Nightmare Moon was furious. The soldiers had gotten her a simple map of Equestria after she demanded it in her simplistic ponyish. They acquiesced only because they didn't want to know what she would do to them after what she did to the king. Words get around quickly in a small space.
"What kind of stupid...The geography is all wrong. Canterlot should be here, but it's a forest? And what are these mountains doing sticking out of the ocean." She rubbed her head several times in frustration. "Somepony did something to the world, or these idiots redid the maps wrong and moved everything." Her eyes lit up in realization. "This might not even actually be Equestria, but some other territory...Although that still doesn't explain why I popped up here then..." She fell backwards and landed on her wings. "So many theories, so little time." She extended a foreleg and slammed it several times on the stone of the castle. "Well, I have as much time as I could want, but I would have to redo everything from zero."
The alicorn lolled about on the ground, watching the independent moon devoid of her face trailing across the night sky. Again and again the same question kept crossing her mind: What to start with. Then a realization came across her thoughts.
"I need loyal subjects that follow me not through fear, but through...erm...loyalty." She scoffed at herself. "If my sister heard me bumble such a simplistic thought..." A snort escaped her nostrils. "After ten thousand years, I wonder if other pony tribes have emerged." She tapped the ground. "I recall the thestrals. Discovered shortly after I became an adult. I wonder if they're still around? I'll have to ask Sunny Dimples."
She let time pass, resting herself after the rather exciting evening, and listened to the cheers in the city. Come to think of it, Nightmare Moon had yet to even ask about the celebration in question. She had never heard of such a thing. If it was as famous as the mayor claimed, then logic dictated that many creatures would be there to enjoy the festivities. The alicorn sat up and started to smile as she pondered the possibilities. She could go now without Sunny's intervention and look around.
"Should I wear a disguise?" Moon shook her head. "No. They would constantly try to bring up a conversation." She made a quick glance to the maps. "Then there's the chance that if I claim I'm from one of those places, either a pony of that place comes up or they end up already speaking the language." She sighed. "Well, it's not like they don't know I can't speak their ponyish all that well, if at all," the mare lamented. After a brief moment of impatience, the mare spat on the ground and bared her teeth. "Fine, I'll go there now. I want to see what this celebration is about."
A 'plink' noise reached her ears from the ground. Looking down, she realized that a small blade had fallen. The noise again. Now there was another at her side. Several more appeared, perplexing the alicorn.
"What is this supposed to be?" She looked up to the ceiling. "Why were blades up there?" she wondered.
"There. Now the would-be tyrant is dead," a voice proclaimed.
Realizing what was happening, the 'tyrant' eased her eye down slowly without moving her head. A small pony covered in a dark patterned suit had snuck in. Only a slit for their eyes was visible. The mane and tail were neatly tucked into their fur-tight uniform. They were holding a sword -or, well, part of one. It seemed this assassin hadn't realized that it was broken in half yet.
"Now to get my pay-MUH!"
Their head was stomped down on by the alicorn, crushing them into the ground and creating a large hole where their head now rested. Moon patted the assassin's side several times and nodded, satisfied with her work.
"That was fast," she laughed. "It's only been a few hours." The alicorn levitated the pony up and scanned them thoroughly. "How disappointingly generic, though. Poison tipped knives, a sword and quick speed." She shook her head and funneled magic through her horn. "No need to show them to their employer. They didn't provide me with much entertainment." Her horn glowed a deep orange, and the pony's body was gradually consumed, transforming into black ash that blew away with the wind currents of Moon's room. "Time to check out that festival, with a bit more invigoration in my step."
The city was illuminated with a plethora of multiple colors. Nightmare Moon realized that long ropes covered in small, colorful, polished stones were hung about everywhere. They hung between the buildings, held upon doors, and draped upon tree branches. A bit of snow was falling as well, meaning that the temperature had dropped significantly, which explained the light haze the alicorn was seeing when she looked upon said stones.
Some of the buildings had an arrangement of specific lights to make unique shapes. One was just a smiling pony, another a flower, and others took on more difficult and elaborate appearances. One depicted a whole family playing in snow.
"How did they...?" Nightmare Moon whispered to herself. "Never mind."
As always, it didn't escape her that the ponies were giving her a wide berth, but they seemed more comfortable with her around. Whatever the reasons were, they were inconsequential. The main goal was to find other pony tribes nearby and assess their value in her potential armies and what value they could bring to the society she was intent on making and if there were any rather stupid situations with blood feuds or the like. Only hers mattered.
So far there were only ponies, but then, the mare had only just reached the outskirts of the city. A few open tents were dotted about here and there with a few visitors, but they weren't the main attraction.
"Oh. What is that odor?" Moon wondered aloud.
The freezing winter breeze brought in a delicious odor; a mixture of a wide variety of treats and foods. It took considerable effort to divide the smells into their own respective groups. There was the warm, sweet scent of freshly baked pastries and roasted hazelnuts, the delicious flavor of stew wafting about, and several meat platters for the non-ponies.
