Now that Sky and Lyra were officially a couple, it wasn’t long before their friends found out. Emerald was very happy for Sky, and Sky thanked him and Tree Hugger for their support. Bon Bon was excited for Lyra, though a bit jealous that she didn’t have her own special somepony. As for Noteworthy, he wouldn’t be bothering Sky or Lyra ever again. As soon as he was released from the hospital, he sold his house and moved to Manehattan, presumably never to return.

All in all, it was a fun week for Sky and Lyra. They had planned to meet up with Lyra’s Canterlot friends at the slush place, but Lemon Hearts and Moondancer were delayed in the Crystal Empire. Nonetheless, Sky and Lyra still brought slush for Donald and Douglas, as well as Allen Wrench and Silver Chisel, two other construction ponies who had joined the project. With all four of them working hard, and Sky supervising, the extension was coming along very nicely indeed. Orpheus and Spearmint were very pleased with the work so far, and were encouraging of their daughter’s new relationship. “I had my doubts about you at first, but you’ve really grown on me over this past month.” Spearmint said to Sky. “Treat my daughter like the lovely lady that she is and you’ll do wonderfully.”

“Thank you, Spearmint.” Sky said modestly. “Your praise means a lot to me.”

On Friday morning, Sky and Lyra rode the train up to Canterlot. A few days ago, Sky had asked Lyra about spending a day out with Sugarcoat, and Lyra had excitedly agreed.

“Sugar’s booked a tour of Canterlot Castle for us.” Sky told Lyra on the train. “I’ve always wanted to see the inside of it. It’s an amazing building!”

“It really is!” Lyra agreed. “Plus, I think Princess Celestia herself is the one who guides the tours. It’ll be so great to see my old teacher again!”

“Oh, that’s right!” Sky exclaimed. “I’ve never met her before. It’s going to be surreal meeting the ruler of Equestria for the first time!”

“Everypony says that when they meet the Royal Sisters for the first time.” Lyra giggled. “There’s no reason to be nervous, though. Celestia may be the ruler of Equestria, but she’s kind and welcoming to pretty much everypony!” Lyra snuggled up to Sky, and Sky put his head on top of hers.

The train soon arrived in Canterlot, and Sky and Lyra got off. Sugarcoat was waiting for them on the platform. “Sky! Lyra!” she called. “It’s great to see the two of you!” The trio exchanged a group hug. “Ready to go to the castle?”

“You bet we are!” Sky said with a smile. “Thanks so much for booking the tour!”

“No problem!” Sugarcoat replied. “What better place to spend the morning than the most prestigious building in Canterlot?”

The castle was only a few blocks away from the train station, so it didn’t take long for Sky, Lyra and Sugarcoat to get there. Princess Celestia was waiting for them at the entrance. The tall white alicorn towered over them, and her naturally flowing mane and tail billowed in the summer breeze. “It’s such an honor to meet you, Your Highness.” Sky said as he bowed down to her.

Celestia laughed. “Oh, you don’t have to bow to me. Showing you around the castle today will be my pleasure.” Surprised, Sky stood back up again.

Celestia then turned to Lyra and gave her a warm hug. “It’s so lovely to see you again, Lyra Heartstrings.” she said kindly. “You were both a wonderful student and a wonderful friend. How have you been faring lately? It’s been far too long since we last spoke.”

Lyra smiled. “I’ve been doing great, thanks! I really should introduce you to the ponies I’m with today.” She beckoned for Sky and Sugarcoat to come join her. “This is my coltfriend Sky Scraper, and his cousin Sugarcoat.”

“Hi.” Sky said with a nervous smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you two as well.” said Celestia. “Sky, how long ago did you and Lyra meet?”

“We met at the start of the summer, not too long after I moved to Ponyville.” Sky replied. “I used to live in Manehattan. I’m an architect, by the way.”

“Several years ago, he was the top student at the Canterlot School of Architecture.” Sugarcoat added. “Maybe you remember him?”

“Oh yes, the School of Architecture!” Celestia recalled. “I’m familiar with the school, but I never got to properly meet any of the students. This castle has gone through a few rebuilds over time, but I believe the current building was designed by the School of Architecture’s founder. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this tour! Are all three of you ready to go in?”

Sky, Lyra and Sugarcoat all nodded, and Celestia led them into the castle’s main hall. It was lined with many colorful stained glass windows, each one depicting a major event in Equestrian history. “These windows are commemorative pieces, and many of them have existed for longer than this castle.” Celestia explained. “Each time the castle was rebuilt, the stained glass windows had to be removed very carefully from the old building and stored in a maximum-security vault until a new castle was built. Then, when the new castle was ready, the windows had to be carefully reinstalled. It always took quite a few ponies and many long days of work to do that.”

“That’s one of the most arduous jobs I’ve ever heard of!” Sugarcoat remarked. “It’s amazing that so many of them are still in one piece.”

“Unfortunately, one window did break the last time the castle was rebuilt.” Celestia admitted. “But I was able to get a replica made.”

“Which one was it?” Sky asked.

“This one.” Celestia pointed to a window depicting Nightmare Moon’s banishment. “Seeing this window always brings back some painful memories for me, but the chronicle of Equestria’s history would be incomplete without it.”

“I can imagine that.” Lyra agreed. “Speaking of Luna, where is she?”

“She’s fast asleep in her tower.” Celestia replied. “Last night was quite a rough one for her, I’m afraid. I’m sorry you probably won’t get a chance to see her.”

