Taming Nightmare Moon

by Leafdoggy

Chapter 22

Luna was crumpled on the ground, her head in her hooves as she quietly sobbed. Her thoughts were fuzzy, and her mind was begging for some kind of relief, be it sleep or whatever else. It was all just too much.

Nightmare Moon was silent in her thoughts.

Luna tried to tell herself that everything was alright. That Applejack must be okay, that this fit what the fortune said, but that scream. Applejack’s howls of pain echoed endlessly through her head, corrupting any hopeful thoughts she may have found.

A single thought stuck out above all others, though.

The fortune had never said that Applejack would survive to see her crowning.

Daybreaker stared down at the broken heap that was her sister. She looked first with apprehension. Something deep inside of her still made her waver upon seeing Luna in such a state. Perhaps, the distant thought mused, Daybreaker had gone too far.

She burned that thought away. There was no room for self doubt. Not when a single moment of weakness could bring ruin to the world.

Still, she was hesitant. Luna looked to be in so much pain. Nightmare Moon was nowhere to be seen. Maybe it was time to stop, at the very least to spare her sister any more heartbreak.

It took some effort, but that thought, too, became nothing but ash. Nothing was going to stop her. Not when she was this close.

With her hesitation washed away, the anger crept back in, and her frown deepened into a scowl. She walked over to her sister and loomed over her, and the flames raged in her eyes.

“What are you doing?” Daybreaker asked. “Bring her back out.”

Luna didn’t respond. She barely even heard the words.

Daybreaker snarled. “Listen to me, Luna! I wasn’t done with her.”

Luna sniffed and looked up with cold, unfocused eyes. “She’s gone.”

“You’re lying,” Daybreaker said. “I know she’s in there, bring her back!”

“She’s gone.” Luna tried to push herself back up onto her hooves, but stumbled and fell back to the ground.

“You’re not equipped to handle this, Luna! You’re not thinking straight. You’re wrong. She’s there.”

Luna tried again, and this time managed to stay on her hooves. She wobbled, but still she managed it. “Maybe I’m not enough to deal with this,” she said. Her voice was quiet and icy. “That matters little. This won’t be the first time I’ve stood before a monster I’ve no hope of stopping.”

“I’m not the monster here! I’m trying to stop the monster!”

“Oh, just shut up already”

Luna mustered up all the concentration she could to focus her magic into her horn. She stood there for what felt like an eternity, the power flowing through her and steadily growing, and then she loosed it at her sister.

It was nothing. The tiny beam of magic was hardly enough to even reach Daybreaker, and she batted it away with ease.

“Luna, don’t be stupid,” Daybreaker told her.

Luna ignored her and tossed another pathetic bolt of energy at her. Once again, it was knocked into the ground.

Daybreaker growled. “Stop!” With a flick of her wrist, a lick of fire shot out from the ground and wrapped itself around Luna’s horn. Then it tightened like a vice and dug into her, cutting off her magic and making Luna stumble in pain.

Luna refused to fall, though. She caught herself and started walking towards her sister.

“Now what? Luna, you’ve lost! Stop this insanity!”

Luna didn’t listen. She kept moving forward, one step at a time, slow and steady until she stood nose to nose with her sister. She glared up at Daybreaker with hazy, hateful eyes for a moment, then reared back and took a swing at her.

Daybreaker sidestepped it easily. “Really? What’s your plan here?”

Luna flung her hoof out again, and again was dodged without effort.

“Enough!” Daybreaker swiped her hoof through the air, and tendrils of flame sprung out and wrapped around each of Luna’s hooves, rooting them to the ground. “No more of this, just bring me Nightmare Moon!”

“She’s gone!” Luna fought against her bindings, trying in vain to pull herself free.

“How am I meant to believe that? She had me beaten, she can’t just be gone.”

“I don’t care!” Luna roared in effort as she tugged at the flames. “Just let me go so I can hit you!”

Daybreaker grimaced. “Luna, if she’s gone this can end. We can put this behind us!”

