When night came, I had something that needed doing—I wanted to find and talk to Nightmare Moon. Purposefully seeking her out was not going to be easy unless she was willing to be sought.

As I closed my eyes, hanging from my newly installed perch, I focused on keeping myself aware of my dreams. It should have been harder to enter a waking dream, but I felt Nightmare Moon's magic flare within me and, without too much fuss, found myself floating in my own dream.

"Alright, Joyce, you've managed to sneak into the back door of your own dream." Looking down, I saw my bedroom and me walking around in it. Wait, I was walking around in it, but it was my dream.

Things were officially weird. I was both having the dream and watching myself have the dream at the same time. Well, it was time to mess with that. Reaching out with a wing, I prodded myself—and felt myself get prodded on the back in the dream.

"That is your subconscious. It will keep dreaming while your conscious mind is working apart from it. You are doing a very odd form of dreamwalking." Nightmare Moon's voice was from right at my side, and to my credit I didn't flinch. After all, she was the point of this. "You wished to find me?"

"Princess Nightmare Moon—" I wasn't going to deprive her of her title, "—I thought I'd bring you up to date on the happenings of Equestria."

She looked at me with what I assumed was actual surprise. "You would lecture me on how Equestria fares?"

I sat down without even knowing what it was I sat on (probably empty space, but if I don't look it works). "Somepony needs to tell you how the world is. You're going to return, correct?"

Slit eyes widened and a big grin spread across Nightmare Moon's mouth. "Yes." The word came out the way a lover would say their partner's name. She wanted to return a lot.

"Well, you'll need to know what is happening if you are going to be useful to Equestria. The ponies there are not the ones who hurt you." This was both a test and a plan. Nightmare Moon had been disconnected from the world for so long, I doubted she had any concept of it. A thousand years, on Earth, would see civilizations rise, fall, and turn to dust. "So, firstly, Cloudsdale is—"

"Cloudsdale? What is Cloudsdale?" Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes.

Okay, time to wrap my head around the fact that there was probably cities and civilizations that had grown in her absence. "Cloudsdale is the cloud-city the pegasi call home. There is a small population of unicorns living there as well, and last census states five earth ponies. It's where the weather factory is located, and the whole city is mobile."

"That's interesting. And the pegasi run it?"

I just nodded to her.

"Very well, continue. If there's anything else I'm not familiar with, I'll tell you." Her attention was focused on me, for which I was thankful. If Nightmare Moon had been distant or disinterested, as I'd feared she may have been, it wouldn't have boded well for her return.

I dove right in. "Cloudsdale's latest expansion to service the growing needs of the city is going well—too well. Ponies are actually considering building another cloud city. The Wonderbolts are—"

"Wonderbolts?" Nightmare Moon asked.

"We have all night, so I guess there's no need to skim over this. The Wonderbolts were a squad of very talented fliers in the E.U.P. Guard, but they've become more than that. They put on stunt shows, they are ambassadors for Equestria, and they assist in various seasonal activities—usually in support of weather management. They're also some wonderful ponies." I felt the last bit was needed, mostly because from what Lyra said, they were.

"My sister has been busy."

This was going to take forever if she kept making little remarks like that. "For a thousand years. Yes she has. Nightmare Moon—princess—I don't condone or support what was done to you, but neither do I support your reactions to it. Violence is never the answer."

"Was violence not the answer when the Yara-ma-yha-who attacked? Did the bat ponies sent to Equestria not dispatch it with tooth and talon?" She smiled enough to show fangs. I'm fairly sure Nightmare Moon expected that to intimidate me, but after seeing the bat pony hunter Phil, the little things Nightmare Moon sported were hardly intimidating.

"You considered your sister to be a monster that would kill ponies?" The moment I asked, I felt her anger grow. An oppressive darkness gathered around me and tried to push in and attack. "Is this how you treat friends?"

Nightmare Moon faltered and I saw surprise register on her face. If she'd expected me to stand up for myself, she was better at hiding it than Celestia. "Don't question me on—"

"No. No, Nightmare Moon. I will question you on that." I stood up and let my wings hang at my sides a little. "Why did you attack her? Why did you curse your entire country? Ponies are still suffering under that curse, you know? What did they do to deserve this treatment?"

She jerked back from me for a fraction of a second, then froze. Slowly, very slowly, Nightmare Moon hung her head. "They don't deserve it."

