Diplomatic Relations

by Nameless Narrator

The Best Laid Plans

Trudging through the night, Icy Gaze was beginning to hate everything in his life, starting with the earthpony on his back. Applejack's attempts at finding out things about him weren't the problem, the idea that questions on the level of newborn foals could work on him was.

"Were you-"

"NO! I wasn't hired by Luna, Celestia, Photo Finish, Blueblood or whoever Derpy is," growled Icy, "A stranger in the pub gave me a ton of bits to gather all of you in one place and find some traitor remaining in Equestria after the second invasion."

"Where do you come from?"

"What?" Icy shook his head at Applejack's sudden change of direction.

"Just curious. Where do you come from? I have never met anypony whose pay rates were 'a ton of bits'."

"I'm just a mercenary, nothing more. Ponies pay me to do their dirty work, I do it. I come from a small town in northern Equestria, Stalliongrad territory. Haven't been there for over ten years though. I doubt anypony even remembers me."

"You don't seem bothered by it."

"I'm not. I hated living where everypony knew everypony so I ran away with a caravan when I was sixteen. Luckily for them, I was pretty used to hard work and managed to fend for myself when bandits attacked it. After we killed them I took my fair share of bits and some of their weapons to find my niche. After we arrived at Stalliongrad the caravan leader put a good word for me and I was set for my next job. Working as a caravan guard led to mercenary soon after. Truth be told, all that changed was me getting more varied contracts."

"Whoa. That's mighty early in life to go down the bloody path. When I was younger I got my cutie mark by-"

"I, in all honesty, don't care," Icy cut her off, "You're just one of many targets I've had over the years."

"Element of Honesty, remember?" chuckled AJ.

"Fine, you are one of the more interesting targets."

"Come on, work with me here. What about your cutie mark? I suppose a golden chestplate would mean your destiny in Royal Guard. You know, protecting the weak and such."

"Heroes go hungry, girl," Icy's tone changed from uninterested to downright chilling, "and poor ponies can't pay. For me the damn tattoo on my backside means only that I'm hard to get rid of."

"So... no guard tradition in the family or anything?"

"Chat's over. We're close to the library and I can't waste my breath talking if I have to carry your fat rump."

"Element of-"

"Shut up!"

"Heh heh..."

The door to the library opened, revealing a dimly lit hall with a chair in the middle of it. Icy knew he'd turned all lamps off and a chill ran up his spine. Still, nothing felt out of place aside from the gloomy lighting. As with every one of his victims, Icy brought Applejack down to the cellar. The heartfelt greetings of other Bearers towards Applejack sort of warmed him up. He knew all of them were Element bearers but he hadn't expected them to be such a tight group of friends.

"I'll go make something to eat," Icy just mumbled, feeling like an ignored maid.

The second the door lock clicked, the pegasus heard a quiet scraping noise. He knew the noise. It was the sound of steel passing by a soft surface. No matter what explanation might have occured otherwise, steel was bad news in every possible case. Turning around, he saw a familar pink earthpony. Icy realized this was the first time she wasn't smiling.

"Oh hey, miss Pie-"

"What do you really want with my friends, mister Canterlotian?"

"I have to keep them safe."

"I SAW RARITY'S BRUISED FACE, LIAR!"

"That doesn't matter since you're here. Thank you for not releasing them by the way-"

"I didn't want them to see this," Pinkie's poofy mane went flat and she smiled again. The smile was something Icy would remember for the rest of his life and at the moment he wasn't sure how long that would be.

Icy had never felt this shaky when facing a unarmed civillian before. His experience prevailed though and he jumped forward to tackle the pink mare. His mistake became apparent the second she scored a deep slash over his chest with suddenly appearing kitchen knife. Icy screamed. Coupled with the pain of chipped ribs from fighting Big Mac the burning in his body was making his vision blur.

Pinkie disappeared. A pink hoof grazed Icy's vision and he jumped backwards just to avoid his throat being cut. Punching behind him, he lost balance as he failed to hit anypony. Icy screamed again as fire spread through his chest for the second time. This time he didn't bother aiming and just spun around, hitting Pinkie's face with full force.

