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A tremendous force plucked Nightmare Moon and me from the ground, along with a mass of books, a table, a stool, a fountain pen that almost put out my eye, a magnifying glass, a stack of catalogue cards, and younger Macidexia's floppy hat.

We were all slammed together in mid-air, then the library around us fractured and receded into the distance.

We were surrounded by the night sky, spinning gently, a tiny wooden and pony and human asteroid. The crushing feeling grew weaker, then stronger again.

Panes of darkness grew out of half the sky, approached, and merged - we were released. Nightmare Moon hovered on her wings, and I managed to land on my feet. The rest clattered to the ground.

We were outside, in the night, in deep damp grass, next to a lake surrounded by hills.

Satisfied that there was no immediate threat, Nightmare Moon landed and berated herself, "Stupid! Stupid! I should have backed off! It doesn't matter how weak she is - her earlier self saw how it worked out, so she wouldn't do it if she lost! At least I could have prepared an illusion of losing!"

I was about to request clarification, but after seeing her face, I studiously ignored her, first setting the loose items on the table (except the pen, which was lost in the grass), then looking at the sky. There were more stars out than I'd seen in a long time - a very clear night. The moon was high in the sky, and seemed abnormally bright and large. And naturally cratered.

We're not in Equestria anymore. But time is passing, so it looks like Macidexia was wrong. We'll get back to civilization, then we can get back to Equestria... well, wait. First, getting Nightmare Moon back to Equestria isn't really a high priority. Second, that sky is awfully dark. We are nowhere near a city. No signs of air travel, either. And... that's not our moon. The blobby 'seas' are something like ours, but a lot of combinations look a lot like that. The most distinct and easily recognizable feature of our moon - the splash from Tycho crater - well, I don't see it.

I picked up the magnifying glass and tried to get a larger view of the moon, before remembering that optics didn't work that way. Pulling out my camera, I zoomed... but couldn't get the exposure right, especially hand-held. Instead, I looked for any familiar constellations - not a single one. So we're not in my world - but one less deep in magic territory than Equestria, anyway...

Nightmare Moon braced herself against the ground and gathered magic - a moderate amount, less than she had used in the library - yet she was straining. Then she gave up. "The sun and moon do not respond to my commands."

She launched herself into the air and roared. She gathered much more magic - dim lines grew out from her, pulsing inwards. Her voice was as loud as a jet engine as she repeated, "Miserable, stupid world! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid moon, stupid sun!"

I could barely understand her voice, it was so distorted by the volume and her rage. She stopped shouting and began incantations I couldn't understand. The dim lines grew fatter, and longer. She rose higher and higher, and as she receded she grew brighter and brighter. Stark shadows fell everywhere. I was momentarily blinded until my eyes adjusted.

When I could see again, the lines of magic were veins pulsing in, guiding the energy into the ground as an immense wall stretching out nearly flat. It was like standing under Yggdrasil. The lights were brighter, now, filled with swirls and dots of color; Nightmare Moon herself was glowing so brightly I couldn't look at her even for a moment, even through my slitted fingers. I closed my eyes, but by the time the afterimage of my glance at her had faded, it was getting to be blindingly bright even through my eyelids. I crawled under the table, clutching the magnifying glass, afraid it would set something on fire if that light fell on it.

The earth rumbled - I'd been through a few minor quakes, but they was nothing like this. Not simply by intensity, but in kind, for interspersed among the rumbles were snapping sounds, cracks.

The books slid off the table. The quake intensified further, and some trees fell over into the lake. The water in the lake grew a cacophony of waves of all lengths from a few millimeters to great swells. A wave crashed and fell just short of the books. It didn't come back a second time, though - the whole lake was draining away. I looked further out, and saw that the wall of magic was lifting the earth up. It rose, faster and faster. A terrible wind blew into the gap behind it, sucking over the table and momentarily picking me up before it subsided and I landed awkwardly and fell over on my back. I stared up, unable to act to protect myself. But I needn't have worried - all of the debris falling off the side was also lifted up by the millions of dimly glowing magical tendrils.

The whole thing was out of the ground, and I could see it all - over a mile wide, and within a few seconds it was moving away at least its width every second. The earthquake subsided, and everything was quiet - eerily silent (of course, I'd simply been deafened, but based on the lack of everything vibrating, it seemed reasonable to suppose things had quietened down). The colored veins still pressed up against it.

A rainbow explosion appeared behind the rock-ball. Seeing that, I covered my face as if my arm could help against the explosion... but it didn't come. When I uncovered my eyes, a rainbow trail, gradually dimming, extended into the night sky, surrounded by the veins still pressing up, curving, twisting, losing their coherence. Finally, they split and relaxed. The flows stopped, and the lights subsided.

I looked down from the sky and tried to get up to look around. My inner ear was not cooperating yet, and I felt supremely dizzy, so I lay back down.

I began to perceive the ringing in my ears, and that gradually subsided. After a few minutes I could hear actual sounds - groaning aftershocks as the earth settled, mainly. I tried to get up again, and succeeded.

Nightmare Moon was kicking over trees. She saw me, and held her hoof ready. Then she lowered it, and stared.

I bowed.

"Don't bow to me, you worthless skinbag. Worthless for picking me to follow, fool that I am."

"It was a matter of reflex, your majesty. You were out of practice."

"I've been practicing for the last ten years, in case Celestia tried tricks like that! I just didn't expect it from her. And now we're both stuck on this miserable stupid world that's outside the web of worlds, has a disobedient sky... and... Equestria is fallen. If she had time to master that magic, she has already won."

"On the other hand... she did call us meddlesome. So we have at some point in her past caused her trouble. I haven't. Did you?"

"Yes. I had stopped the sun and moon."

"Oh." That put me into a funk, but I couldn't just stand there. I righted the table and gathered up the books again, reading the covers in the ample moonlight. Starswirl the Bearded... Principles of altering the flow of time. Hmm. Many Worlds, One Universe. I commented, "Seems like... relevant material."

"You, at least, will be long dead before there are any worlds nearby enough for a passage to open. If you read those, maybe your incessant questions will stop."

Silence reigned. I sat down next to the table.

I was startled awake, not having realized I'd fallen asleep, as Nightmare Moon gasped. She said, "I... I thought I'd missed! And that didn't destroy it? It barely made a dent! It must be huge!"

I looked up at the moon, and not far from the edge, just where I'd been expecting Tycho, was an orange bright spot, gradually expanding and dimming.