//------------------------------// // 4 Face to Face // Story: Appointment with Evil // by Bronyxy //------------------------------// Luna stared open mouthed at the sight before her. Bright lights flashed from the windows of a nearby building. Suddenly she twigged, and castigated herself for having overlooked the obvious. She tried to work the handle to open the balcony doors, but they were stuck fast with age. Fearing that if she forced them, they wouldn’t close again, she left her chambers and shut the door carefully behind her, then walked slowly out of the castle and across the courtyard to the building from where the lights flashed, drawing her as a moth to a flame. Luna walked slowly but with unmistakable purpose, knowing now where she was going, and taking the opportunity to make peace with the actions in her life, just in case she may be required to deliver herself to a fate from which she may never return. Although this may be the last walk she would take, she was not scared; she had long since reconciled herself to this time arriving one day; everypony has to face judgement. She mounted the stairs, knowing that her destiny lay less than a minute away from her, in a large, vaulted room on the second floor, at the far end of which was a large round raised dais showcased against a large, curved bay window. The stairs ended and she entered the long, pillared room, looking unflinchingly ahead at the moonlight filtering through the blue smoke that swirled around, partially masking a figure stood on the stone dais. She knew who this was, although she never thought they would meet face to face. “Ah, Luna” the sinister voice crowed as her visitor drew closer, “How nice of you to visit.” “Cease your nefarious activities and release Equestria” Luna demanded. “Or what?” the familiar figure responded brazenly, immediately challenging Luna’s authority. “Your business is with me. Now I am here, you do not need to imperil the innocent ponies of Equestria.” “I don’t think I will” replied the voice with an oily self-confidence, “I think I would rather keep it going, just to remind you who you are dealing with, and why I am superior to you.” Luna stood her ground, head raised defiantly, determined not to be browbeaten. The mists thinned a little, permitting Luna the first glimpses of her adversary, instead of being just a silhouette juxtaposed theatrically against a swirling blue backdrop. There was the light blue helm, the black horn, black fur and reptilian eyes that had once been hers. She had seen this visage in the mirror during the time she had been Nightmare Moon, but suddenly appreciated just how intimidating it looked when faced with her as an adversary. “How are you here?” Luna asked, genuinely puzzled. “Questions, questions” Nightmare Moon dismissed with a bored expression, before snapping her attention back quickly, “But I will indulge you, seeing as we are such close friends.” Luna kept her attention on the jet-black mare whilst carefully scanning her peripheral vision for traps. “You see” Nightmare began, “You and your friends were so full of yourselves when you thought you had defeated me, that you all forgot what had been left behind when I was so painfully ripped in half. You were released in pony form; the goody-four hooves part of us that stands before me now, whilst my true essence …” “The evil part, you mean …” “If you put it that way, then yes. Those remains stayed here, completely undisturbed. They contained my feelings, my emotions and my magic, but left me without a body, for a time at least.” Luna gasped, “But that should be impossible …” “You forget, dear Luna, how we escaped from the moon. That too was considered impossible until there was an alignment in the stars. Now, thanks to this nice big window behind me” she gestured expansively with a forehoof to the moon that was bathing her in its ethereal glow, “I continued to have access to the stars, and through them, access to all the dark magic that you do not even realise you have lost …” Luna blanched, “You were able to restore your physical form …” “Quite so. And you know the fun thing about it? You don’t even know the spells I used, so you cannot hope to reverse them!” Luna’s heart sank and her head drooped as Nightmare revelled in her triumph and began cackling insanely. “What do you want?” asked Luna. “Oh, please. That should be obvious” Nightmare gloated, refusing to release the Princess from her steely stare, “Eternal night, obviously. That is what we both wanted, after all. But first, I have some unfinished business with Celestia; I want her to endure the pain of being banished to her beloved sun, but not for a thousand years, oh no, that’s nowhere near enough for the revenge I wish to exact on her. After a thousand times a thousand years I may be prepared to listen to her beg, to see the desperation on her muzzle and the terror in her eyes, then throw her back to do it all over again and again until she goes quite mad!” “Only one of us sounds mad” said Luna calmly. “Really?“ Nightmare sneered, “Well in that case I remind you of my earlier question; what are you going to do about it?” Luna was stunned. What was she going to do? Her wicked alter-ego was right, she had forgotten all the evil spells she had learned in the build up to her confrontation with Celestia. “Come to me, Luna” said Nightmare menacingly, “You cannot hope to defeat me. Come and join back with me, so together we can become greater than either of us alone.” “Never!” “I said, come here!” screamed Nightmare, “I command you!” “No!” asserted Luna, stamping a forehoof down firmly on the stone floor and staring unwaveringly back into her opponent’s eyes. “Do not test me, Luna …” she warned. “Or what?” the Princess shot back, “If you hurt me, then you will never be able to rejoin with me.” Luna looked at Nightmare Moon, now almost completely silhouetted against the descending moon, then lowered her head, pointed her horn and fired off a bolt of light blue magic.