Nightmare Moon's Tiny Adversary

by CommanderX5

Nightmare - Sacrifice

Twilight ran like there was no tomorrow as she dodged obstacles and hooves, horribly aware of the terrible voice that boomed out through the huge room.

“Oh, my loyal subjects, it has been so long since I have seen your precious sun-loving faces.”

Rainbow Dash’s voice called out, “What did you do to the princess?”

Twilight felt a surge of fear, and she sped up accordingly. Please. Don’t provoke her. She just returned from a thousand years spent on the cold moon; after being imprisoned for so long, her state of mind must be very unstable and she most likely wishes for nothing but vengeance. Please don’t do anything stupid. Every pony in the room was in danger, and there was only one way to save them.

A cruel laugh echoed around the room. “Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Do you not know who I am?” The mocking tone was more accusation than question, and Nightmare Moon seemed annoyed by the terror that filled the room in response.

“Ooo, more guessing games!” Pinkie Pie said as she rattled off various names the moment they popped into her head.

Pinkie, no! You’ll doom us all! Twilight ran even faster as she emerged from under the crowd and teleported onto the podium. I could just teleport. Why do I always forget about the easiest solutions in the heat of the moment?

“Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?” Nightmare Moon said. “Do you not recall the legends? Did you not see the signs?”

Twilight’s mouth gaped open at the growing tension in the dark alicorn’s voice. Oh no no no no, she’s furious! She's going to unleash a thousand years of rage and kill everypony in this room! I have to do something. Anything, Twilight thought in panic as she felt the gusts from the alicorn’s giant flapping wings strike against her. Twilight gulped and closed her eyes as a memory flashed in her mind.

“Y-yes. I specifically asked my brother not to mention the… low points in my studies, and I didn’t even inform you of my decision to stay small. I was afraid you would take me away or force me to become big again. I was afraid when I should know better. Can you both forgive me?” Twilight said, looking shamefaced at the ground.

With a quick movement, Velvet swept her daughter up in a tight, very unexpected embrace. Twilight took a moment to come out of her shock before returning the embrace, even nudging her father to join in.

“No more secrets?” Velvet and Night Light said.

“No more secrets,” Twilight replied, before her mother loosened her hug to look at her. “Can I stay tiny then? Can I still be Princess Celestia’s student? Please?”

“If… if this makes you happy, then yes. Just promise that you won’t give up your life to search for knowledge and adventure,“ Velvet replied.

“I promise.”

Twilight lowered her head as a tear ran down her cheek. “I’m sorry mom, dad, I’m afraid I won’t be able to fulfill my promise. Please, forgive me," she whispered before inhaling deeply. Skidding into an open section of the floor, Twilight looked up at Nightmare Moon and shouted with every bit of strength she could muster.

"I know who you are!"

Her legs trembled as Nightmare Moon started to look around the crowd for the source of her voice. “Over here!” she yelled again, feeling much like a mouse begging a lion to join her for dinner.

The cold gaze of Nightmare Moon swept across the room until the armored alicorn finally paused, staring down at the tiny unicorn with cold, draconic eyes. With every beat of those vast, dark wings, Twilight felt her heart hammer in her chest, increasing to a crescendo as Nightmare Moon began to close the distance between them.

She gulped again. Being brave doesn't mean an absence of fear, but having the courage to overcome it. Her mentor's words ran through her mind even as her instincts were screaming to run away. For the past thirteen years as a tiny pony, Twilight had had to face and defeat her fears almost everyday, but today she was more terrified than she ever was in her entire life.

She could not help but watch as the demonic alicorn, who was the most powerful being in the world next to her mentor, swept down to a perfect landing on the stage in front of her and regarded Twilight with a terrible curiosity, as if the creature were about to open up a present to find out what was inside.

This was the point of no return. She was at the monster's mercy, and there was little or no mercy at all in that cold gaze.

“And what kind of abomination are you?” Nightmare Moon's voice echoed through the room, sounding almost regal for a moment despite the thunder of its volume.

“I...I...” Twilight tried to respond, but was unable to open her mouth as she looked up at the creature's cruel face.

