//------------------------------//
// Chapter 40: Formidable 
// Story: When Snow Falls 
// by Prophet Of Doom 
//------------------------------//

     “Where the hell am I now?”
Midnight Snow found himself in a strange surrounding. A world of nothing but a bright white glow.He was walking around the empty floor or at least what he thought was the floor. There was no horizon, no indication of where the floor ended and the sky began. No features of any kind excited as far as he could see.
“Hello!” Midnight called aloud, hoping for some kind of reply. “Twilight! Are you there?”
No answer, “Sunset! Glimmer! Can you hear me!?!”
Nothing but silence permitted the air. Midnight scanned the horizon to his left side, growing uncomfortable at seeming unending isolation, “Hello! If there's anyone, or anypony out there, please answer me!!”
“Hello, Midnight.”
The voice came from directly in front of him. Midnight nearly jumped out of his coat, as he was met by a pony no more than several yards away. A pony which he could swear was not there a moment ago.
The pony was an ice blue alicorn, with a mane of black with golden tips. The mare bore a warming smile, nearly overjoyed in seeing Midnight, “My oh my, Midnight. You were handsome as a young man and an equally handsome as a Stallion.”
Midnight stayed at her in disbelief, as it slowly dawned on him who she was, “Mother!?!”
“Hello, Midnight.”
“Impossible,” He said, rooted to the spot. “you're dead!”

“Death would not stop your mother from embarrassing you with such compliments.”
A new voice and a new figure. This time appearing on his left. An earth pony, the colour of obsidian with silver highlights in his mane.
“Farther?”
“Yes, son.”
“How? How’s this possible?”
“Because you have taken up my trail.” Came a new yet another voice from behind him. This one was, though, unlike the others, was totally alien to Midnight. He turned 90 degrees to see the newcomer, a dark blue stallion unicorn with golden tipped hair.
Despite never the fact that he had never seen this pony before, Midnight knew who he was, “Formidable.”
“It is I.”
“Where am I?” 
“In a world that you should not have entered if you were not prepared for” Formidable answered in an irritated tone.
“Formidable!” Midnight’s mother snapped. “Do not act as if you are blind to events in the world that he has come from.”
“You been watching me?” Midnight asked.
“In a manner of speaking, yes,” His father answered. “And we know, as does Formidable, of that demons return.”
“Nightmare Moon,”Midnight said. 
“The same,”Formidable confirmed. “She has escaped the prison that I had sealed her in.”
“So the legend is true.”
Formidable looked at him incredulously, “You doubted  my story?”
“I mean that its has been so long that you’ve become almost a myth.”
Formidable let out a slight smile, clearly amused at the idea of becoming a mythical figure.

“If you know of Nightmare Moon’s return, then you should know why I'm here,” Midnight said firmly. “If nothing is done, then hundreds of lives will surely be lost. Either from her imitate revenge or when she plunges Equestria into eternal night. Formidable, you once defeated her all does centuries ago. I need your help. I need to know how to defeat her.”
Formidable studied Midnight inherently, judging his sincerity. He took his time doing this, creating an unbearable silence.
“Formidable, please. I’m begging you!” Midnight pleaded. “I’ve got nowhere to go and practically nothing to fight with!” 
”How do the legends say I defeated Nightmare Moon?”
Midnight thought for a moment, “They say that you sealed her away.”
Formidable nodded, “When I was a pony, I was unrivaled in the art of rune casting. Then after I created the trial that you activated, I found myself in the human world.”
“How?” Midnight asked. “Did a portal open?”
“Truth be told, even now I don’t know,” He answered before continuing with his tale. “Soon after I arrived, I learned of Nightmare Moon and the darkness she was bringing. She was also the only one in that world that had any real knowledge of magic and how to use it. So I tricked her. I made her believe that I had no knowledge of magic and challenged her in single combat. Foolishly, she accepted and I trapped her with well-placed runes, before removing her from her host and sealed her away in a specially prepared obelisk. An obelisk that has clearly been compromised.”
“You knew she was a creature controlling another? How?”
Formidable chuckled, “She was not the first Nightmare that I have fought. There have been others of her kind that have come before and there still may be others to come.”

Midnight nodded thoughtfully, “Can you teach me this craft?”
“He can but you do not have the time.” Came a new voice from his blindspot. Midnight recognized it and turned to see a pony he never expected to be here, “Dr. Twinstar!?! What are you doing here?”
The question seemed to cause her pain, “That's not important. What is important, is the fact that Nightmare Moon plans to organize multiple show trials and executions the moment she has captured the last of the remaining alicorns. In order to create terror throughout the land. Her first victims will be the alicorn princesses, their families, and followers. The land will be plunged into darkness by the day's end, and by the time you’ve learned how to replicate what Formidable had done, disasters such as mass famine will be unavoidable.”
“She’s right, Midnight,” Formidable stated solemnly.
Midnight took a step back, horrified at the prospect.
“There is, however,” Formidable continued. “Another way to defeat a Nightmare but it comes with great risk.”
“You can’t suggest what I think you're about to suggest!” Midnight’s Mother said adamantly.
“I only bring it up considering the circumstances,” Formidable snapped back.

