No Place for Mortals
The young unicorn was afraid, but she had a mission to accomplish.
“Find Princess Celestia and protect her at all costs!”
Those were the lasts words of her commanding officer before he got pulverised to a pulp by a ragging Lunar Warrior. Crushed bones and flattened flesh, he left nothing behind for the terrified young lieutenant to seek guidance from, as death and destruction surrounded her.
Now she was in command of the legion, or at least what was left of it. They had battled their way from Canterlot to the Castle of the Two Sisters, coming out to answer the desperate messages for assistance made by the local Equestrian Defense Legion who stood guard at the castle along with the Princess’ Warriors.
“Chaos is attacking!” They sent out. “Princess Luna and her Warriors and Guards have turned!” They warned, before pleading: “Send reinforcements, Princess Celestia needs Equestria’s Legions.” That was the last message sent out, and the citizens of Canterlot could only imagine what faith fell upon the garrisoning legion.
Wasting no time, Canterlor mustered whatever force they could, as the garrison commander of the city personally led out five of his legions, but not before sending out a message for nearby garrisons to rally their forces and head to the Princess’ rescue.
The moment they got to the Everfree forest and neared the castle, they were massacred. Out of the five legions, only two managed to fight their way into the castle. In these two legions, just a few depleted Centuries managed to survive that gauntlet of attacking Lunar Warriors. Superior ponies whose power and strength were unmatched by anypony but the Princess’ themselves, it only took a company of these Warriors to butcher the twenty-five thousand ordinary Legionnaires so that only a scant few hundred remain.
As the surviving Legionnaires rallied and entered the castle, another nine Lunar Warrior companies were ready to greet them. Joining these companies were a dozen Lunar Guards, whose strength was not as great as the Warriors, but still great enough to give an ordinary pony a tough time.
Against such an imposing force, mere ponies stood no chance. Yet, despite these odds, the Legionnaires still tried.
Battling their way through these fierce fighters, the Legionnaires used every skill and trick they had in order to stay alive. Fighting along with the 3rd “Spell Casters” Canterlot Legion, the unicorn lieutenant led her century deeper and deeper into the castle grounds. Passing near the large courtyard at its center, she looked on as the pegasi of the Celestial Warriors battled it out with their Lunar Warrior counterparts, while down below various Warriors from both sides fought one another in every corner of the castle.
The horrors created by these fights were beyond comprehension of any normal pony, as blood, flesh, and guts flew up into the air before piling up to cover the ground and create a gruesome tower of gore. This was a battle for gods and demi-gods and it was a miracle that they were still alive.
Slipping pass Warriors and Guards and sneaking through any covered passage they can, they managed to reach the castle keep, where they hoped to find Princess Celestia. By then the unicorn lieutenant barely had twenty Legionnaires in her Century, while her Legion itself could hardly muster two hundred Legionnaires. All senior officers had been killed too, and out of all the junior officers she was the only one who could still trot and fight. That left her as the only officers left to command the legion.
“Faust take mercy upon my soul.” She muttered to herself, eyes fearful as she gazed at the looming entrance of the keep. From outside, she could hear a raging battle inside, one that sounded greater to the one happening outside.
By the entrance, she soon noticed an injured Legionnaire laying on the on the ground. Almost immediately, a sorry look formed on her face, as she realized that the Legionnaire was missing his rear hooves. Torn clean off, bone and muscles were exposed, as he was heavily bleeding to death. She knew that he would have died earlier if it weren’t for the magic he was casting to slow down the bleeding.
Approaching the gravely wounded Legionnaire, she gazed upon his armor and recognized where he was from. The design of his plates told her that he belonged to the 1st “Royals” Everfree Legion, the mortal pony legion in-charge of protecting the goddess’ castle.
“Legionnaire, are you alright?” She asked, concern plastered on her voice.
The Legionnaire glared at her, before glancing towards his wound.
She gave an ashamed look and apologized. “I am sorry, I do not think there is much we can do for you.”
“I know.” The Legionnaire simply said, his voice giving out a hint of fear, as he edged closer and closer to death. “Do me a favour though, get out now, while you still can. Mortals like us cannot survive a fight such as this. It is best that we get out of the way of these titans, or else be flattened by their hooves.”
