A Dance to Remember

"Ah, Princess Twilight!" Luna managed to voice despite her growing fatigue. The sun was well over the horizon now - the day was nearing noon. "Surely thou mayst help us."

"Princess Luna? What are you doing up at this hour? You look exhausted," Twilight replied in a voice filled to the brim with concern and confusion. "And pardon me for saying it, but you're speaking with the Royal Canterlot mannerisms again."

"Oh, we - I apologize, Princess Twilight. We were simply perplexed by recent events and were wondering if th - you could me," Luna said, taking a moment to yawn after making her request. She was by no means inattentive but Twilight Sparkle did have a point; Luna was absolutely exhausted. That she was slipping in her speech was but a minor consequence.

"Help you?" Twilight replied curiously, raising and eyebrow. "What do you need?" She wasn't trying to stare but it was getting difficult; Princess Luna's eyes were bloodshot and they twitched uncomfortably every so often. After a few moments, she found the princess of the night reaching up and rubbing her eye with the back of her hoof absentmindedly while she spoke.

"We require a second opinion upon a matter most important," Luna said confidently, her eyelid slowly rising after having been rubbed at for so long. She looked around for a moment before looking uncharacteristically abashed. She beckoned Twilight closer and leaned in to close the distance. "And a bit personal. We do not wish for rumors to be spread about the castle."

Leaning away from Luna only slightly more confused - albeit intrigued - Twilight could only wonder at all of the possibilities. With a bit of worry she asked, "Is everything okay? Is the Kingdom in danger? Are you in danger?"

Luna looked rather confused herself at that, recovering only after several confused expressions and false-starts. "No, nothing of the sort. We assure you that it is a very safe situation, though it is still very dear to us." Then, perhaps a bit too loudly, she announced, "Come! We shall discuss things further within the Observatory."

Following suit, Twilight watched as the nocturnal mare veered off to either side after several steps, nearly tumbling into Twilight at one point when she turned her head one way and took a step in the other. It was rather evident that she had not only stayed up for a full day, but had probably been endlessly going over something in her head. It was both pleasant and concerning to note how closely Luna resembled herself.

Upon reaching the large Observatory, a bastion of silence in which Princess Luna had given her express privilege that she might use it to her leisure. The day she had done so, Princess Celestia had to intervene when she found Twilight thanking Luna for about the hundredth time for the day. It wasn't her most prideful moment, but it had meant a lot. To her knowledge, only a handful of creatures had ever been within the Observatory upon its completion.

Before long, Luna delved into all of the things that she had gone over in the previous day; from loneliness, to the Gala, to meeting up with Spike, to having him teach her how to dance, and to the present moment. "I've been thinking about it over and over, and I cannot decide, Twilight Sparkle."

"Decide upon what, exactly?" Twilight asked as she waited patiently, sitting upon a bright red pillow that had been brought to the middle of the room where they both resided. Luna had opted to pace back and forth nervously while Twilight mimicked Princess Celestia in her tranquility.

"We brought you here to ask you.. Dost thou believe it would be a good idea to- Or rather, what do you think of us.. We cannot get the words right. 'Tis a delicate matter," Princess Luna explained frantically, almost sheepily. Twilight had never seen this side to either princess before; she didn't think it existed. Finally, after steeling her nerves and taking a deep breath, Luna took a seat upon the pillow parallel to Twilight's and said simply, "We wish to court Spike to the Gala. Or, rather, have him escort us."

If there was any direction Twilight had believed this conversation would go in, it certainly wasn't this one. Blindsided, it was all Twilight could do not to stammer out a confused "What?" and probe Princess Luna on her inner thoughts. On one hoof, Spike was like a brother to her - she had a certain protectiveness over him and who he associated with. On another hoof, this was one of the other royal princesses, who she ruled alongside for several months and had known for a good chunk of her life.

"We meant no offense," Luna spoke up hurriedly, spotting the look of shock on Twilight's face and mistaking it for a negative response. "Only that we could think of no other that we might be as comfortable with, save our sister and thou. But as we understand it, neither is an option as of now."

"Oh no, no, no! I didn't take offense," Twilight interjected before her conversational partner could jump down a slippery slope into full-blown panic, as she herself had done so many times before. "I just didn't expect you to take an interest in Spike. I mean, don't you have the pick of, well.. Anyone?"

"Yes, but just because we have it doth not mean we need to use it. Thou knoweth Spike better than any other, mayhaps even himself, so we would like to understand. Is our idea a mistake?" Her words were earnest and her voice was sincere, and it was all that Twilight needed to wash away any doubt of Princess Luna's sincerity upon the matter. It wasn't just a means to an end, or something of a convenience to her - she truly did wish to follow through and gain a new friend.

That made it all the more difficult to think clearly however, and Twilight found herself lost within a thousand conflicting thoughts swimming around in her head. Anything from Spike's well-being to how this would all end - or blossom further - was on her mind and at the end of it all her head was spinning from the sheer amount of possibilities. Desperate for a little relief, she concluded that the only safe option would be to help Luna if she could and see where this might lead. Perhaps she would have to speak with her assistant at a later time and see just what he thought of all this.

"If you want my opinion, Princess Luna, I think you should go for it," Twilight said with finality, despite the aching desire to analyze and map out the entire situation at hand to find a perfect solution. If there was one thing she had learned with her time at Ponyville, it was that trusting her gut wasn't necessarily a bad choice. Sometimes it was the perfect one.

