“She totally kicked your ass”

“She didn’t kick my ass, she just… caught me off guard is all.”

“I don’t see how, I warned you she was easily the militia’s best fighter. I’m not surprised she won.”

“She didn’t win. We didn’t even get to finish.”

“Sheee Wooooonn”

“Shut up.”

“All of you shut up! We’re in the middle of a mission!” a final voice hissed over the codec line.

"Yes Ma’am.” three flat voices answered back simultaneously. Sweetie Drops just huffed as she was reminded how unprofessional this group could be.

Maze meanwhile was rather jubilant despite her recent near defeat. She was finally working with almost the whole gang again minus Trixie, who was begrudgingly stuck back at base helping prepare their extraction. They were opting for an actual portal this time as opposed to a teleport. Last month’s mission to the rock farm left too much doubt they could keep doing it without it being hijacked. Plus the Diamond Dog tunnels were too vulnerable if they had to make an escape while under fire and they had still somehow managed to keep them a secret from Celestia’s forces. They preferred to keep it that way.

She was also quite pleased because her exosuit had finally been repaired, along with a new little cylinder addition at the small of her back.

“Approaching target” Sweetie Drops announced quietly over the channel as they reached the alley behind their destination, a large factory in downtown Fillydalphia. If they were successful they could be reprogramming potentially dozens of nano-machine shipments with their own non-controlling upgrade and really throw a wrench in the princess’s whole operation.

“Understood, proceed as planned” Luna’s voice sounded over the command line. She too was back at base as usual, now monitoring the mission through a new experimental setup devised by the militia with Maze's data; a visual link up tied to head cams and even Maze’s own vision augments. The cyborg was a little uncomfortable about them seeing everything she saw and did through her own eyes while not having the same directional disconnect of the head cams. She knew it was important though so she didn’t make a fuss. Well, not much of a fuss at least.

It also didn’t keep her from having a little fun with it. A blushed creeped over Twilight’s face as she sat in front Maze’s monitor, the cyborg once again adjusting the freshly repaired exosuit over her chest with a bit more ‘gusto’ than necessary.

“I really wish she’d stop doing that.”

“She keeps doing it because you keep blushing” Trixie added boredly from in front of Crystal’s feed.

“She can’t even see it!” Twilight protested.

“And yet I still know it’s happening” Twilight’s blush grew deeper as the human’s voice came through.

“A-Approaching entry points.” Johnny’s voice apprehensively intervened over the codec before Sweetie Drops could snap at them again.

Maze’s merely smirked as she took up position outside the west entrance of the building with her tranq pistol ready while Lyra and her Bon-bon moved on the south entrance. Crystal and Johnny were already at the one on the opposite side from Maze while Wolf and Rex scouted the rooftops. Luna’s voice once again graced their inner ears when they were all in position.

“Ready… Move.” she calmly ordered and the team moved as one as they breached the compound. Maze had already darted one of the two startled guards before moving to disarm the second, another quick dart delivered with the up close specialty of her VR taught CQC. The pair passed out in less than a minute, unable to even lift their weapons as the enhanced sedative, enchanted by the night princess herself, knocked them out even quicker than normal. Her special dream magic also gave the added bonuses that not only could they not overdose but wouldn’t remember even falling asleep, let alone how.

Maze quickly climbed to take care of the guard on the upper catwalks as Crystal and Johnny made their way to the pair at the front. Lyra and Bon-Bon had a small bit of trouble with an augmented security chief but still managed to subdue him, even if it took a couple extra darts and a stun baton to the face. With one final sweep of the area, the team relaxed.

“All clear” Maze confirmed and called down softly to the rest “Any problems?”

“Nah, half of ours we’re already asleep on the job” Crystal smirked back up. Lyra gave a thumbs up as the human turned to them.

“Well done, move on to primary objective” Luna instructed.

Lyra unslung her pack and made her way to the factory’s primary programming station. The other’s continued to patrol the compound as Sweetie Drops stuck close to guard her partner.

“...I knew it was him in that Hearth’s Warming play.” the engineer grumbled to herself as she worked, a heavy sigh coming from the special agent behind her.

“So you were pausing because of the theater poster. I already admitted it was him.”

“I still don’t understand why you couldn’t say you were an orphan, I wouldn’t have cared.”

“That’s not how covers work Ly. They can’t have too many similarities with the real you.”

“Oh so like the rest of your cover.”

