A Stranger Among Them
Chapter 4: The God Behind The Mare Within The Moon

Didja miss me, everypony? I'm BAAAAAAAACK!

Again, do try to find looping or extended tracks for the music I have selected for each chapter. The music for this chapter will consist of:

A. The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword "The Imprisoned"
B. Final Fantasy XIII "Blinded By Light (Long Version)"

However, I'll be honest, I couldn't find an extended version of music A. There's one for the drums and cymbals, but that's not the one I'm after.

In any case, enjoy the chapter.


[A]

Tenebrae and I stood there for a moment. I was waiting on him to make the first move. I figured all I really had to do was dodge like hell until Luna got back from putting out the fires.

Tenebrae smirked and- WHAT THE HELL! He just vanished into thin air! That's just cheating!

Well, what did I expect? A fair fight from Darkness Embodied?

His mocking laughter rang out from all around me.

"So, here's what I'm going to do. First, I'm going to thrash you within an inch of your life. Then, I'm going to gloat, taunt, and generally take the mickey out of you. Finally, I'm going to brainwash your weakened state into doing exactly as I have brought you here for."

I whirled around, every which way, trying to find him, but I couldn't see anypony.

I know it'll probably result in the destruction of it, but I think the only thing I can really do to save myself here is to take shelter in Ponyville. Buck, this is not going to end well.

I took off and started flying low to the ground, all the way back to Ponyville.

"Heheheheh, you can run, but you can't hide."

I saw the small entry to the town, and I flew towards it as fast as I could. I was almost there when something collided with me, and I was thrown sideways, into a grassy area.

I slid several feet before getting up as fast as possible and looking around. Tenebrae was hovering a few feet off the ground, about thirty meters away. He had both arms raised to hip-level, and they were brimming with purple-colored auras. He was sneering smugly. He knew I wouldn't be able to do nearly anything against his magic, and he knew I knew it too.

I was a few meters away from a house, so I dove behind it just in time to watch a blur of purple light streak right by where I had been and hit a bush, blasting it completely away.

"Damn it," I muttered to myself. "Luna'd better hurry up with that fire, or I doubt there'll be much left of me to defend."

I looked to the general direction Sweet Apple Acres was in, but I soon realized I had no need to exert myself searching. A smoke plume was now rising, and it was growing. Fast.

BAM!

Everything spun around me as I felt myself be lifted off the ground. I felt a pain in the left side of my head, and everything stopped spinning. I had been slammed into the side of a building, and based on the wetness dripping from my nose onto my lips, I was bleeding from one nostril, if not both.

I staggered to my feet, but fell the other way. Once again, everything was thrown off in my vision. I guess I have no choice. I have to fight. If for no other reason, I just have to keep him distracted long enough, and me getting the shit kicked out of me wasn't going to last very long. I have to get him on the defensive, even if for half-a-second.

Everything righted itself, and I flew off again, trying to steer clear of any wide-open areas, like in front of the Books and Branches, or out by Town Hall. I would be wide-open to an attack in those places. Needless to say, a wide-open area to be attacked in would be nigh on suicide.

I managed to duck down between two houses out somewhat close to Sugarcube Corner. The smoke plume was growing, but I noticed it wasn't growing as quickly as it had been. Maybe Luna had gotten it to at least slow dow- oh no. It had gotten as wide as it could, and it was now advancing away from where it had been.

"Such a lovely day it was," Tenebrae's voice rang out, and he sounded none too pleased. "Too bad I had to spoil it for the rest of you. And in its current state, the Harvest Festival appears to have been cancelled, permanently. I do love party crashing. Or should I say, party wrecking?"

He started laughing rather sinisterly.

"Oh, there you are!" he suddenly let out, the voice coming from right above me.

Before he had finished, I was out and flying as fast as I could away. I heard two loud blasts hit right where I had been, and was thankful I had managed to get away-

BOOM!

The ground in front of me exploded into dust and rubble, and I was forced to shut my eyes when flying through.

WHAM!

Big mistake. I just went head-first into a wall.

I opened my eyes slowly, watching as everything was spinning again, even though I was firmly planted in the ground. I curled up and waited for everything to right itself.

And once again, that was a huge mistake.

I felt his front hoof-substitutes curl around my mane, and effortlessly, he yanked me into the air. Not to mention, it was hurting my head, where the hair connected to my scalp.

"Let! Me! Go!" I shouted as I swung around, trying to hit his arm off of me.

He smirked, then started swinging me around. The air around me became a blur, and suddenly, I felt him let go. I struggled to regain my composure as I flew through the air. I finally did, but I saw in front of me, an oncoming wall.

There was no way I would be able to stop myself from crashing into it, so I flipped myself around to my back, and-

A sudden change of direction caught me completely off-guard. At nearly the last second, I felt hooves catch me and fling me into the air, where I slowed, and regained control. I looked down to see Rainbow Dash. She had a determined smile on her face, and promptly saluted me. I grinned back at her and returned the salute.

/[A]\

I looked down to see Twilight Sparkle firing magic beams of light at Tenebrae, who was batting them aside like he had Luna's. However, while Luna's beam had set the tree it made contact with on fire, Twilight's merely dissipated harmlessly whenever it hit a Ponyville house. I flew down by Rainbow Dash when I saw that Tenebrae was distracted.

"Who all's here helping?" I asked.

"It's me, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie. Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy are helping the Princesses with the fires at Sweet Apple Acres. We don't have them completely out, but they're under control now. How 'bout you?"

"Wait. Did you say 'princessES? Plural?" Did Celestia really get Spike's letter that quickly?

"Well, yeah. Princess Celestia showed up a few minutes after we got everypony into the forest. Said she was making sure we were all safe. Then when Twilight told her about you two stayin' behind, she went to help Luna immediately, and Twilight told us all to split up and go help too. Looks like we got here just in time, too."

