Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto


Destati

The light from Luna's horn rose up like a pillar through the darkness, parting the shadows around her. They swirled and hissed and snarled at her, but did not move any closer, and she flew higher and higher still towards the circular patch of starless sky she could see at the end of the tunnel she'd carved herself.
She flew in a proper, steady rhythm, building up speed with every flap of her wings. The wounds that marked her body were mended, and disappeared without a trace the closer she got to the exit. As she was almost fully out of the darkness, it tried to lunge at her again, but sizzling its appendages dissipated as they neared her body.
With one last push, Luna soared above the sea of shadows that had tried to drown her. The hole she'd left in it closed after her, leaving a uniform carpet of chaotic movement, darkness like thousands of insects crawling against each other stretching as far as the eye could see.
"Impressive." Nightmare Moon spoke as if she was nearby, no booming or echoing voice. Luna turned, and indeed there she was, floating in the air not too far from her. "But not enough."
Luna looked at her. There was an uncertain quality to her image. Like something in a dream, only very deliberate. The edges of her form fuzzy, her whole body at times looking more like a cluster of darkness and shadows given shape than an actual living creature. Her face occasionally, for brief instants, similar to a skull or a distorted projection with far too many teeth. "And yet you are still here." Luna's whole body shone of pale silver moonlight, like an armour over her entire form. Her mane flowed proudly behind her, its edges blending with the sky as stars began to dot it, her wings spread wide and steady. She gave a brief, barely noticeable nod, and the boundless sea of darkness below them unravelled into nothingness.
The two alicorns were left facing each other in an empty sky, distant stars filling the blue and purple night that surrounded them on all sides while the Moon shone bright above them both. "A duel, then," Nightmare Moon said. "No more tricks. No more games. No more wasting my time."
Luna stared at her. Wasting her time was exactly what she was supposed to be doing, and a proper confrontation wasn't something she was confident she could win. Though most of what the other put up was merely a show, an almost tasteless one if she could comment on it, that did not mean there wasn't real power hidden in her. She had proven as much again and again. Not unlike Rainbow, if she had to compare her to someone, the vapid and exaggerated aesthetic she surrounded herself in was still backed by very much real potential. "You claim you do not wish there to be any more tricks, and yet you still try to scare me as if I was a foal facing her first nightmare. Do you believe your shape enough to generate fear in me?"
Nightmare Moon stared back, a strangely amused tint to her expression. She said nothing, but lit her horn with magic and readied herself. Luna did the same.