Chapter 22
It took several very long seconds for the dust to clear. Big Mac was the first to recover, pushing aside a relatively thin layer of debris as he spread his wings and shook himself off. He turned and saw the statue of Discord lying on its side, the petrification spell intact. Hearing several groans, he began digging at the debris with both his magic and his hooves, trying to uncover as many of the other ponies as he could. It did not take him long to uncover Rarity, Trixie, and Babs. Bruised and disoriented, it took them several minutes to get themselves together. None had been seriously injured.
Spike was also safe, having been snatched up by Twilight who had leapt into the air as the floor began collapsing. Both Rainbow and Fluttershy had managed to avoid the collapse in a similar manner. They had both grabbed Pinkie and were holding her several dozen feet above the ground. The only one missing was Applejack.
It only took the alicorn a few moments to locate and clear the debris off her. She was unconscious and her right rear leg was bent the wrong way. Years of working the farm told Big Mac it was a serious, but not life threatening fracture. Her unconsciousness came from a large lump just behind her ear.
“Here,” came a voice from behind him, “let us help you with her.” The stallion turned to see Twilight land behind him. She gently lifted his “sister” out of the rubble and set her on a soft cloud of magic. Spike stepped in and gave her a quick once over, and began washing the dirt and blood away from Applejack’s head wound. He gently pried open one eye and looked at it, then nodded.
“No sign of a concussion, at least not a serious one,” Muttered the dragon. The castle shook slightly causing everypony to look up.
“You’d better go out there and take care of that, before they bring the whole place down,” observed Twilight, glancing back towards Big Mac.
“They?”
“Celestia and Nightmare Moon. As soon as Discord was defeated, his transformation spell on them broke. The first jolt we felt was Nightmare attacking Princess Celestia.”
A bolt of dark energy split the sky and the moon rose, eclipsing the sun. Ponies who were still gathered on the castle grounds cried out in panic and began running around, desperately seeking someplace safe to hide.
Big Mac spread his wings and leapt skyward, soaring through a large hole in the throne room roof. He quickly saw the two alicorn princesses, each trying to maneuver into an advantageous position. They dove at each other, then rolled away in opposite directions, each firing bursts of magic at the other.
The stallion was reminded of a battle he’d once witnessed between two hawks as they fought for the same dead rabbit. Celestia had the advantage in altitude, firing down at her opponent. Nightmare though had a definite edge in speed and maneuverability. The Princess of the Night fired another bolt of dark energy in her sister’s direction. Instead of striking Celestia, it bounced off a shield she had formed around herself. The beam sliced through the upper half of a tree. One very heavy branch broke off and fell straight for a mare and her two foals. There was no doubt it would have crushed them if its fall hadn’t been stopped by a green field of energy that surrounded it.
Prince Macintosh set aside the deadly tree limb then climbed, beating his wings hard against the autumn air. He interposed himself between the two princesses, calling out as he faced Nightmare Moon. “Luna! Stop! This ain’t what yer about!”
“LUNA?” mocked the Nightmare. “I TOLD THEE BEFORE, I AM NOT THAT WEAK, SIMPLE-MINDED PRINCESS. I AM THE NIGHT, TERRIBLE AND GLORIOUS. THE SHADOW WITHIN WHICH ALL THAT IS HIDDEN FROM THE LIGHT RESIDES.” She sent a beam of energy towards Big Mac, stomping at the air in front of her to create a magical shockwave that sent the stallion flying.
Realizing he was about to crash into the rampart of the castle, the alicorn prince focused his magic and suddenly vanished, teleporting to a point behind Nightmare Moon. When he reappeared, his momentum carried him straight into her, stunning her. Both alicorns tumbled out of the sky and skidded, muzzle first, across the grass in front of the castle.
Big Mac, being physically stronger, recovered more quickly that the Nightmare. He again used his magic to trap her in a cage, powerful enough to contain even the most skilled unicorn magic-user. The dark-furred alicorn shook her head clear and rose to her hooves.
