A Date With A Princess

by Salnalus

Rating: teen
Tags: Rarity, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Princess Luna, Comedy
Length: 12366

Rarity and Princess Luna go on a pretend date for Hearts and Hooves Day, to show Luna what dating is like. It goes just how you expect it to go.

Princess Luna has never heard of Hearts and Hooves Day. It's hard to believe, but when you've been gone a thousand years, you tend to miss a few things here and there. Eager to learn about the holiday and what a "date" is, she's recommended to see Rarity to see what all there is to dating. The fashionista's solution? A practice date. However, by the end of the night, the two might drop the "practice" in practice date.

Collaboration with Soothing Stone

Published 2014-06-16 23:40:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-06-24 20:53:06 UTC

It's Just Luna

The radiant dawn of the sun had finally risen up, guided by Princess Celestia’s almighty magic. Simultaneously, Luna’s powerful magic lowered the moon in tandem to welcome the early morning sunrise. Once the setting of the moon and the rising of the sun had been taken care of, the royal sisters turned to each other and smiled, having done their morning duty.

“Today is going to be a wonderful day for many ponies, all around Equestria,” the elder Princess, Celestia, told her younger sister Luna.

“How so, sister?” Luna replied, unsure about what the alabaster alicorn had meant.

Celestia responded by turning around and heading inside, Luna following close behind. She led her to a wall where a calender hung on it. It showed the month of February, and the days from the first to the twelfth were already crossed off. Using her yellow tinted magic, Celestia picked up the nearby quill and crossed off the box with the “13” in the corner. Both sisters stared at the following day, the fourteenth of February.

“”Do you know what today is?” Celestia asked.

“I know this is the day a certain holiday is celebrated,” Luna noted, “but I cannot place my hoof on what exactly that holiday was. I believe it has something to do with romance, am I correct?”

Celestia nodded her head to confirm that Luna was correct. “Today is Hearts and Hooves Day, where ponies all across Equestria spend time with their very special somepony. It is very nice to see ponies so happy during this time of year.”

Luna faced the floor, her hoof just below her muzzle as she contemplated just what exactly this holiday entailed. She knew it involved romance, though there was one problem with that.

Luna knew little about romance.

Celestia turned around and trotted towards the exit of the room, but she stopped when she noticed that her younger sibling hadn’t been following her. “Luna, is something the matter?”

Her sister’s call had seemed to snap the Princess of the Night back to reality. She shook her head, regaining a bearing of her surroundings before she faced her sister again. “Yes, I am fine. I have just been thinking...”

That caused Celestia to respond with a raised eyebrow. She knew Luna to be a curious sort of mare, but whenever she was thinking about something, it was rather something Luna would think about for a long time. Sometimes, it would bother Celestia to the point where she would have to confront her sister about these sort of things.

“What is it, Luna?" Celestia asked once again.

“What exactly is Hearts and Hooves Day like?”

Celestia giggled at the question, much to Luna’s discontent and confusion. “To tell you the truth Luna, I don’t really know. It is something you would have to experience yourself to know the true meaning of it.”

“Experience it?” Luna questioned as her elder sister was walking away. She paced back up to Celestia with the most curious of expressions. “Are you saying I should try out this ‘Hearts and Hooves Day’ myself?”

Celestia herself didn’t know how to answer that. As much as her vast wisdom and memory served her, neither she nor Luna had experienced a deep form of love for anypony before. Not only that, but it wasn't like either one of them could just head out and find a pony. They were Princesses; there were many complications that would come with being with one of them. Then again, they wouldn’t know for sure because it never happened to either of them.

“I don’t really know what would come of it,” Celestia replied unsurely. “The only way to know for sure is to ask somepony that either has experience, or at least knows a few things about love, and what goes on during this day of the year.”

Luna stood still, looking down at the floor with a questioning hoof to her chin. She did not know many ponies around yet, excluding her sister and anypony in the Royal Guard. The only other ponies that came to mind were the bearers of the Elements of Harmony themselves, the six ponies that helped her to break out of her evil state.

The one she know most was Celestia’s own student, the lavender mare who was studying the magic of friendship, and represented the Element of Magic. “Would you say Twilight Sparkle has knowledge about Hearts and Hooves Day?”

Celestia stopped in her tracks and turned back toward her younger sister confusedly. “Twilight? I wouldn’t exactly say she has any sort of experience with this. I was the only pony she considered a companion when she lived here under my tutelage, outside of her brother and dragon. The poor dear hardly had any friends.”

Luna raised a bemused eyebrow at Celestia’s comments. “You are speaking of Twilight Sparkle, your student, are you not?”

“Believe me Luna, she really was like that. You should’ve been there.”

Now Luna had the bemused face here, as that could not have been her fault. She was dreadfully imprisoned in the moon during that time. All this did was bring back regretful memories.

“Not funny, Celestia. You know I could not be there myself considering the position I was in.”

“Oh, sorry Luna,” she apologized, realizing her mistake. “I have forgotten how easily you can hold a grudge. Remember back after we defeated Discord together? You were grumpy for weeks!”

Luna facehoofed with clenched teeth. “Discord is an immature oaf who lacks tact and understanding, not to mention he even misplaced your tail.”

Celestia sighed heavily, and turned back toward the door. “I know. That isn’t the issue here, though. I am just not sure if Twilight is the best pony to go to for this.”

“Then who is?” Luna asked.

“You will have to find out on your own,” Celestia finished as she left the room, closing the door with her magic as she left. She left Luna in the room alone, along with her thoughts.

Spike had been in the library, sorting a few books Twilight assigned him to place on the corresponding bookshelves. Owlowiscious had been watching him in the meantime, but he caught Spike chewing on a topaz gem in the middle of his assignment. The baby dragon was used to sorting books, and had no trouble handling two tasks at once.

In the middle of his job, Spike felt a sudden feeling in his stomach, and tried to hold it in. After a few seconds, he couldn’t hold it any longer and belched out a scroll with the royal seal attached to it. Once his temporary queasiness subsided, he looked down at the rolled-up scroll and picked it up in his claw. After opening it up and skimming through it, he was met with an unexpected surprise.

“Princess Luna?!” he shrieked. “What’s Princess Luna doing sending a letter to Twilight?”

“Hoo,” Owlowiscious said.

“Princess Luna,” Spike responded.

“Hoo.”

Spike facepalmed. “Princess Celestia’s sister? The Princess of the Night? She who brings the time you’re usually awake?”

“Hoo.”

Spike started to get annoyed and thought about giving him a good rebuttal, but then he remembered that was all owls could say anyway.

“Nevermind, Owlowiscious. I have to get this to Twilight.”

Without a moment to spare, he raced up the stairs, letter in one claw and gem in the other. He placed the gem in his mouth and held it in with his teeth, giving him a free hand to fumble with the knob on the door. Once he got it open, he saw Twilight laying on her bed, reading a book about astrophysics, or some such nonsense that Spike didn’t know anything about.

“Hey Spike,” Twilight greeted with a bright smile on her face. “Are you finished sorting the books already? It’s only been about two minutes since I sent you down, and there was only thirty-five books to sort. That’s a new record. You’re really getting quicker with your job!”

