Rarity stepped back quickly, her eyes widening. Spike fell off her back with a yelp. “W-what? Whatever do you mean? See the avatar? Why ever would I do something like that? That's crazy. You're crazy. The avatar? Silly, silly pony. We're mortal enemies! I'd never go see her. Never ever.”
The mare snorted before stepping inside. The door slammed shut behind her, trapping the three in together. “Don't play dumb with me, princess Rarity.” She paused for a moment. “I want to help you, in fact.”
“I... I have no idea what you're talking about,” Rarity said as she motioned for Spike to get behind her. The little dragon quickly darted back.
“You wish to go to the avatar and help her defeat your mother, do you not?” There was a soft chuckle then, so familiar but she just couldn't place it.
“You're talking treason. I don't know what could possibly make you think--”
“The weak link in the chain always wishes to be attached to the length,” the cloaked pony said with another chuckle. “But it's just a little too soon.” A blue hoof reached out from the cloak, stroking the princess' mane.”We wouldn't want all that rust to be washed away, now would we?”
“I don't know what you're talking about, but I really am just going down to the library. I--”
“Hoping to find a few more journals of late rulers?” the mare asked, sending a chill down Rarity's spine.
“How... how do you know about... why are you threat--”
“I just want you to know fear, little phantom.” Green eyes glowed from behind the hood, enveloping Rarity's world. “Now if only I could hear you scream.”
The princess stared, her eyes wide. She tried to call out to Spike, to tell him to run, to fight, to do anything. But she couldn't move. All she could do was stare into those glowing green eyes until they were the only thing that remained. Then there was darkness.
------
Twilight stared out over the horizon, riding atop one of many balloons. Plenty of other pegasi were doing the same, occasionally jumping off to fly besides the ships, but otherwise resting on top. Soon there would be battle, and no time for rest at all.
The ships didn't fly nearly as high as they could normally, so weighted down by all those extra ponies. Many even had extra support lines in place, to keep the weight from tearing any balloons free. Far below the ships, the sea was calm and quiet, peaceful. As if to try to counteract the chaos and destruction that would soon occur. It was so quiet, the only sound was the flapping of sails and tugging of ropes.
According to her calculations, they'd be able to see the shore at any moment. That was where the first, but likely easiest, battle would take place. They'd take the beach to the east of the city, stop anypony from alerting the nation, then march most of their forces from there. The air forces would go in first, eliminating their air ships and clearing the way for the other benders to attack.
Right on time, the shore appeared off in the distance, the waves crashing down across the land, beating it back. She took a deep breath and looked out, trying to catch sight of any ponies hidden amongst the land. From this distance she couldn't see, so she spread her wings and took to the air, flying off ahead. From all sides she could see other pegasi and griffons moving to join her, lifting into the air and making their way towards the land as a flying cloud of fighters.
It was all for naught. The shore was completely abandoned, without a pony on it. Twilight landed upon the bank, looking around with a frown. A moment later, Rainbow landed besides her. “Nothing here,” the pegasus said quickly.
“No ponies? No patrols? Ships?”
“Lightning has a few of her pirates spreading out to secure the area, but not a sign of them. I guess we were lucky.”
“Could the Water Nation really be that stupid?” Twilight muttered as she looked around. “We're less than an hours march from the city. There's not a tower or anything?”
“We're pretty deep in their territory,” Rainbow muttered. “Not a lot of expectations for invasions in the last hundred years, and now they're spread thinner than a feather's edge.”
“Yeah, but it seems so... easy.”
“Easy?” the pegasus snorted. “You weren't there as we had to sneak past all those patrols. Trust me, it was anything but easy. They don't know we're here... yet. The moment we come near the city, they'll be on full alert. They won't be able to lift a ship into the sky, but the ground forces will bite us. Hard.”
Twilight nodded. “I guess...”
“Relax. This isn't going to be easy in any sense of the word. No use worrying over a little bit of good luck.” She paused and shook her head. “I'd start hoping this luck holds out and we keep it until we get there.”
“I hope we stay lucky after we get there...” the alicorn mumbled before turning towards the ships. Ponies were galloping off as quick as they could, gathering together amongst their own kind. Fire benders, water benders, earth benders, air benders. She could barely believe it, all four united against a common enemy. The earth benders were looking quite ill, but they kept a stiff upper lip. She couldn't recognize half the ponies, but she hoped she'd get a chance to know them.
