HiE - A Hollow in Equestria

by Charlie_K


Filler - Closure

Chapter Ninety Two

On numerous occasions before, Twilight had heard the phrase "on pins and needles" being used to describe the conditions of restlessness, unease, and agitation. That uncomfortable inability to simply sit still and exercise calmness, that often motivated ponies to pace restlessly, simply so they had something to do to occupy themselves with.

It was a sensation she'd experienced numerous times before in the past. And it was a sensation that she was currently experiencing right now as she fidgeted, and anxiously shifted from one hoof to another. Every surface in the Golden Oaks library that could be sat on, might as well have boxes and boxes of sewing pins upended on them, because there was no way she could bring herself to actually sit down. She had tried several times, but she'd utterly failed miserably in each of her attempts. Ultimately she simply couldn't remain still for more than a few seconds, before feeling compelled to move about once again.

Celestia's assurance that Luna and the others could be found had filled her with optimism and hope. But now those were turning into anxiousness as she tried to let Celestia do her thing without interruption. But it was just so, so hard to just stand back and do absolutely nothing; not even ask any questions. Whatever sort of magic her mentor was working while sitting their motionlessly, with a soft golden glow emanating from her horn the whole time, she had no real clue.

"This is most unusual," Celestia stated, speaking up for the first time since she attempted to find Luna's position. "I have no idea what it is, but I'm running into a great deal of interference that's preventing a positive lock on Luna's location," she explained as she sat up straighter.

"Interference?" Applejack asked, successfully beating Twilight to the punch before the lavender unicorn could present a more rambling form of the question for consideration.

Celestia nodded in response. "It wasn't there previously, but something is serving to oppose my efforts at tracking her. It's as if a dampening field was suddenly erected over a considerably large area shortly after her departure. I know that Luna is somewhere in it, but I can do nothing to actually pinpoint her at this time," she explained.

Twilight's brow furrowed at hearing this information. What sort of magic did Nightmare Moon have access to, if she could deploy a dampening field that even Celestia herself couldn't cut through? Just how much magic did she actually have at her disposal, to actually be doing something like that?

Before she could actually ask the question, she was interrupted by feeling the sensation of a tremor running through the ground. It was subtle, but it was still noticeable enough that she felt it in the bottoms of her hooves, and observed as several of the smaller items around the library trembled.

"Uh, wha' was that jus' now?" Applejack asked, also having taken notice of the tremor.

A second later there was a second tremor that followed the first, but it was significantly more forceful, and carried a greater measure of strength at it shook them, the library, and the contents within.

"While we're on the subject, just what was that!?" Rarity asked.

"I don't know. But I doubt that it's anything good," Twilight stated. The timing of the tremors was far too coincidental to be explained away as just being a matter of that.

But if there was a connection between the tremors and Nightmare Moon, she simply wasn't seeing it right now. There was just far too much information missing, for her to be able to form any sort of hypothesis.

"Whatever it is, it isn't good," Spike stated firmly. Nothing else that'd been happening up until now had been good, so why should he really expect the pattern to be changing?

"Ah'm gettin' that same feelin'," Applejack agreed. And it was a feeling that'd been building for a very long time now. Apple Bloom was missing, and in danger out in the middle of the forest, and there was no telling what might've happened before -or even after- Ulquiorra got there to resolve the matter. She'd been trying to remain calm, trying to just leave the matter to Ulquiorra to deal with as he saw fit. But the news of Celestia being unable to actually find their location had simply been too much for her to tolerate. She was no camel, but that announcement was the straw that had broken her back.

She had no idea what that interference amounted to in terms of difficulty for teleporting after Luna and the others to help. But she suspected that it was going to be significant. And if it was, if it was going to prevent her from making sure Apple bloom was alright, then she was going to march into the Everfree Forest and find everyone by herself if it had to be done. She didn't care if Nightmare Moon was out there and posing a threat; when it came to her family, she'd even face down Ulquiorra if that was what she needed to do.

Not that she had any expectations of actually succeeding in that endeavor; far from it actually. But standing down just wasn't an option for her.

She glanced towards the library door, weighing her available options, and pondering if she'd be able to slip out unnoticed as the others talked about matters that simply weren't registering in her mind, before they could actually stop her.

Before she could actually move one hoof towards her destination, she caught sight of Spike looking back at her.

Rather than speaking up, or otherwise proceeding as intended, she slowly tilted her head in the direction of the door.

In response, Spike slowly shook his head.

Applejack's brow furrowed in response, interpreting this gesture as Spike saying that he wasn't about to let her head out like she was planning. She responded by giving a single, slow nod in his direction, before tilting her head towards the door again.

Yet again, Spike slowly shook his head in response. Which she took to mean that he wasn't going to go running off with her either. And if that really was the case, then that put her in a difficult predicament; one she'd much rather not find herself in, if it were at all possible to do just that.

Unfortunately that wasn't the case. That was the situation she found herself in, and there really wasn't much she could do about it. She could make a mad dash like Rainbow Dash had, but they'd be on her just like they had been previously. They'd never let her head off into a dangerous situation on her own, just like they wouldn't head out without some sort of plan for dealing with this situation.

Maybe that was what needed to happen, though. Maybe she needed to make a declaration of intent to get something actually set into motion. If she told the others that she was planning on leaving, would that manage to get the ball rolling, and get them closer to actually doing something?

Screw whether it would or not. She was going to go ahead and do it regardless.

"Y'all. Ah know this is important an' all. But Ah ain't waitin' around even one more minute. Ah'm goin' ta find Apple Bloom, even if Ah have ta go inta the Everfree Forest all by mahself," she stated firmly. "An' so help me, if anyone gets in the way of findin' mah little sister, Ah swear Ah'll flatten 'em," she added with equal firmness.

Waiting around had gotten them nowhere but frustrated. She was as patient a mare as one could reasonably be expected to be under these circumstances. But that didn't change the fact that she had her limits, and she was quickly being pushed to them.

"Well then, Applejack, if that's how you feel, then I'm afraid that you'll have to "flatten" me," Rarity spoke up as she effortlessly positioned herself between her friend and the door. She could see the discomfort of her friends as she did this, but it was something that simply had to be done. And if it had to be done, then she might as well be the one to do it.

Before Applejack even had the chance to object, she was already speaking again. "I understand how you feel right now, darling, I really do; you're not the only one with a little sister out there in the forest. But charging off blindly just isn't an option right now. Luna and Ulquiorra are already on the matter, and I dare say there's very little that either of us could do on our own to be of assistance."

It wasn't a statement that was easy for her to make. She didn't like admitting to the fact that she was more or less useless to everypony. But she wasn't foalsih enough to let her pride trick her into believing she could actually do anything under these circumstances. Against somepony like Nightmare Moon there simply wasn't anything she could do; certainly not on her own anyway. They'd been lucky last time. And until the Element of Loyalty finally resonated with Rainbow Dash, she and the others could only sit on the sidelines and wait it out.

Pinkie nodded in agreement with Rarity's statement, her mane bouncing about in the process as she did. "Yeppers! And besides that, the terror fog is still out there, just like Ulqy said! He's the only one that's not affected by it, so he's really the only one who can do anything," she stated in a -surprisingly- serious tone.

All Applejack could do was sigh in defeat as the others started ganging up on her. She suspected that this was going to be the case, although she certainly hadn't expected Rarity to challenge her like she had; that bit had thrown her for something of a loop in all this.

Celestia didn't say anything, but she was thankful that it wasn't her who felt motivated to speak up first in response to Applejack's statement. Because if she had... well her response would've been much like Rarity's had been. She, too, had a little sister that was out there right now, and up against who knew what. Unfortunately there was no comfort for her to take in the fact that Ulquiorra was out there with her right now. Nightmare Moon was... well she didn't know if even the Espada would be enough to stop such a wicked and vile entity. Ulquiorra might've been a top predator back in his dimension, but this wasn't his dimension. There was no telling what might occur, or just how badly things might go wrong.

Making it all the worse was how helpless she felt -how helpless she was proving to be- with this interference, making it impossible for her to find Luna and...

Wait.

Wait!

Immediately her head flew up as she looked in the direction of the library's door. She didn't even offer a word of explanation as she got up, and quickly made her way across the room, her horn flaring to life as the door was pulled open, allowing her to charge outside.

"Now wha' was that all about?" Applejack asked, completely at a loss for what she'd just seen.

"Only one way to really find out," Spike stated, before following Celestia's lead and running out the door.

The others looked at each other for a brief moment, before wordlessly doing the same, each making a break for it to the outside, to see just what had drawn their ruler out of the library.

They'd known for sometime that there was quite a gathering of ponies outside; anxious parents and other family members who were chomping at the bit to find out if the foals were going to be alright. It was anything but a peaceful gathering the last time they'd been outside. But now, as they tried to make their way through it all, it was positively chaotic to experience! There was so much commotion and chaos going on as various ponies screamed and pushed and shoved, it was practically impossible to even see Celestia, despite her greater height.

"Outta my way! Seriously, make a hole!"

But through it all, one shouting voice was making itself known through force. Looking towards it they could see Rainbow Dash forcing her way out of the crowd by flying up and over it, and setting down on the nearest clear spot that was available to her.

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity yelled.

Naturally they made their way over to her; both relieved at the news that their friend was back safe and sound, and desperately seeking answers as to what was going on.

It was only then that they noticed the fur on her face was soaked and stained in what they could only presume was blood. Beyond that she looked like she'd been battered to Tartarus, and her armor looked considerably less than pristine now. Actually she was starting to look like a walking corpse at the moment.

"What... what happened? Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. Look, I'll tell you all what happened, but first there's something that I really gotta do first," she stated quickly.

With that matter tended to, she turned around and proceeded to retch and vomit on the ground where she stood.


Fast! That was the one coherent thought Nightmare Moon's mind was able to process at the moment, as she battled against Ulquiorra above the Everfree Forest.

It could be argued that, up until now, their battle so far had simply been little more than the two of them feeling each other out, trying to gauge each others' strength, while simultaneously looking for exploitable weaknesses, and at the same time guarding themselves to avoid demonstrating such potential weaknesses. It was a lot like a game of chess being played out currently, only which much higher stakes, and at greatly accelerated speeds; a fact perfectly illustrated as Ulquiorra appeared in front of her in less than the blink of an eye, with his right leg swinging towards her head.

Up until now, their battle so far had simply been little more than the two of them feeling each other out. But now it was getting to be quite serious.

She could see the speeds at which he was currently moving. But being able to comprehend what was being seen, did little good to one who lacked the physical capability of actually responding accordingly. She could see his foot swinging upward to catch her under the chin, but there was nothing she could actually do about it, that would result in the blow either being stopped, or otherwise avoided.

The blow landed with considerably more force than she'd been expecting, proving to be sufficient for sending her flying skyward without her even having to give a single flap of her wings.

