//------------------------------//
// Chapter Ninety One 
// Story: HiE - A Hollow in Equestria 
// by Charlie_K 
//------------------------------//


Chapter Ninety One


Despite all the chaos that had been unfolding around them, Pipsqueak had a reason to feel a sense of pride within himself. He had been certain that help was on the way, that Princess Luna would come and rescue them at some point. And he'd been quite right; a fact confirmed at hearing her calling for Ulquiorra to depart because his presence was making matters worse.

However that sense of pride was currently tempered by the overwhelming fear brought on by hearing that Nightmare Moon was apparently back in action. That had scared him and the rest even worse than what Ulquiorra had been doing to... to whatever that other thing was. And that was saying quite a bit, considering just how vicious he'd been. It was just so hard to comprehend that someone who could be so polite when addressing others, could be capable of such violence and savagery with such ease.

But that matter aside, Princess Luna was still on the case! That meant everything was going to work out!

"How? How is it even possible? It literally doesn't make any sense!" 

And then there was the matter of Diamond Tiara and her loud protests of disbelief. It was hard to stay in high spirits while around that.

"He just grabbed that thing by the face, and flew off into the sky with it! And he doesn't even have wings! How'd he do that!?" she asked. It was something that should've been impossible, and yet they'd all seen it as plain as day.

"Well y'all saw his Cero. Maybe he really can do magic an' levitated himself outta here," Apple Bloom offered up in explanation.

"But where was his aura? All magic users have a colored aura that's active when they're using a levitation spell!" Silver Spoon pointed out.

"Then how'd he go flying off like he did, when he doesn't have wings?" Shady asked. No answer was offered up in response, as there was apparently no answer to be had. "That's what I thought."

"Oh just shut up," Diamond Tiara groaned, not in the mood for anymore verbal jousting with a blind filly who apparently had better aim than she did. If her mother could see her now, she'd never hear the end of it.

"Maybe he-" 

Noi's theory to explain the incidents they had witnessed for themselves, was cut short before she could even get it out for consideration. She and everypony else found themselves roughly, and violently, being shoved to the ground by an unseen force. A force that felt like it was sitting right on top of them, completely hindering their movement. It was a heavy, oppressive force on top of them, with the air around them suddenly growing thicker and denser like pancake syrup or molasses. Talking was all but impossible, leaving them unable to do anything but panic at the unknown.

And just as suddenly as the force had come around, it had vanished with neither trace nor warning, allowing them to get back up again, more confused than ever before. Made all the worse as all their hard work in trying to get the babies calmed down had been completely undone.

"Just what the hay was that!?" Shady asked as she tried to catch her breath again.

"I don't know," Silver Spoon panted, "but I don't ever want to feel that again."

"That," Pipsqueak grunted, "that must've been Princess Luna."

Sweetie Belle quickly shook her head. "No. No that wasn't Princess Luna, that was Ulquiorra!" she stated. 

She'd felt that same... whatever it was... four times now. First it had been following the eclipse high over Canterlot. Second had been when they'd witnessed Ulquiorra's Cero, as was the third time, and now it was them all being knocked to the forest floor. There was no doubt that he was behind whatever it was that they'd experienced. Except... except this time it felt along stronger, and a lot more intense.

The first Nightmare Night after Luna's return, they'd all felt the fury of the alicorn's anger at how the night had progressed; all of them. Hers was a presence that transcended all species, and made itself known to even those without the ability of magical aptitude.

This... this was something else entirely. And it was much, much more frightening. As best as she could make sense of it, Princess Luna might have greater mass, but Ulquiorra had far greater density. From what she could remember of her own experiences on Nightmare Night, it was like comparing a pound of feathers to a pound of steel. He wasn't lying when he said that he was a monster!

Princess Luna could easily raise and lower the moon as she saw fit. But Ulquiorra? He could probably blow up the moon if he wanted to! At least that was how she was feeling it right now.

"What?!" Diamond Tiara asked as she whipped her head around to face Sweetie Belle. "Whadda you mean that was him? How could that be him? How could you possibly know something like that?"

"Because I felt it before, when he initiated the eclipse during the changeling invasion!" Sweetie Belle snapped back, drawing gasps of surprise in response. "Trust me, it's definitely him..."

Despite the crying of the babies, they still heard the thud of somepony hitting the ground, and turned to see who it had been.

"And now Firelock's down," Archer sighed in recognition that their numbers were slowly dwindling. 

First it had been Peachy Petal who had been out like a light and showed no signs of waking up anytime soon. Sometime after that it'd been Aquamarine who'd checked out. And now it was Firelock hitting the dirt. They were seriously starting to drop like flies at this rate.

"Put some of Rinky Dink's barf under her nose, that'll wake her up," Shady muttered.

"Shut up!" Dinky shouted back.

"You shut up!" Shady shouted right back.

"The both o' ya shut up!" Apple Bloom yelled at the both of them. "We've got somethin' comin' this way through the fog," she said while gesturing in the southern direction.

Those that could looked in the indicated direction to see whatever Apple Bloom had spotted, but saw nothing approaching. They were just about to ask her what she was talking about, before the answer came more out of the air than on the ground.

Ulquiorra was the first to touch down several paces away from the force field, followed closely by Princess Luna landing to the left of him as she tucked her wings back in against her sides.

"Princess Luna!" they called excitedly at seeing her arrival, instantly knowing that things were going to be better, now that both she and Ulquiorra were on the scene.

But as they looked, they began to realize that something was off with Ulquiorra in how he stood. He was carrying something on his back, but it was way too dark to properly make it out. Maybe it was some sort of device for breaking the force field, and getting them out of here?

Except the device was shifting on its own, and they soon realized that it wasn't so much something being carried, as it was somepony, encased in fancy looking dark armor, getting a piggyback ride, and now dismounting their perch on his back as he let go of their flanks. The pony in question unwrapped their forelegs from around his neck, and setting down on the forest floor on unsteady legs that looked like they could give out at any second from trying to support their weight.

"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo yelled, overcome with excitement at recognizing the third party member. Even with all the muck on her face, that prismatic mane of hers was still evident enough. 

Instantly she ran over to the edge of the force field, standing on her hind legs to press her front hooves against the wall and bang on it to get her idol's attention. For so long she'd seen neither hide nor hair of Rainbow Dash, outside of a single letter and a primary feather. Nopony had been saying anything about what was going on, or where she'd gone, leaving her with nothing but speculation, confusion, and fear over what could've been going on. 

And now, finally, after so much worry, it was all coming to an end. She finally felt a massive weight being left off her back.

"Hey, squirt," Rainbow Dash replied, her voice far quieter than Scootaloo's as she stepped closer. "I told you I'd be back."

"You sure did!" Scootaloo stated as she set back down on her hooves and proceeded to bounce excitedly, not unlike Pinkie was known to do.

"What's wit' the the armor?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Never mind the armor, what's with her eyes?" Sweetie Belle asked, far more interested in why they were practically glowing with a golden light, and slit pupils like a cat would have.

"Well you don't just go charging into the Everfree Forest to confront Nightmare moon without being prepared, so Luna provided me with body armor and night vision," Rainbow Dash explained. And now that she remembered the matter of the beacon spell attached to her. Seeing as Luna had come alone, she could only assume that meant the Element of Loyalty still wasn't resonating with her yet, and the others were still waiting.

"Uh huh, cool," Shady replied sarcastically, "now could somepony please get us outta here already!? The babies are screaming, it stinks in here, most of us need a bathroom, and the others are dropping like flies; Firelock and Aquamarine are passed out, and Peachy Petal won't wake up!"

Luna frowned at hearing this, although not for the lack of decorum; she'd long ago dismissed such notions in light of the current crisis going on. No, rather she was frowning at what news Shady had to present about another of their numbers being awake. Based on Ulquiorra's information about two of the foals being dead already, it stood reason to this third pony was either dead as well, or would soon be. That meant they had no time to waste, they had to get the foals out of here, right now, before-

"And now number twenty!"

The yell startled most everypony present. But not nearly as much as the blue clawed fist ripping its way through Ulquiorra's chest from behind, thrusting itself into full view of all the foals who'd been watching, generating screams of terror at the sight.

And then they screamed even louder as Raindragon came into full view, her left claw tightly clenching Ulquiorra's shoulder to restrain him, and prevent his escape as she impaled him.

Ulquiorra looked downward at the claw sticking through his chest, before grabbing it by the wrist and pulling hard, yanking more of the limb through the hole -pulling Raindragon closer to him in the process- and slamming the back of his head into her face as hard as he could. A distinctive cracking sound could be heard at the point of impact, followed by the found-filled howl from Raindragon having her beak hit so hard.

That howl quickly turned into pain-filled grunts as Ulquiorra raised his left arm, and proceeded to repeatedly and roughly slam his elbow back into her midsection, impacting against the imitation muscle and scaly skin that made up her body.

Speaking from a purely tactical matter, attacking him from behind and restraining his movements had been one of the smarter moves Nightmare Mon had performed against him since this entire ordeal started. The human body -and by extension his own- wasn't designed for attacking threats that were from the behind.

However she'd lost considerable points by yelling about her latest victim count just before carrying out her attack. As well as focusing on his weak side, and apparently forgetting about the location of his Hollow hole, thus leaving her arm trapped and restraining herself in the process, leaving her vulnerable to his attacks.

Luna's reaction, while slower than Ulquiorra's, was no less effective in dealing with the fog apparition. Much as she had done when saving Rainbow Dash, she flared her magic and subjected it to a quick freeze spell, turning its entire body into one big block of ice, just in time for the next blow from Ulquiorra's elbow to result in it being completely shattered on impact.

All except for the severed foreleg that was still sticking through Ulquiorra's chest and shirt.

"Is... is he gonna be okay?" Diamond Tiara asked, watching in disbelief as Ulquiorra pulled the frozen limb from his chest and discarded it like it was nothing. And all the while looking completely unfazed by the fact that he'd just been impaled through the chest twice in one night. He was acting like this was all routine for him.

"Far more so than we will be if we do not get out of here immediately," Luna stated. She would explain the situation and all relevant details to them, but not right now. Right now she had to figure out a way to get the force field down, before Nightmare Moon could send another fog phantom after them. 

"So why'd that dragon look like Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked, far more curious about that matter at the moment, than the matter of the hole in the middle of Ulquiorra's chest.

"Let's just say Nightmare Moon thought it would be funny to mock me with one of my own ideas, and leave it at that," Rainbow Dash stated, not wanting to go into the whole story of the conceiving of Raindragon.

