Upheaval: Breaking Point
Chapter 44: A Desperate Battle
Applejack opened her eyes to find herself propped against the wall of a nearby house. 'What in the-? How'd I get here?' It took her a moment to realize that she was also upside down and her sides were aching badly. She righted herself only to find that she was unable to keep her legs steady. Her vision was still blurry and the distortions caused by the heat and smoke were not helping. 'What happened? How'd I-' She looked ahead of her and got a good idea.
Nightmare Moon stood at the center of the street, the very same street that they were gathered on just some time ago. It was hard to make out the shape of a pony underneath the black smoke and the flames, but Applejack was sure that there was somepony there. The memory of the last few seconds came rushing back. Nightmare Moon had landed before them in a terrific explosion of fire that knocked them flying. She remembered rolling on the ground, feeling the sharp contrast between the bitter cold of King Fenrir's blizzard and the fierce heat of Nightmare Moon's tainted flames. She was lucky enough not to be touched by any actual fire. That was when she hit her head on something and got knocked out. She looked around worriedly, afraid that some of her friends had been badly hurt or even killed by that first attack.
To Applejack's relief, she spotted Twilight still standing before Nightmare Moon. A small globe of crackling purple energy surrounded her. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, who had remained close, were huddled inside the globe. She couldn't see the rest of the group. Likely, they were also knocked flying somewhere. Once she felt her legs were stable enough, she rushed back into the fray.
"Isn't this a fine sight?" Nightmare Moon said. "Without the Elements of Harmony, all of you are mere fillies playing soldier! I'm going to enjoy roasting you until the flesh falls off your bones!"
"You're a coward," Twilight replied quietly. Her words were almost lost to the still blowing wind and the sounds of fighting. Pinkie and Fluttershy huddled close to her at the mere sight of their enemy.
"Oh am I? Big talk from the unicorn who can't even protect all of her friends."
"Shut up! I'm not talking to you!"
Applejack paused from her charge when she heard that. Likewise, Pinkie and Fluttershy also looked to Twilight in confusion. Twilight, on the other hoof, focused entirely on her enemy. "I thought you were a fighter, Pyre Valor! We're not done yet! Why are you hiding behind Nightmare Moon?"
For a moment, Applejack noticed Nightmare Moon's flames waver. 'Dunno what she's trying, but it looks like it's working!' she thought.
Although Nightmare Moon's distraction only lasted a second, it was enough for them to regroup. Scarlet Rabbit flew up in a streak of red and fired a bolt at Nightmare Moon. Rainbow Dash burst out of a small pile of rubble and fired one as well. The bolts were still a good distance away when black flames rose up like enormous claws and grabbed them in mid air. When the flames receded, the bolts were gone.
As soon as Nightmare Moon shifted her attention to her aerial attackers, Vanguard Clash galloped from one side with his two-bladed sword in his mouth. With a swing of his neck, he slashed at Nightmare Moon's exposed side. Applejack took this as a signal and galloped from the other side to flank their enemy. As she neared, she leaped towards Nightmare Moon, her front tramplers outstretched.
The mass of black smoke and flame wavered again as Vanguard struck. Nightmare Moon jumped back in time to avoid the two-bladed sword. She spun to dodge Applejack as well, but could not do so completely. A trampler-fitted hoof glanced heavily off her coat. A spark of energy flared as her magical armor took most of the impact. In a rage, she pointed her horn at Applejack, ready to engulf her in a blast of flame.
Applejack recoiled as soon as her hoof struck Nightmare Moon. The heat was intense. For a moment, she feared that her hoof had burst into flame or that her trampler had melted. A quick glance at her foreleg showed her otherwise. She also noticed that she barely even hurt Nightmare Moon. 'Okay, hitting a flaming pony with my legs is a bad idea,' she thought. She saw Nightmare Moon's horn crackle with magic and realized that she wasn't going to be able to jump back. Desperately, she threw her forelegs in front of her as a futile last resort to protect against the blaze.
"Applejack!" Vanguard shouted. He slammed into her in time. The two of them fell to one side as a torrent of flame passed through Vanguard's back. Applejack saw the flames lick his armor. Though it had only been a short while ago since Rarity was talking about how well Nightsteel held against heat, she feared that Nightmare Moon's magical fire might melt it anyway. Fortunately, the black plates held. The wince on Vanguard's face told her that he'd probably be a little red around that spot later.