She just shrugged the blow off and, still bearing the maniacal smile, bit the side of his neck.

She didn't hit an artery...

She's not normal...

This isn't a capture anymore...

Screw the money, the employer won't reach me in the Griffon Empire...

All that ran through Icy's head when he abandoned his mission, clutched the knife still in his chest and stabbed upwards at charging Pinkie. He didn't miss.

The earthpony fell to the ground, leaving just a groaning and wincing pegasus. The knife had gone through the heart but Icy was watching the body rise up and lunge at him. His reaction wasn't a planned counterattack. He just screamed like a little filly and the left hook connected with his assailant's head.

Whimpering and clutching his head, Icy fell down on his rump as his legs failed him. The pony in front of him pulled out the knife from her chest and growled.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Icy broke down but couldn't move a muscle.

He didn't have to. Pinkie's flat mane poofed up again, her coat seemed once again a lighter shade of pink and the wound on her chest closed.

Trailing blood all over the library, Icy grabbed a length rope, bound the slowly awakening earthpony and threw her down the stairs to the cellar.

"Rude!" called a cheery voice at him when he turned away.

"Nonononononono!"

Icy slammed the door when he saw completely free Pinkie looking at him from the cellar. With shaky hooves he locked the door just in time to-

*Knock knock knock*

Icy felt the soft vibrations through the key in his hooves.

He slumped down on the floor and cried in the growing pool of his blood.

His mission was almost over. He could wait with writing a report. For now he just prayed to anypony listening for divine protection.

---

The sun rose on the horizon and princess Luna, still hazy from a night full of rest, stopped the flow of magic. It had been years since her last genuine rest and it might take her body a while to adjust. Still, she felt stronger than ever before and ready to tackle the world.

There was a letter lying on her desk. Had the mercenary finally pinpointed the traitor with some accuracy? The previous reports had made her send Nightguards to monitor the situation in Ponyville but they hadn't sent any confirmation yet.

I don't know what you're trying to pull off but one of the Bearers COULDN'T BE HURT! No matter what I did she just kept going and going and going...

Whatever. All of them aside from princess Twilight are currently being held in the Ponyville library and you should send somepony to retrieve them before the princess returns. I don't know how long I'll be able to hold the monsters here.

If you don't send anypony within three days I'm leaving and you can keep your money. You can also clean up the mess yourself when the alicorn of Magic finds out somepony tried to capture her friends.

P.S.: The traitor is still observing his routine.

Luna dropped the scroll, her brows furrowed.

Little head not working as intended?

The amused chuckle behind her made her legs wobble. The experience from yesterday when somepony-

Took you both physically and mentally, girl? I thought you should be reminded of the feeling.

"Sharp?"

Your little guard? You were really eating all that stuff up right until the end.

"Whaa?" Luna shook her head. It was getting harder to think straight.

I thought you would remember your roommate. Well, I've been waiting for this a while but you made it toooooo easy.

"..."

You still don't know? My my, I must have screwed you really hard last night. Perhaps I should have eased up on the tentacles.

"I don't remember," Luna's body shivered as something carressed her entire mind, "Mhmmmmmmm."

Think of it as a dream... or possibly a nightmare.

Luna's mind cleared only to witness the frozen wastes of the moon again around her.

"YOU!" she screamed and burned away the black mist swirling around her.

Heh... and here I though I should be more pleasant to my favourite toy.

The mist returned, surrounding Luna's face and a pair of cyan eyes with slit irises opened right in front of hers.

"How?"

Luna's magic saved her once again, teleporting her from the grip of black shadows.

Remember the poor unicorn you killed in cold blood? Sentencing an innocent being to death in the worst, most torturous, way imaginable... All that bile, spite and desire for revenge was too delicious to pass up. It almost makes me smile that you were completely wrong the entire time.

"HE KILLED MY BEST FRIEND!" Luna couldn't control herself as the memory of Sharp Biscuit being impaled by flying weapons surfaced.