He took the gem out of his mouth and set it down on the bed. He sighed in response. “No Twilight, I’m not even close to finishing. But take a look at this!”

He held out the rolled-up parchment in his claw, which Twilight proceeded to levitate up to her view. She cleared her breath before reading the letter.

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

It has come to my attention by my dear sister that today is a known holiday called Hearts and Hooves Day. She has told me of it, though this is news to myself. Judging by the name of this so-called holiday, it is about love.

Do not get the wrong idea, Twilight. I am not admitting to any sort of attraction to you, so you can calm your horses. I only ask one thing of you.

As I know, you are an incredibly intelligent individual, and unlike me, live a normal life in the simple town of Ponyville. I would assume you know more than I do about the attractions of ponies, and moreso how they are affected in a day such as this. If I may, I would ask that you inform me of what exactly pertains to ponies during this day, so that I may have a better understanding of this Hearts and Hooves Day my sister has informed me about.

If you cannot fulfill this request, I shall understand fully and will seek answers elsewhere. I await your response.

Princess Luna

Twilight didn’t know what to make of this sudden development. She didn’t think the Princess of the Night would be this curious about something like Hearts and Hooves Day, nor did she even think Luna was clueless about the whole thing in the first place.

“Yeah, I thought it was weird too,” Spike commented after seeing Twilight’s bewildered expression.

“I never pictured Princess Luna to be interested in Hearts and Hooves Day,” Twilight thought out loud, as she put a hoof to her chin in thought. “In fact, I never pictured her coming to me for anything in the first place.”

“Well, other than her sister, Princess Celestia, you’re pretty much the only pony she knows personally.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “How do you figure that?”

“Well, I don’t think she has many ponies who look up to her like they do Princess Celestia,” Spike admitted.

“I don’t think that’s true,” Twilight disagreed, shaking her head at the concept. “I’m sure she has some admirers. Princess Celestia even told me so.”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t take much of a liking to them. You know how Princesses are with that kind of stuff.”

Twilight gave Spike a cold, hard stare at him after hearing that. Spike had quickly forgotten that she was now a Princess as well, especially since he mostly knew her as a close friend than anything more. It was only less apparent since she did not wear any clothing or jewelry to establish her title. She never even wore her crown around.

And once he realized his mistake, he lightly chuckled while rubbing the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean you... you’re not like that. I don’t even see you as a Princess, honestly. I see you more as my closest friend.”

“That’s alright, Spike,” Twilight reassured while climbing out of her bed. “Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“Downstairs,” she answered, walking through the doorway and down the stairs. “We’re going to write a letter back to her. She said she wanted a pony to tell her what Hearts and Hooves Day is like.”

“And you know what it’s like?”

Twilight was at the bottom of the stairs, and she took a pause at the base. “Actually, I don’t. But I have a hunch that I know somepony else that does.”

Spike walked over to a drawer and pulled it out. “Who do you have in mind? There are a lot of ponies here in Ponyville that we know, if not everypony, but I can’t figure out which one of those would know a thing or two.”

He pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill, ready to write down whatever Twilight had to say to the moon Princess.

“Rarity,” Twilight stated. The next thing she saw was a somewhat downtrodden Spike.

“Aww, Rarity? I was hoping to spend time with her today.” He crossed his arms in disappointment. “She wouldn’t be free from that if she’s going to be helping Luna.”

“Spike, I know you like Rarity and all, but this is important! Luna wants to know what Hearts and Hooves Day is like, so who better to ask than somepony who knows a thing or two about love?”

Spike sighed in defeat, and readied his claws. “Fine... just say what you want me to write.”

Twilight smiled and nodded, getting ready for the letter.

Dear Princess Luna,

First off, I am rather surprised you came to me about this sort of thing. To be quite honest, I didn’t think you’d be interested. But I can see why you’d be.

Now, I don’t really know a thing about Hearts and Hooves Day. Before I moved to Ponyville, I didn’t really have any friends, nor did I meet any stallions. That has carried over here as well, save for the friends part, as almost everypony in this town is my friend. Or at least, I think of them all as friends.

So that just leaves the stallions. Of course, there are mares that are interested in other mares, and on Hearts and Hooves Day, they would go on special dates. But as a mare without experience, I wouldn’t exactly know what goes on in a date.

However, I do have a good idea of a pony who may know a thing or two about Hearts and Hooves Day, much more than I do in fact. I’m sure you remember Rarity, the Element of Generosity? I haven’t really seen her with anypony before, but I do believe she knows more about these kinds of things.

So what about her?

Twilight Sparkle

“Is that it?” Spike asked, finishing up the last words.

“Yes,” Twilight confirmed with a grin. “Send it to Princess Luna.”

Spike nodded and started to gather the fire in his breath, before a thought popped in his head. “Wait Twilight, what if I can only send letters to Princess Celestia?”

Twilight blinked, realizing Spike’s point. “You’re right... your breath can only send letters to Princess Celestia.”

Before Spike could respond, he felt that familiar feeling in his stomach again. As he belched, another letter came with the same royal seal from before. Without wasting any time, Twilight levitated it to her face and unrolled it.

One more thing. That earlier letter is enchanted in such a way that if Spike breathes flames on it, it shall be sent to me instead of my sister.

“Well, that takes care of that,” Twilight expressed enthusiastically. Spike nodded his head and breathed flames on the letter, transforming it into a wisp as it flew out the window, flowing toward Canterlot.

“Are you sure about this?” Spike questioned, carrying a bemused expression and crossing his arms.

“I’m sure this will work. There isn’t anypony else like Rarity to help out a pony about a subject like love. I mean, have you seen her try to woo stallions before? She’s a natural.”

Spike rolled his eyes and turned around, walking away grumpily. “Yeah, I’ve seen it before...”

In the main room in Carousel Boutique, a certain white-coated mare was busy preparing the ribbons for a few dresses. A few fabrics and tools floated around her with magic, as she looked around at the different designs and colors. She rubbed her chin as she tried to decide between one color of ribbon and another.

“Hmm,” she hummed as she looked at the blue ribbon, angling it near the dress. “This one is quite endearing to the overall design.”

She shifted her attention to the red ribbon, positioning it where the blue one once was. “But then this one brings such a nice decorative flair to the ensemble. What to choose...”

She squinted her eyes between each choice, before a knock on the door interrupted her thought process. Her ears perked up at the sound, and she turned her head to see who it was. Her magic set down the tools and fabrics on a nearby table before she walked up to the door and opened it with a joyous smile.

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique! How may I-”

She shut up at once when she saw who was standing before her through the doorway. She caught a surprised crowd of ponies with guards standing between them, and a particular midnight blue mare was standing right in the middle, looking right at Rarity.

“P-Princess Luna!” she exclaimed as she bowed down to her out of instinct. The royal mare smiled genuinely to Rarity, before she turned to address to the guards.

“Disperse the crowd,” Luna commanded. “I require a private moment with Rarity.”

The two guards saluted, and while they went off to drive away the crowd, Luna entered the boutique with welcomed grace. Rarity moved out of the way to let the Princess pass as she looked around.

“Rarity,” Luna spoke.

“Yes, Princess Luna?” Rarity responded. She tried to remain calm, but her shaken expression betrayed her.

