Daybreaker wheeled and danced across the sky, looping and diving for the sheer pleasure of the act. A long, lazy loop turned into a spin as she fell straight for the ground, only to pull up with an exultant yell. A few clouds had the misfortune of being in her path, and she kicked them apart, laughing with glee.
"Oh, this is so wonderful!" she cried, buzzing over the heads of Shining Armor, Ka-klack and Nightmare moon, and then giggled as they scampered out of the way of the cloud of burning sparks that showered over them as her mane snapped past.
"You don't know how good this feels!" she crowed. "To be trapped inside that boring, plodding mare's mind for so long and now finally be free! Can you even imagine how I feel right now?!"
She paused, tilting her head to peer down at Nightmare Moon. "Well, you can, I suppose."
"I—you—" That little barb was enough to goad a response from Nightmare Moon, though it took her a moment to move on from just sputtered words. "What is this? What are you?!"
"Aww, upset you aren't the only physical manifestation of a Princess's subconscious pain and angst anymore?" Daybreaker clutched her hooves under her chin and fluttered her eyes, then sneered. "Well, don't worry. After I'm finished, there won't be anyone left to notice."
Nightmare's eyes went wide. "What does that mean?!"
"Why, I'm going to destroy Equestria, of course."
"You lay one hoof on my kingdom and—"
"Oh, calm down, calm down." Daybreaker flipped over, languidly flapping through the air on her back. "'Destroy' may have been an exaggeration. I'm simply going to turn everypony—and everydragon, everygriffin, everychangeling, so on and so on—to stone. Just like my former prison over there."
"Why would you do something like that?" Shining Armor took a step forward, confusion evident on his face. "You're the Princess! You're supposed to protect Equestria!"
"And that's exactly why I'm turning everyone in it to stone! They'll be safe, and I… I'll finally be free!"
She flew around in circles for a moment, giggling, then suddenly snapped up right.
"One thousand years!" she snarled, burning eyes fixed on Nightmare Moon. "I spent one thousand years ruling Equestria by myself because of you. No breaks, no vacations, no thought of anything but my 'royal duties'. Only you, Nightmare, can even come close to imagining what that's like. And at least you could choose how to spend your day, limited though your options may have been while locked in the moon.
"But me? I wasn't trapped in the moon… I was trapped in a kingdom. Schedules to keep! Rules to follow! Ponies to lead! 'How will we protect ourselves from the manticores, Princess?' 'What crops should we plant, Priiiincessss?' 'How much should we collect in taxes, Prrrrriiiiiinnncceeeeeessss?' On and on and on for a thousand years! After a thousand years of nonstop routine, nonstop planning for the future of an entire kingdom, nonstop sacrifice on my part again and again and again, what is even left of me?
"I fell in love with a pony, and I found out I had sacrificed so much of who I was that I couldn't even let myself feel that love.
"So… I'm taking it back. All of it. I'll take back all the prosperity I gave Equestria, all the safety, all the life… and then maybe I can be a pony again."
She stared down at them, chest heaving as she huffed, then suddenly rolled her fiery eyes skyward. "Although at this point I'm so unsure of what I even want to do that I'll probably need to take some time to, as the kids say, 'find myself'. Probably a century or so, at a minimum. Ooh, maybe I can travel. I've always wanted to see Prance. On more than just a diplomatic tour, of course. Everypony being stone may dampen the mood a bit, but I'm sure on the whole—"
"Enough of this!" snarled Nightmare Moon, her own eyes burning. "Do you really expect me just stand idly by while you destroy Equestria? My kingdom?!"
"Oh, puh-leeeze!" Daybreaker waved a dismissive hoof. "What, is turning everypony to stone too fast for you? I suppose you think letting them starve to death while the crops wither from a lack of sunlight is somehow better, dear sister?"
Ka-klack and Shining Armor took a step back as Nightmare Moon's lips curled back from her pointed teeth. A bolt of power leapt off her horn with a sharp crack, zipping past Daybreaker. "You are not my sister."
"Are… are we really doing this? This is actually what you want?" Daybreaker's own sharpened teeth were exposed as a grin stretched across her face. "Well, I was going to save you for last, but… how about a little preview?"
Magic surged from Daybreaker's horn, a torrent of red fire that leapt straight for Nightmare Moon's heart. Deftly, the midnight black alicron dodged the deadly beam, landing several steps to the side.
