Nightmare Moon put aside an hour each night to gaze out upon Canterlot, solemnly going over her thoughts. The night air helped her think and watching the hustle and bustle of the city she had under her rule was satisfying on some base level.

If she just so happened to look cool with her astral mane billowing behind her in the snowflake-strewn winds, then that was just a convenient side benefit.

Suddenly, she heard the door to her quarters creak open and somepony walk up behind her, their footsteps slow and measured, cautious to let her know of their presence.

Nightmare Moon had sent for Haze via telepathy not too long to talk about outfitting the Eclipse ranks with lighter and sturdier armor. He got up here rather quickly – she was impressed.

“What is it?” She asked without turning.

The visitor did not answer.

Her lips made a deep frown and her eyes slid to the left suspiciously. “Haze?”

No response from the visitor, or from Haze.

She Called for Veil, Fade, Miasma, but nopony answered her. She couldn’t sense their presence, either. Something was wrong.

Well, first rule when dealing with what may possibly be a hostile entity: threaten it with violence.

“You must be very confident in your skills, or overwhelmingly foolish to enter my quarters in such a manner,” Nightmare Moon growled, lighting up her horn. “You have five seconds to identify yourself before I turn and scatter your form into blackened ash and smoke.”

“Your words are full of such malice and hate, but I’m afraid you cannot so easily avoid your fate.”

“What? What sort of…?” Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened. “I recognize your voice. I recognize your speech pattern,” She turned in place to get her first look at the visitor. “You.”

“Yes, it is I, Zecora, who gives greetings, Nightmare Moon – I am happy that we may finally commune.”

Zecora was dressed in the attire of the shamans from the tribes from Zebrica: her head was adorned with a crown made of bird beaks and leaves and she wore a skirt of flaxen grass decorated with small animal bones.

Nightmare Moon was familiar with the get-up: many shamans had tried to banish her and failed.

“How did you get in here?” Nightmare Moon questioned, taking a few steps forward. She didn’t expect to meet Zecora like this; she wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Are you alone?”

“It is only I that walks in your home…” Zecora pulled out a pouch from beneath her skirt and opened it. “Put your fears at rest and do not let them-”

Nightmare Moon blasted the pouch with a beam of magic. Zecora bayed in alarm and ducked to the floor as the remains piled on the floor in a black, sooty mess.

“By my ancestors, long since dead!” Zecora shot back up, looking miffed. “You almost took my head!”

“You’re surprised?” Nightmare Moon snorted. “You break into my quarters, somehow having slipped past my guards, and begin spouting your rhymes while pulling out a pouch of who-knows-what-but-would-most-likely-be-bad-for-me. Honestly, how did you expect me to react?”

“It is a spice made from the fat of Zebrican geese, used between two parties as a showing of peace!” Zecora huffed and looked down sadly at the remains. “What a waste – most ponies are understanding when I break into their place.”

“I’m going to just ignore that. Now, tell me what you are doing in here.”

“Hmph. For Equestrians all over, ‘tis the season to be jolly, but I am here, not to celebrate, but to expose your folly,” Zecora puffed out her chest with a fierce expression as her mane inexplicably started swishing in a non-existent wind. “Here me, Nightmare Moon, and take heed:

“For all that you have done,
The ire of three spirits shall come;
The first shall show your past,
A history of sins as long as the ocean is vast;
The second will show the face that looks back in the mirror,
I can only pray that it will make things clearer;
The third will show you where your path will lead,
The ultimate fate of your heartlessness and greed.”

“… Did you really just break into my castle to spit a nursery rhyme in my face?”

“Think what you may…” Zecora huffed and turned her to the side haughtily. “I have said all that I came to say.”

So, Nightmare Moon just stood there listening to an unapologetic intruder for nothing? Oh, that won’t do at all.

“Well, if you will allow me…” She started, smiling deviously; so devious that her cheeks parted with wet snaps of muscle and sinew and exposed her long, sharp teeth. “I have something to say, too.”

Zecora blinked and looked back, her courage faltering as she stared into the face of an avatar of evil, a powerful force of destruction. “Oh?”

Nightmare Moon inhaled and cocked her head creepily:

“My name is Nightmare Moon,
I am a conqueror,
The enemies I’ve crushed and beaten?
Discord, the Element bearers, Luna, Celestia, too.
Have you heard of her?

“And you come into my castle,
Just to waste my time,
You can spit rhymes,
But you can’t match mine.”

“Uh…” Zecora took a step back.

“What’s wrong, my dear Zecora?
What a funny look of horror,
You know you trotted into the slaughter?
So I think that you oughta,
Run, run, run as fast as a cheetah,
Tell the mothers,
Tell the fathers,
To lock up their sons and daughters,
Because it’s about to get hotter,
Than a hot spring sauna!”

Nightmare Moon lit up her horn and summoned a glass.

“Oh, did you need a drink of water?”

Zecora backed into the wall, her eyes wide like dinner plates. “Y-you are… Uh…”

“That’s too bad because now I’m getting mad.”

Nightmare Moon flashed the water away and got even closer, jabbing her hoof into Zecora’s chest.

“You snuck into my house,
Quiet as a mouse,
Nothing but a louse,
What? You thought your words were heavy?
That I wasn’t ready?
That I wouldn’t have rhymes that’d make you learn envy?
Zebra, I’ll blow you out like confetti,
I’m sharper than a machete,
I’ll make you messy,
Like spaghetti.”

Nightmare Moon jabbed her again.

“Are you feeling unsteady?”

Zecora whimpered.

“So get a clue because that’s your cue,
To take your leave before I heave,
You out that window and send you to limbo,
Your threat was hollow, remember to swallow.”

