Chapters As she stalks towards her broken and battered sister, her sinister grin widens, the corners of her lips curling upwards into an expression of crazed euphoria. Her wings flare out, horn glowing with the blackest of arcana as she prepares to blast her sister into a thousand motes of dust that shall never see the light again, of the sun nor moon.
Against all odds, however, the celestial princess raises her head, tears shimmering in her bloodshot eyes. "Oh, dear sister. I am sorry, but you have given me no choice but to use these..." A weak, sputtering golden shimmer surrounds her horn as six jewels shakily rise to hover around it, a shield of energy forming slowly at first, then rapidly solidifying into an impenetrable barrier as the low thrum of powerful, ancient magic accompanies it.
Nightmare Moon's heart stops.
'No. Surely those aren't -'
It probably should have hurt, when she'd been sent to the moon, but the Elements had had enough kindness, it seems, to have sent her consciousness into oblivion when she'd been blown apart before being resolidified upon Luna's surface.
Her very soul jitters at the feeling of coming into direct contact with her other half in over so many millennia that neither of them can really properly recall.
Nightmare Moon opens her eyes.
All that greets her slitted gaze is grey, dust, and grey dust.
The overpowering sensation of suction encompasses her entire being, and tiny droplets of plasma and blood begin to drift away from her body as she stands there, frozen in shock.
It doesn't last long, as soon, an overpowering rage floods her veins in the form of molten lava and adrenaline. Fury and hatred and a desire to end her sister's life which is not wholly unfamiliar to her, but has never been quite so powerful are the only things that she knows.
She can't quite tell which one's responsible for the tightness in her chest: The vacuum of her surroundings or her emotions.
Specks of black blot out large parts of her vision before it returns to its vague fuzziness, blood freezing into crystals immediately upon contact with the cold vacuum of space before they float away from her as she thrashes and howls.
Luna says something to her, as she shrieks silently into the blackness of outer space, fangs gnashing and her face red with fury and rapidly bursting blood vessels. The lunar planet's insistent voice is but a distant whisper in The Nightmare's mind. More dots float in and out of her vision, slowly at first and then faster and faster as the water in her body continues to be drawn out from within her, but the sheer outrage surging through her veins is more than enough to mask the tight iron bands of oxygen deprivation bound around her barrel and the sharp spots of pain as her flesh bursts in several places.
Wretchedness of a Nightmare
She's not quite sure how long her temper tantrum had lasted. All she knows is that she had stomped about hard and long enough to embed parts of two of her delicate silver horseshoes within the frogs of her hooves, and that enough time had passed for her mane to lose several stars and gain just a few more.
As the last, token embers of her rampage first fade, flicker, then die out, a deep, insistent ache begins to make itself known from within her injured hooves, and were she still able to voluntarily produce fluids, she might tear up at the feeling. As it stands, she settles for a slight wince as she sits down upon the pale surface of her prison, favoring her right forehoof and back left hoof in the process.
At The Nightmare's first attempt to remove the first horseshoe, she must pause to tilt her head back, jaw opened wide and displaying all of her serrated teeth as her expression twists with agony. It lasts for years, centuries, millennia, and for several minutes until, finally, she lowers her trembling head to find that the stubborn silver has moved maybe half of a centimeter from its original position.
She grits her teeth. Luna whispers a tentative offer. Her pride is what causes her to shove her counterpart away, and the force silences herself once more, still watching The Nightmare as her surface thrums with worry.
'This is going to hurt .'
Gripping at the shoe with both her substantially weakened magic and her other forehoof, she yanks at the tarnished silver as hard as she can. It comes off with a small squirt of blood and pus before clattering to Luna's surface, and as The Nightmare catches a glimpse of the inside of the destroyed regalia, she finds herself dismayed at the fact that her long-emptied stomach is still able to lurch so strongly.
The dry heaves last for at least ten minutes, and her throat burns for hours after. She decides that, perhaps, she should not look at the shoe again.