I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, what gave that away? The fact that you caught me flying through the air toward a wall, or the fact that my beautiful face is going to be pretty banged up for-"

A shot of purple light whizzed right by me, and as for whether it was one of Tenebrae's spells, or one of Twilight Sparkle's that went awry, I didn't know, and I really couldn't have cared less. I just wanted to stay the buck away from them.

And where was Pinkie Pie? RBD said she was helping out here, but where?

I noticed her in an alleyway. Her Party Cannon was out and, by the look of things, primed to fire.

Which gives me an idea…

I flew on down right by the alley, at an angle where Tenebrae wouldn't see the cannon.

"Hey Tenebrae! What's with your aim! Even I can hit Twilight from where you are, and I've hit two walls today head-first!"

Tenebrae turned and scowled at me.

"If you think such petty insults are going to get me to attack you, you are sorely mistaken-"

"That's not what your mother said last night!" I shouted.

Tenebrae rolled his eyes at me.

"I don't have a mother, you imbecile. I was created out of the cosmos."

"Did he sneeze? I think he uhh, messed up when he was working on your face."

That got him. I guess he can't stand insults to that ugly mug of his. His scowl turned into a snarl, and he immediately flew right at me.

With a noise like a party noise-maker, Pinkie Pie's party cannon got him from the side, completely catching him off-guard, and I took advantage of him stumbling.

I flew at Tenebrae's back, and I managed to make solid contact, much to my delight. I had shoved him face-first into a wall at top speed.

I will not lie. The amount of satisfaction I got for doing that should be illegal in every universe. But I still think I could possibly get more than just this amount. If only there were a certain Nightmare around for me to slam into a wall…

I flew back quickly as an aura of magic exploded outward from Tenebrae, positively destroying the wall of the house he had just been slammed into. He turned around, eyes alight with fury, even though there didn't appear to be a scratch on him.

Oh great. And I just pissed him off. Wonderful.

"You really thought that would work?" he asked in a flat, hard voice.

He then lunged at an impossible speed, tackling me through a house, and proceeding to grab me by my tail and fling me through the wall, into another house.

But I didn't stop. I ended up going through another house.

And another one.

And finally, falling to rest in front of the library. I staggered to my hooves, feeling my entire body protest at the action. I had taken quite a beating, and it didn't look like he was letting up soon.

And then I saw him standing walking toward me from the direction of the houses I just got thrown through, and without a second thought, I flew at him.

Strike that, I flew right through him. Into a wall. Again.

Tenebrae started to laugh, this time sounding genuinely amused.

"I can't believe you fell for that!" he said after his mirth subsided.

He picked me up and tossed me across the little plaza.

"And I never thought you'd be this easy to take down, especially considering your little outburst the last time I was here. But I suppose since you haven't learned how to shoot lightning yet, I should have expected this. Pity, though. It just means my plan get to be held back a little."

He raised an arm, magic brimming at the hoof area, surrounded by his five digits.

"Well, unless I have misjudged pony physiology, this next blast should knock you clean out, and you can't do anything to stop me right now. Well then, I wish you unpleasant dreams."

There was a blinding flash of blue light, a yell that sounded like Tenebrae's, and what sounded like somepony standing right in front of me.

"I'll kill you if you lay your hand on him again," said a deathly quiet voice that I recognized as Luna's.

Oh thank Lux, she was here to save my ass. Also, what's a hand? It is one of those hoof-substitutes? I guess I'll just call them that from now on. It's certainly shorter and more convenient.

The light faded, and I saw her standing with her back to me, facing Tenebrae, who was standing in a crater, panting heavily. Based on the expression of rage, the slight smoke rising from him, and the aura of magic surrounding Luna's horn, she had just unleashed quite the magic spell on him. I tried to edge out, but she extended her wings, blocking me.

"Stop," she said, facing me, a stern look on her face. "You're in no condition to keep fighting. Find somewhere to hide, and take cover."

"What about the fire?" I asked.

"Tia's got it covered. It's almost out, now go!"

"What about you?" I asked as I extended my wings, groaning and wincing when they suddenly spiked in pain.

"If he thinks I'm just a defenseless princess, he has another thing coming."

She turned back to Tenebrae as I prepared myself to fly.

Tenebrae glanced at me, then all his rage disappeared as a dangerous smile broke across his face.

"How long ago was it that we first met, Luna?" he asked, making quite sure I could hear it. "A thousand years or so, right?"

And just like that, any and all desires to fly away have vanished. As has all exhaustion, and for whatever reason, the pain seems to have gone away too. Luna stared at Tenebrae with an absolutely enraged and dumbfounded expression.

"That was YOU!" she thundered, and I noticed, the pupils in her eyes started to elongate slightly.

"Yep! That was me," said Tenebrae, smiling.

I stepped out from behind Luna and I too glared at Tenebrae.

"How! How was it you! I was told that what turned her into Nightmare Moon was jealousy!" I shouted at him.

Tenebrae nodded, still smiling.

"And you are half-true. See, everypony here believes that. Including you, Luna, and your sister. And only because it is true. You did succumb to jealousy. Allow me to explain my role in this. Up until then, I'd already had plans in motion to get into this world. You remember Discord?" he suddenly asked, raising an eyebrow.

Luna's rage faltered, replaced by surprise.

"Exactly. I created him for the sole purpose of completely ruining the natural laws that govern this land. I thought if I could completely screw up the laws of nature of this world, it would also end whatever it is that prevented me from entering this place. However, while Discord went rampant on the surface, my sister introduced two new pieces to this little game of cosmic chess we were playing."

And right there, my rage completely went bye-bye. Luna and Celestia had been pawns of Lux's? Luna looked similarly affected.

"Oh yes, she brought you two into this world. She brought you two in so that you could use these fabled Elements of Harmony to stop him completely. But, well, it was just another balancing of the scales. See, you cannot destroy chaos. Chaos is merely the absence of order, which you and your older sister brought. So the best you could do was to imprison him in stone."

