The Reason I Don't Date

I awoke suddenly! I banged my head against the headboard of my bed and sighed.

"Why did I have to buy the bed with the weird headboard?" I stated quietly as I sat up properly, not banging my head this time. I looked at the clock on the wall and sighed with relief. "Eight o'clock!" I mumbled through my teeth as I slowly dragged myself out of bed.

I walked to the closest mirror in the house, which was located in the bathroom and froze. I looked terrible! I had multiple streaks on my face that looked like somepony had tried to cut through my face. Little indents that glaced the outer fur without moving or damaging the bone underneath.

I began to tame the once wild mane that I had achieved and quickly noticed that with each stroke of the brush, my mane got less and less wild and more exotic than it had ever been. This was harder to do with no magic, but I managed to brush my mane normally, like any other day.

I was about to step out and lock the door, but froze as I looked at a certain painting depicting one of my closest friends that had passed away earlier in the year. A little tear grazed my cheek as I smiled almost uncontrollably. This was my best mate after all, and I loved him to bits, but something happened. Something that I swore that I would give up after his death.

I didn't have time to have sorrow as I made my way for the bar down the road. As I strolled down the road on this bright and beautiful day, thank Celestia for it, I stumbled across one of the same ponies from last night. He was the other stallion pursuing the mare last night. I glared at him with eyes that could pierce into his very soul. He didn't dare take a glance in my direction as he narrowly walked on by. I always had to be vigilant when walking about. I had a heavy resemblance to my older brother. My brother was not the nicest pony, that's all I can say.

Ponies stumbled about the place as I finally got to the bar. I could see three employees waiting at the door, ready to start the day off. They all took one look at me before they all smiled in unison.

"Hey Mist!" One of the stallions said as I approached them. I simply opened the door with the key and headed inside, pursued by the other three stallions. They all came in and carefully placed their bags in the storage room that I had also unlocked. They then stood next to each other with smiles lingering on their faces.

"Alright! You guys need anything? Or are you completely set today while me and the boss go to this event?" I asked, wanting to make sure that these ponies were ok doing this.

"Mist just stop! We have worked here a little less than you have and have not screwed up yet. I'm sure that we can take care of it. Just stop worrying!" Another one of the stallions stated before sticking his tongue out at me in a playful manner. I laughed nervously as a faint blush appeared on my face.

"Ok then! I shall see you all next week then!" I stated from my blushing state. I waved my hoof at them before making my way out the door and down the road to find my guest for today.

I continued to stroll down the road before I came across the house that I had been outside last night. I went up to the door and knocked. Nothing happened. I waited about 30 seconds before trying again. Again nothing. It was about 3 minutes in when I could hear the door unlock and out stood a mare that was having a worse mane day than me.

Nightshine stood in the doorway with bags under her eyes and a certain dryness within her eyes, suggesting that she had been crying… for a while. She tilted her head as she looked at me.

"Hey M...Mist! I haven't been taking this break up thing properly and it's got to me last night. I barely got any sleep!" She stated as she rubbed her hoof on the ground. "You want to come in?" She asked. I nodded and then stepped inside.

"Wow!" I stated as I looked around the place from the doorway. The house was beautifully clean and very, very colourful. "Your living life better than me I see Nightshine." I calmly stated before looking at her. She looked like she was about to burst into tears again.

"Sorry! I just can't forget about last night!" She stated with a blind panic. I placed my hoof on hear shoulder as she practically melted into the contact. She looked into my eyes. "Oh yeah, sorry about last night with the kisses. I was in the head space to just help myself. Is… is it ok that we start over?" She asked, panic rising in her voice as she realised that she had made a mistake.

"I was fine with you Nightshine. It was a bit of a shock yes but... but you made the choice to start over, so I'll respect that." I calmly announced as she smiled. "I'm Mist! Nice to meet you… umm... Nightshine!" I joked. I gained a smile and a hard punch to my shoulder. "Haha… I deserved that…" I laughed.

That helped to perk up Nightshine and put a smile on her face at least.

"Thank you for the laugh, but I do need to get ready for today!" She stated with a scarce look. As she slowly walked into the next room and brushed her mane, I felt something wrong… I couldn't put my hooves on it, but I had a feeling that it was watching the mare brush her mane.