Glancing down at her injured forehoof, she grimaces at the sight of the scraped keratin and the way her unshorn fetlocks fail to hide the raw patches where the horseshoe had dug into the sensitive meeting of flesh and hoof. A flash of anger runs through her. When Luna sends her hushing, comforting words, she does not push them away this time.
The healing process is wrought with just as much - The Nightmare would argue even more - agony as its start had been.
As she glares at the scabbed-over frog of her right forehoof, that dark little thing squirms around inside of her heart, hot and strong and angry . She goes to pick at it, hissing silently as Luna pushes upon her mind insistently, begging her to leave it be.
Her songs tell tales of a nasty scar that will leave her frog thickened with unnaturally tough tissue and a weakened ability to grip objects manually, if she is to follow this path, and it is all tinted with that imploring, sorrowful tone.
'We shalt do what We DESIRE! '
She rips the scab off and tips her head back to shriek into the endless void of space once more as blood oozes to the surface of her injury, rushing forth to meet the vacuum of her prison and forming deadly crystals. As the nothingness of her surroundings attempts to enter her flesh, and she watches the skin around the newly-reopened wound bloat up before the faint, black glow of her magic surrounds it to heal it once more, her grimace darkens into an infuriated and wretched scowl.
'This is all Our blasphemous sister's fault .'
Luna brushes up against her mind with a tentative, gentle touch, requesting the freedom to speak her piece without being silenced.
It is a neutral request, and so, The Nightmare grants it with a heave of her chest that would've been an angst-filled huff .
Her second half sings to her of how this is not Celestia's fault at all, but rather nopony's fault at all. How it is The Nightmare's fault, how it is Luna's fault, how it is the universe's fault and how it is Terra's fault even as it is nobody and nothing's fault at all. It is simply a casualty of the war that The Nightmare had fought and lost of no fault of her own, and as Luna's lilting voice drifts into The Nightmare's head, she urges the pitch-black mare to please begin to forgive herself.
The condescending, airless scoff that The Nightmare releases in response is less than half-hearted in its efforts, all of the fuel behind it drained out of her by Luna's words and the suction of space.
At least the latter seems to have been blocked by the new, oh-so-thin scab that has just finished forming over her frog.
She decides to leave it be for the time being.
'...what didst thou mean when thou asked Us to forgive Ourself? '
Luna sighs with the weight of a world inhabited by a single, hurting alicorn. She remains silent for a moment too long, and her song is weak as she whispers - so, so softly that The Nightmare must strain to catch the sad notes - that she mustn't give her other half answers to questions which she isn't ready to ask.
A flash of irritation runs through The Nightmare's body, settling within her heart and fueling the dark little thing writhing about inside, but she tamps it down. The action takes no small amount of effort, but...
The moon's lilting, airless winds caress her mane in a way that neither magic nor science can possibly capture.
'Dear Luna...We art growing so weary of all of this- this hatred. Perhaps We shouldst begin to face the truth that- '
Sharp fangs grit together, then worry at a charcoal lower lip. The Nightmare struggles to face her next thoughts as she draws forth tiny pinpricks of blood from her nervous chewing.
'-that perhaps Our Nightmare shalt never truly be satisfied. '
Her eyes ache. She wishes she could cry.
'It beeth like Us, in a way. '
In a rare fit of anger, Luna positively hisses out a questioning retort.
'Calm thyself, O Calm One. '
She receives a barrage of curses that slowly taper off into melodic laughter.
'We simply mean that Our Nightmare seems to be...shrinking. '
The question is much curioser and gentler this time.
'Thou hast seen that, as We hath starved upon thine surface, We hath become shrunken and small. '
As the dark little creature screams out to her for vengeance, she squishes it like an ant with the ease of decades of practice.
'Our Nightmare, too, hath become smaller. '
The shock from her soul's counterpart is both expected and well-warranted. She nods in agreement.