He suddenly jumped up, and landed in a pose similar to how Rainbow Dash was flying. As if he were laying on a hammock, despite the fact that he was floating in the air.

"Naturally, I knew I had to find a way to subvert that order you two brought. I sent threat after threat. The original Changeling Army? I tried to get a few impersonators in to find a way to take your place and bring down the enchantment keeping me out, but it appeared you were not the ones keeping it up, but they were simply transported away from Equestria by the Elements. The Insurrectionists? I thought I might get them to usurp your position and remove you from the playing field entirely, but they got banished to another world by the Elements of Harmony. At that moment, it seemed like all was lost, and I would never find a way in, but…"

And here looked directly at Luna.

"You and your sister, Luna, decided to delegate duties so you could be better prepared if more threats came. You were given a pretty easy task, simply raising the moon and watching over the night. Well, apparently, it really got to you that everyone slept through the night you provided, despite how beautiful it was. And so the seeds of jealousy were planted."

He lowered himself to the ground and stood up.

"I'm not going to lie, I may have helped water these seeds a little, but the end result was just what I wanted. One of the Royal Pony Sisters had been corrupted, and that left the duty to keep the peace all on one pony's shoulders. At that moment, I seized my opportunity and took you by force, transforming you into Nightmare Moon."

He looked right at me.

"At last, I had a foothold, and I thought I would be able to step in and take the land over, but one again, I was thwarted by my sister's foresight, and Princess Celestia sealed her sister away on the moon for a thousand years with the damned Elements of Harmony.

"Four different plans, thwarted by the Elements. However, I knew that in time three of my plans would strike again. First, Nightmare Moon. However, behind the scenes, I was already working on my fifth plan, a final plan to directly bring an outsider into this world."

I stepped backward, staggering from all of this. He had been behind everything that has ever happened to Equestria?

Tenebrae tossed his head back, causing his spikes to shale a little, but he quickly resumed his stance, glaring at us.

"Well, true to the old mare's tale, Nightmare Moon returned. However, I had already abandoned her, that is to say, you. I was laying the ground for an endgame, three final plans to use. I no longer needed Nightmare Moon, so I took my power away from her and thus, she was defeated. Despite the fact that I had worked so hard to cause the gap between sisters, a thousand years of no contact proved to be a helper to me in this case, far more than just a simple little split. Without you on the same page as her, Celestia could not keep Discord from returning."

Luna scowled. I looked over to the smoke plume to see it dying away. Just a little bit longer…

"And why exactly did you need Discord?" I asked. Maybe if I can get him to talk for just a while longer...

"It's simple, really. I needed him to shake up the universe's laws again. Which he did flawlessly, if only for a short time. I then spent time having Queen Chrysalis, one of the few surviving Changelings from the first army, marshal a Changeling army, like I did in the past, and I unleashed them upon Canterlot. Queen Chrysalis did her job admirably, although she turned to her own desires in the end. I imparted on her the importance of making sure Shining Armor's spells faltered. She succeeded, and while you all were distracted, I finished Discord's work, and I managed to break the barrier surrounding this world, and that made it possible for me to bring outsiders in, because I knew it would take Lux at least a few years to repair the damage."

And here is when I got confused. Exactly how is it that I serve as a doorway for Tenebrae to come through?

"Why? Why bring a human here? What makes him a door to this world for you?" asked Luna.

Tenebrae scoffed.

"I would have thought you'd have figured this out by now Princess. I suppose you've gotten a splinter in the past, yes? The wood, that foreign material invading the body, opens up a gap in the skin that protects the inside of your body, allowing foreign agents to enter. You'll find that the enchantments Lux laid down function in a similar manner. Once I forced Splinter over there into your world, I breached the defenses and it allowed me entry. Unless you find a way to get Flare home, you'll be seeing a lot of me in the future, because the more I enter, the easier it gets, to the point where I won't even have to use him anymore."

Luna looked at me, but I couldn't tell what she was thinking based on her expression. She let out a sniff, then turned back to Tenebrae.

"It almost sounds like you don't want him here anymore. Why else would you attack him so? Out to destroy your only door?"

Tenebrae smiled.

"No, but you're on the right track, princess. I'm only out to keep him from getting too strong. Once I can enter this world of my own free will, without him to serve as a door, I can leave him alone. But for now, I need to make sure he stays too weak to drive me off should I ever decide to come a-calling. Now, would you kindly step aside? I have a Pegasus to beat up."

I was about to dash at him, but Luna stepped in front of me again, wings extended to prevent me from moving at him.

"As I said before, I'll kill you if you lay another hand on him."

I had never heard this much anger in her voice before, except for maybe that time where I accidentally insulted her. I certainly hope she has a temper. It would be nice to let out in this situation.

Tenebrae started to cackle.

"And do you think you can stop me?"

Luna didn't answer immediately, instead turning to me and giving me a look that plainly said "You disobey and I'm going to make you pay for it," while she verbally said, "Run, now."

Much as I'd like to stick around and help, especially considering my best friend's probably biting off more than she can chew with Tenebrae, I shut my mouth, nodded, and proceeded to fly up to the roof of a nearby house. How the hell was she going to manage this?

Tenebrae shared my line of thought.

"You must be joking. How are you, a mere alicorn, going to compete with me, a bona fide god?"

She smirked.

"Like this."

There was a bright flash of light that emanated from her, so bright I had to look away. When I looked back, I beheld Nightmare Moon standing right where Luna had been. And she looked none too pleased with the situation before her.

Cue jaw drop.

There was a small popping sound next to me, and I turned to see Twilight Sparkle with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.

"What's happening?" asked Twilight. She sounded both worried and (as expected) fascinated by all of this.

I said nothing, but I gestured down to where Nightmare Moon had currently begun firing Magic Lasers of Death at Tenebrae. It was bad enough that I couldn't do anything to help, but what made it even more salt-in-the-wound was that Nightmare Moon was actually winning.

