Moonlight glinted off polished steel as a mass of fur and feathers skimmed over the roiling bank of storm clouds filling the night sky. Small campfires dotted the edge of a vast forest with hundreds of large figures moving or resting about them. A small, female griffon wearing light, metal armor fluttered up beside a trio of larger male griffons. "Sir Zephyr, the queen's company has halted and set up camp. Should we attack?"

Zephyr, a heavily-built griffon in similarly weighted armor ceased his conversation with the others around him. "We were told to scout and no more. You saw what they did to War-chief Steelfeather's group. Our small party wouldn't stand a chance against all of them."

"But, sir! We know where the queen, minotaur lord and the queen's concubine are situated! We could swoop down there and-"

"Do you not recall what happened to Mano Stonewing? He cut a hole in the unicorn's chest with a poisoned blade. The pony queen devoured him with magic and the unicorn still lives. It's suicide to attack them with anything short of an army."

The young griffon puffed her chest out and glared at her flight's leader before stalking off. The other two males burst with laughter at her retreat, making the griffon blush and huff angrily before taking to the air. I'll show them! They're just too scared to do any fighting! How could a coward like that have become a flight master anyways!?

She landed on a solitary cloud positioned a fair distance away from the main cloud bank and peered over the edge at the smallest group of figures below. There were five forms circled around a small fire. Three sat evenly spaced from each other while the other, smaller, pair leaned against each other. The griffon sneered and readied her dual-headed battle axe, glaring daggers at the five.

"Damn ponies, corrupting Gilda and taking her away from me! I'll show them all what happens when they steal my best friend with their brainwashing. I'll show them even without help!" She spread her tawny wings and dove from the cloud she had perched upon, spiraling slowly towards the ground. Her eagle-sharp eyes sighted the group of five below and she set her body to accelerate her fall. The wind whipped over her body and ruffled feathers as she drew nearer to the circle.

As she closed the distance between her and her prey, it became easier to pick out individuals thus allowing her to target the pair of ponies sitting side-by-side. Her axe levelled out beside her, arms ready to take a swing, and muscles tensed. She sucked in air and held it, but, just as she was almost in range for the strike, she collided with a shimmering black bubble that had materialized from nothing. She squawked and screamed as bones shattered on impact, leaving her to cry and writhe on the ground at the base of the shield where she landed.

The group turned to look at the recent disturbance, Twilight first as she had sensed the impact on her magic. Nightmare Moon glanced at the heap of griffon wailing on the rough earth and turned back to the fire, ignoring the noise. "Ignore it. Another would-be assassin that has failed like the rest of them."

"But Nightmare.... Why would she break off from the rest of them to do this alone? It's not logical! I'm going to help her!" Twilight dropped the now-invisible shield and carefully stepped over to the young griffon and lit her horn. "Oh.... Oh, wow.... You hit that shield hard. Both forelegs broken in several places, fractured skull, mangled spine, and multiple broken ribs.... How did you survive that?"

The black alicorn watched her lover rush to the aid of the broken griffon, her face a sure sign of the confusion stirring her thoughts. How can she continue to show kindness to these worthless murderers? She blinked and sighed, folding her ears back. The same way she can love me..., of course.

"Will she make it, Miss Sparkle?" Tyra stepped up beside the unicorn and looked on in worry. "She... doesn't look very good at all...."

Twilight took a deep breath and steeled her nerves. "I.... I don't know, but I'll do my best to help her. These kinds of injuries are... difficult to fix and I've only had limited magi-medical training. I just hope it's similar to healing cuts and bruises...." Her horn glowed brighter as she swept it across the griffon's body, starting with her skull.

The girl screamed louder as her skull's fractures slowly mended, the bits of shattered bone dislodging from her flesh and resetting in their proper place. Twilight moved down to her spine, focusing on setting the length of bones and repairing the damage done there. Sweat poured from the unicorn's face at the exhaustion from the use of powerful and unfamiliar magic. Next, even as she neared the precipice of her magic's abilities, Twilight moved on to the griffon's chest. Her horn flared brighter, its black-light consuming the area, as she worked to set the shattered bones and mend the together.

The griffon screamed in agony until her voice gave out and she was left only to thrash about. One of her swipes connected with Twilight's cheek, breaking her concentration and knocking her to the dirt. "Gah! I -I can't heal all of this... and she isn't making it any better...." She turned and gave a pleading look to the alicorn. "Nightmare. Please, help her."