Nightmare Moon closed the zebra’s slack jaw with telekinesis.

“Before you choke as hard as you choked in this battle.”

From the side, Nightmare Moon’s Praetorian guard and several random Eclipse soldiers let out a row of whoops and yells like a symphony of caterwauling cats. Nightmare Moon could question how the hell they all got there, but she was too busy basking in her victory.

Because a victory was a victory, no matter how it was won.

Words to live by.

“I-I have brought shame to my ancestors this day!” Zecora wailed as she staggered towards the door as if she had gone ten rounds in a boxing match with a grizzly bear. “What a horrible… d-day? Oh, dismay! I have lost my way!”

With a snort, Zecora turned in the doorway and scuffed her hoof against the carpet.

“This is what happens when I try to help the community. Next time anypony asks, they can kiss my booty.”

“Yes, yes, run along,” Nightmare Moon snickered as the shamed zebra trotted off in a dark mood. Swelled with pride, she turned to bask in the praise of her cheering crowd, but they had inexplicably disappeared. Odd, but she’d seen weirder. “I suppose it’s back to the business at hoof, then.”

She turned to make for the balcony.

And bumped snout-first into somepony.

“Hello, there.”

“What?!” She jumped back, prepared to lay waste to this intruder and skip the roasting, but when she got a good look at their face, she stopped. “You’re…”

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Said Star Secret. Or rather, the pony that looked like Star Secret. She had gotten every single detail, right down to the barely-there smirk that just oozed fake reassurance. Damn it – Nightmare Moon was proud of that smirk and here was somepony using it like she owned it! “I must admit that I feel betrayed.”

“My heart would weep for you if it had a care to give,” Nightmare Moon remarked with a scrutinizing glare. “Who, or what, are you?”

“You have eyes, do you not?” ‘Star Secret’ quipped with a smarmy tone that Nightmare Moon was unnerved to realize that it was very similar to the one she used sometimes. “I am you.”

“Oh, spare me the cliché lines. If you were truly me, then you would have known that I wouldn’t have done that if I were in your position.”

“Touche. Also, slightly confusing,” Star Secret shrugged. “But I digress. Yes, I am not you fully; I am the Ghost of Hearths-warming Eve’s Past. Your past, specifically.”

“You are one of the spirits that Zecora warned me of,” Nightmare Moon hummed and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “I wonder…”

She reached out and her hoof went through Star Secret’s unamused face.

“Don’t do that.”

“So, you truly are a spirit,” Nightmare Moon retracted her hoof, then grinned evilly. “If I can find out the workings behind your incorporeal nature and replicate them, then I’m certain I can use it to great effect.”

“Pragmatic of you,” Star Secret nodded approvingly and went over to the balcony. She seemed to glide more than walk. “Unfortunately, an autopsy is rather difficult when the body tends to phase through solid objects.”

“We already have spells for raising the dead and time travel,” Nightmare Moon followed the spirit out onto the balcony; she was fascinated with this development. Of course, she had questions, but for now she’d let them sit. “I’m certain I can cut into you if I try hard enough.”

“And there’s that ambitious attitude that got you this far,” Star Secret’s grin waned as she peered out over the cityscape. “However, I did not come here to be an unwilling resource in your personal endeavours. I came here with a purpose.”

“I assume it has to do with the zebra’s warning about ‘showing me my sins’?” Nightmare Moon made air quotes with a chuckle. “As if I do not already know them? You waste your time, spirit. Why don’t we use this time for a more worthwhile pursuit?” She leaned in to her phantasmal doppleganger with a toothy smile. “Tell me – did you by any chance originate from Zebrica?”

Star Secret looked over with an equally toothy smile. “It’s funny that you mentioned Zebrica…”

She lit up her horn in a gentle blue glow.

“Because that’s where we’re going.”

Nightmare Moon’s vision was obscured by pure whiteness and rainbow pixels for a brief second before it came back, and she looked around.

She was only partially surprised to see Canterlot’s high-rise buildings replaced by sun-kissed plains and the balcony replaced with a watering hole.

Of which she stood upon the water’s surface next to the spirit without making a ripple.

“Impressive. Time travel?” She poked the water beneath her and frowned as her hoof went through. “Hmph. Perhaps a visual recreation of my memories? No, I would be seeing the world through my own eyes if that were the case. Perhaps you’ve-”

“Perhaps…” Star Secret touched her shoulder. “You should turn around.”

Still curious to see where this was all going, Nightmare Moon obeyed.

“Ahhh…” Her eyes lit up fondly as she watched a zebra in tribal wear hobble towards the watering hole, using an aged branch for support. “Yes, I do remember this. This was my first host.”

“Akumbe of the Naga tribe,” Star Secret said as the witch doctor fell at the watering hole’s edge and dunked his head within. “Well, formerly. Banished for delving into the forbidden arts.”

“Curiosity killed the cat…” Nightmare Moon’s cold eyes were drawn to a miasma of black smoke filled with gnashing teeth and bulging white eyes that crossed the scorched lands and made for the unaware zebra. “And that cat fed a much larger predator.”

Akumbe jolted when the miasma touched him, curled around him like a boa constrictor, but he relaxed quickly after. Nightmare Moon remembered whispering sweet nothings into his ear.

“He was the youngest witch doctor to succeed his mentor, so it was a simple matter to play on his pride and sense of self-entitlement,” Nightmare Moon said as Akumbe sat and listened to her past self. “I complimented his looks, his strength, and his virility.”

Star Secret snickered and looked at her. “His virility?”

