The Night's Precious Rarities

Rarity was perched atop a verdant hill, enjoying the blissful serenity with closed lids. Crickets chorused a cheerful tune as the gentle, whispering wind carried the sweet scent of spring through the air and batted at her royal purple curls.

A content sigh escaped from Rarity’s mouth and her lips curled at the edges. Leisurely, her vision surveyed the below orchard. Apple trees stood tall and proud, decorated with an array of beautiful blossoms, and were accompanied by the dancing lights of a swarm of fireflies.

Slowly, her gaze shifted skywards. What the Unicorn beheld stole away her breath and enhanced the size of her sapphire blue eyes; the silvery surface of the moon glowed like a gateway to the heavens, amongst a sea of glittering diamond stars.

“O-o-oh my,” Rarity gasped, her tone awestruck as she drew out the syllables and lilted from a quietly low sound too loudly high. “Such divinity!”

“Why, thank thee,”

The new voice’s unexpected appearance caused Rarity to jump, her slightly ruffled locks bouncing from the sudden movement. Its alto pitch, regal timbre and use of Old Equus… it sent chilling sensation to charge down her spine and elicited a nervous shudder to vibrate throughout her system - she knew that voice!

Something warm and soft, like a freshly washed duvet, draipped over Rarity’s back. “Art thee alright?” the voice spoke again, this time filled with a much calmer but distressed resonance than the previous moment. “Thy is not cold, art thee?”

An inferno of crimson heat igniting her cheeks, Rarity slowly looked to her left. Not even millimetres away from her lay a navy blue Alicorn; her slender form curled around the smaller mare in a somewhat protective way, free of the normal regalia; though there was a lack of a strong enough gale, her sparkling azure and transparent indigo lined hair flowed; one side of her face was partially hidden by an overhang of her mane, but both teal eyes were visible and filled with strong concern.

Rarity nodded. It was a simple gesture but was all she was able to do. It felt like her voice box had dipped down into her chest and her heart had leapt into her throat. After all, what pony would not be stunned by the prospect of royalty, specifically Princess Luna of the Night, wrapping a wing around them due to pure worry about their well-being?

Definitely not Rarity, she knew that for certain.

Rarity felt Luna fidget, though whatever the cause was for she was unsure. “So... what art thee doing out so late into the night?” a hint of nervous in her company’s question caught her attention.

Anxiously, Rarity bit her lip as she forced noise to be crafted by her vocal-cords. Finally, she managed to conjure a squeaky “Oh… I, um, I was just enjoying the p-peace of the night, you see,” she quickly pointed a shaky hoof to the vast expanse of the orchard. “Uh, though I’m not actually in, um..., Sweet Apple Acres, the view from here is quite st-stunning along with the sky a-at this time,” an uneasy giggle surpassed her stuttering speech pattern. For a short instant, which to Rarity seemed like an eternity, an awkward silence graced them. “...I could a-ask you the same thing, darling,”

“What we art doing here? Um…,” the Princess of the Night’s tonality eminently wavered and her eyes darted back and forth, obviously avoiding contact with her subject. Bright red emerged from beneath her dark coat as she blushed herself.

“Princess?” the fashionista posed. “I-is something wrong?”

Silence.

Rarity swallowed around the lump in her exceedingly dry throat. “...Luna?”

“We like thee,”

The Alicorn’s mouth had opened and a barely audible sound has been released, if none at all. Rarity quickly blinked a few times and shook her head, efficiently swivelling both ears around to face her ruler.

“Um…, please could you - I mean, ‘pardon?’,”

Rarity watched Luna draw in a deep breath, the grip of her wing tightening around her body. “We like thee, okay?!” her ears folded back and pressed against her neck, her eyes trained on her right hoof as it drew a continuous circle in the dirt. “And, we don't just mean as a friend... we like thee more than that - a lot more, in fact. Although thee art a mare, I findeth thee very beautiful (gorgeous, even). Thy eyes, the way thee hold thyself, when thee flutter thy eyelashes or even speak, it's just s-so entrancing. But we don't just like thee for thy looks, no. For how foolish would that be?” she chuckled darkly. “The simple company thee holds is just so pleasant! Thee treat me with impeccable manners but it's still like we’re a normal pony. So sweet and generous by nature... Being near thee s-sends our heart into a flutter and w-we findeth it difficult to talk…,” she released a strong winded sigh and deflated along with. “We understand if thee dost not return our feelings, but please, we beg of thee not to hate-”

The confession was cut off when Rarity leant forwards and pressed her lips against Luna’s. Eyes screwed up, she could not see the princess’s reaction but was able to sense it. At first, the muscles in her face were tense. But s-l-o-w-l-y, they began to relax and a forced pushed back against Rarity. Forelegs snaked over her neck and wrapped her in a tautly passionate embrace. The feather barbs tickled Rarity’s back as Luna playfully dragged her wings up and down the younger equine. A light laughing between the pair was shared as they finally pulled away for air.

Though their deep blushes remained, all of the prior embarrassment and worry was forgotten. A big, goofy grin was the most eminent of the Princess of the Night’s features. She ran a hoof through the seamstress’s know messy mane.

Panting deeply, Rarity gave her partner a sultry, half-lidded expression. “Luna, darling?”

“Y-yes, Rarity?”

Rarity booped the Alicorn’s muzzle and declared, “You’re my princess now,”