Nightmare Moon's Tiny Adversary

Chapter 5

Part 3

“T-Twilight…?” Celestia stammered out, completely flabbergasted. “And the other Element Bearers? B-but how?”

Nightmare Moon let out a peal of booming laughter, and Celestia turned back to her foe, a scowl on her face. “Why, whatever is the matter, sister?” the black alicorn asked with feigned innocence. “Oh, that’s right. You changed your master plan to keep your student bottled up and safe from harm. It must be such a shock to see her and her new friends facing me in the ruins of our beloved castle. Oh, and look! We even have the Elements in the middle of the room, just waiting to be awakened.”

Celestia’s scowl only deepened, but Nightmare Moon cut her off before she could answer. “Let me guess,” she started bitterly, tapping a hoof to her chin. “You were planning to wait for your faithful student to finish the job, and once I was banished or defeated...”

She slammed her hoof against the ground with great force and shouted, “You would appear, shining like the sun itself to take all the credit without even lifting a hoof!”

The white alicorn took a step back and blushed a deep red, silent for a long moment before she finally let out a breath and lowered her head. “You are correct, Nightmare Moon,” she said regretfully. “That is indeed what I had planned.”

Nightmare Moon seemed startled at this admission, blinking confusedly a few times. “I am… correct, you say? Am I hearing that right?”

Celestia nodded as she briefly eyed her student and her companions from the corner of her eye before facing back towards Nightmare Moon, her gaze soft. “We may be sisters, but we might as well be polar opposites.”

“‘Sisters’? Am I no longer a monster?” Nightmare Moon asked mockingly, but Celestia continued on regardless.

“You would prefer to confront an enemy when I would rather negotiate. You are honest, no matter the circumstances, while I work through manipulations and deceit. You face the threats of here and now while I plan for problems several years in advance. You let your emotions out freely while I hide them behind a mask of authority,” Celestia said calmly and evenly, as if practiced.

Nightmare Moon smirked. “Thou art correct, sister. Thou wouldst hide the truth and refuse to share any information when we would willingly do so,” she said, her tone growing more and more caustic as she spoke. “Thou wouldst lay back comfortably on thy throne, letting thy subjects do all thy work, all the while rationalizing that they should learn not to depend on thy help all the time, even as we work side by side with them.”

With a bit of effort, she pulled herself up from where she had landed on the cold ground. “Thou wouldst waste time with parties and speeches as we fought alongside our soldiers and aided our workers!” Nightmare Moon added bitterly.

“Once again spoken honest and true, sister,” Celestia replied, leaving the black alicorn increasingly flustered. “It’s unfortunate that as the Guardian of the Night, you were always there in the darkness, yet always hidden, like a shadow. Ponies fear what they cannot see.”

Nightmare Moon let out a snort, glowering at the white alicorn. “What kind of game are you playing, Celestia? Are you sure you’re not some changeling who took her place, hmn?” she said distrustfully.

Fluttershy let out a tiny ‘eep’ at the mention of changelings, a quiet, unexpected sound that nopony noticed save for Overwatch, whose questioning eyes flickered briefly towards the yellow pegasus.

Celestia shook her head solemnly. “Nightmare Moon, tell me! Did I manipulate my subjects to defeat you for me today? Have I intentionally used my own student to defeat you? Have I hidden away from you?”

Nightmare Moon tapped a hoof to her chin before answering, “We have to admit that thou hast faced us in combat, and even now, thou art here confronting us personally instead of waiting for your ponies to do it for you. Well, that is forgetting thy loyal guards, but as long as they stay unconscious, they are not of our concern at the moment. ”

Celestia looked upon the royal guards that she had assumed were dead. The very idea that Nightmare Moon had spared them was like a flash of hope to her, and she turned back to the black alicorn with a sense of urgency.

“L-Luna… I know that you are there. Please, come back to me!” Celestia said, bowing her head down as her voice cracked with longing. “I’m sorry, Luna, for not being there when you needed me, for even thinking that you wanted to harm our subjects, and as for banishing you… I know that you will never forgive me, but I beg that you at least give me a chance.”

