Monody of a Nightmare

"For the twentieth time, Celestia, We art fine!" Much to Nightmare Moon's chagrin, her complaint comes out as more of a whine than an intimidating and indirect command for her sister to stop fussing over her in such an embarrassing manner at the lunar princess's "Welcome Back!" party.

Princess Celestia seems to pick up on the tone, and simply takes it as an invitation to further treat her newly Terra-bound younger sister as...well, her younger sister. She raises one wing and wraps it around the midnight alicorn's barrel, hugging her close to give her cheek a gentle nuzzle.

"I know, Nightie, I j-"

"Celestia!" The fanged snarl and slitted pupils may have caused a mortal pony to suddenly lose control of their bladder, but as Nightmare Moon seethes, Celestia's face simply gains a small grin - nearly a smirk - as the younger alicorn hisses out, "No 'Nightie'-ing me in public!"

The solar princess simply holds a golden-clad hoof up to her mouth, titters softly, and acquiesces with a simple nod, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Nightmare Moon's head before squeezing her just a little more tightly with the wing still around her. "Fine, fine. As I was saying...I know that you're fine. I just missed you, dearest sister."

Something dark and mean twists in Nightmare Moon's chest at the heartfelt sentiment, but she tamps it down, refuses to allow for the train of thought to continue.

'If only she weren't asleep right now...We need thine strength, Luna.'

Twilight Sparkle walks up with a familiar sort of smile, bowing before the two sisters before rising and offering her hoof to Nightmare Moon. "Hello again, Nightmare Moon! Any chance I could get that hoofshake now?"

Nightmare Moon snickers and nods, holding out her uninjured hoof and gripping Twilight's own before shaking it twice, firmly. "It is good to see thee again, Twilight Sparkle. Hast thou been well?"

She nods, turning briefly to gesture at her friends to come closer before she returns her attention to Nightmare Moon. "Oh, yes! I've been spending a lot of time with my friends. They really are something special," she says with an affectionate smile towards the five ponies in question.

"Lovely to meet you, darli- I-I mean, your majesty!" Rarity bows so low that her nose nearly touches the ground, only rising when a large, black hoof touches her shoulder.

"Rise, friend of Twilight. Thou hath no need to treat Us any differently than thou wouldst treat Princess Celestia, and surely thou doth not bow so deeply that thine snout beeth endangered every time?"

"Nightie!" Cheeks tinged pink, she fixes Rarity with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Rarity. She...is a bit of a jokester. She means nothing personal by it."

"O-Oh, no, I took no offense!" Rarity laughs nervously before stepping back, her own face starting to go red. "It was a very funny joke, Nightmare Moon."

Awkward silence rings throughout the room for a few moments before a scratchy voice breaks it.

"Anyways, my name is Rainbow Dash, and it's super awesome to meet a pony that could take down Princess Celestia!"

And the awkward silence is back.

"...it is nice to meet thee too, Rainbow Dash," Nightmare Moon says, finally. Her smile is noticeably forced, but there are too many conflicting emotions tangled with each other fighting to show themselves in her face and voice for anybody to be able to really figure out what she's feeling.

"Real subtle, Rainbow Dash. Try clobberin' the princess over the head with a brick next time, would ya? It'd be nicer." An orange pony steps up and tips her hat respectfully before sticking out her hoof. "Name's Applejack, yer highness. Twilight here's been talkin' nonstop 'bout meetin' you, and I'd love to get to know you better so that I can find out what all the fuss is about. Right off the bat, though, you sure are a beauty. I think I can see why she was so excited just 'cause o' that." She smiles, the expression genuine and sweet.

Nightmare Moon takes Applejack's hoof in her own and, again, shakes it twice with a firm grip. "We thank thee for thine sweet words, fair Applejack." A playful little grin curls across her lips, the hints of fangs showing. "Thou art not too bad looking thineself."