Goooood... you remember. Feel that rage flow through you, right on the surface and know, deep down, that all this is your fault.

"No. NO. NO!"

Oh yes. Your sister will die in front of you. Your petty alicorn friends will wither from the inside as their heads turn against them. All your subjects will prefer to end their lives by themselves when their warm beds fail to protect them from monsters in the dark and YOU will watch.

Luna's magic failed and the semi-real shadowy tendrils at last entered her body.

Sweet nightmares.

The new form solidifed and from a cloud of black mist a new alicorn stepped out. The tall, black form of a graceful mare took her first step into the world yet again. With bluish steel helmet and a breastplate still allowing her ethereal mane of the same color pass, Nightmare Moon was back and she had some unfinished business.

"Hmmm, let's take care of the pesky Elements first," her horn glowed with power unimaginable and...

... the magic stopped.

I am not as desperate and half-insane from loneliness like last time, demon, and I will not let you touch my friends.

Nightmare Moon just scratched her head and grinned. Luna was much more amusing than expected.

"For now, girl, for now. Still, you don't control this body anymore and I have other ways of making problems disappear."

Feeling Luna struggle inside her, Nightmare Moon picked up a quill and began writing a letter, careful to make Luna see every word.

Your service to the crown is admirable, mister Icy Gaze.

You might be wondering how I know your name... don't. My power spans the entire world but you are on my good side so I will change your mission objectives yet again.

Kill the captive Bearers immediately and you will not have to deal with Twilight Sparkle. Your reward will arrive as soon as you're done. Trust me, I will know.

If, by any chance, you still harbor desire to leave Equestria... let's just say that I reward my allies as much as I punish those who betray me.

I can find you anywhere.

"See, Luna? Keep trying though, your fruitless efforts are worth watching."

The lunar seal on the letter changed into a bright sun and the rolled-up parchment disappeared.

"But where are my manners, princess... I promised I'd break an alicorn for you and I know just who to begin with."

You. Will. Not. Touch. My. Sister.

"Your sister? I will leave her for last. There is this little troublemaker called Void I have to take care of first."

What? Void? Why?

"You might be temporarily stopping me from killing the Bearers, the stupid mercenary might run away but there's always the Tree of Harmony and I just need Discord to help me break it. Unfortunately, the annoying pest somehow bound my fellow god not to act. See, Luna? If just one little thing goes my way then I win. If I just wait for you to weaken then I also win. Keep struggling, Luna... it feels soooo good."

The charging of magic wasn't stopped this time and Nightmare Moon disappeared from Luna's room.

The place in question was a fortress when its owner didn't want to be disturbed but the power of a deity was enough to break through the defenses and the possessed alicorn appeared between piles of skulls spread over the floor of a large cavern.

Contrary to the gravity of the situation, the golden alicorn lounging on one of the piles just yawned.

"Have you done something with your mane, Luna?" Scream snickered, "It looks like shit."

"How droll," Nightmare Moon parodied Scream's tone, "I'm surprised the two brain cells not devoted to controlling your crotch were able to come up with it."

The golden alicorn chuckled and stood up to her full height which was still slightly overshadowed by Nightmare Moon's. Still, from the cracking of her wings and the swaying of her platinum mane it was obvious that the most experienced magic user in the world had her secrets.

"Oooh, I'm shaking already," Nightmare Moon watched the show, "What sort of alicorn doesn't have magical mane? You must be the black sheep of the family."

"You have no idea," whispered Scream.

Scream's horn cast shadows over the cavern, devouring any possible illumination and leaving only the golden star in the middle of complete darkness. The black pattern on Scream's coat became a river of ink separating shining armor plates and the white mane now resembled spider silk spreading into the darkness. What was now standing in front of Nightmare Moon resembled a golden changeling queen rather than an alicorn.

The display of power didn't impress the Nightmare.

"Touching," she rolled her eyes and the black mist signalling the use of her power launched tentacles straight at Scream, "Too bad you have no sense of design-THE BUCK WAS THAT?!"

