A Warm Summer's Evening

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Chapter 1

"Another 'Two weeks since the last party' party, Pinkie? Already?" Twilight incredulously asked as Pinkie bowed her head and proffered an invitation towards her. Twilight was not in the best of moods - the sun was shining straight into her eyes because it was dawn, and far too early to be awake yet. Pinkie Pie's insistent knocking had awoken her from her slumber, where she'd been dreaming about an infinite library of books.

Twilight Sparkle liked those dreams. They were comforting. Being woken up at Celestia knows when in the morning to be invited to a party that most likely had neither cause nor urgency was not comforting; it was irritating.

"No, silly!" Pinkie giggled, shaking an invitation out of the basket on her head and letting Twilight catch it in the air. "It's the 'Congratulations Cloudchaser and Thunderlane on your three day anniversary' party!"

Pinkie bounced up and down a few times while waiting for Twilight's response. Everybody always enjoyed her parties, but she threw so many of them that making invites more than a day in advance was impossible. Pinkie's day often started with waking up early with a stack of papers, a lot of crayons, some paste, and scissors.

"Gosh, has it been three days already? How time flies," Twilight sarcastically quipped, yanking the invitation inside and slamming the door behind her as she returned to her house, and the warm, safe enclosure of her bed. Pinkie Pie made a comedic squeak as the door slammed shut on her nose and Twilight heard a series of receding bounces as Pinkie left to terrorize some other poor soul.

Much as Twilight enjoyed Pinkie's parties, she swore the mare was bringing the invitations earlier and earlier. Maybe, just maybe, she'd eventually be bringing them so early it would be the day before, and Twilight wouldn't have to wake up at such an unthinkable hour.

Twilight set the invitation down on the table and climbed back into bed for a few more hours of uninterrupted sleep. She drifted off while thinking about spell designs for an anti-knocking charm, though she doubted a little enchantment would stop Pinkie Pie from driving her insane.

"Hey Twilight, what's this?" Spike asked as he passed the table, spotting the envelope that had been so casually discarded. It stuck out like a sore thumb between the well bound hardbacks that were strewn around Twilight's desk in that it was bright pink and smelled lightly of doughnuts - not exactly Twilight's usual style.

"Oh, Pinkie delivered that earlier. You should open it," Twilight replied, taking another bite out of her breakfast apple. She felt better after her sleep, but not as rested as usual - or maybe it just felt that way. She didn't know, she was too busy stifling yawns and hoping the apple would help wake her up, lest she would be behind schedule all day.

Spike cleared his throat, opened the envelope, and visibly gagged. "Oh, man, it has flowers on it. Why do ponies put themselves through this?" he asked nobody in particular, knowing Twilight's inexperience and ignorance of dating procedure, and began to read:

To my super special best friend, Twilight Sparkle

Spike paused, adding "Your name is written in crayon," before continuing.

To my super special best friend, Twilight Sparkle

You are super-duper cordially invited to this week's hottest party at Sugarcube Corner, celebrating Cloudchaser and Thunderlane's true love, and third uninterrupted day of dating!

Be at Sugarcube Corner, 7pm today. No need to RSVP, I know I'll see you there! Don't bring a gift, because your company is all the gift those two lovebirds could ever ask.

-Pinkie Pie

P.S. Twilight do you have any pink paper? I'm all out and I have so many invitations to write for my next party!

"Since when was three days a milestone for these things?" Twilight asked, somewhat exasperated given that she'd already been to the secret Cloudchaser and Thunderlane are looking at each other in a funny way party, the Cloudchaser just asked Thunderlane to a dance party, and the He said yes! after-party. "I don't get it, what's the big deal?"

"It's like... love and stuff, y'know?" Spike fruitlessly explained. "I'm really looking forward to me and Rarity's three day anniversary!"

"Spike, you don't have anything to have an anniversary about!" Twilight snapped, perhaps a little harshly. Spike's eyes dropped. "Don't you think that's a little forward?"

"Yeah, well. One day, I mean. That's not the point, anyway, you should be happy they found happiness!" Spike tried to explain. "It'd be nice if they could do it less... pink, though," he added as a vaguely disgusted afterthought.

"I am happy for them! I'm already happy, I'm a very happy pony!" Twilight shouted, "I don't need anypony to 'find happiness', it's right here!" Twilight waved her hoof around the library, shelf after shelf fully stocked with hundreds of spectacular titles. They ranged from the obscure to the critically acclaimed and Twilight loved them all. Her eye twitched.

"O... kay," Spike carefully replied. Twilight was getting perhaps a little too close to 'going to miss a deadline' territory for his liking. If he started running now, he could be at his stash of Help, Twilight's gone crazy again letters before she could stop him and Celestia could be here within 10 minutes. "I still think we should go, don't you?"

"Of course!" Twilight replied, instantly cheering up and returning to her usual happy state, "It's always nice to see my friends. Make sure my notebook is ready, I want to try and take as many notes on these 'lovebirds' as I can. It can't be that hard to figure out why everypony keeps getting so excited over these things."

"Argh!" Twilight groaned, throwing her saddlebag into the corner of the room with a little more force than strictly necessary. The party had gone perfectly, everybody had congratulated the two on their three, and then they'd gotten down to the important business of party games. Twilight had won "Pin the tail on the pony", even if Dash had contested her victory on the grounds of it not being fair that she had used her magic.

Her notebook, however, was as blank as it had been that morning. The two ponies had smiled when they looked at each other, but that was all Twilight could ascertain.

Love, as a concept, still eluded her. She was quickly becoming very intimate with friendship, but love seemed like something completely different. Love seemed to make ponies want to spend all their time with each other, and while Twilight liked, say, Pinkie Pie very much, she certainly didn't want to spend all day with her. Love, then, must be something else. Twilight had to know.

She sighed as she sat down in her favourite reading corner. None of the books she was currently absorbing really appealed to her at the moment. A mystery novel was all well and good, but she had a very real mystery in front of her right now, she didn't need fictional ones. "Spike, why don't I get it?" Twilight asked, idly turning one of her books around in her hooves, barely even considering opening it.

"Does it really matter, Twilight? Everypony's different, almost nopony understands magic like you do, so why does it matter that you don't understand things?" he hopefully replied. Twilight shook her head in disagreement.

"It does matter, Spike! I'm meant to be researching friendship, but how can I do that if I don't even really know what love is? No, Spike, clear my schedule. I'm going to figure this one out. Bring me every romance novel we have. They'll surely have the answers."

Twilight sat up, wiggling her legs in the air in a futile attempt to stretch them. She had been lying in that one spot for hours now, reading novel after novel. Her to read pile still towered above her, and her read pile was distressingly small. Unfortunately, she only had three pages of notes so far, and most of that was circumstantial. She was still barely any closer to a grand unified theory of love.

Worse, some of her points contradicted others. Love can bloom between people with the same interests was the reverse of Opposites attract, but both had appeared in several works so far - sometimes both within the same work. To make it even more hopeless, those two weren't even the most contradictory. Love appeared to be more complex than Twilight had first assumed.

She looked at the next book on her pile. Shining knights and summer days looked very similar to the previous few books she'd read, and the blurb didn't help much.

When Summer Days' days feel cold and lonely, what will it take for a plucky young stallion fresh to the royal guard to steal her heart and warm her nights?

Twilight put the book back on the to-read pile, reflexively gagging. She had a higher tolerance to things that sickly sweet than Spike did, but even so there was only so much she could take. Shining knights and Summer Days was quite certainly more than she could bear right now.

"Well, fine, maybe I should look at some non-fiction?" Twilight quietly asked herself, trotting over to the bookshelf marked History and running her nose along the spines. While A short history of pegasus-assisted farming techniques was fascinating, it wasn't likely to teach her much about love. Looking more closely, Twilight thought that none of these books would. How could something as important as love never have been documented?

Twilight sighed, her quest seemed hopeless. Furthermore, it was late and she was tired - it could wait until morning. Twilight extinguished the candles lighting her library with a stray thought, and pulled herself into bed, spending just a moment to marvel how pretty the moon was at this time of the month before drifting off to sleep.

"You should ask Cadence, you know, Twilight. Love is her thing, right?" Spike suggested the following morning to a particularly frazzled looking purple unicorn. Her schedule demanded she woke early, regardless of when she found time to sleep, so Twilight's morning conversations tended to be short and filled with yawning.

"No," Twilight replied, "She won't tell me. I know, I asked when I was younger and she just said," Twilight paused for a moment to clear her throat before putting on her best impression of Princess Cadence, "'You'll find out when you're older, Twilight'". The impression, had it been done within the walls of Canterlot castle, would probably have counted as treason. Twilight was not good at impressions. That wasn't the point - Cadence would be no help.

