"This trip would have gone a lot faster," Nightmare Moon grumbled, "if we had flown. Or if I had come alone, like I wanted."

"It's not that bad," Twilight said, getting a snort in response. "It also is a bad idea to come out here alone. Even if it is safer to come into The Everfree Forest than it used to be, it is still a dangerous place. So it's always good to have somepony with you in case something happens. I've been out here myself a few times, and so have they. Although not..."

Turning, she looked back toward the three fillies. "You haven't been out this far, have you?"

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle moved into a huddle, forelegs wrapping around each other as they leaned in close. The sounds of whispering could be heard, although none of what they said could be made out. Once it a while, the voice of one of them could be picked out enough to know who was talking, but not what they were saying.

Finally the three of them separated. Standing side by side, they all turned to face Twilight and Nightmare Moon.

"No," Apple Bloom said.

Twilight Sparkle stared at the three, eyes narrowing as she studied them. After several seconds where none of them seemed to fidget (more than usual at least) or look away, she turned back to Nightmare Moon.

"Not this far," Twilight continued. "Plus it might be a good learning experience for them. A chance to see where the princesses lived before Canterlot and their ruling of Equestria."

"As well as where I first managed to manifest, and where you first used The Elements of Harmony to defeat me," Nightmare Moon added.

That had been a large part of why she had wanted to come here. After the dance at the Canterlot castle and seeing the strange dark castle in the dream realm, Nightmare had been reminded of the old castle in The Everfree. A part of it was out of nostalgia. This place was a part of her past, beginning and end. There was also something else. Hope? Curiosity? She was not entirely sure what it was. She was not even certain what it was she was looking for exactly. She knew she was looking for answers, but to what?

In what had once been the throne room, Nightmare Moon flew up to what had once been a dais between the two thrones. Landing, she looked through the hole in the wall at the forest and sky. Her gaze drifted down to the floor as she turned around, stopping when her front hooves rested in a crater.

This is the spot, she thought, her mind drifting back to that day.

"There can only be one princess in Equestria!" Princess Luna bellowed out at her sister. "And that princess will BE ME! Rearing up, Luna smashed down onto the dais, shattering it in emphasis of her last word.

Calling up her magic, Princess Luna tore open the wall behind her. The sunlight came in through the new opening, casting her shadow out in front of her. Using her power, she then gripped the moon. She could feel it moving, rising up through the sky behind her. Higher and higher it went. Luna watched as the shadow of the moon raised up, blocking out her own as it did the sun.

Once it was in place, she acted. The dark energy took a hold of Princess Luna, lifting her up from the ground. It wrapped itself around her, taking control of her, changing her. Both in body and mind. It made her bigger, stronger, menacing, and vicious. A part of her was afraid of what was happening to her. Another was loving the feel of it all. At the same time, the personality that had been Luna was being pressed down and locked away, allowing another to take over.

"Luna," Celestia called out. "I will not fight you." She stepped forward. "You must lower the moon!"

A chuckle escaped what had once been Luna's throat.

"Luna? Luna is no more. I am Nightmare Moon!" She spread her wings out wide as she announced her name. "I have but one royal duty now: to DESTROY YOU!"

Spreading her own wings, Princess Celestia took off and started flying.

Nightmare looked up at the ceiling, at the hole she had chased Princess Celestia through. It had all seemed so easy then. She -- with Luna in a way -- would defeat Celestia and rule Equestria in eternal night.

Instead she was banished for a thousand years, able to do little more than peak in on dreams and some times influence them slightly.

"Do you regret it?" Twilight asked. "What happened back then?"

Nightmare Moon stepped down from the dais and moved toward Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes narrowed as she tilted her head to one side.

"Do you regret being born?" Nightmare asked. "Even if you knew how much pain it caused your mother to give birth to you?"

"That's different," Twilight stated. "You tried to take over Equestria."

"And I failed," Nightmare replied. "Which is something that I do regret. However, had it not occurred, I would not exist."

Twilight Sparkle stared at Nightmare Moon, not moving. After several seconds, she gave a huff and shake of her head.

"I'm going to show the crusaders around," Twilight said. "Show them the library, maybe some of the hidden chambers. Definitely the slide. We'll meet back at the entrance in about an hour." She turned and started walking.

"Come on girls," Twilight called out. The Cutie Mark Crusaders followed after her, each one glancing toward Nightmare Moon for some reason.

Once the four of them had left, Nightmare Moon took off. Flying out through one of the broken windows, she made her way higher and higher. She went slowly, keeping a part of her attention on the collar to make sure it did not yank her back.

