Cloudy gazed in fear across the mass before her, her usual countenance broken by absolute terror. She had fought many things in her life: Griffons, wild beasts of the Everfree, and even pony criminals, but she had never before come face to face with an adult dragon. Or twenty of the creatures. The giant lumbering forms flanked the mass of armored ponies like war tanks of living, fire-breathing flesh. She was literally too frightened to move.

"Captain?" A pegasus beside her called out. "Your orders?"

The bat winged pegasus snapped out of her paralysis and turned to the pony beside her. "Go! Fly as quickly as you can and inform Nightmare Moon! I'm not sure if we can handle this...!" Her fear was obvious in her sharp tone.

"Yes, Ma'am!" He saluted and tore through the air, barreling towards the army below them. He spotted the Queen standing before the fidgeting troops and swooped down before landing as gracefully as he could considering his momentum. "Your Highness! Captain Cloudy sends me with a report!"

The alicorn turned her attention from the gates to the pegasus. "Go ahead."

"The Royal Canterlot army is not attacking from the east as we had predicted. They are marching on the northern wall with considerable numbers...." He looked towards the north nervously.

"And? Is that all?"

"No, Your Highness. They have dragons. About twenty of them. Captain Cloudy is not sure if we can handle the dragons and the army together."

Nightmare Moon twitched slightly. "Dragons, you say?" Her calm features morphed into a menacing scowl. "Those foals dare to acquire help from the dragons?! Very well...! If they wish to use them against us and if the dragons are willing to fight by their side, then I will hold nothing back! MOON BEAM!" She spun around to face the filly, whose face was nearly split in half by a sinister grin. The pegasus beside them cowered under the filly's eyes. "I am allowing you to do as you please. They are to be shown no mercy."

Moon Beam's smile spread even more and she cackled ominously. "Of course, My Queen." Her voice grated through the air causing the ponies around her to cringe. "They will taste fear as they have never known before." The filly's evil grin continued to spread as her body melted into a thick ooze on the floor then evaporated into the air. In moments Moon Beam was gone.

Nightmare Moon focused her magic and morphed her mane from the straight navy locks into the ethereal starry sky she was known for. Her body flashed and her armor plating appeared upon her, providing protection for her bare skin. "Soldier. Return to Captain Horizon and have her fall back to the skies above the castle. We will wait for them here." The pegasus saluted and took off into the sky once more as Nightmare Moon turned to the masses before her. "Sergeant Fire Dancer, Sergeant Grey Mane!" The two stallions trotted up to her, bowed, then stood at attention. "Order the troops to move towards the northern wall of the castle. The Royal Army will be attacking there. Sergeant Fire Dancer, you are to lead a platoon of five hundred to flank the army from the east. Go and fight in My Honor!"

After the forces began to move and file towards their positions Nightmare Moon shivered. I did not expect them to gain the aid of the dragon kin.... She felt herself tremble again and looked down at her hooves. They were shaking lightly. Is this... Do I fear the army marching upon my walls? She shook her head and steeled herself. "No. I will not allow them the satisfaction of causing me fear. They will face my fury for standing against me." She laughed long and hard. "YOU FOALS SHALL PERISH BEFORE THIS NIGHT IS OVER!"

In a flash of light, Nightmare Moon disappeared and teleported atop the northern-most tower overlooking the fields of building foundations before her. The royal army must have evacuated the workers while she was busy amassing her troops. It matters not. Before this night is over the ground will be soaked with the blood of my enemies. She gazed out towards the fields and spotted a seething mass of darkness blanketing the land. She smiled and nodded as the darkness seeped into the earth, disappearing from view once more. Excellent, my child. Show them the true meaning of death.