The world turned indigo as a magical field surrounded Twilight, picking her up as effortlessly as it would a foal’s toy. Nightmare dangled Twilight at the end of her nose, turning her over while examining every part of the tiny unicorn before smiling in fascination.

"Well, well,” she said softly. "A tiny unicorn. And you seem to be alive, not a puppet or golem. I wonder what other wonders I've missed during my absence."

She was so close to Nightmare Moon that she could feel her cold breath in her mane, but Twilight tried her best to keep looking at the terrifying creature. In the background, she could hear the tense voices of Overwatch and Steel Blade as they evacuated Town Hall, and every second she could keep the alicorn's attention was one more pony's life spared. Swallowing to help gather her courage, Twilight struggled to regain control over her muscles while piercing, teal draconic eyes examined her every motion.

“I will ask again. Who are you, and what do you know about me?” Nightmare Moon hissed impatiently.

Twilight steeled her nerves and slowed her trembling before replying as best she could. “M-my n-name is T-Twilight S-Sparkle, and I k-know that you are the M-mare in the M-m-moon, N-Nightmare Moon.”

Her response seemed humorous to the monster in front of her, resulting in a predatory smile and a low chuckle from Nightmare Moon. "Oh, my. It seems that somepony remembers me. How flattering." A hint of curiosity seemed to rise in the creature as it touched Twilight with the tip of one hoof and poked none too gently. "Although I cannot help but ask. Why are you so small in the first place, my… er... very little pony?”

Twilight was silent. She knew that by answering this question, she would focus the wrath of the fallen alicorn upon herself, but any further thoughts were disrupted when the powerful alicorn shook Twilight in her magical grasp like a rag doll. Once the world finished spinning, Twilight again gathered her courage to look up into those pitiless draconic eyes, but Nightmare Moon did not wait.

"Do not try my patience, little pony. I asked out of curiosity, but I am also curious to know what sound you will make if I crush you underhoof like an insec—" She paused before sighing as she corrected herself with calmer tone, “If I squeeze you slightly.”

Twilight gulped again. She had ended up in a lose-lose situation, but she had to buy the other ponies more time to escape. “I was s-s-shrunk...”

Nightmare Moon chuckled again. "Shrunk, you say? Interesting... I know somepony who worked on this spell. It was useless when invented, and remains useless now." Suddenly, her eyes widened, to which Twilight fearfully closed her own. "Only an alicorn has the power to cast this spell. Was it our sister who did this to you?"

Twilight bit her lip as sweat started to fall from her forehead, only to be shaken again when she saw the impatient expression on Nightmare Moon’s face. “Y-y-yes.”

“And why would she shrink you? Is this that wicked alicorn’s new method of punishment?” Nightmare Moon demanded.

Twilight could do nothing to protect her fragile ears. “It wasn’t a punishment. She s-shrunk me to... p-protect other ponies f-from... from my m-magic,” she said, trying to defend her mentor with renewed courage.

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. “Protect other ponies from you?” she said with disbelief. “You look nothing like a dangerous mare. I assume that your magic was probably too powerful to control?” Without waiting for an answer, she nodded. “I see... this makes sense.”

Twilight's terrified expression turned into one of curiosity as Nightmare Moon shook her head. "And to think that my... our wretched sister would curse you with such a cruel fate to protect her subjects from something you had no control over... what a pity. That tyrant will gladly ruin one pony's life for that so-called 'greater good' nonsense!"

Despite all her fear and sense of impending demise, Twilight could not let the honor of her mentor be insulted like this. “My mentor did what was right!” she shouted, only to put hooves on her mouth. “I m-m-mean... I d-don’t m-mind being t-tiny,” she whispered hesitantly, not daring to look into the dark alicorn’s face.

Twilight closed her eyes, expecting to be crushed under Nightmare Moon’s hoof or vaporised by her magic, but to her surprise and confusion, the blow never came. After a few seconds she finally opened her eyes to see a faint grin on Nightmare’s face. "’Your mentor,’ you say? Intriguing... How long has it been since she took you to be her student?"

“T-t-thirteen years,” Twilight squeaked out, as if something was stuck in her throat.

"Thirteen years! And she still keeps you at this size?" Nightmare Moon asked curiously as Twilight wiped the sweat from her terrified face.

