The Ever Changing Moon

by CommanderX5

Eternal Night - Mental Warfare

“So ummm… let me get this straight… you know Fluttershy’s secret, right?” Dash asked from her uncomfortable position, lying on the ground with her forelegs restrained by the alicorn’s mane and sporting a pair of black eyes.

“Correct,” Nightmare Moon spoke coldly, towering over her brash subject as her bare forehooves rested against both of pegasus’ spread wings. She glanced at the elderly pegasi to her left and added, “Fluttershy’s oldest friends were kind enough to inform me.”

Upon noticing Sunflower and Little Seed’s nods, Dash asked, “You also found out about Flutter’s past by talking with her in her dream?”

“Luna had protected her subjects from nightmares in the past, talking with Fluttershy was foal’s play,” Nightmare Moon answered with a calmer tone, her expression relaxed.

Dash chuckled. “Yeah… foal’s play.” She swallowed. “Then, you tried to wake up Fluttershy, not hurt her, and I…” She gulped as words were stuck in her throat.

“You assaulted your queen, betraying me in less than a few hours after you swore your loyalty,” Nightmare Moon said before withdrawing her forehooves from Dash’s wings, meanwhile, her mane struck Dash’s nose playfully. “Equestria must be on the verge of collapsing if the Element of Loyalty would choose you of all ponies.”

Dash rolled her eyes. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard about the Elements, and while she didn’t know a thing about said artifacts, she felt deeply insulted.

Nightmare Moon raised her muzzle arrogantly as she released the forelegs of her captive. “Normally, I would not forgive such a transgression so easily, however, your friend and master spoke quite highly of you.”

Dash reasserted herself and asked, “Fluttershy… spoke highly of me?" She rubbed her chest pridefully. "Well... it's not that surprising, I'm such an awesome friend after all."

“She did, which is why I forgive you for your assault.” She pointed at black eyes as the pegasus winced. “We are even. Hopefully you have learned your lesson and will keep your hot temper in check.” She approached and patted the pegasus, much to her annoyance. “Now leave me be, disloyal subject. I have a pureblood to wake up.”

“R-right… I’ll inform rest of the team, with your permission.”

“Granted.”

Celestia looked down at Fleur in pity, hovering above her with strong flaps of her large wings. Although she only had a few small bruises, her shoes and peytral were shattered. Her foe struggled to stand on her shaking legs.

Fleur’s raised foreleg was a patchwork of pink fur and angry red burns, while whatever protection she had worn was now little more than scattered ashes.

Celestia glanced at the spectators, who observed her every move. They are testing my strength and studying my attacks, but why? Such information is not worth sacrificing a warrior of such skill and power.

Her train of thought was interrupted by Fleur who flew at her, her burns magically healed. Celestia shot broad beams of solar magic, her foe effectively evaded each of her attacks. The floor in the throne room gained a few new holes where her attacks melted the floor.

Before she could turn around, Fleur’s rear hoof delivered her a ticket to the kitchens three floors below, creating a large hole with cracks appearing on the floor of the throne room.

She coughed and shook the rubble from herself, still feeling the kick despite her alicorn protective barrier. Being a ruler and doing paperwork did little to improve her reflexes against a seasoned warrior. Her earth pony magic was no match for the enhanced strength and endurance of a pureblood, and her pegasus magic couldn’t rival Fleur’s speed and flight.

Celestia stood up and spread her wings, her horn charging a spell. She flew back into her throne room, closing her eyes as she released a blinding light. While she didn’t stand a chance in the physical department, her alicorn magic provided her with two massive advantages. Not only did it create a thin barrier which made her several times tougher than the oldest purebloods, but it also enhanced her spellcasting to an extraordinary level.

Though it did help that she was the Alicorn of the Sun. While a common pony would be blinded for a few seconds by her solar flare, thestrals and purebloods ended up temporarily weakened as well, becoming easy targets.

With her foe still busy rubbing her own eyes, Celestia lit her horn and charged, tackling Fleur before burning her in a magical inferno, restraining her power just enough to keep the pureblood alive.

“You have lost, Miss Fleur de Lis. Accept your defeat!” she commanded before landing on a part of the floor which wasn’t cracked. She winced at the sight of Fleur's charred hide.

The pureblood mare breathed heavily as her eyes flashed red, recovering some of the damage as her powers weren't at full strength, yet.