"Then, the moment you're back, break the curse. Show everypony that they don't need to fear the night or its princess." I reached a hoof toward Nightmare Moon. When her head snapped up and she looked at it, I put it down and instead walked closer to her. "Show them you'll be able to lead them."

For just a moment Nightmare Moon's eyes widened and I saw the tears in the corners of them she likely hadn't intended me to notice. "Tell me more about these Wonderbolts."

"The individuals?"

Nightmare Moon nodded slowly.

"Brave, smart, fast. I've only really met one of them, and last I heard he was flying third in command. Soarin's his name, and he—"

"You love him?" Her tone was soft and silky, like one mare discussing something naughty with her best friend.

I had a moment to think about how to deal with the question. "Not one bit. Don't get me wrong, he has his bits in all the right places for a pegasus, but I have a husband I love."

She looked as if my words had burned her. Nightmare Moon settled herself down into a pile of cushions that appeared a moment before her belly touched them. "Shadowbolts," she said in an easy tone, "were my champions. At least, they were meant to be. Ponies I'd invest with power and send out to help guard the night of Equestria from the bad things that stalked ponies."

Finding my own spot, I settled down onto my own stack of cushions. Of course, mine had a tray covered in fruit beside it.

"I'd told my sister. I told her everything back then. We talked about how wonderful it would be help everypony have the time to find—to find what they want to be. We'd have the bravest ponies assist us, soaring high in the sky, blazing with magic, and earth ponies who could withstand any peril and keep their spirits intact.

"None came. I had Celestia tell all the ponies what I was trying to do, and not a single pegasus came forth to join my Shadowbolts. That was one straw."

"Was that all your idea? The three tribes working together to fight monsters and protect Equestria?" I asked.

Nightmare Moon nodded her head. "My Celestia thought only the pegasi would be needed. They were militaristic enough already, and would only need a slight nudge to become an Equestrian army. I told her that was a bad idea."

"She listened." When Nightmare Moon's head jerked up and looked at me, I smiled at her look of surprise. "The E.U.P. Guard I mentioned? Earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi. They are a combined guard that was formed in the early days of Equestria. The Wonderbolts sprang out of them."

Looking softer and less bloodthirsty than ever, Nightmare Moon had closed her eyes and rest her head on the cushions—though her ears were still perked toward me.

"My daughter and her wife are members of the Guard. Lyra is in the reserves, a unicorn who I've heard tell is more wily than ten others with her magic, though I've never had to witness her using it like that. Sweetie, her wife, is an earth pony who serves in the Monster Hunters." The moment I said it her eyes snapped open. "They were both part of the team who dispatched the Yara-ma-yha-who. They put themselves between ponies and danger."

"You have another daughter." Nightmare Moon reached out with her magic and plucked an image of Robin from the air—which was basically my mind. "Who is this?"

Watching the image, it changed from the bat pony she was now to the little human girl she used to be, then slowly back again. "Robin Mango." I couldn't keep the smile off my face. "She's an advisor to the princess of Thestralia. My little girl…"

"Thestralia. This is the place bat ponies come from. Where she went back to. Perhaps I was right to share my magic with her. She had fire in her spirit. What do you suppose she'll do with it?"

It was a safe topic—a good topic. This was normal talking, something Nightmare Moon had lacked for a very long time. I shared a mango with her, and she shared a loaf of flat bread with me, and we just talked.

"You spoke to her again. How is she?" Tufts was awake beside me, carefully not touching me, but then he reached over with one wing and pulled me against him firmly.

"She tried to threaten me, cajole me, and I thought for a moment she might decide to plan her invasion of Thestralia." Reaching out to Tufts with my own wing, I hung onto him as tight as he was me. I shoved my snout against the ruff of his neck and inhaled the musky scent of male bat pony. "But I think she realized she couldn't have a friend and a minion."

Tufts ran one claw through my mane and used it to hold my head against him. "You know what male bats normally do to enhance their scent?"

"You didn't?" My snout was still pressed to him.

"Of course not. This is my natural scent. See? Even in this I have made allowances for you." His claw relaxed a little—just enough for me to tilt my head up and kiss the underside of his jaw.

"They are good allowances. If you ever think it's a good idea to do that trick, Tufts, you get to sleep outside until you shower."

He shifted, letting go with his wing to grab me lower and pull me upward. Sliding as much as I did, Tufts pressed his snout against my belly and spoke softly—too softly even for my excellent hearing to catch.

"What are you—I am, aren't I? You can tell?" I arched my back and looked down at him. "When did you find out?"