“No!” Luna tugged harder, and winced as she felt a sudden pain in one of her hind legs, but still she fought to get free. “You think I’ll ever let you forget about this? That I’ll ever stop? There’s only one way you can make me stop!”

“Luna, don’t make me do something we’ll both regret. Do you really want to spend another thousand years on the moon?”

“You think I’ll stay there?” She struggled again, and one of her hooves broke through the flames holding it in place. “I’ll never let you know peace again! I’ll keep coming back, over and over and over, and one of those times Nightmare Moon will come back. Then I’ll give you a real reason to fear her!”

Daybreaker took a step back and frowned. “Luna, do not make me do this.”

“Why not?” Luna managed to pull another hoof free. “What’s one pony against the whole of Equestria? If you really wanted Nightmare Moon gone that bad, why didn’t you just get rid of me?”

“I wanted to help you, Luna! I couldn’t do that to you, not when there were so many other options.”

“And yet Applejack is fine to be sacrificed?” Luna clenched her eyes shut and focused as hard as she could. It took an unbelievable amount of effort, but she fought, and the ring of flames around her horn shattered. Then she opened her eyes again and glared at Daybreaker, panting with exhaustion. “What puts me above her? Why do I have to live?”

“Because you’re my sister!”

Luna got a third hoof free. “Well, I have no such feelings, and I will never stop.”

“I can destroy those feelings at any moment, Luna! One snap, and that last little bit of Celestia is gone, and there’ll be nothing left to stop me from incinerating you. So stop, before it’s too late!”

“It was too late when you killed her.” With a final tug, and another sharp pain, Luna pulled her last hoof free and started walking forward.

“Fine!” Daybreaker reared back and stuck a hoof in the air. A huge, winding whip of fire flowed out from it and coiled on the ground below. Then she slammed back down, pulling her hoof in a wide arc that sent the whip soaring out at incredible speed.

Luna flinched. She shut her eyes tight, bracing for the blow, but it never came. She never even felt the heat of the flames get near her.

Hesitantly, she opened her eyes, and what she saw made her drop to the ground. Standing between her and Daybreaker, with the massive whip curled around her outstretched leg, stood Applejack, tall and proud.

“It’s time for this to end,” Applejack said.

Daybreaker narrowed her eyes. “Can it? Will she rest now, knowing you’re alive?”

“I don’t think you understand,” Applejack replied. “I’m bringing Celestia back.”

Daybreaker scoffed. “Go ahead and try.” She shot a leg out, and a stream of fire shot towards Applejack.

Long before the fire, though, Applejack could feel her magic. Hot and malicious, it wrapped itself around her, and on instinct she reached out and grabbed at it. It felt solid, so she tore it off of herself and threw it into the ground beside her.

The flames veered. Daybreaker didn’t understand why, but the fire slammed harmlessly into the earth beside Applejack.

Applejack started walking forward. “I’m givin you a chance to give up now, before I get ornery about you tryin to kill me a second time.”

“I already beat you into submission without a second thought! Why should I listen to your demands?”

Daybreaker clapped her hooves together, and on either side of Applejack massive waves of flame rolled out of the ground and started speeding towards her.

Once again, Applejack felt the molten tendrils of Daybreaker’s magic right away. It was much stronger this time, and far heavier, but Applejack was no weak pony. She ripped them off of herself and threw them at Daybreaker, and Applejack smirked when they latched on.

Daybreaker didn’t notice. She stood there, watching the flames roll, until at the last second they swerved straight towards her. She just barely managed to launch into the sky before they bowled her over.

“How are you doing that?” Daybreaker demanded. She stayed in the air, her wings leaving embers in their wake as they flapped.

“What, ain’t you ever seen a Princess before?”

When Applejack got underneath Daybreaker, she felt a sudden gust of magic blowing upwards. It wasn’t unbearable, but it was definitely strong enough to keep a pony of that size aloft.

Applejack swiped a hoof through the stream of energy, and Daybreaker came plummeting to the ground.

