//------------------------------// // The Moon Sets Forever (Part 1) // Story: The Night's Knight // by The Dragon Warlock //------------------------------// Nightmare Moon’s horn shot out a blinding white light, causing Pip and the others to scream and cover their eyes from the light. Pip staggered back a little and had no time to react as Nightmare used her magic to shoot out an energy blast and send him to the ground. The spotted stallion writhed in pain as he felt the shot hit him in his left foreleg. He got up, albeit he didn’t put a lot of pressure on his left leg, but ducked back down to avoid another magical shot that looked like a lightning bolt. The dark alicorn cackled as she saw Pip already struggling to avoid her attacks. “Come now Pippy,” she said in a coy tone as she trotted towards him. “Surely this isn’t the best the bodyguard and coltfriend of that weakling Princess Luna has to offer, does he?” Pip lied on the ground motionless as Nightmare got closer to him. The spotted stallion’s eyes shot open and narrowed and quickly got back up. Before the dark alicorn could respond, Pip socked her in the face with an uppercut and turned to use his hind legs to buck her right in the chest, sending her back a little and making her grunt in pain. He got up close to Nightmare and pulled her in by the neck, his expression furious and eyes that could shoot out daggers. “Only Luna can call me Pippy!” He barked. “You are by no means Luna at all you wanker!” He raised his head and butted Nightmare right in the snout harshly before delivering another sucker punch and sending her staggering back. Nightmare yelled in pain as she stepped back and turned away from him. Pip rubbed his head a little as pain was throbbing from the hard headbutt he did before advancing towards Nightmare again. “Then you can join your dear Lulu and be lost in the darkness forever!” Nightmare’s horn shot out a large lightning blast that went all over the area and hit the walls and shattered the windows in its path. Pip and the others ducked and tried to flatten themselves to the ground as much as possible. Spike used his wings to cover his friends as much as he could and kept them close by. Nightmare continued her barrage of lightning and keep the others at bay from her and laughed. As he shielded himself from the magical energy, Pip noticed one of the glass shards from a broken window. He reached a hoof out cautiously and quickly grabbed the shard, careful not to cut himself. He looked at the glass and saw it looked similar to an arrowhead, except a little bigger and enough to bring anypony down. The spotted stallion looked back at Nightmare and felt guilt was over him as he thought about what he had to do. But as he looked back at the others and saw them unable to move without getting hit, he knew what had to be done. Luna . . . I’m so sorry. A single tear ran down his face as he aimed the glass shard at Nightmare and threw it. The shard penetrated into Nightmare’s right side, causing blood to slowly pour out of the wound. The dark alicorn yelled in agony as she crumpled to the ground and held her side. As she looked down and away from Pip, she wanted nothing more than to thoroughly kill Pip slowly and painful. She felt the familiar pain in her heart again and realized what it was again. Just as she was about to use another spell though to silence the other spirit inside her, an idea suddenly popped into her head. “Pippy . . .” said a cracked voice. “That . . . that hurt so much . . .” The spotted stallion stopped dead in his tracks as he heard the voice. “Luna? Is that really you?” “Pip, you can’t seriously believe this!” Shouted Spike. “If that was really Luna, then she wouldn’t look like Nightmare Moon right now!” “Please Pip, you have to believe me,” she pleaded. “I’m . . . I’m trying to fight back against Nightmare. You didn’t need to be so harsh against me though.” She started to sniffle a little and shook. “Sugarcube, I’m the Element of Honesty,” said Applejack. “I can tell ya right now that this liar ain’t telling ya the truth.” “Please Pippy . . . I need you to help me,” said Luna. “I . . . I don’t want to go back again. I don’t want to be in that horrible dark place.” “Pip, that meany is lying to you!” Pinkie shouted out to Pip. “I beg you Pippy! Don’t let me suffer anymore!” “Are you going to listen to that ruffian who pretends to be your love?!” “Please Pippy-” “Don’t listen to her-” “Pippy!” “Pip!” “Pippy!” “ENOUGH!!!” Pip yelled out as he rushed to Nightmare Moon. “Don’t worry Luna! I will save you!” He told her as he lifted her from the ground, holding her in a hug. “Oh Pippy...” she said softly, returning the hug. “You are truly gullible!” “Wha-” Pip had no time to finish as he was sent flying across the room, hitting the wall on the other side hard. Nightmare Moon’s horn flickered before disappearing and she started cackling at the fallen stallion before her. “You are truly idiotic, for thinking Luna would ever escape my grasp you colt!” The spotted stallion groaned as he squirmed a little in agony. His back was throbbing in pain and felt like his back was run over by the world’s largest carriage’s wheels. “Yer gonna pay for that, ya varmint!” Shouted Applejack. “Come on y’all, we’ve got a nightmare to end.” Nightmare Moon watched as the group of ponies galloped, or in this case for Spike and Rainbow Dash flew, towards her. She