised from the ether? A brief clear patch allowed Midnight to glimpse a trio of ponies clad in dark uniforms surrounding the good Captain, malicious intent likely if their limited expressions were anything to go by. Try to pour poison words in her ears, would they? Not on this mare's watch.
Fortunately Twilight had caught on as well, a gasp of surprise leaving her short muzzle before she shouted across the gap as the fog rolled in once more to cut off their vision. "Oh no. Rainbow! Don't listen to them!"
Drawing in a deep breath, Midnight thundered her own... encouragement at the unknown pegasi. "VILE CURS! LYING FIENDS! LEAVE THE CAPTAIN IN PEACE, OR FEEL THE TASTE OF MINE STEEL!"
There were several long seconds of silence before they could see the rope bridge go taut; a speeding Rainbow Dash flying down its length a few heartbeats later with her wings dissipating the unnatural mist and landing before the cheering ponies. "See? what did I tell ya? I'd never leave my friends hangin'."
Stepping forth, the solitary war horse of the group inclined her head to the returned pegasus with a look of respect in her eyes. "I see the battle went well Captain. Thy have driven off the enemy and appear to be no worse for wear."
Preening at the praise, Dash could only grin as she took flight once more. "Yeah, I totally showed those guys not to mess with me! But, uh... Thanks, y'know, for helping anyway."
While the ponies slowly made their way across the rope bridge, their armoured escort realised that she had a new problem. Testing her weight on one of the wooden slats, Midnight saw the part rotted board snap almost instantly and fall into the gully below; unsurprising considering she outweighed the much smaller equines by a landslide, even without the steel plates adorning her considerable frame.
"Midnight! Are you alright?"
Muddy amber eyes flickered up to see Twilight and the others watching her from the far side with worry as she considered her options. She could stay here and guard against any exterior threats, but that was not the knight's way. She was meant for attack, not defence against an unseen foe; and the only way to achieve that was to continue moving forwards.
"Stand back children! I am coming across!"
The assembled ponies looked on with shock as the armoured mare turned away from the bridgehead to gain some distance for a run up.
"Are you crazy?!" Dash yelled in disbelief. "There's no way the bridge'll take your weight!"
Midnight turned around at the edge of the treeline with determination set on her features. "Which is why I shall not be taking the bridge, Captain."
Rarity gasped in horrified realisation. "Darling, you can't possibly be thinking of jumping across! You'll never make it!"
The scarred veteran pawed at the still wet ground as she psyched herself up, muscles coiled and ready to spring on a hair trigger, even as Twilight made a last ditch bid to prevent the mad mare from doing something suicidal. "Midnight, you don't have to do this! Please, just stay there!"
Midnight flared her nostrils aggressively, and at some unseen signal, charged forth at blistering speeds for such a bulky equine. Thundering hooves ate up the ground in seconds, tearing clods of grass and mud up in spades as she raced for the edge of the cliff and used the momentum to leap forth with a triumphant whinny.
Everypony could only gawp at the sight of nigh 1400 pounds of muscle, sinew, and steel plating soaring across the wide gap to land heavily on their side with earth shaking force; skidding to a halt several yards away before turning back around to face the stunned group with her head held high. "I vowed upon my honour to protect you, little ones; a solemn duty from which no mere chasm shall keep me from fulfilling."
The resulting silence was broken by Applejack's whistle of appreciation. "Boy howdy, I ain't never seen anypony jump that far before!"
Pinkie's baby blue eyes lit up as her head rapidly darted between Midnight and the leap of faith she had taken across the gully. "Ooh! Ooh! Can you do that again? Can I ride along next time?!"
Feeling a headache coming along, Twilight massaged her temples with a hoof before turning tail and heading for the overgrown ruins just behind them. "Ugh, let's... just get inside and find the Elements before anything else goes wrong."
The looming archway was one of the few structures on the front of the castle still miraculously intact, including the towering, partly-rotted oak doors that ominously creaked open at the push of their hooves. Since a good portion of the ceiling was missing, the pale moon illuminated the interior; revealing musty flagstone floors and what were once stained glass windows, now shattered by the ravages of time. In the centre of the entrance hallway however was a huge multi-tiered plinth overgrown with moss, with slender arms extending out to hold several ornately carved stones that instantly drew everpony's attention.
