Chapter Ninety Four
When they had volunteered to set out into the Everfree Forest in the dead of night to confront Nightmare Moon, Twilight and the others hadn't known what to expect encountering, other than the fact that it wouldn't be pleasant. But that fact notwithstanding, they could easily come up with a list of possible developments.
But even allowing for such to occur, and the infinite number of hypotheticals that could be speculated on developing tonight, Celestia utilizing an ancient spell for the purpose of transforming herself into a freaking dragon had definitely not been on the list! Nor had her selected manner for engaging Nightmare Moon in combat. That was all way out of the left field for them. Going by Luna's face, even she hadn't anticipated this turn of events coming to pass. But that had done nothing to stop her -or any of them really- from cheering for Celestia, and urging her onward toward victory.
Where, when, and how exactly Celestia had gone about apparently mastering her new form was a question that Twilight couldn't come up with an answer for. It wasn't a form that had ever been recorded in Equestria's recorded history -at least not that she'd ever seen- and yet she'd been using it like it was second nature to her. Was it a side effect of the spell that was being used? Did it actually bestow such skills with the new body? Was it a spell that she could actually learn to do herself?
In hindsight, going over these numerous questions while a battle was raging on just overhead probably wasn't the best decision to be engaging in right now; a fact that was made all too clear when she witnessed Nightmare Moon shifting tactics, and directing her attack against them when she learned that Celestia couldn't be easily beaten. She'd been too distracted to cast the necessary defense spell, but Luna had easily picked up the slack and erected a force field over them.
Celestia actually throwing herself into the mix, and using her own body to try and shield them really hadn't been anticipated; not under these circumstances. Back in Canterlot, sure, but those were under very, very different circumstances. The only good thing to come of such was that she didn't appear terribly harmed from intercepting the assault herself.
Instinct born from years under Celestia's tutelage was screaming at her to check on her mentor's well being, but her ability to actually respond was slowed by the fact that Celestia was already in the act of getting back up again.
By now Luna was imploring her sister to stand down, to let either her or Ulquiorra take over in dealing with Nightmare Moon, but Celestia would have none of it. No, she was too determined to carry in her efforts at dealing with Nightmare Moon all by herself. She refused to give in, refused to relent and let somepony else take over for her, despite her lack of results that would suggest her continued struggles would do any better. What more could she really do in her current state? What did she really have left to throw at their foe, that she hadn't already utilized?
The answer to the question came twofold. First as Celestia's cutie marks -still proudly adorning her scaly flanks despite the change in form- began to glow, much like a light shining through stained glass. And then second as a glowing ball of golden light started to form in her mouth.
And then came the actual discharge. Sweet merciful Faust, the discharge! The basic concept behind it was simple enough, to the point of being rudimentary in its very nature, but nothing like that had ever actually been seen on that massive of a scale before! The blast had actually generated physical recoil that could be felt throughout the ground in the area as it was discharged, as well as a shock wave that sent dust and dirt flying into the air as it rocked each of them. It really did make her tirade look like a firecracker in comparison!
The heat coming off of the attack was utterly intense; far more intense than standing next to a raging bonfire. She might've melted marble herself, but even that feat of magical potency managed to pale in comparison to what was currently being experienced! None of them were even in front of Celestia, but that did little to actually protect them from experiencing the intensity of it for themselves.
And then there was the matter of just how bright the attack was to experience! Watching it was like staring directly into the sun itself; a very bad idea no matter how it was regarded, and proved to be more than enough to motivate her to shield her eyes until after it'd passed.
Twilight couldn't deny it if she tried, she was left awestruck by it all. That much magical energy being channeled into a single attack was... was... it was utterly mind boggling! She honestly didn't know if Equestria had the technology to properly measure that sort of output; for all she knew the needle would be going around on the meter numerous times to convey just how ill equipped it was for giving an accurate readout of what was being analyzed by it.
"Just what was that!?" Spike asked, both awestruck and dumbfounded in the wake of the blast.
"I dunno, but that was awesome!" Rainbow Dash stated, heart pounding with far more excitement than was really appropriate under the circumstances. "Did that do the trick? Is Nightmare Moon dead after that?"
Twilight looked skyward, squinting as she waited for her vision to clear, to see if Celestia's attack had worked as intended. Unfortunately, much to her disbelief, disappointment, and even anger, such hadn't been the case. All that it'd done was push her back across the sky. That, and completely incinerate the treetops that'd been in the path of the blast.
"No. No it didn't, she managed to block it with her shield," she stated as she observed the force field disintegrating, all the while idly wondering just how much stress the attack had caused. "It didn't do any good..."
"We'll just see about that," Celestia growled.
Twilight's head snapped around at this, not believing what she was either sensing or seeing. Again!? As much magic as was in that blast, Celestia was making ready to do the same thing again? And so soon after the previous one!? If she were Pinkie, her jaw would -quite literally perhaps- be on the ground right now at this revelation.
The second shot was much like the first, rocking the ground as Celestia's cutie marks glowed almost like molten lava, the blast crossing the sky as it hurtled towards Nightmare Moon at great speeds. But unlike the first shot, and likely due to the extended range, this one was wide and had completely missed the mark! Nightmare Moon hadn't even needed to guard against it to escape any harm!
Or at least that's what it looked like, until Celestia responded to this development by angling her head to try and compensate, and steer the beam back onto its intended target.
Nightmare Moon responded to this by banking to the left -her right- and avoiding the blast, while Celestia followed close behind, but not close enough to actually do any good. All she managed to do was destroy more forest as numerous treetops were wiped out of existence from the close proximity to the heat of the beam, leaving nothing but smouldering ends in its wake.
That, and those of them who'd been on Celestia's left side had scrambled to get down, or otherwise get out of the way, as they saw the direction the beam was moving in, as they had no desire to be anywhere close by if her aim slipped.
"This is getting really scary!" Pinkie stated as the beam once again cut out and ceased, and she currently huddled behind Celestia near the tip of her tail.
"Right. Because it wasn' scary before all this," Applejack muttered, before turning her attention to Twilight. "Did it work that time? Is Nightmare Moon burnt to a crisp like she should be?"
"No," Twilight replied as she looked skyward and huffed. "She dodged it..."
This was going to be extremely problematic. The speed of Celestia's attack was significant, but apparently that just wasn't good enough. If Nightmare Moon could guard against it, or just plain evade it, it didn't matter just how much destructive force the beam carried with it; near misses didn't count in this.
Celestia didn't even bother having a retort to offer up this time; not as Nightmare Moon returned to her previous position in the sky, almost as if she was taunting them by putting herself right in the line of fire just to prove how futile their efforts were. Instead she simply began charging a third beam in obviously growing frustration over how things had been progressing throughout the night.
The next thing Twilight knew, she heard the telltale sound of Ulquiorra's sonido. Looking over to where he was, she saw that he was no longer there. In fact he wasn't anywhere in the area as far as she could see. Where had he gone? He really didn't strike her as the type that would retreat from a battle for any reason; that was primarily the reason he was here in Equestria to begin with. But still, that didn't do anything to address the question of where he... currently... was...
No.
Immediately her mind was besieged by numerous memories choosing to come flooding back to her all at once, making her eyes go wide with panic as her head jerked skyward, back to Nightmare Moon's last known position. Ulquiorra hadn't actually fled the battle, he'd charged into it! He currently had Nightmare Moon restrained from behind, trapped in a headlock and a horn hold as he held her firmly in place, despite the amount of struggling she was putting up to try and get loose.
Suddenly it all made sense. Perfect, frightening sense. Ulquiorra's current actions, all the words of advice he'd given them during his time in Equestria... he was going to forcefully keep Nightmare Moon in place so she had nowhere to go, and no way to respond except for dying. He was planning to sacrifice himself to insure Celestia's attack actually hit home this time!
NO!
She frantically looked back and forth, between Ulquiorra's position and Celestia's, and the charging state of her attack. There were only a few seconds left before it would actually be discharged, and they'd both be consumed by it. Her mind was screaming at her right now, urging and pleading her to do something to stop Celestia from following through with this course of action, but no matter what she just couldn't get her mouth to respond to let the words out! She was practically petrified in place, helpless to do anything but watch in silence as the blast reached its full charge, and was then unleashed without so much as an ounce of hesitation at the fact that Ulquiorra would never be able to survive being struck by such.
Finer motor control finally came back under her control, allowing her to whip her head around just in time to watch the both of them be utterly engulfed by the full magnitude of the blast, but not allowing her to actually do anything other than simply watch it all transpire.
"ULQUIORRA!" she screamed as she finally found her voice once again, her voice cracking under the strain of everything.
