My Little Pony: Shipping is Magic Stories

"Books? Check! Sweater? Check! Parchment, quills, and ink? Check, check, and check!"

Twilight levitated each item into her purple tote as she continued down her list. "Should probably pack some snacks too." She then went into the kitchen to see what she could find. Finding some of Spike's famous double white chocolate chip cookies, she wrapped them in plastic and placed them in the bag and headed for the fridge. Opening it, she looked around for a bit before shouting out, "SPIKE! Where are the bottles of fizzy apple cider Applejack gave us?"

"Bottom drawer in the fridge!" Spike shouted back from the other room.

"Thanks!" Twilight replied as she opened the drawer. She took out three bottles of Applejack's famous fizzy apple cider (non-alcoholic of course) and packed them into the bag. After going over her checklist one more time, she smiled and stuffed it into her shirt pocket. "Tonight's a wonderful night for stargazing!" she thought as she grabbed her bag and headed for the door. Spike was busy reading a Power Ponies comic as Twilight entered the foyer of the castle.

"Alright Spike," she said to her assistant, "Are you sure you don't want to come stargazing with me? I could use someone to write down notes."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Spike replied, "I already have plans. I'm helping the Cutie Mark Crusaders again."

"Oh no," Twilight thought. The Cutie Mark Crusaders (or CMC for short) were a group of three fillies who's goal was to discover their special talents and get their cutie marks. The crusaders consisted of Applejack's younger sister Applebloom, Rarity's younger sister Sweetie Bell, and young pegasus prodigy of Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo. Twilight knew that they meant well, but their antics to get their marks sometimes consisted of doing dangerous things, such as parachuting or scuba diving. Twilight could only imagine what they were doing this time.

"Don't worry Twi," Spike said, "It's nothing big. They're going for cutie marks in tennis and they need a fourth."

"Ok Spike. Have fun," Twilight sighed with relief as she headed to the door. But before she could open it, the door opened itself with a BOOM and in rushed Pinkie Pie. With her was her boyfriend Funny Bone, a unicorn comedian.

"Howdy-ho Twilight!" Pinkie greeted with a big smile.

"Uh...hi Pinkie," Twilight responded in a daze. "Hi Funny. What's up?"

"Funny-bunny's taking me to a karaoke bar!" Pinkie squealed, "You wanna come along? We could use a third for Free Bird!"

"As much fun as that sounds," Twilight laughed, "I'll pass. Tonight I'm going stargazing at Ponyville meadow. I hear there might be some special constellations appearing, and I want to gather as much info about them as I can."

"Oh. ok!" Pinkie just grinned. "Have fun with that! C'mon Funny! Let's get our SONG THANG on!"

"Oh you know it Pinkie!" Funny responded as he and Pinkie ran out the door. Twilight just shook her head and headed out.

Despite what Twilight said, she had to be honest with herself. The main reason why she didn't join them was because she would just feel like a third wheel. Even if Pinkie and Funny tried to keep her involved, she would just feel expendable. This wasn't the first time either. Twilight had been thinking for a while that with two of her friends getting boyfriends, being able to properly hang out with them was getting harder. Granted, Fluttershy's boyfriend Dragonfly was off on an entomologist expedition, but still, what would happen if another of her friends got a boyfriend? She didn't want to be the only one that didn't have someone. Of course, getting a date was not on her main priorities list, but with the stress of being a princess in charge of spreading friendship around the world, having someone to snuggle with and call her boyfriend was sounding pretty good.

But those thoughts would have to be saved for another time. Right now, it was time for some stargazing. Twilight had read that there were some cool constellations coming out that night, so, being the research-loving bookworm that she was, she couldn't resist getting some notes on the subject. When she arrived at the meadow, the sun was just coming down. She looked at her watch, which read 6:24 pm. Sundown wasn't until 8, so it looked like she had some time to kill. She sat down her stuff and looked around. Nothing but a luscious green field of grass and a few flowers sprouting from the ground. She took in a deep breath of fresh air and let it out. "Looks like I have the meadow all to myself tonight," she thought.

Before getting whacked in the back of the head, making her fall on her face.

As Twilight sat up, her head was still spinning and her vision was dizzy. She did see well enough to notice someone standing in front of her though.

"Oh my gosh!" said the voice in a panicked male tone, "I am SO sorry! I wasn't paying attention! You're not hurt are you?"

"No I'm fine," mumbled Twilight as she shook her head to regain her vision, "It's alright. I guess I shouldn't have beeAAAAAAH!"