"Pass that here!" I stated before taking the brush off Nightshine and proceeding to brush her mane for her. She was enjoying every second of this as I drifted the brush down her mane. I received different sounds from her, ranging from satisfaction to relief. She was not going to let me stop I presumed. I stopped for a short second to test my theory. She slowly turned her head to me.

"You finished or what?" She calmly stated, secretly wanting me to continue. I gave her mane one last brush before dropping the mane brush off to the side.

"You were enjoying that more than I thought." I stated clearly as a little blush spread across her face. She tried to hide it, but it was too late. I laughed as she tried to hide the blush beneath her hooves as they pressed into her cheeks. "Ok… I'll let you get ready!" I commanded as I began to get up and walk around.

I looked around at all of the fancy paintings that dotted the walls and smiled, remembering the one picture that I had on the wall of my friend, my closest friend. He died in the Changeling attack on Canterlot, back when Twilight Sparkle was not an Alicorn. He risked his life to protect me from the attacking Changelings that littered the streets like the swarm of insects that they were. They punched and bucked him senseless until blood began to form at the corners of his mouth. They beat him up until he was dead, and I watched the events unfold as I protected his Colt. My best mates son watched his dad die right in front of him. He was in shock for a couple of days before coming out of it and being depressed and sleep deprived. He told me recently that he couldn't go to sleep because all he could see was his dad being punched over and over again. At the time, I was defenceless, a weak individual who lacked the strength to do anything. That was the reason that I kept a knife with me. Only for protection sake.

"Umm… Mist? Are you ok?" I heard briefly before coming full circle into reality again. I shook my head drastically and stopped. I was stunned by the beautiful mare that was stood in front of me. The finely dark bluish purple fur reflected light in an amazing way and her darker cyan blue mane looked amazing. She stood tall before sitting down and looking at me. "Something is definitely up!" She stated angrily as she couldn't describe what it was. She instead shimmied behind me and grabbed my noticeably shorter mane with her wings and began to work the brush into my mane like I did hers.

"Really!" I gasped between breaths as the sensations were too much to resist. A low moan or a growl of some sort escaped my muzzle before I clasped my muzzle with both hooves. Nightshine dropped the brush and hugged me from the back.

"You want to tell me what's wrong with you then?" She asked in an almost scary manner. I shook my head as she headed for the brush again.

"Can I tell you later, maybe when we are back here?" I stated quietly as I looked pleadingly into her crimson eyes. She nodded and hugged me tightly.

"Ok, but only if we have a good time today!" She commanded in a more sultry tone. I didn't respond as much as I looked at the clock. It was only 9:35. The even didn't start until 11 o'clock. We waited together and passed the time before heading down to the event that was going on just outside of the princesses castle.

We arrived and were immediately greeted by my boss. His name was Storm. He ran a couple of businesses in Canterlot and I was in one of them. He raised his hoof to me and I shook it with pleasure.

"Thank you for coming! You two please enjoy yourselves, you have earned it after all Mist!" He stated, making me remember what I had done to be here. I had just past my third year working at the bar, so Storm invited me out to relax and unwind… it was a Friday after all. "Who do we have here then?" Storm asked, holding up his hoof to shake Nightshine's with a little bit more strength that was necessary.

"I'm Nightshine! I'm Mist's close friend." She convinced, as she looked at me with a stern but fearful look. I smiled and shrugged but didn't look away from her. I don't know what kept me looking at her. It was either her beautiful maple and crimson coloured eyes, or it was the lighting that surrounded the area. It was a beautiful orange and blue sky that seemed to radiate positive thoughts into my mind.

"Well, nice to meet you Nightshine! Mist here has the only one from his workplace that is here. He is only here to relax and unwind I can assure you." He stated with clear pride in every word. I blushed a little at that. Only Nightshine could make out the slightly that I was blushing and mischievously grinned at me.

"That's good! I think Mist should relax too, he has done more than you think. He is a true magnificent stallion and should make all the mares tremble on their hind legs." She confidently announced out loud, which got some more ponies to look our way.

I began to blush a little harder and then tried to cover her mouth with my magic… but my horn didn't work, so I was stuck with embarrassment as my only option.

"Why's that then Nightshine?" Storm asked, curious about the that happened last night.

"He stopped me from getting robbed!" Somepony stated in the background. A pony moved through some of the others as she walked to the front and stood next to Storm. "Hello Storm! Nice to see you again!" Blossom stated, sounding more confident than last night. I froze as I looked at Blossom being here.

