In one of the less damaged halls of the Summer Palace, debris was cleared as was the pieces of furniture - anything that could make the coming lesson more difficult. Now the hall was bare save for the candles illuminating it. The moon shone brightly through the windows and the cracks, adding to the light. On the opposite sides of the hall, Nightmare Moon and Andromalius stood. After a good day's rest, the alicorn stood strongly, her mind clear, and her gaze sharp. She wore a ceremonial suit of armor: breastplate, helmet with neck protection, and hoofguards. Blue steel was polished to perfection, the bends of the armor were smooth, and the decorations had not a nick.

Andromalius was well-rested and ready to learn, as nervous as he was about the dark alicorn. Deep within her, another person was bound - Luna. She was imprisoned inside the body that no longer belonged to her, and the hell stallion knew nothing he could help her with. Nightmare Moon had grand plans, and despite being pushed to assist her, he remained unsure of the alliance or the truth of her words. After her speech about the world, he was moved to help her a great deal, but his reasoning for doing it was not yet solid. Unseen holes were there, and he subconsciously recognized them even without being able to reason himself to understand them. However, no matter what the thought now, a word once given couldn't be taken away without repercussions. He wasn't yet ready to stand against Nightmare Moon without suffering himself or threatening the life of Luna.

"Do not be fooled by the emptiness of the hall," Nightmare spoke, disrupting his thoughts, and her voice traveled easily across the hall, "Any sorcerer with even a little mind for creativity could use many objects to fight thee. Telekinesis is by far one of the more useful spells, as basic as it is."

She stomped on the ground, and a few tiles flew up, spinning around themselves and around the alicorn. Without much of a delay, she hurled one of them at the hell stallion. He was surprised for but a moment before he raised his shield, and the tile exploded in dust and shards upon impact. However, immediately after, another tile hit him behind the neck, disrupting his focus and removing his shield; at the same time, a second tile was hurled from where Nightmare Moon was standing and impacted him straight in the chest with force just a moment after the shield went down, knocking the wind out of him.

"There is not a place where telekinesis is useless," Nightmare Moon said, her voice steady and relaxed, watching as Andromalius recovered, "Aside from certain situations where magic of any kind was suppressed or otherwise blocked."

"I understand," he nodded, now standing back in position. His natural armor prevented him from feeling any pain, and not a scratch on it was left after the demonstration. Nightmare Moon noted it by letting her brows rise a little bit before her more neutral expression returned.

"Good. Now, tell me, what did I do to get to thee?" she inquired, looking him in the eyes.

"...You distracted me," Andromalius said after a moment of thinking, "I didn't hear the tiles from behind me rising. I thought I only needed to shield myself in front, not in the back."

"Very well," Nightmare Moon nodded simply, "Thou hast a grasp on basic logic. So, what is the lesson here?"

"Um... be prepared for anything?"

"Thou canst not be prepared for all things," she shook her head, "Possibilities are endless. Thou never knowest what kind of opponent or opponents thou'rt facing. Thou canst never prepare for all possibilities. I ask thee again - what is the lesson?"

Andromalius took his time to think, the gears in his mind turning. In this moment, he regretted not trying harder in school. He had simply trudged through it like many other students, never doing his best even when he could. At the end of school, his grades were unremarkable, average. Years of studying yielded him few good results. His affinity for computers, while important on Earth, had little use in the new world. There were, of course, skills he could've obtained to help himself even so far away from the world he knew, but he never bothered to learn them. Now, he couldn't afford ignoring the lessons, and he needed to put effort into them. His own life and the lives of others depended on it.

Nightmare Moon, at the beginning of the fight, distracted him by raising floor tiles where he could see them. Did she do it slowly on purpose? After all, what stopped her from simply hurling them right from the floor at him? He didn't know if he would be able to raise his shield in time then. Perhaps there was something else about it. She used those tiles as a distraction to make it easier to hit him from behind where he didn't expect anything. With his mind entirely focused on the front, and he wasn't aware of what was happening in the back.

Something clicked in his mind with a satisfying feeling. That was it. It was simple, a basic lesson in combat. He remembered now - he used it during his time playing Heroes of Might and Magic 5. Perhaps gaming wasn't simply an otherwise useless recreational activity for him.

"I need to be aware of things around me," he spoke, more or less confident in his claim.

"This is correct," Nightmare Moon nodded, "Awareness is what is important to have for a sorcerer or anyone in the battle. It may not prepare thee for everything, but it would give thee enough time to react to what is happening."

Her horn glowed, and Andromalius didn't have time to raise his shield when a tile flew at him from the front, impacting him in the chest once again. He grunted and staggered back, then finally rose his shield.

"Thou hast yet to learn this lesson," she smirked at him, "Let us continue."