smirked to herself and shook her head in amusement. With a glow of her horn, she fired a lightning bolt at the group, which unfortunately hit Fluttershy in the chest. The yellow pegasus screamed in horror as she fell back and hit the floor with a loud THUD. Rainbow turned around and quickly flew over to her spouse, with worry on her face. “Flutters! Hang on, I’ll get you help!” She yelled as she held Fluttershy. She then looked towards Nightmare with a furious look on her face. “Luna or not, I’m going to buck you so hard you’ll be sent flying straight back to the moon!” “Oh relax, she’ll be fine,” she said nonchalantly. “All she needs is some rest, much like the rest of your friends.” “What the hay do you mean by that?” Asked the blue pegasus. Nightmare responded with her horn glowing and covering Rainbow and the rest of her friends in a black aura. “H-hey . . . anypony g-getting c-cold hooves?” Asked Rarity. The group looked down and saw to their horror that their bodies were being covered up in ice. “I . . . I can’t move!” Shouted Applejack. “It feels like I’m stuck in quicksand!” The ice slowly inched its way around their bodies. Rarity tried to use her magic to remove the ice from her legs, but her use of fire magic didn’t even melt the ice a little, in fact it was forming around her faster. “It’s useless to resist my power,” said Nightmare. “The more you struggle, the faster the ice grows. You’ll all make fine decorations for my throne room once I’m done with all of you, along with your precious Princess Celestia, Twilight, and Pip here.” “I’d put those interior decorations on hold!” Nightmare felt hot and saw something bright and turned to see it. She gasped and quickly ducked as a column of fire passed over her. The dark alicorn looked to see Spike, whose body was very slowly being covered in ice. She gritted her teeth and snarled, “Insolent dragon! You think you can fight me like that?” “As long as I can move and can breathe out fire, I’m gonna kick your flank you hag,” he said. “Then savor those last few movements!” Nightmare’s horn glowed brightly and the ice around each pony and the dragon engulfed them quickly. With each one of his friends screaming for help, Spike lashed out and tried to blow out more fire at Nightmare, but she used her magic to bring up a piece of the marble floor to shield herself. The dragon refused to give in and tried to fight back, but as he looked around, he saw his friends all but engulfed in ice and their screams died down. Feeling the ice form around his head, Spike let out one last breath of fire that managed to hit a ceiling support beam that burned and fell down at Nightmare Moon. The alicorn didn’t have time to react as the beam hit her square in the back, causing her to collapse to the ground briefly. She quickly shook off the attack and stood up to look at her new trophies. The entire group of ponies and the lone dragon were covered in ice and had agonizing looks on each of them. But as she looked, she saw Pinkie’s statue and saw she was sticking her tongue out and had a goofy smile on her face. “I guess she took the expression laughing to death too literally.” Nightmare then turned to Pip, who was still trying to get back up. “Say goodnight Pippy . . . forever.” “General Armor!” Shining saluted the guard addressing him as they were overlooking the battlefield before them. “What do you have to report Sergeant?” “Sir! We have dug trenches and placed our soldiers there to hold off the corrupted guards and set up medic points just at our base, Sir!” “Remember Sergeant! We only aim to incapacitate the enemy, not kill them... they’re innocent in this case!” “Sir! We have enchanted our crossbows to release a sleeping gas that will knock the target out for the next eight hours, Sir!” “Very good Sergeant!” Shining told him and used his magic to lift a scroll and gave it to the guard. “I want you to take this to the Commander at once!” “Sir, yes sir!” “Dismissed!” With that, the sergeant went off towards another point of the base leaving Shining alone to look at the battlefield before him. He looked to where Canterlot was and he sighed as he looked to the tower of the princesses. Hasn’t she suffered enough, Nightmare Moon? Nightmare Moon advanced on Pipsqueak, as he still struggled to get up. Her horn glowed again as she prepared to finish him off before he got his second wind. The pain inside her rose again sharply and heard the cries of protest. “Stop it already!” She barked. “Your love for him may be strong, but I’m far stronger than you shall ever be!” Nightmare felt a little dizzy as she could feel the spirit of Luna struggling within to prevent her from finishing her coltfried. She staggered over to a nearby window and rest her head upon the windowpane. Her horn glowed as she, once more, used her magic to cover herself in a dark cloud, only it lasted a minute instead of a few seconds this time. Once she stepped out, Nightmare took a deep breath as she felt the spirit of Luna was silenced again. “Now then, where . . . were . . . what?” Nightmare looked out the window and saw something in the distance, on the edge of the protection dome. She channeled her magic to her eyes, allowing her to get a better view and zoomed in on what she was trying to see. The dark alicorn saw that beyond the dome was a large army, with soldiers going into trenches and some ponies shouting orders. She