For all his supposed power, something Nightmare Moon had in her magic was forcing Tenebrae absolutely on the defensive. But while I had been led to believe Nightmare Moon was an alternate persona that had corrupted Luna, this Nightmare Moon did seem to actually be Luna, fully aware and in control.

A small little trail of smoke flew in from the direction of the fire, and it resolved itself into a note. Twilight Sparkle opened it, and she let out a relieved sigh.

"The fires are out, and now the Princess and the others are making sure there aren't any embers left that could restart it. Celestia says to hold on a bit longer, she's almost here."

I looked back down in time to see Tenebrae get blasted sideways into a building. I decided I couldn't sit back and do nothing anymore.

I flew up to a nearby group of clouds and I started pushing one over to where Tenebrae and Luna were duking it out.

What are you doing, Flare Dancer?

Listen, Lux, can you tell Luna to freeze all the water I cause to fall from this cloud?

I can, but-

No buts! We have to do this!

Very Well, but be aware, it will not stop him. Nor will the combined efforts of Celestia and Luna. I will have to assist you directly if Tenebrae proves capable enough to deal with them.

Umm, okay.

Not three seconds later, Luna's head swiveled up to where I was, and her expression looked somewhat confused. I nodded at her, and she blinked slowly, as if to say, "I got it."

I then proceeded to start bouncing on the cloud, causing it to rain all over Tenebrae. Tenebrae looked up at me, and he looked absolutely lost for words, as if wondering, "What the Tartarus is he doing?"

Which proved to work to my advantage, for the moment he did that, Luna inhaled an incredible amount of air and blew it in a focused gale at Tenebrae. Everything in the path of the wind froze solid, and due to Tenebrae being absolutely soaked, he froze solid, having turned back to the Princess in surprise.

I flew on down and landed next to Luna. Her form flashed and she reverted to her original, normal self.

"Who was that, talking to me in my head?" she asked immediately, not taking her eyes off the Tenbraesickle.

"Lux. That was Lux," I explained. "I don't know much about her, other than that she's Tenebrae's sister."

Luna looked slightly pensive.

"It's strange. I'm sure I've never met her before, but she seemed familiar. It was as if we had met a long time ago, but I had forgotten her. You ever had that feeling before?" she asked, looking at me, curiously.

I looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Really? You're asking me that, even though I'm the one with only two months' worth of memories?"

She gave a half-laugh.

"Wow, I really am turning into you, aren't I? Making comments without bothering to think them through before I say them? What's next? I'll start fidgeting every minute or so?"

I lightly clopped her to the back of the head.

"Ha ha. Very funny."

There came a crunching noise. We both looked at the frozen form of the demigod of Darkness. His frozen hand, slightly raised to repel the stream of frost that had come from Luna, was glowing in that deep violet color.

With a crystalline shattering sound, the ice exploded off of him and flew in all directions. And a beam of energy was flying directly at me, and I couldn't react in time-

"Flare! Look out!"

I felt someone's form slam into mine, sending me flying sideways into a building. Why is it that every time I go flying due to a throw, or a hit or whatnot, I always have to hit something made of stone? Like that rock my first day, all these buildings today, what next?

And then my eyes fell on Luna, who was lying still, eyes shut, and a small amount of blood trickling from her nose.

"LUNA!"

I wasn't aware that I had yelled that until about a moment after I had reached Luna's side. Her chest moved slowly, but she was alive, and breathing. Her pulse seemed normal. It matched mine, anyway, albeit slowing somewhat quickly.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about her," came that hammy voice, which sounded surprisingly subdued. "She's just unconscious, no lasting damage. I mean, that spell was intended for you, after all, and I don't want to waste my most valuable servant now, do I?"

I looked up at him to see him standing over us, looking at Luna as though she were a semi-interesting page of a book.

"I must admit, it did not occur to me that someone would automatically jump in the way of magic for the sake of the other. What a foolish sentiment. I mean, you're both gonna die some time, so why delay it?"

He furrowed his brow, but suddenly, his eyes widened as the realization of whatever he was thinking about came to him.

"Oh. I get it now. I should have seen this."

I swung at him, but he effortlessly backed away a few feet, safely out of range.

"What are you on about?" I asked him, infuriated that he had hurt Luna like this. Sure it wasn't permanent and she would make a full recovery, but that still doesn't excuse the act.

"Are you THAT blind? I know most men from your world are, but this is rather ridiculous. She constantly gets flustered when someone insinuates you two being together, she is very fond of you being around, and she is willing to take a potential death-blow for your sake. Open your eyes, Flare Dancer! She loves you!"

And suddenly, my fury is gone, replaced by absolute shock, and I feel very self-conscious about that harmless little "I love you" I had told her earlier. Hell, I feel very self-conscious, period. I looked down at her unconscious form, still feeling very confused and shocked by all of this.

"Oh? It seems that it wasn't unrequited, either. You yourself have feelings for her, and they are plain as day right now."

I do NOT! I've only known her for two months! She trolls me deliberately, she always clops me to the back of the head when she feels like it, she looks amazing in her own moonlight, I-

I…

I do. And what's more, I've had them for a while now, but I've been too stubborn to acknowledge them, let alone embrace them.

"But this is absolutely touching! The star-crossed couple realizes they actually have feelings for each other, right in the middle of the battle where the dude with the badass black and silver hair is kicking their asses! This is so rich it makes me want to puke!"

He started laughing again, but this laugh didn't seem like one of amusement. More like one of anger.

"Heh, I have failed my original goal. I wanted to keep you uncorrupted by these distracting and useless emotions. You're no longer fit to be my servant then, I suppose. I guess now the gloves are off. Oh, but wait. I can still use you for a door. Yes, I still can carry on. Oh, and you still look like you could use a perfectly good beating! Time to finish you off!"

