“Free! Free at last!” Nightmare yelled as it had full control over the body. Excited, it simply freed itself from Chrysalis and, first of all, stretched thoroughly, something it hadn’t done in two long years. “I would never have thought that all it would take to convince that idiot to leave me in charge was a little desperation. I should thank you, Chrysalis.” Instead of a thankful gesture, however, a ball of dark energy hit her and catapulted her directly into the building she had destroyed before. “But I think I’ll have a little bit of fun with you instead. I cannot have any competition when the dominion of the world is at stake.” With a charge of magic, the queen freed herself from the rubble and looked up to the alicorn it had just defeated effortlessly. She didn’t quite understand what that human had done, but his soul was now completely black, and he was overflowing with magic.

“I’m going to crush you like the worm you are, human!” She hissed and launched multiple charges at once, which all missed the Alicorn.

“At least you’re persistent. I might not get bored as quickly after all.” Once again it fired dark energy at the Changeling Queen on the ground, but she was now prepared for this kind of attack and barely managed to evade it. The projectiles hit the pile of rubble that once was a house and turned into a small inferno of black fire. Chrysalis, now back in the air, fired a few rays at the black Alicorn floating above the plaza and hit one of its hooves. Most of it was blocked by his armour, but she was still certain to have caused him some pain. The biggest trouble she had with this opponent was that she couldn’t feel his emotions anymore. She used them to predict whether her enemy would attack, and if he did, how. Angry opponents usually attacked physically while more relaxed ones would more likely use magic. That way, it was always a breeze to evade attacks. Nightmare observed the small wound on its hoof and smiled for a moment before it healed up again and even the armour repaired itself. “My turn.” Faster than she could look, the alicorn soared through the air in front of her and tried to hit her with the small blade on his armour. With a short somersault backwards, she escaped the attack, only to be greeted by her opponent’s hooves. She flew back to the ground where she lied motionless for a few seconds, ironically right next to Shining Armour.

“I am a queen! How dare you?! I’ll show you what power is!” Nightmare saw the anger rise in his enemy, and there was nothing it enjoyed more than that. It lived for the battle, for victory, for devouring his victims’ souls. A smirk covered his lips as he thought that he was currently fighting for the ponies of the world, so they wouldn’t lose their emotions, only to have their souls be his afterwards. Eternal darkness and a world filled with delicious souls. Of course he would have like to find the rest of his kind and admire their destruction, but why bother if he could cause some here himself. The changeling arose from the ground and surrounded herself in green flames.

Curiously, he observed the action, and in the next moment, a dark figure darted toward him. He recognised the form at once; after all, he had lived within it for a thousand years. Princess Luna’s horn stabbed his side, followed by four hooves that freed her from his wound. With a wide grin, she looked at the damage she had caused. “The shape of Luna? Bad choice.” It knew every strength and weakness this pony had and immediately aimed for the most obvious weakness: her small wings. Luna was far younger than Celestia, and her wings were anything but as stable as hers. It had been a breeze countering this weakness. A ray of dark energy, igniting anything in its path, shot across the ground and hit the right target. A scream of agony filled the surroundings, a scream that was music for Nightmare’s ears. Chrysalis needed a while to get back in shape.

“It’s not just about the shape!” she yelled and casted a spell. Interested in his enemy’s next move, he let her do whatever she was planning and waited. “Sparkles, hope in the night! Shine me the way! Star cascade!” She cast a spell, Luna’s spell, something that surprised even him. Apparently, she wasn’t the queen for nothing. The ability to use the magical powers of the imitated ponies was a rather notable one. He was so caught in surprise that he was hit by the hundreds of small stars raining from the skies and fell to the ground in a giant cloud of dust

“Not bad,” was audible through the smoke. As it settled, an undamaged alicorn stood there and smiled at the now wounded Chrysalis. “I think it’s time to stop with this foalish nonsense.” It accessed the information within the brain of his host and found what it was searching for: the runes Celestia had given to this oaf. It was about time to use them, it thought to itself as it created the first circle. The idea for this spell he owed to his host, but it didn’t matter, for he was no more. Combined with the runes, this spell was a powerful attack.

“I’m the bone of my sword.” The world around them started to change. “Steel is my body and fire is my blood.” The houses slowly disintegrated and the sky started to turn orange. “Unknown to neither Death nor known to Life.” The grass on the ground turned into dirt. “So as I pray, unlimited blade works.” Chrysalis, shocked by the sudden changes, moved back a few steps.