“Let me make things brief. I have been recently informed of a certain holiday that occurs around this time, known as-”

“Hearts and Hooves Day?” Rarity finished for Luna, with a raised eyebrow to accompany her question. “You’ve never heard of it?”

“I have not. I have asked my sister, and she has been somewhat cryptic to provide answers. So I turned to Princess Twilight Sparkle for help, but she insists that I seek answers from you.”

“Me?!” she replied in shock. “Why would Twilight think I would know anything about Hearts and Hooves Day? I mean, I suppose I do know a few things, perhaps...”

Rarity flipped her mane a few times in a flirtatious manner, something Luna questioned as soon as she saw the motion. The fashionista noticed this, and chuckled sheepishly to save face.

“Nevermind that. I mean, I would so be honored to teach one of Equestria’s most important ponies about... Hearts and Hooves Day,” Rarity forced in an odd manner. She still couldn’t believe the situation that was put in front of her, but she was not about to disappoint one of the two most important ponies in Equestria.

Luna smiled anyways, respecting the idea behind the motion. “Thank you ever so much, Rarity,” she replied. “What is the first lesson?”

Rarity stared at Luna with a blank expression. She had no idea how to answer to that. Lesson? Princess, you really should get out more, she thought as she forced a smile.

“Well... most ponies on Hearts and Hooves Day, if they are single, would ask other ponies to be their special somepony,” she explained. “In a way, it is like asking them any other day, except it is more romantic.”

“Romantic, you say,” Luna responded, lowering her face to match Rarity and looking directly into the unicorn’s blue eyes. “I know much about romance. However, I have never indulged into it myself, and to my knowledge, neither has my sister. Therefore, we lack the experience. We only observe the love patterns of other ponies, and sometimes their... mating rituals.”

Rarity’s pupils shrunk, as she backed away from the Princess. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Before she could retort with a response of her own, Luna stopped her by holding a hoof out.

“Nay, it is not as you think. We are not stalkers,” Luna replied, rolling her eyes. “But we have special abilities, and sometimes these abilities allow me to… witness, some rather private business. I’d rather not go into detail.”

“Please, don’t,” Rarity said, looking away with an appalled look. “How about we get back on topic? If you want, when two ponies are already together, what they do together is referred to as a date.”

“From what I understand, a date is an outing between two ponies, usually for romantic purposes. Am I correct?”

Rarity sighed, smiling once she was sure things got back on track. “Yes, quite! Now, Perhaps if we look around, we can find a worthy stallion, and we can show you what it’s like to be on a date.”

Luna blinked her eyes. “Rarity...”

“Oh, but where could we find such a stallion on such short notice?”

“Rarity...”

“I don’t think Big Macintosh has any plans, but I don’t know if he’s the best choice... perhaps we can ask him if-”

“Rarity!” Luna yelled in the Royal Canterlot Voice, which startled the unicorn and gave her a wicked hairdo at the same time. She stared back at the royal mare with a noticeable blush.

“I am terribly sorry, Your Highness,” Rarity apologized, as she levitated a brush toward herself without looking, proceeding to brush her disheveled mane with it. “I guess I got a little carried away there.”

“I apologize for my volume. But, ‘tis no matter of importance. Can you help? I only wish for your full confirmation before I get my hopes up too high.”

“I, w-well…” Rarity stuttered, thinking over the situation as best she could. It all seemed rather strange to her, the whole Princess wanting to know what Hearts and Hooves Day is like. But she didn’t want to upset royalty, so she concerned herself with helping out in any way she could.

After her mane was back to its original form, she put on a cheerful smile as she levitated the brush back to its former location. “Of course, Princess! What would the Element of Generosity be if she weren’t generous?”

Somehow, Luna was sure she knew, but she didn’t want to blurt out anything for Rarity’s sake.

“Could I, perchance, learn how a date works by learning it firsthand?”

“Well, I don’t know anypony who would consider-”

Princess Luna leaned her head forward, staring straight into Rarity’s eyes. “So you are not available?”

“M-Me?!” Rarity cried in shock. She didn’t expect Luna to ask her out on this date she wanted. “Well, I’m not exactly into other mares, so…”

“This is nothing like the real sort of date, I assume. Only to experience what it is like.”

“Right,” Rarity agreed, as she looked toward the door. “I think I know a good place where we can do this, er.. pretend date, so to speak.”

She feigned a chuckle, but Luna looked less than amused.

“Then lead the way, and I shall follow.”

Rarity nodded, and then it hit her that she was completely unprepared for a moment such as this. It felt like a model going out to the runway without a dress to sport.

“Princess Luna, will you be alright if I spend a few moments getting ready for this… um… pretend date?”

“It does not matter in my eyes, as long as you’re able to teach me what I need to know,” Luna responded.

“Very well. This shouldn’t take long, I promise!”

The fashionista zipped out of the main room and went to her bedroom to get ready. Even if it was just a pretend date, she wanted to make sure Luna knew what to expect in case this was a real one.

A few splashes of perfume and brushes on her mane, Rarity was perfect. She went down the stairs and saw Luna sitting her flank at the main room, waiting for the white unicorn to return.

“I assume you’re ready, then?” asked the dark blue alicorn.

“Indeed. Let’s get started,” said Rarity, as they went out the front door.

Let The Date Commence!

It was in the middle of the afternoon when Rarity and Luna left the Boutique, with two Royal Guards following the Princess of the Night as was the norm.

The sun would be setting soon, given Hearts and Hooves Day took place in the middle of winter. The ponies trotted around the streets in pairs, many of them already going out for their dates. As the night pressed on, more and more townsponies would be out for a nice, romantic night in the town.

In the meantime, Rarity was still not over the fact that she was on a date with Princess Luna of all ponies. Yes, it was a pretend date, but it was still with a princess in the end. She didn’t want to disappoint her in any way, and went out of her way to make sure that she didn’t mess anything up.

Just take deep breaths, and make sure you get this PERFECTLY, she thought. You can’t afford to do anything that would rub her the wrong way.

So she found herself touching up on her mane and making sure her perfume was on right.

In contrast, Luna was moving along peacefully. Even though this style of town building was different from what she was used to, she still liked it for its charms. It was nice and quiet even at its busiest hours, and she liked the nice open air in contrast to Canterlot. Not that she didn’t like her home town, but it was still a nice contrast.

However, she noticed that everypony in the town had their full attention on her as they progressed. The ponies would bow to her as she passed them by, either that or they would be looking at her in the middle of their conversations. It felt like every eye was on her, and it made her realize something she didn’t care much for.

“We may be dealing with a problem,” she noted out loud.

“And what would that be?” Rarity asked, wondering what went wrong already.

“I understand the reasoning for this, but everypony is staring at me throughout the town. That is bound to happen throughout the date if we don’t change our approach, wouldn’t it?”

“Why… yes. Of course they would. You’re Princess Luna! It is quite the event when royalty from Canterlot comes to Ponyville for any occasion, so that’s a given.”

“Then I must do something before we begin. I wish to learn everything about dating from you, and we cannot have any distractions… or having ponies getting the wrong idea, now that I think about it. But there is a simple solution,”

The fashionista tilted her head to the side. “Whatever do you mean?”