I’m distracting her longer than I expected. If I play on her curiosity just a little longer, everypony’ll be out of here safely, I hope. Twilight didn’t want to turn to see how the evacuation was going, but she estimated that about half of the ponies had already left. She turned towards Nightmare Moon and, though she cringed at the sight of the alicorn’s sharp fangs, the fact that she was still alive increased her resolve. “Well... I learned how to control my power a long time ago. I just asked my mentor to let me stay at this size.”

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. When she spoke again, her voice was calm and gentle, a drastic change from before. "Dost thou seek excuses for thy mentor's actions? Forgive us if we withhold our enthusiasm—"

For a split second, Twilight thought she could see Nightmare Moon's eyes shift from draconic slits to those of a normal pony, but then it was gone.

"—but I find what you're saying difficult to believe," Nightmare Moon finished, her voice just as cold as before.

Twilight found the change in her voice and the eyes odd, but put the thought aside as she said while nodding urgently, “It’s the truth, I swear! I am so small by my own choice.”

“And why would you willingly accept such a fate, student of the sun princess?” Nightmare Moon asked curiously, as if she had forgotten what she had come here for in the first place.

Twilight felt levitation field around her legs weakening. Testing the amount of freedom in her magical restraints, she flexed her legs slightly, which allowed her a small portion of relief. “Because... when I am small, I can challenge my magic, as well as my physical condition and endurance, much more easily. Living a hard life in a big world lets me learn so much more than living an easy life as a normal sized pony. I plan to return to normal when my talents are needed, but as a student, I do my best to better myself,” Twilight said calmly, almost recited, forgetting for a moment that she was conversing with a monster that could annihilate her like a bug.

The little unicorn had anticipated a multitude of possible reactions, but she hadn’t quite expected one in which Nightmare Moon would give her a proud smile. "If what you're saying is true, then I must praise your commitment. It takes a brave pony indeed to willingly take the thorny road over a straight one."

Twilight was shocked, confused and embarrassed; she had just been praised by a vengeful demon, and she hadn’t read anything on how to be polite to a pony that wanted to murder you. With a tiny smile, she replied hesitantly, “T-t-thank y-you?”

Picking the tiny mare up in her magic, Nightmare Moon lifted a foreleg and placed Twilight gently on it while peering intently at her new toy. "Now that I know the truth behind your size, I want to know what our sister told you and our future subjects about us, and don't lie to me. I do not tolerate dishonesty.”

Twilight almost collapsed on her shaking legs the moment she landed on her executor's knee, but quickly stabilized herself, raising her head to look at the face of the armored alicorn that filled her with fright. She gulped and tried to control her breathing enough to respond. "She... didn't tell anypony."

Nightmare Moon's eyes briefly widened in shock before she leaned in closer, her brow furrowed. "What do you mean, my little pony? Certainly you heard of me in rumor? The history books? Does my very name still strike terror in the hearts of ponies everywhere?"

“I-I-I learned about you from an old ponies tale,” Twilight said as quickly as possible, before she curled up and covered her face with her forelegs, expecting to be hurt after what she was about to say next. “No pony in all of Equestria knows of your existence. I had to research in two separate libraries to find out who you were, not to mention that I found out about your existence by mere accident.”

Twilight could feel the knee she was sitting on begin to tremble. She looked up cautiously with one eye at her almost-certainly-soon-to-be-murderer's face, and sure enough, the alicorn was bright red and quivering with rage. "She... she erased my existence from history? She reduced me, the one who made all of Equestria’s monsters and enemies tremble in fear, into a mere fairy tale villain? How dare she!”

Twilight fell tumbling to the floor, holding her hooves to her throbbing ears, only to feel a levitation field pull her back towards the raging monster. The tiny mare opened her eyes to see Nightmare Moon’s mouth saying something, but all she could hear after the ringing subsided was silence. Her sensitive little ears had finally broke. With a sigh of defeat, she hung her head low and awaited her fate.

After a few seconds of silence however, Twilight felt a burst of magic pass through her, but it wasn’t the vaporising spell she had expected, but some sort of healing magic. “My apologies. In my moment of rage, I had forgotten how delicate unicorns are, especially the shrunken ones.”