And then she noticed what was left of Ulquiorra's shirt as she broke into a hover just off the ground. She seriously doubted that even Rarity's skills could save the garment. If she'd been able to react quicker, rather than freezing in place at hearing Raindragon's voice, maybe that wouldn't be the case right now. "Looks like your shirt is done for," she commented.

"So it would seem," Ulquiorra agreed, before simply deciding to discard the remnants of the garment. With very little effort he tore it from his frame -paying no attention as the foals screamed in surprise as the hole in his chest came into full view now- before tearing off a strip of material, and proceeding to wrap it around Rainbow Dash's head.

"Hey! What the?" she objected and squirmed in an effort to get away, caught off guard by his sudden movements. If he was trying to blindfold her, he was really going about it all wrong.

"Your head wound is showing so signs of stopping on its own. As saturated as your own fur is becoming, it's only a matter of time before your blood gets into your eyes if it goes unaddressed much longer," Ulquiorra explained as he wrapped the strip of cloth tightly. If time were on their side a second piece of cloth would've been bunched up, and placed under the current one, right above the cut to better staunch the flow of blood. But right now that wasn't an option they had time for, and this would simply have to do.

Beyond such, it would likely obstruct her vision, and make her into a liability; more so than she was on her own.

"Oh. Right, right. Thanks," Rainbow Dash replied, now realizing that she'd been quite silly just a second ago. She stopped her thrashing about to allow him to better bandage her up, grateful that he'd considered how she was doing.

Satisfied that Ulquiorra had his matters under control, Luna turned her attention back to the force field, and the scared foals it held within. She needed to figure out a way of extracting them before anymore could become nightmare fuel, and getting them to safety. Blunt, brute force wasn't going to work, as Ulquiorra had already proven; the damage to the ground was likely from his Cero failing against its surface. And teleporting through a force field that wasn't your own, was rarely ever an option if the caster had sufficient magic. She needed an approach more consistent with finesse. As her horn began to glow, she began scanning the force field for any signs of weakness that could potentially be exploited; no force field was ever truly perfect, as all had limitations if one simply knew both where to look, and what they were looking for. She just had to proceed in a thorough -if still frantic- fashion as she scanned for any present exploitable points that would work to her advantage and...

Wait, that couldn't be right. She mentally backtracked over what she had just scanned through, looking for what had caught her attention, but had been ignored in the scanning process before her mind fully comprehended what she was being presented with.

But as she came back to it again, going over it once more, that left her without doubt as to what she was seeing.

"Well now. This is most unexpected," she stated in disbelief, before turning to face Ulquiorra and Rainbow Dash. "It would appear that Nightmare Moon has access to rather arcane magic works. This force field is using a... rotating frequency modulator or sorts. Its exact structure is in a constant state of flux, making it almost impossible to detect an exploitable weak point."

"Meaning what exactly?" Rainbow Dash asked, now that her head was bandaged as best they could manage.

"Meaning that finding a flaw in the field to exploit is an exercise in futility, as it is constantly resetting itself. Every time it resets, I will need to begin anew in looking for flaws of that specific resequencing configuration. And it is resequencing itself at an exceptionally fast pace; faster than it can be scanned," Luna explained and sighed, halfway between defeat and unbridled fury. "It is not easily done, nor particularly well known. I cannot even begin to hypothesize where she discovered such ancient techniques. As to how she is fueling such an algorithm, that is another matter entirely."

As far as she could speculate, it was entirely possible that the force field was being fueled by the fear Nightmare Moon had been harvesting recently. Perhaps it was even possible that the fear being harvested from the foals, had been going to fuel and reinforce their own prison; she certainly wouldn't put it past that demon to do something like that. There was an irony there, trapping innocent victims in their own fears, within their own nightmares and such. Strand them out here in the wilderness, surrounded by terror fog, and then left to watch as Ulquiorra did his thing, guaranteeing a near-constant state of fear to power it.

"Looks like we're goin' back ta diggin' ta get outta here," Apple Bloom commented from behind the shield and shrugged, before getting up and moving over to the sight of their efforts at escape.

"Hold on," Scootaloo spoke up, before facing Rainbow Dash and the others. "I get what the dragon was, but what'd it mean by "number twenty"? What was that all about?"

"Nothing but trash talk," Ulquiorra stated bluntly, cutting off any and all conversation that might've followed otherwise. The foals didn't need to know that their friends were dropping dead around them. They had time for neither panicking, nor the psychological trauma that was undoubtedly going to follow once that statement was made.

It was also technically true. The statement made by Raindragon had been little more than talk from something that amounted to nothing more than trash.

The longer they remained in this forest, within the domain of Nightmare Moon, the more danger they were all put in as they waited, and looked for a solution. He wasn't in the mood to do anymore looking, so instead he was going to make a solution. His Cero had failed, strongly suggesting that reiryoku wasn't going to be of any assistance in this application. Perhaps high concentrated reiatsu would better, and a barrage of Bala would serve their purposes. 

Ultimately he discarded the application, but not the idea. Instead he was going pop the force field like it was a pimple, by applying overwhelming pressure until its structure could no longer withstand it. He grasped the hilt of his zanpakutō, intent on utilizing his resurrección to resolve this matter in the most expedient manner possible. If even that failed to crack it, then they were in far more trouble than they initially perceived.

"Go right ahead! Unsheathe that zanpakutō of yours! See what happens if you do!"

Rainbow Dash groaned at hearing the voice. She knew that Ulquiorra shattering Raindragon wouldn't be the end of her, but was it really asking too much that she not show up so soon after being turned into chunky ice cubes?

The three of them turned to observe as Raindragon reappeared while in the process of landing on all four feet, just several paces away from them, and glared in their direction. All the while she looked no worse for wear, her body possessing no signs that it'd ever been damaged in the first place.

"And what exactly is going to happen, should I proceed with unsheathing my zanpakutō at this point, and having no care for whatever threats you may issue?" Ulquiorra asked, genuinely curious to see what sort of threat could actually be made against him at this point. 

"Well let's put this in round terms you'll understand, biped," Raindragon began as she growled. "For starters, Nightmare Moon will subject all the foals to overwhelming terrors that will eventually kill all of them, and their deaths will be anything but pleasant. And the lot of you won't be able to do anything but listen to their screams of terror, and know that you were responsible for it!"

"Fuck you!"

Much as Ulquiorra had anticipated, Rainbow Dash had lunged towards Raindragon in a bout of blind fury, intent on pounding away on her in response for such a threat being issued. However he was quick enough to pull her back by the back of her armor, to avoid her becoming a liability once again. Even with her struggling to get loose, and her unrestrained cursing at the both of them, she still wasn't going anywhere.

Princess Luna was another story. If she decided to press an assault, there would be little he could do, that would actually do any good. He'd need to do something, and fast, before it actually came to that.

"You and I are both well aware of the fact that such can't be done, and won't be happening," he stated.

"Oh really now?" Raindragon asked, utterly amused by his words of dismissal of how serious the situation was. "And how exactly did you come to that particular conclusion?"

"Because for three straight nights in a row, Rainbow Dash testified to having no nightmares while in my presence," Ulquiorra stated in response, the mention of her name causing the mare to instantly calm down, and look at him with confusion. "Considering she's been besieged by nightmares every other night, it's reasonably safe to conclude that either Nightmare Moon took a break from her most advanced victim, or more likely Rainbow Dash's proximity to the reiatsu my body doesn't normally suppress, posed significant interference that made such attacks unable to be implemented," he explained.

Raindragon said nothing in response, settling instead for simple snarling and growling at what he had to say.

Rainbow Dash smirked and proceeded to blow a raspberry at her scaly doppelganger, now far more amused than infuriated.

"If you arrogantly believe that you're strong enough to cut through this interference, feel free to try and do so. It should prove to be quite interesting, to see what results are yielded," he continued as he once again relinquished his body's normal efforts of repressing his reiatsu, once again blanketing the area. 

"Dude," Rainbow Dash wheezed as she once again felt the air around her growing heavy. "Not cool..."

Being subjected to Ulquiorra's reiatsu once before, Luna knew what to expect the second time around, and was able to better brace herself against its effects. However it was still significant to experience firsthoof. The force field was being affected, its structure becoming plainly visible. Even Raindragon was being affected once again, her entire body looking like it was in a state of flux.

Hearing the gasps and grunts coming from behind her, she looked and immediately noticed that the foals were being affected, with some down in a kneeling position, while others were on the ground entirely. As much as she was being affected, she couldn't imagine how badly Ulquiorra's spiritual pressure was weighing down on them.

"Ulquiorra Cifer, this is most unwise! The foals are unable to withstand the amount of pressure that you are currently generating!" she stated.

"They're not the only ones. I can barely catch my breath," Rainbow Dash panted, the only thing really keeping her up at this point being that Ulquiorra was still holding onto her armor.

"I would apologize, but it would be irrelevant at this point. The only other alternative is leaving them at the mercy of Nightmare Moon, vulnerable to whatever attack she might launch on them, in an attempt to gain leverage over us," Ulquiorra pointed out as he cast an aside glance in her direction. And then he returned his focus to where Raindragon stood. "Unless of course I can cancel one of your attacks as easily as I can prevent it. If all I have to do is flare my reiatsu at the first sign of distress on their part, then your efforts at shifting the balance of power further in your favor have fallen through."

It was a theory that was sound, although its practical application remained a mystery at this point. There were two primary reasons he was aware of, as to why Rainbow Dash had started spending her nights in his presence. The first was the issue of trust, and the fact that he couldn't be as easily possessed as another pony could. At least not as far as he could tell, based on the lack of such attempts actually being carried out.

The second reason, as had been established by Rainbow Dash, was the ability to sleep soundly while in his presence. Whether it was his reiatsu serving to prevent a target lock from occurring, or even his pesquisa being able to detect her presence that kept Nightmare Moon at bay, it was sufficient to allow for restful nights to proceed without interruption. 

And considering she'd revealed herself to him in the marketplace when attacking Fluttershy, he doubted that it was his pesquisa allowing for Rainbow Dash's sound sleep to be a real thing, rather than an abstract concept of theory.

Based on the degree of growling, snarling, and posturing that Raindragon was doing now, he could assume with reasonable accuracy that he was quite correct in his theorizing about the limitations of Nightmare Moon's abilities, and that accuracy was serving to infuriate her.

"Let's see you flare anything when I knock you out cold!" she roared violently.