She landed with a heavy slam right in front of Applejack and narrowed her eyes. “I’m warning you, little girl, I’m not to be trifled with.”

“No?” Applejack grinned at her. “Cuz it sure is easy.”

Daybreaker snarled. If magic wasn’t going to work, she’d just have to resort to her other tools. As quickly as she could, trying to catch Applejack off guard, she lifted a hoof and took a swing at her.

Applejack caught the blow without even glancing towards it. “Really? I’m pretty sure I was stronger than you before I became a Princess.”

Daybreaker growled and took a step back. “This isn’t over,” she sneered, and a flame shot out and burned her away in an instant, leaving Applejack standing alone.

Applejack laughed. In front of her, where Daybreaker had stood, was a wisp of magic. Applejack grabbed it and pulled as hard as she could.

Daybreaker was sucked back to where she had been, and found herself still staring down at Applejack’s smug grin.

“Got any more tricks?” Applejack asked.

Daybreaker grimaced. “This means nothing. Celestia is gone. You’ve already lost.”

“You wanna bet?” Applejack reached forward and gently placed a hoof on Daybreaker’s chest. Daybreaker flinched, but she didn’t bother trying to run. It was clear that wasn’t going to work.

Applejack shut her eyes and reached out to Daybreaker’s magic. She could feel it all, boiling through her like magma, filling every inch of her, but Applejack started digging. Somewhere, she knew, had to be a bit of Celestia. Anything she could hold onto to bring back.

Then she found it. Barely there, fighting back against the flames, was a stunningly bright light.

Applejack grabbed it and held on. Then, with her other hoof, she punched Daybreaker in the chest.

With that single hit, all the malignant, hateful magic of Daybreaker went flying out of her body, leaving only the shred of Celestia that Applejack was clinging to.

Luna watched as Applejack slammed a hoof into Daybreaker, only to cause huge bursts of flame to blast out in every direction. The relentless inferno burned away at Daybreaker, changing and reshaping her into something else. It burned for a long time, longer than she would have expected, like Daybreaker was fighting her way back in with every passing second. Eventually, though, the flames subsided, and Daybreaker was gone.

Celestia was already unconscious by the time the transformation ended, and Applejack caught her as she crumpled to the ground. She laid her down as gently as she could, then waved Luna over.

“What do we do now?” Luna asked as she slowly walked over, still shaky on her legs.

Applejack shrugged. “Hospital?”

Luna chuckled and winced again from her injured leg. “Yeah, that sounds right.” She looked down at Applejack with teary eyes, and Applejack met her gaze with a warm smile.

Somehow, they both felt like things were going to be just fine.

Comments

[Vaguely Demented]

She literally just punched the stupid out of her. AJ is now the most powerful being in existence.

[Coranth]

Hospital then throw her in a fucking magically warded padded cell for serious time out.

[Ninjadeadbeard]

Appul Princess too OP plz nerf.

[Chara Undertale]

10009508
I have no context on this comment, I do not know who it's about, or why, I saw it simply glancing across the page of a fic I have no intention to read, but I am pissed off at it either way since I really do not like the idea of treating people like that regardless of context and just reading it has left me stressed out.

[Eroraf86]

Applejack used spirit-bending.
It’s super effective!
Daybreaker fainted!

[Morphy]

10009496

Oi, what's the scouter say about her power levels?

I hope she remembers that move, there's a whole city full of nobles that need a good reality slap up on that hill over there...

[Cervidaevian]

10009532
*eyeroll*

Don't be an overly sensitive special snowflake.

[Superbowl]

Called it.

[DiscoPanda84]

When you lean on magic a bit much, and your opponent not only can forcibly ground out basically any of your magic but is also physically stronger than you, it doesn't really matter so much if said opponent can't cast any spells of their own. (Boosted earth pony == earth grounding rod for magic? ⏚ )

[asaeampan]

10009532
Refusal to consider context makes everything about your vile opinion invalid. Grow up.