"If you—" she started to say, as a gust of wind grabbed her mane and began pulling it back.
Eyes wide, she turned to where the beam had struck. A small crimson fire burned there now, surrounded by a vortex of air. Even as she looked, it intensified, yanking her towards it. She struggled against its pull, but her half-ethereal nature betrayed her, wisps of her body beginning to stream towards the fire. She managed to hold her ground, but a black shape suddenly came tumbling out of her mane.
"Keeeeeeeeee!"
"James, no!"
The nightmare creature went bouncing across the ground, just out of reach of Nightmare's hooves, and was sucked into the fire with one last little cry. A moment later the flames flared and disappeared, leaving her staring at the scorch mark on the ground and breathing heavily.
"What… what was…"
"Did you forget what I said I was going to do to you?" Daybreaker peered down at the shaking Nightmare. "Whatever that disgusting creature was, it's in Luna's head now. Which is right where you're going to go if you insist on standing in my way."
"N-no…" Head down, ears back, Nightmare Moon started backing away.
"You said you wouldn't do that to her!" yelled Shining Armor furiously. "You're going too far! The only one who would do something like that is a—"
"A villain?" A grin spread across Daybreaker's face once more. "Imagine that."
She shifted her attention back to Nightmare Moon. "To be honest, given that Luna is currently a lawn ornament, this might not even be that bad of a deal for you. You'll just be trapped in whatever limbo ponies turned to stone are in, the same as Luna. I doubt there's much thought going on there right now, so her mind probably won't be trying to devour your very essence. On the other hand, if I decide to let you all out after a few millennia… or if she's dreaming…"
Daybreaker peered down at the cowering Nightmare, one corner of her mouth lifting in a condescending sneer. "I'll tell you what, I'm a reasonable pony. I'll make you a deal. Leave. Now. Find some dark shadowy hole to crawl into and don't come out. If you do that, if you don't try to stop me, then I'll be merciful: I'll only turn you to stone when I find you. Otherwise… you're going to find yourself getting a lot closer to Luna than you want to be."
Nightmare Moon stared back up at Daybreaker, and Shining Armor felt a sense of dread begin to crawl up from his belly. There was none of her usual anger in her face, no hate, no contempt. She just looked like a scared pony.
Lowering her head, Nightmare began to melt into a shadowy mist, tendrils spreading out across the ground and disappearing into whatever bare shadows existed underneath nearby rocks and brush.
"No…" moaned Shining Armor. Nightmare Moon looked back at him with something like an apology in her eyes, but she didn't stop, the last of her body turning to shadow. She sat there for a moment, an inky cloud squatting upon the desert floor, and then began to spread out, fleeing towards safety.
"Please," he begged. "Please. No one else can stop her. We need you. Equestria needs you."
For a moment he thought she was gone, vanished along with any hope of stopping Daybreaker. But then he saw them, a bare few wisps remaining on the edges of the shadows, twisting in place like strands of smoke. Shining Armor held his breath as the longest moment of his life passed… and then, slowly, the wisps of shadow flowed back out, reforming into a Nightmare Moon who glared defiantly up at Daybreaker.
"Thank you," whispered Shining Armor. Nightmare Moon's ear twitched, but that was the only acknowledgement she made.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Daybreaker shook her head sadly. "What a foolish little pony. Well, you know what they say—"
She cut off with a squawk as a bright turquoise beam, brimming with power, struck her square in the chest and blasted her from the sky.
"You can do whatever you want to me," growled Nightmare Moon, advancing on the other alicorn who was struggling to stand back up. "But you will not hurt my little ponies!"
"It's kind of like watching fireworks, right?" said Shining Armor.
"Oh, yes, fireworks," replied Ka-klack. A stream of fire splashed off the shield Shining Armor had put over the two of them, melting through a nearby boulder. "Horrible, deadly fireworks."
Nightmare Moon zipped across the sky, zagged between two blasts of magic, and unloaded her own beam at Daybreaker. The other alicorn's shield took most of Nightmare's attack, but then the shield shattered, letting the beam strike her along one wing. Daybreaker grimaced, but then her face took on a snarl, and she launched a stream of fiery missiles that spiraled towards the other alicorn.
