"Cherry," Nightmare said. "Wake up." She poked at the other mare with her hoof.

"Just a little longer," Cherry mumbled, rolling over and pulling the sheets tighter against her.

"Not this time." Reaching out, Nightmare grabbed a hold of the sheets and started pulling them off. "I have need of your culinary skills immediately. We must be ready before Twilight Sparkle and Big Macintosh wake up."

"Culinary skills?" Cherry asked. "Twilight and Macintosh?" Moving to get up, she looked toward Nightmare Moon. "What are you planning?"

"To have breakfast made," Nightmare announced. "Now come on." With that she turned away from the bed and flew toward the door.

"Breakfast?" Cherry repeated, standing there a moment. "Breakfast?" She started to chase after Nightmare Moon, her hooves clicking on the floor as she went. "I must have heard you wrong. I could have sworn you said you were making breakfast."

"Then yes, you misheard. We are making breakfast. And by 'we,' I mean primarily you since I have no cooking abilities."

The two made their ways along the hall, heading for the stairs before going down. They continued toward the kitchen.

"Why?" Cherry asked. "Why do you want us to make breakfast?"

"Because the dragon is still asleep," Nightmare replied, "and he is unaware of the extra guests this morning."

"That's not what I mean and you know it." Cherry moved to catch up with Nightmare Moon, looking at her from the corner of her eye. "Last night you were talking about going to Twilight's bedroom and spying on her with Macintosh. You agreed to let them have privacy for the night, but said that you were going to tease them today. Now you're talking about making them break... are you planning on bringing them breakfast in bed to surprise them?"

"Oh," Nightmare cried out as she stopped. "I hadn't even thought of that." She let out a chuckle, wings flickering excitedly. "Oh how gloriously amusing that would have been. I could throw the door open and proclaim 'good morning' quite loudly. The shock on their faces, the scramble to cover themselves, the confusion as I walk in with a tray of food, making no comment about the two of them being in bed together. It sounds like it would be a wonderful time." She tapped at her chin. "There is still time. I could in fact do that instead."

Nightmare stood there for a while, considering it.

"No," she finally decided. "No. I shall stay with what I have decided already." She then resumed heading for the kitchen.

"And what is it exactly?" Cherry asked.

"I think I'll keep it to myself for now," Nightmare answered, grinning. "However, I will say that it is far subtler than what you were expecting."

Chocolate Cherry let out a snort. The two made their way to the kitchen and Cherry looked around to see what they had to work with. After checking it all, she came up with an idea that seemed to be a surprise to Nightmare Moon.

"Apple pancakes?" Nightmare asked, looking at Cherry in what could best be described as confusion and wonder.

"Yeah," Cherry responded. "There are plenty of apples here. We take a couple, mince them up, and mix them into the pancake batter. It gives the pancakes an apple flavor, and we don't have to do any sort of adjustment to the recipe."

"You mean to tell me," Nightmare moved forward, eyes growing wider, "That it is possible to put apples into pancakes, possibly making them even better?"

"Not just apples. Most fruits, chocolate chips, marshmallows, I even knew a pony that would put pancake batter over hay bacon. Even had a whole song about it."

"Why have I not been informed of this before?!" Nightmare shouted, eyes wide and wings open. "All the possibilities I could have enjoyed. This will have to be rectified... another day. This morning is more about Twilight Sparkle and Big Macintosh."

"You're starting to make me wonder if you've been replaced by a changeling or something," Cherry said, raising an eyebrow. "Anyway, if you could start mincing the apples while I get the rest of the batter stuff, I'd appreciate it."

"Sounds simple enough," Nightmare responded. "Now, let's see if Twilight has a cleaver I can use for the matter."

"Why would you want a cleaver?"

"If I am to cut these apples into small pieces, I may as well do it in a way I would enjoy."

Disappointingly, there was no cleaver for Nightmare Moon to use. There was, however, a very large, sharp knife for her to use. For some reason, Cherry insisted that Nightmare use the sour green apples instead of the sweet red ones. With (disturbingly) great enthusiasm, she started to bring the knife down on the apples faster and harder than was necessary. A wide grin spread across Nightmare's face, small chuckles escaping her with the first few chops. As time passed, the enthusiasm gave way to intense concentration as Nightmare worked to cut the apples into smaller and smaller pieces.