Soon she reached the top of the tower and entered through another broken window. Landing gently, she began to walk. Her attention turned to the shattered remnants of night blue armor that lay scattered on the floor. Picking up one of the large pieces -- they were all so twisted and deformed she could not tell if it was from her peytral or helmet -- she brought it close to her face and studied it.

In some ways, it was so much different than the first time. In others, it almost seemed exactly the same.

Nightmare Moon stood on the platform, wings spread out and head tilted back as she let out a deep, maniacal laugh. The remnants of The Elements of Harmony lay shattered around her. The unicorn that had thought to defeat her -- that Celestia had trained and put her faith in -- lay on the ground on the verge of tears. Equestria was finally hers, and night would last forever with her ruling.

"You're wrong!"

"What?" Nightmare cried out. She had not expected the unicorn to say anything at this point, let alone to deny Nightmare's victory. Add to that the certainty and determination in the voice, and it was a complete surprise.

The unicorn now stood up, looking far too confident for one who had just seen her best hope of victory literally shatter right before her eyes. Plus she had been joined by the other five ponies that had traveled with her through the forest and to the castle. It seemed like their arrival had given her a new energy, and new hope.

As Nightmare Moon stood there, the unicorn turned and pointed at each of the ponies that had arrived, talking about something they have accomplished. Specifically, something that could be tied to one of The Elements of Harmony. The odd part was that each one was something that had happened in the forest during the journey to the castle, something that resulted from Nightmare Moon trying to stop them. It was as if some great force had decided that it would be Nightmare's own actions that led to her downfall.

Worse, the remnants of The Elements seemed to be responding to it. Each time the unicorn claimed one of the other ponies represented a specific element because of something they did, shards of the stones would light up, floating from they had shattered to the pony in question.

"You still don't have the sixth Element!" Nightmare Moon shouted. "The spark didn't work!" She could hear the fear, the desperation, in her own voice. She hated that. But it was also true. She was so close to victory, to success. The only thing that could stop her now was The Elements of Harmony. All she needed, was to be sure that they did not have the last.

"But it did!" the unicorns announced, almost beaming with triumph. She continued to talk, but the words faded.

The world around Nightmare Moon faded, vanishing from her sight. Instead she saw Celestia. Not as Nightmare had seen her during either time they actually met. This was a younger Celestia, probably from some memory that Luna had. The young Celestia was showing the same fire, the same passion, as the purple unicorn was now.

A flash of light caught Nightmare Moon's attention. A stone orb like the one The Elements had been floated above the unicorn. As Nightmare watched the shards attached themselves to the ponies, becoming necklaces. The stone touched the unicorn's head and turned into a crown, the jewel for The Element of Magic resting in the center. A white light encompassed the six ponies. A rainbow of light then shot up toward the ceiling before coming down toward Nightmare Moon.

"NOOOOOoooo!" Nightmare Moon cried out as the power of The Elements struck her for a second time. It felt different this time. Still not painful, and still strange, but different. This time, it was like something had taken a hold of her and was stripping her from Luna. Just pulling her from the host body. Some part of her imagined that it must be what it would feel like to a banana to be peeled.

Then there was blackness.

The chunk of armor dropped to the stone floor with a clang. Nightmare Moon's hoof was shaking. Her vision was blurry as tears filled her eyes. She could feel them running down her cheek.

Crying. She was crying.

Why? Why was she crying? Why was she crying? She was Nightmare Moon. She was born of hate, anger and jealousy. She was a creature of darkness, something that instilled fear in ponies. She did not cry.

So why was she? Especially here and now?

Because of jealousy. That was a part of why she existed. It was Luna's envy of her sister that had helped give rise to Nightmare Moon. A desire to be loved and accepted. To have other ponies who care about her. To have...

Friends.

"Nightmare?"

Nightmare straightened up, her body tensing at the sound of Twilight Sparkle's voice. Reaching up with one foreleg, she quickly wiped at her face, trying to get rid of the evidence of her tears.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"Fine," Nightmare snapped, hoping her voice sounded like an annoyed growl. "What do you want?"

"I just got a cutie mark message," Twilight stated. "It's when the castle summons me for a friendship emergency somewhere in Equestria. I know you wanted to stay longer, but I should really see what the problem is."

"I'll meet you at the entrance in a moment."

There was a faint sound of hooves on stone as Twilight Sparkle moved closer.

"Nightmare, if you-"

She was cut off by a wing pressing against her mouth.

"Don't," Nightmare stated. "Whatever you're going to say, just... just don't." She pulled the wing away from Twilight and started toward the window she had come through.