The griffon stopped struggling and glared at the alicorn in a mixture of fear and loathing, but her injuries from the crash and the self-inflicted altercations prevented her from trying to flee. She watched as the moon queen stepped up to her, eyes aglow with hatred, and flinched when she lowered her horn. The griffon screwed her eyes shut and wept hoarsely. I guess... I was wrong. It was stupid to attack alone... I should have listened. I should have list- She blinked when, instead of the addition of more torture, a soothing coolness enveloped her body. She felt the numerous injuries in her chest and the remainder of her body disappear and heaved a sigh of immense relief as soon as her once-damaged lungs could properly breathe.

Nightmare stepped away, but held the griffon in a restraining aura of magic. "Wh- You should have just killed me." The girl spat at the ground by Nightmares hooves and snorted. "If you don't, then my flight master will."

Tyra moved beside Twilight and helped the mare back to on her hooves. "You know, you should thank the ones that saved your life, not tell them to finish the job. Especially since you tried to kill said ponies."

"It doesn't matter! I can't go back and I don't have anyplace else to go." She slumped in the magical aura, tears once more spilling down her face and matting her feathers. "I only wanted to bring Gilda home. And it's you ponies' fault that she's gone! You and that rainbow pony!"

Twilight stared at her hooves for several seconds before looking pleadingly back up at Nightmare Moon once more. "May-"

"You shall come with us. That is neither a question, nor an offer. You shall accompany us or I shall reverse the magic I used to mend you and leave you for dead or your leader's punishment." She turned and moved back to the campfire, suspended griffon in tow. "I find myself in need of a new personal maid, seeing as the previous pony to fill that spot died, and you will be perfect for the role. I do not trust you with a weapon, but I do not think a featherduster or uniform would do any harm."

"I- What makes you think I'd do that!? Humiliate myself like that? I'd rather die than be your new pet!"

"You'll be able to see Gilda again!" Twilight stepped in front of Nightmare, halting the alicorn's advance on the griffon even as she struggled to not fall on her face from her magical exhaustion. "She works closely with us. You'll likely be able to see her quite often as long as she's at the castle."

The griffon clenched her eyes shut and balled her fists, visibly shaking as she attempted to fight off her rising anger. "Fine.... As long as I'll be able to see Gilda again, I'll do it."

Nightmare nodded and lowered the griffon to the ground, but stopped short of releasing her. "Ah, yes. I believe it would be best to prevent her from fleeing. Even if she is incapable of returning to her kind, what is to stop her from plunging a dagger in our backs and flying away?" She reached to the griffon with her mane and subdued her limbs with its ethereal grasp as she worked her magic into thick loops around her midsection. The loops of magic solidified into glowing, metallic bands that bound her wings to her sides. She struggled against the bonds for a moment, the discomfort of being incapable of spreading her wings making her squawk with trepidation, but the bindings held firm. "They are tight enough to make it impossible to get free of them, but loose enough to prevent them from hurting. I am certain that this is much more preferable than clipping your wings or mangling them."

Jahurl slapped the girl's back, knocking the wind out of her as he laughed. "Excellent choice! I'm quite sure you won't regret it at all! After all, you'll be seeing a friend again right? Don't you fret, uhm.... Y'know, we never did get your name, did we?"

"Tabatha. My name's Tabatha." The young griffon glared at her captors before glancing up at the clouds that were supposed to be hiding her ex-squad mates. How did they know we were up there?

Twilight lay on her back, exhausted and snuggled up close to Nightmare Moon under the covered bed of a carriage. She panted heavily, each breath taking in the prominent scents of mare and sweat. Her smile was warmly as she nuzzled her lover who was basking in the warmth of post-coital bliss. "Hey, Nightmare? Do you think we should ease up on the, you know, sex? I mean, don't misunderstand! I love it and I love you, but I just don't want it to get boring. I mean, I can only read a book about twenty-three times before I learn everything I need to know about said book and no longer find it entertaining. I don't want our relationship to become like that."

Nightmare rubbed her horn against Twilight's then nuzzled the mare softly. "We can always do some other activity aside from mating, Twilight. I have always enjoyed the pleasures of the flesh, but I am willing to appease your other lusts as well. You need not worry about our coupling becoming stale, though. As long as it feels pleasurable, I am certain we would be able to find new ways to have sex. In front of the nobles and guests of my Lunar Court, for instance."

Twilight flushed and covered her face with her hooves. "I-I still don't know about that, but it does remind me of a question I've had. A couple questions, to be precise." The alicorn cocked an eyebrow, curious of what would stir in the unicorn's mind from the topic of public sex. "Well, first I was wondering why my magic's aura is black now. Is it because I died? There aren't any recordings of ponies dying and coming back to life with altered magic as far as I've read."