Twilight raised her head to see that Nightmare Moon was calm again. Did she just heal and apologise to me? But why? If she wants to kill me, what difference would it make? “Y-you... healed me?”

Nightmare Moon chuckled as she once again placed Twilight down on her knee. “Of course I did. How else could we continue our interesting talk? After all, you seem to know much about this world that I am unfamiliar with.”

So I’m alive only because I am a source of information to her, Twilight thought as she once again turned her head up towards Nightmare Moon, waiting for the next question. She knew that she would be disposed of sooner or later, but for now she still needed to keep the monster distracted.

“Although, we must commend thy wisdom. Thou hast endeavored to learn about us despite our sister’s attempt to erase our existence, and thou wouldst even honor us with thy presence when the others hath shied away,” Nightmare Moon said with a gentle voice. Twilight simply nodded, and the alicorn continued, “We pity thee for being a student of our dishonest and manipulative sister. To think that she would hide such vital information from her own student. Did she tell thee anything of her past at all?”

Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin in contemplation. She has a point. Celestia never spoke about her past to either me or anypony else. Or, at least, I think she hasn’t. Whenever I tried to ask her about the past, she just directed me to the history books—No, Nightmare Moon is just trying to weaken my faith in my mentor. Twilight shook her head before she replied, the hesitation and doubt in her voice evident to the dark alicorn. “P-Princess Celestia didn’t know about your return. I w-warned her.”

Nightmare Moon simply burst out laughing at her words. “Thou art naive, little pony. Celestia knew exactly when we would return, and she hath even tried to best us in combat there on the spot, but we decided that meeting with our subjects took priority. Unlike our sister, who hath always kept everypony at a distance, whether it be her subjects...” Nightmare Moon gave Twilight a closer look, “or whether it be thee, her student...” She closed her eyes, and when she spoke again, her voice had become much more cold, “Or even her own sister.”

“She knows where the princess is! Seize her!”

An elderly and authoritative voice had just given the order to attack. Twilight turned around in alarm, moving to stand on Nightmare Moon's foreleg as she took in the three pegasi guards heading towards them, her own guard and dear friend Steel Blade at their head.

They’re going to get themselves killed. With that thought, Twilight sensed a great deal of magical power gathering right behind her. Not wasting even a second, she charged all the power she could in her tiny horn.

She had gone in to die so that nopony else should have to share her fate.

Celestia flew ahead of her guards as they hunted the shadows one by one. Despite the enemy’s numbers, they proved to be weak adversaries. The moment Celestia leveled out in front of the last remaining shadows, she sent forth a wave of her solar magic, removing the shadows from existence with purifying flame.

Princess’s feeling of victory didn’t last long as she turned back towards her guards, who were just now catching up to her. “Something’s not right. This battle was far too easy.” The realisation struck her. “Those shadows were just decoys; the real Nightmare Moon must be somewhere else.”

“What are your orders, Princess?” a guard asked, snapping a sharp salute with his comrades.

Celestia’s eyes went wide. Twilight’s still in Ponyville. What if...? The princess’s mighty wings bore her into the air with such incredible speed that even her trainer from the Wonderbolts would have found it impressive. She shouted back, "Ponyville!" as her magic flared a brilliant gold. Before the guards could blink, Princess Celestia was gone.

Already a considerable distance from the rest of her guards, Celestia flew in short spurts, mainly using teleportation to reach Ponyville as fast as she could. I don’t care if my student and Nightmare Moon’s confrontation was decided by fate or the Elements. I lost one pony I loved for a thousand years, and I will not lose another! However, even as Celestia's resolve grew, her desire to protect the student she had learned to love so much clashed with her determination to save her sister, and she honestly could not determine which pony she was flying so rapidly to save.

With her current size, Twilight could not stop even one flying royal guard at that speed, let alone three, but every pegasus had a weakness that she knew how to exploit. The moment the guards were close enough, Twilight focused her magic on the primary feathers of Steel Blade's left wing and, just as he had brought his wing all the way back during a flap, pushed down on them. Like a domino reaction, Steel Blade lost his balance and swerved to his left, crashing into two other guards who flew right next to him. In a moment, all three pegasi were lying on the ground in a pile.

Twilight teleported to the ground in front of them. “Are you crazy?”