The farmpony just chuckles and shrugs. "I do my best, yer highness. Even a farm girl's gotta try to look ni-"

"My turn my turn my name's Pinkie Pie and I'm so super duper extremely ultimately awesomely excited to meet you and become your bestestest friend and we can tell each other secrets and have sleepovers and bake cupcakes and cakes and cookies together and I'm sooo glad that you're back because Twilight's really glad that you're back and I don't think I've ever seen her this happy in, well, ever, but I mean what can top the return of Nightmare Moon anyways hi it's great to meet you!"

It takes Nightmare Moon a solid two minutes to process that the pink pony that had just spoken to her had said all of that within a single breath, then another minute to realize that those had been actual words, then another minute and a half for her to pick apart and understand what those words actually mean.

"It's okay, take your time! I tend to have that effect on ponies," Pinkie Pie says with a giggle.

"We..." She shakes her head slightly, an amused grin spreading across her lips. "We like thee, Pinkie Pie. Thou art chaotic. It is nice to meet thee. Perhaps we shalt, indeed, tell each other secrets, have sleepovers, and bake sweets together sometime."

The quiet that settles over the room is much friendlier this time around, and it's broken by a squeak from the last pony as she's nudged by the shoulder towards Nightmare Moon.

"O-Oh! Um, hi, Nightmare Moon. I'm- my name is Fluttershy." She bows, looks up at the black alicorn to smile briefly, then looks back down at her own hooves, her left forehoof crossing over the right one as she chews on her bottom lip. "...it's really nice to meet you. Um...like Applejack said, Twilight's been really excited about you returning." She glances back up to find the lunar alicorn peering down at her curiously, blushes, then hides half of her face behind her mane. "So, um, I-I'm excited to be your friend. At least, I'd like to be friends, but, only if you want to be friends too."

Nightmare Moon's inquisitive gaze is finally broken by an interested smile, and she nods, placing one hoof gently up underneath Fluttershy's chin so that their eyes can meet. "We wouldst enjoy that greatly, dear Fluttershy."

The party had been fun. Exhilarating, even, in its own right, as she hadn't met new ponies in over a thousand years, and the ponies that she had met had been the saviors of Equestria. Her saviors, if she were to wax poetic about it. And yet, as she waves a friendly forehoof goodbye at the last retreating member of the group of friends, the strangest sense of relief crosses over her form, and a tiny, confused frown curls across her lips.

The expression does not go unnoticed by Celestia.

Her steps accentuated by the gentle clopping of her hooves, Celestia walks over before leaning in to cross her horn with Nightmare's, their arcana mixing together until they're nearly indistinguishable. Her heart aches as she feels how much her younger sister has changed over the last millennium.

As the warmth of her older sister's magic fills her horn and melds with her own, sharper form, she tenses up before leaning into the action, smiling weakly and reciprocating for long enough that she stops bothering to try and keep track. Eventually, however, she's the one to pull away, giving Celestia a gentle nudge with a sleek black wing. "We thank thou, sister. It hath been far too long since we hath held each other as sisters shouldst, but...We wish for some time alone, please. Hath Our room remained untouched?"

Her tone is understanding and warm when she steps away, motioning for Nightmare to follow after her as she leads the other to her bedroom. "Of course. I instructed the maids to clean it every so often, but I oversaw every single appointment. Nothing was moved." She smiles and opens the door for her sister, unfolding a wing to gesture inwards. "Rest well, Nightie." Celestia purses her lips for a moment, seeming hesitant for a moment before, very quietly, finishing with, "I missed you, my dearest sister," and beginning the trek back to her own bedroom.

She knows that Celestia's already down the hall, but a tiny smile graces her lips at the sentiment. The expression loses its home soon, though, as she shuts the door and sits by the window, gazing up at Luna and letting loose a forlorn sigh. Her strange, sad mood only worsens as the sheer unfamiliarity of the action resonates within her still-acclimating body. "Oh, Luna...what peculiar emotions flood Us as thine light shines down upon Our ponies."