She impatiently paced back and forth as the ponies gathered together, emptying from the ships. They then quickly divided into units, the largest holding the fire benders, the water benders and a slew of earth benders. Octavia and Vinyl were leading that one. The two trotted towards her as another four earth ponies she couldn't recognize followed. Then Spitfire, Soarin, Lightning and Thunderlane dropped down from the sky.
“Everything going good?” Twilight asked as she looked the ponies over. She couldn't help but cringe at just how small the number of fire benders were. Even if that wasn't all of them, there were still so few. She had to resist the urge to tell them to wait back. To hide. They had just as much right to fight as her, just as much reason. Their lives, their very futures could depend on success today. They'd need everypony they could get.
“Indeed,” Vinyl mumbled as she looked over her forces. “There'll be three groups on the ground moving in, each with two commanders. Octavia will be leading this one down the middle, while the other two, consisting of earth benders, will drive in through the city. It won't be... pretty,” she muttered as she shook her head. “We'll... be trying to keep civilian casualties as low as we can. We're hoping in the chaos of homes getting wrecked everypony will run to the castle. The panic should throw off their forces and allow us to fight into the castle.”
“My ships'll keep the sky free,” Lightning said with a chuckle. “We'll be dropping bombs and arrows on their harbors like rain. They'll be lucky if they have any ships tomorrow.”
Spitfire nodded. “I'll be in command of the air benders. We'll be doing out best to keep them from getting anything into the sky until the pirates arrive. Ships, catapults, you name it, we'll stop it.” She then took a deep breath. “Twilight, are you sure you want to come with us? This could be... dangerous.”
Twilight nodded slowly. “Yes. It'll be fastest for me to go in with the air force. I can land in the midst of their lines and... well, I'll be closest to Nightmare Moon then, when the sun gets into position. Besides, my fire bending can be best directed from above, and I can stop anything your air bending can't.”
Octavia nodded. “If you're set, then I see no reason to argue. Your friends will remain safe in our unit.” She paused for a moment. “But... if we aren't able to push through in time and the sun is in the right position...”
The alicorn nodded. “I know. Push through without you...” She took a deep breath and glanced up to the sun. “We'd better get going. We don't have much time. If we... wait too long, we won't have the power we need.”
The ponies nodded, before turning and walking away. Rainbow moved up besides her and smiled. “Don't worry, Twilight. You've got me by your side. The others will be together, too. Octavia wouldn't have command if she didn't know what she was doing.”
Twilight gave another soft nod. “I... I guess. I... I don't know. I just... I just feel something is wrong. I can't shake it...”
“Well, yeah, everything's wrong. That's why we're doing this, to set it right.”
Twilight gave another slow, weak nod. “Y-yeah... I guess... you're right.” She spread her wings out and took to the sky. She hoped it was just jitters.
She soared up into the air and, within moments, the Wonderbolts joined her. With air benders on each side, the ships rising into the air behind them and the rest of their forces below, the time was now. She slowly turned her wings slightly and sped off, towards Canterlot. She took one deep breath and steeled herself. They could do this. They would do this.
Across empty fields of grass and trees they flew, keeping low enough to be too easily seen, but high enough to give themselves a good vantage point. However, there was nothing to see. Just empty wilderness. It was almost a relief when the fields finally gave way and, off in the distance, she could just make out the port city. Its castle was the easiest thing to see, standing far taller than the walls that surrounded it.
The closer they came, the more the feeling of unease took over and enveloped her. The walls surrounding the city were new. Made of unfinished stone. The earth benders must have made them. Not only that, they were tall and thick. So tall she couldn't even make out any buildings through them. As they came closer she could finally make out the tops of small homes inside, though another thick wall separated them from the castle. She'd never seen walls so thick, she couldn't imagine the point.
She couldn't see anypony inside. Even the port, which was blocked off from the rest of the city by yet another wall, was completely barren. There were no ships, be they for the water or air, and no ponies to tend to them. Even when they flew over the walls, there was no pony to greet them. The streets were empty, no carts, no sellers, not even ponies setting out laundry. The entire city seemed... empty.
Pain seared through Twilight's heart. “They... they know...” she whispered. That had always been a possibility, but she'd never expected this. If the Water Nation knew, she expected them to meet with overwhelming force, to try and fight them despite it. After all, as far as they knew, there were only a few fire benders to fight them.
But to retreat? To run and cower? To give up Canterlot rather than risk the fire benders? That was... that was impossible. She flew forward and landed on the wall outside the city, looking left and right. “There's nothing.”