“I may have been a spirit, but I wandered the plains in the night, searching and learning from the zebra tribes. I knew how they thought. I learned that young males are particularly susceptible.”

She watched as a dreamy grin stretched across Akumbe’s face.

“He could not see me, but he could hear me. I whispered about all the ways the beautiful young mares would service him should he accept me into his body. That I have a rather low and sensual voice helped, I think.”

“How unfortunate to be hindered by the desires of flesh,” Star Secret sighed before lighting up her horn again. “Now, why don’t we skip ahead a little?”

Even before Nightmare Moon had her vision back, she could hear screaming and crackling wood.

“Ah, yes. I remember this, too.”

Several yards ahead, Akumbe’s body roared with laughter as it twirled in the midst of burning huts and rampaging spirits. Unlike Nightmare Moon, the spirits were vaguely equine in shape and seemed to be made of shadow rather than smoke; their red eyes shone balefully as they moaned and shrieked to the night sky.

“The first village you came upon after completely taking over Akumbe’s body,” Star Secret watched impassively as zebra warriors fought against their possessed brethren and shamans tried to banish the wailing spirits. “Quite an impression.”

“It was the first time I had a body at my disposal,” Nightmare Moon shrugged, idly turning her head to watch a screaming mare run by, wreathed in fire. “The ability to feel the wind on my face, the pain of my injuries, the weight of my hooves crushing the dirt… I admit that I lost control of myself.”

“Run, fools!” Akumbe-Nightmare Moon laughed, flinging around satchels that burst into flame as they hit ground, building, and zebra alike. “Flee for your pathetic lives! Know of my indomitable will and power!”

Nightmare Moon snickered fondly. “Back when I could give speeches without being interrupted.”

“You’re still more composed than these creatures,” Star Secret nodded her head to a shadow spirit that cornered a zebra warrior and wrestled with him for control. His screams echoed through the night. “Be thankful for that.”

“My more feral brethren were mindless but useful for creating chaos,” Nightmare Moon held her head up again and shrugged. “However, I did not remain this way for long. Eventually, I realized that as much as I enjoyed causing rampant chaos and being feared, I wanted to rule and achieve my desires more.”

Star Secret nodded and lit her horn. “That you did.”

They ended up on a shore in the night.

“The zebra tribes eventually got over their petty squabbles and banded together to drive me out of their lands,” Nightmare Moon said over the crashing waves and wet coughing. “I made for the sea and took control of a shark that allowed me to get all the way to the shores of the Griffon Kingdom.”

Several yards away, Akumbe-Nightmare Moon dragged herself away from the thrashing body of a shark as it regained its will and struggled to breathe. Akumbe-Nightmare Moon vomited sea water and made for a line of trees in the distance.

“Quite a journey,” Star Secret said. “Tell me – what was your plan during all of this? Right there, as you’re vomiting and coughing and crawling… what plan did you have for achieving what you desired?”

“I was unfamiliar with anything outside of Zebrica; I knew there were other sapient species, but that was it. My first step was to observe these griffons and their culture before I could even think of infiltrating their numbers,” Nightmare Moon made a so-so gesture with her hoof. “Fortunately, there was a village nearby.”

“Cristcad?”

“Where I first tried my hoof in possessing a griffon.”

Nightmare Moon and Star Secret watched from afar as Akumbe-Nightmare Moon observed a lone griffon picking berries by herself. Akumbe-Nightmare Moon took care not to rustle the bushes and alert the young hen.

“Agostina? The hen from the tale?”

“That’s her. Although, contrary to what the story says, I did not take her over by force. I couldn’t. So, instead, I shadowed her until I knew her daily schedule and tossed my body over a nearby cliff before waiting near where she foraged,” Nightmare Moon let out a slow exhale, eyes glazing as she went over memories she hadn’t recalled in ages. “Unfortunately, it did not go as planned.”

“What happened?”

“She called me a demon – how original – and sought to kill me by slitting her own throat.”

Star Secret’s eyebrows went up and she nodded. “I must give her credit for being so ready to take her own life if it meant destroying you. But what gave her the idea you would perish, too?”

“I can be a very good actor,” Nightmare Moon shrugged. “A bit of panicked shouting here, a ‘death’ cry there, and she passed with a victorious smile on her beak. I didn’t have the heart to take that away,” She turned to her doppleganger and moved her forehoof in a circle. “Well, let’s get on with it: where are we off to now?”

They arrived in another flame-engulfed village.

“I didn’t realize how much of these defined my background,” Nightmare Moon quipped casually as a griffon warrior phased through her body in pursuit of a fleeing hen. “Perhaps that’s why I’m so partial to violence.”

Star Secret laughed loudly. “Oh, yes. It was your upbringing that made you this way.”

Nightmare Moon glared at her briefly before turning and peering down to the far end of the road. “Ah, there I am in Antoine Blood-Rain’s body. An auspicious name, no?”

“He was an insignificant lord with grandiose dreams. And then you got hold of him.”

From down the street, a hulking griffon in plate armor prowled, black feathers spreading soot into the air with each ruffle and red predatory eyes darting to and fro maniacally in search of their next victim. At their side were two other griffons in plate armor, though they were mostly unneeded as their charge was more than capable of taking care of themselves.

“Witness me!” Nightmare Moon-Antoine roared as they cut down any griffon that dared to challenge them with a sword. “Witness the one you shall kneel before, or die before!”

Nightmare Moon sighed through her nostrils and looked down at her hooves. “I do miss having opposable thumbs.”

SKLUTCH

“And I’m certain the lord missed his head.”