“Hey I told you that other than my name what was between us was all real, and completely separate from my cover. And a lot of other stuff wasn’t fake either, heck even my candy shop is legitimate. Yeah, all the out of town deals being set up for me, but I still made and shipped all that candy myself! It is still my cutie mark after all!”

The rest of the team awkwardly kept their distance to avoid being dragged into another one of their spats. The couple may have started trusting each other again but there was still plenty of hurt feelings and issues to work through. There was some solace that they weren’t arguing over the codec but their head cams were still picking most of it up.

“Even if they weren’t your real parents you could have just told me he was an actor.”

“If I told you he was an actor you would have wanted to go see him after the show.”

“Tis’ not the time or place ladies, you are in the middle of a mission” Luna finally interjected, echoing the agent’s earlier words. The pair quickly snapped back to their duties, Lyra scowling as Sweetie Drops seemed to be scolding herself internally for the slip. A small sigh escaped the princess as she moved to watch another feed Fluttershy was currently monitoring.

“Her candy really is quite good” the shy mare muttered to her purple friend, not realizing the princess looming over her.

“Oh I know, right? Even Pinkie say her's are some of the best she’s ever had” Twilight whispered back.

“Wolf move back to the edge, let me see the street again” Fluttershy gave a loud squeak as Luna’s voice was right next to her head all of a sudden, the alicorn having leaned in to better view the screen. The feed moved to overlook the the avenue as Luna squinted at the image “Rex go to take a look at the next street over, on the other side of the alley. Wolf maintain position, keep a vigilant eye”

“Acknowledged your highness” Wolf’s synthetic monotone replied as Rex gave an affirmative tone. The night bringer squinted back and forth between the screens, expression growing harder as Rex’s feed showed the other street.

“Something up Lu?” Maze’s voice piped in.

“Stand by” Something was wrong and the fur began to stand up on her back when Twilight spoke the shared thought.

“That’s strange. The sun hasn’t even started setting yet, where is everypony?” Luna’s eyes bulged as soon as the words left the unicorn’s mouth.

“ABORT THE MISSION! HEAD TO THE PZ IMMEDIATELY! YOU’VE BEEN COMPROMIS-” the alicorn’s order was cut short as two opposite walls of the factory exploded inward, showering the team in rubble. As the dust settled a wave of heat flooded the room along with several troopers and I.G.s, followed by Celestia herself striding in triumphantly. She stood watching as the team backed away from the new entrances, staying quiet as they scowled at the surrounding threats now cutting off their escape.

“What, no defiant insults? Not even a little banter? And here I was expecting at least a little more fanfare. Oh well...” the possessed alicorn shrugged “At least after nearly a year I finally have all of you. Well, nearly all of you. I suppose I’ll still have to wait a bit longer for the con-mare and those traitorous hounds.”

Their reaction was immediate if subtle, but a slightly confused look washed over the cornered group. Her brow furrowed until the human cocked an eyebrow back up at her.

“Not as long as you think” as she smirked a series of pings sounded behind her, followed by several explosions and the static pops of pulse chaff. Celestia’s confidence shifted to irritation as the forces opposite her fell to the decloaking fenrirs after the onslaught of grenades. The ponies and changeling rushed at the opening before they noticed the absence of the human among them.

They turned to see Maze standing her ground between them and the princess, sword drawn. They hesitated with a glance to one another when Wolf spoke up, their opening closing.

“Quickly, while she covers our retreat.” they shared another solemn look but still ran after the robotic hounds, sorrowful looks all around as they were once again leaving their friend behind to face the corrupted alicorn “She is far better prepared than last time, I am certain she can hold long enough to catch up.”

Celestia glared at the cyborg but remained steadfast. With a lazy flick of her her finger she signaled her troops to pursue of the stragglers, she had the main prize to deal with herself. Maze’s readied as the alicorn stepped forward...

But then stopped as heavy chords filled the air.

“Oh my Maisie, how appropriately... Violent”

Maze braced to launch at the monarch only for her to beat her to it. Unable to even raise her blade in time, the fiery warhammer crashed against her face, sending the human through the hole behind her and making a new one into the next building over.

The rest of the group was forced into the main streets on their path to the portal zone, the side alleys blocked by the princess’s forces. Unfortunately the street wasn’t looking much clearer, meaning they’d might be have to move through the buildings themselves sooner rather than later.

A raptor I.G. dropped from above to block their path when a window shattered behind it, the group’s leader giving a fine example of defenestration as she tumbled to the pavement. The cyborg quickly rolled to her feet and snagged the raptor’s leg as she spun back to the opening, hurling the machine at the corrupted monarch trying to follow her through the crumbling wall.

