Pinkie Pie wasn't the only pony who saw Nightmare Moon that night. Except that the other one saw her on purpouse. The purpouse of stopping her. That mare had been searching for Nightmare Moon for who knows how long before she finally found her. They met somewhere between dreams and reality. Neither of them could tell for sure where were they, but it wasn't even important for them. They were standing in front of Castle of Two sisters, Celestia's and Luna's forgotten, half destroyed old castle that was currently abandoned. Nightmare Moon laughed loudly when she saw the brave mare standing in her way. "I didn't know that you wanted to meet me again so badly, my dear little princess," she said. Princess Luna frowned. "I don't want to see you," she answered, her voice as sharp and cold as icicles. "I want to protect my ponies from your evil and from your cruelty!" Nightmare Moon laughed again. She scanned Luna's body with her eyes, from horn to hooves. Luna was shorter than her. And her fur was the lighter color. It was dark blue, with black spots surrounding the white crescent moon she had as a cutie mark. She was an alicorn, just like Nightmare Moon and she had almost the same rippling, translucent mane and tail she did, but the hair didn't move quite as freely as Nightmare Moon's did, making her look less chaotic and scary. Luna was also wearing an armor. The same black armor she wore in a fight with King Sombra. "Do you really think you can stop me, little Luna?" Nightmare Moon asked. "I know that I can," Luna answered sharply. "I will prove you wrong," the dark mare said with a smirk on her face. "We'll see about that."
Luna angrily shoot the beam of magic in Nightmare Moon's direction, but the mare avoided it. "Is that the best you can do?!" Luna raised her head high, looking Nightmare moon in the eyes. "You have been here long enough. I want to defeat you as soon as possible." "Defeat me?! You are not strong enough, Luna." Nightmare Moon turned into a blue mist that was swiftly making its way toward the princess. But, just as it was about to envelop her and most likely crush her or throw her somewhere, Luna created a round shield around her whole body. She waited the last moment before creating it, wanting to make sure that she doesn't spend too much energy. She needed as much of it as possible to defeat Nightmare Moon. "Do not forget that I'm the one who created you!" she reminded her. Nightmare Moon matrialized herself behind Luna, but Luna quickly turned and blocked the horn that was about to pierce her, with her own. Filled with rage, Nightmare Moon strongly hit Luna in the chest with her front hooves. "And you don't forget why was it that you created me!" she yelled. The force combined with magic that was running through Nightmare Moon's body was so strong that it threw Luna away. Still, as she was uncontrolably flying, Luna suddenly remembered her wings, and used them to slow down. But she wasn't feeling relief, for as soon as her hooves finally touched the ground, she got kicked away again. Nightmare Moon had no intention of wasting time either, so as soon as she hit her with her front hooves first time, she flew after her to do that again, but only with her back legs this time, which made even her fly in the opposite direction.
Hitting the ground with her back, Luna pressed her teeth together to stop a yelp from coming out, not wanting to show even the slightest weakness in front of her enemy, even though the strength of the hit made her fall and roll around a few times, before she was lying on the ground safely. Desorientated, she got up, only to be thrown down once again. Nightmare Moon stepped on her armor clad abdomen with one of her front legs and summoned a spell, probably to trap, hurt or even kill Luna with, but Luna gathered as much magic as she could in that moment to create a shield once more, throwing Nightmare Moon away. She immediately got up, even though her back was protesting. Though she had an armor, it couldn't protect her completely. She got up. Her helmet had already fallen off and there wasn't any time for her to pick it up. She didn't have enough time even to heal her wounds, because Nightmare Moon struck again. Physically, without magic. Luna pushed all the thoughts out of her head, concentrating only on her enemy. She shouldn't think about the pain and she knew that. Especially not in the middle of the battle. No matter how much it hurt. She had to do this. She couldn't let Nightmare Moon roam free, bringing nightmares, darkness and destruction. Dodging the attack with a jump to the side, Luna turned and jumped on Nightmare Moon, throwing her to the ground.
