It couldn't be said that they had defeated him. Truly, they had only vanquished Nocturne himself.
The dream lord sank back into the shadows and the night, leaving his young prince to defend himself. Dark eyes blinked back to blue, the slimy tears of stars and black nothingness flaking away in moments.
Danny blinked the dust away, weakly returning the hug that Tucker had wrapped around him.
They rejoiced that night, celebrating the defeat of nightmares and the triumphing power of friendship.
Danny grinned and laughed along with his friends, carefully averting his eyes from shifting creatures he could see in the shadows. He ignored the way their starbright eyes followed his every move, long faces and glistening fangs so eager for night to fall.
And it did, eventually.
The sun sank down, Sam flitting through the golden sky, white flaming hair streaking trail behind her. Free, for a while. Most smaller ghosts would clear out of town when a powerhouse like Nocturne spread its shadow.
Danny accepted Tucker's frequent pats and nudges, perhaps sticking closer to the boy than strictly necessary. An arm slung over his shoulder, and Danny could feel something in his friend, a little sparkle that expanded in the other boy's chest when Danny didn't shrug off the arm.
As night fell, he started to see them more clearly.
Dreams in the hearts of people he passed, sparkling and swirling together in their own little starlight dance. He swallowed the fear that followed, as wispy shadows clung to others, the clatter of hooves echoing in their steps.
He didn't look at them directly, but he knew what their eyes were trained on, could feel their cold breath on the fragile hearts of people with eggshell dreams.
One cruel word was all it would take, then the sparkle of a dream could be devoured.
No, he didn't look at the night mares. He didn't try and think of how the Fright Knight could have tamed one of the terrifying steeds, and he tried not to think about the quiet tap-tap of hooves that followed in Tucker's shadow.
Those red eyes were eager, fangs open in preperation to strike.
Danny smiled softly at his friend.
"Thank you, for saving me."
He leaned into the body, feeling the arm hug him close and practically tasting sweet starlight when the dream bloomed stronger behind the boy's ribs.
A cold snort of disdain, and the hoofbeats skittered elsewhere.
There were a lot of sleepless nights, after that. Sleeping was hard when he could see the constellations of dreams spread out around him. A million fireflies winking and flitting around, a million dreams trying to grow and be realized.
And there he lay in the nighttime sky, sleeping watchful.
The prince of dreams.