Nightmare Moon flipped around and took off, the fireballs in hot pursuit. She weaved and dodged, but they stayed on her like glue, slowly gaining. Just when it looked like they would reach her, she burst into a cloud of mist, dissipating and then reappearing behind the missiles, making her way back towards Daybreaker. However, she didn't see the missiles looping back around, her only warning coming when the hissing noise they made as they flew caused her to turn and spot them almost upon her.
Desperately, she rolled. Most of the missiles missed, but a hoofful struck her in the back and exploded, the shockwave destroying the rest. For a second Ka-klack and Shining Armor feared the worst, but then Nightmare came hurtling out of the cloud left by the explosions, body limp. She got her flight under control, and, smoking, headed back towards Daybreaker, who was already taking potshots at her with her horn.
Gathering herself, Nightmare let loose with a massive blast of magic that made the skin of the watchers below begin to tingle, despite the distance. But her magic was met by an equally powerful beam from Daybreaker, and the resulting clash of power flared as bright as the sun.
"You know, it's a good thing we're out in the middle of nowhere," observed Shining Armor, as his shield strained under the stray magics being thrown off by the struggling beams. "I mean, if this was over a city—"
"Shining Armor," interrupted Ka-klack, his voice flat. "She's not going to win this."
"W-what? Of course she is." Shining Armor let out a nervous gulp. "I mean, this is Nightmare Moon we're talking about. Celestia's only been beaten a hooful of times in the last millenia or so, and two of those were Nightmare. If anyone can beat an evil Celestia, it's—"
"That was Nightmare Moon fighting a Celestia who was desperately trying not to kill her sister. I don't think Daybreaker suffers from that particular handicap." Ka-klack looked up at the battle overhead, where Nightmare's beam was slowly starting to be pushed back. "And that was a Nightmare Moon who hadn't just spent years having her powers slowly reclaimed by Luna. She can't win this fight."
The beam had nearly reached Nightmare now, and she was struggling to both maintain her side of the battle and keep herself in the air. Even as they watched, she dipped down, the beat of her wings faltering for a moment. She pulled herself back up, and in desperation pulled power from some hidden reserve, pushing Daybreaker's beam back. But after a moment that movement slowed, and the beam resumed its slow approach to her horn.
"Well then what are we supposed to do?" asked Shining Armor quietly. "I'd shield her if I could, but then any random bit of stray magic could fry the two of us. And that's assuming that Daybreaker wouldn't blast us the moment we interfere."
Ka-klack was downcast, studying the ground beneath their hooves, chewing on his lips in thought. His hooves shuffled nervously, his ears were pinned back, and he kept throwing glances behind himself, as though looking for a path of escape.
A sudden flare of magic from Daybreaker pushed Nightmare back, causing her to let out a grunt of exertion, with a bit of desperation add in. Ka-klack flinched at the sound, then gritted his teeth, took in a deep breath, and slowly raised his head.
"There is… someone else who beat Celestia, once."
"Well, they aren't here, so—wait. No, you can't be serious."
"Queen Chrysalis," said Ka-klack with a nod. "She was able to gather enough power to not just beat Celestia, but to make it look easy."
"Well, like I said, she's not here right now, is she? I know you can channel her, but that isn't the same as her having her physical body here."
"It doesn't matter." Ka-klack marched forward, swinging around to look Shining Armor in the eye. "Any changeling can do what she did. As far as magic goes, we're… we're buckets. Ponies are lead weights; you always weigh the same no matter what. But we can change our weight, change how much power we have at any given time. And with the right source, we can be stronger than any pony."
"And where are you going to find a source around here?" demanded Shining Armor. "I'm the only one—"
"Yes. Your love was what let our Queen defeat your Princess. With that same love, I can do it again."
"You're insane! Chrysalis took days to gather that much love, so even if I let you—"
"Exactly. Let me. Queen Chrysalis took so much time to gather that love because you fought her every step of the way, even with her hypnosis. If you give me your love willingly, I can get that much in seconds."
"I—you—" Shining Armor looked down at Ka-klack with wide, disbelieving eyes. "How? Even if I wanted to, how could I possibly give you that much love? After everything you and your Queen did to me… I could barely even tolerate being around her, even when she wasn't trying to kill everyone I love. You're… okay, I guess, but…"
"I know. I can feel how you feel." Ka-klack took a deep breath. "And your love for me wouldn't be enough anyway. I need the love Queen Chrysalis used to defeat Princess Celestia. I need… your love for Cadance."
"…What?"
"I'll turn into her. I'll hypnotize you, have you give me your love. All you have to do is not fight it."
