Luna Wants a Windigo

by Lazauya

Final Battle

"Eclipse! Come down and surrender!" Night Mare shouted from her position on the mountain side.

Eclipse looked down at the black mare and grimaced. "You have failed me, Solar Flare," she said assertively, not even bothering to look in the aforementioned alicorn's direction.

Solar Flare quickly found herself without oxygen yet again. Her mane was extinguished, and all the air she had left rushed out of her lungs, threatening to collapse them. She was terrified, but the rational part of her mind had seen it coming. She surged in power, trying desperately to pry away the magic of her superior.

Night Mare noticed this with wide eyes, somewhat expecting Eclipse to at least listen to their threats first. She sent a torrent of magic over to the strangled Solar Flare, and packed in as much of her own power, trying to push out the evil force while amplifying that of her sister.

It seemed to work immediately, and Solar Flare gasped in relief. "Why is everybody choking me today?!"

"I didn't choke you!" Astatine shouted from behind a rock.

"Oh.... Sorry," Solar Flare apologized. She shook her head, still letting her magic flow, not wanting to risk another strike of Eclipse's magic. "Twilight, this pony who looks like Night Mare Moon said she has a spell that can fix you."

Eclipse seemed ready to at least listen, even as she was actively attacking the night and day duo, searching for openings in their magic. And she wouldn't mess around with basic suffocation anymore. "Twilight is no longer here. You can't save her."

Solar Flare was shocked, and she looked to Night Mare. "Did you lie to me?! Why would you do that?!" she shouted as her mane burned bright.

Night Mare silently panicked. "No, I didn't lie," she bluffed calmly. "I do have a spell," she paused, trying to think, "That's how I was able to switch places with Luna. And Luna is still in me. Just like how Celestia is still in you—and just like Twilight is still in her," she stated, hoping it would ease Solar Flare's fears.

Solar Flare simmered down. "Okay. Okay. See, Eclipse or Twilight or whoever you are? She knows what she's talking about! She can fix you!"

Eclipse seemed to do something uncharacteristic of herself: she got mad—no, Night Mare though, mad wasn't an accurate adjective; rather, she was enraged. Although her entire body seemed like a smooth, grey silhouette up until that point, her features suddenly pronounced themselves as her coat paradoxically became black as night. She furrowed her brow so deep, it looked almost comedic, while she bared her spiny, draconic teeth. She visibly shook as her aura burst out it's seams. "I don't need fixing, ant."

Seeing this, Night Mare had a sudden realization. Are my teeth that bad, too? But more than that, she realized that Eclipse could not be reasoned with. After hearing her speak, Night Mare understood that Solar Flare was easy to manipulate. From her imprecise way of speaking, her playful tone, how she went in and out of coherence, and how she seemed to agree with the last pony she spoke to, Night Mare started to get the sense that Solar Flare was profoundly stupid. Convincing her was still dangerous, but it was as dangerous as convincing a foal with a bomb. If she pressed the right buttons, then she could get what she wanted—and the right buttons weren't too hard to find. But Eclipse was not the same. She was intelligent. She was calculated. She would take what she wanted because she knew that it was hers for the taking; after all, who would stop her? Trying to convince her was like trying to convince a terrorist with a bomb who's already lit the fuse and who's looking for the right place to throw said bomb.

But Night Mare was given hope. Even though she knew that she couldn't use words to defeat Eclipse, she might be able to use magic. By that point, the two sister's magics had melded together, and Eclipse seemed to be incapable of penetrating their defenses. Night Mare knew that it was also possible that Eclipse had already penetrated the barrier and was just playing with them, but she had no choice but to not believe that. But before they could defeat Eclipse, Night Mare had to come up with plan. And to come up with a plan, she had to make some time. "Celestia! Solar Flare! Whatever you wish to be called, we have to think of something, quickly! Come over to me!"

"Okay!" Solar Flare shouted back, diving and twirling towards her sister.

"What are you doing?" Eclipse asked in frustration, trying to encapsulate the two in a sphere of her magic as they moved closer together. She had them surrounded, but the newfound density made it even harder to chip away.

Once Solar Flare landed, Night Mare used a familiar spell, lifting up the stone around them. The side of the mountain morphed like putty as the rock was pulled into an igloo, sealing the cursed princesses inside. "Keep your magic up. Try to fill up the space we're in. I'll use mine to protect the outside as best I can," Night Mare instructed Solar Flare.

Eclipse grunted in frustration, attacking the dome with newfound ferocity, the magic combination still managing to hold. "Face me, ants!"

In the hill, Night Mare began to plot. "So what do we know?"

"Well, we know that Eclipse is Twilight. And that you're actually... Night Mare Moon?! Wait..." Solar Flare pointed out unhelpfully, somewhat perplexed at the conclusion. Her mouth hung upon as she contemplated the ramifications.

