Luna awoke in the late afternoon. Twilight looked a bit worn from the late night but was still hard at work on her notes. Starlight was slumped over on the couch and scribbling magic diagrams. Luna had kept Twilight and Starlight up late as they researched and practiced magic that might work against the shadow beasts, but without a way to actually test the spells, they could only guess at how effective each spell might be.
Luna opened her door, and the guard outside saluted. “Princess Luna! Celestia ordered me to tell you that she wants to see you in the throne room as soon as possible.”
“At ease. Thank you for passing the message along.” Luna smiled at the guard and cantered down the hallway.
The usual dignitaries and other ponies were gathered in and near the throne room, trying to gain Celestia’s favor or ask her advice on their problems. Once Luna entered the room, the servants quickly ushered the other ponies out. Celestia stepped off her throne and stretched.
“Luna, the problem is getting bigger. The shadow beasts attacked the scouts I sent to try and track them last night. The disappearances are spreading, but the larger pattern of them is headed straight for Canterlot. We’ll need to be ready to defend our subjects.”
“That is grave news. Where’s that dragon? He said he’d help us.”
“He’s off gathering the changelings. Spike sent me some updates on that situation. After Orsuros showed what the shadow beasts are and what they can do, Thorax agreed that we would have the full support of the changelings. His full account was rather unnerving. You may read it if you wish. I’ll call Twilight and Starlight. We need to move quickly.”
Celestia motioned to the servants to fetch their friends while sliding a letter to Luna. Luna levitated it with her magic and read carefully.
“So, Spike wrote this account? This is all true? These things are far worse than we thought. But it sounds like they can be defeated.”
“They seem more dangerous in large groups. I’m sure we could defeat many with magic or hooves, but it will be hard to face them when a single touch could make their number grow. We’ll need to be careful.”
Luna read over the last few lines. “It worries me that Orsuros sounds unsure about them. He says they seem to be acting smarter than usual. How did they get the scouts?”
“Shadow pegasi. They seem to be somehow adapting to what they’ve taken from ponies. If they also have unicorn magic, we could be in serious trouble. I have my guard captains readying the city and our forces, but without something extra to protect them, I’m not sure how we’ll do. We don’t even know how many there are. The scouts that escaped said there are at least a hundred.”
Luna frowned. “And what about the shadow dragon that leads them?”
“No sign of him yet.” Celestia looked up as Twilight and Starlight entered the room. “Ah, there you are. Did you find anything to help us?”
They nervously dug through the books and notes they had brought until Twilight found what she was looking for.
Twilight held up the page of notes with her magic. “I think I’ve got something. We’ve been working on a cutie mark protection spell. So far, it can stop Starlight’s magic from taking a cutie mark, but, uh, the guards you had help us might need some therapy. There were a lot of failed experiments.”
Starlight laughed nervously “Their marks will go back to normal before long. We fixed the ones that we could.”
“I think my spell will protect anypony I cast it on for at least a little while,” Twilight said.
Starlight gave her a playful glare. “You mean our spell?”
“Yes, our spell. You did plenty of work on it, too.”
“I’m sure the guards will have bigger things to worry about,” Celestia said.
“So what is that you want me to do, sister?” Luna asked.
“I think we need to stop the enemy from spreading and figure out how to begin fighting back. You’ll take some of our best guards with Twilight and Starlight and do your best to stop the attacks from happening tonight. I wish I could help, but I still need to stay here and keep everything running. We don’t want a panic. If everypony suddenly tried to run, they’d all be easy targets on the roads.”
“That is a wise choice. I shall do my best.”
“Be careful. You already lost an important part of yourself. I couldn’t bear to lose all of you.” Celestia pulled Luna in for a sudden hug and whispered. “I haven’t been this scared since Tirek attacked. This enemy is much like him but spread out among many.”
“I’ve been scared ever since that first attack. And confused and upset. But I won’t let that cloud my judgment tonight. I promise I’ll be back with the morning.”
Celestia let go of Luna and looked at her before saying farewell. Celestia already looked exhausted by the long day. Luna wished she felt fresh, but it was harder to feel anything with her cutie mark gone. But here was her chance to lead and prove she could handle things. Twilight and Starlight followed her without any orders as she walked to the barracks. The guard captains and their finest subordinates were ready and waiting on the cobblestone road outside.
Luna stood tall and addressed the waiting soldiers.
“Our plan is simple. We’re going to stop the enemy tonight. You have all been briefed on what the enemy looks like and what they can do. I commend you all for your bravery for stepping up for this assignment. Princess Twilight and Starlight Glimmer have worked out a spell that should protect you from a few hits by the enemy. We expect outside reinforcements to arrive soon, but until they do, it will just be us standing between these shadow beasts and the noble ponies of Equestria. Don’t hesitate to strike the enemy down. We fight for harmony and peace for all ponykind!”