Nightmare chuckled and rapped horns with Twilight once more. "For a pony so devout in her love for me, you truly do not know much on the subject matter, do you? This is quite simple, or difficult if you wish to know the intricacies of the alterations, to explain. Your, and any other unicorn's, change in magical aura stems from your true love for me. When a unicorn's magic changes color, it is a sign that shows that they have devoted their love to a certain mare or stallion. Sometimes it is obvious, like with yours which is more prominent between unicorns, and sometimes it is a subtle change."

Twilight folded her ears back and glanced away from the glistening alicorn. "R-really? Then... why hasn't yours changed? Y-you love me..., right?"

Nightmare frowned and nuzzled Twilight's cheek. "An alicorn's magic, such as Celestia's and mine, differ from a normal pony's. Our magic defines who we are and is incapable of changing from what I have seen over my long, long life. Celestia has chosen many lovers over the years, but not once has her magic been altered and I have you." Twilight continued to look away until a soothing warmth filled her chest causing her to gasp and turn to stare into Nightmare's unusually tender gaze. "I see that you had forgotten about our bond. You need not ask when you can feel."

Twilight smiled weakly and kissed the underside of her lover's muzzle eliciting a coo of happiness. "It's just.... You never put feeling into your words and it's so difficult to tell if you actually feel that way or if you're just saying it to keep me docile. I guess I was just overreacting." Her grin widened into one of amusement as thoughts of her next question entered her mind. "Now, about my seco-"

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! ALL SOLDIERS TO ARMS!"

"I am sorry Twilight, but we must put your next question on hold. We are too close to home to let these foals ruin it now." She rose to her hooves as her mane took on its magical properties and her armor winked into existence upon her body. "Stay here and stay safe. I shall return as soon as this is over."

Twilight shook her head and stood beside her queen. "I'll come too. I can use magic now, so I'll help keep you and the others safe." She levitated her medallion beside her, reshaping it into a long sabre.

Nightmare Moon watched Twilight carefully, checking for any signs of physical struggle, but aside from the clenching tightness in her chest from the mare's anxiety and her shaky legs, nothing showed. She nodded and opened the carriage's rear flap to allow them passage into the rising chaos outside. Minotaurs rushed to grab weapons or anything they could find to use as one in the forest's clearing that they had decided to camp in while the unknown assailants were nowhere to be seen.

The ponies turned at the sound of hooves upon dirt and watched as Tyro rushed up next to them in full armor. "Your Majesty and Lady Sparkle! I advise you both to remain under the cover of your wagon. We have not found the source of the attack, but a pair of our guards have been killed. We're assuming it's griffons, though. Some of the other night watchmen reported catching glimpses of metal and the two that have died were taken down by an archer."

Twilight nodded and looked up to Nightmare who was staring into the darkness of the forest. "Twilight, can you feel that?"

"What? No, I don-" She paused and looked into the same area that the alicorn was facing. "That's.... That's magic! There's somepony casting magic over- Everyone watch out!" Twilight lowered her horn and fired a shock wave of magic towards the tree line. The thick stream of energy collided with another that had crossed into the clearing half a second before Twilight's would have left it and the resulting explosion knocked everyone within twenty yards of the blast to the ground.

Nightmare grabbed Twilight with her mane and galloped towards the point where the magic bolt had been fired. She skidded to a halt right at the clearing's edge and tore the trees from the ground in a cone in front of her, flinging the uprooted flora further into the forest. Her destruction ended when the missing trees revealed a trio of unicorns, two of which were standing, magic ready, above a third that had been rendered useless by an obvious spinal injury. They all wore polished gold armor emblazoned with Celestia's insignia upon the breastplates and the two conscious ponies both glared defiantly at the queen and her consort.

Nightmare Moon stood stock still, a mixture of sheer hatred and utter shock frozen in her features, until one of the stallions fired a bolt of magic at her. Twilight immediately deflected the spell with a simple flash of her horn, then proceeded on to crush the pair into the ground with invisible force. The midnight alicorn shook the stunned expression from herself, but maintained her burning malice. "We are at war with a country that wishes nothing more than to see us enslaved or dead and yet you still stand against me? Your ignorance knows no bounds, foals."

"You don't belong on the throne! The only reason the griffons are attacking is because you attacked them first!" The one that had fired the bolt struggled against his invisible restraint as he growled out his response.