However her unplanned ascension was stopped by a sudden, sharp, dull blow delivered to the back of her neck near the base of the skull, that sent her rapidly tumbling, and crashing into the ground.

And then she saw the glow of a green light forming above her. Demonstrating that things could indeed get worse.

"Oh, this bodes poorly," she thought to herself, right before she felt Ulquiorra's Cero slam into her prone form.


Not being surrounded by ponies who could potentially get in his way -or otherwise be made into hostages he would have to take into account- Ulquiorra was free to open up, and demonstrate a greater degree of strength than he could otherwise. It was a fact he was taking full advantage of in this case as he dealt with Nightmare Moon.

Early on into his stay in Equestria, when it became apparent that he was going to be here for quite some time, he had researched a great many topics and subjects in order to properly familiarize himself with his new surroundings. One of those topics had -naturally- been the various threats that Equestria had faced since its inception.

Among those recorded threats had been the entity known as Nightmare Moon, and the lore that surrounded her; it was quite literally a tale as old as history itself.

But as he went about actually fighting her for himself, he couldn't help but note that what he was experiencing for himself, simply didn't live up to all of the hype that surrounded her.

In pony standards, he could certainly understand how she might amount to a credible threat to this world. She possessed sufficient durability to withstand being struck by not only his Cero -which only one other being had been able to do- but also his Gran Rey Cero, which was several times stronger, and considerably more destructive. She possessed a significantly high level of reiryoku, and the reiatsu she generated as a result was more than the Diez Espada normally managed. She certainly wasn't really on par with the diarchy, but any normal pony would be hard pressed to stand up to her.

But in Hollow standards, Nightmare Moon would more accurately be regarded as being trash. Some might even say she was the rubbish that aspired to one day being trash. From what he had seen so far, he could classify her at approximately the same level of strength as a Gillian-Class Menos Grande; certainly more than any human -or even low-level Shinigami- could ever hope to stand up to. But against a Vasto Lorde of his caliber, it was simply no comparison. Murciélago wouldn't even need to be unsheathed for dealing with this matter.

Then again, despite looking the part, this Nightmare Moon wasn't a true alicorn. She didn't possess Princess Luna's body, therefore she didn't possess the same magical strength and aptitude that she once had access to. This Nightmare Moon before him, was but a pale imitation of what the legends spoke of with such reverence, assembled with a number of souls from the three pony tribes, and held together with untold levels of harvested fear like a macabre rag doll. It was nothing more than a broken remnant of a period long since passed, that should've ceased to exist a long time ago, but still refused to relinquish its own pitiful existence. Whether that refusal was born from fear or stubbornness, he didn't really know. Nor did he particularly care.

With her currently down on the ground, he let loose another Cero on her prone form, at a straight, ninety degree, downward angle, to insure she experienced the full force of what she was up against; both concussive and explosive. Things that he simply couldn't do, if Princess Luna and the others had stayed behind.

Trash deserved to be disposed of. It was as simple at that. And he would dispose of it.

"Well now. Your stamina is quite impressive. To think that you could do that multiple times without becoming exhausted as a result..."

Ulquiorra frowned at hearing that; both Nightmare Moon's voice, and the way in which she'd phrased her statement. The first part meant she was technically still alive, while the second part meant she was looking for ways to mock him; which overall meant she didn't fear facing him.

"You should've died from that. I could feel your cervical vertebrae shatter from the force of the impact," he stated as he turned his attention to the clearing smoke, opting to ignore the more vulgar aspects of her previous statement. Just as he opted to not comment on her teleportation skills, as that was likely the only way she avoided meeting her death at the end of his Cero.

"Well, you know the old saying. Should've, could've, would've," Nightmare Moon commented as the smoke in the clearing dissipated, assisted by the flapping of her wings as she hovered at his level off the ground. "You'll find that I'm just full of surprises, Espada..." she practically purred.

"What you're full of is theatrics, and arrogance born of your own hype; nothing that amounts to being of actual substance," Ulquiorra stated as he faced her. "The fact you're still alive is nothing more than an inconvenience. An inconvenience that will soon be solved."

At hearing this, Nightmare Moon cackled with amusement. "Oh that's just so precious! Thinking that you could actually stand up to me!" she howled, before growing quite serious again, and glaring in his direction. "Impudent biped! You stand no chance against the likes of me! I now have twenty one souls in my being, with an even spread across the three pony tribes! Even the diarchy couldn't contend with the power of such an amount! What could you ever hope to do against the likes of me!?"

"Hope is a matter of delusion and irrelevance. What I intend to do, is kill you," Ulquiorra commented, far calmer and more measured in his delivery than Nightmare Moon was in hers. "You speak highly of the number of souls you've consumed, as if it were truly significant and meaningful. Perhaps in this world it is in some fashion, but where I come from, such a meager amount would constitute a small snack. I have no conscious memories of my earlier existence, but half a million would be a conservative estimate for the number of souls I consumed, prior to becoming a Vasto Lorde."

At hearing this, Nightmare Moon's eyes went wide with surprise. "H-half... half a... million?" she asked in disbelief. She tried to issue a whistle of stunned amazement, but found that her mouth wouldn't actually work right for such an exercise.

Recognizing that he had her at a disadvantage, Ulquiorra pressed the assault further. "Perhaps many more than that. As I said, I no longer actually remember such minute details. Names and numbers are completely irrelevant, when the only conscious thought going through your mind at any given moment, is satiating an oppressive, ever-present hunger that can never truly be filled. Friends, family, neighbors, total strangers, all of them become nothing more than fodder, with no consideration for previous ties that were once had," he explained.

Nightmare Moon's eyes went even wider at hearing this further elaboration, a lump forming in her throat as the full weight of his words registered with her. This biped, this Espada.... this monster was far worse than anything she'd anticipated him as being. The depths of this madness were truly astounding. She had slaughtered a number of foals to make her comeback a possibility, but he had slaughtered several nation's worth of subjects, all because he'd been hungry for something other than a salad at the time!

What other sorts of horrible depravity had he been responsible for in his time? How many atrocities had he committed, and regarded them as being nothing more than just business as usual? How many-

Before she could even finish that thought, he'd completely disappeared from view. Just literally vanished into thin air, in the space of blinking her eyes. She wasn't even certain if she had blinked or not.

"Ora."

Nightmare Moon froze, eyes going wide at the realization that the voice had come from behind her. But then again, what more could she realistically expect from such a dominant predator, than an attack from behind?

She whirled around to catch him before he could do anything, only to be assaulted by the most brutal demonstration of rapid-fire hooficuffs she'd ever been made to bear witness to. Face, neck, chest, he was holding nothing back as he pummeled her relentlessly. She couldn't even see all of the blows being delivered to her, as they were coming far too fast to keep track of, but she was feeling every single one of them landing against her. Although she'd quickly lost count of just what that number was, as she was focusing more on breaking free, and actually escaping from the beating.

Those efforts quickly proved fruitless, however, as her right foreleg was quickly ensnared, and she was pulled right back into the fray as he held her captive with one hand, and pummeled her with the other. Even when limited to half his offensive appendages, he was still keeping pace on his assault like it was nothing.

Thinking quickly, she slammed both of her hind legs into his midsection as hard as she could to kick him away from her, effectively breaking the hold he'd been maintaining, and providing her some much needed breathing room.

Taking stock of the situation was painting a very gloom picture. She was quite sore, she could barely catch her breath, she could barely even think straight, and she was alone with... whatever he was.

"You... you monster, you!" she screeched in between her periods of panting for air. "I'll admit, I might've done some truly heinous things in my time, but those were out of necessity. But you... you did them because you wanted to! If Celestia and Luna knew about the true depths of your evil nature, they wouldn't hesitate in uniting with me against the likes of you!"

"Am I supposed to be offended by your evaluation of me?" Ulquiorra asked, unmoved by Nightmare Moon's critical ranting. "The diarchy is already fully aware of my past, and my nature. And despite all of that, all of the horror such a revelation has caused them, they've still come to accept that I'm indeed necessary, in maintaining the safety of Equestria. The first order of business in doing just that involves killing you. The second order of business will involve killing Discord," he stated.

Nightmare Moon found it necessary to guard, quickly raising a force field to intercept Ulquiorra's right fist before it could plow into her face. His speed was simply much too great to contend with, seeing as the point of impact had been mere inches away from head. And that said nothing of his strength...

"I-" she grunted as she tried to ignore the strain that was involved with maintaining her force field against his efforts at pushing right through it. "I don't suppose I could convince you to reverse that order of proceeding, could I; killing Discord first, and then worrying about me?"

"No," Ulquiorra replied simply and bluntly, all the while continuing to press his assault against Nightmare Moon's force field. His efforts at cracking it were forcing her to strain to keep it in place, thus putting her on the defensive. "Allowing the two of you to team up anymore than you have already, would be a foolish decision; one that I'm not about to engage in," he pointed out.

Nightmare Moon grunted as she pushed back harder, fighting to not only keep Ulquiorra at bay, but actually push him away from her. But that was proving to be no simple feat to accomplish; he was deceptively strong for his scrawny size, and trying to shove him was like trying to shove a mountain.

"I'd-" she grunted through clenched teeth, "I'd actually laugh, if what you'd just said wasn't so stupid! I don't know where you get your information, but you think that I am working with Discord of all ponies!? He's the enemy, you idiot!" she shouted, before shoving back far harder than previously, serving to effectively separate the two of them from one another once more. As well as serving to provide her with some much needed breathing room. "Discord is the avatar of chaos! He'd never accept the order I'd ultimately bring unto this world; he's a threat to my very rule itself!" she shrieked.

"I don't believe you," Ulquiorra replied, far more restrained in his delivery than Nightmare Moon had allowed herself to be. Everything she said was suspect, and nothing more than the desperate words of someone who had reason to deceive him, in an effort to save their own skin. What reason could she possibly have for telling him the truth? Even if it was the truth, why should he concern himself with it? Discord, through his mere act of silence, had made himself complicit in the number of ponies that had been murdered since this whole debacle had begun. He'd be lax in his duties if he didn't kill the draconequus upon discovering his location.

Whether or not it was actually an achievable feat, would be determined later.

"Hmph. Just because you don't believe me, doesn't mean it isn't the truth," Nightmare Moon huffed indignantly. "I don't really care one way or the other. Believe me, don't believe me, it doesn't actually change anything."

She'd been prepared to go into a long rant about the weight of the situation they were all in, himself included. But that was interrupted when he suddenly appeared in front of her, his right leg pulled back.

"Oh crap, he's going to kick me again, isn't he?" she mentally asked herself as she helplessly perceived his course of motion.

She was, unfortunately, correct in her observation, as she felt his foot slamming into her, underneath her chin once again, and sending her catapulting helplessly.