then looked back down and saw her army was getting restless, some even trying to use their magic to break down the barrier but to no avail. The alicorn zoomed out and smiled wickedly to herself. “Well, it seems the cavalry has arrived. Those ponies will make excellent new members of my growing army. And who am I to deny my own soldiers the thrill of war?” Nightmare Moon’s horn glowed a dark black light and hummed loudly as it powered up slowly. “Go my fellow ponies! Bring me all who oppose me and ‘persuade’ them to fight for me!” The dark alicorn’s horn shot out a powerful blast of energy that shattered the window and went directly at the top of the dome. The beam hit the dome with tremendous force and wasted no time in breaking down the barrier. Slowly, the sound of glass shattering echoed across Canterlot as the shield started to strain and break down piece by piece. Shining Armor lowered the binoculars he was using and turned to the soldier. “Get ready men! Remember, we’ve drawn the line and we will not let Nightmare Moon or her army escape beyond us! Now let’s liberate Canterlot and end this nightmare!” “SIR, YES SIR!” The army boomed. “Shining!” The white unicorn turned to see Princess Cadence wearing pristine white armor with a helmet resembling Nightmare Moon’s. “What is it honey? We’ve got little time before Nightmare strikes.” “I know, but just in case we both need to go into battle, wear this.” She brought in a set of armor much like hers, except it was royal purple and had a another unicorn helmet, except it was kind of shaped like a crown. “Thank you Cadence,” he said as he kissed her. “Now we need to fulfill our end of the plan by making sure Nightmare Moon doesn’t live for even one night.” He put the armor on his body and readied himself for the worse. The shield’s cracks soon took its toll as it rumbled violently for a minute before the shield shattered completely. The army put their shields up as the magical shards rained down upon them and could hear the charging of hooves and the yelling of ponies. “FOR THE QUEEN!” The dark army chanted. Shining Armor raised up a sword and boomed, “CHARGE!” The forces under General Armor yelled as they charged forward, with the Nightmare Army closing in on them. “Where in blazes are Stealth and the others!? They should have been-” Twilight’s words were interrupted when a cracking sound emitting from above. She looked up in fear, her eyes widening as she realized what the cracking symbolized. “Twi? Was that what Ah think it was?” Big Mac asked her as he looked back to his wife, who wore a grim expression. The lavender mare’s lips scrunched as she gave a brief nod. “Yes,” she said softly. “We need to get out of here now!” “But Twilight, what about the others?!” Celestia asked her former student as they made their way across the passages. Twilight grinded her teeth as she closed her eyes. “We’ll take this spell and meet up with them,” she said to the princess as they rushed off. “Are ya suggesting teleportation?” “Exactly!” With that, Twilight focused her magic but her horn ceased glowing. She gasped and tried again, but it failed again. She stopped in her tracks and started to sweat, as worry and fatigue governed her face. “Twi?” “Something’s blocking my magic!” In that moment, something caught Celestia’s eye and she went to the window. She gasped as she saw a beam of black magic travel skywards, before enveloping the castle in a black aura. She narrowed her eyes and sighed as she turned to the others. “Nightmare Moon has placed an Anti-Teleportation Spell on Canterlot, all within the field can’t use magic to teleport,” “Then wha’ do we do y’all?” Twilight looked to the passages. “We go the long way around!” “But it may be-” “Hold it right there!” The group turned to see a group of guards charging towards them, all with their weapons drawn. “No time to argue Princess!” Shouted Twilight. “If we don’t move now, we won’t reach the others in time!” The white alicorn and Big Macintosh gave a nod before following Twilight’s lead against Nightmare’s army. Nightmare Moon chuckled as she finished her spell over the castle before turning back towards her victim. Pip staggered around on his hooves a little as he tried to steady himself. He looked up at the dark alicorn with his eyes narrowed and his teeth gritted. She merely laughed coldly at the look of the spotted stallion’s expression. “Oh please, like you of all ponies pose any kind of threat to me,” she said. “You can barely stand as it is and your friends here are all frozen in place. You’ve got nopony, or in the case of the dragon, no dragon to turn to.” “He’s got me!” Nightmare turned to her left, only to be met by a blast of magic that hit her in the chest. She grunted in pain as she staggered back a little. She gritted her teeth and boomed, “Who dares attack me!?” “Just somepony who you can’t fight what you can’t see.” Right near Pipsqueak, Stealth Sneak apparated and had his horn glowing a green aura. “And you most certainly can’t fight somepony who is a master of stealth tactics.” “You!” Steamed Nightmare with a furious expression on her. “But how did you escape my spell!? You should be frozen along with those other ponies and dragon!” “Didn’t you hear what I said? I’m a master of stealth tactics. I hid myself from you when I saw you cast that spell. If I had more time to charge up my magic, I would’ve hidden all of us