There was a single, anticipatory second of shocked silence. One agent motioned with his free hand. “Get together.” Shuffling feet broke the silence, and the moment noise reentered the scene, the panicked cameramen on the superstructure ran for help.
All of the group complied, but as she backpedaled Luna followed the choking noises backwards to the thrashing man, already drenched in his own blood and suffocating in it. His cries for help were lost in his ruined throat and mangled into garbles and sickening bubbles of blood forming and popping. His eyes were wide in terror and anguish as he looked for someone—anyone—to save him.
One of the men behind her stiffened and spun around. “Fitz!” he cried at the noises, rushing towards him.
“Don’t move,” one guard repeated, training his weapon on the man and putting a bullet at his feet.
The traitors didn’t even seem to care that they’d hit someone behind their target and dealt him a terrible wound. In fact, they hadn’t spared the attention to even notice until someone else moved.
And that, most of all, infuriated her beyond reason. To fight was one thing. To betray was worse. But to kill innocent bystanders and not even notice? To refuse a man to even try to save a life? The callousness, the sheer disregard for innocents, boggled the mind. Such barbarity could not be allowed to stand.
Something in her mind clicked. A lock Luna didn’t know existed unlocked, and a door she thought destroyed began to open, and traces of it began to squeeze out. Her eyes widened as she tried to slam the door shut, but she couldn’t muster up the will—she was still angry, and there wasn’t enough magic around to use any spells that could help.
It wanted out—and it was stronger than she was. She could slow it, but her anger had broken its bonds and it was only a matter of time.
“Neil,” she choked, her tone already shifting, “When it happens, get everyone away. Don’t anger it. Don’t do anything extra to make it notice you.”
“It?” Neil asked frantically, trying to stay upright and move backwards, panic dripping from his tones. “What’s it?”
“You’ll... know it when you... see it,” she gurgled, strength spent. “It’s coming.” With a cry, she slumped to the deck, everyone’s attention diverted to her for a moment.
With a mental cackle, her consciousness was shoved into the same door she had tried to close. This time, it slammed closed easily despite all of Luna’s resistance, and she was nearly helpless within her own body.
A moment later, cat’s pupils greeted the light as her eyes snapped open, no longer under her control. “That’s better,” her body laughed, voice sinisterly changed. “I thought I’d have to stay trapped in there for centuries.” She adjusted her helmet slightly. “Now, I have some of her business to take care of before I can get to mine.” Fangs sprouted from her mouth.
She sighed. “Such a pain, but contracts do have their conditions.” She turned her gaze towards the traitorous Secret Service agents. “And her subconscious made the conditions for this little outing quite clear."
Nightmare Moon was back.
-----
Neil definitely knew when it happened.
Luna had collapsed after gasping a few sentences, and when she had gotten back up, she’d changed.
Her voice was different, her mannerisms completely changed, and those eyes from the landing were back. She didn’t even seem the same person—or pony, rather.
And this new Luna scared him, on an instinctive, bone-deep level he felt in the most primal level of his body. The main urge he was getting was ‘Run, as fast as you possibly can, and don’t look back.’
Quickly, he ushered everyone back several yards, the agents too focused on the alicorn to notice them moving.
“Did you even take a fraction of a second to notice,” she hissed, voice dripping with malice, “That you’ve doomed a man to a slow, terrible death?” She took a step forwards. "Now, I'm no stranger to violence-- far from it-- but, honestly, killing those not in the way lacks style. It's terribly wasteful and annoying, so I probably would've done this even had I not had to." She smirked. "This is fun, anyway."
“Don’t move!” Luna’s glare darkened even further, as did her coat, and she took another, growing step forwards.
Neil watched in detached horror at the debacle playing out in front of him, unable to take his eyes away as his voice urged, “Don’t attract her attention!”
“I said don’t move!” The other guard was much less confident, a note of apprehension in his voice, but his weapon didn’t falter as he aimed in between her slitted eyes.
“No.” Her rebuttal was so blunt and matter-of-fact that the guard was momentarily at a loss, grasping for something to say to that unexpected answer. Luna—no, it wasn’t Luna, or the one Neil knew, anyway— smiled toothily, fangs glinting.
