For seven days I slept like a foal. I paid back Pony Joe for the meal, and found myself having dinner there again twice more when I didn't want to be alone. That was the difference now—I didn't want to be alone.

I jumped out of bed after a sleep filled with dreams that I'd already forgotten. I was almost set a half-day of writing when there was a knock on the door. When I walked over and opened the door, I saw Princess Luna with the biggest smile on her face yet. "Princess Luna?"

"Stygian! Come on! We need to get ready!" Luna practically danced from hoof to hoof in excitement.

"I've only just finished breakfast," I said. "I thought Nightmare Night was, you know, at night."

"It is, but we need to prepare. I can't just go as myself, the fillies and colts expect Nightmare Moon!" Luna spun around and pranced down the path. She stopped when she reached the cobbled street and looked back at me. "Well? Come on, Stygian!"

It was hard enough saying no to her at the best of times, but right now I had not a hoof to stand on. I'd agreed, and had spent all week anticipating tonight—I couldn't back out of spending the whole day in preparation. Striding forward, I pulled the door closed behind me and met Luna at the end of the path. "What are we doing first?"

"Manes, tails, and coats. I could use magic to look like Nightmare Moon, but where's the fun in that? Besides, you need a lot of work done if you're going to be my dark lieutenant." Luna pranced like the happiest pony in Equestria.

Swept up in her wake, I couldn't help but see the world a little brighter—which was ironic given that Luna took me to a salon where they dyed my mane and tail jet-black, and my fur cobalt blue. That took all morning.

For lunch, we went to Pony Joe's and had a bagel and a 'shake. I was so busy eating that I barely noticed Luna looking at me over her drink with a curious expression. Gulping down some of the strangest (yet still delicious) sandwich I'd ever had. "Something wrong?"

"Just admiring you."

I was uniquely glad I'd not taken another bite or Luna would have been wearing it. "Admiring me?!"

"Every year I convince some poor Royal Guards to go through the same thing. Have them dress up in armor enchanted to make them look suitably dark and melodramatic. It's all in good fun, but while they certainly look handsome, you present a different take." Luna sipped at her drink. "A very thoughtful commander. A leader. I read your books, and that sounds exactly like what you did."

Avoiding the topic of her admiration, I focused in on one thing. "You read my books? Which ones?"

"All of them. It was interesting seeing events Star Swirl taught us about from a different perspective. I had no idea how much planning and calculation you could do to defeat those kinds of monsters."

"Well, how did you and Cel—Princess Celestia do it?" I asked.

In answer, Luna fluffed the wings at her side and rolled her eyes upward.

"Right. Alicorn power." I took refuge in drinking my 'shake.

"It wasn't exactly easy, even when we had the Elements of Harmony, some of the monsters we fought were almost too much for us. If we'd had an ounce of the planning you undertook, we'd have had things a lot easier." Luna popped the last of her bagel in her mouth and chewed it up. "That might have been part of the strife that clouded my vision. It sometimes felt like we should have been handling things easier, but I thought it was because Celestia wasn't pulling her weight.

"That's why I said I was admiring you. You're not all brawn and no brains like some of us."

"You're hardly no brains. You're the only pony that gets me," I said. "If I told anypony else the things I've told you, they'd call the Guard to lock me up."

"That doesn't make me smart, just a good listener." Princess Luna went about assaulting the bottom of her milkshake with her straw again, loudly blocking any reply I could have made. When she judged her royal duty to devour every last drop of dairy products in the glass complete, she jumped to her hooves. "Are you ready to get our costumes on?"

"Costumes? You never said anything about costumes!" I wasn't actually panicking over attending a party in costume. I was just almost hyperventilating over how good the milkshake was. Yup.

"Come on. You're going to love this." Princess Luna started prancing for the door, and despite all my willpower I didn't have the heart to tell her I wasn't going to do this.

Standing up, I put the last of the bagel in my mouth and gave chase.

The Royal Guard armory was an amazing sight. Gleaming suits of armor made for huge stallions lined the walls within, spears beside each suit, and one mare that looked bigger than Rockhoof swinging a hammer with her hoof while weaving magic with her horn.

Strike after strike of her hammer met the cherry-red metal on the anvil before her, and with each strike she pounded magical enchantments into the piece of armor. Apparently, the needs of her work came before the needs of royalty, so it wasn't until the huge mare was done with the breastplate and put it back in the furnace that she finally turned to us. "Princess Luna. I have your piece made. This is the colt you'll have wear it?" Her voice was the same as everything else about her—she apparently didn't have an inside voice.