"Yes, thank you. We do know these things," Night Mare congratulated, "But it seems like we also know that our magics together somehow are more powerful than Eclipse's. Maybe if we combined our spells in a surprise attack, it would be enough to harm her."

"Harm her?! We can't do that! That's Twilight!" Solar Flare shouted, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

Night Mare almost laughed at her idiot sister. She wasn't sure if Solar Flare understood the irony in her words, but it was layered on so thick that it made Night Mare want to slam her own face into a wall.

Night Mare still didn't feel comfortable calling Solar Flare by her chosen name, so she opted to use as indirect speech as best she could. "I understand this. I don't want to see her harmed either," she said, the nagging feeling that she wasn't acting like herself coming back again, "I simply meant that we have a chance of getting any spell through to her. I just want to incapacitate her, like I said before."

This seemed to soothe Solar Flare's fears. "Okay..."

"In any event... give me time to think."

"Okay!" Solar Flare said eagerly, standing straight up and staring a point on the wall of the dark stone sphere.

Night Mare squinted in befuddlement at Solar Flare's antics. She really does seem childish. Whatever. If she can follow through with whatever plan I give her, then her... personality doesn't matter. Now, how can we get the upper hand on her? What if we use a teleport spell, like Celestia tried to use on me? Surely she would notice. The only reason I didn't notice is because Celestia was out of my range. But her range is incredible. She was probably in Ponyville when she sensed me wake up, so there's absolutely no way that would work. Unless... she's focusing all her magic somewhere else! Her magic isn't instant, it's fast for sure, but that beam spell Celestia was using was certainly faster than magic. But how do we get her to focus all her magic? It seems like she has control of Celestia and the ability to channel as much magic as me. What if we draw her high up into the sky, where she can't channel her magic? But how do we do that? She hasn't moved since we got here, so why would she chase us? Think, Mare! What does she want? Does she want anything? Night Mare grew anxious as she considered her dwindling options. There has to be something that she wants that I can give her! She wants me. Night Mare froze at the conclusion. She wanted me. Maybe she still wants me? How can I use that to my advantage? She would never let her guard down. She's too smart for that. And if I gave myself up, she would just kill me. There's no way that could work. Think! What do we have?! What do we have? We still have the fact that she can't penetrate our combined magic. Or maybe it's just mine? That hasn't been tested. Can one of Celestia's spells break through to her? She was able to shatter even my reinforced shields. Granted, I was in the air. I never got to test the limit of her abilities. So where does that leave us? Night Mare sighed and shook her head, wracked by anxiety. She couldn't seem to find a way out.

Solar Flare turned to her, breaking out of her trance. "So, what did you think of?"

"I don't know. I just don't know how we can beat her."

Solar Flare comically stroked her chin with her hoof, trying to imitate someone much smarter than herself. "Well, you said that she can't break through our magic together. So what if we use a really strong spell, together? Like... A spell... that will put her to sleep, but will also... like... make her really tired..." she held out her hoof in protest, "Wait, no, that's not what I meant! That's not what I meant! I meant that, a spell that would put her to sleep, but was also really powerful! Sorry, I misspoke."

Night Mare groaned internally. This is who I'm paired with? "Perhaps that could work, I don't know. How should we create this spell?" she asked, trying to keep out the condescension in her voice while still showing Solar Flare how dumb her suggestion was.

Solar Flare appeared legitimately thoughtful for a moment, "I can teach you a spell for transferring magic between ponies. Then you can lend me some of your environmental magic, and I can use the magic you give me for my own sleep spell to give it more power."

Night Mare's mouth hung agape. "Uh... Yeah... that could work," Night Mare pondered, "But how are you going to get through her defenses? Her magic is too dense to just fire a sleep spell through."

"Maybe I can use some kind of powerful... magic... breaking... spell," Solar Flare surmised as she brought her hoof back to her chin.

Night Mare brought her hoof to her face, only hoping Solar Flare didn't notice. Back to square one. "And how should we create this spell?"

"I think, if I put enough energy into my light beam spell, I should be able to break any kind of magic shield, at least for a moment. And when I break the shield, you can try to confuse her by surrounding her with your magic."

Night Mare was amazed at the dynamism of the pony before her, but was otherwise contemplating her words. She appeared thoughtful for a moment before speaking. "This is all very promising, but how do we defend ourselves while we get ready? The spell to transfer magic will almost certainly be too time-consuming for me, seeing as it's probably a day-spell."

"I don't know.... Why can't we just do two spells at once?"

