Princess Luna paced back and forth near the treeline attempting to reconcile the information her mage had given her. It was true that many members of the court remained by her side during the civil war, but she... but Nightmare Moon never stopped to question their reasons for staying. Perhaps it makes sense that they never truly served Nightmare Moon. They merely remained loyal because they believed their Princess Luna to still exist.

Thinking about this tore Luna’s heart to pieces. She could not imagine being in their position, wondering if the monster their princess became was her anymore or some other being entirely. Luna considered why Aldus remained loyal, she imagined to him, at first, Nightmare Moon was simply his princess embracing some new found power. He probably thought it matured her to a state that rivaled Celestia. Luna knew that she had been responsible for many of the good things in his life, so it made sense he would have remained at her side. However, this realization made her feel even worse. What was his reward for his loyalty to her and his friends? For attempting to find Luna in the darkness? Having the Nightmare try to take him too.

But that was another matter entirely. When she returned from the moon and was defeated by Twilight Sparkle and her friends, she believed Nightmare Moon to be gone forever. Now part of it has returned but is part of him now.

The idea of Aldus fighting corruption from Nightmare Moon in that prison with nowhere to run gave her the shivers. Seeing Aldus inside the tent with his shade... or Nightmare Moon... or whatever that thing could be called was something she still had trouble believing. To think that Aldus could reason and come to terms with something like Nightmare Moon. Luna did not even truly know what Nightmare Moon was, and yet he was able to negotiate with it?

Luna continued to ponder this as she flew back to the camp. It made little sense to think that anypony, or anything for that matter could reason with that entity. But, Aldus was not just anypony when it came to understanding abstract things and diplomacy. He was her court adviser and before the war served as an ambassador for her and Celestia whenever they needed him. Aldus traveled everywhere including the Crystal Empire, Silver Isles, Kingdom of Denosis, Concordia, and even to some of the less hostile Gryphon Kingdoms.

There was substantial evidence to believe what he has said, but knowing what transpired at the last battle of the war would give her some of the final pieces she needed to understand everything.

As she landed in the camp Marigold appeared at the entrance of the tent and motioned for her to come inside. Luna quickly entered the tent and observed Aldus snoring on top of some pillows. He was covered in darkness neck to hooves.

“It seems he wasn’t lying about the Nightmare protecting him,” Marigold said.

“Apparently not,” Luna replied while situating herself on a pillow near Aldus. “Marigold, I need you to watch the two of us closely while I do this. If something happens while I am in his dreams call the guards in here and wake me immediately.”

“As you say, Luna,” Marigold replied as she sat down next to the princess.

“This shouldn’t take too long, here goes,” Luna said as her eyes opened with a bright white light.

-------------

Princess Luna materialized in the sky above a snow capped mountain range. It was night and the sky was pitch black save for the Moon hanging in the sky and the several comets streaking by overhead. Far below she saw the flicker of lights on top of a mountain and a large structure situated at the top of it. She flew toward it and immediately recognized the observatory. Thousands of Celestia’s soldiers fought against the tattered remains of Nightmare Moon’s army. Several pegasi and bat ponies were dug in around the entrance and were mowing down any of Celestia’s troops who approached. However, the defense would not last long. Luna noticed that Celestia’s soldiers were throwing themselves at the defense bulwark, wave after wave. Eventually Nightmare Moon’s soldiers would run out of spells and arrows.

Luna slowed her descent to prepare to land on the roof when she saw a dark silhouette exit the observatory and take to the skies heading west. It was none other than Nightmare Moon.

I was such a coward, why didn’t I stay and fight?

Luna then realized that was the extent of her memory, when she left. Swiftly, Luna climbed into the air flew through the open balcony Nightmare Moon had exited from. Immediately she saw Aldus standing in the center of the massive room that contained the observatory’s large telescope. She remained hovering in the air but moved closer to see what Aldus was doing.

From what she could see, he was fastening some sort of amulet to the light peytral armor under his green golden embroidered robes. Suddenly she heard loud slamming on the door leading into the room. Again and again the sounds could be heard until finally with a flash of golden light the doors flew off their hinges and came crashing down to the floor as six unicorns filed into the room. They stood side-by-side in a line to confront Aldus, who remained stoic despite their explosive entry.

