Chapter 43: Nightmare Stars 8

Climbing down is much harder than climbing up.

When you climb up, you can see where your arms are going, and what you're holding on to, and your legs are always the last to move.

When you climb down, The legs are the first to move, you can't see your legs as your face is facing a rocky cliff, and your arms need to hold on for much longer.

In both cases, a single mistake will deem you to fall and die.

Normally, being in a situation where one small mistake means my untimely demise, I would be smiling ear-to-ear, the rush of excitement going through my body as I am once more reminded that yes, I am indeed alive.

Not this time, however.

It is one thing to be excited with the prospect of dying when I willingly choose to put my life in danger. It is a whole other thing when I am forced into the dangerous situation.

It's a matter of choice, Freedom.

As long as I am free to choose to put my life in danger, I feel excited.

If I am forced, say for example by a shadow creature possessing my body, to put my life in danger, then there is no excitement.

Freedom is the most important aspect of living as a person.

It's what separates Men from Beasts.

Men have the freedom to choose what they wish to do, be it use a spear or a heavy rock to hunt a mammoth, or even the choice to hunt something else, maybe forage for berries?

It's all freedom of choice, at the end of the day.

It's Human.

Beasts might seem free, unbothered by the world around them, simply living their lives.

I disagree.

A Wolf isn't free because it is in nature, running around, uncaged. 

That Wolf is a Slave.

It doesn't wake up one morning and decide it will leave the pack and start a business, It doesn't choose what animal it will hunt.

There is no freedom of choice with wild animals, with Beasts.

They're all slaves.

Not slaves by the human definition, chains and whips.

But slaves to their base instincts.

They are not free, because they do not know what freedom is.

They simply are.

And simply existing, powered by your instincts to survive.

That's not really living.

Is it?

"I can see a cave, three meters below you," Nightmare Moon, now nothing more than a blob of shadows with a single blue eye said, her small body hanging on to the back of my head as I carefully navigated my way down.

"Is it big enough to enter?" I ask, carefully moving my hand to grab onto a rock on the cliff.

"It is," She replied.

"Very well," And with a few more steps, my face scrunched in concentration as I held on tightly to the cliff, My feet touched solid ground.

And the two of us were greeted by a cave.

Taking a quick look down, I can see that the whirlpool of clashing colors is still far below, looking as if we barely made any headway in reaching it.

"Hopefully this cave has a quicker way to get down," I whispered before entering the cave.

Only to pause when I felt a cracking sound.

Looking down at my see-through, water-like blue feet, I noticed a crack.

"...Fuck."

And I fell into a hole.

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On the throne of the moon, Shadowfright's hoof quickly moved and held his head as a Migraine began.

"You will not be taking your body back," He whispered, a snarl of anger on his face as he punched himself in the cheek, feeling the blue magic that fought against his own lessen its attempt at forcing him out of the body, long enough for him to reapply his magic to the spells holding back the Princesses.

"Just a few more hours, and I won't need to do this," He whispered to himself, his dark snarl morphing into an amused smile as he looked at the screen showing the Princess of the Sun.

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"Left," Celestia called loudly, a flap of her wings sending her to the side as she narrowly avoided a rain of corrupted blades, retaliating with a blast of her magic, temporarily removing the animation curse from the weapons.

"Down," She said, ducking her head and diving down as a spear shot at her from behind, narrowly missing her and passing above her before turning in mid-air, redirecting its flight only for a ray of golden light to cleanse the shadows from its hold and free it.

"I really need to stop these from moving," She whispered to herself, but she couldn't find out the answer to how she could permanently stop the weapons from chasing her, knowing full well that it wouldn't be long before the shadows she blasted away will return and once again animate the blades.

And as long as these weapons kept occupying her attention, the more danger Luna could be in, or worse yet, her poor and adorable Blueblood!

And just that thought made her magic burn with righteous anger.

"Wait... That's it!" And it looks like Celestia had a solution to her Problem.

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Princess Luna wasn't well versed in the careful maneuvering of wings in tight spaces.

That doesn't mean she was unable, it just meant that she wasn't as good as her sister.

Luna knew that if Celestia and her switched places, this entire situation would have been resolved already. Her magic could remove the shadows from the weapons and stop them from returning, and Celestia's talent for more physical activities would make the passage through this literal minefield a piece of cake.

But it was never that easy, was it?

Luna knew that she was the more magically gifted of the sisters, so having her take part in such a physically grueling activity as this was such an evil and horrible plan that only an evil monster like Nightmare Moon could think up.

