//------------------------------//
// Grumpy - Moonlight Collab 
// Story: Ultra's Hot Shots 
// by ultra1437 
//------------------------------//

“Please?”  Nightmare Moon curled a wing around her smaller, purple companion as they surveyed the stars from a large balcony.

“Hmph.”  Twilight Sparkle shifted away, huffing petulantly.

“Come on, please?”  Nightmare shifted closer again.

“Don’t want to.”  Twilight kept up her retreat, standing up.

“Pretty please?”  Nightmare was on her hooves now.

“The physical appearance of the word please has no bearing on my decision.”  Nightmare sighed at Twilight’s lengthy reply.

“Pretty please with an extra hour of night on top?”  Nightmare’s eyes betrayed her true feelings on the matter.

“Getting better.”  Twilight slowed down and turned to look back.

“Pretty please with an extra hour of night and the librarians won’t bother you?”  Nightmare showed her trump card morosely.

“... Fine.  What do you want?”  Twilight made her return to Nightmare’s side.

“To spend this glorious evening with you.  That is all, I swear.”  Nightmare wanted so much more, but she would take what she could get, for now.

“Nothing… more?”  Twilight had almost caught her, it seems.

“Not unless you want to.”  Not a lie, at least completely.

“Fine.  I’ll stay.”  Nightmare held her shout of joy, settling for nuzzling Twilight’s cheek.

“Why are you so grumpy around me?”  Nightmare asked as she pulled back.

“I… don’t know.  I can’t describe it.”  Twilight looked away, a small sadness taking her over as she slouched.

“Try, for me, please?”  Another nuzzle, this time against Twilight’s forehead.

“Why?”  Twilight pulled away slightly to look Nightmare in the eyes.

“Because if I know why, I can help you be rid of that grumpiness, Miss Grumpypants.”  A black hoof tapped Twilight’s muzzle softly.

“We don’t wear pants.”  Twilight shot her a flat look.

“My joke still stands.”  Nightmare chuckled lightly, drawing a wing against Twilight.

“Okay, Okay.  I’ll try.”  Twilight took a deep breath.

“Maybe it was from when we first met.  You tried killing me; then when my friends and I beat you with the Elements, I had the feeling you weren’t gone.  Not completely.”  Twilight trembled slightly.  “Then you returned.  Not having taken over Luna, but as your own pony.  That scared me far more than you know.  But… you came to me of all the princesses to surrender yourself.  To prove you weren’t going to take over the planet and cause eternal night.”

Nightmare replied, “At first… at first I planned on doing just that.  Somewhere along the way, I got distracted.”  Her eyes sparkled.  “By this beautiful, purple mare who’d defeated me the first time I came back.  She had grown some wings and fit perfectly into her role as princess so well that I knew if I were to try, I would stand no chance, even without the Elements against me.  So I improvised.”

“You surrendered, and you were put into my custody, to make sure that you weren’t evil,” Twilight stated smartly.

“I think the words Pinkie used were, ‘We gotta make sure she’s not the evil Queen Black Snooty we once knew.  Once she’s good, then I can throw her a party!’”  Both mares chuckled.  Nightmare continued softly, “I know I harbor no grudge against anypony.  I just wish to help you in any way I can.”  

Twilight jumped slightly.  “I… think I know why I’m so grumpy around you now.  I keep wanting to see you as evil.  I keep wanting to see another great villain rise up for my friends and I to fight.  These last few years of doing just that has made me antsy when there’s nothing going on.  I keep expecting a fight, yet not getting one.”

Nightmare asked, “We could spar?”  

Twilight shook her head.  “No, other ponies would likely see that and think you’re attacking me.”

“If you wish to relieve some tension, I could help with that, too.”  Nightmare laughed once as she kept her eyes on the sky, refusing to look down at the pony in her wing.

Twilight’s blush made her rival Philomena’s feathers.  “No!  I don’t need… that.  I just need time to settle down and get used to your presence.”

“I will wait as long as it takes, Twilight.”  Nightmare lifted her wing before standing and walking away.

Twilight felt as though she’d kicked Nightmare like a puppy.  “We could…”

Nightmare turned, her ears folding back.  “No, Twilight.  Do not force yourself to do anything for my sake.  Come to me when you are ready.  That is all I ask.”  Nightmare turned back around, spread her wings and took off from the balcony.