Everypony stared in disbelief at the mighty princess of the sun bowing before the dark alicorn, who slowly walked closer with a stern glare. “Luna does not wish to come back to you, nor will we give you a chance for redemption.”

Celestia looked up at the face of Nightmare Moon and spoke, “I understand. I understand that you tried to help Luna, to protect her, to take care of her, and I am truly sorry for thinking of you as just some monster who took over her body, but I beg of you, give me a chance. I swear that I’ll repay her for my mistakes, no matter how long it takes me, even if I have to spend the next thousand years to do so.”

Nightmare Moon’s cold expression broke. It was just a moment, but there was compassion and sorrow in the dark alicorn’s eyes, but just as quickly, they disappeared again into frigid neutrality.

“We shall say to thee what we said to thy student when she begged us for the same thing,” Nightmare Moon stated, her voice low and seething. “We have managed to stay sane after a thousand years of banishment, but our hate and anger towards you hath grown every day. Dost thou think we can extinguish those venomous flames now? That we can do any more than blow you over like the wildfire that burns in my breast?”

With a grand downswing of her draconic wings, Nightmare Moon took to the air, and Celestia’s hope fell like a stone thrown into the river when the black alicorn leveled a hoof at her and said, “This will never end until one of us can fight no more.”

The dark alicorn closed her eyes as a weak smile grew across her lips and two tears fell down her cheeks. “At least we can find peace knowing that thy student hast finally opened thine eyes, for we shall die certain that thou knowest thy mistakes.”

The scene quickly devolved into bedlam as Nightmare Moon immediately went on the offensive, dark bolts of magic whizzing through the air like meteorites at her foe. Celestia countered with her own shimmering barrier, hoping against all hope to prolong the fight as long as possible.

Steel Blade jolted into alertness, taking a few cautious steps back. “Twilight, we have to get everyone out of here,” he nickered, looking quickly between the tiny unicorn on his back and the dangerous bolts of powerful magic splashing against Celestia’s shield. Overwatch looked like she dearly wanted to dive into cover behind the closest pillar, but she stood her ground protectively near her charge, a spell ready on her horn.

“Wait! No, we have to do something,” Twilight said, looking around anxiously before turning her gaze to the lifeless stones on the floor in front of the group. She looked at the ponies around her, each one so important in getting her to Nightmare Moon and ready to help even now, and she jumped into action, hopping off of Steel Blade’s back to face the group.

“Girls, we need to use the Elements against Nightmare Moon before it is too late!” Twilight stated imperatively before she galloped towards the Elements.

“Ya wan’ us t’ do what now?” Applejack asked in confusion, trotting after the tiny mare with the rest of the girls despite the thunderous battle in the background.

“Please, I cannot do it alone. I need your help,” Twilight pled as she lifted the orbs up and turned around.

Rainbow Dash grinned eagerly, barely staying on the ground. “I got no idea what you want us to do, but count me in.”

Twilight beamed at her and the others, before levitating the first orb over. The Element was now shimmering with an inner glow, which only seemed to grow as Twilight began to speak. “Rainbow Dash, you fought a manticore to protect me. You refused to leave us for the Shadowbolts and even attacked Nightmare Moon to save me. There is nopony better to represent the Element of Loyalty than you,” she said.

"Yeah, like I would leave any pony hanging,” Rainbow Dash said, puffing out her chest proudly. “I stick with the team no matter what.”

The stone orb shattered, becoming a bright flash of light that soon resolved into a golden necklace around Rainbow Dash’s neck, its iridescent ruby shimmering with an inner glow.

A beam of intense light reflected off of the red gemstone into Twilight’s eyes, and though she reflexively turned away and tried to blink off her blindness, she could still catch glimpses of something, flickering in and out.

Five invisible comets branching out from the prismatic epicenter, expanding like the radials of a web as they rode the shimmering wave outward.

Twilight shook her head, furrowing her brow in concentration as she levitated over another of the Elements to present to Fluttershy.