"Whoa..." Applejack breathed before quickly regaining her senses. "Come on, Twilight. Isn't this what you've been waitin' for?"
Midnight couldn't help but agree with her sentiment; with the holy relics within grasp, there was truly no time to spare if they wished to stop the dark sorceress in time.
With Twilight fretting over their condition, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash gently hovered in place to grasp the artefacts from their high pedestals and bring them back down to the time weathered floor. Once the stones had been arranged in to a loose circle however, yet another problem became apparent.
"One, two, three, four... There's only five!"
Midnight looked between the worried ponies with more than a hint of confusion. "Only five? Were there to be more?"
Not taking her eyes off of the inert stones, Twilight lowered herself down to the floor with a frown of concentration on her brow. "The book said: 'When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed'."
Applejack scowled in annoyance at the nonsensical riddle. "What in the hay is that supposed to mean?"
The studious unicorn spared the cowpony a glance before turning back to the reason for their perilous journey so far. "I'm not sure... but I have an idea. Stand back, I don't know what will happen."
The present company dutifully backed off a few paces to give Twilight space to work, with Applejack leading the herd back outside so as not to disturb her. Midnight however elected to stay put where she was despite the farm filly's insistence. No; if Lady Sparkle were to be reviving these ancient relics with her mage's power, then she would need protection against their foe as she performed the ritual, lest she be struck down unwary.
With that decided, the war charger watched with fascination as Twilight screwed her eyes shut with concentration while breathing deeply; her horn glowing with the now familiar glow of magic as she attempted to channel it into the dead stones before her.
No sooner had she begun however when a sudden flicker of movement caught Midnight's eye; her head swivelling to see a viscous bluish-purple mist flowing through the air past the young noble filly, causing the hairs upon her coat to prickle as it condensed into a spinning vortex that sucked the stones in. "Twilight!"
Gasping aloud, the unicorn's eyes snapped open to see the precious artefacts rising higher and faster into the air as the magical whirlwind gained momentum; the tingling sensation on her coat indicative of an imminent teleport spell. "No! The Elements!"
Not even considering the consequences, Twilight sprung to her hooves and dove straight into the eye of the condensing storm; her loyal armoured protector a split second behind.
The remainder of the group came galloping back into the hall moments later; calling out for their two absent companions, only to find it entirely devoid of life. But while the others searched frantically around while talking over each other, Rarity's attention was drawn to one of the cracked window frames; for near the centre of the castle ruins stood a thin spire that towered over the rest of the crumbling structure, blinding white light blazing from its windows like powerful strobes. "Look, over there!"
"Come on, let's go!" Applejack yelled back as she took the lead; the five rushing off through the castle ruins to help save their missing friends, with each praying that they wouldn't be too late.
{()}
"Oof!"
Twilight fell flat on her barrel with limbs awkwardly outstretched; the dissipating bluish-purple smoke and sudden impact with the flagstone floor having left her coughing and momentarily disorientated as she tried to get her bearings. A low, dark chuckling reverberated throughout the room shortly thereafter; gradually shifting into malicious laughter that left the unicorn gasping with widened eyes as she looked up to see the source on the opposite side of the room.
The pale moon cast an ethereal glow through the wall length shattered window, the instigator of tonight's terrible events highlighted as she stood imperiously atop a raised dais where a throne may once have sat. With ceremonial armour worn over the top of a coat that seemed to be the sheer absence of colour was the dark alicorn herself; ethereal mane and tail a blanket of stars that wavered on an invisible breeze, while the five Elements levitated around her in a firm telekinetic grasp.
"Nightmare Moon..."
The lunar obsessed antithesis of Princess Celestia narrowed her eyes at the much smaller pony, slitted pupils boring into the interloper as a twisted smile graced her lips. "Well, well... It seems I have a guest. Come to bear witness to my triumph, have you?"