He leapt at me faster than physically possible-

And got blasted to the side by a beam of golden light.

I turned to see who my savior was, but the light was so bright, I had to shield my eyes.

"How dare you touch my sister!" thundered the voice of the person I had hoped to the cosmos above would get here soon, and thank goodness Celestia finally got here.

Tenebrae let out a short little groan as he extricated himself from the small pile of rubble that covered him on the other side of the wall next to me. He stood up, brushed a lot of the dust off, then smirked at the princess.

"Oh, hello again, Celestia. It's been a while."

Celestia's horn flashed, and both she and Tenebrae vanished with a popping noise, though I heard a second one a few yards away, behind a building. Seemed she wanted to give us a moment to recover. How nice of her.

I gently nudged Luna's limp form, slowly getting more and more firm in the nudges for the next few seconds or so, until to my utter relief, she groaned, opened her eyes, and looked around blearily.

"Wuzzappening?" she said thickly, looking everywhere.

I stilled her gently, feeling oddly protective of her in her current state.

And suddenly, she bolted upright, knocking me over in her haste to get back to the fight.

"Where'd he go! I'll tear him in two for everything he's done to you!"

And just like that, my feelings of protectiveness were blasted away.

"Luna! Luna, stop. Your sister's dealing with Tenebrae right now. Just relax a little. You're in no condition to continue fighting."

She appeared not to hear me.

"WHERE IS HE!"

I leapt right in front of her, right as she was about to take flight, and I flared my wings out, making it clear that she was not to go.

She gave me one of her looks of deep resentment, and I can't say I didn't empathize. I really wanted to go after Tenebrae too, but right now, Celestia's giving us time to recuperate. Better make use of it.

"Flare, why are you stopping me? He's still on the loose and we have to-"

I placed a hoof on her lips, silencing her.

"We can't do anything right now. We're both in terrible condition. Tia's giving us time to recover a bit, and we need to use it in the best way possible."

She relaxed, and sat down, using her magic to start healing me wherever she could. Despite her being a powerful alicorn, her magic had its limits, and healing seemed to be it. I guess it takes too much energy to heal someone from an injury.

"I give it five minutes, not a second more, and I'm going in," she said, her gaze just challenging me to stop her.

I nodded. I was doing my best to think of a way to nonchalantly bring up what Tenebrae had told me, but at the same time, we are in the middle of a serious battle right now.

"Flare, there's something I need to tell you," she blurted out suddenly, looking down at the ground.

Oh, well, I suppose that works too.

"Uh, okay. What is it?"

She brought a hoof to her forehead, assuming a troubled expression. And now her blush was back. Oh yeah, I knew where this was going.

"Listen, Luna. You don't have to tell me. I know, alright?"

Her head bolted up, and she looked alarmed.

"You- you know! How do you-"

"Tenebrae, after you took the hit. He made the observation."

She stared at me for a moment, then looked back down.

"I feel so foalish. I thought that it was a literal death spell, and I thought 'What if I don't get to tell him,' but I guess it doesn't matter anymore."

I still needed to make sure it wasn't Tenebrae trying to play our emotions. Or at least mine. It happened a lot in RBD's movies that it would seem like they were on the same page in a conversation like this, but in reality, they were on two separate subjects.

"I… I still need to hear it from you," I said.

She looked at me with one of those "seriously?" looks on her face, but she sunk back down, still attempting to catch her breath.

"Fine. Flare, I… I just…"

She sighed heavily and OH MY GOD SOME OTHER PONY'S LIPS ARE ON MINE!

I think I may have blanked out there for a few seconds, but I gently pushed her away from me. I regretted it instantly. Those puppy-dog eyes could make Tenebrae cry. And boy, did she look like she was about to.

"I understand if you... don't have the same feelings," she said, looking hurt, and not wanting to meet my eyes.

I shook my head.

"It's not that I don't like you Luna. I… well, I only just now decided to admit that I do have feelings for you, strong ones to be honest-," she looked up, disbelief on her face, before she broke into a nervous smile, "-to myself. But we're going to make it through today. We need to talk about this later, because now's not exactly the best time or place to do so," and here her smile vanished, as she frowned again.

There was a loud boom from somewhere distant. And it only served to emphasize my statement.

"But now may be the only chance we get," she said, looking at me seriously. "I'd hate to see it go to waste."

I facehoofed.

"Look, we're going to get out of this alright. Tenebrae's already said he ain't going to kill anypony. We can talk about… well, about us later. One, because battlefield confessions are cliché, and two, because we need to slow this d-"

CRASH!

The wall next to me exploded towards us as Tenebrae was sent flying through it. He sat up, looked around, as if he hadn't just come crashing through the wall, then smirked.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked in a troll voice that could have made Luna jealous.

Suddenly, he was surrounded in a golden aura, and he was thrown away again, as Celestia cantered on through, ever so gracefully.

"How're things going?" I asked.

"Much better than last time," Celestia said with a slight smile. "Luna seems to have sapped much of his energy when she fought him."

Luna smiled.

"Works for me," I said, as I got up and got ready to go after Tenebrae. Luna got up too.

As the three of us started cantering out to face him, I muttered to Luna, "Man, I wish the Nightmares were here."

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Even Frigoris?"

"Especially Frigoris," I laughed. "He'd knock Tenebrae a new one if he learned you took even a scratch."

Tenebrae had landed a few feet away and he got to his feet.

"I never cared much for rope-a-dope styles of fighting," he said, shaking the dust off of him. Celestia seemed taken aback. Despite the beating Tenebrae looked to have taken, he emerged without so much as a scratch!

He yawned, then exploded some energy outward. It wasn't enough to hurt us, but it did knock us back a step or so. All it did to him was completely clean him off of all the rubble and dust. And not a mark was on him.

Shit.