"Thanks Vanguard," Applejack said from underneath Vanguard. She felt her heart racing. That wasn't the first time she feared for her life, but she still wasn't used to the idea.
"Save it until we're out of danger." Vanguard grunted. He got to his hooves and faced Nightmare Moon. Applejack followed suit in time to see the enormous bolt of lightning, even bigger than the one she brought forth during the spar with Nightcanter, fly from Twilight's horn and straight towards their enemy.
Nightmare Moon countered with her own arc of electricity, one that matched Twilights. The two spells collided with a thunderous explosion. When the blast cleared, there was already a wave of flame about to crash where Twilight was. Pinkie fell to the ground and covered her face in a panic while Fluttershy froze completely at the sight of looming destruction.
The wave crashed into the three of them only to part against Twilight's shield. The magical globe fizzled and disappeared, but it had done its job. Twilight's focus was so intense that she didn't even blink as the torrent of flames parted mere inches from her face. "You two stay behind me," she told her two friends. They nodded wordlessly, afraid that even the slightest hint of a protest from them would anger her.
Nightmare Moon noticed the intensity with which Twilight Sparkle looked at her. This was a different pony from the one who had so recklessly charged at her back in Everfree. That pony was a scared little filly who reached out to others just to be strong. This one was a driven and powerful mare, one willing to stand and trade spells with her. She examined her surroundings. This fight was not what she expected. These were the Elements of Harmony, the same ponies that united to drive her out of Luna. She had expected them to have become more resilient after joining the Legion and surviving the Barrier Land as well as having learned a few new tricks. She had not expected them to be so…scattered. The light they had emanated during that humiliating day was not there. This was beyond not merely having the physical devices. These ponies were simply not in harmony. The two pegasi likely knew that they were simply serving as distractions. They may as well be mosquitoes flying around her face and buzzing in her ears. The two standing behind Twilight Sparkle were negligible.
Then there were the two earth ponies who had flanked and attacked her earlier. Both were dangerous in their own way. The stallion was Vanguard Clash, her host's foalhood friend. Pyre Valor had previously "killed" him, but was now having problems just facing him. This dissonance between her and Nightmare Moon, combined with her ridiculously excessive hatred of Twilight Sparkle was a problem. As for the mare, she emanated a different sort of light, one that only Nightmare Moon noticed. Though it was faint, that light was familiar. A hateful light from a place she had abandoned a long time ago. If these ponies had so much as a sliver of a chance against her, that chance would be anchored in that light. Finally, there was the other unicorn and the baby dragon who have yet to-
Nightmare Moon cried out as a sharp pain pierced both her train of thought and her flank. At that moment, Twilight Sparkle unleashed a swarm of purple energy bolts, each one no bigger than a hoof-held rock. The bolts wheeled about and surrounded her, pausing for a moment as if they were a living cloud of creatures, then diving in altogether.
At the last moment, at that one pause before the energy bolts descended, Pyre Valor's fighting instincts kicked in, something that Nightmare Moon took advantage of. Sure enough, Twilight Sparkle fired a thin ray of light from her horn. Nightmare Moon recognized a dimensional anchor. Twilight Sparkle had purposely picked a spectacularly flashy spell as a distraction. The dimensional anchor would have connected and there would have been no dodging that swarm. Nightmare Moon easily deflected the spell and teleported with the energy bolts mere inches from connecting. A terrific explosion rocked the area where she was previously standing. Twilight Sparkle's look of frustration put a smile on Nightmare Moon's face as she reappeared behind the unicorn. Even Pyre Valor felt a brief satisfaction at foiling the offense. The two cowering ponies yelped and moved to keep Twilight Sparkle between them and Nightmare Moon.
Temporarily safe, Nightmare Moon focused on what had struck her. She pulled out what seemed to be a piece of metal with her telekinesis and tossed it aside. A dagger? How could something so mundane have struck her? Three more flew at her in rapid succession. With the element of surprise gone, she dodged them with ease. She looked around, trying to ascertain their source. She noticed a white glow of magical energy surround the blades and pull them through the air. Following their path, she found their source. The white unicorn, the one that she had dismissed earlier, had somehow made a successful attack. She focused on this new threat, recognizing the white unicorn as the bearer of the Element of Generosity. The amount of magical energy from this one was laughably weak, yet the blade had somehow pierced her defensive magic.
