Nightmare Moon, Mayor Mare, and Chocolate Cherry stood outside Twilight's castle, looking up at something that none of them had ever actually seen before. They have seen representations of windigos, but never the actual things themselves.

They were darker than the ones that Nightmare Moon had seen. The figures were less of a pale blue and more of a black. Although they were still somewhat translucent. The eyes were a dark purple. It felt odd to say that something so dark could be glowing brightly, but it was as close to accurate as possible. Behind the creatures, storm clouds followed in their wake, pushing through the lighter ones that had been floating above Ponyville.

An icy cold blast of air struck the trio, causing them all to shiver.

"We need to get all the ponies to safety," the mayor announced. "The castle." She turned to face the other two. "We need to bring them here to the castle. There should be more than enough room for everypony, and it is the sturdiest structure in town. It will keep them all safe until we can figure out a way to stop this.

"Come on." She started to walk. "Most of them should be in the town square waiting for Winter Wrap-up to start."

Chocolate Cherry started to follow, but Nightmare reached out and put a hoof on the mare's back.

"You go ahead," Nightmare called out to the mayor. She saw Cherry begin to open her mouth, but raised a hoof to stop the comment.

The mayor looked at the two a moment, but said nothing as she started to run toward the town center.

"What's going on?" Cherry finally asked. "Why didn't you want us to go help the mayor bring ponies here?"

"You heard the way she was talking," Nightmare stated. "She is more than able to get everypony's attention and lead them here. She does not need our assistance on that. I need you to do something else."

"What is it?"

"Pinkie Pie isn't here and ponies are going to need to keep their morale up. They are going to need food and entertainment. So I want you to go find cooks and entertainers, and have them bring whatever they can to help keep everypony in as good a mood as possible." She looked back up at the windigos above. "It will also keep the fighting down, so they won't be getting stronger from that... assuming they need to..."

"Right," Cherry said with a nod. "Okay. I can do that. But... what are you going to do?"

Nightmare turned to look up at the windigos more, her eyes narrowing.

"Something has to be calling and controlling those things," she said. "I am going to see if I can find them and put a stop to this."

A pair of hooves took a hold of Nightmare's face. Turning, she looked down to face Chocolate Cherry. Cherry then leaned forward, planting a kiss onto Nightmare's lips. Closing her eyes, she leaned into it, returning the passion she felt.

It was almost disappointing when it ended.

"Good luck," Cherry said before running off.

Nightmare watched her friend go, licking her lips to taste the last bits of the kiss. With a sigh, she stretched out her wings before taking off. The winds grew stronger as she flew up, whipping around her. The cold cut through her coat, chilling her to the bone. Her breath came out as a cloud of white each time she exhaled. Still, she had to fly. It would give her the best view to try and find who or what was leading the attack on Ponyville.

And it had to be an attack. One that was planned ahead of time. Windigos would not just appear out of nowhere to freeze Ponyville without something causing it. Especially after being unseen in Equestria for over a thousands years. The fact that it also happened the same time that Twilight Sparkle and the other Elements were absent seemed too well timed to simply be a coincidence. Whatever was responsible for it all had wanted to get them out of town, or knew that they would be away somehow.

Something small struck Nightmare Moon, pelting her on the head. It left a cold, wet stinging from where it had hit her. It was soon followed by another, and another. She looked up, trying to figure out what it was.

Hail. It was starting to hail. Unless she got to shelter, she was going to be hit by it repeatedly. Fortunately, they were only the size of small peas. Annoying, but not very dangerous. Hopefully she could find something to help before they got too big, forcing her to land and seek shelter.

She took off in the direction she believed the windigos had come from. It seemed like the best way to start the search. Pushing through the wind, ice, and rain, she searched the ground below for something that seemed odd or out of place; something that did not look like it belong in Ponyville.

It made her wish she had paid more attention to the town below her.

After flying and looking around for she had no idea how long, Nightmare caught sight of something. Slowing down and moving closer, she found that it looked to be a pony. Keeping track of them, she moved to circle, slowing down as she came lower still, moving to land behind the pony. If they were a resident, she could simply tell them to head to the castle, but if it was a pony somehow connected to what was going on, she could get to know more about them and possibly have the element of surprise.

Getting closer, Nightmare took in more and more details of the pony. Some of it was hidden by the clothing, but they looked to have a white coat and red tail. Judging from the garments and build, Nightmare would guess they were female. Landing quietly, Nightmare turned toward the mare and moved forward. She caught sight of the cutie mark, a syringe filled with red. Something about the mare made Nightmare feel uncomfortable. There was something familiar about her.

"Damn it," the mare swore, shifting. A gentle green aura wrapped around the cap she was wearing, lifting it off her head. She rubbed a hoof at what looked to be the stumpy remnants of an ear.

The sight made Nightmare Moon freeze, eyes going wide and wings flaring out at her sides. She was back at Nightmare Night, being attacked. A unicorn mare with the same markings was approaching her, carrying a bottle and hose (Nightmare now knew that it was an IV tube and bottle to collect her blood in). In an act of desperation, a desire to fight, Nightmare attacked the mare, biting her ear. If she remembered it right, the mare had shouted that Nightmare had bitten it off.

