The visit to the mayor's office had essentially been a pointless nuisance. The entire conversation -- which was not very accurate since Mayor Mare did most of the talking and it was entirely directed at Twilight -- had pretty much boiled down to the fact the the mayor was not happy about the idea. Specifically, the idea of having Nightmare's potential misbehavior negatively influencing her poll statistics and electoral opportunities. Not that she actually said it, but Nightmare Moon was certain that it was what the mayor was thinking.

The whole thing had been moot and pointless to begin with. With Twilight being a princess, former student to Celestia, and a hero to Equestria as a whole as well as Ponyville, the mayor was unwilling to go against the her in the matter. Add in the fact that this was backed by both Princesses Celestia and Luna, and there was practically no way the mayor would try to discourage this. Nightmare Moon figured the entire thing came down to posturing to remind them of her position and authority, and possibly an opportunity to point out that she was against the matter from the beginning.

The visit to Rarity's had been a little more tolerable, but just as menial and pointless. Claiming to understand Nightmare Moon a little after their time together, Rarity was basically offering to be a friend and confidant. Somepony to actually talk and open up to, if and when Nightmare was ready. Because Rarity felt that Nightmare Moon pretty much did what she did because she felt alone.

Preposterous of course. Even assuming she wanted to make friends -- which she did not -- why would she wish to do so with any of the ponies around here? She was meant to rule over ponies, not befriend them. Besides, why would she wish to befriend a former vessel? Ignoring the preposterous notion that they were closer because of their shared time together, there was no benefit for Nightmare Moon gained from spending time with Rarity. If anything, Rarity would more than like project her own fears and insecurities onto Nightmare.

There was also talk about a day of getting measurements so Rarity could make some clothes for Nightmare Moon when she was to attend a party in Canterlot (and Rarity seemed adamantly certain that Princess Luna would want Nightmare in attendance), as well as them having a spa day. That actually had some merit to her. The idea of having ponies pamper and worship her sounded simply wonderful.

Now she was once more following Twilight Sparkle through the streets of Ponyville. The plan was to meet up with Rainbow Dash next for some reason. The whole thing seemed pointless and redundant to Nightmare Moon. She was already familiar with the former bearers of the elements. Why was Twilight leading her to meet them again? This had to be a part of some devious plan on Twilight's part. If so, then what was she up to?

Leaving the building behind, the pair made their way along the road toward an open field.

"'bout time you showed up," Rainbow Dash called out. She flew in low, buzzing just over the heads of the other two mares before landing. Her hooves touched the ground without even a thump. After giving a flick of her wings, she turned around to face the two.

"So, you ready?"

"Ready?" Nightmare asked. "Ready for what?"

"We're going to check out your pegasus skills," Rainbow Dash answered. "You know: cloud landing, moving, and busting; flight speed; maneuvability; that kind of stuff."

"And why would I want to do that?" Nightmare Moon asked. Her ears pulled back and her eyes narrowed as she continued to look at Rainbow. The sudden smirk that appeared was disconcerting.

"Hey," Rainbow stated, "it's fine. You don't have to. If you're too scared, I understand."

"Scared?" Nightmare repeated. "You think that I... am scared? Of what, exactly?" Being what she was, Nightmare was very familiar with the concept of fear. She had even experienced it before when she was defeated (and nearly so) by The Elements of Harmony under Twilight Sparkle's control. Other than that, there was nothing that she feared.

"That you can't do it," Rainbow Dash replied, grinning wider. "I mean hey, you've never actually flown before as an actual pony. There's nothing wrong with not being able to."

"That's preposterous!" Nightmare roared, stomping her hoof as her wings flared out. "Of course I can fly." Who did Rainbow think she was accusing Nightmare of such a thing?

"Really?" Rainbow Dash asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because I know you didn't fly when you possessed Rarity." She tapped a hoof against her chin. "And if I remember it right, you never actually flew with your wings when you first returned. You just kept becoming that sparkly black cloud. So that means you've never actually had to use your wings fly."

"I was able to use them just fine in Canterlot," Nightmare Moon stated.

"You mean when you 'tried' to fly and came crashing back down?" Rainbow retaliated.

"I would have been perfectly able to fly if not for this infernal collar!"

"Whatever you have to tell yourself to make you feel better."

"Ridiculous!" Nightmare bellowed. Straightening up, she took a deep breath through her nose and slowly let it out.

"I am competently capable of flying," Nightmare Moon stated, "and I will perform your silly little tasks to prove just that."

"Fine," Rainbow Dash groaned, rolling her eyes. "If you really want to, I guess we can.

"Let's start with something simple." She pointed up at the sky. "Fly up to that cloud and land on it."

"Easily," Nightmare Moon claimed. Unfurling her wings to their full length, she gave a flap as she jumped up, taking to the air. In seconds, she had reached the cloud and tried to land on it.

The cloud felt strange under her hooves. While not entirely solid, she did not simply pass through it either. She felt herself sink into it, but stop her from falling all the way through. The cloud was also cool and wet. Nightmare could feel the bottoms of her hooves getting wet to the touch. It was not like anything she recalled ever experiencing before.

As she stood there, Nightmare Moon looked out at the town before her. It was wonderful, being up above it all. Not simply because it was how she liked to positions herself, although that was a part of it. It was also seeing so much. Even though she was not more than thirty or forty feet above the ground, she could see all the way to Canterlot, with not even the town hall or Twilight Sparkle's castle interfering. She could almost see all of Ponyville going about--

She had been manipulated! Rainbow Dash had teased and manipulated Nightmare Moon, playing to her pride and ego. She had allowed herself to be teased and manipulated into performing these silly tasks to prove her skill and ability as a pegasus. There was a burning ember of fury in Nightmare Moon's chest, both at herself and at Rainbow Dash. There was also a faint hint of... pride?... toward Rainbow for trying such a tactic.

