Divergent Destinies

by Leondude

Chapter 12 - Confronting The Night Mare

Nightmare Moon sat within the throne room of the once beautiful castle. It still bore some wounds from her fight with Celestia. She’d known for a long time that her sister was weak and if it weren't for her wielding the Elements, she could have destroyed her then and there. The fact that she didn't even put up much of a fight during their long-awaited reunion just confirmed it. As she reminisced on that fateful day, she saw a unicorn and an undead drake walk into the throne room.

"Didn't I ask you to keep an eye on the prisoners?" Nightmare Moon asked.

"Yeah, but she really wanted to talk to you," Spike replied.

Nightmare Moon got up from her throne, "I presume you are my sister's protege."

"What gave it away?" Sunset dryly asked.

"I knew my sister was vain but I never imagined that she would pick a student with ‘sun’ in her name," Nightmare Moon replied, "let alone one with a cutie mark similar to her own."

"She picked me because I had potential!" Sunset retorted.

"Potential to feed her ego," Nightmare Moon deadpanned.

Sunset glared at Nightmare Moon, she pawed at the ground and charged up her magic, ready to make the first strike.

Hey, hey, sippin' on lemonade

Shinin' bright, but we're throwin' no shade

Exclusively, we're V.I.P.

'Cause EG's on this yacht

Nightmare Moon turned around to see where that sudden burst of music came from. She saw a pink Earth pony wearing a cap and a pair of sunglasses with a music-playing contraption she had never seen the likes of. Sunset looked over and just face-hoofed at Pinkie's presence.

"What are you doing?" Nightmare Moon asked.

"Dance off, N.M.," Pinkie said, "Me and you!"

Sunset still had her face in her hoof. Out the corner of her eye, she could see Spike snickering, something that she would have joined in with were it not for the dire situation at hoof. Why Nightmare Moon hadn't destroyed Pinkie Pie yet was beyond her.

"WHAT?! ARE YOU DOING?!" Nightmare Moon shouted at the top of her lungs, irritated by the pink pony's presence.

"Why, I'm distracting you, silly," Pinkie replied.

Nightmare Moon turned back around and saw five more ponies enter the throne.

"Aw, yeah," Rainbow Dash said, "The cavalry has arrived!"

"I thought I told you guys to look for Celestia," Sunset said in an annoyed manner.

"And leave you all alone to deal with Nightmare Moon? Not a chance!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "we're in this together!"

"Then you shall all be destroyed together!" Nightmare Moon bellowed as she blasted at Rainbow Dash, only for Sunset to jump up and quickly block the blast with her own magic.
Continuing where she left off, Sunset galloped towards Nightmare Moon, with Nightmare Moon doing the same to Sunset. Before Nightmare Moon could lay a scratch on her, Sunset teleported behind her.

"Spike! Now!" Sunset shouted.

"I have a bad feeling about this!" Spike said before inhaling.

Knowing what the soul-sucking revenant was going to do, Nightmare Moon blasted Spike with a magical bolt, knocking him into a wall and taking one of his arms off. Rarity and Fluttershy immediately ran towards the wounded Spike. As Fluttershy picked up the dismembered arm, Rarity conjured a pair of scissors to cut her own tail off and sewed the revenant's arm back on.

"Thanks, guys," Spike said.

"It was no bother at all, darling," Rarity said.

Nightmare Moon charged up another bolt of magic, intending to catch Spike, Rarity and Fluttershy off guard, only to be blind-sided by a shot of confetti and party balloons. Observing the battle, Sunset took note of what everypony was doing. Rainbow Dash's refusal to abandon her. Pinkie Pie lightening the mood of the intense battle with her silly antics. Fluttershy looking after Spike while Rarity offered her own tail up as a makeshift bandage and stitches. She teleported towards Applejack and encased her in a force field.

"Applejack," Sunset said, "I need you to tell me your most embarrassing secret."

"What for?" Applejack asked.

"Trust me, all of Equestria depends on it," Sunset hastily replied.

"This never leaves this force field," Applejack said sternly.

Applejack leaned in and whispered to Sunset her most embarrassing secret, with Sunset using a low-level telepathy spell to check that she was telling the truth. Thankfully, she was, and it took every fibre of Sunset's being not to laugh at Applejack's embarrassing secret. Without a moment's hesitation, Sunset teleported away and individually teleported her outside of the castle.

"Hey, what gives?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "We were winning!"

"Rainbow, you could barely lay a hoof on her," Applejack deadpanned.

"Okay, guys, I have a plan," Sunset explained, "And I just hope that it's crazy enough to work."

"Ooh, what's the plan?" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"This may sound hard to believe but I think we each represent an Element of Harmony," Sunset replied, "Think about it, you represent Laughter by undermining Nightmare Moon's attempts at being intimidating. Fluttershy and Rarity represent Kindness and Generosity respectively by tending to Spike's wounded and even giving up a tail just to reattach his arm."

"Does this mean you won't eat our souls?" Pinkie asked.

Spike shrugged, "I guess not. Plus, I'm starting to like you guys so I wouldn’t want to anyway."

"Rainbow Dash, who stuck by me to what could have been the bitter end even though I told her to find the princess, represents Loyalty. And Applejack, who told me a secret I nearly wet myself listening to, represents Honesty."

"But who represents magic?" Rarity asked.

"Ooh, I know!" Pinkie replied excitedly "It's Spike!"

"What?" both Spike and Sunset flatly asked.

"He's a zombie," Pinkie explained, "Zombies need magic to come back from the dead."

"Actually, Twilight calls me a revenant," Spike explained, "She said zombies don't have any free will of their own while I do. Still doesn't explain why I need to eat souls, though."

Sunset cleared her throat, "I'm pretty sure the Element of Magic is me."

"Really?" Pinkie asked, "How come?"

"Because I have trained under Princess Celestia herself," Sunset replied, "Not many ponies know the kinds of magic that I do."

"You little foals!" Nightmare Moon bellowed, "Did you really think that you escape me?!"
Sunset and the girls turned around. She closed her eyes and focused on her magic, with her and her new friends floating in the air.

"Hey, wait a minute," Pinkie asked, "Shouldn't we get the Elements first?"

"Since we are the Elements, I don't think we need to," Sunset replied.

In a blinding flash of light, they blasted a rainbow at Nightmare Moon.

"What?!" Nightmare Moon screamed, "Nooooooooooo!"

Author's Note:

Happy Halloween, everypony!