Heart Of Gold

Thank you all for reading and following my story so far. After my last chapter somebody messaged me concerned about my spelling. Hey I think my autocorrect is doing a pretty ok job, and besides you can’t really blame me can you? I mean I was the kid who had a composite act score of 27 but scored only 13 on my English. It’s literally that much of a weak spot for me, the fact I can write this story at all means I deserve some sort of medal or trophy I think.

“Rise and shine sleepyhead.”

“Urmff nurr 5 moar minutes.”

“Derick come on wake up. It’s already past noon and the train to canterlot leaves in a couple of hours, I told you that challenging Applejack to a drinking contest last night wasn’t a good idea.”

“Alight fine Twi, I’m up I’m up. And just for the record I did come out victorious didn’t I?”

Twilight just face hoofed before looking at me. “Yes but she also has one third your body mass to hold the alcohol. Now hurry and get cleaned up, we are supposed to all meet at rarities in an hour to get ready for the gala.

Oh yeah the gala, wow had it already been a week? Time in ponyville just seemed to fly by. There was never a dull moment or lack of something to do, whether it be working on the apple farm. Or visiting Flutter shy’s cottage and spending time with the animals. Or even surprisingly chilling with Rainbow Dash, heck once ya got to know her and got passed her showing off she was pretty fun to be around. Rarity was a little harder to spend time with since dresses weren’t exactly my cup of tea and I wouldn’t let her drag me to the spa yet. And then pinkie pie, I had actually begun to get used to the antics of the pink pony. I could now witness her in action for excess up to five minutes before any form of headache from lack of sense would appear, so it was improving. Although I still had no idea what happened to that coconut and how she had managed that with only a soup ladle three rubber bands and a nine iron. Or where she even got the nine iron considering I don’t think ponies can golf.

But today was the day I had been hearing about in excitement from all my friends. Their second and my first shot at the grand galloping gala. Fluttershy was eager to try and befriend the animals in the palace gardens again. Applejack had come up with a whole new what she called high class menu for her apple cart and was hoping to make a killing at the gala selling her farms products. Pinkie… well I honestly don’t know what she hoped to accomplish but I actually wanted to witness it, because I had the strange feeling that the party cannon was going to be making an awkward appearance today. Rainbow dash was convinced she would be able to impress the wonder bolts this year and get in the cool crowd as she dubbed it. And Twilight had accepted that the princess would probably be busy with guests again this year but hadn’t given up spending some time with her.

Surprisingly rarity was the one that actually hoped less happened this year, from what knowledge I gathered last year she went searching for a prince and had even found one. But it was far from a happily ever after scenario, this year it sounded like she just wanted to stick with her fashion and socializing with high class ponies. Seemed like a pretty safe bet for a good evening to her in my opinion.

“Are you still in bed!? Don’t make me come up there mister.”

The threat from down below made me shiver, I could still remember the last time I had refused to get out of bed and twilight had to get him out of bed. Last time it consisted of a bucket of ice cold water and 2 nights of sleeping in a moist bed.

“Nope I’m up just heading to take a shower.” I climbed out of bed and made my way to the bathroom before cleaning up in the pony sized shower. I had actually gotten the hang of it and figured out a few tricks to make it work. But let’s just say staying bent that way gets a little tiring after too long.

Finishing up in the shower I dried off and wrapped the towel around myself, it was pretty dinky only covering the top half of my thighs but hey Atleast it protected my modesty, err well somewhat Atleast.

“Hey twilight should I put on my gala outfit or something else till we get to Rarity’s?”

Calling back from the kitchen she answered “Probably something else for now, let’s avoid as many opportunities to get it dirty as we can. You haven’t seen rarity mad until you get her clothing she is proud of dirty.”

I shuddered at the thaught of a pissed Rarity before going and throwing my black shorts and my yellow shirt with Fluttershy’s cutie mark. It still surprised me but after the girls had seen the purple shirt twilight had made for me every one of them had one made for me with their own marks. I guess it was just a symbol of friendship to them? Well now I had 5 shirts with their marks on them. All but Rarity’s and none of the girls other than Twi and rarity knew about that outfit yet.