Ulquiorra remained unmoved by the threat. "Shall I explain the physical shortcomings as to why knocking someone out isn't a viable possibility? Or would you prefer simply getting down to business, and finding out for yourself that such a claim is easier made than fulfilled?"

He then took his attention off of Raindragon, as he turned to face Princess Luna, and relinquish his hold on Rainbow Dash once again. "Can you figure out a way to overcome the safeguards present on the force field?"

"I do not yet know, but I will most certainly make every attempt to do such," Luna replied and nodded.

"Then do so. While you do, I will deal with the matter of Nightmare Moon myself," he stated.

"I don't know what's worse. You turning your back on a threat, thinking you can compete with the Mistress by yourself, or expecting her to actually not interfere with Luna's efforts at interfering with her plans!" Raindragon roared furiously. "You're all outclassed, but especially you, biped! The Mistress has absorbed so much fear, so much strength, that even Luna can't compete with her anymore! And I can easily become numbered in the hundreds if it's so desired! And your disrespectful, dismissive, insulting approach to your superiors, is about to come to a violently brutal ending!"

Ulquiorra said nothing in response, as he slowly turned around to face Raindragon once again.

"With all due respect to Princess Luna, I'm an entirely different sort of animal that you're facing. Your results against her, are not indicative of your results against myself," he stated calmly, a stark contrast to the emotionally driven rant that had just been delivered. 

Raindragon was torn halfway between a smirk and a scowl at the Espada's response. He was playing it so calm, cool, and collected, like he had the situation well in hoof. But she'd show him, she'd shatter his bravado and demonstrate that not even he could stand up to the Mistress. She'd break him in mind and body, leaving him-

Without even seeing it transpire, her thoughts had been interrupted as she found his right foot planted firmly against her rib cage, with enough force to completely lift her off the ground, and send her flying upward at a frightening speed. She hadn't even blinked and he'd been on her rapidly, instantly in front of her faster than could actually be processed.

And now he was apparently pursuing after her, via flight at high speeds. Just wonderful.

She tried to right herself, tried to stabilize her approach and trajectory to allow for a better reengagement of battle. But he easily overtook her, and roughly grabbed her by her neck, immediately bringing her unplanned flight to a rapid and forceful halt, as he proceeded to squeeze her throat.

"Are you now beginning to comprehend the significance of the situation you find yourself in?" Ulquiorra asked as he held his quarry at eye level.

In response to his question, she swung her right arm for his head in an effort to punch him. His response came in the form of catching the offending limb at the wrist, and holding it tightly.

"I'll take that as a "no" then. It looks like I'll simply have to educate you on the matter," he explained calmly.





"Did he... did he really jus' kick that dragon, an' send it flyin'?" Apple Bloom asked in disbelief at what she'd just witnessed take place.

With the departure of Ulquiorra came a departure of the overwhelming pressure that had been weighing down on all of them, allowing them to get back up and breathe easier again. And now that they were up and breathing freely, the questions and commentary were pouring forth in much the same manner.

"Sure looked like it," Scootaloo replied and nodded, unable to not grin at such a thought. 

"What was up with that tattoo of his? Why's he got the number four on his chest?" Archer asked.

"I'm more curious about why he's got a hole in the middle of his chest, and he's acting like it's not there!" Diamond Tiara stated. "Seriously, you can see all the way through it. Where's his heart, his lungs, his spine!?"

"You know, for having no spine, he's sure got a lot of backbone," Truffle Shuffle commented.

"Well, you see, it's like this..."

With Luna focusing her efforts on trying to find some way of exploiting a weakness in the force field, that left Rainbow Dash with the dubious honor of trying to answer the ever-growing list of questions the foals were presenting. And it was proving to be anything but easy. Both the amount of questions, and the type of questions being asked, was slowly but surely reaching the point where she couldn't keep up. It got even worse when her answers just seemed to spawn even more questions!

"Rainbow Dash?"

"Ugh," she groaned. "Yes, Scootaloo?" she asked, briefly wondering if she sounded like Cheerilee in the process.

"That dragon with your voice, that was Nightmare Moon, right?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well, more like a puppet for Nightmare Moon, based on what Ulquiorra was saying earlier," Rainbow Dash replied.

"Oh. Well when it was threatening us, what was it you said to it? What does "fuck you" mean?" Scootaloo asked further.

"Uh..." Rainbow Dash paused, now seriously wishing that she'd kept her mouth under better control. When she'd first learned what that word meant, and what the context of it was, she'd told herself not to say it around any foals. But Raindragon had just made her so damn mad, she'd stopped caring about such matters, and had flown right off the handle in response to them being threatened to her face so openly. If Ulquiorra hadn't pulled her back, she didn't know what would've happened, but she suspected it wouldn't be good. "Luna? Do you think that you could..."

Luna shook her head, the act seeming to increase the amount of glow presently radiating from her horn. "I am not about to get in the middle of that one. You made your decisions, now face the consequences of your actions like an adult."

"Gee, thanks," Rainbow Dash muttered in response. She was left to her own devices on this one, and she really didn't like that at all. "Well, you see, it's like this..." she began as she paused, trying to think of how to phrase it appropriately.

However her thoughts were interrupted as something violently crashed against the outside of the force field wall with enough force to turn its structure visible.

"Ow..."

Somehow, it made sense to them that Raindragon would be what got slammed into the force field. They didn't question how it happened, or why it had happened. They just accepted that it had.

"I swear," she grunted as she climbed off of the barrier, "if I get slammed into a force field one more time, I'm going to be so freaking pissed..."

And then Ulquiorra came out of nowhere, his left foot slamming into Raindragon's chest, once again shoving her against the force field, and causing ripples to spread out over its surface.

"You did that on purpose," she grunted.

"And if I indeed chose to do such? What do you intend to do about it?" Ulquiorra asked as he maintained his off-ground position, keeping his foot pressed against her rib cage the entire time. "I don't know how you crafted this force field without a physical body that would enable you to use magic. Nor do I particularly care about the methods involved; they don't change the fact that it's going to fail before the night's over," he explained as he pressed down harder.

Raindragon wheezed as she tried to leverage his leg off of her, but found it more or less impossible. It was like trying to rip a tree out of the ground, or lift an entire house. "And just how do you intend to do that?" she managed to ask.

"By applying constant, steady pressure against its structure, until it fully consumes whatever source of fuel is responsible for maintaining its integrity, until such time that it collapses under the strain," he explained calmly. "It might be able to withstand my Cero. It might even be able to withstand intermittent blows capable of slaying a dragon in one hit. But absolutely everything has a breaking point, and will be shattered if enough force is applied over a long enough period of time," he added further.

"Oh yeah? Well then I guess I'm actually gonna break you in two, I just have to hit you harder!" Raindragon grunted as she grappled against his leg.

"Based on what's been demonstrated by Nightmare Moon so far, I'd have to be hit one hundred times harder, just to be left feeling sore in the morning," Ulquiorra replied back, keeping his adversary pinned against the shield, leaving no way of actual escape open for exploitation. "And considering what's been witnessed since my arrival here, an increase in strength of that magnitude simply isn't a physical possibility. Nightmare Moon simply doesn't have the power to enhance you, or any other creation, to such a degree."

"What exactly would you know about what the Mistress can and can't do? How're you such an expert on such matters?" Raindragon demanded to know, snarling the whole time as she tried focusing her efforts on getting Ulquiorra's foot off of her chest, rather than focusing on his leg.

"Because I've paid attention since my arrival in the Everfree forest. The greatest degree of resistance Nightmare Moon managed to present was upon my arrival. For a while my physical strength was actually rivaled on nearly-equal terms, leaving me to wonder if the fog construct of Ichigo Kurosaki was actually being strengthened by the credence that I was paying it. However that theory was undone when Rainbow Dash decided to charge head on into a situation she had no understanding of, and forcefully involve herself in this entire mess," he stated.

"Dude, I'm right here. I can hear every word you're saying," Rainbow Dash pointed out from where she stood on the ground.

Ulquiorra ignored her interruption as he continued speaking. "When Nightmare Moon had to contend with two competent opponents at the same time, the amount of performance she was capable of had to be divided accordingly. That's why the Kurostruct stopped growing stronger, as whatever demands went into manipulating two fog constructs at the same time became too much. This matter was only further exacerbated once Princess Luna became involved, meaning those already significant requirements were made all the more demanding. Your strength, Nightmare Moon's strength, is finite. Beyond knowing this fact, she's likely quite aware of the fact that there's nothing she can do about it. Her best chance of even surviving is to focus all of her attention exclusively on myself, and ignore anyone else that may get involved."





Down inside the force fields, the foals had been paying attention to everything that had been proceeding since the point of impact. Or at least as much attention as they could, considering how much the shield was serving to muffle what was happening in the outside world.

"I'm not following what he's saying. Is he saying that Nightmare Moon is boned?" Featherweight asked.

"It sure sounds like she's boned," Rumble replied and nodded.

"I sure never thought I'd hear something like that said," Noi commented. For so very long, Nightmare Moon had been a legend in Equestria's history, told as a cautionary tale for scaring foals, and for prying some of their Nightmare Night candy away from them. And now here they were, with her being discussed with neither fear nor respect.

"I'm still not believing it myself," Peach Fuzz stated, before looking upwards. "Hey, Mister! Is Nightmare Moon boned?"

"Quite thoroughly," Ulquiorra replied.

The dragon currently pinned between him and the force field merely roared in indignation as it struggled and thrashed about in a bid to get loose.





Despite the seriousness of the circumstances they found themselves in, Luna couldn't help but pause her own endeavors at hearing just what the foals were saying.

"Where do children learn such concepts in this day and age?" she asked as she looked to Rainbow Dash for potential answers.

Rainbow Dash was at a loss for words. It was certainly a good question, but she didn't really know just how to give Luna an answer.

Fortunately she didn't have long to linger on the lack of responses, as their attention was drawn elsewhere by Raindragon erupting into a cloud of fog, dispersing herself out from under Ulquiorra's foot, and subsequently reforming herself several paces away from where he could grab her.

"How?" she wheezed as she cradled her ribs. "You're so skinny, you have to weigh less than a pegasus, but you hit harder than an earth pony! How are you so strong? How can you possibly be so strong!? she shrieked angrily.

"My physical strength isn't dependent upon the size of my physical mass in any way. Yet another quirk to Hollow physiology that you simply don't understand," Ulquiorra replied calmly in stark contrast to Raindragon's outburst.

