//------------------------------// // 05 // Story: Day’s Scorn // by fluffyfae //------------------------------// "Does my crown no longer count, now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?", the dark figured questioned, stepping into the shades of silver and blue that reflected against the stone floor from the broken stained glass panels. I stood silent, at least for a few minutes, my wings still remaining stiff and tall. I know I had to reply eventually, otherwise one of the others would give her a snarky remark which would just make things even worse. Her quarrel was with me, and me alone, not any of my subjects. "No,"I replied, dipping my head down and then lifting it yet again,"It does not. The crown you are so desperately wanting will never belong to you, for it was never yours to begin with." The black coated mare threw her head back and let out a cackle,"You fool! Do not lecture me with such meaningless words. The crown you bare wasn't entirely yours to begin with, isn't that right, Tia?", she spat. Without saying another word, Nightmare Moon shifted her gaze from the ponies to the contraption that was the only barrier separating her from me. With a flash of blue light, and using her mane to spiral the entire room into a blue starry sky-like atmosphere, the stone pieces flew across the room. I figured using my wings wasn't a strong enough barrier and lifted my horn up a bit, the golden presence flickering and soon a forcefield covered the six ponies and myself. Once the dust had cleared, Nightmare Moon let out another maniacal laugh, flapped her wings a bit before stomping on the contraption that once held the elements. I heard a few small gasps from behind me, the largest one being notably Twilight's. "Now you precious sun-lovers will never use the elements upon me and once I defeat you-", she met my gaze. It was terrifying looking into those eyes. For I could only see my suffering sister. I had to remind myself though, that this was not Luna. This monster took Luna away from me and corrupted her once brilliant mind. "-I shall bring forth the eternal night and rule Equestria, FOREVER!", I suspected she would let out another laugh, she did not, she blasted out a powerful spurt of blue magic from her horn, vanquishing the forcefield I was holding up. I returned the favor by shooting out a blast of yellow, directly hitting Nightmare Moon in the chest. She stumbled back onto the wall, falling down as smoke clouded the area. I leapt into the sky, flapping my wings directly overhead of where Nightmare Moon was. She's down, now's my chance to use the- "Princess Celestia!", a familiar voice cried as I peered down to see Twilight running toward where I was in the air, but also near where Nightmare Moon was down. "Twilight I need you to take the others back to Ponyville-" "We're not leaving you Princess!", shouted the blue pegasus with rainbow mane. "Plus we still haven't found the elements,"whispered the yellow pegasus in the back. A large blue aura lit and flashed, shrouding the room in darkness except for that blue light. It had come in a bolt of lighting from where Nightmare Moon had fallen against the wall. The dark coated mare rose up once again. I used my horn to illuminate the room, causing Nightmare Moon to put a wing over her eyes and step back a bit. The aura I had created in the room was so bright, even some of the ponies stepped back a bit. All except one. Twilight. Of course. The small purple unicorn lunges at the ground, scraping a hoof against the ground before charging at Nightmare Moon. She glanced up and winked at me. She was using this to distract Nightmare Moon while I harnessed the power of the elements. Nightmare Moon looked disgusted as she raised an eyebrow at the purple mare charging towards her. "You're kidding. You're kidding right?", she rolled her eyes as her gaze was set on Twilight. She then paused, winced a bit and directed her gaze back towards me. She visibly clenched her jaw, narrowing her eyes before rearing back on her back hooves, throwing her front hooves in the air. "No! Not again you fool! Stand back!", and with that a surge of powerful blue magic shot out of her directly hitting Twilight in the chest, she let out a screech as she immediately fell to her hooves. "Twilight!", the five other ponies screamed in unison, trotting over to her. The blonde pony with orange coat had to physically restrain the blue pegasus from charging at Nightmare Moon. I froze for a long while. It was as if time itself had stopped and all the colors faded from the world. As if I was the sole pony left in Equestria. The screech Twilight had let out echoed and rattled in my ears. I stared horrified, down at the small unicorn that lay lifeless against the stone floor. Her coat was ruffled in that spot that Nightmare Moon pierced. A small splotch of grey was also present, almost like a bruise. My mind twisted as I shifted my gaze to the black mare that stood, smiling malevolently at the pain she had inflected. She had just deliberately harmed my most faithful student. She did this on purpose. She wanted to hurt Twilight. She wanted to see her suffer. She wanted to see me suffer. She wanted to see Equestria suffer. If anything I should be the only one to suffer. And yet.. I didn’t want to. I had such a feeling inside of me. It felt fiery. It felt as if someone had flicked a spark onto my heart and it was now engulfed in flames. I felt my eyes darken as I swallowed the lump in my throat, the feeling-at least in my eyes-felt like when I was in the old study room. The dark magic. Surely it wasn’t that, I was just angry. My eyes felt much darker and heavier though. I became much more aware of my surroundings, and now could hear Nightmare Moon cackling like she had before. Without another thought or hesitation, I levitated the elements from the saddle bag that was still on my back. To my surprise, the elements didn’t give the rainbow aura, it’s as if the entire room went into a bright flash of light, the same light that matched my magic aura. It’s as of Nightmare Moon and I were in a much brighter celestial plane. “What? What’s going on?! You can’t possibly use the elements! You and Luna aren’t connected to them anymore!” , Nightmare Moon objected. Without even replying, the flash of bright light faded to the dark room, as the elements shot out a rainbow and swirled around me. My eyes flickered from white to complete black as the rainbow shot out directly toward Nightmare Moon. I could hear her pleas and cries as the rainbow eventually engulfed her. Another bright flash of light flooded my presence and Nightmare Moon’s, and it was as if we were in the celestial plane yet again. Or something similar. A damaged Nightmare Moon started to fade away into dust or sand it seemed. Without even thinking, almost on impulse or something out of my control, my mouth opened to speak and finally give Nightmare Moon the answer to her question. “That’s because I am not Celestia.”