Dark Paradise: the TwiLuna Group Collab

by Habanc

Demon - archonix

Written by: archonix

*****

The light flickered and died in the returning rumble of fading echoes reflected from distant mountain peaks. From her distant vantage, Luna could only watch in horror as her beloved fell from the sky, limbs flailing piteously against the frozen air.

Her wings dug deep as she sought to match Twilight's fall, thrusting with such speed and power that even here immortal frame burned and ached with exertion. The very air itself stood in her way, a near-impassable barrier that stretched and warped like a thing alive. So close. So very close.

Moments before her hooves touched down she had to look away, yet Luna couldn't hide from the sickening crunch that reached her ears. Then the ground shattered beneath Luna's hooves, flinging crystal shards all around. She continued on, collapsing into the earth's welcoming embrace, unable to hold back the wail that escaped her battered body.

When she opened her eyes to the dust-shrouded world, Luna found she had slid to mere inches from Twilight's prone form. Shivering, though she felt no cold, Luna reached out to stroke Twilight's mane and face. She snuffled through the dirt until her tear-tracked muzzle wetted Twilight's cheek. The dust and grime of battle had left the young mare's coat matted and grey; it was impossible to tell where she ended and the piled up dirt began. No breath seemed to flow in her, nor did she appear to move.

So close.

I could bring her back, said a voice, deep inside, that she had been able to ignore all these years. Luna closed her eyes and laughed, though her mirth soon decayed to dust-filled choking as she sucked down on the cloying, filthy air.

"You could not bring her back," she murmured.

And then a deep voice growled: "As if anything would compel me to do so."

The newcomer's words echoed strange and loathsome, a gravelly bass that so suited the shattered air of their battlefield. Luna lifted her eyes across Twilight's still head to watch as a figure coalesced from the twisting smoke and debris. Cloaked in the finery of ages past, moving with predatory stillness, Sombra circled slowly to Luna's right, his sickly-glowing eyes never once straying from her face.

"You are beaten. Surrender, that I might end you with more dignity than this..." Sombra's eyes flickered briefly to Twilight; his mouth twisted into a mockery of humour. "Abomination."

"That you dare speak so—" Luna's response collapsed beneath a renewed fit of coughing. She held her foreleg against her mouth to breath, in the vain hope that it would keep some of the dust from her lungs.

"You are vanquished." Sombra resumed circling the pair, paying them no attention even as Luna struggled to stand. Instead he walked with his eyes to the darkening skies. "Your sister hides away in her palace, the usurper lies broken-winged and hornless at the foot of my throne. The heart is mine. Its power..." he slowed to leer at Luna. "Is mine."

Ignoring him in her turn, Luna crawled across Twilight's body. She could still feel the heat within, the remnant... or perhaps something more. The voice returned, insistent, ringing clear in her mind. I could bring her back!

"Were I to agree, she would not want to come back," Luna replied beneath her breath. Sombra's ear twitched as he passed by, and a moment later he looked toward her again. Luna ignored him still and brought her face down close to Twilight's ear. "Sleep, my love. I pray you are never woken to face forgiving me."

She closed her eyes, and held out a single, empty thought. Silence was all the assent she required.

The shadows had already begun to drift around them when Luna opened her eyes. With her head still lowered, she lifted her gaze to Sombra, who watched her with one eyebrow lifted and a knowing smile upon his face.

"I see old habits die hard."

Luna shook her head. Already she could feel the ephemeral skeleton of a helm upon it. "You see naught but your destruction, King Sombra."

"My destruction? At the hooves of this mewling quim, this weakling brought low by the loss of a disgusting parody of ponykind?" He shook his head in the growing black mist that surrounded them, yet it was impossible to hide the nervous timbre that had entered his voice. "Pathetic."

"You speak ill of a goddess, thief."

Sombra reared back, eyes abruptly aglow with arcane energy. "Thief say you! Watch your tongue, princess! You dare speak so of I who vanquished the gods themselves? I who am the Emperor of Crystal, I am am king of the great spire, I who am the god you shall gladly worship when my work is done!"

Black cloud swirled around the mighty stallion as his hooves crunched against the shattered crystal paving. Sombra looked around, as if noticing for the first time how thick and dense the darkness had become. As the power faded from his eyes he took a step back, staring at Luna, unable to quite push the stupefied expression from his face.

"And yet thief is all you are." Luna stepped away from Twilight, barely even pausing as the black mist crawled up her limbs and clung to her coat like ice. "You who stole the heart of love. You who took from me the one that made me whole, and free, and who contained my madness within her love."

Luna felt cold steel pressing down on her chest and neck as her armour manifested. Behind her, the air flashed with momentary fire, and a familiar magic intruded on her senses. Then it was gone, and she was truly, utterly alone.

"You look upon me well, oh king of glass, and despair in what you see." Luna's eyes opened, but it was no longer just Luna that looked at Sombra through them. He quailed at the sight, shaking his head back and forth, and mouthed unspoken pleas that he knew even then would go unheeded.

She took a step, and her mane billowed out like a cloud. Another and her tail joined it. A third and her body seemed to lose itself in the impenetrable darkness that surrounded them. All that remained was the glow of her eyes and the light of ten thousand stars.

"For I am the great Moon’s wrath," she growled, in a voice that echoed from the frozen depths of time itself. "The Nightmare unending, the vengeance of she who released me from my prison. By your evil you have brought me forth, and by your own hoof you have loosed me upon this earth like a storm!"

Author's Note:

For the record, this is definitely among my favourites of the stories here.

Comments

[Twilight Best Pony]

so twi is dead, luna turned into nightmare moon again, and tia is hiding.....
ok then, just gonna sit here thinking.....

[Peachy Moon]

Shit hit the fan. I love this so...awesome!

[Southpaw]

Wow, this is dark for you, Arch. You just had to go and join the Acolytes of Bad Horse, didn'tcha? I like it.

I know it doesn't help you critically (if you want that from me), but I decided not to say anything else until I've had some time to recover from a long work day. I'll read it again later and post thoughts. Barring that, yeah, again I like this.

[Selenelion]

Badass Luna aka nightmare moon. Obliterates sombra and tries to resurrect twilight. I could definitely read that.

[Astarea]

Sounds like the start to a separate story...

[TheGloriousG]

so..uh...yeah, that just happened...i love it

[pegasianguitarplayer]

4085063 Sounds like a second story indeed! I can't wait to see where this goes. But seriously, revive Twilight, Nightmare Moon. I'll wait while you grab Sombra and pummel him into the ground like Hulk did with Loki in The Avengers.

[dudebladeX]

there's a reason they made the name 'lunatic' after her Sombra, prepare to feel the wrath of heaven and hell unleashed, you little pathetic worm.
if you value your life, run. but fortunately, it will only delay the inevitable, and no. i did not mean to say 'unfortunately' back there.

Luna: Hello, my name is Luna Fausticorn. you killed my lover. prepare to die.

[Zuka]

Some darn good work you did there Arch. You always do a good job when emotions are involved. Whether it's caring, laughter, or gut wrenching hatred.

[Skeeter The Lurker]

For the record, this is definitely among my favourites of the stories here.

I wonder why...

~Skeeter The Lurker

[ValNitak Choas]

look like this would been good full story,