“I’m going to move,” she said conversationally, “and do you know what else is going to happen?”
The first guard had prioritized her as a threat now; he was aiming at her as well. Charlie broke from the group, Neil grabbing uselessly at him, and fell to the man’s—Fitz, he had screamed—side.
Her wings spread to their fullest extent, and an unnaturally large and black shadow fell across the deck. “I’m going to kill you.”
There was a sudden darkness—the sun veiled across the entire deck, blinding everyone on the carrier, and frost formed on every surface as sinister laughter rung from every direction.
When the black mist dispersed, the sun was no lower in the sky and no cloud had drifted across its expanse, but the sky had darkened as if it was covered entirely with looming thunderheads.
The guard who had before been so calm stiffened, for the first time showing a hint of concern, while the second broke, making a screaming run to the other end of the carrier, as far as he could get from the new Luna’s full glory.
He was snatched by a dark telekinetic grasp and brought, struggling frantically, eye to eye with Luna as she regarded him with dark humor. He wrenched at the trigger, sending the entire magazine at her, but most ricocheted off of her black armor. Only one found a gap, and where it struck, it shattered, leaving only a tiny mark.
One small drop of ichor, blacker than night, fell to the deck.
Her amusement showed. “You did better than most of Sister’s—or rather, Celestia’s—guards did. I applaud you.” Two hooves stomped slowly, mockingly, ringing ominously on the deck. The guard shrank, still struggling, but no longer with any kind of purpose—the thrashings of prey rather than a trapped opponent. His mouth fell open, and he gibbered with mindless terror.
“Don’t be such a foal,” she chided him, as more bullets from the second guard sparked off of her armor. Idly, she removed the pitiful threat from the second by teleporting away his weapon—and, incidentally, the hand holding it, the guard biting back a scream as he was thrown to the deck by a temporary gravity field, hand spurting blood.
Returning her attention to her helpless enemy, she finished, “After all, I’m going to kill you quickly.” He didn’t even have time to take in a breath as she ripped each of his ribs in separate directions. As blood and bits of flesh flicked everywhere, she giggled, the girlish noise only adding to the terrifying sight, and flicked his mangled remains over the edge. “That was the most fun I’ve had in decades!”
She licked one drop of blood off of her helmet.
Neil retched, along with most of the others.
Finally, the first’s composure broke. “Oh God, please don’t kill me,” he begged desperately. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know—just please, God, don’t kill me like that.”
“Deal.” Leaving him on the deck for the moment, she regaled the Neil and the other frozen Americans, huddled together instinctively. As her eyes swept the group, they involuntarily shrunk back several steps—except President Nixon. He paled and swayed, but held his ground and even managed to bring his eyes up to meet hers. Neil pulled him back, hysterically whispering in his ear, “Don’t draw attention to yourself! Do you want her to notice you?”
The president swallowed and backpedaled quickly.
She nodded slightly, almost admiringly, and flashed Nixon a wink that made him blanch and shudder. “I like you. Such spirit!”
Lastly, her eyes turned to Fitz as Charlie, shaking and unable to stand, still tried with fumbling hands to help as he trembled. Neil bit his lip so hard he began to bleed.
The two had definitely drawn her attention.
“Cease your incompetent aid, you lackwit,” she snapped, backhanding him magically a few feet, sprawling, and bringing Fitz to her hooves. “You’re not helping at all.”
He didn’t hear as his breaths began to slow and the blood faltered from a spurt to a steady flow. He had seconds to live.
“Humans are so—so—weak,” she complained as she darkened her horn once again. “One of my guards could have shrugged off such a hit and kept fighting until they dropped dead. But I suppose it wasn’t this one’s fault evolution snubbed him or that cowards killed him.” She bit her lip, slicing it open, black blood oozing out. Bringing one booted hoof to her mouth, she gathered a drop of blood and, with a flick, dropped it into the wound as she cast her spell. With a return of momentary darkness, she tossed him, limp but throat no longer rent open, over to the other humans. “I hope you’re grateful I saved the man. He’ll make a good servant when he's healed.”