"Okay, you know what? I'm really glad you brought up that subject, because I've got a little surprise in store for you," she stated as the talons on her right claw began to glow, giving off a blood-red hued light. "You say the strength of the Mistress is finite? Well let's see what you're saying when we combine the form of Raindragon," she paused as she ran her glowing claw down over her face, "with Hollowfication!"

Ulquiorra watched, much to his disbelief, as Raindragon proceeded to dawn what would best be described as a Hollow mask, her voice changing pitch and intensity as the process was completed in very short order. As if the previous visage wasn't bad enough on its own, this new one bore a striking -likely intentional- similarity to Ichigo Kurosaki's own Hollow mask.

He felt the urge to roll his eyes, and ask her if she was really serious with this.

In response to the unasked question, Raindragon roared furiously, her voice being amplified as she did so. "Now, Espada, the Mistress shall show you who's really in charge!"

Ulquiorra hadn't anticipated a significant increase in speed as his opponent lunged at him. But that was exactly what he was witnessing occur as she flew forward. He'd barely had time to dodge the incoming attack, much like a matador dealing with a raging bull, successfully avoiding the collision, but it had still been close. Far too close for his own liking.

"Where did this sudden increase in speed come from? Has Nightmare Moon really learned how to implement the Hollowfication process in this world? And if so, how did she go about acquiring such information?" he asked himself. If she'd learned how to become a true Vizard, then this battle was going to become significantly more difficult. To say nothing of what havoc could be wrecked throughout Equestria if others gained such knowledge for themselves.

However his thoughts on such apocalyptic scenarios was interrupted as he quickly found Raindragon's barbed tail wrapped around his neck as she passed by him, before she proceeded to spin her whole body about -dragging him into the spin in the process- and finally let go and fling him away like he was the one who was trash.

That simply wouldn't do. Not at all.

Righting himself, he proceeded to grind himself to a halt in mid-air, ready to reengage his quarry.

His quarry that was within punching distance by the time he came to a complete stop. Immediately he moved out of the way via a burst of Sonido, before moving around behind her to deliver a horizontal strike to the neck.

And was promptly punched right in the face as she threw a fist over her shoulder. As if she'd been anticipating such a maneuver being performed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Were you trying to get the drop on me just now?"

The next thing Ulquiorra became aware of, was being subjected to a series of many dozens of rapidly thrown punches being delivered to his midsection, all of them with considerably more force than he'd anticipated being possible.

"That little maneuver of yours won't do you any good now! Sonido, super speed, flash step, instant transmission, whatever you call it, it's useless to you now! The Mistress can easily keep up with your, no matter how fast you try and move now!" she roared as she continued the rain of punches and blows, each of them slamming Ulquiorra with enough force to cause his limbs to spasm. "I really should be thanking you, thought! If you hadn't told Rainbow Dash about such interesting techniques, she never would've had the bright idea to use them in her dreams to try and protect herself. Really, you're the whole reason this is even possible to begin with!"

The next blow to land was a haymaker, knocking Ulquiorra right off of his feet, and sending him flying backwards from the force of the impact. Raindragon didn't even wait before launching herself in pursuit of him once more.

"Would you care to know where you miscalculated in all of this? I'd say it was in thinking that even your strength was enough to let you compete with the Mistress! Thinking that she had no chance against the likes of you! Well what're your thoughts now, biped!?"

Before he even had the chance to answer, she felt a sudden, sharp paint erupting from right between her wings, sending her into a tumble, and careening off at an angle away from her quarry. What'd that been all about!?

Flaring her wings to right herself and gain control of her trajectory, she caught sight of movement in her peripheral vision just before it was cut off by the edge of her mask. Unfortunately she caught sight of it, just in time for Rainbow Dash to deliver a flying flash kick to her face, catching her right under the chin with enough force to completely flip her over, sending her flying straight upward.

Rainbow Dash was far faster than her, however, and shot right past her, before flipping her whole body around and over sideways in a way that allowed her to swing her right hind leg around and overhead, and bringing it right down on her head with enough force to send her plummeting back down towards the ground.

How? How could this be possible!? Where was this arrogant pegasus getting so much strength to continue her struggles? No matter how many energy bars and sports drinks she guzzled down, she shouldn't have been able to keep going at this pace! She shouldn't have even been able to manage this pace to begin with!





Rainbow Dash panted as she flapped her wings to keep herself aloft, looking down at Raindragon's tumbling form. That'd taken way more effort than she'd thought to be necessary, and now she was feeling the aftermath of her actions. A smarter pony probably would've stayed back, knowing what she knew and all. But she couldn't stand to just sit back and watch Ulquiorra get owned like he had been. She'd had to intervene, even over Luna's objections to getting involved at this point in the game.

"Are you alright?" she asked once she saw Ulquiorra entering her field of vision.

"As alright as anyone can be in this situation," he replied simply. "I would advise against your continued involvement at this point, however."

Under normal circumstances, she would've argued that she could keep going just fine, and that she could take care of herself. But these weren't normal circumstances she found herself in. She knew full well that she couldn't keep this up for long. So rather than objecting futilely, she simply nodded in response.

"Just watch out for her Cero. If she fires it, see if you can get it aimed at the force field. Maybe it'll do us some good," she said in parting as she started her descent and return to where Luna was.

"Upstart pegasus nag!"

Rainbow Dash flinched at the sound of the voice, seeing Raindragon on a collision course approach with her. She braced herself for impact as best she could, knowing she didn't have time to dodge.

However that became a moot point as Ulquiorra effortlessly intercepted the incoming claw by grasping it by the pastern, immediately putting  a halt to Raindragon's attack.

"I already told you once before, your best chance at surviving is by focusing exclusively on myself, and ignoring the others," he stated simply. He then illustrated the fact further by roughly pulling her forward, and slamming his right fist in her midsection with enough force to double her over, leaving her groaning loudly from the impact. 

"Thanks for the save," Rainbow Dash stated, before continuing in her departure. She'd already been close enough to the action, she didn't need a front row seat to see it out to the end.

Once Rainbow Dash was as far out of the way of danger as was possible under the current circumstances, Ulquiorra returned his attention to Raindragon. "Would you care to know where you miscalculated in all of this?"

"Miscalculated?" she grunted.

"First and foremost was assuming that I could be dealt with as easily as one of these ponies. Beyond that, was the belief that Nightmare Moon's trickery could ever prove sufficient for competing with a true Hollow," Ulquiorra explained.

Raindragon snarled behind her mask and swung her other fist forward to silence his impudent mouth. Unfortunately that one was ensnared much like the first one had been. Now she was in a pickle, and her efforts at pulling loose were quickly proving futile.

"As was explained previously, Nightmare Moon's resources are finite, and that includes the resources you are provided for this engagement. And no amount of shifting them around is going to change that fact," he explained as he brought both of her hands close together, and quickly ensnared the two claws serving as thumbs, trapping them together with his left hand, allowing him to free up his right hand. "At first I was caught off guard by what was being done, leaving me to wonder if Nightmare Moon had actually learned the process of Hollowfication. So I observed you and your movements, your actions, everything that went into your fighting against myself. You aren't demonstrating a drastic increase in both speed and strength, you're simply reallocating resources for one or the other, depending on what the situation demands."

Raindragon's next effort at attack involved swinging her tail at him in an effort to beat him away. She slammed it against his side hard, but he remained unmoved; as if he hadn't even felt it being landed. 

She was starting to sense a worrying pattern here.

"The discovery of your trickery was inevitable. Rainbow Dash merely accelerated the process by getting involved as she did. She demonstrated the shortcoming of your strategy quite well, showing that when your resources are allocated for speed, you have no real strength. Meanwhile, when those resources are allocated for strength, you're exceedingly slow. The timing of the reallocation process is crucial to success, and if your opponent attacks a moment before, or avoids the initial attack, you're placed at a significant tactical disadvantage," Ulquiorra explained.

He then demonstrated the fact by slamming his free fist into her midsection, easily doubling her over with the force of the impact. This was followed up by a series of rapid blows to the same area, each one quaking her entire frame.

Unlike this marionette to Nightmare Moon, he wasn't limited in the scope of what he could do. He could deliver a brutal and powerful blow, a series of rapid and shallow blows, a series of rapid, devastating blows, or any myriad of combinations in between as he saw fit. 

"Ninety five."

"What?" Raindragon asked as she grunted, barely able to get the word out, unable to maintain the struggle of trying to get her limbs free from his hold.

"Revising my earlier evaluation of your capabilities, based on new information. You've certainly demonstrated a greater degree of strength than previously, but you would still need to hit me ninety five times harder, just to leave me feeling sore in the morning," he explained, ceasing his blows so that she could better hear his words. "Has the realization begun to sink in yet? The hopeless of the situation? Have you come to experience true despair, at comprehending just how utterly helpless you are? Or do you still foolishly cling to the notion that you can somehow persevere throughout all this?"





Launching herself headlong into the middle of a battle between two heavyweights, in order to deliver her best beating against Raindragon's Hollowfied form, probably wasn't the smartest idea that Rainbow Dash could've come up with tonight.

Worse than that bad idea, however, was going tearing off as she had, against Luna's advice to remain behind where it was safe. Beyond her own safety and well being, she'd completely disregarded the amount of concern and worry in the alicorn's voice, and the pleas that she not do something reckless. But it wasn't blowing off royalty that had her regretting things, as much as it was making a friend worry about her. That had hurt, now that she wasn't in such a desperate position, and able to think more clearly.

As she came back down into the clearing, she expected a number of responses to be thrown at her by Luna. Scolding, shrieking, admonishing, being thunked on the head, being called a feather brain, etc. She was braced for whatever might come as she touched down next to Luna once more.

Or at least she thought she was braced. As it turned out,she wasn't prepared for Luna to grab her, and pull her into a ferocious hug that left her hind legs dangling off the forest  floor.

"Do not ever do something like that again, you stupid idiot! You could have gotten yourself killed!"

Somehow, being lulled into a sense of security by the hug just seconds before, had made Luna's admonishing hurt worse than she'd expected. She couldn't help but wonder if that had been deliberate on her part, to insure the message took.

"To be honest, I really don't think I can do that again. I think I almost broke my leg on that last kick," she stated.

Raindragon had been tough when it'd just been her fight against the beast. Against Luna it had been even tougher, and against Ulquiorra even tougher still. Was that Hollowfication shit being pulled right now really real? Or had she stolen that shit from her as well? Was Nightmare Moon intentionally mocking her at this point? If that was the case then she was pissed! Pissed and too weak to do anything about it.

"Please see to it that you do not," Luna stated, her tone considerably softer as she spoke, before setting her back down on the ground again.