Heart thumping in her chest, Twilight could only stare back at the dark goddess in horror; for without the Elements to hoof, any chance of saving Equestria from eternal darkness would be lost. She thought about her home, her family; the mares who had been crazy enough to get themselves involved in this mess, and yet still stuck by her side regardless. Terrifying as the prospect was, if there was to be a future, then there was only one course of action left available to her. Eyes narrowing in determination, Twilight pawed at the cold flagstones with nostrils flared; psyching herself up for what would no doubt be her only shot at defeating Nightmare Moon.
The dark alicorn however was far from impressed and mockingly rolled her eyes at the display, faux amusement evident in every syllable. "You're kidding. You're kidding, right? Do you honestly believe an insignificant little unicorn such as yourself has any chance against the ruler of the night?"
The sound of clattering armour plates rubbing against each other interrupted any further exchanges; heavy hoofsteps echoing on the stone floors as Midnight rose from the floor upon which she had been recovering from her first experience with teleportation and stood beside the scholar she had sworn to protect. "Then perhaps I will prove to be a worthier challenge, maleficar."
Seeing the battle-scarred veteran beside her gave Twilight a much needed confidence boost; relief colouring her features at the thought of not having to do this alone. "Midnight... am I glad to see you."
The larger mare nodded cordially. "As am I to see thou art none worse for wear, my Lady."
Nightmare Moon on the other hoof appraised the heavily armoured newcomer with a sense of indifference. "And just who are you supposed to be?"
Midnight returned her attention to the malevolent alicorn with a penetrating glare, eyes burning with unadulterated fury. "I am Midnight, of the knights errant, under the command of his Royal Highness Prince Edward the Third. Guardian of Lady Sparkle's retinue, and by Epona's grace, the sword of righteousness that shall strike thee down, demon!"
Mocking laughter was the dark alicorn's answer as she looked down her muzzle at the pair from her raised position. "Oh this is too much; an overgrown earth pony who thinks she can take on a goddess!"
While the villainous mare continued to monologue and posture grandly, Midnight turned her attention to the distinctly edgy-looking unicorn by her side. "Be calm, Twilight. This is not thy battle to fight."
Lavender eyes narrowed at the much taller mare in disbelief. "'Not my fight'? But Nightmare Moon has the Elements! We need to get them back if we want to have any hope of defeating her!"
The war horse merely shook her head with a sad smile. "Not 'we', my Lady, for only thou may bring forth the power of these holy relics. I shall engage the demon directly, to better serve as a distraction."
Twilight gasped in horrified realisation. "B-but... she's an alicorn! Her magic is too powerful, even if you were warded against offensive spells! I know you're strong, but what could you hope to do against her?"
Midnight grimaced in sheer bloody-minded determination, placing her bulk in front of the purple pony to better shield her charge as she settled into an aggressive stance. "I hold no illusions as to my chances of victory. But so long as my body still draws breath, I shall continue to fight. Now come, let us purge this evil from the land with thy divine light."
Apparently Nightmare Moon had finished her speech in the meantime, since she was now glaring down on the two once again with her ebony wings flared. "Enough of this foolishness! Remember this day sun lovers, for it shall be your last!"
Midnight snarled in response; nostrils flaring angrily as her muscles coiled in preparation to strike. "For once we agree, maleficar. Except that it is thy wretched self that shall not survive this encounter. HAVE AT THEE!"
The war horse and alicorn pushed off the ancient stone floor almost simultaneously; both galloping straight at their respective opponent with long legs rapidly closing the gap. As planned, Twilight kept just behind her significantly larger equine shield, horn already glowing with a build up of magical power, before she disappeared in a flash of light just as the two black-coated equines clashed in the centre of the tower.
Alicorns are unique among the residents of Equestria in that they possess the inherent abilities of all three pony tribes; the pegasus' gift of flight, the unicorn's magical prowess, and the earth pony's enhanced physical strength. While this gave the deity level equine an unrivalled advantage against most creatures in a straight up fight, it did not account for the combination of hulking muscle, heavy armour, and righteous fury that was a veteran war horse not of this world.