“What did you do? Where am I?” Thousands of swords were sticking out of the ground, no two being alike. The sky had neither sun nor moon or clouds, only a bright orange. There was no trace of Ponyville anywhere to be seen.

“This is my reality. Here, I am a god!” Multiple swords were suspended in his magic and launched at Chrysalis. She noticed that none of the swords were directed at her, but her immediate surroundings. If she tried evading, she’d be hit. So, she stood still and didn’t bother about the cuts. As soon as the swords passed her, she cast another one of Luna’s spells. A bright light filled the area and Nightmare, blinded by it, turned away from his opponent. Chrysalis used this to her advantage and mimicked the previous attack. Multiple swords targeted the alicorn directly now. She was not as weak as to only wound her enemy. Just as he could see again, it noticed the swords, but didn’t try evading. Instead of hurting him, they passed right through. “Do you not understand? You are but a worm!”

Once again it lifted the swords in the air and levitated them above Chrysalis’ head. She couldn’t fly, and this time the swords would not narrowly miss her. She had to change again and disappeared inside another wall of flames. The same wall melted the swords above her, and in its place a black alicorn stood. “Now you learn fear. Try fighting yourself!” she said with the voice of his host and spread her wings. “If you are a god here, so am I now!” A ray of light emerged from the sky and hit Nightmare in the back, sending him to the ground.” He had expected many things, but not that he would realize the truth behind his spell. The simple reason behind the own reality had been that only he could manipulate things, and now that Chrysalis was him…

Another beam from the skies hit the alicorn, who was still lying on the ground, and a sardonic laugh could be heard. “The magic of this human is amazing.” She looked down at her victim, who was slowly getting up. She had enough of this alicorn and would torture him with his own magic in ways he could not even imagine. “Bolts of Light!” She ended the spell and nine glowing arrows flew through the air toward their target. Nightmare, still a little weakened by the two previous attacks, noticed them at the last second and teleported away. He was boiling with anger that he had given his opponent the chance to reach Celestia’s runes, but it was too late to be helped. Since his powers were leaving, he could not maintain the altered reality, and Ponyville returned to its rightful place.

“Light?” The blue mare at the edge of the field looked up to the two black alicorns and looked desperate. Nightmare wondered why she knew who was who, as she looked at him directly and did not seem to be confused. Chrysalis noticed the spectator as well and fired a few projectiles at her. In a wide loop, she flew back into the rubble she had been lying in front of and disappeared from sight.

Nightmare could not let this chance pass and used it since his opponent was distracted for a moment. “Shadows!” He cast the spell and turned into some kind of smoky cloud, spreading over the scene.

“Chrysalis, I am going to end this fight now.” It sounded from everywhere and nowhere at once. Confused by the state the alicorn was in, she looked around desperately. “Warming Star in the sky above…” A circle formed above the entire area and brightened the dark mist from below in a bright yellow light. “Come down from the heavens you are part of.”

The circle tightened and formed a small ball in the middle of the fog. The queen did not know what this was supposed to achieve and was damned to wait for what would happen. “Do what is within your might…” heat, immense heat was starting to radiate from the ball, “and be my light!” She saw what the alicorn was trying to create: a sun. Immediately, she started putting up magical shields, but it was too late. “I, Nightmare, summon you, Sol!”

The small sun darted towards Chrysalis at a high speed and hit her shields. Even through them she could feel the extreme heat coming from the small celestial object and had to look at how it slowly burned through her shield. Panicked, she jumped to the side and saw how the sun shot through one of the houses behind her and how it immediately went up in flames. It took a turn and came towards her once more. She had to think of something new since the gravitation coming from the miniature star drained her powers as well. She had to be quick or else this alicorn would get her. She was a trickster – in direct combat, she had no chance, at least as long as she wasn’t well fed. Everyling has their weaknesses, and it was her strength to use them against her enemies. But where was the weakness of this alicorn?

Again she evaded the flying sun, which was a lot easier now that she could fly again in this shape. Shape, that was the right thought. Why did it turn itself into mist? In order to not be hit by its own attack? It was as experienced a fighter as she was, so that would probably not be the case. Then it hit her like a brick. Just as much as the Princess of the Night had problems wielding her magic by day, this alicorn was weak against the sun. Why else would it protect itself against its own attack? The sun was hot on her heels as she soared higher above Ponyville, always going in circles. The mist, meanwhile, calmly stayed on the ground and observed its enemy’s attempts to flee from its attack. Only that Chrysalis was not trying to flee. She had her victims’ knowledge and was searching for the spell that had transformed Nightmare into the mist. Each spell could be undone if you knew how it worked, and she found what she was looking for. She started a quick dive, passed by the sun, and prepared the counterspell.

