“I’m so excited for Pinkie’s party!” Twilight Sparkle cheered, prancing from one hoof to the other.
“Me too! I can’t wait to have some of her delicious cake!” Rainbow Dash agreed brightly, twirling in a loop-di-loop.
“I can’t wait, either! I love Pinkie’s snacks!” Fluttershy chirped, smiling at her friends.
“Yeah! We need to tell her how many ponies are coming to the party, though!” Twilight said brightly, pulling out a quill from behind her ear to start a list. “Alright, we have Rainbow Dash, me of course, Pinkie, Rarity…”
“And me!” Fluttershy added warmly.
“... and Applejack. That makes five!”
“But … what about me?” Fluttershy asked, her smile falling away. “I want to come to the party too!”
“Do you think Sweetie Belle would want to come?” Twilight asked Rainbow Dash, as if she couldn’t hear Fluttershy.
“I want to come! Me! I do!” Fluttershy insisted, raising her voice as hard as she could - to a light murmur. “Don’t forget about me!”
“Nah, Sweetie Belle’s in school. Oh! Don’t forget Spike!” Rainbow Dash laughed, hovering a few feet above the ground. “That guy’s such a chowhound.”
“I, Fluttershy, want to come to Pinkie’s party!!!” Fluttershy yelled, her voice rising to a panicked, soft cry.
Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle turned to look at her in surprise, as if only just noticing she was there. “You?” Rainbow Dash sneered, her hooves landing on her hips. “Who would invite you to a party, a bunch of grand-ponies waiting for a nap?”
“I almost forgot you were there, Fluttershy.” Twilight Sparkle sighed, as if frustrated that she even had to deal with Fluttershy’s nonsense anymore. “I don’t think that you’d be interested in this type of party. It’s for fun ponies, who know how to have a good time.”
“B...But I know h-how to have a good time!” Fluttershy protested, her bottom lip starting to tremble. “I-I’m a f-fun pony!”
“Of course thou art, Fluttershy.” interjected a new voice. Wait - a new voice?
Fluttershy turned to see who had spoken to her. She’d had this dream several times before, and she’d never seen another pony appear in it before!
From out of the shadows, a massive pair of wings appeared, pushing away the darkness that lingered in the crevices of the nightmare. It was - Nightmare Moon!!
“Oh noooooooo!!” Fluttershy squealed, running away from the evil mare in a panic. “It’s Nightmare Moon!”
“Wait - I no longer remain Nightmare Moon!” cried the mare, pursuing the fleeing pony with one powerful flap of her wings. “Return, pegasus!”
“Get away!!” Fluttershy wailed, running as fast as her four legs could carry her. Suddenly, she slammed into a wall - or rather, the floor, yanking her out of her nightmare. She had begun kicking in her sleep, and now laid on the floor beside her bed, tangled up in her blankets and with an aching head.
“What a scary dream.” Fluttershy murmured, rubbing the bump on her head gently.
“'Twas no dream.” replied the shadowy figure lurking on the windowsill.
“Nightmare Moon!!” Fluttershy howled, her voice rising to a normal speaking level in her terror (“Oh, what the neighbors must think of me!” she thought fretfully to herself) as she scrambled to her hooves, galloping down the stairs in a panic.
Fluttershy raced downstairs and into her kitchen, eyes darting for somewhere to hide. All she had to do was hide, and then she would be safe from the villainous mare! She dove underneath her kitchen table, quivering in terror, trying to silence her panicked whimpering.
There was no sound at all for a few minutes, and Fluttershy thought that she must have left - but finally, slowly, she heard hoofsteps on her stairs, and she had to clap a hoof over her mouth to keep from crying out for help. No one would come to rescue her, because no matter how loud she cried, no one would come in time! Oh no, it was just as bad as her nightmare - but she couldn’t wake up from this!
The hoofsteps got louder and louder, until she saw four armored hooves appear in her field of vision; Nightmare Moon’s hooves!! She watched as the tall pony walked slowly around her table, inspecting her kitchen; she heard the sound of her refrigerator being opened and closed, and two of her cabinets opened as well.
Just when she thought that Nightmare Moon might get bored and fly away - who just had to get involved, but Angel Bunny!!
“Angel Bunny! No!” Fluttershy mouthed, trying to gesture to him from under the table, waving him away. “Go away! Run for help!”
But instead of listening to her, the disobedient rabbit trotted over to Nightmare Moon and gave her armored hoof a tiny kick. It apparently hurt him more than it did her, as he was soon hopping on one foot, holding the other as he squeaked out angry protests.
“Who’s that?” said Nightmare Moon, in a much less terror-inducing voice than Fluttershy remembered, as she bent down to look at her rabbit attacker. “Thou art Fluttershy’s … pet.”
A tiny squeaky cry replied to her, angry and shrill.
“Thou art very aggressive for a hare. Thou art lucky that Fluttershy keeps you around.” Nightmare Moon reprimanded him softly before she crossed over to Fluttershy’s pantry, rummaging around for a moment. “Here. I recall that hares enjoy carrots.”
