"It's very nice how everything is warming up now," Star smiled.
"Perhaps," Lunar replied, "but we still have the issue of you-know-who."
"Can we just place her in a cell and wait 'til she thaws out?" Applejack asked.
"Maybe," Twilight thought, "but we don't have a cell to place her in ourselves. Not to mention, that would be similar to how our old lives were, and we were trying to get away from that."
"But don't you think it would be wise to do something about her?" Lustrous stated.
"Her power does know no bounds," added Eclipse.
The group continued to debate the outcome and possibilities they could have with Nightmare Moon, but failed to notice that her body was beginning to thaw and she was regaining consciousness and control of her magic. She felt the magic travel into her horn and, focusing it greatly, used it to shatter the ice that remained. The shards flew out in multiple directions, striking a couple of the ponies lightly, grabbing their attention.
"Umm, guys?" Noct called. "We got a problem."
Lunar turned around and noticed Nightmare Moon standing tall just close by. With Twilight, he extended his wings and covered the others, standing defiantly in Nightmare Moon's way, prepared to defend his friends and family. Nightmare Moon approached slowly and cackled to herself.
"Thou certainly aren't serious," she oozed, "thou? Against us?"
"We don't want any trouble, Nightmare Moon," declared Lunar.
Nightmare Moon guffawed at the remark, "You don't want any trouble, yet here you are. Thy pitiful magic is no competition for the power we possess. Doth thou truly believe that thou stands a chance against us?"
Lunar planted his hooves in the ground firmly and glared at Nightmare Moon, "You do not scare me, Nightmare Moon. I am prepared to defend the ponies behind me with my life. They proved that they will risk their lives to do something different with their lives, and I will risk my life to help them achieve that. The war you started with Celestia, Luna, is one that does not make sense. There is no need for an eternal day or night, and we need unification between ponies, not division. So, I'd risk my life in a battle against you!"
"Thou simply has a death wish," Nightmare Moon snarled, "and we will be more than happy to oblige to your request."
Lunar began to charge up some magic in his horn as a warning, "Try me."
Lunging forward, Lunar unleashed some concussive magic bursts, sending them towards Nightmare Moon. She dodged the attacks, then clashed horns with Lunar, smirking slyly at him.
"Prepare for your end," she told Lunar.
Inside the cells in the Midnight's Rising base, Celestia lifted herself up from the ground. She held her head down and sighed, rubbing her head slightly as well.
"To think," she said aloud, believing she was thinking it instead, "this war started over a meaningless disagreement. It cost us the lives of nearly everypony we've met along the way, but I must defeat her. It is the only way she'll ever understand."
"Funny you should mention that."
Celestia unfolded her ears and looked around nervously. She recognized the voice and wondered where it was coming from.
"Show yourself, Discord," she said into the air.
"What for?" Discord joked. "It's more fun teasing you in this way, particularly because you're in there, and I'm out here."
Celestia turned around and noticed Discord standing on the other side of the bars to the cell she was locked in. Rolling her eyes, she glared at Discord and wondered why he was here.
"Just hangin' out, as the cool ponies call it," Discord replied.
"You're here for more than that," Celestia implied, "don't lie to me."
Discord smirked and snapped his fingers, showing Celestia what was happening on the outside of the base, "You're absolutely right."
Celestia looked closer and noticed Nightmare Moon battling Lunar. She saw Twilight and the others behind the two combating ponies and gasped.
"Twilight was with Lunar the whole time?" She exclaimed, holding her head down low, "And to think I blamed my sister the whole time."
"Yeah," Discord chuckled, "mistakes were made, and fun was had. Now, we get to witness either the fall of the other faction or the fall of the pony you cared about most." He took out some popcorn and watched closely, "Care for some popcorn?"
Celestia dismissed the notion and gazed carefully at Nightmare Moon and Lunar fighting in the field. Even though she considered him an enemy, Celestia started to worry about Lunar, knowing that he was no match for the no-holding-back mentality Nightmare Moon had.
Just don't hurt him, Celestia thought, hoping for the best.
"Thou truly knows not of what stands in the way, doth thou?"
Lunar stood tall and planted his hooves once more. He was tired, battling back and forth with Nightmare Moon. He was giving it his all, but noticed that the sinister alicorn wasn't trying in the slightest. He panted, collecting his breath slowly. Nightmare Moon saw this and chuckled to herself.
"You're out of breath already? Such a shame."
Quickly charging up some magic of her own, Nightmare Moon aimed and shot it towards Lunar. Lunar jumped out of the way just in time, but saw his metal wing come undone. Sacrificing it, he used his magic to throw it towards Nightmare Moon and get the others to safety.
"You need to go now!" Lunar pleaded with Twilight and the others. "There's not much time!"
"But what about you?" Twilight rapidly responded.
"You can't beat her on your own!" Noct added.
"Forget about me," Lunar snapped, "just get the others to safety!" He turned back around and faced Nightmare Moon once more, "I'll hold you off for as long as I can."
"Then this shan't last much longer," Nightmare Moon smirked, showing Lunar some charged up magic in her horn.
Lunar spotted the magic and widened his eyes. He shouted to the others to leave the area to get help, hearing them slowly and hesitatingly leave the area. Before leaving, Twilight promised to return as quickly as possible once the others were safe and sound, feeling a tear escape her eye.