"Well, what about Rarity? She knows everything about love, I'm sure she could teach you!" Spike continued, cutting an apple into slices for Twilight's breakfast. Twilight normally ate them whole, but she was being demanding that morning.

"Hm, that's true, Rarity must know something at least. Nice thinking, Spike, I'll visit her later!" Twilight replied with a smile. Friendship might not be love, but maybe it could teach her something about it. "And even if she can't, maybe one of my other friends will have an insight, they always do."

"That's the spirit, Twilight. You want these halved or not?" Spike asked, pointing down at the apple. Twilight wasn't really hungry for anything but knowledge.

"Sister, you really should retire earlier." Celestia advised as she wandered out onto one of Canterlot's many balconies, where Luna was currently sitting and admiring the view. It had been a long time since Luna's rescue, and return to common life, but Celestia still caught her marvelling at common sights sometimes.

"I should, sister, and yet here I am," Luna replied, still staring into the expanse. Just because she was the keeper of the night didn't mean she couldn't admire the day, after all. "Need we always keep to such schedules?"

"Of course, maintaining our image is essential for keeping our people happy, you know that." Celestia replied, hanging a wing lightly over her sister's back as she sat next to her.

"What about keeping you happy, Celestia?"

"Love? Why, of course I'd love to tell you about love, Twilight!" Rarity beamed, immediately dropping the half-sewn dress she'd been half-heartedly working on and pulling over a pair of seats, as if she'd been preparing for exactly this situation. "Love is like the most perfect dress you can ever imagine. Something that rubs against your coat and feels electric and alive with passion." Rarity began, closing her eyes as she started to talk.

"Love is like wearing that dress all the time. Every movement you make helping you feel alive, and every moment of your life heated up with passion and every step you take empowered by him!" she continued, punctuating every couple of words with a higher pitch and a flourish of her hoof.

"Him?" Twilight asked, cocking her head. Many of her romance novels had been between two mares and she swore she'd seen one between two stallions somewhere in the pile. Rarity seemed quite insistent on gender, though.

"Oh, well, of course it doesn't have to be a him, but that's how he always appeared to me. Mr. Right is out there somewhere, Twilight, and I shall find him!" Rarity rebuked her. Twilight didn't think Rarity was looking at this love thing very impartially at all.

"I'm not looking for anypony, Rarity, I'm just trying to understand why other people are. It just seems strange to me to waste your time looking for somepony else when you can make yourself happy right now!" Twilight explained, growing slightly exasperated. Rarity was just explaining what she wanted her love to be, not why she did.

Rarity giggled.

"Oh, don't be a foal, Rarity, you know what I mean!"

"Oh, fine. I don't know why I look for him, Twilight, it just feels right. Isn't that enough? We six friends were all brought together by destiny, why can't it bring in a stallion for me too?" Rarity asked, almost pleading for Twilight's understanding.

Twilight snorted. That wasn't the answer she was looking for again. She'd used up all her patience for "Just accept it, it's never going to make sense" on Pinkie Pie's various antics. She had no more to spare; She had to know. "It probably can, Rarity," Twilight admitted, "but I want to know why it does it!"

"I fear I shan't be any help then, Twilight," Rarity admitted, dramatically dropping her head and returning to her sewing. Twilight sighed and turned to leave the room.

"Oh, we are still on for the spa later this week, right darling?" Rarity asked, wanting to make sure neither of them had changed their plans. They never had before, but it never hurt to ask.

"Of course, Rarity, I'm looking forward to it!" Twilight smiled, before leaving. Rarity hadn't taught her anything, but perhaps one of her other friends could. Surely some of them should have a less idealised view.

It didn't take Twilight long to find her next victim. No sooner had she left Rarity's Boutique than Rainbow Dash flew overhead, tugging a small squadron of clouds behind her. It was a glorious day without a cloud in the sky, but it looked like Dash was dead set on changing that.

"Hey, Dash! Rainbow Dash!" Twilight shouted, to no effect. The high-flying pegasus was either not listening or Twilight's voice was being drowned out by the winds. Unfortunately for Rainbow Dash, Twilight needed to talk to her.

Grabbing the multicoloured tail, Twilight yanked and pulled Dash from her planned flightpath. She yelped as the sky was violently ripped from her and furiously flapped for a few seconds before realising what was happening.

"Twilight! You could always just ask!" Dash protested, picking herself up off the ground and brushing the dust and dirt away. "Anyway, what do you want?"

"What do you know about love, Dash?" Twilight hopefully asked. Rainbow Dash blinked and stared at her, completely unmoving.

After a few moments, she shrugged. "I love flying, does that count?"

"No."

"Then I dunno, sorry Twi. Can I go now?"

"Fine. Oh, don't forget to bring that book in for renewal soon, I don't want to have to charge you late fees!" Twilight sighed, letting Dash fly back to her clouds. Rainbow Dash had been even more useless than Rarity. Maybe Pinkie Pie?

"My princess, your presence is requested by one of the ambassadors," a guard calmly announced, interrupting the meaningful silence between the two regal sisters. Celestia silently sighed, ensuring that none of the onlooking guards would be able to tell, and rose.

"I bid you good day, Luna," she said, bowing in respect before turning to leave to perform yet another royal duty. The events, meetings, and speeches never really seemed to end, and while Luna's return had lightened Celestia's workload, the vast majority of her time was still taken up with the day-to-day ruling of the kingdom.

"You too, Celestia," Luna whispered, still sitting on the balcony and admiring the way the sun cast shadows over the kingdom. Sometimes she worried for her older sister, who never took time for herself and always turned down the offer of help. Luna's duties were light, and she'd had to fight for most of them. Not because Celestia felt her weak, but because she felt herself too strong to allow another to carry her burden.

Luna had yet to change her mind.

"So, is it good?" Pinkie asked, bouncing around on her hooves as she watched Twilight take a bite out of her strawberry and chocolate muffin. The bakery smelled as you would expect after a morning of cooking, and Pinkie Pie was covered in a thin film of flour and sugar.

Twilight gave an approving groan as she took a bite of the treat, leaving her mouth too full to answer properly. There was perhaps a little too much sugar, but other than that Pinkie was once again proving herself as a stellar baker and a credit to the town.

Which was to say, she hadn't taught Twilight anything about love.

"Mmm! I love muffins, see! And cupcakes, and cakes, and pies, and oh everything we have! Hey, Spike loves them too! I'll go get you a bag," Pinkie waffled, mostly talking to herself because Twilight had given up listening quite a while back and was focussed on finishing off the muffin hovering in front of her face. The trip had not been a complete waste, at least.

Unfortunately, Twilight had lost hope that her friends could help. Applejack was too busy on the farm, and Fluttershy would probably try and hide behind something sooner than actually talk to somepony that raised her tail, so Twilight feared that neither of them would be of any assistance.

It was time to escalate the issue. Time to bring in the big guns. Time to pull some strings and bring in the unstoppable force. Twilight's breath grew short and her heart began to beat a little faster as she realised what she had to do.

She had to write a letter.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Over the past few days, I have been researching a new concept closely linked with my studies into Friendship. Unfortunately, my progress has been slow and both the local knowledge of the subject as well as my own literature has been unable to shed any light. As such, I formally request that you request Princess Cadence educates me on the subject of love immediately

Celestia's eyes continued to scroll over the paragraphs of text, trying to pull out the important information. Twilight was very good at writing letters, and it was a skill Celestia couldn't quite decide whether she used, or abused.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

Celestia let the scroll slowly drop to the floor, and raised her quill to her chin in thought. She hadn't expected Twilight to be asking about love for a few months yet, but Celestia supposed she couldn't predict absolutely everything. Even with thousands of years left behind, some ponies could still surprise her.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I am happy to approve your request, and will forward my recommendation that the young princess takes you under her wing immediat-

Celestia paused. The letter felt off, something was wrong. Actually approving this request would be a gross abuse of both her power and Twilight's position. She threw it into the fireplace, and began again.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I wish you luck in your journey, however Princess Cadence is too busy to fulfil your request at the present mome-

No, that was worse. Celestia couldn't quite place it, but disappointing her student felt wrong too. Surely with all her years of experience, Celestia could come up with a better solution.

Dear my most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,

Unfortunately, Mi Amore Cadenza is not available to service your request. However, I have a gap in my schedule and would be quite willing to teach you what I know. We can begin as soon as you are ready.

Your Princess,

Celestia

That felt better. Celestia didn't get to spend as much time with her student as she liked these days, this could be an opportunity to fix that, in a completely professional setting. That, and Twilight got so adorably flustered when she was trying to understand new concepts, especially ones as alien as love.

Celestia smiled warmly to herself as her horn glowed and she sent the letter along to Spike, looking forward to Twilight's reply. Twilight's letters were always the highlight of her day, though unfortunately they had grown more infrequent since Celestia had been forced to allow her friends to report on her Friendship project as well.