It was then that Nightmare Moon noticed a strange twinkling by the white unicorn. A point of light, likely no bigger than a coin, was shining through her modified Legion mage-coat. She noticed that the same light thinly covered the blades. The light was not like the one that emanated from the orange-coated earth pony. Far from it. This light had an ominous glow to it. She recognized the aura of alicorn magic, but this was not from an alicorn she recognized. Odd as she knew all three who were in this world. Nevertheless, the fact that it was from an alicorn was enough reason to possess the power to pierce her shield.
Nightmare Moon realized that she was in more danger than she had first anticipated. It was true that these ponies were not in harmony, and had no chance in driving her out of Pyre Valor's body. However, there were individual sources of danger she hadn't expected. Toying with these ponies was now out of the question. She stomped with both her forelegs, causing a great torrent of blackened flame towards the white unicorn. Those blades combined with that strange light were dangerous weapons, but they were useless as defenses. Sure enough, at the sight of the flames heading towards her, the white unicorn gasped, then froze in panic.
"Rarity!" somepony cried out. A small figure jumped in front of the flames. Nightmare Moon noticed the purple scales even at a distance. A hatchling of a dragon had somehow found its way to the north and was helping what its kind considered passable snacks. The hatchling exhaled a gout of green dragon fire the size of which was impressive for one so small. The dragonflame momentarily pushed back the black flames. In that moment, the sky blue pegasus swooped and knocked the white unicorn out of the way. That space quickly passed and the black flame completely overwhelmed the green one. The hatchling cried out as the flames engulfed it. When they died down, it was flat on its back and unconscious. To Nightmare Moon's irritation, but not surprise, it was still alive.
"Spike!" Rarity, as Nightmare Moon heard her name, cried out. She ran towards her fallen ally. The yellow pegasus cowering behind Twilight Sparkle flew towards the hatchling, ignoring the flames that she was shrinking from just a moment ago. Both ponies looked relieved for about a few seconds when they noticed that the hatchling was still alive. That relief turned into fury for Rarity and the blades floating above her head began to spin swiftly. Nightmare Moon focused her telekinesis on the blades, trying to wrench control over them from Rarity. With the white unicorn's low magical presence, it shouldn't be a problem. Instead, she found herself unable to even slow the spinning. The blades arced up and spread out so that they flew towards her from different directions. Realizing that there was no stopping those blades, Nightmare Moon focused on taking down their controller. She was also aware of the two earth ponies charging at her again, having found their opportunity, and Twilight Sparkle charging up another spell.
"Enough! Your attacks are an insult!"
A mass of shadow burst from Nightmare Moon, spreading out in all directions like a gigantic web. It wasn't fire this time. The shadows engulfed everypony nearby, lifting them off their hooves and trapping them in place. Twilight's spell casting halted and Rarity's blades became trapped in the web. The two pegasi were also snared and dragged to the ground.
"Now that you're all sitting still, it's time to burn!" Nightmare Moon's horn flashed as she prepared to ignite the shadow strands.
The shadow strands did ignite, but it wasn't Nightmare Moon's tainted flame that burned through it, but a brilliant, silvery flame. The others fell to the ground and began to get the last of the shadow-stuff off their bodies. Nightmare Moon recognized alicorn magic. This time, she was all too familiar with the source. She turned her attention to Princess Luna, who looked as if she could barely even stand.
"You can barely keep away Fenrir's presence away and you're finding strength to attack me? You've come far from the whining filly who agreed so easily to a merging."
"Be quiet!" Luna retorted. "I was sick of your voice the first year we were stuck in the moon!" When she saw Nightmare Moon focus on her, she could only smile wryly. "Are you going to burn me, Nightmare Moon?" she asked. "'Your' king won't appreciate getting to his 'bride' only to find her a little crispy!"
