Chapter Ninety Seven
Chapter Ninety Seven
"Filler or not, Nightmare Moon is not going to be getting past us without a fight. If the wench wants a victory on this night, then she's actually going to have to go about earning it," Rarity stated in a tone of voice that was both extremely refined and cultured, while simultaneously cold as ice and filled with enough malice to send a shiver running down Pinkie's spine.
"Ah'm down fer that," Applejack replied and shrugged simply. "Ah could use some payback after what Nightmare Moon made me do."
"Ah-ah!" Rarity quickly spoke up and raised her hoof in a pausing gesture. "This isn't about getting payback for being hurt, Applejack. Revenge clouds the mind and makes one reckless. And as much as I agree with the sentiment of making her pay, as much as I'd love to go about it myself, it simply isn't our business to seek revenge."
Applejack grunted, but ultimately said nothing in response. The only things coming to mind at the moment were entirely unkind and simply inappropriate for tossing out at a friend who was only trying to help. She knew full well that revenge wasn't right, and even in her current state she understood that fact so well. But that understanding did absolutely nothing to stop her from wanting it so very badly right now. After everything she'd been put through, directly and indirectly, she wanted it so much it almost hurt to not have it.
The matter really wasn't helped when Pinkie started gently patting her back. It just made her feel worse about everything, and what she would've considered if Rarity hadn't objected to that particular train of thought leaving the station.
"Ah'm mighty sorry," she mumbled and hung her head.
"Alright," Spike spoke up. "Not to interrupt this touching moment of friendship or anything, but what're we gonna do!? Nightmare Moon and Rainbow Dash are up there, and we're all the way down here! How're we supposed to help, or really even do anything besides stand around and wait?"
Twilight's relief at finding the ironic echo in Rarity's words was short lived in response to Spike's own question. They couldn't exactly join Rainbow Dash in her own endeavors from the ground, and the only other flier in their group was Fluttershy, and... yeah, that wasn't going to happen. Just what were they supposed to do from down here that would make them useful? How were they supposed to help Rainbow Dash?
Hot-air balloons? That was no good, as there were only a few in Ponyville, and they were never kept at the ready at all times. Even if they were kept inflated and heated around the clock for immediate deployment, they were far too bulky, slow, and just plain awkward to be of any use. If they did try and make use of them, they'd just be rendered sitting ducks.
Maybe Pinkie's gyrocopter? Even if they had more than one, none of them knew how to operate the complex device other than Pinkie herself, and it only held one pony.
Teleportation? Levitation? She was the only one who could reliably do that, and only she would be able to go. Even if she did, then what? What could she do?
"Other than teleport the both of us really high up, and detonate my core..."
She shook her head vigorously, trying not to think about that one.
No matter what option came to her frantic mind, the still-logical portion of her mind quickly shot it down as being a non-option, and she was quickly running out of possibilities to go through.
It was all enough to give her a headache. Like it or not, the FUBAR was quickly approaching the SNAFU on a collision course, and they were all trapped right in the middle of it!
"I don't know," was all that she had to -slowly- offer up in response. Even if she could come up with an effective method of getting to where they could engage, just how well could any of them really be expected to fare against an angered alicorn?
At the same time, what other choice did they have in the matter? They were the only thing standing between Equestria and certain destruction. Which was par for the course and familiar territory and all, but this time around it was without the Elements of Harmony at their disposal. But, once again, what other choice did they have in the matter? They couldn't just run away simply because the situation was unfavorable.
Like it or not they had to stand their ground and fight it out, as hard as they could, and for as long as they could. Regardless of the fact that Nightmare Moon seemed to just shake off however hard they hit her without any apparent issue. The cheating bitch...
"Even if I knew a way for us to get up there, which I don't yet, it's down to just us. And without the Elements of Harmony, I just don't know..." she continued.
For better or worse, Rainbow Dash had taken it upon herself to charge Nightmare Moon head on, before they'd even worked out a plan of engagement for this situation. It was arguably the dumbest thing that could've been done under these circumstances, but one could hardly blame her after hearing the sort of threat she'd leveled at Luna; promising her experiences of both untold levels and numbers of psychological and physical atrocities, being inflicted upon her by the foul fiend in the name of petty revenge and outright sadism for its own sake.
But dumb decision or not, that was neither here nor there anymore. What was done was done, and they had nowhere to go but forward with it all. Or maybe forward and up if she could figure it out in time.
"Idiots."
The voice itself was easily recognized, but the tone of address wasn't. Slowly, all eyes turned in Fluttershy's direction in response.
Said pegasus wore a firm glare as she regarded each of them. But this wasn't the stare she was so well known for; this was something new for her. It had all the cold, turpentine-curdling, emotionless intensity as Ulquiorra's stare, while simultaneously conveying the same disapproving nature of a parent who was upset when their foal got into trouble. It was enough to make each of them shut up, and pay close attention to whatever she was going to say next.
"Rainbow Dash can barely even stand up, but she's still fighting against Nightmare Moon with everything she has. And we're down here feeling sorry for ourselves, whining and lamenting about how to get up there to help her?" She shook her head disapprovingly. "Nightmare Moon attacked each and every one of us in a deeply intimate, personal way. She exploited our deepest fears and insecurities for ripping us apart. She destroyed not only our trust in each other, she also destroyed our trust in ourselves."
Everyone stood stock-still and just stared at Fluttershy as she looked at each of them, practically boring a hole right through them with her own sour, disapproving stare.
Finally she just sighed and shook her head, as if she was too tired to carry on with whatever lecture she was delivering. "If you want something done right, do it yourself..."
The last sentence was delivered in a grumbled as she unfurled her wings and gave a few flaps, before finally taking flight, leaving the rest of them behind in utter confusion.
"How..." Pinkie started, "what the... when did... who... where did... how in... who the f-... when did Fluttershy go and Arrancar up?" she finally asked.
Twilight blinked and looked back at Pinkie. "Arrancar up?"
"Well I was going to say "stallion up" but stallions are just as prone to panic and fear as mares are. Ulqy, though, not so much," Pinkie explained.
"Good point. Also a good question," Twilight muttered and rubbed her chin in thought, wondering just what had spurred this sudden turn about in Fluttershy's character.
The pondering on such didn't have the chance to last long, as Fluttershy quickly came back into view before touching down, and looking as if she'd just experienced quite a fright. Her eyes were wide, and even they could tell her heart was beating rapidly as hard as she was breathing.
"O-oh my..." was all she managed to wheeze out.
"Darling, what is it? What's going on?" Rarity asked as she stepped forward, suddenly experiencing the same sense of protective instinct asserting itself as it had when Fluttershy had been attacked herself.
"Rainbow Dash. She's... she's..."
Fluttershy panted rapidly, before finally taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling to steady her nerves.
"She's delivering a hoof-assisted intestinal exorcism upon Nightmare Moon all by herself!" she stated bluntly.
"I'm... sorry, she's what now?" Rarity asked, uncertain of what Fluttershy had just said.
"Ah think she jus' said RD's kickin' the shit outta 'er," Applejack suggested, to which Fluttershy nodded rapidly. "Ya sure 'bout that, Sugarcube?"
Again, Fluttershy nodded rapidly. She knew what she had seen, even if she had trouble believing it herself.
"This Ah gotta see fer mahself," Applejack stated, intrigued and even a bit amused by the idea of Nightmare Moon getting her ass hoofed to her by Rainbow Dash.
"Me too," Spike agreed and quickly turned to Pinkie. "Pinkie, binocular emergency, on the double!"
With a wide, wild grin, Pinkie saluted in response. "Binoculars coming right up!"
As unexpected a development as this was, Twilight wasn't about to complain about it occurring. And while it was far too premature to be celebrating just yet, this was the first bit of good news to come their way in some time. Everything else so far had just been false hopes dressed up with intermittent flares of wow and awesomeness, and the occasional explosion.
If this was the real deal, however, if Rainbow Dash really was dominating Nightmare Moon -or even just fighting her on semi-equal terms- then she wouldn't hesitate to start hooting and hollering in a manner that would rival whatever level of excitement Pinkie could muster.
Provided she actually got to see it for herself first!
Nightmare Moon was smart. It was a matter that was truly as simple as all that. Being smart was a simple, basic requirement for anypony who had the intention of ruling over not just Equestria, but also the surrounding territories and beyond.