She summoned all of the strength she had to cast a spell that wrapped itself around Nightmare Moon's legs and then tied them to the ground, together with her neck to prevent her from moving. From trying to run away and from fighting back. Then Luna used another kind of spell that wrapped around Nightmare Moon's horn to prevent her from using magic completely. Nightmare Moon was now wriggling on the ground, trying to get free. "Release me, Luna! Or you will pay. Oh, you will pay dearly," she threatened. Panting, Luna approached Nightmare moon and put her hoof on Nightmare Moon's shoulder, since Nightmare Moon was lying on her side. "Save your breath. It's over for you," Luna said. She took a deep breath and then started gathering magic to finish her off. It was going through her body, toward her horn. But, Nightmare Moon suddenly did something surprising that distracted her. She started laughing. Maniacally. It wouldn't be strange if she wasn't in the situation she was currently in. "I told you not to forget why you created me. Did you listen to me? Did you do as I said?" "Silence!" Luna strictly reprimanded her. "Say whatever you want. But you created me because no one loved you." "Lies! Celestia had always loved me. I was just too blinded by my jealousy to see that. Don't think that you will be able to turn me against my own sister again." Nightmare Moon just chuckled. "And what about... against yourself? That would be impossible. Because you are already fighting against yourself. I am you, Luna. Nopony else. We are one. Killing me would be the same like killing yourself." "It wouldn't..." Luna hesitated. Doubts started appearing in her head. Did she really have enough strength to kill Nightmare Moon? To take her life away. After all the time they spent together. "Oh, it would be. We used to share the same body. I was there for you when you needed me. At the time you were alone and everypony despised you. When you were banished to the Moon, I was your only company. I was the only one who truly cared about you." Luna took a step back and lowered her head.
"You are lying," she said, but it was obvious from her voice that she wasn't even convinced herself. "I am not. Even you know that I am right," Nightmare Moon said. She felt the spell on her getting weaker. Weak enough for her to free herself. She got up and gently raised Luna's head with her hoof, so Luna was forced to look at her, wether she wanted that or nor. "I am still right there. For you. I understand and love your night more than anypony else. And Moon... Oh, the beautiful Moon. There are so many creatures underestimating her power, thinking it's nothing compared to the sun's. Together... Imagine all of the things we could accomplish. I love you, Luna. I don't want you to feel lonely nor left out ever again." Luna felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She remembered her punishment. She just wanted to get more love and respect from ponies who adored and admired Celestia, and disliked her. And how did it end up? She got banished. Trapped inside of the Moon, after Celestia used the Elements of Harmony against her. The same Elements they used together to defeat Discord. Luna remembered Nightmare Moon gently holding her in the cold but loving embrace, comforting her and saying that Celestia never had the right to imprison her like that. "I..." she started, but looked away. Nightmare Moon moved closer. Their lips were only a centimeter away. "Say it, Luna. You love me too." "I can't." Nighmare Moon leaned in and kissed her. The kiss was so sweet and yet bitter at the same time. No, Luna couldn't let Nightmare Moon trick her like that. It was true that she was her only company while she was trapped in the Moon. But, she was the one that made her end up that way. It wasn't Celestia's fault. If her role was replaced with Celestia's, she knew that she too would have to do that. There were tears in Celestia's eyes as she did so! It was against her will. She didn't want to fight her and especially not to have her taken away from her like this. And Nightmare Moon... She wanted to destroy her precious and caring sister. Only to rule Equestria. Unforgivable! Luna trembled with wrath and firmly pushed her away. "You are despicable! I will never join you! You don't even love me. You just want me to help you rule Equestria! I won't help you! You deserve to disappear from this world!" she yelled. "So be it," Nightmare Moon said and used Luna's moment of weakness and undescribable sadness to rip the front part of Luna's armor off with her magic and thrust her horn right into Luna's beating heart. Luna screamed, even though the horn didn't pierce her too deeply. So much dark energy. So much evil magic. So much hatred and anger. She knew that Nightmare Moon's heart was rotten, but she had no idea her wicked, corrupted feelings were that strong. They were circulating through her whole body. It was too much, even for the princess of night. She felt dizzy. Retreating, she stumbled down and fell.
The only thing Luna could see was Nightmare Moon's smirk. "See you later, little princess," she said and started flying away. "I will catch you, Nightmare Moon! Celestia defeated you. Twilight defeated you. And I, as the one who created you, will defeat you once and for all! No matter what it takes. Remember that!" Dark magic was slowly draining her strength, together with the hot crimson blood that was gushing out of her heart. She didn't have enough strength left to try and heal herself. She just fell down and closed her eyes.