Nightmare Moon watched the cavalcade of creatures leave the area and began to aim her magic towards them. Lunar saw this and, just as Nightmare Moon fired the strengthened magic, jumped in the line of fire to protect the others. He screamed out in pain and felt the magic control his body. Twilight turned around and saw what Lunar did and cried out in horror. Noct noticed Twilight's crushed spirits and reached out to her with his wing.
"Help him out," he told Twilight.
"I don't know if I can," Twilight wept, wiping her eye dry momentarily before more tears filled them.
"You can," Noct encouraged, "if there's anything I picked up on in the short while we've known each other, it's that you're a devoted and strong pony and leader. Lunar may not like help from time to time, but he can't play the hero all the time. Help him and defeat Nightmare Moon."
"B-But what about the others?" Twilight wondered.
"Don't worry about them," said Noct, "the base is close by. We still have friends in there and they'll help us take them to safety."
Leading the rest of the group to safety, Noct again called back to Twilight and encouraged her that she could help Lunar out. Twilight, rising to her hooves, nodded and turned her attention towards Nightmare Moon.
"Corrupt and fall, dammit!" Nightmare Moon barked.
Twilight shot Nightmare Moon with some of her alicorn magic, stopping Nightmare Moon's power from thrashing Lunar's body. Nightmare Moon angrily looked towards Twilight and charged up more of her magic.
"Thou hast made a terrible mistake!" She screamed, blasting the magic towards Twilight.
Twilight casted a defensive shield and watched the magic split up and travel around her spell. She then teleported herself into the sky and shot some more of her alicorn magic towards Nightmare Moon, hitting her mark. This angered Nightmare Moon some more and, grabbing Lunar's body, lifted him into the air, causing Twilight to freeze in place.
"Do one more thing, pony," Nightmare Moon threatened, "and we will tear his wing off!"
Twilight watched in horror as Lunar's wing was encased in Nightmare Moon's magic. Obeying the request, Twilight slowly dropped back down to the ground, waiting for whatever Nightmare Moon was planning on doing next.
"Don't hurt him!" Twilight pleaded.
"Surrender to us," Nightmare Moon demanded, "and we may let him go."
"Don't do it, Twilight," grunted Lunar, feeling the magic pull his wing slightly.
"Shut up, you!" Nightmare Moon scowled, pulling Lunar's wing some more.
Lunar cried out in more pain as the magic pulled his wing. Twilight weighed her options, watching Lunar be tortured but refusing to give in to Nightmare Moon's desires. She didn't surrender, but also didn't want to leave Lunar helpless.
"Time is ticking, pitiful alicorn," Nightmare Moon stated, pulling the wing even more.
Lunar screamed even more from the pain, "STOP! IT FUCKING HURTS!"
Still, Twilight couldn't muster up any words for Nightmare Moon. Instead, she looked down and felt defeated. She continued to weigh her options and then noticed Lunar's detached metallic wing, forming an idea in her head. Looking back up, she approached Nightmare Moon slowly, preparing to use her own magic and use the wing as a weapon of sorts.
"Nightmare Moon," Twilight said, wiping a tear away again, "please put him down."
"Doth thou surrender to us?" Nightmare Moon quickly retorted, raising an eyebrow doubtfully.
Twilight nodded slowly, "Yes, I do."
"Twilight," Lunar coughed, "d-don't…"
"Quiet!" Nightmare Moon snapped.
"I'll lead you to the others," continued Twilight, ignoring Lunar for a moment, "and then I'll declare my surrender."
"A wise choice," Nightmare Moon smirked, dropping Lunar onto the ground.
Lunar fell with a thud and could barely move. The pain was unbearable and, while he was thankful he still had his wing, he wondered what would have been had Nightmare Moon gone through with her threat and plucked him of his remaining wing.
Nightmare Moon approached Twilight and pushed her with her hoof, "Lead the way, future slave."
"Now, now," sighed Twilight, "no need for shoving. I willfully offered to lead you to them, now come along."
As the two started to walk away and leave Lunar behind, Twilight hid most of her horn inside her mane and began to use her magic on the metal wing. She lifted it up into the air and brought it closer to Nightmare Moon, winding up for an attack.
"Before we reach the others," Twilight spoke, "I just have one proposition, Nightmare Moon."
"Thou art in no position to suggest any propositions," Nightmare Moon responded, focusing her gaze on what was ahead of her.
"Still," Twilight pressed, "my proposition is for you to leave the others alone."
"And if we decline?" Nightmare Moon smirked.
"Well," Twilight said, winding up the metal wing with her magic. She swung hard and hit Nightmare Moon in the back of the head, knocking her down.
Using the time given, Twilight rushed back and went to Lunar. She crouched down and, looking towards Lunar, used a little bit more of her magic to heal a little bit of the pain he was enduring. He looked up towards Twilight and smiled softly to her.
"You, Twilight," Lunar coughed again, "are one crazy pony. Crazy, but smart and beautiful."
Twilight smiled and felt a blush form. She grabbed the metal wing - which was spattered with some of Nightmare Moon's blood - and charged up some more of her magic. Holding his hoof, Twilight teleported Lunar out of the field and towards the base, looking to regroup with Noct and the others.
As for Nightmare Moon, she struggled to get to her hooves, but now started looking for Twilight, being driven solely by revenge now.