It was also a requirement after her second defeat, and the subsequent forceful separation from from Luna by the Elements of Harmony; along with being robbed of those near-limitless resources that were rightfully hers.
It was because of factors such as those, and what she had to go through in that time, that she needed to become smarter. And become smarter she had.
It was because of that hard-earned intelligence that'd been forged over the years of hardship and making do with essentially nothing, that she was fully aware of the fact that somehow, somewhere, something had gone very wrong in this engagement with Rainbow Dash; she recognized it as being a fact the moment she'd been doubled over from getting gut-kicked when she wasn't looking.
Recognizing that something had gone wrong, however, wasn't quite the same as knowing what had gone wrong; that was a mystery that needed unraveling and addressing. Just as soon as she shook off the upward kick she'd taken to the underside of her chin.
Her initial assessment of Rainbow Dash had established her as being the weakest link. Brash, egotistical, self-centered, lazy, and in constant need of validation from those around her in measuring her own sense of self-worth, she was undeniably the perfect mark to focus her efforts against for rendering the Elements of Harmony useless, and making Equestria hers for the taking.
Despite her assessment being technically accurate, she still found herself being surprised by this turn of events.
The initial blows from Rainbow Dash at the beginning of this skirmish had been unpleasant, but hardly debilitating to weather; much like a spanking, they were unpleasant but didn't extend far enough below the surface of the skin to do any actual harm. It should've been easy to wear the polychromatic mare down to nothing without even having to lift a hoof in opposition.
"Should've" being the operative word. Such was not currently happening!
Rainbow Dash might've been the weakest link in the chain, but she was currently committing her all to this fight. And that "all" was turning out to be far more than she'd theorized as being possible.
The initial kicks and blows hadn't been too serious. But everything that came after the gut kick was a different story entirely. They weren't shallow flashes of pain that could be shaken off like a slap, but rather a deep, burning agony that seemed to radiate right through her muscles and down deep into her bones.
On its own such would've been bad enough, but unfortunately for her it was coupled with the fact that Rainbow Dash was simply much faster and nimbler than she herself was, demonstrating how she was an elusive, nimbly, squirrely little nag with a penchant for swooping in and delivering a peppering of rapid-fire blows, occasionally garnished with a particularly brutal kick for good measure -such as the one under the chin just seconds ago- before pulling back out to move to a new position for reengagement.
That wasn't to say she wasn't trying to fight back against Rainbow Dash, as she most certainly was. But try as she might, she just couldn't seem quite able to actually keep up. Rainbow Dash's smaller frame meant less mass, less air resistance, and less drag to contend with and wrestle against, allowing her to move much more freely than her own, larger frame would allow. It wasn't a huge difference in speed, but apparently it was just enough to make a difference.
Her own alicorn body was much more durable, but that did little good in a skirmish where speed counted more. Strength only went so far when a thrown hoof could be dodged. What good was an offensive wing sweep when the scrawny little pegasus could simply vault over it and deck her behind her ear as she passed by?
Loathe as she was to admit to such a fact, she had little choice but to acknowledge her own physical shortcomings in this matter. More often than not, she was forced to go on the defensive and guard against the maelstrom of incoming blows, as she tried to formulate some sort of strategy to assist her.
She knew she could put an immediate halt to all of this, and do so with ease. All she had to do was use her magic, and Rainbow Dash wouldn't stand a chance in this little escapade. She could easily crush her like an empty soda can, pulverize her internal organs into mincemeat in the process, and even fold her up like origami without having to break a sweat, and there would be nothing the annoying little pegasus could do about it other than die.
But she wasn't doing that; not just yet anyway. Like it or not, the annoying little pegasus had actually managed to get under her skin with her petty insults and taunting, and put her in a rather sour and downright primal mood right now. Crushing Rainbow Dash with her magic wasn't good enough right now, as right now she wanted satisfaction of a far more visceral type. She wanted to show that colorful runt just why she was wrong, and demonstrate her superiority in not only magical terms, but also physical terms! She wanted to feel bones crunching under her own hooves, and prove to everyone who might be watching that she wasn't just some dumb showmare to be trifled with! If necessary she'd paint the streets red with the blood of the opposition all by herself, until there was nopony left to doubt her!
"DODGE!"
Rather than react with stunned surprise at the sudden yell, she lunged out at the sound of the voice, swinging her right foreleg at Rainbow Dash's head as she approached. Only to come up short as the antagonistic mare came up short herself with a mid-air brake, and quickly maneuvered in to ensnare her outstretched limb in her forelegs; as if she'd be able to actually hold her with such a petty move.
Before the could actually demonstrate the futility of such efforts, however, she found herself being violently headbutted right in the snout with enough force to disoriented her; as if that'd been the plan all along. With Rainbow Dash fighting dirty, it very well could've been.
The next thing she knew was being violently -repeatedly- kicked in the abdomen, successfully knocking the air out of her lungs and further disorienting her, and making a defensive response all the more difficult to mount as the kicking just seemed to continue without end.
To her disbelief, thrusting her free foreleg forward to try and interrupt the assault only made the situation worse. It was quickly ensnared just like its counterpart, leaving Rainbow Dash free to continue kicking the crap out of her without opposition. And leaving her deeply regretting the foalish decision to face the pegasus on equal terms, as her barrel was subjected to a proverbial jackhammering with shod hooves.
Eventually this culminated with a powerful, double-hoofed bucking right to the sternum, with enough force that it actually sent her flying backwards.
On the one hoof she was free once again, even if she was tumbling and actually needed to right herself. On the other hoof she was quite sore, and left panting as she hovered and cradled her bruised and beaten midsection, as she waited for the spasms in her diaphragm to pass.
"You-" she panted, "you upstart little pegasus, you! You're going to be made to regret that! Provided you live long enough!"
Had the statement not been interrupted by the need to breathe, her breath hitching at certain syllables, and all combined with overall poor body posture, it might've sounded far more intimidating upon delivery.
Rainbow Dash merely snorted dismissively. "Yeah? Well you're full of-"
"Don't-" Nightmare Moon grunted, "don't tell me, let me guess. I'm full of shit, right? You've been rather fond of making such statements, ever since you learned such abysmal language..."
"Well, yeah, but that's beside the point! What I was gonna say, is that you're full of fog," Rainbow Dash stated.
Despite being in pain from the vicious kicking she'd taken, Nightmare Moon looked up at Rainbow Dash in confusion at hearing this statement, her discomfort temporarily forgotten about as curiosity asserted itself in her mind.
Her hooves weren't currently shod...
"Obviously not enough to be completely cloud, otherwise I would've punched right through your rib cage. But definitely enough to be vulnerable against my hooves."
Nightmare Moon grunted disapprovingly in response, the pain returning once more as she did. "And just how did you go about figuring such out?"
"I'm guessing one of my shoes went flying off when I tried to kick you in the head. I didn't realize it at the time, until I kicked you again and it didn't hurt," Rainbow Dash replied and wiggled her right hind leg in response. "After that it was just sorta guesswork. Luckily for me, I guessed right on this one."
Nightmare Moon scowled. She was in this current position because of a missing shoe and a lucky guess? That was downright more insulting than being compared to that stupid Trixie!
"It took me a while to figure everything out. Now a lot of things suddenly make a lot more sense," Rainbow Dash continued, before shrugging dismissively. "Binding your essence to a fog bank for spreading your influence all over Ponyville without being detected? I gotta say, that's pretty ingenious for a villain; nopony would suspect fog of being evil, or even give it a second look if they encountered it in the early morning."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," Nightmare Moon muttered under her breath as she -slowly- uncurled herself from her huddled position. "So you mean to tell me that you, of all ponies, actually figured that out all by yourself? All because of a missing shoe when you kicked me!?"
"That just burns your butt, doesn't it?" Rainbow Dash asked, making no effort to conceal the smug smirk she was presently wearing. "All that effort at being sneaky, and I'm the one who figured it all out; by accident no less. Not somepony smart like Twilight, or Luna, or even Ulquiorra, but me!"
"It was certainly a disappointment," Nightmare Moon shot back, doing her best not to let Rainbow Dash goad her into doing something stupid like lash out blindly. "So you're not really as thupid as you look. There are ways of dealing with ponies like you..."
At first Rainbow Dash's efforts against her could almost be considered cute, thinking she had a chance against her. But that was then and this was now. She'd witnessed firsthoof that her opponent couldn't safely be underestimated, and she'd had enough setbacks! With no more hesitation her horn flared to life in preparation of showing this scrawny pegasus who was really in charge. If she couldn't break her spirits, she'd settle for simply breaking her body instead!