Andromalius shook his head and then began taking the ready position. Another tile made an impact, this time with his side - the armored part of it - making him grunt.

"Enemy never waiteth," the alicorn said, "Again."

Before she completed the last word, two tiles flew at the hell stallion. This time he blocked the hits with his magical shields. More tiles were hurled.

"This is not a defense exercise," Nightmare Moon said, her voice relaxed, "Defeat me."

After making a hole in the shield, Andromalius sent a bolt of lightning at the dark alicorn, and she effortlessly redirected it by making a curved magical shield. The loud pop of electricity sounded somewhere behind her. The hell stallion moved forward, his eyes on her while he kept the surroundings in mind and in his peripheral vision. He heard a rumble from above and immediately jumped to the side. A piece of stone ceiling fell where he had just been, shattering into dust on impact. The floor was yanked from under his front legs, and he stumbled, his concentration faltering. In the moment after, pieces of stone and floor tiles impacted him from all sides, making him finally fall. Even then, Nightmare Moon gave him no rest, paltering him with small pieces of the hall.

With an effort, he willed the magical shield to surround him again, blocking the flying debris from reaching him. He made a few strained steps towards Nightmare Moon, and she stopped not for a single second, keeping on her assault. With a grunt, Andromalius lowered the shield for another attack, this time hurling raw magic at the alicorn. It whistled through the air, and she barely managed to jump aside to evade it. With an eardrum-shattering sound, the magic exploded behind her, and that part of the hall collapsed into rubble, making Nightmare Moon stumble forward and stop her assault on the hell stallion. He likewise stopped, staring at the pile of stones as the moon shone through a bus-sized hole in the ceiling. A few more pieces collapsed on the floor with a rumble, and the air became still.

"Thou... hast much power," Nightmare Moon said, glancing behind her, "Raw, unrefined power. Savage, destructive... unstable," she looked straight into his eyes, "Never use it lightly."

"I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to do, uh, this. I thought it would just reach you and maybe push you over. Not... destroy the hall."

"Raw magic is difficult to control," she nodded, "That is why we invented spells. Magic must be tamed, given form, lest it hurteth us. Perhaps the lesson I needst give thee is not of awareness, of battle tactics, but a basic lesson, one of control," she looked at the destruction again, "Very well, 'tis good I found out thy fundamental weakness, a piece of ignorance I must fill with knowledge. Luna perhaps would never find it on her own, and neither would thee..." she turned her eyes back at him, "Until 'tis too late."

Andromalius shuddered at the tone of her voice, and deep realization struck him. She was right, and his lack of control could lead to horrible things, those that wouldn't just demolish buildings but destroy and remove lives.

However, there was something he didn't fail to notice. When his multi-colored raw magic flew at Nightmare Moon, she flinched. Even now, despite her calm voice, her body language displayed tension, wariness. If he was willing to push his thoughts in a certain direction, maybe the dark alicorn displayed fear.

"I shall make certain thou art of no danger to thine allies and friends," she continued, and it was obvious where she wanted him to see her, "Let us continue, then. 'Twould require... a change of scenery."

Andromalius silently followed her out of the hall and through the ruined palace. He shivered at the dark thoughts inside his head - it would indeed be easy for him to hurt whom he didn't want. It was perhaps by pure luck that he hadn't done it yet. When he trained with Luna, he acted with restraint, following her exactly. During his escape, he focused on avoiding harm to his pursuers and bystanders. Nightmare Moon demanded more of him, demanded creativity and power. She wanted to push him to his limits, to force him to see where he stood and where he must stand. He was but a learner, and she was the master.

Now the two were outside in a large courtyard, a stream separating it in two. Overgrown, the walls crumbled around it as the wild retook what belonged to it so long ago.

"Control demands attention, focus," Nightmare Moon said, stopping near the stream, "When thou hast learned, there would be no difficulty for thee-" she used her magic to lift a good amount of water and form it into a thin, untrembling column right above her head, never stopping or pausing in her speech "-to have it regardless of situation."

Then the dark alicorn guided the column of liquid back to the stream and released it, making not a splash.

"Now 'tis thy turn, Andromalius," she declared, "I shan't distract thee yet. Thou shalt spend thy time here trying to replicate what I have done, alone," she turned around back to the palace proper, "Thou art free to return inside at any time, but the only one thou'rt cheating out of is thyself if thou thinkest thou can return before thou art ready."

And just like that, she left. The clip-clop of her hooves faded away, leaving the hell stallion alone in the overgrown courtyard. With a sigh, he readied his focus, steadied his mind, and begun. Water rose from the stream, trembling and glistening under the moonlight. Slowly it rose above his head, forming into an elongated S shape, far from the straight and steady column Nightmare Moon displayed.