to make it harder for you to see us.” “I don’t care if you’re a master of stealth or not! I’m going to make sure you’re put in your place. Maybe killing your precious Princess Celestia will make you learn your place.” Stealth’s eyes narrowed and felt rage bubbling up inside him, but something suddenly whizzed past him and went towards the dark alicorn. WHACK! Nightmare Moon fell to the ground as she felt a swift and deadly hoof sock her right in her face. Towering above her was Pipsqueak, who had a determined look on his face. “Yer gonna have to deal with me first!” He shouted. He turned to Stealth and said, “Thanks for holding her off, I needed some time to catch my breath.” “Think nothing of it, I said I wanted to make things right and I intend to keep that promise.” Pip looked at the hallway that had the shield still up. “Listen to me Stealth, I need you to go get Princess Celestia now. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold her off, but you need to get her here to help.” “But you’ll be outnumbered and she’s already beaten you up quite a bit. Let me stay here and you go get the Princess, I’ve got a better chance than you.” “I’m not abandoning Luna, not here, not ever,” he spat. “I know she’s in there and that I will save her. Please . . . I need to do this for her. I’ll do everything I can to save her. Besides, Princess Celestia needs you considering she may be under attack.” Stealth looked down and gave a small nod. “You have a point there, the princesses may be in danger and I need to tell them about what’s going on. Alright, you do what you can to save Princess Luna. Just don’t be a hero and get yourself killed, understand?” Pip nodded. “Good . . . I’ll be back as soon as possible.” Stealth’s cloaking field went up and the sound of galloping echoed down the hallway. Pip turned back towards Nightmare Moon, but she wasn’t there. All of a sudden, he felt a magical aura surround him and was picked up. He was then slammed against the wall a few times by the magic, all the while creating a large cracked impression of himself in the wall. He skidded down the wall and collapsed back to the ground. Nightmare stepped forward and said, “Your foolish actions will be the death of you . . . and I’ll make sure of that.” Shining looked out on the battlefield before him with grim as he saw many of his troops fall to the enemy. “Sir, this isn’t making any sense,” said one of Shining’s personal guards. “We outnumber Nightmare’s forces five to one. How can they be gaining the upper hoof and capturing many of our own?” Shining looked out at the battlefield again and saw some guards were pulling very skilled moves and maneuvers against his army. He shook his head and said, “Judging from some of the soldiers I’m seeing their battle skills, it looks like there are members of the Equestrian Tactical Special Forces on Nightmare’s side. They’re trained for the worst and are capable of taking on overwhelming odds.” “General!” One of Shining’s guards shouted as he came to his superior. “General, the enemy is advancing to our front! We must retreat!” “Not in my vocabulary Private!” Shining yelled out as he took out his spear and put his helmet on with the rest of his armor. “Twily and her friends need more time and I know they’ll pull through! We’ll buy her more time! So it seems that we need to go all out on them!” Cadance used her magic to bring out her own shield and armor, with a magical sword at her side. “We fight together!” Cadence said as she kissed her husband. Shining blushed for a moment before smiling at his wife and heading off into battle, helping the weakened guards gain support and morale. “Is that the general fighting!?” “And Princess Cadence?!” The guards turned to each other, blinking in confusion and looking back to their superior. One guard scrunched his lips and finally yelled out as he charged towards the battlefield. The others soon followed suit, assisting their general with the war. “Remember! We are only to knock them out! No blood shall be spilled her further today! Do you get me!?” “Yes sir!” With that, Shining started charging his horn and shot beams of magic to the enemy. The beams went flying everywhere, hitting enemies and nearly hitting allies alike. This did not stop Shining though, as he continued on firing. Cadance saw through this and turned to the guards. “Everypony! Do as he does!” “Yes Princess!” With that, the guards shot everywhere and beams of magic littered the battlefield. The beams started colliding with each other, creating small impacts that stunned nearby ponies. “AAHH!!” Yelled Pip as he felt a bolt of lightning hit him. He squirmed in pain from the blast and tried to desperately move. Nightmare snickered coldly as her horn let out a little smoke from the lightning spell she performed. “You certainly are quite the resilient one I’ll give you that,” she said. “But you know you’ve got no chance to fight me. Are you starting to regret your decision now?” The spotted stallion panted and spat out, “No . . . I need to save you . . . I need to save you Luna.” “Enough already!” Boomed Nightmare. “Your precious Luna is forever lost, she can’t even hear you now. When will you learn that it’s hopeless?” “I’m not giving up on my princess. I know she’s in there and she needs me more than ever. I’m not going to lose hope in saving her, not now, not ever. That’s something you should