Getting dressed I made my way down to the kitchen where spike was just finishing up making some pancakes and dishing them up for twilight and myself.

After eating we all made our way down to the carousel boutique and found the entire rest of the gang hanging out waiting for us.

As soon as we joined them though my danger sense started going off, and it was warning me to get away fast.

Just then rarity came into the room and called out. “Alright who is ready for a makeover!? We have to look fabulous for the gala after all.”

Hearing the word makeover just sent the alarm off even louder, grabbing spike I slowly backed out of the room, “Come on spike, let’s give the girls some uhh space for their makeovers.” Before promptly bolting out of the room and into an empty room in the boutique. Calling out behind me I yelled back to the girls “Spike and I are going to go get ready we will see you all in a little bit.”

As we escaped err calmly left the room to find another area to change I felt spike wrap his arms around my bicep like he was hugging it. “Thank you so much, I thaught I was going to have to go through that again, last time though nobody was here to let me leave. I had nightmares for weeks.”

I patted the young dragons head while whispering back to him “Its ok spike, I understand. And I’ll make sure you don’t have to go through that again, that’s one of the reasons us manly men have to stick together.”

Pulling back he just snorted half-jokingly. “Sure you can call yourself a manly man, your even more muscular than Big Macintosh, I’m just a tiny pipsqueak.”

Laughing at his pouting I responded. “That may be true but from what I understand dragons get pretty big, I’m sure you won’t be that way for very long.”

Spike and I continued chatting for the next two hours nonchalantly and not in a hurry at all.

“Uhh Derick shouldn’t we get dressed soon? The train leaves in less than an hour.”

“Trust me little man we have Atleast another fifteen minutes but I guess you’re right.” We both changed into our respective ball outfits, seeing mine spike got extremely jealous seeing rarity’s mark but tried to and failed to hide it.

“Tell ya what spike your looking sharp in that tux, I bet your going to be popular with all the lady’s at the festival tonight.”

Hearing that he busted into a pose showing off his arms “Yeah probably all the ladies just go crazy when they see me, I can barely keep them off.”

Laughing at the small dragon I sat back down, “well the train leaves in 45 minutes and we are 20 minutes away so I figure the girls should just be finishing up there makeovers by now, should we go and check it out?”

“Probably, and besides if we didn’t they may just forget to finish and miss the gala.”

Heading back downstairs we headed back to the room we left the girls in. “Hey yall almost ready in there? We should be heading to the train soon.”

I could hear Rarity’s voice call out in response, “Just one second dear, just finishing up Twilights hair and then we are all done.

“Well spike we have 5 minutes left so let’s just relax for a few more.”

Sure enough five minutes later hoofs on the hardwood floor could be heard coming into the waiting room spike and I were in. looking up at the group my jaw dropped at the sight before me. Gone were the six friends I had made here and in their places were beautiful ponies that looked like they belonged in a palace instead of ponyville.

“Wow, your all stunning.” And I wasn’t lying.

All of them were in dresses that seemed to just belong on them and fit their personalities.

Rainbow Dash was wearing a dress that faded the colors of the rainbow matching her hair, trimming the base of it was what looked like literally a border of clouds. On her head rested was what looked similar to an ancient roman civic crown woven from leaves, but it was cast in gold. Her front legs were adorned with golden wrapped sandals. And her hair had been lightly altered it still resembled her old hair but had been shifted from wild to a more tame look. Instead of appearing so spike it was more curved and slightly wavy. All in all she looked like she belonged as royalty in an ancient Greek coliseum and it fit perfectly.

Fluttershy looked like a living embodiment of nature. Her dress appeared to be what looked like a long skirt that looked almost like it was made from a gigantic leaf, adorned by blue and white flowers and a soft blue ribbon. Around her neck was a floral collar with a large blue flower on the front, and a matching smaller blue flower was tucked behind her ear. Her hair had been done to highlight all the natural curls it had, looking very similar to how it actually had started off as, but it was adorned with small flowers. And was wearing sandals that were the same green as her dress and wrapped with what appeared to be small vines. It was a natural looking dress that just seemed to pull out all of Fluttershy’s inner gentleness and love for nature.