Angel Bunny, surprised and pleased with this sudden gift, quieted down considerably, landing on his haunches to begin nibbling the carrot. He was within Fluttershy’s sight, but just out of her reach - oh, poor Angel, he was in such danger, and Fluttershy had no way of rescuing him!
Above her, Nightmare Moon pulled out one of the chairs from the table, and for a heart-stopping moment Fluttershy thought that she was caught. However, Nightmare Moon managed to avoid seeing her as she sat down, resting her forelegs on the table. She was quiet for a few moments, then heaved a heavy, almost sad sigh. That is, if evil alicorns trapped in the moon could be said to be “sad”, of course.
“Fluttershy is a good friend to thee; is she not, little hare?”
Angel Bunny looked up at her briefly, then directly at Fluttershy, and gave a tiny shrug.
“You’re going to give me away!!!” Fluttershy mouthed in a panic, covering her head with her hooves. Oh, this was it, this was the end!!
“I imagine she is. Thou art nice and fat, and she hasn’t fed thee to a larger pet yet.” Nightmare Moon continued, ignoring Angel Bunny’s horrified little gasp, and subsequent choking on a bite of carrot. “Here.” She reached down, and with one gentle tap to his back, dislodged the chunk. Angel Bunny gasped out an indignant little squeak up at her, and she replied, “Thou art welcome.”
She was quiet for a few minutes longer while Angel chewed on his carrot, then shifted in her chair, leaning more heavily on the table. “She seems like a very nice pony. Most of them are, here in Ponyville. I’ve met them - in their dreams. The foals are usually friendly to me, but sometimes the adults are … afeared of me.” She sighed, soft and small, and tapped her hoof lightly against the table.
“It is hard to try to mend a nightmare, when one only makes the nightmare worse by being there.” She murmured, her blue eyes resting on Angel sadly. “I wear the starry firmament in my mane, and yet all that the little ponies can see is the memory of what I was. It would be nice to have someone to talk to... maybe even someone to be a friend. I so miss having friends.”
“You don’t have any friends?” came a voice from under the table. Fluttershy took a split-second to wonder who had spoken her thoughts aloud, when she realized - her! She had said it! Oh boy.
She hastily pushed out one of the chairs from the table, slowly rising before Nightmare Moon’s gaze. “That is, I mean… Everypony should have friends.” Fluttershy amended, quailing quite visibly before the pony who … looked a lot different from that night several years ago, come to think of it. Fewer fangs, and the pupils weren’t slitted anymore, for starters. Less maniacal laughter as well. “Even quiet ponies.” She added, in more of a mutter, shuffling her hooves.
Nightmare Moon shook her head gently, her galaxy-like mane flowing around her shoulders. “Alas; most of my friends passed on to the eternal city decades ago. My only friend that remains is my sister. It has been a very lonely existence since my return.”
“But … being lonely is no good.” Fluttershy murmured, slowly taking a seat at the table beside her. “I have nightmares about that sometimes - about my friends not wanting me around anymore. But I guess you already knew that.”
Nightmare Moon, or whoever she was, nodded gently. “I do. I intended to tell thou that thine friends would never treat thou like that - they are true, devoted friends. I have seen you all together, and I knowest - ah, I mean, I can tell. But if thou art truly afraid that they believe those things, thou - you should ask them.”
Fluttershy nodded slightly, looking down at her hooves where they were folded on the table. She resettled them twice, unable to hold them still, then looked back up at formerly-Nightmare Moon. “So … who will be your friends, now?”
“I knowest not. I will find them again… eventually.” The taller pony murmured, lowering her horn in deference to Fluttershy. “Thou need not worry about me, little pony. I have lived for many centuries alone, and I will continue to live for many more.”
“But - but what if - if I was your friend, Nightmare Moon?” Fluttershy squeaked out, suddenly covering her mouth with her hooves. “I mean - I didn’t mean -”
“ - that thou wanted to be my friend?” The princess asked a little sadly, her expression carefully neutral, to hide how it hurt her. “That is alright. I did not expect -”
“ - I meant your name. Y-You aren’t really called - ulp - Nightmare Moon anymore, right?” Fluttershy warbled, her voice getting softer and softer with each word.
Nightmare-not-Moon turned to look at Fluttershy in surprise, her brows lifted and her mane seeming to freeze in its constant motion, if only for a moment. “Thou … wish to be my friend?”
“I-If you want me to, I mean - I’m kind of quiet, and I get scared at a lot of things - I may not be a very good friend - “
“Thou wouldst be a magnificent friend, Fluttershy. One that would make mine heart happy to call my own!” She gasped, her eyes overbright with joy. She rose suddenly, and clasped Fluttershy in her forelegs, crushing her to her chest in a hug. “Oh, Fluttershy! Thou do not know how happy thou hath made me! My heart sings for happiness!”
“I - erm - Miss Moon - if you could - could just - I can’t breathe - !!!”
“Oh! Of course, Fluttershy, my greatest apologies.” The princess gasped, lowering her gently to the ground. “Is that better - friend?”
“M-Much better!” Fluttershy gasped, spreading her wings, which were a little crinkled from the powerful bear hug. “I just have one question!”
“Anything, bosom pal.”
“C- … Could I get your name?”
