Nightmare Moon shrieked. Her wings spread as her darkened, empty eye sockets settled on Twilight. Twilight couldn't stop fear from gripping her, but she stood against it nonetheless. Though she had hoped she would be able to defeat Nightmare Moon by herself, they still had the Elements. They still had hope.
Then Applejack's body fell. Immediately Twilight and the others turned to her, but before they could reach her another piercing wail rang out from the alicorn. Something black and like a spear shot out of her body at blinding speed, headed towards the sky. As the five mares recovered from covering their ears, they spotted the body of a pegasus, pierced through the chest and a wing by what Nightmare Moon had shot, falling through the sky.
Rainbow immediately sped towards it, and Twilight fired a blast to intercept a second shot aimed at the mare. While Dash grabbed hold of Firecracker, Pinkie began to pull Applejack away from the crater. Twilight fired a spell at Nightmare Moon, but it seemed to do almost nothing as it crashed against her charred body. As Starshine took hold of Applejack, Fluttershy said something to Rainbow Dash.
Nightmare Moon was still screaming. It wasn't just a sound. It was something physical, and magical, a tangible presence like waves washing out of her. Twilight's stomach churned, and somewhere deep in her mind her worst fears began to take hold. It was too similar to what she'd felt and observed already. Too similar for it to be just a coincidence.
Nightmare Moon was screaming and nothing of what Twilight threw at her seemed to be doing anything. She looked back. Applejack was fully knocked out and being carried to safety. Firecracker had been brought to Celestia, and Rainbow was heading back, sword at her side and fire in her eyes. Fluttershy's body was being carried by Rarity, and the discoloured parts on her wings and mane had grown considerably in size. Time for plan B, then, and Starshine seemed to be already informing Sunburst of that.
Twilight suddenly felt herself pushed back. The energy emanating from Nightmare Moon had grown thicker, visible, black winds rising and blowing from her form. Above them the floating tower began to shatter as her screeching continued. It broke into pieces, and on her way back towards Twilight Pinkie Pie jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding a massive chunk of broken crystal as it fell towards the ground. The alicorn teleported to the opposite side of the crater, and found it more useful to use her magic to shield herself than to try to attack.
Rainbow charged towards Nightmare Moon while a silver trident materialised at her side, and before she got too close she curved upwards while letting go of her weapon, flinging it towards the alicorn. It surprisingly seemed to do better than Twilight's spells, piercing through Nightmare Moon's body and tearing off portions of her flesh, but she showed no clear reaction and moments later her corpse began to regenerate anew.
Her screaming grew in intensity. The air itself began to take on a sickly black and purple colour as stronger and stronger winds whipped through it. Cracks spread through the earth and the ground began to shake. Then it was suddenly like a thread had snapped, and something broke loose.