"You haven't touched your tea."
"I'm sorry. I've been…spending a lot of time inside my own head lately. Just…woolgathering, I guess."
"You know, I've met some sheep who would appreciate the gesture, even if they thought you a little silly."
"I…what?"
"Ah, there you are again. You were a million miles away."
"How could you tell? Even I didn't realize it, I thought I was...you know, here."
"Live long enough, and you'll find that those dear to you are often as easy to read as a favorite book. And you've always been a particularly open book."
"Ugh, I know. Why didn't you tell me Luna was such a card shark? Our last poker night was a disaster for my poor bit bag. I couldn't read her to save my life!"
"Or hers, perhaps?"
"…I am obvious, aren't I?"
"As I said: dear ones are the easiest. Oh, don't blush. Why don't you tell me why you're really here?"
"Even if you already know?"
"Especially then."
"…it's Luna. Or… her alternate self. I can see the thread connecting her to our Luna. I can see how one might become the other—in either direction—and that's why it's so hard. The other Luna practically wears her heart on her mane. I can see how lonely she is, but I still have to play this…this role, to even get close."
"Hmm. The only advice I can think to offer is this: remember that you cannot control the actions of others, only how you respond to them. All you can do is your best."
"I guess you've got some experience there, huh? How do you keep from agonizing over everything like this?
…Celestia?"
The queen stood on the balcony outside her bedchamber and stared at nothing. Hovering beside her, held absentmindedly in her telekinetic grip, was an unrolled scroll. A gentle late winter's breeze swept over the balcony, ruffling her coat, and causing the scroll to flutter slightly. Behind her, the Prench doors leading into the bedchamber were thrown wide, the curtains behind them billowing lazily. Her flowing mane and tail twinkled gently in the wan moonlight cast by the currently-crescent moon. She had one foreleg lightly resting on the balcony's balustrade, the heel of her hoof quietly tapping out an arrhythmic beat.
She brought the scroll around to eye level and spent several long seconds staring it down.
Her resolve had failed her, up on the moon. She had stood there, horn lit, staring at the scroll, flakes of frost still drifting off her coat. She had attempted to tell herself that any attempt to speak with her sister would only invite trouble. That Twilight Sparkle was manipulating her to some devious end. That leaving the scroll intact was a terrible mistake. She had lit her horn and narrowed her eyes at the papery offender, and prepared to engulf it in magical flames, to leave its ashes scattered and anonymous amongst the dust of the moon forevermore.
Then doubt had crept in.
Surely there was no harm in merely looking at it. If there was even a whiff of mischief about the instructions included within, she could dispose of it, and be rid of it forever. And if it was what Twilight Sparkle claimed and nothing more...well, it would behoove her to keep such a thing and save herself the labor of devising a similar spell. It was not impossible that she might desire information from her sister at some future date, after all. And so, and so.
And now, here she stood, staring at that selfsame scroll. She had inspected it from top to bottom, and found nothing amiss. She'd submitted a modified version that omitted the segment of dream magic to her court coven for examination. Their conclusion had been interest, and confusion; a spell designed to link two places separated by space, and out of dimensional phase with one another. Upon turning in the coven's analysis, the archwitch had told her that there appeared to be a piece missing—as written, the spell would do nothing. Nightmare Moon had said nothing in response, and the archwitch had wisely dropped the line of inquiry.
Nightmare sighed, noting that she had been doing so quite frequently of late. She repressed the urge to sigh again at the realization and reentered her bedchamber. A flicker of thought closed the doors behind her, stilling the gossamer curtains. She moved to her desk and set the unrolled scroll down atop it. With a further thought, a burst of teal light locked all the room's doors and windows, both physically and magically.
It would not do to have her subjects witness this.
Without further ceremony, she began casting the spell from the scroll. First, the space-warping component; the portal spell. Nightmare began, weaving magical matrices together, a flurry of teal sparks escaping from her horn to form a swirling, oval plane of magic centered at eye level. The oval of magic remained hovering in the air, self-sustaining for now. Next, the dimensional phase shift, which would allow her to communicate with things just a step sideways out of reality. The disc of magic rippled, grew hazy and indistinct, and began shifting between a riotous rainbow of colors. Finally, the dream magic component, the one she had kept from the witches of the royal coven. While imprisoned, her sister was in what could be broadly described as a semi-conscious state. As such, dream magic was well suited to establishing contact with her. What troubled Nightmare was that not only had Twilight Sparkle known to use dream magic at all, but that she was proficient enough to craft a spell that used it. Nightmare had been under the impression she was the only spellcaster aware of, or even capable of using, dream magic. Twilight Sparkle's knowledge of it meant that her claims of camaraderie with an alternate version of Nightmare were plausible. Before, Nightmare had been able to ignore that part of Twilight Sparkle's tale, but with this reminder before her, it grew troublingly difficult.