This time around, however, she was prepared for such a tactic being deployed against her. And being prepared for it, she managed to focus enough on her magic, to -almost- instantly halt her upward travel, and right herself once more.

"Alright," she said as she directed her attention to where he currently floated. "I'm going to need to ask you to not kick me anymore. It's getting to be really annoying," she stated.

"Fair enough," Ulquiorra replied as he slipped his hands back into his pockets.

Nightmare Moon... wasn't expecting him to relent so suddenly, or so easily. And yet it had happened. She blinked in response, unsure of what to think. "Wait, really? Just like that?"

"Since you're apparently durable enough to not die from the force I'm using, there's little point in continuing with tactics that've been proven as being ineffective," Ulquiorra explained. He could kick her like a football from now until dawn, but there wouldn't be much point if doing such didn't have the potential of ending her existence. Perhaps it was something that could be considered as "fun" but that was entirely irrelevant. "I'll simply have to go with a more brutal approach to killing you."

Nightmare Moon gulped uneasily at hearing this. The very idea that her opponent had possibly been holding back this whole time, on the amount of brutality he could generate was... very uncomfortable to give any consideration to.

"Er, before you actually do that, would you perchance mind answering just one question to sate my curiosity?" she asked anxiously.

"If it has sufficient merit to warrant answering it," Ulquiorra stated in return. Nightmare Moon was, for all intents and purposes, already dead. Answering one question posed no threat to anyone; certainly none that he could see anyway.

"Alright then. Just how have you proven to be so impervious to fear!? So many ponies have already fallen victim, terrified out of their minds from what I've forced upon them! Even Celestia and Luna fell to my wrath! But not you! You've been exposed to just as much terror fog as they have; even more so since you just strolled into the field like it was nothing, but you aren't reacting at all! Why are you simply not afraid!?" Nightmare Moon demanded to know, practically seething through gritted teeth at this point as she spoke.

"Technically that was two questions," Ulquiorra pointed out, "no matter, the answer to both is the same. And as I said when I first arrived here, unlike any other species you might've encountered in this world, be it pony, dragon, changeling, zebra, griffon, or any of the countless others, I quite literally have no fear that can actually be exploited. Both your tricks, and your tactics, have no effect on me, because there's simply nothing there to be affected. I'm no more prone to feeling fear, than a brick wall would be under the same circumstances. There's quite literally nothing that you could do, that would result in a fear response from me; it's simply impossible," he explained.

Nightmare Moon frowned at hearing this. She'd been expecting something different than that. She wasn't quite sure what it was that she'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't that the one she'd been facing couldn't be made to feel fear. That was simply unacceptable.

"You don't say," she grumbled. "Well then. If you refuse to pay proper tribute unto me, then I'll simply have to go to those that will!" she roared as her horn flared to life.

Quick as a flash, even quicker than Ulquiorra could reach her and stop whatever she was planning, she had completely disappeared. Not merely from his view, but the area entirely.

Had she planned this? Had she plotted out her departure ahead of time, and used her question to him in an effort of a distraction? Perhaps to buy herself the necessary time to successfully teleport away?

And then there was her message about being paid tribute. Some might judge it as being cryptic, but it wasn't cryptic enough to leave him wondering about what she was talking about. It was primarily speculation, but it was safe to conclude that Nightmare Moon was going after those in Ponyville, because unlike himself, they weren't impervious to fear. And if she really was feeding on fear...

"Damn it."

She might not pose a significant threat to himself currently, but if she were to permitted gorge herself on the fear of an entire village full of ponies -a significant number of which had likely been filled with fear by his declaration of intent just a few minutes ago- such might not remain the case for very long. He'd already gotten in trouble once before, for not taking a potential threat seriously enough. He wasn't about to let something like that happen a second time around.

In a burst of sonido he was off, leaving the forest far behind as he moved to intercept Nightmare Moon, and stop her efforts at stacking the deck in her favor any further than she already had.


"Get that damn iodine away from my face already!"

Through a combination of efforts on the part of multiple ponies involved, the town center had more or less been converted into an ad-hoc first aid center.

Nearly every available doctor, nurse, and even orderly at Ponyville General Hospital who was available, had been immediately summoned to the scene, and instructed to bring as many medical supplies as could be carried with them, for the purpose of providing whatever care could be administered under the circumstances.

Actually moving to Ponyville General Hospital had been considered first and foremost. But that idea had been discounted when it was considered just how many ponies would actually be there, and how chaotic and crowded the building would become as a result of the parents not wanting to be separated from their foals again for whatever reason.

As such, rather than bring them to the care, they had brought the care to them, in an area with considerably more room to work with.

All of that, however, had alleviated only one issue they had to contend with.

Almost immediately upon returning to the safety of Ponyville, and being greeted by friendly and familiar faces once again, the foals had been all too eager to share what they'd experienced out in the forest; which had included the matter of Nightmare Moon.

The ensuing panic resulting from this news had been swift and violent. Celestia had managed to bring it under control before things could get completely out of hoof, but it hadn't been any small feat on her part. The effort involved in preventing widespread pandemonium from consuming all of Ponyville had been... considerable. It was doable, but it had still been considerable.

Right now she was exercising a substantial bit of magic for the purpose of suppressing the natural panic -just as she had at Ulquiorra's party on Sweet Apple Acres- illuminating the entire area so those providing care could see what they were doing, and conversing with Luna in hushed tones and arcane dialects as a more complete picture of the situation was painted, so they knew just what they were dealing with.

That more or left the others that were present to their own devices in the interim.

"Quit fidgeting so much, and I'd be able to get done faster!" Redheart stated, her voice carrying just as much agitation as Rainbow Dash's, as she did her best in trying to tend to her unruly patient.

It was patients like Rainbow Dash currently, that made her sometimes wish she was a unicorn. That would make managing her significantly easier.

But, alas, such wasn't the case. And she found herself saddled with a squirming, agitated pegasus, while the foals were being looked over by other competent medical care providers who got the easy stuff.

The cut on Rainbow Dash's thigh had required the most care, but it'd been considerably easier to deal with than the minor head wound. The makeshift bandage had done little to staunch the flow, and had just made the resulting mess all the worse, and even harder to clean up and get an accurate idea of just how bad the damage actually was.

"It stings," Rainbow Dash protested as she flinched away once again.

"Oh, honestly, Rainbow Dash. Sit still and let Nurse Redheart do her job."

Rainbow Dash turned at the sound of the familiar voice and saw Rarity approaching her, and not looking the least bit amused.

"You went out to face off against the likes of Nightmare Moon by yourself. Surely this can't be worse than that," she added as she stepped closer.

"Don't bet on it," Rainbow Dash mumbled as she flinched at the burn of the disinfectant-soaked rag being pressed against her forehead.

Rarity just sighed softly and shook her head, before getting behind Rainbow Dash and bracing against her, holding her in place with her forelegs to keep her from moving about, and allow Redheart to continue with her work.

Rainbow Dash squirmed, but found herself unable to actually get loose without having to get rough with Rarity in the process. And right now she simply didn't want to do that. Ultimately she let out a defeated sigh, and allowed Redheart to swab her head, grimacing at the chemical burn of the iodine that was being used to both clean her up, and clean her wound so it wouldn't get infected.

As she settled in to accept her fate, she found that the hold Rarity was using on her was morphing more into a hug.

"How are you holding up anyway, darling? You came back to us, looking like you were on the verge of death," Rarity stated, unable to keep her voice steady as she spoke.

"To be honest... I think I was," Rainbow Dash replied uneasily. She'd gone multiple rounds against fog manifestations that Nightmare Moon had been using as her puppets of engagement, and she'd gone against them quite hard.

She hadn't been fit for combat when she'd headed out, and she certainly hadn't been fit as the engagement just dragged on for what felt like forever. By the time they'd actually made their way back to Ponyville, she'd been running on nothing but fumes, adrenaline, and being severely pissed off. Those could carry you through a lot, but they could only carry you so far, and she'd learned that first hoof.

"Really, the only reason I'm still alive, is because Ulquiorra and Luna were there to keep me from getting myself killed," she explained. Had it not been for them being there, she was certain she'd be dead right now; if not through Nightmare Moon's direct actions, then her own full burn approach that had exhausted her. "The only reason we got out of there, was because we were all watching each others' backs."

Rarity had no retort. Instead she simply opted for continuing to hug Rainbow Dash where she sat, just thankful her friend was still alive and able to complain.

"Is it really appropriate to be addressing Her Majesty in such an... informal manner?" Redheart asked as she dabbed at Rainbow Dash's head. "Especially when she's right here, and could be hearing you doing such?"

"Well it was actually her idea to be informal, not ours," Rainbow Dash replied and shrugged. "Besides, it's kinda hard to be formal with somepony when you're napping together, and using them like a pillow."

That caused Redheart to stop her actions, and regard Rainbow Dash with uncertainty. "You what?"

"Oh really now?" Rarity asked, intrigued by what she was hearing. She'd known since the changeling incident that Luna wanted them to regard her as more a friend than a ruler, but the idea of Rainbow Dash using her as a pillow was something that just struck out as being hard to believe.

It was also something that was very adorable to think about. When this was all over, she'd have to inquire further about details.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash replied, "nopony really knew what to do with providing care when I was up there. So we were just playing it all by ear. It made for some... really interesting stuff..." she admitted as she remembered some of what went on. She wasn't about to say she enjoyed what had happened, but there had been some moments that hadn't been so bad.

Redheart just mumbled to herself, as she went back to swabbing Rainbow Dash's head, opting to focus on what she knew, rather than prying further. That could always be reserved for later.


Celestia closed her eyes as Luna concluded briefing her on the severity of the matter currently at hoof. And that severity was quite substantial; she'd realized that from the moment she'd gotten some semblance of her sanity back. But to actually hear it being confirmed as factual by Luna, simply ramped it all up in a horrible way.

"So that's it then."

Ulquiorra being on the case as they spoke helped somewhat, but it did little to assuage her current fear. Ulquiorra was without doubt an expert on matters of dealing with threats, but none of that changed the fact that he was currently facing off against Nightmare Moon herself. If it were any other threat, she might not be worrying quite so much right now.

But it wasn't any other threat he was currently facing off against. No, it just had to be Nightmare Moon that was threatening their world once again. The same Nightmare Moon who had stolen Luna from her for more than a thousand years. The same Nightmare Moon who had been subjecting them to unimaginable terror for the sheer sadistic enjoyment of it all. The same Nightmare Moon that had left Fluttershy pondering as to whether or not she could actually possess Ulquiorra's body, and use him as her new physical form.

She had seen the horrors that resided in Ulquiorra's head. But even so she still didn't know how they'd stack up against each other. There was just no telling where this battle could go. Would he need his released state to be victorious? Would it be enough? Did Nightmare Moon have other tricks in store for them, if things should go poorly for her?