"You really are insane," marvelled Shining Armor. "Do you really think—"
An explosion cut him off. Nightmare Moon's magic had finally failed her, and the blast of Daybreaker's beam sent her tumbling back, spinning out of control and headed straight for the ground. Her form was unstable, parts of her body fading into mist and then solidifying again. Ka-klack and Shining Armor held their breath as she neared the desert floor… and, at the last second, opened her wings, swooping around in an unsteady, zigzagging arc.
She was clearly on her last legs, her wings barely able to flap, her breastplate cracked and one hoof cuff missing. Something seemed wrong with her left eye; it wasn't open. And bits of magic, clearly uncontrolled, were leaping off her horn. Still, she headed back into the fight, climbing steadily, but slowly, towards Daybreaker.
"Do you still think she really has a chance?" asked Ka-klack quietly.
Shining Armor stared up at Nightmare Moon, who begin to take hits from the small beams Daybreaker was firing. It was clear the attacks weren't meant to do anything but cause pain; the fiery alicorn was just toying with her now.
"No," said Shining Armor, lowering his head.
They stood in silence for a moment.
"So, how does this work?" asked Shining Armor finally. "Do I just pretend you're Cadance, or…"
"I'll take her form and hypnotize you," explained Ka-klack. "You won't know I'm not her. You won't even realize she shouldn't be here; as far as you'll be concerned, everything will be as it should be. Your shield should stay up to protect us, too; at least, it did during the wedding. And then, I just have to ask you to give me your love, with a little nudge from the hypnosis. All you have to do is accept it. Don't struggle."
"Okay, but…" Shining Armor shuffled nervously, then took a deep breath. "Alright, look, I'm just going to ask it: will this make me gay?"
"That's what you're concerned about?"
"It's just, well, I'm a guy, and you're a guy, even if you're in Cadance's form…"
"Shining Armor—"
"I just don't see myself that way. It's not that I have a problem with it! I mean, I did just spend the better part of a week trying to get my sister together with another mare. And Cadance has brought up the idea of spicing up our love life by… um, well, inviting some other… well, I'll admit I had some curiosity about what she suggested. Obviously I'd have to… you know… work up to it, can't just dive right into that kind of thing… although…"
"Shining—"
"Actually, if you're in Cadance's form I suppose there isn't anything I should feel conflicted about. Not that I do, though, I'm very open minded. But if you have the body of a mare, and that's how you're currently self-identifying, even if it is only temporary—"
"Oh, for the love of the Queen! SHINING ARMOR!"
"What?!"
"Do you love me?" asked Cadance, her eyes like pools of liquid green fire.
"Of course, Cadance! Do you even need to ask that?" The fire reflected off Shining Armor's eyes, and his eyelids drooped, but his gaze remained fixed on Cadance's face.
"How much do you love me?"
"With all my heart, Cadance." Shining Armor put his hoof to his chest. "Come on, you don't need to ask that. You know I'd do anything for you, anything at all!"
"Can you show me?" asked Cadance, beginning to glow with an emerald fire. "Can you show me your love, give it to me, all of it, with no reservations?"
"I can, Cadance. You mean everything to me." They linked hooves, moving towards each other. "There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you, no mountain I wouldn't climb, no enemy I wouldn't defeat."
"Show me. Give me your love, Shining Armor." Cadance leaned down, her lips nearing Shining Armor's. "Show me that you love me with all your heart."
"I love you, Cadance," murmured Shining Armor.
Cadance exploded.
"You know, it's almost kind of sad."
A flurry of bolts struck Nightmare Moon's side, and she grimaced in pain. She fired a shot back, but Daybreaker danced aside with a laugh.
"All your threats, all your boasting, and this is it? I'm not even having fun anymore!"
Nightmare fired again, this time striking her target. But her blast hit the Element embedded in the center of Daybreaker's chestpiece, and went ricocheting away.
"So this is it then." Daybreaker lashed out, a hoof striking Nightmare Moon in the chest, driving her back. Nightmare swung back, but Daybreaker was already gone, landing a blow on her wing that nearly crippled it and sent her plunging down.
"This is how the night ends!"
Daybreaker dove, one hoof extended to break open Nightmare Moon's head. Nightmare stared upwards, unable to dodge or fight back, but with a defiant snarl on her face to the last.
Before the blow could land, a hoof riddled with holes stopped it.