learn.” Nightmare opened her mouth again, but she suddenly noticed Pip picking up a brick that fell from the ceiling. He threw it at her, but the dark alicorn used her magic to stop the brick. Before she could do anything else, the spotted stallion charged up and connected a strong right hook to her face, which made her grunt in pain. The dark alicorn retaliated by using her horn to create a bright flash of light, causing Pip to be blinded. He stumbled a little as everything went into a blur for him. He felt Nightmare’s magic grip him again and was levitated into the air. Pip cringed as he prepared for the worst, but instead of being thrown against the wall, nothing happened to him. He opened his eyes to see Nightmare trot towards him, with a smirk on her face. She brought a hoof to his chin and rubbed it. “You know, I think I understand why Luna loves you so much now,” she said. “Your dedication and ferocity are something to behold. You are quite a pony for a mere guard.” “What do you want from me?” Pip spat. “I’m not interested in anything else except Luna.” “How about something better? As you know, Luna is forever gone and will never come back. But . . . I’m not the one who took your precious Luna from you. It was that arrogant Princess Celestia.” Pip stopped struggling as he suddenly remembered who it was that started it all: Princess Celestia. “What do you mean? She said to me she didn’t want for Luna to become Nightmare Moon again.” “And look where we ended up,” she said. “Celestia drove her own sister to become me. I know you aren’t happy with her and hold a lot of resentment towards her. You’re taking your anger out on the wrong pony. You should be going after the pony who took Luna from you in the first place. She only became me because she knew her own sister was plotting against her to stop you two from ever being a couple.” “But . . . but . . .” “And Celestia coming to your rescue may not be a good idea. You know what happened to Luna the last time this happened and I’m sure you don’t want to see this happen again. Once she banishes her sister to the moon again, she’ll most likely create a cover story and lie to everypony about how Luna went mad and make herself to be some hero again.” She extended a hoof out to him. “How about you help me instead? Celestia has done enough damage as it is and hasn’t learned anything at all. I promise you one thing . . . help me and you will see Luna again.” Pip stood there dumbfounded and didn’t know what to make of this. He looked at Nightmare Moon, who stood there with a small smile on her face. He then looked towards the wielders of the Elements of Harmony and Spike. With everything rushing in his mind, he could only weigh his options and his judgement cloud up. “Damn the dark hallway,” cursed Stealth Sneak. “Why didn’t Princess Celestia ever put torches here instead of the Guard using only magic to light up these corridors?” His horn glowed a faint white aura that barely helped him see where he was going. “I can’t use my magic up too much either, I know I need to conserve it.” He passed by one of the few windows and faintly saw the battle going on outside Canterlot. He gave a sigh and said, “I hope Shiny Plot can hold off for just a little longer.” His mind drifted back to a few days ago and all the events that transpired, in particular his actions that led to all this. The memories made him sigh again and furrowed his brows. “I swear to it Shiny, I will fix this disaster I helped created. If I have to die doing so, then so be it.” He turned his attention back to the dark hallway and saw something glowing in the distance at the intersection. A shadow was against the wall and in the shape of an alicorn! Stealth prepared to raise his cloaking field just in case Nightmare Moon was coming by. He waited for a few tense moments before, from out of a corridor, Princess Celestia trotted by. Stealth felt relief wash over him as he lowered his field and trotted over towards the white alicorn. “Am I ever glad to see you Princess,” he said. There was no response from her. She kept trotting along with her horn glowing a white light. “Princess Celestia? Didn’t you hear me?” Again, no response. “Your highness, I need to tell you something urgent.” When Stealth heard no response and the Princess passed him, he lost his patience. “Princess Celestia, listen to me!” He raised his hoof to poke her, but when he did his hoof went through her. The green unicorn jumped as he saw it. “P-Princess?” He asked with apprehension in his voice. He raised his hoof to tap her again, but it went through her again. “What kind of trick is this?” A thought suddenly hit him in the head and his eyes widened. “Wait a minute, it’s a tra-!” “GET HIM!” A voice barked. Princess Celestia suddenly disappeared and a platoon of Nightmare’s guards charged at Stealth. Reacting quickly, he lept to the side to avoid a few guards that tried to tackle him. Stealth charged his horn and shot out a few bolts of magic at another charging group of guards. Each soldier was hit squarely in the chest and they fell to the ground unconscious. The green unicorn stepped back as more guards came running out of nowhere, like they came from the very shadows of the hallway. He kept firing bolt after bolt of magic to stun each guard, but as he took one down, another quickly took his place. As more soldiers came at him, Stealth gritted his teeth