The troops shouted in agreement. Luna smiled and looked them over again. They were mainly the more mobile pegasi guards. A single platoon of unicorn and earth pony guards would be supporting them on the ground.
Luna turned to her friends.
“Twilight, you’ll help guide the troops from the air with me. Focus on casting and maintaining your protection spells. Starlight, you’ll be with the support division and doing the same thing. Now, let’s go find the enemy.”
“We actually have some magic for that, too,” Starlight explained. “It’s a tough spell, but Orsuros explained some ways to track them.”
“That’s great. Let’s begin with where they were last seen.” Luna took the lead and took off into the night sky. Twilight followed right behind her. The guards rose up and followed while the ponies without wings followed below at a quick canter.
The glow of the sunset was fading from the horizon as they flew onward. They didn’t have far to travel. The packed streets of Canterlot gave way to the sparser manors and houses that made up the suburbs of the capital city as the mountainside sloped down to the valley. Soon, there were only scattered villages and farms below. The previous night one of the largest of these villages near Canterlot had been attacked. The small army spread out to better scout out the land below.
A few ponies were still out relaxing before bed. The village that Luna flew over seemed a very normal place. Some of the ponies below pointed up at her and the guards. She was surprised these ponies hadn’t left yet. Maybe living so close to Canterlot made them feel they could flee to the protection in the city walls at a moment’s notice.
A sudden scream filled the night. Luna looked over to where she had heard it come from. Several ponies were running and right behind them were the shadow beasts in the form of the different types of ponies. One in the shape of a unicorn created a barrier, trapping the fleeing ponies. The screams cut off as a swarm of shadow beasts tackled their prey. The ponies faded to nothing in a few seconds.
Luna had been stunned into staring silently. It had to have only taken a moment. She turned to everypony around her.
“Relay the message that the enemy has flight and magic. This fight just got a lot more dangerous.”
A pegasi captain saluted and flew off to relay the message to the support troops that were reaching the other end of town.
Twilight flew up next to Luna. “Orsuros never said they could use magic.”
“These things seem to take a lot of their power from whatever they steal it from. Perhaps they can do more with what they take from ponies.”
Twilight pointed to the other edges of town. “They’re using a pincer formation. The only way to get out of here will be the road to Canterlot, and I expect they’ll have an ambush planned for that route, too, with the tactics they’re using. At least, that’s the sort of tactics I’d use.”
“Very well. We shall just have to crush them here and mop up the ambush on the way home.”
“Wait, Luna! Can we win here?”
“Twilight, you know more of friendship than battle. We have the protective spells and our magic. They shouldn’t stand a chance against two princesses and one of the most magical unicorns in Equestria. Guards! We’re going in. Harass the enemy from above and take the town square as our fortified position!”
Several wings of pegasi guards broke off and pulled out their spears as they dove at another group of shadow beasts that were advancing on the terrified citizens below. Luna headed straight for the center of the town. She landed on top of a statue of Celestia and cleared her throat.
“Citizens! Fear not! We have come to aid you. Gather to me. My magic and soldiers will protect you.”
Twilight must have broken off to help with something else, but Luna’s personal bodyguards spread out in formation around her. Luna created a few simple barriers but left gaps for the ponies to pass through. In a few moments, the citizens began running in.
“Princess Luna! You’re here!” A young earth pony mare addressed Luna. “I was so worried when I saw Nightmare Moon. I must have just been seeing things.”
“Yes, Nightmare Moon is long gone. Calm yourself. We shall protect you.”
Luna glanced out at her soldiers. They were fighting bravely, but they were forced to pull back as more of the enemy attacked. The shadow pegasi and unicorns seemed to be going directly after her flying guard. One of the guards was hit by a spell and dropped to the ground. The shadow beasts pounced on him. The protective spell from Twilight flashed. The guard slashed with his spear a few times before the spell shattered. The guard vanished a moment later as the creatures rushed him.
Twilight was off doing her best to keep the magic protecting the guards from running out, but wherever the enemy attacked in large numbers, they could break the spell and take down the guards.
“Troops, gather to me!” Luna commanded. The signal went out and Twilight and the guards started to pull back to the central square. They strengthened the barriers and shot at the shadow beasts from a distance to hold them off while the frightened ponies from the village poured in.
“There’s so many of them,” Twilight said. “I must have counted at least a few hundred.”
Luna nodded. “There are far more than expected, and they seem to be using abilities taken from the ponies. We can hold them off from here, but that won’t get us or any of these ponies out safely.”
“Do we know if they get tired?” Starlight asked. “I mean, we could try holding off until dawn, but we’d have to last the entire night without them breaking through.”