Princess Luna made the cutest little excited whinny I'd heard in my life. "Steel Horn, please meet Stygian, he is—"

"Stygian. The Stygian?" Steel Horn rushed forward and thrust her giant hoof toward me. "I've read everything you've written! This is soooo amazing! Oh! Do you think you could sign my books for me?"

Steel Horn moved with all the casual grace of a mountain, and all the finesse of the sea. She was a pony built on a scale the likes of which Rockhoof was a perfect example, only she'd taken that and decided she needed to be bigger, or so it seemed. That she was also apparently another of my number one fans shouldn't have surprised me, but it nonetheless did. When she got hold of my hoof—that I'd foolishly raised to meet hers—she nearly ripped my foreleg out at the shoulder.

"Sh-sure!" There was nothing else I could say to an eager fan. How many ponies had read my books?! "Do you have a pen?"

Five books signed later and Steel Horn lifted out the armor she'd made. It was so much smaller than the rest of the gear that I wasn't surprised she'd called me a colt. She lifted it with her forelegs and sat it over her anvil. "This has all the same enchantments I put on the other bat pony pieces. It should fit you like a glove, Mr. Stygian."

Looking at it, it seemed to be way heavier than anything I could lift. "H-How heavy is it?"

"Like this? No heavier than any well crafted armor, but when you have it on it'll be light as a feather, just like Princess Luna asked." Steel looked between me and Luna as if to check that was what had been requested. "Would you like some help with getting it on?"

I gulped at the idea, but I wasn't so stupid as to try to put it on myself and prove I knew nothing of armor. Maybe if I had a few days to research it, and ask Flash Magnus for some demonstrations, I could have handled it, but not off the cuff. "Y-Yes please."

"Okay. Here it comes." When Steel Horn lifted the heavy armor (at least it was heavy to me) onto my back, I had nearly two seconds of panic when I felt the weight of it. Then, as the enchantments on the armor activated, it became as light as if I were wearing just a coat. Steel used her magic to fasten buckles and cinch straps around me—it should have felt uncomfortable for somepony not used to it, but it was no worse than regular clothing.

When I looked at Luna, I saw her looking at me approvingly. "How does it look?"

"See for yourself." Luna used her magic to float a mirror closer and held it up for me.

My jaw must have hit the ground. The bat-winged unicorn in the mirror looked—well, he looked incredible. My coloration suited the armor perfectly, the purple-black motif highlighted by the spread wings made it impossible to look away. "How do the wings work?"

"You can't fly with them, but they'll respond to your emotions, and you can manipulate them with a little focus," Steel Horn said. "Now, Princess, your usual piece has been upgraded for this year."

Luna almost dropped the mirror—almost because I caught it. She actually pranced in place she was so excited. "Normally I only have the helmet of Nightmare Moon, but we came up with a full set of light armor for her tonight!"

There was something just a little perverse about enjoying the dark side of your nature so much. Nightmare Moon, from what I'd read and heard, had almost succeeded in taking over Equestria and plunging the world into eternal night.

The armor that Steel fetched was bigger than mine, but Luna was a bigger mare than I was. She floated it over and stood beside Princess Luna. "Begging Your Highness' pardon, but I'll show you how to put this on."

Turning to look at me, Luna's eyes looked bright with excitement. "I never got to wear armor before. The helmet I dreamed up for Nightmare Moon all those years ago was nothing but a way to keep my mane somewhat under control. This—" She stopped as Steel set the armor on her back. "… Is heavy!"

"Give it a moment. Fold your wings through—There you go. Now give me a moment to cinch it up." Steel busied herself fastening the enchanted armor to Luna, but it wasn't exactly Luna anymore. Black leaked into her fur and spread over her body. Her eyes stretched into a more elongated shape, and her eyes themselves pinched down into slits.

Luna's horn grew out nearly twice its length, and her cutie mark changed from black and white on blue to purple and white on black. "How do I look?" But her voice was still 100% Luna.

"This is Nightmare Moon?" I asked.

"Close. Very close. She was a little taller, too." ~~Luna~~ Nightmare Moon stretched her wings and shifted on her hooves. "The armor is wonderful. Thank you, Steel Horn."

"You still need your helmet. Here you go, Your Highness." Steel didn't try to fit the helmet herself, instead passing it to Luna (I had to think of her as Luna, she was still Luna).

When she put the helmet on, it pushed Luna's mane back from her face and made her horn even more pronounced. She was magnificent! She was scary. "Now, how is that?"