"What—" Daybreaker managed to say, before a burst of green magic sent her tumbling away into the distance.
Nightmare looked over, breathing hard. A changeling hovered in the air next to her with his wings buzzing, tall and proud.
Ka-klack had, in fact, actually gotten taller; his legs were lankier, his neck longer. The frill on his head stood up straighter, and there was a lustrous sheen to his tail that hadn't been there before. His horn had grown as well, and now had a slight kink at its midpoint. Even the holes on his hooves seemed somehow holeyer. To top it all off, a dim green aura surrounded his body, pulsing gently.
"You know, tall i-is a… good look for you," NIghtmare wheezed hoarsely. Ka-klack turned to look at her, and she blinked. His eyes were different as well, his gaze somehow sharper.
"While bantering with you would be a rather enjoyable way to spend some time, I'm a bit more concerned about the avatar of fiery death hurtling towards us," he said, with a nod at the furious Daybreaker. "So maybe we can table that for now?"
"In all seriousness, this more assertive version of you is an improvement. I think I actually don't mind you like this." She cocked an eyebrow up at him. "Exactly what happened to you?"
"Well, let's just say I realized that there are some ponies, like you, Shining Armor, and Princess Celestia, who are worth fighting for. Friends, in other words."
"Oh. Then forget everything I just said." Closing her working eye, Nightmare gathered her strength, her body mostly reforming. "What's our plan? I… I don't have much left in me."
"And I have plenty, but… it's limited. I can still hit her hard, though. Back me up?"
"Sure thing."
With a scream of rage, Daybreaker finally made it back into attack range and let loose with a beam of deadly energy. Nightmare and Ka-klack split apart, flying up the path of the beam, spiraling around it and dodging as Daybreaker swung it back and forth. Nightmare Moon fired a volley of bolts at her, which simply pinged off her armor. Realizing the Nightmare still wasn't a threat, Daybreaker turned on Ka-klack, firing a wider beam of energy straight at him.
He met it with his own, coming to a halt as he struggled to push back her beam with his own. He wasn't able to… but hers didn't move either. They stayed locked in their stalemate until Nightmare fired another series of magical bolts. Taking advantage of Daybreaker's concentration on the changeling, she aimed carefully, striking Daybreaker square in the face.
She cried out in anger and pain, and her beam wavered. Ka-klack bore down on his, slamming it back and into Daybreaker's horn. The blast sent her tumbling once more, except this time she was intercepted by an enraged Nightmare Moon, smashing into her from above in a dive.
Snarling incoherently, Nightmare pounded at Daybreaker, hitting with her hooves, her elbows and knees, her head, anything to cause as much damage as she could. Daybreaker came to her senses after several seconds of pummeling and began to struggle back, but Nightmare's fury was at full power. She took all the blows Daybreaker dealt and gave them back double.
"E-enough!" cried Daybreaker finally. She blasted Nightmare with her horn, sending the other alicorn flying. Before Daybreaker could even try to recover her bearing and balance, Ka-klack struck her from below with a powerful beam.
Nightmare Moon came up alongside him, and they they blasted Daybreaker again and again, driving her upwards, juggling her between their magic. Nightmare may not have had much power left, but her anger leant her strength, and she placed her shots with deadly accuracy. Ka-klack fired slower but far more powerful blasts, taking advantage of Nightmare's shots keeping Daybreaker off balance.
It couldn't last, though. With a grunt of exertion, Daybreaker managed to produce a shield around herself. Panting, she stared at the two defiant foes before her, a glare of pure fury on her face.
"You…" Her lips, trembling from the snarl on her face, slowly turned upwards into a grin. With a flash of fire, she disappeared.
"Where—" Nightmare started to wonder, then turned as she heard a gasp of horror from Ka-klack.
"No!"
Daybreaker hovered barely a hundred feet from the surface of the desert, a searing light shining on her horn. Below her, Shining Armor stood, his shield glowing strong but fear on his face.
Green fire wrapped around Ka-klack, and he disappeared as well, only to reappear in the air between Daybreaker and Shining Armor.
"You fool!" Nightmare Moon called out, as Daybreaker fired.