"Thou doth mean it?" Luna asked with a bit of a hopeful shine in her eyes.

"Yes. Spike is a sweet, honest dragon and I think he would be delighted to court you at a dance," she responded with a bit of a smile, having seen the happy gleam coming from Princess Luna's expression.

"This is terrific news! We must think of a way to alert Spike of our intentions at once," she began, finishing off her statement with a decidedly long yawn and a shudder through her body. "Perhaps after a bit of sleep. And a cup of tea."

"Sounds perfect to me," Twilight said as she stood up, ready to leave the Princess to her slumber. "If you need me, I'll be with Princess Celestia in the gardens. Just let me know!"

"Yes, I understand. And thank you Twilight Sparkle - thou hath done us a great service by putting our mind at ease," she said happily, already moving into a more comfortable position to sleep in. With that, Twilight felt free to take her leave and make her way to Princess Celestia.

The air was calm and the sun was bright. Twilight had always enjoyed the Royal Gardens, perhaps moreso because she spent many a thoughtful day and hidden evening within the serenely beautiful wing of the palace reading books. The chirping of birds could be heard above and beside her and Celestia as they sat and drank

"So my sister has taken a liking to your kind assistant," Celestia said casually, taking a sip of her tea with a calm smile upon her face. If she had any signs of confliction or even moderate surprise about the news, she wasted no effort in hiding it. She looked utterly at peace.

Twilight, however, nearly spat out her tea when her mentor spoke of her knowledge on the subject. She had been debating whether or not to keep Luna's confession - could she call it that? - a secret from Celestia. Sputtering and coughing the drink that had caught in her throat, it took a moment before Twilight could gain her composure and speak clearly. "You know about that? How?"

"I have eyes and ears all over the castle, my dear Twilight," she answered cryptically, which was her way of buttering up her conversational partners before either answering their questions outright or leading them to figure it out themselves. Fortunately for Twilight, who had only enough mental capacity to try and figure out how she'd approach the situation herself, Celestia continued, "One of my guardsmen spotted Spike leaving the Observatory with a rather large smile molded to his expression. There could only be a select few explanations for a situation like that, and I picked the most likely one. I suppose I was right."

So Celestia had tricked her into confirming her suspicions. Not the most honest and elegant ways to get information, but Twilight had to admit that it was effective. But with the knowledge now out in the open, she also saw a chance to ask a question of her own. "What do you think of the whole thing, then? I'm not sure how I should approach this," she asked more pleadingly than she had intended.

"I would not worry so much about Spike as I would about Luna, but perhaps that is biased upon my part," Celestia admitted freely. "I say this not because I believe Spike is harmful or even foolish enough to inadvertently harm Luna; I say so because Luna can harm herself easily. As you already know." The statement brought back memories of the Nightmare Night in which she had helped Princess Luna win over Ponyville.

It had been a marking of respect for the princess of the night by the townspeople of Ponyville, but Twilight had noticed something else - something important. Luna, throughout the entire ordeal, had relied entirely on others to shape her image for her. She saw the fear that her presence created and wanted to right that wrong, but the worry in her eyes was apparent.

Luna couldn't stand to see others cowering at the sight of her, it seemed, and the longer she stayed the more it became obvious that she had begun to despise herself. How Celestia was aware of this was anyone's guess, but it made sense that she'd know her sister better than anyone.

"So you're saying that I should just.. Let it happen? Should I tell Spike anything?" Twilight fired off question after question, but found only a calm expression staring back at her as her panic level rose. She realized the message that Celestia was sending her, then made an effort to do her breathing exercises. Once she was calm again she asked in a much more relaxed tone, "What would you do?"

Celestia took another long sip of her tea and dropped the small smile on her face in favor for a contemplative gaze off into the distance. She leaned forward and rested her chin upon the backs of her forehooves, which she held together like a bridge. "If I were in your position, I believe the logical step would be to wait and see how this all pans out. No sense in rushing either Luna nor Spike into acting upon what they've learned."

Calm, cool, and collected; that is how Celestia had acted. She didn't show an inkling of doubt within her judgement, and Twilight chose this as the opportune moment to admire her mentor - and friend - for what she truly was: a wise and benevolent pony. She also wondered a bit in regards to how such a pony might dance at a Gala, but that was another discussion for another time.

"Thank you, Celestia. Certainly makes my mind a bit more at-ease," Twilight admitted happily, tossing a grin Celestia's way. With the gesture returned, she couldn't help but feel a sense of joy wash over her. The Gala was going to be a special occasion - she could just feel it.

With her mind settled and her thoughts tranquil, Twilight began to daydream at all the possibilities that could come from Luna befriending Spike - or vise-versa. What a crazy friendship that could be. A recluse alicorn and an outgoing dragon. She couldn't wait to see how it would blossom forth, but first..

"I should probably clean this up," Twilight said sheepishly, only noticing the spilled tea-cup that had produced the villainous liquid she had choked on earlier in the conversation. A giggle and then a laugh arose from across the small table, and Twilight felt compelled to join in as she wiped up the mess.

If the rest of her days could be spent like this, there was no telling how happy Twilight might become. Maybe that's how it might be for Spike if things went right? She could only sit and wait, now. Sit, wait..

And daydream.