After the uneventful ride to Ponyville and the hike from the train station to Twilight's castle, Nightmare Moon experienced something else that she never had before: exhaustion.

As they made their way to the castle, she found herself lagging. Her legs felt heavy and harder to lift, the tips of her hooves dragging against the ground. Also dragging was the tip of her tail, and her wings which had unfurled themselves at some point. Her head was held low as well, her eyes being hard to keep open.

She did not remember actually reaching the castle, or of being shown any parts of it. She merely followed at a slow, plodding pace. As soon as Twilight Sparkle had led her to what was to be her room, Nightmare Moon made her way to the bed, flopped down across it, and went to sleep.

The first thing Nightmare Moon noticed as she woke was discomfort. Not pain, necessarily, but something close to it. It felt like the muscles in her back, legs, and wings were tense and reluctant to move. Trying to did not cause pain like when she had hit the ground, but it was certainly unpleasant.

Soon the feeling was overpowered by something even stronger and more annoying. There was this deep, hollow, emptiness in her abdomen. She did not like it and wished for it to end immediately.

It seemed that she would have to deal with Twilight Sparkle to find out the cause and rectify it properly.

With a groan of discomfort, Nightmare Moon forced her muscles to work as she climbed out of bed. For a moment her eyes refused to open. It felt like something was holding her lids shut. Fortunately the source of it was a minor nuisance that was removed with the simple act of rubbing at her face. As her leg rubbed across her eyelids, little bits of some dried powdery substance fell away. Now that she could see, she could look around.

For the moment, her bedroom was pretty sparse. Basically there was just the bed and a vanity table with a mirror on it. Curious, she moved toward the mirror. Now she could get a full and proper look at her new form.

She had a set of fangs in her teeth, which she had already been aware of after running her tongue (which she could now see was pink) across them. Her eyes were also the same as she knew of them: turquoise with teal irises and black, cat-like pupils.

Her mane, however, was different from how it had been before. Although she could see the influence of her previous hosts in it. At least in the coloration. Most of it was a dark blue like Luna's, with streaks through it of deep indigo similar to when she possessed Rarity. There was no ethereal mane floating behind her, nor was there a long, gentle curl to the entirety of it. There was some curl in the front, short bangs that covered forehead to the right of where her horn should have been. The main portion of her mane flowed down her neck in gentle waves, stopping just above the collar.

A strange, liquid stirring sensation in her abdomen reminded her of her issue. The discomfort had grown stronger, almost painfully so. This would not do. Nightmare Moon would confront Twilight Sparkle and figure out the meaning behind this abdominal discomfort. If this had been been a part of Twilight's plan to force Nightmare into subjugation, then there would be vengeance. Painful, agonizing vengeance that would make Twilight wish for death. One way or another, this matter will be resolved.

As Nightmare Moon made her way out of her room, she realized that there were two problems. One was that she did not know where Twilight was. She could be anywhere in the castle, or even Ponyville for that matter. The other was that she had no idea where anything in the castle was. Even if Nightmare Moon did somehow know where Twilight was, she would have no idea how to get there. How long would it take her wandering around to figure out the layout?

"Oh," a voice called out, "you're awake already."

Turning, Nightmare Moon found herself looking down at a small purple and green dragon.

"Ah," she said as she moved toward him, "Twilight's little dragon slave. Sent you to retrieve me, did she?"

The little dragon stepped closer and straightened up to his full -- albeit not very impressive -- height. He crossed his arms across his chest, brow furrowing as he glared up at her.

"First," he said as he held up a claw, "the name is Spike. And second, I'm not her slave. I'm her assistant." He then let out a huff. "Now, breakfast is ready. Follow me and I'll take you to the dining room." He then turned and started down the hall back the way he came.

Nightmare Moon followed after him. One of her ears gave a twitch as she watched him. That had been disappointing. She had been expecting him to gulp and step back. To look at her with wide eyes. She had expected him to be easily intimidated. Not to stand up and then brush her off.

"You don't seem to be very frightened of me."

The statement from Nightmare Moon caused Spike to stop. He turned around, looking up at her curiously.

"Why should I be?" he asked. "You don't have any of your powers, and even if you did, Twilight defeated you twice. Which she did before becoming a princess, I might add. Plus, while I'm not as powerful as Twilight, I am a hero in my own right. I'm pretty sure I could handle anything you throw at me."

After studying him a moment, Nightmare Moon grinned and let out a chuckle.

"My dear little drake," she said as she gave him a pat on the head with one hoof, "you are far too narrow-minded and naive. Do you really think I would rely on brute force to try and get my way?" She leaned closer. "While it may have been unsuccessful, I was able to tempt one of your friends with an approximation of their greatest desire mere hours after my release without having ever met them before. Since then, I have studied your friends, and even managed to trick one into allowing me to possess them. So tell me, Spikey-wikey, do you think that I don't know a few of your own fears and secrets as well?"