Despite lacking the physical strength to actually slam her hoof right through Nightmare Moon's chest, the blow Rainbow Dash had just landed, had still been enough to knock the air right back out of her lungs again, and leave her doubled over and coughing as her magic cut out.
A direct assault from the front!? She should've seen that coming! Why hadn't she seen that coming!?
Before she could even contemplate that particular development, she was met with an immediate double whammy followup shot being delivered right to the side of her horn before she could respond.
Trying to scream in pain while simultaneously being out of breath, as it turned out, was really hard to do.
The next thing she became aware of was the sensation of her wings being entangled in something, and something sharp pressing into her back right between them.
"I really didn't wanna do this to a fellow flyer. But you cheated and tried to use magic, so now you've gotta pay the penalty."
Rainbow Dash was behind her now. And she was...
Oh.
Ohh.
Oh crud!
"Please don't break my wings," she wheezed/whimpered.
"No."
"Well butter mah butt an' call me a biscuit!"
With a little assistance, and Pinkie's knack at planning for unforeseen developments, those assembled and able were all observing Fluttershy's earlier evaluation of the present situation; Rainbow Dash was indisputably beating the crap out of Nightmare Moon, and doing it all by herself.
It wasn't so much an upfront confrontation, but more of an omni-directional maelstrom of hits and kicks coming from all angles and sides, intermixed with constant movement to make counterattacks difficult, if not straight up impossible.
Even on the rare occasion that Nightmare Moon did manage to launch some sort of counterattack against her, Rainbow Dash just proved that she was capable of ducking, dodging, and straight out evading whatever was thrown at her.
"RD's kickin' Nightmare Moon around seven days ta Sunday, an' its only a Wednesday. Ah don' think Ah've ever seen 'er put up so much of a fight before," Applejack stated as she looked away from the battle briefly, before looking back at it, all the while wondering if she was seeing things.
"I'd say that's an understatement," Rarity replied, turning her attention away from the battle and towards her friends. "She's putting in far more fight and effort than when she was trying to kill me. I can't even begin to imagine the degree of dedication she must be experiencing right now."
"Yeah. About that..."
Slowly, those assembled turned their attention away from the aerial combat, and towards Spike as he spoke.
"Ten minutes ago, Rainbow Dash could hardly even stand up under her own power. The last time we were in the Everfree Forest, she couldn't even keep pace with me. But now she's not only going toe-to-toe with Nightmare Moon, she's actually beating the shit out of her?" Spike asked. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she's giving Nightmare Moon the ego-raping she so richly deserves, but I just can't figure out how she's doing it. What exactly is going on here?"
With the question now broached, everyone present paused and went silent. It was -more or less- a question that had crossed each of their minds to a certain extent, but none of them had dared actually voice it, out of fear of potentially jinxing things horribly.
"Now that you mention it," Rarity spoke up slowly, "I don't mean to speak ill of her, but it doesn't make any sense. Nightmare Moon should easily be tearing Rainbow Dash to pieces with her magic. Yet she hasn't been able to get a single spell out; it's like she can't even manage to keep pace with her."
"That right there's a mighty good point," Applejack admitted and idly scratched the back of her head with her hoof. She'd been way too busy watching the show to question things like that. But now that the question and points had been raised, she couldn't think about anything else but that. "Twi'? Ya got any idea 'bout it?"
Twilight could only shake her head wearily in response. "Maybe if I could focus, I might be able to put something together, but right now I'm tapped out. At this point, your guess on it is as good as mine," she explained.
The others didn't want to admit it, but hearing this gave them reason to pause in concern. Twilight, to the best of their knowledge, had never made such an admission before when it came to having a theory or explanation for what was going on around them. Now here they were, with just such a development staring each of them uncomfortably in the face.
"Maybe Nightmare Moon used up more magic than we thought, and she doesn't have enough to spare. Maybe Ulquiorra's theory about alicorn magic being slower to bring to bear was right. Maybe power levels really are bullshit and Nightmare Moon is no tougher than a normal pony right now. I just don't know right now!"
Twilight's ensuing meltdown over her own uncertainty was mercifully interrupted by a shrill scream sounding somewhere in the distance.
"Uh... did that sound familiar to anypony else?" Spike asked.
The scream ended with a thud as Nightmare Moon slammed into the ground some distance away from them, landing in a heap like a lump of bread dough dropped unceremoniously onto a baking pan.
"... Huh," was all Pinkie could find to say in response to what was just witnessed.
Seconds later it was Rainbow Dash who was landing, but right next to them in a far more controlled descent and touching down.
"Darling-" Rarity started.
"Fog," Rainbow Dash interrupted.
"Come again?" Twilight asked.
"Fog," Rainbow Dash repeated, "I don't know how she did it, but she used fog in constructing that body of hers; that's why she can't keep up with me. A team of pegasi could take her down, no problem. Hell, even Fluttershy could kick the crap out of her!"
"M-me?" Fluttershy asked.
"You're sure about the fog?" Twilight asked.
"Positive, but I'll explain how later when we know she's dead," Rainbow Dash explained quickly, knowing full well that they weren't done yet. Nightmare Moon had survived way, way too much for that to be enough to do her in.
Sure enough, as she paused she could see Nightmare Moon was still very much alive, and slowly working to climb back onto her hooves once again. Not all that surprising, but certainly annoying.
"Right. I gotta go put Spike's plan into motion; be right back!"
Not even waiting for anypony to say anything in response, either in support or opposition, she kicked off the forest floor and launched herself forward, ready to reengage Nightmare Moon once again. This time around she was going straight for the kill; she was going to throw everything she had left into it, to snap Nightmare Moon's horn right off her head. That would make her easy pickings for the rest of them. If she could pull it off they wouldn't even need Ulquiorra to finish this off, they could do it themselves!
But then Nightmare Moon dodged.
All of that bravado and optimism came to an immediate, screeching halt as it slammed into a brick wall. All metaphorically of course, but the analogy was accurate enough to describe the unfolding situation nonetheless. This mare, who just seconds ago looked to be struggling just go get back onto her hooves, had suddenly reared up and pulled her head out of the way before contact could be made.
Everything seemed to slow down from Dash's perspective at this turn of events, as if time itself was too heavy to properly advance. So help her, she was certain she actually could see the shift in Nightmare Moon's expression as hoof failed to meet horn, as a sinister sneer asserted itself with narrowed eyes and pulled back lips, to reveal sharp teeth that no pony should ever have in their maw.
The slow down immediately ended as Nightmare Moon lunged forward with maw open wide, and proceeded to bite down on her extended right foreleg.
Rainbow Dash yelled out in a mix of shock and pain as she found herself ensnared, all forward movement stopped as Nightmare Moon dug her teeth in all the deeper, tearing their way right through her flesh with ease.
"Stupid motherfucker!" she yelled and slugged Nightmare Moon across with her free hoof to break herself loose.
Going after her horn wasn't going to be possible with her current position and angle, so she'd have to simply settle for what was within her reach and go from there.
The only problem was it wasn't working. Her blows were landing solid against Nightmare Moon's face, but she didn't look the least bit affected now; if anything she just looked annoyed as she hung on and continued biting down. Even kicking her in the throat didn't seem to be having any affect on her. Making a bad matter all the worse, she could feel the tip of Nightmare Moon's tongue wriggling against her ensnared foreleg. The bitch was actually tasting her in all this!
She wanted to play that way? Fine then! Two could play at this game!
"Rainbow Dash-"
Twilight didn't even have time to finish urging her friend to slow down and wait before said pegasus was already off and charging at Nightmare Moon once again. If that stupid idiot didn't wind up killing herself through her own boneheaded decisions, she was going to kill the rest of them with stress by making them worry about her!
Spike could only scratch his head with his free hand in confusion. "What plan was she talking about just now?"
The others were just confused about what Rainbow Dash was talking about, but the sudden, piercing scream stopped any of them from lingering on the question for too long. Immediately all eyes had turned back to their friend out of fear of what was going on. But the sight they were met with wasn't what they were expecting; Nightmare Moon was the one screaming at the top of her lungs, with Rainbow Dash atop her, biting down on her horn with what they could only assume was all of her might, and doing her best to hold on as the alicorn writhed and thrashed about on the ground in absolute agony.