“Keep Going!” Maze shouted and launched back into the building, a small trickle of blood left behind by a gash across her face. The melted remains of the raptor scattered as Celestia met Maze’s blade bearing down on her, easily keeping the human suspended in the air balanced against her sword. An ach of her hammer swept up in a near miss as the cyborg flipped over her, a quick kick to the back of her knee enough to knock her off balance. She twisted the fall into a spinning crouch, sweeping out her wing and bringing down the already raised hammer behind her to see Maze not pressing the attack. The keening sound of a cutting blade drew her attention to the sight of a crumbling wall and her target leaping up the the next building’s fire escape.

“This is going to be tedious” Celestia growled and flew back out to the streets.

Several stories up Maze sliced out a new entrance for the building to find herself in an open floor office space with both sides bordered with ceiling high windows. The windows on her side shined with an unreasonable amount of glare-

“FUCK ME!” the cyborg dashed down the hall as fireballs and fiery beams shredded through the whole floor just behind her. The Alicorn hovering outside chuckled darkly as she swept the maelstrom of flame across the building after the cyborg. Maze, covered in shrapnel and ash hit the end of her line and disappeared in a bright purple flash, reappearing in the next building over to continue the retreat and disappear when me met a wall again.

Except that second time she blinked back to the unexpected sight of the open sky above her, filtered through a subtle golden glow. She twisted in the magical hold to the smirking Celestia behind her.

“Oh yeah…” Maze muttered before the aura slammed her down into the street several stories below.

“No harmony barrier or power armored mare to hide behind this time Maze,” Celestia taunted as she gracefully descended to hover above the new crater in the asphalt “No more tricks to save you now.”

The aura wrapped around her again to lifted her from the hole when something shot out of the cylinder on the small of her back. Celestia caught but a glimpse of the glowing device before it shattered in the cyborgs hand and a violent current washed over her, breaking the magic hold.

“You sure about that!?” Maze shouted suddenly face to face with the monarch, her massive heat blade reared back.

Lyra yelped as she was wrenched back just as Celestia's gold covered form crashed through the wall in front her. Engulfing herself in flame the princess launched back toward the street with a snarl, oblivious to the team’s presence.

“That could have ended poorly” the engineer spouted before they were spurred back into their retreat by the rapport of a rifle, their pursuers relentless in their chase. Dodging bullets and plasma rails alike, they made it another block when they were forced into the buildings by the countless enemies moving to outflank them. Crystal did what she could by collapsing the stairs behind them as they climbed but it would only slow some of the troops.

“STICKY!” the changeling shouted as they barreled through a door, shattering a vial against the ceiling once everyone had passed. A second later the goo inside burst into a webs of honey colored slime, entrapping the trio of pegasi that bypassed the unusable stairways. Given the scant moment of peace the group paused to regroup, seeing they had emerged into the upper floor of some kind of department store.

Johnny leaned against a sales counter to catch his breath when a shadow burst from a clothes rack and leveled a handgun. He responded with his rifle but froze as he saw the blank stare and the pony it belonged to. A heavy weight tackled him to the side when the assailant opened fire, a series of loud pings echoing over the shots. The blacked armored fenrir ignored the small rounds as he whipped his tail at the shooter, a stun dart sticking right into the pony’s chest.The group moved to inspect the fallen mare, the short burst of current having easily knocked her unconscious.

“Back to tranq rounds team…” Sweetie Drops ordered darkly.

Back at base, the thestral now monitoring Crystal’s head-cam cursed as he watched the feed that was miraculously continuing to reach their screens.

“Makers, she’s throwing civilians at them!” Luna spun at the report, eyes wide as she took in the glimpse of young mare “Damn girl’s barely in her teens!”

“She couldn’t be more than a year or two older than Sweetie Belle…” Rarity muttered horrified from behind the lunar princess. A new problem arouse however when a wave of magical static washed over the room, the source clear as the portal team. The head pair of the team turning to her in near panic.

“We can’t stabilize it! Celestia is causing too much interference!” Twilight cried back.

Said monarch meanwhile was busy destroying the better part of a mall in her pursuit of Maze. The cyborg felt bad for whoever worked at or owned the stores but couldn’t afford to keep fighting the princess where she could fly freely. Another lance of flame gouged a smoldering line across the cement a hair’s breadth from the displaced, forcing her to risk another blink. She released a sigh relief that it wasn’t hijacked again only for it to catch in her throat when a golden flash strobed in front of her, the spell traced instead of claimed.