There were far too many unanswered questions present, for her to have anything resembling peace of mind. And they were just piling up as they went on.

She needed to do something other than just stand around and think about what they didn't have any answers to. And she needed to do it right now.

"Look after the others, Luna, I have something I need to take care of," she stated softly.

"And pray tell what is that, dear sister?" Luna asked in turn, curious as to what this previously unexplained matter was.

"I'm going into the Everfree Forest, and making sure Ulquiorra is alright. And if Nightmare Moon is still drawing breath when I get there, I'm going to put an end to her myself," Celestia stated, unable to keep the hard edge out of her voice as she spoke.

After everything that they'd been put through, she wasn't bout to leave this matter up to chance. She was going to oversee this matter herself!

"That would be unwise, sister. Ulquiorra Cifer was... quite insistent that we not interfere in this matter," Luna stated quickly in an effort to head off what could ultimately prove to be a very bad decision on Celestia's part. Ulquiorra had threatened to kill them in an effort to hasten their retreat so he wouldn't be disturbed while he worked. What would he do if her sister just suddenly teleported in without warning?

"He can insist until he's blue in the face for all I care. This is our kingdom, and I'm going to do everything in my power to protect it against the likes of her," Celestia stated firmly.

Ulquiorra was strong, there was no denying that fact. But they couldn't simply rely on his strength, and do nothing themselves. They'd been tasked with keeping Equestria safe long before his arrival, and there was no excuse for shirking those responsibilities now.

"... Very well then," Luna conceded with a nod. "But this is under protest. I do not like the idea of you venturing off on your own in your current condition. You are barely holding yourself together, and I do not have enough glue on hoof to put you back together if you break once again."

Celestia smirked in response, amused by Luna's assessment of the situation. Even in times of such stress, she still found the opportunity to deliver a verbal jab at her.

"That's quite alright, Luna, we'll have plenty of glue by the time we rend Nightmare Moon limb from limb for everything that she's done," she replied.

"That's what you think!"

The voice high above angrily ripped through the relative silence in Ponyville, startling everypony and causing them to reflexively look upward to identify the source.

As they did, they saw for themselves that it was indeed Nightmare Moon, hovering high overhead with flaps from her powerful wings, and the distance doing utterly nothing to hide the furious glare she was giving all of them. Much like it had been with Rainbow Dash, her glare had proven sufficient enough to send the majority of them into a panic; but with theirs being much more visceral as they screamed and ran.

"That's it, ponies! Give into your fear! Give into the night! I am your true ruler, and you will worship me!" Nightmare Moon howled.

Or at least she would have, had it not been for Ulquiorra appearing behind her as she was speaking, and kicking her square in the flanks with enough force -and angle- to send her hurtling to the ground, where she crashed headfirst against it, effectively taking the wind out of her boasting sails.

"As I already said once before, you waste far too much time talking," he stated as he descended and set down on his feet right next to where Nightmare Moon had landed.

At the first sign she was actually conscious -in this case her groaning as she began to move again- he pulled back his right leg, and delivered a single kick right to her rib cage. Which in turn delivered enough force to send her skyward once again, howling in pain and indignation the entire way.

It was at this point that Luna arrived next to him.

"It would appear that Nightmare Moon refuses to respect even your skill set," she stated.

"She's proving to be as durable as she is stubborn," Ulquiorra acknowledged as he observed his opponent's efforts at righting herself. And on top of that stubbornness, was apparently enough critical thinking skills to position herself in a location that prevented him from going all out against her. Evacuating Ponyville simply wasn't a viable option available to them.

"Considering the amount of fear she has gorged herself on, I do not doubt that," Luna agreed. "Her coming to Ponyville will only make that matter worse. Too many ponies have succumbed to fear at the sight of her. If not for the reputation of her legend, such might not be the case right now."

That caused Ulquiorra to turn his attention to Luna. "How do you mean?"

"Nightmare Moon is drawing strength from their fear. If they were not afraid of her, she would not be able to do such," Luna explained. "But I am simply not seeing a way of achieving something along those lines."

"Perhaps something along those lines is possible."

Before Luna could even ask what he meant by that statement, Ulquiorra had already disappeared from her side in a flash of sonido, leaving her in a state of confusion.

Just what was the Espada actually planning?


Being taken off guard, as Nightmare Moon had learned, it proved quite difficult to mount an effective defense against being sent skyward by the sheer force of the Espada's kick.

Once she actually managed to gain control of the situation again, and right herself with her magic once more, she took a moment to evaluate the current predicament.

In simple terms, she was suspecting that she was screwed.

It was apparent even to her, that she had drastically underestimated the Espada and his capabilities. And her efforts at tipping the scales more in her favor had so far proven less than satisfactory. She was going to need to rethink her approach. As well as plot out what sort of vengeance she was going to take, once things weren't so horribly lopsided against her.

"This thing is just full of surprises," she muttered to herself.

Suddenly she felt herself being roughly grabbed from behind and restrained, with something wrapped tightly around her neck, as well as squeezing her horn.

"Surprise."

The dull, monotone delivery of that one word served to chill her blood, as she realized only too late just what had happened.

"Are you beginning to experience what it's like to feel fear?" he asked her.

Nightmare Moon wheezed as she squirmed and struggled to break free. "Idiot. I feed on fear, I don't feel it. Fear is for mortals and the weak to experience!"

"It that so? Let's see what we can do about that."

At hearing the utter coldness of his tone, Nightmare Moon too a moment to evaluate the current predicament.

In simple terms, she was definitely screwed!


"What exactly is goin' on up there?" Applejack asked as she and numerous others looked towards the sky, in an effort to try and figure out what Ulquiorra was doing to Nightmare Moon so high above the ground.

The panic brought on by Nightmare Moon's sudden arrival in Ponyville, had quickly been tempered by Ulquiorra arriving immediately after her, and proceeding to go about easily -and literally- kicking the crap out of her right in front of them. And after witnesses her being treated like a hoofball -and some more involved effort on Celestia's part- they had largely settled down, and were no longer running about in a blind panic.

Right now it was more of a spectator sport as they looked skyward in an effort to see what was happening.

Spike looked through his binoculars -courtesy of Pinkie's preparation for binocular-related emergencies around town- in an effort to get an idea of what was unfolding above them. But even when adjusting them for better focus, he was having trouble making out what he was seeing.

"I'm seeing it, but I'm not believing it," he stated as he kept his eyes trained skyward, his brow furrowing as he tried to made sense of it all. "I don't know what happened, but he's got hold of one of her forelegs, and he's... nag slapping her."

"What?" Twilight asked in disbelief. The idea of Ulquiorra doing something like.... that... just seemed to defy explanation.

"See for yourself," Spike said as he held out the binoculars for her.

Taking hold of the binoculars in her magic, Twilight looked to where Ulquiorra and Nightmare Moon currently occupied the sky, in order to make sense of what Spike was saying.

As it turned out, Spike was right about Ulquiorra's current tactic. He was currently restraining Nightmare Moon's efforts at escape by gripping her left foreleg with his left hand, and he was vigorously slapping her back and forth across the face with his free hand, both the palm and the back of it, each blow delivering more than enough force to cause her head to move as a result.

The entire display just struck Twilight as odd. In all previous skirmishes, Ulquiorra had been very practical, and very straight to the point in how he dealt with threats. So to see him doing something like... that... just didn't make any sense. With the dragon it was one thing, as he'd simply been trying to make it leave the area. But this was Nightmare Moon he was dealing with; why wasn't he going for something more lethal than just repeatedly slapping her!?

"What the?"

Her thoughts on Ulquiorra's unorthodox approach were quickly interrupted, as she observed a change in tactics occur. Now instead of slapping Nightmare Moon, he had taken hold of her foreleg with both hands, and had dragged her into a centrifugal spin at high speeds, which would likely subject her to the greater forces of the maneuver as he occupied the middle.

If he was trying to forcibly rip Nightmare Moon limb from limb, then that might just do the trick. She'd felt for herself what the forces of his sonido were like, and he'd been careful with her in those experimental instances. And he was definitely not being careful this time around. The trauma that would be involved with such a maneuver might actually be sufficient at killing her.

Although if she were being completely honest with herself... in these unique circumstances she'd much favor impalement through the heart, followed by decapitation to make sure the killing actually took.

It was without doubt a most unforgivably brutal manner of killing, but for all of the evil that her friends had been subjected to, she didn't particularly care about that right now. Besides that fact, it was appropriate for a wicked creature of old that simply refused to die by any other methods.

Much to her surprise, she didn't actually see Nightmare Moon's leg become wrenched from her body. Instead it was let go with the rest of her right as Ulquiorra's spun around in a way that send her hurtling towards the ground at high speeds, with an obscure scream trailing behind her just before she actually met with it once again, landing face first against it. And although there was no sickening crunch that one would expect to hear -or at least none that was heard over the force of the impact- just about everypony flinched at seeing her come to a sudden stop as she met with the greater resistance of one of Ponyville's unpaved roads.

"That had ta hurt!" Applejack stated, not knowing what else to say after seeing that.

And then Ulquiorra came out of nowhere, his arrival looking like he'd performed an aerial drop from high above, and landing firmly with both feet firmly on Nightmare Moon's head, with enough force to drive her entire head right into the dirt, to the point even her horn couldn't be seen from where they stood.

"I think that hurt a lot worse," Rarity replied, just as Ulquiorra appeared back at their side once again, and standing like he was surveying his own work.

Despite the impressive demonstration of pure brute force, the results had were less than satisfactory. Ulquiorra might've literally shoved her head underground, but she was still very much alive and kicking -literally- as she tried vigorously -and unsuccessfully- to pull her head free.

"Oh come on already!" Spike yelled as he threw his claws up in disbelief. How was she still alive after all that!?

"Ulquiorra," Celestia spoke up as she stepped closer to him. "I understand that you know what you're doing, but I'm afraid I don't understand your approach to doing things. This doesn't seem like a straightforward approach to killing Nightmare Moon," she explained.

"In truth it isn't. So far Nightmare Moon has proven resistant to everything I've thrown at her. And what I haven't tried yet, is too dangerous to unleash with so many ponies in such close proximity," Ulquiorra explained as he looked over his shoulder towards her. If he were to utilize his released state now, there was no telling what the number of casualties would be. "As it is, I'm left testing Princess Luna's hypothesis, to see if a lack of fear resulting from public humiliation, will lead to a corresponding drop in her strength."

Luna blinked, not expecting to actually hear something like that. Ulquiorra actually thought one of her random speculations had sufficient merit, to put it forth into action?

Even the other ponies that were present couldn't help but take notice of what was being said. And it confused them greatly.

"Wait. So what you're saying is, that if we're not afraid of Nightmare Moon, she gets weaker?" Bonbon asked as she tried to grasp what he was saying.