Banishing those thoughts from her mind, the color of Nightmare's horn glow shifted to a deep blue as she cast the final part of the spell, careful to focus upon thoughts of her sister. The surface of the portal rippled one last time and flashed white as the connection was established. The white slowly faded and began to resolve into recognizable shapes.
And then, there she was.
Her sister, laying on her side, her many-hued mane and tail gently flowing. She faced away from the open portal. Her breathing was still visibly labored, marred with tiny hitches at the end of each inhale and exhale. It was a familiar sight now; she had used the communication spell several times since acquiring it from Twilight Sparkle. Truthfully, she no longer needed the scroll, but having it close at hoof felt safer, somehow. However, each time she opened the connection to her sister, she had just watched.
This is what victory feels like, she thought.
Her sister's shoulders gave another shuddering hitch as she inhaled.
To see your enemies lying before you, beaten and broken.
Celestia curled in against herself, and the flowing of her mane and tail slowed.
So why did you never try to do this before? Some traitorous part of herself whispered.
Then, one of her sister's ears twitched, and she began to turn. Nightmare gasped and cut the connection. The magical window blinked out of existence, shedding a few stray wisps of magic as it dissipated. She spent a long minute staring at the blank stone wall behind her desk, face burning and feeling foalish. Her behavior was ridiculous. She was acting like a little filly who'd been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar.
She sighed—again—and removed the spells sealing the room before reopening one of the doors to the balcony. The gentle breeze would be welcome later. She threw open the door leading out to the hall perhaps a touch more forcefully than was strictly necessary and strode out. She needed to think, and she had been spending entirely too much time locked away inside lately. Perhaps a stroll about the castle's halls would help clear her mind. Court was done for the night, and she had no further obligations until tomorrow night. This month's Days of Sun weren't scheduled until next week, so all she had to do until then was keep the moon marching across the sky like cosmological clockwork.
She entered the throne room and turned into an adjoining hallway. Halfway down the hall, the right wall turned into an open arcade that led to a courtyard paved with flagstones. Here, the Night Guard was drilling. Some were practicing formation fighting, others practicing individually. Pegasi flew in careful formation above, while, at one end, unicorns practiced sharpshooting against distant target dummies. Sergeants barked orders, while their subordinates huffed, puffed, and suffered.
The far end of the courtyard was backed by a series of offices, linked to the training courtyard by a short portico. Standing at the edge of the courtyard in front of her open office door was Nightmare's captain of the Night Guard. She was watching a four-pony squadron practice formation flying maneuvers under the watchful eyes of a flight sergeant. Nightmare joined the captain, and spent a moment watching as well.
"That's the newest cohort," Nightmare remarked after a moment. "An impressive performance."
"Nahh," the captain grunted noncommittally, waggling a hoof. "That was decent, but I think Misty Fly is the better lead pony. Gust Strike was sloppy bringing them in for the landing." Nightmare remained silent and allowed herself a tiny smirk while she waited for the bit to drop. Sure enough, after a moment, the captain's eyes widened fractionally, and she spun to face Nightmare before erupting into a textbook-perfect salute. "Your majesty! I didn't realize it was you, ma'am!"
"At ease, Captain Rainbow Dash. This is not a formal visit. I… ", the words find myself ill at ease this night, danced along the tip of her tongue, before retreating again. Queens were not permitted the luxury of confessing their troubles to their subjects. "...wished to inquire about progress into the Guard's current investigation," she finished.
Rainbow Dash relaxed from her salute and allowed her face to twist into a small frown. "Still air for now, ma'am. We've got a Shadowbolt scout squad heading for the Badlands. Their last report was yesterday, and we expect them to be out of range for the next few days. No sign of anything yet, but don't worry ma'am. If there's anything to find, they're the ponies who'll do it!"
The corner of Nightmare's mouth twitched into something that was almost a smile for a brief moment. The captain's enthusiasm was a welcome reprieve from her own dour mood. The pair lapsed into silence as they resumed watching the pegasus squadron's training.
