Good Evening
Slivers of light from Equestria's setting sun invaded the darkness of my cocoon of fur, forelegs, and feathers. Their owner yawned before nuzzling my head and hugging me tighter against her barrel, letting me feel the warmth of her coat and hear the rhythmic beating of her heart.
Nightmare Moon retracted her wings that concealed my form but kept her forelegs around me. I was greeted by her billowing locks of star-filled mane, her dark face, and two cat-like eyes gazing back at me. A small smile outlined her pearly-white fangs, each possessing a shiny gleam.
She traced circles on my back with one of her hooves, making me hum,
"Good evening, my little human. It's time to awaken now."
I chuckled at her teasing. "If I remember correctly, we are the same height, including the horn."
Nightmare Moon giggled, "It would appear to us that our little human is insecure about their stature."
"I'm not insecure about my height. I'll have you know I'm average back on Earth!" I whined.
"So you say, but we've never seen another human before; for all we know, you could be the smallest of your species," Nightmare Moon responded with a smirk.
"I'm pretty sure you're the 'little' one in this relationship," I mumbled. Without the horn, Nightmare Moon barely reached up to my shoulders.
Her ears perked up at that, and one of her eyebrows raised. "Care to repeat that, 'my little human,'" she said coolly, her eyes narrowed.
The hairs on my neck raised. "I said you have nice fur," I lied.
"That we do, but you can not fool us with such flattery, so we suppose we have no choice but to relegate thee to janitorial duties with the rest of the servants for the night." She retorted with an upturned muzzle and a thinly-veiled smile
I let out a sigh, rubbing my eyes as I did. It would seem some risky poetic flattery was required to appease her, "Your mane filled with nebulae, and the constellations of your night fill me with awe. Your stunning eyes of teal are like the ocean's reflection of your night's beauty. Your... hooves are like marshmallows...." I cringed after uttering my last line. Knowing my ineptitude with poetry, I should have just stuck with simple flattery.
Thankfully, Nightmare Moon found it funny rather than offensive.
"Well... no, they don't really feel like marshmallows, but you do take good care of them, and your hair is breathtaking, and I like your eyes... they're pretty," I said, trying to alleviate my embarrassment.
Nightmare Moon chortled before responding, "Very well, we forgive thee for thy poor choice of vocabulary regarding our stature."
"However, we will continue to call you 'my little human' as compensation," Nightmare Moon said matter of factly.
Usually, she wasn't this playful when we wake up, but I found it quite charming, so I decided to accept defeat in our silly little argument.
"Alright, alright, you win; I'm 'your little human," I said with a blush while burying my face into her chest floof.
"Huzzah, we claim victory, welp. To the victor, go the spoils, and we are very, very spoiled," Nightmare Moon cheered triumphantly before nuzzling me again.
After some minutes of her loving attention, She started sucking on my ear before nipping it with one of her fangs.
"Ow…I thought you said you would stop doing that?"
Nightmare Moon let go of my ear and stuck out her tongue, "Oops, it seems we got carried away again."
I grumbled a bit as she tended to my ear as if it were candy. My mind wandered, thinking of all our adventures together after meeting her. I wondered why she bothered to keep me around after saving my life. I was never really helpful in her battles, knowledgeable in the art of war, or of any value in the kingdom's administration. After thinking about it, I decided to ask while we were still alone.
"Your Highness…why did you keep me around after destroying the Elements of Harmony? I know I said I owed you my life, and I still do. It's just… I'm not useful to you, so why did you bother keeping me around this entire time if I was a liability?"
Nightmare Moon let go of my ear and stared at me with a questioning gaze, her left eyebrow raised.
"What brought this up?"
"I've been wondering about it for some time. I was just nervous about asking till now," I blurted out.
She laid their head on my chest and closed her eyes, pondering the question. "To be honest, we did think about abandoning you multiple times after our first meeting," Nightmare Moon said quietly.
My heart sank upon hearing that, and I always figured she thought about it at least once, but hearing that she did out loud still stung.
"But, we always thought back to the circumstances that were forced upon you. You were alone in this world with nopony around to help you…."
Nightmare Moon hesitated before continuing what she was saying.
"You were scared and confused like a lost foal, and I suppose we empathized with you."
"Why?" I asked
Nightmare Moon looked at me, swallowing before answering, "When my sister imprisoned me on my moon, we were angry and humiliated. We concocted plan after plan on how to escape, and each one failed, and at some point, We just…gave up and decided to wait it out."
"That still doesn't explain how you empathized," I stated.
"We were getting to that, you impudent fool," Nightmare Moon retorted.
I decided to bite my tongue for now and listen to what she had to say, as angering her when she was this vulnerable would be unhealthy. She cleared her throat before continuing.