“Formidable, tell me straight!” Midnight firmly stated. “Can I learn this method of defeating her in the time that I have?”
“…….Yes.”
“And will it also spare Foxtrot, Nightmare Moon’s current host?”
“Potentially, yes.”
“Then teach me!”
“There is a great risk to all involved.”
“I’ll take my chances,” -Midnight looked Formidable dead in the eye- “I’m out of time and I refuse to destroy Foxtrot!”
Formidable maintained eye contact with Midnight, reading him thoroughly. Eventually, a smile grew on his lips and his eyes made contact with the concerned eyes of the ice blue alicorn behind Midnight, “I see that you’ve managed to keep the fire and drive that my line was known for alive, Shinning Snow.”
She shied away from his gaze, which returned to Midnight, “Let us begin.”

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“So, yeah…. I ended up brainwashing the entire school,” Sunset Shimmer Explained, rubbing the back of her neck. “But Twilight managed to get me to see reason and well, here I am now.”
“I can actually relate to that, more than you realize,” Glimmer remarked.
It had been several hours since Midnight Snow vanished in front of the inscribed slab of stone. Sunset and Glimmer were watching the tunnel, waiting for an inevitable attack. Yet they had been waiting for so long, that they began sharing their life stories.
Twilight, however, was sitting on the cold floor, staring at the inscription on the stone seal. She was trying to find some hidden meaning or  enchantment in the runes but was finding nothing.
“Arrrgh!” She yelled in frustration, as she flopped onto her back.
“Twilight, take a break,” Sunset recommended. “Your gonna be no god to no-pony if you burn yourself out and….”
The sound of a stone being kicked echoed down the tunnel, bringing the conversation to a screeching halt. The three mares stood bolt upright, eyes transfixed on the tunnel and horns glowing madly. Partway down the tunnel, a small green and purple figure stepped into the light with his paws in the air, “Whoah! Guys, it's me!!”

Twilight’s eyes lit up, “Spike!!” 
The two raced to each other and embraced, “I’ve been worried sick about you lot.”
“Is the battle over, Spike?” Glimmer asked.
Spike rubbed the back of his head, “Ehh.. For the most part, yeah.”
Twilight was surprised, “How did you guys stop Nightmare Moon?”
“Twilight…. We didn’t stop her,” Spike said deflated. “She’s won.”
Twilight was struck cold and went completely quiet. Sunset, however, was expecting this to be the case, “Spike, just tell us what happened.”
“Well, after the spell failed, Nightmare Moon’s army forced their way into the palace. Shining Armour and his guardsponies put up a real fight but they were overwhelmed. They were quickly subdued. Myself and everypony else were ordered outside. There, Nightmare Moon singled me out and sent me down here.”
“Why?” Twilight asked.
“….Twilight, she knows your down here,” Spike answered, clearly uncomfortable with the message he was sent to deliver. “She was wondering if you would be kind enough to come out.”
A cold dread filled the air and brought a forbidding to the mares hearts.
“Spike,” Glimmer asked slowly. “You said the battle was mostly over?”
Spike nodded, “Rainbow dash and couple of other ponies have barricaded themselves in a room near the top of the palace.”
“Flurryheart!” Twilight exclaimed. Spike nodded, confirming Twilight’s fears. 
“But you guys have a plan, right?” Spike optimistically but not getting any answer or any reassuring looks. “Right?”

“We do,” Midnight Snow answered calmly. His sudden reappearance behind the, caused them to jump.
“Midnight!” Twilight said, looking at him all over. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I think so…” 
“Wait, where you always here!?!” Spike said utterly confused.
“What happened, Midnight?” Sunset queried 
“I meet Formidable,” He said, hardly believing it himself. “And he’s taught me many things.”
He turned and faced the stone slab, eyes on Formidable’s cutie mark, ”I know what to do.”
A glow from Midnight’s rear drew the attention of the others. They quietly gasped as a mark emerged on his flank. It was a half moon, joined diagonally with a snowflake making a full circle, “I know what to do…”
“Midnight,” Said Twilight eventually. “Your flank!”
He wasn’t listening. Instead, his attention had shifted to the ceiling of the cavern. 
“Hey guys,” -He looked at the others- “Whats directly above us?”