“There has to be something,” Spitfire said softly as she looked away. “There's no way they could have evacuated this entire city without us knowing. It's huge! Why even build these walls if they were going to run?”
“Is it possible they knew I was coming?” Twilight asked, looking down at the homes. “Shouldn't there be panic? Anarchy? Something?”
“There should...” Soarin muttered as he looked around. It was so quiet. The sounds of war should have filled the air, the panic from their initial wind burst. Instead... nothing.
“Come on,” Spitfire yelled as she took to the sky and dove towards the south end of the city. “We'll open the gates for the others. If... nothing else, we'll make sure the Water Nation has nothing left to return to. If they somehow managed to really pull everypony out, they had to leave some important things behind. They couldn't have evacuated that quickly.” Her tone held doubt this time though. “Spread out, see if you can see any signs of the ponies. They might just be hiding.” She landed besides the gate, Twilight and a few others landing by her.
The avatar frowned as she got a closer look at the gate. It was steel, not nearly as tall as the stone walls. Not only that, it seemed to dig into the wall. It opened with ease, though she could see plenty of dings and areas where wind and rain had dug into the metal, making little pits and rust. The door was obviously quite old, so why did they have the stone walls at all? Were they covering metal walls? But if that was the case, why make the walls bigger and thicker, before abandoning the city?
“I'm going to open the other gates,” the alicorn muttered before flying off. There was only one other, the same as the first. Both were on the south end of the city. She quivered slightly. Something was off. She just couldn't place it. She looked up towards the sky. It was almost time. Where were they?
Her eyes widened. “No...” She whispered, before taking to the sky. She flew through the city as fast as she could, startling the air benders as she went. Her suspicions were right.
The city was completely blocked off from the castle by the tall, thick walls. No gates. There weren't any ships. The walls could easily cover up other gates, leaving the only easy point of entry the south. With only two there, they would funnel in, be caught outside the walls on the south end. Backs to the ocean.
She flew up, over the walls. There were a few pegasi flying back towards her ponies, likely to tell them where to come from. Her ponies were coming along the shore.
An explosion tore from behind her, making her turn around. It took her a few seconds to see the smoke, dangling in the air over the castle. A few seconds later a second and then third firework flew up in the air, and her heart chilled.
Her head turned towards the sea. At first she saw nothing, just a small glitter off in the distance. But then it came closer, grew larger, widened. It went higher and higher until it dominated all within sight. It towered high into the sky, high enough to crash into their ships, to destroy every air ship in the sky.
A tidal wave.
Twilight could only hover in the air, her eyes wide with horror as she watched the wave of destruction fly towards the defenseless ponies. Grounded at they were, they had no chance. There was no stopping this. Her friends, her comrades, all gone in a moment because she didn't think this through.
------
Vinyl turned her head and narrowed her eyes. “Water benders, with me!” she ordered with a stomp of her hoof.
Octavia turned to her friend, managing to keep her calm as the torrent of watery death drew ever closer on the horizon. The only thing stopping the panic from beginning was the fact most of the ponies were too shocked and frightened at the sight to move. Its sheer magnitude was enough to even make her want to turn tail and run. “What do you have in mind?”
“We're going to show them just what a water bending master can do,” Vinyl said with a smile as she stepped forward. Her unicorns moved with her. The sound of the encroaching water built around them, ready to crash at a moments notice. “Octavia, launch us into it!”
“I... what? You want me to WHAT?”
“Just do it!” Vinyl yelled, before steadying herself on the ground. The initial shock was starting to fade and a few ponies turned to run, but most just stared in awe. Even if they could move, they knew they couldn't outrun this.
Octavia gulped and nodded. “Earth benders! Forward!” She raised her hoof. “Launch!” She slammed the hoof down and the ground under Vinyl launched her forward like a cannon. A moment later the other water benders were launched through the air, flying towards the approaching wave like tiny insects opposing a massive wall of steel. The mare watched her friend and gave a silent prayer as she disappeared into the white foamy wall of water. She then lifted her hooves again. “Benders! Buffer!”
------
Twilight stared with wide eyes, shaking her head as the wave came ever closer. She and the air benders had taken to the sky, hovering high above the wall where the water wouldn't hit them. All they could do is watch as the approaching death went at their comrades.
Then the army suddenly launched ponies into the water, sending them crashing against the wave. A wall of dirt and rock rose out ahead of them next, but Twilight shook her head. That measly wall couldn't possibly defend them from the brunt.