Rainbow Dash had, for lack of a better term of explanation, just brought Nightmare Moon down with nothing more than her bare teeth.
"Holy fudgecicles," Pinkie whispered. Or at least as much as one could whisper while still being heard over such horrendous screaming. "If I hadn't seen that for myself, I wouldn't have believed it!"
Not even Luna, who up to now had been doing her level best to tune out all distractions as she focused on recovering her lost magic and strength as fast as possible, had been able to ignore Nightmare Moon's howls of anguish. Her concentration had been broken like a pane of glass struck by a rock, leaving her unable to do much besides watch the spectacle along with the others; all the while immensely relieved that it wasn't her friend who was currently suffering.
"I... I don't know how I should be feeling about this," Rarity spoke up, practically transfixed on what they were all seeing.
Nopony present wanted to admit to the fact out in the open. But it was impossible for any of them to honestly deny that there was a deep, darkly primal sense of satisfaction to be felt in watching as Rainbow Dash straddled Nightmare Moon and bit down on her horn, repeatedly chomping down on it as hard as they could, leaving their sadistic enemy in a constant state of unimaginable agony and suffering that few had ever truly experienced. To watch her helplessly thrashing about on the ground, unable to escape or resist the torment and suffering being so rightly being inflicted upon her, after she'd spent so long inflicting such on others... it was all a very cathartic experience to have.
It was also the reason they allowed it to continue for so long, being in no big hurry to intervene, in order to give Rainbow Dash ample opportunity to work through her own torment. As Rarity had said, it wasn't their place to seek payback, but that wasn't to say they'd interrupt payback if it was in the process of being administered.
"Do-" Spike spoke up, being the first to find his voice, "do you think Rainbow Dash is going to bite Nightmare Moon's horn right off?"
Normally such a morbid thought never would've even entered his mind. But the more he watched, the more he couldn't help but think such. Rainbow Dash's entire demeanor was very aggressive, with her not only holding onto Nightmare Moon for dear life, but also thrashing about, and so help him he was positive he could hear her growling and snarling over all the screaming. She was starting to remind him of a dog enthusiastically playing with its favorite rag toy by vigorously flinging it about while shaking its head.
Spike's question served to snap Twilight out of her fantasizing/stupor, and bring her back to the here and now with a head shake.
"Oh Faust, I hope it doesn't come to that. Rainbow Dash is already tempting matters that are beyond both her control and understanding just with what she's doing!"
While the resulting fallout that would come to pass if Rainbow Dash successfully bit Nightmare Moon's horn off wouldn't rival a core breech, it would still be very bad for her. There would indeed be an explosion of magical energies resulting from such an injury, and at that close distance -to say nothing of it being right in her face- it could quite possibly kill her.
Under normal circumstances, trying to bite through a unicorn's horn would be like trying to bite right through solid bone; a feat that their equine teeth simply weren't capable of pulling off. But if Rainbow Dash's evaluation was right, and Nightmare Moon's physically form was even partially composed of fog, it might just be a possibility when it involved pegasus teeth doing the biting.
From a basic, strategic standpoint, the most logical course of action was to simply leave Rainbow Dash undisturbed, and allow her to continue what she was doing; keeping Nightmare Moon pinned down and essentially unable to retaliate for the foreseeable future. Her actions would ensure that Nightmare Moon would be easy pickings for whenever Ulquiorra managed to return, or whenever Luna finished recovering. Plus the statistical odds of actually biting through her horn were admittedly quite low, and unlikely to manifest.
But statistically low didn't mean impossible. And they had managed to pull off accomplishments many would regard as statistically low in terms of the probability of success. And quite frankly, she didn't feel confident in taking that sort of gamble with Rainbow Dash's well being; she wasn't about to risk sacrificing a friend just to take down an enemy, it wasn't worth it!
Beyond that particular matter, in practical terms, there really just wasn't that much additional benefit that could be had from letting Rainbow Dash continue her actions unimpeded; other than simply torturing Nightmare Moon further. Beyond that fact, Nightmare Moon's howling was incredibly distracting, as well as incredibly painful to listen to.
They needed to do something about that, and do it now.
"Rarity."
"Twilight?"
"You bit Chrysalis' horn pretty hard, didn't you?"
"As hard as I possibly could," Rarity replied. "I swear, there are still times I taste her chitin on my tongue..."
"And it's safe to assume Rainbow Dash has at least the same amount of biting force per square inch as you do."
"I dare say she has even more, considering how often her mouth gets her in trouble," Rarity muttered. "Why, though?"
"Even if Rainbow Dash stopped, and let go right now, Nightmare Moon's magic is going to be inaccessible to her, due to the amount of physical trauma she's been subjected to. No offensive magic, no defensive magic, and certainly no healing magic," Twilight stated, never once looking away from what was right in front of her.
"Twilight-" Luna tried to speak up, only to find her voice too soft to be heard as Rarity was already speaking again over her.
"I suppose that's an accurate assessment of the situation. But again, why, though? What do you have in mind for us to make use of this information?"
"That we don't waste time waiting for Ulquiorra, and instead take the initiative ourselves," Twilight elaborated as her horn began to glow brightly. "I need you to rip Rainbow Dash off of Nightmare Moon, as hard and as fast as you can; it's too dangerous to leave her there for what I have in mind."
Rarity found herself intrigued by Twilight's statement, desperately wanting to know just what her friend had in mind. She wanted to ask for details, but stopped just short of actually doing just that. Even she knew that, whatever was about to happen, they would see it for themselves soon enough. If she had time to ask, she had time to do, and do she indeed would.
Without pause, she reached out with her magic and latched onto Rainbow Dash, before yanking her back as hard as she could.
Much to her surprise, she got nowhere. Her efforts were met with significant resistance as Rainbow Dash held on tight, utterly refusing to relinquish her quarry. In fact Rainbow Dash's hold was so tight, Rarity was almost pulled over instead.
Undaunted, she continued as best she could, trying to regain her footing as she did so. "Goodness! I've extracted gems from solid stone with less effort than this!"
Twilight could only shake her head in response. "Just keep pulling! I need to be able to respond the instant she's free!"
"I'm trying, darling," Rarity grunted through grit teeth, "I'm trying."
The others could only watch from the sidelines as things played out before them, all the while wishing that they could do something -anything- to actually help in some manner. Anything other than standing around uselessly, watching the perverse tug-of-war play out, with Rarity doing her best to reel Rainbow Dash in, who was in turn doing her best to remain right where she was, even if it meant dragging Nightmare Moon right along with her, through the use of all four of her legs!
Suddenly Rarity's difficulty was making a great deal of sense. The path of least resistance in this equation was apparently Nightmare Moon's thrashing form itself, which was presently being dragged back up onto its hooves, simply because Rainbow Dash was refusing to relinquish her own hold.
For a while it looked like Nightmare Moon was going to be dragged, kicking and screaming -literally- over to their position; provided Rarity's magic and concentration actually held out long enough to achieve such. As it was she looked ready to collapse at any moment
Finally, when Rarity looked on the verge of collapse from sheer strain, her efforts were rewarded. With one last, mighty pull, Rainbow Dash was successfully yanked off of Nightmare Moon, with enough force to practically throw her right over their position.
Not even two seconds later, they finally saw just what Twilight had been planning this entire time. Without either warning, notice, or even fanfare as to what was coming, dozens of long, steel rods came raining down from the sky, landing all around Nightmare Moon's position, firmly burying themselves not only into the ground she was currently standing on, but also her own body!
Impaled, skewered, perforated, violated, stabbed, pierced, etc. whatever one might use to try and describe the situation, the point remained that Nightmare Moon's body now had numerous steel rods sticking through it, effectively pinning her to the ground.
"My goodness!" Rarity gasped.
Any steel rod that had missed its intended mark was quickly teleported out of sight by Twilight, only to be followed up by a second rain of steel down on Nightmare Moon's position, impaling her to an even greater degree that previously. By the time it was done, one would be hard pressed to identify a single organ -vital or otherwise- that hadn't been severely perforated by the numerous steel rods that rendered her little more than a macabre pincushion.
"HOLY SHIT!" Rainbow Dash squeaked in surprise, her protests and anger at being pulled away long forgotten about in light of this development. "You got 'er!"
Next to be done was grabbing hold of the ones that had found their mark, and yanking them upward and outward with her magic, just far enough so that they were no longer embedded in the ground; a move that had the side effect of dropping Nightmare Moon to the ground in a crumpled and collapsed heap as there was nothing holding her up.