"So any progress on getting 'em out of there?" Rainbow Dash asked, opting to change the topic of discussion to something she considered more favorable.

Luna shook her head in response. "You flying off as you did hampered my ability to concentrate, what with my worrying about your well being," she stated.

"O-oh," Rainbow Dash replied in a sheepish manner. "Sorry about that."

Luna just shook her head again, choosing not to pursue the matter further. There were more important issues to deal with, decorum be damned.

"It does not matter. Trying to figure out a weakness to exploit is going to take too long. Rather, I believe Ulquiorra Cifer's approach may have the most merit in terms of problem solving," she explained as she slowly stood up.

Rainbow Dash was about to ask what approach Luna was referring to, but was instantly silenced as the air was filled with a sound she'd never heard before, as a flash of blue light appeared in front of Luna. A flash of blue light that revealed itself to be a wholly magical energy, glowing halberd, bringing up memories of the mana sword Celestia had demonstrated back in Canterlot during the changeling invasion.

She didn't want to admit it, but she was honestly surprised by this whole demonstration. On some level she knew that Luna should've been able to do this, but she'd just never given any actual thought to it before.

"By applying constant, steady, overwhelming pressure to this force field, until such time the power requirements become too much for it to bear, resulting on it collapsing in on itself!" Luna elaborated as her eyes glowed brightly, before slamming the cutting face of her halberd down against the wall of the shield, resulting in a dramatic and violent sparking as the two rivaling magical signatures clashed, the strain of her efforts causing ripples to appear and radiate outward across its surface, much like the surface of a pond being disturbed by the dropping of a stone.

"Oh yeah! Awesome!" Rainbow Dash stated as she observed the entire demonstration, excitement starting to override her fatigue. 

Unfortunately for her that excitement was left without a manner of effectively being expressed, and thus nowhere to go. She was feeling anxious and jittery, and she was starting to feel compelled to jog in place while simultaneously squealing like a foal, to try and burn off the sudden excess of energy coursing through her veins.

However that idea was discarded in favor of a far more productive course of action. She quickly moved to another part of the force field, away from the arcs of magic that were currently flying about wildly, before rearing up on her hind legs and slamming her shod front hooves against the dome. If the basic idea to getting the foals free was to press against it until it finally broke, then she was going to do everything she could to add to the force that was being generated. If Luna couldn't do it on her own, maybe her added assistance would be enough to push them over the edge.

Considering that ripples were starting to radiate outward from her hooves as well, she concluded that the theory was sound, and her efforts were having a measurable effect on the situation. In response she began pushing with all of her might, digging her hooves into the ground as she gave it everything she had. She might not have had an invitation to the party, but she was going to crash it regardless.

"Don't you worry, anypony, we're gonna get you all out of there and back to Ponyville where it's safe!" she stated to try and keep their spirits up. "We just gotta push a little bit harder! Just a little bit harder and we'll have it!"

"You don't really believe that now, do you?"

Despite all the noise being generated by Luna's efforts, the voice cut through Rainbow Dash's thoughts like a hot knife through butter, easily being heard. And it was a voice she had been certain had been gone once and for all. Apparently that wasn't the case.

Regardless of that unforeseen development, she tuned it out, focusing all of her efforts on pushing hard enough against the force field to rupture it.

"It's not like you can actually do anything, you stupid little pegasus. You're far too weak to amount to anything but a mere annoyance. Face it, you're nothing, and you can become nothing. No matter how hard to push, you'll never be able to break through."

Rainbow Dash grunted and snorted, her tail flicking about irritably, refusing to acknowledge Nightmare Moon's trash talk. With Ulquiorra keeping Raindragon at bay, talk was really the only option that she had left available to her.

She was already doing the hard part in making it here, she just had to ignore whatever that annoying voice had to say in a desperate effort to demoralize her. She just had to focus everything on the efforts directly in front of her. Although that would be a little easier if she had a large rock to brace her back hooves against.

"It'd be such a pity if poor little Scootaloo had to die next, don't you think?"

She nearly faltered, nearly falling over in response to Nightmare Moon's efforts at playing dirty, in looking for a way to shake her resolve in this matter. But she wasn't going to be shaken, no matter what! No matter what was said, it was ultimately nothing more than words, and words carried no power unless it was actually given to them. She was going to deny Nightmare Moon that power, focusing exclusively on plowing through this force field in front of her. For all intents and purposes, it was the only thing that actually existed right now.

"Seriously though, where do you keep finding the strength to stand back up again and again? Any other pony would've gone down by now. What, are you somehow converting your weather magic into physical stamina or something?"

Rainbow Dash grunted loudly, focusing hard on not paying attention to anything Nightmare Moon had to say to her. she wasn't going to listen, she wasn't going to allow herself to be distracted! Nightmare Moon wasn't going to win, and she wasn't going to fall prey to her dirty tricks and tactics ever again. Fuck that! Fuck the dirty tricks, fuck Nightmare Moon, and fuck this force field! They were all coming to an end tonight. And they were all coming to an end, even if she had to do it all by herself!

"Wow, you're really dedicated to this. Looks like I'll just have to get serious then..."





As with Celestia and her sword, Luna had encountered very little reason in recent history, that would warrant the deployment of her halberd. And as a result of that lack of use, it was weighing on her. Forming and maintaining it took significant levels of mana, concentration, and focus. She certainly had all three, but she was quite out of practice in weathering the strain incurred from keeping so much highly concentrated mana together.

But she couldn't give up at this point! No, rather, she wouldn't give up even if she could; not now, and not ever! She would push through the strain, through the fatigue, until such time everypony was safe once again! She was the one with the physical body, not Nightmare Moon, and if it should prove necessary then she would push her body until it broke into dust under its own strain!

However that determination came to an immediate, screeching halt as her ears were assaulted by blood-curdling screams. Her concentration faulted as she looked about for the source of the noise, only to discover it was Rainbow Dash doing the screaming. Screaming like she had been when Nightmare Moon made her believe she'd been set on fire, and her entire body was being consumed in flames. It stood to reason that the same tactic was being deployed a second time around.

Despite her screaming, however, despite all the pain she must've perceived herself as being in, Rainbow Dash was still pushing against the force field with all her might, rather than flailing about on the ground like last time. She must've been trying to fight through the illusion, knowing that she wasn't really being immolated, but unable to actually do anything about what she was being forced to experience. The pain itself wasn't real, but she knew from personal experience that it was certainly perceived as being real.

Under any other setting, she would've taken the time to note how commendable Rainbow Dash's dedication and perseverance was under these circumstances. But right now she had far more pressing thoughts on her mind to address. And she needed to address them in short order, before it was too late.

"Ulquiorra Cifer, please help immediately! Nightmare Moon is at it again!" she yelled, suspecting that his doing so was likely the only thing that would actually save Rainbow Dash at this point. If what he'd been saying about her nightmares was true, then his reiatsu might be the only thing that could halt the mental trauma she was experiencing at the moment.

She hadn't expected an immediate response to her pleas for assistance. Which was partially the reason she found herself overwhelmed as she felt Ulquiorra flaring his reiatsu once again, and the resulting pressure wave serving to violently expel all of the fog from the immediate area. 

Rainbow Dash's screams of pain came to an immediate stop, only to be replaced by her letting out a groan as she slouched weakly against the force field, now relying on its structure to keep herself from falling to the ground.

Within the force field, most of the foals were on the ground, obviously overwhelmed by what they were experiencing for themselves. But seeing as even she could barely withstand it, that much was logical. She'd honestly be surprised if they could weather it better than she currently was.

Seconds later Ulquiorra was back down at their side, his attention no longer needed elsewhere since the release of his reiatsu had dissipated Nightmare Moon's fog phantom, leaving him free to do whatever needed to be done.

"I fear that, even with you keeping her preoccupied, Nightmare Moon is not going to allow us even a moment of respite to gather ourselves," she stated. She'd allowed herself to be lulled into a false sense of security by Ulquiorra being present, and his theories pertaining to how he was the top threat Nightmare Moon had to face. She had never stopped to consider that even he might not be able to keep her from launching a mental assault against them.

"I wouldn't," Ulquiorra replied simply. If he was the villain in all of this, he certainly wouldn't be allowing these ponies the luxury of composing themselves, and prepare for another engagement.

But then again, if he was the villain in all of this, he would've already identified those with the greatest threat potential, and killed off all of them in short order to insure they could do nothing against him. This situation would've never been allowed to come to be.

Right now, however, that was neither here nor there. There were far more important matters to tend to, than thinking about what he could be doing differently.

"That does not surprise me, seeing as you are a true expert in this field," Luna commented, now beginning to feel fatigued from the strain of standing up under Ulquiorra's reiatsu. "It is quite ironic that what is doing us the most good currently, is also putting us at the most risk. Perchance can you bring it back down once again?" she asked.

"I can. But if I do such, there will be nothing to stop Nightmare Moon from attacking again. The moment my reiatsu drops to a more tolerable level, the fog is going to start flooding the area once again," he explained.

"I am well aware, but I fear we have little option. I do not know how much more the foals can withstand. Nightmare Moon being defeated will be meaningless if we cannot save them," Luna stated. 

As unwise as dropping his guard would be at this point, Ulquiorra couldn't deny that Princess Luna was correct in her concerns about the well being of the foals. Killing Nightmare Moon hadn't been the primary goal of this night, but rather rescuing the ones she'd captured and taken hostage. Their dying, especially if Nightmare Moon was picking off their souls in order to grow stronger, was simply unacceptable.

Without further discussion on the topic, he proceeded to dial his reiatsu back, restraining as much of it as his body could manage, returning it to the degree most everyone in Equestria was familiar with. And almost immediately afterward, everyone who had been negatively affected was showing signs of relief from the pressure they'd been subjected to.

"Dude," Rainbow Dash wheezed as she toppled over backwards, falling flat on her flanks on the forest floor with a thud. "I don't know how much more of that I can stand."

"Me neither!" Archer stated, who was quickly joined in a cacophony of similar statements and complaints from the other foals present. 

"You are not alone in your plight, little ones, even I am having difficulty tolerating what is experienced," Luna stated, hoping that her admission would quell their concerns.

Unfortunately there was nothing to quell her own concerns, as she was seeing evidence of Ulquiorra's warning, panning out in front of her! Already she could see the fog quickly retaking the clearing, eagerly filling in the divot that had made with no effort on the Espada's part. It would be just a matter of seconds before they were completely encompassed once again. And once that encompassing occurred, Nightmare Moon would be free to attack them as she saw fit once more.

