Nightmare Moon would always remember her first hours in her new prison.

She'd woken up slowly. Pain throbbed from every part of her body, and she was reluctant to bring herself to consciousness. The first thing she took in was the ground in front of her. The land was light gray and nearly featureless; the only variation was a few craters and a slight rise and fall to the land in the distance. The sky at the horizon was blacker than any night she had every created. Where were the stars she loved so much? She raised her head and looked a bit higher, and all thought was struck from her mind.

A brightly colored orb glowed in the sky. Most of it was green, but she could see blue around the edges, and white tendrils swirled across its surface. It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. It was like seeing the moon for the first time. For several minutes the only thing she could do was stare.

But then thought slowly started to creep back in. She wondered what the orb was, why the land was so gray, and, again, where the stars were.

It all came rushing back to her. For one brief shining moment she thought she had defeated her sister and brought eternal night, like she had been dreaming of for so long. Finally, she would be recognized, she would be looked up to, she would be admired. The citizens would have no choice, with constant night they would have to find a love for their Moon Princess and her creation.

Then her sister rose up from the ruined treasure room with a new weapon. Luna had struck out, hoping to send Celestia crashing back to the ground. But the magic of the new weapon was stronger than her own. It had overpowered her, and sent her into a world of pain. It had sent her here.

That orb was Equestria, this was the moon, that weapon had been the Elements of Harmony.

Her sister had banished her.

With an enraged howl Nightmare Moon sent a burst of magic into air, and it exploded in the black void of space. She created more bursts and sent them in every direction. New craters were blasted into the rock and the air crackled with blue magical energy.

How dare Celestia! HOW DARE SHE! Who was she to banish Nightmare Moon?! How dare her wretched sister use the Elements on her, as if she were no better than that fool Discord! SHE WAS NOT THE LESSER LIGHT!

She went on that way for over an hour, her rage overpowering the pain her body felt. Until, eventually, her anger could burn no more. When her energy was spent the pain came crashing back down on her. She collapsed on the ground with a clank of armor, and her head fell into a perfect position for viewing the orb that was Equestria. She didn't find it nearly as lovely now. It was just like her sister, pretty to the eye but offering no real substance or comfort in her darkness.

From that moment on, exacting revenge on her sister and those who worshiped the light consumed her every thought. A banishment of this kind lasted a minimum of one thousand years, but she refused to wait that long. She would find a way back to her home, her rightful place. She would surprise Celestia, and show her sister that she could not dismiss Nightmare Moon like she did Princess Luna.

As her body healed she schemed, she would need a plan to defeat her sister. But above all she experimented. There was no spell for reversing a banishment to the moon, and nopony had ever created new magic. But Nightmare Moon was determined. If she couldn't find a way to create new magic then she would alter an existing spell. She would find a way.

For years she planned and practiced, and now it was finally time.

She had experimented with combining her alicorn magic with the dark magic that Sombra had been so fond of, and had built upon the most advanced teleportation spell she knew.

She stood tall and proud on the moon's surface, her eyes fixated on Equestria. Soon she would be back, and she would see the look of pure shock on Celestia's face. She felt in her bones that this spell had the power to send her to another world. This would work, it had to work. She refused to be subjected to the void any longer.

Nightmare Moon called upon every bit of magic power that resided in her. Her eyes glowed pure white. Blue light shown forth from her horn, interspersed with veins of black and bubbles of violet. The light grew brighter and brighter, until it nearly rivaled the sun's intensity. It surrounded her completely, the dark magic lancing through the sphere like lightning. Pain built within her head and pulsed behind her eyes, but she had to keep going. It was the only way she would escape. After another few moments she released the spell with a cry of pain.

And she immediately felt that something was wrong.

She wasn't quite sure how she knew, but some sense in the very back of her mind told her the spell had not worked as she had intended. She didn't feel the traversing of distance as she had expected. It was like she was traveling across something, not space, not time, something...else.

The magic sphere collapsed in on itself. She suddenly felt as if she were lost in the void of space. She had no sense of place or direction. Terror and confusion clawed at her mind, and it was all too much. As her magic collapsed so did she. Her vision grew fuzzy, and all she could see was the ground inches from her muzzle.

'It's not gray anymore.'

That's all she had time to think before everything faded to black.