The blast -the solar death beam of an attack as it were- lasted only a hoofful of seconds each time it was fired before eventually petering out, but this time around it felt like it lasted for an eternity before it finally ceased.
Her eyes hurt and burnt from staring at the blast for far too long, leaving her vision all blurry and washed out before her eyes finally adjusted to the current level of ambient light, modified by the thestral vision spell from Luna. She anxiously looked up, desperately scanning the sky for any sign of Ulquiorra, only to find nothing but empty night sky, and smoke rising from the still-smouldering treetops.
Anxiously, she turned to her friends, hoping against hope and odds that they'd been smart enough to look away when she didn't, and could actually tell her something, anything, about what had happened during the time she was blinded.
The question, however, would have to wait, as she suddenly found herself distracted by Celestia's current condition. She looked bad; far worse for wear than just a couple of minutes ago. She was slouching, like she couldn't even keep her own body upright without actually having to support its current position. She was also panting quite hard, almost on the verge of being considered gasping for air like she'd been unable to even breathe. Her cutie marks, for whatever reason, had started to give off a red glow. She looked like she was on the verge of collapsing where she currently stood. Jets of steam were even being emitted from the frills around her head, although she didn't have a clue as to why or even how that was happening, unless her body was somehow trying to stabilize its own internal temperatures after all of that.
What happened next was... unexpected, as the transformations began to reverse themselves. Leg joints reoriented themselves as horns and frills receded, claws and talons merged back together, as fur and feathers quickly overtook and replaced scales and membranes. In just a matter of seconds Celestia had gone from being a dragon, back to being an alicorn, with her armor reorienting itself to match the current form she occupied. Seconds later even this changed, as the numerous pieces of armor plating disassembled, retracted, and retreated back into the golden regalia they'd emerged from, leaving no trace behind that they'd ever been there to begin with.
Luna took a cautious step towards Celestia, deeply concerned by what she was currently seeing. "Are you alright, sister?"
"Never," Celestia panted, "have I expended that much magic in such a short amount of time..." she stated and brought her right hoof up to rest against the side of her head, and wait for the current feeling of dizziness to pass as she closed her eyes. She wasn't accustomed to this level of exertion, and if she was standing, she was certain she'd topple over as a result of such. She just needed a minute to rest and get her bearings once again.
"Princess..."
It was a simple word from Twilight, but the tone of her student's voice was enough to make her open her eyes and look at the young mare, to see the concern and worry that was present on her face.
"Princess," Twilight repeated again, "Ulquiorra. H-h-he... he was..." she stuttered as she tried to get the words out.
Celestia hung her head solemnly. "I know," she stated simply and sighed.
She had known what Ulquiorra had done, having seen it for herself when she was preparing to deliver her final strike against Nightmare Moon. Despite knowing -she wanted to believe that he knew- what such a course of action would most likely entail for him, he still hadn't hesitated to physically restrain Nightmare Moon, and make her escape impossible. He had willingly sacrificed himself for the sake of striking down Nightmare Moon once and for all, and at last bringing an end to her reign of terror.
For so long, she'd regarded Ulquiorra as being a monster, a potential threat to both Equestria, and the ponies that resided within its borders. What she'd seen in his mind had scared her to no end, and left her unable/unwilling to trust him, and believe that he could coexist with the others in the world. Trust had been born purely out of necessity on her part, leaving her with little actual choice in the matter. And yet, even with all of that, he had still opted to engage in a course of action that would save Equestria, even if it cost him his life. All of her fears, concerns, and misconceptions had been undone before her, and she couldn't even tell him that she was sorry for treating him like she had.
"I'm sorry," she stated, both sadly and sincerely.
Fluttershy whimpered in response to the news of this development, barely perceptible to anypony. Anypony other than Rarity who stood closest to her, who drew her into a comforting hug in response.
"So he's... really dead? Just like that?" Rainbow Dash asked, trying to process the information. It just... didn't sound real to her right now; not after everything he'd shown himself capable of doing.
"We... we should probably check the body," Spike muttered. He didn't know about anypony else, but he learned real quick after the first shot to not look directly into the stream of Celestia's attack. And while he couldn't speak for the others, he'd seen something black and charred hit the ground in the general area that they'd been in when the attack finished. Exactly what it was, or what remained of whom, he didn't know. Nor was he really certain that he wanted to know. But at the same time, they sort of needed to know.
"No," Pinkie whimpered, shaking her head as she trembled. "Nono, please, I don't wanna see Ulqy like that. I don't wanna see him dead."
"Uh, Pinkie, Ulquiorra was dead when we met him, remember?" Rainbow Dash pointed out.
Again, Pinkie shook her head. "That was different from this. This is real dead, deader than dead. No saves and no continues, perma-death dead."
"That sounds quite serious."
"It is!" Pinkie stated. But then paused, slowly closing her mouth as her mind processed the observation she'd just heard. None of the others had a voice that deep, nor had she seen any of their mouths moving. Could... could it be? Was she hearing things? Or...
Silently, the nine of them turned around to look behind them.
Ulquiorra stood before them, hands in his pockets, and wearing the same neutral expression he was best known for.
"Should I comment on how you look like you've just seen a ghost? Or state the obvious of how rumors pertaining to my death are entirely premature?" he asked them.
It took a second for the group to process everything, and understand that they weren't merely seeing things. Ulquiorra was alive and actually addressing them!
Fluttershy was by far the quickest to respond, emitting an unintelligible, high-pitched sound as she flew forward, tackling Ulquiorra with all of her might, and proceeded to hug him for all that he was worth. All the while, he remained unfazed, and simply continued to regard them, as if wearing a butter yellow pegasus was nothing out of the ordinary for them.
"How-" Celestia started as she took an uneasy step forward, assuming the speaking role for the group. "Please don't misunderstand, Ulquiorra, I'm really glad you're still alive; but just how did you manage to survive that? I've seen you seriously injured from exposure to far less magic than that, just from being in the vicinity of it. How did you manage to walk away unscathed from direct contact?"
"In truth I didn't. The only reason I'm still present, is the fact that Nightmare Moon's body demonstrated a significantly greater degree of resiliency than my own when struck by your attack," Ulquiorra replied, all the while paying no attention to Fluttershy's antics as she continued hugging and clinging to him. "I was prepared to do whatever was necessary in killing Nightmare Moon, however that decision fell through when my arms were disintegrated. When it was concluded that keeping her restrained was no longer a possibility, I used her body as a spring board, kicking myself away while using my sonido to get out of the line of fire as quickly as possible, while leaving her behind to weather the blast by herself."
"Huh," Rainbow Dash muttered, "so in a way Nightmare Moon actually saved your life."
"Perhaps in a manner of speaking, from a certain point of view," Ulquiorra acknowledged. "But if not for her, I wouldn't have found it necessary to put myself in the position in the first place," he continued.
Celestia simply shook her head, and did her best not to grin in response. Right now she was just glad that Ulquiorra had survived, and the matter had finally been resolved.
"I'm sorry, but there's something I'm not following," Rarity spoke up. "You said your arms disintegrated, and yet you still clearly have them. What exactly-"
"High-speed regeneration," Spike, Applejack, and Twilight said in almost perfect unison, causing the latter two to chuckle and giggle.
"It's true, Ah saw 'im regrow his own leg after he cut it off because a cockatrice turned it ta stone," Applejack stated.
"Oh my," Rarity replied, both amazed and also repulsed by the very notion such gruesome imagery managed to conjure up. At the moment she was at a loss for words.
Rainbow Dash just chuckled to herself, but quickly found it necessary to stop as a sudden wave of dizziness struck her, forcing her to hold her head and shut her eyes as she waited for it to pass. She was fairly certain she was crashing right now, what with the adrenaline rush wearing down, and the tingling she was feeling in the majority of her muscles at the moment. In hindsight, she really should've listened to the care staff back up in Canterlot during her stay. But right now that was neither here nor there. Right now she'd need to settle for simply sitting down for a minute.
"So what do we do now? Do we just go home, or..." Spike asked.
"Returning to Ponyville, and informing the others would be for the best," Luna stated. The entire town had been on edge for more than long enough, and they deserved some good news for a change. "The rest of you, go on ahead. There is still something that must be done here before I can join you."
"An' wha's that?" Applejack asked.
"Locating where the others may be out here. If they are indeed here," Luna explained. Nightmare Moon's death didn't really change anything, other than removing the threat they currently faced. Now that she was gone, it was time to address the other outstanding issues. "If such is not a possibility, then retrieving the bodies so that they may be buried properly. It is the least that can be done after failing them..."