When Luna turned to me, I gulped and tried to remember the imposing bat unicorn I'd seen in the mirror. "You look perfect, Your Highness. Shall we bring terror to the night together?" I had no idea where the words had come from—possibly the same creative place my books did. As the curve of Luna's mouth turned up into a big smile, I knew I'd gotten my role somewhat correct.

"First I need to show Tia!"

In what was apparently a regular occurrence (if the Royal Guards' chuckles were anything to go by), Princess Luna led the charge back to the main palace and through to the throne room. When she found out that Princess Celestia was between supplicants, Luna seemed to take on a maniacal aspect.

Spreading her huge black wings, Princess Luna stood every bit as tall and malevolent as I'd expect Nightmare Moon to have looked. "General! Announce me!" After a moment of everypony looking confused, Luna nudged me with a wingtip. "That's you, Stygian."

"What?" I asked. "Wait, you want me to—"

"Go in and act all evil. Make a pile of stuff up about me." Luna struck a pose that was less about malevolence and more about looking awesome. "And don't worry, she's expecting me."

That swung things an entirely different way. With Princess Celestia expecting something silly like this, it meant I had a duty to uphold a level of quality in my performance. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but okay. Send me in!"

The Royal Guards, trying not to giggle, opened a side door to the throne room and practically shoved me through it. What was I doing? I'd clearly gone crazy, but as long as I had a role to play, I could avoid the quiet and shy Stygian and be somepony else. Or was it somebatty else?

There'd been some talking going on in the throne room. Princess Celestia was talking with one of her guards when she saw me enter. One white eyebrow rose almost invisibly as I stomped forward, trying to at least pretend I was carrying the hefty armor with a strong back. "Princess Celestia!"

Her raised eyebrow lowered, and a smile hit her lips. All the tension ran out of me at the look—she knew what was coming.

"It is my terrible joy to present the Princess of Perilous Powers, the Demon of the Dark, the Shadow Within Every Heart—Nightmare Moon!" As I shouted her name, I stomped my hoof hard on the marble floor three times. On the third, the doors behind me opened (I only knew because of the rush of air). I bowed my head and shuffled to the side as Luna strode past me.

"So, Nightmare Moon, you've returned to Equestria?" Princess Celestia sounded every bit the concerned and worried ruler, but she was grinning like a fool. "Your new battledress is impressive."

Luna managed to look stern for nearly ten seconds, then she broke into a smile too. "Steel Horn did such a great job! How does it look? I don't even need to use magic to look like this!"

"That looks impressive. We were wondering who Princess Luna would dress up this year since Princess Celestia kept her usual suspects on duty in the throne room." One of the Royal Guard was talking to me like I was one too. It was confusing mostly because they were normally stoic and quiet.

"H-Hi. My name's Stygian." Truth, an orange earth pony had taught me, was vitally important to keeping oneself grounded. I thrust a hoof out to the other stallion.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were talking behind us, raving about the armor and the magical effect.

"Wait, I thought you were—" The Royal Guard shoved out his hoof and shook mine. "Well met regardless. I thought you looked a little short for the Guard, but then Steel can work literal magic with her armor."

"Did he say his name was Stygian? The Stygian?!" A dark gray pegasus Royal Guard practically shoved his companion out of the way bodily. "I've read all your books, sir!"

"Wait, this is the author of that book you gave me? It's amazing!" the first Guard said.

It was starting to become surreal how many ponies I ran into who had read my books. I'd been to book signings, of course, but those are advertised—fans go out of their way to attend them. "Do you have anything I can sign?"

I'd never seen a pony get so excited just from a few words. Well, that's a lie. When I told Pinkie Pie my birthday, that was the most excited I'd seen a pony get from a few words, but this was about me.

The two Guards ushered me over to the door I'd come in, and sure enough there was a copy of one of my books sitting on a bench there. The poor book looked half destroyed. It was dog-eared and the back cover had fallen off at some point. Nonetheless, a quill and ink was provided.

To the ponies of the Royal Guard, thank you for your service in defense of what Equestria holds dear. —Stygian.

I put a little extra flourish into things, and made it look as special as I could. The best part about the situation, however, was having a bunch of really hot stallions bunched around me. If nothing else, this silliness was worth it just for the wonderful dreams this moment would give me.

"General!" Luna's voice was raised loud enough that they probably heard it in Ponyville.

"I'll come back tomorrow, okay? Bring more books," I said and trotted after the source of my good fortune. "Dread Ruler of the Night, how may I serve thee?"

Luna paused for a moment and watched me bow my head. When I stood upright again, she gestured to the double doors. "Come! We have subdued the ruler of this land, now we must go and devour all the fillies and colts in Ponyville!"