"I am sorry, everypony, but you must endure a while longer. Nightmare Moon is returning, and it is the only way to keep her at bay until we get you safe again. Take a deep breath, and hunker down as closely to the ground as you can, it will help," she instructed, all the while knowing that her instructions were nothing more than a lie. In truth she had no idea what would allow them to resist the overwhelming, crushing pressure that Ulquiorra's body could generate so freely. But at the moment she simply had nothing else that she could actually tell them!

Regardless of it being a lie, however, those that could actually comprehend her instructions did as they were told; taking a deep breath and holding it as they got close to the ground.

It was the best they could do for them at the time. Looking over to Ulquiorra she nodded, signalling for him to proceed.

Ulquiorra said nothing as he once again flared his reiatsu, serving to once more keep the terror fog at bay, away from those who were most at risk.

Most everyone affected by the release was floored in short order, Princess Luna's advice doing nothing to spare them from the full force of the impact of what they were being required to endure. Even Rainbow Dash went down, slumping and falling over backwards, most likely driven unconscious by exposure and exhaustion coupling together. But there was little that could be done about that at the moment.

Over where she stood, Luna grunted as she pushed herself upright, doing her best to ward off the crushing weight on her withers, focusing instead on addressing the matter at hoof. They needed to get the foals out of here, and they had to do it in short order.

It was only as she prepared to reengage, did she finally realize that she'd lost focus on her halberd, and had  wound up allowing it to dissipate. Frowning, she summoned it back to the forefront once again.

"Quickly, now, I do not know how much of a window of opportunity we have to us!" she stated as she brought her halberd all the way back, and proceeded to slam its cutting edge against the force field once more.

Ulquiorra observed as the two polarity fields of magic clashed against one another, sparks flying freely at the point of contact between the two constructs, as the force of the impact caused ripples to appear across the force field's surface. This was certainly what he had in mind as far as an approach to the problem went, although moreso for himself than being assisted by anyone else. Or rather him providing the assistance.

Never mind. The finer details of what was doing what, were ultimately irrelevant to the matter. 

Taking up a position on the opposite end of the force field, both of his palms met with the force field. First the right, and then the left, both very close together. But unlike the last time this approach was attempted, neither blow carried sufficient force to break his bones. Which was quite fortunate, as it was hard to set a broken arm while using a broken arm.

Using one fist would've generated less force to be exerted, but it would've also concentrated that force into a much smaller area, resulting in much greater strain at the point of contact. Using both hands, however, would generate greater force, but that was currently being tempered by a greater targeted surface area to work with. Ultimately neither approach was perfect or proper, but it was what they had to choose from.

Imperfect technique aside, however, ripples along the wall were radiating outward from the point of contact with his hands, were meeting with the ripples generated by Princess Luna's efforts, and were beginning to obstruct his view of the foals inside; much like a shaken up snow globe.

He tried to get some reading on where they currently stood, but what his pesquisa was picking up was all over the map. There was no indication of just how much power the force field was consuming under their shared strain, nor how much longer it could sustain itself before shattering. For all he knew they were actually increasing its reserves by giving it kinetic force to convert; they could actually be making the situation worse, and not have a clue about it! But there was unfortunately little choice but to try regardless. If they were to fail then they would try something else. And they would continue trying until they succeeded.

Although he couldn't directly see it, he could feel Rainbow Dash's involvement in their efforts once again, but he seriously doubted that what she could contribute would amount to a meaningful difference in whatever their results were shaping up to be. But he wasn't about to discourage her from trying. Not knowing where they stood currently, her involvement might amount to the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.





Contrary to popular belief, looking at the world and your own surroundings from a different perspective, really didn't do that much good. That was Rainbow Dash's observation as she regarded the Everfree forest from her current upside down position as she laid on her back on the ground.

Granted she knew what the phrase meant, and what it referred to. She knew that standing on her head wasn't going to help her figure out how to resolve the current issue they were facing. But considering the results they'd been having so far, she really wasn't seeing what different her directional orientation currently made, as there were no real solutions available, one way or the other. 

Luna was on the case, Ulquiorra was on the case, Nightmare Moon was being held back by forces she couldn't possibly comprehend, and here she was, flat on her back and unable to do anything. She'd given her all in trying to help out, but her all simply hadn't been enough, as she was hopelessly outclassed in all the relevant fields. She was simply too exhausted, and too weak, to be of any use to anypony right now. Her best course of action was to simply stay out of the way, and not do anything that might interfere with the others and their efforts.

"I should've just stayed up in Canterlot," she mumbled to herself, not even bothering with exerting the effort necessary to roll over onto her stomach. She didn't even bother with lifting her head off the ground. What was really the point? "I'm useless."

"Sugarcube. That ain't nothin' but a load o' manure!"

Alright. That gave her reason to lift her head and look up. Which in this case also involved pulling herself into a sitting up position.

As she did, she came face to face with Applejack standing there, looking right back at her, barely a hoof's distance away from her face, and wearing a friendly, welcoming smile.

"Now then. Wha's this hogwash 'bout ya bein' useless?" Applejack asked her. "Ah know for certain ya ain't talkin' 'bout yerself."

"Quite right, darling, obviously she's mistaken. She must be thinking of somepony else."

Rarity. Looking over to Applejack's left, she could see the snow white unicorn standing there, looking right back at her.

It wasn't just the two of them either. All of them were here. Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, they were all here, standing right in front of her! They'd finally shown up!

"I didn't think you'd make it," she said as she reached out to hug Applejack, only to be met halfway by the farmer beating her to the punch on initiating the gesture.

"As if we'd ever miss out on this party, you silly filly!" Pinkie giggled.

"N-no, that's not what I meant," Rainbow Dash stated as she untangled herself from Applejack's embrace. "I meant that I thought this would all be over before you'd have to come out and help. But I was wrong. I gave it my best in all of this, but my best just wasn't good enough. I'm... I'm just not strong enough to do anything..." she admitted as she looked down at the ground.

"Rainbow Dash, that's not true, and you know it," Fluttershy stated firmly. And if Rainbow Dash was being honest, she was surprised by it. She couldn't remember ever hearing her friend speak quite that firm before. Nor could she remember Fluttershy wearing such a firm, hard expression before.

Twilight nodded in agreement. "It's not an exaggeration to say that you're strong, Rainbow Dash. Far stronger than you ever might believe on your own, because it's so hard to codify and quantify into a round, numerical unit of measurement that can easily be referenced."

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. "Yeppers! And besides, Dashie, everypony knows power levels are meaningless! Will, determination, and heart are what wins battles, not arbitrary numbers!"

The others assembled looked at Pinkie in a mix of uncertainty and confusion, before Twilight returned her attention to Rainbow Dash.

"That matter aside, Rainbow Dash, you have to remember that this is Nightmare Moon we're talking about; an alicorn of all things. It would be hard for anypony to compare favorably under such circumstances. The very fact that you're even still alive in light of such, should be regarded as a measure of pride. I honestly don't know many ponies who could say they faced off against a threat like Nightmare Moon, without the Elements of Harmony, and still lived to tell about it," she explained.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but smile at Twilight's words of praise and encouragement. 

"Thanks, Egghead, I appreciate that. But that's not really what I'm talking about. Nightmare Moon has all the foals trapped in a force field that we're all trying to break through, but the only thing keeping her at bay is the pressure Ulquiorra can generate, and it's just too much for me to handle. I can barely breathe, I can't even stand up with him doing it. I'm just not strong enough to actually help this time around," she stated.

"With all due respect, darling, I believe you're selling yourself short," Rarity rebutted.

Pinkie nodded. "Way too short!"

Twilight nodded as well. "You've already experienced this once before, back up in Canterlot. Ulquiorra was far stronger in his released state than he is now, we all felt it for ourselves, so we know what we're talking about."

"The only reason it seems worse this time 'round is because yer fatigued from fightin' Nightmare Moon so danged much! Yer feelin' too tuckered out ta be ignorin' it, so naturally it feels like it's weighin' down on ya more," Applejack added.

"Not to mention malnourished," Fluttershy pointed out. "You really should have been eating your meals up in Canterlot, even if you didn't like them. But then again you already knew that..." she admonished.

"Now, now. I'm certain Rainbow Dash did the best she could, given the circumstances she faced. We shouldn't be scolding her like a disobedient little foal," Rarity chided. "Instead we should be looking into how we can best go about helping her in this situation."

"Ah reckon we'd best start by gettin' er back on 'er hooves," Applejack suggested as she reached out and took hold of Rainbow Dash's left foreleg. "C'mon, Sugarcube, up ya go!"

Rainbow Dash grunted as she felt herself being lifted up by Applejack's earth pony might. Unfortunately her legs hadn't been ready for the effort, and the moment she was up, she was already falling forward again. She would've hit the ground face first, if not for Rarity moving quick and intercepting her, using her body to brace her, and keep her upright.

"Steady now, darling," she said as she held her so she could get her legs properly situation.

"Your coat's gonna get all bloody doing that," Rainbow Dash mumbled.

Rarity shook her head. "I don't care about that, you're more important."

"Alright. Now listen, Rainbow Dash, this is very important," Twilight spoke up. "That force field is still in place, and it has to be brought down. We need you to do that. We need you to bring that force field down, and fast."

"But I can barely even stand up," Rainbow Dash stated, her point being perfectly emphasized by her swaying and unsteady posture. "What do you need me for anyway? You're all here. You're doing better than I am. You're not being crushed by a thousand tons of spiritual pressure. Just go on without me, I don't have the strength do do it."

Twilight frowned at hearing that. "Weren't you the one that told Nightmare Moon that your friends were what made you strong enough to take her on?"

"W-well yeah, but this is different," Rainbow Dash protested.

"It's only different in your mind, Dashie. Just because you can't see it, doesn't make what we're feeling invalid. We know that you can do this," Pinkie stated. "Luna and Ulqy are already doing the brunt of the work, you just need to help push them over the edge. And besides that, we're all here with you, so we're making you strong enough to do it."

That made Rainbow Dash stop and think. And as she did, she realized Pinkie was right. Luna and Ulquiorra were there and doing the lion's share of the work in trying to get the foals free. She hadn't been tasked with bringing that force field down all by herself; all she was really doing, was providing assistance in trying to expedite the process a little faster. She could do that! She wasn't so beaten down, that even that was too much for her! She wasn't alone in all of this, she had her friends here with her, she had their strength should her own be insufficient. She had this in the bag!