All of the excitement and good will that'd been born from Ulquiorra's survival and Nightmare Moon's defeat, was immediately sucked out of the air at this statement by Luna, only to be replaced by a deep sense of solemness and melancholy. They'd gotten so wound up in everything that had been going on, it was easy to forget one of the main reasons why they'd originally come out here in the first place.
Rainbow Dash grunted in response as she opened her eyes, and pushed herself back up into a standing position. As much as she'd like to go back to Ponyville and crash properly, that was going to need to be postponed for the time being. She was going to simply need to push through the trembling and burning she felt in her muscles right now.
"I'm ready when you are, Luna," she stated, her voice weary as she stood up as straight as she could.
"Wait, you?" Applejack asked, before shaking her head dismissively at the idea. "Sugarcube, ya need yer rest. Ya look like ya can barely even stand up. Shoot, Ah could probably tip ya over jus' by blowin' on ya."
"I don't need to stand in order to fly," Rainbow Dash replied, before turning back to Luna again. "Just say the word."
Luna shook her head in response to Rainbow Dash's assessment and offer. "You have already done far more than anypony could reasonably ask of you, Rainbow Dash. Return to Ponyville with the others and recuperate. I shall be along as soon as I can."
"Everyone needs to return to Ponyville immediately," Ulquiorra stated.
Twilight looked at Ulquiorra in confusion as to what he meant by his statement, but stopped before asking the question. The look on his face... it was a subtle difference from the expression he normally wore, but it was still noticeable to her. He was sensing something in the area. And if he was urging them to actually leave, then-
An explosion out of nowhere rocked their position before any further thought on the matter could be had. It was so sudden, none of them could've prepared for the blast going off so close to where they'd been standing. Debris had been thrown everywhere, and that was the last thing Twilight recalled hearing, before the overwhelming silence set in, disturbed only by a dull -yet simultaneous- high-pitched ringing in her ears.
Having been at the epicenter of more than one failed spell that yielded disastrous -read explosive- results, she was familiar with the disorientation that went along with being hit by concussive forces and noises. Sight, hearing, and all other senses were currently impaired, making it impossible to sort out just what she was hearing, while what she could see moved in a distorted, almost unrealistic manner. But this time around, it was with the added bonus of currently being in a horizontal position as she laid on her side, and seeing everything tilted at a less-than ninety degree angle.
Magical bolts of an unknown origin and type were raining down on their current fractured position, kicking up dust and dirt as they impacted against the ground, and further obscuring her sight, making it difficult to tell just how the others were responding to the assault. All she had were fragments of those who were currently within her line of sight.
Rarity had been roughly grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground by Rainbow Dash, who proceeded to climb atop her and flare out her wings as wide as they could go as more bolts continued to rain down. Despite her physical exhaustion, Celestia had physically thrown herself into action, using her own body to guard others in the group, while Luna went with a force field approach to the problem to keep Celestia from taking anymore of a beating than she already had. And Ulquiorra... he was moving far too fast for her to be able to process beyond a series of blurs. As close as she could tell, it looked like he was deflecting incoming bolts with nothing but his bare hands, sending them in any direction that didn't coincide with where they presently were.
All at once, like a violent rush, the full extent of her senses came back to her and she leapt to her hooves, only to find that the chaos was just as bad with her senses intact as it was otherwise. Smoke, dirt, and debris clouded and obscured the area, choking anyone that dared to breathe, as bright flashes of light and loud booms made detection of the point of origin of the assault impossible to detect, and only served to further the disorientation.
Then it all just stopped. The barrage on their position, it just... stopped, just like that. As easily as it'd begun, it came to an end in the same manner. Not that it was immediately recognized, or even regarded, as many of them were still waiting for the other shoe to drop in the wake of the resulting silence, interrupted only by the sound of debris falling back to the ground.
"What happened?" Rainbow Dash asked as she finally opened her eyes and glanced around. "Is it over? Are we dead or something?"
"What in tarnation was that!? Who've we got attackin' us now?" Applejack demanded to know from her current position under Celestia's frame, with Fluttershy currently hunkered underneath her own frame.
"I don't know. I wish I could say," Twilight said as she turned her attention to Ulquiorra's current position, his palms currently smoking as he stood at the ready, like a predator trying to find where its prey was currently hiding. "Ulquiorra, details. What the fuck is going on?"
"Nightmare Moon is still alive," Ulquiorra stated in response, his voice never wavering from its usual monotone delivery. "I don't know how, but Princess Celestia's attack failed."
"Well then what're you waiting for? Go and kill her already!" Rainbow Dash practically shrieked as she entered a hover off the ground, letting Rarity get back up in the process as she moved directly in front of Ulquiorra to look him in the eyes. "Less talking, more mangling! Go full resurrection on her ass!"
"I agree with the sentiment. But in order to do that, I would first need to detect her presence," Ulquiorra pointed out. "I don't know how, but she's managed to blanket the entire area with her reiatsu, making it impossible for my pesquisa to pinpoint her present location. It's as if I'm reading her everywhere, and simultaneously nowhere."
"Crap," Rainbow Dash grumbled. She really hated Nightmare Moon being clever. "Can't you do like you did with the fog and just disperse it or something?"
Twilight shook her head in response. "It doesn't work that way, Rainbow Dash. Reiatsu doesn't just go away or get dispersed, it sticks around almost like a tar. Ulquiorra wouldn't be able to disperse it anymore than he could drive the color out of the area."
When she had recruited Spike and Ulquiorra in figuring out the initial mystery behind Rainbow Dash's hallucinations, they'd both been given a crash course in the basic physics of Ulquiorra's reality. To say they were familiar with the subject would be an understatement right now. And while she really would love it if Rainbow Dash's idea held water, she knew it unfortunately didn't.
Luna looked to Celestia, knowing that she hadn't yet had a chance at recovering from her earlier exertions. She looked like she was barely even able to stand on her own hooves; doing further battle was out of the question for her, that wasn't even up for debate at this point.
"She could attack at any time, from any location. And we would not know until it was too late," she noted, already making ready to immediately cast a force field at the first sign of trouble, and hoping that the area in which it would be deployed with Nightmare Moon free, so as to not trap her in with them.
"She's trying to make us afraid again," Spike stated as he gripped his hammer tightly, eyes darting back and forth as he tried to see something -anything- that was out of sorts, that would give them some clue as to what the game plan might be. "She probably knows she can't survive another standup fight."
"Ah got the feeling ya might be right about that," Applejack commented. Who knew how much magic Nightmare Moon had used up in surviving Celestia's attack. Shoot, she was probably a lot weaker now, and was looking to build herself back up once again by feeding on more fear.
Well, that wasn't going to happen. She wasn't about to give into fear and panic just because some ornery sidewinder was trying to spook her. Forget that. No, that didn't go quite far enough. On second thought, fuck that! She wasn't about to be a source of food for anypony or anything, and certainly not for the likes of Nightmare Moon!
"Stop hiding an' show yerself already, ya rotten varmint!" she yelled, her tone heavy with frustration and anger over how things had been progressing. She was tired of this hide and seek nonsense, and would much rather face an upfront confrontation, even if Nightmare Moon was an alicorn while she wasn't.
"Considering everything that's happened since this whole mess started, I'm inclined to agree wholeheartedly," Rarity stated firmly. After all of the ponies that had been hurt, the relationships that'd been tested and strained, the immeasurable suffering that'd been inflicted on them all for no reason other than simply being present, the notion of a standup fight appealed to her on a deeply primal level. "If I had the opportunity, I'd thrash the living daylights out of her."
"By all means, my little pony, thrash away..."
All semblances of bravado on Rarity's part immediately faded at the sound of the disembodied voice that seemed to originate from all around them, while simultaneously feeling as if it'd just been whispered right in her ear, in a manner that tickled the individual hairs of the fur lining it, and sent a violent chill of terror running up and down her spine. Immediately she looked around, trying to find the origin of the voice, but found nothing. That just served to disturb her further, as she knew what she'd felt at the time.
And then there was laughing. Wicked, mocking, demonic laughter that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, with no distinct point of origin.
"Stop your hiding and show yourself, Nightmare Moon! Come out and face us at once!" Celestia barked as she stood up straighter. Despite the fatigue she currently felt, it was doing little to quell her fury.
Her demand, however, was simply rebuked with more laughter filling the air.
"Really now, Celestia, I think we've clearly established by now that you're not in a position to be making demands of anyone, much less myself," Nightmare Moon cackled.
Despite the claim, however, Nightmare Moon did appear before them, far enough away from their position on the ground to make an immediate attack against her unfeasible, but still close enough that they could see her smirking down on their position on the ground, and not even showing so much as a scratch on her body.