The mass of golden armored ponies stopped at the behest of the brightly adorned ponies at the front. The army generals. The pony at the head of the group stepped forth and cleared his throat. "NIGHTMARE MOON! THIS IS YOUR FINAL CHANCE TO STAND DOWN AND RETURN PRINCESS CELESTIA FROM WHEREVER YOU HAVE IMPRISONED HER! DO THIS AND YOU SHALL BE TRIED FAIRLY IN HER MAJESTY CELESTIA'S COURT. SHOULD YOU REFUSE THEN WE WILL ATTACK WITHOUT HESITATION. ANYPONY THAT DOES NOT WISH TO FIGHT, THROW DOWN YOU WEAPONS AND RETREAT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED." His magically amplified voice bellowed across the thick walls of the castle to be heard by the ponies on the opposite side.

Nightmare Moon laughed menacingly. "YOU FOALS KNOW NOT WHO YOU ARE SPEAKING TO! I BOW TO NOPONY! YOUR TIME IS NIGH!"

The guard that had warned Nightmare Moon dropped his head then turned to his troops. "Order the attack. Have the dragons break down that wall. Once they are destroyed we will attack in force. We outnumber them and, even with an alicorn, they stand no chance. Begin our assault."

As the orders were spread throughout the troops, the battle began. The dragons flanking the army lumbered towards their target, roaring fiercely. Their heavy, scaled claws scraped the hard ground beneath them and tossed up dirt. Just as the first five were to reach the wall, the ground turned black and two enormous red eyes shot open beneath them. The black surface opened up to reveal twin rows of gleaming white teeth into which the five were dropped and devoured. Blood sprayed out of the darkness as their bodies were gnashed and torn to pieces by the diamond sharp teeth. Deep terrified roars filled the air as the dragons roared in pain until their lives were ended.

"Ahhh...! Sweet flesh of the living...!" Moon Beam drew herself from the earth and formed a sphere in the sky large enough to blot out the view of the moon for the vast majority of the troops. Both sides stared in absolute terror at the sight of the thing, with iron resolve, the rest of the dragons continued to charge the battlements. Moon Beam cackled then shifted, morphing into a giant vulture three times the size of any of the adult dragons and took flight. The first dragon, a blue and green, reached the walls and reared up, then brought the full force of its body upon the obsidian. The volcanic rock cracked along its face, but held until a second red dragon came up beside it and rammed with all its might. A section of the wall fell inwards and crushed the small group of guards unlucky enough to be too close. The other thirteen soon followed suit, using their weight and strength to tear down the obsidian in order to make way for the pony army marching behind them.

With a shrill cry, Moon Beam swept through the air and grasped a black dragon by the neck in her sharp talons. She lifted it high into the air and reached down with her neck and began to peck furiously at its stomach with a razor sharp beak. The scales stood no chance as she soon disemboweled the creature, spewing its fiery organs on the ponies and dragons below. With her current target dead, she flew into the middle of the ponies on the ground and dropped the carcass onto their ranks. Several were crushed to death under the weight of the dragon's body.

"ALL PEGASI! FORM TOGETHER AND FIGHT THE MONSTER ABOVE US! UNICORNS ASSIST WITH ANY COMBAT SPELLS AND ARROWS YOU HAVE! ALL OTHERS KEEP UP YOUR MARCH! DO NO FALTER!" The lead pony picked up his pace and the others soon caught on, now trotting towards the slowly crumbling wall.

Moon Beam tilted her body and turned in the air only to come face to faces with a platoon of pegasi four-hundred strong. She laughed, which came out as a high pitched shriek, and barreled towards the blade-winged ponies. Before she reached them, she pulled up and stretched her talons out before her, the razor sharp nails extended, and flew above the ponies, mutilating any that failed to move from her path. Screams of agony sounded through the night as pegasi with crippling but not fatal wounds were thrown out of the sky to plummet to their deaths below.

Nightmare Moon watched the bloodshed from her tower until a dragon caught sight of her and reared up, maw facing where she stood. Her eyes narrowed and just before the licking flames scorched her body, she took to the air and landed on the nose of the great beast. She glared into its eyes as her horn glowed. The dragon reached to swat her off its snout but couldn't move its legs. The warmth in his body was fading away and, with a sudden realization, he shook his head, dislodging the alicorn from her perch. The dragon looked down to see that the entirety of his body up to his neck was now stone. The alicorn laughed before flashing her horn once more and causing the rock to explode into granite dust. The head flopped to the earth where it bled out onto the dirt. Nightmare Moon looked up to where Cloudy was positioned with her squad of pegasi and nodded her head.