A loud clang reverberated off the open space as Celestia’s hammer found the glowing metal plate anchored to her opponent’s back. The cyborg’s smirk faltered however when the alicorn returned a vicious grin of her own, leaping away with her horn ablaze. Maze paled when a magic bubble snapped into being around her, an instant before the plate reflected the strike.

The barrier popped as the redoubled force was redoubled again within and compressed against the trapped woman before throwing her free. Maze was jerked from her smoking flight when the princess snatched the arm of the melted plate, swinging her around above her head like a lasso and throwing her through the mall’s upper windows.

Maze stuck the pavement and bounced back into the street, the protective aura of what was already her second absorbed core fizzling away. She mentally noted that she only had three left as she pushed her bleeding form from the now graveled asphalt. The whoosh of a rocket streaked past her head as it soared into an approaching Grad, saving the cyborg from the unseen attack.

“Oh, hey guys” Maze forced a smile to the rest of the team cornered in the empty lot behind her, a closed off space at the end of the street that was supposed to be home to a small portal right now. The team flinched back, fear filled eyes looking up and past her now. Maze already knew the sight as she finished rising, readying her blade and the last three cores against the alicorn drifting down to the street.

“Well now, what a treat to end both you and your friends at-” all three cores shattered, the cyborg wasting no time as she exploded toward the shocked princess mid-monologue. She didn’t have the patience for that kind of shit with her friends at risk.

The first strike was a solid fist to the alicorn's muzzle, launching her far back down the boulevard with the displaced right behind her. The retaliating cross of the great sword and hammer stopped against the massive heat blade summoned again. The pressure grew exponentially when the swords glow intensified and finally shattered, the explosion of the sacrificed blade ripping the princess’s weapons from her hands.

The monarch’s eyes widened as a frightfully familiar red aura sparked across the cyborg and her blade shifted to a dark crimson. A vortex of nano magic flurried up around them as the Maze’s eyes locked onto her own with an unbreakable, almost mechanical focus. She crossed her arms and flung her wings around herself in defense against the impending assault, not having time for anything else.

“ZANDATSU!”

Celestia couldn’t keep track of the barrage of strikes hammering against her and slowly driving her back. The edges around her defense showed nothing but blurred waves of red, washing over like a bloody mist. However neither of these facts were what concerned the alicorn; it’s that she was starting to feel it hurt. She realized too late the two focal points of the assault when her hoof suddenly slipped with a loose piece of gravel and a set of fingers stuck through the space between her wings

The alicorn grasped as her feathered wall was wrenched apart and then thrown back behind her by the cyborg, its blade spinning in the air between them. The still off balance Celestia took solace in the fact that with her opponent’s arms outstretched in to expose her, Maze couldn’t catch the blade before she could retaliate. Until her pupils shrunk to dots at the sight of the blade landing between in the nook of the human's foot and heel.

With a furious cry Maze unleashed a flurry of bladed kicks that would have made Chun-li proud. With merely her arms to protect her, Celestia felt the full brunt of the displaced's full offensive potential. The street behind her becoming gouged with countless lines even through her impossible armor. With the last ounce of the rapidly draining charge, Maze flipped the blade back up to her hands and unleashed a final chop that split the very ground beneath them for the entire block.

The aura sputtered away leaving Maze gasping for air as she held the blade against the ruler’s raised arms. Celestia slowly raised her head as dozens of short red lines began to appear across her from and lightly drip, a seething glower reaching the exhausted cyborg. As a stream of red seeped down the sword and dripped between them, a burning fury flared back.

“ENOUGH!” the Canterlot voice roared across the city. She snapped her arms wide as a wall of force caved in the buildings and street all around and caught the cyborg head on. Thrown free, Maze tumbled as the enraged monarch hovered over the crumbling landscape, her burning gaze drilling into her.

She raised a hand to the sky and created a spark, one that grew rapidly into a miniature sun. She stretched back, ready to erase her human nuisance once and for all. So focused on the woman she was that she didn’t see the sparking blur that shot past Maze until it was already on her.

The rapid revving of a chainsaw filled the air as the robotic hound slammed into the princess with a miniature maelstrom of energized somersaults, the final strike protocol finally landing against the true threat to Equestria he had been pursuing for so long.

