I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from Nightmare Moon being my housemate -- the truce we had established was tenuous at best, though I was able to satisfy her needs pretty well. The first problem we had to deal with was the current generation's Twilight Sparkle still living in my house as my companion. She was less than thrilled to be forced out of my house and complained bitterly about it. The dark Alicorn glared at the lavender mare and flashed her teeth, causing the mare to whinny in fear and gallop out of the house as quickly as she could.
"Was that strictly necessary?" I asked.
"You should know by now I am a jealous lover," she grinned menacingly, flashing her teeth at me. "We may have a truce, but believe me, I will not hold back my anger if I find you cheated on me with one of your little ponies." Her words were tinged with the soft anger of an unstated threat I completely understood.
"Wait, what? You called me ... your ... lover?" I asked incredulously.
"Do you not know what it meant when you kissed me? Perhaps you are unaware of custom, but when you kissed me on my lips, that meant you professed your love to me! That makes you my lover and me yours!" she grinned, flashing her canines. "So you'd better not get any ideas about taking another one of your ponies!"
"Very well then, Nightmare, but please don't threaten them. They have done nothing to hurt you, nor will they make any attempt to harm you. If you show them kindness and respect, they will be happy to do anything for you."
"They are weak, Tasavir! Why do you keep them around when you have me?"
"I do not wish to kill them -- and I beg you not to do so either. Please let them live their lives, they are practically all this planet has left -- not to mention they do a good job farming the land and providing food, not just for themselves, but for us as well. Without them, we'd have to rely on our magic to keep ourselves fed."
"Very well then, Tasavir -- I shall tolerate their continued presence. I warn you this, though -- I am to be the only mare in your life now, so do not even think of bringing another one of those ponies in here to sully this place."
"What about having them clean it up every once in awhile?" I grinned. She responded by scowling at me, baring her teeth.
"I told you! None of your little ponies are welcome in this house any more! Not even to clean it up!"
"Then I shall ask you to clean --"
"What do I look like? A MAID!?! I'm not going to clean this place when it gets dirty! That's YOUR job! If you make a mess, YOU clean it up! Not ME!"
"Can't you take a joke? I was only kidding, sheesh," I stated in mock exasperation. She chuckled a little before a frown crossed her face.
"Don't patronize me, Tasavir -- that's a quick way to anger me. I don't care if you're the only Alicorn stallion on Earth, as you call it, but I can still make this MY realm and don't you forget it!"
"I'll do what I can, Nightmare, though I believe I requested you treat me as an equal, not as one subservient to you," I stated, attempting to maintain an even tone to my voice.
"Do you wish to challenge your magic ability against mine?" she queried, flashing an evil grin. "I have become much stronger over the course of those thousand years. And what has happened to your magic? I'll wager it has atrophied to the point where you're no more powerful than Celestia was when I defeated her! You should be thankful I haven't chosen to banish you, though if you continue to try my patience, I might very well do that!"
"I hadn't planned on your return, that much is true. You might forget that my magic is quite strong, though I respect you enough not to get into a fight with you. I would like for us to get along with each other better, and there's a part of me that thinks you might be interested in bearing a foal for me -- an Alicorn foal at that," I offered. The corners of her mouth turned upward in a smile at this last mention.
"The idea is very tempting, Tasavir!" she said, almost giggling. "If you continue to treat me right, who knows what may happen? I could teach you some new things..." she let her words trail off to gauge my reaction. I flashed a sly grin at her, nodding my head very slightly. "So you're definitely interested. Good!"
"I've always had a certain curiosity about you -- and what you're really like under that exterior of yours," I opined.
"Perhaps one of these days you'll get to know the real me -- but until then, I demand you not take me for granted! Treat me with the respect I deserve! I shall endeavor to treat you respectfully, or at least as best I can."
I don't know what to make of this -- I'd better watch my back...just in case.