“There is a spell I know of,” Luna explained sitting on her flank and taking off her sandals one by one. “It does not last long, but it will be long enough for this purpose. It disguises my true form as another pony for a couple of hours.”

Rarity thought about why one would need it, before it hit her as well. “You’re using it so nopony would recognize you?”

While she was talking, Luna removed the plate from her neck as well as her crown, handing all of her jewelry to the Royal Guards for protection. “Precisely. This should only take a moment. Do you see a place where I could do this privately?”

Rarity was surprised to see Luna wearing nothing. Yes, most ponies didn’t wear clothes normally, but given that the princess wore her decor all the time, it was an odd sight for her. Still, she got over it and found an alley between two buildings, one big enough for what Luna was doing.

“There, that should do it,” she said, pointing a hoof in that direction.

“Thank you, Rarity. Give me a moment and I’ll be ready.” She then turned to the Guards. “You are dismissed for now. Stay in Ponyville for the time being. I will come to you when we are ready.”

The Guards saluted her, and they went on their way. With that business finished, the Princess of the Night came over to the alleyway, getting herself ready for what she was about to do.

While she was waiting, Rarity used the moment to calm herself down. She thought about what she needed to do for Luna to know how to date a pony, and she knew exactly what she would do for the occasion.

Yes, that’s the way she would do it. It would be the right thing to do, a perfect blend of personal experience and practical advice. But would Luna want to do something like that? That would be the question…

In the end, she wasn’t sure. Was she qualified to give Luna such advice? If Luna dated at all, her experiences with stallions had to be different from her own...

Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see a unicorn standing in front of her, sporting a light blue coat with a purple mane, along with a cutie mark of a dream bubble on her flank.

“Oh, hello there,” Rarity greeted. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in Ponyville before--”

“So the disguise worked,” the pony spoke, carrying the familiar voice of Luna.

Rarity’s jaw dropped from hearing THAT voice from THAT pony. “Princess Luna?”

Luna nodded to confirm her suspicions. “Yes, it is me. This is the disguise I will use for the night, and I hope you do not mind.”

“W-What… that looks nothing like you! And what happened to your wings? They’re practically gone now!”

“Settle yourself Rarity, or the disguise will have failed before we can even put it to use,” she said as she looked around. Thankfully, nopony was close enough to hear them.

“As for my wings, do not fret, they are still there,” said Luna. She flapped off the ground, hovering in the air with wings that nopony could see. “That’s another side effect, they are invisible as long as I’m in this form. It is part of the disguise. It would be odd to see an ordinary alicorn, would it not?”

“I suppose you do have a point…” Rarity found herself agreeing with. This was going to be a weird night.

“Finally, refer to me as Dreamscape for the rest of the night. That is the name of a pony I used to know before my banishment.”

Still trying to let the whole thing sink in, Rarity nodded in understanding. Yeah, it was going to take a while to let it sink in.

“Very well. Let’s begin. What is the first thing we do on a date?”

“Well… I don’t know. Usually, the couple dating will go to a location for their date. It’s very popular to travel to a restaurant for a romantic dinner, but in Ponyville, a popular choice is to go on a nice, simple picnic at the park to unwind. Given this is your practice date, it’s likely best for you to decide.”

Luna pondered over her choices, trying to see which one stood out the most. “The picnic sounds appealing. I haven’t eaten outdoors in years, it appears.”

“Very well. I should probably get something for…”

At that moment, Rarity discovered just how unprepared she was for this task.

“Oh Celestia, I have nothing for this! All the stores will be busy with last minute shoppers like me!”

“Do ponies really swear by my sister’s na--”

“And there’s no way I will be able to get something for tonight! What can I do for this? We might not be able to have a picnic after all!”

Thankfully, at that very moment, she spotted Sugar Cube Corner in the corner of her eye. Her thoughts turned to Pinkie Pie, and how she might be willing to do something this last minute. It was worth a shot.

“Hold on, I might have something after all. Luna, er, I mean Dreamscape, can you meet me in 10 minutes at the entrance for the Ponyville Park? I promise I’ll be there with our meal.”

“Hmm, I assume I could do that,” said ‘Dreamscape’.

“Thank you, I promise I’ll tell you everything I know as soon as I get there!”

She ran off as fast as her hooves could take her, leaving the princess to trot to the park by herself.

Rarity wasn’t the only pony thinking this night would be insane anymore.

A few minutes later, ‘Dreamscape’ found herself waiting at the park’s entrance. She had only seen it once after her banishment ended, as in immediately after she stopped being Nightmare Moon. She forgot how nice it was in the years since then. It was as scenic as she remembered, with the vast fields of grass going as far as the eye could see. There was a lake within a few hundred feet, and the trees would give ponies shade to work with against the sun.

While she was waiting for Rarity, she realized something: the park was already packed with ponies going out over here. She assumed that after witnessing everypony going out in pairs, snuggling and even kissing each other.

There were so many couples there, in fact, that she wasn’t sure they could find a spot in time. Nevertheless, she was determined to make this work in some way. It was just going to be harder than she thought.

All of a sudden, she heard somepony galloping her way, and the sound was getting drawing. She turned to see who it was, and she caught Rarity galloping her way, carrying a pink basket with her magic.

Rarity skidded to a halt, coming to a stop in front of the princess. “I apologize again, Your Majesty. Pinkie was generous enough to give us a basket first, so I got out of there in a hurry! Now we can find a spot in no time.” However, she also noticed the park was full of lovebirds already.

“Do you think this will be a problem?” asked Luna.

“No, I don’t believe so. We’ll just have to pick the first good spot we find.”

And so the mares went to the park, looking for a good location for the picnic. Rarity led the way for the search, looking as hard as she could. Meanwhile, Luna was paying close attention to the couples around them, curious what she could gather about dating while they were scouting for a location, all while being grateful nopony would be staring at her this time.

In the end, she didn’t learn much about dating on their walk. Just chatting and the occasional kiss. There had to be more to it than that.

“Ah, here we go!” Rarity proclaimed. She pointed at the spot with her hoof, a shady spot next to a tree. “Plenty of shade, not too uncomfortable, and we won’t be far away from the lake. It’s perfect.”

Luna saw it too, and it looked nice and comfortable to her as well. “Very well. Let’s go over there.”

They went over to the spot, with Rarity setting down the basket in the middle. She closely examined the basket, however, as if there was a bomb inside.

“What’s wrong?” Luna inquired. “It is but a basket.”

“Yes, but it’s a basket from Pinkie Pie,” Rarity pointed out. “There might be something inside.”

Still acting as if there was a bomb inside, Rarity poked the basket lid with her hoof. It didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, but she poked it again for good measure.

“Let me handle this,” Luna ordered. “It should be fine.”

She opened the lid to the basket, only to find her face covered with heart shaped confetti. She fell on her back out of surprise, and she lifted her head up to see what the hay was going on.

And somehow, it got stranger from there.

A few balloons shaped like hearts came out of the basket, even though there was not enough room for them. Not only that, but they were tied to the basket, lifting it up in the air and taking Rarity and Luna’s dinner with them.