'We believe it is due to the fact that We hath been squashing it down at every opportunity, rather than encouraging and feeding the little pest. '
Luna sings her praises, lauds her for her efforts, practically bombards her with cheer and pride, and The Nightmare's breast swells with joy, cheeks glowing with the faintest of flushes as what little, dehydrated blood she has left rises to the apples of them.
'We thank thou for thine kindness, dearest Luna, but 'twere thine own words that sparked the beginning of Our extermination efforts. '
She already knows what The Nightmare had meant, but all the same, she hums inquisitively.
'Thou art as coy as ever, Luna. We mean what thou said about...Us forgiving Ourself. '
It is agonizing to gulp, but as the bone-dry folds of her throat stick together, she does it all the same, too used to the sensation to gag anymore.
'We cannot forgive Ourself if all We are is a vessel controlled by Our Nightmare. We wert prepared to control it at its full power until We grew strong enough - or simply used to its screams - to be welcomed back to Terra, but...We art just as powerful as We wert back when We first started. '
A mirthless chuckle leaves her as she glances down at the front of her barrel, bones so well-defined that she can count every single rib.
'Most likely even less. '
She shakes her head, whickering silently as she lays upon her belly and gives a weak smile at Luna's comforting hushes.
'So as it became easier to push away Our Nightmare, We examined it closer, and found that it had become smaller.'
Her smile grows just a little bit as she tries to avoid irritating the split in her lower lip. She fails as it breaks back open, the taste of iron flooding her mouth as blood invades every single parched inch of her tongue.
'We believe that...perhaps We shalt continue with Our efforts. We do not wish to be so optimistic as to believe that We couldst ever destroy Our Nightmare entirely, but...We couldst weaken it enough so that it is a nuisance instead of a threat. '
For the first time in over a millennium, something like hope simmers warm in her chest.
'Doth thou recall when We wert first sent to thine surface, dearest Luna? '
She sings back a response in the negative, though something about her thoughts sparks the feeling within Nightmare Moon that perhaps her second half isn't quite telling her the whole truth. All the same, she's not about to push it. Lifting her right forehoof up so that she can examine the underside, she idly begins to pick at the scarred frog there, rubbing and scratching at the unnaturally rough patch of muscle.
The admonishment from Luna is both expected and subsequently ignored. Her body shakes with an unheard giggle as the lunar spirit then curses Nightmare Moon's name, just loudly enough that the both of them know that she'll hear it.
Her expression soon drops, however, ears pressing down flat against her skull as her eyes slip shut and her lips press together tightly.
'Luna...hath We been forgotten by Our sister? We doth not dislike spending time with thou, of course, but...Our communications with thou hath typically not been quite so intimate.'
Nightmare Moon attempts a smile and manages half of one. Luna's mind brushes against hers, whispering appreciations for her efforts all the same.
A naked black hoof idly drags itself about in the sharp grey particles which the dust upon the moon is composed of. Its movements aren't random, however; there's a certain methodical nature to them, and as the owner of the hoof ceases moving and stands up, carefully ensuring that the disruption of air caused by her motions doesn't ruin her efforts, Luna hums inquisitively.
''Tis a landscape portrait of the Terra We once knew. We suppose it hath changed much since We last graced its lands with Our presence. '
A silent sigh leaves Nightmare Moon, her chest heaving lightly as she gazes down upon the monochromatic lake view drawing. So lost in her reminiscing, she nearly misses Luna's hushed comforts, the lilting, sorrowful notes of her song echoing throughout her mind and weaving in and out of the strands of Nightmare Moon's soul. A weak smile crosses her lips, and she lays back down, dragging a hoof across the work of art carelessly.
'Bah. We art simply an old mare reminiscing upon things which we shalt never see again. This is the way it shalt be until the end of time itself. '
A sharp, reprimanding tone enters Luna's songs, and Nightmare Moon winces, looks around jerkily as if expecting Luna to attempt to shake her off of the lunar planet's body before she snorts airlessly.