And so it was that rather than flattening the insolent overgrown pony with her magically enhanced strength, Nightmare Moon instead found herself unpleasantly surprised at being caught in a deadlock; her broad-framed opponent beginning to slowly force her backwards with metal horseshoes throwing up sparks from the friction. Though momentarily stunned, the dark alicorn quickly recovered her wits thanks to her previously cast shield spell taking the brunt of the assault; a quick stun blast from her horn buying the necessary time to take flight and regain the initiative in what should have been a quick humiliation for the self-professed knight.
Clearly this opponent was not to be underestimated, unlike those inept Royal Guard ponies she had easily trounced when upon crashing Celestia's precious celebration earlier that night, and it was not a mistake that Nightmare Moon intended to repeat again anytime soon.
Shaking her head to clear the bleariness that graced her vision, Midnight spun on her axis only to take another magical missile to her side; this one powerful enough to stagger the mare as even more rained down from above. Drawing her attention to the direction of attack, the equine knight soon spied her foe hovering near the ceiling upon raven wings while letting loose a steady barrage of ranged blasts from her advantageous position.
"You're tougher than I thought, but still no match for one who can both fly and cast magic! So what are you going to do now, hmm? You can't dodge forever!"
True though that was, Midnight had already spotted a way to even the odds. Jumping aside from another blast of bluish-purple magic that scorched the flagstones beneath her hooves, Midnight dashed across the chamber to what was once a marble pillar of exquisite quality. Now though it was covered in creeping vines and weakened by more than a millennium of neglect, and more importantly, it was just what she needed to bring this fight back down to earth.
Skidding to a halt behind the thick and crumbling pillar, Midnight reared up on her hind legs and forced as much of her weight as possible into one almighty shove. The marble column cracked under the sudden, violent impact; splintering along its base and sending the entire structure crashing down on the space where Nightmare Moon would have still been hovering had it not been for a last second teleport.
"Insolent wretch! You'll pay for that!"
Rather than answer in kind however, the ground-based equine substituted action for words and charged the mare in the moon's position, only to slam into another pillar as she teleported away again with a mocking laugh. The pattern continued twice more, with Nightmare Moon blinking out of the way to another part of the room while her opponent scored achieved little more than denting her armour, and accumulating a few new bruises with each impact bought on by near misses.
The dark alicorn had gotten lazy in her arrogance however, and it didn't take long for Midnight to predict the pattern of teleportation and be in place to intercept her with a vicious double buck to the face. With a cry of anguished pain, Nightmare Moon careened across the chamber to slam into a miraculously intact pillar with enough force to shatter her still active shield entirely; the passive spell likely the only reason why she was able to stagger to her hooves at all, let alone still fight after such a bone-shattering impact.
"Thou art powerful, maleficar, but far from the goddess thou claim to be," Midnight stated bluntly as she purposely strode towards her recovering foe with steel in her eyes. "Surrender now, or perish by mine hooves."
Nightmare Moon growled like a rabid dog at the insinuation. "You... dare! YOU DARE INSULT MY LEGACY?!"
Whatever else she might have said was an entirely incoherent scream of rage as the alicorn pushed off of the broken column and launched herself at the wretched interloper who had now dropped into a defensive stance; her horn alight with dark sorcery as the battle renewed once more.
{()}
"Come on, come on! Just one spark..."
While the titanic equines tore in to each other with wild abandon, Twilight Sparkle had long since completed her teleport and was now making use of Midnight's diversion to desperately try to bring the inert Elements to life from where they had been abandoned in Nightmare Moon's race to fight head on. So far it had been for nought though, for no matter how much magic she channelled into the five stones, all she got was a few weak surges of static before they fizzled out.
Why?! Why weren't they working?! Midnight, crazy mare that she was, had put her life on the line to buy the frantic unicorn the precious time she needed and she was failing!
The cacophony of battle continued to grow behind her as she desperately sought an answer, until a triumphant cry distracted the studious unicorn from her vital task. "I have you now, vile fiend! Now, Lady Sparkle. Do what must be done!"