She had to be stopped!

But Luna couldn't do it! She couldn't get past this Minefield, she was a wizard, not a warrior!

"Wait... That's it!" However, it seemed that Luna found an idea.

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"Twilight Sparkle, right?" Starlight Glimmer quickly asked the purple mare as she ran up to her, recognizing her from both the Gala and her time in Ponyville after the Nautical Science test.

"That's me, yes!" Twilight answered before flinching as the sounds of the golden bolts of magic fired up above Ponyville, slamming into the shield that Captain Shining Armor surrounded the town with.

"You're an Element of Harmony, right?" Starlight asked her, recieving a nod from the Element of Magic.

"Good, I think I know how to get the orbs to stop shooting," Starlight quickly explained her plan.

Listening to that plan, however, Twilight brought up a good point.

"Wouldn't we need all the Silver Orbs to be at the same place for that to work?" She asked, the sounds of golden magic beams once more sounded above their heads.

"Yes, but if you look, they're only aiming for the Moon Creatures, not ponies," Starlight pointed out, receiving a widening of her eyes from Twilight.

"So all we have to do is get them to shoot at the same Moon Creature! but how can we do that without placing them in danger?!" The Element of Magic yelled over the sound of another volley of lasers.

"I think I can help with that!" A new voice proclaimed, and the two Unicorns turned their heads.

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"Oh good, the floor opened on you," The first thing that greeted my ears after the floor collapsed, was the annoying sound of the one-eyed Nightmare.

"If you don't have anything helpful to say," I grumbled as I pulled myself up from the ground, "Try shutting up,"

Taking a look at our surroundings, I am not surprised to say that the hole that opened inside the cave did not in fact lead deeper underground, but to someplace different.

"Do you recognize this place?" Nightmare Moon asked as she also looked at the surroundings, a long empty hallway stood before us, with only one direction to go, seeing as there is a wall in all three other directions.

"Not at all," I said and started running forward, feeling the Nightmare on my shoulder latch on tighter as to not fall as I ran down the empty corridor of white walls and white floors.

Before long, we reached the end of the corridor, with a single door waiting for us.

Not stopping to think, I barged through the door to be greeted with...

Yet another corridor.

"An infinite corridor, how original," The Nightmare snarked from my shoulder, and this time I couldn't help but agree with her sarcasm.

"He could have at least made the corridor more original than this," I said, once again moving down the corridor, "I mean, just an empty corridor? Is he trying to buy time or what?"

"He probably is," Nightmare Moon said and I quickly stopped and turned to her.

"What?"

"He Brute forced his way into possessing you," She explained, her eye staring at me, "He can't control you as well as he would like, that's why the whirlpool at the bottom of the cliff was so chaotic, it represents your Magic fighting off against his control,"

"So if we take too long..." I asked, not liking where this was going.

"If we take too long, we might be too late to stop him from taking control over your body." Nightmare Moon said, "He will have full control over your body, Your magic will no longer resist him and he would be able to move around unopposed."

"...Will that mean I'll be stuck in here?" I asked, feeling anger grow in me as the thought of what she was detailing entered my mind.

"We'll both be. Just like how Rarity was when I controlled her body," Nightmare Moon said, before squawking out as my hand latched onto her.

"I'll be trapped inside my own mind?" I asked her again, my hand squeezing the Nightmare as the anger kept growing.

"Yes!" Nightmare Moon yelled, trying to push against my grasp as my anger kept on growing.

"This is all your fault," I whispered as I looked at her, squirming in my hand like a pathetic little insect.

"All of this, This is your fault," I told her, red spots slowly appearing on my water-like body, coloring me with hues of purple.

"Snap out of it!" Nightmare Moon yelled, but I didn't listen, My hand squeezed tighter and tighter, feeling the nonexistent smile on my face spread as-

A Wave of Blue water washed over a wave of Red.

I quickly let go of the Nightmare, my body doubling over as I started coughing violently, splotches of squirmy purple and red living liquid exiting my body as I coughed.

"We need to hurry," Nightmare Moon rasped, a tiny tendril made of shadows rubbing against her body as she spoke, "Your body is already starting to lose control,"

I nodded weakly as my body gasped for air.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to her as I carefully stood up.