"You gave it your best shot, but even the two heaviest hitters in the whole hit parade couldn't do anything the likes of me. Just face facts and accept your defeat already, and save me the trouble of having to beat the optimism out of you and yours. Simply admit that you've lost, and I'll be merciful in my rule," she continued.
Celestia scowled in response to Nightmare Moon's boast. "I'll never accept your rule, Nightmare Moon," she stated defiantly.
Unfortunately her statement of intent was met with more laughter, as Nightmare Moon seemed to take a perverse amount of delight in her unwillingness to surrender.
"Sister," Luna spoke up, "as much as I admire your spirit, you are in no condition to continue fighting, you are too weak."
"You need not concern yourself with my well being, Luna," Celestia replied. "I have something in mind. But we'll need at least one minute to put it into motion..."
Even as high up as she was, Nightmare Moon had heard the statement with ease, and scoffed in response. If Celestia had been trying to whisper to Luna in order to avoid eavesdropping on what she had to say, then she'd just failed miserably at it. She may as well have been shouting it from the peak of Canterlot Castle.
"Oh no you don't, not again. If you think I'm going to let you have even one second to put this plan of yours into motion this time around, Celestia, then you're going to be sorely mis-"
Before she could finish her sentence, she was interrupted as Ulquiorra flashed into existence in front of her, his left arm pulled back. She didn't even have the chance to process what had happened, nor even see his movements as he thrust his arm forward. It'd all been a giant blur that had caught her off guard, before an excruciating pain violently erupted within her chest, causing her to involuntarily scream out in agony.
Looking down as her blurred vision cleared to some degree, much to her horror, she quickly learned that the source of the pain had been him shattering her rib cage as he impaled her with his hand, the appendage buried all the way to his wrist in her chest cavity!
"Sorely mistaken. That's what you were going to say, correct?" Ulquiorra asked, an almost casual tone in his voice as he did, standing in stark contrast to her shrieking delivery. "You're correct in your evaluation. Whatever plan Princess Celestia may have in mind, I knew you'd never allow us the time necessary to actually put it into motion. Fortunately we don't have to count on you having a sense of fair play to do just that," he explained as he began pushing deeper into her chest.
Nightmare Moon emitted a cross between a piercing scream, and a choking cough, trying to properly express the amount of pain she was suffering right now, while simultaneously trying to clear her airways of the blood that had found its way inside them.
"I have no idea how you survived Princess Celestia's attack. But rest assured it won't be happening a second time. This time around, you will be dying, because I'm going to see to it myself. This mission is now under my authority," he explained firmly.
Nightmare Moon tried to gasp for much-needed air, but found the task to be more or less impossible due to a tightness in her chest. A tightness that she only realized too late came from the fact that right now, the Espada was actually rooting around and groping her internal organs! Sweet merciful Faust, he was fondling her entrails!
"Well now, you're certainly full of surprises. It seems you really do have a heart after all," he commented as he squeezed the quickly-pulsating organ in his hand, causing her to emit a strangled scream in response. "Matters such as the heart have intrigued me for quite some time now. Perhaps we should bring it out into the open where there's more light for a more thorough study."
He pulled to withdraw his hand, and Nightmare Moon's heart along with it, but found the major blood vessels it was attached to were quite strong, and didn't give into tearing as easily as he was expecting. He'd just have to pull harder, regardless of how much screaming and convulsing she was doing. He'd just briefly caught a glimpse of the mysterious organ being removed from her body, before suddenly she had no body from which to actually extract it.
Much to his disbelief and amazement, he watched as her body completely disintegrated, leaving him not only empty handed, but with no blood on his hands either; quite literally in this case. There wasn't any physical trace of Nightmare Moon to be found anywhere.
Thankfully, a lack of physical traces to pick up on, did nothing to change the fact that there were other traces that could indeed be picked up on, now that he knew what to look for. Unlike previously, there was no blanketing reiatsu that clouded the area, and made her detection impossible.
"I know that you're still here, I can sense your presence. There's no sense in trying to hide when I can detect you. Come back out and actually face me, or you'll wish that you had," he stated.
The next thing he knew, he saw what appeared to be a swirling bank of ethereal material, looking much like Nightmare Moon's mane and tail a hundred or so feet away from him, condensing in upon itself, before she finally reappeared in her physical form. More than just reappearing, there was no sign of any physical harm being done to her. At best she merely appeared to be winded from the effort that was involved.
So that was it then. He now understood why Nightmare Moon hadn't been burnt to a crisp by Princess Celestia's attack. In truth she had been, it simply hadn't been permanent.
To an untrained observer, what he'd just witnessed would appear similar to the abilities of the woman, Orihime Inoue, and how she could reject the existence of physical damage. It might even be mistakenly labeled as high-speed regeneration. But this was something completely different. Whereas the woman had the ability to turn back time in a localized area, Nightmare Moon had instead deconstructed her entire body to an ethereal state, and then reassembled it to an undamaged state. She had decorporealized, and then subsequently recorporealized herself in order to undo the lethal injuries she'd been dealt; a great big no selling as it were.
It was also quite revealing of a number of fascinating -and potentially valuable- details about what was involved.
"A fairly impressive strategy. To think that you had contingencies in place, in the event you became overpowered by an underestimated opponent," he stated. "Based on your actions leading up to this point, I would've judged you as arrogant to the point of believing that no one could pose you any risk, and thus see no reason to even consider ways of healing yourself. It would appear that I was actually wrong for a change."
Nightmare Moon glared at Ulquiorra in response as she caught her breath. "You'll come to realize there's a great deal about me that you don't know, Espada. This isn't some simple, little story, and I'm not some one-dimensional villain that can be easily triumphed over!" she stated.
Ulquiorra remained unmoved by Nightmare Moon's statement, the lack of interest apparent on his face. "Is there a reason that I should care about such trivialities?"
At hearing the dull response, Nightmare Moon merely snorted in annoyance. "Care, don't care, it doesn't make any difference; not to me, and certainly not to the overall situation we find ourselves in. I'll admit, you managed to catch me off guard with that little maneuver you pulled, but I can guarantee you that it won't be happening again," she stated as her horn began to glow, and her body began to shimmer.
At hearing -and seeing- this, Ulquiorra quirked an eyebrow in response. "And just how do you intend to actually achieve that goal?"
"In truth I've already done it. Thanks to the earth pony magic my body holds, my bones, muscles, and even my skin now have the tensile strength of diamonds, rendering me impervious to whatever physical attacks you might attempt," Nightmare Moon boasted with a wicked smirk as the glow faded, knowing that there was nothing he could do against her now.
"You don't say," Ulquiorra replied, his lack of being impressed quite evident in his voice as he raised his right arm, and pointed directly at Nightmare Moon. "Then I simply won't use a physical attack against you."
Nightmare Moon's eyes widened momentarily as she saw the teal-green glow emitting from Ulquiorra's fingertip, instantly recognizing the fact that he was powering up his Cero for another go against her. That simply wouldn't do at all.
"So, that's how you want to play, is it?" she asked as her horn began glowing again, but for a different purpose this time. "Well then let's play!"
Despite the significantly later start, Nightmare Moon's attack was quicker to power up, being the first one discharged. However Ulquiorra's attack traveled faster, the two meeting roughly in the middle between each of them with a loud clash at the point of collision, and fluctuating colors shimmering wildly.
However this collision proved to be incredibly short lived. Without any warning, or inclination of what had happened, or was going to happen, everything simply ceased. In one bright flash and a low rumble, both of their attacks disappeared as if they were never there to begin with. That left the both of them stunned, and quite confused as to just what had happened.
"This was a turn of events I couldn't have foreseen developing," Ulquiorra commented.
"What? What just happened?" Nightmare Moon asked, curiosity overwhelming her desire to outright murder the Espada while he was analyzing the situation.
"As close as I can estimate, based on all the available information, the phase, wavelength, and polarity of our respective attacks are of such, that when they directly clash just as they did, they automatically cancel each other out," Ulquiorra replied as he tucked his hands into his pockets. This was certainly not something he'd anticipated being a possibility. This was going to require some reevaluation.
"Meaning what exactly?" Nightmare Moon asked.
"Meaning simply, that neither of our primary attacks are going to do any good at hurting one another. Even if they were to succeed in doing damage, the level of injury incurred likely wouldn't be significant enough to warrant the resources needed to even bother with such an attempt," Ulquiorra elaborated.