Midnight had somehow ended up physically grappling with her opponent, and was now using her considerable weight to keep Nightmare Moon pinned down while she thrashed irritably. Of course the war horse's less than subtle declaration caught the mare in the moon's attention as well, and it took her less than a second for her to realise she had been tricked. "Get off of me you insolent fool!"
A blast of dark magic propelled the armoured equine holding her down into the air and launched her halfway across the room, before the dark alicorn shifted into an ethereal mist and blinked back to the podium where Twilight still fervently worked. Said unicorn was also sent careening away by a similar bolt of condensed magic even as the inert stones began to flicker with power; a chain lightning effect linking the five and emitting a faint glow that grew briefly... then died entirely.
Pushing herself upright, Twilight could only gasp at the sight with plummeting hope. "But... I don't understand! Where's the sixth Element?!"
Laughing gleefully at her impending triumph, Nightmare Moon reared up on her hind legs before slamming back down with a localised magical shockwave that shattered the ancient stones into splintered fragments; the heart-wrenching look on the face of her arch enemy's student simply the icing on the proverbial cake to her final triumph. "Silly little foal! Thinking you could defeat me? Such a shame; you and the overgrown earth pony almost had me going for a while there, but now you are all finished! Never again will you see your Princess or your precious sun; for the night... will last... forever!"
Maniacal cackling filled the chamber and Twilight couldn't help but feel a little piece of her die. She had failed to resurrect the Elements, and without them Equestria was surely doomed. A scraping sound announced an exhausted and heavily wounded Midnight dragging herself along the ground towards the broken mare, blood flowing freely from multiple lacerations through her now torn and bent armour. "Have courage young Twilight; we are not yet finished."
The crestfallen unicorn could only look down at the cold flagstone floor in defeat, her voice barely a whisper. "The Elements are gone... There's nothing else I can do."
A cracked hoof against Twilight's jaw forced her to look up at a pair of fierce, muddy-amber eyes inches from her own; an unquenchable fire of determination burning within. "Just because the relics are no more, does not mean that we can no longer fight. So long as blood still flows within my veins, I shall continue to do battle; until victory, or death's embrace. The fate of many rests upon our actions this day; our lives inconsequential if it means but a sliver of hope in slaying the demon."
The sounds of voices drifted up from the stairwell beyond the doorframe behind them, a familiar blend of feminine tones that caused a faint smile of relief to form on Midnight's muzzle. "Hark, Twilight. Thy friends come to our aid even now. So long as we all stand united as comrades in arms, we shall not falter."
The right words at the right time can make a world of difference given the circumstances; and to Twilight, the injured war horse's words had struck a chord that had gears turning in her highly analytical mind.
"Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her..."
"What ah'm sayin to ya is the honest truth..."
"There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known..."
"My thanks to you kind Fluttershy, you need not have aided me when it was I that caused you grief."
"...'when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed'."
"Learn to face your fears~ You'll see they can't hurt you~ Just laugh to make them disappear~"
"My dear Twilight... Make some friends..."
"Short tails are in this season. Besides, it'll grow back."
"United... we shall not falter."
"See? I'd never leave my friends hangin'."
'That's it!'
Twilight gasped in realisation as Applejack came bolting into the room, just in front of the other ponies who had stuck by her side throughout their perilous journey into the Everfree; confidence filling out her features as she rose to her hooves with renewed determination. "You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong! Because the spirits of the Elements are right here!"
Midnight could only watch in amazement as the stone shards began to vibrate around a startled Nightmare Moon before swirling forth as Twilight continued to speak aloud.
"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... Honesty!" The farm pony started in surprise as a cluster of shards began to orbit around her with a shimmering glow, but quickly stilled while the purple unicorn moved swiftly on.
While Twilight regaled the valorous conduct of the other ponies, Midnight forced her aching body off of the floor to stand once more. Fate had tipped the scales yet again, and the foul maleficar was unlikely to go quietly in the face of such an undoubtedly powerful weapon. In fact, the dark alicorn was becoming more agitated by the second as more and more shards took flight to hover around each of the ponies, despite her attempts at lashing out with her magic.