“I’ll get that!” Rarity shouted. She grabbed the basket with her magic again, and did everything in her power to bring it back to earth. It was actually a struggle, and everypony in the park watched as a pony had an epic battle against balloons. It was as surreal as it sounded

At least she won in the end, slamming the basket to the ground so hard that the balloons popped from the impact. Everypony was just confused, and they assumed that this was another antic from Pinkie Pie. Again.

“That’s why you have to be on the lookout whenever it’s Pinkie Pie,” Rarity informed, wiping the sweat off her forehead. “You never know what to expect.”

“I see… I’ll make note of that...” Luna trailed off. “Very well, are we ready to begin?”

With that out of the way, they worked together to get the picnic ready. Rarity spread out a blanket for them to sit on, and Luna took care of the plates and lemonade. Inside were a few hay and cheese subs, generally the stuff a pony would get at a deli. It wasn’t high end, but it would be delicious enough in the end.

Rarity sat down on her side opposite Luna, getting herself mentally ready for what she was about to do again. It helped that she wouldn’t have recognized the princess without that distinct voice; maybe it would help if she pretended that she was on a practice date with another pony entirely.

“I assume we’re officially ready to date, then?” Luna spoke up.

“Umm… yes. I believe so.”

“Then explain what you would normally do for one from here.”

Rarity gulped. “Um… are you sure you want to know how I would do that?”

“Rarity, Twilight recommended you because she finds you to be an expert in this field. I trust her judgement in this, just as I have many times before by placing the fate of Equestria in her hooves. This should be child’s play compared to those times. I’m sure you will know what you’re doing.”

The white unicorn sighed, knowing there was no turning back after this. “Very well. I thank you for your faith in me. I have come up with a formula for dating, something I invented that mixes practical advice with some of my personal experiences.”

“Personal experiences?” Luna raised an eyebrow hearing that.

“Well… between you and me, I’ve had more than a few bad experiences with my dates. Once, there was a writer I had a crush on, and somehow it ended with me pretending to be Applejack.”

“I’m not so sure I want to hear the story about that one.”

“And then you have the most snobby prince ever. I can’t believe I actually thought he would be my soul mate… that’s a nightmarish thought when I think about it anymore,” she complained, as she rolled her eyes.

“Wait a minute… would that prince be Blueblood, by any chance?” Luna guessed.

Rarity nearly threw her sub in the air at the mere mention of that name. “Yes… my goodness, that almost sounded like a swear word out of you.”

“That reminds me of a dream of his that I looked into,” Luna said, bringing a hoof to her chin. “He was running in the forest, where there was a terrible creature giving chase after him, making the most hideous noises he had ever heard.”

“Let me guess, it was a Timberwolf that tried to eat him in one gulp?”

“No. It was only you.”

Rarity’s eyes shot open, unable to comprehend this. “Was I a terrible beast?”

“No. You were just yourself, and you were merely whining that he was the most rude prince you had ever met.”

Suddenly, the fashionista’s sub was broken into a million pieces with her magic. Her entire face turned red, and steam poured out of her ears like her head was an engine. She grabbed the nearest cup of lemonade and downed it in one go, and her face was back to normal. Barely.

“At least he learned never to treat a lady like that again,” she stated in a calm manner that managed to terrify Luna.

“Now then, I made a few steps to help establish a marvelous date, or at least one that you won’t regret. I hope you don’t mind using my method, it still feels inadequate given it’s… well, you.”

Luna merely smiled as she took a bite out of her sub, allowing Rarity to take it from there.

“The very first thing you do is introduce yourself to your date. Let me start. Hi, I’m Rarity. Pleased to meet you.” She offered her limb for a hoofshake to Luna.

Luna looked at her own hoof, wanting to make sure she did this properly. She waited a few seconds make sure she would nail it, making her feel awkward for a moment. Still, she extended a limb out to Rarity, giving her a good hoofshake.

“Hello, date. My name is Princess Lu--I mean, I’m Dreamscape,” she said, giving the unicorn a sheepish smile and doing her best not to blow their cover. “How is that?”

“Not bad. A little awkward, but I’ve seen worse. Just don’t make it too big of a deal, and you should be fine. Still, I think we’re off to a great start, Blueblood’s dream aside,” Rarity grumbled as she took a bite out of the sub.

“If it will ease your temper, I lost a lot of respect for him after that night,” Luna offered.

“Nevermind. Let’s move on. The next step is very straightforward. Just talk to your date about anything you want for the next few minutes. It can be about anything, from your personal life to what your hobbies are, or you could just talk about the weather or what’s going on around us. Anything to help ‘break the ice’, so to speak.”

After hearing those words, Luna found herself smiling. “Twilight was right choosing you for this assignment.”

Rarity found herself blushing, as hearing praise from a princess was still so strange to her. “N-Now now, my record with coltfriends is still atrocious. Don’t go praising me just yet.”

“Very well. So we can talk about anything we want, correct?”

“Anything that you’re comfortable with. Don’t try to force it, that never works out.”

Luna enjoyed another bite of her sub, eager to move forward with her training. “I understand. Let’s see… I’ll do it as Dreamscape then. Were you ever curious what my cutie mark meant?”

Rarity looked over at the other mare’s flank, gazing over the cutie mark with her eyes. It reminded her of the fillyhood books she would read before bed, of dreams and what happened inside them.

“I guess it’s about your ability to go into dreams, isn’t it? Very creative, I have to say.”

“Indeed. It’s one of my favorite royal duties, if you can believe it.”

“I believe you. Now, I should say something about myself next, so that way we’re learning about each other while we’re talking.”

“Part of the process, yes?”

“Right. You’re getting the hang of this.”

Luna was proud of herself, feeling like she was really learning for the first time in a while. Maybe this was how Twilight felt all the time.

In the meantime, Rarity noted how her nerves were calming down over time. She didn’t know how it was possible, but it was still happening. It’s not like this was the strangest date she ever had. The Diamond Dogs’ “date” with her would forever hold that honor.

“Anyway,” Rarity continued, “I’m sure you know that I design dresses for a living, no? I’ve been expanding my lines lately, and it’s selling in more cities all over Equestria. I think it’s even expanded in Canterlot now. I know this is a stretch, but have you seen any of them recently?”

Luna paused in the middle of her lemonade drink and thought about it. Hmm… Rarity’s dresses…. Rarity’s dresses…

“I might have. Are they the white dresses with black diamonds around the trim?”

Hearing that was like getting a compliment from the biggest celebrity in Equestria for the designer. Which was what happened, more or less.

“I… yes! Yes they are! How did you know?”

“I’ve seen a few officials inside my castle wear them around my presence. They mentioned that they bought them from a designer in Ponyville, but I never connected it with you for some reason. It might be because I have to focus on my duties most of the time.”

“That must be tiresome after a while, isn’t it?”

“In some cases, it can be dull. In other certain cases, it can be thrilling. I’m sure you understand, given how you take pride in your dress craft.”

Rarity blushed for the second time that afternoon. “I guess. I just… I try not to get too prideful in it. It can get the better of you if you let it.”

Luna sighed to herself, remembering the Nightmare Moon incident and the lessons it taught her. “I know how that feels. But you should allow yourself to enjoy your work. From what I’ve seen of it, you seem to do well.”

That was enough to put a smile on the white unicorn’s face. “Thank you, Lu--I mean, Dreamscape. That means a lot, coming from you.”