Pinkies dress seemed to capture here love of candy sure enough and was definitely as different from all the rest of the dresses as pinkie pie was from every other pony. It started with a striped blue and white vest with a fluffy fur like collar and a pink bow in the front. From the back of the vest were several layered ruffled layers of light and dark pink cloth and then a large white skirt with the patterns of candy corn and lollipops on it. From the back of the skirt came a pink dome that looked similar to old style ballroom gowns. She was wearing small pink slippers on all her feet that had small blue bows on all of them. Her hair looked almost unchanged other than it was a lot less crazy and spontaneous looking, like they had completely straightened it and styled it cleanly back into her normal look. And the last piece was a small old fashioned looking white and blue ladies hat that had another small bow on it. All in all it was very pinkie pie and despite its oddity looked fantastic on her.

Applejacks ensemble almost couldn’t be considered a dress but then again she isn’t really the type of pony to be caught in a dress. It seemed like a very appropriate dress outfit for the cowgirl in her though. It started with a green kerchief around her neck and a Texan style bola tie with an apple as the fastener. The dress itself looked almost like only what I could describe as a dress saddle. It was the same design but smaller and obviously decorative instead of real. And from behind that a simple green cloth wrapped around her back end with brown tassels coming off the bottom. And adorned by small apple markings. On her front hooves were green cowboy boots with a red and white line across the top and marked on the sides by apples. Her mane and tail had been styled into a large braid. And she wore her trademark cowboy hat but embroidered with apples.

Twilights made him stop in his tracks, it was so perfect and so beautiful yet so simple and so her. It was a royal midnight blue, covering her entire back half just letting her rear hooves poke out the bottom. Along the bottom was a light blue patch decorated by stars drifting upwards. Around her midsection was a light blue piece of fabric almost in the shape of a tiny saddle. In the section where it connected with the back portion of the dress were several more star ornaments. And from the front it led into a magnificent high neck wrap with a tall collar. And fastened in the front by one brilliant star. Her hair remained almost untouched just straightened and perfected in its original style. The lower part of her man however had been bundled up and tucked down into her collar hiding most of it from view. And last she wore a set of what looked almost like a royal pair crystal sandals on all hooves with the front pair being slightly larger and accented with more stars. It was simply magnificent.

And last was Rarity, her dress while the others were more subtle but magnified all the ponies’ inner selves. Hers was like what you would expect a princess to wear to her wedding. It was a brilliant snow white, layered repeatedly down her entire body. There were probably a dozen layers all trimmed with small gemstones around the edges. Down the center of the back was a stripe of larger blue diamond’s almost identical to her cutie mark. The front of the dress traveled about halfway up her neck and was made of a fine lace pattern with a large blue diamond centered on the chest. She wore a regal looking tiara upon her head with 6 gems around it each one a different color matching one of the six ponies. And on her front hooves were a pair of Crystal slippers similar to twilights but without the stars. She looked every bit royalty as Celestia at that moment.

I just sat there for what seemed like hours but in reality was probably only a minute just staring in amazement at each and every pony. “You all look so fantastic I can barely believe it Applejack your dress suits you perfectly, fitting exactly to the inner country girl you are while bringing out your beauty. Pinkie that dress just seems to embody the joyful and random spirit you are. Fluttershy you look so graceful and beautiful like the most wonderful view in nature. Rainbow, you look like a magnificent Pony not only as someone looking great but as someone who just screams Number one Athlete and with that look everyone can see that it’s true. Twilight I don’t even know what to say, it’s beautiful and words can barely describe it it’s like combining all your natural beauty with the night sky itself. And Rarity I daresay that even the Princess will be jealous of you wearing that it is so gorgeous.