Cloudy nodded her reply and turned to her troops. "All right! It is our duty to assist Nightmare Moon's creature in battle against the Royal Army's pegasus unit! Assume flight formation and follow me!"

The group gathered into formation and sped off through the air, hurtling towards the mass of pegasi assailing the vulture form of Moon Beam. When they arrived, Moon Beam had already taken several blows, gashes ran across her chest and wings from where the more agile ponies had been able to get in and cut at her with bladed wings. Cloudy's group of pegasi clashed with the mass around the shadow beast. The two sides were locked in aerial combat, blades on their hooves and wings gleaming red as they tore through each other. Moon Beam flew above the group and shifted once more, her body stretching into a long serpentine form with two sets of giant leathery wings stretching out from one quarter and halfway down her body. Two large fangs protruded from her snake-like head and, when she smiled, lightning raced along her gleaming razor teeth. She slid through the air gracefully, her sleek body slicing through air resistance, and circled the ponies below her.

She opened her great maw and, after a sharp inhalation, spewed electricity across her foes. Two score ponies shrieked and wailed as the lightning scorched their bodies and made them convulse violently until they plummeted to their deaths, incapable of recovering from the lingering shock. The royal guard, their attention now torn between the pegasi and the lightning wyrm, spread out their ranks to allow the ponies inside of their formation. Cloudy's pegasi took the bait and flew into the group, slashing and stabbing as they went until they were blocked off by the guards ponies on all sides. Fierce air skirmishes broke out and the sounds of blades clashing against each other rang though the air. Moon Beam continued to blast lightning into the crowd, heedless of friend or foe, and cackled madly as ponies fell to her power. A small detachment of pegasi circled around her and closed in, their blades gleaming in the moonlight. The wyrm watched them intently and, as they all began to fly at her as one, lashed out with her teeth, snatching the ten directly in front of her in her powerful jaws.

The rest of the pegasi slashed her body with their blades and she howled in pain, but continued to devour the ponies she had captured. Blood spewed from Moon Beam's wounds, but, as she swallowed the ten, they began to close, the life of the ponies she had devoured healing her. With that group gone, the wyrm turned her attention to the ones that had been hacking at her and inhaled once more before spewing hot white electricity across their bodies. Two-hundred of the original four remained and continued to fall, but not without dwindling the numbers of the opposing army. Cloudy's flight had been cut down to fifty pegasi and they were flying about now, avoiding battle and attacking only when an opening showed itself. The Royal guard fought fiercely, cutting down ponies in fell sweeps, but the guerrilla tactics of Cloudy's troops were thinning them out.

The ponies on the ground caught up with the dragons that had breached the castle walls and were now beginning to pour through the gaping holes to join the dragons in combat with the ponies inside. Unicorns launched volleys of arrows through the air into the opposing sides and felled many. Fireballs soared through the air as the Royal unicorns launched their combat magic at the ranks of Nightmare Moon's armies. The blue armored ponies charged forward, their fear for their families driving them, and plowed into the oncoming force. Blades flashed, ponies screamed, and blood spilled as the two sides clashed together. The fourteen remaining dragons climbed the wall and perched themselves on it, spewing multi-colored fire across the opposing army before them. The stench of burnt flesh filled the air as ponies were charred to death by the intense flames.

Nightmare Moon took heed of the plight below and teleported down. With a sharp crack, she appeared in the middle of her army and brought forth a shield around her. Her eyes glowed and pulses of black magical aura flew through the night. In a blinding flash, giant meteors rained from the sky towards the walls of her castle. Six of the dragons took notice of the incoming flaming rocks and were able to move from their paths, but the other eight did not fare so well. The massive stones impacted the dragons and sent them hurtling to the ground under their momentum to be crushed and splattered on the earth, huge craters filled with the blood of smashed ponies and dragons lined the outside of the castle. The smoldering remains of the rocks disintegrated to leave only the pooling gore of the dead. The spell faded and Nightmare Moon panted heavily, such magic took a toll on her, but she used it to strike fear into the hearts of her enemies. They didn't know if she could cast such a spell over and over and they would never know. Several ponies from both sides fled, terror overtaking them, but were cut down by their enemies as they passed.

