Crossed Lines

by Bronyxy

8 Luna's Nightmare

Luna stood on the large expanse of the Royal balcony, feeling a gentle breeze run across her feathers.

She stared out across both the land and the sky that she loved, drawing a last drop of comfort, whilst simultaneously saying farewell to everything she knew. Her stillness belied the fact that her ears were very finely honed waiting for the arrival of only one pony.

Luna had never seen the moon with an alicorn’s head upon it as it had been for a thousand years, only ever pictures in books. Now it bore three alicorn heads upon its face.

Only two ponies other than her had the power to banish another pony off this world, and only one had a fixation about the moon. It was clear that Nightmare Moon had returned and vanquished three alicorns. She was the fourth, and Equestria’s last line of defence. Her evil alter-ego must have grown in power to have despatched the other alicorns so quickly; her moon had not been so despoiled last night. Now, it looked ugly, bearing horrific scars of those she loved and respected.

She had donned her black battle armour; an ironic acknowledgement of the evil mare she knew she would be facing at some time in the next hours. Time would henceforth no longer be measured in days, for there would be none.

She reflected on what lay ahead. It was clear that if she lost, a fourth alicorn head would be added to the moon, and Nightmare Moon would reign unopposed, forever, just as in her former twisted ambitions. She stood still, feeling a gentle breeze run across her feathers, waiting.

A whoosh broke her reverie and she spun round as four hooves clapped down at the opposite end of the balcony.
“Good evening Princess Luna” scoffed the black mare, furling her wings. “I haven’t seen that armour for a long time.”
Luna stood facing her enemy, not rising to the bait.

“I stopped by for a friendly little chat, Luna. I trust you have been admiring my handiwork?”
Luna stared fixedly at her enemy.
“Oh, the strong and silent type, I see. Interesting; your sister wasn’t nearly strong enough, what makes you think you’ll fare any better against me? “
“You would never have beaten her in a fair fight” observed Luna, “I am on my guard for trickery.”
Nightmare Moon stepped forward, closing the distance between them while Luna held her ground steadfastly.
“Trickery? Oh no, I intend to defeat you in combat, “You forget, I know you inside out. I know your weapons, your tactics …” her eyes glinted evilly in the moonlight, “… Your every weakness.”

“You have become soft, Luna. Your peaceful little kingdom has not fought a campaign in hundreds of years. You have lost your edge. I, on the other hoof have spent hundreds of years perfecting my skills. You are no longer in my league.”
“I am prepared to give you one chance, Luna. Side with me. Rule alongside me. You know it’s what you always wanted …”

In response, Luna drew a pair of swords and moved forwards, hoofstep at a time. The weapons glinted in the moonlight, complementing their innate light green glow. She held them perfectly still, poised, her steely gaze boring into Nightmare Moon’s skull with a look of pure hatred.

“Magical swords?” the evil mare observed, ”Not taking any chances, I see.”
“I will kill you” hissed the Princess of the Night.
“I do not have a weapon drawn, Luna. That would hardly be fair, now would it?”
Luna held back and the two alicorns began to circle each other. She knew Nightmare Moon would have a plan and she wanted to know what she was facing before she was goaded into a precipitant attack that may have been her plan all along.

Something about her adversary was worrying Luna; she was too confident, and seemed underprepared for combat.

Suddenly, Luna was jumped from behind and whirled round into a crouching position to see who her attacker was. There were two more Nightmare Moons bearing down on her!

With the agility of a ninja, she brought her swords to bear; one on each of her attackers, striking blood with one as she reeled away across the balcony to regain her footing. Luna felt the warm fur of the other attacker against her own fur and threw her over her neck, driving a sword straight down into her chest once she had hit the ground, just as the first attacker returned.

The fallen attacker kicked her legs and struggled feebly to pull the sword from herself, but its magic sapped her power, and her life. Luna only had one sword left, but was confident that would be all she needed to finish the alicorn advancing towards her.

In the background she heard that maniacal cackling and knew now why the original Nightmare Moon had not appeared ready for combat; she had clones to do it for her!

The injured attacker drew a pair of swords and rushed forward swinging them with deadly intent. Luna reacted faster and brought her sword down with lethal precision once more; this time pulling her sword sharply out of the fallen body. Quickly she ran back to retrieve her other sword and saw in her peripheral vision two more Nightmare Moons coming to attack her.

If Nightmare Moon could keep generating more and more copies of herself, there could only be one ending to this unequal combat. Despite the hopelessness of her odds, she fought on, earning cuts and bruises across her body and when the first opportunity presented, she ran over to the original Nightmare Moon who had done her best to get under her skin when they first met. The black alicorn simply smiled as she turned into a wisp of blue smoke and leached away.

Two more Nightmare Moons appeared and the fight continued; a fight that Luna couldn’t afford to lose, but could never hope to win.

By the time she had beaten five attackers, she had become worn down and failed to react fast enough when the pommel of a sword hit her hard across the back of her head and she went down, dazed, only to feel a sharp point of steel pushing into her throat as she panted heavily, regaining her wits.

She stared up angrily at the sneering black coated assailant that held a sword, a glowing green sword, hard into her throat. It was obvious that the merest touch would push it into her windpipe, where its magic would begin to drain her life away. Still she stayed resolute, showing no fear, only a seething resentment.

“Impressive” acknowledged the original Nightmare Moon coalescing from a cloud of blue smoke to one side, “But I told you I would beat you in combat.”
Luna could not respond.
“So, should I impale you on your own magic sword?” she gloated.
“No”, she answered herself, “I think a fourth alicorn head on the moon would be much more pleasing. After all, I can only kill you once, but I can banish you forever.”

Luna winced, knowing she had failed. She had let down all the ponies in Equestria and now they would all suffer as a result. Hers would be the fourth head on the moon along with Celestia, Cadence and Twilight, Equestria’s ruling quadrature sealed in a trinket illuminating the perpetual night sky, pointing to the disappearing memory of happier times.
Nightmare Moon continued her rambling monologue “... Where you can stay forever alongside your sister, step-niece and her foal!”

Luna’s eyes suddenly flashed in hope. Nightmare Moon hadn’t mentioned capturing Twilight!

There was still a chance!