"Well when you put it like that," she said with a grin as she looked back up again, and climbed back onto her hooves, unsteady but not falling over. "Let's show Nightmare Moon how we do this!"

They could do this. She could do this! Sure she didn't have anything like she used in her dreams, like being a Vizard, or a really bitchin' awesome dragon, or even the mythical Storm Surge from pegasus legend, but none of that mattered right now! Right now she had a much greater source of strength than any of that could've amount to, and it was standing right in front of her, urging her onward to victory!

Unfortunately that bravado was tempered as she stood up straighter, and nearly toppled over once again. She might have them here urging her on, but her legs still felt too weak to keep her upright. 

How was she ever supposed to get to the force field if she couldn't even stand up, crawl over to it?

And now that she thought about it, she could've sworn she'd collapsed just a few inches away from its exterior. Now it looked a lot further than that. Had she been thrown backwards or something? That thought, along with everything else, was making the outlook all the more bleak to consider. 

"This isn't gonna work," she grunted as she struggled to push herself upright again. "I can't do this. Not on my own."

"Well then I guess it's a good thing you're not on your own. You've got us here right beside you," Twilight stated.

"Ya know, Twi', that gives me a good idea. Pinkie, get on RD's left side. Sugarcube, raise those wings o' yours up," Applejack instructed.

"Okie dokie lokie," Pinkie giggled as she bounced over to Rainbow Dash's side to take up her position.

"What... what's going on?" Rainbow Dash as she raised her wings up as instructed, only to realize that she was quickly being sandwiched between Pinkie and Applejack.

"We're right beside ya," Applejack stated.

It took a moment for Rainbow Dash to comprehend what they were actually saying, before her face lit up with the revelation. These ponies, these friends of hers, were the source of her strength. And right now they were lending her that strength when she needed it the most, thus enabling her to stand up.

Nodding in understanding she lowered her armored wings, draping them across their backs to help keep herself upright. "Let's do this!" she stated.

Despite being a pegasus sandwich between two slices of earth pony bread, walking wasn't proving to be terribly difficult. They were keeping her upright, she just had to put one hoof in front of the other, and keep doing that as they advanced forward. Even if Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy weren't in direct contact with her, she could still feel their strength practically flowing through her veins as they all advanced together as one.  They made her strong, they made her complete, they made her possible. They had seen her when she was at her lowest points in life, and still they'd stuck around with her, and helped in picking her right back up again. They believed in her, and in return she believed in them. She'd been put back together because of them, and together they were going to tear Nightmare Moon down!

With her friends by her side supporting her the whole way, the distance was made short work of as they made their way to the force field once more.

"Let's do this," Rainbow Dash stated, her voice heavy with determination as she raised her wings to untangle herself from Pinkie and Applejack, allowing her to step forward under her own steam. "Let's get those foals back home safe!"

Rearing up on her hind legs once more, she slammed her front hooves against the shield as hard as she could, before proceeding to push with all of her might against its structure. She didn't know how much good she could do, compared to Ulquiorra and Luna, but right now she simply didn't care. None of them could possibly do it all on their own, nor did they need to try such. They were together, they were united, they were going to succeed!

One by one, she could feel the rest of them joining in her efforts, pushing against the shield with all of their might to bring it down faster. By now the ripples were dancing violently across its surface, obscuring her view of the foals inside, but she still pressed on, pressing with everything she had. She even flared her wings, before driving the armored points against its structure to increase the areas of contact in hope of it doing some good.

"Push harder!" she yelled as she grunted, scraping her back hooves against the ground for any bit of traction that could be gained. They needed to give it everything they had if this was going to work.

And then she heard a ping that she hadn't heard before. It could've been easy enough to dismiss out of hoof, and easy to miss, if not for the fact that more were beginning to follow. And as more pings sounded, she started to see cracks forming in the structure. Stress-related fractures as the force field simply couldn't keep up with the abuse it was being forced to tolerate.

"Harder! Push harder! Give it everything you've got!" she yelled, feeling renewed with the validation that this was actually going to work. She'd lost count of how many second winds she'd caught in all of this, but that was the best way to describe her sense of feeling reinvigorated, now that they were so close to achieving their goal.

The air was filled with grunting, and groaning, and all manner of sounds of exertion as they pushed with all of their might, driven on by the desperate need to succeed. 

And then a sound much like a plate of glass shattering filled the air with a thunderous echo. And she watched as all at once the force field came crumbling down, shattering into tiny little shivers of blue crystal-like structures raining down, before disintegrating against anything they came into contact with.

They'd done it. After so much struggling and effort on their part, they'd actually succeeded in breaking the force field, and rescuing the foals. They'd actually done it!

"Woohoo!" she yelled as she pounded her front hooves on her chest in excitement, a loud metallic clanging following the gesture.

And then she blinked, and everything suddenly looked different. That was more or less the best way she could think of to describe what she'd just experienced happen to her. She couldn't even be specific as to what looked different from her perspective, she just knew that it was.

Looking around for some clue as to what had happened, she quickly realized that she was alone. Twilight, Fluttershy and the others weren't by her side anymore. She didn't even see any sign of them having been there. Had... had that all been nothing but a dream she'd just woken up from? But if it was a dream, how had she helped breaking the shield? Had all of that just been a feverish hallucination, brought on by the stress, and strain, and her own fears that she simply wasn't adequate enough to do any good on her own?

"Rainbow Dash!"

She was now aware of a number of the foals scattering in different directions of underbrush -likely to heed the call of nature now that they were free- although her focus was on one in particular who was quickly galloping in her direction instead, and leaping off the ground to meet her. She didn't even hesitate before spreading her forelegs as she crouched down, catching Scootaloo in mid jump, and proceeded to hug her for all she was worth.

She was also vaguely aware of the fact that she no longer felt the oppressive, crushing weight of Ulquiorra's reiatsu weighing down on her. And from the look of it, the others weren't experiencing it either. But whether that was because he wasn't flaring it out, or if they'd simply gotten adjusted to it, she had no clue. Nor did she really care at the moment, as it wasn't important. Right now the only important thing to her was the filly she had in her forelegs, and the fact she was safe and sound. Right now, right here, was what she'd been working so hard for since this whole clusterfuck had begun. Despite so much being so very wrong, at this one moment in time, everything was alright.

"Love ya, Squirt."

"Love ya too, Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo stated.





Through their combined efforts, the force field had finally been subjected the point of critical mass necessary to completely drain whatever source of power was fueling it, resulting in its structure finally succumbing to the strain, and suffering -a rather visually appealing degree of- critical failure, completely shattering like billions of tiny glass shards all at once. Fortunately for everyone involved, they lacked the same cutting potential as glass shards, making them harmless.

With that matter finally resolved, and that particular obstacle cleared, Ulquiorra knew that he could safely stop flaring his reiatsu to the intensity he had been, thus no longer subjecting them to the crushing pressure of just a moment ago.

Now free on more than one front, some foals ran over to Princess Luna to express their relief and adoration over her coming to rescue them. Others ran into the forest with a sense of urgency and desperation he hadn't really seen before. And while such wasn't advisable, he wasn't sensing anything in the immediate area that would pose a legitimate threat to their safety.

Aside from Nightmare Moon still being in the area, of course. But there was little he could actually do about that right now. There were too many unknowns, too many variables in place for him to know for certain if his reiatsu being flared was helping or ultimately hurting them. Nightmare Moon was being held at bay, but that did them little good if extended exposure could still kill them regardless.

There wold be time for speculation later. Right now there were far more pressing matters that had to be tended to, not the least of which was getting the foals out of here quickly. When they were being held hostage in Nightmare Moon's force field, they had actually been at less risk than they were currently, now that they were out in the open, and vulnerable to whatever might come to pass. Now that they were free, anything could happen, and put them at risk of even greater harm.

"It's too dangerous to be staying here," he stated simply.

"You don't have to be telling me twice," Rainbow Dash stated, well aware of that fact for herself. "Oi, foals! C'mon, shake a leg!"

Whether Rainbow Dash's statement played any actual part in motivating the foals to return to the clearing, Ulquiorra has no real clue. All he knew was that they were slowly doing just that, meeting up with the rest of their group once again, many looking far more relaxed than they had been a moment before.

"Does this mean we're going home now?" Rumble asked.

Luna nodded. "If everypony is present then we leave without delay, little ones. Gather close."

"Good. I can't wait to get out of here," Silver Spoon stated, anxious to return back home. Being out here in the Everfree forest yet again was bad enough. But being here without her glasses had only made it all the worse, since she could barely see anything.

"You said it," Truffle Shuffle wheezed as he hurried over to stand next to Princess Luna.

It was around that time, that Bee Bop fell to the ground in mid-step, her face planting into the dirt with a thud as her body went motionless.

For a moment, one that seemed to last for an eternity, those that were in the know of what was going on -and those that actually had the need to- didn't dare breathe. They all watched, waiting to see if the young filly was going to get back up again, complaining that her muzzle hurt from tripped over some errant tree root she hadn't seen in her path.

But that didn't happen. For all of the waiting that was done to observe some signs of life, there was simply none to be found. Bee Bop's body laid limply on the ground in a crumpled heap, as lifeless as a pile of rocks.

"That's.... that's not good, is it?" Key Lime asked nervously.

Luna shook her head in response. This situation was quickly moving as far away from being good as possible, and she wasn't certain of how much worse it could reasonably get. Nor was she feeling particularly inclined to wait and see. Too many had already died on this night, and she wasn't going allow that trend to continue. Beyond the body count already being unacceptably high, Nightmare Moon had already claimed too many innocent souls for herself. She wasn't about to let her have even one more.

"We are leaving! Now!" she stated.

"That's what you think..."

That voice was enough to make Luna freeze in place. Her recollection of a thousand years spent in exile on the moon might not've been the most coherent, but that was a voice she'd never, ever be able to forget, no matter how hard she might try to do just that.

Unfortunately looking around gave her no indication of just where it was coming from! It sounded omnipresent, like it was everywhere and simultaneously nowhere at the same time. For all she knew it was resonating within her own head! But the fact the others were looking about as well served to discount that notion, as they were obviously hearing it too.

"Sounds like we just went from bad to worse," Rainbow Dash muttered as she looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the voice.

Instead, however, she noticed something pertaining to the fog itself. It hadn't been returning to the area like she'd expected, but rather it looked like it was receding. But there was no reason she could see that would explain such a weird pattern of behavior being observed. And it was really odd to observe it, moving about like it was being subjected to a time reversal spell or something.

