A Story Of Frozen Souls And Icy Chills

by KillerSteel


Shot Through The Heart, And You're Too Late

Many ponies in Equestria turned their eyes to the fixed moon in the sky, both in wonder of its celestial beauty, and in confusion as to why it has hung in the sky for so long. The massive flash of light from Ponyville diverted the attention of many for miles around, but all eyes eventually drifted back to the full moon with its static backdrop of stars. When would Princess Luna lower the moon? Why had it ascended so quickly?

Why was it just...sitting there?


A sudden explosion of thunder and light from Canterlot's main square tore through the city as four mares appeared in the center of a quickly fading circle of symbols, Twilight with a smoldering horn at their head. "We... woo, ok... we made it!" Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, both over the spell's success, and that unicorn's couldn't feel pain through their horn; that spell usually lights her horn on fire with how much energy travels through it. "Ok, c'mon girls, we've got a Princess to meet and a Nightmare to beat!"

"Right behind you, Twilight!" Pinkie shouted, sprinting ahead of the group.

"Lead on, dear!" Rarity zoomed past as she spoke.

"Um...b-be right with you..." Fluttershy whispered, standing behind Twilight, giving her a light shove forward with her muzzle. Twilight blinked twice before registering that she was just left behind, and sprints off after the other two dust trails in front of her, Fluttershy pulling up the rear as quickly as she can. Ponies all around seemed fixed on the moon, as if in some sort of trance; an image of the Moon glowed in their eyes.

"What's with all these ponies?" Twilight said between breaths, catching up with Rarity.

"I'm not sure, dear, but it's like they're all hypnotized!" Rarity looked around, her breathing a bit more level than Twilight. You'd think a mare this good looking would pull eyes away from even Luna's full moon... what was going on?

A sudden rumbling from behind caught Twilight's attention, and she turned to see a growing mob of unicorns chasing Fluttershy, who chooses now to start screaming. "Fluttershy!"

"Help!" she squeaked, the mob quickly gaining on her. She looked back into their stone-cold eyes, all wide, all stable, all fixed on her with the Moon in their eyes. "Stop chasing me!" she begged, no response coming back except for the thundering of hooves growing louder and quicker. Twilight spun around, horn bright, and dropped a heavy purple wall between the mob and Fluttershy. The mob quickly piles up against it, all those eyes staring through at Twilight; soulless, without purpose. Something really was wrong with them!

"Fluttershy, c'mon!"

"I can't, my tail's caught!" Fluttershy madly flapped her wings, part of her tail jammed under the heavy wall. The unicorn horde continued piling up on itself, eventually reaching the top and starting to pull themselves over. Twilight quickly grabbed the wall and pushed it back, Fluttershy screeching as some of her tail pulls away under the friction before the wall falls backwards onto the horde, shattering into a mountain of glass; nopony would die from that, but there'd be a lot of superficial injury, hopefully enough to put some of them out of commission.

"Sorry, Fluttershy! We have to hurry!" Twilight quickly picked Fluttershy up and ran off down the road, "Rarity! Help me here!"

"Just put her down, Twilight! You need your strength!" Rarity shouted back, now seeing Fluttershy in pain, "Oh dear! I thought that screech was from those crazy unicorns!" she slammed her hooves into the dirt, skidding to a stop to let Twilight catch up. She helps her carry Fluttershy with her magic, and they both take off for the castle. Pinkie passed the gates while they were dealing with the zombie unicorns, and crashed through the main doors.

"AJ! You here!?" she shouted, walking further into the hall; it wasn't usually this dark...

"Pinkie! Ah'm here!" Sweet, she's here! That means Pinkie's in the right place! Though it would be kinda hard to mistake something else for a castle, but that didn't matter!

"Okie dokie! Where are you?"

"Ah'm in the vault fer the Elements! C'mere!" Kind of a weird spot to hide, but ok!

"Is the Princess there with you!?"

"No, she ain't! Told me t' come in here and wait fer ya! Now c'mon, we got a Nightmare t' beat!"

Familiar.

"Okie dokie! I'll wait here for Twilight then!"

"What?! Y'all gotta come here, it's the only place th' Nightmare can't get us!"

"Well... ok!" Pinkie bounced into the darkness of the hall, Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy coming up the hill. The rumbling started again; apparently the magic glass didn't hold down that horde for long! The three charged into the hall, looking around.

"Pinkie! Rainbow! Applejack! Where are you!?" Twilight shouted, taking a few more steps into the room. The shadows of the three ponies extend as they slowly move forward, eyes constantly moving over the area.

The doors slam shut, the room descending into pitch black darkness; should've expected this... it's a trap!

"Nightmare, where are you?!" Twilight shouted, focusing on conjuring up a light spell. She instead burned herself on the left foreleg, causing a quick yelp of pain and a flail of the hoof. Rarity created her own light spell, casting a blue shade over the immaculate main hall of the castle. A large, black shape waits for them at the base of the stairs. "There you are!"