The royal guards’ attention focused on the tiny unicorn they knew far too well as Twilight took brief glances back at Nightmare Moon, who was still on stage, observing them with a faint grin as the magic around her horn vanished. “If Nightmare Moon is as powerful as Princess Celestia, she could slaughter you without even trying,” Twilight hissed to the royal guards as they slowly clambered to their hooves. “Princess Celestia’s going to arrive here with an army to save this town. You three should focus on protecting the other ponies until she arrives and not play hero with a suicide attack,” she whispered.

“But... what about you?” Steel Blade asked, giving Twilight a concerned glare, his eyes pleading for an answer. The little mare broke eye contact, staring down at the floor in silence as she rubbed the floor with her hoof. The few seconds were all he needed to understand. The guard let out a deep sigh before stomping his hoof into the floor, cracks spreading out from the impact point. He saluted and turned around, walking towards the remaining ponies to help with the what little was left of the evacuation. The two other guards saluted as well and followed his example, their perpetually stoic faces now grim and ghastly.

With a sigh of relief, Twilight looked upon the remaining ponies in the Town Hall, and what she saw surprised her. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Spike, Mr. Cake, and, for some unknown reason, Rarity, they all looked at her at a distance with saddened expressions. Rainbow Dash even tried to fly towards her, but Steel Blade and another pegasus guard quickly moved to block her way before escorting her outside, rather forcefully. Overwatch looked at Twilight with a pained expression, though she soon hardened her features, gesturing for the last pegasus guard to help her get Spike and the other ponies out.

Twilight waved her hoof at them. “Farewell. I will see you again... in the afterlife,” she murmured with her head hung low. With Town Hall empty and everypony safe, the tiny mare turned around, only to narrowly avoid running straight into the long, black foreleg of Nightmare Moon, who was now towering over her.

Twilight gave one last look at the face of the mighty giant, before she sighed and lowered her head. “Please, do it quickly,” she said, bowing, or rather, lowering herself to the ground in an act of full surrender.

Her eyes wandered to the hoof of Nightmare Moon, armored inside of an elegant silver horseshoe, and thoughts of it coming down on her like a mighty hammer danced through her mind. Lifting her head a bit further, Twilight looked upon the long horn as if it was about to summon a thunderbolt from the air to smite her. Afraid to look the monster in the eyes, she lowered her head and closed her eyes, though visions of torture flashed in her mind instead, visions of being levitated into the monster’s mouth and chewed between her sharp teeth, or of being pulled apart like an insect by Nightmare Moon’s telekinesis. The last image caused Twilight to shiver, curling herself into an ever tighter ball.

Twilight felt as she was levitated again, floating upwards until she was plopped down on the cold metal of Nightmare Moon’s armored hoof. She slowly opened her eyes, only to find out that she was very, very close to Nightmare Moon’s face. A broad grin stretched across the alicorn’s muzzle, and large, round pupils focused intently on the tiny unicorn.

“So... how are you going to end this?”

Nightmare Moon raised her eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t toy with me any longer! Just end my life already! Is that not what you came here for?” Twilight asked in annoyance, feeling a bit like a cornered cat, ready to lash out at anypony close enough.

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes. “Why would I take an innocent life? Who do you think we are?”

Twilight stood, facing the monster with all her willpower. She looked directly into a giant draconic eye with the determination of a dead pony. “You’re Nightmare Moon! Princess Celestia’s fallen sister who tried to bring eternal night to Equestria! If you had succeeded, every living creature would be dead from hunger and cold! You were imprisoned in a cold, isolated prison on the moon for hundreds of years where your anger and hate would’ve only grown everyday, so unless you think you can convince me that you are not here to seek vengeance and doom every pony, then save it and drop the facade already!”

Twilight finished with a punctuated stamp of her hoof, breathing heavily after her long speech. “Kill me or torture me if you wish. I’ve already accepted my fate the moment I shouted up at you, but at least my death will not have been in vain.”

Nightmare Moon closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “So... that is how you have seen me this whole time: an insane monster ready to burst into a roaring rampage of revenge,” she said venomously. The dark alicorn let out a deep sigh before she continued, in a much quieter tone of voice, “For a moment we thought...”