The unicorn lieutenant stared at him for a moment, not believing what she was hearing. This was one of the Legionnaires in charge of protecting the Princesses and he was simply telling them to just abandon them. Looking down, she could the last ounces of life leave him. She began to wonder if what he was saying was due to his injuries, making his mind and will fragile.
“Where is Princess Celestia?” She asked him, ignoring his statement.
Grunting, he gestured towards the large gate before them. “She’s in the throne room, battling Nightmare Moon.”
“Nightmare Moon?”
“Yes.” He said with a weak nod. “That is what Princess Luna calls herself now. She has been fully corrupted by something and has become more powerful than before. Even Princess Celestia, with her eternal strength, is having a hard time dealing with her. For mortal ponies to face her is just suicide.”
Fear gripped her for a moment, as she wondered what she was to do. Glancing once more back to him, she noticed that he looked weaker than he was a few moments ago. Taking another second to study him, she soon realized that he was dead.
His death, however, gave proof to his point.
She was just a unicorn, her Legionnaires nothing but unicorns themselves, mortal ponies who were fragile and weak. Against the overwhelming strength and power of their foe, what were mortal unicorns like them to do? Their magic could barely dent the armor of the Lunar Guard, let alone those of the Lunar Warriors, while their swords required a lucky hit to be able to injure their enemies. They were outmatched with no hope of winning.
To go in there was to go into Tartarus itself.
But then she remembered her commander’s words. “Protect her at all costs.”
They had to go in there. They had a duty to do and a debt to repay to the Princess’ after all they have done to free Equestria from a world of chaos. Without them they would not be living in the peaceful world they had now. Without them they would be playthings to chaos and live in a world of misery. They owed their lives to the Princess’, and although they already lost one to the ruinous corruption of chaos, she was not going to let them lose another. Princess Celestia was their remaining leader and they had to go in and face whatever enemy comes before them.
She had saved them before, now it was time for them to save her.
Turning around, she could see fear in the eyes of her Legionnaires, the same fear that had befallen her. There was doubt in them, and many seemed like they were about to run away. But she would not allow that to happen.
“We made it this far already, what’s one more step?” The unicorn lieutenant asked, rousing the attention of the remaining few. “Spells Casters, forward for Princess Celestia!”
Casting her magic to swing the doors of the gate open, she then rushed in with a gallop. For a moment she was afraid nopony followed her, but the sudden sound of hooves from behind told her that the legion was with her.
Following a long hallway that led the throne room, she stared at the bodies of dead Celestial and Lunar Warriors the covered the hall. As they got further and further, she started to notice that there were a lot more golden armoured Warriors on the ground. This was a terrifying prospect, but she tried her best to ignore it.
Keeping her fear to herself, she began ignoring the countless number of dead Warriors and kept her gaze straight towards the end of the hallway. There, standing by the closed doors of the throne room, where a pair of Lunar Warriors, a unicorn on the right and a pegasi on the left. As she got closer, she started to notice the terrible state their armor was in. A few more glances told her that these Warriors in front of them were badly injured, with deep wounds littering the fractured portions of their armor.
They were weak, she realized, probably heavily injured from their fight with the Celestial Warriors.
Taking advantage of this, she immediately formulated a plan in her mind.
“Those on the front rank get ready to concentrate your fire on the Warrior on the right, before shifting to the one to the left!” She shouted. “Wait for my command to fire!”
Concentrating her magic, she began to cast the trademark spell used by the legion, Solis Ignis. Feeling the heat on her horn, she kept her eyes and aim straight. The Warriors were reacting to their approach, with the unicorn on the right casting his own magic, ready to fire. But before he could, she gave her order to let loose their volley of magic.
“Fire!” She commanded, before releasing her spell and shooting out a burning stream of magic aimed directly at the unicorn Warrior. This stream was immediately joined by the ones fired by her Legionnaires, and soon a powerful volley of magic went straight towards their target.
Engulfed by these burning beams of intense magic, the Lunar Warrior quickly fell. Armor broken and weak from battle, he stood no chance against such concentrated fire. Glowing bright from the heat, and toppling down, the unicorn lieutenant smirked to see their enemy burnt and defeated. A single Legionnaire may be weak on their own, but grouped together they were a powerful force to contend with.
