Echoing thunder boomed throughout the long-abandoned castle. Harsh winds howled through the empty window frames, the glass that had once protected the interior from the harsh elements having succumbed to those same elements long ago. Mighty trees bent and swayed under the force of the gale outside, and the sound of falling timber could be heard as one succumbed to the building storm.
If someone were to look at the sky above the Everfree Forest, they would see dark clouds boiling above a certain spot deep within the forest. The winds screamed with the force of a hurricane, picking up boulders the size of carts and flinging them as casually as a child would throw a toy. Fortunately for the many creatures living in the forest, the worst of the fearsome storm was concentrated around a single point. Nothing moved within the forest; every living creature had already fled to their homes, hoping against hope that the storm would pass them by.
Within the dilapidated castle in the eye of the storm, a melodic laugh rung out above the screaming wind. "How amusing," Nightmare Moon crooned as she slunk over to the creature standing in the open doorway. Her pure white feathers fluttered in the wind, but she paid it no more heed than she did the blood staining her horn and face. "I truly did not expect to see you again. Such a loyal subject you make."
The creature didn't react to Nightmare Moon's approach, his face remaining an expressionless mask as she started to circle around him in a manner akin to a shark circling its prey. "Did you come all this way just for me?" Nightmare cooed playfully. "How sweet of you." Closing in behind him, she rested her chin on his shoulder. He remained unmoving, watching her out of the corner of his eye.
In the middle of the room, Luna stood by herself, glaring at both of the others present. She kept her injured foreleg tucked up close to her body, even as blood continued to pour from it with every beat of her heart. Despite her injury, her stubbornness refused to allow her to show any weakness. "What is that thing?" she asked the monster possessing her elder sister, her voice cold enough to freeze water.
"There's no need to be rude, little princess," Nightmare said, turning her attention back towards the injured alicorn. "His name is John. You should at least know the name of the one about to kill you. Now, my little minion," Nightmare took a step back, "go get her."
John didn't move.
Nightmare cocked an eyebrow, quickly circling in front of the biped. "What are you doing?" she asked, a faint tinge of anger staining her voice. "Don't pretend you can't understand me. I left spells in your skull that make it so you know what I'm saying and force you to do as I say. Now you will OBEY!" Nightmare's turquoise eyes flashed brightly as she glared directly into John's eyes. That got a reaction, even if it wasn't one she had expected.
Ever since he had left the town filled with those strange pony-like figures, John had been hunting the forest in search for the one who had controlled him. Lacking any ideas on where to look other than a feeling drawing him into the forest, he had begun to despair of ever finding her. When the storm had begun to form over the castle, the feeling became stronger than ever. Following the feeling had led him to two large horse-like creatures, both of them speaking in a language he couldn't understand. After hasty reactions had gotten him in so much trouble before, he decided to wait and see how things would play out. That was, until the taller of the two had looked directly into his face and he had seen her turquoise, cat-slit eyes.
Eyes exactly like the ones that he remembered possessing him.
Nightmare whinnied in surprise as a fist suddenly slammed into her jaw, the force of the blow sending her reeling back several steps. She stared wide-eyed at the creature that had just struck her, sputtering in disbelief. "Wha- How could have possibly broken free!?" Her eyes narrowed and spat out a tooth that had been loosened by the blow. "No... you didn't, did you? Somepony freed you." She clicked her tongue angrily. "Discord. That sneaky little snake is always interfering in our-"
The white horse-like creature was saying something again. John wasn't interested. Swiftly stepping forward, he quickly closed the distance to her and punched her in the center of her throat as hard as he could.
"Guh," Nightmare grunted out, recoiling slightly before forcing herself to her full height. Her wings extended to their maximum impressive length and her eyes lit up from a fierce glow from within. Any mere mortal with the slightest ounce of self-preservation would cower from her full fearsome glory. "Insolent human!" she bellowed, the entire castle trembling from the force of her voice. "You dare to strike-!"
John punched her in the face.
Nightmare blinked in shock before turning her head back towards the insignificant little creature before her. "You dare to strike-!"
Another punch to the face.
Nightmare grit her teeth, her entire body shaking with rage. "You dare to strike-!"
She was interrupted by another punch to her face, but this time she had had quite enough. With a swift thrust of her head, she nearly impaled him upon her horn. "Quit it!" He barely managed to dodge by diving to the side. Nightmare followed him with her eyes, momentarily please about chasing him away until her attention was drawn to an increasingly bright light off to her side. The tips of her wings drooped. "Oh no." A blast of magic from Luna's horn hit her full force, blowing her through the nearest wall and out of the castle entirely.