The last words came from a charred heap resembling half princess Luna and half Nightmare Moon.

The Nightmare had to shift gears now. Being hit by a set of purple beams suddenly appearing around Scream, focusing into one spot and burning the deity's face had in one hit almost made her release control of Luna.

Black mist clouded the spot and began evaporating again under the onslaught of Scream's magic. This time the beams didn't penetrate the protection and Nightmare Moon stood up reformed, shielding her face with one wing. Underestimating the alicorn of Lust had almost been a fatal mistake. There still was a gap in power though, an exploitable one.

Hundreds of Nightmare's tentacles started forming and kept stabbing straight at Scream who suddenly had to shift from focusing her power on one spot to protecting herself from numerous threats. Here, in the heart of Scream's power, she would be strong enough to go even if the duel was a contest of force but one mind eventually wasn't able to guard the golden alicorn from constant attacks from all sides.

In the end, Scream ended up with all her limbs spread and bound by dark tendrils.

"And I thought Luna was strong," one tendril wrapped itself around Scream's horn, "but this... this I can use."

A golden spark was released, accompanied by Scream's groan and travelled through the darkness as if it was some kind of tube.

"So much power. You could have ruled these weaklings. Too bad it's too la-"

The spark exploded, yellow light evaporating all shadows and leaving just struggling Luna with smoke once again boiling around her.

"You want to drain my power?" Scream coughed, sweat dripping from her, "Doesn't matter where it is, it still is mine."

Despite Luna's resistance, Nightmare Moon reformed again.

"I tried to be nice, to make a servant out of you to lure Void out but I guess you'll just have to live up to your name!"

The tentacles were more solid this time and Scream wasn't able to pierce through them before they shattered the joints in her legs.

"Where is Void?" growled Nightmare Moon at the bleeding alicorn.

"Look up your buttcrack, bitch."

"Could have been better," the Nightmare said coldly and rammed more of the half-real tentacles inside Scream's head.

The mist passed through Scream, harmless at least to the body. Nightmare Moon could still feel the pain from Scream's onslaught and just ripped the desired memories from Scream's brain, not caring about the damage. Seeing Luna's previous visit to this place, she realized how Void knew about Discord's possible involvement. Finally the tentacles retreated and the Nightmare disappeared.

Scream twitched. Scream grinned.

She had hoped this sitation would never happen but she was also a realist, or a very cautious pessimist, and knew she would very probably lose. She had expected to die though and the development allowed her to pass on one more warning. With a weak glow of her horn she focused on one particular memory, the memory of a bronze changeling responsible for Luna's fall.

Celestia might protect ponies with all her might. Celestia might despise Scream but in the end both of them were set on protecting their subjects, no matter their different species. With the glow of Scream's horn fading, she sent the memory to the leader of her most beloved species.

"I hope Chryssie isn't taking a bath - glorb... globt?"

The final coherent thought faded and the drooling alicorn just sat there, staring blankly at nothing.

---

Nightmare Moon had to return to Canterlot to recuperate. The archmage had hurt her more than she had expected anypony to but in the end she still had the necessary information.

"Hey, Luna," Nightmare Moon snickered, "Aren't you going to thank me for ruining Scream? You've never been a fan of her."

Heh. Seems to me you underestimated her. Somepony will stop you even if I can't.

"There is nopony left, dear Luna. The most powerful magic user is a mindless blob of flesh now. Your Nightguards are under my control thanks to our little nighttime adventure. Your sister is out of the way and Cadance can't leave the Crystal Empire otherwise she would lose the power provided by Crystal Heart without which she is just a low-tier unicorn. The Elements are still present but unable to act and when my servant kills the Bearers it will be over."

There are other alicorns.

"The truly powerful ones are gone. Only Void remains and he is already hiding from me. Easy prey."

The darkness enveloping Nightmare Moon turned from smoke to almost solid entity, signalling to the god its powers were returning after being decimated by Scream. Recovering fully would take time or sacrifices and neither was currently an option. Time was against Nightmare Moon as with every passing moment Void might find out about her intrusion to Scream's dimension and disappear again. On top of that, Luna was still proving an effective obstruction in forcing her body to devour mortals to regain strength.