Not relishing too much on their small victory for too long, she quickly charged her magic once more, readying to fire at the second Warrior. “Charge your magic and prepare to fire at the other Warrior!” She called out.
Turning her attention towards the pegasi Warrior, she noticed that he wasn’t remaining still. She cursed herself when she saw this, she should have expected that. One moment it was spreading its wings and the next moment it was right beside her, large form looming a few inches from her face. Before she could react to this she felt a sharp pain on her side, as the Warrior used its large hoof to fling her towards the wall, making her slam hard against the stone. For a moment her whole body felt nothing but pain, as she her bones vibrated from impact. Dazed and bombarded by pain, she collapsed on the ground, as the sounds of screaming and magic could be heard from her Legionnaires, as they tried to fight off the attacking Warrior.
Injured and weak, she could feel her eyes closing and knew she was only moments away from passing out. She lost all sense of time and awareness, and she could understand nothing but the pain on her muscles and bones. She felt like dying.
It was only the sudden interference by one of her Legionnaires that managed to shake her back to reality, as the Legionnaire cast a Viribus Refrenantem spell on her, allowing her body to produce double the amount of adrenaline that gave her strength through the pain.
Gaining strength, she managed to get up, before letting out a yelp of pain, as she realized that the impact had broken her right foreleg. Trying to ignore this, she turned towards the Legionnaire, before glancing behind him and towards the rest of her force.
There were a lot more dead bodies in the hallway now, including a dozen of her Legionnaires. But centred around their fallen forms, the Lunar Warrior lay dead. They managed to take him down, but with a heavy cost in life.
“We cannot stop now.” She managed to say, before coughing out in pain. Her throat felt dry, and she thought that she tasted blood when she coughed. “We are one door away, Princess Celestia awaits us!”
With one painful step forward, she once more led the way. Using whatever strength she had left, she used her magic to open the doors to the throne room, revealing to them the a shocking scene.
Unarmored and lying on the floor, bloody and broken, Princess Celestia looked like she was close to death. A pool of blood was already forming beneath the solar alicorn and from their position the unicorn lieutenant could see exposed bone and muscle on different parts of her body. It was a different sight from the usual elegant and beaming Princess they were used to seeing.
But it wasn’t only Princess Celestia’s sight that caught their attention, as there was another figure, this one menacing, which attracted all the Legionnaire’s attention. Sheathing a large long sword back into a scabbard, the creature looked vastly intimidiating, especially to an ordinary pony. The sword alone was enough to scare even the bravest of Legionnaires, as its length was equivalent to three ponies back to back. But weaponry aside, the form of this strange new creature alone brought fear and made everypony’s heart sink. The unicorn lieutenant herself had to fight of her survival instincts, as it was desperately trying to tell her to run.
Tall, menacing, and covered in fine armor, this creature, an alicorn, seemed to resemble Princess Luna in some ways. But the unicorn lieutenant knew better, and one glance at the night black fur told her that this wasn’t the night Princess. This was her corrupted form, Nightmare Moon, the one the injured Legionnaire warned her about.
Watching this evil creature, she and her Legionnaires stood there as it moved closer and closer towards Princess Celestia. Laughing as she went, she looked down at the fallen Princess and shook her head.
“Are you seriously not going to fight me?” She said, a hint of mockery in her voice, as a look of disgust was plastered on her face.
“I...will not...I will not fight you, Luna!” Princess Celestia managed to say, her voice stuttering and wavering with every word. For a moment, it seemed like she was crying.
Nightmare Moon gritted her teeth, as she stared daggers at the white alicorn Princess.
“I AM NOT LUNA!” She screeched, as she slammed her hoof on the floor, making the ground shake as the stone cracked at the point of impact.
From behind her the unicorn lieutenant heard a chorus of hoofsteps, and as she turned around she saw her frightened Legionnaires taking a step back as the scene unfolded before them. Terrified expressions filled their faces, and in their eyes she could see that many were on the edge of running away.