Rainbow Dash would still have to pay for it, of course. Nopony was allowed to manipulate Nightmare Moon and get away with it. She would have to get Rainbow back. Carefully for the time being.

"Okay," Rainbow called out, breaking Nightmare from her thoughts. "Now see if you can move the cloud down here to us."

Hardly seems worth the effort, Nightmare Moon thought. Still, she had accepted the challenge, and was determined to prove that she was more than competent as a pegasus. Once again, she jumped and gave a flap of her wings to take off.

There was a faint "poof" as the cloud burst apart, turning into wisps of fog before disappearing from sight.

"Looks like you hit it too hard," Rainbow called out.

"I didn't even hit it," Nightmare Moon replied as she came back down. "I was taking off when it dissipated beneath me. Considering that a pegasus is able to jump up and down on a cloud to make it rain, it should have been more than capable to withstand my launch without issue."

"That's part of why I had Rainbow Dash set up these tests," Twilight Sparkle said. "Like you said, a pegasus can jump up and down on a cloud and make it rain without trouble. They can also cause it to unleash thunder and lightning with a kick or stamp as well. The thing is that it seems like they can cause a cloud to dissipate with even less of a hit, kind of like you just did with the cloud."

"We'll try the other cloud stuff another time," Rainbow said. "Let's move on to the fun part: the obstacle course."

"Obstacle course?" Nightmare Moon asked, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow. It was not really surprising. From what she had gathered and could recall, Rainbow Dash was very intensely focused on flying. Especially speed and agility. It would make sense that any sort of testing by Rainbow would include those skills as well.

"I've worked it all out," Rainbow Dash explained. "I can't give you too much information since that would give you an edge, but it does include weaving, turning, ascending, and descending. We want to see how well you can do each one, and how quickly."

"Ha," Nightmare Moon cried out. "I will perform this obstacle course with ease. Probably even faster than even you are capable of."

Why did she just say that?

"What?" Rainbow and Twilight both asked in surprise.

Well Nightmare Moon had already made the claim. She very well could not back out of it now. May as well go with it.

"Have the crashes affected your hearing? Or you memory, which seems more likely. I am stating that I am able to fly faster and more gracefully than you are."

"Nightmare-" Twilight started, but stopped when Rainbow Dash held up a hoof.

"You do realize," Rainbow said slowly, "that I am the fastest flyer in Ponyville, right? I have been flying for years on my own, and have been training to become a Wonderbolt. Plus, I set up the obstacle course to begin with. I know every length, every twist, every turn, because I put them there."

"Sounds like excuses to me," replied Nightmare. "It's fine if you're --" she let out a chuckle, "-- afraid of losing to me."

"Fine." Rainbow Dash pressed the tip of her hoof in the ground, pulling it along to dig a straight furrow. "This will be the starting and finish line. At Twilight's order, we both take off and head along the obstacle course. The first one through and back here wins. Twilight will be here to judge and make sure that nopony cheats."

"That's not necessary," Nightmare said with a smirk. "I trust you'll play fair." She could not help but grin wider as Rainbow Dash puffed up, ears pulling back and cheeks turning red.

"Just get in position," Rainbow Dash growled.

Nightmare actually found Rainbow's reaction more amusing than expected. Plus, Rainbow was kind of cute when she was mad. Even if she were to lose, Nightmare found the whole thing worthwhile already. Getting into position, she lowered her head and spread her wings.

"I'm ready."

"One," Twilight called out. "Two. Three. Go!"

There was an audible gust of wind on one side of Nightmare Moon as Rainbow Dash took off. Before Nightmare had even finished taking off, all she could see of her competition was a rainbow color contrail fading from view in front of her. Still, she would perform the course with all her might.

The first obstacle she reached was a series of bushes. In front of the first was a sign that read "weave."

It seemed easy enough to do. Adjusting the angle of her flight, she curved around the bush in front of her. Unfortunately, it was too wide, and she could not turn in time to slip through the first gap. She was, however, able to catch the second. She tried to get the third, but had to pull back to avoid the bush, missing it and the fourth. Adjusting, she managed to catch the fifth.

So it was, she accepted it and slipped through every other gap instead. It was not as well as she would have liked, but at least she managed to avoid crashing.

The next challenge was a ninety degree turn. Nightmare Moon was not able to make the turn as sharply as she would have liked. Throwing out her front legs, she was able to keep from crashing into the barrier. She then used it to push off, aiming in the direction of the turn. There was a flare of pain as the tip of one wing struck something, causing her to hiss. Luckily, it was not enough to keep her from flying.

Recovering from the incident, Nightmare Moon reached a series of rings that looked to head straight up. Landing on the ground, she used it to take off and fly through the rings.

She could feel the air whipping across her face and gravity trying to pull her back down. Still, Nightmare Moon continued to push her way up, and up, and up. After all, Rainbow Dash would have flown through them all. Especially since Rainbow was the one who had put the hoops into place to begin with.

Her wings and back started to burn and ache as she kept trying. She found herself panting. It was getting harder to breathe for some reason. The edges of her vision started to turn fuzzy. Still, she had to do it. She had to get as far as Rainbow Dash, to prove herself. She had to... had to... had...to...

Everything went black.