Nevertheless, the situation was still a stuggle between mortals and a deity. As long as Nightmare Moon was able to avoid the direct use of power of the Elements she should be fine. Keeping that in mind, she recalled the path to the underworld ripped out of Scream's head and lit her horn up once again.

This place was different. Whereas the entrance to Scream's realm was on the top of a mountain, metaphorically, with crisp air filling the lungs of any visitor the feeling here was one of lingering dryness. The desert spread in all directions and the 'sand' under Nightmare Moon's hooves was less little rocks and more just ash devoid of all life.

All in all, even with the area sapping Nightmare's power she felt here at home as it reminded her prison on the moon. Cursing the Elements for forcing her into the barren place, she entered the obsidian temple in front of her.

A pair of yellow eyes watched her every step through the black structure from the throne in the middle of it.

"I am sorry for your loss, Luna," the blackfire alicorn stepped down from the throne and bowed deeply before Nightmare Moon.

"I'll be sure to relay her the message once you're lying broken in front of-"

The impact raised clouds of ash around the temple and with a screech the Nightmare was forcefully turned back into a cloud of shadows, clearly separated from Luna.

"I was not talking to you," said Void calmly.

Thank you.

Luna's thought was audible as if she had said it.

"I am still mad at you though. You have caused my friend and his marefriend a lot of trouble. I wish you had not acted so recklessly."

I lost the only pony who has cared for me since my return. I would do it again. I WILL do it again and I will make sure-

"-he slowly melts in acid," Luna's voice merged together with Nightmare Moon's.

Void just shook his head.

"So young, so stubborn. You, of all ponies, should know the value of forgiveness, Luna."

"Enough with the fake sympathy," the shadows enveloped Luna again and Nightmare Moon stood there, staring coldly at Void, "Three alicorns down, time to deal with you."

"Three?" Void raised an eyebrow.

"Oh my my. I would have though Scream's, heh, screaming would reach even this place."

Making one's opponent reckless with rage was a strategy the Nightmare had to resort to after taking Void's first blow. With all magical protection stripped from Scream's dimension, it was easy to transmit an image of a slumped golden heap, blood caking Scream's legs.

Void closed his eyes and bit his lips.

"You know why I could not have saved you, right? You understand. It might take centuries for you to recover but I will be the first thing you see when you open your eyes again. Just like you waited for me."

Black tentacles aimed at him burned away in purple flames when they got too close. Nightmare Moon just grinned and went for the same attack from all sides that had penetrated Scream's defense. A shrill yell pierced the air as everything around Void began burning and the power of true death spread through the tentacles back to their source.

"I'll show you the meaning of fear!" roared Nightmare Moon and her tentacles turned to blades slashing at the other alicorn.

"Fear? There is no fear here in the final sanctuary. There is only peace. Celestia and Luna might protect the living but I protect the dead from horrors like you."

The black tentacles shattered when they hit blue see-through ponies in full armor suddenly appearing everywhere around Void.

"What is this magic? Nothing in Luna's head said you were able to use magic!"

"I cannot, at least not too much, but in the same way I protect my subjects they willingly protect me," Void pointed at Nightmare Moon, "Puny god... look upon the true face of death and know that your end comes soon."

The spectral cavalry charged and broke when struck by thick, dark tendrils of power. More and more came, eventually sucked into black holes, choked by smoke and ripped into pieces by the tentacles. All that was just to occupy the deity while Void gathered his power. True death was the end of all things, the inevitability unavoidable by anything, and the second blast hit Nightmare Moon and obliterated the ghosts around her.

In complete panic, the deity disappeared using the last remains of its power.

Void knew he couldn't follow her. It was possible to use his power to its full extent here but doing so in the real world would wipe out all life in a huge part of Equestria. The deity would probably be stronger than him anyway there and following it might make Discord dishonor his promise. Weakening the Nightmare had been the best thing he could have done and there was something more important on his mind.