Eventually, it was Rainbow Dash who broke the silence. "Uh, ma'am, I hate to ask, but there was one more thing."
Nightmare watched as the sweaty pegasus squadron completed their exercise, and all four members dropped to the ground, gasping. "Speak, captain."
Rainbow Dash grimaced slightly. "It's about our prisoner down in the dungeons. We've run him through the interrogation process, and you know how the guards get to talking with the prisoners sometimes, right? Well... it's just that, ah, there are some members of the guard that would be... uncomfortable... going the ah, usual route for this one."
Nightmare raised a single eyebrow. "Captain, are you implying that members of my guard are questioning my judgment in the execution of an assassin?"
Rainbow Dash flinched at the word 'execution'. "No ma'am, not questioning. Just..." she paused, trailing off. She sighed and continued, "A lot of ponies in the guard joined up to try to do some good. Axing this guy would feel... wrong."
Nightmare stared out at the training ground and ruffled her wings thoughtfully. "What is it, captain, that makes our erstwhile assassin so compelling that the guard cannot stomach his death? Is he, perhaps, charming? Goodhearted and kind perhaps? Simply handsome?"
To Nightmare's surprise, Rainbow Dash snickered. "Actually, no. He's kinda pathetic."
Nightmare blinked. That was not what she had expected. "Very well, captain, you've piqued my interest. Come, attend to me while I introduce myself properly to this polarizing prisoner of ours." Then, Nightmare turned and glided away on soft hoofsteps without waiting to see if Rainbow Dash followed.
Nightmare allowed herself a small, satisfied smirk at the squawk of surprise followed by wingbeats from behind her. Before long, she was joined by the blue pegasus, who hovered a respectful distance above and behind her.
As she wound her way back through the castle corridors and down into the darker, rough-hewn passages that made up the dungeons, she conversed with the captain. "Captain, elaborate on your earlier description. I find myself hard-pressed to imagine how any unicorn assassin that could slip the noose of our patrols the way he did might be described as 'pathetic'."
To her right, Rainbow Dash scratched at her forehead with a hoof. "Well, that's just the thing. He was able to do all that stuff, but when the unicorn guards went in on him, he was totally squishy. He goes down in one hit, no pain tolerance, no signs of magical or even physical training. Shoot, you could barely call what we did an interrogation. He started crying and said he'd tell us everything almost right out of the gate."
Nightmare blinked. "Truly? What technique did the interrogators use to provoke that response?"
Rainbow Dash coughed and looked away. "Uh. They told him they were going to start."
Nightmare thought for a moment, then sighed. "He has an accomplice, doesn't he," she said flatly.
Rainbow Dash grimaced. "Yeah, it's looking a lot like he was just the fall guy. It doesn't really make much sense though. Why send in some chump to do the dangerous job unless he's just a distraction? But what would he be distracting us from?" She spent a moment contemplating silently. "Maybe something to do with this Chrysalis we're looking into?"
Nightmare Moon grunted thoughtfully. "Possible. I will reserve judgment until after I speak with the prisoner. Speculation will yield us nothing until we have more information."
Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yes ma'am." The halls around the pair had grown dark, damp and windowless. The only illumination was provided by flickering torches, many of them guttering low in their brackets. Rainbow Dash nodded at the hall. "Prisoner's in the last cell, just around the corner."
Nightmare's ear flicked, and she froze, then held up a hoof, signaling Rainbow Dash to halt. Rainbow Dash eased herself to the floor with a silent fluttering of her wings.
There were voices coming from around the corner.
Nightmare lowered her head to Rainbow Dash's ear. "Are there any members of the Guard posted at the cell?"
Rainbow Dash shook her head slowly and stretched up to murmur back to Nightmare, "No. Only two ponies on shift this time of night. Met one at the desk on the way in. Other's patrol route keeps him away for at least ten more minutes."
Nightmare nodded. "Stay grounded, behind me," she murmured, and began creeping forward.
As she made her way forward, the indistinct sounds of conversation around the corner began to resolve into recognizable speech. With a grim sort of exasperation, she realized that she recognized one of the voices. Twilight Sparkle.
"…best if I don't. I can't be some equus ex machina. I need to fix my own mistakes and leave your timeline strong enough to stand on its own four hooves," she was saying.
Nightmare crept up to the corner and listened. An unfamiliar male voice responded. "But-but-but you're an alicorn! Like a real alicorn! You, you, you could fix everything! All of this! You could beat Nightmare Moon, you could free Celestia!" The voice had a desperate edge to it.