"You...." Nightmare stomped the ground beside his head, caving in a small portion of the packed dirt. "You believe that the griffons are not to blame for this? Do you forget that it was always your comrades that attacked us or are you too new in the ranks to have any knowledge of the night of my return? What makes you believe that it was I that started this war?"

"I'll never tell you, false queen! We are not your subjects! We bow only to Cele-"

"The griffons offered their help in dethroning you! We sought them out when we heard that they were attacking, thinking that they were invaders, but the War-Chief told us that he was only trying to bring Celestia back! We joined with them and now we're here and please don't kill me!" The second stallion burst into tears, crying uncontrollably as his partner screamed profanities in his direction.

Twilight gasped in shock and looked up to her queen who had begun to radiate with hate-fueled magic. Nightmare leaned in close to the seething rebel, meeting his gaze at ground level. "Griffonia is the start of this war. The moment our forces were weakened, they struck our smaller settlements and killed the ponies who resided there. They have continued to assault our cities and supply lines since the first invasive maneuver." Her voice was surprisingly even despite her obvious boiling emotions, but the stallion growled deeper and spat in her eye. "ENOUGH! I HAVE HEARD ENOUGH OF YOUR SLANDER AND LIES AND YOUR ACTIONS HAVE SHOWN WHERE YOUR LOYALTIES LIE! Twilight! Kill this rebel and bind the other two!"

"B-but Nightmare Moon! I-I can't.... I don't want to-"

"You swore that you would stay by my side and do as I wished! If you want to remain as my lover and knight, then you will have to put aside your feelings of death when presented with foals such as this! I was willing to spare his life, as I shall his comrades, but he has rebuked my offer and spat in the face of his saviour! Kill him now, or deal with the repercussions when we return to the New Mareland!"

Twilight shrank away from the infuriated Nightmare Moon and bit her lip, shaking heavily as she glanced in the direction of the powerless stallion. Her whole body quaked anxiously while her mind fought with itself. I should do it.... I promised that I'd do anything, but I cannot take another ponies- That's not true. I have killed before. But that was just self-preservation! Brook was trying to kill Nightmare and I... and so was he. He'll try again, too. I'm so sorry everypony.... I hope I can be forgiven for this....

Twilight sucked in a deep breath, steadying her shakes, and closed the distance between her and her captive. He attempted to use his magic, but the crushing hold of Twilight's own prevented it, cracking his horn in the process. He sucked in breath through clenched teeth to quell all urges to cry out from the sudden pain. Twilight leaned in closer to him and spoke softly into his ear. "I am sorry, but my queen demands it."

"Just get it over with, bitch. You and your pet will burn in Tartarus for your crimes, False Queen! The griffons will crush you and my death will not have been in vain even if this coward lives in my stead!"

Twilight stepped away from the immobilized unicorn and brought her sabre to hover above her head. The blade thickened into a more ax-like form, the blade widening into a sharp wedge instead of the thin razor it had been. She took a deep, shuddering breath and raised the weapon higher, then closed her eyes and swung it in the direction she had remembered his neck to be.

As soon as her blade made contact, however, she did not her the sickening sound of metal severing flesh and scraping bone, but instead a squishy thunk and blood curdling screams. Her eyes shot open to find her axe-bladed sword buried in the stallion's upper back, oozing blood as he howled like a banshee. Twilight joined him, screaming apologies as she wept, and, panicking, withdrew her sword to chop wildly at him with all of her strength in hope that he would die faster, but each misplaced blow only worsened the trauma.

Finally, after an eternity of tear-blurred, mis-aimed swings, the stallion's agony ended as his head fell away from the rest of his mangled body. Twilight stared, horror-struck at his mutilated corpse, weeping as Nightmare stepped up to her. She looked up into the eyes of her lover, trying to ignore the taste of his blood in her mouth and hoping that she would be showing even the slightest sliver of remorse for making her kill.

But there was not any to be found. The only thing Twilight could pull from the night queen's facade was pride mixed with the faintest hint of joy. She felt her pride and joy and it made her sick. "Twilight, I am pr-"

The dark unicorn heaved the contents of her stomach, choking on the acidic bile that soon began to pool on the ground. Nightmare raised a hoof to try and comfort the sickened, distraught mare, but it was batted away as Twilight raced off into the camp and disappeared into the bustle of the minotaurs. She heard a rustle and grunt behind her and turned to see the spared unicorn standing and lifting the downed mare with his magic.

"Y-you are a monster, Nightmare Moon. Even if you weren't the instigator of this war, I cannot accept you as ruler of Equestria." His fear was gone, replaced by a deep loathing that laced his words with venom. Tyro moved to apprehend the unicorn and his injured companion, but was pushed away by his magic. "Do not touch me demon's ally. I will find my own way to a cage without the tainting touch of your hands."

