Alone Together
Morning time is not a good time. Your body aches, your eyes are heavy, your pleasant dream is ending and yet you have to get up and do boring life shit. You shift in your bed, enjoying the cozy warmth of the blanket cocoon you wrapped yourself in. You try to hold on, you try to get back to that epic dream of riding a plesiosaur into battle, but alas it is to no avail. Quickly throwing your covers off, you slide out of bed with a grumble and a pouty face.
You felt your hip pop as you shimmy shammed your way across the room, bumping into counter after counter until you reached the door to the room. The morning tango is not a fun dance move, but you had to endure it. Deeply breathing in, you opened the door to the outside hallway, the morning sun blasting your eyes with a wrathful fury. You raise a hand to block it out, your poor retinas screaming in frustration.
Just a few long halls to walk down and you’ll be where you need to be. You just gotta deal with this for a little while longer. Easy now, one foot in front of the other and soon you’ll be walking out the door.
You see some guards watching you intently through blurry vision, and you try your best to ignore them. You weren’t exactly a fan of being watched like some sort of zoo animal, but what were you to do about it? Evidently humans weren’t exactly the most common animal in this magical horse populated land of joy.
Alright, first hall done, and then the next, and yet another. Your eyes are slowly adjusting to the light of the sun, your pouty face curling ever so slightly into a slight look of indifference. Progress, progress.
Before you were another set of double set doors. Pushing with all your frail morning might, you mustered the ability to open the doors. Congratulations, you can now enjoy breakfast and a hot cup of joe in the royal dining hall.
Stepping inside, you quickly make your way over to the coffee machine. Strange how this world was both primitive and modern with its technology. You, however, are grateful for this advancement. After pouring yourself a cup, you quickly add some hazelnut creamer and two pockets of sugar. Sure, you were sure diabetes was on the menu in the future, but right now you did not give the slightest of a damn.
Taking a seat at the dining table, you take a swig of your glorious morning brew. The warm sensation that spreads throughout your body in response was simply divine. Nothing in the world could quite compare.
Your stomach grumbled in annoyance.
Though, some bomb ass breakfast food was in direct competition. Reaching out you grabbed yourself a banana from the fruit display. A simple appetizer before the chefs come and give you, and the two princesses you’re waiting on, the main course.
Usually Celestia would be here right about now, but you figured being a ruler and all would hamper one’s ability to enjoy a quiet morning. Oh well, you guess you’ll just have to wait. Bananas are still p’good.
You hear the dining room’s doors open again, a set of hooves clip clopping soon after. Turning you saw the moon princess looking exhausted and worn out. Her eyes drooping, her mane frazzled, yet she still bore a small smile.
“Tiss not something I’d say often, but good morning, Anon.” She strode up to the table, and magiced herself and apple from the fruit display. After taking a few munches, she turned to speak once more. “Sleep well?”
You nod your head. “Yeah, had a pretty bitchin’ dream riding a plesiosaur into battle off this coastal town. But, uh, ya doing okay? Look a bit worse for wear?”
“It’s nothing, really. Just another night’s duties fulfilled.” She then giggled slightly. “And a plesiosaur you say? How intriguing. Maybe I should have visited your dream last night.”
You flush a little. Okay, so you might have a bit of a crush on moonbutt over there. Turns out you both relate to being out of place in this world. Her being banished for a thousand years of Equestrian history, and you being whisked away here against your will.
You, however, haven’t had a lot of time to really spend with her, though. She is often dead asleep during the day, being the princess of the night and all, and you have to play good ol’ human representative during the day.
You ignore that thought, though. You just want to enjoy this moment in time. “Well, you’re free to join any time, ya know.”
Luna smiled wider than before. “Mmm, perhaps I’ll take you up on that offer. Say, where is our sister?”
“No idea. I figure she got bombarded before even having a chance to get a morning coffee. I do not envy her one bit.”
“Indeed. And I’m incredibly famished. Excuse me for a moment, as I fetch some subjects to prepare us our morning meals.” She got up from her seat, taking one last look at you before departing.
You must have looked goofy with the dopey expression you had plastered across your face. Sure, it wasn’t much of a conversation, but you enjoyed it nonetheless. Shit, you’d have never thought you’d crush so hard on a horse, but here you are, a full fledged horse-crushing lad. If there is a God up above, he sure does have a weird sense of humor.
You wait there, idly tapping your fingers against the table as you hold your head in your other hand. It honestly must not have been that long, but the wait for Luna to return was taking what felt like years. Yawning, you take another sip of your delectable brew, soaking in the feeling of being alive before the coldness of life took over once more.