The world could go fornicate itself, there was an alicorn who needed his help.

---

The halls of Canterlot castle were empty.

"It seems that nopony likes being in Canterlot under Luna's rule," chuckled Guiding Light.

"Oh shush! We'll be in the infirmary wing soon and princess Celestia will know what to do," said Twilight and the two guards accompanying them hummed in agreement.

"Let's hope she's still alive then."

The four of them kept creeping through the castle but even after a grueling and expensive express trip from Pine Hills back home they were brimming with nervous energy and twitched whenever they heard anything behind a closed door. The sterile smell of the halls around them proved they were getting closer to their destination.

A clink of metal from behind a corner made all of them stop breathing. Guiding Light, the one most used to sneaking, peeked into the hall.

One of the doors was being guarded by two Nightguards. Guiding put a hoof to her lips and focused. Minutes passed without anything happening but eventually the sound of metal hitting the floor rang through the empty halls. Guiding Light, sweating, nodded to her companions and when they cleared the corner they saw the two guards lying on the floor and snoring.

The room wasn't locked and Twilight, followed by the others, opened the door without a problem and closed it behind them. Lying on the hospital bed was princess Celestia.

"Princess?" Twilight shook the patient, "Princess!"

"Wait," whispered Guiding and focused once again. Delving into the minds of ponies was a changeling specialty and Guiding's kind was well versed in all kinds of forced sleep whether through magical or chemical means.

A little blue spark jumped from Guiding's horn to Celestia's and the princess took a sharp breath.

"Princess Celestia!" exclaimed Twilight, even her hushed tones unable to hide the joy from seeing her mentor.

"Twilight," Celestia smiled and looked around, "Oh?"

Guiding Light bowed slightly and the two guards almost kissed the floor.

"What happened to you, princess?" asked Twilight.

"I'm not sure. Somepony hit me with a fear spell while I was flying around the castle and then I woke up here."

"The guards are spreading posters saying I did it!"

"Well, did you?"

A kicked puppy wouldn't even begin to understand how Twilight made that face.

"Just teasing you, Twilight," continued Celestia, "Come here."

Princess Celestia wrapped her hooves around her student.

"I was so scared..." Twilight shivered in the embrace.

"I'm all right. I can't move much but I'll be fine in few days."

The door slammed open and a trio of Nightguards barged in.

"She's here. Get her!"

There wasn't enough space for more of them to move inside comfortably but Twilight heard many sets of hoofsteps outside of the room.

"Lower your weapons!" ordered Celestia.

The unicorn by Twilight's side looked at his chest with wide eyes before dropping to the floor, spear impaled deep inside him.

"LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!" Celestia ordered regally again.

Fortunately, Guiding Light's changeling armor diverted the blow aimed at the only friendly batpony in the room.

"They have no free will just like we did, 'princess' Twilight! We need to get out."

Golden light spread from Celestia's horn and everypony hostile froze.

"Listen to me, Twilight," Celestia groaned under the strain of the spell, "I won't be able to hold them for long. You have to run-"

"But-"

"No buts! If whoever is behind this wanted me dead then I would have been already. I'm happy you visited me here and I can't go with you but you won't achieve anything by staying here."

"But-"

"Twilight! The last thing I want to live through is losing another one of my students due to my failure. GO!"

Gritting her teeth, Twilight opened a window, spread her wings and without another comment jumped out of it. Guiding Light and the only loyal Nightguard followed her a second after.

The trio didn't want to traverse the night sky as the hostile Nightguards would have no problem spotting them and they landed at the castle entrance. The golden light faded when their hooves touched the ground. Princess Celestia had closed the window of her room prior to stopping the spell and the lights were beginning to bloom throughout the castle as more and more ponies woke up to the thundering of Nightguards looking for Twilight.

The runaways weren't alone.

The stones of the path leading from castle to Canterlot itself cracked when shadows shifted and an armored alicorn stepped out of them. The armor was one Twilight hoped never to see again. She though she would never see it again. All that was necessary for Twilight to quietly whimper was the glimpse of blue steel chestplate and helmet glistening in the moonlight.

