//------------------------------// // 78 Carpe Noctem by Kean // Story: Full Moon Fever: A MoonLight Prompt Collab // by TheLastBrunnenG //------------------------------// Carpe Noctem by Kean Twilight groaned, blinking white spots from her eyes. Even through her eyelids, the magic released from the Elements had been nearly blinding. Looking over her shoulder, she winced at the long gouge in her right side, torn by Nightmare Moon’s horn. Not the smartest idea, charging at a mad goddess, She thought, sighing inwardly at the blood running from the wound. Should’ve teleported sooner. Can’t be helped now. Need to get this fixed up. Maybe one of them knows… Twilight’s thoughts trailed off as she looked to the five ponies behind her, suspended in the air, moving slowly. Each of their elements were still glowing brightly, pulsing as they fed more magic into the spell. A growl and the sound of rattling chains brought her attention back to where Nightmare Moon had been standing before the elements had been unleashed. In her place, a black mist, barely contained in the shape of a pony writhed, thrashing against rune-inscribed chains that bound it to the floor. Slowly, cautiously she approached the form, vision wavering and breath shallow. She glanced back at her wound which was still bleeding profusely and, with a grunt, continued staggering toward the writhing mist. She’s fighting the elements… She lit her horn, forming the framework for a simple, yet powerful bolt of magic. I’ll go into shock before they finish on their own, maybe even bleed out… At the sound of a loud clop, the consequence of catching herself after stumbling, Nightmare Moon’s head snapped to face her, her draconic eyes thinning as they focused on her. “Kill me if you desire, but my soul will no longer be tarnished by you wretched ponies.” Her voice, disjointed from her lips, was hoarse and low, cold and angry, yet still full of prideful arrogance. Twilight stared at her for a few moments before replying, her voice labored. “I don’t want to kill you… hate me if you want… but I don’t want to die, either.” She fell to one knee, barely catching herself from fainting. Nightmare laughed, taunting Twilight as the magic around her horn faded. “I will take solace in knowing that the one who defeated me will die before me, at least.” Twilight was silent for a while, only the sound of her panting indicating that she was still alive. She broke the silence with a chuckle and a small shake of her head. “Do you still want to live, Nightmare?” She asked, her voice subdued. Nightmare growled as another pulse came from the elements, pulling the chains tighter against her form, seemingly siphoning the mist as it flowed off her. “Speak if you have some way out of this, girl,” Nightmare hissed. “A pact,” Twilight said quietly, simply. Nightmare chuckled. “And what makes you believe you are worthy of performing such a long forgotten, sacred act with one such as myself?” “Worthy or not, I don’t want to die… and neither do you. Either swallow your pride… or we both die here.” “A pact or death?” Nightmare mused. “Pact or death.” “Surely, since you know of the act, then you know that it always comes at a cost,” Nightmare said, a sadistic mirth rising in her voice. “I will be bound to you, of course, but what will be taken from you, I wonder?” Twilight ignored the taunt, instead raising her head to look into Nightmare’s eyes. “Your answer, Nightmare. A pact or death?” The bound Alicorn stared back, eyes stern. Slowly, she nodded in resignation. “Very well, a pact shall be made.” With that, Twilight closed her eyes and turned her magic inward, delving deep inside herself in search of what some unicorns called their spark, essence, their center of power, even their soul. What it was called didn’t matter to her; it was the only thing that would keep her alive. So she clutched it in her magic like a dragon would a boulder made of pure gold and pulled. She groaned and finally dropped onto her other knee as she felt the energy leave her. She moved her own magic toward Nightmare’s. It wasn’t hard to find. Even being bound and drained by the elements, the amount of magic she was putting out was impossible to miss. She hesitated at the last moment, pulling away. “Why do you delay, little pony? Are you afraid? Do you desire death?” Nightmare growled. “I read once… s-swear… t-to me that you won’t take anything… that you won’t… t-try to take over,” Twilight rasped, panting. “Clever,” Nightmare chuckled. “Very well, I will not-“ “Swear it!” “I swear on my life, my magic, my very being, I will take no more than what is offered – ” Twilight shuddered as she felt Nightmare’s essence envelope her own, overpowering her as Nightmare continued to speak, her voice never losing any of its spite. “ – enforced by the Old Gods and under penalty of death, I bind myself to this pony, my pact-partner.” Nightmare’s power receded as the two merged, balancing with Twilight’s. “Their pain will be my own and mine, theirs. As they fall, so too shall we.” Twilight gasped and rose to her hooves as her vitality returned. “Their strength and magic will be my own and mine, theirs. As they rise, so too shall we.” Twilight felt through her new connection to Nightmare, blocking out the rest of the goddess’s intonement. The Elements hadn’t stopped draining her. They wouldn’t until she was no more; a problem now that she was bound to Nightmare. She controls the moon and even she can’t overpower them. The moon… “What are you doing? Free me or we both die, foal!” Nightmare shouted, thrashing against the chains once again. Twilight ignored her, muttering to herself, “The sun is magic, right? Areas where sunlight has been focused, either by Celestia or other magical means are generally filled with raw, unstable magic...” She ran through her connection with Nightmare again, latching on to her connection to the moon. Another connection gave her pause, fighting for control, but she overpowered it, and seized control of the night. “The moon is always in raw sunlight, unfiltered by any atmosphere. “Nightmare, I’m sorry, but this is probably going to hurt. A lot.” “What are you-“ Nightmare’s question was cut off as she screamed and her world went white. Twilight stared directly, unblinking, at the moonlight – she’d read it called moonfire once. An apt name, she thought – with a small grin. She could feel the heat burning Nightmare through their connection. It would hurt, but as most of it was directed at the chains binding her, it wouldn’t kill her or even damage her physically. Barely counts as revenge for the situation she put me in, She thought with a chuckle. She turned at the sound of five sets of hooves clopping against the ground, then turned back to Nightmare and cut her connection to the moon when she felt the last of the resistance fade. Pulling her magic back, she paused at the power that had been fighting her and cut it loose, unbinding it from Nightmare Moon. Twilight only stared ahead when she heard Nightmare approaching. She only blinked as she felt the growling mare’s breath on her face. She grinned at Nightmare’s sigh. “You are a fool, pony,” Nightmare said, voice subdued. Twilight shrugged. “Better to be alive and a fool than dead and a genius, right?” With silence reigning for a few moments, Twilight listened to the sounds of the six ponies – five behind her and one behind Nightmare – in the room, each at varying degrees of recovery. Nightmare spoke again, voice still low. “The transference of my magic released the seal on Celestia. She will be here shortly.” “And she’ll be here for sure, for Luna. We should go.” “I will need to remember to keep my memories from you in the future. You wish to leave?” “I just… want a little more time to deal with this –” Twilight gestured to her face. “ – before seeing her again. She won’t be happy with our… arrangement. Or the consequences of it, I think.” “And she will know where to find you?” Nightmare asked, turning her with a wing, guiding her. Twilight chuckled. “There’s only maybe three – no, four places I’d go to. Only one I can reliably get to from here. And besides,“ Twilight snickered. ”Fluttershy’s awake already.” A small squeak. “Irregular breathing. Tell Celestia I’m at the Library, okay?” Building the framework for a teleport, she elbowed Nightmare. “Guide me. I don’t want to end up inside a tree after all of that.”