"At the moment it's nothing more than a mere theory, hypothesizing a possibility based on her efforts at harvesting substantial amounts of fear from Ponyville; an unwarranted activity if it served no meaningful purpose beyond merely terrifying everyone," Ulquiorra explained.

Their thoughts on the matter were interrupted as a very loud, multi-syllabled, but ultimately incoherent yell sounded from Nightmare Moon as she struggled to pull her head free. But because she couldn't actually stand up fully, she was robbed of significant leverage, and those efforts were proving largely futile.

"What'd she say?" Fluttershy asked.

Pinkie responded by repeating the entire yell in all its incoherent, muffled gibberish

"Oh," Fluttershy replied and nodded, opting to not ask any further on the matter. She knew Pinkie well enough to know better than that.

"So... what? Do we just wait for her to suffocate or something?" Spike asked as he watched her struggling to get loose, but getting nowhere.

The answer to Spike's question came as Nightmare Moon completely vanished from view. Only to return again, standing upright with her head free from the ground, and looking utterly furious as she gasped for air. It was a furiousness that, while it affected everyone and shook their confidence, was directed solely at Ulquiorra at the moment.

"You insolent, bipedal, freak!" she shouted angrily. "You'll be made to-"

Nightmare Moon's tirade was cut drastically short as Ulquiorra appeared right in front of her faster than she could blink, his right hand moving forward to deliver a blow that she couldn't possibly hope to intercept in time.

Except it wasn't the kind of blow that sent her flying backwards from the force of the impact. It hadn't felt like anything actually, and it left her wondering if he'd simply been trying to make her flinch, in a deliberate effort to mock her. However that thought was quickly undone as she realized that he had indeed landed a blow on her, and currently had finger pressed against the end of her muzzle; something that required her essentially crossing her eyes to observe for herself.

At first she hadn't believed it, but sure enough it was the truth, as plain as day. The Espada was actually booping her right on her nose!

By the time her mind had processed the thought, he was already gone, and standing back at the side of the others, leaving her dumbfounded.

"What... what... just what was that just now!?" she demanded to know in both fury and confusion.

"Where I come from, it's a battlefield tactic known as counting coup; getting close enough to an enemy to kill them, but instead simply poking them with a stick, and leaving them alive so they know just how close they came to death. Letting them know that the only reason they're still alive, is so they can comprehend how easily they could've been killed if it was so desired," Ulquiorra explained, far calmer and more reserved than Nightmare Moon as he spoke.

Nightmare Moon's eyes went wide as she sputtered in response to what she'd just heard. He was actually mocking her right to her face! That was completely unacceptable!

"I'll have none of your insolence! I'm the new ruler of this world, and I command your respect!" she howled furiously, causing the other ponies present to cower in response.

"My attention," Ulquiorra replied, unfazed by the demonstration of fury that he was witnessing.

"What?" Nightmare Moon asked, perplexed by his response. "What did you say?"

"You say that you command my respect. A more accurate description would be that you demand my attention. But frankly you're not worth even that," Ulquiorra explained as he stood with his hands tucked into his pockets. "Since this whole incident began, starting with the dragon, you've been little more than a stereotypical, one-dimensional villain, no different than countless other villains found across the spans of countless works of fiction, whose existence serves no purpose beyond simply advancing a chosen story line that couldn't be resolved in any other way."

Nightmare Moon gave an annoyed huff in response to his evaluation of her. But he paid it no mind. Instead he continued with his explanation.

"Much like countless other stereotypical, one-dimensional villains, you've demonstrated that you're completely convinced in your own superiority, to the point you can't possibly comprehend the possibility that you don't live up to your own hype. You've demonstrated immeasurable arrogance in your conduct, as well as immeasurable stupidity," he stated. "Instead of being pragmatic in going about ensuring your victory over Equestria when Rainbow Dash was out of commission, you went the route of being sadistic by targeting random ponies for terror. It certainly left us unbalanced for a significant period of time, but you failed to follow through in any meaningful way. Frankly I can't tell if you were trying for arrogance, brilliance, or just outright stupidity in your approach to doing business," he continued.

By now Nightmare Moon was growling in annoyance, bordering on a full snarl, utterly displeased with the criticism he was laying at her hooves. What did he possibly know!? Who did he think he was to be talking to her like that!?

"You wouldn't recognize true genius if it walked right up and bit you in the face, biped! My plan was genius incarnate! The failing to understand that is yours alone, you ignorant, pasty-skinned abomination!" she shrieked.

Ulquiorra didn't even blink in response to Nightmare Moon's tirade. "What's understood is that your behavior is no different than that of a petulant child, stamping their feet as they throw a temper tantrum, because they can't accept the fact that they aren't the center of their parents' attention," he stated. "While we're along those lines, the fact that you've dedicated a significant amount of focus and consideration on myself, would suggest strong paternal undertones to your motives," he added.

While Ulquiorra didn't blink, Nightmare Moon did. "What?"

"In simple, easy to understand terms, you have daddy issues that remain unresolved to this day," Ulquiorra elaborated.

The laughter that followed started out slowly, originating with Rainbow Dash sputtering before she burst into full on laughing as she rolled over onto her back, her legs kicking about wildly. It was soon joined by a cacophony of other ponies demonstrating similar degrees of amusement at Ulquiorra's evaluation of everything. No matter where Nightmare Moon looked, ponies from all ages were openly laughing at her now.

Throughout it all, Ulquiorra didn't react. He simply ignored their laughing, and continued addressing Nightmare Moon directly.

"More than likely I'm the first strong male presence you've had to deal with in a long period of time, and much like your own parents -assuming you ever had parents- I've paid you no mind. You're nothing more than an annoyance that I've seen fit to ignore, despite your continual demands that I pay you attention because of your grand plan. Subconsciously, you likely hoped to achieve closure to these issues by doing something you thought would have me congratulating you, and telling you that you've done well for the first time in your life. However those hopes are going to remain unfulfilled. You're nothing but trash, have always been trash, and will be treated as trash. You're going to be disposed of like last week's refuse, and forgotten just as easily."

By now the laughing had become worse than ever before. No matter where Nightmare Moon looked, more and more ponies were succumbing to hysterics at her expense. Celestia, Luna, countless foals and adults, and even Zecora were laughing at her as Ulquiorra mocked her mercilessly!

"Stop laughing at me! Stop it all of you!" she demanded furiously as her head whipped around, only to find her demands falling on deaf ears as they continued unabated, and now completely unafraid of her. "You'll all suffer for your insolence, I promise you that!" she howled as she whipped her head back forward to lay blame square at the Espada's feet.

During the brief moment her back had been turned, she realized, Ulquiorra had appeared directly in front of her, his right hand drawn all the way back, before driving it forward, and slamming it into her chest right beneath her armor plate.

She'd expected to hear the sound of flesh tearing and bone shattering, having witnessed the dreams and nightmares of ponies who had witnessed his talent for impalement. But all she'd heard was a thud, muffled by the sound of the air being driven right out of her lungs, which was followed by an intense burning pain in her chest that she couldn't readily identify the nature of. All she knew was that it didn't stem from impalement, as she easily doubled over and coughed as she tried to remember how to breathe again. If she'd been impaled she would've been held up, and prevented from nearly hitting the ground; that much she knew. So what was going on here?

Much like his first instance of counting coup, or whatever he had called it, he was once again back by Celestia and Luna's side when she looked up. Except this time his fingers were dripping with blood. Looking down she realized that it was her blood! He hadn't impaled her, but he'd struck her with sufficient force to break the skin -possibly cracking a few bones in the process- and draw blood as a result! This was unacceptable!

"It would seem there's reason to believe in a direct correlation between her strength, and the amount of fear available for her to draw on," Ulquiorra stated as he examined the evidence. "Five minutes ago a blow of that magnitude did nothing at all to her. Now it's caused her to bleed. And if she bleeds, she can most certainly be killed."

"It looks like your theory was correct, Luna," Celestia replied as she looked towards her sister.

"Most excellent!" Luna cheered triumphantly. "With such knowledge in mind, I shall resolve this matter in short order. Nightmare Moon! On this night you shall meet your end at my hooves!" she bellowed fiercely in her counterpart's direction, ready to leap both into action and directly on her.

"What? Oh no you don't, Luna, this one's mine," Celestia spoke up as she frowned. "Nightmare Moon was my responsibility to deal with over a thousand years ago. It's only fitting that I be the one to end her reign once and for all."

"Over my dead body you will!" Luna protested furiously. "You have more than enough glory to your name, dear sister, it is my turn to shine for once! I was unwillingly the reason that Nightmare Moon came into this world, it is only appropriate that I take her out of the world!"

Ulquiorra regarded both members of the diarchy. They were actually arguing over who would be killing Nightmare Moon, in a manner appropriate for children arguing over who got to have the last snack? It was absurd.

"Neither one of you possesses the mental fortitude for what needs to be done. I'll tend to this matter myself and be done with it," he stated, unwilling to leave the matter to chance.

"Oh fuck you! I'm the one that almost killed one of my best friends because of what Nightmare Moon put me through. If anypony's gonna kill her, it's gonna be me!" Rainbow Dash protested angrily as she came over and joined the fray of disagreement.

From where she stood, Nightmare Moon just stared in disbelief. This was really happening? Right in front of her? They were actually ignoring her as they argued over who would have the honors of killing her?

This really was happening. They were more focused on their disagreement, and arguing back at forth, over who would have the honors of dealing with her, than they were with addressing her directly.

"It would seem we're at an impasse," Celestia finally said with a sigh. "We'll have to determine who gets the dubious honor of being the executioner."

"And how do we go about doing that?" Luna asked as she tried to mentally figure out a way of resolving the issue.

"Janken."

Celestia, Luna, and Rainbow Dash all looked at Ulquiorra upon hearing what he'd just said.

"Pardon?" Luna asked.

"A method of elimination, far more effective than drawing straws," Ulquiorra replied as he raised his fist. "Rock breaks scissors. Scissors cut paper, and paper covers rock," he continued as he used his hand to give demonstrations of what gestured corresponded with which term. "Each one of us throws out one of the three gestures, eliminating one after another until only one is left. The last one left is the one who will kill Nightmare Moon," he explained.

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?" Rainbow Dash demanded to know, already not liking this idea one bit.

"Have Twilight Sparkle participate on your behalf," Ulquiorra replied.

"You can't be serious!" Nightmare Moon protested loudly in response as she witnessed their carrying on. "You're just going to pretend that I'm not even here!?"

Luna shrugged as she regarded Nightmare Moon. "Why should we not? You have already been proven as growing weaker as you are disrespected by those present. Why should we pay you any mind?"

"You-" Nightmare Moon started to protest once again.

"Nightmare Moon," Ulquiorra spoke up as he turned and addressed her directly. "At present we're discussing a matter of importance. If you continue acting like a petulant child throwing a temper tantrum over not being the center of attention, and interrupt us once again, I'm going to spank you like a petulant child."