"The spirits of these five ponies, and our unexpected guardian, got us through every challenge you threw at us," Twilight finished; each of her friends now being orbited by the Elements remains.
Nightmare Moon snorted contemptuously, but it was obvious to all that her composure was beginning to slip; even without the hint of desperation in her voice. "But you don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!"
Midnight's focus drifted away from Twilight's reaction in favour of keeping watch upon the demonic being. For the prospect of certain death drives most creatures to the brink of desperation in order to survive, and the tell tale glow of dark magic condensing on her horn was exactly what the war horse feared would come to pass.
She didn't think: merely reacted.
As the shards condensed into a quintet of jewelled necklaces and a newly revealed crown, Nightmare Moon released a pent up beam of magical force large enough to engulf a pony whole straight at her hated enemy's precious student; only for the armoured mare she had bitterly fought to fling herself in to its path. Screams of pain were muted by the magical rainbow light that swept forth in an overpowering tide from the six now glowing and levitating ponies, and Midnight found herself unceremoniously tossed to the other side of the room after smashing into one of the few pillars still standing before slumping lifelessly to the floor.
Before the darkness claimed her once more however, Midnight's rapidly dimming vision made out a blinding light through one of the windows that faded into a most wondrous sight. Standing regal and proud with a pure white coat was a horse with angel's wings flared and a fluted horn upon her head; an ethereal mane and tail comprised of pinks, blues, and nautical greens flowing in an invisible breeze that combined to exude a godly aura surely not meant for those of the mortal realm. Tired eyes closed, too heavy to stay open any more; a small smile playing across Midnight's bloody muzzle at the holy vision she had been granted in what would likely prove to be her last moments once again.
"Epona... you hath come for me..."
{()}
"Ugh, my head..."
Twilight couldn't help but agree with Dash's sentiment considering how sluggish she felt and the throbbing pain in her skull that seemed to be gradually receding. The six ponies gradually began to stir one after another from where they lay sprawled on the flagstone floor; checking themselves over while wondering about the jewelled necklaces - and in one case crown - that they now possessed. Although Rarity seemed far more enamoured with her magically regrown tail than anything else.
It was then that a regal yet motherly voice interrupted their excited conversation, the sun finally climbing over the horizon to take its rightful place in the sky and bringing with it Equestria's missing ruler; Princess Celestia. "Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. I knew you could do it."
Though the rest of the ponies bowed in respect, Twilight was far too relieved to see her teacher again and leapt forth into her warm embrace. Stepping back to face her mentor a moment later however, the studious unicorn's face fell a little as confusion entered her tone. "But... you told me it was all just an old pony tale."
The alicorn of the sun chuckled good naturedly. "I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, and knew it was you that had the magic inside to defeat her; a power you could not unleash until you let true friendship into your heart."
Twilight smiled back at the Princess' praise, a small niggle in her mind prompting her next words. "Thank you, your Highness. But if it weren't for Midnight, I don't know if any of us would have made it this far."
Celestia raised a delicate brow in question. "Oh? And who is this Midnight you are referring to? I assume they are not one of the new Element bearers?"
Twilight turned around with her hoof poised to point out their oversized friend when she realised one very important thing. The normally very vocal mare was missing. "Has anypony seen Midnight?"
A chorus of negatives was her answer, however it took but a few seconds to make out the slumped, lifeless equine lying in a pool of her own blood in the newly lit room.
"Oh no... No! No! No! Midnight!" The purple unicorn rushed over to the still, black-coated body with everypony else just behind; eyes teary in shock and disbelief at the state of their imposing armoured guardian.
Celestia's face meanwhile had twisted into an uncharacteristic grimace as her experienced eyes took in the extensive injuries on what was probably the biggest earth pony she had ever laid eyes on. Aside from the multiple instances of rent scar tissue and lacerations, the main concern was the hoofball sized crater seared into the mare's central mass; the armour plates actually warped and melted into the quasi-cauterised wound no doubt caused by a high powered beam attack. Miraculously she was still alive, if barely; the thick armour likely the only reason she still clung to life at all given the circumstances.