As Twilight fully regained her vision and looked up at the figure in front of her, she stumbled back, startled at what she saw. The figure was a tall, dark blue unicorn with a shaggy cyan mane, but that wasn't why she jumped. His eyes happened to be three times the size of normal eyes, and he was wearing something that looked like a really tricked-out pair of goggles. The stallion looked at Twilight curiously as she sat there shaking like a leaf, wondering what was she scared of. He then noticed what he was wearing on his face.

"Oops!" he chuckled, "Sorry. I forgot I still had these on." He then removed the goggles to reveal his normal-sized, sky blue eyes. "I didn't scare you too much did I?"

"Oh no," Twilight responded sarcastically, clutching her heart, "I always like to have a near heart attack before sundown." After catching her breath, Twilight sat up and dusted herself off. "What are those things anyway?" she asked, pointing at the goggles.

"These are specified goggles of my own design," the unicorn replied, "They allow me to zoom in and see at near microscopic levels. For example," He put the goggles back on and turned a little knob on the side, making the lenses inch toward Twilight. "I can see the small zit you possess on your left cheek."

"WHAT?" Twilight shrieked, covering her cheek and blushing furiously.

"I'm just kidding," the guy laughed as he pulled off the goggles. "Actually, your skin is pretty flawless. Smooth too."

Twilight blushed even harder. "Well...thank you," she giggled. A moment of awkward silence passed by the two ponies as they waited to see what would happen next.

"Also," the unicorn continued, "Sorry again about hitting you with my bag."

"It's quite alright," Twilight replied, rubbing the back of her head. Although it didn't hurt as much as she would've thought, she now had a tiny headache forming. "What do you have in that thing anyway? Rocks?"

"Not quite," he replied, "Just some supplies needed for tonight. You know, books, sketch pads, quills, ink, telescope, travel chess set, blanket, and such."

"Can't imagine why it would weigh so much," Twilight groaned sarcastically. Before she could say anything else, the unicorn held out a friendly hand.

"My name's Comet Tail by the way, but you can call me Comet." he said smiling.

Twilight took his hand and shook it. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"Well it's nice to mee-" Comet stopped mid sentence and his face went blank. "Hold the phone...THE Twilight Sparkle? As in Princess Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight nodded. That's when Comet went into fanboy mode.

"Oh it such an honor your highness!" Comet started, "I'm a big fan of yours-"

"Look I don't mean to burst the fan bubble," Twilight interrupted, "but could you not address me as Princess? I'm just like anybody else, and I really don't want to be treated like a celebrity. I'm just a regular old alicorn looking to do a little research on the stars."

"Oh of course," Comet said, regaining his composure, "Sorry about that." At that point, Comet decided the time was right to change the subject. "So...studying the stars are you? Me too!"

"Really?" Twilight asked. She hadn't met a guy who shared her love of research the way she did. "So you're a fan of stargazing,"

"Something like that," Comet replied, "I'm an astronomer see? Have been ever since I got my cutie mark when I was eight." He held up the back of his hand to show a picture of a telescope on it. "And since I read that Princess Luna was going to be displaying some new constellations she made, how could I resist the urge?"

"Can't argue with that," Twilight replied with a smile. She looked down at her watch to see 6:35 displayed. "Well, I guess I have some time to kill. Suppose I'll read a book or something." She started to walk away until Comet spoke up.

"Hey...uh...if you need something to kill time, I brought a travel chess set. I WAS going to play by myself, but it's always better with a challenge. You wanna play?"

Twilight grinned. "Actually, that sounds like a good idea. Alright, you're on!"

"Great," said Comet as he reached in his bag and pulled out a small foldable chessboard. He and Twilight walked over to a bench under an oak tree and he started to set up the pieces. "I must warn you though, I AM a champ at this game. No one's beaten me yet."

"Oh-ho!" Twilight teased, "That's something you may regret saying!"

It seemed like only a little time had passed since the two started playing. The two stargazers moved their pieces back and forth across the board, and had a conversation while they played. As their pieces disappeared one after another, Twilight was finishing the story of how she got her princess title and castle. "...so we defeated Tirek, the castle sprouted from the ground, and I became the Princess of Friendship." Twilight finished as she moved her queen-side knight.

"Interesting," Comet replied, looking over the board, "You've definitely been through a lot since you've moved to Ponyville haven't you?" He then moved his king-side rook. "Check."

"Yea it's been a trip alright," said Twilight. She moved her king. "But enough about me, what about you?"

"I was born and raised in Canterlot," Comet explained while moving one of his pawns. "Ever since I was a little boy, I was always interested in the stars. I found their formations cool and wondered what they meant." Twilight moved her king-side rook. "When I turned 10, my dad got me my first telescope. I was absolutely ecstatic! I used it that very night. It was at that moment," he moved his queen, "that I realized that the stars DID mean something. I noticed patterns they created and when I wrote them down, they turned out to be images. I got super interested then. I realized that I wanted to be an astronomer and learn the secrets about the stars. And that's when I got this!" Comet raised his hand to show his cute mark as Twilight moved her pawn into Check. "After that, I went to astronomy classes and learned specific stargazing magic. I still live in Canterlot and travel here sometimes to get good views of the stars. It's so hard to see the stars clearly in a big city." He moved his queen. "Checkmate."

