A year passed since the betrayal. Nightmare Moon stood near the Great Tree, silent and mourning the loss of her wings. She hadn't heard any news about the cruel king, yet... the forest was dark and fearsome as usual. Some creatures, however, grew comfortable around her. The others were still afraid of her wrath and her cruelty. They began to wonder whether Nightmare Moon overthrew Celestia out of jealousy and envy, or whether she banished her to a distant prison. Some creatures mourned the loss of Celestia, and would shun Nightmare whether the dark alicorn tried to communicate.

At the castle in Canterlot, there was a hype about a newborn. The three small Breezies entered the throne room, clumsily trying to keep their balance in the air. "We would like to take shelter here. There is so much darkness in the Everfree," Apple Bloom offered. "Give us a place to reside."

"Yeah. The forest became dreadful, and the ground was so damp. Everything over there reeked of death and despair," Sweetie Belle complained.

"We also want to hide from the dreadful Nightmare Moon," Scootaloo added in.

Sombra listened as they spoke. "Alright," He grumbled. "Just don't act foolish."

"We won't, I promise," Apple Bloom swore.

"Nice to meet you, Your Royalnesses," Sweetie Belle squeaked as she curtsied.

Their wings buzzed as they hovered to the bassinet. "Aww, look," Apple Bloom crooned. "How cute!"

"I love babies!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

"Same," Scootaloo replied.

"She has the most adorable nose that I've ever seen! She is cooing at us, which makes her all the more adorable and charming!" Apple Bloom blurted out as she patted the infant's nose.

"We will give gifts to her during the christening," Sweetie Belle offered.

"Thank you," Cadence replied in the kindest voice possible. "You may remain here with us."

They didn't realize that Owlowiscious watched them from a window. Owlowiscious flew away from the window, and returned to the Everfree Forest. He didn't want his mistress to do something desperate or cruel; Nightmare Moon had been scary enough already. As soon as he returned to his mistress, Nightmare waited impatiently as she sat upon her black throne. "Well?" She hummed. "What is it?" She transformed the owl into a stallion once again.

"There's nothing," Owlowiscious replied. "The king and queen has had a... foal."

"What?" Nightmare gasped, shocked. She couldn't believe that Sombra had a foal with the queen! The foal would never achieve a pair of powerful wings or a pair of luminous cerulean eyes.

Jealousy grew in her heart. She clenched her teeth as Owlowiscious continued to speak. "There will be a christening," He said.

"A celebration for a foal..." Nightmare muttered. "How wonderful." She grinned darkly as she narrowed her eyes.

Nightmare Moon and Owlowiscious traveled to Canterlot Castle, and snuck into a throne room as they watched the three Breezies granting the gifts to the infant. She assumed that the crowd thought of them as adorable and benevolent, simply because of a ridiculous tale that involved a sleeping princess who pricked her hoof on the spindle of a spinning wheel. She scowled as she watched the royal couple. As she glanced at the queen, jealousy grew in her heart, and so did lividness and hatred. She realized that Cadence wore a necklace with jewels that were stolen from the Pool of Jewels.

How dare Sombra trick Nightmare Moon on that day! How dare he do that... he was so evil that he committed horrible acts against the world. Nightmare cringed as the Breezies granted the blessings to the infant.

"I give you the gift of beauty," Apple Bloom spoke.

"May you never be blue," Sweetie Belle added in.

"Sweet Twilight Sparkle, I wish you-" Scootaloo started.

Twilight Sparkle? Nightmare Moon was impressed, but suppressed the positive feeling of being impressed. The name reminded her of the evening, her favorite time of night, where the moon rose into the sky, and where the beautiful lights disappeared from the sky. She thought about a sky with a lavender ribbon and the darkening blue center of the sky. She also thought about the first few stars sparkling as they appeared in the sky. Enough was enough with name meanings, Nightmare reminded herself.

This wasn't the time to be impressed by the spawn of her enemy, but the time to get back at Sombra for robbing her of her flight. Finally, the dark alicorn couldn't take it anymore. Her jealous rage inspired her to crash the party! She stormed towards Sombra, and stood still as the breeze shot throughout the room.

"Well, well..." Nightmare started as she looked to the fearful crowd, and then to the shaking queen.