She couldn’t blame them for feeling that way, since she too felt the fear they were experiencing. The corrupted alicorn looked vastly superior to anything they had encountered so far, and from the magical energy she was radiating she can tell that she held great power within her, an amount that the Princess could not compete with.
Turning away from her Legionnaires and back to the scene before, the unicorn lieutenant watched as Nightmare Moon got closer and closer to Princess Celestia until she was a few hoofsteps away from the solar Princess.
“You are stupid to believe that I am Luna. Luna is gone, Luna is dead.” Nightmare Moon said. “Holding on to such false beliefs will be the end of you. Your emotions make you weak, Celestia.”
“Luna is not gone!” Princess Celestia said, a tiny burst of defiant energy filling. “I know you are in there, Luna! Come back, fight the evil!”
“Oh, Celestia...” Nightmare Moon began. “...you just can’t understand, do you? You know, it’s such a shame I have to kill you this way, like a bandit set for execution. How unbecoming, especially for a Princess of your standard. I really hoped that you would fight and die like a true, Princess. But beggars can’t be choosers, and any chance to kill you, no matter how, is something I would always take.”
Eyes opening wide, the unicorn lieutenant suddenly realized what was about to happen. Heart pumping fast, adrenaline in her veins, and mind thinking fast, she suddenly made a decision that she never expected she would do.
Ignoring the pain on her hoof and body, ignoring the fear that screamed at her, the unicorn lieutenant took a step forward before galloping towards Princess Celestia. Sharp burning pain shattered her nerves with each step, but she did her best to keep moving forward, as she rushed to get to the Princess.
With her hoofsteps echoing through the room, it didn’t take long for Nightmare Moon to notice her. Looking at her with a curious glare, the corrupted alicorn allowed her to move freely and unhampered. She didn’t know if it was because of the shock of what she did or because she was unimpressed and felt unthreatened of her sight, but the dark alicorn did not interfere as the unicorn pushed her way forward until she found herself standing right in front of tall an d powerful form of Nightmare Moon.
Looking up and staring directly at the eyes of the corrupted alicorn, the unicorn lieutenant couldn’t help but suddenly panic at the position she just placed herself in. Hooves shaking, throat dry, and fear raging, she tried her best to stand tall, only to yelp at pain from her broken hoof.
She shouldn’t have done this, but she knew it was her duty to. Her Princess was there alone, and as her subject she must do everything in her might to aid her.
“What do you think you are doing?” Nightmare Moon said, squinting her eyes and lowering her head in order to intimidate the smaller unicorn.
For a moment it worked, and the unicorn lieutenant felt like she was gripped by fear and petrified to the point of being frozen. This was a powerful alicorn, one who managed to mortally wound Princess Celestia, a pony whom everypony thought immortal. If she could do that to the Princess, then what chance did she have?
But then, as the fear seemed to fully grasp her, a voice in her head reminded her of something, a duty that she must fulfil.
“Protect her at all costs...” She muttered, making Nightmare Moon raise an eyebrow of confusion. A moment of silence then occurred, as the alicorn and unicorn stared at each other with intensity.
Then, grinning, the alicorn shook her head before laughing loudly, her tones thundering all over the large throne room. Her laugh was mocking, yet the unicorn did not waver. She kept her will strong, and despite her shaking hooves, she stood her ground.
“Protect her at all costs?” Nightmare Moon sneered. “Who are you to think that a mere mortal unicorn can stop an all powerful and immortal alicorn like me? With one miniscule burst of my magic I can turn you into dust, so how, my foolish little pony, do you expect to defeat me?”
Staring back at the alicorn, the unicorn lieutenant took in a deep breath. Throat still dry, she did her best to speak as loud as she can, as she tried to hold her strength and bravery.
“I am Lieutenant Twilight of House Nightfall, an officer of the 3rd Canterlot Legion! As a Legionnaire it is my duty to defend Equestria, but as an Equestrian I am honor bound and in debt to the Princesses for freeing us from the evils of chaos. I will repay this debt no matter what, even if it costs me my life. I will stand between you and Princess Celestia, and as long as I draw breath I will not let you harm her any further!”
Then, with a defiant determination, Twilight gathered all her energy and began to cast Solis Ignis. Quickly igniting it, she fired it directly at Nightmare Moon’s face. The beam of magic travelled quick and hit her exactly where the unicorn wanted it to.