Their reactions to my praise could clearly be seen. All of them blushing slightly and reacting differently. Fluttershy hiding behind her mane and with a barely audible whisper I heard thank you. Pinkie, well was spouting so many thaught I couldn’t keep track. Applejack just maintained a modest posture while saying “Aww thanks sugercube.” Dash had made a heroic pose while stating “Heck yeah I’m number one and now they’ll all see it.” Twilight seemed to suddenly be shy and nervous as she quietly and modestly said “Thank you very much Derick I’m glad you like it.” Rarity eyes were shining at my comparison “OH darling is it really that good? I had a little spare time so I just whipped it up.”

A few moments later the tables seemed to flip as they all took notice of my attire. Soon all attention was on me as I was asked to stand up and turn around and display all the parts of it.

“Dang that’s a mighty fine outfit you’re sporting.”

“Yea like oh my gosh everyone is going to be like oh my gosh look at that, and then those people are going to be like all oh my gosh he looks so….”

“You look very handsome and uh nice, well more than nice but…”

“I gotta say I’m impressed, although if it’s still not as awesome as me, maybe if it was 20% cooler than it might be a close tie.”

Twilight and rarity both stayed quiet letting their friends look it over since they had both seen it already or had been the one to make it.

“Yeah girls, I like it too, and I’m very proud to be sporting rarity’s colors at the gala since she made me this wonderful outfit, but if we don’t hurry up we will miss the train and then it will all be for naught.”

With that said everyone seemed to notice the time and we all quickly made our way to the train station.

We boarded the train without a hassle and all got settled into one of the compartments.

“So I’ve never been up to canterlot before is it a long ride?”

Twilight who sat next to me answered. “It’s about an hour long so it’s not that bad. “Rarity spoke up from across the cabin. “So Derick Darling what are your plans for the Gala?”

I had to sit and think about it for a moment. “I honestly have no clue, I’ve never been to it like you all have. And I don’t know a lot about pony culture outside of ponyville, so I’m probably just going to wing it and find something to do.”

“Well Darling you simply must come find me sometime. I would absolutely love to introduce you to some ponies.”

“And don’t ferget to stop by my stand sometime iffin you go and get hungry.”

“For sure, I’m curious to see what kind of stuff you made for the gala.”

“Well I guess you’ll just have to come by and find out now wontcha.”

The rest of the train ride passed by quickly with friendly chat in the train. Just after an hour from boarding we had arrived and pulled into the canterlot station.

Twilight hopped up from her seat, “Alright girls should we head over to the palace?”

A wave of nods and agreements passed around us and we were soon traveling through canterlot streets towards the palace. I looked around taking in the scenery.

It was a truly impressive city, tall buildings all around designed with great architecture. And many ponies littering the streets, a large portion were dressed up in clothing that obviously displayed that they would be attending the gala later this evening as well.

Although unsurprisingly almost anyone who glanced at our group held their stares extra-long when they looked at me. I felt like I was the main attraction at a circus with all the stares and strange looks I was getting. But then again I had expected this so I just smiled and waved as they say.

Twenty minutes after leaving the train we found our way to the palaces main gate. And for the first time I was able to take in the castle in all its glory.

It was a truly giant and glorious building, built straight off the side of the mountain with towers spanning the sky hundreds of feet tall. The front looked like a giant gathering hall which had currently been decorated to accommodate the gala. It was a huge roughly 150 yards long by 50 yards wide and at least 15 feet high. Inside were all sorts of ponies socializing and dancing to a live orchestra inside. Nearby was a garden area that was also set up with tables all over and had many groups of ponies around.

At the front of the entrance hall stood the one and Only Princess Celestia. She wore her regular regal regalia but in addition had a long white flowing dress that was of a simple design but with golden patterns down the back. But with her natural beauty and grace any pony would be hard pressed to even attempt to compare themselves to her.