“A mundane use for your power, but the jest is not unappreciated,” Nightmare Moon watched as Antoine Blood-Rain’s head rolled into the basket, and the griffons surrounding the wooden stage cheered in approval. “Ah, the poor lord; he did beg me not to leave him to his fate.”

“Another grab for power that ended bloodily; the blue blood of nobility turning out as red as the commoners.” Star Secret pontificated as the executioner walked through her body to pick Antoine’s head up and carry it over to a pike.

“I wouldn’t say badly; what happened here was the spark that would eventually lead to the Griffon Kingdom establishing holds and marquees instead of leaving everything to the High King,” Nightmare Moon smirked proudly, ignoring the wet splat to her side. “How many can say they’ve done that?”

“True, but it hardly matters what you’ve done when there’s no irrefutable evidence that you’ve done it, does it?”

Nightmare Moon frowned. “What are you talking about? We’re seeing it happen.”

Star Secret smiled coldly. “Yes, we are. The funny thing is…”

Lightning flashed overhead as two ships locked in battle sailed over tumultuous waters. Nightmare Moon and Star Secret floated between them.

“You’re not in any piece of written history. Perhaps what you are, but nothing about you personally. Nobody knows of the parts you played in history. All of what you did was credited towards your hosts.”

A behemoth of a minotaur, fur as black as night and eyes green like emeralds, swung from one ship to the other on a length of rope; they laughed heartily and swung a large axe from side to side, cleaving the opposing sailors to pieces.

“They wouldn’t have done what they did without me,” Nightmare Moon argued, narrowing her eyes. “None of it.”

“And yet, it is only recently that the world knows your name. In over a thousand years, you have only just started gaining infamy for yourself.”

“Aside from that, I’m beginning to see a pattern through all of this.”

Nightmare Moon glared at her doppleganger and let the sounds of her past-self and Celestia battling fade into background noise. “And what would that be, pray tell?”

Star Secret’s smile vanished. Her face became empty of emotion. “You always lose.”

As Star Secret’s horn flashed again, Nightmare Moon could hear her past-self howling as the Elements of Harmony banished her to the moon.

They were back in the present, but Nightmare Moon barely noticed.

“No matter what you do, it always ends badly for you. You strive to achieve your desires for conquest and to be remembered in history, but it always ends in failure.”

“Failure? I’ve taken over Canterlot, Equestria’s capitol. I have my own guard force. I have-”

“For now,” Star Secret started walking backwards. “Remember the world you live in, Nightmare Moon…”

“Hold,” Nightmare Moon followed her, preparing a spell. “I said, hold!”

“Good always triumphs over evil, no matter how ambitious that evil may be,” Like leaves in a gust, Star Secret’s form crumbled into shadowy flakes and disappeared into the floor. Her eyes were the last to go. “It is not idealism, not in this world; it is fact.”

Star Secret vanished without a trace, and somehow, Nightmare Moon knew her spells would have done nothing to affect her.

“Strange,” She said aloud to the empty room. “There’s a possibility that this could be a very elaborate hoax, but if this is genuine, then somebody knows about my past. The question is ‘who’?”

“Hope you’re not blaming me, Wolf.”

Nightmare Moon jolted and hopped away from the shimmering spirit wearing Vinyl’s visage. The sight instilled more rage in her than she would have thought; it took everything she had not to freeze everything in the room, and that was partially because she hesitated to attack somepony that looked exactly like Vinyl.

Nightmare Moon took note of a bronze torch hovering above the spirit’s head; it didn’t seem to be held aloft with magic since she couldn’t see an aura, or hear any ethereal chimes.

“I assume you are the Spirit of Hearths-warming Eve’s present?”

“One and only,” Not-Vinyl grinned and lifted her shades to wink playfully. Ugh, she even copied her mannerisms. “So, completely off the record, but that was a ballin’ rap you laid out on Zecora. No idea you had it in you.”

“I lived in Zebrica for near sixty years observing tribes full of adolescents looking to prove their worth. Even today, I’m not entirely sure why they rhyme.”

“Well, they still do Winter Wrap-Up down in Ponyville for some reason, so I guess it’s just one of those things, huh?” Not-Vinyl shrugged and held out her forelimb. “Anyway… Hey, Wolf – touch my hoof.”

Nightmare Moon wrinkled her nose. “Even amongst friends, a remark like that will still be met with suspicion.”

“Oh, just touch it, you big baby.”

Nightmare Moon snorted and touched the spirit’s limb. “Now-”

“-what?” She blinked and looked around. “Oh.”

“Yeah, they’re still celebrating down here in Ponyville,” Not-Vinyl turned and walked over to the Golden Oaks Library, her steps silently leaving no trace in the snow. “Even with all the crap going on. Gotta admire that holiday spirit, huh?”

“Is this in real time?” Nightmare Moon looked up and leered evilly when she saw the moon in the sky. “Why, with this, I can spy and gather information.”

“Yeah, no.”

Not-Vinyl’s torch rattled – was that a bell chime? – and sprinkled embers into the air that chased after Nightmare Moon and, somehow, pulled her towards the library. She didn’t know how these weightless flakes were pulling her with such irresistible power, but they were, and she couldn’t break free.

“Would you relax, dude?” Not-Vinyl chastised once Nightmare Moon was by her side. She tapped one of the library’s ground windows. “Here – take a look at this.”

Nightmare Moon scowled, but looked through anyway.

She saw Celestia, Luna, Sunset, Spike, and a stallion she didn’t recognize moving about around a pine tree that had been set up on top of a table in the middle of the room. As per tradition, the tree was decorated with festive ornaments and other assorted knick-knacks that just screamed ‘good will’ and ‘harmony’ and-

Nightmare Moon gagged. “If this is a dream, then if I vacate my stomach, will the same thing occur in reality?”