"Sweet Celestia! Blossom!" Storm said, becoming more and more excited as the seconds went on. Blossom looked at him and wore a happy smile. I on the other hand, was thinking about trying to slip away.

"I… it wasn't a big deal I can assure you Storm!" I stated as I watched Nightshine slowly walk away to where the food was getting placed. I began to worry about her as she began looking down the table at some different foods. I looked away and back at Storm.

"You're right, this wasn't a big deal. It was a massive deal!" Blossom said as she grabbed her bag and lifted out some notes. "If it wasn't for you, I would have lost all of this work that I have gathered on plant life among the Everfree forest." She added. She displayed some notes that showcased the the plant life among the Everfree forest. Plants that I didn't even know existed.

"Now that is a lot of notes!" Storm announced, looking down at some of the papers. "Welp, I've come to a conclusion after hearing all of this." He stated loudly. I didn't know what to make of the situation at that moment in time. "How does a promotion sound?" He asked me. I was stunned.

"Sounds good to me!" Blossom stated with enthusiasm. They all looked at me and stared. I could see hungry eyes lingering over me like vultures as I scanned the crowd of ponies behind them.

"Then that settles it! You're getting a pay raise starting Monday!" Storm charmed loudly.

"T...thank you Storm!" I quietly called out to him, my mind still trying to catch up to the present.

I looked around as all of the ponies dispersed in different directions, including Storm and Blossom. I was the only pony left motionless. I scanned my surroundings to try to find Nightshine, but I couldn't find her anywhere.

I began to walk around and loosen up from being so tense. I stumbled around looking for somewhere to stand and lean on my two hind legs. I found a railing that protected ponies from plummeting down to the floor and went to lean against it. I was sceptical at first, but then I trusted the pony made structure. I put my weight on it and nothing happened. I began to relax as I watched the clouds drift motionlessly towards the horizon, made only more beautiful by the brightly lit orange and blue sky.

I saw a figure move past me and saw a Pegasus mare flying in the sky in front of me. Only it wasn't a Pegasus, it was a Bat pony, Nightshine to be exact. She clenched her pointy fangs around an orange, or maybe a mango. I wasn't sure due to the light that was radiating behind her. She then sat on the cloud closest to me and bit harder into it, causing the fruit to bleed juice. Her eyes locked with mine as I smiled at her, making her blush a little and making her smile a little more. If I could capture a moment in time just one, I would capture this one. She looked so beautiful in this light and I loved every minute of her sat down on the cloud.

She began to eat the fruit, still not breaking eye contact with me. I didn't want to look away until I saw a mare,out of the corner of my eye, walk up to me from my side. Nightshine kept her distance but could hear every word that was being said as I engage in a conversation with the random mare. So she was eavesdropping pretty much.

"Hey are you Mist?" The mare asked in a quiet whisper, probably trying to make it so that Nightshine couldn't hear her.

"Yes i am! What can I do for you?" I asked, being louder than her, just to make her speak up.

She grabbed something in a bag and then drew it out. Aimed at me was a blade that resembled a dagger, but was heavily eroded, making it all the more dangerous. I froze completely still as she looked at the weapon that was pointed towards me. "Tremor has had his life ruined because of you!" She whispered quietly to avoid getting any attention.

"Well it is his fault for trying to rob somepony!" I stated a little louder and then had the weapon pointed with the tip literally touching my throat. I didn't dare move. I didn't lose eye contact with her, but I could make out somepony noticing this.

I held my ground for a moment before mare from within the sky kicked the weapon out of the mares field of focus as it plummeted with a loud 'clang' on the floor, which got the attention of everypony that was there. Some guards trotted closer and saw the weapon that Nightshine had just saved me from. I began to gasp for air as I regained freedom to move.

"What have we got here then?" One of the guards asked while looking down at the weapon. He grabbed it with his magic and held it facing down.

"Tremor sent you to do his bidding did he?" Nightshine asked, anger in her eyes as she spread her wings out to protect me. She bares her fangs at the Unicorn mare as she slowly began to back away. She backed away and began to run as a guard grabbed her with his magic.

"You're under arrest for being in possession a harmful weapon!" The guard bellowed out in the original Canterlot voice, hurting mine and Nightshine's ears in the process.

The guard teleported away with the mare in his magic. Another guard was holding the weapon in his magic.