Aldus studied the unicorns as smoke from the door breach cleared. He was nervous knowing that he would need to battle these six powerful unicorns by himself. But he calmed his mind and remembered the training he had received from his friends and fellow court members. Rigel, being a pegasus had little to say about magic so instead lectured Aldus on the importance of psychology in battle and studying your opponent. Polaris was a knight who valued honor and loyalty above all else, but acknowledged that Aldus was not a warrior. He educated him on which combat spells were most effective and how to use them, even teaching him some underhanded tricks. In the remaining few seconds of silence Aldus remembered their last conversation and lessons.

-------------

“You have to focus on the moving targets and shoot ahead of them. Its called leading the target, try again.” Polaris said as he used his magic to reset the moving target dummies.

“Pol, I think he’s had enough for now, lets take a break.” said a tall and sleek pegasus perched on one of the rafters.

“Rigel its okay, I got this,” Aldus said as he prepared another spell but was interrupted when he was picked up and flown to the dinner table that had been set up in the armory. Rigel put him in a playful headlock and messed up his mane.

“C’mon, I’m hungry and you still need to hear my lesson for the day. Get over here Pol and have a drink with us.”

“Cider is not going to help our little Aldy here become a combat mage, nor is it going to help you in instructing the newest Shadowbolt recruits later tonight.”

Rigel laughed as he poured three tall mugs of cider, “I could be three sheets to wind and those rookies still wouldn’t get within thirty paces of me, but they’d still do better than any Wonderbolt.”

“So much for ‘The Flying Pride of the Sun and Equestria’ eh?” Aldus said with a smirk. “How many have you downed now, Rigel?”

“Twenty seven, and three flight leaders.”

Polaris sat down next to Aldus and gave him a pat on the back, “I believe everypony across Equestria has heard of the Shadowbolts by now thanks our ace Rigel. Imagine what we could do if we only had more fliers.”

“That would certainly improve our odds,” Rigel stated as he slid two mugs across the table to Aldus and Polaris, “However it would not change how the servants of the sun view us. To them we are petty and insignificant, perhaps they always thought we were, even before the war.”

Rigel gave a deep sigh and looked out at the moon. “Let them think that, it will always give us an advantage.” he said and winked at Aldus.

“Aldus, soon enough you will have to fight other mages and magic users, perhaps even pegasi or earth ponies. They know who you are now, they know you are a leader like us and Princess Luna. They also know you aren’t a soldier or fighter so they won’t be expecting a challenge, use that to your advantage.” Polaris said after drinking some cider.

Polaris got up from the table and charged a lightning spell on the tip of his horn, “There are many ways of controlling a battle, Aldus. One way is with deception.” He turned and released the spell onto a dummy and completely scorched it, then ignited his horn again and pointed at another target. “Notice anything?”

“Very clever, Pol. Very clever.” Rigel said while pouring another mug of cider.

Aldus examined Polaris’ horn a moment, “Oh I see, that is just a simple light spell!”

“Correct, but to an enemy in the heat of a fight it is just another combat spell. Even if you are out of magic there is no reason your opponent needs to know it.”

“Soldiers, guards, and combat mages are trained to fight others like them, not somepony like you Aldy,” Rigel said as he quickly rose from the table and hurled the mug of cider at Polaris, who barely noticed it in time to catch it with his magic. By the time he stopped the mug from hitting his face, Rigel was already in the air above him. He grabbed him by his armor pauldrons and performed a flip hurling Polaris into a group of target dummies with a loud crash. Polaris quickly recovered and fired controlled bursts of purple energy at Rigel, who dodged them by weaving around the pillars. Suddenly, Polaris ran into the middle of the room and aimed around a pillar where Rigel was hiding. Before Polaris could fire another burst of spells, Rigel zipped out into the open for a brief second in order to maneuver behind another pillar. At the exact moment Rigel was exposed, another Polaris teleported to Rigel’s blind spot and hit him with a pale blue bolt of magic. Within seconds of being hit Rigel’s wings stopped flapping and he plummeted to the floor. Polaris trotted over to him and placed a hoof triumphantly on his downed opponent’s chest.”

“Paralysis spell with a clone double to get me to move, what a cheap shot,” Rigel said with a grunt.

“Oh look whos talking, throwing a mug of cider in my face,” Polaris said with a grin. “Smart trick though, never expected that from somepony like you who never lets cider go to waste.”

Polaris bent over and cast a wave of blue light over Rigel to remove the spell and helped the pegasi off the floor.

