Nightmare Moon sat on her balcony, looking up at the night sky. Her breath gave little white puffs each time she exhaled. The moon shone bright and full above. Fluffy clouds floated overhead, glowing silver in the moonlight.

Everything around her seemed so quiet. With Twilight Sparkle off on some sort of friendship mission from the castle's map and Spike going to The Crystal Empire for some reason, she pretty much had the castle all to herself. Gibbous was in bed, burrowed under the blankets like a fox den. Chocolate Cherry was at work and would not be coming over tonight. So it pretty much was just her at the moment.

Sitting there, Nightmare Moon continued to stare up at the night sky and wait.

Then it started.

It was a single flake that caught her attention first. Invisible until it was almost right in front of her, Nightmare watched it. The flake swirled and swayed as it floated toward the ground, almost looking like it was doing a little dance. Nightmare continued to watch the single flake, following it all the way to the ground. She then looked back up to watch another. Then another. Soon the snow was falling at full speed.

It was the first snow, both for the season and for Nightmare Moon. She had seen snow before, sort of. Back when the spirit that would eventually become her was a part of -- although not in control of -- Luna. Specifically when the sisters had gone to The Crystal Empire to confront King Sombra. That was the closest that Nightmare had come to seeing snow, which covered the ground all the way up to Luna's knees. It had not actually been snowing at the time however. So this was the first time that Nightmare was actually getting to watch snow falling from the sky with her own eyes (although even if she had seen it before, it would still technically be the first time with her own eyes).

Nightmare flicked her wings and shook as the cold sank into her body. Admittedly, she was under-dressed for the weather. No jacket, cap, or scarf. It was noticeable, and she could feel it, but it did not bother her. Certainly not enough for her to go back inside and miss the first snow fall.

It was beautiful. Like little stars falling all around her, twinkling and dancing before touching down on the ground.

Nightmare moved toward the railing and stood up on it, looking down. Already Ponyville was covered by a light dusting of the soft white powder. Closing her eyes, she spread her wings wide and took a slow, deep breath. The cold night air filled her lungs, giving them a mild burning sensation that she enjoyed.

With a hard shove of her hind legs and flap of her wings, Nightmare Moon launched herself into the night sky. She stretched out as much as she could and held still, letting herself drift and glide downward.

Just before reaching the ground, Nightmare turned and started flapping. She made her way higher and higher, climbing up into the sky. Opening her mouth wide, she let some of the flakes fall into her mouth as she made her way past them. They seemed to vanish as soon as they touched her tongue, leaving only a faint hint that they had even been there to begin with.

Soon she was high above Ponyville, just under the clouds. All around her, the snowflakes fell. She could feel them against her coat and see them swirl in the gusts from each flap of her wings. It was surprising to see how far the flaps affected the little flakes. The winds from her traveled further than she expected. Curious, she straightened up then spun herself in place. With no reference point, it was hard to tell how many times she actually spun, but she thought it was about five. She stopped hard and watched as the thousands of snowflakes swirled around her like a whirlwind.

A grin of excitement spread across her face. It seemed that she had some control over the snow for the moment. She could have a little fun with it.

Straightening, she let herself drop before lunging upwards. Nightmare hit the cloud above her, punching a hole through it instead of causing it to disperse. She flew a little further before stopping and looking down. As she had hoped, a small flurry followed her up through the hole before starting to fall once more.

With a grin, she climbed up higher and higher, keeping track of the hole that she had made. She continued until she felt the first warning tug on her collar, indicating she was at the edge of her permitted distance. She stopped her wings, pulling them in against her.

For a moment, she was weightless, a dark shadow in the night sky high above the ground. She was not Nightmare Moon. She was not a pony. She was the cold, the wind, the darkness, the snow. She was the winter night.

The first tugs of gravity brought her back to her body as she started to fall.

Twisting, she turned herself to point down. Her ears pulled back against her head and eyes narrowed against the impending winds. She tucked her forelegs in close to her body and kept her wings closed while straightening her back legs straight behind her. With a few minor adjustments, she plunged through the hole and sped down toward the ground.

As she fell, picking up more and more speed, a strange thought occurred to her. What if she decided not to pull out? What if she stayed exactly like she was, and allowed herself to hit the ground? The impact would probably kill her, leave a crater in the town. What if she tried to fly as fast as she could before hitting? Could she leave a larger impact? Maybe she would even be able to break the magical speed barrier. If she did, would she even leave a body behind? How deep would the impact hole be?

Pushing the thought aside, Nightmare returned her attention to what she was doing. She was falling a lot faster than the snowflakes. It looked like they were holding still as blew past them. Carefully, she turned and looked back, catching sight of the snow caught in her wake and being pulled along with her.

Snapping out her wings, she made a sharp turn. All of the falling energy was turned into forward momentum as she shot along the street.

Her face burned from the wind and ice, and there was an ache in her cheeks. She realized that it was because she was grinning. She felt incredible. She felt free. She felt...

ALIVE!

With a laugh, Nightmare spun herself in a corkscrew. Her movement slowed down as she took a turn, then pushed to get going as fast as she could.

City Hall quickly came into view. Already going as fast as she could, Nightmare still tried to push her speed more. Bits of ice were forming on her eyelashes, flaking away each time she blinked. The air was thick and white each time she exhaled. Her lungs burned as she breathed, trying to keep up. Her heart was slamming in her chest, pounding against her rib cage. There was an ache in her wings and back as she continued to flap with all her strength. Nightmare could swear that she felt every muscle in her body.

Reaching City Hall, Nightmare Moon turned. She looped around the building, going so fast she could not even see the support beams as she went by. Breaking the turn, she slingshot toward Sugarcube Corner. She banked off the wall of the building, turning to head upwards again.

"Hi Nightie," a voice called out as she shot up past what looked like a cupcake.

Letting her momentum slow down, Nightmare turned her ascent into a lazy backwards arc. The roof of a building came into view, Nightmare's trajectory leading her directly toward it. With cat-like grace, she turned to right herself. Landing, she turned to look behind her.

Disappointingly, the snow was not flying to hit the wall of Sugarcube Corner. Nor was it circling around City Hall. Further back beyond that, it had already resumed its regular falling pattern. Although there was a line in the road from where her wake had pushed the fallen snow aside. So she had not been able to move the snow with her flying as much as she wanted, but she still had fun.

Taking off the roof, she flew back toward the castle. As she moved at a more casual pace, everything started to catch up with Nightmare. She panted heavily, her breath coming out in a thick fog with each huff. Her chest ached and she could feel her heart pounding hard. The muscles in her wings and back burned, and she knew she was going to be stiff and sore in the morning. The euphoric warmth of her rapid flight was passing, and her body was starting to feel the bite of the winter cold again. She was starting to get chilly, and knew she would be feeling cold before she got back inside.

It was all worth it though. She had loved every second and would gladly do it again.

Landing on her balcony, Nightmare stepped inside. The interior of the castle was far warmer than it was outside. It hit Nightmare with a noticeable force, causing her to finally shiver and shake. Now that she was warm she realized how cold she had actually been.

She suddenly got an idea. There was a bathroom, which included a tub and shower. A nice hot soak would probably help to chase the chill from her body. Even if not, she would still enjoy it.

With a flick of her wings and slight bounce of excitement, Nightmare Moon headed toward the bathroom.