The princess nodded. “Thank you. Does that conclude this step?”

With one look at their picnic spot, Rarity discovered that they were done with their dinner. “I think so. The step after that is relatively simple. Just do something with your date that doesn’t involve eating or talking. Like an activity you can both share.”

“I’m beginning to notice a pattern,” Luna noted. “As the date continues, it becomes increasingly reliant on a connection with the other pony, and making it all about each other. Is that how most dates go?”

“That’s how they should go, if you ask me.”

With that said, Rarity and Luna went and cleaned up the picnic spot, putting the plates and blanket away in the basket. It was a nice meal, and Luna didn’t think she would need to eat again that night.

After discussing what they could do, they decided to go out on a walk through the park. It was a very nice day, and the park looked appealing enough for a stroll.

As soon as they took the first step forward, Luna’s heart was struck by the sight of the sun.It dawned on her that she needed to do the most important duty of all soon, since Celestia would be setting the sun any minute now.

She almost panicked and looked around the park for a good hiding place to raise the moon, but there wasn’t any near them.

“What’s wrong?” asked Rarity. “Did I do something that rubbed you the wrong way?”

“No, it’s not you, you’ve been a great teacher this day,” Luna stated. “But can you see the sun setting to the west? That means it’s time for me to raise the moon. Yet, I can’t do it out in the open.”

“Why not? I’ve seen you do it before. It’s just a spell, correct?”

“Yes, but you must understand that it takes a large amount of magic. It will take so much magic, in fact, that my disguise will go away when I do it. Therefore, everypony would know that it’s me and we won’t be able to continue. Not without major difficulties, at least.”

“Oh, I understand now. How about that bush over there?” She pointed over at a tall bush left of them. “It looks big enough for you to hide in.”

Luna saw it for herself, and immediately scrambled to it. “It won’t take long, I promise!” she shouted to the fashionista.

So Rarity found herself sitting on her flanks again, waiting for Luna to finish her business. She looked over to the sun, wanting to see the sunset and moonrise for herself. She witnessed the sun setting over the horizon, dipping the sky into twilight for a brief moment. It was a breathtaking sight, but nothing compared to what she was about to witness.

The moon rose up in the sun’s place, rising to the air above. It revealed the stars above, showcasing a black canvas for the night. Its stars stretched as far as the eye could see, and the moon around them made the park shine in a faint white glow.

Rarity found herself looking up at the stars above, taking her breath away at the sight. She had never seen the night sky like that before, and she now understood the story of Nightmare Moon, seeing why the princess wanted everypony to see the beauty of her night.

“It’s beautiful…” she thought out loud. “Just as beautiful as Luna’s mane and tail…”

Luna returned to Rarity’s side, still disguised as Dreamscape, just in time to catch her say that. It made the princess step back in shock, as she had never heard a pony compliment her in such a way. Well, she never heard them say that without knowing she was there.

It made her blush slightly, as she did grow to like the compliment. But she remembered the reason why she was here. She was here to learn as much as she could about dating for Hearts and Hooves Day, and she would need to leave as soon as she was finished achieving this goal.

Even if she didn’t want it to end so soon.

“I’m finished,” she alerted Rarity. “Are we ready to continue?”

Rarity turned around in surprise, a little shocked to find ‘Dreamscape’ so close to her. “Oh, didn’t hear you come up behind me. I was lost in my thoughts for a moment. Yes, I think we’re ready.”

“Very well. Lead the way once more, Rarity.”

And so the white unicorn walked with Luna through the park, enjoying the night time scenery. By then, most of the ponies went home or somewhere else, so it was easier to walk through the place. It made the evening stroll all the more enjoyable.

Luna took a deep breath of air, enjoying the scents of the park. It was much different than the scents and sound of her castle, and it was refreshing as a result.

Rarity noticed how much the princess was enjoying herself, happy that she seemed to have learned everything she had taught her. It was still weird that she was teaching a princess rather than the other way around, given that her close friend Twilight was always learning under Celestia’s wing. But then again, Luna was no Celestia. She was going to be different in a few ways.

And for her, that was fine, especially when she found Luna looking at a few butterflies, watching them rest on a flower.

“I think those are the same kind of butterflies that represent Fluttershy’s cutie mark, if you can believe it,” Rarity noted. “They’re very delicate, but they carry so much beauty with them, don’t they?”

“Just like your friend Fluttershy,” Luna replied. “She is the most sensitive pony I’ve ever met. Still, what else can we find here? I want to see for myself.”

Without forewarning, she found herself galloping up the nearest hill, wanting a good view of the whole park. Rarity had to run to catch up, and she found Luna’s curiosity both charming and a little irritating. She didn’t care in the end, though. Tonight was about the princess here, and making sure she knew what a date was.

When she reached the top of the hill, she found Luna just staring at what was ahead of her. Rarity turned to see what it was, only to have her breath taken again by what they both saw.

Nope, Totally Not Turning Into A Real Date

The lake at Ponyville’s park was always pleasant to look at, even in the middle of a storm. It was nice and quiet, and the reflection of the water soothed the soul anytime someone looked at it. But it was more beautiful than Rarity had ever seen it before.

It reflected the stars and the moonlight across the surface, with the moon’s yellow glow making it almost seem like the water was made out of milk. A duck swam across the top of the water, causing the picturesque view to ripple in all directions. And yet, it didn’t take away from its beauty.

Before Rarity saw it, she wanted to keep walking around the park and tell Luna a few animal facts she learned from Fluttershy. But not right now. This was much better than her plans.

So the two of them kept watching the surface, taken away from the view at the top of the hill. They didn’t say a word for a moment, allowing the sight to speak for them.

Eventually, Luna felt like she had to say something. Rarity had to be eager to teach her the next lesson.

“Can we stay here for a while?” she asked. “I really enjoy up here.”

“My thoughts, exactly,” Rarity responded. “It looks lovely, doesn’t it? And besides, this is part of the current lesson. Be spontaneous with each other. If we want to stay here for an hour or two, we can. I don’t see the harm in it.”

“Thank you.”

So that’s what they did. They stayed where they were, sharing the view with each other. They would share it alone, as most ponies there were leaving. The night was young and there was a lot to do, after all. However, the surface of the lake reminded Rarity about a recent event, with the way it was looking like a dream. Remind her of a certain dream, to be exact...

She felt a little uncomfortable talking about it, even though she was very happy that it happened. In the end, it felt like a secret she had to get out now, while Luna was here.

“Umm… Luna? Is there something I can talk to you about?” she spoke up.

Luna was a bit puzzled, feeling like this came out of left field. “What is it, Rarity?”

The unicorn took a deep breath, feeling the pressure coming on her. But she had to say it.

“There was something that happened the other day that was fascinating, in a way. You know about my sister, Sweetie Belle, and her other friends by now. They go by the name of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

Luna nodded at the mention of those names. “I know of them. Come to think of it, I traveled into Scootaloo’s dreams on one occasion. I needed to help her with her fears, and thankfully they have gone away.”

“That’s what I needed to talk to you about, actually. You see, a month ago the Crusaders had a sleepover at my house. I was dreading it, because you know how they are. Going out and finding what their cutie marks are, destroying the place in the process. But they didn’t do that this time. In fact, they were all in Sweetie Belle’s room the entire time.

