"Now boarding for The Crystal Empire," a voice called out. With that, Nightmare Moon and Chocolate Cherry made their way onto the train.

The car was mostly empty, which was no surprise. Now that Hearth's Warming was over, most ponies were at home resting and recovering before getting back to their normal life. The few that would be traveling would be the ones that were trying to do just that. With it having vanished over a thousand years ago, there were practically no ponies alive that knew about any sort of family in The Crystal Empire. So it made sense that there would be very few ponies on the train.

It was not completely empty. There were a few other ponies moving to take seats as well. Still, there was more than enough room. Nightmare and Cherry could have sat three rows apart and not have a pony in between them.

Instead the two of them sat together, pressing against each other slightly.

"I know you're excited to be free," Cherry said as she got comfortable, "but why do you suddenly want to go to The Crystal Empire?"

"I'm going to steal The Crystal Heart," Nightmare stated, "and attempt to use it to ascend to alicornhood. If that does not work, then I shall hold it for ransom, having them declare me a princess so that I may start my own kingdom."

There were several seconds of silence as Chocolate Cherry shifted, looking up at Nightmare Moon.

"Why do you really want to go?" Cherry asked.

"I haven't seen The Empire since I was merely a spirit that had found a way into Luna's mind," Nightmare explained. "I am curious to see how it has changed since Sombra's defeat."

Plus I need to check to see if it is safe, she thought to herself.

Since her last time at the hospital, Nightmare Moon had been dreaming about the old castle. The same night each week -- the same night as she had been attacked -- she would find herself there. Instead of appearing at the bridge, or outside, she would start off in the throne room.

Some times the place would change, like it was being restored and altered. Cracks in the stones were fading and sealing, dust and chunks of stone were disappearing, and statues were being repaired or replaced.

On the dais, the shield bubble remained. None of the cracks in it vanished, but they did not seem to grow any wider. Inside, the figure of Nightmare as an alicorn could no longer be seen. Instead there was a swirling mass of dark energy. Sometimes -- not always, but sometimes -- when Nightmare reached out and touched it, some of the energy would slip out and wrap around her before disappearing. The contact sent an electrical thrill through her body. It was like a little bit of her magic was returning. Although she did not notice any sort of change in herself either in the dream realm or in the waking world.

Last night when she was at the castle in the dream realm, she noticed something odd. There was a patch of small black crystals forming on the floor. It was hard to tell, but Nightmare was pretty sure that the spot and been on the edge of where the hole had formed when the shadowy entity escaped. Curious, she reached out and touched one of the crystals.

As soon as she did, she felt a sense of fear and dark magic. Both of were familiar to her as she had -- in a way -- felt them before, when she had been a small part of Luna.

The shock of feeling that particular energy again and sent her stepping back. Her gaze turned to the floor, to where the gap had been. From what she knew, it would have been impossible for the creature that had been sealed to be him. Still, if crystals with hints of his magic were showing up in the dream world...

"What was it like?"

The question knocked Nightmare Moon out of her thoughts, bringing her back to the present and the train. It actually surprised her to see the scenery moving past. She had been so distracted that she had not even noticed the train start move.

"What was that?" she asked as she turned to look at Chocolate Cherry.

"The Crystal Empire," Cherry said. "You were there when King Sombra ruled, right?"

"In a manner of speaking. It was Luna who went there, although I was with her at the time."

"What was it like?" Cherry asked again.

Nightmare Moon leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. She let her mind drift back, dredging through the memories. They were not her memories, not truly, but they felt like it. She could remember it quite vividly.

"Dark," Nightmare stated. "Physically and emotionally. Thick black clouds filled the sky. Not actual storm clouds either. More like pure darkness covering the sky above us. The crystal ponies were sad and depressed. It was so strong that Luna -- and thus I -- could feel it practically radiating off them. It almost made her feel sick, as in physically ill.

"The crystals were black, corrupted by King Sombra's evil. It was almost palpable. It was like they were humming with his dark magic. Even the snow seemed to be affected by it. It was not fluffy whiteness like you've seen, but more of a gray color that felt... greasy against your hooves."

She felt Chocolate Cherry shift next to her, pressing closer.