"I don't have to. You'll keel over without any help from me." Nightmare Moon concentrated on another spell, ignoring the flagging Luna. The mighty Princess of the Night who once matched Princess Celestia spell for spell in a grand duel for Equestria's throne was reduced to a crumbling figurehead in a backwater city at Equestria's fringes. Luna was a failure on all fronts and a failure didn't deserve any attention. As she expected, the alicorn fell to one knee while breathing heavily.
The other ponies had just recovered from her last spell and Nightmare Moon needed to keep them off-balance. Strands of shadow poured out of her horn like a hundred slender tentacles wreathed in dark flame. They writhed and snaked their way towards the ponies surrounding her, cutting off escape routes and threatening to ensnare each one in their burning coils.
Spells continued to race through Twilight Sparkle's mind as she desperately dodged the black tentacles. She tried to dispel them as they came at her, but, each time she cast the spell, only one strand faded into nothing. She was going to tire herself just stopping this attack.
"Twilight, help!" Pinkie Pie cried out as she ducked one tentacle, then jumped over another one that tried to entangle her legs. Twilight concentrated and both tentacles faded away. She needed a spell to subdue these things in one fell swoop. Failing that, she needed to bring down Nightmare Moon with her next spell before she and all her friends burned to a crisp. A frost spell came to mind. Perhaps a big enough cone of pure cold would freeze all these tentacles and cause them to snap like twigs. She was about to concentrate on the spell when a trio of the tentacles reached out for her.
"Twilight!" This time it was Vanguard Clash who called out. He rushed towards her, then jumped on the tentacles, crushing them with his hooves. He swung his neck about, slicing up more of the flailing tendrils that threatened to grab him. One of them reared up and struck him like a whip across the back, but his barding held true.
"Just in time, Vanguard!" Twilight said. "Keep those things off me while I freeze them!"
"Nevermind that," Vanguard replied. He reared up and crushed more of the writhing things. "The rest of us will manage. Did you learn some spells that enhanced physical prowess?"
"A few," Twilight said. She didn't want to admit that she didn't think they were of as much use as the others. Wading into combat was not something she planned on.
"Good. Stack every one you know on Rarity over there."
"Rarity?" Twilight was incredulous. "Why Rarity?"
"Haven't you noticed?" Vanguard ducked another whipping attack. "She's the only one whose attack has gotten through!"
Twilight glanced over to where Rarity was. Applejack was already over there to protect the other unicorn. Sure enough, there were a lot of black tentacles concentrated on Rarity. Nightmare Moon was going after the one pony who had cut through her defenses. "Boost her with some magical support while the rest of us find a way to get her an opening," Vanguard said. "Until something else comes up, she's our best chance!"
Twilight watched as four glowing blades whirled around Rarity, slicing up tentacles with ease. With Applejack guarding her back, even a swarm of the things could not get at her. Past them, Fluttershy was tending to an injured Spike. Twilight noticed the wound on Nightmare Moon's flank. The irony was not lost on her nor did she miss the twinge of envy. Despite so many hours of study and training on her part, it was Rarity who had successfully made an attack. Rarity, who had failed Mage Captain Owlsight's aptitude test, was their best chance at the moment. "I'm on it," she answered. She galloped past the tentacles with Vanguard clearing the way and Pinkie Pie right behind her.
With Twilight on her way, Vanguard concentrated on his next task: working with the rest of his new squad to create an opening. Rarity's mage blades were difficult to keep track of and she handled them with graceful ease. She could also project them from a good distance meaning that there was no need to get her that close. What he needed was for Nightmare Moon to waver again. To do that, he fell back to what Twilight had accomplished earlier. He gestured towards Scarlet and Rainbow, urging them to keep firing at Nightmare Moon. Despite having to fly about frantically just to keep from being tangled up and dragged to the ground, they did their best to comply.
With that, Vanguard Clash charged headlong into the mass of tentacles and towards Nightmare Moon. Several of the shadowy strands struck him while more wrapped around his torso. Nevertheless, he charged on. "Is this all you've been reduced to, Pyre Valor?" he shouted. "Hiding behind a cloud of smoke while chosen do your fighting for you?"