She clapped her hooves, the harsh clanging screwing into Neil’s ears. “Now, only one more item of business.” She lifted the lone traitor up by the throat. “Who sent you?”
Choking, he began to gurgle out a word, but she tsked. “Too slow! It’s time to do this the fun way!”
A stream of darkness flew from her horn to the man’s forehead, and both stiffened.
The man began to scream.
Looks like Nightmare Moon used blood magic to save Fitz. From what I know of blood magic as it's most shown, that binds him to her in obedience. A magically enforced life debt, until she chooses to release him.
My question, since you say Luna will be back eventually...is the debt owed to Nightmare Moon for doing the act...or Luna, for subconsciously making it a condition of Nightmare Moon's temporary freedom?
Oh come on! I seen this before a magical being has power that can't be stopped by mere guns. I mean really a gunshot should be able to penetrate the old style armor, not ricochet off it. Also shouldn't a non-magical world weaken anything Nightmare Moon has and make her more mortal and easier to hit. Final don't make her E.M.P. proof, so mankind has a way of nullifying her magic if need be.
Look not trying to hate or anything like that, but just stating my opinion. Give mankind a chance to kick a very advance and strong magical being flank.
And here's what about a quarter of the people have been waiting for. Pretty nice.
Nightmare Moon has nothing on human torture methods.I assume she knows how to induce terror in an untrained enemy but some random religious nut with a bit of training could resist her.Now human methods man those can make a corpse spill the beans.I don't expect her to know much about torture just basic stuff like breaking limbs or inflicting wounds,her best weapon is probably nightmares but humans have short term memory with those so effects should be diminished.
I can see you made her have mind powers but the human mind shouldn't be THAT similar to ponies so it should probably take her some time to get accustomed to the different brain.
The lack of magic(or at least a non trained field)should severely hamper her efforts.I assume you went with the "force my magic power in their bodies" way but similarly to trying to make clotted blood(the untrained/nonexistent magic)flow after a transfusion will severely strain the body I expect things like a healing spell to injure or exhaust the recipient human.
I am pretty sure NMM uses stuff like lightning, shapeshifting, illusions, and magic beams, along with significant physical strength and a prehensile mane and tail as her abilities.
In fact, I am pretty sure that the nature of the telekinesis ponies use doesn't work like that, grabbing multiple seperate pieces of internal amatomy. In addition I am pretty sure teleportation can not selectively remove body parts. TK is a field and TP is object based. You seem to be switching them.
Don't get me wrong. Luna seems to be too weak to use Earth's atrophied magic field, and Nightmare is evil and therefor likely to kill, and those assailants would be gunned down by human agents if possible anyway, so no moral issues there. Just saying the execution of the execution felt contrived and out of left field. The only thing that seemed reasonable was the mindrape at the end there.
I would recommend just not getting fancy with her powers and use what we know from the show instead.
Otherwise good, if short, chapter.
Well this should make future politics interesting!
God, I love Nightie! Such style, class, and total badassitude! 4K/10 would marry!
4622402 What are you talking about? She is weakened. He scratched her after all, and I didn't see you complain when she was breathing in vacuum. Besides, who told you she's wearing old stile iron/steel armor? She's Goddess! Her armor could be magically hardened dark matter as far as we know.
You do realize plate armor does fuck all against fire arms?
4622455 Wow. Dark matter. That is one of the most overpowered things i have ever heard. I'm chalking this up as either the author not realizing HOW plate armor works, or making the ponies overpowered as shit.
4622402 Hey look someone intelligent!
4622498 Seriously... Nightie bring night in the middle of the day, flash freezes the deck of aircraft carrier, and regulates gravity under single opponent, and you complaining that the armor of goddess doesn't act like human, medieval plate armor?
Seriously?
4622515 It's not bad compared to the blatant fuckery of armor quality shown in this.
4622520 Aren't you bag of fun, eh?!
I bet that on Pacific Rim, Godzilla or Tirek's fight you was screaming about square cube law at the screen. Or complaining about convection during light saber fights.