Rainbow Dash jerked her head around to stare at Nightmare at the word 'alicorn', but Nightmare ignored her. Instead, she took a breath, drew herself up, and casually stepped around the corner.
As Nightmare rounded the corner, Twilight Sparkle responded to the prisoner's question. "Maybe I could. But what happens when the next problem comes along? I won't be able to step in and save you then. Besides," she said, turning to glance at the approaching Nightmare. "I'm working a slightly different angle that I really hope ends up working."
Nightmare approached the other alicorn with her head held high. A droplet of molten metal slipped into Nightmare's belly as she stared Twilight Sparkle down again for the first time since her defeat up on the moon. There was an ugly knot of shiny red skin at the front of Twilight Sparkle's chest, still surrounded by blackened fur. "And I believe there is ample evidence that simply 'beating me' as you say would be no easy task," Nightmare said as she moved into view of the cell's occupant, nodding at Twilight Sparkle's wound. "And who is it that I have the pleasure of addressing?" She asked, turning to face the prisoner.
The unicorn stallion inside the cell gawped at her. He had a scruffy golden-yellow coat, matted and swirled after several days in a cell and away from a brush. He sported an untidy mop of orange hair, and a scruffy tuft of chin hair that could be called a beard by a more charitable soul. A single white stripe ran down the length of his muzzle, in stark contrast to the black and purple of his still-swollen left eye where the guards had been less than gentle.
"N-N-N-N-Nightmare Moon!" He squeaked, cowering away from the bars.
"I believe it's well established that that is my name," Nightmare responded, voice honey-sweet. "I was hoping for yours, however. I will allow you one more chance to answer. What. Is your name?"
"S-S-S-Sunburst! My name is Sunburst!" he managed.
"Oh, well done," she said, voice still cloyingly sweet. "Now, I imagine you know why I'm here. You tried to kill me, and that is something I take a dim view of. Especially when you consider that I am your rightful ruler, and your actions are unquestionably treasonous. You do not strike me as somepony who is practiced at assassination. What would drive a pony like you to such a thing?" As Nightmare spoke, Sunburst had begun trembling. At first, she had taken it for terror, but as his face contorted, she could see that instead, it was rage. Interesting.
"Treason?" He spat, stutter gone, eyes blazing. "Princess Celestia is our rightful ruler! You're a murderous monster that stole her throne!"
"My heart bleeds," Nightmare responded tonelessly, eyes lidded. "Where were you with the rest of the assassins when I took my throne?"
"I?! Wh…" Sunburst sputtered for a moment. "I was helping! Researching! You want to know why I'm here now? It's because I'm desperate, and Starlight won't, and Cadance and her foal can't… can't…" Sunburst trailed off, before taking a deep breath and collecting himself. He fixed Nightmare Moon with a steady gaze and continued, "I'm through letting you kill ponies. So, I got some help, and I thought maybe I had what it took to stop you but…" His face twisted with shame. "I guess I'm a failure at that too."
Rainbow Dash could take no more. She had been standing at the opposite wall of the hall behind Nightmare, but now she stomped up to the bars of Sunburst's cell. "You will show the proper respect to her majesty! The only ponies she's killed were those who tried to kill her first!"
Instead of backing down, Sunburst leveled his glare at Rainbow Dash. "Oh really?" He sneered. "When was the last time her majesty visited Canterlot? Or Las Pegasus? Do you know what her 'Sun Days'," he said, spitting the words, "do to ponies across Equestria?" Rainbow Dash's eyes had grown wide at the unexpected venom in Sunburst's voice, and she backed away a step as he continued. "I'll tell you: they kill them. It's a miracle we've held on this long!"
Nightmare was staring at Sunburst with a previously-absent intensity. "What are you talking about?" She demanded, all playfulness gone from her voice.
Sunburst rounded on her and seemed prepared to deliver a second round of invective. But he paused, and spent a moment staring into Nightmare's eyes, and then his rage visibly drained away. He sagged to the ground, staring at her in disbelief. "You don't know," he said, voice hollow. "You don't know!" He repeated, voice tinged with hysteria. "Because they're all too afraid! Oh, those spineless idiots." He let out a laugh now, a forlorn, lonely-sounding thing. "Of course! Of course." He sank all the way to the ground, where he stayed for several moments. Finally, he turned to Twilight Sparkle suddenly. "Twilight?" He said quietly.