"Or the adventurous ponies," Moon thought to herself.
She rounded a corner, ignoring the store owner dropping the blinds and cowering behind it, and came upon a sight that almost blinded her. Everything the alicorn had seen scattered about haphazardly around the city was focused a thousandfold here. She could see flying creatures coming and going from above, the streets littered with a plethora of wooden huts and tents and, somehow, massive buildings. Smoke came from a great many of them, smoke that stank of wood and something else. Something unfamiliar. It burned her sinuses.
The lights all coalesced into a single, uncoordinated mass of light and colors that irradiated Nightmare Moon's retinas. it was something to behold that so many different creatures had gathered. There were several she recognized: Minotaurs draped in colorful wool clothing, the three pony tribes, griffins, some bizarrely small dragons, and the hippogriffs she thought had died out.
"Wait, dragons?"
They were wandering around, discussing with the others around and enjoying meals. There were even gems for them to devour. Even the dragons were a common thing now, and something made them regress from the tremendous beasts she was used to these tiny, puny creatures barely taller than a minotaur. Maybe she should start with the dragon lands after she reunites and takes over Equestria. Volcanic lands were always good for farming. Would be perfect to feed her subjects and gather raw minerals.
And then it caught her eye: A group of thestrals. Their bat wings and tuft ears were a dead giveaway. They were staying in a group and chomping away at what looked like meat on a stick. Moon licked her own fangs. She never thought of eating meat, but she did have the fangs for it. They were only in a group of five, but that proved that the thestrals were still around, and as they were the only ponies who appreciated her night, they would have a special place in her court of eternal night.
But of course. Regular ponies during the day, with thestrals and 'volunteering' regular ponies for the night.
"My armies would never need sleep," Nightmare Moon mused.
She looked to the side, seeing into one of the larger wooden cabins shaped like a hexagon. A pony engulfed in flames with a black coat was yelling at something within the construct, and a large puff of smoke erupted from the chimney. Looking back, they had reverted to a more colorful form and were happily serving customers.
"What manner of pony is that?" Nightmare Moon wondered. "It has a mane like a lion and a horn like a unicorn, but it isn't using magic, but then, what did it do earlier?"
Again, the mare started feeling a tinge of excitement. There was more variety to the pony tribes, and she couldn't just linger on one new tribe she just discovered. Nightmare Moon furrowed her brow, ignoring the ponies passing her by just as they didn't notice her for some strange reason. None of the strange ponies from the deserts were around. Black, bipedal jackal-like creatures were wandering around, but they weren't a pony tribe either.
The crystal ponies were still around. That was...unfortunate, although their manes and tails were drooped as though they were drained of the will to live. Yet just a few seconds later, more resplendent ones appeared. A bizarre group indeed, and then a new tribe appeared. Another one just as strange and over the top as the ones who could engulf themselves in flames.
This new tribe's coats were mostly black with various angular gray patterns running across them. Their sclera was black, and had two sets of iris: the primary, outer one was gray while the smaller secondary was white. The pupils varied in color, though, matching the magic strings attaching...Their bodies seemed...divided. Their manes and tails were engulfed in spectral blue fires at their tips, and they seemed divided into pieces. Their torso, limbs, and neck were all detached from each other. Magic strings that wobbled with every movement kept everything attached, and Moon could have sworn that said limbs wobbled and moved away with every movement they took. What manner of insidious stress caused these ponies to turn into something like that? More importantly, what could they do?
The alicorn found herself salivating at all the flavors that assaulted her senses, but she held firm. She wanted to know more. She wanted to see more. Surely, in a place like this, there were more creatures around. Moon spotted several non-pony tribes, including upright cats and birds. One of the creatures was a super large, super fluffy being that literally towered over everyone, even the minotaurs and dragons. Nightmare Moon could hear their loud laughter and singing as they drank and ate.
The alicorn huffed at them and continued surveying the area, but she noticed that her presence was finally getting noticed by the outsiders while she remained on her elevated position overlooking the massive square. At some point very soon the mare-in-the-moon would have to make herself known to the new public, even if she didn't participate. That, and she felt it would be necessary to smush in the faces of the king and queen that she was still around and their would-be assassin took an extended vacation.
Another tribe, this one a bit milder than the previous two. Their eyes, mane, and tail all glowed softly, but otherwise resembled regular ponies. They still had cutie marks, but their tails seemed to be made of tentacles wrapped over each other. The mane was still made of fur that drooped down like it was wet. Looking closely, this tribe followed a color pattern hardly deviating from blue and purple. They were holding platters in their magic, whatever it was. It was odd to the alicorn seeing as she couldn't see where the magic could be coming from.
Nightmare Moon needed to go through the crowd herself now. She would abuse her status as a 'legend' and have the creatures all turn away while she scouted more closely.