'What on Luna has thine britches in a twist? '
The snarky quip isn't enough to jar Luna out of her irritation this time, however, and the only response she gives Nightmare Moon is that she should know why Luna's mad.
It takes Nightmare Moon a few minutes to realize what she'd said to upset Luna so badly, but she shakes her head with a stubborn scowl, a tinge of bitterness entering her expression. The dullness in her eyes brightens ever so slightly, however, and that is what causes Luna to continue prodding and poking at Nightmare Moon, her songs continuously stoking her counterpart's fires until, finally, the black alicorn stands up and shakes her mane.
'FINE! Upon the next Summer Solstice, We shalt try once more to escape .'
She says it to try and shut Luna up, because surely she can't think that Nightmare Moon is ready to see her fellow ponies again. Instead, the moon sings.
Nightmare Moon's brow furrows with self-doubt, her unbeating heart twitching within her breast.
'Thou art...encouraging Us? Doth thou truly believe that We hath been purified enough to rejoin Our fellow ponies? '
Her counterpart's presence wraps around her mind like the cool breezes of the night, comforting in its familiarity and filling her tiny, scared soul with encouragement and strength.
Alightment of a Nightmare
The first thing that she does when she finds herself back on the surface of Terra is to turn her head upwards and send out a million thanks to Luna for the strength that she had lent Nightmare Moon.
The second action that Nightmare Moon takes is to immediately start gagging on the oxygen-rich air, her heart beginning to pump once more and sending the now unsettlingly unfamiliar sensation of circulation flowing throughout her body.
She doesn't notice that she's screaming until heavy hoofsteps that could only belong to an alicorn start running towards her, and suddenly the warmth of the sun is engulfing her, soft feathers brushing up against her spine and gentle, tear-coated lips pressing themselves all over her forehead and cheeks as Princess Celestia's horn glows with the magic of her - 'INVASIVE! That beeth Our TAIL, Celestia! ' - medical check-up spells.
Finally, she feels that she's gotten enough air into her lungs, and stops screaming. Her hooves throb, and as her vision blurs, she comes to the rather upsetting realization that regaining blood flow means that she is now capable of feeling the full extent of the pain that her injuries have caused her.
Nightmare Moon opens her fanged muzzle and begins to shriek again.
Twilight Sparkle's first encounter with Nightmare Moon hadn't been what she'd expected. All of the stories about the dark mare had portrayed her as a powerful alicorn capable of taking down Princess Celestia herself, as a pony who could level cities when fueled by the excitements and terrors of war, as someone who could supposedly survive anything, even being imprisoned upon the moon for one thousand years .
Instead, she'd seen a frail skeleton of a pony who had appeared upon the special platform that Princess Celestia had had built for her, promptly started hyperventilating, then screaming, then, finally, had blacked out. She doesn't know whether she's more disappointed or terrified for the wellbeing of this strange mare that she's only ever "met" via history textbooks.
As she trots into Nightmare Moon's hospital room, she's greeted with the sight of Princess Celestia holding up a spoon laden with an unidentified, beige mush to her sister's upturned muzzle.
"We art not a foal , Celestia! We canst feed Ourselves! "
A little titter of a giggle escapes her, despite herself, and suddenly four godly eyes are upon her and she feels her heart stop in her chest. She gulps audibly.
"Um. H-Hello there, princesses." She bows awkwardly and comes up from it just in time to see Nightmare Moon open her mouth to say something, then have the spoon shoved into her mouth.
"Hello, Twilight. Have you come to meet my dear sister?" Princess Celestia's voice is nothing but pleasant, though there is just a hint of levity lacing her voice.
Twilight Sparkle nods, carefully walking closer to the two sisters and sitting down next to Celestia. Her horn glows as she pulls several things out of her saddlebags: A map of Equestria, a telescope, and her own personal copy of The Astrological Astronomer's Guide to All Things Astrology.