The small victory however, was short lived. The alicorn's other arm struck out before her new star lost more of its cohesion, sending the custom I.G. bouncing along the pavement and sliding to a stop next to his human friend. Yet he still rose to stand between the two despite his side caved in and a leg dangling by a scant few wires. There was another angry shout and the sun hit the ground, grinding through the street as it streaked straight to them.

With only a moment to act Maze spun back up with a sweep of her blade, kicking away with all the energy she had left. It wasn’t far enough though as a searing wave of heat caught her in the air, sending her flying much further after the ball struck the fenrir’s body. Hitting the ground hard the cyborg tried to push herself up with her friend's head in the nook of her arm but fell harshly back to the searing pavement. She rolled to find a large, jagged chunk of Wolf's armor pierced straight through her thigh.

“Ah, so that’s a thing” Maze hissed out, trying to scoot backward as best she could with one leg. She didn’t dare break her gaze of the slowly clearing smoke, the faint glow of the alicorn’s burning aura showing through.

A heavy gust slammed into her, dispersing the smoke instantly and revealing Celestia hovering above the massive hole of the streets now collapsed into the sewers below. Maze paled as she no longer saw enraged wrath, but instead met eyes filled with a controlled and disturbingly calm fury.

The princess's wings stopped but she stayed suspended in the air. The appendages snapping wide as she took on an almost angelic stance, hooves together and hands almost welcoming open as they rose from her sides. The air then began to shimmer and grow hazy as the temperature abruptly skyrocketed.

Cool metal tendrils wrapped around the human and wrenched her away, Crystal covering the distance back to the portal zone as fast as she could. Maze simply stared back in shock.

A sphere of immense heat and pressure grew around the alicorn; all that was just along the field's outer edges, from the buildings to the street lamps, quickly began to melt away. Everything within however, save Celestia herself, simply burned. Asphalt, wood, cement, and even metal turned to ash… and even that seemed to just fade away within.

As horrifying the sight was the defenders grew nearly panicked when the ball slowly started to glide forward as it followed its creator, cutting off any escape and incinerating everything in her path.

“We can do an exchange!” Trixie announced among the frantic mages trying to create a stable portal.

“Trixie you can’t be serious!” Twilight balked at the suggestion.

“It’s one for many! Even you can understand that logic Sparkle!” the stagemare snapped, yet Luna now objected next.

“Ms. Lulamoon we can’t simply ask somepony to make that kind of sacrifice wi-”

“You don’t have to ask! I’m volunteering! Besides I’m one of the only ones that can make a mana surge strong enough to account for all of them!” Trixie countered before looking down to her darkened veins "And it's not like I'll be around much longer anyway."

“You don't know-”

“Princess please! They running out of time! Let me help them!” the unicorn pleaded. Luna hesitated, her mind frantically trying to decide as she studied the mare. Tears began to well in Trixie’s eyes as she almost begged,

“Let me do something that actually matters…”

A heavy sigh escaped the princess.

“Very well... We’ll do the exchange.”

“Luna we can’t just sit by and let her-” Twilight tried to protest.

“This is not open for debate! Everypony, prepare the spell!” Luna ordered and moved to stand behind the heavy hatted mare. She saw the girl trying to steel herself against what she was to face but failing to control the trembling that took hold of her. Luna laid a hand on her shoulder, its effect on the shaking minimal at best.

‘You matter Miss Lulamoon… and to those you’re trying to save, more that you may ever know.’ the alicorn thought and her horn flared to life.

The team pressed themselves against the alcove’s back wall as tight as possible, trying to stretch the time as much as they could before the encroaching heat was upon them. Then it suddenly dropped as a white void blossomed forth to envelope them, catching the group off guard.

They felt less of a pull backward than so much as the space around them was sliding past them as they fell back. A dark shape demanded their attention as it stepped past in the other direction.

Despair washed over the team as the horned pony turned back, a sad smile on her face as she watched their escape.

“NO!” Maze screamed and reached out, only to find her hand stretched out to a scorched wooden wall. The team's eyes searched the empty space, wide and disbelieving, only vaguely registering the state of the room. Every pony and piece of equipment was pressed against the walls and windows, thrown from the entry point.

The only ones left in the center were the team…

And the unconscious, heavy hatted unicorn lying next to them.

“Luna…” Celestia whispered, her younger sibling's head snapping to her with a chilling glare.

“Not ‘Nightmare’? Well I suppose it nice to know you haven’t fallen far enough into your madness to believe your own lies” Luna countered. She swept a wing out and sent out a freezing gust in its wake, completely dissipating her sister’s burning sphere. The older alicorn, for her part, merely smirked and shrugged.