Much as Celestia enjoyed hearing from all her subjects, some were unavoidably special to her, and Twilight was one of those. Through a series of coincidences too well orchestrated to be anything but destiny, Celestia had come to know Twilight quite well over the years, but Twilight had eventually moved on, and Celestia had too.

Or so she thought.

"Hm, how strange. I wonder why Celestia offered to do this personally, there must be other choices that could provide an equally good education," Twilight mused, reading over the letter for a third time. It was short, but many of Celestia's letters were, she always did have a knack for conciseness. Twilight supposed it came from having more letters to write than there were hours in the day.

"She's been around a while, Twilight, she probably knows even more about love than Rarity!" Spike suggested as he wandered around the library re-shelving books.

"I should hope so, yes. Rarity wasn't much use at all," Twilight muttered under her breath. She tried to hide her more cynical moments these days, though she certainly still had them many ponies appeared to not appreciate them so much.

"I heard that," Spike warned, "but anyway, Celestia probably knows more about everything than anypony, I'm sure you'll learn a lot!"

"Oh, I'm sure I will, Spike! She just talks about how busy she is in her letters so much. I don't want to add to that. She seems to be struggling along as it is. Oh well, she wouldn't offer if she couldn't do it, Spike, take a letter:

"Dear Princess Celestia, I would be honoured to begin my education in love under your tutelage immediately. Shall we rendezvous at the usual place at 5pm tomorrow afternoon? Yours, Twilight Sparkle," she narrated, watching Spike struggle to keep up with her pace. Spike was useful enough for the shorter letters, but anything longer than a few sentences and Twilight had to break out her favourite quill and a long ream of parchment. "Oh, and Spike? Don't forget that muffin that Pinkie gave you, they're delicious."

Twilight stared over at the large To Read pile over in one corner of a room, but decided against it. They wouldn't be much use to her once Celestia began her teaching, and she had a long train ride to Canterlot the next day - turning in for the night seemed like an excellent idea.

Chapter 2

The following day, Twilight Sparkle set foot on Canterlot's train station a little later than planned, but still within acceptable tolerances. She had left that morning, after dragging Pinkie Pie back to her library to take care of Spike, who had taken "don't forget" to mean "eat this muffin that's larger than your stomach so quickly it makes you ill." Twilight wasn't sure whether assigning Pinkie the job of making him better was to punish her, or him, but either way it had delayed her plans considerably, and the sun was already beginning to sag in the sky.

It would be a rush, but she could make it on time; she had met Celestia in 'the usual place' more times than she could count and could reach there from any places in Canterlot in under fifteen minutes. She'd counted.

Sixteen minutes later, Twilight Sparkle arrived at Doughnut Joe's Doughnut House puffing and out of breath. Celestia was already waiting for her, sipping a coffee at one of the tables and impatiently tapping her hoof.

"Princess! I'm so sorry! Ponyville... smaller than Canterlot... less exercise, overestimated self," Twilight gasped, falling onto the side of the table and lying there panting. "Just... moment..."

Celestia looked at the clock hanging on the wall behind the exhausted purple mare. "Twilight, it's four thirty." Celestia laughed, setting her coffee down on the table and dipping the tip of a doughnut in its black depths before nibbling the side of it.

"No, it's four thirty one, and I'm always half an hour early!" Twilight insisted, pulling herself around the table to sit on the opposite seat before apologising again.

Celestia shook her head. "Twilight Sparkle, you have nothing to apologise for. Seeing as you're so early, perhaps you would like a drink before we begin? We have much to catch up on," she suggested, letting her easy tone and regal smile wash Twilight's worries away. Twilight liked it when she did that, and nodded in response.

Soon, Twilight Sparkle was taking sips of her coffee in-between sentences as she described her progress in more detail than she could with a mere letter. From her main project of researching the different magic that could be produced from Friendship, to her pet projects like "Getting Applejack to let her mane down" and "Teaching Dash how to take a compliment without driving everypony mad", to the pipe dreams like "A comprehensive Equestrian to Pinkie Pie phrase book", Twilight had plenty of progress to report on.

"So Rainbow was in the middle of this dive, with her mane flying around in the air, when of a sudden," Twilight Sparkle continued a few minutes later, midway through regaling Celestia with a tale of how exciting life with her friends could be. "...Pinkie Pie jumped out of a tree as Dash passed it and landed on her back! The best part is, before Dash could throw her off, Pinkie pulled some reins around her head and took her for a ride. Oh, you should have seen it, Dash was so mad!" Twilight giggled, letting her cold coffee rest on the table.

"Twilight, that sounds delightful, I'm so glad you're fitting in. It must be wonderful to have friends," Celestia said, smiling and rested back on her seat. The clock had passed 5pm quite some time before, but Twilight couldn't see it and Celestia was enjoying the conversation too much to interrupt her. She had missed their talks more than she'd realised, and it was a shame that Twilight would have to return to Ponyville so soon.

"Oh, you have friends, princess! Everypony wants to be your friend, I only have a few!" Twilight smiled, almost-but-not-quite picking up on the lonely undertones of Celestia's voice. How could a princess, who spent all her days among other ponies, ever feel lonely?

"Not true friends, Twilight, not like yours. Not anymore. Anyway, it's getting late, we shou-"

"Late?!" Twilight interrupted, before spinning around to view the clock. "Oh Celestia! It is late! How am I meant to learn about love now?!"

"Well, Twilight, while it is quite late, it isn't too late to begin a date, which is where many ponies look for love. Dating is like a 'try before you buy' counter at a market stall. Nopony can ever really know whether two ponies are right for each other, but the only way to find out is to try it," Celestia explained, trying to salvage at least some education from the night so her student could feel a little more fulfilled.

"But why, princess? Can't they just wait until somebody that feels... right comes by?" Twilight asked, cocking her head and eagerly awaiting the answer.

"They could, I suppose. One can never be sure that will work, though, and it may leave one waiting for a long time. A very, very long time," Celestia sighed, closing her eyes as she finished the last sentence. It had been so very long since Celestia had last felt love; what position was she in to tutor on it?

"Princess?"

"Oh, Twilight. I'm sorry, I don't know what I can teach you about love. Why ponies look for it is not something that can be taught, only felt. Until you have that deep longing within your heart that yearns for another to fill it, I don't think you'll understand. Maybe it would be better if you never understood." Celestia sighed. She hadn't counted on the old memories that trying to lecture on love would conjure up. A terrible shame, given how well the start of the night had gone, but now all that just reminded her of her loneliness.

"Oh," Twilight quietly said as her face fell and her ears flattened in disappointment. If Celestia couldn't teach her about love, then what hope did any other teacher have? "Perhaps we should just continue catching up?" she hopefully asked, not wanting the night to be ruined. She too had forgotten how much she enjoyed their talks.

Celestia smiled. "Perhaps. For now, though, I fear I must retire. It is getting late and I have many things to do before I lower the sun. We could reschedule our chat in a few weeks, perhaps?"

"Oh, I... Oh, okay, Princess. I look forward to it," Twilight replied with as much enthusiasm in her voice as she always had. The disappointment in her eyes, however, was heartbreaking. Celestia wasn't lying, she had many things she needed to do, but she longed for the times when she felt able to brush them aside just to speak with her favourite student. No more, not since she moved away. She was a grown mare now, and didn't need Celestia mothering her.

Celestia left the coffee shop quickly and without looking back, bidding a hasty goodbye and leaving for her work. That, at least, she could lose herself in, as she had for a thousand years. That at least wouldn't remind her of all the things an immortal had to lose.

"Going somewhere, sister?" Luna asked, gliding down to trot alongside her. "You usually linger a little longer with your student. Is everything alright?"

"It's fine, Luna, I just have a lot to do," Celestia curtly replied, speeding up and leaving Luna behind.

"Well, I do hope Spike enjoyed his muffin," Luna called towards Celestia as she metaphorically ran away. Though her pace was still a calm and measured trot, she would stop for nopony.

Except... how had Luna known of the muffin? Spike often accidentally wrote things into his letters that he shouldn't, but only Celestia read those.

"Luna," Celestia asked, after turning to face her sister. She was in public, and so chose her next words very carefully. "Have you been reading my mail?"

"Only the interesting ones, sister," Luna innocently replied, as if she had committed no crime. "And I say go for it."

"I don't know what you mean, Luna, but please, give me some privacy, at least. Every part of my life is observed and documented, and now you too? Please, for once, just give me some space," Celestia snapped, before turning and running for the safety of her chambers.

Celestia slammed the door shut, closed the blinds, and instructed her aide to deny any audience requests. The princess was, as her population would put it, "not in the mood" at the present moment.

Celestia was older than any creature had a right to be and she felt even older than that. A thousand years of uninterrupted stress would do that to a pony, and yet she had managed. So why did she now feel as if the world was finally caving in on her? Why now, after so many millennia alone, would being reminded of that fact get under her skin so effectively?