Aldus stamped his hooves in approval, “Cider and a fight, and it didn’t cost me a single bit!”

All three ponies laughed as Rigel and Polaris sat down again with Aldus. Rigel began to dish out dinner to the other two ponies. “You see, Aldus? Often the best thing in battle is being unpredictable and mobile. You can be direct and aggressive when you need to be, but often being shrewd and unorthodox can be much better.” Rigel said as they began to eat.

Polaris turned to Adlus and smiled, “Remember these little lessons and you’ll be fine. Celestia’s followers won’t know how dangerous you are until its far too late.”

-------------

Aldus snapped out of the memory to see the largest of the six unicorns step forward and address him.

“You must be Magister Aldus, is that correct?” the large unicorn inquired in an apathetic tone.

“It is.” Aldus answered.

“Ah, excellent. My name is Sunspot, I assume you know of my companions and I?”

“Hmm, yes I believe I do know who you are,” Aldus replied. “Judging by your failed attempt to look like nobles, an air of smug satisfaction that seemed to set in just when you entered the room, and your shiny sun pendants. I’d wager you six are Celestia’s chosen students.”

“His file did say he had a sense of humor...” one of the other unicorns muttered under her breath.

Princess Luna hovered off to the side near the ceiling observing the exchange. She did not know if Aldus knew what he was getting himself into. He was more powerful and more experienced in magic than they were, but they had an overwhelming advantage in numbers and were trained in combat magic. Luna inched closer to the unicorns as another stepped forward to speak.

“Where is your master?” asked a tall mare. “No doubt she fled like the coward she is, some scary Nightmare... she doesn’t even have the courage to fight her last battle.”

Aldus chuckled and the mare glared at him. “You must be Solar Wind, I’ve heard a lot about you. Though the details regarding your beauty seem to be a bit exaggerated. The princess had urgent matters to attend to, she said something about you and your army being beneath her, so she tasked me with entertaining you.”

“There is only one princess, fool. You are the the only one here to ‘entertain us’ then?” Solar Wind asked.

“Yes,” Aldus said, “However I have no wish to fight any of you. There is no point in anypony being harmed here. You and your soldiers have clearly won this battle and I suspect it will be the last battle of the war. There is no need for further bloodshed, let us all retire and return to our loved ones.”

The unicorns looked at one another and a few snickered as they turned to Solar Wind, then to Aldus.

Solar Wind grinned and reached for something in her saddlebags. “See... thats a bit of a problem for a couple of reasons. You see, we’ve come too far to leave without the leader of Nightmare Moon’s court. You’ve caused too much trouble for us to simply let you go, and I’m afraid you just might not have anypony to return to, Aldus.”

Aldus now regarded Solar Wind with a serious expression, “What are you talking about?”

Solar Wind produced a large emerald necklace with the letter “L” carved into the gem.

“In one of our last battles we captured a pegasus mare who was an officer of the former Nightguard. Normally I would have let the rank and file process her but I sensed something, a faint hint of a certain magic. I had a little chat with her, she was stubborn and only revealed her name, Lilith. I inquired about the necklace and asked if it was from you, Aldus. She didn’t answer, even under our... enhanced... techniques. Poor Lilith, she was so tired after the whole ordeal, she went to sleep and I don’t believe she ever woke up.” Solar Wind said with a vicious smile, then threw the necklace into the air toward Aldus.

Princess Luna was frozen in horror and rage. She wanted to do something, anything, but all she could do was watch Aldus, who seemed utterly lost with a blank expression on his face.

Time seemed to slow as the necklace fell to the marble floor. The realization that the only family he had ever known was tortured and taken from him slowly hit home, as the necklace finally crashed to the ground, Aldus snapped.

He slowly removed an artifact from his robes and fixed it to his horn. Luna recognized it immediately as a focus. It was a circle designed to secure itself around the horn of a unicorn. Bordering the circle was a triangle with three long slender crystals fixed upon each tip pointing forward. The tips of the crystals joined the tip of the unicorn’s horn creating four points where magical energy could be focused.

The light in the room began to dim as shadows began to crawl across the room toward Aldus.

“What is going on?” Sunspot asked observing the shadows collecting at Aldus’ hooves.

“Dark magic,” Solar Wind spat, “Get ready, we’re supposed to take him alive but I’m sure we can convince Celestia that he had to be put down.”