"That was just the preliminary strike," Twilight continued as her horn began to glow anew, eyes locked on Nightmare Moon's prone position. "This is the real deal!"
The "real deal" in this case turned out to be a bolt of lightning, accompanied by a deafening crack and a blinding flash overhead as it cut across the sky to strike Nightmare Moon where she presently stood, sending untold millions -if not billions- of volts worth of raw electricity right into her body along the path of the steel rods jutting out of her.
Applejack and the others hadn't had the time necessary to process just what had happened, much less actually get back up and off the ground from where they'd crouched, before a second bolt of lightning came crashing down on Nightmare Moon's position.
Most of them had been aware to some degree that Twilight had been working hard to master the magical summoning of lightning, but few of them had any idea just what degree of skill she'd managed to acquire since undertaking the endeavor; out of the lot of them.
Now that they were actually seeing it for themselves, they were having difficulty comprehending it; primarily because of just how terrifying it was to be in such close proximity to so much raw, destructive power! Out of all of them, only Spike really had any true comprehension of just how fucking dangerous and insane this really was.
Twilight growled something, incomprehensible and full of inexpressable fury the others couldn't make out, before making a violent downward gesture with her head, and bringing a third strike down on Nightmare Moon's prone form.
No fourth bolt was immediately forthcoming. Nor did the air around them having a charged quality that left loose hairs standing up. As Twilight slouched and fell back on her haunches, they took that as an indicator that she was done.
"Ya a'right, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, being the first one to Twilight's side in order to rest a hoof on her withers.
Twilight nodded as she panted, making no effort to straighten herself back up. She was alright, although that was due to the sheer amount of practice and effort she'd put into learning how to manage that particular spell. But even still, exhaustion and fatigue were nevertheless unavoidable when it came to using it in such a rapid fire manner.
If nothing else she was in far better condition than Nightmare Moon herself right now, even without the impalement being a factor to take into consideration. The electrical charge within those lightning bolts, the sheer amount of raw current that'd struck her, was enough to power a shield large enough to encompass the entire city of Manehattan, and protect it against the full force of a category five hurricane.
And every last joule of electrical current had migrated along those steel rods, and right into every perforated organ and system of Nightmare Moon's un-grounded body, saturating it inside and out; guaranteeing that there was no hope of her shaking this one off in her current magically-deprived state.
There was a strong urge to engage in some sort of witty retort, to say something of relevance on this particular matter. But at the moment she was just too tired to think up anything creative to put out there. All she wanted to do was go home with her friends, and get out of here.
If not for the sound of metal clanging together and falling to the ground, that might've just been possible.
"Oh no..."
But such wasn't the case. Nightmare Moon's body was nowhere to be found where it had crumpled, only the discarded steel rods.
"How!?"
This shouldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening! As in it physically couldn't be happening!
Spike just muttered to himself and gripped his hammer tighter in preparation, for he could already see where this was going. Even when they actually could catch a break, they couldn't really catch a break.
"This shouldn't be happening! This can't be happening," Twilight muttered as her eyes darted back and forth, much like the eyes of her friends currently were.
"Even if it can't be happening, it's still happening," Spike shot back.
"The trauma from that bite should've rendered her incapable of using her magic for hours!" Twilight protested to no one in particular other than herself. "She shouldn't even have been able to scratch her own butt, never mind decorporealizing herself like that!"
A disembodied laugh sounded from all around them, serving to put them even further on edge than they had been just previously.
"Oh, dear, innocent, naive little Twilight," Nightmare Moon's voice cooed mockingly, "you have so very much to learn about how the world around you really works..."
High above their current position, they watched as Nightmare Moon reformed herself, looking entirely unfazed by what she'd just been subjected to. Unfazed, and extremely malicious as she glared down at them with a sinister, chilling smile as her large wings flapped casually.
"I must say, I certainly wasn't expecting that. You could say it was certainly a shocking development," she quipped.
There was a nearly-perfect simultaneous "fuck you!" shouted on the part of Rainbow Dash and Applejack, and a strongly disapproving booing on the part of Pinkie in response.
Nightmare Moon continued, unimpressed by their petty retorts. "Had I been a unicorn that little maneuver of yours would've worked, too. But that's why alicorns are the superior pony species; we don't suffer the same shortcomings with our horns. My magic was available to me a scant few seconds after you pulled your little friend off of me."
Twilight looked back at Luna for clarification, and received a solemn nod of the head in response.
"She is speaking the truth, I am afraid. The only thing that can actually stop the magic of an alicorn is sufficiently binding their horn..."
Twilight had no words to offer up in response to this little revelation, as there was nothing she could think to contribute. It was her own actions that had put them in this present mess, with Nightmare Moon free once again, and able to continue her onslaught against them. Even if her motives and actions had been entirely pure -which sadly they weren't- this unforeseen development was still her fault; much like a great many other developments that'd been occurring lately.
What was there left for them to do at this point? She was significantly weakened after that futile endeavor, Luna hadn't had nearly enough time to recover, Rainbow Dash was in no condition to fight, Ulquiorra was still absent, none of them could actually reach her, and now they found out that horn-biting was invalid!
What other options did they realistically have at their disposal? What more could they do?
Up above, Nightmare Moon idly popped her neck as looked down on the gathered group of resistance, all the while trying not to be overcome with seething rage at the indignity of it all. Every single one of them was going to be made to suffer for their actions here tonight, with something especially fitting set aside just for Rainbow Dash!
But... business first, pleasure later.
Business... hmm...
Perhaps she'd been going about this all wrong. There was certainly more than one way to go about breaking the spirit of rebellious ponies. She'd gone with her preferred method of inciting terror in the citizenry, even going as far as custom tailoring her approach to best exploit the fears of each targeted individual for maximum impact. But in her defense she'd been working while stressed and starving at the time! Now that such wasn't the case-
Pulling her head to the side to avoid the incoming cursed hammer tossed at her face, she began to contemplate the matter from a different angle. And as she did, she realized that she didn't need all of the group broken and psychologically scarred beyond coherent thought. In truth, just a little division in the group would do. Crack their unity even just a little, and then the rest should prove to be a cake walk. Her problem had simply been trying too hard the first time around, that was all.
"Now then," she spoke, "since we've established the hopelessness of the situation you find yourselves in... let's get down to brass tacks and talk rye. I could easily kill each and every one of you right now, but that would just be an otherwise needless waste of resources. All of this senselessness currently going on? You can put an end to it all right now. All you have to do is support my bid to return to power as the true ruler of Equestria. Swear your loyalty to me, and upon my reclaiming what's rightfully mine, each of you that stands with me will be handsomely rewarded!"
The looks of disbelief and uncertainly on their faces at her words spoke volumes to her. Where violence and terror had failed, greed was beginning to succeed, she could feel it.
"Wait, you're trying to bribe us?" she heard Pinkie ask, voice heavy with disbelief.
"Bribe is such an ugly word," Nightmare Moon replied dismissively, "let's call it a business venture, shall we? Something that's mutually beneficial to all the parties involved. Because, really, that's the only way this can be looked at. All the fighting, all the suffering, it can all be put to rest, neatly and cleanly with just a little bit of cooperation. And for that cooperation, you'll all benefit greatly, to degrees that would be impossible otherwise. Unimaginable wealth, political influence, the ability to pursue your deepest of desires in the most hedonistic of lifestyles, your own country to rule as Emperor? Anything you may want, or even... anypony you may want... Stallions, mares, colts, fillies, whatever your pleasure may be."
She paused her sales pitch to look down at the assembled group, and much to her delight, observe the newfound looks of uncertainty crossing over their faces. The sudden change in her approach to doing business had obviously left them unbalanced, and unprepared for what they'd encountered.
Oh sure, they might've come here prepared to face her down in mortal combat, and potentially die in the course of it. But to be confronted with the possibility of having their greatest desires and own basic greed being satiated? Desires that even their own friends didn't know about? That was an entirely different matter they hadn't been mentally prepared to defend against. That was the true acid test for separating the posers.
A nervous glance sideways, eyes flitting back and forth, a shiver of subdued excitement as they were forced to wrestle with the onset of base emotions... she was seeing all of it in them. She just had to push the matter a little further, play on their own individual weaknesses and secret cravings, and they would be broken. More than that, they would be broken and hers. Even if it was just one of them that ultimately succumbed, it would still do.
"Set your price, my little ponies, tell me whatever it is you want as a down payment, and you'll have it before the start of the next hour. What do you say?"
"SUCK ON THIS!"
A cloud of pressurized confetti from a party hat-tipped rocket exploding right in her face was definitely not among what Nightmare Moon expected as an answer to her proposal.
Instead of being divided and fractured, their little group seemed more united than previously as they shouted down her business proposal. Outright denials, profanities and obscenities of all sorts, and numerous other forms of disagreement were all hurled at her without even a hint of hesitation.
"Fine then," she sighed in annoyance, "have it your way then. I was trying to be kind. I was trying to show that I can be truly merciful, and even forgiving. But you lot just don't want that, you want to do it the hard way. So be it! You want to do things the hard way? Well then you seven are going to..."
Nightmare Moon paused mid-rant. Seven? That couldn't be right, it just couldn't! Mentally she counted each of them, just to double check, gesturing at each of them with a hoof to keep things straight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven... what was going on here? There was Luna, the dragon, and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, but there were still only seven present down there.
"Alright, where'd the other one of you get to? What sort of games are you playing now!?"
Something sharp slammed into her back, not simply once but twice in rapid succession, nearly knocking her right out of the sky in the process.
Without explanation everything on her body seemed to ache horribly. Her limbs felt heavy like lead and unresponsive as they hung limply against her sides, except for her wings which were currently flared wide open and unable to retract or even flap. The only reason she wasn't dropping like a stone, she discovered, was something tightly wrapped around her neck, keeping her aloft like a makeshift noose in a hastily-executed hanging.
As anypony would naturally do at feeling their windpipe being forcefully squeezed shut and air cut off, she panicked and tried to break loose, wriggling to the best of her limited abilities to try and slip free in a desperate to breathe freely once again.
"Now, now, don't struggle, you'll just make it more painful for yourself," a soft voice cooed from behind.
Nightmare Moon's eyes went wide in revelation. It was the butter jelly pegasus who'd gone missing down below, who now currently held her in a choke hold from behind! All the others were so boisterous and over the top in their presence, she hadn't even paid the quiet one any attention.
"Just relax, everything will be over soon enough. Just... hush now. Quiet now. It's time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now. Quiet now. It's time to go to bed."
Now that was just rubbing salt into an open wound as far as Nightmare Moon was concerned. One simply didn't sing to an enemy they feared. It wasn't even regular singing, but a freaking lullaby! The utter indignation of it all - she was being lullabied while getting choked out!
Then there was the matter of the singing itself. Fluttershy's voice was one of utter softness and kindness, but even she could tell that in this case it wasn't genuine. Just behind that veneer of softness, she could feel something both sinister and malicious in each word currently being sung in this deliberately ironic lullaby choice.
Making matters all the worse was the fact that it was working. She didn't know what kind of choke hold she was in, but her senses had been going dark and fuzzy with a frightening speed, making her futile efforts at escaping all the more pitiful.
By the time the third repeat of the chorus came around, the fog on her mind made it all but impossible to identify anything other than a dark blur, and the few sounds she could still pick up sounded like they were being heard through water...
Down below on the forest floor, Twilight and the others were watching in disbelief. None of them had really expected Fluttershy to take such a... bold course of action all on her own. But she had done just that; attacked Nightmare Moon all by herself, getting in behind her when her back had been turned, without any of them being any the wiser as to what she'd been planning on doing.
She got in and had Nightmare Moon restrained in a choke hold before the alicorn had even known what was up, and had rendered her quarry limp in short order, in what was perhaps the most practical, straightforward approach any of them had tried yet.
Slowly, they descended, Nightmare Moon being lowered to the ground in a manner that could almost be mistaken for gentle if one hadn't known any better. Fluttershy touched down immediately after, still holding onto the prone form as if she were cradling the head of a loved one.
For a brief moment, everyone was silent as they approached, uncertain of what to say or what to not say. Even Fluttershy herself was silent, other than quietly panting for air.
Finally, whatever stunned state Fluttershy was in over her actions apparently came to an end, as she took a deep breath, and proceeded to violently jerk nightmare Moon's entire head to the right, twisting it far beyond what was normally possible for equine neck vertebrae to allow, and with such force the cracking of said vertebrae was actually audible through all the flesh covering them.
Up until the moment Nightmare Moon's body dissolved into a fog-like substance that quickly ascended out of their reach, it looked like the matter had finally been put to rest once and for all.
Fluttershy could only whimper as she looked down at her now-empty hooves.
Luna shook her head in disbelief. "I do not understand! There is no way Nightmare Moon could have cast a spell after being choked into a state of unconsciousness, it simply does not work that way!"
"The only thing I can figure is she's actually learned how to perform an auto-cast."
All eyes were quickly on Twilight in response to her statement.
"Auto-cast? What's that?" Pinkie asked.
"It's a very complex, very arcane concept of magical application that was intended for battle where a unicorn might not possess the ability to focus on channeling and shaping a specific spell due to being incapacitated. I've read about the concept in my studies, but I never found anything to indicate it was ever developed beyond being a simple concept of thought; nopony could figure out the mechanics behind how to perform magic in such an unconventional manner," Twilight explained.
"Well it sure looks like somepony figured out how to make it work," Rainbow Dash muttered as she looked skyward warily. "That neck snap should've killed her instantly. Fucking necromancy..."
"Well... Mr. Cifer did say it'd take a minute ta actually work," Applejack pointed out.
"The only thing I can figure is, however she actually went about doing it, Nightmare Moon must have set up the spell to activate if she suffers a fatal injury that could kill her," Twilight continued. Nightmare Moon must've been smart enough to anticipate taking a lethal injury or two after her return, otherwise there would be no point actually engaging in such a course of action.
"Great. So even if we do kill her, we still can't kill her," Spike grumbled.
"How right you are..."
There was a groan from the group as Nightmare Moon once again descended into their field of vision, still wearing a smug smirk on her face as she gently flapped her wings and glared down at them.
"I must admit, you're all more determined than I expected you to be, even in the face of such adversity. It's all quite commendable, even respectable. But sooner or later even you have to recognize facts and simply accept the futility of this all. There's no shame in admitting defeat and surrendering peacefully to me; I can be quite merciful and even reasonable. Are you starting to comprehend the true hopelessness of the situation? Are you understanding how your futile efforts are nothing against me?"
"Ah'll sooner die than surrender to the likes o' you," Applejack snorted as she adjusted her hat. "Now get yourself down here so Ah can have a shot at ya! Ah'm gonna whomp the tar outta ya so hard-"
"Applejack."
Applejack's promise of violence was interrupted as a white foreleg was delicately extended in front of her, serving to obscure her line of sight.
"I respect you as much as anypony would, so please don't take it the wrong way when I say that Nightmare Moon is simply out of your league," Rarity stated as she did her best to stand between Applejack and their quarry. "Allow me to take this one instead."
"You!?" Applejack asked in disbelief at what she was hearing.
"Wait, you?" Rainbow Dash asked, as she quirked an eyebrow.
Not even Nightmare Moon was immune to the surprise development. "You? Seriously?"
Rarity ignored the protests and surprise as she continued speaking. "Only a unicorn has any chance of opposing Nightmare Moon under present circumstances, and not getting killed in the process. Rainbow Dash got lucky, but we can't count on luck. Nightmare Moon has shaken off untold levels of abuse and physical damage that none of us could withstand, and we've already hit her with so much! If any of you go up against her now, all by yourself, you'll die. I'm the only one here who isn't either exhausted or unsuited for facing her. Please, let me do this for the sake of my friends."
It hadn't been the most impassioned of pleas any of them had ever heard before, but it was certainly a sincere plea.
Making it all the worse was that none of them could really argue against it. Rarity's evaluation of their current conditions were painfully accurate, with none of them being in prime fighting condition for what they were facing. Even if they did object, what could they really hope to do in her stead that she couldn't do?
Like it or not, they had little choice but to simply wait and see how things went.
"Now then..."
Rarity turned her attention back towards Nightmare Moon, stepping forward calmly but firmly, her eyes locked on the one who was to be her quarry in this skirmish.
"I believe it's our turn to dance, my dear," she stated, her tone heavy with venom as she spoke.
"Then by all means, let us dance," Nightmare Moon retorted with a glare as firm as Rarity's own.