“Really now Luna, surely you haven't forgotten the logic of spending lives” Celestia mock lectured “You’re not supposed to sacrifice the leader to die in the place of a few grunts.”

“You seem to be under the wrong impression sister. I am not here to take their place,” she corrected, summoning her weapons “I’m here to stop you. This has gone on long enough.”

“I agree” A wave of soldiers and I.G. filled every nook and cranny that allowed them a shot at the younger princess.

“Call them back Tia” Luna warned with deathly seriousness “I’d much rather we keep our subjects from further harm.”

"Oh? And what if I refuse?” the elder sibling taunted.

Luna’s horn suddenly erupted with light as her wings closed around her. Celestia braced as her sister’s wings snapped back open and unleashed a massive arcane wave that washed over nearly half the city. When the tingling sensation across the skin of solar alicorn's faded, she righted herself with a couple quick flaps and she surveyed the damage.

Every I.G. in the wave’s radius was crumpled against whatever they happened to hit first as they were thrown by the wave, building, wall or otherwise. All the living troops however, seemed perfectly unharmed.

At least until they started dropping unceremoniously to the ground, every last one falling into a deep and peaceful slumber. The corrupted monarch straightened with a grimace; Luna had just successfully neutralized half the city and nearly all of her support with but a single casting.

“You face no mere human anymore sister” Luna declared. Celestia just returned a disgruntled scoff, her formally lost weapons flashing back into her hands.

“You forget yourself Luna. I was always the more powerful.”

“And I always the better fighter. And ‘twer that not the case, nopony would even have to read your magic to see how much of a toll Maze left on that power” Luna smirked herself now “...You’re bleeding Tia.”

With a snarl the elder alicorn launched at the younger, the sweep of her greatsword smashing into the cross of Luna’s weapons and sending her into the air. The night princess flipped to meet her sibling's follow up, turning both the sword and hammer with a couple flicks of her rapier before returning her own mace up into Celestia’s chin.

Kicking away, Celestia shook her head to drive away the increasingly familiar sensation. A scattering of searing beams lanced from her horn as she tried to rise over her opponent. She gasped as a shadowy tendril wrapped around her hoof and threw her clear through a skyscraper. She spun to reorient when a silver flash stunned her and the sparking ball mace struck her again, sending her into the pavement below.

“It would seem you’ve thought yourself invincible for too long Tia!” Celestia heard her sister deliver, along with several small, comet-like magic missiles streaking at her in winding curves. A transparent wall of her golden aura sprang up before her to absorb every last missile, but her blood ran cold as a quiet voice sounded right behind her “You’ve grown complacent.”

A massive purple and silver beam erupted from the night princess’s horn, carrying her sibling into another tower and then up and into it as the assault persisted. She lamented the destruction of their pony’s homes and workplaces, but knew even if her sister did acquiesce to the request to relocate, she couldn’t allow her that much of a reprieve to regain her strength.

A hole was blasted out the side of the building, disrupting Luna's beam as her sister flew out. She began to snarl but then caught herself, with a deep breath she calmed and refocused. She stayed her position in the air as Luna rose to face her again.

“I dare say you may be right sister” she admitted calmly before exploding forward “A mistake I will not repeat!”

Luna caught her sibling’s weapons with her own as their auras clashed for dominace. She was now not only aware of her folly but Luna still knew skills from more than a millennia of experience could only grow so dull. This was going to get harder the longer she allowed it to continue, she had to finish this quickly.

“So you say,” the night princess pulled her weapons in, forcing her sister’s into a cross as she stopped her wings for just a moment and allowed herself to drop. Resuming her flight she slid beneath her sibling as she dragged her weapons up, exposing her sister's center mass “yet you still fall for this after so long!”

A pair of hooves drove themselves into the monarch’s gut, knocking the wind out of her despite her armor. As the kick separated the pair, Luna was quick to seize the opportunity by summoning another dark tendril and whipping her sister to the ground. She descended gracefully while the older sibling struggled to rise, her power seriously starting to flag under the constant, back to back assaults from both her and Maze. Luna couldn’t help but notice her sister's reactive armor seemed less effective as her power waned as well, telling that even it had limitations yet.

The moment she touched down a dwarf gekko leaped from the shadows at her. She didn’t even warrant it a glance as her wing casually bashed the unfortunate gear away, though it did remind her of her sister’s most recent crime. Scowling, Luna stalked toward the recovering alicorn.