Cloudy spun in the air to face her attackers. A group of twenty pegasi had her surrounded and were closing in slowly so as not to be escaped. The grey pegasus watched them as they flew in closer to her and muttered prayers to the moon to make it out alive. Moon Beam gazed across the battle before her and caught sight of the surrounded pegasus. Her eyes softened in worry then sharpened in terrible rage. With a blood curdling roar, she morphed once again into the lumbering form of an enormous navy and black dragon and flew at breakneck speeds towards the orb of ponies. "YOU WILL NOT HURT CLOUDY!!" She bellowed as she barreled toward the ponies.

The group of pegasi flew in closer and, as they were about to reach her, Cloudy sped upwards, slashing her way past the ponies above her. The pegasi followed quickly behind and took turns swooping in to make sharp strikes against her. Cuts and gashes appeared all over her body as they continued their assault and soon she was incapable of flight. Her cut and battered wings failed her causing her to begin her final fall to the earth below. Moon Beam roared in fury and tore past the watching pegasi, their bodies snapping and twisting in grotesque directions from the force of Moon Beam's descent.

The dragon quickly caught up to the falling pegasus and caught her just a hundred feet from the ground before pulling up and gliding towards the castle. The filly dragon's red eyes gazed at the crippled form of the pegasus in sadness before landing inside the walls where no battle was being fought. Moon Beam's deep harsh voice tore through Cloudy's dazed mind. "I'm sorry...! I couldn't get to you faster...!"

The pegasus noticed the soft look that the dragon was giving her and gasped in surprise. "Moon... Beam...?" she uttered before falling unconscious on the hard earth.

The soft break in the shadow's emotions passed and was once more shifted into blind rage. She took to the air on thick, heavy wings and flew off towards the battle raging across the castle. She flew past the front lines of the Royal guard's forces and landed in the center of the army, crushing hundreds of ponies beneath her massive form. Her burning red eyes glowed brighter as she reared up on her hind legs and breathed in heavily. The ponies around her slowly came out of their daze and gazed up at the towering mass of scales above them and drew back as if they could escape the oncoming death. With a terrible, bellowing roar, Moon Beam spewed purple fire across the mass of ponies before her, burning hundreds of ponies into goop then ash as they were caught in her devastating flames. The ponies not caught in her arch of fire charged bravely, stabbing at her legs and even climbing atop her back to slash at her from above.

The dragon filly raked diamond claws across the ponies around her and smashed others with sweeps of her powerful tail, but they continued to pile atop her. Unicorns began to barrage her with arrows and rain large shards of magical ice from the sky. They had been prepared to fight this beast after the unicorns that escaped informed them of her. Great holes and gashes lined her body as more and more ponies charged at her, risking life and limb to bring this great creature down.

Nightmare Moon could sense the damage that the filly was taking and, seeing that her troops were gaining the upper hoof on this front, focused her magic to teleport to Moon Beam's side. In a quick flash, the alicorn appeared atop the dragon's body and immediately began to pool blood into a sword as she raised a defensive shield about herself. She cut the ponies atop Moon Beam's back and watched as they fell dead to the ground then began to make her way towards the forces below her.

Out of the near six thousand that the guards had arrived with, only one thousand remained, the others' corpses littering the ground. Nightmare Moon's pegasus unit had been decimated and the remaining fifty of the royal guards were beginning to assault the ground based troops, starting with her unicorns. The wing based ponies fell swiftly under the precision of magic guided arrows, but not without striking a heavy blow to Nightmare Moon's already small amount of magical troops. She was down to six hundred and those ponies were falling swiftly. The hour that they had been battling was taking a toll on the new warriors, but they continued nonetheless, cutting down guards as they slowly made their way outside the castle's walls over corpses and rubble.

