Nightmare Twilight soared high above the clouds, patches of Equestria exposing themselves like tears in the sprawling sheet of the sky. Every exposed portion revealed the same pathetic section of dying earth, offering no variety or interruption from the hideous reality that was this Equestria.

"If only..." Twilight whispered to herself sadly as she flew. "If only this world could survive without the sun. Without Luna, or Celestia...."

She hated Luna. The kindhearted, cowardly leader who had killed Nightmare Moon and stolen her Equestria. She had done nothing to deserve it, nothing short of murdering her own sister, and yet she received the love and admiration of every foal and filly in the sunlit world she reigned over.  

And yet a pony like Nightmare Moon, who had waged and won wars and crushed all resistance before her, who had sacrificed every waking moment into making sure everypony knew their place, was treated as the murderer. A pony who had only ever killed to maintain order in a dying world. A pony who would stop at nothing to make sure everypony was safe in her loving embrace, only to be shunned and resisted by the ones she had sworn to protect.

"Do not worry, Nightmare Moon..." Twilight lamented. "I shall see you soon, after I have completed what I have come here to do. Without the Elements of Harmony or that wretched excuse for a unicorn, you shall never be defeated. Your rule will be as immortal as your love and compassion, and my respect and adoration of you. I will stop at nothing to see Equestria returned to you."

For now though, she could not even risk speaking to Nightmare Moon. Even if she could, she would much prefer to get these matters out of the way as swiftly as possible. True, she had erased Twilight Sparkle's punishment; having died here, she would never live long enough to see Equestria end as she did before. However, the expression of desperation and fear and guilt on that despicable ponies face had been more than enough for her. She would never forget that expression for as long as she lived.

And that would be a very long time.

There was of course one more paradox that had to be resolved. Nightmare Moon had approached her within the realm of the dead, but now Celestia's Twilight would never live long enough to defeat her past self. But that was a problem easily resolved. Nightmare Twilight closed her eyes and shot a beam of magic to the west, watching as the dark purple light tore over the earth and into the distance. A loud explosion resounded in the distance as the entirety of the Changeling Empire was destroyed in the fraction of a second.

"It is done." Nightmare Twilight said without emotion as the memories of the destruction of the Changeling Empire joined the memories of her first death at the hands of Twilight Sparkle. It was quite an odd sensation, remembering ones own death twice, in two different fashions, while still being perfectly alive to think back on them.

Nothing else stood in her way now. All the Elements of Harmony were dead, with them dying any chance of her loving mentor ever being defeated.

And, most importantly, the Mirror Pool was now open for all eternity. Should Nightmare Moon ever need to invade it and pillage their resources, it would now always be possible. Indeed, there was no longer any resistance to any of Nightmare Moon's future plans.

Equestria was finally, once again safe, in the hands of its own rightful and true ruler, under the beautiful light of the moon. Next Chapter: The Lake (VII) Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes