Chapter 17's going to be even longer (Plus additional preview)

I've been taking part in the Countdown to Season 4 thingy where I'll be watching an episode a day starting yesterday and ending the 22nd of November with Equestria Girls, just in time for S4 to start.

Why is this relevant, you ask? Well, I had an opportunity to sit and to watch the first two episodes again, with Nightmare Moon. I was reminded of her shadow form. Now my chapter, which I said has been pushing 20,000 words, now looks like it's going to be in the neighborhood of 25,000 because watching NMM through that episode gave me some ideas for the Nightmare Moon vs Nova Shine fight that you all knew had to be coming. Yay novel chapters!

So, I give those of you who read my blog another preview.

{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}

Celestia and Nightmare Moon appeared in the sky, following Celestia’s teleportation. Before Nightmare Moon could do more than look wildly around at her surroundings, Celestia was on the offensive, firing beams at her as fast as she could.

Nightmare Moon flew back over the inky forest below, putting distance between her and Celestia in order to buy herself some time to react and to catch her bearings. Below, a greenish speck was running out of where the ruined castle was located, followed closely by a white speck and a darker little smudge that were giving chase.

Nightmare Moon looked up in time to see a golden beam fly right at her, and she responded with a beam of her own. Where the beams made contact, a great light shone in the sky, all the power of their magic being blasted collaterally.

“You are powerful, dear sister,” taunted Nightmare Moon, “but you must know Luna was much more powerful at magic than you ever were. Now I’m in control of her magic, and more!”

“Do you want to know something, Nightmare Moon?” asked Princess Celestia calmly. “About that colt you saw, the one with the white coat. When I first met him, he wasn’t terribly powerful either. Despite that, he was able to use his cleverness and what power he did have to outsmart and defeat more powerful opponents. It’s not how much power you have, Nightmare Moon. It’s how smart you are with what power you have.”

Nightmare Moon guffawed derisively.

“When one has absolute power,” she roared, punctuating her statement with a great burst of magic, which Celestia dodged, “you can be as smart as Star Swirl the Bearded and as clever as a cat, and you would never be able to lay a hoof upon me!”

A pencil-thin beam of golden energy shot at Nightmare Moon as fast as lightning and sliced her cheek, causing Nightmare Moon to yelp and clap a forehoof to her face. Celestia smiled teasingly at her fallen younger sister.

“Oh Nightmare Moon, you may have a new face and you may be in control, but deep down, you are still vulnerable to the same tricks that Lu-Lu is.”

Nightmare Moon snarled at her.

“You’ll pay for that!” she hissed, before blasting bolts of energy at Celestia. Celestia wormed her way through the gaps in the bolts, remembering how Nova had done the same when battling Captain Steelshod at the Castle Completion Celebration all those years ago. The spells were even identical; Luna must have been paying close attention to the captain’s spell.

Which fits, given her position as the Bearer of the Element of Magic.

However, Nightmare Moon was smarter than Celestia originally gave her credit for. Just after she had wormed her way around the first barrage, the bolts all suddenly detonated, exploding and knocking her around from the magnitude of the explosions.

Celestia managed to avoid expending too much energy shielding herself, but even so, those explosions took a toll. She was disoriented and was looking around wildly, hoping to catch sight of her corrupted sister.

Suddenly, a thin line of pain shot through her cheek. She winced and almost fell out of the sky in her shock, but she managed to right herself. A small amount of blood trickled down from her hoof, but it was negligible. She located Nightmare Moon again, flying above her and looking quite smug about the payback.

“Dear sister, I have been told by my friend that revenge is a dish best served cold,” she mused. “And I must say, I think it’s quite cold on the moon.”

A conical blast of blue magic shot from Nightmare Moon’s horn that Celestia only just dodged. She grimaced. As much as she didn’t want to, it seemed Nightmare Moon was going to force her to do harm to her sister, directly or not.

Well, there’s no putting it off, she thought miserably. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one. Oh, sister, I hope you can forgive me for this.

With that in mind, Princess Celestia tapped into magic deep within her, magic Star Swirl had taught her about. Magic that would empower her beyond anything any possessor could hope to match.

Pure Sun magic.