The Nightmare stretched his wings to their full span as he glided down onto the tower. His hooves kicked up a cloud of dust as he touched down. He appeared like an alicorn, with long black wings and a spiraling silver horn. Fur as black as the void bristled against his skin, flowing dark and mysterious like the depths of a midnight ocean. But the longer Twilight looked at him, the more his form seemed to shift and stir, as though he were never quite in focus.
“And so, my queen calls me. I have missed you.” His voice sounded like a choir. A hundred different voices, all singing in unison.
“I am not your queen,” Luna growled. “And I never will be again.”
The Nightmare seemed to study Luna for a short time. “You still resist the Nightmare’s call? Impressive. But utterly futile. You have revealed yourself to me. And you will bow to my will.”
“I don’t think so.” Twilight stepped in front of Luna.
The beast smiled, revealing jagged fangs.
“The little princess has escaped her dream. That is quite rude. Do you know how long I spent crafting your greatest fantasies for you? And yet, you repay my kindness with rebellion.” He skulked around the edges of the tower. Twilight and Luna didn’t lower their guard.
“That dream was supposed to make me happy?” Twilight growled.
“Of course. Everything you could have ever wanted, all wrapped up in a tidy little bow for you. A loving family, a peaceful life, a happy ending. But you threw that all away.” His many voices grew increasingly agitated as he spoke. “But lucky for you, I am generous. Chrysalis has asked a favor of me.”
Twilight’s gasped.“Where is she? What did you do to her?”
The Nightmare threw his head back and laughed. The chorus followed, splitting the night with uproarious laughter. “Such anger. Did I strike a nerve, Pony?”
“You better not have hurt her,” Twilight threatened.
“As I said, I am generous. I allowed her to return home. She was quite grateful for the opportunity.”
“You're lying,” Twilight barked. Her hooves were shaking against the stone.
“What is the matter, Twilight? Do you not believe me?” He pressed his hoof to his chest. “Do you worry for her sake? Or do you wonder if she abandoned you? Left you to die here all alone?”
Twilight could feel the shadows of her mind writhe. Focusing became increasingly difficult. As the nightmare stopped, he glanced down at his shadow on the stone. Dark tendrils slithered forth from it, reaching out toward the two ponies.
“You’re lying,” Twilight barked. “She wouldn’t do that.”
“It is no concern of mine if you do not believe me.” He shrugged. His shadow didn’t. “But, before she left, she asked a favor of me. She wished for me to spare your life. And so, I offer you this benevolence. Hand over princess Luna, and I shall allow you to return to your dream to live out the rest of your life in your greatest fantasies.”
The dark limbs formed a circle around the ponies. Black mist seeped from them, coating the stone in frost. A gust of wind blew it past Twilight. It was far colder than any winter chill.
“I won’t let you take her,” Twilight promised. The cold seeped into her body, freezing her blood and chilling her bones. The cold of the grave embraced her, cradling her in its icy grasp.
With a sinister half-smile, the Nightmare cocked his brow.
“Then you intend to leave Evenfall all alone? Quite the motherly instinct you have.”
“I won’t go back. I can’t go back. Everyone is counting on me, and I won’t let them down.” Twilight’s magic pulsed. A shockwave erupted from her horn, scattering the black mist and shadow. Even the Nightmare grimaced as he stumbled.
“A shame,” he sighed.
His own horn combusted with black flame. The shadows returned, crawling out from every crack in the stone. They startled Twilight as they wrapped around her hooves and wound up her legs.
“I don’t think so.” Twilight’s magic slashed through the vine-like appendages. But for every one she lacerated, another reared its ugly head. A gasp from behind caught her attention. She turned to see Luna pulled down to the ground by the tendrils. They smashed her face down to the stone, causing her spell to flicker and fizzle.
“Luna!” Twilight’s magic reached out, but the beam of light was swallowed by black waves.
The dark vines threw Luna and Twilight apart, tossing them to opposite sides of the tower. The Nightmare smiled as he stepped into the center of the tower. The ground beneath him erupted with billowing black smoke that engulfed him completely.
