Spike listened to Nightmare Dusk squirm in her bed, occasionally mumbling something inexplicable. Something Spike had gotten used to. She rolled over, twisted and turned, mumbling and hissing in her sleep. Spike wondered what was going on in her head.
He curled up tighter in his own little bed – a basket next to Dusk’s bed – wondering why she did it. Was she having nightmares? Spike could think of any other reason why she would be doing that, unless there was some deeper reason. Perhaps there was something on her mind? Or someone.
He lifted his head some and looked out the window, at the stars. He couldn’t see the moon from here, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to. It always made him feel guilty, thinking of Luna. And Celestia, as well. He wished they’d been sent to the same celestial body, so they could at least keep each other company. He felt terrible.
Nightmare groaned, interrupting his thoughts. She raised her head off of the pillow, and rubbed her eyes with a hoof.
Even her bedhead looks like Twilight’s, Spike thought. At least the bangs do. Indeed, the bangs seemed to be the only solid part of her hair. She opened her draconic eyes and looked around, as if confused as to where she was, before relaxing. “We’re… still home,” she sighed, lowering her head back onto the pillows.
“Where else would you be?”
Dusk let out an amused snort, “Don’t mouth off, Assistant.”
Spike didn’t argue, and instead settled on: “You were tossing and turning all night. You toss and turn every night,”
Although he used the term ‘night’ loosely, as ALL the time was night now. He continued, “Is there something you want to talk about?”
Dusk turned her head away, expression uncertain. “…No. No, there is nothing wrong.”
Spike didn’t believe her, but he decided not to pry. The Queen got up, kicking off the covers and rolling over off of the bed and onto her hooves. She rose to her full height and not bothering to put on her jewelry she magically opened the glass balcony door and stepped out, Spike hopped out of his bed and followed.
“It’s not time to wake up now, is it?” He asked, suddenly confused.
“No, not yet. We still have a few hours before the moon makes its daily rotation.” She closed her eyes, deep in thought. Spike watched her expression tighten after a while, and she lowered her head, biting her lip. “We think… maybe we want a crown, rather than our helmet. We want to look less menacing. Do you think that would work?” She opened her eyes and turned to him, and he thought for a moment.
“Yeah, yeah! That could work,” he said with a smile. Dusk turned back to the moon, and hesitated before saying slowly, “We also… wonder if we should free Luna. It hurts us, to see her like that.”
Spike didn’t want to say the wrong thing, so he waited for a time before saying slowly, “I think you should, I mean… I would.”
“We know you would,” she said not entirely hostile. “We are conflicted,” she admitted. “We want her back, We feel sorry for her, but We know she will fight back. We know she hates us, and that she especially hates… this form,” Dusk closed her eyes tightly, voice wavering. She stopped, as if holding back tears. “Everypony does! It is not fair, We only want… to be loved,” she bit her lip, a tear squeezing past her eyelids. She turned away from Spike, hoping he couldn’t tell. Spike rocked on his heels, trying to think of something to say.
“And winter!” she cried suddenly, “Winter! We want winter, we love winter… but we don’t want our subjects to freeze or starve! But we cannot raise the sun either!”
“Well,” Spike rubbed the back of his neck. “…I mean, it’s not that you can’t, it’s just that you – you choose not to,”
Dusk wanted to lash out, to tell him he was wrong, that he just missed it, but she knew deep inside that he was right. She hated it when that happened, but what could she do? “We… We won’t! We…”
“Dominate the sun and maybe ponies will start to like you,” Spike was getting bold. “Show them that you care, and they’ll start to appreciate the nighttime. They started caring about Luna, right? Ponies like to stargaze, stay up late, camp, and other things that they only like to do at night, but they also like daytime. They like both equally nowadays, and-“
“Shut your stupid dragon mouth!” The shout was so sudden, Spike silenced immediately. She turned to him, a furious expression plastered on her face. “Do you think We are stupid?! Do you think we don’t think about this?!” She stomped her hoof hard in front of him, causing him to back away, but she only stepped closer until he was pinned against the wall. “We understand! We know, We see, We aren’t featherbrains! And yet you speak to us as though We are stupid!” Dusk was breathing hard, now. “Always trying to get us to do what you want, always trying to find manipulative ways to free Celestia! You think We do not see it?!”
“What?!” Spike cried, “No, I didn’t-“
“Shut up and let us finish! We are different, We are hated, nopony understands us! And you don’t even try, ungrateful rat!”
“But- but-“
“NO! You only care about yourself, you only care about what you want and how you feel! Don’t you care about us?!”
“Yes, I-“
“We try to care for you, yet We never get anything, not even a thank you! You butter us up with your compliments, pretending to understand us but you don’t!”
Dusk had her muzzle pressed against his snout, glaring deep into his eyes, a wrathful fire burning bright in her own. A small glow lit her horn, and her leg shook as she tried to prevent herself from doing something she would regret. Spike closed her eyes and turned away, shaking. He didn’t entirely doubt that she would hurt him if she felt like it. Finally, after several intense seconds she stepped back, the light in her horn flickering out. She turned away, refusing to make eye contact, not that it mattered; his eyes were still closed.
She turned towards the sliding glass door and stepped towards it, head low. Her mane flattened slightly, some of the shimmer seeming to fade. He dared open an eye as she stepped back into the bedroom, closing the curtain but leaving the door open.