Stats
Page generated in 0.1 seconds
Total duration
1,041 users online
1,371,333 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
not to be that guy... but this fight is starting to drag on
Neat.
ok I've been enjoying this story so far ...... dude. When fucking rarity stepped up to nightmare moon for her shot i had to ask myself "wtf is going on with this story!?".
Never mind the fact that this entire freaking fight has been going on for god knows how long. Could you not fucking read every though that is going through a characters head. I know you trying to be descriptive but but we don't need giant word dumps, it just makes your story seem longer then it actually is. Like seriously how did we get from freaking children dropping dead in a forest and cruel and complete mind rape to flutter shy choking out nightmare moon, like what? Is Nightmare moon gonna wise the fuck and actually start trying to kill at least one main character. You'd think after getting her ass kicked all over the goddamn forest for hours that she would just go "ok this is enough, all of you die now". I'm starting to think she is actually enjoy getting fucked like this. Can't blame me for thinking this since despite taking all of this ABSOLUTELY EXCRUCIATING PAIN that she would either lash out and kill somebody or at least need a breather.
I cannot tell how many the main 6 looked up in the sky at insert main character fight nightmare moon and say "wow they so cool i did not expect this to happen" and twilight shouting another curse word because you know ponies cursing is funny now. Maybe you should also tag this as comedy because alot of these sequences just feel like they are for the lol at this point. You know i'm getting a sinking feeling that alot of these character sequences where they fight nightmare moon was suppose to happen later in the story. Like celestia was suppose to turn into a dragon on some other villian later in this story. It seems you were too impatient and decided to cram in every (character is doing something badass) ark into this one ark. Seems to be that since like every fucking character is literally taking turns whopping nightmare moons ass. it's only a matter of time before fucking applejacks dogs gets his turn (Not that nightmare moon would mind, she would probably like some dog action too).
Sorry man but this ark is getting hella boring and the tension is completely gone. For the love of god please just kill nightmare moon, OR FUCKING ANYONE ELSE. You can give an Empire Strikes Back ending on a sour note for a later ark for all i care.
Just please go Somewhere with this.
p.s: I am still a fan.
Three chapter...no evolution...
9362684
At the risk of repeating everything Daariusivey just said, I feel I just have to call you out on the amount of B.S present in these last few chapters, despite your warning at the beginning.
With that said, I know you want to give each character there time in the spotlight to show their individual growth and whatnot, but the way you're doing it just comes off as ridiculous. I mean, having Rarity try to stand up to Nightmare Moon and have it be anything other than instant death would just be too much to believe. Honestly, having any of the mane 6 stand up to Nightmare Moon as if they were her equal is just ludicrous when you think about it. The reason for this is that, without the Elements of Harmony, none of the mane 6 really amount to much when compared to either of the princesses or Ulquiorra. They're powerful when together and wielding the elements, but without them, they're just regular ponies. Any character growth you hope to show coming to fruition because of this fight would need to respect those limits. To give you a relative baseline, you should look towards Rainbow Dash's fight with her worst fear in the fog.
Alongside that, this fight in its entirety has reached and far surpassed what it should have been. Others have more than made this clear, so I won't say anything more on it. What I will say, however, is that I very much believe you should review and rehash all the chapters starting from when Ulquiorra left the forest. As it is, you've spent over 80,000 words on the direct fight with Nightmare Moon, starting from chapter 92. Eighty thousand words for something that should've only taken about twenty thousand. To quote a past review of mine, you should figure out exactly what you want to accomplish with the Nightmare Moon fight and stick to it. Then, take what you can from the chapters you've written and get rid of the rest. While detail is important, the amount you've given goes far beyond excessive. You've literally got more than sixty thousands words worth of padding that serve almost no other purpose than to extend the Nightmare Moon fight. Something else I'd like to add abou the fight with Nightmare Moon is that you should start writing the fight with a clear idea of each character's strengths and weaknesses so as to prevent the unending power ups that seem to have taken prominence in recent chapters. As it is, it's been made rather clear that Nightmare Moon doesn't come anywhere close to Ulquiorra's power, and if given even the slightest of chances, Ulquiorra could end her in an instant. In fact, the only reason she's lasted as long as she has is due both Ulquiorra's lack of knowledge concerning her abilities and her controlling of the battlefield. Take away either of those and the fight would be over in an instant. Had Nightmare Moon stayed in the forest instead of fleeing to Ponyville, Ulquiorra would have been able to crush her without restraint. Opposingly, had Ulquiorra known that Nightmare could shrug off any attack that didn't destroy her completely(a.k.a. him stabbing her), he'd have known to simply obliterate her with a super-charged cero. What I suggest is you look at a fight scene from a fanfic that you really enjoyed and look at what made that fight scene so good.
p.s: Still love this fic and hope you continue it. =)
To much is to much, it's about time to wrap up the fight. All the cast being badass is cool and all but come on, this is taking WAY WAY to long.
At this point i think their only possible course of action is to give Nightmare a beating to weaken her and then let Ulquiorra devour her soul to put her down permanently.
Like so many others before me has stated...bro just let this fight arc die already. The story is stuck in this combat limbo that is getting really old, the moments for the girls to really shine...could have been better done with some other foe that hasn't overstayed their welcome in a story. And as some pointed out...regular ponies wailing on Nightmare Moon is just. It breaks the suspension of disbelief, we are now beyond 'Wow this is amazing how is this happening?' and entered 'Really...really this is going on now?'
9363360
"Combat limbo" that is the perfect word to describe this arc.
I hope to see more of Ulquiorra soon
9363360
i stopped looking at updates and finally i click on this again just to see a comment that tells me he's STILL doing that last fight against nightmare moon but in different ways i wonder if he's doing this on purpose or something trying to hit a milestone or something
9362915
Agreed just kill her already or something
First of all : Damn, Fluttershy.
Secondly, yeah I went through all chapters and episode of Bleach and I'm use to see things drag on in those kinda series, the all 5 minutes on Namek, but this is really taking too long.
Though I'm still gonna stick to it cause I'm kinda interest what will Rarity will pull out. In fact I'm kinda expecting something from her. I not so sure anymore because of how the story is out and the number of chapters, but did Nightmare Moon done something to Rarity ? I mean directly at her, cause I remember that all the other main six were subjugate by her night terror vision, and even all off Ponyville, but Rarity is the only one I don't remember ever been a victim to her spell. So as I said, I'm kinda expecting something from her.
My comment will go in a different direction for a moment here.
Congrats on hitting 1 million words!
9375231
Yep, Fluttershy's been pushed to the breaking point and has gone full badass mode as a result.
All I can do is apologize for such. There are times I think I've been a little too inspired by Tite Kubo's approach to storytelling when it comes to telling my own story.
Rarity is the only member of the group that hasn't been directly targeted with either nightmares or day terrors. It's subjective, but some could say what Rarity experienced was worse than what Rainbow Dash and the others were forced to go through. Much like Twilight, she was forced to watch, helplessly, as those around her were picked off one by one with neither pattern, nor rhyme nor reason as to the attacks. Her friends were torn down and torn apart and her generosity couldn't do a single thing to help. Worse than that was how Sweetie Belle was attacked in her own home, practically right in the next room, and there was nothing she could do to protect her. Then Fluttershy got taken down right next to her in the marketplace, while Ulquiorra was right there and theoretically able to intervene. After that she had to become Fluttershy's caretaker when she's not the least bit qualified, because the poor mare certainly couldn't take care of herself.
Everyone targeted by Nightmare Moon has been broken to some extent or another, some have just been broken more than others.
Admittedly, this was far more terrifying than it had any right to be.
But yeah, as the others above me are saying, just finish this freaking fight up man, seriously. I'm sure you've got a plan, but at this rate you're going to lose readers before it even reaches fulfillment.
It's unfortunate how disappointing this story has become. I honestly at this point barely read the new chapters, and usually just ending up using the search function to find what little of Ulquiorra there is, then skip the rest. The earlier story is still good to read though, so despite this story no longer going anywhere at the very least there is still the previous chapters to read. Rather ironically just like the Bleach Manga.
I'm happy that you continue the story, but I think we have been over a novel lenght in this fight and it just seem to go over and over and over again, with Nightmare Moon simply being punished but not actually been hurt or inconvenienced in any way.