"Is this sufficient?"

Chocolate Cherry stopped mixing up the batter and looked at the pile of apple bits on the chopping board.

"Yeah," Cherry said. "That's good." Grabbing the bowl, she started to brush the apples into the batter.

"What are you two doing?"

The voice made Cherry jump slightly, almost tossing the bowl in her grip. She managed to squeeze it instead, holding it closer to her chest. It looked to Nightmare like Cherry had been caught doing something that she should not.

Spike stood at the door to the kitchen, still rubbing at one of his eyes with the back of one hand. His other arm held his Rarity plush doll against him.

"We are preparing breakfast," Nightmare stated.

"Why?" Spike asked as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Oh, trust me," Nightmare purred. "You will find out soon enough." She then let a wide grin spread across her face. "You can either assist us, set the table for --" she did a quick count "-- five, or go back to bed."

Spike let out a huff before calling out, "fine. I'll help."

"Maybe you should take Rarity back to your room first," Cherry suggested. The comment made the young dragon's eyes go wide as he looked down at the stuffed unicorn in his arm. He then took off, running as quick as he could. This got a laugh from the pair of mares.

Shortly, Spike returned and took control of cooking the pancakes while Cherry mixed up more batter and Nightmare minced more apples. Soon they had a very large pile of apple pancakes ready to eat, with more still being made.

"That seems like a sufficient number to start with," Nightmare decided. "I'll go tell Twilight." Leaving the kitchen, she flew through the castle and up the stairs. A wicked small smile kept on her face as she made her to Twilight Sparkle's door. Landing with a silent grace, she came to a stop. Taking a step closer, she leaned her ear against the door and listened closely for a moment.

She thought she heard the sound of a pony snoring, but that was about it. Curiosity getting the better of her, Nightmare slowly pushed the door open and took a peak inside.

From what she could see, Big Macintosh laid curled up in the bed, snoring away, with Twilight Sparkle spooning him. Her forelegs were wrapped around his barrel, while he laid on his back . The wings were spread out wide, drooping off the edge of the mattress.

It was kind of cute.

There was also a noticeable bulge in the sheets in front of Big Macintosh. The word "slight" would by no means have been an accurate descriptor.

As she closed the door, Nightmare wondered how Twilight was able to take it all.

Nightmare Moon knocked, waited to let Twilight wake up a little more, then knocked again.

"Don't come in!" Twilight suddenly blurted out. "I... I mean just a minute Spike. I'll be out in a minute."

"It isn't your dragon slave," Nightmare stated.

There was a sound of ruffling wings and thumping hooves. The door was yanked open and Twilight stuck her head out through the gap. Nightmare Moon noticed that Twilight opened it just enough to do so.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Is something the matter?" Nightmare asked calmly. "You seem a little... flustered."

"No," Twilight practically shouted. "No, no. I'm fine. Everything's fine. Fine fine. I..." She shifted. "I just... ummm..."

Nightmare Moon bit her lip, trying to keep calm and serious as she waited to see what Twilight came up with.

"Fell asleep doing research and the room is a bit of a mess," Twilight finished. "You know how it can be sometimes." She gave a grin, one of her ears twitching.

"Research," Nightmare repeated, trying her best to sound as calm and deadpan as she could. From what she could tell, she was doing a pretty good job. Enough that she was convincing Twilight. Unless Twilight was too caught up in her own mind to notice Nightmare's skepticism.

"Yes," Twilight said. "Research. You know me. Read, read, study, study. Lots of work for a princess."

"Uh-huh," Nightmare replied. "Well, I was just coming to wake you up and let you that breakfast is ready."

"Breakfast?" Twilight asked. "Okay? Uhm... I'll be out in a little bit."

Nightmare nodded, turned to start down the hall, and stopped.

"By the way." She turned to look back. "Cherry will be there, and we made more than enough, so Big Macintosh is welcomed to join us as well."

The look on Twilight Sparkle's face was hilarious. It was too much for Nightmare. Laughing, she made her way down the hall and back toward the kitchen. Her fun had been had, and tasty apple pancakes were waiting for her downstairs.