“She cannot surrender,” Moon Shadow spoke from his comfortable perch atop Celestia’s throne, a glass of blood in his forehoof. “Miss Fleur and her husband fought against me for leadership. After I killed Lord Fancy Pants, she refused to serve me.” He glanced at Fleur and asked, “Would you be so kind as to tell her how I changed your mind?”

Celestia glanced at her tired foe.

“My son is being held hostage…” She took a deep breath. “I must fight to the death, Your Highness.”

Celestia’s eyes alight with righteous fury as she sent a ray of solar magic towards Moon Shadow, who evaded the attack while the glass he was holding shattered into tiny, glowing pieces. It punched a glowing hole in her throne and the wall behind it

His subordinates scattered and took fighting positions, waiting for the order to attack.

Moon Shadow rubbed a small burn on his right cheek with a smirk. “I believe you are targeting the wrong opponent, Celestia. Defeating me instead of her will only lead to White Path’s death. My servants will see to it.”

The princess sent another beam his way in her anger, only for Fleur to fly in the way, screaming as her body erupted into solar flames, eating away the last of her magic reserves. Celestia took a step back and gasped, raising her shaking forehoof up to her face. It wasn’t the first time she had intentionally sentenced a powerful pureblood to death with her magic to keep Equestria safe. Yet, none of those executions had caused her heart to ache the way it was now.

In desperation she cast a cooling spell, extinguishing the flames as Fleur collapsed and lost consciousness, nearly half her body burned to the bone.

“It must be so much easier for you to kill our kind when you see them as a threat to your little ponies,” Moon Shadow spoke as he now towered over Fleur. “Not that I can blame you. By killing a few, you’ve saved thousands.” He pointed down at the unconscious half-burned body. “Yet, a friend, advisor or an ally, or a pony one knows personally is worth more than hundreds from the faceless masses. Hurts, doesn’t it?“

Celestia glared daggers at him and asked, “Why would she sacrifice herself to save you?”

“Save me?” he asked in surprise. “Your attack would hurt me at best. Unlike Lady Fleur, I was not exhausted from battling you.” Upon hearing an impatient stomp, he continued, “Don’t get the wrong impression, Princess. To defeat Fleur, I killed her husband before her very eyes. She refused to serve me without a proper motivation and was more than willing to betray me. Her death was unavoidable. All she did was to ensure her son’s freedom and safety.”

Celestia closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, struggling to remain calm.

“Fancy Pants was gathering allies who were not interested in war, purebloods who hoped to negotiate a peaceful solution with you!” Moon Shadow shouted. “Now they serve me, whether they like it or not. Are you ready to kill them? To kill more ponies like Fleur de Lis?”

As silence continued for several seconds, he asked, “The choice is yours. Surrender your kingdom or kill more innocents, and do not expect me to make it easy for you.” He pointed at Fleur and added, “It was a fight to the death. Will you end her suffering, or should I?”

Celestia closed her eyes as her horn lit, tears slide down her cheeks as she choked out, “I… am so sorry.” She grit her teeth and turned her head as her golden aura surrounded Fleur's seared body, causing it to glow brighter and brighter, until it exploded harmlessly into a trillion tiny stars. “You have endured enough. I hope you will find peace.”

“So, you did it after all,” Moon Shadow said as he looked to the side. “I was actually going to heal Lady Fleur once our battle was over. I hope you are proud of this murder.” He pointed at his other followers. “I wonder, how many more innocents will fall to your magic this night?”

Celestia’s mane burst into flames against her efforts. She couldn’t deny it. She felt anger her enemies could use. She felt hesitation and guilt, afraid she would kill those who believe in peace. No matter how much she wanted to turn Moon Shadow into a pile of ash to end this conflict, focusing on one opponent would give other purebloods many openings to defeat her.

“Attack!”

Celestia took a step back as she woke from her inner thoughts, caught off guard as a blue aura levitated her out of the line of fire.

“Don’t let them break you,” Cadence advised as she took a fighting stance, ready to assist. While she lacked power and some of advantages Celestia had, she wasn’t as hesitant to fight.

Celestia nodded and charged her horn as she aimed her spell, yet a seed of hesitation was already planted, weakening her fighting spirit.

The Apples were well known for their hard and diligent work, physical strength, familial bonds and of course, farming apples. Such a tragedy it was when Hawkeye Delicious and Snow Sweet were announced dead, never to return from Manehattan as their bodies weren’t found.