“Dunno. Like to see if that’s true, though.”

Luna was talking with the stallion and Spike while Celestia was hounding after Sunset, seemingly trying to strike up small talk. Sunset was having none of it.

“Look, can we just not do this?” Sunset and Celestia stopped close enough to the window for Nightmare Moon to hear. She could lip-read, but this was easier. “Did you ever think that maybe I left for a reason and maybe I don’t want to talk to you because of that reason?”

Celestia winced; the remark had stung.

Good.

“Sunset, I would… very much like to make amends with you.”

“Pfft. As if I’d want…” Sunset blinked, took a step back. “Wait, what?”

Celestia sighed and looked at the floor. “Sunset, I have had many pupils over the years. Twenty-two, to be exact. Among them, you were the first to even come close to approaching alicornhood.”

Sunset’s eyes widened for a moment, then she scowled in disgust and turned away. “Well, you can see how that turned out, didn’t it?”

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes and tried to walk away, but Not-Vinyl rattled her torch and magnetized the ground.

She wasn’t sure how that made sense.

“Sunset, please believe me when I say this…” Celestia’s expression was nothing but compassionate when she tried to touch Sunset’s shoulder, even when her hoof was promptly smacked away. “You are strong, intelligent, cunning, and resourceful; you’ve accomplished more in your young life than I did when I was one hundred years old.”

Sunset cautiously looked back to her former mentor. “… But you didn’t think I was ready to become a princess?” Celestia shook her head. “What, because I’m impatient? Because I’m not humble? Because I speak my mind?” She turned her nose up with a huff. “Oh right – because I don’t know ‘the magic of friendship’ like your precious Twilight. Well, look where she is now…”

That was the wrong thing to say, even Nightmare Moon knew that much. She pressed her face closer to the glass when Celestia’s face turned furious, and Sunset faltered and took a step back. She was disappointed, however, when Celestia took a deep breath and quelled her anger.

“Bah, humbug.”

Celestia sighed and rubbed her brow. “To be a princess is to be a leader. To be a leader, you must make difficult decisions. The truth is…” She paused. “The truth is that I admire you, Sunset.”

Sunset’s eyes widened again. “You…?”

“Yes, you are impatient. You are prideful. You speak your mind. Those can be flaws, but they can also be great strengths. You are impatient because you see what must, or what you feel should be done, you are prideful because you have so many accomplishments, and you speak your mind because your input is of no small contribution.”

Sunset stared at her.

“But you are easily swayed by your emotions and pride, not to mention your temper flares when things don’t go your way. The thing about power is that the more you have, the greater effect your actions have. And when you have such a large say in how a nation is run, when thousands of ponies are looking to you for guidance, you can’t afford to be seen… flawed.”

Nightmare Moon scoffed. “Well, that’s the price you pay when you’re so hung up about what the public thinks of you.”

“So, you don’t mind that everypony in Canterlot thinks you’re a creepy, demon horse?”

“The only issue I have with that opinion is that I’m not a horse.”

“You’re not a pony, either, Wolf.”

“Two wrongs don’t make stupidity any less irritating.”

“Control and humility are perhaps the most important traits a leader must develop, alongside the will to lead, of course.”

Sunset groaned and rubbed her face. “Faust, I always hated your stupid lectures. Always sound so self-righteous.”

“I remember a little filly that hung on every word.”

“Yeah, when you got to the good stuff…” Sunset put her hoof back down. She glanced to the side briefly. “So, what? What happens now? We had our little heart-to-heart – that’s what you wanted, right? Should I fall into your forelegs and start bawling?”

Celestia shook her head. “I… would like it if you had a cup of eggnog with me.”

Sunset pulled a face. “That’s disgusting.”

“It’s just a cover-up,” Celestia grinned deviously and leaned in closer. “Actually, somepony was nice enough to bring a bottle of vintage Magus Requiem; we could add some to our cups.”

“Magus…? You’re letting me drink?”

“What do you mean ‘letting’? You’re a grown mare. You can drink if you want, can’t you?”

“Y-yeah. Yeah!” Sunset snorted and brushed her mane to the side. “Of course I can! I… If you’re offering something like that, then I guess I can have one drink. Or two.”

"Well, let's go help see if Luna and Virtue will join us once Spike is asleep, shall we?"

Nightmare Moon made a noise usually reserved for the terminally ill as Celestia and Sunset walked off. “Is your intention to see what I had to eat last, spirit?”

“Can’t stop now,” Not-Vinyl snickered as she waved her torch again. “We have a few other places to be.”

“I suppose that is your intention.”

“Now, where have you brought me?”

“Remember Fancypants and Fleur?”

“I do. And I am just now realizing how long it’s been since they’ve had any impact in my life. Rather rude considering the role they played that helped me get to my current position.”

“Hearths-warming Eve’s not over yet, you know. You can still send them something.”

“I suppose so.”

Fancypants and Fleur were decorating a large tree that was placed near their hearth, though not so close that it was a fire hazard. Nightmare Moon knew how flammable those decorations were; she was considering using them in warfare.

“They look happy, huh?” Not-Vinyl beamed at her and trotted over to stand next to the tree, watching with contentment as the couple worked. “They’re totally made for one another.”

Nightmare Moon silently watched for a while as the couple worked.

Fancypants was wearing a hideous red and green jumper, and Fleur an equally abhorrent scarf. Despite this, they were utterly content as they used their magic and hooves to hang decorations on the tree. Neither of them said a word to each other, but they frequently cast loving glances and gave affectionate touches when they passed by to get more decorations.