Cadence was frightened by the alicorn's sudden appearance. She had heard tales of this terrible alicorn, and this one fitted the description quite well; cruel, baleful, and vicious.

"King Sombra, look at your glittering assemblage. Royalty, nobility, the gentry, and the peasantry... even the rabble. How quaint," Nightmare continued as she cackled darkly.

"You're not welcome here," Sombra retorted as he gave her a curt nod.

"I feel quite distressed in not receiving an invitation," Nightmare retorted sarcastically as she turned away. She faked a sob before cackling at the onlookers. "Oh, dear... what an awkward situation..."

"You're not offended, Your Grace?" Cadence intervened, uncomfortable in the dark alicorn's presence.

"No, I am not offended," Nightmare returned as she turned around to face the rulers. "To show you that I bear no ill will, I, too shall bestow a gift upon the princess..." She gave them a malicious grin as she strode to the bassinet.

"We don't want your gift," Sombra shouted with worry as he shot up.

Nightmare looked at Twilight, and reminded herself not to grin. Suddenly, the three Breezies rammed into her face. She swiped them away with full force. "Gnats," She taunted before continuing.

A dark violet aura surged from her black horn and into the infant. "Listen well, all of you!" Nightmare Moon echoed eerily. "The princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, beloved by all she meets!"

"That's a nice gift," Cadence spoke uneasily as she shuddered with fear.

Nightmare Moon whirled around to face the rulers. "But, before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her hoof on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a death-like sleep! A sleep from where she may never awaken," She hollered as she gave Sombra an intense glare.

"Please don't do it... I'm begging you," Sombra implored.

"I like you begging. Do it again, you mangy mutt," Nightmare taunted.

"I beg you..." Sombra bowed his head curtly.

"The princess can be awakened from her death sleep..." Nightmare continued. "But, only by... true love's kiss!" Her last three words sounded cruel and ominous. It was obvious that she wanted the filly to die.

She turned to the crowd, and prepared to curse the kingdom. "The curse shall last till the end of time! No power on Earth can change it!" Nightmare Moon bellowed before cackling and trotting away.

Then, Sombra demanded his stallions to kill the alicorn. However, Nightmare Moon escaped death and returned to the Everfree Forest. She decided to build walls of her own... the Wall of Thorns! She watched as the thorns grew huge, wide, and tall. The thorns twisted and thrashed about as they continued to grow. They became as rigid, and the thorns were as black as night. It wasn't a pretty sight to behold, but this would be a perfect way to defend the Everfree Forest.

Sombra entrusted the safety of his daughter to the magic of the three Breezies, and told them to take her to a hidden cottage in the woods. The trio carried the crib away from the castle, and they labored all night until they reached a cottage.

"I can't believe that sweet little Luna turned into a big, fat meanie!" Apple Bloom bemoaned.

"I know! Nightmare Moon cursed the adorable little princess to die on her sixteenth birthday!" Sweetie Belle chimed in.

"Luna was the worst alicorn in the world, I swear!" Scootaloo complained.

"Of course!"

The trio carried the crib into the cottage, and accidentally dropped the crib. They transformed into pony-sized earth ponies, each one of them wearing a dress that was their favorite colors. Apple Bloom wore a red peasant dress, Sweetie Belle wore a blue peasant dress, and Scootaloo wore a green peasant dress. Each dress had a messy, filthy apron. They each wore bonnets that failed to hide their messy manes.

Twilight started wailing, but the trio was too busy to notice her. They walked outside and frolicked in their dresses for several hours. She wailed even louder, which only alarmed Apple Bloom. She rushed into the cottage, and placed the filly into a wooden bassinet with a pale pink blanket.

"There you go, sweetie," She spoke with relief. "At least the meanie wouldn't find you here!" She kissed the filly's forehead before lounging upon a nearby sofa.

The kiss didn't work, and Twilight wailed louder than ever. Apple Bloom gasped with worry. She frowned as she approached the bassinet. "What is the matter?" She worried.

She thought that she smelled the odorous scent of excrement, but shook her head. Innocent princesses were never smelly. She assumed that Twilight was hungry, so she ran outside to collect some blueberries. She placed them into a pouch, and rushed back into the cottage. The whole place was filled with hollering and screaming, and she cringed for several seconds.

"Hungry baby, eat the berries!" Apple Bloom swiftly sang as she spilled the blueberries onto the filly's chest.