4622455 Yay as far as we know. Also it could be made from shit and booze, but hey I'm COMPLAINING about it! I just think it over rated to make a magical being very powerful on a world with no magic. On a world with no magic should make the alicorn very weak and herder for her to use her power. Also even if she was a goddess then her armor would most likely be made from iron. Because lets face it a thousand years a go in this world or theirs everything sucked. Even if she did magically enhance her armor, it would do every little in a world with no magic and where nuclear strikes can change the face of the world. So....
YAY, lets see her survive a nuclear blast head on.
What type of gun was it he shot her with? And can I assume it was point blank?
4622419 I like the way you think!
Well, that was interesting!
This is my favorite chapter so far. I think I like your interpretation of "It" quite well. Kinda has an Incredible Hulk dynamic going here.
Also, here's hoping the Reds attract her gaze.
4622594 It's good to complaining when story has plot holes (lol), but her armor isn't one of them. It's there to look cool, deflect few bullets, and probably be never mentioned again. Besides, when you're a god, and have magic, it doesn't mater how developed is the world you rule upon. You don't have to use local materials or techniques to build something for yourself. Her armor could be anything from simple iron as you said it, through nano arranged carbon-tungsten atoms mix, up to freaking quantum locked cold plasma.
It's like complaining that gold melts in normal forge's furnace, so Frodo shouldn't have to be going up to some freaking mountain.
PS. And about low magic activity on earth, she has her own power, and got more locked in with Nightmare. Unlocking her, she basically went Super Saiyan. She'll mess up a bit, and start to going get weaker, and weaker until she'll turn back into Luna. But her power outburst probably will defibrillate earths field, and Luna will systematically gain more and more power back, as it get livelier.
4622461 magic man
I say its the russians, its always the russians....
4622678 Well, that was the most retarded statement ever. You didn't even attempt to provide a valid argument, you juts were like "Lol, It's magic because i say it is!"
4622562 No... Actually pacific rim wasn't too bad. I just don't get why they didn't wait out the monsters right at the pacific rim, as shown here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzkOkh1tOqE
4622562 Also what the hell is square cube law.
4622702 Because camping is for noobs, and movie would be boring as fuck.
4622707 Google it, but be warned, it will ruin every giant monster/mecha/fantasy with dragons movie/book/cartoon/anime ever for you.
When good ol' Nim came out to play, this was playing in my head.
4622729 So it invalidates anything that large moving without shattering like glass? (I just read the first few paragraphs)
4622700
You have absolutely no way of knowing what her armor is made of, or if it has been enhanced via magic. Assuming it's the same as plate armor made on Earth is daft.
4622669 But again their knowledge of modern science and other shit like that doesn't exist. So this, "nano arranged carbon-tungsten atoms mix, up to freaking quantum locked cold plasma," shouldn't exist magic or not. Because it would be impossible to work without the knowledge of how it works. Also don't use it magic excuse, because that also bullshit. How, well even with magic you need to know about it in the first place to be able to use it.
Also in a world with little to no magic should and shall weaken all magic that was involved previously before she arrived their. It's basic knowledge.
4622745 Basically? Yes.
4622763
... ok, I'm out.
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4622514
4622594
Hey, guys, I mean, yeah, magic is best with laws, but... Let me break it down a bit.
1) The Armor Issue.
She's got plate armor (okay so far) that is probably pretty good quality. It looks dark blue, so it's probably anodized (and from what I know about anodizations that kind of blue is probably an aluminum anodization, which would make sense for weight. For reference, anodized aluminum is chemically the same as rubies, which are one step below diamond in hardness). It's anodized, so that means at LEAST some processing went into it, especially considering the fact that there weren't even scratches on it (though that could be excused by the cartoon art style). If it's not anodized, it's a fantasy metal, in which case we can't speculate on its properties beyond "good". On top of that, I've seen military armor plates. I don't know exactly what they are, and YES they're very thick and I'm pretty sure they're ceramic, with a kevlar fabric or something, but again, this is pretty well-made metal (and may in fact be ceramic as well).
I will agree that not even a scratch is a LITTLE far-fetched, but not as much as freezing the deck and turning it psuedo-night. No dents could be excused away with the angle. I can't give an explanation for why her skin only took minor damage from a bullet, but these are probably pistols firing hollow point rounds, or maybe, MAYBE, regular load. Almost assuredly not armor piercing.