Clenching her jaw, Nightmare Moon held back the urge to lunge at the mare with a roar. Her first urge was to pounce and attack her until a bleeding pile of meat and broken bones remained. However, as satisfying as that would be, it would not help her figure out what was going on or who was behind it. She needed a way to get the unicorn to tell her what she needed to know.

A fiendish grin spread across Nightmare's face as she suddenly got an idea. Keeping an eye on the mare, Nightmare moved away, trying to get some space between the two of them with the hope of not being noticed. After all, it was better with an element of surprise.

Satisfied that she was far enough, Nightmare started to fly up. She climbed higher and higher, flying backward and trying to get the angle right. She then shot down, aiming herself straight for the unicorn mare.

The other pony had just enough time to turn around before Nightmare Moon was on her.

Grabbing the mare, Nightmare flew up. She held on tight as her wings flapped, lifting the two of them into the sky. Her forelegs gripped the unicorn's barrel tighter, squeezing it to tightly. Her eyes shifted between the sky and the ground, her path adjusting as she headed toward one of the ponds around Ponyville while still making her way up and up.

"Let me go!" the unicorn shouted, kicking and squirming under Nightmare's grip.

"Can you teleport?" Nightmare asked.

"What?"

"Can you teleport?" Nightmare repeated slowly, over-enunciating each word.

"No," the unicorn replied.

"Then think about where we are, and what would happen if I did what you asked."

After that, the mare stopped struggling in Nightmare's grip. Grinning, Nightmare continued to fly, searching for the spot she wanted as she made her way closer to the cloud line. Once she was over the pond, she pushed straight up hard, punching a hole through the clouds and stopping just above them. Shifting, she turned the unicorn around so the two of them were facing each other.

"Now," Nightmare stated, "I am going to ask some questions, and you are going to answer them." She paused, waiting to see if the unicorn would...

"And what if I don't?" the unicorn asked, narrowing her eyes.

Perfect.

"What's your name?"

"What?"

"Your name," Nightmare said. "You do have one, don't you? If you don't want to tell me your real one, that's fine. Just give me something to call you."

"Hope," the unicorn stated. "Healthy Hope."

"Well Hope, below us is a frozen pond. If you don't tell me what I want to know, then I will drop you. Best case scenario, you pass out on the way down and the impact snaps your neck, killing you instantly."

"That is the best case scenario?" Hope cried out, eyes wide.

"Yes." Nightmare's eyes narrowed as she allowed a predatory grin to spread across her face. She leaned in closer. "The worst case scenario starts with you falling, being conscious the who-o-o-ole way down. You get to watch the the ground get larger and larger as it grows closer and closer, unable to do anything about it. Then you hit the pond, and the impact breaks your neck, but you don't die. Oh, no. Instead you lie there, a massive pain in your neck, but feeling nothing below it. And no matter how hard you try, your limbs absolutely refuses to move. So you are stuck, lying there, unable to do anything.

"That is when the ice gives out from under you and you slip into the water. Slowly you sink down, falling further and further into the icy coldness. All you can do is watch as darkness folds in around you, and your life slips away. One... bubble...at... a time."

Nightmare Moon watched Healthy Hope, their noses almost touching. She allowed the mare to consider the possibility. Best case scenario: death. Worst case scenario: a slow death with the inability to do anything about the matter.

Hope suddenly looked up at Nightmare Moon, brow furrowing and lips pulling tight.

"You would never do that," she stated.

"Oh?" Nightmare pulled her head back, tilting it to one side and raising an eyebrow. "And what makes you say that?"

"You're friends with Twilight Sparkle," Hope said. "You live in the castle. You have to believe in friendship and forgiveness. You don't ki-"

The rest of the statement was lost in a scream as Healthy Hope fell from the sky after Nightmare had let her go.

Nightmare watched a moment before diving after her. She held herself straight and streamline, wings flapping for a little extra speed until she caught up with the falling unicorn. Matching the pace as best she could, she looked at Hope from the corner of one eye.

"Boy," Nightmare called out. "That ground sure is coming up fast. It would probably be a good idea to have somepony catch you before it's too late."

"Okay," Hope shouted back. "Okay. I'll tell you whatever you want."

Grinning, Nightmare shifted and grabbed onto Healthy Hope. Her wings flared and body tilted, shifting their weight and turning the downward momentum into horizontal. She continued to move, creating a loop as the fall now turned into a climb. Soon they were back above the clouds where they had began.

"I want your word," Hope said, "that if I tell you what you want to know, you won't drop me anyway."

There was a moment of disappointment at Hope's request. In truth, Nightmare Moon had been considering just that. After all, this was one of the ponies that had been involved in her attack, even if only to draw blood. It would not really change anything, but it still seemed like fun to Nightmare.

"Very well," Nightmare sighed out. "By the moon, I do swear that so long as you tell me what I wish to hear, you will not be dropped to your death. Now, tell me who is behind all this before I lose my patience."

"Grogar. His name is Grogar."