"By devour, you mean tickle them until they give us candy?" I asked as deadpan as I could.

I tried to ignore the giggling coming from the throne above and behind me, and more coming from the Royal Guards.

"Yes!" Luna gestured with renewed vigor and a bigger grin. "For candy!"

By the time we got outside there was a pair of pegasi, hooked up to a black chariot, already wearing the same style of armor as I was in. Their wings looked to be bat wings, but I had a feeling they'd be able to use theirs.

"Mount up, my general. We ride for Ponyville!" Princess Luna jumped onto the chariot and raised one steel-shod hoof in the air. What else could I do but join her?

By the time we reached Ponyville it was late afternoon. Below us I could see decorations and colorful ponies everywhere enjoying the beginnings of a holiday based around one of the greatest villains Equestria has ever known. It was silly, but I think Luna had the right idea that the best way to deal with it was to be silly too.

A streak of purple and rainbow shot into the sky, and angry clouds seemed to pour in out of nowhere. We descended into the crackling cloud bank while the purple-clad Rainbow Dash drew even with us. I looked at her—resplendent in her costume. It was a decorated with lightning and skulls, and featured a very dark black-on-purple coloring that had gold highlights. "Ready for your awesome entrance?"

I expected Luna to nod or say something. Instead, she let loose a scream not unlike a windigo's, and Rainbow Dash shot through the clouds and curved. It should have been a sonic rainboom, but something Rainbow had done caused it to be an explosion of mist that settled all over Ponyville like a blanket. Then it occurred to me that we could see Ponyville—there was now a hole in the clouds we shot through.

"… doom arrives! Our ruler of the night, Nightmare Moon!" was all I heard of what I was sure was a big speech from Rainbow Dash. We practically crashed into the ground behind her, though the two pegasi pulling the chariot reared up in their tack and hoofed at the air.

"Behold! I, Nightmare Moon, have returned!" Luna jumped off the back of the chariot and stalked around the town square. Fillies and colts squealed and ran around in circles before stopping before her.

"P-P-Please take some candy!" one little colt said as he held up the little pail he'd obviously collected his candy in.

Luna reached a hoof into the pirate-dressed foal's candy and pulled out a bonbon. Standing tall and proud, she unwrapped the candy and ceremoniously put it in her mouth. Everypony was quiet, not a foal nor adult moved. At last Luna finished the treat and cleared her throat. "This candy was acceptable! Happy Nightmare Night everypony!"

The cheer in reply to Luna's announcement would have drowned out her loudest shout. There was a sense of release among the ponies, like this had been the signal that the fun was really starting.

"But wait!" I was wrong—Luna definitely could be loud enough to be heard over the crowd. "Nightmare Moon does not ride alone this night! I have brought my general to ensure I am not tricked by a carefully planted—delicious—candy. Make haste, for his anger is legendary when he is not fed well!"

I had neither hope nor warning. At least a dozen foals rushed up to me and held out their precious candy. Not wanting to pick the same colt as Luna, I reached out to a yellow filly who looked to be one of the older foals of the group.

Plucking out what looked like a sour apple chew, my mouth started watering in anticipation. Candy hadn't changed too much in a thousand years, it seemed. It was delicious! "Hrmm. I don't know. Maybe I'll have to try all the candy to make sure this one is okay?"

Terrified squeals came from all the foals until I stretched my (fake) wings out impressively. All went quiet again.

"No. No, this is perfect!" My announcement got the same reply as Luna's.

While I'd had everypony's attention, however, Luna used her magic to produce a large bag. Decorated with bats and spiders, the bag looked ominous, but now they noticed it all the foals were focused on Luna. "Ponies of the night, rejoice!"

All the foals started bouncing in place in excitement. I leaned down to them and said, "If you get in line, I think Nightmare Moon has something for each of you." They moved faster than lightning.

It wasn't hard to tell that Luna was having the time of her life. Each foal left with their pail overflowing with candy, and even one or two mares slipped into the line.

I don't know what I expected from a holiday called Nightmare Night, but this joyous occasion wasn't it. Ponies had set up games all over the place, and there was a zebra leading a group of foals around. As Nightmare Moon's General I kept at Luna's side for the whole night and the best bit was it didn't matter if I was disjointed from the modern Equestria—it helped me fit in better.

But foals couldn't stay up all night, and even adult ponies got tired and went to bed. I'd been so charged with energy that I didn't realize the evening was at an end until Luna steered us back to the chariot.

"Ready to go, Your Highness?" The two pegasi of the Royal Guard seemed to have been waiting, though I was sure I'd seen them among the crowd at various points in the night.