"No need to apologize," Nightmare Moon said weakly, "You are correct in saying that all of this is my fault,"

She continued speaking as I gently grabbed her and once again placed her minuscule body on my shoulder, "I am the reason Larry is in control of your body, and it is also my fault that you were on the moon, to begin with. If it wasn't for me, Larry wouldn't have had anypony to possess, making it far easier for the Princesses to defeat him,"

I looked at the Nightmare on my shoulder, "I was apologizing for squeezing you, not because I said that this is your fault," I told her, my legs moving down the corridor as I continued to catch my breath.

"Oh..." Nightmare Moon said.

"Yep. This is still all your fault, and once we're done in here you will be spending a long time in Prison."

Nightmare Moon weakly nodded her body before pausing, her Blue eye turning to look at me.

"Prison?"

"Yes, You're going to prison. You kidnapped me, possessed the body of that Unicorn, held me captive in a cage, and probably much more that I wasn't there to see." I explained to her, "You are a criminal, and Unlike Starlight, I don't think any argument I give will save you, and I also don't want to."

"No, I- I understand that," Nightmare Moon said, "But Prison? Like Tartarus? Why not just simply blast me with the Elements of Harmony and be done with it?"

I looked down at my shoulder as if she was stupid, "The Elements of Harmony sent you to the moon, Right? Why would we want to send you back to the moon as punishment?"

"Huh... I didn't actually think of it like that," She whispered.

"Yeah." I said as I stopped walking, still a fair distance away from the next door in the corridor, "So, any clue on how to get out of here?"

"Have you tried punching the wall again? That seemed to work with the mirror in the prison," Nightmare Moon surprisingly helpfully added.

And doing as she said, I balled my hand into a fist, entered a nice stance, and gave the wall a nice Haymaker.

And it shattered like glass, revealing an exit to the cave.

"Huh... It worked," I said as I looked down at my fist.

"Of course it worked you imbecile, I'm the one who thought of it!" Nightmare Moon said in her haughty tone.

"Yeah sure, Anyways, do you like Sushi?" I asked her as I stretched my shoulders, "I'm figuring out what food to give you when I visit you in jail,"

"...I never had Sushi," She said, and I smiled as the topic changed from the horrible consequences of being stuck in your own mind, unable to influence your body as an evil Nightmare named Larry of all things puppets you around like a Fleshlight.

"I assure you, You'd love it," And we stepped out of the cave, seeing the Blue and Red whirlpool of magic just below us.

"So?" I asked the Shadow on my shoulder, "Are you ready to kick the ass of some douche named Larry?"

"Are you asking if I'm ready to kick the behind of the creature who betrayed and tried to overthrow me?" Nightmare Moon asked sarcastically, "You really are a foolish little Imbecile, aren't you?"

"Well, Here we go!"

And with a yell, The two of us jumped into the whirlpool of Blue and Red magic.

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Celestia Raised the golden Axe she held high above her head, her magic powering up in order to get her plan to work.

"Heh," A small smile graced her lips as the heat around her soared upwards, causing the air around her to vibrate.

And with a bright blast of magic from her horn, the axe she held exploded with fire and light.

"This Axe-" Celestia's voice echoed through the empty land as the weapons flew towards her, "Is an incarnation of the sun itself!"

"BURN!" And with a scream, she swung the now brightly burning golden axe downward, almost like a hammer slamming into an anvil, and all around her, the weapons started melting from the overbearing heat as the Axe itself transformed into a miniature sun, keeping all the weapons from reaching her as they all melted into piled of molten gold and fell to the ground, lifeless.

And as soon as the spell finished its job, the miniature sun also disappeared, leaving Celestia holding a golden staff that used to be connected to a two-headed axe, still dripping molten gold.

"Yep," Celestia calmly said as she threw the now useless staff to the ground, "Still got it,"

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Luna's horn glowed as a cloud of mist left her, slowly enveloping her and hiding her from view, allowing her to easily bypass the sensory spells connected to the mines as she flew down the corridors and hallways of the castle, making her way to the throne room in the middle.

"Should have used magic from the start," She whispered to herself as her horn glowed even brighter, before with a sound of bubbles popping, she was gone.

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Shadowfright leaned back on his throne, feeling his magic take over his body slowly but surely, it wouldn't be long before his body would stop resisting, and getting his own kingdom down on earth will be no more than just a flick of a horn.

Only to look upward as the sound of popping bubbles sounded above him.

"Looking for me?" He then quickly turned to look ahead as a beam of dark blue magic hit him in the face, courtesy of the freshly teleported Princess of the Night.

