Short Shorts

by Coranth

204. I, Nightmare II.

When they'd responded to Twilight's hastily written letter - describing how she and her friends had seen Nightmare Moon walking around the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest - Princesses Celestia and Luna were expecting Nightmare Moon to be her old, cruel self, gloating about bringing night eternal to Equestria. The Princesses had come armed, armoured, and prepared for combat; for a glorious battle!

What they got, though, was utterly unexpected. Instead of a black, female alicorn mare, Celestia and Luna espied a black stallion with thick beard and moustache, a hat similar to Applejack's atop his head -- and rather than wearing armor, he was clad in clothing, simple shorts and tee shirt drenched with sweat due to the hot weather; over the shirt a self-made vest festooned with borrowed tools and other items.

Stunned, both princesses stood there in silence, waiting for him to turn and notice them but he almost didn't, so concerned was he with looking up at the shattered tower where the incident had occurred almost one thousand years ago. "Nope," and here he chuckled. Then, "That," he muttered, frowning, "is going to require some... creative thinking..."

A shake of his head and he sighed, "Getting too hot to work now. Inside for siesta..." He made to do just that -- but when Celestia cleared her throat he startled and turned to face them. When he saw both Princesses standing there, all expectations were blown aside as his expression became weary and saddened. "Yes, it is I, Nightmare Moon, come to bring Eternal Night back to Equestria!" he intoned, voice thick with sarcasm.

"Horror of horrors, run away, call the Princesses to come blast me with the Elements of Harmony whilst I work to fix this place up so I can live here in peace and quiet, without anyone bothering me -- and so they did. Stupid mares. Well... go on, then..." He moved to sit, eyes closed, his expression resigned, weary, sad. He was genuinely waiting for the end. The black stallion didn't seem to hear Celestia and Luna move to sit beside him -- but he inhaled sharply when they nuzzled him, pressed their snoots gently against his cheeks; then his tension drained with a shuddering sigh as tears filled his eyes and ran down his cheeks.

The Princesses weren't like some portrayed in various fan fictions. Luna wasn't a crazy maniac of a mare who would blast him just for looking like Nightmare Moon, and Celestia wasn't going to immediately throw him in the dungeons of Canterlot Palace. Later, as all three sat at a crudely made stone table - Luna next to him, one of her wings over his back - Celestia asked, "Who are you?" The big black alicorn stallion heaved another weary sigh, then answered with a question of his own, "You ever heard of the 'displaced', Princess?"

At his words, Celestia and Luna gasped; then Celestia, stricken, replied, "Yes, oh dear, yes we have -- and I'm so, so sorry..." At this, the human-turned-alicorn smiled, nodded gently in acknowledgement. "Yeah, so... I guess I'm one of 'em, now" he continued. "My name's David, and - as you've both guessed by now - even though he wanted me to be, I am not, nor will I ever be, Nightmare Moon. I do, however, possess her knowledge and experience, but thankfully, her memories of the incident and, ah, subsequent time out are hazy.

For the record, and to reassure you both, I will state right here and now that I have no desire whatsoever to bring harm to Equestria or its citizens - and," here, he gave Luna a brief, pointed glare, "the idea of Eternal Night itself is extraordinarily stupid, as without the light and warmth of the Sun, there would be no life -- or at least, very little." At this, Luna hung her head -- but then she perked up as David continued, "As far as I can tell... the asshole deity who did this to me must've been new. He wanted full-female batshit-raging Nightmare Moon - probably to piss you and Luna off enough to kill me straight out - but he screwed up on that as you can see. Got the body right, but not the gender, thank god. When he took me, he also took all the stuff out of my bedroom, too. Don't know what the hell he was thinking..."