The alicorn deftly cut through the ponies that flanked her, the shield deflecting attacks as if they were nothing. She kept an air of confidence about her, but she knew that the shield spell was draining her magic swiftly. Each strike against it draining her more and more. She spun the blood blade about her dismembering the guards that charged her position then cringed in pain when something struck her flank. An arrow had pierced her shield and glowed with the faint traces of an anti-magic spell. Moon Beam felt Nightmare Moon's anger swell and reacted in turn, her wounded body lumbering towards the unicorns at the rear of the field of battle. She towered above them and breathed in. A few of the unicorns were able to scurry out of the way but the vast majority of them were liquefied by the burst of fire that passed over their bodies.

The filly panted heavily with exhausted lungs as she turned back to the army behind her. Both sides were dwindling down to the hundreds and she knew that if she and Nightmare Moon didn't do something, they would not come out of this the victors. She dragged herself across the ground raking at the ponies that crossed her path and started eating as many of the live ones as she could. Her wounds closed slightly, but her healing abilities were dwindling as her magical energy was draining. Nightmare Moon took to the air and flew towards the massive dragon and landed beside her. She dropped her shield and breathed in, concentrating. "This shall be my final spell, Moon Beam. I need you to guard me with your life for, should this fail, the night will have been lost."

The alicorn closed her eyes and lit her horn. A layer of magic encompassed it and began to glow a dark black, sucking light out of the area around her. Ponies ran towards the pair and charged at them, swinging their weapons bravely only to be crushed by Moon Beam's massive claws. The dragon curled her tail about Nightmare Moon in her defense and continued to rake and smash the ponies as they attacked. Another layer of magical glow encompassed the first, this one a dark grey. The Royal Guard increased their assault, striking at the dragon filly as she tried her best to fell them. Another layer of magic, a gray aura, formed around the previous two. Moon Beam breathed in and spewed fire before her, its diminishing power killing only a few and leaving the rest in its fiery path to die in agonizing pain as they burned slowly. A light gray, almost white, burst of magic enveloped the ones before it and started to spark furiously, flashes of light piercing the darkness of night. Moon Beam swung her bloodied, clawed fore limb one last time before passing out on the ground and returning to the tiny form of her filly self, bleeding on the ground beside Nightmare Moon.

The guards converged on the alicorn and raised their blades to strike her. Nearly one hundred ponies, the only ones left from the battle, rushed at her ready to finish the fight and end her tyranny.

Nightmare Moon's horn flashed a final time, blinding white light exploded around her and blew the ponies off their hooves and onto the ground. They all stared up in shock as she was lifted from the earth in a magical aura and began to pulse violently. She opened her mouth, white light pouring out of her orifice, and shouted into the night.

"YOU HAVE ANGERED ME FOR THE FINAL TIME!! YOUR LIVES ARE FORFEIT AND THIS SHALL BE YOUR RECKONING!!" As her words died down, the clouds overhead parted and the moon could be seen glowing brightly, closer than normal. Every pony shifted their focus to the blinding light of the orb and began to scream in terror as they felt their bodies begin to be pressed into the ground. The moon loomed closer and closer, and soon the earth began to crack in the four miles that the moon's gravity was being focused upon. Nightmare Moon floated Moon Beam up to her side and gazed lovingly at the near dead filly before refocusing her attention on the magic she was controlling. The moon grew closer and soon the screams were silenced as the ponies could no longer take air into their lungs. They tried to grasp at their throats and force air into themselves, but they couldn't move. Bones snapped and pierced organs and soon blood began to be squeezed out of the pores of the dying ponies. With one final push of her magic, Nightmare Moon brought her namesake terribly close the the planet and flattened her enemies. Flesh was liquefied by the pressure and pooled with the mass amounts of blood in the giant crater left by the moon's presence.

