A Moon's secret

With such a beautiful silence, next to a pony so cool, Lightshield just has to blurt it out. He knows if he tries to subtly lead into it, he’ll lose courage.

“So, uh, Luna,” He stutters. “What are your plans for Hearts and Hooves Day?”

“I will be exhausted, and accompany Celestia,” She sighs. “I shall stand next to her while she smiles and gives out compliments to couples in the streets. Then I shall line the palace hallways with lavender and go to sleep like always.”

“Sounds kind of sad,” He replies. “Don’t you uh… don’t you have a special somepony?”

The moon princess shakes her head. “No. My subjects do not relate to me. They don’t like to be quiet and think. They are loud, and overly-enthusiastic.They play catch, and hopscotch. They do not partake in sitting and talking, or firefly gazing. It is not their fault, though. They are more used to speaking with my sister. They are daytime ponies.”

“Oh.” Lightshield nods, unsure of what to say to that.

“It is no matter,” Luna states. And, in the present, she looks the Cutie Mark Crusaders in the eye, reciting her words to Lightshield. “What’s the use of that holiday anyway?”

“That’s what you said?” SweetieBelle complains. “But you totally loved him!” She covers her snout with her hooves, and says: “Sorry! No offense, Princess Luna.”

“No, no, no!” Luna rolls her eyes. “Well, yes, I said that, but then…”

Luna’s story continues. Lightshield touches his horn to hers.
“Luna,” He stumbles. “Would you spend Hearts and Hooves Day with a night owl pony?”

Luna’s eyes widen. “Lightshield I… I did not know you felt this way about me. I did not know anypony could fancy the princess of the night.”

The stallion withdraws his horn. “Luna, I… I’ve always had a crush on you. E-ever since we were just foals. You’re just so confident and cool, and you’re always there for me. And- I know you probably don’t feel the same way. Heck, you’re a princess of Equestria! I’m not nearly worthy of you but-”

“Lightshield!” Luna stops him. “I too have felt feelings for you since foalhood! I was too afraid to say it, because I thought you might like Celestia better like everypony else does.”

“Wait, really?” Lightshield can’t believe his ears. Everything he thought Luna would never say is coming from her mouth. Every desire his heart ever had is coming true. “Celestia and I are friends! Luna… would you like to be my special somepony?”

“Yes!” Luna cheers. “I would!”

And with that, the couple prances around with delight. They have never had fun together as lovers before, and they’ve discovered a whole new world. They talk, and eat cupcakes, and even kiss one another on the cheek. Luna is fast asleep when the sun starts rising. Lightshield sits behind her.

“Aw, Luna,” He chuckles. “It’s getting to be morning. You should really head home.” He gasps as an idea flashes into his head. “Oh! I can walk you home!”

He pauses and looks around. “Hmm… how am I gonna do that? Silly me, the castle is too far away to carry her on my back... Unless I was an alicorn. Wouldn’t that be great? Oh man, Luna would totally dig it if I had wings! Hmm…” Lightshield’s horn shines a bright tangerine orange, and sparkles fly around like a blazing bonfire. He puts a ton of pressure on his horn, trying to spread the magic around his whole body.
“Come on, come on…”

Sure enough, the orange glow creeps down his neck, and spreads until his whole body is covered.

“Ok,” He exhales, trying to catch his breath. “I did that! That wasn’t so hard! Let’s see if I can…” He lifts just barely off the ground. “Lift myself...up!”

It’s an immense struggle. Lifting his own body weight with nothing but magic is like trying to carry a young dragon with nothing but the tip of his snout. He sits there, semi-in-midair using all his strength, but he seems to be stuck.

“Agh!” He whisper-grunts, trying not to wake Luna (that would defeat the whole purpose!) “This is impossible! Why does being a kind-of-alicorn take alicon-levels of magic?” He begins to shake under the weight of his own body, slowly lowering to the ground. Just as he’s about to give up, he glances at Luna. She’s curled up like a majestic cat, lowering the moon in her sleep.

Lightshield tries to make a heroic, knightly face, and nods to himself. “For Luna,” he struggles to say through his aching muscles. With another unexplainable burst of power, Lightshield shoots into the sky, as though it were suddenly no trouble at all.. He feels indestructible, and kind of destructive like he did last night. “FOR LUNA!” He almost shouts, then covers his mouth, because she’s still sleeping. Lightshield hovers down and slides the princess onto his back. Grinning at the gorgeous mare, he promptly carries her back to the castle.
Present day, Luna gazes wistfully into the distance. “That was when Lightshield learned to fly.” She said. “When he showed me, I could not believe my eyes. A unicorn with alicorn-like magic. Magic he was inspired to use… by his love for me.”

“Awwww!” SweetieBelle and Applebloom sigh in unison, as Scootaloo pretends to barf in the corner.

“What a romantic story,” Applebloom states happily

“The perfect Hearts and Hooves Day tale!” Swoons Sweetiebelle.

“Yes,” Luna laughs, but her face grows solemn again. “It was.”

The faces of the CMC grow solemn too, as they realize Luna’s story is far from over.

“So, what happened?” Scootaloo asks.

“Well,” Luna continues. “Lightshield and I had decided we would have a Hearts and Hooves Night! We would skip Hearts and Hooves day, then celebrate our newfound love for one another under the moon.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.” Scootaloo argued, raising an eyebrow.

“True, it wasn’t a bad idea,” Luna snorted indignantly, then frowned at the tapestry above them. “But that’s when the trouble started…”