Nightmare Moon blinked, uncertain if she'd just heard him right. Now only did he have the audacity to threaten her but he was threatening to spank her of all things!?

Looking around, she could see that her confusion was shared by the others present as well, the lot of them likely taken off guard by what they'd just heard.

In her case, however, the confusion and shock didn't last for long. "You dare to speak to me in such an insolent manner!?" she demanded to know.

Her answer came both fast and furiously as Ulquiorra disappeared from her view, barely after the words had fully exited her mouth. The next thing she knew, she felt herself being roughly grabbed around her barrel in a way that left her hind legs dangling off the ground. Before she even had time to protest the rough treatment, or understand what was happening, she felt a flurry of violent blows raining down on her flanks in rapid succession.

She howled in both pain and indignation, kicking furiously and struggling to get loose, but finding it impossible to actually extract herself from the Espada's assault against her exposed backside. The blows he delivered were coming so fast and hard, that she couldn't even focus enough on using her magic to make it a viable response.

There was no way of telling just how long the assault on her backside lasted, as the swats from coming far too fast for her to be able to count them all. Not that she'd actually thought to take count of such a humiliating assault. Nor would she have been able to, as the burn was proving to be more noticeable than the points of impact. For all she'd known more than a hundred had been delivered before finally coming to an end. An end that consisted with being roughly thrown to the ground, landing square on her burning flanks, and earning an even louder response.

"If you do anything to interrupt us again, and I have to come back over here to deal with you again, the next time I'm going to use a switch," Ulquiorra stated, before going back over to rejoin Celestia, Luna, and Rainbow Dash as they went about their deliberation.

Leaving Nightmare Moon whimpering as she stood back up, and tried to use her wings to cool the burn in her flanks. That, and try not to let on that he'd managed to bring about tears with his assault.


As Ulquiorra made his way back over to join the diarchy and the rest of the party, the other ponies present could only look on, staring in utter disbelief at what they'd just witnessed take place. He had just done what none of them would've dared to think as possible of doing, and literally spanked Nightmare Moon like she was a bad little foal, effectively reducing her to the brink of tears in the process. It was all quite possibly the most unexpected thing any of them had ever seen before, even after taking Discord's antics into consideration.

"Did... did that actually just happen?" Diamond Tiara found herself asking as her young brain tried to wrap around the entire demonstration and comprehend it.

"It sure looked like it did," Noi stated with equal disbelief.

"I saw it, but I'm still not believing what I saw," Filthy Rich stated as he stood next to his daughter. Ponyville or not, stuff like that simply didn't happen. And yet, despite stuff like that not happening, it had indeed happened right in front of them.

"I'm tryin' to figure out what kind of monster you ponies are friends with! I felt shock waves coming from whatever was happening!" Shady stated.

"Huzzah!"

"Fuck!"

"And that. What exactly are they doing over there?" she asked, wishing now more than ever that she could actually see what was going on.

"Some sort of elimination game, I think," Dinky replied, her head tilted slightly to the side as she watched. "Twilight's playing for Rainbow Dash, and Princess Luna just beat her out."

Shady simply shook her head in response. "And my parents thought Manehattan was too dangerous to stay in."


To Twilight it was strange how the events of the evening had progressed. What had started out as brewing Zecora's cure for terror fog had quickly morphed into what just had to be the biggest cluster fuck in all of Equestria's history. She'd assaulted one of her friends, found out the entire foal population of Ponyville had been taken, learned Nightmare Moon had returned and been behind everything, finally reunited with Rainbow Dash, vowed to kill Nightmare Moon by herself, laughed as she was mocked by Ulquiorra, and now she was involved in some sort of elimination process to determine who would get the honor of actually killing the villain, and putting an end to all of this.

Yep. Definitely the biggest cluster fuck in all of Equestria's history.

"Huzzah!" Luna cheered, her projected image of a hand displaying the symbol Ulquiorra had said signified paper.

"Fuck!" Rainbow Dash replied, frowning at Twilight's hand that currently displayed the symbol of rock. "Do over! Best two out of three!" she protested, unwilling to accept the results.

Luna shook her head dismissively in response. "Perhaps another time, when the stakes are not quite so high."

The very fact that Rainbow Dash was involved in this matter at all was... she really didn't know what to describe that as. A mistake, perhaps? Out of all of them, she was the least qualified for dealing with Nightmare Moon.

"Ending the life of another, even when it is justified, is not something you wish to have weighing on your conscience. Trust me on this," she added.

At this Twilight could only nod in agreement, Luna's word echoing painfully within her.

Sensing that she wasn't going to get any support in this, all Rainbow Dash could do was sigh, and hang her head in defeat. "Fine," she relented and stepped aside. "Just make sure she suffers..."

Luna nodded. "It will be legendary, I promise you that now, just as I did when this first started," she assured her.

"Good enough then," Rainbow Dash muttered and stepped aside to let the others continue with their efforts.

"Now then," Luna said as she turned to the others, "who do I have the honors of going up against next?"

"That would unfortunately be Ulquiorra, I'm afraid," Celestia replied with a sigh as she stepped aside. "Stupid scissors," she muttered as she did so.

"Well now, this should prove interesting," Luna stated as she stepped forward to face Ulquiorra in battle. "Know that I consider you a good friend, Ulquiorra Cifer. But on this matter there shall be no mercy shown to you. I intend to make Nightmare Moon pay for her crimes, and if necessary I will go through you in order to do so."

"I can respect that," Ulquiorra replied as he put his closed hand forward.

The others present watched breathlessly as the impromptu duel began, each of the two participants shaking their hands three times before throwing forward their selection. Three shakes and a reveal, only to be done over again and again when even symbols were matched up and resulted in a draw. And with each new round carried out, the intensity of the situation seemed to grow exponentially.

And then just like that it happened. A simple miscalculation brought on by any number of variables, leading to the outcome they'd all witnessed. Luna had gone with scissors, while Ulquiorra had gone with rock, thus winning the match.

Luna stared incredulously at the outcome, not believing it for herself. She nearly demanded a do over just as Rainbow Dash had done not long ago, but she ultimately held her tongue. She had agreed to the rules that Ulquiorra had laid out, and she would respect them. No matter how much she wanted to disregard them all in the name of disemboweling Nightmare Moon with one of her shoes right now!

"Very well then," she said as she tried to maintain as much decorum and restraint as possible. "But do not dawdle on this, otherwise I will step in and take her head myself," she warned as she stepped aside.

Just like that the matter had been decided, and the executioner had been selected. The others present began to scatter and give Ulquiorra a wide berth as he began walking forward in a slow, almost deliberate fashion towards Nightmare Moon, like he was playing some sort of cruel psychological game with her in his approach.

All that Nightmare Moon could do in response, was put forth her best angry glare. "Don't think that I'm going to be making this easy on you, biped! You couldn't kill me in the forest, you won't be able to kill me now either! You don't have the strength to defeat me, much less kill me!"

"That matter is easily resolved," Ulquiorra replied as he grasped the hilt of his zanpakutō and unsheathed it.

Before he could actually utilize it, however, he felt Murciélago being ripped free from his hand with such force, and such speed, his shoulder was nearly dislocated in the process before his hold had been broken, as Nightmare Moon now held his zanpakutō aloft in her magic.

"Looking for this?" she asked with a barely suppressed wicked smirk. And in a bright flash of light it had vanished entirely from view, as if it'd never been there in the first place.

"What did you do?" Ulquiorra asked in response to seeing the entire event transpire.

Although the tone of his voice as he spoke, was far removed from what any of the ponies present had ever heard him use before. None of them could put their hoof on it, but there was something contained within his words that felt... malevolent. Whatever it was, it sent chills down the spines of those close enough to actually hear him speak.

"Hm, hard to say really, I wasn't paying attention at the time," Nightmare Moon replied dismissively and shrugged. "Maybe I teleported it far away from here; anywhere between five miles and the other side of the planet. Or maybe I simply vaporized it, and erased it from existence. It's really hard to tell which one," she said as she cackled wickedly.

Ulquiorra was left dumbfounded in response to everything that had just transpired. He was also left feeling something that he couldn't consciously remember ever having felt previously. Whatever it was, it was very... intense.

"Now then," Nightmare Moon began as the cackling stopped and she became serious once more. "Without your sword, you're also without the lion's share of your strength being at your beck and call. And now that you can't unleash it as you see fit..." she paused.

Another bright flash of light occurred during the pause, this time bringing something with it. And much as both Celestia and Luna had demonstrated on their own previously, Nightmare Moon herself now possessed a weapon forged of pure mana. But unlike Celestia's sword, or Luna's halberd, hers was a scythe with a long, curved blade. And unlike what had been witnessed previously with Nightmare Moon's magic, this construct was made up of a blood red field, giving her an even more intimidating appearance.

"You'll die!" she concluded as she shot forward, scythe raised high and ready to strike.

Ulquiorra was vaguely aware or numerous ponies around him screaming, likely succumbing to terror at the sudden turn of events unfolding in front of them. However his focus was on what was coming at him headlong, traveling at speeds far greater than what he'd calculated as being possible from the likes of Nightmare Moon. The implications of everything were more numerous than even he could make sense of presently.

Before Nightmare Moon could actually get within striking range, Luna had entered the fray in an effort to shield him, intercepting the attack with her own halberd, the two mana constructs meeting and resulting in a violent clash of polarities, with sparks flying at the point of contact, the air becoming alive with the sounds of the two fields straining against one another.

"Over my dead body will that be happening!" Luna stated forcefully as she pushed back against Nightmare Moon's scythe, unwilling to yield even an inch against her nemesis.

"I can accept those terms just fine!" Nightmare Moon shot back as she strained against Luna's defense in an effort to subdue her. "First you will die! And then your murderous friend! And then even your dear sister!" she shrieked furiously.

The response that followed Nightmare Moon's declaration involved a kick delivered to her face by Ulquiorra, serving to break the concentration she was using to maintain her scythe -and by extension the scythe itself- while simultaneously sending her flying backwards as she tried to right herself once again.

Shortly after that, Celestia entered the fray, her sword already in the process of materializing. However she left Luna to actually pursue Nightmare Moon, as she faced Ulquiorra directly, concern evident on her face despite the fury she wore.

"Do you know what happened to your zanpakutō? Did she actually destroy it?" she asked.

"Not possible. As durable as my own body is, Murciélago is even more so. Even you haven't yet demonstrated sufficient strength to destroy its physical structure. At most she's teleported it somewhere far away from here," Ulquiorra replied as the sounds of Luna and Nightmare Moon once again clashing began to fill the background.

"Do you think you can find it?" Celestia asked.

"Not from here, and certainly not without taking the time to go and actually look for it," he explained.