But at her side was a pony I did not recognize but still stood out. She stood taller than the average pony but still about a head shorter than Celestia. Appearance wise she was almost a polar opposite to the princess of the sun, where here coat was a dark midnight blue. Here mane seemed to billow ethereally in the wind similar to Celestia’s as well, but where Celestia was reminiscent of the day sky the other ponies was like the starry night. And just to further prove the difference where Celestia’s cutie mark was a radiant sun the other ponies was a crescent moon. The main reason she had drawn my eye though was she was the only other pony I had seen other than Celestia to possess both a horn and wings.

“Hey twilight who is the pony with Celestia? I have never seen another pony with both a horn and wings before.”

She looked over to where I had pointed before quickly responding. “Oh that is princess Luna Celestia’s younger sister. She rules the night sky and raises and lowers the moon whereas Celestia is the princess of the day and controls the sun.”

“Huh Celestia’s sister… WAIT A SECOND! Don’t you think it was worth mentioning that Celestia had a sister and there was another ruling princess?”

Twilight stepped back a little ashamed because of the truth of my remark. “I’m sorry Luna still doesn’t have a very active rule in governing Equestria so her name isn’t nearly as common as Celestia’s. Up until a little over a year ago she wasn’t even in Equestria due to events over a thousand years ago. Although if I were you and I talked to her I wouldn’t bring them up.”

“Fine but if you don’t mind could you tell me about it after the gala?”

“Of course I will. But for now how about we go say hello and you can introduce yourself.”

“Just go introduce ourselves? You make it sound so easy to just approach them casually like they weren’t the rulers of the country.”

Twilight just got a little smug look on her face for a second before answering. “Wellbeing the Princesses prized protégé has some benefits after all don’t you know.”

“Well ok then sounds good let’s go say hello.” But looking around I noticed it was just Twilight and myself by now. She seemed to notice me looking around for them

“They all went to enjoy the party a few minutes ago, you must have been really interested in Princess Luna to have missed them.” She giggled to herself while teasing me.

“Oh shush let’s go meet some royalty.”

Twilight led the way and when we got closer to the two princesses Celestia noticed us and immediately waved her hoof towards us in a kind and loving way like I had seen her do to many other ponies in the last minute. ‘She must really love all of her subjects her love for every pony must know no bound.’

Arriving twilight ran over to Celestia. “Princess Celestia!” she called out in a voice of adoration one would use for someone very close to them.

The princess smiled back to her “Ahh twilight how wonderful it is to see my precious student. And I see you have brought Derick along with you, a pleasure to see you again. I hope life in ponyville has been enjoyable for you so far.”

I gave a small bow to the princess before answering. “Yes it is a wonderful town filled with great ponies like twilight and her friends. I must thank you for allowing me to spend my time there.”

The princess gave a gentle chuckle at my answer. “I’m pleased to hear that, but you do not need to address me in such a manor. Any friend of twilights is a friend of mine, and I do consider us friends already from the day we met. You left quite an impression on my young Derick. Oh but where are my manners, Luna Come say hello.”

The dark princess bid farewell and turned from the guest she was currently greeting. Approaching the group she instantly locked eyes with Derick. “Ahh you are the human I heard about from Celestia, we are pleased to meet you. I must say I did not believe you Celestia when you declared how powerful this human’s draw to magic is, I can feel him absorbing magic around him at a truly astounding rate.”

She can feel it too? So only the princesses have been able to feel it huh I wonder why, at least I’m pretty sure only they can no unicorn has pointed it out yet.

“The pleasure is all mine Princess Luna” I stated back with a small bow. “With all due respect may I ask a question? Only you two princesses have felt my effect on magic how come no unicorns have pointed it out or felt it?”

Celestia chose to answer the question. “Well Alicorn’s are much more intone with natural magic than regular unicorns. And while they all project some magic that would be drawn to you it is normally so miniscule they themselves don’t feel the magic. My sister and I on the other hand have access to roughly five hundred times more magic than a standard unicorn. So simply put they just don’t radiate enough magic to feel it as fully as we can.”

‘Made sense to me I guess.’ “Thank you I’ve been curious about that. So are you both enjoying the gala?”