"Sister, I only want to help," Luna said, stepping from the shadows at the far side of the room. Celestia should have known that simply locking the door would not stop her sister from entering.

"I do not require help, Luna. I am perfectly fine, I simply require rest. You too, should be resting. The sun is not due to set for hours yet, and you need your sleep," Celestia replied, easily switching back to her default mode of always thinking of others.

"Oh, sister. You are sitting in a darkened room, alone, while ambassadors stand behind your locked door and your most faithful student boards a lonely train home with sadness in her heart. Is that 'fine'?" Luna asked, pushing all of the right buttons in the most irritating way possible. Even when she was trying to help, Celestia found that Luna could be so very annoyingly correct.

"Yes." Celestia lied.

Luna shook her head and smiled. "Celestia, go to sleep. I'll send somebody to wake you in a few hours so you can set the sun, but until then I'll deal with your dignitaries and sign your contracts. You need your rest, and you need time to yourself. Most importantly, I think, I need less time to myself. The night is a lonely place," she calmly instructed. She knew Celestia wouldn't turn her down if she managed to twist it into something that could be construed as Celestia helping another.

"Very well, Luna. Wake me in a few hours," Celestia agreed, unable to find the strength to fight any longer. Luna simply smiled and faded back into the shadows, leaving Celestia quite alone to hopefully find a few hours of rest in an uncomfortable and unfamiliar bed.

Celestia awoke many hours later to a thin silver streak of light as the angle between the moon and her bedroom became just right and the gap in her blinds was exploited. She felt refreshed, having slept longer than she had in a very long time. That feeling didn't last. Luna had lied to her, she hadn't been woken up at all.

"LUNA!" she yelled, opening her window and shouting into the night where her sister was certain to hear her.

"Yes, sister?" Luna replied, appearing behind her. Celestia hated it when she did that.

"You said you'd wake me. You lied to me," Celestia accused, pointing her hoof at her sister, wondering if her heart was as black as her coat.

"You said you were okay."

Celestia fell silent, and her hoof slowly lowered to the floor. "I... am okay, Luna."

"No, sister, you aren't. Don't think that just because you spent a thousand years without me that I can't read you like a book. You're still open to me. You didn't change that much," Luna calmly replied, speaking quietly and elegantly, "and that means you're still a hypocrite."

"What?!" Celestia snapped. If she was supposedly 'not okay', how was insulting her meant to help?

"You heard me, Celestia. Hypocrite," Luna half-snarled, staring at Celestia with half-closed eyes. "You turn down praise, or worship, or gifts because you want to just be one of them," she continued, "and yet you hold yourself to impossible standards that you wouldn't think of imposing on anyone else. Not even me, and you know I can take it."

"Those are my burdens to bear, Luna, and mine alone. I cannot ask anypony else to wear them," Celestia countered, almost unaware she was reinforcing Luna's point rather than refuting it.

"No, sister, you cannot accept help when it is offered. You think you're better than us," Luna spat.

"I think no such thing! You are an amazing person, Luna, as is every single one of my subjects. So many shame me with their strength of character and resolve," Celestia objected, being careful not to raise her voice so loud the guards outside would hear her.

Luna smiled. She could twist her big sister around her hoof any night she chose if she played smart. "Prove it, then. Tomorrow night, do something for yourself. Let the rest of us handle the kingdom for a few hours, unless you don't think we're able," she said, with a smirk, not even bothering to hide her amusement because she knew she'd already won.

"I... Fine, Luna. Fine, you win, I shall take some time for... myself." Celestia sighed, as if the very concept were abhorrent. She was silent for a few moments, lost in thought, until she realised that she had absolutely no idea what ponies did 'for themselves', and asked "Any suggestions?"

Luna shrugged. "Read a book? Take a long bath, go on a walk, I don't care!" she elaborated, ending on a light laugh. "Find a nice stallion and go on a date?" she teased, knowing full well that Celestia hadn't partaken in romance for a thousand years. A thousand years before Luna's banishment.

Celestia snorted in exasperation. She could do many things; she had centuries of practise at calming hostile situations without violence, she could negotiate a treaty faster than most leaders could get the disagreeing parties into the room, and her smile could disarm even the most staunch of opposition, but taking time for herself?

Celestia help her, she had no idea. Her mind kept wandering towards the last thing Luna had said: a date. Not for herself, but for her young student. Would it count as "time for herself" if she simply enjoyed helping another? Celestia didn't bother to ask, her mind was set. She was going to take Twilight Sparkle out on a date and try to teach her how it was meant to be done, and then she could get back to the important things, like ruling the entire kingdom single handedly.

Dear Twilight,

I apologise about last night, I was not feeling myself.

If you still wish to continue your education, meet me in our usual place at seven thirty tonight. Come alone, and bring some bits.

Yours, Celestia

Twilight stared at the letter in confusion. It wasn't like Celestia to forget her 'Princess', nor her 'My Faithful Student'; The letter seemed almost naked without them. Regardless, Twilight didn't have long to reflect on that. In order to arrive at Canterlot for seven thirty she would have to leave that minute, and there wasn't going to be a train for ten. She was going to be late, and she knew it.

"Oh, hay. Spike, I'm going out. I'll be back tomorrow! No time to explain, just... don't break anything!" Twilight yelled as she ran out of the door, hoping that she could reach the train station on time.

She couldn't, and she arrived on the platform to the sound of the train leaving. Fortunately for her, and unfortunately for the train, it found it rather difficult to escape from her as it hovered a foot off of the ground in a powerful magic hold. Twilight did not do being late.

The train rolled into Canterlot station, and Twilight checked the nearest clock. Seven twenty eight. It took her sixteen minutes to reach the usual spot. A quick calculation told her that seven forty four would leave her late.

Twilight did not do being late.

Celestia rested back on her chair and took another drink of her coffee. She held the day's newspaper in front of her, and began reading it for the second time. She had been taking time for herself for almost an hour now, and she was bored out of her mind.

Bored with one exception, though. She wanted to know why nobody had ever told her of the astrology section, where ponies with degrees—not that it was a recognised course at any of her schools—in astrology would try and ascertain the meaning behind Luna's star patterns and what they meant for the population. Apparently, last night there had been a rather wonderful flower shape across the skies, which clearly meant that all the ponies born in that month would be wed before the end of the year.

Luna, of course, had put it there because it was pretty, as she did with all her star patterns. Too much spare time combined with total control over the night lead to some rather interesting and artistic skies, and while Celestia hoped that there would never be a repeat of the night where Luna had decided to create a rather too realistic representation of her own behind, her skies were met with praise and appreciation by the populace.

The edges of the newspaper rustled and curved as the wind began to rise. Celestia smiled. The winds around Canterlot were tightly controlled by the best trained weather squad in the kingdom. There were never any unplanned storms, ever. Thus, the wind could only mean one thing: Twilight Sparkle knew she was going to be late.

The second hand on the clock ticked forward, every time taking another step towards seven thirty, and Twilight being tardy. A ball of light rose up from around the area of Canterlot rail station and shot towards the café with alarming speed, as if it were racing against the clock.

"Fifty nine," Celestia whispered, taking a sip of her coffee, "Sixty, one, two... Oh my, Twilight, aren't you late." She giggled, satisfied that her plan had gone according to, well, plan. As it almost always did.

"OH CELESTIA I'M SO SORRY," the burning white sphere shouted as it coasted to a halt in front of the amused sun goddess, "I TRIED MY BEST BUT YOU DIDN'T GIVE ME ENOUGH TIME NOT THAT IT'S YOUR FAULT IT'S MY FAULT I SHOULD HAVE... MADE THE TRAIN GO FASTER."

"Twilight, sit down." Celestia laughed, pulling the seat opposite her out and offering it to Twilight. The glowing ball began to fade as Twilight calmed down, and the winds began to die out as Twilight's hooves touched the floor.

"You aren't mad?" she asked. "Even though I'm late?"

"Of course not, my dear. One day, you'll learn that I could never be mad at you. Until then, I'll just keep making my deadlines more and more impossible until even you can't keep to them," Celestia replied. She had made it a game to see what absurdities she could demand from the young unicorn, but the purple mare continually outclassed her by meeting them all. Even this one was within a small enough margin of error that even the strictest lecturer at one of her collages would accept it as being "on time". As for the extreme disruption to local weather, and terrified train staff... Well, Celestia wasn't in charge of the cleanup there right now. Let Luna deal with it. She deserved it.

"Oh, well, I'll still try and be on time next time, princess," Twilight assured her. Celestia almost laughed, but stifled it. Her student was incredible, but she had such a tendency to overreact. Laughing at her was never a good idea.