But then a miracle happened. The tidal wave... collapsed. As if it had suddenly been sliced down the middle, the watery wall fell in on itself, half of the water retreating back towards the sea while a sizable force of it continued on. It wasn't as much as she'd hoped, but it was enough. The wave crashed against the wall and caved down on the ponies. However, it only lasted a few seconds, the force almost pathetic compared to what it had been before. When it disappeared, many of the ponies were toppled over, but even from here Twilight could see them straightening themselves out quickly. The ships hadn't even gotten damp.
Cheers rang out from the air benders as they flew in excited circles.
------
Octavia galloped towards the water, lifting a bridge of sand and rock before her as she ran. She shoved the water aside as she went, spreading her land bridge out until it finally plucked Vinyl out of the sea. The mare wasn't moving, laying limp on the rock. Other earth benders followed after her, plucking other water benders from the sea.
“Vinyl, Vinyl!” the mare yelled as she bent down to lightly shake the mare.
The unicorn coughed and sputtered, sending water across the ground. “Heh... heh heh... see? Told ya I'd show them what I could do...”
“Can you move?” Octavia laid down besides her, gently lifting her head up. She could barely breath, seeing her friend like this. She couldn't believe she'd survived.
“N-no. Fine... just... over did it a bit... heh heh... I don't think I'll be good to bend a glass of tea for a while... heh heh...” She laid back. “That... totally sucked.”
The earth pony let out a sigh of relief, before standing up. “Okay! Gather up the water benders, carry them if they can't walk!” she yelled, before smiling down at the unicorn. “Looks like I'm going to have to carry your lazy butt around. Just like always.”
Vinyl snickered. “You're just jealous because you didn't get to join me.” She cringed as she was picked up. “C-careful. Need... to move fast. Don't think they'll be able to... to do that again for a while but... but best not to risk it. Who knows how many of them they have out there?”
Octavi nodded, before turning to her soldiers as she galloped back to shore. “Okay everypony, double time! Get behind those walls before they can launch another one of those!”
------
Twilight turned her gaze to the castle. They weren't as alone as they'd thought, considering the fire works.
“Avatar!” Spitfire yelled as she flew up towards her.
“What is it?”
“They have ships out there. That's probably where their main force is located. We need to--”
“Go,” the alicorn said quickly. “Rainbow and I will deal with the castle.”
“But--”
“The others will be in the city soon, but another tidal wave like that could... destroy them all. The benders have to be stopped. You have to go.”
Spitfire gulped, before looking to Rainbow. “Okay, Rainbow Dash. We're counting on you to keep her safe and from doing anything too reckless.”
“Don't you worry,” Rainbow said with a chuckle. “I won't let her do anything I wouldn't do.”
“Her doing what you'd do is what I'm afraid of,” Spitfire said with a chuckle, before taking off. A moment later her air benders followed suit. Within a few moments Twilight and Rainbow were alone.
“You ready for this?” Twilight asked as she turned towards the castle. “Whoever is in there knows we're here. We won't take them by surprise.”
Rainbow shrugged and glanced back. The airships were almost in the city and already ponies were filtering in through the doors. “Don't worry. We're just scouting, right? The others will be with us before we know it.”
Twilight nodded and glanced to the sky. Soon. Very soon. She just prayed she was right. That Nightmare wouldn't have abandoned her throne. She turned back towards the wall, just in time to see the wall come up and slam into her face. The next few moments passed in a blur of confusion and disorientation, but when she was able to regather herself, she was on the streets. Plenty of her hurt, but nothing seemed broken.
Then all of a sudden the sky darkened as something big and flat hurtled down at her. She barely had time to gasp before a rainbow blur zoomed by and picked her up. She looked back, just in time to see the house shatter against where she had been. It dawned on her a moment later. “Did... did they just hit me with a HOUSE?”
“Yes, now get with it!” Rainbow yelled as she flew up, avoiding another structure as it blew by, hitting nothing but air. Twilight eeped and pulled back from her friend and tried to catch sight of their attackers.
There, right by the wall. Earth ponies had gathered up behind a number of the homes and were using their earth bending to launch the domiciles into the air and at them. “I guess it's not as abandoned as we thought!” Twilight yelled before using a burst of air bending to weave around a small single floored shop.
Rainbow pulled up, flapping her wings as fast as she could to avoid a rather nice cabbage shop. Or at least, Twilight guessed that's what it had been, judging by the sign. Now it just looked like brick and wood with nice paintings. More buildings were launched into the air, forcing them to fly higher and out of reach.