The armored form took a step forward and, shadows melting, revealed the face of princess Luna.

"Twilight Sparkle..." she said coldly.

"Princess Luna. What's going on with your guards? Why did they try to kill me?"

"You are hereby arrested for attacking my sister. Surrender peacefully and I will ensure you a fair trial!"

"I didn't do anything! I wasn't even in Canterlot at the time," yelled Twilight desperately.

"Enough of the charade, Nightmare Moon," growled Guiding.

Shadows swirled around Luna and she grew, turning her angry face into an amused one Twilight had seen four years ago.

"What are you?" Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes at Guiding.

"Run," hissed Guiding sideways at Twilight.

"I won't!" the glow of Twilight's horn made shadows dance and a barrage of bolts of force hit the unmoving Nightmare Moon.

Every impact made a small crater in the black veil suddenly protecting the enemy and she staggered back, gritting her sharp teeth.

"I WILL destroy you here!" Twilight sent out another barrage, forcing Nightmare Moon to back away more.

A spear scored a shallow scratch on Twilight's side and she noticed the black shadows circling above them. Those weren't some unreal signs of the Nightmare's power but real Nightguards armed to the teeth.

The problem was that Twilight definitely didn't have the stamina to run away from a trained guard.

"Teleport away to some safe place and think of a way to solve this," said Guiding, watching the swaying Nightmare Moon. It didn't make sense to her why they were still alive when faced with a god but she was happy anyway.

"My library! I can't teleport all of us that far while under attack though."

Guiding sighed and in a shower of green sparks turned into a normal Nightmare changeling.

"Good thing you don't have to, right?" she grinned nervously.

"What's going on?" Twilight let out a burst of energy concussing the Nightguards behind her while the only friendly one took flight straight into the middle of the ones approaching from the sky.

"I'm the firstborn's body double. My transformation is her and I'm here to make sure her suspicions were correct."

"How could she just send you to your death? She knew Nightmare Moon was behind this."

"She didn't know. All she had were suspicions and guesses, you yourself said it, and I think you got one thing wrong, princess."

"What?" Twilight shielded the friendly Nightguard from the first attackers.

"She didn't send me here, I volunteered. A good leader doesn't have to ask her subjects to sacrifice for her, they will do it by themselves. Guiding Light got us out of the devoured world. Without her we would have died there and this is the least I can do for her. Now stop wasting your magic on the guard and GET OUT OF HERE!"

Fake Guiding pounced at the first Nightguard that touched the ground and tore his throat out. The hostile ones were slower than normal guards, moving with the inevitability of a sleepwalker, and the difference was helping in the fight above them.

Twilight focused her power. She didn't want to be just somepony to protect. She wanted to help and end things here. She knew that was impossible. Her attacks had worked against Nightmare Moon but the guards were too much.

There was still hope then. If she was capable of hurting Nightmare Moon for whatever reason then with enough preparation she might be able to fight her head on...

...if she left two friends to whatever fate awaited them here.

Her concentration on the spell almost failed when she saw the Nightguard finally falter and get torn to pieces by his brethren. Her courage disappeared when she saw fake Guiding impaled by Nightare Moon's tentacles.

No plan.

No though.

She just didn't want to die.

The spell was finished.

Comments

[Anonymous Critic]

No though.

...heavy immersion gets broken too easily by spelling errors...

[JazzyWaffles]

He slumped down on the floor and cried in the growing pool of his blood.

Yikes.

Kill the captive Bearers immediately and you will not have to deal with Twilight Sparkle. Your reward will arrive as soon as you're done. Trust me, I will know.

Fucking dammit.

The final coherent thought faded and the drooling alicorn just sat there, staring blankly at nothing.

Fuck. Why does everything always go so wrong.

The spell was finished.

Fuck fuck fuck

I'm overloaded. I'm going back to the main fic for a couple chapters.

[Teraunce]

You have a wonderfully depressing masterpiece here and how have you not dug through enough fecal matter to reach China yet?