“It is too soon to do that.” Nightmare Moon pointed out as she came out of her prison of flesh. With eagerness, she opened a rift into the world of dreams, and allowed the clone she had left at Twilight’s library to emerge and join her. She was shocked at first when she felt her clone merging to her and increasing her magic pool, but when she read her clone’s memory, she knew why that was. The clone left at the library had called all the clones left in the dream world to her after learning Twilight would not intervene. Now, she was the last bulwark protecting the changelings from Luna.

“Maybe, but if I can grant an edge to my soldiers over the changelings’ army, I will act accordingly.”

Swift quickly ducked into his tent to store Antares' letter, and after finishing that, he proceeded back outside and moved closer to his friend the Major's side. Discreetly, while the latter followed the Princess and Queen on their way to the command tent, Swift drew Cute Bite's attention and silently asked what was going on, however, to Swift’s dissatisfaction based on her reaction, she knew as much as he did about Princess Luna's presence. Swift mentally sighed, asking why Bitter Truth had not mentioned that fact. There were now too many possible scenarios and not enough information for him to know where the threat the late Antares had feared so much would come from.

Major Antares, who wore the dorsal sheaths holding her sword and Nightmare Moon's claymore, was too concerned with the presence of the Princess of the Moon to worry that Swift was still wearing day vision goggles, or to notice the parchment case he had under his right wing.

Once in the tent, when Luna saw the map of the area with pawns placed on it depicting the balance of power between the army of bat ponies and changelings as being in the latter's favour, a deliberate misrepresentation, she flew off the handle, blaming Nightmare Moon's incompetence for her inability to pacify the Badlands due to these insects.

Nightmare Moon turned a deaf ear to her alter ego’s irrational rant, instead choosing to stare at her while remaining silent. Behind the Tantabus' blank mind, something she discovered a few weeks ago she could use as a mental shield, she was internally fuming at the fact that Luna was so close to the Badlands. She knew couldn't try anything, not yet, but to protect Aglowing Shell, even without Twilight’s permission, she was ready to be frozen for a thousand years alongside Discord, because that was the only possible way out if the elements of harmony were used against Luna. And unfortunately, said alicorn was no longer an immature child. She would not surrender her body to the Queen of the Night, not again. If Nightmare Moon tried to possess Luna, it would turn into a battle of wills, and if she failed, Luna would undoubtedly trap her forever. Luna would then force Nightmare Moon to watch her end the life of the helpless little Cæsar. She had to act in the presence of Chrysalis, so that the Queen of the Changelings could fully understand the situation and act accordingly if Luna emerged victorious. She had for now to wait for the right moment.

Luna announced that she was going to end the changelings tonight. She would be leading an assault consisting of every bat pony force presently deployed in this outpost, and having fully mourned Celestia’s death, it was time to avenge her, so she would personally be taking care of Pepper once she had her hooves on her.

The worried eyes of the bat ponies turned to Nightmare Moon, who had to give up her physical appearance so as to not let her emotions show through.

But as the two alicorns left the tent, Swift intervened: "Lady Nightmare Moon, I have a report for you regarding the reconnaissance mission you gave me last night."

Everypony turned to Swift, neither Nightmare Moon nor the major understood what he was talking about, but Luna could not have known that it was a lie. "You have an urgent report and you wait until now to bring it up, soldier? What's more, ’Lady’? Is she not a princess to you?"

Swift bowed, unfolding his wings and lowering them and his head so that they were touching ground. "There is only one Princess of the Night, and that is you, my Queen. I didn't want to bother you with this mission report because it's up to your subordinate to handle this. If you permit me to make a suggestion, I am sure Major Antares will make it a point to assist you in preparing the troops while I give my report."

Luna considered Swift's words for a moment and, her ego sufficiently flattered, appropriated the suggestion as her own idea. She turned briefly to Nightmare Moon, looking down at her. "Don't keep me waiting." she ordered before leaving the tent. "Major, after me."

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Overwhelmed by events, Cute Bite left the tent in a hurry, following in the princess' hoof steps.

Verifying that Luna was far enough away that she wouldn't suspect anything, Nightmare Moon regained a physical appearance before creating a magic bubble in order to assure that the conversation that followed would remain private. "I'm listening."