Twilight took a deep breath, refocusing herself. A task made all the more difficult by the dozens of ice-cold limbs reaching out from the cracks in the stone, grasping at her, clawing at her. But she held fast. With a spark of magic, Twilight teleported away.
“A fancy trick.” The Nightmare’s voices echoed.
With a purple glow, Twilight reappeared in the sky, catching herself with her wings. The Nightmare glanced up at her, lips curled in amusement.
“I’ve got a few more tricks than that,” Twilight yelled back. She soared around the sky, orbiting around the tower as she struggled to think of a new plan. Luna was key. But that didn’t help with the angry monster standing between them.
Luna struggled against her binds, thrashing and squirming, trying to keep her magic steady. But her plan failed again. The shadows around her morphed into chains, binding her completely. They pulled taught with a crack, causing Luna to scream.
“Do you hear that, Twilight? Isn’t it beautiful?” The Nightmare asked.
Twilight’s response was a bolt of magic between the Nightmare’s eyes. He didn’t bother to dodge. The spell connected, the force blasting away his head. But it took only seconds for the shadows to put him back together.
“You don’t seem to understand that you cannot best me, Princess.”
Twilight’s instincts screamed at her to move. She banked hard to the right, narrowly avoiding an attack. It moved too quickly for her to see, but she could feel it. It tore through the air past her, rumbling like a train.
She sensed each attack before it happened. She dove and danced through the air, narrowly avoiding each strike. A downward glance told her just what had been after her. At the base of the tower, the ground boiled. While the shadows that grabbed at Twilight and Luna had been only about the size of her leg, these six that stretched up from the earth were thicker than tree trunks and taller than the spires of Canterlot Castle.
They speared upward from the dirt, swatting at Twilight like they would a bothersome fly.
All the while, the Nightmare stood and watched, directing his magic with little more than the occasional flick of his horn.
Twilight stopped herself with a powerful flap of her wings.
The sudden stop threw off the tendril’s accuracy, instead slamming into the collapsing another of the castle towers. Before another could rise to strike, Twilight dove toward the Nightmare.
She slung a barrage of spells.
Several punched through the Nightmare, leaving wide gaps in his form.
But not all the shots were aimed at him. Several peppered the stone around Luna, breaking a few of the chains holding her. Although it wasn’t enough to free her, it allowed her to take a deep breath and kept her from screaming.
With a silent cheer, Twilight continued her assault. Another broken chain. Then another.
With her attention on Luna, Twilight didn't notice the Nightmare’s next strike. One of the dark limbs reaching up from the courtyard clipped her, tearing through the end of her wing, shredding her feathers and knocking her from the air.
She hit the top of the tower hard, crashing down toward the Nightmare.
Before she could scramble away, he drilled a hoof into her back, between her wings.
If she were able to breathe, she would have screamed.
“I must say, when I learned that Nightmare Moon had fallen, I suspected Celestia might be responsible. Imagine my surprise when I learned that there was another princess. I was thrilled to see you for myself.”
The Nightmare leaned down toward Twilight’s head. She could feel his frosty breath on the nape of her neck.
“But I must say,” he continued, pulling back. “I am quite disappointed.”
“Shut up,” Twilight croaked through her teeth. She tried to draw in a breath, only for the Nightmare to knock it back out of her with a second stomp. A loud crack filled the air. Twilight tried to scream, but her voice died in her throat.
“Still, I suppose a promise is a promise.” The Nightmare sighed and removed his weight from Twilight’s spine. Wracked with pain, she collapsed into a heap. “One last time, I will offer you mercy. A perfect dream. Or you can die here. It is your choice to make.”
Twilight pulled herself from the crater. She stumbled away from the Nightmare, her steps drunk on the pain burning through her body.
“What do you say, Princess?”
“I . . .” Twilight coughed. It tasted like blood. “I will never . . . go back.”
