> Hold Your Breath > by Teal > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Take a deep breath...you'll need it > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hold Your Breath By Teal Flying above the Royal Castle, Nightmare Moon watched as Celestia approach her and deploy the Elements of Harmony to aide her in the fight. Shaking her head, she wondered how desperate Celestia must be to be willing to use the Elements on her. But she soon shrugged the thought off, as she returned her attention to the enemy in front of her, preparing herself for the fight to come. Nightmare Moon was confident that her magic would be able to stop Celestia, as she sent a beam to counter the one that the white alicorn princess has sent towards her. The earlier blow on Celestia would have drastically lowered the sun princess’s capability to fight, giving the dark alicorn the advantage that would lead to her victory. She believed that even with the help of the Elements of Harmony, Celestia would still be too weak to be able to fight her and that the fight would be one sided. She saw a colorful beam of light coming from Celestia’s horn, as she used the Elements to enhance her power. Bright vibrant light lit the dark skies, as the two powerful beings slug it out, to defeat each other in this battle of magic. When Nightmare Moon felt the impact of their beams, she was surprised to feel a solid wall of magic blocking her power. She had expected her beam to cut right through and hit Celestia. Instead, it was stopped and was slowly being pushed back towards her. She tried to concentrate and counter, but the magic that was emitting from both Celestia and the Elements was too powerful, as it started to get closer to her with every millisecond. Every push of magic she did was immediately pushed back and she soon found the rainbow like beam right in front of her. Panic soon erupts within her, as she suddenly realized her mistake. She shouldn’t have fought Celestia directly, but her arrogance and confidence was just too much, as made her take the decision of fighting her head on. Now her actions were biting her back, as she saw the rainbow colored beam hit her and engulf her body. Her pupils dilated at the bright colors as she screamed to the top of her lungs. “Nooooooooooo!” With a white flash of light, Nightmare Moon’s surroundings changed from the skies above the Royal Castle to the desolate landscape of the moon. Her eyes grew wide when she realized where she was as more panic flowed within her. Her heart started to beat faster, as she shook in fear. With the immediate realization that she was on the moon, she quickly closed her mouth and gave up on any attempts of yelling. The small amount of air that was pocketed in her lungs must be contained, knowing that she wouldn’t get another chance to breathe anytime soon. Although she was an immortal alicorn who would not die from the mere lack of oxygen, she was still a being that was prone to pain. She would not die in circumstances that would kill an ordinary pony, yet she would still be able to feel the pain that came along. For example, if she was stabbed, she wouldn’t die, but she would scream from the amount of pain her nerves were emitting. Same goes for drowning or being deprived of air. Sure she wouldn’t die in this airless environment, but she would still feel the pain of choking as her lungs were deprived of the vital air that it always needed. The pain of choking would be unbearable and she couldn’t begin to imagine what it would feel if she let go of her breath. It was a cruel trick of faith and she couldn’t believe that it was happening to her right now. Looking around, she desperately searched for anything that would aid her in her predicament. Despite it being foolish and a waste of time, her desperation was clouding reasoning as adrenaline and panic helped her hold her breath for this long. She searched left and right, near and far, but found nothing in which she could gain more air. She was trapped here to suffer with the infinite pain of choking. Plopping herself down on ground, she felt the rocky material of the ground below her, as she found herself on the very object that she was supposed to control. The moon’s ground was bright and white, as it reflected the light from the sun, making it shine bright in the dark void of space. She looked up towards the stars, the stars that were precious to her and symbolized her love for the night. All she wanted was for ponies to appreciate the gift she had given them and yet she was shunned and ignored. Nobody appreciated her and it saddened her to remember those awful thoughts. Now, when she tried to bring attention to herself and her lovely nights, she was repaid with a punishment that was more like torture than jail. She slammed her hoof on the ground in anger, as she felt rage for the pony who brought her here. Does Celestia really think that this would be the best punishment? To torture her in a place where she would constantly choke, as her lungs tried to grasp for air, only to be disappointed by the fact that there wasn’t any air for miles and miles away. Turning her attention to the large orb in front of her, she gazed towards the planet, knowing that somewhere out there, Celestia was cherishing her victory. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at it and thought of the evil Celestia who had given her an unfair punishment. She would have taken any other punishment, anything at all. Anything other than this one. She was already having a hard time holding her breath, but she tried to prevent her muscles from giving up. She forced her mouth shut, as she did her best to avoid the thoughts of pain that she would have to endure once she gave up. All she needed to do was hold her breath. Hold her breath as long as she can. Hold her breath till she found a way to get out of here. But how long would she be able to hold it?