"Yes, I never much saw the point of taking hits when you could oh so easily obliterate your opponent within minutes, but I see why human boxers like it so much. To think that I managed to successfully waste away nearly all of both of your energies, Royal Sisters."

Celestia and Luna both snarled. I was too concerned on the negative aspect of this. They didn't have much energy left, I couldn't use anything to get at him, and there was no way to stop him from beating me to a pulp anymore.

Fear not! I am almost there!

Lux? What do you- no, now is not the time.

Tenebrae held up his hand, with an aura of purple magic, and a beam shot out and smote me directly at my abdomen, sending me flying a few feet back. I didn't hit any buildings this time; instead, I slid to a stop in the dirt, right close to where Luna and I'd had our little chat.

I got back up, wiped some blood from my mouth, then cantered on back toward the group. Tenebrae rolled his eyes when he saw me start walking back.

"I'll never understand you, you know that? I've already proven I can completely demolish you in a fight, and yet, you still keep coming back for seconds. Are you a masochist, or something?"

He raised his hand to strike again, but before he could, there came a slight whirling sound.

Small dots of light started appearing from thin air, much like Tenebrae's wisps of dark auras, and also like Tenebrae's darkness, they converged onto one spot, combining and forming a shape that stood directly between the three of us and Tenebrae.

The shape was also humanoid. Her hair, rather than being spiky, was long and straight, to the small of her back. When the light cleared, she wore a long, flowing gown of pure white, almost like a dress, except that it seemed more fitted for action than idly standing, and her hair was revealed to be a platinum blonde, almost white color. Her back was to us, so I couldn't see any details of her face. Her hands brimmed with golden energy, ready to attack Tenebrae.

She turned and looked at the three of us. Her eyes were a pure shade of blue, and she was as pale as the man standing on the other side of her. But while Tenebrae's eyes gave off an air of malice and fury, hers seemed to have a gentle and intense kindness emanating from them.

Truly she and Tenebrae were opposites. Which makes her only one possible being.

"Brother!" she said loudly, turning back to Tenebrae. "Stand down!"

Tenebrae smirked.

"And are you going to stop me, Lux?"

Lux assumed a defensive pose, protecting the three of us.

[B]

Tenebrae lunged at Lux, who caught him, and turned his own force against him. She swung him around and released him back the way he had come, sending him flying into an as-yet untouched building. Tenebrae flipped himself over and pushed off of it, but instead of flying at Lux, he shot into the air.

Lux turned around and held out a hand brimming with golden light at us. There was a bright flash, and the next thing I knew, the three of us were standing on a hill, a fair distance away from Ponyville, but not so far that we could not see what was happening.

I was about to fly back to the scene of the battle, but Celestia held a hoof out in front of me.

"No. I'm sure she can handle herself. In the meantime, I'm going to go and gather reinforcements. Stay put until I return, is that clear?" she asked, looking at me and Luna, with a look that made it clear that we were to do as she commanded.

I nodded. I had no desire to intervene in a fight between god and goddess. Luna, however, didn't seem to share my view of the situation.

"But Sister! We have to fight to defend-" she started, but Celestia overruled her.

"No! You cannot fight! You are exhausted, and Flare is powerless; you would only be in the way. I, however, retain most of my power, but I can see that I am going to need help. I am going to get as many of my guards as I can, preferably the Unicorns and Captain Squall, and return here. Then, and only then, will we go. Do you need me to marshal the Nightmares?"

Luna looked like she was going to argue again, and she even opened her mouth to do so, but again, Celestia overruled her.

"I will bind you here, if I must, so that you do not go down there! I understand you want retribution for what he did to Flare, and I'm sure Flare would like the same for what he did to you," I felt my cheeks heat up, "but you are physically incapable of doing anything right now. And if I have no choice but to imprison you until I return so that you may remain safe, I will take it without any second thoughts!"

Luna's eyes blazed with anger, but she conceded.

"Fine. I will stay. Make it quick. I don't want to miss out on all the fun Lux is having over there, though. I want some semblance of Tenebrae left to punish."

I elbowed her.

"Leave some for me, mare." I said, lightly admonishing her.

She gave me a cheeky grin.

Celestia looked from Luna to me, and back, before letting out a sniff.

"Very well. I'll go as fast as I can."

And with that, she flared her wings and flew off towards Canterlot as fast as she could.

I'll be honest. I've seen Rainbow Dash go, but I swear, Celestia could take all of the Wonderbolts if she wanted to. She was fast! One minute she was there, the next, she was a blur in the distance.

I sat down (and I heard Luna do the same), and turned back to Ponyville. There were now two shapes flying above the town. Tenebrae was surrounded by a purple aura, and Lux by a golden one. Inside of Tenebrae's aura, on his back, were two wings, much like the ones he'd had as an alicorn. Lux's were white, and they looked like a Pegasus' wings would, though there appeared to be many more feathers. They were firing beams of energy at each other, and where they collided, explosions occurred.

"Man, they are just going at it," I commented.

"He wants to utterly annihilate her. I know the feeling," Luna said in a flat voice.

I looked at her, but she was focused on the battle.

"Oh?"

I already knew why, but still…

"I guess it was his feelings toward Lux that came out in me when I became Nightmare Moon," she said, her voice starting to waver with some emotion. "That feeling, that urge to destroy everything she strove for, to oppose her and defeat her, no matter the scale, no matter the importance. That utter hatred! I… I don't want to feel it ever again."

I sidled on over to her and draped a wing around her.

"And you won't. I'll make sure of it."

She said nothing, but looked up at me, her eyes a lot more watery than they normally were. If I get diabetes from how sweet this is, I'll never forgive myself.

I smiled warmly down at her, then turned back to the fight.

Lux and Tenebrae had a beam of magic each, and they were pushing against each other in a lock that reminded me of when Celestia's and Tenebrae's beams met.