With Nightmare Moon temporarily removed from the equation, Luna felt free to focus her attention to the biped. She wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but it didn't really matter. Even if this John was no longer being controlled by the Nightmare, he was still far too dangerous to allow escape. Something Nightmare had said tried to grab her attention but she ignored it.
Luna planted her three good legs and, with a quick charge of her horn, fired a blast of pure lunar energy at John. The spell sped through the air at the speed of light, impacting his chest before he could even blink. There was a loud crack and the spell broke apart, shattering like glass; the shards falling to the ground before dissipating into nothingness.
"Immunity to magic..." Luna mumbled. He really was as she had heard. "Discord, what have you done? This should be beyond even you." The biped remained still while she thought, watching for what she was going to do next. She didn't intend to disappoint. With a casual application of her magic, she picked up a nearby pillar in her magic and threw it at him. Most unicorns would struggle to even lift something half that size, but to her, it was barely an afterthought. Watching him scramble out of the way of the multi-tonne column of rock in a panic was fairly satisfying, she had to admit. Being immune to magic obviously didn't mean being immune to things affected by magic. The pillar smashed into the floor with the sound of breaking rock, hardly slowing down as it smashed through architecture that had held against the ferocity of the Everfree Forest for centuries before disappearing into the forgotten basements beneath the castle.
John stared in horror at the gaping hole in the floor. That had very nearly been him... A loud cough called his attention back to the dark horse-figure in the center of the room, namely to the half-dozen pillars equal in size to the one he had just dodged floating around the dark horse-creature. His face went white.
Very satisfying, Luna amended.
Pain made up the entirety of Nightmare's world. How dare they do this to her? She would destroy them, destroy them both.
She would show them.
End them.
John's breath rasped harshly in his throat as he panted for air. Exhaustion had already driven him to his hands and knees, and sweat made small pools beneath him. A thick cloud of dust filled the room, smothering everything in muted thickness. Somehow, he had managed to scurry out of the way of the pillars the crazy horse-thing had been throwing at him without being squashed like a bug, though his surroundings hadn't been so lucky. Large holes littered the entirety of the castle, and the stone floor sagged weirdly beneath him.
Luna heaved a deep sigh. After everything that she had heard about this creature, all the pain he had caused both directly and indirectly to the little ponies of Ponyville and her own sister, she had hoped for more of a fight. Sorrow and disappointment shone in her eyes as she stared down at him before her horn lit up with a magical glow. "Nothing would make us happier right now than to rend thee limb from limb, slowly making you suffer for your crimes." A sword popped into existence beside her, and most of her subjects would have been surprised to learn that Luna possessed such a sword. The sword lacked any sort of ornate jewelry or gold finery; it was nothing more than a simple sharp piece of metal. It was an ugly thing, and some of the nobles would have swooned in horror had they ever seen the Princess wearing it.
In short, it was a weapon with one purpose: killing the enemies of its wielder.
Luna contemplated the sword for a moment, studying her face in its reflection. "This sword is even older than we are," she said to no one in particular, since the only other creature present couldn't understand her words. "It was forged during a time of constant warfare, long before my birth, when the world faced the greatest trial in its existence. So much lost from those ancient times." She rested the blade against his exposed neck, and a tiny drop of blood welled out from the point of contact, running down the blade all the way to the handle. John's sweat-matted hair covered his eyes as he stared up at her, still continuing to pant for air. "It also lacks any sort of enchantments, so your strange magic-cancelling ability is useless against it," Luna concluded, lifting the sword above her head. Her face was cold and emotionless; a judge staring down on a condemned criminal, a jury passing the verdict, and an executioner carrying it out. "I find you guilty for crimes against Equestria. At the very least, I will ensure you do not suffer." And she swung for his neck, intending to decapitate him with a single strike.
She had thought he was beaten. Had thought he had already been defeated. She was wrong.
Moving far, far faster than she had possible imagined, John's hand caught the descending sword by the handle. He twisted his body to go along with the direction of her swing rather than trying to stop it outright, tearing it out of her magical grasp and embedding it in the floor, the absurdly sharp blade slicing into the stonework as easily as it would cut a fruit. His other hand came up, balled in a fist, and slammed into the Princess of the Night.