The local branch of the Apple family never shared the cause of their deaths, and none of Ponyville’s residents dared to ask. Their grief was clear despite their attempts to hide it, lasting for months to come before they moved on.

What a shock it was when Mayor Mare and some of the guests from the celebration were invited to Sweet Apple Acres, only to be introduced to Hawkeye by Applejack. Their mouths were agape as they stood in front of the barn, staring at the tall stallion as if he were a ghost.

Mayor Mare was the first to speak as she looked at a sweating Applejack. “Are you trying to tell us that this stallion next to you is indeed your father?”

“He sure is,” Applejack responded, struggling to appear confident.

Mayor looked at Big Mac and asked, “Was the reason for hiding him from the public his blood-drinking nature?”

“Eeyup.”

“How long have you been hiding?” she asked, now pointing at Hawkeye.

“Mah daughter found me one an’ a half a year ago. Ah was servin’ a pureblood fer years before another one won back mah freedom in a fight. Ah won’t tell their name.”

Apple Bloom jumped onto her brother’s back and spoke, “Mah sis says we no longer need to keep this a secret thanks to a new princess.” She jumped into Hawkeye’s embrace and added, “Mah Pa is back and Ah’m happy Ah don’t need to hide him no more!”

After nuzzling his daughter and placing her on the ground, he bowed politely. “Ah’m sorry for hiddin’ from ya’ll. Ah’d be ever so grateful if ya accept me for who Ah’ve become.”

Mayor glanced at the crowd, each pony nodding hesitantly.

Cheerilee spoke up, “While the concept of letting a meat- and blood-eating type of pony near defenseless fillies isn’t something I would approve, I think that these are unusual circumstances.” She sighed. “I cannot deny that both young Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle love their family. As long as Miss Rarity and Mr. Hawkeye will behave and not harm any of my students, I will treat them as fellow ponies.”

The crowd nodded in agreement before smiling at the stallion. “Welcome back, Hawkeye Delicious,” they spoke in unison.

Members of Apple family smiled while Applejack felt like crying inside. Big Mac wiped tears from his cheeks.

“AJ!”

Everypony looked at the incoming pegasus, who stopped herself in front of the farm mare, hovering above the ground.

“Hey Dash, what… happened to yer face?” Applejack asked, pointing at her friend.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “That’s not important.”

“Not important? Ya have a pair o' black eyes, an' one o' yer eyes is swelled shut, for Celestia’s sake.” She stomped. “Who gave ya such a beatin’?”

“Nightmare Moon did,” she said, quickly silencing her friend with a hoof before she could overreact. “I kicked her in the face a couple times. She just returned the favor.”

Mayor Mare fainted, and a trio of earth ponies -each with a different flower as cutie mark- followed her example a moment later. Everypony else gasped.

Applejack pushed the forehoof away, yelling, “Are ya insane? Why the hay would ya do that for?”

“A little misunderstanding on my part, but she got even and didn’t hold a grudge.” Dash flew closer to AJ’s ear and whispered, “Nightmare Moon used her magic on… you know who, and told me she will wake up soon.”

“Nightmare Moon’s nappin’?”

Dash facehooved. “Nightmare Moon isn’t napping, though she did seem kinda sleepy,” she whispered. “She used her magic on our friend and told me she -our friend- will wake up soon.”

“Ya don’t mean…”

“Yes, I do.”

“What am Ah still doin’ here? Let’s go!” Applejack shouted, gesturing for her family to follow her. She glanced at curious ponies and added, “Thank ya kindly fer commin’ here an’ acceptin’ mah Pa. Ah would invite ya for brunch, but Ah’m sure we all ate plenty already. Celebratin’ an’ stuff.” She tipped her hat and took off at a full gallop. Big Mac followed, with Hawkeye close behind and Apple Bloom anchored on his neck.

“I’ll tell the others!” Rainbow Dash shouted after them before flying towards the town. The reunion they all had been waiting for had finally come, and she couldn’t wait to welcome back her best friend. As crazy as this night was, it sure turned out way better than we expected. She grinned. If nothing goes wrong, we may even be able to reveal Flutter’s secret and no pony will mind…

Her grin vanished just as quickly as it appeared as she looked around in worry, her ears drooping. Oh… who am I kidding? We have a corrupted princess returning from banishment, Celestia’s student surrendering the town instead of fighting her, some sort of artifacts -Elements were they called?-, and a large thestral theat ready to strike against Equestria. There’s no way something won’t go wrong.