“FOOL! DOST THOU THINK TO CONTAIN MY POWER IN SUCH A WEAK FASHON?” Nightmare grinned wickedly at the stallion, then abruptly turned herself to mist, flowing out through the bars like water.
“Oh... Snap!” muttered Big Mac as the mist suddenly surged forward and enveloped him.
“DON’T INHALE!” yelled Celestia. “If she gets inside you she can possess your mind!” The stallion clamped both forehooves over his muzzle and held his breath. The sun princess cast a spell and a sudden wind whipped around him, lifting him partially off the ground. Nightmare screamed in frustration as she was carried up and away from Big Mac. The miniature whirlwind lifted the cloud high into the sky even as Celestia touched down next to the stallion.
“A cage... seriously?” she muttered, glancing at him as she readied another spell set.
“Ah’m kinda new ta this magic fighting. It’s a bit hard ta figure-out.”
“In that case, go with your instinct, not your mind. Let the magic do the thinking for you.” Celestia gathered herself and leapt skyward, following close on the whirlwind even as Nightmare broke free of the spell and reformed into an alicorn.
Big Mac nodded to himself. “Let the magic do the thinkin’.... got it!” As he completed the thought, something tickled the back of his mind. He threw himself to the side just in time to avoid a searing bolt of energy that had been aimed at him. It charred the ground where it struck, exposing the bedrock several layers beneath the soil.
The stallion’s first instinct was to grab a rock and throw it at the offender for having ruined a perfectly nice piece of fertile ground. He went with the though, magically ripping out a bolder sized chuck of bedrock and hurling it at the offending party.
Nightmare Moon smirked seeing the bolder flying her way. She braced herself, then blasted the bolder to dust and rubble, only to discover that instead of releasing his magic upon throwing it, Big Mac was essentially guiding the debris towards her. The dark princess threw up a shield, blocking much of the rubble. The dust particles were another matter. They enveloped her like a cloud and magically stayed in place, obscuring her sight.
Celestia seized the opportunity to encase Nightmare in a sphere of fire, trying to counter her darkness with light. The sphere cut off Big Mac’s magic, causing the dust cloud to collapse. The nightmare responded by diving towards the ground, dragging the sun princess’ sphere with her. At the last instant, she transformed once more into a vapor. The sphere exploded against the ground even as the dark mist dove into a tiny rabbit hole. More than a dozen small, white rabbits burst out of the ground, using various back doors to the warren.
The mist poured out of one hole and coalesced into Nightmare Moon. One of the more aggressive rabbits tried biting her on the hoof. She brutally kicked it to one side causing it to screech in pain. This was followed by a blur of yellow and pink that slammed into the dark princess hard enough to knock her helmet off.
The nightmare was momentarily surprised as she skidded about ten feet back on her rump. Shaking her head, she was astonished to see a small, pegasus mare with an ethereal horn on her forehead, bending over the injured lapin. “Oh, you poor bunny,” she cooed, cradling it in a soft cloud of magic.
“THOU DARES TO STRIKE ME?!!” screamed Nightmare Moon.
Instead of cowering, Fluttershy turned and faced the dark princess, glaring at her. “What kind of monster are you, to harm an innocent bunny. You’re no princess! You’re nothing but a BIG, DUMB MEANIE!!!”
For an instant, Nightmare Moon locked eyes with the mare. The stare she gave tore straight into the nightmare’s mind, stunning her for about three seconds. The princess threw a forehoof over her muzzle, blocking out the image of Fluttershy’s eyes. This was followed by a rainbow explosion of air as a cyan figure zoomed past. The controlled and shaped pressure wave of the expanding sonic rainboom sent the princess of the night tumbling across the paddock in front of the castle.
“HA!” laughed Rainbow Dash, “I thought that would get your attention!”
