//------------------------------// // The Fight // Story: The Everfree Guide's Daughter // by xXSheltieXx //------------------------------// "Sister!" Princess Luna shouted, bursting into the Throne Room. "Sister," Princess Celestia echoed. "What ails you?" "It is back sister. I can feel it." Luna said, holding a hoof to her chest. "And I believe it's taken some pony I value." "How can you be sure?" Celestia asked; the larger Alicorn was completely calm, as if everything was normal- nothing evil about it. "I cannot explain it, sister! I just know that it has taken one I value!" Luna yelled back, angry that her own sister was so calm with the Miasma out of its cell. "It should be inside the Moon, but it has escaped! There is only two ways and I have not-" "I know, Luna," Celestia replied, cutting her off. "I released it." Luna was dumbfounded. She ground her teeth, flaring her wings. "You did what?! Sister, do you know what you have done?!" "I do, sister. Please, do be more calm." "Calm?! Calm?! The Miasma has taken one of our subjects! How can you be calm?!" Luna yelled, stepping closer. Her sister gave her the silence that meant she knew what she was doing, she wanted it to happen, and everything would be okay if it played out correctly, or she would take it in her own hooves for fixing. Luna growled something quite rude for a princess and turned curtly, beginning to trot out of the room when a black fire sizzled in front of her, making her jump back on the offensive. "My, my, jumpy are we, Luna?" The voice said as the fire dissipated into smoke. Luna's eyes went wide with anger. Her wings were flared and her horn glowing as she looked at her prized student- taken over by the Miasma. How, She thought, How could I have been so blind? How did I not see nor fathom Steam Snowflake's pain? Why did I let this happen?! Whilst she was thinking, the black and blue mare trotted over slowly, now taller than Luna- almost as tall as Celestia. She held a hoof up, tilting Luna's chin upwards to look at her. Luna was disgusted. "You." She growled. "You've torn my own student's name and face and twisted and disfigured her image into one I cannot bare to see! I shall destroy you and send you to your prison permanently!" Luna yelled in rage. "She was so easy to manipulate too." Nightmare Steam grinned. "So in need of a pony to hold, so desperate for a rope to pull her out of the water, so in need of any pony." She sneered. "And no pony came. They brushed her aside," She circled the other Alicorn, flicking her long navy tail in her face. "They frowned upon her. She was different. No pony cared to see beauty in the things she did. But I was different." Nightmare Steam's voice was like a Cheshire Cat's; it was sneaky and quick, playing with its toys. "I saw her brilliance and pain, and accepted it. Unlike you, Princess Luna. And you too, Princess Celestia." The taller Alicorn simply sipped her tea, continuing to sign scrolls and parchment. Nightmare Steam didn't bother to fight with the taller one; Luna was the one it wanted, as it had planned on bringing Nightmare Moon back into the world to make the night eternal. However the body it inhabited was sinking in. The Miasma was clearly drawn to her hatred for others, her pure ability, her raw, pent up soul. Luna narrowed her eyes and shot a beam of blue magic at her, the Nightmare barely being able to escape. It hit her chin, making her growl. With wide eyes, she yelled, "How dare you! Do you comprehend the punishment I shall-" Another bolt hit her in the mouth, making her shut her noisy trap for a little bit. She snarled and looked at Luna, who was on the verge of crying. Steam quickly rushed to her, holding her in the air and using her black, fiery magic to burn her neck. Luna picked her up in her magic, flying both of them upwards and throwing the Nightmare down at the floor heavily. "Princess Luna, why would you do this to me?" Steam's normal voice called from the demons mouth. "SHUT UP!" She yelled, crying out as the black magic struck her chest, knocking her into a vase. Celestia caught the vase and set it down, continuing to sip her tea, now onto the daily newspaper. She wasn't the least bit interested in this petty fight. Steam walked over slowly to Luna with a grin on her face. She towered over the blue Alicorn, holding her hoof, ready to smash it down on her skull. The ceiling caved in from the magic of Princess Luna, catching on Nightmare Steam's wing. Luna then put the moon directly above them, shooting magic at Steam. The two beings were separated, Steam collapsing and the Miasma stuck in Luna's grasp. In a small voice it cried out. "No! No! I promise I'll be good! Mercy! MERCY!" It called. Luna's voice was full of spite. "No mercy for the wicked." The moon seemed to turn, one of the craters turning into an eye, a line stretching across it. The shadows reached down to the Miasma, holding it tenderly, opening its mouth. The Miasma was slowly pulled back into its prison, this time safer at the very core. The moon's shadow retracted, closing its one eye and the line of its mouth disappearing as it dove back to its normal position. Luna galloped over to Steam Snowflake, gently rubbing her shoulder. She pushed the marble off her wing, helping her up. She smiled, hugging her warmly. Steam then pushed her off, backing away. "Don't touch me." "S-Steam, why-" "Who are you?" Steam asked, looking around, bags under her eyes as her fur and mane returned to normal. "Where am I?! Who am I?!" Princess Luna and Princess Celestia had gaping mouths as they realized that they had not only banished the Miasma forever, but Steam Snowflake's memory as well.