“You stood up against a manticore for me, and even tamed it with your warm heart and gentleness,” Twilight said with a smile. “You are the best one to represent the Element of Kindness!”

The orb shattered just like the first, eventually coming to a rest as a necklace around Fluttershy’s neck, a sheen flashing across its pink butterfly gem.

An ancient power finally found its place in a filly, a beacon to the loving and joyful creatures around her.

Twilight didn’t miss a beat this time, levitating the next orb up. “Applejack, you told me nothing but the truth, no matter how harsh it was. No wrong can come to pass around you, the Element of Honesty!”

The entire city looked up in awe at the expanding wave, yet in the constant motion of ponies below, the bright eyes of an astonished filly showed through. A revelation.

“And of course, you, Rarity. I had originally thought your gifts were a sign of selfishness, a greed for power, but now I see clearly they are reflections of your inner self, the Element of Generosity!”

The massive geode split in half with a thunderous shudder, spilling its treasures to the only pony present.

“Finally, Pinkie Pie, you crazy, party-loving mare,” Twilight said with a smirk.

“I don’t think words are necessary,” the tiny mare said, levitating over the last stone sphere.

The wave passed over a desolate, dreary landscape, filled with an emptiness that wore at even the strongest of souls, yet despite everything the barren expanse could do, a smile broke through.

Twilight blinked out the last of the vision, and she looked up at the five friends before her, the jewels on their necklaces radiating power beyond her understanding.

“Now listen close, girls,” she said seriously, even as a smile threatened to cross over her face.

“Those Elements are self aware, and they may do what you wish them to do, so please, use them to save Nightmare Moon, but not to banish or hurt her!” Twilight pled, looking at her friends with puppy dog eyes.

The mares before her looked at each other uncertainly, but even without Twilight’s attempt to coerce them, they turned to her and nodded firmly.

The little mare grinned, and then turned back towards Nightmare Moon, who was now engaging in melee against Celestia’s barrier. Princess Celestia’s trying to force her to exhaustion. Perfect. Then we can use the Elements—Wait, we’re still missing an Element. My Element.

Twilight looked around frantically. Where’s the sixth Element? Didn’t we only find five stone orbs? She faltered, and she almost fell to her knees But how am I going to...

Nightmare Moon slammed against the barrier recklessly. Most of her magic was already depleted, and she could only hope that she would regain a few tiny, precious drops of it from the moonlight still shining in.

“Stop hiding, you spineless coward and kill me in battle!” she screamed, pounding on the golden shield ineffectually. “Let me die with honor, you—”

There was a flash in the corner of her vision, and Nightmare Moon turned towards the window, from which another alicorn flew in and landed heavily.

“L-Luna?” Cadence said, breathing heavily as she laboriously drew in her wings. She turned towards the dark alicorn, and a flash of recognition dawned over her sweat-soaked face.

Nightmare Moon scowled. “I am no longer Luna! My name is—R-release me this instant!” she quickly demanded when Cadence had all but materialized beside her, embracing her in a vicegrip of a hug.

Nightmare’s tired and wounded body struggled against the contact, but whether it was the result of her exhaustion or Cadence actually being that strong, she couldn't free herself despite her best efforts. After a short, fruitless struggle, Nightmare Moon tried to slip away by dissipating into fog.

“Oh no, you’re not going anywhere!” Cadence shouted, capturing the nebula-like cloud inside a blue bubble and holding it in place until it reformed back to flesh. Not wasting a moment, she dispelled the barrier, once again wrapping Nightmare Moon in her forelegs. “I missed you so much Luna! I’m so sorry! So sorry for not being there for you!”

Nightmare Moon let out a sigh, and Celestia cautiously lowered her shield. The dark alicorn took a deep breath and said, “Listen, Cadence, this is between us and our sister, so wouldst thou kindly—Grrk!”

“No!” Cadence shouted, inadvertently causing pain to Nightmare Moon when she put a bit more strength into her hug. “I should have seen the way your subjects thought about you and threatened you. I should have been there for you in time of need, and now that I can finally see you again, you aren’t going to put me aside!”