"She quickened tonight. No more than the tiniest bundle of potential, but I can feel her." He looked up at me, eyes wide in excitement. "Joyce, my darling Mango, we're going to have a girl."

I grabbed him by his shoulders with my wings and forelegs and yanked Tufts up and atop me. Enveloping him each wing, I kissed his wonderful mouth as firmly as I could. Never before had I had a moment like this—where the father of my child was alone with me when I found out.

Never before had I been with a man who suited me as well as Tufts did. I clung tight to him with every limb at my disposal and felt tears of joy welling in my eyes. I broke the kiss—I had to speak. "Tufts, I love you so much."

"You're crying."

"Because of you, you big idiot." My tears flowed and I didn't care. I clung all the tighter to him. "You wonderful idiot."

"I'm not sure about the idiot part. After all, I found you didn't I?" Tufts kissed my lips briefly, then my chin, and then down my jaw and to my throat as I tilted my head back. Soft, hungry little sounds spilled from his lips as he worked, kissing me more and more around my jawline.

It took a long time for us both to work off a little energy and finally rise from bed—though Tufts had risen twice already. I slid from one side onto my hooves and made my way to the bathroom. Even while cleaning myself up for the day ahead, I couldn't stop thinking of the news Tufts had given me.

Another baby—a foal. The thought cycled through my head again and again, and each time it did I felt a little happier. When I made it to the breakfast table, I found a spread of fruit already laid out for me.

Ignoring the food, I walked around the table and kissed Tufts on the cheek. "Thank you."

"Mmm. For breakfast?" Tufts ruffled his wings and used a forehoof to pull the chair out beside him.

Sitting down, I speared a peeled banana on my plate with a wing-claw. "For everything."

"No, no. This won't do. Everything is too much. I need thanks for each thing. Itemized, as it were." Choosing a small bunch of flowers, he lifted them up and began chewing on them daintily.

I laughed and took a small bite of my banana. The flavor of fruit was almost without equal. It wasn't just that Tufts shopped for the best fruit he could find, it was my batty nature that made fruit and flowers the best meals. "Okay, where do I start? Saving Australia. Thank you, Tufts."

"You're welcome. Anything else?" I was fairly sure that being vain wasn't specifically a bat pony trait, but Tufts had a little streak of it he loved to play for laughs. Of course, I had to play along.

"A few things." I leaned over and left a banana-tasting kiss on his cheek. "Lots of things, actually. How much time do we have?"

"Oh, a good while yet. You have eleven months before this little bundle of joy comes out." Turning, Tufts leaned his forehead against mine.

That was the answer to what I asked, but I remembered another question—the same question, really—that I'd been curious about. "A-And after that?"

"I don't know." Tufts leaned down and licked an escaped flower petal off his plate. "I can only promise one thing, whatever the future brings, we will be together for it." He turned back to me and raised an eyebrow.

Uncertainty. Would we live a normal lifetime, or be stuck for a thousand years like Celestia? It was both more and less reassuring than knowing what the average human lifespan was. But one part about it was vitally important. "Then it doesn't matter so long as it's with you."

Still with his forehead pressed to mine, Tufts plucked up a cut slice of apple and offered it to me.

My nose twitched at the sweet fruit smell, and I couldn't stop myself from opening my mouth for him to feed me. I'd done cute things like this with the other men in my life, sure, but not once they'd found out I was pregnant. Tufts is definitely the one for me.

"How's your friend doing?" he asked.

Who he meant was obvious. I let out a breath I didn't know I'd held. "She's both better and not. We sat down and had a quiet conversation about events in Equestria, and then moved on to talking about Lyra and Robin. It was normal stuff. But at the same time she still holds her anger so tightly that I can't even begin to tease it away from her. If she doesn't let go of it, I fear she won't be able to live in Equestria."

Tufts held another piece of apple to my lips and used his other wing to rub the back of my neck. "You're worried her sister will have to fight her?"

"I'm worried that if they do fight, Equestria might not survive. Nightmare Moon is a fighter. She kept the monsters of the night away on her own—for all Equestria. What worries me more than them fighting is them fighting and Nightmare Moon winning." I drew my head back from Tufts', but gratefully accepted another slice of apple. "All I can do is keep working with her and keep being her friend."

Tufts let out a sigh and kept rubbing at my neck while I ate. It was soothing to have the casual touches, but it didn't exactly help me with the weighty issues I was facing. I ate my breakfast, grabbed an extra apple, and kissed my wonderful stallion goodbye for the day.