Luna grunted in pain as she felt two of her ribs crack under the blow, staggering back unwillingly. Foal! she cursed herself. Thou knew he could cancel magic! Every creature in Equestria unconsciously generated a magical field around their body, which would protect their bodies from most wounds and sped the healing process as well. Thou knew what he had done to the Bearers of Magic and Loyalty! Unlike Rarity, who had been trapped under a rockfall but had managed to recover completely in a few days, Twilight and Dash were recovering much more slowly from their injuries, which he had inflicted directly onto them. Luna had heard that Applejack had yet to recover as well, but in the mare's defence, she had apparently faced a hydra down by herself.
The Princess didn't have long to regret giving John a chance to strike. Even as she tore her thoughts away from the path they had wandered, he stepped right up to her and hit her with a fierce right hook to the side of her head. A whinny of pain escaped her mouth as she collapsed, felled like one of the great trees outside.
The coolness of the stone floor against her side made up the entirety of her world. Through unsteady eyes, she watched John turn and walk away from her. Any thought that he had finished with her was instantly dissipated when he smoothly drew her sword out of where it had embedded in the stone floor. Luna blacked out momentarily, before being harshly brought back to the world of the living by a heavy weight pressing on her jaw.
He stood over her, his boot pressing against her face and pinning her to the ground. Her sword was held in his firm grip, looking like it belonged there. Holding her down like that with the sword held at his side, he looked exactly like Luna had only seconds ago. The irony was not lost on the lunar Princess.
"Do it." Luna forced out past the foot on her mouth. Her torso rose and fell with short, painful breaths. "What are thou waiting for?" She would not beg, not even for her life. She refused to beg. Even though she was feeling light-headed and delusional from the pain, her pride refused to bend. "What's wrong, thou murderous monster? Do it. DO IT!"
His fingers tightened for a moment before they loosened their grip. The sword fell to the ground in front of her with a clatter, and his foot was withdrawn from her face. Luna stared at him in surprise as he crouched down next to her, extending a hand towards her. The hand was open, palm up, and cautiously moved forward to a point roughly halfway between him and her before coming to a halt.
Luna looked from the extended hand to John's face and back again. She couldn't read the emotions on his face, but she had an inkling of his intentions. Is he... asking for peace? Moving slowly, not willing to trust the creature before her, she extended her own hoof towards the offered appendage. The blue coat was still streaked with red from the still-open hole in her leg, but she didn't care. He remained unmoving, watching her with those tiny eyes of his, until her hoof lightly touched his palm. His fingers gently curled around her hoof, holding her without entrapping her. She looked up at his face again, and saw his expression had changed to one she was able to read.
He was smiling at her.
Luna stared in shock as she locked eyes with him. He stood up, giving a gentle tug at her leg, and she allowed herself to be pulled up with him. His fingers released her injured leg, and she tucked it up beneath her belly, still refusing to break her gaze away from him. "I..." Luna hesitated. Something about the situation just seemed wrong. Nevertheless, she still felt the need to apologize. "I am... sorr-" She cut herself off as all the hairs on John's body stood up straight, there was a loud bang, and everything went white.
Unable to hear anything past the ringing in her ears, Luna blinked repeatedly to try and clear the dancing spots out of her eyes. The air was filled with the harsh scent of ozone, and Luna realized with some trepidation that the biped had disappeared. A groan of pain told her no, the biped had not disappeared. He lay on the floor, the area around him charred black as soot.
A noise from behind her caught Luna's attention, and she wheeled around to see an unwelcome sight. Nightmare Moon, still wearing Celestia's body, stood in the hole Luna had thrown her out earlier. A flash of lightning illuminated her for an instant before the entire area once again fell into darkness.
A tingle across her coat as all her hairs stood on end was all the warning Luna had. With a hasty beat of her wings, she leapt to the side as a loud crack filled the air and a bolt of lightning struck the spot she had just been standing. Her wings continued to beat as lightning bolt after lightning bolt continued to barely miss her. “What’s wrong, Princess?” Nightmare shrieked with laughter, a hauntingly mad tone entering the once-regal chuckle. "Run! Run!" she laughed, wildly throwing another lightning bolt. "Or you'll be well done!"
Luna wasn't able to dodge fast enough and the lightning bolt tore straight through her wing, leaving behind a small smouldering hole in its wake. She barely had time for a shocked exclamation before hitting the ground with enough force to aggravate all her accumulated injuries. Her wings and legs flailed wildly as she rolled across the stonework, and it took her a moment to regain her bearings. Barely conscious, she threw up a protective barrier over her body and felt another of Nightmare's magical blasts slam against it.