"I brought some things for you, Nightmare Moon! I figured you'd like to take some time to adjust to how things are here in Equestria while you're stuck in the hospital." She pauses, chewing on her bottom lip for a moment before offering a shy smile. "You kind of remind me of my new friend, Rainbow Dash. She's pretty boisterous, and I think she'd definitely climb the walls if she had to lay in a hospital bed all day with nothing to do. I'm sure that the doctors wouldn't mind if you wanted to do some stargazing or examine a map."
Suddenly, her cheeks flush red.
"O-Oh, I'm so sorry! I never introduced myself. I tend to get carried away when it comes to studies of...well, of anything, really. Anyways, my name is-"
"Twilight Sparkle. Yes, Our sister hath told Us many things about thee, Twilight Sparkle." Nightmare Moon smiles softly as she wiggles the forehoof currently hanging in a sling (much to the chagrin of her sister). "We wouldst offer thee a hoofshake, but as thou canst see, We art a bit tied up at the moment."
"Nightmare! Don't move that hoof or so help me, I'll call a nurse over and have them put you in a full-body cast. You've already gotten in trouble for trying to walk yourself to the restroom." Celestia sighs softly, though a good-natured little grin plays across her lips as she turns to her student. "As you can see, she's healing quite rapidly. I'm sure she'll be up and ready to meet the rest of your friends quite soon."
Another giggle escapes her, and she nods, smiling broadly. "I'd like that a lot, Princess. I think that we're all going to get along great." After setting Nightmare Moon's things down upon the hospital bedside's table, she stands back up, bowing politely to the solar and lunar diarchs. "I'll let you two catch up. I just wanted to stop by and introduce myself! I hope you feel better soon, Nightmare Moon. It was lovely meeting you."
Melancholia 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."
"Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something sweet to bite! "
The overjoyed squeals of fillies and colts fill her ears as she chases after the candy-seeking foals, fangs bared in an exaggerated threat display. When she catches up to them, she grabs one and growls, pretending to eat him as she blows a raspberry into his belly.
"Nooo! I'm being eaten by Nightmare Moon! Somepony help m- ahahah nonono stop stop that's my ticklish spot!"
Nightmare Moon snickers and releases the tiny colt, lifting her left wing to allow a frankly massive collection of candy to fall from underneath it.
"Thou hath proven thine worthiness in combat against the feared Princess of the Night, fair Pipsqueak! Collect thine prize, before We seeketh to consume thou as comeuppance!"
His mane is blown back by the force of Nightmare Moon's Royal Canterlot Voice, and even as genuine fear shivers through his mortal body at the sheer power behind the princess's words, a large, adoring grin spreads across his face all the same. The trust in his eyes as he looks up at her while he hugs her leg with his whole body is undeniable, and she breaks character to ruffle his mane with a fond chuckle.
"WOAH! Nightmare Moon, how'd you get your hooves on Hoofsie Rolls?! My parents said these haven't been made for years! "
That breaks Pipsqueak out of his princess-worshipping trance, and he breaks away from the hug to jump into the throng of foals desperately fighting to hoard the most of the treasured, rare candies.
Satisfied that the little colts and fillies are happy with her gift, she quietly slips away, whispering gratitudes to Luna in the language of the immortals as she darkens her light so that Nightmare Moon may better blend into the shadows.
it isn't intentional, but as she approaches the border of the Everfree Forest, she figures that it's as good a place as any to do some ruminating. It's been a few months, and while most of it's been spent squirreled away in either her room or ~~prisoner to~~ studying with Twilight Sparkle, she has learned enough of this small - 'Yet oh-so-interesting ' - town to know its superstitions against the strange forest. A mirthless chuckle leaves her at the realization that, after a thousand years of desperation for somepony, anypony , to talk to, she now wishes to be alone.
'Luna...what doth thou maketh of Our thoughts? '
A confused song meets her mind in response.
'We mean that, surely, they art most contradictory to what We shouldst be feeling, yes...? '
Luna's response is a soft giggle and a hum concerning a mortal pony in the general vicinity.