“So, what's the plan?” Rainbow asked as she glared at them. “Dive bomb them?”
Twilight looked them over, frowning. “There's only a hoofful of them. I think they're a distraction.”
“A distraction? What from?”
“The castle...” the alicorn said before turning towards it. “Ignore them. Our forces are more than capable of dealing with them. They're probably buying time until the ponies at sea can return or... launch another wave.” She gave another silent prayer for the air benders.
Rainbow nodded and the two took off again, soaring over the wall and into the castle's courtyard. Twilight held her breath as they flew, her eyes darting back and forth over the building. It was... well, huge for one. But she couldn't see anything in the windows. It could hold an entire army, but if so, why hide in there? They had a wall. They were practically giving the city up. These delaying tactics were driving her crazy. She glanced back towards the entrance of the city, her army was quickly filling in and galloping down the streets. Houses were moved aside with bending, allowing the army plenty of space to maneuver as they went. High above the airships flew over the walls, brimming with pegasi and griffons. They were winning. So why did it feel like she was losing?
She took a deep breath and flew to the top of the castle, landing on one of the balconies. “We'll start up here, our wings will make it easy too--” She froze and stared inside. She then yelped and jumped back, flying back over the edge.
“What is it?” Rainbow called out.
Suddenly cruel, wicked laughter spilled out from the room. There was a light, almost gentle sound of hooves clipping against the floor as the mare within stepped forward.
Nightmare Moon slowly became revealed by the sun's light, her dark armor gleaming, polished so nicely Twilight's reflection could be seen in it. The ruler of the nation slowly turned her eyes over the two, a grin on her face that could freeze fire. “So. You must be... the avatar then? I must say, I truly did not expect to see you here. You should be... dead.” She then glanced to Rainbow. “A Wonderbolt, on the other hoof, was far more expected.”
Twilight gulped and eyed the mare. She was right there. Right in front of them. All they had to do was reach out and catch her, and the war would be over. Yet, the unicorn didn't look frightened. She looked calm, collected. As if she was waiting. As if she'd already won.
“Nightmare... Moon. For your crimes against all the countries and your part in this war. I... I order you to surrender,” Twilight said softly. She could barely get her voice above a frightened whisper, though. Something about the unicorn was... terrifying.
“Come on, Twilight! Let's take her down! She's right there!” Rainbow yelled, flapping her wings faster as she eyed the mare. Something... felt so wrong. She wanted to charge forward, to rush the unicorn. But she couldn't. She couldn't shake the feeling that if she rushed her, she'd die. But she was the fastest around, how could this mare possibly take her down?
Nightmare Moon slowly nodded and gave a little chuckle. “Really? My 'crimes'? I was not aware of any laws I had broken,” she said with condescension. “As ruler of now all the nations, I believe I make the laws.” She then smirked to Twilight. “If anything, I believe you should surrender to me. After all, you're invading my nation. That would constitute a crime, no?”
Twilight gulped and glanced towards the sun. Soon. Only a little longer and the sun would be in position. Behind her she could hear the sounds of the earth benders fighting against her army, but she couldn't look at them. She couldn't turn her back on this ruler. Something was wrong. She could feel sweat forming on her brow.
“You've taken these countries through force and deceit. Captured and imprisoned good ponies. You will surrender or... or I will end you, Nightmare Moon.”
The unicorn merely glanced down into the city. “Did you notice just how high up we are?”
“Huh?” Rainbow asked, cocking a brow.
“We can see all the way down into my city from here,” she said in a tone smooth as silk. “It really was kind of you to bring all your ponies into one position for me.”
Twilight took a deep breath. “The... tidal wave was stopped. The walls can protect them. There's nothing you can do.” The dread flowed through her veins like ice. Something was wrong.
“Do you know why those earth benders are using the buildings and launching them, instead of drawing stone up from the ground?” Nightmare Moon asked with a small, vicious grin. Twilight swore she could see fangs. “The same reason your benders aren't. There's so much enchanted water under them that it makes bending it near impossible.” The grin slowly got larger. “I really must thank you for bringing the water benders with you. I did so hope you would do such a thing. Granted, I suppose if you hadn't, the wave would have eliminated your forces on its own. But, what can you do?” She gave another soft chuckle.
“Twilight, we need to eliminate her, now! She's just... playing mind games!” Rainbow said softly.