As the days became weeks, Nightmare and I had settled into something of a routine -- we would take turns with the Sun and the Moon, though she resented the daylight. I informed her that daylight was necessary for the ponies to survive, so we reached a compromise and decided to split the days and nights into equal halves. I mused about every day being an equinox, which caused her to chuckle.
With the passage of more time, her attitude relaxed, especially when her pregnancy began to show. Several months had passed and my little ponies came to respect, admire, and worship the black Alicorn as Queen to my King. Even though I didn't really like being called a King, I accepted it. Nightmare savored and relished being called Queen and took advantage of every opportunity to get the ponies to assuage her ego by having them worship her. She seemed to take great delight in tormenting them with embarrassment, though they seemed oblivious to this -- with one exception.
Twilight Sparkle -- if she had a roman numeral behind her name, it would be LXV -- had been the one I had forced out of my house upon allowing the black Alicorn to live with me. She deeply resented the humiliation of being scorned for another pony and had resolved on her own to take revenge. She was not sure how to go about it and had discussed the matter with her friends. The advice she kept getting was that this black Alicorn was every bit as powerful as their King and was not to be trifled with. She would hear whispers about how the dark Alicorn liked to eat ponies, but shrugged them off as conjecture and speculation.
"I will find a way to make him pay for what he did to me! And I will kill that black pony, whoever she might be!"
She had only said it once, though word of her defiance had made its way back to me. Even though some of my ponies might be her friends, they knew better than to trifle with me. I had discussed the matter with Nightmare, who suggested I make an example of the lavender unicorn, that her defiance would not be tolerated.
"I understand your concern, Nightmare, but she doesn't have power to rival mine. Her magic is no match for yours," I had told her.
"Even so, failure to make an example of her will set a bad precedent. You must punish her and show your little ponies that defiance of any kind is intolerable. If you don't do this, I shall do it for you -- and I shall be considerably less lenient than you," she had cautioned.
I had made a show of it -- I had teleported to the city square and called every pony to convene at once. The assembled group of ponies bowed deeply before me, prostrating themselves -- except for one. She had defiantly strode up to me and demanded I expel the black Alicorn and allow for her return to my home, offering forgiveness should I accept her offer.
I snorted in derision at her defiance and announced to the group of ponies that this Twilight Sparkle had become a liability and was to be expelled from the city -- castigated, ostracized, excommunicated -- but not killed. She looked around at the angry faces of all her now former friends -- none stood with her, none came to her assistance. Instead, they all surrounded her, frowns etched on their faces. They all chanted "Shame, shame" at her. I felt a little piece of me die that day when she turned around and wailed in sorrow and anguish as she galloped away from the city, into the wilderness to who knows where.
"You should not have spared her, Tasavir," the black Alicorn warned. "She will return and make trouble for you. If it had been me, I would have --"
"I cannot bring myself to kill one of my little ponies, Nightmare. I ask that you respect them enough not to kill them," I stated, giving her an expectant look.
She sighed in resignation. "Very well then. But if she returns, I will take it upon myself to --"
"I will address that matter should it arise, Nightmare. Again, I ask that you not kill them -- not even her, should she return. I will have my ponies inform me if she does -- they might actually kill her instead, though."
"That will save us that trouble," she chuckled.
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A few more months had passed and Nightmare's pregnancy was just about finished. She was excited by the prospect of having a foal of her own to care for, though her mood swings had caused me quite a few sleepless nights. Her food requests had become very interesting to say the least, and I had had to become very creative at finding foodstuffs to satisfy her cravings. Eventually the fateful day came when her water broke and she went into labor. I stayed close to her and helped her push the foal out -- a dark indigo blue Alicorn filly, which she decided to name Moon Beam. Her deep blue eyes drew me into their depths and I smiled warmly at the little foal. I cleaned her off and wrapped her in a soft blanket and levitated her over to Nightmare, who softly cooed to her little filly.
"Tasavir, I hope you are willing to provide me more foals -- thank you so much for this one! Moon Beam is going to be very special, but I hope to provide her with additional siblings!"
"You have my word, Nightmare. As many as you wish," I replied softly. Her response was a big toothy grin.