Once again Celestia chose to answer as Luna turned to greet another group of guests arriving. “It is a delightful evening, and I always relish the chance to see all of my little ponies.” She glanced over at her sister and a small look of sorrow crossed her face. “However, Luna is still adjusting back to royal duties. And many ponies are still adjusting to her presence and she has a hard time making friends.”

“I understand that, especially due to her position. Most people would be intimidated just to talk to royalty. Which is really a shame since you are honestly one of the nicest kindest and loving beings I have ever met, and I’m sure your sister is great inside as well. But most people will never see it due to a crown blocking their view.”

Celestia listened to my words nodding at the truth of my words before looking back at her sister and then back to Twilight and I. “Hmm, I believe you are right. But you do not seem to be so easily intimidated by her or my title.”

“With all due respect your majesty I honor and respect both of you but I can tell that neither one of you are so caught up in your title that you don’t want to be seen as ponies as well as princesses. I will kneel and bow to you all day if you ask but I just figure that you would enjoy to just have a conversation with a friend instead of worry over titles.”

Celestia’s smile grew slightly at that answer before a little mischievous look appeared on her face. “Hmm is that so? Well then I think I have a little idea, Luna dear could you come over again?” Luna bidding farewell to the latest group of newcomers turned and approached them again.

“Yes Sister?”

“I think you have earned a little break, why don’t you go with Derick here and show him around the Gala.”

She seemed to be confused by the statement. “But aren’t we expected to do our duties and greet the guests?”

Celestia just sighed a bit at the formal answer. “Sometimes even we deserve a little fun dear sister, and besides I’m sure Twilight would love to fill in and greet ponies with me for a half hour.”

The smile on twilights face deemed an answer not necessary.

Luna on the other hand started to voice a declination but was cut off by Celestia. “Sister it is fine, you aren’t neglecting any duties. You are a pony just like everyone else myself included and deserve a little bit of fun. Now go on enjoy some of the gala.” Fanning out her wings she used one to literally start to push Luna away and towards the rest of the party.

Taking my cue I followed along with the princess of the night. It was kind of nice to walk next to her. With her sister towering over 7 feet tall and Luna being around a head shorter than Celestia she was roughly the same height as me. It would be the first time since coming here I could have a face to face conversation without looking down or up.

“So Princess Luna, have you enjoyed the gala so far?”

Watching her she seemed to move with royal grace like Celestia but was stiff and withdrawn with her movements. Like she was nervous, and every time I noticed a pony glance in her direction she smiled back but I could see hesitation in her face. Definitely nervous and uneasy, it must have something to do with her situation twilight said she would tell me about.

“Yes we have enjoyed it until now, but we haven’t left Celestia’s side yet.”

She spoke with ease like any royalty would be expected to but I could hear an undertone to it. It sounded like she was almost scared but covering it up with her royal persona.

“You seem to enjoy being by your sister’s side, do you two spend a lot of time together?”

It seemed like an innocent enough question to me but it seemed to make Luna stiffen just a bit.

“We do spend time together but due to our royal duty not as often as we used to before… well a very long time ago.”

By now we had walked around the outside of the main gathering and into the castle gardens. There was still the odd pony or two every now and then but much more secluded overall. And soon found a small balcony over the cliff away from the rest of the event.

“That’s a shame but then again something as important is royal duty is probably pretty hard to make time around. I’m sure she means the best though and would like to spend more time with you. I mean who wouldn’t want to hang out with the princess of the moon.” I spoke as I leaned against a railing admiring the moon itself as I spoke.

She looked over at me before back up at the moon as well. And with barely a barely audible whisper I heard her. “Not as many as you would think” and a look of sadness crossed her face.

Shit was it something I said? Dammit twilight throw me I with a princess with a very obvious recent event weighing on her and don’t tell me anything about it. Anything could be dangerous to say and I have no idea what.

Pretending I didn’t hear her I tried to change to something I hoped would cheer her up. Or at least show I meant no harm by anything I accidentally said.

“So from the stories I’ve herd your sister created the sun and the daytime sky. So did you create the moon and stars?”

