//------------------------------// // Subject 83: An Impossible Battle // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// Well, well, well. So it begins. My friends and I were all lined up in tandem, ready to strike down the godlike alicorn of the sun. On paper, it was insurmountable. Warriors gathered together would attempt every trick they had in the book just to have a small chance of winning, while the godly being would bide his/her time and strike a decisive blow to end it all in grand fashion. It was a common trope in fantasy novels and radio shows that I listened to while I grew up. But this? This was on an entirely different level. I will admit, this was the first time in...years that we were all together in a battle like this. But it still pained me to know that Quick Draw could not be a part of it. Regardless, it was time to act. Thankfully, whatever the nature of this spell was, it granted us the ability to fight against such a beast of a mare if Corkscrew’s newfound extreme durability was anything to go by. But I wondered just what abilities I gained, since I already matched the crazed, two-faced Dr. Jockey and Hide. Hm… “Time for you all to serve me!” Daybreaker cried out as she fired off a scorching beam from her horn that caused us all to separate. “Ah!” we all yelped as we barely dodged the blast. The five of us now had her surrounded in a pentagon-style formation. I was South, Flash Drive was Southeast, Guttersnipe was Southwest, Corkscrew was Northeast, and Neon was Northwest. But even though we had her surrounded, that also prevented us from being able to get away. No matter. The way we worked well with each other, I’m sure a plan would form naturally since we knew how to think on our hooves. No problem, right? Well… There was no time. I had to do something. But what? Oogh. I knew he’d be super sad if I went and got myself hurt. Especially after what I did to save him. But I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing at all. It didn’t help that my costume didn’t give me any extra advantages like theirs did. But what could have caused this… As I slumped against my windowsill with a forlorn gaze, I noticed a pony with a head of snakes for hair about to rush into the fiery dome to take part in the battle! What?! Just who were they? I couldn’t let them go out there. I got up and flew to the door, and swung it open as fast as I could. “Hey!” I shouted, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you!” The pony’s gallop ceased to a skidding halt. It was a mare whose mane was transformed into loads of green, icky snakes. Was she a Gorgon?! Cool! “What the--Cozy Glow? What the hell are you doing here? Get your flank back inssside. It’s dangerousss.” “Wait...you know my name?” I tilted my head, “Just who are you, then?” “Quick Draw. One of Pale’sss friendsss,” the yellow earth pony replied with an annoyed glare. Each time she pronounced her s’s, it’d result in her holding the syllable to mimic the sounds of a snake. Her tongue even flicked out too and it had become snakey as well! Even her skin was now scaly. This was amazing. “Now go back inssside while I deal with thisss. Cute cossstume, by the way. You a ssscientissst?” “Yeah,” I nodded. It was true. I had on a lab coat and a set of goggles. As a result of this magical situation in which everypony became their costumes, my intellect had skyrocketed, but that was all. I couldn’t exactly fight a battle or anything. “But...while I can’t help you fight, I’ve already got a strategy in motion. I just couldn’t enact it by myself.” Luckily for me, the earth pony mare was willing to hear me out. Her eyes glanced up, then down, and to both sides. She winced, likely due to the frustration of accepting my help, and sighed. “Ugh. Fine. I’m lissstening.” I adjusted the goggles I had on, and beckoned her inside. I would’ve broken out the whiteboards that I had ready, but nobody had time for that. I cleared my throat, and explained my stratagem as simply as I could. “Okay...basically we’re dealing with some sort of magical disturbance that has caused everypony in town to become their Nightmare Night costumes.” Quick Draw nodded which caused the cute little snakes on her head to jiggle. “Yeah. I’m following ssso far. But what’s your plan exactly?” “Well...you’re a gorgon, right?” “Yeah?” I clapped my hooves together. “Perfect. This means you can turn anypony you see into stone, right?” “...Not exactly,” she admitted with an eye roll, “If they’re way sssstronger than me, then I can’t sssstone them. At best, maybe I can break their concentration.” Hm...not bad. Not bad at all. Actually, that might be better than making someone become stone! Let me think...hm...yes. Okay, I think I got it. “Alright, change of plan then. What you need to do is sneak onto the scene, and confront the imprisoned Nightmare Moon. Then you need to use your gorgon abilities and maintain eye contact with her. This will allow her to regain control of her body and use alicorn magic to break out of the costume curse. Make sense?” Quick rubbed the side of her head as if she had a bit of a headache. “Um...I guesssss? I literally have no other optionssss, so I may as well lissssten. Especially since you’re a ssssuper smart sssscientist now.” “Hehe, thanks. Well, whenever you’re ready, you should head out and help them out,” I pointed to the fire dome outside, “Once Luna’s free, she can pretty much handle everything else because I’m 99.64% certain that she’s aware of a weakness that Daybreaker possesses. Right now, she seems nigh-invincible, but there has to be a way to take her down. And for that, we can only depend on Luna.” She got up from her seat with newly created motivation. “Alrighty then. Do me a favor, and sssstay inside where it’s ssssafe. I think that may be our overall best shot since we don’t know anything about Daybreaker.” I nodded, and opened the door for her. “Understood. Please do your best out there, Ms. Draw. And don’t get yourself hurt. Pale would be devastated if you did.” The mare stopped in her tracks right before she left. She looked down to the ground as if she couldn’t believe what I just said. “...You think...I...heh. I promisssse. I won’t die on him. Or you, Cozy.” And she was off. I closed the door to ensure that nopony--and