She was, clearly, done playing around. This attack shone brighter than the sun, a solid beam of plasma so hot the thermal bloom alone caused Shining Armor's shield to flicker. For half a mile in every direction the wasteland shrubs caught fire, some of the closer bushes instantly turning to ash. Any thought Nightmare had of firing on Daybreaker while she was distracted went out the window; the sheer aura of power around her would have overwhelmed any attack Nightmare could produce. To say nothing of the fact that the shimmering of superheated air around her made any long-range targeting chancey, at best.
Daybreaker's attack was devastating, unstoppable. And yet, Ka-klack stopped it, meeting with a beam of his own and holding it halfway between them.
"What are you doing?" growled Nightmare, appearing beside him.
"I-I can't let Shining Armor get hurt!" he yelled back, straining with the effort of holding off Daybreaker.
"You can! You absolutely can! It's really easy!"
"He's my friend, Nightmare. You don't let friends die."
"I wouldn't know, I've never had one." She looked back at Shining Armor, straining himself as he attempted to hold back the secondary effects of Daybreaker's attack, and frowned. "Although… he did stand up for me once or twice…"
She looked back and forth between Daybreaker and Shining Armor, and finally groaned and flew up beside Ka-klack. She was running on empty, her horn fading and sputtering, but she still lit it up as she joined him.
"And what are you doing?" he asked, not turning to face her and instead keeping his concentration on Daybreaker.
"Let me help you," she said, voice reluctant. "I don't have much left, but—"
"No," Ka-klack said sharply. "There's something better you can do with that magic. Do you think you have enough to take her out?"
"I-I don't know… maybe? If I could get her from point-blank…"
"I thought so." Ka-klack took a deep breath. "Be ready to sneak up on her, then. I'm going to put everything I have into this, and push towards her."
"You can't be serious! She'll overwhelm you, and then—"
"And then you'll have that shot at her." He turned to her, face hard, eyes narrowed. "Make it count. I don't want to do this for nothing."
She stared back at him, uncomprehending. "Why?" she asked finally.
"Because… I think I finally found out what friendship could be."
"The first thing I'm going to do after all this is over is punch Twilight Sparkle in the face for putting those kinds of thoughts in everypony's head," declared Nightmare with a growl, but she faded away into mist and disappeared.
Ka-klack turned back to Daybreaker, or at least what little he could see of her through the clash of their beams. Taking a deep breath, he held his hooves up in front of himself.
"Okay," he said to himself, definitely managing to ignore the tremor in his voice and the shaking of his hooves, because neither of those things was happening and he had no doubts about this whatsoever. "Let's see what this magic of friendship can do."
He summoned up all the power Shining Armor had given him and wrapped it around himself. Daybreaker's beam flowed around him, but the shield held, and he began to move forward. Struggling against her power was like trying to swim upstream in a whitewater rapid, but he fought his way forward.
On the ground, Shining Armor let out a yelp and dodged aside as Daybreaker's beam began to carve a path around the desert. The beam was weaker, attenuated by Ka-klack's presence in its center, but what got past him was more than enough to make Shining Armor sweat even through his shield. Slowly, as Ka-klack bent and distorted the beam, it lifted off the ground, disappearing up into the sky.
Ka-klack was also sweating at this point. The edges of his wings were smoldering, and his tail seemed to be at least partially on fire. The worst part was there was an uncomfortable softness in his limbs, which he was pretty sure was his exoskeleton melting. Well, no, the worst part was his magic starting to flicker and fade. Still, he was close enough to make out Daybreaker's face by now, and so he pushed onwards.
The fury on her face was more than evident, growing as each buzz of his wings brought him that much closer. Maybe… I can actually do this, he thought.
Then Daybreaker's eyes narrowed viciously, she gritted her teeth, and the size of the beam suddenly doubled.
Well, it was a good try, thought Ka-klack with a sigh. I just hope my friends—Daybreaker's face, and his thoughts, disappeared along with the last of his power, and the beam overwhelmed him.
"Oh, no," whispered Shining Armor, as the light from Daybreaker's final pulse of magic faded. Desperately, he searched for any sign of Ka-klack… but only the burning alicorn remained. An alicorn with a swirling darkness beginning to form behind her wings.
"Too bad," Daybreaker called down to Shining Armor mockingly. "You know, the worst thing is how much effort I had to waste just now. If only I'd had a flyswatter…"
She stopped, ears twitching, then turned with wide eyes.
"See, here's where you made your mistake," hissed Nightmare Moon sibilantly, snout pressed up against Daybreaker's. "I actually kind of liked that little bug."
"NO—!"