“I thought it would be a good idea to give them glasses of lemonade, as a thank you for being so civil that night. But when I came to the door, they were talking about something… strange. As in, they were all talking about you.”

Luna found herself creeped out by this. It wasn’t often that ponies talked about the times she traveled in their dreams, and she had a guess where this was going.

“First, Scootaloo was talking about the time she was afraid of the Headless Horse. I always found that to be a silly ghost story, but that’s not important. She went on and said you were in her dreams, saving her from that creature and how you told her to face her fears, as you said.”

Luna nodded, curious where this was heading. “I see. What is your point?”

“But… then Sweetie Belle mentioned the occasion where you were in her dreams. This was back when I was making dresses for Sapphire Shores and her concert, and how you came into Sweetie’s dreams to stop her from ruining the whole thing. And she even mentioned the part about what my future would have been like, had you not intervened…”

At that point, Rarity’s eyes had grown watery. But she was crying with a smile, looking at Luna with a bittersweet expression. Luna simply closed her eyes and nodded again.

“It was my duty to save you and your sister from that fate,” she responded. “Nopony deserved to go through that, no matter what the reasoning was. It was my duty, and I am glad to see that things worked out for--”

“Please, don’t act like this was just another duty for you,” Rarity interrupted. “I’m sorry for being so blunt, Your Majesty, but that was one of the nicest things anypony has done for me. Hearing what was in store for me, I cannot thank you enough for what you did for us. I really can’t.”

Luna stood there, hearing every word out of the fashionista’s mouth. In the end, she responded to all of that praise with a smile.

“Thank you for saying that about me, Rarity. I appreciate that you found my assistance so helpf--”

Before she could finish, she found herself in the middle of the tightest hug ever. Rarity hugged her without even thinking about it, and Luna gasped for air.

“No, thank you!” Rarity interrupted. “You saved my life, and I can never repay you! But this is close!”

“Can’t… breathe… no air… in lungs…” the princess gasped.

After realizing she might actually suffocate royalty if she didn’t let go, Rarity pulled away and sat back down. Her cheeks turned red when she realized what she had just done, and she tried to act like nothing happened.

However, she found herself looking at Luna’s eyes after she was finished. She didn’t know why, but she wanted to look at them. The color didn’t change with the Dreamscape disguise, and she did find them beautiful.

And that’s when it hit her that Luna was staring right back at her eyes.

“Um, what are you doing?” the princess asked.

But neither one looked away. For reasons neither one could comprehend, their eyes were locked staring at each other.

To make things even “better”, their snouts drew closer as well. They didn’t realize they were doing it, and it was almost as if they were about to kiss...

Wait… kissing…

“Oh sweet Celestia!” Rarity shouted, looking away and blushing hard. “I am so sorry! I made it even more awkward!”

“No, I didn’t help matters at all!” Luna panted, blushing just as hard. “I don’t know what came over me, but I apologize deeply for this act!”

Neither one of them dared to keep apologizing, just trying to forget whatever just happened between the two of them.

Entire minutes passed, and they were still blushing hard. Rarity then decided that looking into Luna’s eyes was off limits, because there was no way they were going to be kissing that night. Or any night, for that matter. Wait, why was she even thinking about this?

But the practice date must continue, or at least that’s what Luna thought. Taking Rarity’s advice, she decided to “break the ice”, so to speak, to move on.

“You know, you’re not the only Element whose dreams I’ve seen.”

“Oh, really?” Rarity asked, thankful that she didn’t ruin the practice run. “And whose dream would that be?”

“Pinkie Pie.”

Rarity’s pupils shrunk down to the size of marbles. “Oh… by Celestia’s mane…”

“First you swear by my sister’s name, and then her mane? Is she really that special? I mean, yes. It was the most interesting dream I’ve been in, save for Discord’s nightmarish wonders.”

The fashionista sat down and listened to the story, curious where Pinkie’s dreams would take her. And then she shuddered at the mere thought of things Discord would dream of...

Luna shook her head as she entered the dream. It was always headache inducing whenever she went into the dreamscape, even after years of experience. So was the nature of dream walking.

But she knew something was wrong the moment her hooves were touching icing. As it turns out, the environment was nothing but a big, yellow frosted cookie. It was big enough to be its own island, and come to think about it, it was an island, lazily floating around in a sea of fruit punch.

This was going to be one strange night.

She flew up and searched around for the pony dreaming this stuff up, knowing she wouldn’t be far away on this island. It wasn’t clear yet who it would be, other than the pony would be from Ponyville. That reminded her of the strange naming conventions Celestia used for towns….

Sure enough, she found a pony right ahead of her. It was a pink pony with a curly mane, dancing around with a boombox and a pet alligator. Oh, so I’m in Pinkie Pie’s dream. This should be entertaining.

As she drew closer, the sound of her wings alerted Pinkie that somepony else was here. She turned around and saw Luna coming her way, and that made her even more excited. She grabbed Gummy in her hooves and pointed at the incoming princess.

“Look, Gummy! Luna’s in our dreams!”

So Pinkie Pie is somehow already aware that this illusion is a dream? Luna thought to herself, her hooves coming down to touch the icing again.

“Of course it is, silly! I know when I’m dreaming, because nobody else would make a cookie this huge! Even though they should, but that would take all the sugar in Equestria to make, and then nopony could make cookies again!”

Well, she’s no different in her dreams than she is in reality, Luna thought to herself, especially if she could hear my thoughts. Perhaps I should stop.

“And then it hit me. You’re the only pony that can travel in dreams, at least now that I see it, and there’s no way I would think about you before I go to sleep, because I’m too tired by then to think about ANYTHING. So it just came to me. Because we’re in a dream, and there’s no logic whatsoever, I could throw THE BIGGEST PARTY OF ALL TIME for you!”

The ground rumbled beneath their hooves, as if an earthquake was rocking the place. All of a sudden,, a huge formation broke out from the cookie ground and rose up to the sky behind Pinkie Pie. Its emergence was met with a ton of crescent moon shaped balloons, flooding the air around them.

Yep, this was a Pinkie Pie dream. And it would only get better from here.

Once Luna realized what the structure was, she realized it was a mishmash of a massive concert stage, a pizza parlour, and a table with the world’s biggest cake on it. And by biggest, that meant it was five stories tall. It wasn’t a stretch to call the cake its own building.

The cake was dark blue and featured Luna’s face all over it, with them all smiling. The princess took a step back, fearing that this would only get wilder.

And it did. A band of ponies came out on the concert stage to perform a song in her honor, and a hoard of Pinkie Pie clones came out to celebrate with her. The real Pinkie came out, ordering them around like she was their leader.

“C’mon, everypony! Make Luna feel special! DREAM PARTY!”

What happened afterwards was beyond words.

“And after the dream was over, I woke up in Canterlot and ached all over,” Luna finished. “I was sore for days, as Pinkie’s dream was so exhausting, it wore out my real form.”

Rarity’s eye twitched, unable to comprehend the insanity of Pinkie’s mind. “I… well, that’s certainly interesting.”