Luna nodded. "Yes please. Back to Canterlot."

We didn't speak on the way back, but it was a companionable silence. A silence that didn't need filling. When we landed back in Canterlot, both of us looked at each other for just a moment and—at the same time—asked, "Would you like to—?" Then, "Doughnuts?"

"Oh no!" Pony Joe said as we walked into his shop. "I am beset by the darkest of creatures! Whatever will I do?"

"Hi, Joe. Can we get two of our usuals?" I asked.

Joe was already in action, but he kept looking my way. "That's a fine costume, Mr. Stygian. Have a good Nightmare Night?"

"It was my first ever, also my best ever." The high I was on from the evening hadn't abated. When Joe passed over the two trays, I picked them up with my magic and walked over to where Luna had already found a seat. "This has been a great night. I guess I needed it. Thank you."

"You're very welcome, Stygian. Nightmare Night is special to me in one important way—I use it to make a mockery of Nightmare Moon. The image of her that ponies have in their hearts now makes it impossible to use as a weapon against them." Luna lifted up her sandwich and took a bite out of it.

I thought about that, of depowering our monsters, and I liked it a lot. When I finished my doughnut, I decided something. "Next year I'll go as the Pony of Shadows. Do you think Steel Horn could manage some armor to make me look like that?"

"Probably. She does wonderful enchantments, but we'd need to give her some time." Luna started slurping on her 'shake. Just the sight of a big-bad evil monster slurping a strawberry milkshake made me want to giggle more. "Ahh. But that's next year. What are we going to do in the meantime?"

The question caught me off-guard. What would Luna enjoy doing? "Err, I don't—I mean, I'm not sure what you'd like."

"That's why I asked you. Pick something you enjoy." Luna sipped some more of her drink.

Something I enjoy? My mind raced—writing wasn't going to cut it. "W-What about chess? Are there other games now?" To my absolute shock Luna's face brightened immediately. "Yes?"

"We'll need to visit a game shop, but I was talking to Spike—that's Twilight's dragon friend—about a board game he plays." Luna leaned down on the table and her magic flared to life to form little figures. "They play with these tiny models, and there's all kinds of rules, and we'll need to find out all about them!" By the time she was done, Luna was practically shouting. "This will be perfect!"

"So, uh, next week?" I asked.

"First thing!" Slurping up the rest of her drink, Luna looked thoughtful for a moment. "No, we should spend the first day of the week buying all the things so we know what to do, then we'll play the following day."

Well, I think I found my answer. "That sounds fun. These games are strategy games?"

Luna could only nod at this point thanks to the oversize bite she took of her doughnut. Deciding that I might as well eat mine too, I maintained a little control and ate mine more delicately.

We were both quiet while we ate the food that (once I'd learned its name) was what Joe was famous for. Luna jumped to her hooves. I was slower in getting up, but once I was standing, I was surprised when Luna kissed my cheek.

The kiss was more than just a friend, it was a maybe more type of kiss. It shocked me not only in that it happened, but that it wasn't bad. It didn't cause a negative reaction like every other mare who'd ever done that.

"It's a date then. And don't forget to bring the armor back and talk to Steel Horn about next year's costume." Luna pranced to the door and left me standing in complete surprise.

I was still standing there when Joe came over to collect our dishes from the table. "It's good to see Princess Luna so happy," was all he said before retreating back to the counter.

She had been happy. Very happy. I took a slow breath and was able to move again. I walked over to Joe to pay, but he waved my bits away. Leaving them on the counter anyway, I walked slowly home again.

The fact that kept circling my head was how wrong this should feel. Romance was a hard topic for me at the best of times, but Luna is a mare. Mares don't (usually) do anything for me—quite the opposite. I took a deep breath and picked up my pace.

I like stallions. Memories of Joe's solid form, the two pegasi that flew us to Ponyville and back, and the complete feast for my eyes that was the Royal Guard all made me perk up, but now thinking of Luna that way sorta-kinda-maybe did the same, but not.

Yawning as I slipped in my front door, I started walking to my bathroom, but after yawning on the way there I can't honestly remember if I made it.

Author's Note

Support me on Patreon or fuel my writing on Ko-Fi!

Join me on Discord. Warning, said chat may contain NSFW material and should be considered adult in nature.

Awesome ponies who are already helping to keep me in keyboards and rum:
A.P.O.N.I.
Canary in the Coal Mine
Daremo
Dio-Drogynous
Ender Voidwalker
KFS Crimson
Sirion123
Vi Watch

And special thanks to the following, for careful eyes and friendly words:
Lab