Nightmare Moon put everything she had into her attack, anger pushing her far past what she'd thought her limits were. Magic cracked like thunder as she hit Daybreaker again and again; unable to actually sustain a full beam, rapidfire bursts leapt off her horn. They slammed into Daybreaker, sending her spiraling down with a scream.
With a scream of her own, Nightmare pulled out the absolute last of her magic and hit Daybreaker with a final devastating blow. The alicorn burst apart into a sheet of flame, which began drifting gently downwards.
Nightmare started to follow it down, so weak she was barely able to hold herself aloft. In fact, as she found to her dismay, she was having trouble keeping her physical form together. It kept wanting to turn into mist and just float away on the breeze. Which, admittedly, did sound like a simply wonderful idea at the moment.
This is what the 'magic of friendship' is supposed to be about? She groused to herself, sparing a moment to focus on her forelegs as they tried to fade into shadow. I'd better at least get a massage out of this. Maybe a vacation on a sunless beach somewhere, all expenses paid. Or Equestria's throne, either one.
Then, with a groan of desperation, she forced her wings to keep her level; the fire down below was moving.
The clumps of flame spun into a vortex, crackling and sparking. Growing larger, it flew upwards, encircling Nightmare Moon. She hung in place, trying to hide the fact that she was panting for breath and struggling just to keep her body solid. Her eyes darted back and forth, awaiting an attack, but it didn't come. Instead, the fiery tornado slowed, splitting into three separate parts that each coalesced into a copy of Daybreaker.
"W-what…"
All three Daybreaks grinned simultaneously.
"Come, now, sister. You didn't really—"
"—think that you were the only one—"
"—who could do this trick, did you?"
Nightmare's wings tensed, as she prepared to throw herself out of the way—but she'd given too much, pushed herself too far, and no longer had the strength to move.
Two beams of magic pierced through her barrel, transfixing her where she hovered. She let out a strangled gasp, choking and struggling to escape, as the third Daybreaker smiled in her face and lit up her horn.
The exploding flare tossed Nightmare Moon's body down like a colt carelessly discarding an action figure, black mist trailing behind her as she fell. Her helm was gone, vaporized by the power of Daybreaker's attack. One of her wings was missing as well, nothing but a plume of shadowy smoke. She also seemed to have lost at least one leg, though with how she tumbled as she fell Shining Armor couldn't tell which one or how many as he ran to catch her.
He almost made it, too. He managed to get the barest of shields around her before she smashed into the earth, digging a furrow as she rolled across the dry desert ground, spraying rocks and soil in all directions.
Panting, he stood in place, not daring to move closer. He'd failed… Nightmare was gone, along with Ka-klack and Princess Celestia. All that was left to face Daybreaker, a psychotic alicorn with all the powers of Celestia and none of the restraint, was a single guard captain who only really knew how to cast shield spells arrrgh why didn't I learn more than the most basic attack magic?!
But suddenly… movement. And Nightmare Moon stood.
Both of her wings were gone now, just tendrils of black smoke that whipped and twisted like angry snakes in their place. And, yes, one of her forelegs was missing. But for the Queen of Nightmares, that was barely an inconvenience; she stood upon the shadow where it should be instead. Other parts of her seemed to be missing as well, her body riddled with more holes than a changeling, all of them streaming smoke.
A snarl on her face as she glared up at Daybreaker, she took a step forward. Then she wobbled. She started to cough, a thick black liquid leaking out of her mouth. Hissing and bubbling, the ichor splattered before her hooves, acrid smoke wafting up as it burned into the desert floor.
Slowly, she fell over.
"I hope you're happy," seethed a dark voice.
Shining Armor gulped, looking up to where Daybreaker hovered high above him.
"I was going to be kind, I was going to be merciful," she spat, face red with anger. "But now? After you threw my gracious offer back into my face? Oh, no. There's not going to be a single pony left after I'm done!"
Magic started to flare in her horn, the same blinding light as before. "So when they ask you why Equestria is nothing but a flat sheet of glass, you can tell them it was your fault. Because you couldn't accept my generosity and take the easy way out. And you can tell them—"
She cut off with a squawk as, once again, a beam of magic blasted her from the sky. This time, however, the beam shone with a soft golden light.
Holding his breath, biting his lip, not daring to hope, Shining Armor slowly turned.
"I think you need to take a little break," said Princess Celestia, brushing the last bit of stone from her mane.