She just shook her head. “Not quite, long ago this planet had very severe weather patterns, we tamed the sun and moon to create a more hospitable world for everyone. Although we do control the sky’s and stars respectfully.”

It was nice talking to Luna. And she hadn’t reacted poorly directly towards my casual speech yet. And in the last few minutes had even relaxed a little. It must truly be terrible to have everyone see you so high and mighty that they won’t even have a regular conversation with you regardless of the topic. Yeah she was telling a story about taming a celestial body but it was a friendly conversation. So I figured I may as well just enjoy the conversation maybe even risk a couple of things to say that might help cheer the slightly depressed princess up. On the flipside though I don’t want to seem like I’m flirting with royalty and end up with hoofs in places they shouldn’t be in a painful way. Oh well no risk no reward.

Looking back at the princess I gave a genuine friendly smile. “Well thank you Luna, for the beautiful night, people may look to the day for more of their lives but I always had a special place for the night in my heart.”

She seemed a little awestruck and confused at my words at first, then several emotions flashed across her face. Embarrassment, awkwardness, anger, confusion and finally it settled on curiosity.

“Why? The day is when everyone can go about their lives, crops grow in the sun and fillies play in the day. Most people treat the night for little more than sleeping.”

She seemed hurt by the very words she spoke and suddenly a couple things made sense.

She felt neglected, everybody praised the sun but slept through the moons cycle. I could definitely sympathize where she was coming from.

“Well it is true that most sleep through the night but it’s special to me for many reasons. Both the sun and moon are important for different reasons as well. True crops grow and absorb the sunlight for energy in the day but without the soothing night the moon provides they would burn and shrivel and wither away. And sure many fillies play in the day but they need the moons loving night to rest and relax. And I’m sure if this world is like my own you can’t have a campfire with smores in the daytime. So there are special events that can only take place at night.

And as for me personally I have always felt more comfortable with the moon over my head than the sun. Most of the time at night I’m alone and just have the moon to watch over me. It gives me peace at night as if it was a guardian watching over me. Plus much of the world’s beauty in the daytime is even more grand at night, you just have to search for it.  And while most people sleep at night they can never experience it. It’s like a treasure tucked away for those who dare to search and once they have found it they fall in love with it. Sure most don’t know about it yet but there is many grand and wondrous things that the night holds just waiting to be discovered which just one more reason I love the night is. It’s like an adventure in an already discovered world, there is still things to be found sights to see places to go. A waterfall in the woods is two completely different things come day and night in the day it’s a just pretty scenery. But at night it’s a hidden glade of wonder, hidden from the world. A true treasure hidden in plain sight.”

Luna sat and listened to my speech face as plain as stone not betraying a single emotion till I ended. Towards the end I noticed she hadn’t reacted and wondered if I had maybe gone a bit overboard or something, but hey I truly loved the night and wanted to make sure she knew it. If I ruled the night I would want at least a little recognition for it, it must hurt to be so ignored for such a gift that you give every day.

But when I finished a single tear fell from her left eye. I didn’t know how to react to it. So I figured I would just wait until she made the next move. Letting her have her moment I turned my direction back to the moon leaving her in the private world of her own thaught.

We stood that way side by side for a few minutes before I felt a set of hooves embrace me. Figuring when in roam I embraced the princess of the night back.

We stayed that way for probably a good thirty seconds before she backed off. Looking at her face I could see multiple wet paths streaking her cheeks. If it wasn’t for the hug I would be worried right now at making a princess cry.

“We are sorry, it’s not like us to do anything like this. But nobody has ever even thanked me for the night before. And your praise and adoration of my night just… it just… I’m sorry it’s been a long time since I felt happy like that.” It was then I could see a bit of red creep into her face from embarrassment.

“Luna I’m sorry, you give a perfect gift to the world every day that apparently nobody recognizes. Although considering how wonderful of a pony that your sister is I’m honestly not that surprised most flock to her. But you are every bit as special, and I am truly glad and honored I could spend this time with you. And I believe that many more would share my same view they just have yet to see past the sun to the beauty underneath but that can be changed.”