"Of course you will, Twilight, I wouldn't expect anything less," Celestia smiled, wondering if Twilight would ever catch on to the times when she was being made fun of. "But perhaps we should begin. You asked me yesterday about love, and I told you that there was nothing I could teach. However, I think I may be able to teach you how to go on a date, and from there you can teach yourself love."

"A date, princess? With whom?" Twilight enquired, cocking her head questioningly.

"Myself, of course."

"A date... with you, princess?" Twilight gasped.

"Indeed, but please, call me Celestia," Celestia instructed. "Maybe even Cel if we get on really well" she added as a joke. While Twilight would not, of course, actually be dating her, Celestia knew that teaching from experience was the best way, and she was the perfect example to use.

"Oh... okay, Celestia! What do we do first?" Twilight asked, sitting up on her chair and listening attentively.

"You stop treating me like a teacher or a princess, Twilight, and start treating me like an equal. You cannot date if you think somebody is above you, and I am most certainly not," Celestia continued. "And then, you drink your coffee. We're not staying."

Twilight hastily drunk her coffee, cooling it down with a tiny bit of magic so she didn't scald her own throat as she gulped. A few moments later, she wiped her muzzle clean and looked back up at her 'date'.

"No, Twilight, that was too fast. Waiter? Another, please. Twilight, don't rush this, it is of the utmost importance that a date feel natural. I know your notebook is under the table, write that down. Double-underline it. You go on dates to find out if your two personalities go well together, or if they clash. Being natural is the only way to truly decide that," Celestia scolded, stirring her own coffee with a spoon.

Twilight blushed and accepted a second coffee, taking a shy sip of it and staring at Celestia. From what Twilight had been able to ascertain from her reading, a large part of the dating process was based upon physical traits, as well as mental ones. Celestia had physical traits; Twilight had admired them for a long time, in the same way a pony might admire a piece of art, or enjoy fine literature. Celestia was a work of art, as far as Twilight was concerned. Physical traits could be checked off of her internal "Date-able?" checklist.

"Now what?" she whispered, almost hiding behind the steaming cup of coffee.

"We talk, just like normal, like any of our meetings. Well, I suppose in most of our meetings it's you talking and me listening, but it's much the same. I'll start, I suppose," Celestia said, trying to think of a tale that would keep the young mare's attention. Twilight certainly wouldn't be interested in esoteric politics, but she might be interested in the magical advancements of other cultures, which included many spells that wouldn't be included in the royal archives for various reasons.

Twilight sat in rapt attention as Celestia began to talk. Her head nodded in all the right places as Celestia described the inner workings of the latest Zebra advancement in potion making. Twilight was even taking notes, though the topic at hand was unrelated to dating. Eventually, Celestia finished off her tale by mentioning how the Zebra ambassador had been forced to leave after some diplomatic squabbles.

"Oh?" Twilight asked, her ears perking up as if she was legitimately interested. "How did you handle that?" she asked just as enthusiastically as she'd asked "So how did they fix the boil-cyclone issue?" a minute before. Celestia was surprised, she hadn't expected Twilight to show interest that far outside of her domain.

Regardless, she continued her tale. It was a lot drier, focussing on a minor land dispute on the Zebra/Griffon border, but she had managed to act as a mediator and resolve the conflict before it devolved into pointless bloodshed. She knew some of her people assumed that she used "I control the sun" as a bargaining chip, but she felt it important to stress to Twilight that she would never stoop to threats to achieve her aims. The solution really was in everybody's best interests.

Twilight took a sip from her coffee, only to find that it was gone. Somebody had stolen her coffee! "Prin- Celestia, where did my coffee go?" she asked, knowing Celestia would have seen what had happened to it.

"You drank it, Twilight. See, acting natural. It's easy. Many dates could quite comfortably end now, we've been talking for several hours and most ponies would be quite tired. I chose coffee to drink for a good reason, however. I wish to show you another method of dating." Celestia smiled, taking the role of teacher once more, though she hadn't quite realised she'd dropped it.

Her destination was a small bar on the outskirts of what Luna would no doubt call the "lower class area." Celestia had always preferred the "practical people" moniker, but different ponies used different words. The Bar was a very different place to Joe's café, which defined itself on the peace, tranquillity, and doughnuts.

"Welcome to The Bar, Twilight," Celestia shouted over the loud music, "Fancy something to lick?"

The Bar was, though nobody present remembered, a very very old establishment. So old, in fact, that it wasn't Celestia's first visit, though it was the first time she'd been there in longer than she cared to remember. The people inside the bar grew quiet as Celestia walked through, turning to bow in reverent awe.

"Barkeep?" she shouted, staring at the young stallion behind the counter. "Will you tell everypony that I shall buy them a fresh salt lick if they stop bowing and pretend I'm not here?"

Within minutes, the bar returned to its usual state of ponies in various stages of dehydration becoming progressively less watered, and Twilight and Celestia found a nice seat in a darkened corner.

"Pri- Celestia, why are we here?" Twilight yelled, covering her ears against the music.

"To lick the night away, Twilight!" Celestia replied. If she was to take time for herself she was going to do it the way all the young mares of Canterlot were apparently doing it. Celestia had no intention of becoming one of those storybook princesses who grew distant from her people.

An hour later, Celestia had moved around the table to rest against Twilight's shoulder. Twilight, to her credit, was halfway through her first salt lick. Celestia was on her fifth.

"Flowers! That's another thing, Twily, a mare like me loves her flowers. Nopony ever brings me flowers," Celestia hissed through a dry throat and cracked lips. "Y'know, all I wanna be is normal, why's everypony gotta be bowing to me, can't I go out for a lick like anypony else?"

Twilight squirmed a little. She was holding Celestia up mostly through magic, the princess being far too large for her to physically bear the weight of. The night had become far more awkward over the past hour as Celestia had grown more and more dehydrated, but far from becoming less educational, Celestia had suddenly turned into the font of all knowledge when it came to dating advice.

"Oh! And be late! Not too late, just a little," she slurred, holding the block of salt in her hoof as she waved it around, spreading grains over the table, "I don't wanna feel like a princess, I get that all day long. Make me wait, it'll be sweeter when it comes! Oh yeah, never ever call me princess, I want you to make me feel special because of ME, not who I am... or, because of who I am, not because of what I'm called, or... I dunno," she admitted. Celestia was less hydrated than she'd been in a thousand years, she felt she should be forgiven for a little difficulty expressing herself.

"Celestia, I think we should be getting you home," Twilight hopefully suggested. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with Celestia, it was that she didn't want to spend time with Celestia when she was like this.

"Yes! Home! To bed, I want somebody to take me to bed! Do you know, Twily, how long it has been since somebody took me to bed?" Celestia asked. Twilight had cringed at 'Twily'. She had hoped that awful habit would have stuck with her brother and her brother alone, but Celestia forbid it actually appeared to be spreading. Nonetheless, Celestia's question terrified her and she did not want to hear the answer.

"Celestia, you need a drink. Come on, I'll walk you home," Twilight suggested, pulling Celestia out of her seat and dropping her on the floor. In her current state, Twilight found the princess quite easy to lead. A little tug on the neck here, a little yank of her mane there, and she was quickly walking alongside Twilight.

"TWO THOUSAND YEARS, TWILIGHT."

Twilight Sparkle died a little inside. There was 'too much information', and there was that. "Come on, Celestia, I'm taking you home." She sighed, and tugged on her mane a little harder.

Too long later, Twilight found herself trying to silence a giggling Celestia as the two sneaked through the castle, trying to avoid the guards, and Celestia's inevitable shame if she was caught in such a state.

"Now, Twilight, go go go go go!" Celestia laughed, running across the corridor towards her bedroom door. Twilight galloped behind, just hoping that a guard wasn't about to turn the corner. She hadn't had chance to learn this route yet, it wasn't safe.

Luckily, they made it, and Celestia collapsed laughing onto her bed. Twilight quickly made her way into the en-suite bathroom and poured several glasses of water, handing them to Celestia and demanding that she drink.

After a few minutes, Celestia stopped giggling quite so much and began to yawn. "Oh, Twilight, that was quite a night. You should lighten up, have some fun!" Celestia advised, lying back in bed and letting her mane spread across the bed. "Luna knows I won't be having any for a while. Politics this, treaties that, blah blah bla..." Celestia moaned, before falling asleep mid sentence. A fitting end to the night, Twilight thought. At very least, she had several dozen pages of notes on how to date, and perhaps she could finally get some answers on what exactly it meant to love.

"You should have seen her, Spike," Twilight laughed, fondly remembering the night before as she retold the adventures she'd had at Celestia's side. "her mane was all over the place, she could barely stand, and there she was running across the corridor to her bedroom. Oh, it'd have been a scandal if she'd been caught." She sighed, still smiling as she thought of the pri- of Celestia's escapades.