Nightmare Moon released the spell and the moon swiftly returned to its natural resting place as she floated to the ground. Using the last ounce of magic she had, the alicorn teleported herself and the filly into the walls of her castle, just inside the eastern gate.

Silent Brook stood up from her resting place beside Twilight. She could no longer hear the wails of dying ponies outside and smiled in the absence. Twilight looked up at her and tilted her head curiously, her tear streaked face gazing at the pony in concern. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to finish off Nightmare Moon, of course. You said yourself that she tends to use exhaustive magic in order to assert dominance, am I correct?"

"Finish her off? What do you mean? You're not going to kill her are you!?" Twilight stood and attempted to move towards Silent Brook but only succeeded in falling on her face due to the glowing shackles.

"Of course I'm going to kill her! Are you a foal? How else are we going to bring Celestia back?"

"No! Please don't kill her! I.... I know she's evil and that she has banished Celestia, but that doesn't mean you have to kill her! That'll make you no better than her!" She looked into Silent Brook's eyes and pleaded. "Please... If you love me... Don't do it!"

The lime earth pony looked at her and laughed. Not a cheerful giggle, but a hearty, spiteful laugh. "You truly thought that I loved you?" She laughed again before glaring at the unicorn, the once tender look she had given to her now full of hatred. "I've never loved you. I've always hated you. Celestia's prized pupil. Apple of her eye! She would always look at you like a mother does her daughter...! YOU STOLE HER FROM ME!!" She slapped Twilight hard with a hoof, knocking her to her side. "I used to be the one that Celestia thought of as her daughter! I never had family of my own! The princess took me in as a foal and raised me herself! But then you came along and ruined that!"

"But.... I thought that..." Twilight was silenced by another hoof to her face.

"Did you not think to question my story about how we met?! That one day years ago? The filly you gave that book to? I'm sure a pony as smart as the great Twilight could have known that was a lie! Oh, wait. You're not used to being lied to, are you? Oh, no! You took my explanation and gobbled it up because I showed you some affection!" She laughed again. "It is true that I've been watching you for a long time. I've watched you ever since you usurped me from my place at the princess' side. You never even knew I was there, did you?"

Twilight watched the earth pony fearfully and shook her head. "That's good! You see..., my special talent is espionage. Strange, isn't it? I knew from the first time I was able to blend in with the castle workers what I was meant to do. I can persuade myself into any position and blend in with those around me with ease. I named myself, you see. After I earned my cutie mark."

"But.... why did you tell Nightmare Moon about the ponies trying to kill me? You couldn't hate me that much if you're willing to-"

Another hoof cut her off again. "Shut up! I was the one that gave those ponies the idea to come kill you! I told Nightmare Moon about all the times the servants were attacking because I knew that would earn me a higher spot in her staff! The poor foals doing my bidding never suspected a thing. They hardly ever noticed the green mare at the back of their group giving them suggestions on what to do next." She chuckled to herself. "It was really quite brilliant. Oh, and to answer your question, I only told her about the attack on you so I could gain your trust. How else was I supposed to learn Nightmare Moon's fatal flaw then through her pet whore? I've wasted enough time here. I can't allow her to recover any of her power. Don't worry, though. Once I'm done with her, I'll come back to finish you as well."

With a wink and a cackle, Silent Brook strode out through the doors of Nightmare Moon's room in search of the alicorn, trotting swiftly through the halls.

Twilight stared in shock at the still wide open doors, her brain processing everything that had just happened to her, all the words that had been spat at her. She closed her eyes and fresh tears formed at the corners of them as depression took over.

"No..." The hot liquid streaked down her face, wetting her coat.

"No....." The tears poured out of her eyes as they increased in intensity.

"No......." Sobs wracked her body as she broke down, her emotions running wild.

"No........." Her face contorted from betrayed hurt to welling anger, the tears of sadness soon become tears of fury.

"NO!!" Rage at her betrayal twisted her expression, and a spark of magic fizzed from her horn, the ring about its base cracking.

"NONONONONONONONONO!!" The room glowed brightly as Twilight opened her now glowing white eyes, filling the room with bright light. The ring on her horn shattered and torrents of magic shot from the tip of her horn. The two month long repressed power flooded the room and bathed it in a magenta glow. The shackles about her legs exploded in light as they failed to withstand her magical prowess. Twilight reached out with her exploding power and searched for the life force of Nightmare Moon and Silent Brook. She found them both outside of the castle entrance and, with a blinding flash of light, disappeared, the magical fallout slowly dissipating from where she had been imprisoned.

Silent Brook stepped out into the night air. After having questioned the castle staff about the Moon Queen's whereabouts, she had discerned that the alicorn was not inside the castle due to their clueless answers. She was surprised to find Nightmare Moon laying unconscious on the ground just outside the castle doors. The earth pony grinned devilishly and walked up to the barely breathing alicorn. She gasped in shock when she found the bloody and twitching form of Moon Beam in the mare's embrace, but shook it off, steeling herself for what she was about to do. She turned her head and undid the braid in her tail, to allow a sharp blade to drop to the ground from its previous hiding place.

"This is your final moment, you monster. It's time you returned my Celestia to me. You and that whore pet of yours." She picked the blade up by its handle in her mouth and stepped over the body of Nightmare Moon, positioning the edge above the alicorn's head. "Time for you to die...!" She thrust her head toward the mare's, the gleaming blade throttling towards the unprotected eye and clenched her teeth, readying for the blow.

The blade never connected.

A powerful blast of energy threw Silent Brook off her hooves and into the castle wall then fell to the ground grunting. Twilight floated in the air above Nightmare Moon who had been startled awake by the explosion of magic. Tears dripped onto the alicorn's face as Twilight sobbed heavily above her, tears of mixed rage and betrayal falling from her eyes. Nightmare Moon turned her attention to the haggard breathing five feet away from her coming from a twitching and sputtering lime pony then back to the descending form of the lavender unicorn. Twilight touched her horn to Moon Beam's body and slowly, the wounds began to close and heal, leaving the filly breathing calmly in a deep sleep.

Twilight then turned to Nightmare Moon and fell into her hooves, sobbing wildly. "You'll.... You'll never leave me will you!? I'll always be your pet...! Just please.... don't hate me...!"

Twilight's world had shattered around her. The pony that she thought had loved her and that she had drawn strength from had betrayed her and promised to kill her. She knew that Nightmare Moon had, on multiple accounts, beaten her savagely, but never once actually followed through on a threat to kill her. She knew from the sounds of Silent Brook's breaths that the mare was dying. She had heard the same gasps from Nightmare Moon that first night after being imprisoned. The knife that Brook had been using must have impaled her when she was thrown against the wall, but Twilight didn't care. All she wanted was somepony to watch her forever, to hold her at night. She hoped beyond all hope that the mare she had thrown herself upon would be that one. She was the only pony she had left....

Nightmare Moon stared at the pony in bewilderment. Twilight had just saved her once more from likely death and, this time, even doomed her assailant to death as well. She could tell that the lavender unicorn knew Silent Brook was dying. She could hear the pain in her voice, the same pain that she had once felt upon killing her first victim as well. Twilight just killed somepony for me.... After all the times she had stopped me from killing, she did so herself just to protect me.... The alicorn's shocked expression soon melted away to be replaced by a small smile. "I won't."

Author's Notes: Woo! Long chapter is long! Two in a one day time period? I must be serious! Intense action and heart wrenching scenes huh? And don't worry, Cloudy's not dead nor is this the end. Yet. I'm going to get started on the Hearth's Warming special shortly, but first, I need a break. I have a pounding headache for no discernible reason and so I shall spend some time playing vidya games. Well I'm off for about an hour! Peppy out!

Editor's Notes: Tab...scroll...tab...scroll...tab...scroll...tab. When does it end. Indent yo' paragraphs, Peppy. But seriously, nothin' but the usual errors. 'DAAAWWW' at that last bit, thou. Loved it. And take that, Brook. I never liked her.