Swift didn’t dare move from his curtsy. "My Queen, I'm sorry I had to-"

Using telekinesis, Nightmare Moon clamped his mouth to cut the apology short. She forced him to raise his head and removed his glasses so she could look him in the eyes as she pleased. Upon doing this, she could not fail to notice how red and swollen they were. "I understand, Swift. You were supposed to see me in private and you did the right thing, I won't hold it against you. However, if you waste my time by tying yourself in knots with excuses again, I won't forgive you. Now, speak," she ordered before releasing her grip, and waited for him to explain himself.

"Bitter Truth came to see me just before the end of my shift. He brought me a letter from Antares, our late Antares. She..." he sobbed as he thought back to the letter. On the verge of a nervous breakdown, he unconsciously felt the need to laugh about it. "Can you believe it? A unicorn came to the Moon during your banishment, all the way to your castle, to the royal assassin, to tell her everything that was going to happen tonight. It doesn't make any sense." He released an uncontrollable laugh. "No s-"

Nightmare Moon slapped him with the back of her hoof. "Focus, Swift. The rest." Certainly she was shocked to learn of this, moreso given the revelation that it had been her royal assassin who had hidden such an encounter from her, but this was not the time to lose sight of the situation.

He calmed down, keeping his head down. "I immediately recognised her writing, the nickname she gave me, it was even sealed with your royal seal. In the letter, Antares asks me to help the oracle, because your life is threatened. He told me to use a spell on your helmet. The spell would allow you to sense the feelings of a person who had touched an object, the oracle says it is called psychometry," he explained, removing the shoulder strap to give the case to Nightmare Moon while pointing at the armour in the corner of the tent with his left wing. "He said you'll only have to wear the helmet for the rest of the night. That I would know what to do when the time comes. That the regicide should not learn of the presence of an oracle in Equestria. Then he left."

The summary confirmed Nightmare Moon’s suspicions. "It seems that the confrontation with Luna is inevitable. I don't really understand how this spell will be useful to me, but if Antares felt that this plan would work the best, I will put my trust in her judgement."

After seizing and opening the case with her magic to take out the scroll, Nightmare Moon walked over to the front of the armour display, facing her armour, facing her past. She had it transported to this tent to have a constant reminder of the mistake she had made.

She had underestimated Celestia, and because of that, the elements of harmony had been used against her.

She scanned the scroll for a moment, finding it to be rather complex, a spell that Star Swirl would probably have liked to study. However, she didn't currently have the time to ponder such things. From what she could tell, there was nothing wrong with the spell’s formula. Concentrating, Nightmare Moon applied the enchantment to the helmet.

She had underestimated Twilight, and the elements of harmony had once again been used against her.

Grasping the newly enchanted helmet in her magic, as she brought it down onto her head, she swore a promise to herself.

Tonight, she would not underestimate Luna.

She slid the spell back into its case and threw it to Swift, who reflexively caught it. "Swift, no matter what happens, I know you'll do the right thing. I intend to do just that in order to protect the changelings." She headed for the exit. "Whatever it takes," she added before dispelling the magic bubble.

As Nightmare Moon made her way out of the tent and through the camp, nearly every set of eyes towards her.

Luna, who was just finishing going through the last of the bat ponies returning from patrols and other surveillance posts, noticed this shift in attention and turned to look at just what was drawing everypony’s eye. When she did, she saw her alter ego, and couldn't help but move closer to satisfy her curiosity regarding her current appearance. "What's the point of wearing the helmet?"

Nightmare Moon didn't need very long to come up with the excuse she needed. "You heard the soldier, there is only one princess of the Night, and by wearing this helmet, I admit to being only a soldier at your service, as I proposed five months ago. Is there a problem with that?"

Luna looked at the soldiers, at the Major, to Swift, then returned to Nightmare Moon. "None. It's time to go."

Luna and Nightmare Moon flew away, followed soon after by Antares and her second, and the army after them. A black cloud of roaring thunder began to form above the advancing army, growing bigger and darkening the night sky as Luna drew closer to the Badlands. A cold silence of nervousness was also growing within the army's ranks. Every soldier knew how much their queen cared about the life of the changelings, so the fact that they were following Luna into the Badlands on their current mission caused more than a few to exchange uncomfortable glances.