Spike burped. A letter! It was past mid-day, so it made sense that Celestia might be awakening around about now. Twilight grinned as she imagined how Celestia might try to explain her way out of that one. Her heart skipped a beat as she pulled the uncurled the scroll and began to read.

A week later, Celestia burst into Luna's bedroom in the late evening, carrying behind her a small chest. "Luna, I'm in trouble," she stated, closing the door behind her.

"Is this about that ambassador you made lewd comments to last week? Because I've told you, I've got that one under control."

"No, not that, look at this letter!"

Luna took the pink envelope from Celestia's magic grip and opened it. Immediately she gagged, holding the paper away from her in the hopes it would lower its repulsive effects. "She dotted the i in Celestia with a heart? Really? Oh, that's just barbaric," Luna commented, before continuing.

Dear Celestia,

Thanks so much for your previous letter, I loved reading it. I couldn't stop thinking about you today, so I haven't gotten much done. I hope you enjoy the flowers.

Yours, Twily.

"Flowers?" Luna asked, slightly concerned.

Celestia sheepishly pulled a bouquet out of the chest and set them down on the table. It was a large bunch of roses. Celestia's favourite.

"Celestia, that's adorable. What are you doing to the poor girl?" Luna laughed.

"No, no, it's worse. Look at these other letters, too," Celestia added, before pulling out a dozen other letters. Half of them were from her, and that was why she had taken so long before bringing the situation to Luna's attention.

"Oh, Celestia. You dotted the i in 'Twily' with a heart? I may actually require a break to be violently sick," Luna said, laughing uproariously as she continued reading the letter. The trail of letters told an embarrassing tale.

Dear Twilight,

I cannot apologise enough for last night's behaviour. It was very unprincesslike of me, and has certainly put undue strain on our relationship. I hope you can find it within yourself to forgive me.

Yours, Princess Celestia

was quickly followed by:

Dear Princess Celestia,

Of course I forgive you, Princess. Though the situation quickly got out of hoof for both of us, you taught me an invaluable lesson, and one I hope to put into practice as soon as I find somepony special to attempt with.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

The letters should have stopped there, but unfortunately they did not. Whether Celestia was still mildly dehydrated at the time or not, she had replied:

Dear Twilight,

You don't need to be so formal with me, Twilight, really. I don't mind if you just call me Celestia. I really enjoyed last night, even if I did overestimate my own tolerance to salt.

Yours, Celestia

Luna shook her head in disappointment as she opened the next letter in the chain:

Dear Celestia,

Oh, thank goodness. I really enjoyed last night too, at least the first half. It was wonderful to speak with you again, I had so missed it since coming to live here in Ponyville. Our letters are lovely, but even they had been growing more sparse.

If you're not completely adverse to the idea, perhaps we should schedule another meeting. Just the coffee, this time, though. I don't think that ambassador will take another jab like that without causing an international incident

Yours, Twilight

"This is the point where you cut her off and told her 'Sorry, I'm not interested', right?" Luna asked, knowing full well it wasn't going to be. Celestia shamefully handed her the next letter.

Dear Twilight,

I would love to! Unfortunately my duties are currently overwhelming. Luna's enthusiasm for overtaking my rule is not matched by her capability for doing so. However, as soon as I am free I would love to have another meeting with you, I'm sure we could find plenty to talk about :)

Yours, Celestia

Luna ignored the jab at her performance. As far as she was concerned, she did fine for the first time in over a thousand years. It wasn't her fault the winds had upset the weather and caused a minor rainstorm over the wedding reception of one of Canterlot's more influential—or as Celestia would have put it, "irritating"—couples. "A smiley face, sister? Really? Were you trying to lead the poor mare on?"

Dear Celestia,

Ouch! Sorry about all the mess I made, I just didn't want to be late. I can be a little late for our next meeting though, if you'd like ;)

Yours, Twilight

"A wink? Oh my, Celestia, you really do know how to show a mare a good time," Luna laughed, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Twilight,

I think I might like that, yes.

Celestia

"Oh, this is sickening, sister. Must I really read on, hoping that you came to your senses at some point?" Luna groaned.

"As I'm sure you can tell from the end result, I... did not," Celestia admitted. The letters had quickly spiralled out of control as Twilight apparently began to understand that there was a pony she wanted to date, and Celestia was powerless to stop her.

"So, do you wish my assistance in explaining to her the scale of your error?" Luna asked, readying her quill.

"I... am not sure I do, Luna. Twilight has grown into an incredible young mare, and much as it shames me to admit it, I am not disinterested."

"That much has been obvious for a long time, sister," Luna snarked, "But do you really have time to be pursuing these things right now?"

"If not now, then when, sister? Twilight isn't getting any younger."

"Yes, that would be difficult."

"Quiet. She's very mature for her age. Wait, what did you mean 'for a long time'?" Celestia asked, wondering about Luna's wording. Since Celestia had shown her the letters did not count as "a long time."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Sister, you do not allow yourself a moment's rest for anything, and yet you immediately make time to read her letters?"

"She is my student, I am obliged to take notice of her!" Celestia exclaimed.

"What of the way your eyes glaze over when you start to speak of her, and the sheer length of time you can talk if nobody is brave enough to interrupt?"

"I'm very proud of my student!"

"The wistful staring towards Ponyville, as if hoping to catch a glimpse?"

"I like the view," Celestia retorted.

"The way your first thought when I told you to enjoy yourself was to take her on a date?" Luna asked, grinning as she knew her victory was assured.

Celestia stood in silence. Her more romantic feelings towards the purple mare were apparently new only to herself and the mare in question, and Luna had already known. Her silence was clearly telling.

"Don't worry, she feels the same way," Luna assured her.

"How can you tell?"

"The way she looks at you, mostly. That kind of awe that ponies only use when they're looking at something beautiful, with a tinge of hunger and a slight shortness of breath. And, ah, I see a lot of things at night," Luna explained, leaving the last point hanging.

"I don't think I can say no to her, Luna," Celestia admitted, her face slightly contorted with worry. "She knows all my secrets. She has pages and pages of notes on everything I like. I don't think she'd take no for an answer, Luna, and she'd win me over, I know it."

Luna shook her head. "You can only blame yourself for this, sister. Had you paid more attention you could have stopped this many moons ago."

"Should I have? Is enjoying another's company another thing I must deny myself, sister?" Celestia asked, sighing as she considered the possibility that her and her student may have to become even further distant.

Luna shrugged. "You once told me that for us to love was selfish, for we could not ever hope to love all our subjects equally if one of them slept in our bed. Those are your words, sister, not mine."

"That was a long time ago, Luna. I have been wrong in the past, occasionally."

"Then I say go for it, sister. The break shall do you good, and perhaps having to think of one other than yourself shall force you to stop putting yourself under such strain. I, of course, shall watch over the evening and ensure that you are not interrupted with petty squabbles or meaningless politics. Now go, make your arrangements, I have a night to weave," Luna replied, waving Celestia out of the door. Luna kept the chest, she felt sure the letters would keep her entertained throughout the cold night.

Dear my most faithful student, and close friend, Twilight Sparkle

Our relationship has become more complicated as of late, and I feel we need to clear the air and ensure a mutual understanding. Romance is a difficult subject for me to consider, and perhaps I have acted a little rashly in writing, where it is easier to say things that perhaps you would not say face to face.

With that said, I shall be arriving in Ponyville at 7pm tonight and hope you are able to provide sufficient entertainment for the night.

Yours, Celestia

Twilight dropped the letter and looked at the clock. Five thirty. That wasn't enough time to make any complex plans, but Twilight felt sure that she could get a seat at Rarity's favourite restaurant, especially if she dropped the right names.

The letter itself, though, was worrying. Had Celestia perhaps misinterpreted her language practise as something else? Surely Celestia wouldn't accuse her of non-ironically hearting an i? Spike had required a bowl of ice cream both before and after sending it just to convince him not to throw up. He had, of course, thrown up later, but that was due to the ice cream, not the letter.

Of course, Twilight wondered, perhaps it was her who was losing her nerve, and Celestia was just taking their dating practise more seriously than her. That seemed more likely.

"What would somepony like her even see in somepony like me?" Twilight asked nobody in particular as she was struck down by an unexpected sadness. It was just practise, going through the motions, not the e-motions.

"Somepony like her?" Spike asked.

"Somepony that graceful, that kind. Somepony who can bring a smile to my face just from entering the room, and somepony who can light up my day just from sending a letter. Somepony I miss more than anything, and somepony whose presence I look forward to every day just to talk. Why would somepony that perfect even pretend to like me?" Twilight sighed. She hadn't been entirely honest with herself when she'd said she didn't know the feeling of longing in her heart, but that wasn't love, it was just admiration and respect. She admired and respected Celestia more than anything else she'd ever known.

"Twilight, you're sure you're just pretending to be dating her, right?" Spike questioned.

