When Snow Falls

by Prophet Of Doom

Chapter 42: Into Darkness

Luna watched Twilight and the others in the sky above, keeping the guard's attention on themselves. She was shivering uncontrollably, having spent hours chained to the cold stone causeway. She was also covered in a layer of freshly fallen snow, adding to her discomfort. She peered over shoulder at the others who were in the same predicament.
She could make out the forms of Sunset and Glimmer. They had combined their magic and created a large shield bubble that encompassed all the others who were in the same predicament as herself, as well as the poor ponies bearing the rune adorned saddle bags. Also inside the bubble was Spike, who trying fruitlessly to break the magical chains with his bare claws.
All around the shield, several of Nightmare Moon’s guards were trying to break it using both main and hoof.
Luna and her unwilling captors were too far forward to fall under the shields protection. So she had to contend with the cold.

Her gaze was drawn back to the snowstorm outside the city, as flashes of lightning illuminated the sky. She was just in time to see this far horizon light up in a hellish red, accompanied by an ear-piercing sound of an explosion. It drew everyponys attention. Bringing an end to the ariel duels and the breaking down of the shield bubble. All eyes were trained on the snowstorm as the red glow died away, yet more lightning crackled.
Then came a strange calm, where all that could be heard was the frightened sobbing of fouls and fillies behind her. It did not last, as another equally loud bang emanating from the storm, followed by more lightning strikes.
Luna was the first to see him, the figure of Midnight Snow hurtling from the storm. He landed awkwardly on the stone causeway and slid to a halt not far from of Luna. She tried to call out to him but her voice was still muffled and she went unheard.
Forcing himself back onto all four hooves, It was clear to luna that he was in severe pain. Residual electricity pulsed through Midnight’s body and patches on his chest , mane and tail were smoldering. He bore this pain through gritted teeth but kept his attention on the storm.
From it, a fierce bolt arced out from the sky straight at Midnight. A golden shield prevented it from hitting him but he recoiled nonetheless.

From the spot the bolt had originated came the dark form of Nightmare Moon. She glided gracefully to the ground, landing just shy of the causeway. Wings outstretched and as intimidating as ever. Her sparkling mane was swirling above her, crackling like a miniature thunderstorm.
Luna’s heart sank, as it appeared that Midnight had failed to land a single hit.
“Now, Midnight Snow,” Declared Nightmare Moon, her attention solely on him alone. “Die!”
A thunderbolt rang out and struck Midnight’s shield. It held, much to her annoyance, “Die!!!”
More bolts followed, each more powerful than the last. Midnight’s shield was still holding but each strike was forcing him back.
Twilight and her allies in the air, now moved to help Midnight but found themselves blocked by the guards that they themselves had been blocking

Nightmare Moon strode forward, building up a powerful bolt in her mane, “You will DIE!!!”
She fired the lightning bolt at Midnight, striking his shield hard. It was a prolonged and intense attack. His defenses were waning but he had no time to care.
Glancing over his left shoulder, Midnight unfolded his artificial gold wing. Luna still several paces behind, watched as this wing appear to melt and fall off his stump. It landed silently on the smooth stone below and immediately started to form into a strange pattern. A rune. The rune of capture.
Nightmare Moon had not seen this, her eyes were glued on Midnight. By the time she did it was already too late. The rune had been activated and a single chain of magic shot out, wrapping itself around Nightmare Moon’s horn. Bringing her thunderous bombardment to an abrupt end.
Seeing that their queen was in peril, guards from all over raced to her aid but ran into another shield bubble. This one had been set up by Midnight and it left him alone with Nightmare Moon. With his strength almost spent, he slowly walked towards her. She retreated until her back was against the shield.
“Stay back!!” Nightmare Moon demanded. She started throwing more lightning bolts at him but without her horn to guide them, they were erratic and poorly aimed. The ones that did hit were painful but weak.
Now face to face, Midnight brought up his rune glowing hoof and without a word being spoken, placed it on her forehead.
The two of them were then consumed by a blinding light.

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For the second time in a day, Midnight Snow found himself in another strange world. While the last one was a strange shimmering land of white light, this was a dark murky place of dark purples, black, and indigo. There was no floor to walk on, and he found himself floating. It was a depressing and unsettling place to be, and midnight was traveling right into the heart of it.
“Foxtrot!” He yelled aloud. “Foxtrot, are you there!!!”
Emerging from the darkness, stood Nightmare Moon wearing an annoyed look, “What are doing, Midnight Snow?”
She was trying everything to make herself more intimidating. Wings unfolded wide, mane flared brightly and standing far taller than she was in the real world. He ignored her and called for Foxtrot again.
“Why do you waste your time trying to save that worthless mare?”
“She’s worth it to me!” He said, finally acknowledging Nightmare Moon's presence.
“There's nothing left of her, you know,” She continued. “Nothing at all.”
“I refuse to believe that!!” -He glared at her angrily- “And you will give her back, Demon!!!”
She scoffed at this, which only increased his anger. He looked away from and called for Foxtrot again.

“Midnight!!!”
The voice was faint, as if far away but it defiantly belonged to Foxtrot.
“Foxtrot!!” Midnight called again, hoping she would respond. She did, and Midnight was able to hear where she was. The voice was emanating from Nightmare Moon’s form.
He drew close to her, bringing a dismissive raised eyebrow from Nightmare Moon, “What now, Midnight Snow?”
Giving no warning of any kind, Midnight thrust a hoof deep into her chest. There was no blood, just distorted ripples around the point of entry.
Nightmare Moon gasped loudly, bore in shock and pain. Midnight for a time papered to be re-emerging around inside of her until he found what he sought. Pulling back with considerable effort, Midnight retracted his hoof from her chest. It held tight to a hoof of blueish-grey. Slowly, the barely conscious Foxtrot started to appear. When she was fully out of Nightmare Moon, he held her tightly to his chest and with a quick strong kick, pushed them both away from Nightmare Moon. She, however, was not so willing to let them go. Growing incessantly, she distorted her mane into a slender sharp tipped tendril and lashed it at the pair. It struck midnight in the chest, just above his heart.

She smiled gleefully at him as he grimaced from the pain. He grabbed the tendril with his free hoof and tried to pull it out. It instead was torn apart, leaving a small piece inside Midnight which quickly merged into his form.
Midnight looked at smiling demon incredulously. Nightmare Moon did not care about his look. As far as she was concerned, she had won, “Try if you dare, Midnight!”
To her shock and horror, he was. Throwing his head back with his horn glowing, Midnight Snow cast a golden beam straight at the of Nightmare Moon. In a last attempt to end this sorry affair.