"Sombra actually helped me come into being as I was," Nightmare stated.

"Really? How?"

"Prior to The Crystal Empire," Nightmare explained, "Celestia and Luna had fought against Discord. At one point, Discord had tried to separate the sisters by placing doubts in Luna's mind. It didn't work the way he intended, they were still able to get The Elements and defeat him, but it did work in a way. Enough that it allowed me to slip into her mind when she slept next. I was just a small spirit with limited sentience at the time. I basically just fed those doubts and fears, inducing bad dreams in her.

"When the two of them had The Elements of Harmony, Celestia actually had both The Element of Kindness and of Generosity. When they first went there, she wanted to give Sombra the opportunity to either give up or change his ways. She wanted to end things peacefully and not have a fight. So when Celestia and Luna first met King Sombra, Celestia gave him the opportunity. His response was to fire a blast of dark energy at Celestia, and Luna's first response was to jump in the way of the attack."

Chocolate Cherry let out a gasp.

"In a way," Nightmare continued, "Luna was lucky. The spell that Sombra used was not intended to kill, but to make the victim experience her greatest fear as a very vivid hallucination. Combined with Discord's attempt and my minor influence, Luna found herself in a world where her sister was revered, loved, and admired. Practically any and all ponies looked up to and loved her. Meanwhile, she was left alone and forgotten. Nopony even knew who she was or what she did. Everything she worked for was unnoticed and unappreciated, even her beautiful night sky."

Nightmare paused, taking a breath and composing herself. Although technically it did not happen to her, it still felt like it. She could still feel the fear, sadness, anger, and betrayal from it. She had not fully understood them at the time, but she had felt them very much as Luna had. One of the issues of being bound into another without any sort of control, feeling what they do with no control over it.

"After Luna recovered from the psychic attack, she and Celestia finally battled against King Sombra. They defeated him -- or thought they did, more accurately -- but he was able to cast the spell that made the entire empire disappear before he fell.

"It had actually been that point where a schism started to really form between Celestia and Luna. It was the memories of that vision that made Luna jealous of her sister. She started pulling away, keeping to herself, socializing even less than she usually did. Not just with her sister, but with other ponies as well. So in that ironic way that life seems to enjoy, she was putting herself in the position of creating the very situation which she was afraid of. When it was decided that Celestia would take the throne for all of Equestria, Luna felt like it was happening. All that jealousy, anger and fear came boiling up, and I was born. Although I suppose 'made manifest' would be a more accurate term."

"So if there had been no King Sombra," Cherry said, "and if Luna hadn't stepped in front of the attack, you wouldn't exist?"

"I can't say that for certain," Nightmare replied. "The seeds were there already. What King Sombra did was... more like adding fertilizer to it. It could have still happened, it may have been later, or it could have been aborted." She paused, tapping her hoof and considering. "Although very unlikely, it is also possible that had the attack hit Celestia instead, the roles would have been reversed."

Cherry groaned and let out a shudder.

"I'm glad that didn't happen. I would hate to see a world where Celestia was trying to create a scorching hot endless day."

"As would I," Nightmare agreed. "However, it now makes me curious as to what she would have called herself in such a situation."

"Getting back to Sombra," Cherry said, "where does The Alicorn Amulet fit in?"

"I'm not sure," Nightmare answered, "but my best guess is that he was not going to simply stop with The Crystal Empire. Using the amulet, Sombra was going to boost his power -- enough to stand against Celestia and Luna -- then try and take over Equestria as well."

"Wow," Cherry said softly. "I'm really starting to miss the days when I thought that Equestria was a nice quiet little kingdom where nothing interesting happened anymore. Present company excepted."

Author's Notes:

Okay, you can stop reading the story now. Think of this as the happy ending. Nightmare Moon lives happily ever after traveling Equestria with Chocolate Cherry. They visit many places, see the sights, collect many souvenirs, and have a long happy life together before dying of old age.

There are a few more chapters to be published, but its going to be where the... other tags really come into play. If you read beyond this point, it is going to get sad, and maybe scary. I am in no way responsible for any feelings of sadness or having your heart ripped out.

Sincerely,
Ink Hoof