"Of course, Spike. I've always deeply respected Celestia, our fake date didn't change anything there."

"If you say so, Twilight."

"I do. Would you mind going and booking a table at The Trotting Mare, Spike?" Twilight sternly replied. She wasn't in love with the princess. "I have a date!" she giggled. Not that she was excited for the date, it would be a wonderful learning experience and nothing more.

Spike shook his head and left.

"Spike, how wonderful to see you again!" Celestia exclaimed, smiling wide as Spike opened the library door to allow her inside. "Is Twilight here?"

The library was somewhat of a mess. At such short notice Twilight had been unable to order Spike to clean it fast enough for Celestia's arrival, and as such had told him to simply disallow her entry. That was of course impossible for him but Twilight didn't see why that should stop her from commanding it.

Twilight had left shortly before to do some last minute planning and organisation, leaving Spike with the important task of redirecting Celestia to the restaurant.

"No, princess, she's busy. She said that you should go to The Trotting Mare, the reservation is under her name," Spike explained, knowing Twilight would probably murder him if he got a single word out of place. Unable to stop himself, he looked from side to side conspiratorially before waving Celestia closer. Such secrets as he had to impart were not ones to be spoken loudly, lest unworthy ears learn of them. "I think Twilight has a crush on you," he whispered, expecting the revelation to rock through Celestia's body like particularly bad food cramps.

Celestia laughed. "And I, her, dear Spike," she replied, ruffling the young dragon's scales with a hoof before leaving. Spike stood there quite confused. Had Celestia just admitted... oh dear.

Oh dear.

Celestia sat at a darkened table, in the corner of the room, behind a wooden separator that hid her from view. Twilight had thought of everything, she supposed, and the privacy was appreciated. The flickering candle at the centre of the table was the only light source, and the calm violin music from the nearby band permeated the air. It was, all in all, a very classy restaurant.

Celestia hated it. She had hoped to escape from the pomp and circumstance of Canterlot royalty by venturing out into the less civilised parts of her country, but apparently even here the draw of cheese and wine could not be escaped.

"Do you desire a drink, Ma'am?" the waiter asked, cutting through Celestia's thoughts as if he had appeared from nowhere. He held his notepad in an impatient magical grip, as if his time was so much more valuable than it was. Celestia did not feel superior to many ponies, but snooty waiters were among the unlucky few.

"You wouldn't, I suppose, have any salt?" Celestia hopefully asked, knowing full well they would not. The waiter shook his head, raising his nose another few degrees to look down on her even further. Celestia supposed she was lucky that the dim lighting hid her wings, and that her usual flowing mane was tonight replaced by something rather more sedate. "A glass of water then."

"As you wish, Ma'am," the waiter curtly replied. Celestia hated waiters. When Twilight got here, she was ordering.

When was Twilight getting here? It was already seven fifteen. Twilight was late, Twilight was never late.

"Waiter?" Celestia called, internally giggling as she looked upon the stallion's face of complete disdain. "Make that two glasses of water. And some complimentary oats, if you wouldn't mind."

He turned once again and left. Celestia assumed that meant he'd accepted her change in order, but one could never quite tell with waiters. Where was Twilight?

Celestia tapped her golden horseshoe adorned hoof on the thick wooden table and sighed. It was now seven thirty, and she had drunk one and a half glasses of water, and Twilight still wasn't here. The anticipation was almost palpable, and at very least it seemed to be keeping the waiters at bay. Celestia still hadn't gotten her oats, she noted. Perhaps she could write a negative review of this establishment in one of the local papers. That would show them.

"Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed, sitting opposite her and smiling as if she weren't half an hour late. "How are you?"

"Fine. I've been waiting for- Oh gosh Twilight are those roses?" Celestia replied, drawn completely off track by Twilight's sudden proffering of pretty petals. Twilight smiled and let Celestia take them, watching as she breathed deeply and absorbed their scent. Twilight had chosen them especially, after sampling every bouquet of roses that the local florists had to offer and determining those to be the most fragrant.

"Do you like them?" she asked.

"Oh, Twilight, they're gorgeous. Thank you so much. Now, where was I?"

"We were about to order," Twilight suggested, nimbly sidestepping any possible repercussions of her tardiness. Twilight knew exactly how to be late, she simply chose not to be. Usually.

Celestia nodded and turned to her menu. "I was thinking of having the hay fries and battered potato, do you have any recommendations?"

Twilight had not, in fact, ever been to this establishment before, and thus had none. However, she had spent the past several hours pouring over her notes on 'What Celestia Likes In A Date' and thus knew that Celestia never ever suggested her favourite thing first. She wanted somebody to correct her, just so she knew that whoever she was with wasn't a "spineless yes-mare".

"You could, I suppose, but personally I've always preferred the fried carrot roulade. If you like, I could get the fries and potato and we could share?" Twilight suggested, working another Thing Celestia Likes into her words, admitting she could potentially be wrong. Celestia wanted somebody with complete confidence in themselves even less than somebody with no confidence.

Celestia smiled and nodded, and Twilight swore she could almost see a blush, though that could have been the way the candlelight reflected off of her gorgeous face. Twilight freely admitted she could have been distracted by the twinkling of Celestia's eyes, or the way that her mane, even while pink and solid seemed to flow through the air and over her body in a beautiful display of elegance.

Celestia could have sworn she could see a blush.

Step Two, Twilight thought. Celestia hated waiters. She hadn't told Twilight this one explicitly, but the waiters in this particular restaurant were all terrified of her. They hid it well, but not well enough for a pony brought up around royalty to not spot.

"Waiter?" she called, "We're ready to order now."

Twilight ordered the food, even insisting on receiving their complimentary oats, without consulting Celestia. Just how Celestia would have asked her to, had Twilight stopped to ask her opinion. Finally, the waiter left, assuring them their food would be ready as soon as possible.

"How do you not hate them, Twilight?" Celestia asked, marvelling at the way her student had handled the irritating foal.

"They're just doing their job," Twilight shrugged, "and it helps if you state your order with no ambiguity, so they can't get it wrong."

"You really are amazing, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia sighed. It was now or never, she supposed. Once the food arrived there would be more eating than talking, so now was her chance to say all the things she couldn't say in a letter. "You asked me what love was not too long ago. I couldn't answer you then, because it brought up too many bad memories, but..."

Celestia sighed. This was harder in person than it was in letters. All she wanted to do was heart the dots on her is, but she had to make do with the spoken word. "Twilight, when I look at you I feel something I'd almost forgotten. So now, maybe, I think I can describe to you what love feels like. You bring a smile to my face just from entering the room, and you're somepony who can light up my day just from sending a letter. I miss you more than anything, and I look forward to your visits every day, just so we can talk. You're full of potential, Twilight Sparkle, and you're the most amazing young mare I've ever known," Celestia gushed, keeping her voice barely above a whisper to ensure nobody overheard. It took all of her effort just to come clean, she could not handle the political repercussions of this tonight.

Twilight's breath froze. The world around her ground to a halt, and the walls surrounding her collapsed to the ground. The very sky vanished, and Equestria itself faded into the dark. Twilight sat in a void of complete nothingness, and one phrase kept running through her head. "That wasn't love, it was just admiration and respect."

Celestia's words had cut deep into her being, conveying the feeling of "love" more potently than any of the literature Twilight had read, and it matched her own feelings perfectly. Her own feelings, dating back to... forever. Ever since Twilight had started to become closer to Celestia than having her as just another teacher, Twilight had respected her above all else.

Twilight's silent void of nothingness muffled her every thought as she began to punish herself. Had she never looked up "respect" in a dictionary? How had she not noticed how fundamentally different her "respect" for Celestia was compared to her respect for anybody else. How could she be so... foalish?

Twilight Sparkle loved Celestia. "Celestia" and "Love" fitted together perfectly in Twilight's mind, and suddenly, everything made sense. Handing her homework in late to another professor was unfortunate, but to Celestia? It was world shattering. Forgetting a letter to her brother? She would start her next letter with an apology. To Celestia? Stop the clocks, break out the scrolls, there wasn't a force in Equestria that could prevent that letter from being written. Twilight knew, half of the evils that lurked the land had tried and failed.

"I..." Twilight gasped. "Can I have that water?" she croaked, finding that her throat had suddenly become very dry, and her hooves had suddenly become very sweaty.

"Of course," Celestia whispered, floating it over to her. Twilight grasped it in her own magic field, but Celestia did not release. Twilight tugged at it a few times, but Celestia held steady. Twilight didn't know if she could overpower Celestia, but she did know the restaurant wouldn't survive the attempt. "Here, let me," Celestia continued, hovering the water over to Twilight's lips and tipping the glass, letting a slow stream of liquid pour into her mouth.

Twilight gratefully drank. Her horn was shaking too much for her to do much of use with it at the moment anyway, her body was still in shock from her revelation. She couldn't even note down her findings, as much as she wanted to, because her quill simply produced a meaningless scribble.