“Very well.” Even in her dazed state, she thought she could see true disappointment on the Nightmare’s face. That fact almost made her proud. “I leave you to my newest pet, then.” The Nightmare turned his back to her. Before Twilight could understand what he meant, one of the tendrils swiped Twilight from the top of the tower, sending her spinning into the city below.
Twilight tried to stop her fall, but her body wouldn’t move. A sensation of numbness overwhelmed her. She couldn’t feel the pain. She hoped that it had something to do with adrenaline. Her fall stopped short when she slammed through a stone wall.
At least, she thought it was a stone wall.
Then it sent her rocketing down into the streets of Canterlot. She hit the cobblestone hard enough to leave a trench behind her as she slid. Sent tumbling head-over-hooves, Twilight glanced up to see just what she had hit. And as soon as she had, she really wished she hadn’t.
“I suppose you’re his new pet, then,” Twilight lamented, staring up at the towering form of Tirek.
Like the nightmare, his body was formed from black mist. His upper half was leaned forward, still recovering from a punch. Twilight could see a few specks of her blood on his knuckles.
“Well. I beat the real one. You shouldn’t be too much harder.”
Twilight rose slowly to her hooves. The slightest sensation started to return to her battered form. The pain was almost crippling, but she gritted her teeth and powered through. Her vision cleared and her breathing slowed to its normal pace. Her wings flexed, shaking off the debris.
The lumbering centaur stood tall. The two black horns atop his head crackled with energy as a small star appeared between them. Twilight widened her stance, waiting. Static in the air set her fur on end. With a roar, Tirek unleashed a torrent of blinding magic. It ripped down the street, shattering glass and melting stone as it passed.
Though her thoughts remained fuzzy, Twilight ignited her magic. She started her teleportation spell, but something interrupted her. A faint buzzing sound filled the air. Something dark whizzed past, scooping Twilight up into the air before speeding down an alleyway and out of the path of the oncoming devastation. A column of fire lit up the night as Tirek’s blast obliterated nearly half of Canterlot.
Cold hooves held Twilight just high enough to keep her hooves from dragging.
Rather than the biting frost of the Nightmare, this cold touch set her at ease. For a moment, she forgot her pain as she stared up at the mossy, blue-green mane of Chrysalis.
“Sorry I’m late. I wanted to be dramatic with my entrance.”
Despite the grave circumstances, Twilight laughed as a weight lifted from her heart. Suddenly, her pain didn’t seem so unbearable. “I knew you wouldn’t abandon me.”
“You always were a drama queen.”
Once she was sure they were hidden from the behemoth, Chrysalis stopped and lowered Twilight onto the ground.
“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked, throwing herself at Chrysalis.
“Is there somewhere else I need to be?” Chrysalis awkwardly patted Twilight’s back.
“I didn’t mean it like that. Of course I’m happy to see you. The Nightmare lied to me. He told me he sent you home.”
Chrysalis frowned. “He offered me the chance.”
Twilight nuzzled at Chrysalis' neck. The changeling gasped at the sudden touch. “But you stayed to help me?”
“No,” Chrysalis said quickly. She cleared her throat and nudged Twilight away. “You’re simply lucky that I’m vengeful and stubborn. Now, why don’t you be grateful that I just saved your life and we leave it at that.”
“Thanks for saving me. But I had it under control,” Twilight said.
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.“Under control? I wasn’t even sure you were alive after that.”
“I’ve had worse.” Twilight rolled her shoulder, wincing as the joint popped. Small cuts and bruises covered most of her body. Her right wing no longer had a tip. Still, she stretched it out and inspected the damage.
“They still work?” Chrysalis asked.
“They’d better,” Twilight growled back. “I don’t have time to be injured. The Nightmare has Luna at the top of Canterlot Castle. He’s stronger than I expected. We can’t let him take Luna.”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It is.” Twilight finished her inspection. “Nothing’s broken. Surprisingly. Going to be sore in the morning, though.” She sucked a breath through her teeth as she turned and started deeper into the labyrinth of alleyways.
