There was a hole in the heart of the Empire. A smouldering crater of molten crystal, surrounded by cracks and ashes. The air above it danced in the heat as it slowly cooled off, its inside solidifying once more. Everypony watched with trepidation, those who could reaching a higher position to properly look inside while everyone else was too scared to step closer and check. None even so much as approached its edges, and those closest to them drew back instead.
Those who could see inside the crater could, looking closely enough, spot something at the bottom of it that wasn't merely crystal in nature. Two things. One was Rainbow's silver sword, still perfectly intact, embedded in the ground. The other was next to it. Something black, its exact shape unclear. To those who had seen one in their lives, it looked kind of like a carcass, one in a really bad shape. There was a set of ribs jutting upwards, something that maybe looked like a limb stretching out, maybe something left of a neck. Some bits that might have been feathers, charred beyond recognition. The only thing to tell apart muscles, blood, and bones by was their apparent consistency, as everything had the same unnaturally black colour.
It did not take much to deduce they were the remains of Nightmare Moon's body. Unsettling as it was to see something of her still left in the first place, they still appeared mangled past the point of being reasonably salvageable, and more importantly they were completely still. Everyone waited in fear and trepidation, while Twilight was rescued from the top of the tower and brought down to earth to be healed of her fatigue.
No one cheered for victory. The town was still occupied by enemy forces, and most in fact kept on dealing with those threats as they had been. But for all those there present, they stared at the corpse, none daring to approach it yet to confirm its conditions. Not even Twilight, although she kept her magic alert for any signs of life as her wounds were mended.
Silence reigned. Starshine, who'd been the closest to the area of impact, slowly walked up to the edge of the crater. Its inside had cooled to a smooth crystal surface, slightly cracked in places as a result of the process. The body at the bottom of it was still unmoving, but she didn't dare go closer than that. She didn't dare even poke it with her magic.
Seconds passed, almost minutes. The Elements of Harmony gathered at the edge of the crater and looked down, and Rainbow's sword quietly disappeared to then reappear next to her owner. The six waited a little longer, uncertain of what to do. Finally, Twilight was the first to act, and took a step forward into the crater. The corpse moved.
Everyone froze. Looking again, it seemed to have merely crumbled on itself, and it made no further movement as the ponies waited. Swallowing, Twilight took another step.
The body moved again. It turned, and it rose, skeletal limbs propping up a torn and consumed spectre of a body. Then it shrieked.