nothing--else would get inside my house. Nothing to do now, but play the waiting game. Nope. Nope. Nope. With an extra helping of nope. Our attacks were useless. No amount of strategy or tactics could outdo just how powerful she was. Granted, Daybreaker herself wasn’t fighting all that intelligently. Instead, she chose to show off her brute force in the most exuberant way possible just to cause us pain and suffering. Flash Drive tried to wrangle her and counter her magic with his seemingly infinite supply of chains, yet none of it worked. She was simply too strong to be bound in any way. Neon would attempt to punch through her attacks with his ancient chi abilities, but at best, he matched them and could only power through them. It simply wasn’t enough to fully counter, and repel her abilities. Corkscrew didn’t fare much better. No matter how many times he got flung around or burned by her magic, he got back up. And yet, he couldn’t cause any lasting damage to the alicorn. At most, he managed to strike a few swipes with his razor sharp feather. But mere scratches weren’t enough to deter her. Guttersnipe ironically did the most decent out of all of us, but only because her abilities as the legendary Capricorn allowed her to heal us, and soothe any lasting burns we endured. Doubly ironic since she’s usually the one out and about, fighting tooth and nail. But now she was reduced to more of a supportive role. Somehow, she didn’t mind the change of pace, though. And me? I was at a loss. I didn’t sense any new abilities that came to me at all as a result of the magical flux. If I were to try to attack her, it would most certainly be suicide. All I could do was dodge and block her abilities with the rage-induced stupor that I carried with me everywhere I went. We all grit our teeth, and planted our hooves in the scorched earth. My crew and I took a moment to pant in order to catch our breaths. This battle had raged on for what felt like an eternity. Despite the fact that I could hear the crowd’s cheers of joy, it did not inspire any hope within me. They were under the impression that it was a mere Nightmare Night show, and not a real attack on our livelihoods. But the last thing I wanted was a larger panic, so I refused to let the civilians come to know the truth. For now, at least. “Ahahaha!” the alicorn mare cackled, “Aw, what’s wrong? Are the legendary Unknown Actors unable to keep up with a literal goddess? Oh how richly predictable!” Ever the arrogant one, Daybreaker would recline on a flaming throne that she created with a flash of her horn. “It’s so adorable how hard you’re trying. I think I just might reward you all with being my head Solar Generals instead of being my slaves~” At this point, the heat combined with how much energy I put into dodging and blocking such powerful attacks had winded me. I inched as much as I could, and slowly took step after step towards her. “Why,” I asked with a groan of pain, “...why do you want to do any of this?!” Meanwhile… “Nightmare Moon.” “Uch! Who dares--” Quick Draw made eye contact with the alicorn of the moon, and used her gorgon eyes to put her in a trance. “Listen to me now. This isn’t you, Luna. Feel the heat around you. Your sister has gone off the complete deep end. She’s completely insane, and threatens to subdue all life in not just Equestria, but this entire world! And others as well! So you want to see her come to harm Sunset Shimmer?!” “I…” It was about a few moments before Nightmare Moon started to rumble, and convulse violently. “Blech! Get back! Get back!” Quick Draw retreated to the ground, and covered her head with her hooves. In a flash of darkness, Princess Luna had escaped out of the body of her demented alter-ego, as well as the cage that her sister ensnared her within. “Argh...I’m back. Don’t worry, little one. I’ve seen everything that has come to pass despite that pesky witch of a mare having returned due to quite the odd magic spell. Pray tell, do you know where Sunburst or Starlight are? This spell appears to be rather new, so I’d like it if they could assist me with determining the issue.” The yellow earth pony nodded. “Of course. But first, we need to get outta here ssso we can discussss the plan in peace,” she said as she waved her hoof around at the fiery walls that blocked their exit. “I see. Follow me, dear Draw.” With a flash of Luna’s horn, they teleported out of the firewall, and popped back into existence near Sugarcube Corner, just a few dozen yards away from the flaming catastrophe. “Alright. We should be safe here while your friends distract her.” “Won’t she notice the fact that you’re gone?” Luna waved her hoof dismissively. “Phooey. My real sister chose to forget me for a thousand years. What makes you think she’d notice anything that doesn’t fuel her ego as that raging fire demon?” At first, Quick didn’t know how to react. Her eyes darted left, then right as she took a step back in a sheepish fashion. “Uhhhm…” “It was a jest!” Luna insisted with an awkward chuckle, “Haha! Oh, I am not good at this. Anyhow, we need to find Starlight and--” “Sssssunburst!” Quick Draw pointed her hoof to a pair of ponies that ran up to meet them. Sunburst had dressed up as a wizard from his favorite book series, Scary Trotter. And Starlight was dressed up as Little Red Riding Hoof. “Ugh!” the unicorn mare cried out, “I picked the wrong year to dress as a little mare from a storybook with a picnic basket. But nevermind that. Are you two alright?” “I’ve been worsssse,” Quick answered with a flick of her reptilian tongue. “Had a bit of a breakdown,” Luna responded with a nervous patter of her hooves against the ground, “But I am fine now. I was able to break through the illusion once Nightmare Moon was properly distracted by this one’s snake-like features. But Daybreaker...she is on another level. Such a spell will not work on her. We will need to...to…” she put a hoof against her chin, and bit her lip. An antsy Sunburst was desperate for an answer. “Do what? Luna, the world is at stake here! We need to figure something out fast!” Luna sighed. “There is only a small number of things that can tame Tia’s more aggressive side. It is high time we squash her out of my sister’s system once and for all. Listen up, everypony. And listen well…”