That struck a nerve. Vanguard didn't need to see if the flames bathing Nightmare Moon wavered. He didn't need to hear the shadowy being struggle against a personality far more fiery than anything a spell could conjure. In all the time he had spent with Pyre Valor, he had an instinctive awareness of whether something would set her off or not. This much he could expect of his knowledge of her, even if her betrayal had caught him off-guard. He leaped forward, gathering as much of the fiery tentacles in his forelegs before crashing to the ground. The flames hurt him, but he ignored the pain. He was getting used to the fire at this point. "Now, Rarity!" he shouted.
Nightmare Moon had aimed a blast of flame at Vanguard Clash, but she changed her target at the last moment. With Pyre Valor acting up again, her aim faltered as did her control over the tentacles. The torrent of flame washed over Rarity, engulfing her completely. To everypony's surprise, Rarity leaped through the flames without so much as a slightly singed coat. An aura of purple magic surrounded her while her blades spun towards Nightmare Moon, their formation making them resemble an enormous spinning disc. Nightmare Moon was about to cast a teleportation spell, but another spell hit her, rooting her to the spot. "No!" she shouted. As Vanguard had hoped, keeping Pyre Valor's rage in check and watching out for the enchanted blades left Nightmare Moon too distracted to notice the thin ray shoot from Twilight Sparkle until it was too late. With the dimensional anchor in place, she was forced to simply jumping aside. The disc cut against her side deeply and it was Pyre Valor's blood that splattered against the snowy pavement. "Miserable wretch!"
The number of shadowy strands doubled, turning into a forest of writhing blackness that whipped about in a frenzy. A mass of them wrapped around Vanguard, lifting him off his hooves, then violently slamming into the ground. More chased after Rarity, but she sprinted past them with ease while her blades flew back to her, slicing more of them apart.
"Vanguard!" Twilight Sparkle cried out. She rushed towards him, wincing when she heard the violent bang of metal striking pavement. It wasn't just her. Applejack was also galloping as fast as she could.
Nightmare Moon slammed the stallion into the pavement again. His head struck stone on her third slam, then his legs went limp. His two-bladed sword clattered on the ground.
Seeing Vanguard get knocked out and about to be slammed into the pavement for a fourth time caused something to snap inside Twilight. She pointed her horn at the tentacles and a blast of wind even colder than the blizzard around them struck the writhing mass. The flaming strands went out, then froze solid before shattering. She and Applejack got to the fallen stallion just as more tentacles snaked towards them, cutting off any escape route.
"Some really flashy magic's good right about now, Twi," Applejack said as she stomped on one tentacle that got too close. Portions of her coat were already singed from contact with Nightmare Moon's flames and she was panting in exertion.
Twilight thought so too. However, she was breathing hard and she had already expended a lot of her strength just fending off Nightmare Moon's attacks and protecting Rarity. Not only that, the dimensional anchor wasn't going to last long unless she maintained it. The cold was beginning to pick up and some of the fear she felt from Fenrir's aura was returning. She glanced at her mentor's younger sister. Luna had fallen to her knees and looked ready to faint. Without her presence, Fenrir's blizzard would overwhelm the entire city. 'There must be something we can do!' she thought desperately. 'At this rate, the city will fall!'
Twilight cast about her mind. The black tentacles were all over the place now and they were closing in fast. There was only room for one more spell, one that she was going to have to put all her strength into. An enormous shadow fell across her in the middle of her spell casting. When she looked up, she saw that a great mass of the shadowy strands had coiled together to form a single massive tentacle about to crash into them.
"Twilight!" Applejack shouted.
There was no time to cast a spell, Twilight shut her eyes tightly as the thing descended on them. "Darn it! Not again! I am not letting my friends get hurt again!" she heard Applejack cry out. She braced herself for a crushing impact followed by death. Seconds passed and she was still waiting. That was when she heard the loud thud of something blunt striking the ground. She opened her eyes and, to her surprise, the three of them were unhurt. Vanguard was beginning to stir, but it was Applejack that held Twilight's attention. The earth pony had reared up with her forelegs extended in some desperate attempt to catch the massive tentacle. Now, she was looking above her incredulously. "Applejack, what happened?" Twilight asked. What did you do?"
"I…I dunno! " Applejack replied. "I thought we were about to be squished, but it just…it just bounced off something!" She paused. "Is…is this what the Queen was talking about?"