"Our Moon is beautiful but also empty, quiet, cold, and lonely. We lived a life filled with ponies, warmth, and beauty, but while we were still lonely back then, I could also find a pony to talk with occasionally. To go from what we had before my imprisonment to never breathing, eating, or drinking for one thousand years was torturous, my magic being the only thing sustaining me. Near the end of my time on the moon, we shouted at Equestria, weeping and begging Celestia to release me, saying how sorry we were and how we missed her, how we wanted to be a family again to turn things back to how they were,"
Nightmare Moon's eyes watered, and she stifled a sniffle. If anpony were to come in now and see her like this, she would probably vaporize them immediately or worse.
She cleared her throat once more before continuing, "But when I returned, the first thing we did was take a deep breath. It was intoxicating; the first source of water I saw, I instantly lapped at it, ate the leaves off of trees, and even devoured a rodent after seeing it like a wild beast. I reveled in the fullness and warmth of Equestria… but then I looked upon the tyrannical sun, and my joy evaporated like water. That's when I remembered who took all of that away from us, our dearest sister."
Nightmare Moon's body shuddered as she spoke and used the side of her hoof to wipe away any tears that trickled down her cheek.
"We wrested away her control over the sun and imposed our night upon the land. Then, we traveled to the nearest village to proclaim my return before going off on my righteous quest to destroy the elements of harmony." Nightmare Moon nuzzled my chest before continuing.
"While on my way, a bright flash blinded me, and soon after that, we saw you halfway up a tree trying to beat a Timberwolf off with a stick," she said with a chuckle.
I smiled when I thought back to my first encounter with the local wildlife in Equestria. Back then, I was terrified, but it was easier to trivialize past events after some time.
"At first, we thought of you as a new loyal servant, but over time you grew to become more than that to me; you became a friend, our first friend in a thousand years." Nightmare Moon stopped talking after that and moved her muzzle under my chin, minding her horn.
It was a lot to take in. She had never opened up to me like this before, and I was grateful she trusted me this much.
My hands cupped her head after she was finished, wiping away any tears that she had missed, and started stroking her cheeks with my thumbs.
"I appreciate that you told me this, Nightmare Moon. It puts me at ease to know you care about me."
The hair on her back bristled at the statement. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it soon after, seemingly letting it go as she leaned against me and sighed.
I decided to shift the conversation to something positive "So I see you've been trying to be more patient with ponies lately."
Nightmare Moon nodded, "We have thought about your advice and decided to 'test the waters,' so to say."
"I'm sure, given enough time. Your ponies will get used to you as their new Queen."
Nightmare Moon did not respond for a while, simply content to rest her head on my chest.
I decided to play with her mane out of amusement as she rested her head. Its magical nature kept me entertained as I touched it, the mane moving hypnotically. Her mane felt like a cool mist, and I felt small shocks on my fingers as they combed her hair.
Nightmare Moon's ears twitched because of my ministrations, and she hummed in contentment at the feeling.
We both sat comfortably next to each other, appreciating the moment. The cool, dry air breeze made the balcony drapes billow, and a smile bled into my expression. Then, Nightmare Moon shifted in place, breaking the silence with the whispers of moving fabric.
She broke the silence first, uttering quietly, "We must… I must apologize for not being more emotionally' there' for you. But, I will admit, I'm not the best with ponies or humans when it comes to…."
"It's alright, you've been through a lot, and I'm sure you'll make it up to me somehow," I replied while patting her neck.
"Yes, I will," she said with a grin.
"You seem pretty pleasant this evening until I soured it with my question; what's new?"
"Whatever do you mean? Can't a mare be happy waking up with her lover? And I'll have you know I'm quite pleasant every evening," she said with a raised nose.
"Fine."
I almost missed the split-second glow of Nightmare Moon's horn. I was about to bring it up, but I decided not to bother.
"Don't we have to get ready for breakfast and night court soon? You're usually keen to be prepared as quickly as possible," I asked.
"Patience 'my little human,' patience, we have taken care of it," Nightmare Moon replied.
Two knocks at the twin doors reverberated across our room sometime later.
"Enter!" Nightmare Moon commanded.
"Your Highness, Night court has been canceled for the night as per your decree," A Night Guard reported with a bow.
"Good, leave us and don't disturb me again. I'm with my little human."
The mare bent down lower, blurting out an apology before speedily exiting the room and closing the door behind her.
I was left bewildered at this turn of events. Nightmare Moon never canceled Night Court unless she was personally dealing with Celestia's remaining loyalists.
Taking notice of my confusion, Nightmare Moon assuaged my concern.
"No need to fret. My cancellation of Night Court was not because of any upstarts."
"Oh," I responded. "Are you going to tell me why, then?" I questioned, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"Soon, for now, I simply wish to cuddle," Nightmare Moon said in response.
I gave up on trying to get answers from her as she seemed adamant about not telling me what was happening. Figuring I would find out later, I focused on enjoying my pony queen of the night.
Before I sank into her soft form, I heard the sounds of the changing of the guard. I smiled as I leaned against the caring Nightmare, and with one last glance at the door, I closed my eyes and settled in with her.
Times were good, and I hoped they would stay that way.