It was the time after which Princess Luna raised the moon in Canterlot, but tonight things would take a much needed turn for the better. Because this very night Luna would be going on a Date for the first time ever! The Alicorn herself was very charmed and overjoyed that somepony had finally taken a special interest in her and actually meant it and that was not just a fickle joke or something of that nature.
"I can't wait to meet with him, this is going to be very good considering this is what I have most desired for the longest time; Someone who actually likes me." Luna spoke to herself as she got herself ready for the occasion: Putting on perfume, styling her flowing rippling mane, batting her black eyelashes, and putting on a black evening gown. She was ready for anything to happen.
Elsewhere in Canterlot was the stallion that had invited the princess on the date. He was a unicorn stallion, not an upper class wealthy aristocrat like Fancy Pants, but more so a selfless, working class, usual unicorn. His name was Hourglass, he was about 20 years old, had blue fur, a light blue mane and tail which were both ruffled and had white stripes of color in them, an hourglass for a cutie mark, golden eyes, and was just about as good as anypony could be. He did not have much in the line of a suit for the date, all he had was a black top hat, a silvery vest, and a wooden cane (much like ones that business owners would walk with). He had made the decision to invite Luna on this date because he had the feeling (even though most didn't know much of Luna) that Luna had been a lonely and socially awkward mare. Hourglass related with that very much: he had only three friends and was also socially awkward, he didn't even have a mare friend.
The letter that he had written to Luna had gone like this:
Dearest Princess,
I have noticed that you seem to be always lonely and not having a lot of friends to spend time with or parties to go to. I understand you, I myself am very Socially Awkward and only have a few friends to spend time with. I have set up reservations for the both of us to meet and have dinner at Ziggy's Canterlot restaurant at 9:45 PM, you can call it a date if you want to, but if you don't that's fine too. I would really like to meet you Luna, I admire you so much.
Yours sincerely,
Hourglass.
Hourglass wasn't really sure how the letter would come across to her. "Will she like it or hate it?" He thought. "Will she think it's legitimate or as fake as a ghost story? Will she come or not?" He was very anxious to know the answer. "I sure hope that she could see through to me and understand that I'm in her horseshoes on this topic." He said again.
Luna had already arrived at Ziggy's thanks to her flying ability and was now waiting for the Unicorn stallion to show up. Luna did look very lovely tonight, she had made her mane into a Victorian style bun, she was wearing crescent moon earrings, she had black eyelash make up done as well as her usual blue eyeshadow, she had long white luxury gloves on her front legs and hooves, but the best part was her black evening gown dress that really looked beautiful (If you saw her, You'd think that she was the Alicorn version of Audrey Hepburn). She kept waiting for Hourglass to show up.
"I sure hope that he's here." She thought.
Not far away Hourglass had just showed up at Ziggy's, he was trying to find Luna. "Where is she?" he asked himself, now more anxious than before. Then he saw her, standing in the foyer of the restaurant, and oh how taken he was by her special and unique beauty that only her herself could muster. Hourglass went straight to her and took her by the hoof.
"Good evening my Princess, I am Hourglass, The Hourglass that sent you the invitation."
Luna was taken by how handsome he was. "Oh, good evening Hourglass. My you look handsome this evening, I've never seen a pony this well made like you before. Shall we go in and get our table?"
Hourglass held out his elbow and asked. "Does this answer the question?" Luna smiled and put her own hoof into his elbow and they both went inside.
They were now both sitting in a table near the part of the dining area which looked over the Ponyville valley down below. Luna asked Hourglass something. "Have you ever been down to Ponyville before?"
Hourglass answered the question. "I've only been down there a few times mostly just to get away from the hustle and bustle of our capitol city. It's a very nice town with plenty of good ponies down there, I've even meet a few of Twilight's Freinds. Applejack was my favorite out of all of them, her down to earth nature really spoke to me. Although I liked Fluttershy too, because she was so soft and sweet."
Luna spoke of her experiences before the meal came. "I work closely with Twilight and her friends on many matters. Of course I'm usually pinned down by over 3 million letters from Twilight on how many plans she's made over a week, but I don't put her down, that's just her way. Fluttershy is really good to, she gave me lessons on how to speak like this rather than use the Royal Canterlot Voice. I don't use that much anymore since it's out of style mostly, but if I need to I do use it."
Luna asked Hourglass a question. "How old are you anyway? it's hard for me to tell."
Hourglass answered. "I am only 20 years old. I have a job on the railroad as a conductor, making sure my train gets to where it needs to be on time, and working with my engineer to make sure that does happen."
"Where do you go usually?" Asked a now curious Luna.
Hourglass answered "Well, I usually just work the Ponyville/Canterlot branch that runs from here to Ponyville. But occasionally I work on passenger trains that run out to both Manehatten and Fillydelphia. How old are you Luna?" He asked.
Luna told him. "Well I suppose if we count in regular years I'm about a thou...yes that's it, roughly 1,234 years old." Hourglass's mouth hit the ground. "Don't worry," Luna spoke. "That's only about 29 in Alicorn years."
"HOW DOES THAT WORK!?!?" Hourglass questioned.
Luna explained that because of their magic and connection with the world, alicorns had a much different way of aging which lasted anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 years of life. She also told him that an Alicorn age year lasted for 90 normal age years. "That's why we live for so long and look young even if we are ages upon ages old." she finished.
After some more questions and conversations about how Alicorn magic works, how railroads helped to shape Equestria's transportation and infrastructure, and what usual royal duties work out like. The pair finished up their date, it was what Hourglass had been waiting for. "I hope you enjoyed this evening Luna." Hourglass had said as he came closer to Luna.
"And I've hoped that it was the same with you Hourglass. Such a wonderful name." She said as she inched closer.
They both embraced each other and held the hug for a full 15 minutes, a 5 minute kiss followed. After they came apart they both said goodbye to each other in special ways:
Luna held Hourglass close within the comforting softness of her left wing and kissed him on the forehead. "I love you, my dear Hourglass." she whispered softly like an angel.
Hourglass took Luna's hoof in his own and kissed it affectionately. "I do hope to see you again Luna. Could we meet at the Grand Galloping Gala next month?" He asked
Luna nodded her head as she still held him close in an affectionate "wing hug" and said. "Of course Hourglass, I would love to come with you to that."
"Thank you Luna." Hourglass said as he left. "See you next month!"
"You too!" Luna shouted to him as she flew into the air and back to the palace.
The both of them had a future ahead of them. What would happen?...
Author's Note
The first part of my Romance series with Hourglass and Luna. There will be two more to follow:
At the Gala with Luna
Luna get's Married.
STAY TUNED!!! 