"This is one rusty dagger!" He stated before coming to me with it. Nightshine stepped aside with anger still in her eyes. "Are you ok sir?" The guard asked as I drew another short sigh of relief.

"Yeah, I'm fine! I'm just glad that my close friend was here to help." I said looking at Nightshine. She looked at me and blushed a little before staring at me with a blank smile. "Are you ok Nightshine?" I asked, looking worried as I waited for the response.

"Yeah, I'm alright! Just more concerned about you having that blade against your throat!" She casually stated as the guard looked at her and then back to me.

"If you're all ok, then I don't need to keep asking questions. Sorry about that, we will try to keep our weapon detection spells up for the next time to try to avoid this again." He calmly said with sympathy in his voice.

"It happens, no pony is flawless." I stated loudly to him. He smiled and then teleported the dagger away and returned to his position.

I looked at Nightshine again as she walked up to the table again and popped a mango in her mouth before coming to me and sitting down by my side. I lied down on the floor and watched her about to eat her mango, as she followed my actions by lying down too.

Everypony was back to doing their usual business, mingling amongst each other as me and Nightshine lied next to each other. Nightshine carefully bit down with only her two top fangs and cut down the middle of the fruit, while her hooves held the fruit. She took her first half of the mango into her mouth and chewed on it. I rested my head on the floor and then started to close my eyes. Not to go to sleep, just to relax like my boss told me to do. I was shortly interrupted by a poke to my shoulder and I opened one eye to see that Nightshine had left half of her mango in her hooves. I then looked up into her eyes, as they stared into mine.

"Do you want some? It's great!" She said, eyeing the fruit with a lustful hunger for more, after she asked me. I looked down and eyed the fruit. Juices ran down onto Nightshine's hooves and stained then slightly darker than her bluish purple fur.

"Can… can you cut that piece in half?" I stated a little weakly. She used her sharp thin fangs again and cut down the fruit. I took a piece and ate it piece by piece. Once I had finished, I looked up at Nightshine with a smile starting to creep across my face. "The last piece is for you… eat it!" I ordered with a cough at the end. She happily accepted my order and scoffed it down with one bite.

She began to smile and placed her head down to mine.

"Is this our first date?" She asked with a yawn.

"Probably." I whispered to her. I moved closer to her and rested my hoof on hers before whispering again to her "Thank you for saving me!"

She looked at me without moving her head and smiled. "I haven't done that to any other stallion before. I didn't have the confidence before, but I did today!" She admitted proudly.

A guard approached us and we both looked up at them towering over us both. "We could use somepony like you in the guard. Have you ever thought about becoming one?" He asked. Nightshine froze in thought and then looked at me. I nodded my head in approval and she looked up at the guard.

"I guess I could try!" Nightshine replied with a slight grin. Nightshine got up and followed the guard to talk to commander Shining Armor about her role in the guard and to get the times of her work. On the other hand, I went to find my boss and talk about some ongoing work I had to get done.

Time seemed to fly as the day went straight to sunset before I noticed it. I had finished talking about my work to Storm and mingled with Blossom a bit to find out how she knew Storm. I perched myself back at the railing I was at earlier and remained on two hooves again. I began to lean more over and look down to the bottom of the hill. It was a steep drop, but it wouldn't kill you, would it? The thought of it plagued my mind enough that I didn't realise the Bat pony mare next to me. I found out that Nightshine was the only Bat pony at the whole event.

The event was about to start as I heard the noise of fireworks being fired up into the darkness. With a sudden 'pop', the show had started. We both looked up in awe as the fireworks spiraled into the air in different ways and exploded into many different patterns. I could feel a wing being wrapped around me tightly and then looked at Nightshine. I placed my hoof around the back of her neck and pulled her closer.

She blushed slightly as we both ignored the fireworks by looking into each others eyes.

This was the show!

I couldn't take my eyes away from hers and I had a feeling that she had the same problem. We both looked into each others eyes for a solid minute. We then closed our eyes before placing our heads together as be bathed in the sense of love. I opened my eyes and planted a kiss on her cheek this time, before blurting out "I love you!" under my breath. She caught that and we looked back up at the fireworks that flashed with different colours.

I heard a faint "I love you too!" from her and looked back to find her furiously blushing. I laughed and then looked back up at the fireworks and smiled.

This was a relationship that I wanted to keep. With that, we enjoyed the rest of the night as the fireworks brightened our future. Together!

Tomorrow was going to be another fun day, I hoped.