“So confident,” Aldus mused as the shadows began to cover him. “You should have left when I gave you the chance.”

The darkness now completely engulfed his body and formed a fanged protective mask over his face. His eyes glowed a fierce green as he threw back his head and laughed with two voices in unison.

“This war is over, and dawn may be coming, but none of you will survive to see it. The Night is darkest just before the dawn.”

All six unicorns charged spells preparing to fire at Aldus, who continued to laugh.

“You came here looking for a Nightmare completely oblivious to the reality. Since the first moment you laid eyes on me you’ve been living in a Nightmare, and it is a Nightmare from which you will never wake!”

“Fire!” yelled Solar Wind as the unicorns unleashed their magic at Aldus who dodged it by disappearing into a black puddle of tar on the floor.

“What's going on, Solar?” Sunspot asked. “There was nothing in the file about this!”

“Shut up, Sunspot! Its just dark magic, we’ve dealt with this before. Everypony stay together and advance, he’ll reveal himself eventually.”

While the six unicorns slowly moved forward into the room Aldus watched them from inside the darkness on the ceiling. It was as if he was in a different room observing them through a window. He took this time to mentally wrestle with the entity inside him.

I won’t let you take me! You WILL stop!

Aldus was in the greatest struggle against the Nightmare he had ever been in. He allowed it the most control ever just a few moments ago and now it wanted to completely consume him.

STOP! Listen to me! Listen! If you do this you might get a few of them, but eventually they will focus you down and kill you. That’s not what WE want...

For a moment, Aldus felt the Nightmare relent.

Yes, thats it. We can get them all, but we need to do it my way. Their strength is in their numbers, we need to split them up and take them apart one by one, and we need to do it together. Do you understand?

Aldus had been sweating from the tense standoff and was panting. The darkness serving as his armor began to swirl slightly cooling him off and allowing him to recover his breath.

I’ll take that as a yes. Aldus thought as he smiled.

Lets begin.

Luna remained in the air and drifted along with the six unicorns as the slowly paced toward the center of the room. She had no idea where Aldus went and was about to fly around the room to look for him when she heard a strange sound. It was coming from ceiling in the top left corner of the room near the entrance. The sound was similar to that of a thick piece of fabric tearing. Luna found the source of the sound being a small black hole in the ceiling and almost didn’t see the black shape fall out of it.

The shape was that of a lump of tar that took the form of Aldus immediately after hitting the ground and galloped full speed toward Celestia’s students. Two of them spotted him when he descended from the ceiling and opened fire with white hot bolts of magic from their horns. Luna was surprised at the reaction time of the students, Celestia had trained them well. However, Aldus dodged them all by performing several short distance teleports with a technique called blinking. Once he closed enough distance, Aldus ignited his horn fired a few bursts of magic at the two unicorns facing him. They quickly reacted to his offensive by conjuring magical wards in front of them to absorb the magic. Before the the two unicorns could drop their wards and return fire, Aldus performed one last blink teleport and appeared inside their circular formation. Before any of the unicorns could react Aldus crouched low to the ground as two black wings materialized from his sides. With one mighty flap they launched Aldus into the air above the students. He hung there a few moments before conjuring fireballs in his hooves and hurling them down at the students causing them to break formation and scatter.

Aldus quickly assessed the situation, the enhanced vision granted by the Nightmare allowed him to see all six unicorns through the smoke caused by the fireballs. He turned to his right to see one student who was burnt by the exploding fireball. He was on the ground being tended to by another student who was using what Aldus perceived as healing magic. The Nightmare shifted Aldus’ spectral armor and focussed on the injured unicorn, sending Aldus a message.

Target the weak.

As the smoke cleared the black wings dissolved and Aldus fell to the floor. Before landing he used his horn to gather force at his hooves, when he landed he sent out a shockwave toward the unicorns who had recovered from his previous attack, knocking them down. He then focused on the injured pony and conjured a simple ball of light in his right hoof. Aldus quickly blinked in front of the two unicorns and wound up like he was preparing to hurl another fireball.

The healer took the bait and immediately erected a defensive bubble around injured unicorn who fell to his side. Much her surprise, Aldus did not unleash a fireball but rather clasped his hooves together then touched them to the ground. A white symbol appeared under the injured unicorn that perfectly aligned with the circular perimeter of the bubble. The healer moved around the bubble taking a few shots at Aldus, but he dodged them then teleported away, laughing.