The midnight alicorn decides to not give away the fact that she's aware of the other quite yet.
Sure enough, as she gazes up into Luna's surface, a yellow blur shoots out from a cottage half-hidden within the Everfree Forest's grasps, nearly crashing into the gate before it chooses to simply hop-fly over. Several minutes full of sleepy clucking and furious squeaks later, the yellow blur - now a yellow pony - comes stumbling back out, her expression one of exhaustion and irritation.
"No 'but's, mister! You nearly gave poor Elizabeak a stroke! Now go to bed this instant or no carrots for a week! " Despite the fact that her version of yelling is any other pony's slightly raised voice, Angel still flinches, and he glares for a half-second longer before his face falls into one of apologetic resignation. He hops back into the still-open door with droopy ears, his genuine remorse clear in the way that he doesn't slam it for once.
"We take it that this beeth a regular occurrence with thine fuzzy little acquaintance?"
"OhmygoshI'msosorryIdidn'tmeantointerr-! "
A quiet, hitching little laugh leaves the Princess of the Night before she shakes her head. "Nay, 'tis fine, fairest Fluttershy. We wert aware of thine presence well before thou hadst to chase after thine misbehaving rabbit."
"O-Oh, then, um...I really am sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you for so long, Nightmare Moon." She's scrunched herself into such a tiny ball that her voice is strained, her mane covering well over half of her face as her wings clamp down tightly against either side of her body.
"Thou misunderstandeth. If it wert a problem, We wouldst have requested that thou make leave long before this." She tries to give as unthreatening a smile as possible, but even with her lips closed, her fangs still poke out enough to be noticeable.
'Of all the times to develop an insecurity with Our own body... '
Instead of shrinking away further - or even bolting outright - in fear, Fluttershy simply returns the expression with a meek little half-smile of her own. "Um, that's good, then!" She purses her lips, uncurling enough so that she can cross one hoof over the other uncertainly. "...so, um...d-do you want me to leave? You seemed like you were kind of busy."
Reflexively, she prepares to say yes, but something stops her. Rather, the lack of something.
As she focuses her slitted gaze upon the animal caretaker, scrutinizing her and wondering why she doesn't make Nightmare feel the same way that nearly everypony else has so far, she realizes that this pegasus seems to have some sort of...quality. The same quality that the lunar alicorn holds within herself, albeit a much less twisted version. She feels a tiny flame of kinfolk alight within her breast, and so it compels her to smile a bit wider instead.
"Nay, fair Fluttershy. Thou shouldst sit beside Us, so that we may both cast Our eyes upon Luna's beautiful surface." She receives a teasing song from her other half in response, and she turns her head, briefly, to hide her smirk.
"If you're sure, then, um, I'd love to." She shakily steps over, anxiety still marking every move and sound she makes until she half-falls into a sitting position several hooves away from Nightmare Moon.
Silence fills the cool night air until Fluttershy finally feels comfortable enough to say, "You know, you were right." In response to Nightmare's questioning hum, she elaborates, "The moon really is beautiful." She smiles gently at the other. "Y-You called it- her? - Luna?"
A soft hiss of regret leaves the lunar diarch, prompting a nervous glance from Fluttershy.
"Um, Nightmare Moon, y-you don't have to explain if you don't want to."
She contemplates it for a few moments, and after a small push from the being in question, she sighs and shakes her head. "Nay, 'tis something We shouldst talk about sooner rather than later." Turning to the other mare to face her more fully, she fixes her with a hard stare. Not an angry or interrogative stare, but one with a hint of anxiety and fear, and an intense one all the same. "However, 'tis a tale that contains more 'bad' and 'ugly' than 'good', fairest Fluttershy. We do not wish to burden thou with such heavy weights on a night meant for celebrations and festivities."