The sun alicorn had originally planned to reconcile with her long missed sister and reassure the populace that all was well, but this horrific casualty was far more important. Especially if said pony was indeed as integral to her student's success as she had implied. "Stay close, my little ponies. Your friend is gravelly injured and needs medical attention immediately. Luna?"
The assembled ponies gasped as they saw who the Princess was now looking at, for sitting up in the shattered remnants of Nightmare Moon's armour was another alicorn. Significantly shorter than Celestia's lithe frame, she was distinguished by a midnight blue coat, dark blue mane with matching tail, and an appropriately scaled set of dark-coloured counterpart regalia to Celestia's own.
Upon hearing her name, the restored alicorn of the night shrank back on her haunches with a shiver of fright; eyes warily darting between the room's occupants before widening upon settling upon Midnight's prone form. "Oh no... I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to-"
Celestia pulled her sniffling sister closer with a touch of telekinesis before nuzzling her gently. "Hush now, dear sister, it's going to be alright. We have so much to catch up on now we are together again, but right now there is a pony here in dire need of our help."
With everypony bunched closely together, the sun alicorn channelled pure magic into her horn, and with a flash of golden tinted light the entire group vanished from the desecrated throne room; leaving another battlefield empty of all but blood, armour fragments, and the destructive signs of conflict seared into the very walls themselves.
{()}
The receptionist at Ponyville General Hospital was startled by the sudden flash of blinding light in the front lobby, needing several seconds to blink the spots out of her eyes and take in the entourage of ponies who had just teleported in with the sovereign ruler of Equestria. In all honesty, it was a small miracle she didn't fall of her chair as she scrambled to supplicate herself before the alicorn of the sun. "Y-your Highness, what an unexpected visit! How can I-"
The surprisingly grim faced ruler cut the mare off with a raised hoof as she gestured to a limp, black-coated pony laid beside her where another alicorn - to her mounting surprise - was fretting over them. "I apologise for being short, but this mare is gravely wounded and in need of immediate medical attention."
The receptionist couldn't help but think that to be an understatement considering the hulking mare's condition, especially since a crimson pool was now slowly spreading over the polished floors around her body. "I need a trauma team to the reception desk immediately! Priority one case! Somepony prep the ER, and get Doctor Stable up here, stat!"
A small herd of medical ponies responded in prompt fashion to the harried receptionist's orders over the PA system, arriving less than half a minute later with a gurney that would barely take Midnight's bulky frame without a little magical manipulation. Several of the easier to remove armour pieces had to be pried off in order to make the mare light enough to move at all; taking the combined efforts of several unicorns to lift the exceptionally heavy metal plates and drop them off to one side.
Finally mobile, the combined team of medical orderlies, doctors, and nurses wheeled the unconscious war horse through a set of double doors; away from the six worried ponies and two alicorns left behind in an increasingly tense atmosphere.
"Nightie's gonna be alright, isn't she?" a sad and straight-maned Pinkie asked the room in general, to which the ruler of the sun shook her head gently.
"I do not know, my little pony, but your friend is in good hooves now. If anypony can help her recover, it is the well trained medical staff here." Turning her attention to a downcast Twilight, the alicorn continued. "That being said, I would like to know where you met such an exceptionally large mare."
The studious unicorn slowly shook her head. "It's... kind of a long story, your Highness."
Princess Celestia merely shrugged, making sure that she kept the distinctly nervous Luna close by. "Time is something we appear to have a lot of, my dear student. Perhaps you could start from when you first met."
And so, while everypony prayed that the equine knight would survive and recover, Twilight recounted the night's events leading up to their reunion. "Well, I guess it began after we fell down a collapsing cliffside shortly after entering the Everfree..."
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Oh no...
I'm sure she will survive...
Right?
right?
The FEELS
7576886
Nope. She's dead. Story ends here.
orig07.deviantart.net/41a2/f/2010/189/d/f/trollface_by_deniskapwnz.png
7582577 Your comment perfectly matches your profile pic. I appreciate this fact.
7576886
Yes, Luna will live on. Her world's been shattered, she's lost and surrounded by possible enemies, and her mortal-enemy-turned-sister is dragging her around with a bare few caring words, but I'm quite sure she will survive...