Maybe it was the truth of what she said, maybe it was the thread of knowing a secret, or maybe it was that she had used that sickeningly cute little nickname that Rarity had for him. Whatever the case, Nightmare Moon had managed to strike some chord in the little dragon. She could see the ear fins droop as he looked away. Spike's arms were no longer folded across his chest. Instead, they gripped his tail, squeezing and twisting it slightly. The idea of her knowing some secret or other of his clearly made him properly nervous.

It was enough to make her wish that she actually knew some of his secrets.

Nightmare Moon had known about Spike since she had seen him carried by Twilight back to the Ponyville library. After her defeat, she had started working on a plan to get back at Twilight Sparkle and her friends. While studying the ponies and plotting her next scheme, she had disregarded the little dragon. For while having a dragon as a host would have been beneficial, Spike was too young and small for Nightmare Moon to consider a proper vessel. As such, she had never given him much thought. While in possession of Rarity, she had picked up on his infatuation, but never really learned anything else about him.

If the nightmares of him turning into a giant rampaging monster were any indication, doing so had been a mistake. If she could have possessed him and induced the spontaneous growth, she would have been able to become quite a powerful entity. It also probably would have been quite a challenge to pull off successfully since he lived with Twilight, who would more than likely become suspicious of her "assistant's" change in behavior.

It hardly mattered now. She was trapped, incarnated as a pegasus, cut off from her powers. No watching nightmares, no shapeshifting, and no possession. At the moment, Nightmare Moon was as weak and powerless as any other mortal pegasus pony.

The strange liquid sensation returned, stronger this time, and with an audible gurgling sound. This time, it actually was a little painful to feel. She would have to do something to remedy this issue quickly. If the situation continued its progression, it could actually become quite painful.

"Now take me to Twilight Sparkle immediately," she ordered, standing up and flaring out her wings.

It seemed that the little dragon was not intimidated by long, nor impressed by her. In point of fact, he was laughing. Not an out and out laugh, but he was certainly snickering at her.

"Come on," he said as he resumed walking.

Gritting her teeth, Nightmare Moon let out a snort of frustration. She followed after him, glaring at the back of his head. Quietly they made their way to the stairs, down, and through however many halls and rooms, heading she had no idea where.

As they walked, a smell reached Nightmare Moon. She found it a surprisingly pleasant aroma. It smelled... warm? Was that a possibility? Could something smell warm? There was also something else about it.

She had no idea why, but Nightmare Moon found herself having some sort of reaction to the smell. The inside of her mouth seemed to be creating greater amounts of liquid. So much so, that it was beginning to leak from between her lips. Without realizing it, she licked at them. As she continued to follow Spike, the smell grew stronger.

Reaching the kitchen, Nightmare Moon stopped and stared, eyes wide and jaw hanging open. There on the table was something incredible that she had never seen before. There were four plates. Three of them were empty and set close to the edge. In the center was the fourth, with the source of the oh so pleasing aroma. There was a stack of whatever they were. The things were of a golden brown color. They were slightly smaller than the plate, and also circular, but slightly thicker.

A snicker drew her attention away from the delicious looking stack of... whatever it was. Turning toward the source, she glared at the little dragon who was grinning behind his claws.

"What's so funny?" Nightmare growled out, eyes narrowing.

"You're drooling," Spike said, still snickering.

Reaching up, she ran a foreleg across her mouth. Sure enough, it came away wet. With a huff, she turned away from the young dragon, looking at the plate of food once again.

"Tell me, what are those?" she asked as she pointed.

"They're pancakes," Twilight answered. "I thought it would be a good way to start your first morning, so I asked Spike to make them. Help yourself. There should be ple-"

With a roar, Nightmare Moon threw herself at the table and grabbed the plate of "pancakes." Pulling them close to her, she leaned down and bit into them. The warm, slightly sweet bread tore between her teeth with ease. Ripping out a massive chunk from however many of them she could fit her mouth again, she chewed rapidly before gulping it down. She then took another bite, repeating the process.

"Nightmare," Twilight started.

Turning to face her, Nightmare Moon spread her wings wide and let out a roar. Flecks of saliva and bits of pancake flew from the mare's mouth, spraying across Twilight and Spike. She then turned back to the pancakes and resumed tearing into them.

After watching what could be call a pancake massacre for little longer, Twilight Sparkle let out a sigh. Reaching up, she wiped the spit and pancake flecks from her face.

"Spike?" she asked gently. "It might be a good idea if you could make more."

"Fine," Spike said, wiping his own face off. "But if she tries to maul them as well, I expect you to stop her."

"Promise," Twilight said with a smile.