Nightmare Moon threw herself back onto her hooves, fury ringing in her voice. “INDEED, IT HAS, THOU MISCREANT.”
“EEEP!” An instant later the multi-hued pegasus was knocked out of the sky by a bolt of black lightning.
Rainbow fell, barely conscious of the singe marks and burns on her body. Just before crashing into the ground she was caught in the coils of a lavender, serpentine figure that snaked through the air. She dreamily looked up into the long, lost face of a friend. “Hi Twilight. Long time no see....” she muttered before passing out.
The draconequus gently set her friend down next to Fluttershy who immediately began using her magic element to soothe the cyan pegasus’ injuries. Twilight whirled angrily on the alicorn princess. “How dare you hurt my friend!” She raised both her taloned hands. Magic flared between them as she hurled two bolts of magical energy at the nightmare.
Big Mac watched, open mouthed, as they both converged on and struck the princess. An instant later, she vanished. “What just happened?”
“I teleported her exactly one minute into the future,” the draconequus replied. “Everypony... quick! Gather in a circle right here. When she reappears, let her have it!” The others, including Celestia and Big Mac complied. They all readied themselves as Twilight gave them a countdown. “Seven, six, five, four, three, two... and NOW!”
Nothing happened! For several long seconds they stood in a circle looking at each other. Celestia turned to face the draconequus. “Where’s my sister?”
“I don’t understand. That spell should have put her exactly one minute into the future. She should have reappeared right there,” muttered Twilight, staring at the center of their circle.
“Time ain’t exactly stable hereabouts,” said Big Mac, taking a few steps back out of the circle and looking around. “Ya might have sent her farther than ya figured.”
The air was suddenly filled with a sinister, disembodied laugh. “OR, THOU MIGHT HAVE FORGOTTEN TO BIND THE SPELL TO ONE SPOT. JUST THE KIND OF MISTAKE I WOULD HAVE EXPECTED FROM MY SISTER’S APPRENTICE!”
A black pentagram burned its way into the grass, encompassing all of the circled figures. In an instant they were all sucked into it without even a chance for a last gasp. All save Big Mac who leap free even as the glyph burned its way beneath his hooves. Moments later, the pentagram vanished, leaving behind the taunting laugh of Nightmare Moon.
Big Mac looked around him. Celestia was gone, as were the Elements of Harmony, including Rainbow who a moment before had lay unconscious next to the castle. Scattered about the now empty clearing were the chrystal necklaces that had been bound to each of the Elements. The moon princess reappeared, still laughing, standing not twenty hoof-sprints in front of the stallion.
“What’d ya do with ma friends?” he demanded.
The nightmare smiled wickedly, lowering her voice for the first time. “Why... I have sent them all to Tartarus, where even now a certain ancient enemy of Celestia’s and mine is, no doubt, draining them of their magic. The fight is over,” she chuckled, “I am triumphant at last.”
“Nnnope!”
Big Mac stamped his forehooves into the ground before him. A wave of magic shot out and vanished into the surrounding grass which began to sprout at an incredible rate of growth. Within a second it enveloped Nightmare Moon’s hooves, binding them to the ground even as it climbed her withers.
Snarling angrily, the black-furred alicorn burst into a silvery flame. It froze the grass, making it brittle enough to shatter at the slightest movement. The mare easily freed herself then whirled on the stallion. “THOU SEEK TO BIND ME WITH SIMPLE EARTH MAGIC? TRULY, THOU HAVE NOT YET MASTERED THINE OWN MAGIC AS I HAVE MINE!”
She hurled a ball of silver energy at Big Mac. He instinctively ducked under it, though a bit of his tail was caught in the blast. Like the grass, the ends of his tail froze and dropped free, leaving it feeling like cold fire.
Focusing, the stallion’s body suddenly became as thin and insubstantial as mist, though it did retain his form. He sank into the ground, vanishing from sight. The nightmare scowled, dropping her shield before blasting at the turf and opening a crater at least ten feet deep. Big Mac could not be seen anywhere.