The injured unicorn looked at the rune and the healer, “Su-Summer! Help me!”

“Corona, don’t move! NO!”

The injured unicorn touched his left hoof to the floor after reaching out for healer and screamed in pain as floor beneath him erupted with raw electricity. His cries split the air but eventually subsided revealing a charred corpse still shielded by the defensive bubble.

The rest of the students ran to the aid of the unicorn called Summer, but before they could reach her the top half of Aldus emerged from a shadow behind her. She turned around just in time to be hit with a blast of concentrated dark magic that sent her careening across the room and into one of the support pillars. The force of the impact was enough to break both bone and the pillar, which collapsed to the ground crushing her.

Solar Wind snarled in rage as she watched Aldus smile and sink away into the shadow.

“He’s using shadows as portals to move around the room!” she screamed. “Quickly, cast a night vision spell on your eyes and destroy all the sources of light!”

Each of the four remaining unicorns touched a hoof to their eyes and proceeded to cast bolts of energy at each of the light crystals illuminating the room. When the last crystal was destroyed the room was pitch black.

Luna hovered in the center of the room using her alicorn powers to penetrate the darkness. Celestia’s students were in a loose formation near the charred remains of the their fallen comrade. Luna was impressed by the shrewd and unorthodox tactics Aldus had used to dispatch two of the unicorns. She assumed the Nightmare allowed him to hide in shadows thus giving him the opportunity for those sneak attacks. However, now the shadows were gone and he couldn’t use the darkness since Celestia’s students could still see in it. Luna tried to think of what he would do but her thoughts were interrupted by laughter.

It was then that it occurred to Luna, he was using psychological warfare against them. The mask, the shadows, the spectral armor, and the laughing. He was trying to break their spirit.

“Getting rid of the light was smart. I won’t be able to move about as freely now.”

Solar Wind’s face contorted into an expression of pure rage. Aldus’ voice seemed to come from everywhere in the room making it impossible to pinpoint his location.

“How ironic, you all are relying on darkness whereas I am relying on light. Its fitting really, don’t you think? For the last battle of the war?”

Solar Wind howled in rage, “It is the last battle of the war, and we have won! You will not leave this place alive, scum! Celestia gives us strength and has entrusted us with great power. She will destroy Nightmare Moon!”

“You are not the only ones to derive strength from a princess. Even now I still feel Luna’s love, the same love she tried to share with everyone. But you shunned her, turned your back on her, when all she ever wanted was to be acknowledged. Now, with her blessing, I’ll end this once and for all!”

Aldus stepped out from behind the farthest pillar at the end of the room and unleashed a beam of dark magic at the ceiling. It cut a swathe bisecting the roof causing it to collapse inward, bathing the room in moonlight.

Celestia’s students dodged the chunks of stone that plummeted to floor but not all of them could retreat out of the light in time. Aldus emerged from one of the student’s own shadows and grabbed her by the hind legs. All Solar Wind and Sunspot could do was watch as their companion was pulled screaming into the shadow, all while frantically trying to hit her attacker with spells to no avail.

The room was quiet again for a few moments before a tearing sound could be heard coming from above. A black circle formed on part of the ceiling that was still standing. Solar Wind watched as her friend’s body fell though it, landing in a lifeless heap on the floor below.

Solar Wind saw that the shadow portal on the ceiling was closing, “Oh no you don’t! I’ve got you this time, coward!” she yelled as she charged a spell. Bright yellow energy gathered on the tip of her horn in the shape of a sphere and in the blink of an eye she teleported directly under the portal.

“Take this!” Solar Wind shouted as she launched the sphere directly upward.

Aldus was about to open another exit portal when out of the corner of his eye he saw the bright sphere enter the shadow dimension. It flew upward and began to pulse rapidly.

A bomb, BUCK!

The sphere pulsed one final time then exploded in a flash of brilliant light. Aldus barely had time to escape before the blast wave hit him. He emerged from a shadow portal near the open balcony. The entire right side of his body was burned even though the spectral armor provided by the Nightmare took most of the blast.

Aldus looked forward to see Solar Wind standing legs spread in a predatory stance charging a spell. She was standing there with another student behind her and to the left, Aldus guessed the one behind her was another healer or at least wielded support magic.

Wait, where is that other uni- oh no...