When Nightmare Moon survived contact with his Cero the first time around, he simply assumed that her reiatsu level exceeded his own. After watching her decorporialize, and then recorporialize herself in response to being impaled, he revised that assumption to be that she simply pulled the same trick to counter the damage she incurred. Now, in light of this new information, he was left to wonder if his Cero did any good at all, or if she had merely been trying to bullshit with him to begin with.
"Well that's a fine pickle we find ourselves in!" Nightmare Moon stated, snorting at the notion that she simply couldn't blast him away as she pleased. "Well, what now?" she asked.
"This."
Before she even had time to process the fact that she'd asked the question aloud as if she'd been politely conversing with him, he'd already responded, and had appeared right in front of her, before slamming his right fist straight into her muzzle.
The force of the impact proved sufficient to snap her head back, before the rest of her quickly followed as she flew backwards against her will, traveling a good hundred feet or so in distance before she finally managed to right herself, and regain control once again.
Her bones, muscles, and even skin might have the tensile strength of diamonds right now, but that blow had still hurt a great deal. And if the coppery smell she was picking up was any indication, the blood vessels in her muzzle didn't share the same resiliency as the rest of her. It was going to take forever to get the smell of her own blood out of her nostrils now!
But that was of small concern right now, there were more important issues to focus on, such as the Espada pressing his attack against her. She refocused her attention forward just in time to see him flash out of existence, putting her on high alert as her eyes moved about rapidly, trying to find some trace of him. The trace she sought flashed right past her on her left side, moving so fast she barely even saw it, before the same flash circled back around on her right side.
And that was when things started to get very weird. She knew that there was only one Espada to be had in this world, and yet she was seeing double! There were suddenly two Ulquiorras circling her at high speeds and... now there were three! Four! A dozen! There were a dozen Espada circling all around her! Did he have the ability to clone himself? And if he did, why were they simply running around her in all different directions? Why weren't they attacking from all conceivable angles and...
No. No these weren't clones, these were after-images, the result of his rapid movements being right at the threshold of her ability to detect and process. He was zooming about her at such high speeds, he was presenting himself as being everywhere at the same time! And adding insult to injury, he was mocking her. She knew from previous experience that if he wanted to, he could move so fast that she couldn't detect his movements, and he would be in a new location before her mind even processed he had taken a step. The fact that she was seeing so many of them, meant that he was intentionally moving slower than he could, and deliberately rubbing the fact in her face that she couldn't keep up with him!
But right now she couldn't focus on the fact that he was mocking her, or how he'd figured out what degree of speed he'd needed to achieve that goal. Right now it was more a question of which of these blurs was the real Espada that was trying to kill her? Which one did she need to focus on, while being able to safely ignore all the others that were meant purely to confuse her, and keep her distracted?
"Ora."
Nightmare Moon froze, eyes going wide at the realization that the voice had come from directly behind her, right about the time the after-images ceased. 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.
Suddenly she was much less than certain about the integrity of the diamond tensile strength of her body being able to withstand the assault it was being subjected to.
Nightmare Moon hadn't even had the opportunity to finish her bold declaration before Ulquiorra leaped into action. Those present cringed at witnessing him brutally impale her through her chest, with all the casualness of it being nothing but business as usual to him. Most of them still vividly remembered the horror of witnessing him do the same to the changeling that they'd thought was Fluttershy, the sound of bones shattering and flesh being torn apart still quite vivid in their memories. And this demonstration just served as a gruesome reminder. The only difference was that this time around, there were no arguments that the one who was on the receiving end actually deserved what they were getting.
Applejack was about to comment on how it looked like Ulquiorra had the situation under control, and how it looked like they weren't going to need any other plans put into motion now. But that particular observation died as she saw Nightmare Moon turn herself into mist in response.
"Oh my. Did... did that actually just happen?" Fluttershy anxiously asked.
"It sure did," Applejack replied as she watched Nightmare Moon reform, and look completely unharmed by the fact that Ulquiorra had put his fist through her chest just moments ago. Whatever magic was at work, it just had to be significant.
"Whatever magic Nightmare Moon is using to perform such a feat, it's something that I've never seen, nor even heard of myself. I didn't even know something like that was possible until I witnessed it for myself," Celestia stated, feeling both intrigued and terrified by what they were learning.
Ulquiorra was, without a doubt, more than strong enough to kill Nightmare Moon on his own; stronger than either herself or Luna in his own right. That blow just a moment ago had most certainly been fatal. Yet all of the strength in the world was useless to them right now, if Nightmare Moon could just undo whatever damage she accumulated with ease. There was no telling just what the extent of such magic was, or how often she could undo whatever was done to her. Physical strength only went so far in the real world, and physical strength by itself just couldn't overcome magic. Magic was needed to counter magic in this case.
"Luna, we have to act now. There's no time to waste," she stated firmly.
"I do not disagree with the sentiment, sister, I merely question what you have in mind when you can barely stand," Luna replied, unable to help but wonder just what Celestia's grand plan was. What had she been talking about prior to Ulquiorra's assault against Nightmare Moon, that would take them a full minute to execute?
Celestia shook her head in response. "Not me, Luna, you. I don't have the necessary strength to continue on my own; certainly not enough to draw on sufficient magic for stopping Nightmare Moon. What I intend to do is transfer what's left of my magic to you, so that you can stop her yourself. As best I can tell, based on what I currently feel, it should be more than enough to let you triumph in this."
Luna didn't know what to say at hearing this. Celestia was actually...
"Then let us proceed," she stated quickly as she stepped forward, knowing that there was very little time for thinking right now. They had to act first, they would think later.
Celestia gave a quick nod, before lowering her head to Luna's level until the tips of their horns touched.
The others could only watch in stunned silence as the golden hue of Celestia's magic flowed freely from her horn into Luna's, where it was sucked up like a vacuum. The entire demonstration was similar to what they'd witnessed when Rarity had donated her mana to Twilight back in Canterlot. But it was lasting far longer, and the amount of magic was much, much greater. It didn't appear to be slowing down either; if anything it looked like it was increasing. It was like somepony had forcefully wrenched open a water faucet that had previously been stuck, and now it was on full blast.
Twilight found herself torn on just what she wanted to observe. The transfer of mana from one pony to another was hardly an unheard of concept, but this scale of transfer most certainly was. It wasn't exactly breaking any new ground in terms of magical research, but the unfamiliar variable made her want to observe the process, and see what came of it.
At the same time, however, she desperately wanted to watch as Ulquiorra pummeled Nightmare Moon for all she was worth, for the visceral -even primal- satisfaction it would give her. After all of the pain and suffering she'd had to endure from watching Ponyville go to pieces all around her, and being helpless to do anything substantial, she craved watching the retribution unfold.
Intellectually, way in the back of her mind, she knew that what Ulquiorra was doing right now probably wouldn't amount to anything; not with Nightmare Moon's ability to simply piece herself back together in an unharmed state. But it was so hard to actually care about that right now!
With a violent flash of colors and lights above them, her decision was cemented, and she turned her attention skyward to watch as Ulquiorra beat the living fuck out of Nightmare Moon as she so richly deserved!
Any efforts on Nightmare Moon's part of keeping track of just how many blows Ulquiorra was delivering to, were quickly discarded and forgotten about in light of the beating itself that was being delivered. Increasing the tensile strength of her body was serving to protect her against any further piercing attacks that he might've tried delivering upon her, but it was doing absolutely nothing to shield her from the actual force that was behind each blow. That left her to suffer through and weather every single newton of force that was delivered to her frame. He might not be proving successful at injuring her, but he was proving quite exceptional at hurting her!
Focusing, she moved to break free, and escape any further beating that he had in store for her. But those efforts quickly proved fruitless 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 resumed pummeling her with the other one. Even when limited to half his offensive appendages, he was still keeping pace on his assault like it was nothing for him.
Acting 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; breathing room that was expanded upon as she flapped her wings to drive herself back, and increase the distance between them even further.
Taking stock of the situation was painting a very gloom picture. She was unbelievably sore even with all the adrenaline coursing through her system, she could barely catch her breath after all the blows she'd taken to the ribs, she could barely even think straight, and she was alone with... whatever he was, who had made it his own private mission in this world to kill her through whatever course of action he deemed necessary.
Making it all worse, that breathing room she'd earned herself had come to an immediate end as her opponent righted himself with ease, and proceeded to launch himself right in her direction! She'd put everything she had in that kick, and he just shook it off like it was nothing! That simply wouldn't do; not at all!
She was quick to respond, summoning her scythe to strike him down as he advanced. But not quick enough to actually strike before he reached her position, and returned her kick with one of his own, right to her face with enough force to send her flying backwards once again, and causing her scythe to dissolve before it could actually be put into use.