“WE CANS’T SEE THY WEAKNESS. YOU HIDE, SCURRYING LIKE SOME FRIGHTENED SHREW UNDERGROUND. SO LIKE A PEASANT FARMER. THINKING THERE IS SUCCORE WITHIN THE EARTH.”
A clod of earth suddenly smacked her on the cutie mark. Nightmare Moon whirled, angry at the insult to her dignity. She spotted the stallion’s head protruding from the ground, a playful smile framed across his face. He ducked back underground, even as she let loose another blast at him. Again she missed, and again she felt another dirt clod slap against her rump. She whirled once more, firing on the turn but again missed the taunting equine as he vanished once more into the ground. Three more times he popped up, pelting her with bits of earth. Three more times she blasted away, only to have him vanish.
Frustrated, she yelled at Big Mac. “SHOW THYSELF, COWARD.” Even as she screamed her wrath, yet another clot of earth caught her, not on the flank, but directly under her tail. Unlike the others, it was particularly thick, wet and odiferous, as if it had been dredged up from the bottom of some ancient lake.
Nightmare spun in time to see the grinning form of the stallion as he vanished once more into the ground. “BASTARD!!!!!!” she screamed, blasting at the turf below her without thought or reason.
Holding his breath, Big Mac moved through the earth like a swimmer, pushing himself forward with rapid strokes and focusing on keeping himself as insubstantial as possible. He didn’t want to think of what would happen if he materialized while still underground. He could feel the vibrations above as the ebon furred alicorn struck the earth time and time again.
The stallion looked around for something, anything he could use. He found it about fifty feet to his left and thirty feet down. He smiled thinking about the mud bath he and Luna had taken, not so very long ago. Reaching out with his magic, he pushed up on the mass of water and muck that was trapped underground. It flowed through cracks he provide it in the earth until it was directly under the Nightmare.
Using his horn he gave the earth a sharp, magical jolt, causing it to crumble beneath Luna’s hooves into a deep, wide sink hole. The Princess of the Moon crouched intending to leap skyward only to find four, thick paws made of muck pulling her down into the hole. She yelped once in surprise, then vanished as the sides of the sink hole collapsed in on her.
Big Mac pulled himself free of the ground and took a deep breath. He knew the trap wouldn’t hold Luna for long so he whirled and galloped back in the direction of the castle. Reaching the entrance, he turned back towards the pit even as tongues of ebony lightning began surging from its depth. He focused on the Element of Courage hidden beneath his yoke, slowing drawing its energy into himself. He wasn’t certain if what he had in mind would work, but it seemed his best chance of ending this fight, here and now.
A black mist roiled out of the hole, reforming into a very angry Nightmare Moon. She hovered about a hundred feet in the air and glared down on the alicorn prince. “THOU ART NOT A TRUE PRINCE OF MAGIC.... YOUR SPELLS ARE WEAK AND PATHETIC, AND I TIRE OF THY GAMES! SUBMIT TO MY POWER YOU BUFFOON.... OR DIE!”
Big Mac felt his element’s power coalesce deep within his chest, then spread outward as thin, invisible tendrils; each reaching.... searching for a kindred power, latching firmly onto something beyond his sight. He relaxed, determined not to force the magic to his will, but to let it shift and dance within him as it chose. The red-furred alicorn shifted his stance, standing firm and unyielding against the Nightmare’s threat.
“Nnnope!”
“THEN DIE!” the Princess of Dreams screamed. A dark sphere of red energy suffused her form even as a bolt of black lightning stabbed downward at Macintosh. An instant before it struck, a multicolored shield of energy formed in front of the stallion, blocking the lightning strike and reflecting it to the side. Embedded within the shield were six gems, each radiating with their own power and linked by a green, six pointed star embossed on the front of the shield.