It was disgustingly romantic, but Nightmare Moon had a fondness for them, so she kept quiet about it.

“What is the point of this?” Nightmare Moon took a step forwards, then paused when Fleur headed in her direction. She rolled her eyes after a second and walked through her. “I see no ‘morals’ to learn; they are content.”

Not-Vinyl merely smirked a very Vinyl-smirk and gestured to the hearth’s shelf. “Look at this photograph.”

Nightmare Moon sighed in annoyance, but indulged her. If it got her out of here faster, then-

She paused upon noticing a picture frame showing Fleur, Fancypants, Vinyl, Octavia… and Nightmare Moon in her Star Secret persona clustered together.

Not only that, but there were other photos of her next to it: all of them showing her exasperated, or mildly content in some manner.

“They still remember you,” Not-Vinyl said, suddenly by her side. “Or, you know, they remember the mare in those photos. They still like you, Wolf, but… it’s just easier to think about the face in the photos than the face on the throne.”

Something hot surged into Nightmare Moon’s throat and she rounded on the spirit. “Spare me your-”

“-pathetic attempts to…”

Not-Vinyl was no longer in front of her.

It was Vinyl.

“I…”

“She’s still my friend, Octy,” Vinyl, her glasses gone from her face, walked through Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon turned and watched her friend sit down on a couch next to Octavia. “I know there’s good in her. I mean, it’s small,” She made a face. “Really small.”

“Yes, thank you, Vinyl.”

“But she’s not that bad,” Vinyl insisted, but Octavia just stared at the coffee table in front of them, unconvinced. “She’s trying to keep me safe and comfortable in here, ya know? Until I get my magic back, at least.”

Octavia asked how Vinyl could see Nightmare Moon as a friend with all the grief she’s caused.

“I think… I think she just wants to be remembered. I mean, we all want to be remembered, right? We all want to do something that ponies can look back on ten thousand years in the future and be like, ‘yo, that pony was pretty rad’, or ‘yo, that pony was pretty scary’. You and me? We’ve got our music. Wolf? She’s got… well, she’s got something that she wants. I’m not entirely sure what that is, but I can kinda tell she needs to have it.”

Nightmare Moon silently watched.

Vinyl smiled. “Sorry if it doesn’t make sense. I’m… not good with words, right?”

“You’re surprisingly perceptive at your best, Vinyl.”

As with the other times, there was no warning: she was back in her quarters.

But…

Still a shadow?

She could feel no air, nor the carpet beneath her hooves. The fireplace in the corner crackled, but she felt no heat.

“Life’s going on without you there, Wolf.”

Nightmare Moon turned and saw Not-Vinyl standing on the balcony. She cautiously approached, sensing a change in the air. She idly noted that the torch’s fire seemed to be dimming.

“Your existence drives a lot of ponies out there, but they don’t need you to carry on living their lives.”

“Is that a threat?” Nightmare Moon briskly trotted so she was by Not-Vinyl’s side and glaring down at her. “What you’ve shown me implies you wish to make me feel some semblance of guilt for my actions? Regret? Listen here, spirit – I have worked hard and waited long to achieve my dreams of ruling this land.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to. Because I can. Because I wish to have my name known throughout history.”

“Not everyone can have that honour. Heroes sometimes don’t get it…”

Not-Vinyl turned to stare at her as the torch went out.

“And neither do villains. Sometimes, we just run out of time before that happens.”

Nightmare Moon snorted. “The only way I’ll die is if someone kills me, and that is…” She paused, trailed off as something flaked off Not-Vinyl’s muzzle and floated to the floor. “You’re… What’s happening to you?”

Not-Vinyl lowered her head in a way that made her shades fall off. Her sockets were black and empty.

“Answer me, spirit!”

Not-Vinyl tipped, teetered to the side like a falling tree…

And burst into ash when she hit the ground, leaving only the bronze torch to roll away until it, too, rusted away.

Nightmare Moon stepped back, unsure what to do now. She still wasn’t in the real world? Was this some sort of trap after all? Had she been so foolish as to fall into a dream concocted by Luna? Was this her way to keep her trapped until…

Wait.

Nightmare Moon stared straight ahead. She puffed her wings up and lit her horn.

The two spirits from before had appeared when she wasn’t looking.

But this one was always there; she just hadn’t been looking hard enough.

Wrapped in swirling, inky shadows, the towering figure loomed ominously, matching her gaze. Its proportions were eerie but not unfamiliar.

As if she could forget the shape of that glaive it carried in one hand.

“So, you are the one to represent, what? The Spirit of Hearths-warming Eve’s future? Of the Hearths-warming Eve Yet to Come? What a foolish choice to use my enemy as an avatar to make me see the error of my ways.”

Caed slowly lifted his free hand and pointed to the side.

Nightmare Moon looked-

-and saw Canterlot Castle reduced to burning rubble.

She grimaced, got over the shock of being displaced, and glared at Caed once more. “Do you intend to frighten me, spirit? I have seen greater horrors than a ruined landmark.”

Caed turned his head in the direction he was pointing.

Nightmare Moon looked again, and this time, saw two figures standing before the wreckage.

“We can rebuild it, sister,” Luna said. “We can rebuild all of it.”

Celestia hung her head and sighed. “We cannot reclaim the lives we have lost. I’ve seen so many pass, but it still stings.”

“Will you be alright?”

“I’ve had a thousand years to learn to mourn, cry, and move on,” Celestia took a deep breath and turned to her sibling with a smile. She stretched out her wing and hugged Luna, who returned it readily. “I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.”

For a while, they said nothing, just continued looking at the rubble. Finally, Luna turned her head back to her sister.