“Really now Tia, to manipulate the citizens is bad enough but to throw them into battle like this!? To send children to fight for you!? How could have let yourself fall so far!?” she accused but didn’t receive the reaction she expected. Instead Celestia stared back almost completely bewildered.

“Children? What in Equestria are you talking ab-UHG!” Celestia stumbled back grasping her head as she fought for balance. Luna’s eyes widened as the elder sibling was engulfed in flames of purple and black.

“Now now now Lulu, we can’t have you breaking through when she’s finally so close to being completely mine” a second voice spoke over Celestia's own in a disturbing flanged effect as their eyes met, eyes of green sclera and red irises with slitted pupils and exuding a constant purple mist of dark magic. A ripple of disgusted realization coursed through the younger alicorn; she knew this power, and she could never forget that voice.

“Umbra” Luna growled.

“In the flesh,” she smiled smugly “Even if it is somepony else's.”

“This isn’t possible, the Empire resurfaced less than a year ago! How could you have gained so much control over-” Luna was cut off by malicious laughter.

“Do you think me foolish enough to bind myself to that smattering of shiny rocks as strongly as my brother?” Umbra chortled “Please…”

The corrupted princess suddenly exploded forward, slamming into Luna. Deep trenches were carved into the black top as the night watcher struggled against the new dark power added to her sister’s, restoring the armor and renewing the struggle. A muzzle drifted uncomfortably close to hers as the double voice spoke almost sensuously.

“I was able to free myself long before him” she purred “I’ve been in your dear sister for Decades!.”

The point was accentuated with a burst of dark magic from the taller ruler, blasting the younger off balance and leaving her open to attack. She barely deflected the more serious threat of the great sword but wasn’t so lucky against her sister's other chosen tool. Notably less effective than her sister’s golden sheen, Luna's defensive enchants could only absorb so much of a strike from the molten hammer. She was thrown a considerable distance before a massive black tendril not of her own making slammed her back to the ground.

She skid and flipped to her hooves, seeing they’d managed to drag their fight all the way to the dock along the city's river. A rapidly approaching heat warned her of the assault long enough to for a memory to spark. She formed a small ball of silver light above her and left it floating as she dashed to meet Umbra’s charge. The inflamed alicorn grinned at the fool hardy move.

Until her prey disappeared into a burst of black smoke as soon as she lashed out, the dense darkness blinding her. A hoof connected with her back sending her straight into the silver orb, detonating it on impact. She cracked the pavement as she hit and rolled to rise but found Luna’s weapons bearing down on her, forcing her to a knee as the younger princess continued to push down on her.

“I’m surprised you so easily forget Maze’s tactics, given how much you claim to hate her ” Luna taunted as her horn began to glow. Umbra’s magic flared in kind against the build up but found it rebounded against her, Luna already protected with a reflective casting. Her red and green eyes flew wide as they searched for a way out, finally landing on-

‘That’ll do!’

Luna flinched at the triumphant, wicked smile that found her and risked a glance to follow her possessed sister's gaze. She immediately paled at the sight; A terrified group of their subjects were trying to flee the docks to escape becoming casualties of their battle. The corrupted alicorn’s hand shot out with a flare of her horn and a current of pure black lightning sparked out, arcing unerringly at the innocents. Shifting her stored spell Luna erected a quick dome to deflect the bolts out to the river.

Which made an opening for her opponent.

A point blank fireball ripped Luna off her foe and freed the ball mace from her grip. A dark aura caught it and rotated it to face its master as a multitude of runic circles appeared layered all around it. The blunt weapon shot forward with enough force to carry anything caught in its wake along with it, smashing through a flash of light as the night princess just barely blinked away in time. The weapon itself was now unfortunately far beyond her reach.

Given no reprieve, she caught the older sibling's weapons in a fortunate cross against her remaining blade. Fortunate until Umbra completed the swing against the rapier, stressing it far beyond even its limits. As her sword shattered, the whine of rapid power build up signaled an attack before she had any chance to react.

A gold and black arcane ray struck her dead on and carried her into the sky, mirroring her prior attack. She was knocked free of the current as she clipped the edge of a rooftop a couple dozen stories over the city streets. She unsteadily rose with her exosuit frayed and slagged across most her body, perhaps the only thing that saved her.

A delighted titter alerted her of the enemy’s presence, her sister’s commandeered form soon floating into view.

“You may control the moon Lulu, but the light will always drive back the dark” to underscore the point the setting sun began to rise back into the sky behind her. The next moment flames of gold erupted in her right hand as those of black covered her left “And I control Both!”