Night Mare sighed. "If we spread ourselves too thin, then we won't be able to defend against her. We need to break her shield then knock her out while we defend ourselves from her magic. The only way we can do this is if we get her to focus her magic all on blocking your attack. But she'll know that we plan to break through her shield, and I don't think she's just going to let herself be hit. She's just going to dodge it! That, or launch a counterattack while we're charging up." Wait, Night Mare thought to herself, her eyes going wide. "That's it! She's going to dodge the attack. That's our opening!"

Solar Flare's brow creased as the gears jammed in her head. "What? But you said we couldn't do any of this if we can't defend ourselves...."

Night Mare bit her lip. "If we pull this off right, it will be over in a second. Here's what I'm thinking...."

---

The mound that Solar Flare and Night Mare hid in split apart and went flush with the mountain to reveal the duo already charging their magic. Night Mare's horn glowed a sickly blue as aura welled up from the ground, condensing in front of the black mare, before it was channeled into a thin, calm stream. The stream led to Solar Flare, where she soaked up the stream, building up a bright light, brighter than any before it. It lit the area, and Night Mare started to sweat at the heat it was giving off.

Eclipse was perplexed. She could clearly see both the mares performing difficult spells, and yet her poking and prodding still couldn't get past their intense miasma. To her, it still felt like trying to crush a diamond under her hoof.

She needed to react fast, though. It looked as if they were about to unleash a powerful beam, and she needed to be ready to dodge.

A moment later, when the light emanating from Solar Flare's horn seemed brighter than anything that had come before it, she released it; the hair thin beam seemed to make fire from nothing as the air sizzled around it.

It raced towards Eclipse, but she had been anticipating this precise moment. Instantly, without so much as a sound, she was gone.

And the two sister's took their queue. As the grasp on their magic sphere loosened, they shot out tendrils, trying desperately to find where Eclipse was going to reappear. The knew they had only a fraction of a second before they would permanently lose their chance; once Eclipse learned their game, it was all but over.

Another moment later, and Eclipse was there, still motionless, not more than 1 meter from where she was before.

All Night Mare could think was, Perfect.

As Eclipse materialized, she started to build up her magic again. But she noticed something was amiss: a wisp of magic crawled up her leg. She sent her magic to it, trying to shake it off, but she wasn't fast enough. It hardened and engorged, threatening to surround her. She couldn't teleport, or risk losing the leg.

So she focused—harder than even Twilight had ever before—and called upon the mountain to give her magic. It flowed in abundance, and she kneaded it and compressed it, trying to pry the magic away from her leg .

But she couldn't. As soon as her newly enhanced magic hit it, it only stopped moving. It still coiled tightly around her leg. Her inability to nullify the magic almost made her lose her composure, but she quickly realized that doing so would most likely cost her the fight. She was surprised that they were able to pull off a feat like this—putting so much energy into the beam, then quickly switching spells. But then the truth hit her, and her expression soured. They fooled me. That must not have been a real beam spell. The whole time they were just preparing for me to teleport. It will not happen ever again. Now I know they are clever. Now I know their magic is something to avoid. I must break them up.

Eclipse's image darkened; she charged her horn, and the bright rays emanating from it were intermittently interrupted by rays of shadow that seemed to drain the light around them just as much as Eclipse's coat.

Solar Flare and Night Mare stared at her, anxiously trying to figure out what she was doing. They could tell they weren't going to make anymore progress on the leg, but for now it was enough. The fact that Eclipse hadn't simply cut off her own leg was evidence enough that Eclipse either was still underestimating them, or did in fact not want to lose a limb. Night Mare figured both options were fine; the former gave them room to scheme, and the latter meant that they had her at least temporarily immobilized.

Night Mare turned to Solar Flare, still keeping half her vision on Eclipse. "We need to be ready for whatever she's doing. We need to thicken our magic even more, and prepare to dodge."

The pair did just as Night Mare instructed, lowering themselves to the ground and channeling and refining the aura around them.

Eclipse continue to build up her spell, and the anxiety of the situation compounded.

And then, Eclipse let go.

The light from the spell was so bright, the sisters were blinded even with their eyes closed and their forelegs blocking the source. They recognized it as pure, raw power. It terrified them.

But they couldn't simply give in. Instinctively, they both knew what to do. They poured everything into their counter. They thought that maybe if they could create a barrier strong enough, they could at least survive the spell.

"It's working!" Night Mare shouted to Solar Flare. She was ecstatic for a moment, until she realized that Eclipse wasn't giving up.

Eclipse was silent as she lasered down a single point in the shield. To any onlooker, it would seem that Night Mare and Solar Flare's magic was completely absorbing the energy radiating from Eclipse. But Night Mare could tell that wasn't the case. It wasn't being absorbed, it was being stored. The unstoppable force coming from Eclipse was hitting the immovable object of the sisters; with no where to go, it was being trapped in small pocket, building up before it could no longer be contained by either Eclipse or the sisters.

In short, it would explode, violently.