Twilight squinted. There was something strange about Applejack. Was it just her or was the earth pony…glowing? She rubbed her eyes. The glow was not only actually there, but it seemed to take the shape of an enormous golden disc centered on Applejack and just above them. "Applejack! How did you do that?" Twilight asked as she pointed at the disc.
"Me? I thought you did that!"
The massive tentacle rose again for another strike. This time, several smaller ones followed it. They lashed at the three of them, but each one recoiled as soon as it touched the disc. The massive one fell only to bounce off and crash just a few feet away.
"What's going on?" Vanguard groaned as he rose unsteadily to his feet.
Twilight ignored the stallion for now. She had only one more shot at Pyre Valor. It had occurred to her that the city's continued survival was still unsure even if they drove Nightmare Moon blizzard was getting worse and her heart was hammering in her chest. All around her, past the howling of the wind and the crackle of flames, she heard the sounds of battle. The wolven were getting their scaling ladders up and they were starting to battle the defenders for occupation of the wall. "One more spell for you, Pyre Valor…" she muttered. Her horn glowed bright. Whatever miracle that Applejack had somehow managed had given her this one uninterrupted shot. She aimed the spell straight at the burning, smoking pony at the center of all the tentacles.
In the time she had spent studying combat spells, Twilight had discovered a strange thing when it came to fighting. The more powerful sometimes didn't equal more complicated. Magical energy built up all around her, coalescing into a glowing mass. Her knees started to give way even before she could complete the spell. Summoning the last bit of her strength, she released the energy. A brilliant blast of light, raw magic compressed into a beam with only enough control to tell it where to go, burst from her horn.
In response, Nightmare Moon weaved her shadow strands into a single massive wall of blackness. The beam struck the wall, shaking violently.
From where she was standing, Twilight could see cracks begin to appear and her beam started to seep through them. For a moment, even though she couldn't see Nightmare Moon, Twilight could tell that the being was afraid. For the first time since this fight started, Nightmare Moon feared for her life. The threat wasn't just injury, but destruction. Though the chance was small, it was there and she acknowledged that it was there. Another crack raced through her wall. Twilight could feel Nightmare Moon redouble her efforts in desperation and she did the same. This was her final attack and, should this fail, it would all be over.
As the two of them pit their magic against each other in a tense struggle, a sudden cry from above made Twilight look up.
With a flap of her wings, Rainbow Dash tossed her light crossbow aside and charged head-first into the wall.
The motion was that simple, but the speed was such that Twilight almost thought that Rainbow had cast a teleportation spell. For half a second, she was hovering in the air. By the second half, she was gone, leaving only a streak of prismatic colors. The next thing Twilight noticed was the powerful boom left in the pegasus's wake followed by another one when something other than the giant purple beam struck Nightmare Moon's wall. An explosive riot of bright colors flooded her vision as the mass of blackness protecting Nightmare Moon shattered like glass. "Beautiful!" Scarlet shouted as he laughed hysterically. "That was beautiful!"
The beam went through and met Nightmare Moon head on. Another explosion followed and a great portion of the pavement tore apart. Most of them dodged left and right as bits of rubble accompanied the falling snow. Vanguard Clash and Twilight simply stood next to Applejack as large fragments of stone bounced off the golden disc.
As the smoke and dust cleared, Twilight collapsed on her belly. She opened her eyes weakly only to find that she couldn't move a single muscle. Vanguard and Applejack looked her over. She wasn't concerned about her own well-being for now, however. She fought for consciousness and squinted ahead of her, trying to see how her attack had worked.
To everypony's awe, a figure walked out of the titanic blast. It was a unicorn mare. Her wild, black mane billowed in the blizzard. Her white coat was dingy with soot and dust with several charred patches. She was bleeding from a deep cut to her side. Despite her obviously horrific pain, the unicorn kept her intense stare focused onward. "I will admit this, Twilight Sparkle," she said. Her voice was ragged and came out in pants.
Twilight strained to hear the words. This was Pyre Valor, the unicorn mage she met when she first arrived in the Barrier Lands, not some possessed traitor.
"I will admit that you are strong. Stronger than I would have ever expected. Strong enough for the right to wear that coat." Pyre Valor reared up and struck the ruined pavement with her front hooves. "And it pisses me off even more! How unjust that the Heartland would have such strength, but it's us who have to fight out here!"