"Yes, here I am," The shadow responded, walking into the light. The light reflected off her white coat, creating an almost heavenly glow. "You made good time, Twilight Sparkle."

"Princess Celestia! Thank goodness! Sorry, we got held up, do you have the Elements?!"

"Yes, follow me, I have them in the vault still. Applejack and Pinkie are waiting there for us," Celestia quickly turns with a nod, leading the way back into the shadows. Something was off... her tone wasn't usually this harsh. Twilight furrowed her brow slightly.

"If you don't mind me asking, why aren't they out here with you?" Twilight raised her eyebrow; Nightmare Moon could shapeshift like one of those bugs...

"If I'd brought them out here, Nightmare Moon would have struck at Canterlot first instead of focusing on all of you. My trust was rightly placed, as you're now here and ready for battle. Please, come," The shadows consumed Celestia's form as she proceeded onward; in this kind of darkness, the mares would get lost anyway. This couldn't be Princess Celestia though... a ruler needs a level head and a calm voice in a stressful situation; she never even acted like this when the Changelings invaded.

"Be careful, girls... I don't think that's Celestia," Twilight whispered, inciting a nod from the other two ponies at her side. Fluttershy winced with each step as she tried to overcome the pain from her torn tail, as all three proceeded on into the darkness, only Celestia's swaying tail marking the trail for them to follow via Rarity's light spell. All three stayed focused on the Princess, two ready for a fight, while the other was ready to run.

"What tipped you off?" she dropped the 'dear' moniker... Twilight turned to Rarity, keeping her voice low.

"You don't notice anything different about her?"

"I haven't noticed much, no."

"She's... strict. The Princess I know is level headed, gentle, almost motherly; this is like a polar change for her. Just... be ready," Twilight stared forward, eyes squinting slightly on her mentor's cutie mark. If it was a disguise, there had to be some imperfection to it... two years is a long time to get to know your sister's form, but her personality was apparently still a work in progress.

The walk continued on in silence, light filtering in to the dark halls and rooms through the massive stained glass murals, the full moon still hanging high in the sky. The uniform pillars of shadow cloaked Celestia and her followers as they pass by, only the glow of their eyes from the moonlight piercing the black. The Hall of the Elements came into view, finally, though it seemed darker than the rest of the castle; a solid black doorway, some of it leaking out like a frigid gas.

"That's strange... this wasn't here before. The Hall was lit up a while ago," Celestia furrowed her brow, staring into the darkness. She casts her own concentrated light spell, slicing through the darkness as she walked through, the other three following until coming to the dark doors. Twilight stared at them for a good while, trying to figure out if it was smart to proceed onwards; it could be a one-way door. She closes her eyes, a piece of chalk forming from the air, and she goes to drawing on the floor.

"What is that, dear?" Rarity looked over her shoulder at the quickly expanding design on the floor.

"An anchor for my teleporation spell. If something goes wrong and we're sealed inside, I can teleport us out with this," Twilight mumbled as she continued drawing. Remember the biological factor and account for distance and the width of the hall... one mistake, and one of her friends could end up in a wall.

"Oh my... that looks... confusing," Fluttershy whispered, wide-eyed at the symbols and runes; unicorn magic was done using all this?

"It's taken a lot of work, but I can anchor my spells to a certain point. Still perfecting the formula so I can use more than one."

With a final scratch of an omega symbol into the ground, Twilight sends the chalk away and gives one last look to her work; it was perfect, as it should be. She looked back to the black path before the group, got up, and walked through, casting a light spell by instinct. She winced as her burn acted up, light filtering out through her horn. Rarity follows suite with her own light spell, closely followed by Fluttershy, carefully stepping around the arcane circle.


Empty. That's how the room could be described by those who now inhabit it; empty as an unused prison cell. Despite the lack of light, Twilight could clearly see the other ponies in the room; Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity. Even herself, when she looked down at her lavender foreleg; it was like spotlights were turned only on them... how fitting, as it was nearly showtime for Nightmare's second defeat.

"Welcome, my little ponies!" Nightmare Moon cackled from the darkness. Twilight looked around, eyes squinted as her light spell died out, trying to focus on the source of the voice; it was everywhere!

"Come out, Nightmare!" she shouted, gritting her teeth.

"If I came out now, this would hardly be fair, pony. I've decided to throw confidence to the side, and level the playing field... here."

A box fell to the middle of the shadowed room, shattering apart to reveal the Elements of Harmony. Twilight immediately grabbed her tiara and placed it on her head, eyes going wide as her magic exploded within her. Rainbow flew up next, grabbing her lightning bolt necklace. "Still looks awesome, like me," she grinned, clipping it around her neck. Applejack followed suite with her necklace, shivering as the cold jewellery hit her chest. Fluttershy carefully clipped hers on, looking down at the butterfly gem as Rarity levitated hers over.

"Alright Nightmare, we're ready. Come out!" Twilight scanned the black space around her, locking on a pair of dark blue eyes. "There you are."