Chrysalis scoffed, but followed. “You’re not going back there, are you?” she asked.
“I don’t have a choice.”
“Tell me you at least have a plan.”
Twilight nodded. “Free Luna.”
“That sounds like a horrible plan.”
“We don’t have a choice.” Chrysalis stopped and let Twilight peek around the edge of a corner market. A wave of her hoof told her the coast was clear. They hurried across the street. They were rats in a maze. And the hungry cat was closing in. Chrysalis could feel his thunderous steps instead of hearing them.
“Well, first thing first. That thing isn’t letting you anywhere near that castle. Do you have a plan for him?”
“I’m still working on that. Tirek is one of the strongest villains I’ve ever faced. Beating him won’t be easy.”
“Wait.” Chrysalis stopped with a huff. “You know that thing?” She pointed a hoof toward the four-legged disaster.
“His name is Tirek.” Twilight frowned. “I mean, the real one is Tirek. That’s . . . that’s my recurring nightmare.” She shuddered. “He’s not going to be easy to get past. But now that you’re here--”
“Hold on a second. He’s the monster that gave you nightmares? Didn’t I kidnap you twice and nearly turn you and everyone you loved into mindless husks for my nourishment?”
“Is this really the time for this discussion?” Twilight walked away again.
“What could he possibly have done that supersedes me?” Chrysalis surprised even herself with the note of disgust in her question.
Twilight sighed and answered over her shoulder. “He flattened half of Ponyville, blasted me through a mountain, and blew up my house. Okay? I mean, just look at him, he’s huge and terrifying.”
“He blasted you through a mountain?”
“Yes. Now if you’re done asking inappropriate questions, we need to come up with a plan. It won’t be long before he just decides to start bulldozing the whole city just to find us.” Almost as if waiting for her permission, an explosion erupted from the other end of Canterlot.
“Twilight, wait,” Chrysalis put a hoof on the pony’s shoulder, stopping her again.
“What? We don’t have time to waste.”
“I’m not wasting time. Your story gave me an idea. Start heading toward Canterlot Castle. Keep the Nightmare distracted, just like we planned. I’ll take care of the giant idiot.”
Twilight shook her head.
“You won’t be able to take him alone. He’s too strong for you. And besides, if he’s anything like his master, we won’t be able to hurt him. The only one that can is Luna. That’s why we need to free her.”
Chrysalis flashed a devious smile.
“I don’t intend on trying to fight him.”
“Fine.” Twilight faced her body toward Chrysalis. “Tell me what you’re planning. I’ll help.”
“No. You rest. Gather your strength. You’ll need it if you’re going up against the Nightmare again.” Twilight tried to object, but Chrysalis cut her off. “Do you trust me?”
After a short hesitation, Twilight nodded.
“I do,” she said, the corners of her lips curling into a smile.
“Then trust me.” Without thinking, Chrysalis returned the smile. “I’ll prove that I’m the scarier monster. Just watch.”
“Promise me you’ll be safe. I’ve already lost you once today.”
“You . . . lost me?” Chrysalis asked.
Twilight’s cheeks glowed red as she turned away.
“Long story. No time. Go do whatever it is you’re planning. And watch out for his magic drain. I’ll wait for you by the Canterlot Castle gates.” Chrysalis headed toward Tirek, while Twilight continued through the alleyways to the skyward spires of Canterlot Castle.
“Alright.” Chrysalis flattened herself against the wall, peeking out to see the centaur on his rampage. He roared as he fired another blast, removing half a city block from the map. “Step one: Getting his attention.”
Taking a moment to reinforce her nerves, Chrysalis slipped out into the street. Her hooves pounded against the concrete as she galloped toward the towering figure. As she neared him, the city ceased to exist around her. Nothing remained but the burned out husks of homes.
“Tirek!” Chrysalis’ voice carried across the devastated landscape.
The upper half of Tirek’s body turned until he faced her. His beady yellow eyes zeroed on her. Awed by the malice in his smirk, she started to understand why Twilight feared this creature more than any other.