2) The Magic Issue.
This one I think is more a matter of my personal headcannon, but if we're going with the "Nightmare Moon being a separate entity" route, she's likely either a demon or a spirit. Demons (and probably some spirits) use non-magic, magic-like things. Faith, infernal energy, divine energy, whatever you want to call it. Spirits also generally tend to have some spirit powers that, as far as I know, seem to be unlinked but not NOT linked to magic, so I can't speculate very accurately about if those are the case. Also we can argue that a chunk of Luna's available energy was keeping the Nightmare at bay, and thus with Luna exhausted and emotional (generally things that make possession easier) Nightmare doesn't have to exert anywhere near as much energy to keep Luna away.
I mean, yeah, you guys have a point. Still, if I'm going to be upset about somebody violating suspension of disbelief it personally takes a lot more than some funky physics to do that.
4622763
If this was true half of the magic demonstrated in-show would be impossible.
That's your own head-canon, not fact.
4622810 But I'm relating to real life situation. That would have the same effect, example would be the different air pressure when in water and on land. The lower one goes in water the heavier one feels. So I applied this to magic.
4622759 Still, he didn't even attempt to make a valid argument. Also, your pretty much explaining it off as magic.
4622782 img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120418052354/mlp/images/6/64/FANMADE_YEAH!!!.gif
4622829 Here my response to that, because I haven't slept in a whole day so I'm too lazy to try ti argue anymore...
justifiedjerk.com/middle-finger.jpg
Enjoy!
4622848 So I agree with you, but you respond by flipping me off? What the fuck man!
4622669 Luna =/= God
4622829
She's a very powerful magic user. It's perfectly reasonable for her armor to be bulletproof because of magic enhancement.
4622821
That's a fine theory and all, but it doesn't seem to apply to the story in question.
4622863 Sorry it like four o'clock in the afternoon where I'm at so yay, I'm pretty tired. Haven't slept in a whole day and just want to sleep. So once again I apologizes if I flip the middle finger at you and offended you. I just what to sleep so...
Good day! It's nap time.
4622863 Also sorry it was meant for someone else. As I said I tried as fucks.
4622863 It was meant for Kicks Mcgee. Just trying to clear up somethings before I go to sleep. Also sorry once again for doing that.
Please forgive.
4622922 I forgive ya.
4622873 I obviously can't make you think otherwise.
4622922
cdn.gifbay.com/2012/10/there_is_no_need_to_be_upset-4390.gif
Sorry, but I leave here.
That scene ruined the entire story for me...
I hate super-power-plot-devices like nothing else and just can't stand reading something like that.
Look at all the "Know-it-all's" in this thread, knowing how magic and magical creatures truly work in real life.
The author's the one telling the story and his particular version of the universe. Quitcher bitching and stop throwing your headcanon at him.
As shown by the last episode, the princesses are insanely powerful. The four of them combined into Twilight were powerful enough to take on Discord, almost the entirety of Equestria's population and it's entire military force at the same time. And being piledrived through a bloody mountain just made Twi madder. Even dividing Twilight's magic at that point by four, a handgun round is not going to bother them.
We don't know what this version of Nightmare Moon is or how it works, or how powerful it is. It might be more powerful than Luna is in Equestria. The story mentions a contract and Luna specifically calls it "IT", which would imply it's a Demon or something along those lines, which also means it might work on different rules.
If it's as powerful or more powerful than an alicorn, and works on different rules and retains it's strength on earth, then shrugging off a bullet would be a piece of cake for it. A tank round might work better. And hope that she doesn't put up a shield. Otherwise, well...
A tank isn't gonna do shit.
Of course, this is all speculation, which is just as much as anyone else has. Only the author has any idea how this is going to work.
4622700 exactly, it's the answer that authors refer to when they decide they don't want to figure out a reason for what is occurring
This is wear something happens that gives the humans a chance to bring Luna back out, or drive Nightmaremoon down. Call in the Digimon! They've got elements! Because I've got no ideas other than that!