Tyro glanced at the alicorn, surprised by the lack of emotion in her features, and opened his mouth to speak. "If you are going to comment on the recent events, minotaur, I advise you to hold your tongue."

"Uhm. N-no, Your Majesty. I was going to tell you that the rest of the ponies involved in the attack have been either killed in action or subdued. They are currently in holding in the center of camp." He glanced at the retreating unicorn then back to Nightmare who kept her expressionless stare held on the unicorn corpse. "I shall find Lord Jahurl and inform him of our victory."

The black alicorn said nothing as the young minotaur left her alone. She held the deceased unicorn's unseeing, accusing gaze, his comrade's words and Twilight's actions biting deep into her heart. She blinked, feeling moisture build up in her eyes. I... made a terrible mistake. Tears slid down her face, wetting her cheeks, as Nightmare Moon cried for the first time in over a millennium.

Gilda groaned, dragging her claws across the obsidian floor on the final stretch to her room. She paused for a moment to scratch underneath her armor, wincing at the touch of her chafed skin and dislodged feathers. "Ugh.... Guide the airships to Ponyville and back, she said. We flew over half of this damned country ferrying all of those dweebs.... If it wasn't for the pilots and crew needing some rest...." She shuddered at the thought and practically crawled the remainder of the distance between herself and sweet, blissful slumber on her plush bed.

But, it was not meant to be as a tiny navy blur crashed into her and threw her into the open room. "Yay! Chicken, I mean Gilda, is back! Did you have fun on your trip? Wow! You look sleepy! You must've had lotsa fun! I'm so jealous!"

The young griffon rubbed her purple-highlighted eyes and squawked in frustration. "Oh yeah. Loads of fun." She rolled her eyes and pushed the filly off of her back. "Look, I'm really tired, so could you beat it kid?"

Moon Beam, completely unphased by Gilda's rough shove and urging to leave, bounced happily around the disgruntled griffon. "You shoulda let me come too! I wish I had as much fun as you did. Well, I did have a lot of fun, but then that one time more chickens like you came and then Cherry started hating me for no reason. But we're friends again now, so that's okay. Huh. I guess I did have as much fun as you did. Why are you so tired and I'm not then?"

"Seriously kid. Just go tell Commander Hardass that I'm back and that, after I get some sleep, she needs to get her stick-filled ass up here to see me. I have stuff I need to tell her." Moon Beam cocked her head and waited. "What? Did you not understand? Go tell Cloudy that I've got something to tell her sorry ass!"

The filly opened her mouth in a silent 'oh'. "You do know that her name isn't hardass, right? Her name is Cloudy, silly!" Moon Beam giggled and dashed away, leaving Gilda alone at last.

"Damn that kid is annoying. I sure as Tartarus don't want any kids of my own." She sighed, rubbing her face, and turned back to lay upon her bed. Her face planted itself on a pillow and, after the rest of her body found a comfortable position, she cooed in relief. "Ahh, finally able to relax and jus-" She blinked, then squawked in disbelief as the realization of what was said only moments ago set in. "Fuck. She's going to tell her everything I said. Screw it. Too tired...." Her head dropped back onto her pillow and, only seconds later, she was wrapped in the soothing embrace of slumber.

Author’s Notes: Well, chapter 34 at long last is here! Only a week or so into their happy love life and Nightmare's already fucked shit up. Oh wait, that's my fault. (Hah!) Also, Twilight is best failecutioner ever. Nopony can fail at chopping somepony’s head off as well as she can. Anyhoof. I apologize once more (I've been doing that a lot lately, haven't I?) I'm really not trying to torment you guys with waiting (aside from Necro Domina's last chapter, of course), but new games (plus the fact that Jeky-poo plays em with me now, too) really put a damper on other activities. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed (or technically hated amirite?) this chapter and you'll probably see ND follow within the next week or so. Welp! Peppy out!

Editor’s Notes: Gad damn I’ve been tired as all hell lately. Chapter was good, other things, stuff... you guys know the drill. It’s a short one this time. Didn’t help that Peps started writing the next chapter of ND first and then switched to writing this for some reason. Hope you liked it, (and I loved all of your ideas about Peps’... motivational material [although, it hasn’t really helped] ). Tah-tah.

P.S. OH! One last (not fanfic related) bit of news. The game me and Peps have been playing lately is WoW. If anyone wants to contribute to the delay of the next chapter, make a comment about joining us.