Lavender magic levitated the berries into the air and tossed them across the room. Twilight's cries now sounded livid and distressed. Apple Bloom gasped with horror, and only looked on for a moment. "Why are you crying so much? Is the curse taking effect already?" She murmured, but swiftly covered her mouth. She couldn't take back the words.

What if Twilight knew? Wait, she was too young to know anything, anyways. Apple Bloom denied her words, and returned outside, leaving the wailing filly alone. Twilight cried even louder as the night surrounded the land.

Nightmare Moon, though energized by the day's events, decided to walk to the cottage. She followed the nerve-wracking noise into the woods, and cringed as she saw a familiar figure in the window. The three irresponsible Breezies decided to slumber through the noise, which almost irritated Nightmare Moon.

"Those three fools are gonna leave her crying forever!" Nightmare complained with sheer rage.

Owlowiscious nodded in agreement. He wasn't as irked as Nightmare would be. Nightmare would easily be irked by the threesome's annoying antics. Owlowiscious didn't seem to mind the drama very much, even though the drama could wear him out.

With that, Nightmare stomped towards the window, and flung open the window. The cold night breeze entered the cottage, and she waited for the filly's reaction. However, the filly calmed as she looked into the fearsome alicorn's eyes. She gave her the most adorable smile, which made Nightmare growl in response. "It's so ugly, you could almost feel sorry for it," She muttered.

The filly cooed and giggled in response as Nightmare cringed. So, the alicorn rose her hoof, clenched her teeth, and snarled as aggressive as possible. The filly gasped for a moment before smiling once more.

Nightmare was irked even more by the filly's courage. "Brave, but also foolish," She commented. She narrowed her eyes as she thought about how the betrayal resulted in this ugly little brat.

"I loathe you, beastie!" She hollered with anger.

Twilight wailed, which made the alicorn smile with wickedness and cruelty. It worked! Nightmare Moon bursted into cruel, bitter laughter as she watched the filly cry even more. Suddenly, the filly stopped wailing, which caused Nightmare to pause. Twilight bursted into high-pitched laughter, which caused the alicorn to cringe even more.

"Oh," Nightmare breathed out. "She thinks it's funny whenever I laugh." Upon catching a whiff of the stench, she retched for a second.

"She needs her diaper changed," Nightmare acknowledged. "Owlowiscious, fetch a clean cloth that was somewhere in the cottage. Then, I will get rid of the dirty diaper."

They snuck through the door, careful not to create any noise as they approached the filly. Nightmare was careful not to snicker as she levitated the dirty diaper off the filly, and threw it out the window. She noticed the brown waste on the filly's bottom, and retched. "You need a bath," She whispered softly.

Spying a bucket near the sink, an idea came into the alicorn's mind. Surely, she would fill the bucket with water, as there was a well nearby. She levitated the bucket, strode out of the cottage, and approached the well. Then, she lowered the bucket down the well. The bucket scooped a huge amount of water. Nightmare then levitated the bucket up the well, and trotted into the cottage. She placed the bucket on the floor, and levitated Twilight into the water.

She used her magic to bathe the filly. When Twilight was clean, Nightmare Moon levitated her out of the water, and summoned a dry towel to dry the filly. As the alicorn placed the filly into the bassinet, she caught a glimpse of the filly's violet eyes. She almost thought about Celestia, but they barely resembled each other.

Just before Twilight could do anything, Nightmare blew the magical dust at her, which made the filly fall asleep this instant. "At sixteen, you will sleep forever," She remarked as she managed to sound cruel. Instead, the words sounded soft and almost worried. She chuckled at her vocal tone as a result.

That would mean one less pony to destroy the Everfree, correct? Nightmare levitated the bucket, trotted out of the cottage, and dumped the unclean water onto the ground. Surely, the stench would drive the trio insane. She snorted derisively as she imagined the scenario. She could write a little mystery note about Twilight sleepwalking and pooping on the yard, but the threesome would suspect something.

Owlowiscious flew out of the cottage as the door closed by itself. As Nightmare approached the window, she closed the window, and peered inside for a brief second. There was a clean diaper in place of the filthy one. Did Owlowiscious do this? If so, how?

"Rest well, filthy scum," Nightmare muttered before trotting to the Wall of Thorns.