"What do you mean she's not here?" the mayor cried out, eyes wide.

"What part of the concept are you having difficulty comprehending?" Nightmare Moon asked, eyes narrowing as she leaned closer. "I assume that you have at least a basic level of education in order to have obtained your office, so it should not be the vocabulary or grammar of the statement. 'Twilight Sparkle isn't here,' seems like a very straightforward statement. I don't know how to simplify it further for you."

"I know what you said," the mayor snapped.

"Then why did you ask?" Nightmare asked, trying to look as innocent as possible (which was never a small feat for her).

The look on the mayor's face was hilarious. Nightmare was willing to bet that there were a few very choice words waiting on the end of that tongue to lash out at her. Unfortunately, that would not be a very political sound move. Even if Nightmare did deserve it, the story of the mayor yelling at a citizen of Ponyville and friend of the resident hero turned princess would be far too interesting news not to spread, and it would make it all that harder to get re-elected for another term. Assuming the mayor wished to have another term.

The mayor closed her eyes, straightened up, and took a slow deep breath. It seemed to Nightmare that she did want at least one more term after all.

"Do you happen to know where she went?" the mayor asked calmly. "Or when she will be back?"

"She was summoned to The Crystal Empire by a 'friendship emergency.'"

A fact that Nightmare Moon found extremely irritating. Not too long ago she and Chocolate Cherry had gone there to check on things. They had taken a tour of the castle, seen The Crystal Heart, heard the story of Sombra's defeat and Spike saving The Equestrian Games. The two of them had even found an adult entertainment shop and picked up a crystal dildo to try out (it had been kind of cold at first, but pretty fun after). The entire time she had been there, Nightmare Moon had found nothing that seemed dangerous. There was no indication of any sort of attack or invasion that she could tell.

Having Twilight then called away to the very same place she had checked not too long ago was very irritating. It gave her the feeling that she might have missed something, and she did not like it.

"As such, she did not really give a time frame," Nightmare continued, "but it is safe to assume it is going to be at least a few days."

"What?!" the mayor shrieked out. "But Winter Wrap-up starts today. We need Twilight to make sure everything goes as scheduled."

"Are you saying that your 'Winter Wrap-up' is more important than a friendship emergency?" Nightmare asked, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow.

"No," the mayor retorted. "Of course not. It's just..." She let out a sigh and shook her head. "Last year was the first that we had been on schedule in... well... as long as I can remember actually. That was thanks to Twilight's scheduling and despite numerous setbacks. With her in charge, we could not only finish on time, but actually be early. It would be a point of pride for a lot of the ponies in this town."

Nightmare Moon shifted. Bringing a hoof to her chin, she tapped it gently as she thought, letting out a small hum.

"Now that I think about, I do believe that Twilight did say something about leaving a schedule and notes for you."

"Really?" the mayor asked. Her voice was flat as her ears dropped back and eyes narrowed. "And you're just now 'remembering' this?"

"Correct." Nightmare smiled. "If you will just wait here a moment, I'll see if I can find them for you."

Before the mayor could respond, Nightmare moved back and shut the door. After making her way to the kitchen, she grabbed a bottle of juice and a moon pie. Nightmare had originally gotten a box of them as a joke, but after trying one, found they were rather enjoyable. Except the banana. The combination of the cake-like layers, the marshmallows, and the banana coating (which tasted absolutely nothing like bananas by the way) was not one that she liked in the least.

Taking a seat, she munched away at her snack while looking at the map in front of her. Eating slowly and taking sips of her juice, she studied the image. Her eyes worked slowly across the surface, taking in the few spots that she had marked off.

They were places that she wanted to see. Some of them were mere curiosity, opportunities to see what Equestria was like. Others were possible locations of artifacts or sites of power. In light of what happened in the dream realm, her reason for marking them had changed. Originally, she wanted to explore them to see about finding a way to restore or replace her lost abilities, maybe help her find a way to take over Equestria. After Nightmare Night, she started thinking about those locations again, as a way for some other being to try and get the power to take over. Whatever was coming would probably need some sort of base of operations. More than likely, it would have powers of its own, but it made Nightmare feel like she was doing something. Maybe it was a side effect of having been a part of Luna, or maybe it was from living with Twilight Sparkle, but Nightmare found that she could not at least try to do something about the feeling of a pending threat. If she were very fortunate (which she doubted) she might even figure out a way to prevent the creature from becoming a danger in the first place.

"Nightie?"

Nightmare Moon looked up from the map to see Chocolate Cherry. After shoving the rest of the moon pie into her mouth, Nightmare got up and walked over to Cherry, wrapping a wing around her.

"Hello, Cherry. How are you today?"

"I'm fine," Cherry said. She moved back, looking at Nightmare with narrowed eyes "By the way, did you know that the mayor is waiting outside?"

"Indeed," Nightmare replied with a grin. "She is currently waiting for me to find the schedule and notes Twilight left for her so she can start Winter Wrap-up."

"So you're in here, having a snack, while she waits outside?"

"Correct."

Cherry sighed and shook her head before saying, "I'll go ahead and give them to her then. Where are they?"

"If I remember correctly," Nightmare said, looking up toward the ceiling, "Twilight said that she would put them on the table right next to the door."

"'Right next to the door,'" Cherry repeated. "So instead of simply giving her the papers which were right beside you, you came in here to have a snack? Just so she would be stuck waiting and become more agitated?"

"That would be an accurate summary, yes."

"You are just hopeless some times," Cherry stated, but Nightmare Moon caught the hint of amusement in her voice.

"It's part of why you love me," Nightmare called back.

Since Cherry was taking care of things with the mayor, she returned her attention to the map. She looked at it, picking out the spot that seemed to be closest to Ponyville. If Twilight's experience in The Crystal Empire did not change anything, she would search there next. It would probably take a few days. There were no trains or roads to it, and as much as her flying abilities had improved, she doubted she could cover the entire distance in a single day without rest. If things were well there, maybe she would then go someplace fun with Cherry. Maybe Appleloosa. Nightmare had never met a buffalo before, not even in the dream realm.

"NIGHTMARE!" Cherry shouted in terror.

Before she even realized what she was doing, Nightmare was up and flying through the castle toward the doorway. Cherry and the mayor stood there, looking up toward the sky.

"What is it?" Nightmare asked as she landed, running the last few feet. "What's going on?"

Instead of saying something, Cherry pointed up. Her eyes were wide and mouth hanging open. The mayor was doing the same thing. When Nightmare looked up, she could see why.

"Are... are... are those..." the mayor said as she stared up.

"Windigos," Nightmare Moon stated. "Those are actual windigos."