Before Aldus could finish his thought, the large unicorn named Sunspot materialized from thin air beside him. He had some sort of magical object in his right hoof that glowed bright orange, at the end of it was a four pronged claw. Aldus could barely move before Sunspot closed the distance and with a mighty roar brought the claw down. It connected with the left side of Aldus’ face, its hooks penetrated the protective spectral armor mask and tore skin from bone. Aldus wailed in pain as Sunspot drove his left hoof into his chest, relieving him of any wind in his lungs. The magical device seemed to be siphoning Aldus’ magic preventing him from building up a charge to teleport. It was a miracle he even noticed over the blinding pain of having the side of his face ripped off.

Aldus was in a bad spot, he was about to charge a spell to knock Sunspot away, but out of the corner of his right eye he saw Solar Wind now almost completely eclipsed by a ball of yellow energy floating in front of her. Three focusing crystals floated to the sides and above the sphere feeding energy into it.

Sunspot turned to notice it too, then the realization hit him, “Solar, wait! Solar! SOLAR! NO! NOO!”

But it was too late, Sunspot’s cries were drowned out by the deafening boom of the spell being unleashed. A large golden beam tore through the room and completely filled Aldus’ vision. At the last moment before the beam impacted them Aldus felt the Nightmare react and shift all its essence to the front of Aldus to absorb the blow.

The beam connected with its target and lifted both Aldus and Sunspot off the floor and flung them out onto the balcony. Once the beam dissipated Aldus was sprawled out against the edge. His entire body ached from burns and he could no longer feel the left side of his face. Large portions of his spectral armor were gone revealing sections of scorched skin, but overall he was intact. The same could not be said about Sunspot, however. All that remained of him was a smoldering pile of ash next to Aldus.

If it was not for the Nightmare, Aldus would not have survived that blast. He tried to take that all in as he attempted to get up, only to be met with blinding pain.

“Well that was an intense battle, while it lasted.” came an approaching arrogant voice. “You certainly have been our toughest opponent yet.”

Aldus looked up to see Solar Wind trotting up to him with her subordinate following closely behind. She approached Aldus and studied his defeated form, the horrendous burn marks and torn apart face. The half destroyed spectral armor and fading green light in his eyes. Her face contorted into a look of revulsion.

“Shame about Sunspot, but his sacrifice was worth it for defeating this monster.”

Aldus coughed up blood, “You are the monster here. To throw away the life of a comrade in such a way, Celestia would be ashamed.”

Solar Wind slammed her hoof into Aldus’ face, “Silence! You will not speak of her! In fact, you will not speak ever again. But before you leave this world, know that your ‘princess’ will also share your fate. Its funny really, the last thing Lilith said to me was that I would never be able to defeat you. Oh how wrong she was, stupid pegasus.”

As Solar Wind charged a spell to finish off Aldus at point blank range, he felt something from the Nightmare, it was emotion. Tension, apprehension, fear, anger, hate. From the point of his shade being corrupted there had always been a ‘wall’, so to speak, between the Nightmare and Aldus. But now that barrier was gone, it felt so strange, so different, so good.

Aldus stared right at the spell that was about to finish him. This unicorn was a microcosm of all he, his friends, and even his princess had ever fought against, and she had taken from him the only family he ever had.

“No, it won’t end like this.” he muttered. The moonlight was being harnessed by the Nightmare to return some of his lost strength. Slowly but surely, it was working.

Aldus saw a triumphant smirk come across Solar Wind’s face, and that was all he needed.

“RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAGHGHGHG!!”

Aldus harnessed all the emotion he could from himself and the Nightmare and focussed it into a magic augmented scream. It caught both Solar Wind and the other unicorn by surprise as they were lifted from the floor and thrown back into the room. Solar Wind’s spell discharged harmlessly into the night sky, allowing Aldus to slowly get to his hoofs. The Nightmare slowly started to reform the spectral armor on Aldus’ damaged limbs.

The Nightmare was anxious now, Aldus could feel it. He approached Solar Wind as she was slowly picking herself up. Aldus smirked as an idea for a spell popped into his head. Solar wind immediately fired a burst of magic at Aldus but he quickly blinked away reappearing six paces from Solar Wind. He then fired a small but accurate blast of dark magic at Solar Wind’s horn. Once it connected small black crystals began to form on the horn, immediately absorbing any magic used to cast spells. It was a devious trick, something he picked up from another dark magic practitioner, a black unicorn he met during his travels in the Crystal Empire.