Nightmare, not knowing what Chrysalis had planned, was amused by her attempt to attack him with magic. It steered the sun in a way that it was now diving towards the ground like the queen. Too late, he noticed that no attack by her ensued, but his fog spell was her target. He contracted and once again turned into his original form. “Dammit!” it exclaimed in shock as Chrysalis turned to the side and the sun hit the plaza. The force catapulted Nightmare through the air and into a building standing nearby. Getting hit by one’s own attack, one of Celestia’s even, was the worst that could happen to someone. Other than the previous attacks, this one was more than effective. His fur was literally burning on top of his skin and every attempt to move was futile. “Chrysalis…” He had underestimated his opponent and had been tricked. This had happened before when he underestimated a certain purple pony, and before that with the Princess of the Sun. Carefully, he turned his head and was confused by what it saw. The other ponies were surrounded by a golden shield and had been spared from the attack.

I looked out of the window and watched two dark alicorns fight in the sky. My mother had commanded me to stay in the library with Spike and Dawn and wait. When another explosion shook the village, however, I couldn’t stay sitting still. “We have to do something!” I told the other two, who looked at me funny.

“Why? If my mom says I should stay here, I’ll do so. That was for the better last time as well,” the small pegasus said as he looked over towards Spike.

“Dawn is right. Twilight will do it. She is the mightiest unicorn in Ponyville.” Spike’s words calmed me down a bit, but what I saw wouldn’t let me rest. I opened the door and turned around once more. “Then you stay here. I want to know what’s happening.” With that, I galloped the short way towards the marketplace without paying any attention to them. A few houses had scorched roofs, and when I arrived, I even saw some that had been destroyed completely. My gaze wandered over what was in front of me. Small golden domes were spread across the place and seemed to protect something underneath them. A deep laugh was audible and I hid behind a bush on my right.

“I’ve defeated you before, Celestia. What makes you think you will keep me from doing so again?” The dark alicorn flew over the area, eyes fixated on Princess Celestia. I only now noticed that she was floating right above me and was sporting a look of anger one could only describe as pure hate.

“You come to my kingdom, threaten my ponies once more and dare to hurt my son and my student. Prepare for your demise, Chrysalis!” The two of them started exchanging attacks, but my thoughts were with the words they had just spoken. Her son, my father, had to be here and was hurt, just like my mother and the others. The collision of magical projectiles drowned out everything else, but I saw something move in the destroyed house next to me. Quickly and unnoticed, I ran over and saw another alicorn lying in the rubble. Carefully, I climbed over the mess and looked more closely. It looked just like the one Celestia was fighting, only that this one was covered in burns and wounds. “Who…?” it whispered silently as I came closer. It was the sound of two voices at once, and I immediately recognized one of them. It was the voice of Blue Light.

“Help!” I cried, but the explosions in the air were simply too loud. I could do nothing but watch him die. Tears ran down my cheeks as I buried myself in my father’s fur.

Chrysalis would never tell anyone, but she was at her end. First the short battle with Shining Armor, then the strange alicorn, and now Celestia had quickly strained her powers. She had never expected the princess to appear on the scene so quickly, or how she had gotten wind of the fight back in Canterlot.

“I’ll give you what you deserve, Chrysalis!” Another one of Celestia’s sunbeams hit her and dissolved her disguise. She flew a small circle and stopped in front of Celestia, their horns colliding.

“We both know how it went last time, princess, and it will be the same this time!” She caused a magical explosion and the princess of the sun flew back a few meters before she caught herself in the air.

“That’s why I am not here alone!” Just as she finished her statement, an attack hit the changeling in the back, and plagued by pain, she turned towards her secret attacker. She had expected Luna but not Cadence. The young alicorn was standing on one of the rooftops, her eyes narrowed to slits, and fired another beam at her.

“You tried taking our loved ones one too many times, monster.” She evaded the attack, only to be hit in the back once again, this time by Celestia.

“ENOUGH!” She hadn’t intended to end it this way, but she had no other choice. The problem was that she could easily lose control, but now it was her last chance to win. Once again, she surrounded herself with flames, and when they extinguished, she had disappeared. Confused, Celestia, and Cadence looked around for their opponent, only to be greeted by a dark, deep laugh. Celestia’s gaze froze as she heard the voice of her oldest rival. “Time for a little… chaos.”

Author's Notes:

I remember how difficult it was to write that at the time.

Thanks to GentlemanPirate for translating this chapter.
Special thanks to JBL for proofreading and editing.

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