I sat down, ordered a drink, and sighed. It had been days, and I just couldn't find her. No matter where I went, she was nowhere to be seen. I couldn't find Luna, no matter where I looked. I nearly put my head down and simply sobbed. Everything seemed designed to make me feel miserable. I didn't know what I could do about it.
"You look upset about something," I heard a voice call. The voice, while slightly higher, sounded eerily similar to Luna's. Immediately turning towards the voice as quickly as possible without breaking something, I saw a small, dark-coated unicorn mare looking at me. Her cutiemark was of a collection of stars. For a second, I thought it was her. But it wasn't. Of course not.
"Maybe I am. Maybe not. Why do you care?"
"Because I'm trying to be nice to everypony. What's wrong?"
"...I'm trying to find somepony, but I just can't find her, no matter where I look."
"Oh really? Who might that be?" She sounded truly curious. I doubted she was.
"If you must know... I'm looking for Princess Luna."
"Luna? I'm one of her attendants, and you're dressed as a Royal Guard. Didn't she tell you that she's on a trip for the next few days?"
I tried to stop myself. I almost did, too, but a few tears managed to roll down my cheeks.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine... No. No, I'm anything but okay," I admitted.
"I'm willing to listen to everything you have to say. Would that make you feel better?"
The bartender slid my drink across the table, until it was within hoof's reach. I grabbed it, drank it all at once, and immediately turned back to him. "One more, please. A larger one."
As the pony behind the bar prepared another drink, I turned back to the strange pony who for some reason cared about me, even though I had never met her before.
"If you really care, my name is Deep Darkness." I looked down. Damn parents, giving me such an atrocious name. Of course, looking down gave me full view of my even worse body. I looked like a zebra with wings. "Just call me Deep."
"Okay, then, Deep. I am Moondancer. I'm one of Luna's servants."
"I'm one of her guards. She never told us she was going anywhere. I can't remember even seeing her since I joined. For all I know, I've spent the last eight years guarding absolutely nothing."
"Is that true? I'll let Luna know her guards feel neglected. What reason do you have for searching her out yourself?"
My new drink arrived in front of me. I grabbed it and gulped down a few mouthfulls. I knew I would have to be at least somewhat drunk to say anything meaningful. "I... I want to..." I took a deep breath. "I want to ask her out."
Moondancer's eyes opened wide. "Really?" She looked away, then back at me. "Y-you should ask her out. I... know her very well. She'll say yes."
"That's not true. She would never say yes to me."
"Don't say that. Why wouldn't she go out with a cute colt like you?"
"Look at me." I didn't know why, but the urge to cry once again overtook me. I was able to force it back down, but not before a single tear fell onto the bar. "She's a goddess, and I'm some random guard of hers, half-drunk and spilling my feelings for her to some pony I've never met. Why would she go out with me?"
"Why would you go out with her?"
"Why would I not? She's beautiful. More beautiful than anything I've ever seen, and not just in body. Her mental strength... it's more than admirable. She was trapped on the moon for a millennium—a MILLENNIUM—because she had let jealousy overcome her. But when she returned, she kept her head held high. Higher than anypony ever could. She was the Princess of the Night, and she was proud. When her subjects feared her, she showed them why they shouldn't be scared, and she didn't have any trouble at all. Anypony else would have given up."
"You're wrong. Luna wanted to quit. I remember... when she first came back, everypony hated her. She wanted to leave. She wanted to just go away. Leave the world, leave the hatred, leave her life." Moondancer's voice started breaking. "If it weren't for a few kind souls, she would have done it, too. Yet even now, she isn't truly appreciated. Merely tolerated. And nopony loves her. If you could find her, if you could tell her..." Moondancer stared into my eyes, and I saw both sorrow and hope. "She would love it. Please, tell her you feel this way."
"I was planning on it. But after that... after that, after she refuses and laughs me out-" I saw Moondancer open her mouth. "-don't say she wouldn't-" She closed her mouth again. "-I will have nothing left to live for. I have no friends, no desires beyond her. I have no other ponies to care for." I was simply unable to stop the flow of tears by this point. "Luna is all I have. Soon, I won't even have the barest hope that she could like me back. I don't really even know why I'm admitting my feelings to her, when it will only cause me pain. I just couldn't keep it inside me anymore. It'll cost me happiness, but I'll find her, and tell her."
Moondancer smiled. "I think you've already lost happiness. But you should hold onto it, as much as you can. Would you like to know a secret?" She leaned into my ear and whispered, "I know where Luna went."
I immediately sat up. My pears perked, and I prepared my wings to fly me as quickly as I possibly could. I had better things to do than sit around in a bar. "Where did she go? I have to find her, to tell her everything."
"She never went anywhere. She's still in Equestria. Luna wanted to meet her subjects, to see what they were like when they weren't talking to a princess. She used some powerful magic of hers to turn herself into a Unicorn for a few days."
"Where is s-" I stopped myself. I allowed myself to take in Moondancer's features. A similar coat color to Luna, a similar cutiemark, a similar voice. "...Oh. I'm... I'm so sorry, Luna." I got up from my seat. "I'm so sorry..."
"Wait!" she called, earning a few quick glances from the other ponies in attendance. I suddenly realized that I had been so caught up in the conversation that I had somehow forgotten the other ponies were even there. "I loved everything you said! And I had already given up on finding anyone worth dating. Not many ponies ever attempted to court me, not even before I was banished. And not one of them has been half as passionate or true as you have been now! Most of them just wanted a position of power next to the throne, anyway." She smiled at me. "Haven't seen any cute colts like you, either."
"It's your job to attempt to please your subjects," I replied, but I stopped walking away regardless.
"It's not for you." Luna looked into my eyes again. "If it was for you, maybe this would be easier. But it's not. I want you to be happy, but more than anypony, I am doing this for myself."
I stood there, for a few seconds, then turned back to Luna. "There's a nice place a few blocks down. They say it's quite romantic. You want to go there? It's on me."