For a couple of seconds, Andromalius thought everything was going to be alright. However, as he stood there motionlessly and silently, various thoughts invaded his head. First few were simple questions: when was it time for him to stop? How perfect should the captured water be? These seemingly innocent questions invited more thoughts: how long would it take him to perfect magic? What other lessons did Nightmare Moon have for him? His focus wavered, unsteady. He tried to keep the random thoughts out of his head, but even this effort was a thought in itself, taking away from the concentration of holding the water above his head.

He then realized – Nightmare Moon left him alone without distractions so that his own mind would distract him. He never noticed before how much buzz there was inside his head, how many thoughts were thought regularly. He was now acutely aware of them, of how they influenced the rest of his mind. The water bobbed and twitched above his head, reflecting his inner struggle.

He wished to drop it and go back inside the palace and do something else. However, he remembered Nightmare Moon's words – he would only make it worse for himself if he didn't learn this lesson.

Nightmare Moon walked through the Summer Palace, heading to its depths, far under the earth. Most of the underground acted as a storage for various things, most of which had gone bad in one way or another over the course of a thousand years. After Luna's Fall, Celestia couldn't bear to visit the palace anymore, dooming it to slow and dusty ruination. Yet, many things remained to this day, including tomes of power. One such thing was what the dark alicorn needed to rise again, stronger.

The ancient corridors basked in the bluish glow of her horn as Nightmare Moon descended to the lowest level of the Summer Palace. An old oak door stood in her path, yet the hard wood was not the only thing denying her the tome - defensive wards were cast on the door a long time ago, and only those with magical keys could open them. However, the chaos of the forest corrupted the wards, and many years of abandonment drained them of most of their magic. Perhaps they would fade away completely in another century, but Nightmare Moon didn't have such time. Thankfully for her, she was also in the possession of the key - a spell still present in the memories of Luna. No matter how hard the princess could protest, Nightmare Moon was in control now.

The dark alicorn touched the door with her horn, and it lit up in a sequence of colors. After half a minute, she finished the spell, and the door silently opened before her. A plain room, all white plaster, revealed itself. It looked unremarkable, nothing like what a storage of ancient knowledge was supposed to look like. There were but a few wooden bookcases lacking any decoration. The plain wooden shelves stored many books, although it was a far cry from the Canterlot Archive. However, even the relatively few books this room had were abundant with knowledge. However, only one tome of power interested her, and it lay upon a pedestal in the center of the room. She walked to it and looked at the tome, and its title was one simple yet powerful word.

Ascension.

Nightmare Moon's eyes shone as she looked upon the ancient tome, knowing how much power was within. A ritual described there took exactly seven hundred pages, which described a seven-day preparation and seven-hour spell to complete the ritual. It was a long and arduous process requiring magnitudes of effort, will, and focus, and it would fail anyone but the most determined and resourceful. Some time ago, both Celestia and Luna considered it next to impossible. Now, however, with the arrival of Andromalius from a different world, the ancient tome was proven to be truthful of its claims.

Nightmare Moon regarded Ascension for a long moment. Tentatively, she opened the first page and began reading; she would need to refresh her memory before she could begin preparations.

The tome consisted of fourteen chapters: seven about the preparations, and seven for the spell. Every chapter was written in an ancient language said to be the language of the Spirits – powerful beings who shaped the world after its creation. It was believed this tome captured words from all the Six Spirits: Order, Chaos, Magic, Life, Death, and Creation. Perhaps it would never be possible for one to become a Spirit and stand among the Six, they could still get power rivaling alicornhood. The tome was sought after for millennia, and the Pony Sisters decided it was best kept under lock and key until such time as there was no other option than to use it. After all, great power was never achieved without a price, and Ascension had yet to reveal what would be taken away for what was offered.

With those warnings in mind, Nightmare Moon continued on reading. She believed herself ready for the responsibility, convinced it was the best she could do. Perhaps there were safer options, but they required decades upon decades of studying and training, and they would not bring her anywhere near close what Ascension offered. The world didn't wait, the suffering continued, and the Tyranny of the Sun reigned supreme. Enemies of Equestria were on the move, and Nightmare Moon couldn't afford to let them act so freely anymore.

For around an hour, she read, changing the page every other minute. The preparations seemed simple enough, although there was one thing that seemed impossible, one thing that made everyone who ever obtained Ascension scratch their heads in confusion. However, now the dark alicorn was certain – it was possible.

One thing left was to train Andromalius for this task, for it was he alone who could complete it. His nature would allow him to travel where Nightmare Moon could not, and if all went well, he would obtain what was required for the ritual. It was simply a matter of skill and power, and he certainly had the latter. The only thing he required was guidance, and Nightmare Moon would gladly provide it to him.

For it was in her best interests to do so.