and crouched a little. “I didn’t want to do this to you all, but you leave me no choice!” He shouted. His horn glowed brightly for a few moments and the hum of electricity crackling echoed across the hallway. Stealth let out a roar as his horn released a large wave of electricity that traveled down the hallway. Nightmare’s soldiers saw this and tried to get away, but the shockwave came at them too fast to get away. Waves of electricity jolted each guard, causing them to scream and writhe in agony as they crumpled to the ground. The glow on Stealth’s horn faded as he took several deep breaths and looked across the room. The screaming died down as each guard twitched wildly, but they weren’t moving. “My apologies to all of you,” he panted. “I had to do what I did to get to the Princess. I assure you though that-” The green unicorn’s vision suddenly became blurred and his head felt like somepony trampled on him hard. He fell to the floor and let out a small scream from the pain. “My . . . my magic,” he groaned as he held his head. “That spell really pushed me over the limit.” He looked around and saw the guards were lying and not moving a muscle. “That Shockwave spell will keep them knocked out for a while, but I’ve got to hurry and-” THWACK! “AAAHHH!” Screamed Stealth. The green unicorn collapsed to the ground and felt a searing pain course through his front left leg. He looked to see, to his horror, an arrow hit him in his left side and blood was slowly pouring out of it. Stealth saw out of the corner of his eyes a group of Nightmare’s guards approaching him. One guard though hit somepony over the head and looked furious. “Idiot, you weren’t supposed to do that!” The guard berated. “Queen Nightmare ordered us to bring all survivors back alive, not kill them!” “Sir, you saw what he did to that platoon,” said the soldier in a small voice. “I’d rather incapacitate him with an arrow then be electrocuted.” “I don’t care at all! Once he’s brought to our Queen, I’ll inform you of your folly and let her deal with you!” “Fine! Then let’s get this--” A shot of white magic disabled the corrupted guard as he fell to the ground, with the other turning around to see who did it. Standing with her wings outstretched, Celestia glared at the corrupted guards with her magic glowing brightly. “Death to the false ruler of Equestria!” One of the guards yelled out and charged with his fellow soldiers towards Celestia. Celestia only shook her head with her eyes closed, before using her magic to disable all the guards. Once they all fell to the ground defeated, Celestia slowly made her way to Stealth. “I’m so sorry Stealth,” she whispered. She lowered herself down to his body, with her horn glowing bright white. The moment the horn touched his side, the wounds around Stealth slowly disappeared and the blood flowing out of where the arrow hit him slowed down. She then used her magic to remove the arrow carefully and patched up the wound. Stealth stood up and only smiled softly at the sadden princess. “Not your fault princess. I should’ve realized those guards were using an Illusion Spell to fool me.” “It is!” Celestia retorted, her eyes nearly flooding with tears as she bit her lower lip. “It’s my fault this happened. If only I wasn’t so stupid then-” “Celestia!” Stealth chimed in. “Excuse the insubordination, but this is not the time to pass blame to whoever. We need to save Luna and the others now!” “He’s right Princess!” Twilight stated as she and Big Mac ran up to her. “Remember what Big Mac told you. You can still save Luna and moaning about it won’t help! Now come on, we’ve got to hurry!” “Hold on, there’s something I need to tell you all first!” Warned Stealth. “It’s about Nightmare Moon!” “Explain on the way,” ordered Twilight. “Time is running out and we don’t have a moment to spare!” “You’re right!” Celestia looked up from Twilight's level. “Let’s go.” Pip was in a tight situation right now. Even though he was trained well in the academy, and well versed for an Earth pony guard, never had he any experience in fighting an alicorn that could kill him on a whim. The only time he ever stood up against an alicorn was with Celestia, and that got him sent half way across Equestria. Celestia. The name itself brought frustration to the stallion’s mind. “So what do you say Pip?” Pip’s attention was brought back when Nightmare Moon spoke again. He looked up to the mare’s dragon like eyes and squinted his own to see any trace of Luna. He could not however, and his hope was draining. “Pip!” The stallion’s eyes widened when he saw Nightmare Moon struggling with herself, holding onto her head and screaming. When she looked at Pip again, he saw Luna’s eyes looking at him pleadingly. “Luna?!” “Pippy . . . you must listen to me very carefully,” the alicorn said in a strained voice. “Nightmare lies . . . she’s using you like a puppet for her own dirty deeds!” “But Luna, she did make a good point about what happened to you!” “I . . . I can’t deny that, but my sister had a lapse in judgement. Besides, you of all ponies should know that I know Nightmare Moon better than anypony else. I can tell you right now that even now, she’s using the anger you hold towards Celestia to turn you into her own weapon. Once she uses you to kill my sister and those who oppose her, she’ll either kill you or brainwash you so deeply, you’ll be nothing but a zombie.” “What can I