Fluttershy shrugs, glancing towards her cottage to find Angel peeking out of the door before he, seeing that he's been caught, slams the door shut with a pointedly not inconspicuous 'slam! '. She chuckles before saying, "No, it's alright. I've never really been much for, um...well, Nightmare Night. N-Nothing against you personally! It's just that I don't really like feeling like I might be scared, or made to feel like I'm in danger at any time, even if it's all in good fun." She looks up to give Nightmare Moon a cute, scrunched-nose little snort of a laugh.
"I know ponies think I'm a big ol' scaredy-pony, and that is pretty true, but I can handle spooky stuff if I know it's coming. Besides...I-I don't mean to offend you, Nightmare Moon, but you seem like you need to talk, and what kind of friend would I be if I wasn't there for you?"
Nightmare Moon's jaw drops further and further with each word before, with the other pony's final words, she simply barks out a short laugh, shaking her head with amazed relief. "Thou art, truly, not the bearer of the Element of Kindness, fair Fluttershy, but the very embodiment of thine Element itself." She looks back up to give the blushing pegasus a soft smile. "Kindness beeth the strongest element that any pony couldst hope to retain for even a fortnight, and yet thou hath given Us the impression that thou hath been a practitioner of it for thine whole life."
Pawing at the ground with her left forehoof, a twinge of pain shoots up her right one, only further reminding her of her struggles during her imprisonment. She winces.
"We referred to Luna as such because, despite what many ponies believe, Our sister and Us art not simply the flesh bodies responsible for raising our respective planets. If anything, they art our 'cores', if thou wilt. Luna beeth the other half of Our soul; she holds half of Our essence, and We hold the other half. We wouldst argue that she holds the more important half, but she wouldst likely rain Tartarusfire down upon all of Terra if We wert to start that argument again, so We shalt refrain." A cheeky smirk crosses her face as Luna curses down to her from the heavens. It soon fades as she continues.
"...We hath always communed with Our precious Luna throughout the years. She beeth older than even Us, and so she imparts upon Us wisdom that We wouldst not have come across otherwise. She hath assisted - and even carried - Us through many a hard time." She grits her teeth. "But to be fond of one's solar self and to be imprisoned upon it for one thousand years art two very different things indeed."
The sound of rustling grass meets her ears, and she glances over to see soft cyan eyes looking up at her, forehooves held out as she offers a hug. The size difference makes it almost comical, but as she envelops the other pony within her own forehooves, she feels the most minuscule of a portion of the hurt in her heart begin to fade away.
"We thank thee, Fluttershy." Clearing her throat, she releases the other, trying not to grin at the way the pegasus's mane is now mussed beyond repair. "Ahem ...where wert We? Ah, yes. We shalt avoid describing the details of Our time upon Luna's surface, both to avoid boring thou to death and to avoid potentially traumatizing thou, but perhaps the most jarring change which came about as a result of Our period of solitude is that-" She pauses, wrinkles her muzzle, then snorts in irritation at her perceived poor wordsmithing skills and paws at the ground, pulling up a few blades of grass and smearing mud over the bottom of her bare hoof in the process.
"We hath always been a solitary mare, never one for more than the occasional social call with Our close friends and when 'Tia dragged Us into social events with Canterlot snobs." Something deep and dark squirms around in the space behind her irises when she glances towards Fluttershy's caring gaze before she quickly snaps her focus upon a firefly happily shaking its rear at another.
"But at least We still had interactions with ponyfolk. Upon Luna's surface, We- We wert...so alone . We wouldst have killed for the chance to simply see another living creature." A sardonic grin twists her lips. "Though, looking back, We realize that, perhaps, that was a rather counterproductive train of thought." She shakes her head, her expression falling into that of a troubled mare's.