Living on the outer edge of Canterlot made for cheap rent, not that bits were a problem—Celestia had made sure of that. I didn't step out the front door of our home, but the back. Unicorns might not like a back garden that opened onto a deadly drop, but winged ponies saw it less as a hazard and more of an easy way to get flying in the morning.

Reaching my left wing out, I grabbed the apple from my right in my mouth (and started chewing it, of course) then stretched that wing too and literally walked off the edge of Canterlot.

I didn't need to give up my altitude to gain a lot of speed. Big wings meant I could easily float along just on the updrafts that the underside of Canterlot channeled to its edges. Slowly gliding around the city, I gained altitude in small amounts until I found what I was looking for—a thermal updraft.

Dipping one wing, I slipped sideways into the thermal so I didn't hit its wall of cooler air hard, but the moment it got under my wings I shot upward. Warmth poured around and through me. I was no longer in the shade of Canterlot and had the sun bearing down on me from above and hot air rushing past from below—having the apple to chew on still made this the batty version of paradise.

Not wanting to fly over the castle just for the fun of freaking out any rookie guards there, I focused my attention on the medical school and spiraled lazily around it as I spent my altitude frivolously. Landing at the school, I gulped down the last of the apple pulp (thankful I didn't have to spit it out like actual bats) and opened the front door of the school.

"Joyce!"

I turned around, not expecting to be hailed by somepony outside. Spotting the source, I brightened and held the door open. "Professor Horse, I just arrived for the meeting you requested?"

"I'm so relieved. Princess Celestia sent a letter asking us to prepare a list of medications that would be worthwhile trading with a far less magical nation, and her letter made it clear I needed to discuss this with you, Dr. Joyce Mango." Professor Horse wore a knowing smile. She'd fully meant to use my now official title just to butter me up.

It worked. With all the drama and fuss going on, I'd managed to forget I was now a licensed and qualified doctor of medicine in Equestria. I let Professor Horse head in before me and followed her. "The princess has been establishing new trade routes with a country that previously had no magic, and has suddenly come into a surfeit of it. They've also been shunned by their geographical neighbors due to this. So, Equestria is their new trading partner."

She led the way through the building toward her office, which was on the second floor. "Oh. Well, that's probably more than I need to know about it, but why are they seeking magical medication? Is there a problem with their previous remedies?"

"That's the big issue, yes. Previously, a lot of their medications were imported from other nations. While the spread of magic has probably solved a lot of the more problematic conditions, there's still a lot of everyday situations that need medication to deal with." I followed her into her cozy office (all the offices were "cozy") and took an offered seat. "The flu pill we sent last time was seen as a huge boost to their moral, for one thing. Did you know even the advanced medicines they had before couldn't cure a simple flu?" It was hard to keep a straight face while telling her that.

"Just delivering these medications won't work. Flu-b-gone is easy. There's no side-effects from taking even a large dose of it, and the directions to administer it are so simple that—as you know—it doesn't even require a diagnosis to purchase. Bone-fixer tonic, for example, is not what you could simply trust just anypony to apply." She froze and looked directly at me. "And of course I have an expert in such right here. I really should learn to trust Princess Celestia a little more."

"You thought because I work up there that she'd saddle you with me just to keep an eye on you?"

The professor's expression spoke volumes—I'd guessed correctly. "Am I to assume that country is the one you came from originally, then?"

"You got it. It was my suggestion to trade the flu-b-gone in the first place, for exactly the reasons you pointed out. Some bone-fixer tonic would be a good choice, but I agree that it would require a doctor's touch to administer. They are well-versed with setting broken bones. All we'd need to do is describe dosage and tell them it accelerates bone growth, and they'll know how to use it." I lamented not bringing a drink with me, though the pulpy juice of the apple from earlier soothed my throat for now. "What else do you suggest?"

Lyra: How do you think ponies would react to monsters like Scylla, Fenrir, and the American windigoes?

"The what-now? Look, I didn't go into much history and stuff back on Earth—it took all Candela's effort to get me to learn the history that was required. Fenrir sounds familiar, though. Is that like the fenris wolf from Norse mythology?" Tapping her chin with a hoof, Lyra struggled, and failed, to remember anything further. "If you ask me about the Rainbow Serpent, or Gallipoli, I could answer dozens of questions!"

So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post! They will pick one question per chapter.

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