Twilight crossed her forelegs, glaring at Nightmare Moon. “Why shouldn't I? I’ve found no evidence to convince me otherwise.”

“Release me unless you wanna walk home with a brand new shiner on your face!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she struggled against Steel Blade and the pegasus guard’s grasp, very nearly giving them a run for their money. Still, despite her speed and her formidable wings, she could not overpower two trained guards when she was already inside their tight grip.

“Ma’am, I advise you to stop struggling and cooperate already,” the guard said with a low grumble.

Rainbow Dash swung her head in a headbutt, hitting it directly into the guard’s face and forcing him to back off. “Warned ya’,” she said, smirking.

Rainbow Dash’s smile hadn’t lasted long before she was pulled into a headlock by Steel Blade and pinned down to the ground. “If you think we’re going to let you fly back in there and get yourself killed, think again. Now please, behave yourself!” Steel Blade said, a distressed desperation in his voice.

“What was that for, punk? You should get that Nightmare something so I can rescue Twilight, not me!” Rainbow Dash snarled, before she was picked up and tossed into the hold of the other guard, giving her full view of the tears flowing down Steel Blade’s cheeks.

“Look, I hate it as much as you do. I’m supposed to protect her. I want nothing more than to be there instead of her. I swore to protect her. For thirteen years, I have served as her guard,” Steel Blade growled, wiping the tears from his eyes. With Rainbow Dash no longer resisting, the other guard let go of her, though neither of them took their eyes off of her for longer than a moment as they moved away from Town Hall.

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to say something, but Applejack quickly butted in with an elbow. “Now jus’ hold yer horses, Rainbow Dash. We got no idea what's really goin’ on, an’ we can't jus’ rush in without a second thought.”

“But—”

“No buts, Rainbow,” Applejack said, before turning her head towards Steel Blade. “Now, when’re y'all gonna tell us where the princess is? Who’s that black monster, and what th’ hay Twilight was thinkin’ when she charged in by her lonesome?”

Applejack felt a hoof come to a rest on her shoulder, and she turned around to see the unicorn guard, Overwatch, glowering at her with pained eyes even as she tried to maintain an icy expression. “Go home.”

Applejack turned around, standing square to the guard mare. “An’ what th’ hay is that supposed ta mean? Our friend is in danger in there and ya jus’ tell us ta... go home?”

“We should have helped her!” Everypony turned towards Fluttershy, whose confidence vanished in the blink of an eye. “I... um... I mean... we... should," Fluttershy squeaked out before she ducked and hid behind her mane.

“We’re all worried about Twilight, but please, don’t be afraid to speak what’s on your mind,” Rarity said, trotting up next to Fluttershy and giving her an encouraging smile.

Fluttershy gave her an almost imperceptible nod before continuing hesitantly, peeking out from behind her mane “It’s just… I’m really worried about poor Twilight. She’s so small and defenseless compared to that big mean pony. I-I wanted to protect her, but that other pony was so scary! She was—” Fluttershy’s eyes widened, and she let out a gasp. ”Oh no, I left poor Twilight to face her in there alone. No, I’m such a coward!” she sobbed before latching onto Rarity and burying her face into the the unicorn’s shoulder.

Rarity simply returned the hug. “It’s okay, Fluttershy. I’m sure Twilight’s safe. She’s going to be all right, right?” she said, looking to Overwatch in search of confirmation, but the guard mare refused to meet her gaze, shifting her eyes to the side. Rarity’s eyes widened and, despite the odd, unpleasant feeling in her throat, she began stroking Fluttershy’s mane gently. “Shhh... it’ll be alright... shhh.”

“Aww, what's up with all those frowny faces?” Pinkie Pie asked as she wrapped both Fluttershy and Rarity in a brief hug before throwing some confetti over their heads. “Once Twilight’s finished playing with that Black Snooty, we can organise an ‘after Summer Sun Celebration’ party. Or a ‘Welcome to Ponyville, Black Snouty!’ party. Today was and tonight is and tomorrow will be so much fun!” she shouted as she threw more confetti into the air alongside two balloons that appeared from nowhere.

“Pinkie,” Carrot Cake said firmly, and in a moment Pinkie appeared in front of him.