“At times, I can’t decide if Discord’s dreams or Pinkie’s dreams are weirder. At least I understand why Discord would dream… those things… but Pinkie Pie? She is but a pony like us, so I don’t understand why. I must make sense of it…”

Rarity pressed a hoof on her chest as if to rebuke her. “Darling, nopony will make sense of Pinkie. It’s best to assume you’ll never understand her state of mind. I doubt even her family understands what goes on inside that mind of hers.”

Luna nodded, still believing there was some secret to the madness. “Very well. I’ll let it go for the time being. I guess I should focus on the things I do understand, such as this,” motioning out to the moon.

“Yes, I do understand that,” Rarity laughed. “Granted, I’m not sure how one pony could lift the moon all by herself, but I assume there’s a logic to it. More logic than Pinkie will ever have.”

Now Luna was the one laughing. “Oh yes, there is a logic. That logic being…”

She spent the next few minutes explaining the magic and science that went into her raising the moon, and Rarity lost count of all the times her mind broke just trying to comprehend it. She knew it would be complicated, but even Twilight wouldn’t understand half the things she was hearing.

“And that’s how I’m able to raise the moon,” Luna concluded. “Does that explain everything?”

“I-I think so. This is beyond me on so many levels.”

“I understand, it is rather complex. Should we do something to get your mind off this?”

Rarity paused for a moment, thinking of what they could do next.

“Do you think we could go out walking again?”

“I would love that. I was getting restless after all that talking.”

With that out of the way, they got back up on their hooves and got walking. They weren’t going anywhere in particular, just what looked appealing to them.

By then, the moon was all the way up in the sky, and crickets chirped around them in the grass. The ponies there were dropping in number as the night pressed on, getting around 8 in the evening. Still, there was a lot of time left to go for the date.

As they were walking, Rarity and Luna talked about nothing in particular. Just whatever tickled their fancy. Given how hectic their lives were like, it was a refreshing change of pace to talk about the little things, something they didn’t get to do that often.

Without thinking about it, they walked out of the park and came through the streets of Ponyville. It felt almost festive that night, with red and white lights strewn around the rooftops to give it a serene feeling.

The two mares just kept walking and talking with each other, going around in circles time after time. It wasn’t as boring as it sounded, and within minutes, all the worries that Rarity had going into the practice date were gone. Luna felt just like another pony to her by that point.

And Luna had seemingly grown comfortable as well, no longer asking if she was getting it right. Maybe because she knew the answer by that point, mostly because they had grown so comfortable with each other then, they were walking close to each other. It wasn’t side by side, but it wasn’t far off from that either.

It was growing late, however. They arrived to the Carousel Boutique, with Sweetie Belle in bed by that hour. Rarity looked at the front door, knowing what usually came with this part of the date.

“So what does this part entail?” Luna asked.

“This part could mark the end of the date, if you want it to,” Rarity explained. “You see, sometimes one of the ponies walks their date home, just as we did now. I can go home, and we can say we’ll see each other again if the date ended well. If not, the relationship can end here without any drama. Nice and simple…”

She almost seemed disappointed, and it didn’t take much to pick up on that fact.

“But?” Luna asked.

“But… it doesn’t have to end here. We can keep going out in the town if you want. It just depends on what you want.”

Neither pony said anything at first. Yet, they knew what they were going to say before they said it.

“I think we should keep going,” Luna spoke up.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” said Rarity.

They walked past the Boutique, going on with their little stroll. It wasn’t clear just how long the date was going to last, but it was a relief that this wasn’t the end.

The stitches went into the dress methodically, going exactly where the design said they should go. They helped keep the red cloth together, and the dress was slowly but surely taking its final form.

It was always satisfying for Rarity to see her hard work pay off, no matter what she was going through. Even with her current feelings, it was true. It was her cutie mark for a reason.

And yet, she couldn’t help but think of Luna all day. She didn’t know why at first, since the practice date was a week ago by then. When it was over, Luna applauded her and commented that she learned exactly what she set off to learn.

So why couldn’t Rarity forget about it, a full seven days later? Could it be… no. It couldn’t. That just wasn’t realistic at all.

She shoved those thoughts to the side, moving the next sleeve of the dress onto the sewing machine. The machine’s motors mouthed off before it went back to work. But it wasn’t going to help her forget. She kept replaying the date’s events over and over again.

Silly Rarity, you know it will never happen, she thought to herself. I know what you’re considering. And it can never happen. You know why. She’s a princess. You’re… well, you ARE one of the saviors of Equestria, saving it from disaster many times. But at the same time, you chose to stay a dressmaker, even after all that’s happened.

….

But can I at least try?

The machine stopped in its tracks. She put down her working glasses and actually thought about the issue, rather than trying to figure out what was wrong with her. Well, beyond the fact that she fainted so many times, there was an entire sofa used just for that. That was probably something she needed to work on.

The more she thought about it, the more she forced herself to admit the truth. There was something magical about that night, and she was remembering it because she loved it. It was refreshing to be on a date with somepony that wasn’t snooty or wanted a mare that wasn’t her, even if that night was just a practice date. It felt as natural as natural can be.

And yet, she knew there was more to it. The truth was dawning on her by the minute. That much was evident. And with that truth, she was losing her self restraint.

Without a moment to spare, she dashed out the front door and dashed to Twilight’s house. Surely, if Spike could send and receive letters from Celestia, he could do the same for Luna, right? She didn’t know for sure, but it was worth a shot.

I don’t care what happens. I need to see where this road goes. This has to be done now. I hope she doesn’t read this as a joke, because it’s more than that…

She arrived at Twilight’s house at last, and she knocked her hooves on the door. This was something she had to get off her chest, if nothing else.

Twilight opened the door, her eyes gleaming to see her friend. “Hi Rarity. I haven’t seen you in a while. How’s it going?”

“Twilight, I have a request for you. You can send a letter to Celestia through Spike, right?”

“Right.”

“Then you should be able to send a letter to Luna as well, correct? She’s an alicorn too.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up for another reason. “That reminds me of something I was going to tell you. I got a letter from Luna today, and it’s addressed to you for some reason. Let me get it for you.”

Rarity was shocked at this revelation. Luna had written to HER? What for? A million thoughts raced through her head, all trying to make sense of such a thing. What… why would… oh, forget it. She would know soon enough.

Twilight came back with a letter, this one with the crescent moon as a symbol instead of Celestia’s mark, and the scroll had a note reading “For Rarity Only” by the side.

“I’m not sure why she wrote to you,” Twilight puzzled. “I know she turned to you for advice on Hearts and Hooves Day, but…”

But Rarity couldn’t hear her as she tore the seal and read the letter. What followed was something that would stick with her the rest of her life.

To Rarity,

The Element of Generosity,

I would like to thank you again, fair Rarity, for your help on Hearts and Hooves Day. I came to you for your knowledge of dating, and you did not disappoint. I am much wiser for hearing your advice, and I should be better in this area in the future.

Yet, a thought came up to my mind this week. I enjoyed our time together on that day, and it was very fun to share time with a pony like you for a change in pace. It might be foolish to ask what I’m about to say, but it will burst in my heart if I do not ask you this question now. I understand if you say no, but consider it at least.

Would you like to go on a second date with me?

With much appreciation,

Princess Luna