She nuzzled the alicorn’s wounded belly and added, “I am here for you Luna. I know you’ve suffered a lot in the past thousand years, but realize that you have a friend here who wishes to cheer you up. You’re not alone.”

Nightmare Moon almost snarled in reply. “How couldst thou? Thou couldst never understand a thousand years of exile in a cold prison, waiting for the day when thou canst finally return to thy kingdom…” She paused, but it was too late to take her words back.

Cadence gave the dark alicorn a stern glare. “I may not know how devastating it is to be banished to a cold prison, but I know how it feels to be banished from your own kingdom. I’m no alien to torture and pain, both physical and mental…”

Her serious expression wilted a bit, and her next words were barely more than whispers. “I lost the Crystal Empire because of Sombra, and even after twelve hundred years, I’m still patiently awaiting its return, so trust me, I know how you feel.”

Nightmare Moon turned away to avoid eye contact with Cadence, her ears down against her head as Cadence continued in a more hopeful tone.

“You can’t let your hate and grief ruin your life, Luna,” she said. “You and Celestia are sisters. You’ve both faced a lot of hardship and trials together, cared for each other, ruled, laughed, and cried with each other. Do not let your desire for vengeance blind you.”

Cadence winced as she lit her horn in a bright blue aura, and tiny hearts flew from her horn to Nightmare Moon, who took in a deep breath and closed her eyes.

A few silent seconds passed, though they felt like minutes, before Nightmare finally opened her eyes and asked, her voice imperious yet mournful, “Are you done?”

Cadence loosened her hug, looking up into the dark alicorn’s face. “Please, no more fighting. It doesn’t have to end this way.”

Nightmare Moon looked back, and Cadence could have sworn that there were tears in her eyes when she spoke. “I know your special talent, Cadence. I know how you influence others with your magic. You bring ponies closer by reminding them why they loved each other in the first place.”

The dark alicorn struggled to free herself, if only to wipe out the tears from her eyes. “Dark magic causes one’s deepest fears to surface. Love magic revitalizes one’s most precious memories,” she said, before her voice became low and harsh. “But If thou thinkest that centuries of sisterly bonds can overcome a millennium of desolate isolation, thou art wrong.”

Cadence stared at her friend’s watery eyes in shock. She had failed to be there for Luna in the past, and now, she had failed to heal Luna’s wounded heart. As she desperately searched for words, a flash of light caught both of their attentions, and they turned towards the unexpected source. When they finally realized what they were looking at, their mouths were agape, their eyes wide, and their ears fell flat against their heads.

Nightmare Moon’s heart skipped a beat, and her shocked expression quickly turned into one of awe and fear. Cadence, on the other hoof, even through her awe, managed to discern one specific pony despite her miniscule size and distance between them. A warm smile grew across her face.

“Twilight… I should have known that nothing can stop you when you have a goal in mind,” she murmured before looking at the alicorn in her embrace. “I’m not the only one who wants to help you. Twilight has done everything she could to help you, whether it was to reunite you with her mentor or to simply save you, so please, don’t throw away your life. We will help you get through this.”

Nightmare Moon trembled, terrified, her breathing unsteady. She was ready and willing to face pain or death, but another thousand years on the moon…

Her leathery wings shot out, flapping desperately to escape from Cadence’s hold. “Release me this instant!” Nightmare Moon screeched, flailing around. “I am not going back to that horrible place! I will not endure another thousand years of solitude, nor will I allow Luna to suffer that same fate!”

The dark alicorn delivered a solid hoof to the face of her captor. She pushed Cadence away and flew up into the air, only for Celestia to teleport in her way.

“Please, trust my student. She won’t harm you,” the sun princess said, capturing Nightmare Moon in her levitation. The dark alicorn threw out thunderbolts with what little magic she had left, but whatever she had thrown at Celestia amounted to little more than needle pricks that the white alicorn stoically endured.

Nightmare Moon’s attention turned to the little party of mares as the missing Element appeared out of the air in front of Twilight, its stone casing twice as large as the bearer herself. Twilight was lifted into the air, along with the Element, each wrapped in a blinding magical aura. At the apex of their ascent, the sphere shattered into pieces… only to reform around the tiny mare as brilliantly glowing golden armor, a gem in the form of a six-pointed star upon the trimmed breastplate.