"Yeah tell me about it," Twilight said, "I tried stargazing in Canterlot once and it...wait WHAT?"

"I said Checkmate," Comet said with a smug grin. Twilight hastily looked over the board at the arrangements of the pieces and sure enough, her king was blocked. Twilight let out a sigh of disbelief.

"No one has ever been able to beat me at chess." She then turned to Comet, smiled, and held out her hand. "Well done opponent!"

"Thank you very much!" Comet replied as he shook her hand. "You have been a very worthy opponent indeed."

"Thanks," Twilight said with a blush. At that point, the two looked around and noticed that everything had grown much darker than when they started. Confused, Twilight looked at her watch and gasped. "It's 8:15! We've been playing for about two hours! I guess time flies when you're having fun!"

"Ain't that the truth!" Comet smiled. "C'mon, let's get this star party started!" Twilight giggled as she and Comet ran back to their place settings and started to set up. Twilight brought out her little lantern she brought for proper lighting and her parchment and quills. Comet reached in his bag and took out a foldable telescope. He quickly unfolded it, set in on a flat piece of grass and started adjusting the knobs. Twilight looked up at Comet and as soon as she spotted the telescope, she let out an ear-piercing scream that knocked Comet right on his flank.

"Wha-wha-wha-what's wrong?" Comet asked as he got up and massaged his ears.

"I forgot my telescope!" Twilight shrieked. "I'm usually so good when it comes to remembering stuff! Now I have to go back!"

"Is that all?" Comet chuckled. "You can borrow mine. We'll just take turns on it."

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "I don't want to impose..."

"It's no problem at all Twi," Comet replied with a smile. "We'll just work as a team. While one person looks through the scope, the other takes notes. We'll take turns. You can even have the first shift." He then bowed and gestured toward the telescope. "Ladies first."

"Well...thank you," Twilight giggled as she walked up to the scope, "What a gentleman." She put her eye to the lens and tilted the whole thing upwards toward the sky.

She gasped as she saw the the beauty of the millions of diamond-like stars scattered throughout the black sky. The sight was absolutely breathtaking. She moved the telescope around as she surveyed the night, looking for the constellations. Once she found one, she pointed it out to Comet, and he wrote it down. After a while, it was Comet's turn. The two switched back and forth, going from looking through the scope to taking notes. At one point, Comet showed off his special astronomically-based magic by pointing out his own constellations. His horn glowed a navy blue as he waved his hand toward the sky and soon, a glowing line traced itself along the stars to show an outline of a great lion; the constellation Leo. Twilight was quite amazed by this. So much so that she even asked him to teach her it. The next hour was revolved around the two practicing magic and even more talking. They joked about funny things that happened to them, talked about their families, and their love for knowledge. The two were so enticed in their conversation, that they had completely forgotten about the stars.

The next thing they knew, the two astronomers were sharing Twilight's cookies and cider. Comet chewed on the cookie with a big smile on his face. "These are probably the best cookies I've ever tasted!" he said as he licked his lips. "Did you make them?"

"No. My assistant dragon Spike," Twilight replied as she sipped her cider. "He's the best assistant a princess could have. He's also been my longest friend. I'll have to introduce you to him, if you want."

"I'd like that," Comet replied with a smile. It was at that moment that Comet snapped out of the conversation and took time to look at the sky. The night was pitch black, even more than when they started. Comet looked at his watched and his eyes went wide. 12:15 am. The two were talking for more than three hours. "Whoa! Would you look at the time?" he said. Twilight looked at his watch and her eyes went just as wide.

"Goodness! It's passed midnight. Guess time goes by when you're studying stars." Twilight yawned as she got up and started to put her stuff away in her bag. "It's been a lot of fun Comet. We'll have to do it again."

"You're leaving?" Comet asked with a frown.

"Well it is after midnight," Twilight responded, "I should get some sleep."

Comet lowered his head. He was a little disappointed that the night went by so quick. He wished there was more time they could spend together. He had really grown fond of the alicorn. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind. "Y'know Twilight. It's a mighty long walk back to Ponyville, and I was planning to sleep out here anyway. Would...would you like to join me?"

Twilight froze. Was he asking her to sleep out under the stars...with him? Not that she was against the idea. On the contrary, she didn't oppose the idea at all. It was just that nobody, or at least no guy, had ever asked her to sleep with them. And it wasn't like they were going to have sex. Just a regular night's sleep, nothing unusual about it. And it WAS a bit of a walk back to the castle...