Luna grimaced down to the remains of her broken blade. An unpleasant and incredibly risky thought crossed her mind, but she now had no other choice. Gripping the hilt tightly, she gave a final look of resolve to her sister’s form before streaking up towards the heavens above. With a disgruntled hum the elder alicorn followed, able to match the younger’s speed but not catch up.

The air grew cold and thin as they passed the clouds and began transversing the realm that danced between the sky and space. The city was little more than a blurred grid below when Luna finally stopped, sending out a wave of force before her opponent could close. The dark sky held the moon behind Luna as the sun stayed it place behind its thief, halting the dark’s advance.

“Oh, so a final stand then? A last desperate move away from the masses? How quaint.” Umbra mocked arrogantly as Luna’s features remained stoic and focused “But you want your chance? Go ahead, it will be pointless I assure you."

“Your knowledge of my realm of mastery is flawed Umbra” Luna announced, a slight echo ringing around them “It is not merely the moon under my dominion, but the stars, the voids and all else that is the night! IT’S THE VERY HEAVENS THEMSELVES THAT ANSWER MY CALLS!”

An overwhelming aura exploded from the alicorn, her eyes radiant with a pure silver as the stars within her mane brightened and multiplied until nothing else could be seen within. She raised her sword's hilt, held as if the blade remained to sit horizontal before her. She even held her other hand out as if to steady it against her palm.

Umbra struggled within the sudden hurricane of arcane forces, gathering as much of her own magic as possible to combat it. She searched Celestia’s memories for any hint of this power, finally coming upon an event of the long distant past.

A mistake made as they were testing their then fledgling abilities, a push too far by the younger sibling as she tried to tame the untamable. A mistake barely contained, one that could have easily wiped out at a large swath of the country.

“YOU WOULDN'T! YOU DID NOT EVEN RISK THIS AS THE NIGHTMARE!” Umbra screamed, the sweeping forces now trying to drag her toward the dark alicorn. Luna’s eyes closed as she focused, completely unaffected by the storm of ancient magic that held her as its eye. “NO! I WON’T LET YOU!”

The panicked screech was followed by the monarch’s hammer, soaring like a comet at the mealstrom's creator.

The arcane storm vanished when Luna’s eyes snapped open and the legendary hammer of the sun simply ceased to be. Not vaporized or disintegrated, but entirely vanished. Disappeared into the pure white nothingness that now extended from the broken hilt.

“All that is light, from the smallest sparks to even the mightiest suns, must eventually return to the dark…” Luna’s voice sounded echolessly among the silence.

A cold terror ran through the corrupted monarch’s veins, for she knew what lay within the center of that blank void. Thinner than the most delicate hair, was a strand of pure, unyielding black stretched along its length. Luna brought the impossible blade to bare, held straight up with poise.

The area erupted into chaos again as the solar princess exploded with power. Gold and black flames tore through the air as great glowing cracks spread across her form, intentionally creating the chain reaction of overlapping powers Maze did by accident so long ago. However unlike the cyborg, these seemed far less out of control.

“I CONTROL BOTH THE LIGHT AND THE DARK! I WILL MAKE THE VERY HEAVENS TREMBLE AT MY GLORY IF I HAVE TO!” she roared across the expanse and soared at her last true obstacle “NOW DIE!”

“Forgive me sister…” Luna mourned, streaking to meet the charge.

History would never forget the massive flash of gold and black that spread across the sky, over nearly the entire kingdom.

When night clashed with day.

All of ponyville stood silent within the town hall’s courtyard under a blank sky.

Not a disorganized or moonless sky, but one devoid of substance. An empty, black expanse that cast an oppressive darkness across the whole of Equestria. However it wasn’t the featureless void that held the town’s attention, but the courtyard’s lone source of light.

They stared up to the pillar of screens, the very same Celestia sent into their midst so many months ago.

For there on the screen was the image of a bloodied, defeated Princess Luna with a constant repeating scroll beneath her.

-Nightmare Moon Captured!-

-Execution at Noon-

“Get the elements.”

“Maze, Wh-”

“Now.”

Author's Notes:

I was going to leave the notes for this one blank for dramatic effect but we just recently crossed over two thousand views! I just wanted to thank you all so much for sticking with the story so far. Now of course I realize that those of you still around are far less than that two thousand but that doesn't matter, I still greatly appreciate your support- you're all the reason this story is still here after all

Anyway, hope you're all eager for the climax of act one! But until then, as always; thanks for reading and have an good one!