Night Mare's breath grew uneasy. She realized that either Eclipse would run out of magic before it reached critical mass, or it would reach critical mass—and Night Mare had a sinking suspicion that Eclipse wasn't about to run out of magic. Solar Flare seemed almost completely oblivious to what was happening, instead choosing to focus on keeping the barrier up.

Minutes passed as Night Mare and Eclipse stared each other down. But Night Mare had to speak up. "What are you doing? This is going to kill us both!"

Eclipse's expression only flattened, refusing to speak.

Solar Flare frowned, opting to try and not think about what Night Mare was saying.

But Night Mare only grew more frustrated. "Did you hear me?! If you don't stop, you're going to die!"

Eclipse stayed silent.

"Do you think you can avoid the blast? You can't! Our magic is still wrapped around you, so you can't just teleport away at the last second! This is futile!"

But Eclipse was simply in too deep. She knew that there would be an explosion, but she figured there were three possibilities. Either both parties survived the explosion and she was merely draining her opponents resources, she survived due to being further away, or no one survived. Game theory would suggest that even if the odds of survival for anyone involved were quite low, she, statistically speaking, couldn't lose.

"You can't win this way! You'll die!"

"So will you," Eclipse said without intonation.

Ignoring their conversation, Solar Flare started, "I'm gonna try something! I'm—"

But before she could finish, at nearly the same moment, both spells became too weak to hold back the unstoppable force.

---

Seeing the intense exchange of attacks, Astatine had elected to hide further away. Naturally, he was going to make sure the correct side won—although he still wasn't sure what he would do if that didn't happen—but he figured he didn't need to die in the process. He wandered further up the mountain, towards the snowy peaks where both Astatine and Blythe were quite comfortable.

But neither one understood what was happening. From the distance they were at, it looked like the alicorns below them were having a light show with only one light.

It was almost boring to watch. "What are they doing? They're just standing there!" Astatine shouted as if he was an angry sports fan.

But Blythe was more levelheaded. We have to wait and see.

So they waited and saw.

And they saw the explosion. It was far enough away that they had time to react; they got ready to fade through the shrapnel.

But the explosion was more massive and intense than they could have anticipated. It was hot and bright, so bright and so hot that it felt as if the they were standing on the surface of the sun. They retreated deep into the mountain, trying to escape the intensity of it all.

They anxiously held their breaths deep in the mountain, waiting as long as they could to make sure it was over.

When they finally had to breath, they resurfaced. Astatine looked around, noticing the air was still unpleasantly hot; a wind rushed into the to the epicenter, directing their attention to the battle field.

Both of them were shocked. They simply didn't know what to make of the sight before them; Solar Flare, Night Mare Moon, and Eclipse were strewn about, surrounded by smoldering debris; the ground was glowing red and the air shimmered from it's heat. Yet the princesses were laying in oddly perfect circles of tranquility, as if the explosion had missed them entirely.

The wind still whipped around, but it was the only sound Astatine heard as he approached the ponies. He half expected them all to be dead, but also knew that he had underestimated them before. In any event, once he got down there and surveyed the situation, he knew he needed to fetch help immediately. He began thinking of who he could turn to.

When he got to the bottom, he was shocked to find just how hot it was; it was so hot, Blythe had to stand back, completely unable to continue to the actual bodies. Astatine turned around, but Blythe only nodded as if to tell him to go forth without her.

Astatine first came up to Solar Flare. She had terrible burn marks all over her body, spotting her white coat with black. Her mane was completely extinguished, leaving a thin, singed, and smoking pink hairs behind. Her eyes were closed, but she bared her fangs and scowled as if she were having bad dream. He was about to prod her, but he quickly realized that he should probably try to wake up someone else first.

He floated over to Night Mare, and he was surprised to find her sleeping peacefully. He mane still held it's star pattern, and was being whipped around by the wind. Her coat was pristine, and so was the area around her. He put his hoof to her side, trying to nudge her awake. For moment, he contemplated trying his magic again, but he didn't want to disfigure her anymore.

Finally, he went to Eclipse.

He jumped away in fright when he saw her demonic eyes staring into him.

But then he realized she was laying on the ground, completely motionless. Her legs were straight and her right wing was sticking up, but she was laying down on the ground, her left wing folded uncomfortably under her body. Her mouth hung agape, and she looked frozen in time. He could tell she was in some kind of a trance, and he definitely did not want to try waking her up.

Quickly, he flew back to Blythe. "We need to find that pony who helped us get Twilight Sparkle!"

Author's Note:

Okay, so I think the next chapter is going to be the last one. I dunno. Sorry is this was boring.

Comments

[GroxD]

It's not boring, personally I like how you've been writing the story. I love how you've expanded on Solar Flare's actual personality, more than many other authors. I look forward to what you bring to us next.