It would have amused Nightmare Moon that the Element of Magic took such a form for the tiny adventurous battlemage if it weren’t for the memories, the nightmares, of the prison she thought she had escaped from.

“T-Twilight, please!” she pled, still squirming around desperately. “Let me die in battle! I will not stand to be banished to the moon again! Please!”

Twilight looked at the terrified princess from the inside of her armor, her tiny eyes aglow with power. “Don’t worry Nightmare Moon! I swear, you and Luna will not be sent to that place again. Please, just trust me.”

The alicorn struggled against the levitation field she was captured in. She entertained the thought of lashing out at one of the Element Bearers in hopes of disrupting the artifacts and delaying their judgement, but no sooner than she thought this, her sister flew above the bearers, spreading her wings protectively. In an instant, Nightmare Moon’s hopes had been dashed, and unable to escape or defend herself, she lowered her head and did the only thing she could.

And with that, a rainbow burst forth from the gem on Twilight’s armor, flying straight at Nightmare Moon and wrapping around her. The dark alicorn hung limply, watching as her vision of the ponies around her was blotted out and she was left isolated, alone in the maelstrom of light and color.

But this isolation… the brief moments she still had couldn’t even come close to the centuries spent without the company of others, and whatever outcome was waiting for her, it was soothing to think that maybe, just maybe, everything would turn out perfectly fine. It was a grand idea that brought her a peaceful smile as she surrendered to her fate.

The rainbow died down, leaving in its wake a little, blue alicorn filly surrounded by shredded scraps of midnight black.

Celestia’s heart beat faster and faster as she landed on the stone tiles. With slow, careful steps, she approached her little sister uncertainly, barely holding her tears as she lowered her head to the blue alicorn. “L-Luna?”

The white alicorn immediately swept her little sister up into a hug and cried, “Oh Luna, I’m so sorry! So sorry for everything my subjects and I did to you a thousand years ago. I know you may not wish to forgive me now, but please, give me a chance!”

To Celestia’s surprise, Luna’s now shorter forelegs hugged her back, and she was shivering, shaking as she rubbed her tears into the dirty, white fur before her. “We… we do not wish to be alone again. We pray that thou not forsakest us again… D-do not l-leave us…”

Celestia hugged Luna tighter. “Never, sister, I will never repeat this mistake again,” she said sincerely, a note of joy in her voice.

Celestia nodded her head, nuzzling the soft mane below her. “I swear, sister.”

A small smile spread across Luna’s face. “T-then we shall... f-forgive…”

Her smile turned sour, and with a teary sob, she buried her face in Celestia’s fur again. “No… no, we cannot…”

***

Twilight sat next to Spike’s foreleg as he, her guards, and their friends openly stared at the royal sisters before them, their eyes wide and their mouths open.

The little mare wished she could feel happy. She succeeded after all, but something was missing, something important to call today a victory. She looked around, noticing Cadence, who stood a few meters away, looking towards the two sisters with her foreleg raised yet refusing to budge. Eventually, the pink alicorn lowered her hoof and closed her wings, her head lowered as she trod wearily towards a corner of the room.

Is she sad? Or she is just giving the princesses space for their reunion? Twilight’s brow furrowed as she observed her foalsitter with concern. While she hadn’t heard what Cadence told Nightmare Moon back when the Elements were charging, she had seen that they both cared for each other, or else Nightmare Moon would have fought against Cadence from the start.

As she walked towards her foalsitter, a small fragment of dark skin caught her attention. Twilight looked around the room and noticed many more like it, like layers peeled from an onion.

Did I just… Her heart beat faster, and her breathing accelerated. With hesitant steps, the tiny unicorn approached the closest fragment, too distracted to hear Luna’s next words to her sister.

***

Cadence stood in front of the royal alicorns like a statue, her foreleg raised as if she had wanted to draw their attention. She couldn’t quite express how much she wanted to welcome Luna back, to press the long forgotten alicorn against her chest and assure her that everything would be all right.