He was as persistent as he was vicious. Under different circumstances his character would be admirable, respectable even. But not when she was facing him as an enemy in the midst of battle, and most certainly not in the middle of fighting for her very life! This ridiculousness had been going on for far too long, and she was going to bring an end to it right bucking now!
Throwing out her magic, she ensnared him where he currently was in relation to herself, ensuring that he couldn't strike her any further as she righted herself. And from what she could see as she did such, she'd responded not a moment too soon, as she'd caught him in the process of unsheathing his sword for the purpose of using against her! Fortunately he'd only gotten the blade partially out in the open, but that was of small comfort right now.
Now that she had him, however, she actually had to keep him there. It'd been difficult enough the first time around when she'd only been restraining his one arm to keep him from drawing his sword. But now that she had his entire body restrained, it was proving to be so much more difficult than she'd anticipated.
The fact that he was still physically struggling against her hold just made it all the worse. Even as tightly as she was holding onto him, he was still able to exert some minute degree as movement; not enough to do any good, but certainly enough to demonstrate that he wouldn't be easily subdued.
This was going to require some rethinking on the approach.
"Release me at once," Ulquiorra stated plainly.
"As if-" Nightmare Moon grunted, "as if I'd ever do something like that. That would be a very stupid decision to make right now."
"Then I'll simply have to make you do such," he commented.
At that Nightmare Moon actually laughed. He was going to make her let him go? That was utterly hilarious! She'd be laughing even harder than she was right now, if not for the fact that she had to stay focused.
"If you had any magic about you, I might actually be worried by that statement. But the simple fact is that you don't. You're no spirit of chaos, you're no alicorn, you're not even a lowly unicorn. I've watched you and I know that all your skills, everything you can do, relies on you actually being physically able to move, which you can't do right now," she pointed out, wishing that she could be more eloquent in her mocking of him and his empty threats. But sadly that wasn't the case, and she had to settle for the bare bones approach to pointing out his failings. "I've got you caught, like a fly in a spider's web, and there's nothing you can do about it. What could you possibly hope to do against me in your current condition?"
As it turned out, watching Ulquiorra pummel Nightmare Moon unmercifully, wasn't nearly as satisfying -or entertaining- as they initially thought it might be. He was moving at speeds that were simply too fast for them to perceive his attacks, meaning all they could really see were a lot of blurs, and her frame constantly being rocked by the impacts. Even if that wasn't the case, he'd knocked her so far back, they looked incredibly tiny where they currently were in the sky, making it difficult to see anything regardless.
It took very little time for them to conclude that watching the transfer of magic between the diarchy, was the more interesting affair to watch unfold.
"This is taking way more than one minute," Spike muttered.
"Seventy nine seconds and counting."
Twilight's head whipped around as she looked at Pinkie at hearing this. "Wait, you mean you've actually been keeping track this whole time?"
"You mean that you haven't?" Pinkie asked in return.
No. No she had certainly not. Twilight's mind had been so chaotic with everything going on, she hadn't thought to consider the possibility of Celestia being wrong on her evaluation of how much time they'd need to put her plan into action. It simply hadn't ever entered into consideration. Even if it had, she honestly couldn't say what sort of difference it would've made.
Without warning the entire area was rocked by an explosive force that just seemed to come completely out of nowhere, sending strong tremors radiating throughout the ground as a significant portion of the Everfree Forest before them was just... obliterated was the only word to describe what they saw in the span of time they'd been paying attention. Entire swaths of twisted trees were just utterly crushed and destroyed like they were absolutely nothing, as the ground around and beneath them was forcefully shaken; like tons of invisible weight had just been dropped on it. The only noise that'd been audible over the sound of forest destruction was an inequine shriek coming from way above them.
"What in the-" Applejack started, only to be interrupted as the same... whatever it was, happened once again, rocking the ground that they stood on, as more of the wrecked section of forest was struck again, followed by another shriek.
This was soon followed by yet another repeat, and another, the commotion coming in a steady stream of assault. It wasn't rapid fire in its delivery, but it was certainly striking every couple of seconds with enough force to shake the ground each and every time. Each successive strike was serving to further obliterate the remnants of forest in the affected area, splintering what was left of the trees and underbrush, and even cratering the ground itself!
"What's going on!?" Spike asked, naturally terrified by what was being witnessed, and the complete absence of any idea as to what it was.
"I can't see anything!" Rainbow Dash yelled as another boom of force sounded. Quickly she turned to Twilight. "Twi' what's going on? Do you know what's happening?"
In truth she didn't. Twilight didn't have a single damn clue as to what was going on right now, or how it was connected to what they were currently experiencing. She didn't know anything more than the rest of them, other than the fact that whatever was going on was also making it difficult for Celestia and Luna do properly do what they were trying to do.
Well, that and the fact that whatever was currently happening, was happening directly underneath Ulquiorra's current position in the sky and...
She nearly whacked herself in the face with her own hoof as she put the parts together, and realized that whatever was going on, it had to be Ulquiorra's doing. But exactly what he was doing was the question. She quickly cast the mage's sight spell and looked skyward, trying to get some idea of just what Ulquiorra was up to.
What she actually saw, however, she didn't know how to adequately describe. This was... this was something else!
"Whoa..."
"What is it, Twilight, what do you see?" Rarity asked, just before the ground was rocked once again.
"I really don't know," Twilight replied as she shook her head and turned her attention back to the group. "I've never seen anything like this before. At the moment I can only hazard a best guess estimate. But going off of what I'm seeing, it looks like Ulquiorra is actually concentrating all of his reiatsu into an area half the size of a city block, and dropping it all right on top of Nightmare Moon. He's literally beating her over the head with nothing more than the spiritual pressure his body normally generates!"
Her earlier statement of astonishment was joined by several others at this revelation. To some extent or another, they had all felt what it was like to be around Ulquiorra when he didn't bother to suppress the full extent of his reiatsu, and they knew that it was significant. But to see it causing physical damage like this, to actually witness if affecting the surrounding area, that was something else; it was terrifying actually. It was so easy to forget just how much strength he commanded in his svelte frame, what with the care he exercised with his surroundings when it came to controlling that strength.
But when it came to Nightmare Moon, he didn't have to demonstrate that same care and consideration. Instead he could lay into her, and really let her have it without a second thought!
"He's really letting her have it," Spike commented as yet another tremor of force resonated its way through the ground.
"But... but why though?" Fluttershy asked weakly. "Why is he going with this particular attack instead of something... more direct? It just... it doesn't seem like something that he'd normally do."
"Hm? Whatever do you mean, darling?" Rarity asked, her curiosity piqued by what Fluttershy was getting at.
"It..." Fluttershy paused as she tried to find the words, "this just doesn't feel like something Ulquiorra would do. It's not his style."
Twilight's brow furrowed in thought over what Fluttershy was trying to say. Granted, they hadn't seen Ulquiorra do anything like this before, but that didn't really mean anything, did it? There was still so much about him that they simply didn't know, as he had yet to share everything about himself with them.
All rational thought on the matter was quickly abandoned as Ulquiorra crashed into the ground right next to their group, resulting in more than a few terrified screams from them as a result. The position of his landing did nothing to suggest it'd been his own idea to disengage from the battle with Nightmare Moon, and his overall condition looked abysmal. His breathing was very labored as he struggled to climb back to his feet, and his complexion looked positively pale; pale even by his own ashy, off-white standards.
"You look like crap!" Rainbow Dash stated for the group as Pinkie was in the process of helping pull him back onto his feet. Just the fact that he wasn't doing anything to suggest he didn't actually need the help was concerning in its own right.
"Wha' happened? Why're ya back down here, instead o' up there an' rippin' Nightmare Moon a new one?" Applejack asked.
"Nightmare Moon concluded that I pose little threat to her when rendered stationary," Ulquiorra explained as he stood up straighter. "She was proven wrong in her assessment, but the process of actually doing such was far more difficult than I anticipated."
While hardly the most terrifying thing they'd ever heard Ulquiorra say, the simple statement still spoke volumes to the lot of them. He wasn't one who struck up a conversation with others just to pass the time, or for the sake of talking. When he spoke, he was careful in the selection of his words, as they had meaning behind them. And now here he was, openly admitting that he was having trouble against Nightmare Moon. What did he have to be experiencing to warrant him making such a statement?
It was a question that went unanswered -perhaps thankfully so- as the light between Celestia and Luna finally fizzled out and stopped, bringing their attention back to the two sisters. Throughout the whole transfer they'd been acting like they were in a trance, oblivious to the world around them even when it was quaking. Now they were about to see what the end result of it all was.