"Here I am..." Nightmare responded before vanishing, "And then I'm gone."

"What the?"

"I never said the Elements alone would level the playing field completely... it just brings our power closer together. A better challenge, wouldn't you say?" Nightmare chuckled, a gust of wind brushing past Twilight, Fluttershy squeaking as it blows past her. "Then again, if you can't even find me, perhaps I was wrong in challenging you."

"We'll beat you, just like we beat you before! Discord was a bigger challenge than you!" Twilight chastised, eyes moving over the shadows; it didn't help much that Nightmare herself was pretty much black all over. The two eyes reappeared in the darkness, and Twilight fired a bolt straight between them. It hit its mark with quite an effect; the shadows shattered, revealing a lit Hall. She'd just shot the vault door!

"Goodness, pony, you really must work on your aim..." Nightmare chuckled from seemingly everywhere, another gust of wind moving by. Rainbow growled, moving up beside Twilight.

"Where are you, you coward!?" She shouted, spotting another pair of eyes. With a flap of her wings, she had her back hooves firmly jammed in Nightmare's face in under two seconds, a sickeningly bony crunch echoing out. The shadows broke again, revealing blood; she'd just kicked a mirror?!

"These mindgames are getting really old, Nightmare Moon!" Twilight shouted, spinning around.

"Oh, but I've only just started, my little pony. You'll learn to kneel before me..."

A whisper falls over Twilight's shoulder, "and after that, you'll be mine."

Another bolt, another fried statue. Twilight grunted in frustration; she was playing with them! She stamped her hoof with a roar. "Come out!"

"We believe we're perfectly fine in the night," Nightmare responded, "For we are the night, aren't we, Luna?"

"Let her go!"

"Let who go, Twilight? Luna... or Celestia?"

"What?!" The group resounded.

"You heard us, my little ponies... Celestia is imprisoned in this very room. It wouldn't do to randomly cast those spells when she's held hostage within firing range," Nightmare laughed as Twilight's expression fell; Celestia was in here? She could've-

CRUNCH

"Gah!" Nightmare cried out in pain, the shadows giving way again. Nightmare tumbled out of the vault, Celestia standing in the threshold.

"Twilight Sparkle! Quickly! Use the Elements!" She shouted, Twilight quickly following the order with her friends. Twilight closed her eyes in focus, moving her magic through the tiara and back into her, every revolution of the flow gaining speed and power. She and the rest of the Bearers rose into the air, a light appearing between them sharing the brightness of the Sun.

"Go back to where you came from, and give Luna back to us!" Twilight shouted as the rainbow-colored spell launched out of the spark. It arced slowly through the air, racing straight for Nightmare...

Celestia?!

The spell slams into the Princess, filling the room with a blinding flash of light, her pained screams ripping through the ponies in the room. Twilight's eyes shrink in shock as she sees her mentor burn away in the light, as all the energy in the room collapses into a single point.

"CELESTIAAAA!"

Boom. With a single burst of light, the spark, the Princess, and all remnants of her screams vanish in a single, silent beam of light shooting straight through the roof. Twilight's eyes move to a view of the moon outside, now bearing a design; Celestia's cutie mark. "Oh...n-no..."

"Oh, yes..." Nightmare hisses, walking up to Twilight. "And I couldn't have done it without you all..."

"Y-You've gotta be kidding me...!" Rainbow stared long and hard at the approaching alicorn, completely stunned. Fluttershy cowered in a corner, now utterly terrified of the situation the girls found themselves in. None of them could find it in themselves to speak, not even Applejack, who now lies unconscious in the corner; illusions?

"You know of my shapeshifting capabilities, Twilight. I'm surprised you didn't take them into account with your plans... I thought you were supposed to be smart!" The evil Nightmare Moon shouted, adding a scathing chuckle behind it; that sickening smell of defeat, accompanied by the laugh of victory from your enemy... it was enough to turn the unicorn's stomach.

"I...I did...I know I d-"

The world froze. Somepony shouted from behind Twilight, but it simply felt flat, muffled. Something was... wrong... what was this burning sensation? Why was the world blurring? Why was... everything... just... so many questions... she supposed the most prevalent was...

Why did her heart hurt so much?

"TWILIGHT!" Rainbow screamed, charging forward towards Nightmare. She connects a heavy buck against Nightmare's face, a disgusting crack coming from the hit. She spun around and kicked Nightmare in the face again, then proceeded to just unload on her, tears whipping away from her eyes. "Nightmare! Give Luna back! Give Twilight back! GET THE BUCK OUT OF EQUESTRIA!!!"

Everything just sounded muffled as the world started to go dark for Twilight. She slowly turned her head as she felt herself being lifted, jerked around by the shock of kicks. Was somepony kicking her? No... this was a consistent pain. She looked down into Luna's eyes, her deep blue mane falling over the single eye...and to the blood-soaked horn currently stuck through her chest. Nightmare's voice rang through her mind before everything faded away...


"And now... my victory is assured..."