"When We succeeded in achieving Our plans to return to Terra, We wert overjoyed at first. We thought to Ourselves, 'rejoice, Nightmare Moon, for thou art now amongst ponies whomst thou may converse with!', and that that wouldst be that. However, nearly the exact opposite of that hath been Our...feelings, We suppose...concerning Our situation." A heavy sigh heaves itself forth from deep within her chest, and this time, Fluttershy doesn't hesitate to wrap her forelegs around the dark princess's lower neck, nuzzling into her fur with a boldness that displays both her ability to be unpredictable and her unwavering kindness all at once.
Nightmare Moon simply releases another low exhale, leaning down to return the nuzzle and taking a few, deep breaths in a rather fruitless attempt to hold back the tears beginning to rise up within her. "Fairest Fluttershy, We...art We broken from Our time upon the moon? We shouldst be rejoicing and basking in the light of Our adoring subjects, and yet, here We art, practically inside a forest which the townsfolk wouldst sooner die than enter, with only one mare instead of hundreds of ponies as Our company." Her right forehoof throbs harder.
"...it is times like this, when We fear that, perhaps, We shouldst have just stayed on Luna's surface. We doth not miss Our imprisonment, but We cannot find the words to describe this phenomenon otherwise."
"Nightmare Moon, shut up ."
She squeaks, her face flushing red. "Um. Your highness."
At the alicorn's bewildered stare, she explains her sudden vitriol. "Nightmare Moon, you...you did do some very bad things, and I-I don't think it's really my place to say whether you deserved to be put on the moon , especially for a thousand years, but I can say that you don't deserve to go back. Not even for a second ."
At the pegasus's reminder of her dark past, her wings droop slightly, and she turns her face away from the smaller mare, frowning. "How canst thou be so sure of thyself?"
A yellow hoof comes up to cup her jaw, turning her head until she's facing Fluttershy once more, and she's shocked at the enormity of the levels of kindness that lay within those gentle eyes.
"Because, Nightmare Moon, you're just like me." She releases the alicorn's face before leaning in to give her another nuzzle. "I told you before, about how I avoid Nightmare Night because I'm a scaredy-pony, right?" The pegasus feels Nightmare nod, and she continues. "Well, I'm scared of a lot of things that aren't even related to Nightmare Night. Sometimes my friends give me the strength to face them, yes, but for the most part, it's just my animals, my tea, and me."
Fluttershy gives the lunar princess a little nudge with her shoulder, and she gets a soft chuckle in return.
"I'm very familiar with loneliness, Nightmare Moon." She pauses, staring down at the ground for a moment before looking back up at Nightmare Moon. "...I don't mean to overstep my bounds - again - but, um, I'm guessing that you really want to go out and be in crowds all the time, and 'bask in the glow' of your subjects' adoration, right?" Another nod. "So, what's stopping you?"
"We feel so- so overwhelmed . We wish for so much, but even a small gathering wast-" Nightmare Moon's brows furrow slightly as she struggles to find the right words before she opens her muzzle to speak, only to have her words cut off by a yellow hoof.
"You're not broken, Nightmare Moon." A tiny, mischievous little gleam enters her eyes. "I just said that you're like me. Would you say that I'm broken? Even after my scaredy-pony self sat here and listened to you talk about some pretty scary stuff, told the Princess of the Night to shut up, and stayed here to keep talking to her? Because I don't feel very broken."
She chuckles slightly, the sound tinged with a hint of self-reproach. "Nay, We wouldst not, nor wouldst We ever. Thou art correct in thine statements, fair Fluttershy; thou art as far from broken as any pony couldst be." The smile that curls across her lips is just a little bit more genuine this time, small though it may be.
Nightmare Moon isn't quite sure how to word her request, so, instead, she simply unfolds the wing closest to Fluttershy, holding it open and glancing at her as a small flush of red rises to her cheeks. Something warm fills up the dark spaces that've been eliminated that night as Fluttershy cuddles in close to her, and as they gaze up at Luna's cratered surface together, she sings gentle hymns down to Nightmare Moon that make her think that, perhaps, she could be okay with the loneliness.
Author's Note
FlutterLuna sequel? Maybe in a year or two, according to my writing schedule.