As Solar Wind attempted to channel magic through her horn with no success, Aldus turned his attention to the last remaining unicorn. He felt a sensation from the Nightmare, it wanted that student.

Alright alright, after all you’ve done to help me it wouldn’t be right to refuse you. Get ready.

The student panicked and fired a cluster of bolts at Aldus who blinked away and reappeared in exactly the same place. Aldus reared up on his hind legs and wound up his right hoof like he was preparing to throw a fireball. He took one step forward and brought his hoof around in a throwing motion. But instead of throwing a fireball, three pieces of spectral armor detached themselves from Aldus’ right hoof and flew through the air toward the student. As they traveled to their target they transformed into a thick black sludge that landed on the unicorn’s neck, chest, and hoof. The unicorn screamed as the sludge slowly covered his entire body, his movements eventually slowed as the form of a unicorn lost its shape and melted into a thick pool of sludge. The viscous substance moved across the floor to Aldus and merged with him to continue reforming his spectral armor.

That- that was creepy.

Solar Wind was now backed against a wall shaking, whether in rage or fear Aldus did not know, but both he and the Nightmare guessed the latter.

“What- what are you?”

“I told you what I am. I am the Nightmare from which you will never wake.”

Solar Wind’s eyes were now filling with tears, “No, no please. I’ll do anything. I’ll leave and you’ll never see me again. I’ll give you all the bits you want!”

“You were given the opportunity to flee before the battle began, you chose to ignore my offer. Now you will face the consequences of your choice.”

Aldus knelt down and allowed two pieces of the spectral armor to detach from his hooves and slither to where Solar Wind was cowering. They formed a circle then began to rise into a dome that completely covered the remaining unicorn. Once the dome was formed Aldus touched his horn to it causing it to pulse, then disappear. On the ground before him Solar Wind was curled into a ball trembling violently as her eyes darted in every direction under tightly closed lids.

Aldus felt the Nightmare’s disapproval and he laughed to himself.

I know, you are probably right. She deserved far worse, but whenever possible I try to keep my word. I said she would never wake from the nightmare, and she never will.

Aldus fell to his back and sighed. He had done it, he had overcome one of the greatest challenges of his life, but not without a price. Turning his head he saw his reflection in a shard of broken glass. The left side of his face was gone from being torn off by that claw and burnt by Solar Wind’s spell. All that remained of it was torn muscle and bone, his left eye sagged a bit from almost being ripped out itself. The pain was being kept in check by the soothing darkness the Nightmare placed over it. Aldus tried to ignore the pain and the image of his face and just enjoy the quiet of the room. However the quiet was interrupted by the sound of chanting outside. Aldus tried to focus on the sound...

“Sol Invictus! Sol Invictus! Celestia! Celestia!”

It was the army of the sun, they must have defeated the last of Nightmare Moon’s army. None of them sounded like they were attempting to enter the observatory. Solar Wind likely told them to remain outside when she and her companions arrived. Aldus listened to the chanting and cheering, it was likely that this army fought his friends Rigel and Polaris numerous times throughout the war. He had no further communication with anyone else in the court since the order was given to gather at Moonlock Observatory. Aldus feared his friends were gone, and if it was not Celestia’s chosen students who killed them, it was surely ponies in that army outside.

Aldus felt the Nightmare’s anger, an anger that he began to share.

They did win the war, I suppose if I were in their shoes I’d be cheering too. We should congratulate them? Give them something to commemorate their victory?

Aldus didn’t know what the Nightmare was suggesting until it beckoned him to look through the broken roof into the night sky. He saw the moon, stars, and comets streaking by...

Comets? Yes... yes... they should be rewarded for their hard earned victory. Its only proper... you say you can help me do it? Fine, but I’m still going to need a lot of power...

Aldus turned back to where Solar Wind was being tormented and relieved her of her saddlebags. He emptied their contents in front of him and found the three large focusing crystals she used on him earlier in the battle.

These will do. You are sure about this? Very well then, lets be off.

Luna looked on as Aldus secured the crystals in what remained of his robes. Large inky black wings sprouted from his sides and with a running start he took off into the air, flying through the broken roof toward the front of the observatory. She quickly beat her wings and followed him, knowing full well what was about to happen next.