"What's wrong, little Princess?" Nightmare asked with a mad giggle. Her flowing mane whipped erratically across her face, covering and uncovering the insane expression plastered across her face. "Aww, have you tired yourself out? Such a shame. At long last, it's time for me to put you to rest." A bright glow began to pour from her horn as she started to charge up for one final attack.
The air seemed to be screaming in tortuous pain from the force coalescing around Nightmare's pitch-black horn. The magical glow increased in strength, growing larger and larger before suddenly shrinking to almost nothing. Nightmare shot Luna a mad half-grin. "I can't tell you how long I've been wanting to do this!" A blast of pure black magic fired from Nightmare's horn, screaming through the air as it tore towards the prone Princess. Luna's horn flickered weakly before launching off a blast of magic of its own in one final, futile gesture.
Nightmare's dark magic, cold as death itself, collided in mid-air with Luna's magic. The two opposing forces struggled for less than a second before Luna's spell started to break down. A shadow passed in front of Luna's eyes just before she succumbed to her adversary’s magic, throwing itself in the path of the evil alicorn’s spell and stopping it in its tracks.
John's entire body shook as he struggled to hold back Nightmare's spell. He held one arm extended before him, as if he was going to catch and hold the fearsome magic with his open palm. Dark light leaked through his spread fingers, soaring out to strike against the ceiling and walls. Daring to look away from the destructive magic for an instant, he glanced behind himself to ensure the dark horse-creature was still moving. When he had seen that she was in danger, he hadn't even had time to think. His body had just acted.
Luna locked eyes with John when he looked back at her. Her surprise must have shown on her face, because he offered her a playful little smile before turning his attention back towards Nightmare. He took a slow step forward, than another, slowly moving toward the possessed Princess.
A quiet sound from the ground next to Luna drew her attention away from John's progress. A tiny crack spread through the ground at worrying speeds, repeatedly branching off and branching again. Similar cracks spread throughout the ceiling and walls, and Luna looked up in time to see a large portion of stonework above John's head detach from the roof and plummet towards the unaware human.
Luna dashed forward and grabbed the back of John's shirt in her teeth, pulling him back just in time to avoid the giant chunk of stone. But though they had managed to avoid the chunk of masonry, the danger had not passed. Damaged by the protracted battle, the floor was unable to withstand the final act of abuse. The ground gave out beneath Luna and John, dropping them into the darkness below. A loud rumble could be heard coming from several other areas, letting any who was paying attention know what was happening. The entire castle was coming down!
Falling into darkness, collapsing stone all around them, and only each other for company, John and Luna looked into each other's eyes. They couldn't communicate, they couldn't even speak the same language, but despite that, they were still able to reach an understanding.
Nightmare Moon smiled. Before her, she watched as the once-great Castle of the Pony Sisters crumbled into ruin, taking her enemies with it. Now then, she thought smugly, turning away from the crumbling castle. I think it's time for me to pay a little visit to Canterlot. There's a certain statue there that should have been ground into dust long ago.
She stopped as something flew out from the spreading dust cloud. She narrowed her eyes as it approached her. It was obscured by the dust at first, but Nightmare was able to make out what it was when it got closer. Impossible!
Luna flew through the air, the mighty wings of the Princess spread as wide as they would go and beating slow, powerful beats that cleaved through the air itself. John rode on her back, one hand braced against the base of her neck for balance. His other hand held Luna's sword, and the sunlight reflecting off the polished metal shone directly into Nightmare's eyes. Nightmare snarled and spun towards them, preparing for one final confrontation.
At least, that was her intention.
Instead, her body refused to move. Every muscle had locked up and refused to obey her mental commands. A thin golden glow covered her entire body, spreading out from the pure white horn lodged in her chest. "No," Nightmare whispered, trying to get away from her approaching enemies. The golden glow increased in strength, completely shutting her body down.
"No," Nightmare said again, firing a blast of dark magic from her horn. Luna spun to the side and let the blast go past, dodging it with almost contemptuous ease. The pair had almost reached her, and Nightmare Moon started to panic.
"No!" she shouted, raising a defensive barrier in front of Luna. John reached past Luna's head and tore through the shield like it wasn't even there. The pair didn’t even slow down. He readied his sword above his head, his Princessly mount speeding towards their foe.
Nightmare tried to run, but the golden glow around her body had her completely trapped. A scream of rage escaped her throat as the sword was brought down. "CELESTIAAAAAA!!!!!"
The sword sliced straight through the horn atop her head, severing the pitch black point and sending it tumbling into the air.