The difference between the two was as they stood back up was as stark as the difference between night and day itself. Celestia looked as if the simple act of just standing back up had consumed what little stamina she had left, as had left her unable to either bring herself back to her full height or even open her eyes the whole way. She was slouching, her head just barely above her withers, and looked like she was going to collapse at any second. Meanwhile Luna looked wide awake, wide-eyed, and just seconds away from succumbing to a vicious sugar high.
"It's done," Celestia managed to utter, before groaning as she proceeded to topple over and fall to the ground before anypony could catch her.
As she hit the ground, the familiar visage crumbled like a house of cards and dissipated, leaving a very different pony behind in its wake. Unlike the tall, regal form Celestia had, this pony was much smaller, barely reaching the average height of a grown mare. Instead of a long, flowing mane and tail with neapolitan coloring that seemed to blow in an ethereal breeze, hers were standard hairs with a uniform pink coloration.
It was more or less obvious that this pony was still Celestia, but it was a Celestia none of them were familiar with; rather it was one who looked so small and vulnerable in comparison, with regalia that looked far too big to fit her tiny frame.
At the same time, Luna's entire body was beginning to glow, giving off a golden aura that seemed to get brighter by the second, until everyone present was forced to either look away or shield their eyes.
Everyone except for Ulquiorra, who was able to see through the aura, and observe just what was happening. He could see what the infusion from Princess Celestia was doing to not only Princess Luna's reiatsu, but also herself directly. The infusion of magic was rapidly reshaping Princess Luna's body itself, forcing her to grow into a larger, stronger form; stronger than Princess Celestia had been in her dragon form. Stronger than even Nightmare Moon if his readings were correct.
As the glow of the aura finally faded, everyone was able to see what the end result was, and it was indeed impressive. Luna stood before them, as easily as tall as Celestia had been, but looking undeniably tougher in terms of her build than her sister, with a much darker blue coat, contrasted by the now golden trim of her armor.
The general consensus amongst the group was that the end result was undeniably impressive, with many stating something to such an effect.
Luna said nothing in response to their statements, as she leaned down to nudge Celestia's prone form with her snout, and continued doing such until the smaller alicorn finally began to stir and move on her own again.
"I've done all that I can do. The rest is up to you now, Luna," Celestia stated in a voice that was much higher, and much younger sounding than her own. As she fully opened her eyes to look around, they grew wide as they fell upon Luna, alight with both awe and wonder at the end result. "Oh my. I wasn't expecting this!"
Luna gently smiled, nuzzling her sister's cheek as she did, before standing back up to her full, newfound height.
"Ulquiorra Cifer, you have done quite well against Nightmare Moon, my friend," she announced as she stepped forward, demonstrating that even her voice had been affected by the infusion of Celestia's magic. "But now the time has come for you to depart. Take my sister back to Canterlot where she will be safe. I will tend to this matter on my own..." she stated as she walked forward, preparing to engage Nightmare Moon once again.
"You can't be serious."
The statement had come so far out of left field that Luna hadn't known what to think upon hearing it. Mentally stumbling, she turned back around to face Ulquiorra once again.
"This is the perfect opportunity For Nightmare Moon to be completely overwhelmed, dominated, and outright killed through our combined strength. And you wish to waste that opportunity?" he asked her pointedly. "There's no logic to be found in such an approach," he stated even more pointedly.
Celestia nodded in agreement where she sat, the act nearly causing her crown to slip right off her head in the process.
"Ulquiorra Cifer..."
The tone of voice Luna spoke in as she stepped closer to where he stood was very authoritative, and very commanding, despite not being even an octave higher than it'd been just a moment before.
"I am ordering you to take Celestia back to Canterlot," she stated as she stopped directly in front of him, close enough that the tip of her horn easily touched his forehead. "Am I understood?"
The tone used in the question had been especially firm in its delivery. It actually felt as if it was an open challenge to dissent being aired in response. The air was tense in the aftermath, and a collective breath was more or less held as they waited to see who would blink first in this standoff.
In the end, it was Ulquiorra who was ultimately the first to yield. "As you command, Princess Luna."
Celestia was beside herself in disbelief at this turn of events. This was actually happening?
"Luna-" she protested even as Ulquiorra was in the process of picking her up of the forest floor, and more or less draping her on his back.
"Hush, sister, you no longer have a part in this," Luna interrupted, silencing the disagreement before it could even begin. "Do not argue with me on this, or you will sincerely wish that you had not!"
Celestia found herself floored by the sheer coldness of Luna's tone of address. She found herself floundering, trying to form some sort of protest to how everything was unfolding before her, but wholly unable to actually get the words out as Ulquiorra ascended into the air with her in tow.
Had she, unknowingly, somehow made this situation worse, by saddling Luna with what might be considered an insurmountable task?
Luna watched as Ulquiorra departed with Celestia in tow, before returning her attention to... well, her present surroundings, as there was still the question of where Nightmare Moon presently was. She could still sense the fiend's dark presence, but was unable to tell just where she was. It was like what Ulquiorra had been saying earlier, about her seeming to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. As hard as he'd pounded her during his session, it really wasn't a surprise that she'd go back into hiding at her first available opportunity.
Her attention then turned to Twilight, Spike, and all the others who were still present, wearing expressions of terror, confusion, and uncertainty with the situation before them. All things considered, it was an understandable reaction.
"I would advise you to return to the relative safety of Ponyville while you still can. This situation is going to become far more heated before it is resolved. I am most certain of that," she stated.
"Nopony is going anywhere!"
Once again, the disembodied voice of Nightmare Moon sounded from all around them, causing them to jump in surprise. Only this time around, it was a lot louder than when she'd been teasing Rarity.
"You saw fit to stick your collective noses where they don't belong, and now you have to face the consequences of your actions. If any of you even try to set so much as one hoof outside of the forest, everything that's happened up until now will look like a warmup in comparison to what I'll unleash on Equestria next!"
This turn of events only served to deepen the frown that'd been forming on Luna's face. A frown that she wasn't the least bit shy about sharing with the others at the moment. Twilight and the others were at risk if they remained right in the heat of the situation. But if they left, Nightmare Moon was promising severe repercussions, and she wasn't certain they'd be able to stop that from coming to pass. She could be bluffing, but they couldn't really afford to call her on it; not yet anyway. Just the fact that she was hanging around to taunt them, rather than fleeing when she had the opportunity, suggested far more was going on than they were seeing; more than meets the eye as it were.
"Get out here and say that to my face!" Spike yelled back angrily.
"Yeah, show yourself you gutless coward!" Rainbow Dash added as she hovered off the ground. "We're gonna fuck your face!"
Luna groaned. She appreciated that the others were willing to help her in this mess they found themselves in, but this wasn't the sort of help she needed. False bravado would only do so much.
Then again, taunting and insulting Nightmare Moon in such a manner might keep her agitated and unbalanced, and work in their advantage. Perhaps she should actually be encouraging this sort of crass behavior? There were certainly a few insults she wouldn't mind lobbing herself right now.
"Is that so?"
All eyes turned forward as the disembodied voice sounded far more localized this time around, and they were treated to the sight of Nightmare Moon slowly descending into view, her massive wings flapping in a slow manner as she hovered well off the ground, putting her in the right position to look down on them; something she did with a smug glare of superiority.
"The amount of bravado and arrogance being demonstrated here is thicker than peanut butter, and not nearly as appetizing. Do you puny little mortals honestly believe that you stand a chance against the likes of me?" she asked then pointedly.
"Honestly? How 'bout ya c'mon down here an' we'll find out fer ourselves," Applejack quipped.
Nightmare Moon actually laughed in response. "Oh that's just adorable. Little pony, you have no idea just what you're messing with..."
"Wait, you mean you're not actually an egomaniacal, body-stealing, soul-eating, mass-murdering, sadistic, demonic parasite, with delusions of grandeur and plans for the genocidal extermination of all life in Equestria as we know it?" Pinkie asked.
Nightmare Moon's amusement turned to annoyance at this question. "Alright, you know what? Just for that one, fatso, I think I'll start by breaking you first!"
A crack sounded as something hot and sharp suddenly erupted across her face, forcing her to shut her eyes out of instinct as her face felt like it was suddenly on fire. Fire, and pain that seemed to reach deep below the surface and violently assault her nerves in a way that made her want to scream out. She only then noticed something warm and wet against her face, and opened her eyes to discover that it was blood. More specifically, it was her blood.
Looking back down at the others, she saw that Luna now held her helmet aloft in a tendril of her starry mane. It didn't really take a genius to figure out what'd just happened.