Celestia nodded in understanding of what he was saying. "Then do it. Leave Nightmare Moon for us, we'll deal with her as best we can, kill her if at all possible," she stated as the sounds of battle began to grow to include Luna's shouting of various obscenities at her opponent.

Ulquiorra wasted no time with formalities such as acknowledging her decision, or wishing her luck, opting instead to simply sonido away in search of his missing zanpakutō.

With that matter now resolved, Celestia turned her attention skyward and flew up to join Luna in battle against their foe, intent on putting an end to this entire mess. One way or another.


The majority of ponies that had been present since the foals had returned home were now absent, having run away and scattering as they screamed in terror when the situation turned unfavorable. Other than Twilight and her friends, very few had actually remained present after Nightmare Moon's scythe had come out.

As such there were very few ponies present to watch the display, as yellow, blue, and red streaks of light were zooming about, high in the sky overhead, occasionally clashing with one another in a rapid, complex dance of offense and defense as the three participants went about trying to kill one another.

This wasn't like the orchestrated aerial display that she'd witnessed over Canterlot. This was unrefined, brutal, and left no doubts that they were all playing for keeps. One wrong move, one moment's delay at a crucial time, and death was more or less a certainty for anypony.

As far as she could tell, the only reason Nightmare Moon was still alive when the odds were stacked two to one against her, was the fact that she kept on moving, making it difficult to be flanked by either Celestia or Luna when one engaged her from the front.

"Do you think they can actually do anything?"

It was Fluttershy's soft voice that served to shake Twilight out of her trance, bringing her attention back to the rest of her friends gathering close by to observe how things were proceeding. Where everypony else was currently hiding, she had no way of really telling.

"I don't know," was all Twilight could say in response. "I want to say yes, but... I just don't know. This is Ulquiorra's area of expertise."

"I don't believe I've ever seen either of the Princesses this fierce before," Rarity muttered, unable to think of anything else to say as she watched the battle unfolding high above head, occasionally feeling violent pulses occurring through the mana as they clashed.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Pinkie asked, her voice heavy with worry.

Twilight shook her head. "The Element of Loyalty still isn't resonating with Rainbow Dash. The others won't work without it. And without them, there's nothing we can really do that might make a difference," she explained.

Rainbow Dash huffed angrily at hearing this statement. "Can't you just, I don't know, hit her with a lightning bolt or something?"

Again, Twilight shook her head in response. "I don't have that level of spell mastery yet. I need time to aim it, and Nightmare Moon is moving way too fast; I'd risk hitting Celestia or Luna. I'd have to tag her with a lightning rod in order to have something to lock onto, but that still presents the same difficulties; she's moving too fast, and if I tried then I'd risk hitting the others in the process," she explained.

"Then let me do it!" Rainbow Dash stated.

"What?" Twilight asked as she looked at her.

"Let me worry about tagging her. Gimme a lightning rod, I'll fly up there and ram it right through her black heart, then you fry her!" Rainbow Dash stated.

"What!? No! No!" Twilight protested, utterly horrified by the idea. "Rainbow Dash, you can barely even stand up on your own!"

"I don't need to stand in order to fly!" Rainbow Dash shot back.

"This is even more suicidal than your last idea! You can't compete with those speeds they're flying at, you're too weak! Beyond that you'd be an easy target, you could get cut to ribbons! Or even worse, Nightmare Moon could use you as a hostage against Celestia and Luna!" Twilight explained.

"What other choice do we have!? Tell me that, what else are we supposed to do!?" Rainbow Dash demanded to know, now yelling at this point in an effort to get her point across. "You said it yourself, the Elements of Harmony won't work! There's nothing else we can do!"

"You'll die!" Twilight yelled back.

"Well maybe I actually wanna die! Did you ever think of that!?" Rainbow Dash roared.

It was only after she'd made her statement, did she realize that she'd wound up scaring and horrifying everypony present, herself included.

"I'm sorry," she said as she continued talking, her voice much softer as she spoke. "I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean it. I'm just so tired of being so useless to everypony!"

Applejack stepped up and rested a foreleg across her back. "We know, Sugarcube, we know. You, me, Twilight, Spike... Nightmare Moon made every one of us perdy much useless, one after another."

"Super useless," Pinkie stated in agreement.

"Well then let's do something about that," Spike spoke up, "I agree with Rainbow Dash on this one. That's why I'm going with her."

"What?" was a shared response from just about everypony present -even Rainbow Dash- after hearing what he'd said.

"Spike, you can't be serious!" Twilight stated, horrified at the idea of not just one, but two of her friends volunteering for what would without doubt be a suicide mission.

"I am, Twilight, think about it," Spike protested, "Rainbow Dash can't do it all by herself. She's gonna need someone to hold the lightning rod for her while she gets into position. If Nightmare Moon notices us, I can disorient her with my hammer. And besides all that, if I heat the end of the lightning rod up until it's glowing cherry red, it'll cauterize the wound so she can't just rip it out. It's really the best option we've got if we're going to do anything besides just stand around and wait," he explained.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up!" Rainbow Dash spoke up and physically turned Spike to face her. "Dude, don't think I'm not grateful for the offer of help. But me going up there is one thing, I'm willing to take my chances. But I'm not about to put anypony else at risk in the process," she stated.

Twilight was conflicted, uncertain of what to be feeling in the aftermath of it all. She was relieved that Rainbow Dash had enough sense to know that taking Spike along was a bad idea, and that she was the one pointing out such a fact. But the fact that Spike was still arguing about how him coming along was the only sane idea available, left her ill at ease with everything. Was he becoming filled with some sort of blood lust? Was this a dragon thing he didn't have any control over? There were just too many questions, and too many variables, for her to have any clue as to what was going on.

"Ulquiorra, please get back here soon," she silently pleaded.

And then the matter came to a head as Spike jumped onto Rainbow Dash's back, gripping tightly at the edge of the armor serving to shield her back. Whether it was the force of the impact upon landing, or simply a matter of his weight being added to the equation, it proved to be sufficient enough to make all four of her legs buckle, before giving out under her, sending them both to the ground with a thud.

Rainbow Dash just groaned in defeat, not even bothering to try and struggle to get back up again. That had been the straw to break her back, proving undeniably even to her that she'd completely run out of steam.

"Alright, forget it. I'm just gonna rest here a minute..."

At this, Spike winked at Twilight, before giving her a thumbs up.

Twilight tried not to snort in realization of what had just happened, and what Spike's plan had apparently been. He was a cunning little bastard, but at least he was her cunning little bastard.


"Sister?"

Despite starting out strong in her battle against Nightmare Moon, Luna was feeling fatigue weigh heavily on her. She had attacked violently, ferociously, intent on cleaving the foul fiend in two -and then in numerous other pieces- and putting an end to this nightmare once and for all. And when Celestia had joined in, she'd assumed that their odds of success had been doubled.

But Nightmare Moon had proven to be as slippery as any eel in their battle. She had been maneuvering away from them the entire time, regardless of what attack pattern they had pressed. When trying to double team her, on several occasions they had nearly flown right into each other when she would slip free, thus forcing them to demonstrate caution in their approach, which was serving to slow them down even further.

Their opponent, however, was showing no such signs.

"Yes, Luna?" Celestia asked.

"I-" Luna panted, "I am starting to suspect Nightmare Moon has been denying us rest and peace of mind for the past month, strictly for this reason."

"I don't know. It seems a tad complex for the likes of her," Celestia replied as she tried to refrain from showing the fact that she was feeling just as weak as Luna was currently. "I'd have thought that you got the brains in the separation, not her," she added.

Luna snorted in response. "Brains, yes, but sadism, no. I could not concoct what she has been putting us through all this time. Nor would I even want to."

Off where she hovered, Nightmare Moon cackled wickedly at the exchange unfolding.

"You two look quite tired. What's the matter, little ponies, are you beginning to realize that you're up against a skilled tactician? Is it dawning on you, that you two simply can't keep up with the likes of me? I'm superior to the both of you in every way imaginable! There's not a thing you can do to overcome me, it's futile!"

Celestia scowled in response. "Rant on, Nightmare Moon, it'll do you no good. You didn't win last time, you won't win this time either."

Luna nodded in agreement. "Not having the Elements of Harmony will not stop us! There will be no purification for you this time around, only a cold and empty death!"

Nightmare Moon cackled again, amused to no end. "Bold declarations from a couple of ponies who can't even catch their breath after just a few minutes of flying."

"Oh you don't need to worry about us. There'll be plenty of time to catch our breath, after you're dead," Celestia shot back.

"Quite so," Luna added and nodded again.

"Oh that's so precious, you two actually trying to bluff me like that. It would be so cute, if it wasn't so annoying," Nightmare Moon stated. "But in all seriousness, let's dispense with this ridiculousness. Do you two have any final words to offer up before I kill you? Maybe something you'd like engraved on your headstones?" she asked.

"Just two."

If she'd had a grave, Nightmare Moon would've sworn she'd felt someone walking over it just now as she heard those words, and the deep, emotionless voice that spoke them, coming from behind her!

Immediately she spun around, coming face to face with Ulquiorra once again, his sword held in his outstretched hand aimed directly at her.

"You-"

"Enclose, Murciélago," he spoke, interrupting what she'd been intended to say in response to this unfortunate development.

What followed next was a massive eruption of pure black energy with a teal green outline, exploding outwardly like flames in a most violent fashion, the sheer magnitude of it all being enough to blow her back like she'd just been hit with some sort of shock wave! This was far, far more violent than what she'd come to expect from seeing Celestia's memories of the event up in Canterlot. How was that even possible!?

Her attention was so focused on what was happening right in front of her, she didn't even notice as her scythe dematerialized. Nor did she notice as Celestia and Luna were strategically withdrawing from the immediate vicinity.

"Celestia, help me out here. Is this a good thing? Or a bad thing?" Luna asked, now that she was witnessing -and experiencing- it for herself.

When it had just been an abstract concept, it was one thing. But now that she was encountering it for herself, she wasn't certain anymore. Ulquiorra was on their side, but now that she felt the utter scope of his power, it was enough to leave her in doubt.

"Ask me again in five minutes. I'm not so sure myself yet," Celestia grunted in response.


Down below in Ponyville the others weren't faring much better. The last time they'd witnessed this sort of event had been when Ulquiorra was high above Canterlot, far and away from them, and they'd still felt it to some extent.

This time around, he was much closer, and what they were feeling was far more intense than anything else they'd ever experienced. The shock wave, the air growing heavy, the overwhelming sense of dread, the explosion of darkness that was blotting out the available light from the moon and stars... and the trembling of the ground itself, was all very intense to take in all at once. It was downright terrifying to experience for themselves, even if they ultimately knew what the source of it was.

"Just what's going on!? What is that!?" Diamond Tiara demanded to know from where she and a number of other foals had taken cover.

Or at least some of them knew what the source of the disturbance was, while others were completely clueless as to what the apocalyptic-type event unfolding overhead was.