“What is it, Mr. Cake? Are you here to help me with food preparation for the party?” Pinkie Pie asked cheerfully as Mr. Cake turned around and gestured with his hoof for Pinkie Pie to follow.

“Sure Pinkie, whatever you say,” Mr. Cake said morosely as he tried to keep up a fake smile. “Now let’s go back to Sugarcube Corner. I’m sure we can find all we need for the party. In the basement.”

Overwatch turned back to the rest of the group, away from the pink pony bouncing away excitedly with Mr. Cake. “There. That’s one less to deal with. Now if you others could please please please please just follow her example, we’ll be gold—”

She stopped, and a confused expression flashed across her face before she looked abruptly to the side, back towards where they came from.

Rainbow Dash followed Overwatch’s gaze, and she caught Spike in the act of sneaking back to Town Hall. “Now where do you think you’re going, little buddy?” she said, flying over to land in his way. “Trying to go and help Twilight on your own?” she asked, poking him suspiciously.

“And what if I am? What’re you going to do about it?” Spike challenged, crossing his arms and glaring at her with bloodshot eyes. “Help or get out of the way!”

“Now wait right there, sugarcube. What’s goin’ on?” Applejack asked, trotting to catch up with the little dragon.

“What’s going on? I’ll tell you what’s going on! Twilight’s about to get chewed up in there so we can get to safety. That’s what's going on!” Spike shouted to the gasps of the Ponyville ponies present. “She ordered us to evacuate Town Hall while she herself went up to distract Nightmare Moon until we all got out of there safely. She may be in the monster’s grasp, but she’s tough. I just know that she’s still alive, so either come help her or get out of the—”

Spike stopped when a spark of magic hit him in the back of the head, near the base of his skull. After a moment, his eyes rolled up into his head and he fell forwards, though he was promptly caught by a levitation field.

Everypony looked at Overwatch, whose horn was lit with magic, as she glided Spike over and laid him across her back. “Twilight put herself at Nightmare Moon’s mercy so you can live,” she said gravely. “Do not invalidate her sacrifice by running back in there. Go home and hide unless you want to be put to sleep as well. Actually...”

She stopped, turning to Steel Blade with a thoughtful look on her face. “Now that I mention it, this would all be a whole lot simpler if I just put everypony on the floor.”

“W-w-wait,” Fluttershy stammered out, “are you saying that Twilight’s g-going to-to die in there?”

Overwatch let out a derisive snort, even as she blinked a few tears from her eyes. “I wouldn’t put high chances to her walking out of there looking like anything recognizable. I don’t want to think about what fate has cooked up for her over a thousand years of imprisonment on the moon, and I doubt you want to see the results of it either. Or become part of it, for that matter.”

Fluttershy’s trembling only intensified as she stared at Overwatch with terrified eyes, and before long, she collapsed in a dead faint.

Rainbow Dash flew urgently to her side, standing with a defensive stance between Fluttershy and Overwatch. “What were you thinking, saying those cruel things to my friend? There is no reason to be scaring her at a time like this!”

“Look ma’am, this night isn’t exactly being sunshine and lollipops on my mood, and I don’t have time for pleasantries. You care about her, don’t you?” Overwatch asked, and at Rainbow Dash’s determined nod, she continued, “Then hide her somewhere safe. Same for the rest of you. Nightmare Moon will be dealt with by those trained for it.”

With the situation seemingly resolved and Applejack and Rarity moving to help Rainbow Dash with Fluttershy, Overwatch turned to speak with her partner. “Now that that’s over with, we need to—”

There was an empty patch of air where her partner was supposed to be waiting, and she looked around in sudden distress, a look of horror on her face. “No no no nononono...” she muttered in panic. She turned her head down and bit her lip, her darting eyes reflecting her internal turmoil.

Overwatch turned quickly to the other two pegasi guards, transferring the drake on her back over to them. “Princess Celestia is supposed to arrive here with reinforcements soon, so you two just escort these ponies home where they won’t get hurt.”

“And you, ma’am? W-wait, no, don’t tell me you’re going after him. That’s suicide!”

“Oh, don’t worry about me,” Overwatch said, with a weak smile and a wink. “I’m just following my intuition.”