"Now, Nightmare Moon! Release Blueblood!" She yelled at him, and he snarled in rage.

"MY NAME IS SHADOWFRIGHT!!!"

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"is everypony ready?" Starlight asked, getting nods from the ponies around her.

"Okay everyone, Let's do this!" She yelled.

"Of course!" A Blue Unicorn with a lighter shade of hair smiled widely as her horn glowed before a creature made of smoke, similar in look to the Moon Creatures, appeared above the Ponyville shield, catching the attention of the Gold and Silver orbs.

"Good job Trixie!" Starlight yelled as the Silver Orbs grouped around the illusion in the sky as the Golden Orbs shot at it, their beams and bolts passing through the Smokey image and dissipating in the distance.

"Now! Twilight, Shining!"

"You got it!" Twilight said as she and her friends started levitating off the ground, the Elements of Harmony hanging off their necks and crows as they glowed with Rainbow colored magic.

"Hurry it up!" Shining Armor yelled with a grunt as he created a temporary hole in the shield right below Trixie's image.

"Take this!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

"We'll take care of 'em!" Applejack added.

"Yep Yep Yippie!" Pinkie Pie celebrated.

"Umm, Yay?" Fluttershy was doing her best.

"Of Course, I would love some payback for what you got me through," Rarity smiled with a sadistic glint in her eyes.

"Here we go, girls! Let's do this!" Twilight Sparkle finished it all off.

And with a loud yell, A beam of Rainbow Colored Magic flew out of the group, out of the hole, and spread outward from there, hitting all of the magic orbs in the sky, causing each and every single one of them to disappear in a puff of magical smoke.

Saving Ponyville once more.

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Luna teleported away as a beam of Red and Black magic flew in her direction as the newly minted Shadowfright aimed at her with Blueblood's body.

"STOP DODGING!" He screeched like a bird, firing more and more bolts of magic at her, forcing her to continue teleporting around, firing weaker beams of blue and silver at him, hoping to knock him unconscious so she could get the Elements of Harmony here in order to get things done quickly.

"Sorry I'm late!" Luna perked up as the voice of her sister sounded behind her, before Celestia appeared next to her, covered in dust and sweat, but uninjured,

"WHAT?!" The Nightmare yelled in shock as he saw her, "HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!"

Celestia frowned deeply as she saw her Son- I mean her Nephew- Oh who am I kidding? When she saw her adopted Son in such a form.

"Nightmare moon," Celestia said as her horn glowed Gold, "Your Evil ends here, Give up peacefully so we can get this over with."

And when Celestia finished saying those words, it was almost as if he cracked.

"MY NAME IS SHADOWFRI-Kuh," He choked, before with a burst of blue magic, he disappeared.

And in his place, Sitting on the throne of the castle, was None other than the White-Furred Prince of Equestria, Blueblood Platinum.

On his shoulder was a small blob of Darkness, a single Blue eye watching them, It was what was left of Nightmare Moon after the Element of Generosity burst out of her control.

And on the ground below the two, was a bruised and injured Moon Creature, it's body covered with Purple and Orange feathers, an Orange beak as its mouth with yellow irises in its eyes.

"This can't be..." It cried weakly as it struggled to move on the floor of the castle, "How could I lose?!"

The sight was pathetic.

This was the creature that dared to take over Blueblood? This?

"This wasn't supposed to end like this!" It cried loudly, unable to move its body.

"I was supposed to leave this barren wasteland! I was supposed to be King! [i]A God[/i]!" Its eyes seemed crazed as it screamed out loudly from the floor.

"HOW?! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?! YOU! YOU ARE PONIES! FAILURES!" It screamed at them.

"YOU ARE THE FAILURES! AND I AM THE DREAM DAMNNED KING-" Its speech was cut short as a white-furred leg slammed onto the back of its head, stomping it into the ground, and turning its body into orange smoke.

Looking at the five different eyes looking at him in shock from the three other people in the room, Blueblood shrugged his shoulders.

"What? He was taking too long."

He was then wrapped in a powerful hug as the Princess of the Sun pulled him in, a teary smile on her face as she hugged her son.

Seeing the warm reunion in front of her, Luna decided to finish what she came here for.

Walking to the throne, and staring down at what remained of Nightmare Moon, Luna's horn started glowing before she-

"Wait!"

She turned to look at Blueblood, still being hugged by her sister as he turned his head upside down to look at her.

"I promised her that she'll go to Tartarus for her crimes, don't hurt her." He said.

"WHAT?!"