Twilight grit her teeth, her own rage beginning to build. Was there no pleasing this mare? Pyre hated her for being weak, now she hated her even more for being strong. It wasn't just that. It that kernel of truth in Pyre's words that made Twilight angry. How much more could she have done if she knew of this place all along? So much time lost. So much strength left unused.
"I want to kill you more than ever, Twilight Sparkle," Pyre growled. A creeping blackness covered her legs and slowly went up to taint the rest of her. "For daring to show me this truth, I will kill you." The blackness overtook her completely and she was Nightmare Moon once more.
"Time to end this!"
Twilight felt herself wilt. She had given it her best shot and failed. She looked around to see what they still had. Rainbow Dash was face first in a pile of rubble. She had just given it everything she had as well. Rarity was panting and the spells that reinforced her were fading. She had been so focused on keeping off the swarm of tentacles coming at her and her friends that she hadn't had much room for attacking. Vanguard Clash, Applejack, and Scarlet Rabbit were still game, but they were also tired and didn't have much means to hurt a being like Nightmare Moon. More so Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, both of which were standing next to Spike. The baby dragon was beginning to wake up, but it was unlikely that he had anything more to contribute. Princess Luna was flat on her belly and barely conscious. She still kept her magic up desperately, putting in every single ounce of her strength to give the Legion a fighting chance. 'We've lost.' Twilight thought. 'There's nothing stopping Nightmare Moon now.'
"Twilight!" Spike cried out as he broke free from Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. He was clutching a bag, the same bag that he had been carrying around for some time now, and fiddling with something inside it. "Twilight, are you okay?" he asked when he got closer.
"Steady now," Vanguard said. He eyed the approaching Nightmare Moon grimly.
"I'm all out, Spike," Twilight said weakly. "Sorry."
"Don't worry, Twilight," Spike said as he pulled out what looked like a black orb from his bag. "I knew this would be helpful!" He held out the orb over Twilight and gazed intently at it.
"Spike what are you-aaah!" Twilight cried out before she could finish. The orb crackled with black electricity which surged through her. Arcs of purple bolts joined with the black ones, surging back and forth between her and the orb.
"Spike, what did you just do?" Applejack asked worriedly.
"It's a mana battery! It should help her!"
"That cry of pain didn't sound very helped!" Vanguard growled.
Spike could only look on worriedly. Then, as quickly as it had acted up, the orb became dormant. Now, it was slightly glowing with purple light.
Twilight stood up with ease, then put a hoof on Spike's head. "I feel great. Thank you so much, Spike! That was perfect timing!" she said with a gentle smile. Spike breathed a sigh of relief.
Applejack's eyes narrowed. Something was wrong here. Maybe it was that sudden serene smile on Twilight's face or the ominous color of the orb's magic. She just didn't feel as relieved as the dragon next to her. One look at the frown on Vanguard's face told her that he felt the same.
"Something's coming!"
All of them turned towards the source of the high-pitched yell. Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down, her entire body twitching uncontrollably.
"What's she talking about?" Vanguard asked.
"It's her Pinkie Sense!" Applejack replied. "Something's going to happen!"
"Good," Vanguard muttered. "I could have sworn we were all just going to stand still here."
Before Applejack could react, a burst of light shone above them. A beacon of blazing brilliance erupted above Bastion City, warming their bodies and causing the blizzard's winds to fall completely still.
"Enough!"
Applejack recognized the voice. It was a voice she thought she would never hear again. To her awe, Princess Celestia descended in the middle of all the fighting. She looked a little surprised at the sight, but she quickly recovered and brought her regal bearing upon their foe. Applejack also noticed how exhausted the princess looked.
"Begone, Nightmare Moon!" Celestia said sternly. "Stay and it's me you will face in battle!"
Merely looking at the light emanating from Celestia seemed to pain Nightmare Moon. She faded into black smoke and flew away. There was a renewed cry from the walls' defenders and the sounds of battle increased.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight cried out. She ran towards the princess, her face ecstatic.
The look of exhaustion faded from Celestia's face as she turned towards her faithful student. "Twilight!" she said in relief. The two of them met each other with a joyful embrace. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike looked just as happy. Vanguard and Scarlet were already focusing on other matters.
Applejack only felt her unease grow.