Thankfully she ignored every part of that which could be considered an insult and almost shyly but with hope squeaked out “How” it reminded me of the way a child talked in anticipation to Christmas. It was so innocent and pure coming from a pony with so much responsibility. Just one more reminder that despite their Burdon princesses or not they were still ponies just like everyone else.

“Well show the people err ponies some of the things they are missing. I know the sun has its own day to be praised with the summer sun celebration but I haven’t even seen one pony go camping. I mean how would people know the night is great if they have never even sat next to a campfire with a smores telling ghost stories. We used to do that at least once a month as I grew up.”

The princess looked at me with a bit of innocent confusion for a moment. “Uhh what’s a smore?”

My jaw literally dropped at the comment before I came up with an idea. “Luna I have two questions, does the palace have a kitchen with chocolate marshmallows and graham crackers? And two would the gala miss us if we visited them for fifteen minutes?”

Curiosity and intrigue from my response seemed to get the better of her as a devious look appeared on her face. “Oh I think Celestia can manage for a little longer.”

Three minutes later we found our way to the kitchens which were empty considering the entire kitchen staff had relocated outdoors to cater the event.

Luna and I both scoured the pantry looking for the items I had requested. Luna had found a chocolate bar and a bag of tiny marshmallows like what people use for hot cocoa. And I had found a box of graham crackers. Looking at the marshmallows I had an idea to make the small sugar balls work. Another minute of searching and we had found a pack of shishkabob skewers and I had 6 of them with 6 on each in my hand and over an open flame from a stove. Telling her to create the sandwich part with chocolate and cracker she quickly did so with her magic. A minute later the mallows were golden brown.

“Alright let’s see how this works normally I would just use one giant marshmallow but this should do just fine.” I said as I set the mallows down on top of the chocolate before asking her to press the next cracker down.

When she did I pulled the skewers out and tossed them into the sink nearby.

“And that is how you make a smore. Although normally they are done over a campfire in the woods. Give it a taste I’m sure you’ll like it.” I said gesturing to the finished treat

Picking it up in a midnight blue glow it floated over and she took a small bite of it. Her eyes shot wide open before a look of bliss came on her face. In a matter of seconds the rest of the treat disappeared.

Snapping out of the moment the princess looked at me before flashing red again and giving off an embarrassed laugh and smile showing the sticky marshmallow covering her sparkling white teeth.

Regaining her poise she spoke out. “That was delicious I wonder why we have never heard of those before.”

I just shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know they were pretty common where I’m from, and even better yet they are a treat almost strictly restricted to night time. Maybe we could organize a campout one night and make a real smore, well that is if you wouldn’t mind hanging out with me again.” I let out a friendly chuckle and smiled at her.

“YES” she almost shouted out before catching herself. “I mean I would enjoy that, and I am looking forward to more of these treats. And I’m sure if I asked Celestia for one night off she would make it work, she is always talking about friendship with her student and has told me about it hoping I would make some. But it’s hard to find people who don’t either look at me in fear or bow immediately at seeing my crown. But your different you treated me like a real pony the moment we met.” She suddenly stopped talking getting embarrassed again realizing how fast she was speaking. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to ramble. It’s just I haven’t found someone other than Celestia I feel so comfortable around. Thank you for this time but I must get back to Celestia and greet the rest of the guests.”

Nodding back at her excuse we both walked and chatted till we arrived back at the main entrance where Celestia was greeting guests.

Celestia instantly noticed the genuine smile on Luna’s face as we walked towards her and grew a warm smile of her own at the sight.

We said our casual goodbyes and as I turned to leave I heard Luna call out. “Derick”

Turning around I gave a small bow. “Yes Princess” I said with a wink at her.

Keeping her royal tone in front of the other guests she called out. “If you have time I would appreciate it if you could come say farewell before you depart from the gala.”

Nodding back in a gentlemanly way I responded, “I believe I could find the time my lady.” And with one smaller bow I turned and left.