“Are you worried the humans will continue to be a threat?”

“Maybe. They got what they came for; they’re probably preparing to move to that island, if they haven’t already. It seems foolish to try to seek them out for vengeance,” Celestia’s eyes hardened. “And with Nightmare Moon gone, we can focus on preparations for when – if – the humans make contact again.”

And with that, the two sisters crumbled to ash.

“This…” Nightmare Moon licked her lips before turning back to Caed. “You think this will sway me? Visions of my death? Or, perhaps they’re just illusions?”

Caed moved forwards. Or, more precisely, he slid forwards without moving a muscle.

His intention was clearly hostile, and Nightmare Moon would not quiver like a frightened filly. She was not defenceless!

She lit her horn and-

Caed dug his fingers into her skull-

-and pushed her to the right.

A shove; nothing that inflicted injury, but even with her strength, she could not resist it.

She stumbled, lost concentration, and saw a lone gravestone standing in the middle of a field. Its face was covered in moss, hiding the epitaph.

Caed stood beside it. He reached down and placed his hand on the face.

“Oh, enough of this!” Nightmare Moon spread her wings, black as night, and tendrils of sparking magic leaked from her horn. “I’ve entertained your kind for far too long! Whatever magic you use to bring me these illusions will end now! Go and swipe that headstone clear – show me my name and see how little I c-”

Caed swiped away the moss.

There was no epitaph. It was blank.

Nightmare Moon faltered, confused then angry. “What…? What is this supposed to mean?”

“You will die.”

The shadows wrapping Caed began to recede.

“There will be nothing to bury.”

Caed was… wrong. His face was grey as stone, dry, covered in bloody crevices; one eye was black like volcanic glass while the other was burning red and jittering around wildly.

“You will exist in memory as one who fought against the humans and failed. Eventually, those memories will fade, and you will be forgotten. Not because you are evil. Not because you failed in your task. No one will remember you because in the grand scope of the universe, you, along with countless others that will, did, and do exist… are insignificant.”

Ice stole Nightmare Moon’s breath away. The spirit was trying to make her see the error of her ways by frightening her, but it wasn’t working! The thought of fading and being forgotten wasn’t… it didn’t frighten her!

“Cease this pathetic charade.”

“You believe Caed to be significant? He is a fool. A fool trying to save his people, but a fool nonetheless. So eager to be a martyr. So eager to uphold the ideals of a chivalrous practise that was romanticised to a point where it has become meaningless. And like a fool, his actions will eventually be forgotten. He will die. His memory will fade. He will return to nothing, and the universe will carry on.”

Nightmare Moon shot a volley of icicles that simply phased through the spirit’s body.

“You give weight to his quest, so that you can think that what you do is significant. You yearn for that, don’t you? Something significant for others to remember you when you die. Deep down, you know that it’s pointless.”

Nightmare Moon snarled and tried to fly away to break through some invisible barrier, but no matter how hard she flapped, the distance between her and the spirit remained fixed.

“I am not the Spirit of Hearths-warming Eve’s future. I am not the Spirit of Hearths-warming Eve Yet to Come.”

“Wh-what are you, then?” Nightmare Moon roared, diving towards the spirit, only to pass through and hit the dirt.

“I am Inevitability. I am Certainty. I am Oblivion.”

She got back up, turned, and saw the spirit reach for her face.

“I am Your Future.”

Nightmare Moon jolted awake and lashed out blindly.

She hit something solid and heard it cry out; loud at first, then quieter as it flew across the room and smashed into the wall, sticking there like a persistent fly.

"Wah! She's gonna kill us, yeah?!"

Nightmare Moon blinked rapidly and realized she was on the floor, tangled in her sheets. Fortunately, in her own quarters. Her Praetorian Guard - sans Lightning Dust, who was twitching as she fell out of the imprint in the wall, and Fade, who was flying furiously in place like a hummingbird as his sister kept him from escaping by holding his tail - were gathered around her, but at a respectable distance.

A 'stay out of the punching zone' sort-of reach.

"What...?" Nightmare Moon ripped her sheets as she stood up and flexed her muscles against them. She glanced around, feeling scattered and strangely unsure. "What are you all doing in here?"

"W-we heard you sh-shouting," Ebony trembled as she spoke, glancing to Veil, who was staying farther back than most. "Well... in our minds, I mean. We thought you were in trouble."

"Indeed." Haze cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Thought the humans showed up again." Veil murmured.

"Mm." Miasma grunted, then flicked her hoof and slammed her brother onto the floor.

"Trouble?" Nightmare Moon echoed. "I don't think I am," She couldn't continue like this: she needed to get her thoughts in order. Baby steps. "I went to bed. I slept. I... had a dream?"

"A dream?" Haze's eyes sharpened. "Did Luna accost you in the dreamscape?"

"No... I don't believe it was Luna. It felt..." She couldn't remember, which was incredibly annoying, but there was an inexplicable feeling in her chest. She felt... enlightened, somehow. Not in a good way, but neither in a bad way. Something had been made clear to her, but she couldn't remember what. "Unfamiliar."

Her gaze just so happened to pass over the balcony and she saw the snow falling outside.

"You there, boy!" She pointed at Haze, and he recoiled like she was reaching for his heart. "What day is it?"

"Hearths-Warming Eve? Beg your pardon, Empress, but why did you refer to me as 'boy'?"

Nightmare Moon wasn't sure herself. She didn't know what had transpired while she slept, but she had an irresistable desire that would not be denied. Perhaps being so suddenly awoken was affecting her mind, but she found that she quite liked the idea of fulfilling this newfound desire.