Lux stopped her beam, then held out both of her hands and simply caught Tenebrae's magic, holding it off as hard as she could. With one hand, she managed to conjure a shield around herself that kept out Tenebrae's magic to some degree, but I could see she was straining to hold it up. She used her free hand to fire another beam of energy at Tenebrae.

Tenebrae snarled and dove away from the beam, stopping his own in the process. He flew at Lux, holding out a hand as he went. With a flash of dark-colored flames, a thin sword of average length (from what I had seen of old Canterlot antiques) appeared in his hands. The blade was made of what looked like darkened silver, and formed into the likeness of his wings. The thin, cutting side was the side of the membrane between the bones of the wing. It was a blade meant for hacking away, a tool of war and offense.

When he was within range, he swung viciously at Lux, who blocked it with her magic shield, but where the blade made contact, the shield appeared to crack. He reared back and swung at another side, and it too cracked the shield. In short order, Tenebrae managed to completely shatter Lux's magical protection.

Lux flew herself back, away from Tenebrae, and fired two beams of energy in short succession. The first was slower than the second, and the second flew right at the first.

When they were about a foot away from Tenebrae, they collided and exploded. Tenebrae was blown backwards, struggling to regain control.

"Where are Twilight Sparkle and the others?" I asked, suddenly realizing that I hadn't seen them since I flew up to get rain clouds.

"Tia told them to get away and get in the forest with everypony else," Luna explained. "I am grateful for their assistance, especially Rainbow Dash, since she saved your ass, but I do not want to see them hurt during the events of today."

I nodded. I felt the same way about things. I know I wouldn't be conscious at the moment, and probably in Tenebrae's clutches, if I had hit the wall that last time before Dash had intervened. They have my gratitude for giving me time to recuperate and to continue fighting until Luna got there.

Come to think of it, everyone who stood and fought today deserves my thanks. But there's a time and place for everything, and now's not it.

Lux and Tenebrae flew at each other, and their auras met in midair. Due to the overlapping energies, I couldn't see much of what happened. A few seconds later, there was a resounding report and a visible explosion. An instant later, Lux and Tenebrae were sent hurtling away from each other at top speed.

Lux regained control faster, about a hundred yards from where the smoke from the explosion was still clearing. Tenebrae didn't regain control until he almost collided with Town Hall, but he managed to prevent himself from doing so.

There was a bright flash of light next to us, and a number of unicorn guards appeared, led by Captain Squall. The Captain was dressed in his armor, and he looked ready for combat. The guards' horns brimmed with magic as well. There came another flash, and the twelve Nightmares appeared, expressions fierce.

"Where the buck is he? I want at him," came the distinctly soft yet dangerous female voice of Crisium.

"Calm yourself Crisium," said Squall, holding a hoof out at her.

I suddenly wondered what Frigoris would do if he saw me with a wing around Luna, and I was quick enough to retract it. Just in time too, because the pony of the hour himself approached Luna and lowered his head to her.

"How may we be of service, my Princess?" he asked in a flat voice.

Luna stood up and drew herself to her full height. I stood also, but scooted away from her, to see what she would do. Her bearing suddenly changed when in front of subordinates near a field of battle. It was like watching a cat. One moment it was relaxing in the sun, the next, it was glaring everywhere, alert for the slightest hint of danger. While the comparison is a little off, the change in behavior and bearing was that noticeable.

There was yet another flash, and Celestia reappeared. She had another few unicorn guards with her, but these were in finer armor than the ones Captain Squall was leading. I knew these had to be the Solar Guard.

Celestia cantered over to her sister, and we all stepped back, waiting for orders.

"Everyone, make a perimeter around the site where the duo above are battling. Keep in mind, the one dressed in black and silver, with a purple aura of energy is our enemy. The status of the other is unknown, but we strongly believe her to be an ally," Celestia said quickly. "We want to keep him contained. I'm sure our ally will keep the sky contained. We need to keep him surrounded before we can let loose, else he will escape."

Luna then spoke to Squall and the Nightmares.

"As Pegasi, you can help cover the sky. Make sure he does not have a way out. Lux will aid you. I'm trusting you," and here she directed her gaze at me, though I sensed it was still to all of us, "not to do anything rash or foolish."

Where Squall and the Nightmares saluted with cries of "Ma'am," I nodded.

And with that, the small army of unicorn guards galloped off toward the town with Celestia flying above them, while Luna, Squall, the Nightmares, and I all took off and flew to surround the aerial battle site.

Tenebrae and Lux were engaged in another beam lock, though they were merely a foot away from each other. Each had one hand firing a blast, and the other catching and defending against the other.

Lux saw us coming, then broke off the attack and flew up. Tenebrae didn't follow her, but looked at where she had been. His expression became a snarl when he saw all of us.

He turned around, ready to fly away, but with a flash of light, Luna appeared before him, horn brimming with magic. And just like that, the Nightmares got into position all around him. Squall and I went below, since Lux had above. I was secretly hoping he'd have an excuse to use lightning. I really wanted to learn how. No sense in not learning from the best while he's here, right?

Tenebrae looked around in all directions, then saw an opening. He dashed toward the ground, and managed to get past us.

Which was short lived, because he soon saw the group of unicorn guards everywhere.

He hit the ground in surprise, then got to his feet, looking everywhere for a way out. But there was none. We had him cornered like a rat.

Lux's hands brimmed with her golden magic, Celestia's and Luna's horns brimmed with their magic, the unicorn guards were primed to fire, the Nightmares looked ready to attack, and Squall had a fierce expression on his face. He was absolutely ready to fight.

After a few seconds, Tenebrae straightened. He had his eyes shut, and he was smiling, in that way that a defeated person sometimes will do.

"Not bad," he said in an impressed voice. "You certainly know how to corner a god. If I leave now, I won't be able to return for a few days. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable."

He yawned widely.

"Well, Flare, it's been fun. I do hope you enjoyed the thorough beating I gave you and your friends. However, I have to go. Rest assured, I'll see you around. And sooner than you might think. This may seem rather abrupt, but I have things I could be doing, and being obliterated is not one of them. Cheerio!"