"I am your opponent in this conflict Nightmare Moon, not anypony else; they are off limits to you! If they are attacked in any way, if even so much as one hair of their manes is put out of place, you will be made to regret it," Luna stated firmly.
Nightmare Moon snorted in response. "You're hardly in a position to be threatening anyone, Little Luna," she replied dismissively. "Now be a good little pony princess, and give me my helmet back."
"Bite me," Luna replied as the tendril of mane trembled and squeezed the helmet tighter, before crushing it as easily as if it were nothing but an empty soda can.
The demonstration caused Nightmare Moon's eyes to go wide, but not out of surprise. Rather it was disbelief at such actually being done.
"Alright. Now you-"
The remains of her helmet being hurled back at her head served to interrupt her warning, causing her to move to the left to dodge the impending impact.
Exactly what happened next was up for debate as she hadn't seen it herself, but she suddenly found herself being slammed against the ground.
Perhaps, and it was really just speculation on her part of entirely unlikely scenarios, but perhaps she was underestimating how much of a threat Luna actually was to her, in her current powered up form. She was, at the very least, as strong as Celestia had been in terms of base magical strength. Exactly what she did with that strength in this engagement, however, that was the question she didn't yet have the answer to.
Celestia knew from experience that Ulquiorra could move quite fast. Exactly what the upper limits of his speed were, she really didn't know; certainly faster than the eye could follow, and the mind could process, but that was about it. What she did know for certain, was that their current speed of travel wasn't anywhere near that level.
It was, however, a sufficient enough speed to compel her to hunker down and hold onto him tightly as he flew, for fear of possibly being blown right off his back by the oncoming air currents they had to weather in the course of their travels. And as high up as they currently were, that was a landing she really didn't want to experience firsthoof. He would most likely be able to catch her before she would ever actually hit the ground, but why actually take the risk?
Because it was ultimately necessary to do such; that was why.
It was unbelievably difficult for her to actually relinquish hold on him with her right foreleg, even as her left tensed to cling to him tighter, in order to rap him on the back of the head to get his attention; trying to yell into the wind blowing in her face in order to get his attention wouldn't do much good, even if she was close to his ear.
Fortunately it looked like her efforts were having the desired results, as he was slowing down considerably.
"What is it?"
"I was hoping you might actually be able to explain that," she replied as she readjusted her hold on him. "Starting with what exactly are we doing here?"
"Princess Luna has ordered that we return to Canterlot, and we're complying with that order," Ulquiorra replied in a very simple, straight to the point manner of address.
Celestia sighed, wanting to shake her head, but knew he wouldn't be able to see the gesture, so there was no point in actually doing such. "No, no, that's not what I meant. None of this is making any sense to me. You said yourself that Luna's plan wasn't logical, but you didn't even argue when she ordered you out. Why're you even going along with this?"
"My initial assessment of the situation was based on incomplete information at the time. In light of new information and evidence, it's no longer valid," Ulquiorra explained.
Celestia's brow furrowed in confusion, feeling distinctly like the odd mare out to an inside joke that was being told. "New information? Ulquiorra, what new information could've changed your mind in the few seconds between you telling Luna off, and suddenly evacuating the area?"
"Finding out exactly what Princess Luna's plan entails," Ulquiorra stated, before continuing to explain before she could press him for details. "She intends to bring the totality of her strength to bear against Nightmare Moon, and hit her with everything she has. The only thing currently stopping her from doing such is the uncertainty of whether or not she can properly control her newfound strength, and as such she needs to evacuate the area of any potential liabilities that would get in the way of doing just that; liabilities such as yourself, myself, and the others currently present in the clearing."
"That... that makes a lot of sense out of everything now," Celestia mumbled as numerous pieces of the puzzle suddenly fell into place. A great deal of Luna's sudden change in demeanor didn't seem so jarring, now that they were put in the right context. "I was afraid I'd wound up making the situation worse somehow..."
"You don't trust Princess Luna," Ulquiorra elaborated.
Celestia winced in response to the statement. "You don't understand, Ulquiorra, I do trust Luna. But at the same time, I also know Luna; far better than anypony ever really could. With everything that's been going on in recent weeks, she'd had to step up and assume far more responsibilities and stress, and at a rapid pace that others might consider unhealthy. I was worried that the sudden change in her demeanor indicated that the burden had finally become too much for her to bear, and that such was my fault for essentially tasking her with stopping Nightmare Moon all by herself," she explained.
"Such doesn't appear to be the case in this matter. Princess Luna has already prepared for contingencies in the event of her efforts failing," Ulquiorra stated.
"Contingencies?" Celestia asked in disbelief. Luna already had contingencies in mind for this situation!? "What sort of contingencies could she have come up with so quickly?"
"The purpose behind our return to Canterlot is two-fold. The first is to get out of the way so that Princess Luna is free to operate uninhibited. The second is to facilitate a counterattack against Nightmare Moon."
"A counterattack? What sort of counterattack?" Celestia asked.
"Myself. The initial engagement against Nightmare Moon proved quite resource-intensive, and far more difficult than initially assumed, even for myself. Once you're safely returned to the Canterlot Palace, I'm to reinvigorate myself by utilizing the intense levels of mana located in Canterlot, and return to battle at full strength. If Princess Luna concludes that she simply can't kill Nightmare Moon through her own efforts, she's going to keep her pinned down and unable to escape until my return, at which point we completely overwhelm her through our combined strength," Ulquiorra explained.
Celestia didn't want to say she was impressed by the plan Luna had in mind, as doing such would do a disservice to her sister. But despite that fact, she certainly was impressed -perhaps amazed- that Luna had thought things through not only as far as she had, but also as quickly as she had.
"And she managed to convey all of this information to you, in just a few seconds worth of time?" she asked him.
"Correct. Her skills in telepathic communication are significantly more advanced than your own. Several minutes worth of elaboration and explanation was had within the span of several seconds worth of time. All done in a manner that prevents Nightmare Moon from becoming wise to what the intended course of action is, and leaving her unable to respond to such," Ulquiorra explained.
"I suppose that's to be expected, considering her dream duties and all," Celestia mumbled. "That certainly explains a few things. I was certain you'd be vigorously opposing her on this, and making another attempt on Nightmare Moon's very existence by yourself."
"Had the order come five minutes earlier, I most likely would have done just that," Ulquiorra admitted. However that had been before learning for himself just what Nightmare Moon could actually do. He could lay waste to her, devastating her physical being with one fatal blow after another, but it would do little good if she could just piece herself back together with little-to-no effort, and undo all of his hard work like it was nothing. And with her making every effort at preventing him from unsheathing his zanpakutō, that made it even more difficult to argue.
In this case, retreat was a valid tactic. Princess Celestia possessed too much value to Equestria's continued existence, to simply just leave her in the line of fire where she could possible be killed. And with Princess Luna keeping Nightmare Moon busy and distracted, it would afford the opportunity to revert back into his true form without interruption, and demonstrate the utter futility of her efforts against them.
"So I take it the plan of devouring Nightmare Moon's soul simply wasn't an option?" Celestia asked.
"When was such an approach even discussed?"
It was only after she asked the question, did Celestia remember that all of the talk about the possibility of Ulquiorra eating Nightmare Moon had been nothing more than speculation on their part. Now she felt rather silly for bringing it up in the first place.
"Regardless of such details, such an approach is an option, however it isn't a particularly good one at the moment," Ulquiorra clarified.
"... I honestly never expected to hear you say something like that," Celestia admitted. "So why wouldn't devouring Nightmare Moon's soul be a good option in this fight?"
"Hollows evolve by devouring one another. Of the hundreds of thousands, to millions of individual Hollows it takes to evolve into a Vasto Lorde, only the strongest, most dominant personality emerges to actually exert dominance over the amalgamation, and transform it into something other than a writhing mass of mindless, hunger-driven beasts. Not knowing anything about the mechanics of souls in this world, devouring Nightmare Moon is a risky approach to the problem. It may kill her, and bring an end to our struggles against her. But at the same time it may not, as there's the possibility that she may be able to assert dominance, and claim my form for herself."
Celestia shuddered hard at his assessment, having heard more than enough on the matter. One of the last things she wanted to contemplate right now, was the possibility of Nightmare Moon getting any stronger than she already was, or claiming anymore victims than she had already. Just the fact that he had considered such possibilities for himself, was more than enough for her.
"Less talk, more speed. Let's get back to Canterlot as soon as she can," she stated and held onto him tightly.
The words had barely gotten out of her mouth before she felt a significant increase in speed on Ulquiorra's part, making her thankful that she'd tightened her hold on him.
"Luna, please be alright..."