The stillness of night was unbearable for me. My mind filled the silence by repeating the events of tonight like an old record on a gramophone. To be honest, I was beginning to creep myself out with this newly established obsession. Luna this, Luna that. I couldn’t shake the thought. Why was she so, what’s the word for it… addicting. There was just a way about her in which she presented herself that seemed captivating in every way.

“Stop it, stop it, stop it.” I was growing more and more frustrated by the minute. I looked over at the clock on the nightstand. 3:25 am. I let out a defeated sigh; it was time for another drink.

I slipped out of the bed and went downstairs. There was a faint light emanating from the kitchen when I got downstairs. There was no use in being subtle; the floor echoed my hoofsteps with great audible projection. As I approached, I could hear what sounded like a pony rummaging through the refrigerator. When I turned the corner, my eyes rested on the sight of a white mare with a disheveled blue mane. The cerulean mess jutted out in every possible direction.

“Does Octavia ever get annoyed with that?” I asked, pointing to the flurry adorning her scalp. She whipped around, startled and hurled a plastic container at my head. Luckily I had the wherewithal to dodge the incoming leftovers.

Vinyl stood panting for several seconds until she finally realized that it was me she had flung the container at. She let out a huge sigh of relief and giggled it off as if the incident never happened.

“For Celestia’s sake dude, don’t startle me like that. When it comes to ‘fight or flight’ response; it is likely that something will be thrown in your direction.”

“My apologies, it wasn’t my intention to frighten you.”

“No harm no foul I guess. Now what did you ask?”

“I asked if Octavia ever gets annoyed by that.” I gestured with a hoof towards her mane.

“Oh this,” She ran a hoof through the bundle of hair. “This is all because of Octavia. My mane isn’t usually this unkempt when I sleep.”

“Why is it Octavia’s fault?” Vinyl just gave me a wink, allowing for a brief moment of sudden realization to be triggered in my brain. Now my mind was elsewhere, somewhere it probably shouldn’t be.

“Moving along then,” Vinyl tried to push a conversation forward. “What are you doing up so late?” She asked.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Well no shit. I would’ve never guessed.” Vinyl responded sarcastically as she continued her search through the refrigerator. “Why can’t you sleep?”

“I’ve got this thing on my mind that won’t go away.” I confessed. I sat at the dinner table and was joined by Vinyl shortly after. She held a bottle in her aura. It was labeled ‘Buckweiser’.

“I thought Octavia said that you couldn’t have that?”

“Yeah, and she still thinks that I don’t know about the secret compartment in the back of the refrigerator where her secret chocolate stash is secretly hidden.” Vinyl made air quotes with her hooves every time she said the word secret. I found that to be rather humorous.

“So what’s on your mind then?” Vinyl asked as she took a sip of her beer.

“Well back at the club I met my employer and shared a drink with her.”

“What’s wrong with that? Did you say something that might put you in bad terms with her?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Then why is it bugging you?”

“Well it’s who she is for that matter.”

“I’m not getting your point.” She took another sip.

“She’s Princess Luna.” Vinyl had to hold back a spit-take of her beer. She had to take a moment to compose herself.

“I just thought you were referring to a higher ranked officer, not the Princess herself.”

“Surprise.”

“So she is the reason you can’t sleep?”

“Precisely.”

“Why?”

“I've yet to figure that out.” Vinyl sat back in her chair and pondered what I could only assume was my predicament.

“Run me through the interaction that you had and I’ll see what I can deduct.”

“I was sitting in my booth and she asked if I had been feeling well that evening to which I replied that I could have been better. She invited me over to her booth which I accepted and shared a drink with her. There was some idle chit-chat but nothing more, nothing less.” I concluded my story. Vinyl took several moments to register the information.

“Have you ever had a marefriend?”

“Uh, maybe one or two from school but nothing serious. Why?”

“So I take it that you don’t have that much experience dealing with the opposite sex?”

“Not really, but I’m not seeing how any of that correlates with this situation.”

“Just stick with me on this. Have you possibly developed any feelings for someone within the ranks?”

“No, that form of relationship is forbidden.”

“Alright, fair enough, lets change directions here; what do you find attractive and appealing about a mare?”

“As in personality or aesthetically?”

“Either one, doesn’t matter. Could be both.”

“I guess she would have to be very polite and well mannered. She should carry herself with great posture and self-respect. Slim and elegant, almost a subtle yet well apparent beauty and to be more specific,” I shrunk down in my chair “Curves in the right places.” Vinyl laughed at my insecurity.

“Hey, I don’t blame you. I like a mare with some curves too.” She finished the last of her beer and continued. “I think I have found a diagnosis for your temporary insomnia.”

“Oh yeah, lets hear it Dr. Scratch.”

“I think somepony is smitten for the Princess.” I was taken aback by the absurd hypothesis.

“No way. I don’t believe that.”

“You can not believe it all you want, it’s called denial and your knee deep in it. Clearly you have no experience with mares, therefore it would be difficult for you to even identify feelings if you developed any, and on top of that, your description of the ideal mare matches her perfectly. Just face the facts; you are in love with Princess Luna.”

“I’m still finding that a bit preposterous.”

“To a stallion with no knowledge of love, I’m not surprised. I suggest you tell her.”

“Why do you suppose that would be the best plan?”

“Because if you don’t tell her how you feel, I can guarantee that this feeling you have right now will not go away unless you do something about it.”

“What makes you so keen on my personal interests?”

“Dude, I’ve been through this situation before. How do you think Tavi and I hooked up? Things like love don’t miraculously happen over night. There comes a point in time where you have to do something about it or you can sit back on your ass and watch as somepony else takes what you covet so dearly. It’s a simple process, albeit difficult to initiate but hey, what’s the worst that could happen; she says no, big deal. You have lots of options to choose from at your age. A handsome stallion like you should have no trouble attracting mares.”

“Wait, you think I’m handsome?” Vinyl put a hoof to her forehead and shook her head.

“Of all the things to take out of what I just said, that was it? A bucking compliment!”

“Sorry.” I slouched in my chair a bit. “Caught me off guard considering your sexual orientation.”

“Can we please get back to the problem at hoof? Like I said, if you don’t capitalize on a golden opportunity, someone else surely will. I mean it’s not like Princess Luna isn’t the most beautiful mare to set foot on this planet, save for Octavia, I’m sure many stallions could only dream of courting her. You however, have a head start on the rest. Don’t let your inability to socialize compromise the task before you.”

“Well I’m not too unsociable; I mean I did hold a conversation with her as well as Octavia for an extended period of time. Perhaps I’m overthinking this. How would you recommend I put this plan so to speak into action?”

“Well find a way to engage in friendly conversation, in private would probably suit you better; from there I can’t really help much. If you want to do this the correct way, it has to be from you and you alone. Love isn’t a computer, it can’t be programmed. To put it bluntly, you’re on your own. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some love-making to do myself. Good luck tomorrow.”

“Thanks, I appreciate the advice.” Vinyl exited the dining room and casually cantered down the hall. “You might want to consider brushing your teeth before going back up there, wouldn’t want her smelling booze on your breath.” I called out.

“Thanks for the tip.” She responded from the staircase.

I let everything sink in for a moment and realized what I had to do, tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

Author's Note

After over 1 year of contemplation as to whether or not I was going to shelve this idea, I wrote more. And don't expect to wait another year for chapter 3. My deepest apologies for those who have waited this long, I feel terrible if I don't update within a month as it is so hopefully the creative juices keep flowing with this. Enjoy!