Oh, you were talking about Midnight.
Horses totally exist in Equestria.
I'm sorry it's kind of been bugging me.
STORY IS AWESOME SO FAR! The action is really good I only like action when it's really good otherwise it bores me but it is really intense and easy to stay focused on!
Luna is finally back and Celestia noice~
Technically, that wasn't really an evening, the events took place shortly before dawn was supposed to arrive, had Nightmare Moon not made sure that the sun remained down.
So you could say the trip trough the forest was during a really early morning, and probably a few ours towards late morning at the end of the whole fight.
So quite the opposite of evening.
I'd even accept a 'events of the night' instead, since it was technically a long lasting night.
Welcome to Antagonism 101, class.
To start off, always be quick with a retort to battle banter. It's a very important part of it all. But be just as quick in the execution of your claim, otherwise those pesky protagonists might actually pull something crazy off.
For example, in this situation I would have tried something along these lines.
"You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong! Because the spirits of the Elements are right here!"
"In that case. I'll just have to destroy your spirits too!" *magical zap*
7586120 Point taken, and thankfully an easy fix. Thanks!
Nightmare Moon be like
orig06.deviantart.net/5a4e/f/2016/268/8/5/why_can_t_i_____by_midnight_cobra-daitz5u.png
Because for SOME reason, even after figuring out that it was not a good idea in the early stages of the fight, Nightmare Moon decided to attack Midnight physically rather than hanging back and continuing to throw lasers. Or telekinetically chucking large rocks. Or telekinetically manipulating Midnight herself. Or blasting the floor out from under her. Or shapeshifting into a more capable form to fight her in. Or confusing her with illusions. Or attacking Twilight instead and forcing Midnight to defend her, thus increasing the chance of actually hitting her opponent.
Nightmare Moon wasn't exactly a shining example of battle strategy in canon either, but at least when Twilight "charged" NMM in the pilot and she responded in kind it can be chalked up to overconfidence in battle (since there was no way Twilight would have stood up to NMM in a physical fight), which was what allowed Twilight to get the upper hand by teleporting away and tricking her. Here, the battle lasted much longer. And, in fact, the story even pointed out that she had been overconfident and underestimated her and thus quickly amended her impression of how to fight Midnight. Why in the world would she go BACK to fighting physically?! And "making the enemy angry so they act irrationally" is a poor excuse. That explanation might fly if she, say, exhausted herself by putting too much energy into a giant magical laser of doom and thus opened herself to attack as she recovered. This was just stupid.
Also, Midnight continues to have no lasting impact on the story.
For a moment, thought that she was going to climb it.
Wait. If she believes in witchcraft, what is she going to do when she meets Zecora?!
7596263
Shamanism is not which craft, it is more akin to a medicine man (or in this case zebra) or monk/spiritual. Unicorns magic is much similar to European witch qualities, which is inhuman magical feats like levitation and spells etc.
I gotta say a lot of this is too exact to what happened in the show...
'Tain't
drovest? does seem a bit awkward.
you, little ones
(thee is singular and ye is nominative. Plural objective is "you", the surviving form.)
partly-
thou
my
thy
Moon
scraping
angel's
hast
(and now she's thouing a god.)
into
weren't
(counterfactual conditional)
centre of mass
gravely
Strange, teleporting her to the front desk instead of the emergency entrance.
7877797
So it's correct.
7877797
So it's correct.
7877797
Is thouing a Princesses insulting her or something?
I know she’s not a Bearer but it seems like a prick move for the Elements to regrow Rarity’s tail, and not try stitching up Midnight at all.
9564718
Yes. It's too familiar. The royal We was actually just a general majestic plural, so using the plural form (you) was appropriately respectful.
Fun fact: old-fashioned Christians using Thees and Thous to talk to God are carrying on an old tradition that saw God as not just a mighty ruler but a close friend and family member, making it appropriate to use such a familiar pronoun.