With that, he vanished, dissolving into wisps of darkness, that soon faded from existence. He was gone, for now.

/[B]\

I let out a shaky sigh, landed, and leaned against a wrecked building. Finally.

"What time is it?" I asked, out of curiosity.

Luna landed by me, and looked over at a nearby clock.

"It looks like that took nearly forty-five minutes. The day is still young."

I let out a little chuckle.

"Looks like we'll have to postpone our dance," I said. She giggled a bit, but we were soon interrupted.

In all the excitement, Lux had vanished into light, much like Tenebrae had into darkness. At the moment, her disappearance didn't bother me, as I was too concerned about my immediate group of friends.

You performed admirably, Flare Dancer, despite your lack of ability in some Pegasus magic.

Oh, well, thanks, I guess.

However, the day is not yet done, and there is much I want to speak with you about. You must come to the Old Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters at once. The Princesses of the Day and Night may accompany you. They too must be present, for this affects them as well.

Ok, then. To the Old Castle it is.

I turned to Luna, who apparently had noticed what had transpired.

"What did Lux want?" she asked.

"She wants you, me, and Celestia to go to the Old Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters to discuss something with us."

Luna looked at me quizzically. I shrugged my wings.

"Don't look at me. That's all she said."

Luna looked directly at Celestia, who was currently directing Squall and the unicorn guards to return to Canterlot Castle, as their work here was done. She caught Luna's eye, finished up, then cantered on over.

"What's going on?" she asked.

I explained the situation to her briefly. She looked at the sky thoughtfully when I finished.

"We will go as soon as we can. One moment please."

Her horn glowed, and a small sheet of parchment appeared. A quill started writing quickly on it, simply saying that the crisis had passed, and that everypony was safe to come out of the forest. After she had finished, the paper curled up into a scroll, dissolved into smoke, and blew off toward the forest.

"We will go when we have finished making sure everypony made it out of the forest alright. I'm sure Fluttershy did an excellent job of making sure they stayed close enough to Zecora's home so that no creatures went after them," Celestia said, as she watched the smoke-letter fly off. "For now, let's try to help rebuild what we can until they get back."

The twelve Nightmares started to canter on out to where there was some open air to take off in formation. I watched them go, noticing Frigoris cantering on over to me while they went. When he was right next to me, he leaned right up by my ear.

"I'll have some words for you when you get back to the castle," he hissed. And boy, did he sound angry. "Trust me when I say you won't enjoy them."

Before I could fire off a retort, he extended his wings and took off with the rest of the group, and they all flew back toward Canterlot. The unicorn guards' horns glowed, and they vanished moments later. Squall stayed by the Princess, aiming to help clean up the area.

Cleaning up was rather fast. The two princesses together could handle a lot of the wreckage, but occasionally, there came along a beam, or large stones that their magic together couldn't lift, so Squall and I would physically push too. Overall, it was going by quickly.

Little by little, the ponies started to trickle into town from the direction of the forest, and almost immediately, most of the unicorns set to work helping out. About fifteen minutes after we had started, the whole of the western part of Ponyville was clean and reconstructed, possessions and all. The Pegasi and earth ponies did their share of the labor too, heaving the heavier rubble away so the unicorns could use their magic to repair. In no time at all, we didn't have to do a thing. We just sat around, exhausted, and watched the citizens do all the work.

Finally, when I was tired of sitting, I stood up and motioned to Luna and Celestia that I wanted to go. Luna nodded and followed me, but Celestia said a few words to Squall, who saluted and took off for Canterlot. After that, she proceeded to follow us.

"You're gonna have to show me how to get there. I've never been in the forest before," I said to Celestia, who gave a small smile.

"The ponies fear the place, but it really isn't that bad. Well then, follow me, you two."


After a little over two weeks, I finally got this one done. It wasn't hard to write all the combat, but what made it difficult was all the explanation and mush in between. I tried to make this chapter hit the 10k word mark, since that's my goal for each chappie as I go (and sooner or later, there's going to be a lot of stuff, so I'll eventually bump it up to about 15k or 20k a chapter.

Now then, Summer Classes have started, and I'm taking an online course in Government, so this will have to take a backseat to it. I'll do my best to keep writing at a steady pace while working on it, but it shouldn't be too hard to do.

Now then, I had one anonymous reviewer that I couldn't respond to via email or PM, so Imma respond to Coffee Zombie here: Thanks for the review! Much appreciated, it was. However, while I'm flattered by the prospect of a live recording, Imma have to say not yet. If you're still up for it by the time I'm finished with the story AND I manage to get this thing onto Equestria Daily, you have my blessing, but for now, that's just a small distraction I could do without. However, your feedback is still important. Let me know what you thought of the chapter!

Actually, that goes for everyone. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THE STORY/CHAPTER! I have a grand total of 904 hits, and 13 reviews. That's slightly less than one review per 70 people. That's 69 people who should have reviewed the story, but decided not to for some reason. Now, 904 hits is rather good for this fandom and story on FF Net. I mean, most of my Zelda stories have barely over 1k, my KH stories barely have over 2k, and my Harry Potter barely has over 3k hits, and none of them have over 10 reviews, save for seven.

Preview for Chapter 5: Jack Thomas

"I was the one who took your memory from you, and now I restore it to you."

"Luna, we need to talk."
"I thought you said it had to wait, Flare."
"It did have to wait. But Tenebrae's not here anymore."

"You're a ginger! How come I never get to be a ginger!"

"The hell do you want, Frigoris?"
"I said I'd have some words for you, though I changed my mind. How dare you put our princess in mortal peril!"

"Why me? Why not someone else?"

"Why am I seeing these things?"

"This is a technique I borrowed from someone. It's called the Primary Lotus!"

On that note, this is Rytex, signing off. Have a good day!