Twilight Sparkle stirred, and Nightmare twitched. The younger alicorn had retreated from the conversation so completely, that Nightmare had forgotten her presence. "Yes, Sunburst?" She said, the epitome of serenity.
"I think I'd like to take that favor now," Sunburst said, sounding drained.
"Of course," she responded. "Wait for me, I shouldn't be long." And then, with a burst of magenta light, and the characteristic pop! of a teleport, Sunburst was gone.
Rainbow Dash bristled and stepped forward, wings flared and stance wide. "She's disabled the dungeon's teleportation wards! Give the word ma'am, and I'll take her down!"
Nightmare held Twilight Sparkle's gaze, and blocked Rainbow Dash's approach with an outstretched wing. "Hold, captain. Your eagerness does you credit, but you are overmatched." She stepped forward. "I have tolerated your presence thus far." Nightmare ignored Rainbow Dash's sudden glance. "Now, you are interfering with the justice of my realm. Explain yourself."
Twilight Sparkle looked away and stared into the now-emptied cell. "I've spent a few days exploring your Equestria. I realized that I needed to understand you better. And one thing that being a princess has taught me is that a kingdom reflects its leaders." Twilight Sparkle's gaze pierced Nightmare. "What I've seen has disappointed me. Sunburst told me about your 'Sun Days'. Seventy-two hours of brutal, punishing sunlight," she said. "Do you know how Sunburst, of all ponies, found the courage to risk his life?"
Nightmare said nothing.
"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza recruited him to her resistance when you came to power. Gave him a purpose, recognized his talents," Twilight Sparkle trailed off for several long moments, looking away again. "She's pregnant now. She was hospitalized after last month's Sun Days, and has been bedridden ever since," she continued calmly, as though discussing dinner. "due to a combination of malnutrition and stress. The doctors think she'll lose the foal with next week's Sun Days. "
A hollow pit of dread had begun gnawing at Nightmare's insides. This was wrong. She'd read all the reports. None of them had mentioned anything like this.
But you never verified them for yourself, did you? Whispered the voice of doubt.
And she hadn't. She had trusted the veracity of the reports submitted by her advisors. It didn't take much imagination to wonder why they might have been misleading. Sunburst's words came back to her: 'Because they're all too afraid!' She sucked in a thin breath. She took a step back and took another shallow breath. She couldn't breathe. There wasn't enough air down in the dungeons. Sudden vertigo hammered at her awareness, and the world spun around her. She clenched her eyes shut and tried to focus on breathing. She fell to her haunches, rear legs suddenly too weak to support her. Somewhere, at the other end of a long tunnel, she heard Twilight Sparkle speaking. Her words were distorted and liquid sounding, as though she were speaking through a film of water.
"Harvests have failed. The major cities stand at the brink of starvation. Your Sun Days endanger the young, the elderly and the pregnant every month. I…" she trailed off. "I expected better of you," she said, looking down.
The vertigo remained but was joined suddenly by a horrible, wrenching sensation. It was as though something had sunk claws into her insides and squeezed. With the pain came a hot flush of an old, familiar feeling: anger. She closed her eyes and grit her teeth and seized the feeling and allowed it to buoy her back up and onto all fours. She stalked forward slowly. "You do not rule here," she hissed. "You are an interloper, and I will no longer tolerate your interference," she said, as she finally stopped, nose-to-nose with the shorter alicorn. "This is my kingdom."
Twilight Sparkle's eyes narrowed. "Is that so? I thought you cared about Equestria. I thought that there was no way you could rule for years without caring, without possessing some capacity for administration and delegation. I guess I was wrong. All this, just to feed your vanity, and make ponies long for your beautiful nights." Twilight Sparkle took a step toward Nightmare. "You're just a vain, petty, tyrant, like all the rest."
Nightmare scowled. "Enough! Remove yourself, or I will do so by force," she growled, horn sparking dangerously.
Twilight Sparkle scoffed. "If that is what you command Queen Nightmare Moon," she said, the royal title a sneer, "then I will remove myself to actually go help ponies that need it."
Twilight Sparkle stepped back, drew in a swirling nimbus of power about her horn, and with a whip-crack and a subsonic thud, was gone. Nightmare felt a tingling frission of power sweep over her coat, prickling the tiny hairs there. Twilight Sparkle had reengaged the teleportation wards as she had departed.