"That," Sweetie Belle grunted, "is Ulquiorra! And he's seriously freaking nettled!" she squealed, finding it all to be much worse to feel than even his Cero had been the first time she'd experienced the power that came with it.

"What? That dude is seriously doing all of this by himself?" Shady asked, completely dumbstruck by the idea of it all. "Sweet Tartarus, how strong is he? How many pushup does he do? How many sit ups? What kind of juice does he drink!?"


The demonstration of sheer power might've faded, but that did Nightmare Moon little actual good, as she still couldn't breathe in the aftermath. Her lungs burned and ached all throughout the demonstration, and as it came to an end her heart felt like it had actually stopped beating, for she knew just what she was facing. And it was far, far worse, than she could've possibly imagined.

To simply witness Celestia's memories had nothing to prepare her for... for this! And now that she actually had a physical body once again, she could feel it all for herself.

"Do you finally know what it's like to feel fear for yourself, Nightmare Moon?"

It took her a moment to finally realize that he was actually addressing her. Although that realization did absolutely nothing to stop him, as he was continuing on without regard.

"Have you come to learn what it feels like to experience terror? To be completely overcome by despair at the realization of your own insignificance?"

The look on Nightmare Moon's face was one of shock, before morphing into one of absolute fury at the realization that he was dismissing her entirely.

"You dare to deem me as being insignificant!?" she demanded as her scythe once again flashed into existence. "We'll see who's insignificant, when your head is removed from your neck!" she roared as she swung her scythe forward as hard and as fast as she could, intent on killing him where he stood in the air.

She grinned wickedly at feeling the edge of her blade make contact with his neck, relishing in the fact that he hadn't been able to get out of the way in time to avoid it.

But that grin fell completely when she realized that her scythe wasn't sinking further into his neck. It was just sort of resting there against his skin, having come to a complete and dead stop, despite the amount of force she'd put into her swing. A swing that should've completely decapitated him, yet had done nothing of the sort.

The fact that he was just staring at her with those horrible, empty eyes of his, just made the fact worse. And then it -somehow- managed to become even worse than that, as he cast an aside glance at the bladed portion of her scythe; as if he was just now acknowledging and noticing its existence.

"Your stubborn refusal to acknowledge the futility of your efforts makes no difference. You're just as dead either way," Ulquiorra stated in a dull monotone voice, before effortlessly pushing the scythe away from his neck with nothing but his bare hand. "It's just annoying that you actually believe that you have some chance of persevering through all of this. Some would call it optimistic. I call it foolish," he explained, before forcefully shoving her scythe away from him.

Nightmare Moon grunted, unaccustomed to being cast aside with such ease. Her weapon shouldn't move unless she commanded it, and he'd just moved it like it was nothing to him. He was essentially overpowering her own will, and making it look like foal's play in the process.


The darkness in the sky might've faded, but the overwhelming sense of dread still remained behind in its wake, still with its crushing potency. It just seemed to linger heavily in the air, like a bad odor had seeped into the soil itself when the mana that had rained down all around them. It was like being in a fog, but being unable to see it.

Very few ponies actually dared to venture back outside to observe what had happened in the aftermath. Those that had actually been brave enough to step out into the open once all the excitement had died down, had been greeted by a sight that just seemed to defy explanation as they looked skyward once more.

Ulquiorra wasn't simply rivaling Nightmare Moon, and challenging her authority as he had the dragon from so long ago. Instead he was no-selling her outright, and making her look incredibly weak; bordering on the edge of utter ridiculousness in how easy he was doing it.

"So much power!" Spike stated as he looked upward, practically memorized by it all. Up until now he'd only heard stories about what Ulquiorra could do. He'd witnessed him easily kick a tree right out of the ground and take the roots right along with it, and he'd witnessed his Cero being discharged, but that was nothing compared to this. It was like witnessing some sort of a fairy tale unfolding in real life, only a lot darker. "This is both the most incredible, and most terrifying thing I've ever witnessed!"

"I know, right?" Vinyl Scratch asked in response, eyes firmly fixed on the entire demonstration as her headphones dangled around her neck. "The dude is seriously tops!"

"I guess he really did beat up the dragon after all," Thunderlane commented. At the time it'd seemed like a real stretch to believe such, but now not so much.

Zecora could only nod in silent witness as she observed the entire demonstration. She had wanted to comment on what she was seeing as others had, but she had nothing with which to construct an appropriate rhyme; nothing of genuine substance anyway. A statement of "sweet merciful fuck" might have been appropriate, considering what Twilight, Spike, and Applejack had explained about the Espada's native language. But even she had nothing to add to it, and speaking without a rhyme simply didn't feel right to her.

Celestia and Luna merely watched in silence, observing how lopsided the entire battle looked to them. Observing how Nightmare Moon flailed angrily with her scythe in an effort to strike Ulquiorra down, who merely blocked her numerous blows with nothing more than his bare hand, demonstrating the utter imperviousness of his hierro. It was almost comical, how she shrieked and screamed in a fit of impotent rage while he said nothing at all.

But at the same time it was also terrifying, to know that he wielded so much power with such ease. If he could dominate Nightmare Moon, they knew that he could dominate them as well if he truly wanted to do such. Stopping him might've been possible if they tried, but there was no guarantee.

Their thoughts on such worries were interrupted by the sight of Ulquiorra demonstrating that he could actually shatter Nightmare Moon's scythe. The resulting scream that came from her was to be expected, considering the amount of painful feedback she would've experienced from such occurring.

What came next involved Ulquiorra reaching out and forcefully grabbing her by her throat, and holding her in a manner that would've lifted her right off her front hooves had they both been on the ground.

And then they both were on the ground, the two of them appearing out of nowhere as Ulquiorra -likely while using his sonido- slammed Nightmare Moon against the ground, before lifting her back up, and throwing her to the ground once more as he relinquished his hold on her.

For a moment there was no sign of life in Nightmare Moon's body as she just laid there motionlessly. But this was short-lived as she gasped for air, and slowly began moving again.

"Oh, you jerk," she groaned/wheezed as she got back up onto her hooves once more, angrier than ever. "If I taste dirt once more, you're going to regret it in ways you can't even comprehend," she growled.

"You're delusional," Ulquiorra replied, unmoved by the threat. "What can you hope to do against me, when even your scythe failed to harm me?"

"Hope? Biped I don't need hope! As long as there are ponies overcome with fear for me to feed on, I can grow exponentially stronger than I am now! I can become stronger than you could ever possibly imagine!" Nightmare Moon roared, her voice booming as she spoke, causing numerous ponies to jump in response.

Ulquiorra wanted to sigh in response. He really, honestly did. Why did this always happen to him? Every. Single. Time.

"Your words are those of one who's never come to experience true despair for themselves. So allow me to educate you on the gravity of the situation," he stated, making ready to lay the facts on her once and for all. "Perhaps you can grow stronger than you are currently, but it'll do you no good. The gap in our respective levels of strength is simply too vast for you to overcome. I can see how much reiatsu your body can currently exert, and it's insignificant. You couldn't even withstand fifty percent of my own, and that was in my sealed state. You would have to become six times stronger than you are currently in order to dominate me as I am now. And even if you could achieve that goal, even if I were motivated to give you the time you'd need, it still wouldn't do you any good," he explained.

"... W... what?" Nightmare Moon asked in response. "You... you can't be serious, you're lying! Nopony can be that strong! It's impossible!" she protested as she vigorously shook her head, refusing to believe what he was saying. It had to be a lie to try and trick her, it just had to be! He was bluffing her!

"Under normal circumstances, you might be right. But I am no pony," Ulquiorra continued as she stammered. "What you currently see standing before you is but a fraction of my full strength. I have another form I can utilize, a second stage release. And just as my current form is five time stronger than my sealed form, my second stage is five times stronger than even this form that you already can't compete with," he explained.

"Ooh!" Rainbow Dash squealed from where she stood. "That's so awesome it's badass!"

Ulquiorra ignored the sudden yell of excitement, opting instead to focus on Nightmare Moon, and observe as the look on her face contorted, moving away from one of stubborn defiance, to shock, and finally to overwhelming dread as the realization that he wasn't bluffing sank in.

"I could show it to you if you have any lingering doubts; demonstrate the vastness that is Segunda Etapa. But to unleash that much unfettered strength would prove quite fatal, and likely kill everyone within a mile radius, as their souls would simply be incapable of withstanding the resulting release of reiatsu. Not even the diarchy would be able survive," he continued.

At hearing this a number of ponies gasped in shock, and began backing up and away in response.

"You'll simply have to take my word for it, and settle for this," he continued.

A flash of green light. That was all Nightmare Moon saw transpire, before she felt a piercing, burning pain erupting in her chest and out her back. Gasping in surprise, she glanced down and saw a teal green javelin impaling her. She hadn't even seen him cross the distance between them, before seeing him standing right in front of her once again. That was the last conscious thought she remembered going through her mind; his unbelievable... speed...


It'd all happened so fast, it was easy to miss what had just transpired. By the time anypony realized what was going on, it was already over and done for. Ulquiorra had moved in and impaled Nightmare Moon right through the chest, faster than any of them could've blinked. The act itself hadn't been seen, only the aftermath as he stood there with his javelin sticking through her chest and out her back, a dumbfounded look on her face as she glanced down at the wound that had just been inflicted on her, and then slowly back up at him.

What followed next could best be described as the life slowly flowing out of her body, starting with blue of her eyes slowly fading to a dull, lifeless gray. Her mane and tail were next to follow, the ethereal effect first as they fell limp against her body, before their coloring faded to dull and muted grays, as they began to crumble to pieces. The blackness of her coat was next, the utter darkness of it becoming dingy and practically washed out, looking like a sickly imitation of what had been present just moments before.

Cracks began to form in her chest around the point of impalement, spreading out slowly like a stone was crumbling apart. And as they spread, the teal green light from Ulquiorra's javelin was shining right through them, managing to make the display all the more eerie to bear witness to.

"Is that it?" Luna asked as she cautiously stepped forward to get a closer look. "Is she... is she dead? Is it finally over?"

"She is," Ulquiorra replied, withdrawing the Luz de la Luna from Nightmare Moon's chest, before swinging it around in a sweeping arc motion, completely severing the former alicorn's head from her neck in a single pass.

Said head fell to the ground, the impact serving enough to crack its now-brittle structure, causing it to shatter into several chunks of whatever had made up her physical body, which then began to crumble apart into a black dust. Her body soon began following the example, and began crumbling apart under itself, as whatever form of cohesion had kept it together had finally ceased, leaving nothing but a pile of black dust behind in its wake.

Everypony present had been too stunned to even speak up after what they'd just seen take place. Nightmare Moon, the legend that had terrified thousands of ponies for a thousand years worth of generations, was no more.