It's like slapsticks, a la Tom and Jerry but where there is no pain and no reaction, like a master of disguise. I just can't feel any weight in the battle because it looks like nothing will matter until they take the ultimate power up and destroy her in the last second. Yes, they are using ultimate attacks and armors and actions but... it seems inconsequential to the overall conflict.
So my question is: Why are you making this battle so long? Why is that nothing Ulquirroa, Luna and the mane six have been effective? Or maybe, why put all this battle plans and effects and this sheer amount of work for what it amounts to filler in the final confrontation?
I mean, yeah, it looks like the battle of namek, but in there it was a sense of danger and loss, that many of them could (and did) die and Freezer actually got hurt during the different combats that continue with the rest of fight, but with your story, I don't see how any of the protagonists could die or be crippled. So, what are the stakes for the battle? Where is the tension supposed to be generated?
Sorry if it's sound so negative, since its a work of art that you are giving for free, but I just don't get what is the goal for so much effort and months of work, since in your notes you continually put that you are not getting satisfaction in how the chapters keep coming.
9467872
Yup, just regular hell. :P
9470588
First off, thanks for taking the time to submit a lengthy post.
Second, there is indeed a goof reason for why the fight with Nightmare Moon is taking so long, although the explanation involved is a bit longer than your own question, so bear with me as I get to it.
When I started out on this story, I knew conflict and violence were ultimately inevitable, there were no two ways about it. But Ulquiorra is a fan favorite character with a great deal of potential. The occasional issue of a rogue dragon or some other fantastic beast just wouldn't cut it. And as Dirty Bit already had a boss dragon in his story, I didn't want to come off as copying him. But at the time the story was first drafted out, we had very few options to go with as far as villains to choose from, and even fewer good villains. So I had three choices to go with when it came to a villain that could be deemed as being worthy of Ulquiorra's potential as a character.
The first option was to invest a significant amount of time, effort, and story to establish a brand new character to serve as the villain and build up their lore. But at the same time I'd need a believable explanation for why a villain worthy of Ulquiorra hadn't managed to take over Equestria yet. So I either had to skip that idea, or go the traditional/cliche route of a super powered evil unicorn who had enough power to rival an alicorn and pose a considerable and believable threat.
The second option was Celestia serving as a tyrant, and Ulquiorra suddenly deciding to go freedom fighter to oppose her. I didn't like that route, as it would be too hard to explain this sudden change in Ulquiorra.
The third option was to look over the existing MLP lore at the time and go with an established villain. Chrysalis was considered, but Ulquiorra's pesquisa was already established as significantly advanced and developed in the Bleach universe, so he'd see right through whatever trickery she might be up to. Sombra is slated as dead, and even if he wasn't, he too has become cliche as returning to continue his villainous ways. Discord has great potential to be a villain since he can warp reality, but since he was cited as the reason for bringing Ulquiorra to Equestria, he was out as being a villain. That more or less left Nightmare Moon as being the one selected. Fortunately her character has a significant amount of lore in the show that could be worked with, and a great deal of potential. Even long after she was confirmed as being defeated in a public announcement by Celestia herself, Nightmare Moon is still feared by reputation.
Once a villain was selected, I had to come up with an explanation for why they would prove worthy of Ulquiorra's potential, and why he couldn't just kill her outright in a no-nonsense fashion. Nightmare Moon's worthiness doesn't come from brute strength, but rather her intellect, which is arguably much more dangerous. After her initial defeat in the season one premier, she was devoid of Luna's strength to rely on, and thus had to learn how to be smarter. Certain fanon ideas were relied on to build her up and explain her actions, and led to the the idea of her feeding on fear to grow stronger. So she's established as very weak, forced to reconsider various things, and figure out a game plan for how to proceed if she wished to make another attempt at rule. So she's forced to play the long game, feeding on scraps of fear to sustain herself and slowly build herself back up into a considerable threat. It also serves as a reason for why Ulquiorra couldn't just pick up on her presence, as it was all over Ponyville long before he showed up, thus rendering her presence invisible to him like background noise, and providing her with the perfect camouflage. It also provides a logical explanation for how she could've learned about Ulquiorra's abilities, as she would've been present when he was present and talking about himself to the others. She would have at least some idea of what she was facing, and thus could utilize whatever ancient tomes the library in the old castle might've held that might give her an edge when it came time for her return.
Another aspect to explain Nightmare Moon being so tough relies on established tales of her potentially eating foals. Sure, it's just a Nightmare Night tale, but what if it isn't just a tale, and there's truth to that? I decided to operate on such a premise, but instead of her being a cannibal, I went with her eating souls much like a Hollow. It helped give Luna a reason to bond and emphasize with Ulquiorra, it helped cement Nightmare Moon as an irredeemable character, and it gave a way of building up Nightmare Moon's potential to further justify her current strength; the Nightmare Moon that was originally stopped only has 17 souls consumed before facing Celestia, whereas this Nightmare Moon has a full 21 souls consumed, spread evenly across the three pony tribes. It's something I plan to expand on in future chapters.
As to why this battle has been taking so damn long. It's not simply because Nightmare Moon had to be tough enough to warrant Ulquiorra, it's because of the buildup that had to be involved. Something very specific is going to be done in the upcoming chapter, and it it's something that needed a good and justified reason for why it would actually be done. Not simply because it would look cool to implement, but because it was justified by everything that everyone involved has been put through. This isn't so much filler leading up to the final confrontation, so much as it is catharsis for those she's hurt so far. They sadly had to suffer leading up to her return in order to show she was tying up as many loose ends as possible, so now they're making her suffer in turn.
It's also being done to show that these good ponies have no intention of quietly being rendered obsolete and unneeded just because Ulquiorra is on the scene and can actually kill a threat without hesitation. Equestria is their world, and even though he's quite strong and competent, he's not supposed to be the main hero in all this.
I hope all that makes sense.
9471690
I will be brutally honest : I don't care.
I don't care how in HELL Nightmare Moon is able to survive longer than 12 second against Ulquiorra .
I don't care why the mane 6 think they have the smallest chance to do anything to her if Ulquiorra could not.
I don't care how absurdly long the fight has been drag'd on, as if a parody of the useless Bleach filler.
I don't even care anymore how is she going to die.
The only thing that I do care is for this to end finally.
I won't read the next chapter, I will go see the comments to know if Nightmare moon is dead or not and if she isn't I will wait for another chapter and repeat until she is.
You talked of catharsis but we're long past that.
Yo this is pretty good
Now that I am finally getting back to this story, there is one thing in this chapter that thoroughly pisses me off and may explain why you aren't happy with it.
Luna stated, flat out, that an alicorn's magic can be stopped by binding their horn.
Literally nobody even attempted to bind her horn when Fluttershy incapacitated her. Not even to see if it would work.
Why?
They have been desperate for even a temporary solution this whole time, and yet when one was dropped right in front of them, they didn't even think about it?
Not only that, but it's been made clear that she is made of fog, implying her body is little more than an illusion or avatar of her true self, and yet they still treat her body like it's a physical thing with obvious physical limits and attempt to kill her through normal, albeit overkill-ish means?
And how did Rainbow figure out she was made of fog because her shoe fell off? Is a ball made of fog because my untied shoe came off when I kicked it?
I am so confused.
10711354
Because at the time I was writing it, I simply didn't think of that. Now I regret not contemplating that as an option.
That one gets to be a bit more difficult to explain. Back in the season 1 premier, Nightmare Moon demonstrated the ability to turn what we can only assume was her body into a mist-like substance so evading others, and exerting influence over others. But since she had possession of Luna's physical body, either she was waiting at the Castle of the Two Sisters the whole time, or she really could assume an incorporeal state. So I just took that and ran with it.
That one takes a little more time to explain. Back in the previous chapter, Rainbow Dash was doing her best to beat the fuck out of Nightmare Moon, but it wasn't working out too well for her in her weakened condition; her blows were hurting her instead, aching all the way down into her nerve endings where she couldn't massage them. In her own words, it was like trying to punch the vault door of Ponyville's bank. But when she scored a lucky blow with an unshod hoof and it hurt Nightmare Moon more than her, it was just a guess on her part as to why. It just turned out to be the right sort of guess.
It doesn't actually get explained until a later chapter, but the shoes that came with the armor weren't intended to be used with pegasus magic, like busting clouds and such. They're acting like insulators rather than conduits, and part of the pain Rainbow Dash is experiencing with them is the feedback/recoil of her cloud magic not being able to properly discharge, leaving it nowhere to go but back up her legs.