Nightmare shook, breathing heavily, horn sparking. Her wings were half-flared, and fluttered at irregular intervals.
"You want me to go after her, ma'am?"
Nightmare whipped her head around, baring her teeth at Rainbow Dash. To the pegasus' credit, she squashed the instinctive flinch down into a mere twitch and maintained perfect parade rest posture. Nightmare spent several moments staring at Rainbow Dash and breathing heavily before her words registered. Nightmare straightened up, settled her wings and took a deep breath before responding. "No, captain. She's likely in Canterlot, and," through gritted teeth, "not important right now." Another breath. "Leave me. There are things I must attend to. You are to speak of this to no one, and report to me first thing tomorrow. Dismissed."
Rainbow Dash saluted, face carefully neutral, but ears folded back in dissatisfaction. She turned sharply and marched away. Nightmare suppressed a pang of regret as her hoofsteps grew quieter. Not important now, she thought.
It was time to tour the country.
Start local. The apple orchard at the edge of Ponyville. Sweet Apple Acres.
Nightmare Moon teleported into the air above it and flew over the sprawling fields of apple trees. The older, taller trees at the center of the orchard were healthy enough, but as she spiraled outward, the story of struggle grew plain. It began with the occasional wilted tree, and rapidly grew to swathes of yellowed trees, then trees with their leaves scorched at the edges bearing tiny, underripe apples. Finally, the outer ring of the youngest and most vulnerable trees was entirely barren—dead trees, bereft of leaves, and a carpet of death below them.
Disaster. This orchard supplied the entire region.
Enough. Next. Canterlot, now.
She teleported to the grand balcony her sister had used to raise the sun. The castle was empty now, of course. She'd commanded it stripped of her sister's banners but left it untouched otherwise.
Should have been empty, she amended, as she heard a metallic clatter from the halls somewhere behind her. She wound her way through hallways dimly lit by moonlight, until she came upon what had once been a grand dining room. Now, it was a vast sickroom. Cots stretched from wall to wall, only half of them filled. Every occupant she could see was either very young or very old.
"This is the least of it," came a voice from her right.
Nightmare turned, staring blankly. Next to her, staring wearily into the room was a lime-green unicorn mare, deep bags underneath her eyes, a blue tornado adorning her flank.
"Day ones are the worst. We think it's the sudden shock. We move the most vulnerable into the castle, where the mountain keeps things cooler. Day twos and threes are better, but not much. You'd think day fours would be the easier, with the sun gone, but that's when we lose ponies. We think it's the sudden shock." She paused for a moment, frowning slightly. "I already said that, didn't I?" She finally turned to look at Nightmare. "Please, your majesty."
Just please, she thought. Not even a specific plea.
Numb, she stared back silently.
Enough. Enough. Manehattan now.
She teleported high above the city and soared down to a skyscraper's rooftop. The city spread out in an urban crosshatch below her, and her vantage point allowed her an unparalleled view.
On that corner there, a brightly-lit island in a sea of darkness. A line of ponies stretched out the door of a building. A steady stream of ponies exited from another door, carrying small sacks of food. Too small. She could see the ribs of most of those standing in line, and worse. Dead eyes stared forward, unseeing, while dirty fur and matted manes adorned exhausted forms. Many ponies in line leaned against the wall of the building or laid down altogether. The line did not move forward, so much as stumble and stagger wearily. She turned and looked off the other side of the building, and saw two more islands of illumination, and similar scenes of misery and want.
Famine. Unheard of in her sister's Equestria. But not hers.
More. Las Pegasus now.
She teleported into the airspace adjacent to the airborne vacation city.
Las Pegasus was gone.
No, that was wrong. She peered at the ground. It had descended from the heavens, its vast resorts littering the land untidily, like some enormous foal had left her toys scattered about. She glided lower and peered more closely. She saw that there were still scraps of cloud architecture drifting in the skies above the grounded city, burned and scorched-looking at the edges.
The city must have been unable to cope with the combined heat of the sun above and the desert below. As the cloud foundations had failed, they had lowered the entire city, desperate to save what they could. Clouds could be rebuilt. The city could be raised again one day. Until then, they would scrape out an existence in the sand below.
No more. No more, no more, no more, enough.
She teleported back to her bedchamber, and stood in the middle of it, shaking, eyes wide and staring. After what might have been an eternity, or might have been minutes, she finally came back to herself enough to face the truth.
"I'm a monster."