The Nightmare stared unbelieving. “NO! THIS CANNOT BE! TIS IMPOSSIBLE!” She hurled a series of bolts at the shield, each one glancing off without leaving even a mark. “THOU CANNOT WIELD THE ELEMENTS. THEY HAVE ALREADY CHOSEN THEIR BEARERS. THY WILL IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO FORCE THEM TO YOUR BIDDING.”
“Y’all got it wrong,” Big Mac responded quietly. “They ain’t bound by ma will. They’re bound by somethin’ that ties all the elements tagether... Courage!” The element beneath the work collar flared brightly, surrounding the stallion in an emerald glow.
Nightmare Moon screamed, her voice trembling with both rage and fear. A solid beam of black energy burst forth from her horn, slamming into the alicorn prince, or more precisely, his shield. The dark energy flare split into its component parts. Streams of red, blue, green, violet, yellow, orange and indigo separated and pin-wheeled off in different directions, spinning themselves into a vortex of color, not unlike the clouds of a hurricane. Pushing back along the beam of ebony power they began to draw more and more spinning colors from it, adding them to the counter-spell.
“NO! NO! NO! THOU CANNOT OVER COME MY POWER. THOU ARE NOTHING...NOTHING!” the nightmare yelled. “NNNOOOTTTHHHIIINNNGGGGGGG!” Her voice was abruptly cut off as the rainbow hued vortex enveloped the sphere of dark energy she had surrounded herself with.
The same colors flared within Big Mac’s own mind, threatening to overwhelm his senses. The magic danced back and forth, making it difficult for the stallion to think. Vague ideas begin to seep into the alicorn’s head, each with its own plea and imperative. REVENGE, JUSTICE, PUNISH, BANISH, DESTROY, END, REPLACE, DOMINATE, COMMAND... Each thought seemed to push itself into Macintosh’s thoughts from outside, as if the elements themselves were seeking guidance, a direction in which to push their power. The longer it lasted, the harder it became for him to focus.
Big Mac shook his head. This must have been what it was like for Celestia, when with a half formed thought she’d banished her sister to the moon, using the power of the elements to separate the threat from the world. But what was needed here was more.... The stallion’s head felt as if it were about to explode. White light filled his mind and burned its way into his world. He focused, gasping as he spoke in a voice that rolled across the world like thunder... HEAL! HEAL IT ALL!!! The elements flared and expanded outward, enveloping Big Mac.
The world went white and faded out.
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Glad to see this updated.
I wasn’t worried. I faith in you. Still, glad to see a new chapter after so long.
Thank you..... Sometimes, life takes a hold and kind of rattles you around a bit, trying to shake loose the inspiration.
*insert Frankenstein meme here* I find it funny how Big Mac played a game of Whack a Mole with Nightmare Moon.
Joking aside, glad to see this story back again. I, as well as many on the site know the pressure and woes of real life commitments, so take your time. We'll be waiting patiently for the next update as usual.
Great to see you back man and thanks for the wonderful update.
Thanks.... Any comment is welcome, especially if it improves my writing.
Yay more words to read. And read them I have! Its been a long time, but I am still enjoying this. Life gets in the way, but now and then i pop in to see if someone updated, today i got this suprize update, so thank you for doing what you do!
Oh wow. That was a pretty nice chapter. It was fun to see Big Mac finally starting to wet his hooves with some more intense magic, even if he's still a little bit amateur at the spell duels. But he had the deus ex machina that Nightmare Moon didn't, so after their tug-of-war, everything's all fine and dandy. His techniques and the last little bit at the end were all a nice heraldry to his status as a former Earth pony prior to ascension, too.
Of course Twilight Sparkle screws everything up yet again
9171760
You might want to cut this Twilight a break. She only regained control of her body a few hours ago, if that. On top of which, her form, and by inference her sensory input is a bit different. If that's not distracting enough, I don't know what is.
I doubt the Twilight from Big Mac's world would have goofed it up. (or not)