But she could not hold his attention for long. Without so much as a note of disgust, he returned to his task, tearing apart another city block as he continued his march across the corpse of Canterlot.
“Hey! Do you hear me? I’m talking to you?”
Chrysalis frowned. She reared up onto her hind legs and lashed forward, sending an emerald wave slicing the beast where his two halves met. As she expected, the wound lasted momentarily before his smoky form filled back in. Regardless, it did the job. Tirek circled around, trampling a house as he turned to face Chrysalis.
“You would dare strike at me, peon?” His words were natural disasters. The terror he emanated put earthquakes to shame. Suddenly, Chrysalis had doubts about her plan.
“Y-Yeah, I do dare. You ignored me,” she spat.
The centaur’s equine half knelt, allowing him to lean in closer to her.
“You should consider yourself fortunate. I have no time to waste on the insignificant. Flee. Before I decide you’re worthy of my attention.”
Again, he started to leave.
Chrysalis growled. Even with his tremendous size, he had the ego to match.
“Alright. That failed.” She chewed her tongue. Without her horn, a full transformation would be insane. But maybe she could make do with just a single piece. Cloaking herself in the shadows of the nearest alleyway, Chrysalis massaged her collar. She focused whatever magic she could spare into her throat.
“Tirek!” Throwing her head back, she screamed into the night. Twilight’s voice poured from her lips. The heavy footfalls stopped. Chrysalis dared a peek around the corner, where she saw Tirek, scanning for the source of the call.
With a chuckle, Chrysalis kicked a trash can out into the street. The hollow aluminum rang like a bell as it bounced across the bumpy road. As she hoped, Tirek’s eyes snapped to the noise.
“You cannot hide from me forever, Princess,” he roared, shaking the city as he galloped forward. Before he could reach her, Chrysalis slipped away, keeping out of sight as she taunted.
“Oh no! Tirek has found me. What am I going to do?” She stifled a chuckle as she rounded a corner into the residential district. Tirek’s magic tore through everything behind her, close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from the molten slag it left behind.
Her path zig-zagged through the city, always stopping long enough for Tirek to take a shot. She focused on staying unseen. A relatively simple task with the gridlocked architecture of the city. As the city was erased, Chrysalis could hear the whine of buckling metal. But she kept her eyes trained on her goal: the snow-capped peak of Mount Canterlot.
“Why do you hide from me? Does my power frighten you, little Pony?” Tirek called.
Chrysalis scoffed, but her confidence wavered as the path ended at a brick wall. From the sound of his voice, he was closing in on her more quickly than she thought he would. She prayed this would be close enough.
“Step two. Try not to die.” She drank in a deep breath and pushed off the concrete. Her wings carried her up into position. With one final look backwards, she adjusted her position slightly. Satisfied, she cleared her throat and called out.
“Hey, Tirek?”
The centaur looked up from his search. “You. You speak with the voice of the Princess. What form of trickery is this?”
“Aww, what’s the matter?” Chrysalis mocked him with a pout. “Did I trick you?”
“I warned you to flee. For now, you have proven yourself worthy of my attention.” Tirek straightened his upper half.
Chrysalis rubbed her eyes with her hooves while unleashing a slew of fake sobs and crocodile tears. “Is the little filly upset that I wasted his precious time? Or maybe you’re just mad that you’re an idiot? Honestly, both of them are completely valid reasons.”
Tirek’s face reddened. An impressive feat, giving his skin was already stained that color.
“I have heard enough.” An electric charge pulsed through the air. Chrysalis could feel the static building up in her shell and mane. Far below, loose stones and bricks started to lift off the ground. She swallowed hard. This was the second dumbest thing she’d ever done.
The golden orb between his horns spun like a whirlwind.
“Any last words before you die?” Tirek shouted, his voice barely audible over the howling wind.
“Yeah. Don’t miss.” Chrysalis whispered. The edges of her lips curled upward.