Then she looked up, and she realized just why the fog was acting like it was. It was actually gathering together high above them, coalescing and condensing into a a tight, confined area; a space that was maybe big enough for one or two ponies, and...

"Oh..."

More eyes oriented skyward to observe as the fog not only coalesced and condensed back into cloud form, but was also beginning to take an actual shape as it swirled about. A distinctly pony-shaped form, like it was being forcefully injected into a die casting mould, and adding definition to the final product.

All at once, in a flash of magic, the pony-shaped form finalized itself into a very distinct alicorn form. The deepest, blackest fur that anypony had ever seen in their lives. An ethereal mane and tail made up of midnight blue that heeded to no mortal winds. Fierce blue, serpentine eyes with slit pupils. Two massive, powerful wings coated in deep black feathers flapping with ease, yet commanding great force. A long, sharp horn. And vicious blue armor that looked like it was suited for going to war.

Nightmare Moon had truly returned. And she looked far more fearsome than Rainbow Dash had remembered her looking. Just looking into those eyes was enough to shake her resolve, and actually leave her feeling the urge to hide behind Luna for protection. Seeing that sneer and her sharp teeth didn't help matters either.

Luna, however, shared no such shaking. She glared up at Nightmare Moon's position, frowning intently.

"So you have regained your physical form, then? Good! That means it is possible for me to disembowel you!" she yelled furiously, refusing to be intimidated.

"What's that even mean anyway?" Snails asked, curiosity temporarily overwhelming what fear he'd been feeling just a second ago.

"What it means is that Princess Luna is gonna cut Nightmare Moon open, crotch to eyeball, with a dull deer antler," Shady elaborated. Not being able to actually see Nightmare Moon like the others, she had the least fear out of the lot of them to be overcome by.

Luna's glare suddenly went wide with surprise at hearing that, causing her to turn her attention away from Nightmare Moon, and instead look at the foals. "Where do you children come up with such vulgar concepts?"

"Ah, the innocence -and the arrogance- of youth," Nightmare Moon stated, practically purring as she spoke with a smooth, silky voice. However the softness of her voice did nothing to contradict the hard coldness of her eyes. "Nopony other than myself will be leaving this forest alive on this night. I can guarantee you that much..."

"We shall see about that!" Luna stated as she stood firmly, ready to engage her evil counterpart in the name of protecting the others from harm.

"Oh, sweet, little Luna, it's so cute how you think you actually stand a chance against me," Nightmare Moon stated with a grin. "When Celestia first faced me over a thousand years ago, I was in an imperfect state. I had but a mere seventeen souls, and she still couldn't overcome my might on her own. But now that I have twenty one souls fueling my return? Not one of you will stand a chance against me!" she cackled, a single flap of her mighty wings serving to propel her higher into the air above them.

"Equestria, your true Queen has returned to claim you! And now she is in a form that transcends perfection itself! She is now absolute perfection! Rejoice and despair, mere mortals!" she howled triumphantly and laughed.

But in all of her gloating and laughing, Nightmare Moon had failed to realize that Ulquiorra had appeared directly behind her, his left arm outstretched and aimed right at the base of her skull.

And her ignorance of her surroundings continued, right up until she felt the impact of his Cero slamming into her back, sending her crashing to the ground at a roughly thirty-degree angle before she even had the chance to right herself, and kicking up a large cloud of dust and debris in the process.

If he were particularly interested in surveying the fruits of his labor, Ulquiorra would note how the force of his Cero had partially buried Nightmare Moon, leaving only her lower body exposed, and perpendicular with the ground, as her hind legs kicked about furiously.

But he wasn't particularly interesting in surveying the fruits of his labor. Nor was he particularly interesting in finding the joke that was presented by this situation, should it even exist in the first place. Instead he simply settled for slicing the tip of his left index finger and drawing blood, as he began to charge for a follow up blast, while Nightmare Moon was still downed.

"You waste even more time talking than Chrysalis did," he commented idly, before adjusting his aim towards where Nightmare Moon currently rested, before discharging his Gran Rey Cero.

The report of the Gran Rey Cero being discharged was considerable, even by his own standards. And the resulting flash of deep violet light was of a similar nature. There were elements in its display that looked a great deal like a lightning strike had just taken place. And the degree of reiryoku that was released with its discharge... well, it was quite easy to understand why the Gran Rey Cero was forbidden within the dome of Las Noches.

Down below the midair battle, even though they hadn't been anywhere in close proximity to the sight where Nightmare Moon had "landed", it still seemed seemed incredibly prudent to dive for cover when the violet-colored Cero was sent hurtling at her position, and causing an even more massive blast than the last one to be unleashed, sending pieces of trees and broken rocks flying in every direction. Luna hadn't hesitated to erect her force field over the group to protect them from whatever incoming shrapnel and debris managed to reach them.

It went without saying that Ulquiorra was playing for keeps tonight.

"Holy Tartarus!" Scootaloo stated, not knowing what else to say in response to the demonstration of destructive power that Ulquiorra commanded, literally at his very fingertips.

"Do you think that did it? Is... is Nightmare Moon dead after something like that?" Diamond Tiara asked uncertainly. 

The answer to her question came as Ulquiorra was slammed on his back against the shield by an unseen force, his trajectory doing much to suggest he hadn't taken the course of his own free will.

"I'm gonna venture a guess and say no," Featherweight stated and winced as he -and the others- observed as Ulquiorra stood back up again.

"A correct evaluation of facts," Ulquiorra stated simply without turning around to face them. "Leave now."

"Dude?" Rainbow Dash asked, not expecting such a statement to be made.

"You need to leave the forest at once. All of you," he stated.

"Ulquiorra Cifer, we are not about to-" Luna started, only to be interrupted as he immediately turned, and slammed his right fist against the force field. It was a hard enough blow for her to feel, causing her to falter in surprise, before she managed to right herself again. The sheer amount of kinetic energy he'd just generated, without even a long course of travel in delivering his blow, was truly astounding. 

And if she were being fully honest, it was even a bit frightening.

"Leave now," he repeated, his voice firm as he did so. "You're nothing but liabilities if you remain; liabilities that Nightmare Moon can exploit. Leave now, or else I'll kill everyone present, without regard for who they are."

It was a statement that earned many gasps of surprise in response from those that were present. 

Most of them knew very little of Ulquiorra, other than what they had garnered from limited interactions with him, and observations of how he conducted himself. They knew that he could kill. They knew that he did kill. They even knew that he had no qualms with killing when he deemed it necessary. But up until that very moment in time, all of his killing had been limited to recognized threats to the safety and well being of Equestria. Now that was all being thrown out the window, as he was threatening to kill the lot of them with all the casualness of talking about the weather; like the act of doing so was nothing to him, and he didn't have any qualms with ending of their lives. The entire notion simply seemed far too unbelievable.

But they had little choice but to believe it, and come to terms with the fact, as he began charging his Cero right in front of them.

"I won't ask again," he warned, aiming directly for where they currently stood, many of them trembling with fear at his words, and the utter coldness behind them.

Finally, Luna had little choice but to nod in acknowledgement, knowing that if Ulquiorra was really turning on them, she wouldn't be able to oppose both him and Nightmare Moon at the same time.

"I hope that you are aware of what you are doing," she said as her horn flared to life once more, the protective shield around them completely fading, before she and the rest vanished all at once in a flash of light.

Leaving Ulquiorra behind, alone in the Everfree Forest with Nightmare Moon.

"Well now, this is an unforeseen development indeed," the alicorn commented as she hovered several feet off the ground, observing her quarry with interest. "You've fought so hard to protect these ponies up until now. And now you're threatening to kill them?" she asked, genuinely surprised by such.

"Correct," Ulquiorra replied as he turned to face her, allowing his Cero to dissipate as he did so. "I don't need trash in my way while I work."

"Oh, really now?" Nightmare Moon asked, intrigued by his outlook. She really hadn't expected to encounter something like that with him. "That's a rather callous approach, coming from one who made a moving case for euthanizing a foal that was going to die an excruciating death," she pointed out.

"That was a matter of practicality, not caring," Ulquiorra pointed out. He could ask how Nightmare Moon knew about the incident with Cupid, and what had transpired at the hospital. But he didn't particularly care right now, one way or another. "Without the others around, I don't have to waste time, going through the motions of pretending to be concerned about their well being should you attempt to take them hostage once again. I can dispense with formalities and ceremony, and get right down to business," he explained.

Nightmare Moon simply chuckled in response to hearing this.

"Beyond that matter, you should've taken the opportunity to kill me when you had it, rather than foolishly observing my interactions with the others. You won't be given a second chance," he stated.

At hearing that, Nightmare Moon laughed heartily, throwing her head back as she howled with amusement.

"Oh, that's so precious! Thinking that you actually stand a chance against me!" she stated, before looking at him once again, her good mood suddenly nonexistent as she glare at him. "Arrogant Espada, you can't possibly comprehend the utter vastness of my strength! You thought you were seeing the upper limits of my strength prior? That was nothing compared to now! I have twenty one souls to my being now, evenly split across the three pony tribes, allowing me to transcend perfection itself! Celestia and Luna themselves together couldn't possibly compare to me now! You're nothing more than an annoyance to me! Why, fighting against you wouldn't even amount to interesting!" she roared furiously, violently flaring her magical strength to demonstrate her point to him.

Throughout Nightmare Moon's rant, Ulquiorra remained unfazed by her theatrics, and the demonstration of her strength. 

"Then allow me to make things more interesting for you," he replied simply, in stark contrast to her manner of address. Before following up by once again flaring his reiatsu for her to feel for herself. 

Nightmare Moon smirked, anxious to see the look of surprise on the Espada's face once he realized that his little tactic would no longer work on her, now that she possessed a physical body, and was thus immune to being dispersed.

Unfortunately she was disappointed, as she was the one wearing the look of surprise at experiencing the full intensity of his spiritual pressure. Being in possession of a physical body meant having actual lungs, which by extension meant experiencing the need of actually breathing. And as soon as she was struck by that intensity, it felt like the air had been forcefully punched out of her lungs.

"Just so you won't feel disappointed, or lose interest in how things proceed, this is approximately half the reiatsu my form can currently generate," Ulquiorra explained.

Half? This was only half of what he could really do if he tried!? How was something like that even possible? What kind of monster  had she just earned the wrath of!?

And worse yet, if this was just half of the pressure that his body could generate, whatever horrors could he go about demonstrating if he felt motivated to do so? Especially now that she was alone with him?

"Oh, sweet night, what have I done?" she wheezed out in disbelief, and even fear as the realization began to sink in like a ton of bricks.