"My loyal soldiers," Remembering that her appearance was synonymous with a mix of thinly-vieled violence, cold rage, and intimidating awe, Nightmare Moon puffed out her chest and narrowed her eyes. "There is a task that we must complete before the day ends. Miasma - pick your brother up. Veil - go see if Lightning Dust is alive. The rest of you - go forth and gather all necessary materials to hold a banquet fit for the entire city! I believe that I have finally discovered what Hearths-warming Eve is truly about!"

"Wolf..." Vinyl turned her head, shades absent, as she picked at her full plate. "Not that I don't appreciate this and stuff... but this seems like a lot of food for eleven ponies."

'Eleven ponies... eleven ponies... eleven ponies...' Vinyl's voice bounced off the cavernous walls of the banquet hall.

The table, easily as long as a mature dragon, was groaning beneath the weight of a hundred exotic and homeland dishes alike... which just emphasized how woefully empty the table was with the Praetorian Guard, Nightmare Moon, Vinyl, Octavia, Fancypants, and Fleur barely filling one end. Even with a giant timber wolf gnawing on a sap-covered log in the corner.

"I did this to celebrate Hearths-warming Eve with those I hold in high regard!" Nightmare Moon slammed her hoof on the table and almost flipped the whole thing over. "You will enjoy my act of charity and goodwill, or suffer greatly!"

"Oh my..." Fancypants swayed, his complexion green as he tried to force a forkful of pie into his mouth. "I believe I am going to burst."

Octavia signed that she was literally going to die.

Fleur was spread out on the table, writhing in the carcass of a large chocolate cake with an inspiring lack of shame. "Mm, feed me, Fancypants! Feed me now!"

The Praetorian Guard sans Lightning Dust were miserably eating their portions.

Lightning Dust was still unconscious.

Vinyl's cheeks puffed out, but she managed to turn the gag into a modest burp and placed her fork down. "Wolf, what the hell's gotten into you? Like, seriously?"

"I don't know what has come over me," Nightmare Moon admitted as she sank back into her chair. "I don't feel right, but believe me when I say that I..." She paused, grimaced. "'Like' having you all here. It is nice to see concrete proof that my actions have affected others, whether they were positive... or negative. It is nice to see that I will be remembered."

Vinyl raised her eyebrows. "You going somewhere, Wolf?"

"... I..." Nightmare Moon blinked. "No. I don't believe I am. I merely meant... Never mind. For now, let us concentrate on this feast."

"Wolf-"

"I'm serious about making you all suffer."

"Damn it."

How does a demon, spirit, living force of nature,
And a creature, born in the untamed land of Zebrica, strife with unrest,
Greed,
And frustration, end up being the ruler of a nation?

The entity, born without a mother and father,
Got a lot farther by being a lot smarter,
By being a self-starter,
She learned, and she observed while her brethren were going under.

She didn’t have the strength to interact with the world around her,
Nor the strength to possess the zebras unless they allowed her,
But inside, something crackled and burned like a raging fire,
Her will shan’t be denied, she will quench her desire.

Then a witch doctor came, and set her heart aflame,
The spirit saw a way to get her fortune and fame,
She spoke honeyed words and got into his brain,
The witch doctor was slain, but her future was hers to claim.

Well, the word got around, they said, “This thing must be slain”,
And they formed a truce to kill her, their goals were the same,
Hunted her down and drove her from the mainland,
But she vowed that the world would know her name,

“What’s your name, Wolf?”

“I am Empress Nightmare Moon. I am Empress Nightmare Moon.
“And I will not rest ‘til my desire is quenched,
“So just you wait, just you wait…”

She travelled across the sea, bore its fury, ‘till she could see,
The land of the griffons, no deserts but mountains and trees,
Found a village, found a griffon, then slipped in, slick.

But the griffon went and refused her, so that griffon went quick.

She travelled the countryside, then eventually went worldwide,
Possessing those who trusted her and tossing them all aside,
Never satisfied,
Something inside whispered, ‘You must get your name known.’

Nothing could fill the void inside her, nothing that she owned.

Her desire drove her every action, she would not be distracted,
Money, power, subjects, land – all forced beneath her as one faction,
She started workin’, tamperin’ the minds of war lords,
Taking wealth and land by force just to add it to her own hoard,
‘Till came word of a new land she had never seen before,
Plannin’ for the future, see her now as she schemes and festers in the mind of a princess ruling over the new land,
Beware Equestria, you will know her name.

Beware Equestria, you will know her name, (Just you wait)
Beware Equestria, you will know her name, (Just you wait)
Beware Equestria, you will know her name, (Just you wait)
Beware (beware) Equestria!!

“Just you wait.”

Oh, Empress Nightmare Moon! (Empress Nightmare Moon)

We are waiting for the play you’ll make! (Waiting for the play you’ll make)

You refuse to back down,
You see no other way but foooooorwaaard!

Oh, Empress Nightmare Moon! (Empress Nightmare Moon)

Will Equestria sing for you?
Will they remember your anger and hate?
Or will they remember how you took charge of your fate?

(Ooohhh)

The world will never be the same. (Ooohhh)

You started weak, you started from the bottom,
Did you ever imagine that this is what your ambition would of gotten?

“We, fought with her.”

“Me, I trusted her.”

“Me, I hated her.”

“Me, I cursed her.”

“And me? Well, I’m the crazy pony that became her friend.”

There’s a million things you haven’t claimed… but just you waaaaaiiit!

“What’s your name, Wolf?”

I am Empress Nightmare Moon!

Author's Notes:

Note 1: Don't mind the inconsistencies; it's been a crazy Christmas for me.