A drop of fuel for a Nightmare

"and, of course, you will be granted full citizenship should you accept," Princess Celestia finished, sitting back on her throne and awaiting your reply.

Princess Luna was apparently having some trouble adjusting after her return some few months prior, and Celestia was worried about her. It was a sensible worry - according to all the legends you'd read, Nightmare Moon was little but a product of Luna and loneliness, and Celestia didn't think Luna had talked to anybody outside of her assigned guards in days.

So she found you, and requested an audience. You had little choice but to accept, and travelled to Canterlot, finding yourself alone with Celestia in a smallish, nondescript room. Certainly not the throne room, which one would assume most royal business was taken care of in. She wanted this kept quiet.

Why you, you inquired while still mulling over the decision of whether to accept her offer - Princess Luna needed companionship right now, above all else. Unfortunately, Celestia knew from experience that she was too proud to accept it being pushed upon her, so your official job title would be "Manservant", assisting your princess in whatever she felt necessary.

"Due to your unique physiology," Celestia answered, after taking a moment to compose her words, "most ponies are completely diurnal - that is, they're awake during the day, and sleep during the night - and it's hard for them to change that. The royal guard manage it, but only through their training, and that leaves them unsuitable for the more personal connection I wish my dear sister to have. You, of course, should have a much easier time becoming nocturnal, as she is."

So, the only reason you had the offer was because you could be awake at night. Always nice to feel wanted. It was a tempting offer, though - as a relative newcomer to Equestria, and unfortunately still not a creature granted full citizenship and the same rights as any native, the chance to directly assist one of the rulers of the land you'd so come to adore was something you could never have predicted.

You really had nothing tying you to your home, back in Manehatten - a rotten city in a sea of diamonds - and the work did sound fulfilling, though being on a constant night shift would be problematic. As Celestia had said, the streets and pathways grew silent in Equestria's night, as the populace slumbered. Unlike back where you came from, ponies had no concept of a "city that never slept", and indeed save for a very few exceptions, ponies would rather be tucked away in bed than working once the sun went down. Must be a nice life, you thought, having things that clear cut.

Tentatively, you agreed to Celestia's terms and asked what would happen next, when would you start? All of those questions that were just practicalities, things you had to know but made no real bearing on the decision. It's not like you'd be locked into it forever, or anything, you could always quit if it wasn't worthwhile.

"Excellent, I'll have a guard make up a room for you. Take a few days to try and get used to your new sleeping pattern, and then come talk to me and I'll introduce you to my sister properly. While you're here, feel free to make use of the royal kitchens, the cooks will make you anything they can. The night cooks are less imaginative, but simple meals aren't beyond them."

That seemed straightforward enough. Better yet, it would give you plenty of time to get used to the local culture, and hopefully get along with the princess better. Not that the promise of free food went unthanked, though, and you promised Celestia you'd make good use of it.

Though she hadn't noticeably called one in, a guard opened the door and stood to attention, as stoic and silent as guards are wont to be.

"Could you organise a room for this gentleman, please? He shall be with us for quite some time, and I would like it to be as near to my sister as possible, thank you."

The guard nodded, grunted "Follow me, sir" in a gruff, gravelled voice, and turned to walk away. You said your thanks and goodbyes to the princess, and quickly hurried after the guard.

On your way, you tried your best to make small talk. How was the weather?

"Within acceptable tolerances."

Seen any good hoofball games lately?

"I don't have much time for sport."

Any plans for tonight?

"I am assigned to the throne room, as on most nights."

You stopped trying after that, following on in silence. No wonder Celestia didn't think the guards would make suitable companions, they were drier than a pegasus-starved desert.

"This room is free, sir. Will that be all?" he asked, pointing his hoof at a closed door across the hall. The doorway to the right of it was about 4 times the size, a relative monolith set into the grey stone walls barred with metal and adorned with a silver moon. That was Princess Luna's room, you assumed.

"Correct."

Then that would be all.

You walked over to the door and opened it with a tentative hand, ducking under the low doorframe and silently thanking the two princesses for being so tall, resulting in them living in a building that was actually reasonably sane for you to walk around in. You wondered why the guards seemed unconcerned by your presence - though ponies were naturally pacifistic and fairly docile, unless provoked, you'd received your fair share of suspicion.

Much as you disliked your old home in Manehatten, it was the only city in Equestria you'd found where you could walk down the street and not get stared at. Partially because everybody was more concerned with going about their own lives than poking about in others', something which certainly wasn't the case in most smaller settlements, but mostly because you weren't the strangest thing roaming the city - you'd seen buffalo in ties, running and clearly late to work, griffons soaring through the skies delivering mail, large dog-like creatures strutting around performing city maintenance, and too many other strange encounters to count. A human in Manehatten simply wasn't notably strange.

Your room was very much a blank slate. You had: a bed (Made for ponies - that'll have to be replaced); a table and two chairs (Made for ponies - they'll have to be replaced); a chest of drawers (Made for ponies, but large enough to store your meagre quantity of possessions) and a bedside table. There were also several picture frames, though all but one were empty. The one above your bed contained a painting of the vista visible through the window on the far side of the room.

Dropping your depressingly small bag of worldly possessions next to your bed as you walked across the room, you made your way to the window and looked outside. Canterlot was, you'd always thought, a gorgeous city. Hung from the side of a mountain, it was like something out of a fairy tale - an ancient city wrought from rock and wood, yet one suspended as high as the pegasus capitol of Cloudsdale, one of the few cities you'd never visited. The landscape in front of you was breathtaking, your height combined with Equestria's rolling hills making for an impressive sight.

Staring out, you could see small towns dotted around seemingly at random. Just on the horizon, you could catch a glimpse of Manehatten, the smog visible even here. In the other direction, you could see a huge lump of dense clouds. You were no cloud technician, but that was either Cloudsdale or an unparalleled feat in storm engineering - either way, the way the sun reflected off of its puffy surface at a low angle was incredible. Evening was your favourite part of the day.

You had things to do. Pulling away, you turned back into your room and moved to leave it, grabbing the key that was hooked on the wall next to the door as you left and stuffing it into a pocket. After much searching, you found a guard - you didn't know which, they seemed visually indistinguishable to you. You supposed that was the point.

After a short conversation, he agreed to negotiate with the royal carpenter about getting you a more suitable bed, and left. You returned to your room and began to sort away your things, trying to make the place feel a little more like "home".

It was late, and you were still tired from your journey. Tomorrow would be another day, and the start of a new chapter of your life. The carpenter, like almost everybody else, wouldn't work at night, and your chances of getting a more appropriate place to rest were slim, so you decided to cut your losses, lock your door, and try your best to get a good night's sleep. It was awkward, uncomfortable, and the low-quality bedding was scratchy, but it was a start.

Tomorrow would be another day.