"Pri- Celestia, I- That was beautiful, thank you. Everything you say is so beautiful. You are so beautiful. Oh, what am I doing here, I'm sorry, Celestia, I shouldn't be wasting your time," Twilight gasped, standing up and trying to run.

"Twilight, sit down," Celestia commanded, blocking her escape with a hoof. She was blushing all the same. "I have watched you grow from an amazing young filly, to an incredible young mare. It pains me more than anything to see you slip out of my hooves a little more each day. I want to be a part of your life, if you'll let me. I want to be a big part."

"I want that too, princess," Twilight agreed, her sentence screaming that there was a "but", though she didn't say it.

"Twilight, call me Celestia. Or Celly, if you'd like. I'm not your princess here, I consider you my equal in so many ways, and my better in so many more," Celestia replied, not commanding but asking. As one final hammer blow, assuring her victory here, she added "And if you must call me Princess, then I must call you Twily."

Twilight winced. That word was so much more tolerable in writing. "Celestia, then. I didn't really know what love was, until today. I'm don't know if I'm ready for this."

"Nopony ever does, Twilight. That's what dating is for, to let you find out whether the person you're dating is worth the stress of dating them."

Twilight smiled. "Celestia, I studied under you for years. I already know you're worth it."

"Your meal, ladies," the waiter interrupted, dropping two plates in front of them. Celestia glared at him with the full force of the sun and over two thousand years of practice, stress, and repressed hatred.

The waiter left without a word. Not even a snark.

"I," Twilight said in a completely flat tone, "never want to be on your bad side. Want a fry?"

Thirty five minutes later, Twilight and Celestia were running through the fields outside of Ponyville, laughing and giggling as they struggled to flee just a little bit faster. Not for fun, to escape from the waiters.

"Celestia, you know I could have paid!" Twilight panted breathlessly as they rested behind a tree, listening intently for any signs that they'd been followed this far out. "They know who I am, too. Oh, Rarity will never let me live this one down."

"Oh, Twilight, live a little!" Celestia laughed. She too had more bits on her person than the restaurant would have made in a month, but she wanted to get Twilight running. She wanted to try and show her that you could have fun by not following all the rules, even if the rules were there for good reason. She had left the entire bill on her chair before the two bolted, making enough noise to ensure they would be followed before they actually checked to see if they'd been paid, but it was the principle that mattered. "Breaking the rules can be fun! I don't suppose there's anywhere that sells good salt around here?"

"No! Celestia, I am not allowing you to get dehydrated in front of all my friends, you'll embarrass us both."

Celestia snorted. She'd bring Twilight around eventually.

"You can have fun following the rules too, you know?" Twilight pointed out, wondering if it had really been so long since Celestia had truly let her hair down that she'd forgotten.

"Twilight, I made most of those rules. I can't enjoy them, it's like casting your own spell. You just see all the imperfections, it ruins it," Celestia explained. "Well, you probably don't know that feeling, but not all of us are lucky enough to still be bearers of harmony."

Twilight shook her head and started to jab Celestia with the end of her horn. "Come on, I have something to show you." When Celestia refused to move, Twilight picked her up and carried her in an intense magical glow. Twilight did not get turned down often.

"You put me down." Celestia playfully pouted as Twilight carried her across to the open field, away from the canopy of trees, where they could see the stars.

"You didn't make them, Celestia. The night sky is beautiful. And I-" Twilight said, closing her eyes and letting her horn flare as she cast her very own teleportation spell- "have a telescope."

Celestia seemed unimpressed, so Twilight set the telescope down, pushing the tripod into the ground with enough force to anchor it there and raising it to a level that both her and Celestia would be able to enjoy. She then immediately sat and began calibrating it, hoping that perhaps seeing a few of Twilight's favourite star patterns would convince Celestia her sister's art had merit.

After a few moments of turning dials and adjusting levers, Twilight felt Celestia's muzzle begin to nuzzle against her neck. She ignored it, and continued spinning her dials and pushing her buttons. Celestia's nuzzling continued, moving down Twilight's body until it ended with a quick, sharp lick on Twilight's cutie mark.

"Celestia!" she exclaimed, "You stop that this instant. Come on, look through this," she commanded, pointing towards the eyepiece. It was currently focussed on the horsehead nebula, an impossibly large gas cloud far away from Equestria lit by a thousand suns. That was sure to impress Celestia, who only commanded the one.

"Oh Twilight, it's beautiful." Celestia gasped, right on cue. Celestia immediately began to regret her policy of "early to bed, early to rise" which had stopped her from ever really taking in her sister's night. Her own night had been a far less artistic affair, with enough stars to guide the way for travellers and explorers and little else. Certainly never such detail.

Twilight began to reel off everything she knew about the horsehead nebula. It was 1500 light years away, was shaped like a head, played a large part in the Orion constellation, and oh gosh Celestia was kissing her.

Twilight's mind locked up as she felt Celestia's lips brush against her own, so close that their breaths intermingled and the hair on their coats bowed to each other. Celestia pressed forward, pushing her lips onto Twilight's, and Twilight didn't resist. She held still, letting Celestia's embrace take her.

"Can't something simply be beautiful, Twilight?" Celestia whispered, still so close that every word impacted against Twilight's face. Without a pause Celestia raised a hoof to her face and lightly brushed against her cheek, sending a shiver of emotion through Twilight's body. "Must you always analyse it so?"

"Yes, Celestia, it's how I appreciate the beauty in life." Twilight attempted to say. The moment she opened her mouth to reply, though, Celestia cut in, pushing forward and again pressing their lips together in a soft embrace. Her tongue slowly teased its way along Twilight's teeth until they opened to allow her inside, and they kissed. Harder than Twilight had ever kissed before, and harder than Celestia had kissed in two millennia.

A minute—or ten, for neither of them were counting—later, Celestia broke away. For a moment the gap between their mouths was bridged by a thin strip of saliva, but that soon broke. Their deep breaths froze in the night air, crystallising in front of their eyes. "What else is there in the sky, Twilight?" Celestia whispered, looking back towards the telescope.

"Why don't we go find out?" she replied, pushing herself closer to Celestia and looking through the eyepiece while Celestia rested the side of her face against Twilight's, waiting for her chance to have another peek. After a moment, she felt Twilight shivering in the cold air, and draped a wing over her purple friend. Not just for warmth, but for companionship, too.

"I'm going to kill her," Celestia flatly stated three hours later, as the telescope finally scrolled over Luna's prank for the night. In a lonely, distant section of the sky, where nobody would think to look unless they were simply searching the skies, the stars formed a message. A message created from rearranging hundreds of massive balls of fire in the most disgusting abuse of power imaginable.

"I think it's cute!" Twilight protested, pushing her muzzle into Celestia's neck and laughing at how irritated a simple message could make her.

"I hate that name," Celestia stated, with a murderous intent in her eyes.

"It looks much better in writing." Twilight laughed, tickling the underside of Celestia's chin with her horn. That was enough to distract the angry goddess, and soon the full force of her rage was directed at Twilight. Instead of the burning power of the sun, Celestia's chosen murder method that night was relentless tickling. Twilight's laughter filled the night and echoed off into the distance, for the entire town to hear.

Yet a trillion miles away the message still burned in the night.

'Tia and Twily,

Sitting in a tree,

...

Chapter 3

Five months later, Luna sat on the throne once more, playing her part in a political meeting between the Equestrian government and the Griffon ambassador, working out the last few details of a trade agreement. It was shockingly dull, but these things had to be done.

Just half a year ago, Celestia would never have allowed Luna to take part. She could do it, she didn't need any help. Luna should be out enjoying herself, or resting, or any number of things that weren't her royal heritage. Not now, though.

To top it all off, though the meeting was surely boring Celestia to death too, she was smiling. Truly and honestly smiling, not the fake smile she had so often worn, but the smile of somebody who is content with their lot. Luna had more things to thank Twilight than she could find time for, but that smile was the main one. It wasn't the practised, "could silence a room" smile, it was just an honest one.

Luna knew why, as well. Twilight was on a train even now, as they hammered out the last few details, and Celestia had taken the rest of the night off. Apparently they were going to buy a telescope and find a nice position somewhere on the mountain to gaze from. Luna had Celestia's word that should she pull any pranks, Celestia would have her thrown in the dungeons. Luna didn't doubt it. She considered writing another message or two anyway.

That was something else Luna had to thank Twilight for. The constant, unending stream of letters both to and from Celestia that made even the loneliest night so much more enjoyable. Luna knew that if a copy of the letter where Celestia had managed to insert three hearts into the word "Twily" were ever to make it to a printing press, Celestia would never live it down. She would never do it, of course, but she loved to see her sister blush when she threatened.

Luna smiled too.