“You two are welcome to try. But I doubt even together you would be able to stand against me,” Nightmare Moon said as her eyes began to glow a wicked green. She then whipped a hoof back as a whip of water flashed into the room. A moment later a gong was heard. Then a few seconds later a firework rose from behind the castle, sailing into the air and exploding. “Say good bye to your precious army.” She gave a dismissive wave of her hoof.
Twilight turned and dove, her eyes widening. Something in the mare's voice struck her as... believable. Whatever was about to happen was bad. She had to stop it.
A second later she saw it. The Water Nation's earth benders appeared over the wall, leaping up the rock and dirt. As they touched down on the top, cracks and holes formed on top and began spreading out. They spread down the wall, pushed through by the earth bender's magics.
A few cracks began spilling water out. Purple water. Twilight watched with horror as her army began quickly backing away from the poisonous liquid. Then it all clicked.
The walls were enormously thick and tall. Not to keep the ponies out. But to fill them with enough magic water to sweep through the entire city. To wash away both the homes and all the ponies inside them. Most of their forces were still in the city. “Pull back!” she screamed. But it was too late. Their air forces were mostly out at sea, dealing with the boats and ponies who sent the tidal waves. The forces in the air ships were confused and didn't know what to do. Even if both were already moving, there were too many ponies on the ground. They couldn't save them all.
The cracks grew bigger and bigger, her ponies galloping towards the exits of the city, but the confusion was spreading. The ponies in back had no idea why they had to suddenly turn around, the ponies in front knew but also knew they couldn't escape in time. The gates were clogged, not enough movement. She made it halfway through the city when the walls broke. She was so high up she could see both inside and outside the walls. Those in the city would be swept away, drowned and crushed by stone, houses and torrents of magic water. Those outside, the few there were, were doing their best to get out of the way, but many of them would likely be crushed when the water burst out of the few, small exits they had.
She should have seen this. Should have prepared for this. Why hadn't she? She pulled her hooves down and dove. She had to do something. ANYTHING!
High above, the sun moved into position. It shone down on the world from its apex, the magic inherent in it flowing down and gifting those few with the right connections a power many of them never knew existed.
Twilight's eyes turned solid white, glowing with the magical energy as her wings cut through the air like blades.
------
Nightmare Moon chuckled as she watched the foolish avatar trying to... make some kind of pathetic effort. She made a mental note to have words with her children. 'Dead' meant dead. Not 'looked dead' or 'nearly dead' or 'fatally wounded'. But it was no matter. Even from here she could see the ponies as they milled about, helpless to escape. The earth benders had too much water under them to make any sort of shielding. The stone walls had now completely collapsed, caging the ponies in with steel walls. Water and stone surged forward from all sides. Her city would be in ruins, but that was a small price to pay for the complete destruction of those foals who dared assault her. With the news of this victory, there would be none who dared defy her rule.
The ponies huddled as close as they could to each other, trying to buy as many precious seconds as they could as the water surged forward. She could hear the sounds of water and stone tearing apart houses as it went. She then chuckled again as the avatar dove down towards those foals, as if sacrificing herself could stop the inevitable.
Then she saw nothing but fire. She took a step back, her eyes widening as a great wall of flames rose up between the ponies and the torrent that surged towards them. It reached into the heavens, licking just short of the air ships that struggled to fly higher away from heat. It then pushed out, like a wall of molten steel, filling the air with a thick steam that was quickly swallowed by the fire. It pushed farther and farther until, finally, it was just outside her walls, shoving into the courtyard... and then stopped.
The flames disappeared, leaving nothing in their wake but ash and molten steel. The walls that had surrounded her city now lay in heaps of slag, still glowing bright red. Of the water, stones and homes that had made up their assault, there was nothing but ash and scorched earth. Except for the huddled mass of ponies that stood back, only a few yards from where the fires had begun. Some were likely very, very hot, but there were none dead as she could see.
Then, rising from the masses, like a phoenix, was a single pony. Her wings were ablaze, pushing out at least three ponies lengths. Her eyes glowed with such a magical brilliance that even from here Nightmare Moon had to squint.
The unicorn stared for a few moments as... two things within her stirred. On one side, she tried to process what she'd just seen. It was... impossible. Just impossible. There was no way that could have happened. None of her forces had predicted, even imagined that could happen. It didn't happen. But it did. The second thing writhed and coiled around her, chilling her bones. It was such a foreign concept to her she could barely understand it. Something she hadn't felt in years, not since her father had perished.
Nightmare Moon felt afraid. She turned and fled into her castle.