Twilight galloped to the rim of the Everfree Forest, the five other mares following closely behind.

"Hey, are you sure that those 'Elements of Harmony' things are in the forest?" Rainbow asked as she flew alongside the unicorn.

"The book stated that they can only be found in the Castle of the Two Sisters. I'd bet my Cutie Marks that we'll find them in those ruins."

"What about that Platinum fella?" Applejack asked. "Shouldn't we have stayed an' helped him? He's gonna go hoof-ta-hoof with Nightmare Moon on his own!"

"As much as I don't want to credit him, Celestia knows what that'll do to his ego, I can't see him being beaten by her. Maybe a little scuffed up, but I doubt there's going to be much of a fight."

\\\\\\//////

Platinum examined the mare, Nightmare Moon as Twilight had called her, and sized her up.

'So far I've seen her turn into a cloud of smoke, shoot lightning and summon spears. I have to be careful with how I approach her or she could try to summon a weapon in the middle of my chest. She's strong and fast, but can't take much punishment. She's a glass cannon, but she can turn into that cloud form. I don't know if she can use magic in that state, but I'm not willing to find out.'

Nightmare Moon slowly stood up as her slit eyes narrowed onto him.

'If those stories that mom told me are true, I can't afford to go all out on her. There has to be a way... there's still somepony in there.'

"You... you dare to challenge the mighty Harbinger of the Night!?" Nightmare Moon screamed. "I'll tear you into pieces!"

Her horn lit up and crackled as streaks of lightning burst forth and arced across the ground towards Platinum.

He willed his [Stand] to come out and motioned towards a nearby stone. It picked it up and effortlessly threw it between the electric bolts and Platinum, hissing and cracking as the plasma melted it partway.

Platinum took a deep breath as he summoned his [Stand] to form around his body before delivering a straight kick to the right side of the boulder. Having been partially melted by Nightmare's attack, it broke off from the rest of the stone and sailed towards her.

Nightmare erected a barrier-screen directly in front of herself, shattering the rock on impact while Platinum used his [Stand] to chop the rock into three pieces. He kicked them all out, each one launching with the force of a cannon shot, before he ran straight for Nightmare.

The alicorn minimized her barrier-screen to a kite shield before smacking each rock out of the air, parrying them to the side before throwing it towards Platinum.

Platinum ducked underneath the shield, watching it pass by before noticing a dark blue glow in the center of it. Nightmare Moon smiled as she detonated the shield.

The resulting explosion incinerated the ground and sent a gust strong enough to rip apart the thatched roofs of the nearby houses. Once the dust had settled, she saw nothing of the [Stand] user.

"Pity that one would be defeated so easily," she said before turning into her smoke form.

Nightmare Moon snaked through the village of Ponyville towards the entrance to the Everfree, where she was greeted with an infuriating sight.

Platinum was standing there, smirking.

"You know, I would have thought that you'd have been smart enough to check for a body or something," he said in a mocking tone.

Nightmare Moon split off a part of her smoke to chase after the ponies in the forest as she condensed into her alicorn form.

"When We are through with you, We will find your race and exterminate them all under a blood-bathed Moon."

"Well too bad, cause there's only one of me."

Nightmare Moon growled in anger before she launched a bolt of magic straight at his face.

Platinum's [Stand] formed quicker than she could launch it, however, and positioned itself in between the two. The [Stand] turned its back to her and struck a pose as it reached its right hand out before catching the bolt with the tips of its fingers. She could see the [Stand] sharing the same smirk as the user, infuriating her to no end.

"Sorry, but you're gonna need a faster attack than that."

"Then have at you!"

Nightmare Moon charged her horn to the point where her magic was illuminating the field in a dark blue light. Platinum's [Stand] crushed the magic in its hand, the energy dissipating uselessly as it floated closer to Platinum. The magic around Nightmare's horn erupted into a rapid barrage of bolts, no less than a thousand racing to meet Platinum's oblivion. The [Stand] pulled back its fists as Platinum leveled two fingers out, gesturing to the barrage.

"Crushing Rush!" he shouted.

"WOOLALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALA!!!" the [Stand] cried out as it punched each and every bolt out of the air.

Nightmare Moon gaped as she watched the [Stand] swat each of her attacks away like they were nothing, the thunder of her magic drowned out by the [Stand]'s roar.

"WOOOOLA!" the [Stand] shouted as it backhanded the last bolt.

Platinum looked to her with a serious expression as he stood still.

"Princess Luna, I know you're in there," he said calmly.

Inside the mind of the alicorn, Luna gasped.

'How... h-how could he-'

"My mother told me stories of the misunderstandings about the Princess of the Night," he went on. "That she didn't do what she did out of hatred and contempt. She didn't do it to bring harm to anypony. She said that all you wanted was to feel appreciation. You just wanted to feel like you weren't alone. That somepony cared about you."

Luna felt all of her old emotions and thoughts being dug up as she listened to his speech. Again, she felt the sting of a thousand years of isolation, and her pain fueled the Nightmare.

"I WILL NOT LISTEN TO THIS!" Nightmare Moon shouted as she flew straight at Platinum.

She closed the distance at an incredible speed, but suddenly, Platinum disappeared. Nightmare Moon and Luna were both in shock as they turned around to see Platinum was standing where she had stood.

"She told me about how you were hurt inside your own heart, and that nopony did anything for you."

"SHUT UP!" Luna and the Nightmare said at once.

A magic beam lanced out to bisect the biped, but again, he vanished before it could connect.

"And you lashed out in panic," Platinum said from right behind them.

Luna and the Nightmare screamed in a confused mess of emotions as they turned around, only for Platinum's [Stand] to grab their horn.

They struggled to pull out of the manifestation's grip, and didn't manage to budge it at all. Platinum walked up to them and gripped Nightmare Moon by her shoulders.

Then, he did something that nopony would have expected.

He hugged her.

Nightmare Moon and Luna gasped at the show of affection and froze from confusion.

"You were feared and ostracized because nopony understood you. They didn't want to. They kept to themselves for their safety, but deep down, you know that you wouldn't have hurt them. You knew that they were wrong, but you couldn't prove it in any way without the fear of rejection."

Platinum held onto the mare tighter as he leaned to her ear to whisper to her.

"You and I are one and the same."

"B-but..." Nightmare Moon said.

"Y-you... you were accepted by them," Luna said. "They welcomed you. They stood by you."

"My life wasn't always like that. I faced scorn growing up. Some ponies called me a monster. They thought I was a demon. A few even tried to get me thrown out of Equestria. But through them, I found ponies that would support me. Sometimes, you weather the storm to find an island. That's how I got through it. That's how you will get through it. Because there will be ponies there for you. And sometimes... sometimes, you need somepony to take that first step, or nopony will try. They need to see that if there's a will, there's a way."

At that moment, Platinum's [Stand] released their horn, and faded away.

"Prove that they're wrong."

Then and there, Nightmare Moon faded away...

... and Princess Luna cried into the embrace of a friend.