"Well...I guess it couldn't hurt."

"Great!" Comet said with a new smile. He reached into his bag and pulled out a huge blanket. He laid it on the grass and then took out a few pillows and another smaller blanket. Twilight grabbed her own blanket and walked out to the spread. As the two prepared their sides, Comet looked up to Twilight. "You sure you don't mind sleeping out here?"

"Oh no," Twilight replied, "Just tell me if I make YOU uncomfortable."

"I don't think you have the ability to make me uncomfortable," Comet said. He winced as he meant to keep that a thought. He turned away and slapped his head as Twilight blushed a little. The two then got settled under their blankets as Comet turned off the lamp next to him. "Goodnight Twi," he said.

"Goodnight," Twilight responded. Before they knew it, the two had drifted off to sleep.

It must've felt like a few minutes after that Comet awoke because he had felt something at his side. He turned, but it was so dark he couldn't see. He lit his horn a little to see that Twilight had cuddled up right next to him and her head was leaning on his shoulder. Comet blushed and at first considered waking her up, but how could he? She looked so peaceful, and he didn't care in the least. So, being careful not to wake her up, Comet turned off his horn and closed his eyes with a smile on his face.

"I think she said she was going up here," Spike called to the others as he led the five up the hill. When Twilight did not come home that night, Spike got worried. It made him even more worried that she wasn't in the castle by morning, so Spike called the others and led them to where Twilight said she would be.

"Are ya sure she's up here?" Applejack asked. "Ah don' see anybody."

"I'm telling you," Spike responded, "She said she was going stargazing, and this is the best spot to do so."

"Well I don't see her," Rainbow Dash huffed, "Maybe she...wait! I see somebody laying over there by that bench. Maybe they could tell us!" The six ran up to where Rainbow was pointing. When they got there though, they noticed that there were two of them. And then they noticed that they were sleeping. And then they noticed that it was Twilight! But it wasn't Twilight sleeping on the hill that made the six gasp, but the fact that she was cuddled up next to a guy that they had never met before.

"Uh...Twilight?" Fluttershy whispered. No response. "Twilight?" Still nothing. "Twili-"

"YO TWILIGHT!" Rainbow yelled. Everyone looked at her with annoyance. "Well SHE wasn't helping any," she responded pointing at Fluttershy. The shout was enough to cause a stirring for Twilight as she slowly opened her eyes. As she got up, Twilight yawned and stretched as she looked to her shocked friends.

"Oh hi guys," Twilight said dreamily. As her sight began to clear, Twilight noticed that her friends all had shocked expressions on. "What's wrong?" She then looked down to her side to notice a still sleeping Comet. Twilight glanced from her friends to Comet as the wheels in her head turned. Suddenly, it clicked.

"OH MY GOSH!" Twilight shouted as she got up in a dash. Comet, who had his head resting on where Twilight's shoulder was, suddenly dropped as she stood up and it woke him up in an awful hurry.

"What happened?" Comet asked as he rubbed his head. He then looked up to notice Twilight and her friends. "Oh."

"Twilight..." Rarity started, "Did you-"

"NO! It's nothing like that!" Twilight answered in a panic, "I didn't sleep with him. Ok, I slept with him, but not that kind of slept. He and I were stargazing and it got late. I wanted to go home, but he told me to stay and-"

"Now wait just a minute," Comet said as he got up, "I didn't TELL you to stay, I ASKED you. There's a difference."

"Well...well..." Twilight responded, too panicked to come up with something fast, "You started putting moves on me!"

"I did NOT!" Comet retaliated, "YOU'RE the one who snuggled up next to ME!"

"And you DIDN'T wake me up?" Twilight snapped. The others tried to intervene, but the battle was too tight to even try and get a word in as the two duked it out.

"I didn't want to disturb you? You're didn't HAVE to accept my invitation you know."

"Oh sure, YOU made it sound like I had a choice!"

"Because you DID have a choice, PRINCESS!"

"You pretty much guilted me into it!"

"Oh sure! I'm wrong, and you're right! Just like a princess to pass the blame!"

"Why you...you...JERK-FACE! I can't believe that I thought you were charming!"

"I can't believe that I thought YOU were graceful!"

"I don't care if I ever see you again!"

"SAME HERE!"

"GOOD!"

"FINE!"

"FINE!"

"GOOD!"

And with that, the two astronomers stopped off in the opposite direction, grumbling under their breath as they did so. The six looked at each other, not even knowing what just happened. As the ponies and dragon stood still in a puddle of their own confusion, Pinkie was the only one to speak.

"Well THAT escalated quickly..."