do though? There’s no other way to defeat Nightmare Moon and the wielders of the Elements of Harmony are frozen.” “You have to trust me Pip!” Luna boomed. “It doesn’t need to end like this at all. You know the truth, she doesn’t care about me or you! My sister may have caused this, but I know she’s doing all she can to save me and stop all this!” “But I . . .” “But nothing! Whatever anger you hold towards my sister needs to be put aside! I know she’s fighting to save me and you have to help her! Nightmare Moon though will use you only for her own desires until you are considered disposable! She . . . she . . .” Her voice trailed off as she held her head in agony. “AAAHHH!!!” She screamed in agony. Her eyes slowly turned back into the catlike irises and greenish again. Nightmare looked angry with herself and snorted in frustration. “I’ll deal with that insolent mare later!” She barked. “I’ll teach her a lesson in-” Her eyes then suddenly say Pip and remembered what she was saying. “Ahem . . . My apologies Pippy, but that was just a moment of weakness by me. Now, as I was saying before. If you help me defeat Celestia, then you shall have your precious Luna back. What do you say?” Pip looked down for a moment and recalled what Luna said to him earlier. An idea suddenly clicked in his head and he smiled to himself. “You know . . . you’re right after all Nightmare. I think it’s time I did take out the tyrant that did all of this. I’ll help take her out and end this for good.” The dark alicorn smiled sinisterly as she lowered Pip to the ground and released her grip on him. “I knew you’d see things the right way Pippy,” she said smugly. “Now then, let’s get you ready to-” WHAM! Nightmare screamed a little as she felt a hoof kick her in the face. She rubbed the sore area and looked at Pip with a livid expression on her. “I didn’t say which tyrant I would go after and I know who the real one is.” “How dare you have the nerve to attack me!?” She demanded. “I will personally make you-” “There she is!” Nightmare Moon’s eyes turned to two new alicorns and unicorn approaching her. She sneered at the presence of Celestia, Stealth, Big Mac, and Twilight. “Well well well, what do we have here?” Nightmare Moon snarked at the new company, smirking at them. “It’s over Nightmare Moon!” “For you, yes!” Nightmare retorted and cackled. “For you everything is over Celestia! My soldiers have all but decimated yours in a matter of moments! Even your faithful dogs here,” she pointed to the Elements of Harmony. “Face it, Celestia! You’re blunder has doomed Equestria from the start!” She cackled again, but stopped when she felt a pair of hooves connecting her to her side. She jumped away and saw not only Pip attacking, but Applejack too. “Not if we stop ye!” Nightmare Moon was shocked to see the Elements and Spike free from their prison. She saw another figure standing next to them, with their horn glowing a hot red light, Twilight. “You!” She barked out at the lavender alicorn. “Why do you get in my way!?” “Cause you have to be stopped!” The Elements of Harmony started to glow bright, and Spike was beginning to charge his magic too. Nightmare Moon tried to escape, but was stopped when she saw white shackles on her hooves. Celestia was holding onto her with everything she had, and she was beginning to draw magic for another spell. Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened when they released their magic upon her. The ray from the Elements; combined with Spike’s fire and Celestia’s magic, enveloped Nightmare Moon in a fiery pyre that lasted for a few moments. Pip could only watch as she heard the anguished screams of Nightmare, hoping that Luna herself wasn’t feeling the pain. When it ended, she was badly burned and wounded, but was still standing and grinding her teeth to the company before her. She heard the galloping of hooves and saw Pip charging her, giving her one last punch across the face that sent her flying. The dark alicorn let out a scream as she fell to the ground with a sickening thud against the floor. Pip panted heavily as he focused on Nightmare’s unmoving body. The only sound that could be heard, aside from the spotted stallion’s breathing, was the moaning of Nightmare from the pain she received. “We did it! We did it!” Pinkie jubilated. “This calls for a-” “It’s not over yet Pinkie,” said Twilight as she opened Starswirl’s book. “We need to perform the Spirit Split spell and remove Nightmare Moon’s influence from Luna forever!” The lavender alicon’s horn glowed brightly as she started chanting some words. A white circle formed around Nightmare Moon that glowed brighter with each word Twilight spoke. The entire group shielded their eyes, save for Twilight, as a column of bright light formed around the circle and lit up the entire castle. The light intensified for a minute before Twilight shouted out the last words that were rather incomprehensible. The column exploded and little flashes of light rained down the castle corridor. When the last of the light went away, the group turned to Twilight, who was exhausted from performing such a spell. “Twilight! Are ya alright!?” Big Mac wondered with a worried expression on him. He rushed over and held her in his hooves. The lavender alicorn let out a weak laugh and kissed her husband on the lips briefly. “I’m fine . . .but what happened to Luna?” She asked in a dazed voice. “Did . . . did the spell work?” The group then turned their attention to Nightmare Moon, but her body was covered in a thick cloud of smoke. “I’ll take care of this!” Stated Rainbow. She took off into the air and flew away from her friends for a few seconds. The sky blue pegasus then turned around and rocketed down the hallway, causing a huge gust of wind to blow down the hall. Everypony, as well as Spike, shielded themselves from the gust and held onto each other as they held their ground. The plan did work though as the smoke quickly dispersed and everypony could see an alicorn on the ground. “Lu . . .Luna?” Pip asked anxiously. The group looked on in both wonder and fear about the fate of the alicorn. Finally, after what seemed to be many hours, they all got a good look and to everypony’s delight, Princess Luna was back and she showed no signs of looking like Nightmare Moon. The blue alicorn then opened her eyes slowly and saw Pip’s delighted face. “Hello Pippy,” she said in a weak voice. “Luna! You’re okay!” He shouted cheerfully. “I knew I’d find a way to save you!” “What are we, chopped liver?” Asked Rainbow. “Oh . . . my apologies,” said Pip. “I’m just so happy to see Lulu here is okay now. What I meant Luna is that we all did it, including your sister!” He turned to Princess Celestia, who looked a little worried. “Princess . . . come on over and talk to her.” The white alicorn looked down in shame and tapped her hoof. “What’s wrong your highness?” Asked Stealth. “Aren’t you glad to see your sister?” “I am but I don’t know what to say,” she responded. “I caused a revolution and nearly lost Luna again. I can’t just go talk to her.” “Nonsense, you’ve got to say something to her. You need to let her know how sorry you are and patch things up. I know you will have a tough road ahead after this disaster, but you need to let Princess Luna know you’re very sorry and to admit to your errors. Besides, after all this, you learned a very valuable lesson about trusting your sister and you went to a great length to save her. She’ll understand . . . I promise you that.” Celestia gave a nod and said, “You’re right Stealth, it’s time for me to live up to my mis-” “NNNOOO!!!” Shouted a screechy voice. “YOU . . . HAVEN’T . . . WON!” “What was that!?” Spike inquired as he held onto Rarity. “I . . . I don’t know,” said Twilight. “But that voice . . . it sounds so familiar.” “Sweet Celestia! What in tarnation is that!?” Applejack demanded as she pointed her hoof near Luna. The group gasped as they saw a dark blue mist float around. The cloud suddenly took off into the air and dive bombed towards them. They all ducked in fear of the mist and didn’t dare move a muscle. They could only watch as the mystical energy flew around and come dangerously close to them. “YOU . . . YOU . . . WILL DO!” Shouted the voice. “YOU’LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID!” Celestia watched the mist speed passed her and the bearers of the Elements, but instead went directly towards a certain spotted stallion. “PIPSQUEAK! Watch out!” Warned Celestia. The warning came too late though as the mist passed into his body, making him scream in pain and thrash around. “Pippy!” Luna cried out in horror. “What’s happening to him!?” “Luna!” He shouted in a contorted voice. “Get away now! That mist . . . it’s doing something to me and I’m losing control of myself!” “I can’t Pip, not after-” She was cut off as Celestia used her magic to teleport her to her side. The blue alicorn looked at her angrily. “Why did you do that!? I need to help him!” “Because I think he’s right!” She shouted. “Look at his body, it’s changing!” Everypony watched in horror as Pip’s body underwent a radical transformation. His legs grew out slowly as well as his body until they were nearly double his length. His sides pushed out what looked like a pair of wings. The spotted stallion’s head even grew a large horn. As the transformation went on, Pip screamed in agony from the sudden growth spurts and the new body parts coming out of his body. “AAAHHH!!!” Cried out Pip as everything went black for him. The screaming from the stallion slowly died away and he just twitched and spazzed a little. Luna broke Celestia’s hold on her and slowly trotted towards her coltfriend. “P-Pippy?” She asked apprehensively. No response. “Speak to me please! Say something!” She cried out. “Let me know you’re alright. “Oh . . . I’m more than alright Luna,” he said in a contorted voice. “What . . . what’s happened to your-” BANG! Luna was instantly hit with a lightning bolt that fired out of Pip’s new horn. The blue alicorn flew back and landed on the ground. “Princess Luna!” The group shouted in unison. Celestia looked at Pip with a livid expression on her. “HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY SISTER!?” She boomed in her Royal Canterlot Voice. “YOU WILL . . . will . . . “ The white alicon’s voice trailed off as she looked into the eyes of Pipsqueak and gasped at what she saw. The spotted stallion’s eyes were catlike irises and were greenish. He let out a low chuckle and smiled deviously. “You were right at what you said earlier Twilight,” said Pip in a voice mixed with Nightmare Moon’s. “It isn’t over yet.” He stepped out of the shadows to reveal his body was starting to turn completely black, but had the build of a stallion’s. “In fact . . . this Nightmare is just getting started.”