Mmm, such a wonderful flavor.
The doors opened once more a moment later, Luna stolling in closely followed by an assortment of different ponies wearing chef uniforms, carts filled with an assortment of breakfast entrees for you to sink your teeth into.
“Seems our dear sister has some… diplomatic issues to deal with. We’ll just have to eat between the two of us this morning. “
“Man, I just need to fill my face right now. I have never been so glad to see food in my life.”
And so you did, eggs, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, the whole nine yards. Your gluttony would put an anime character to shame with how much you were stuffing your face like it was your last supper. Luna, in a very unprincess like manner, was doing much the same. Dignity was clearly off the agenda this morning.
And you know what, you could not give any less of a damn. The chefs at the castle were the best. THE BEST.
After letting yourselves relax for a moment, your meal digesting comfortably, a conversation was struck up again.
“How have you been enjoying Equestria, Anon? As an outsider such as me, I’d like to hear what your perspective is on being so, well, out of place.”
You were not expecting to be asked such a deep question out of nowhere. Sitting straight, you notice how intently Luna is staring at you. It makes you flush in embarrassment, because you truly did not have much of a substantial answer to her question that she clearly was invested in.
Taking a deep breath, you exhale and prepare to give an answer. Tarrying any longer would just make it even harder to get out. “Well, Luna. I don’t really know how to go about answering that. I mean, I’m literally the only one of my kind in this world.”
The ceiling suddenly became incredibly interesting. “Like, I don’t know. I do worry what my family and friends think back home. If there is a home left, I have no idea. One morning I was just here, and I have been trying really hard not to give it much thought.”
Luna nodded, paying great attention to your rambling.
You look her in the eyes again, her beautiful blue orbs peering through you.
“I could disappear again tomorrow for all I know… And you want to know something, I don’t want that. As much as I’d love to see those I care for again, as much as I want to believe they would be ecstatic if I showed up again, I don’t want to lose what I got going here.”
You breath deeply again. “Cause I don’t think I’d be able to handle it again. I may not know what I’ve got going on ahead of me, this world is so… different and I feel so alone and out of place. But, I want to try and find my place and fit in somehow. You, your sister, and the merry bunch down in Ponyville have helped a lot in that regard. Despite all the prodding and experiments twiggy wiggy likes to do.”
Luna got up from her seat, making you wonder what she was up to. You lean back in your seat as she strode up towards you, almost pushing the seat back on its hind legs. She stood there in front of you for a moment, before wrapping her fore legs around your midsection, wings outstretched to cover you as well.
Your arms twitched, your face burning red. Despite living in happy horse land, you still weren’t used to the usual affection ponies shown to one another. And honestly, you thought that was kinda sad.
“Anon… I feel for you. We too feel so alone in this world, despite it being ours.” She pulled back from her embrace, but still had you wrapped in her wings, her hooves now on your shoulders. “A thousand years of loneliness on the moon. I understand what it’s like to feel alone. And even now, despite being back home with those who love us, tis like a glass wall around me keeping me from truly connecting with others.”
You felt your arms tremble as they tentatively reached up and pulled the moon princess down to your core. “Aw, geez. When you put it like that...”
She murmured as you again embraced one another. It felt odd, giving affection like this, especially for one you had feelings for, but it all just came reflexively. The two of you pulled away, looking once again at one another.
You pulled up your big boy pants, figuratively speaking, and tried to mutter your next words with confidence. “D-don’t be a stranger, Luna… I-I’ve enjoyed the time we’ve spent together. We could be alone, uh, together.
Nailed it.
She chortled. “My, my. I like that idea.” She got up from you and yawned into her hoof. “Some other time, perhaps, Anon? I do have to get some rest if I’m to watch over the night as guardian come in the evening.”
Internally hitting yourself over the head for the crappy delivery, you mutter out a quick “sounds good.”
She smiles at you again, though this time she seems much less worse for wear. Her eyes less weary, her mane a little less chaotic. She was starting to look more like the princess of the night she truly was. “Good night, Anon. Pleasant dreams be to you, I assure.”
You return the smile with one of your own. “And to you too, Luna. Hasta Manana.”
As she departed the dining room, you were once again left alone, though you felt less grumbly and a bit more chipper and ready to deal with the days events to come. “Okay Anon, for once don’t fuck this up.”
Slapping the side of your face twice, you too depart from the room. You were for once in your life happy with the morning light. Morning time can sometimes be a good time. It all depends on the company, you suppose.