Despite the direct hit though, it did little to hurt the alicorn.
Staring at her, with a look of annoyance, Nightmare Moon waited for anything else Twilight had to offer. However, filled with pain and exhausted from all that had happened, she had nothing else to give.
“Is that all?” Nightmare Moon asked, looking down at the mortal unicorn. “Well then, now it’s my turn to show you what I can do.”
Horn glowing and eyes forming an evil smile, Nightmare Moon stared at Twilight, who felt her whole body stiffen and lock. All of sudden she felt a heat rising in her, making her panic as she desperately looked for any sign of help.
There was none.
Before she could scream, before she could feel the pain, her body bursts into pieces, leaving behind nothing but her blood, guts, and flesh.
Princess Celestia remembered the horrific seen.
A thousand years later the images were still fresh on her mind. She will never be able to forget it.
The blood had covered the floor, ceiling, and walls, while bits of flesh stuck everywhere, even on her face. The smell was equally horrifying, and she was surprised that even shocked her, especially after the thousands of bloody battlefields she had seen before those events. It just seemed so different, so horrifying, so cruel and heartless.
Witnessing what happened moved something in her and made her realize that the alicorn before her was not Luna. Her sister could be cruel sometimes in her methods of warfare, but she would never harm an innocent pony like the way the evil creature did to the unicorn.
Celestia had felt foolish for convincing herself that the alicorn was Luna. That unicorn’s death was what finally made her realize her mistake.
Eyes finally open, she gained the spirit to fight Nightmare Moon. In the end she defeated her, but her, but her sluggishness had cost Equestria the lives of thousands of ponies, including the life of the mortal unicorn that stood before an immortal alicorn, in order to protect her.
“I’m sorry you had to sacrifice yourself for me.” Celestia sighed, hanging her head as she once more felt the weight of her mistake.
But just as she was about to let her emotions overcome her, a knock on the door of her bedchambers made her push it back, as she took a deep breath and allowed her visitor to enter.
“Sister, I believe we need to talk about Twilight’s reoccurring nightmares.” Princess Luna said, as the lunar alicorn entered the room.
“Did she have it again?” Celestia asked, a look of concern clear on her face.
“She did.” Luna replied, her own concerned look showing. “I erased any trace of it from her memory, but this will continue to happen unless she confronts these inner fears that plague her. Are you sure you don’t want to tell her about it yet?”
Celestia remained silent, thinking, as her worried mind debated what to do. Deep inside she felt scared for Twilight, and she was sorry that she didn’t do better to prevent such things from happening.
“She used to have these nightmares when was younger, you know?” She finally said. “They weren’t as intense as these recent ones, but they were enough to scare a little filly.” Sighing, she looked down and shook her head. “Since I never had the power to control the dream realm like you, I often had to use that awful mind erasing spell, Periit Memoriae.”
Luna gave her a shocked look. “Those spells usually erase a day worth of memories, Tia.”
“I know.” Celestia said, a sad look on her face. It seemed like she was just trying to hold back her tears. “Sometimes I think that it’s those spells that prevented her from having proper friends, since she could never remember the happy moments she spent with them. The nightmares did stop though, but the spell had already taken its toll on her social health and she had difficulty making friends till recently.”
Hanging her head, she sighed once more before continuing.
“I don’t even know what’s causing these nightmares. She shouldn’t be able to remember these events.”
“Maybe a piece of her magical spirit remained in the DNA sample you used, and it brought with it parts of her memory?” Luna suggested.
“Maybe.” Celesita said. “I just wish I never allowed her to explore the old castle unsupervised. I was too hopeful that she would never be plagued by her old memories again. Sadly, her recent encounter with Radiant Flare brought back those unpleasant times.”
Moving closer to her sister, Luna gave her a comforting look, as Celestia glanced down in shame, feeling guilty for what she did and stricken with sadness because of what it caused.
“You’ll need to tell her, Tia.” She said, both in a gently, but assertive tone.
“I will, Luna, but not now.” Celestia said, knowing the possible reactions Twilight would have if she learnt the truth. “We both need to be ready for it.