Tirek’s magic blasted from his horns. Chrysalis’ wings locked to her sides, dropping her out of the way of the incoming inferno. The attack’s full force soared over her head, but the heat was enough to burn her skin, even through her chitin. Though she squeezed her eyes shut, the light blinded her. Her hooves instinctively moved to her ears, desperate to block out the beastly screech of the resulting explosion.
The heat dissipated. The light faded. The explosive rumbling didn’t. Perfect.
“You missed!” Chrysalis stuck out her tongue like a bratty child.
Tirek’s only response was a furious snarl. Rather than charge another attack, he lifted his arm, facing his palm toward Chrysalis. His fingers curled into a claw. A cold sense of dread gripped at her chest. This wasn’t part of the plan.
Chrysalis’ body stiffened. Her wings locked into place, but she didn’t fall. She gnashed her teeth. Her mind screamed for her body to move, but it wouldn’t react. Her magic likewise failed to heed her.
“I detect some powerful magic within you. Consider yourself fortunate. You will not die this day.” As he spoke, his fingers started to glow. Green energy tore from Chrysalis’ body, funneling between his teeth. Her chitin lost its sheen and her body ached as her magic drained away.
“S-So, this is the magic drain, huh?” Chrysalis groaned.
“You finally realize the Princess sent you to your doom.”
“N-Nope. This was by choice.”
Tirek opened his mouth to speak, but stopped. The sapping cord between them broke as he glanced around the city. “What is that infernal noise?” He asked.
The rumbling grew ever louder. By now, Chrysalis could hear nature’s roar ringing in her ears. “That sound?” Chrysalis laughed, but with the chalkiness of her mouth, it sounded more like a cough. “I wouldn’t worry too much about that. If I were you, I’d worry more about that grinding metal.”
“What? I don’t hear any--” Tirek’s eyes widened as he realized his mistake. His gaze snapped to the peak of the mountain. A chunk of stone had been torn away, making the whole mountain shudder.
“I hope you like snow,” Chrysalis muttered.
They watched as the top half of Mount Canterlot collapsed in on itself. The resulting avalanche moved quickly. A cloud of white death that flattened everything in its path. Tirek forgot about his prisoner, releasing her from his grip. With her energy sapped, it took Chrysalis’ wings a few seconds of freefall to kick in. She hauled herself up, out of the way of the impending disaster.
Tirek scowled. He lifted each of his four legs, one at a time, and rooted them firmly in the land beneath him. His bulky arms crossed in front of him, forming a barricade over his face. The landslide struck the edge of the city.
Houses. Trees. Streetlights. Everything perished beneath the weight of the plummeting mountain. Unleashing a defiant howl, Tirek, too, vanished into the snow and stone. Chrysalis watched with sadistic glee as Canterlot crumbled.
“Step three,” she snickered.
In less than a minute, the avalanche ended. Chrysalis looked over her work. Only the row of houses closest to Canterlot castle had survived. Everything else had been buried beneath the mountain’s remains. But her joy faded as the snow started to shift.
Tirek hauled himself up from beneath the snow. “Snow? That was your brilliant plan?”
Chrysalis frowned. “No. That was step three. I’m still waiting for step four.”
“Step four?” Tirek cocked an eyebrow.
The sound of grinding metal echoed through the valley. The city shifted, knocking loose a few clumps of snow from the edges. Tirek started to sink. The whole city started to sink.
“That is step four.”
Canterlot’s metal frame shrieked as the beams buckled under the sudden weight. Chrysalis hovered just outside his reach, keeping her muzzle upturned as she smiled down at him.
“Goodbye, Tirek,” Chrysalis smiled. “It was fun playing with you.” She waved goodbye.
Tirek started to speak, but his words were inaudible against the crunch of snapping metal. His scream brought comfort to her as she watched nearly all of Canterlot collapse into the lake below.
Chrysalis’ laughter echoed across the now empty space as her magic returned to her.
Once she had drunk her fill of victory, she flew off toward the only building still standing in what was once the great capital of Equestria: Canterlot Castle.