Luna felt a sudden pull, as if something nearby was demanding her attention through some magical connection. A powerful blast of magic shattered one of the barriers and knocked out the guard behind it. Luna stepped forward to see and gasped.
A tall alicorn, dark and shadowy, was now at the front of the shadow beasts. Luna blinked and hoped it was just a trick of the light. Nightmare Moon stepped slowly forward as her horn began to glow.
“Princess Luna,” Nightmare Moon said, “I was hoping you’d come. You still have some of my power, so I’ll have to take it back.”
Luna growled. “But how are you here? You’re a part of me. A part that should be long gone.”
“A certain dragon set me free from you. You were strong to keep me locked up all these years, but now that I’m free, I shall get a chance to show you and Celestia how strong I truly am.”
Luna looked over Nightmare Moon. She seemed almost solid, but when Luna looked closely, she did seem to be made of the same shadowy material as the other creatures. But unlike them, her colors, eyes, and even her cutie mark seemed very solid.
“I guess you would have nothing to say to that,” Nightmare Moon said after Luna had been silent for a few moments. “But don’t worry. When you lose to me, you can be a part of me, just how it should have been all along.”
“That’s not true, Luna!” Twilight yelled. “You’re better than her. And together we’ll defeat her.”
Nightmare Moon motioned to her other troops to go to the side. Luna’s shield almost broke under the first blast of dark magic that Nightmare Moon threw at them until Twilight used her own magic to help. Starlight sent a bolt of lightning over at the enemy. Nightmare Moon had to jump out of the way.
Starlight stepped forward. “This is three on one. Let’s end this before the soldiers get in over their heads.”
To the sides, the soldiers were holding their own against the rush of the enemy, but more and more of the shadow ponies kept appearing. Nightmare Moon shot a few blasts at them to test their defenses, but with the three of them, they held strong. A sudden darkness covered the moon for a moment and the pegasi guards all started shouting in both alarm and pain.
Luna got distracted from the battle as she stared at what was circling above them. It swept past the guards, battering them with wings, claws, and tail. Several started to fall from the sky before shadow pegasi intercepted them. In moments, those guards had disappeared and new shadow pegasi flickered into existence around the shadowy dragon. The dragon seemed more solid and menacing than when Luna had seen it last. Luna could feel a strange magical energy radiating from it. It landed easily next to Nightmare Moon and stared.
The dragon spoke. It almost sounded like Orsuros, but the voice was somehow deeper and fiercer. “Nightmare Moon, harvest these ponies. I am especially interested in those ones. They have great power. I will take care of Luna. You take on the other two.”
Nightmare Moon did a little bow and grinned. “With pleasure, my lord.”
Luna looked into the fierce golden eyes of the dragon. Suddenly the world seemed to close in on her. She tried to turn away and couldn’t. She tried to call upon her magic, but nothing came. She could hear the blasts of magic around her as Twilight and Starlight began to fight again, but without her help, Nightmare Moon began to quickly overwhelm her friends. She wanted to help them, but the dragon somehow had her trapped. All she could do was stare into his eyes.
The dragon laughed. “Luna, I already have a piece of your soul. Do you know what power that gives me over you?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Luna watched Twilight take a powerful hit. Starlight fought back with a flurry of spells while Twlight got back on her hooves, but the two were looking very worn out. Luna couldn’t look away to see how the rest of the battle was going, but her commanders were shouting to form up and regroup as the numbers of her little army dwindled.
Luna could only glare at the dragon, but it didn’t seem to be able to do anything besides keep her captive. Maybe her friends could find a way to use that, but she couldn’t help them. She could only focus on this single enemy. “So, dragon, why are you doing all this?”
“Well, I have good reasons. Your world has great power. I could use that to fix my own world. But first, I will have to gather it from the creatures of this world. As you can see, much of the unused power of these little ponies is already being used by me.”
“Who are you? Did you come with Orsuros?”
“Orsuros… you could say I came with him. He would never be willing to do what I’m doing, even to save his own world. But my way is the best and fastest way. With the power of all your souls, I should easily be able to save the world we came from.”
Luna felt someone prodding her side.
Twilight spoke a moment later. “Luna, are you alright? We need your help!”
“I can’t move or use magic. The dragon is doing something to me. Try to hit him with something.”
“We’re barely holding off Nightmare Moon. Guards! Protect Luna!” Twilight flew off as blasts of magic nearly hit her.
Luna caught glimpses of the battle from the corners of her eyes. While Nightmare Moon had Twilight and Starlight distracted, the rest of the enemy forces had pushed in past the outer barriers that her and her guards had set up.
The dragon started to glow with his own magic. “I’ve said what I have to say to you. Enough of this.” The dragon waved a claw in the air and a wave of pain and darkness engulfed Luna.
The last thing she glimpsed was her guards forming a protective circle around her before all went black.