A drop of fuel for a Nightmare

You woke up. You didn't want to, and you'd rather go back to sleep, but you couldn't. The bed was still too small, the duvet was still too scratchy, and the only way you could ever get a decent night's sleep was to exhaust yourself the night before.

Tonight, though, was going to be different. Luna was out. Outside. Not within the confines of her tower. Elsewhere. You had no princess to serve. In fact, you had absolutely nothing to do, so you'd planned to sleep through most of the night. You weren't sure at what point you'd become so dependant on Luna's company just to function, but you supposed that was just something that came with spending all night with one person for weeks and weeks.

You hoped she was enjoying herself. It was Nightmare Night, and the one night when most of the kingdom would be awake, celebrating Nightmare Moon in... some manner. You weren't sure why these ponies decided to celebrate what was effectively the most evil creature in their history, but if there's one thing you'd learned about ponies, it was that they almost never turned down a party.

20 minutes later, you'd casually gotten dressed, actually paying attention to what clothes you were putting on, and had a leisurely breakfast of cheese on toast. Bread wasn't usually easy to acquire, but being the personal assistant to a princess did have some advantages. After learning of the sorry state your morning meals were usually in, Luna had ensured the kitchens would be better stocked, and you were now reaping the benefits of that.

So, 20 minutes in, and you had the entire rest of the night ahead of you. With absolutely nothing to do. As if Luna had known you wouldn't be able to sleep, she'd ensured that her tower was left spotless at the end of the previous night, so you couldn't even busy yourself with meaningless chores. It was almost as if she WANTED you to go outside and do something new, but that didn't sound much like Luna.

Though you'd already been somewhat reclusive before you began, spending so much time relatively alone hadn't left you very willing to go out and party, especially not a party that celebrated all the bits you didn't like about the mare you liked rather a lot. Maybe rather too much.

"Hey!" a voice shouted across the hall as you left your room, coming out into the corridor to meet who else but Shadow Shield. "You too, huh? I couldn't sleep either. Shame, I'd been looking forward to getting out and stretching my wings, but it's been so long that as soon as I tried, I crashed."

He held out one of his thin papery wings, now bent in two along one of the "bones" and appearing quite useless. Didn't that hurt?

"Nah, it's just an enchantment." he replied, pulling the wing back and letting the broken bit rest against his side. "She'll fix it up when she gets back, probably. Can't have her guard looking battered, eh?"

You supposed not. Sensing a chance to find something to do for the rest of the night, you asked him what his plans were.

"Oh, nothing much. Never been one for parties. Hey, we should get a drink, trade war stories!" he suggested. That sounded good to you, too, it wasn't like you had anything better to do.

"Great! I know a place not far from here, they do a mean donut!" he cheered. One day, maybe, you'd get used to the absurd pony sensibilities, where it was even possible for a donut to be "mean".

He wasn't lying about the distance, though, and you quickly found yourself walking into Pony Joe's, the only bar in town that advertised night time service. Looking at the menu, you saw why - they served coffee, and donuts, and literally nothing else. You'll have a coffee and a donut, please!

"Man, I wish I was out there." Shadow lamented, staring out into the night sky. "Ain't often I get to fly, much less with the sort of theatrics Luna had planned."

Theatrics? She hadn't mentioned any theatrics to you, else you would have strongly advised against it. Was that really a good idea? Was she serious?

"Sure, she said she wanted to make an entrance nobody would miss. Said that she'd been assured everypony would love her. I dunno about that, but it's not my place to judge her."

Oh, Celestia damn it all. If tonight didn't go well for Luna, it'd probably take months to get her outside again.

"Nah, I don't think so. I see more than you think, that's my job," he replied, sipping his coffee in-between sentences. "The princess was just getting worse and worse. She'd stopped talking, never wanted to let even Celestia in, not that I had any way to keep her out even if I was ordered to, she was falling apart, badly. I told Celestia, but I couldn't bring myself to tell her just how bad it was getting."

He took a bite of his donut, savouring the taste. "Mm, they do good donuts here. You should try yours. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, so then you come along. Months of her getting worse and worse just turn around, and now she's doing better than ever. I dunno what the hay you're doing to her, man, but keep it up. Y'know what she was doing before she left this evening? Smiling. I ain't seen that since she very first got here."

You knew things had been bad, Celestia had told you as much, but had you really made that much of a difference? Was it just having company, or...? No, even in your wildest dreams, you never allowed yourself to think that it could become anything more than what it was. A relationship between a complete alien to the land, and a princess, would be unthinkable. So why were you thinking it?

Though you hadn't explicitly told Shadow of any of your inner turmoil, he responded anyway. "Like I say, I see a lot more than you'd think. Those shadows aren't always empty, and sometimes even the princess doesn't notice me. I've seen the way she looks at you when your back's turned, go for it man. You'll regret it if you don't, for sure."

Huh. That wasn't what you were expecting at all. Absent mindedly, now lost in thought, you thanked him. Before either of you could say another word, the Nightmare Night fireworks began, and his attentions were drawn, as most anypony's are wont to be, to the shiny lights.

Your attentions were elsewhere. A giant shining silver moon floating in the sky was nice, but it only reminded you of one thing - Luna. If you were going to make a move and finally admit your interest in her, you'd have to do it right. Take it slow, she wouldn't want to be surprised or shocked, and she certainly wouldn't want to be pushed into anything she didn't want. You found you had plans for the rest of the night, now - planning how to get yourself Luna.