Auntie Celestia needs this far more than I do. It would be wrong of me to interfere. She looked to the side at the group of heroines who had restored Luna to her former self and purified her of corruption.

As much as she wanted to thank them from the deepest part of her heart for what they did, she was distracted by the fragments left behind after Nightmare Moon had been vanquished. Is Nightmare Moon just Luna’s other personality? Or was she a being of her own?

A chill went through her bones, and she lowered her head and backed off towards the corner, glad that she wasn't the center of attention.

Her eyes drifted over the scene before her. It looked like a perfect storybook end, perhaps. Luna and Celestia were embracing, a final ending to a conflict a thousand years old. Twilight’s friends were astonished, still trying to process what had just happened. Overwatch and Steel Blade had all but collapsed on each other, enjoying cookies from what must have been a massive stash in one of Steel Blade’s saddlebags. Twilight…

Twilight was examining a fragment of Nightmare Moon off to the side, unnoticed by the rest of the ponies there. Well, besides her suspiciously omniscient unicorn guard, perhaps.

Cadence’s ears perked up, and she straightened up in alarm, looking at the royal sisters with concern. Despite the best efforts of her and the Elements, Luna was still hesitant to forgive her sister. The alicorn of love drew in a deep breath, drawing up her determination as she began to form a new plan. Luna needs somepony to help her recover… and that pony is me.

***

Celestia’s heart all but turned to ash at those words, and she simply sat there with Luna, shocked.

Luna eventually pulled back, wiping out her tears as she looked mournfully up into her sister’s eyes. “We feel at ease now. Tis as if the past thousand years on the moon were nothing more than a bad dream, hidden away by the good memories of our past that still float through our mind, no doubt a combined effort of Cadence’s spell and the Elements,” she said calmly. “But we know this be no dream. We cannot sweep aside our past, ignore it like it never happened. As much as we wish to forgive thine actions, we cannot just yet. Mayhap one day we will.”

Celestia looked at Luna for a few moments in stunned silence, but she eventually found a smile creeping onto her lips. “Then I will prove you that I deserve your forgiveness, Luna, no matter how long it takes,” she said, hugging the blue alicorn closer.

"And umm… We... I suppose,” Luna began slowly, fidgeting. “I will need to earn thy forgiveness too?"

Luna cut her off with a hoof, saying, “Thou art not the only one at fault, sis—Tia. True, thou hast shown ignorance and blindness when we were in pain, but we made mistakes of our own. After what we did as Nightmare Moon, you had reasons to fear for the safety of yo… our subjects.”

Celestia shook her head. “Let’s not let the past control us, Luna. We cannot take back our mistakes, so let’s focus on not repeating them again.”

Luna’s head dipped down. How she wished she could amend her mistakes to the wronged, but the families of those she killed and the guards she hurt were long dead, left in the dark years of the past. At the very least, she was punished for it, but they were permanent blots on her conscience, unable to be perfectly wiped clean.

She looked in her sister’s eyes and regretted she couldn’t return her forgiveness, but regardless of her heart’s intent, she still buried herself in the warm fur of the larger alicorn’s chest.

As the two regal sisters once again embraced, they found themselves the center of a happy cheer, Pinkie Pie all but bawling in joy into a tissue she pulled from… somewhere. Celestia finally broke the hug with her sister and said, her voice warm and inviting, “I believe there is one special pony I still need to give my thanks to, as well as an apology.”

Luna nodded in understanding. “Wouldst thou mind if we thank her too?” she asked calmly. Celestia nodded, smiling, but when the two alicorns looked towards the Elements of Harmony, they found that the pony in question wasn’t among them.

Celestia turned towards Overwatch, who tipped her head sideways. The white alicorn turned to find Twilight where the guard unicorn had indicated, and she began to approach the tiny mare, oblivious to what her student was holding in her hooves.

Nightmare Moon's Tiny Adversary

by CommanderX5

The Elements of Harmony - Final Confrontation