Aldus flew high into the sky and saw the extent of the army that had marched up the mountain. Thousands upon thousands of torches dotted the ground and the light reflected off the golden armor of the soldiers. Banners could be seen waving about as pegasus fliers performed feats of acrobatics, a few sported wonderbolt uniforms.

“Hail soldiers of the sun! You have ended the war and done your princess proud. Therefore, I offer a gift to you and the mighty Celestia. It might not be as large as the sun, but I think you will find it just as bright...”

The Nightmare was handling the flying and keeping Aldus airborne allowing him to concentrate. He levitated the focusing crystals out of his robes and arrayed them in a triangle bordering the tip of his horn. With the help of the Nightmare he judged which comet to target and drew heavily upon the power of Nightmare Moon. It was the same power she used to raise and lower the moon, and it nearly killed him trying to wield it. If he lost control he would have exploded, or worse. Aldus strained to focus on the comet, slowly it began to change course until finally he could see it begin to grow brighter indicating its imminent approach.

Goddesses above... THAT is the power that Luna and Celestia wield? Unbelievable.

The Nightmare continued to keep Aldus aloft while it fed its magic into Aldus’ horn and eyes, giving them an even brighter green glow. Some of the pegasus guards and wonderbolts began to approach him, perhaps in an effort to stop whatever they perceived him to be doing. He felt the Nightmare expressing amusement at their actions. Smiling with the green glow now illuminating even his mouth, Aldus spread his hooves and wings wide in a mocking expression of Celestia’s pose during the Summer Sun Celebration.

Luna hovered just behind Aldus as she watched the comet approach becoming brighter and brighter. The whole army below them noticed it now and began to panic, all while Aldus began to laugh hysterically. The last thing Luna saw was a light as bright as the sun collide into the mountain with a deafening boom before being knocked out of the dream by the shockwave of the blast.

-----------------

“Luna, Luna are you alright?” The voice sounded like it was coming from someplace far away as Luna fully regained her awareness. Marigold stood over her waving a hoof in front of her face.

“How did it go, did you find what you needed?” Marigold inquired as she helped Luna to her hooves.

“I did,” Luna answered with a smile. “Now, please wake him.”

Marigold trotted over to Aldus and nudged him gently, “Time to wake up sleepy head,” she cooed softly.

Aldus awoke with a groan and sat up. He looked around trying to find Marigold’s location, “Miss Marigold, could I ask you to hand me my veil?”

“Of course, Aldus.” she said as she picked it up from the floor. He reached out his hoof to take it but Marigold pushed his hoof down and moved behind him to fasten it over his eyes herself.

“Thank you Miss Marigold, you are too kind.” Aldus said with a slight bow.

“Princess Luna, I- I’m sorry for what you saw.” Aldus said, now lying on his belly with his face buried in a pillow. “I regret destroying the army, but I don’t regret taking Celestia’s students. F-For what they did to her, I- I couldn’t let them get away with it.”

Aldus looked up trying to find Luna in the room, his veil was wet from the tears streaming down his face. Luna trotted up to him and picked him up into a tight embrace.

“I don’t blame you for it, Aldus. It was horrible what they did to Lilith, and from ponies held in such high esteem it was unforgivable. I will question my sister on the matter when when we return to Canterlot. As for the comet, it was still war. You were imprisoned for one thousand years with the Nightmare, I think you have served your sentence.” Luna said in a soft voice.

“Marigold, tell the guards to prepare to leave. Its time we returned to Canterlot.” Luna instructed as she continued to hold Aldus.

Marigold bowed and left the tent. Luna relinquished her embrace and bent down to look into Aldus’ veil. “Can you see me, Aldy?”

Shadows crept up Aldus’ back and slipped under the veil, giving his eyes a green glow. “Yes, Luna. Now I can.” he said with a weak smile.

Luna returned the smile, “There will be time to discuss what transpired at the last battle later. For now, I have learned all I need to know. I’m just happy to have you back, there is much work for you to do and I’m certain with your skills you will benefit everyone greatly.”

“I serve you and your subjects as always, Luna. You can count on me.” Aldus said.

“Excellent, that is what I like to hear.” Luna replied as she stood up and trotted over to the table.

“Come, help me pack up. Its long trip back to Canterlot so the sooner we leave the better, and I have much to tell you about the events I’ve experienced since my return from banishment.”