“Oh, that’s a shame.” said Sky. “It would have been cool to meet her outside of my dreams for once.”

“You’re welcome to come back another day if you wish.” Celestia offered. “Any of my former students and their friends will always be welcome here.”

Sky smiled. “Wow, that’s nice! Thank you!” Celestia smiled and winked in response.

Lyra gave Sky a gentle nudge. “See, I told you!”

“Anyway, we recently started replacing some of the regular windows at the end of the hall with new stained glass ones, to commemorate the achievements of Twilight Sparkle and her friends.” Celestia went on. She stopped to let Sky, Lyra and Sugarcoat admire some of the newer windows. The most impressive window was the one that depicted Twilight’s coronation. “I was so shocked when I found out Twilight had become a princess!” Lyra recalled with a laugh. “I didn’t believe it until I got invited to the coronation!”

Soon they entered the throne room, a grand space with a red carpet, carved columns, and high ceilings. Sky had never seen a room quite so vast and spacious as this one. He, Lyra and Sugarcoat spent several minutes looking around. There were a few more stained glass windows in the throne room, and Sky’s favorite was the one that showed the six classical planets known to ancient ponies: Ultus, a small rocky planet extremely close to the sun; Jalis, another small rocky planet close to the sun; Kovestum, a hot and heavily cratered red planet; Renaia, the life-harboring planet on which Equestria is located; Wistrol, a rocky planet with a hazy purple atmosphere and a ring; and Doukall, a huge gas giant and the largest planet in the system. The other four giant planets weren’t shown on the window, but it was a nice design to look at nonetheless. Sky had always found astronomy interesting, even though he hadn’t pursued a career related to it.

“Do you mind if we take a picture in front of your throne?” Lyra asked Celestia.

“Of course I don’t! Go right ahead!” Celestia replied with a smile. “Do you need me to hold the camera?”

“If you would, that’d be great! Thanks!” Lyra pulled her camera out of her saddlebag and gave it to Celestia. She then called to Sky and Sugarcoat, who were busy admiring the windows and columns. Sky and Sugarcoat flew over and stood on either side of Lyra.

“I think you should be in the middle, Sky.” Lyra suggested. “I mean, Sugarcoat and I only met through you.”

“True!” Sky agreed. He let Lyra swap places with him and nudge him directly in front of Celestia’s throne.

“Are you ready?” Celestia asked, levitating the camera in the air.

“Ready!” Lyra replied. All three smiled their biggest smiles, and Celestia took the photo.

After that, Celestia led them down another corridor into the ballroom. This too was a grand room, beautifully furnished and painted, with large windows providing a great view of the west courtyard, and golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. “Wow, this room is beautiful!” Sky remarked. “What kinds of ceremonies are held in here?”

“High-society parties and weddings, mainly.” Celestia replied. “Speaking of which, I think Lyra has a good wedding story to tell…”

“Are you talking about Shining Armor and Princess Cadance’s wedding?” Lyra asked. Celestia nodded.

“Oh yeah, that’s a crazy story!” Lyra agreed. She turned to Sky and Sugarcoat. “You probably heard about Princess Cadance’s wedding a few years ago, didn’t you?”

“How could we not?” Sugarcoat said bluntly. “When a princess gets married, it’s all over the news.”

“Well, fun fact: I was one of Cadance’s bridesmaids.” Lyra said with a smile. “Along with two of my friends, Minuette and Twinkleshine.”

“Really?” Sky exclaimed. “You were there when the big changeling invasion happened? I read all about that in the papers.”

“Yep!” Lyra replied. “And apparently, I was temporarily brainwashed by the changeling queen. That’s what Celestia told me, anyway. I don’t actually remember.”

“What happened was that Queen Chrysalis impersonated Princess Cadance as part of her plan to take over Canterlot.” Celestia explained. “When Twilight Sparkle grew suspicious, Chrysalis banished her to a cave beneath the castle, where she had also trapped the real Cadance. She also brainwashed Cadance’s three bridesmaids to guard the cave. But Twilight and Cadance were very clever, and escaped by distracting the bridesmaids with a bouquet of flowers.”

Sky was shocked by the story. “I can’t believe that happened to you, Lyra!” he said incredulously.

“I couldn’t believe it either!” Lyra agreed. “One minute, I was arranging decorations with my friends. The next thing I know, I’m waking up in the courtyard that evening, and the wedding reception is about to start. I couldn’t remember anything in between until Celestia told me.”

“I didn’t tell her what had happened until the next day.” Celestia added with a wink. “I thought I’d let her enjoy the party with her friends first.”

Lyra smiled and nodded. “It was a really fun evening. There’s probably a picture of it in here somewhere.” She looked around the expansive ballroom and then spotted it on the adjacent wall, between two of the large windows overlooking the courtyard. She led Sky and Sugarcoat over to look at it. Everypony in the picture looked so happy, singing and dancing in the courtyard while rainbow confetti fell and Vinyl Scratch worked her turntables. “There I am!” Lyra exclaimed as she pointed to herself in the picture. She was wearing a yellow silk dress, as well as three green flowers in her mane and a necklace made of pink pearls.

“You look absolutely beautiful, Lyra.” Sky said warmly. “Ah, I wish I could have been there to dance with you.”

Lyra giggled. “Aw, Sky… why are you always buttering me up like that?”

Sky winked at Lyra. “Because I love you.” He wrapped his front legs around Lyra and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Lyra giggled again, then hugged and kissed him back.

“Well, I guess I’m a third wheel now.” Sugarcoat quipped.

After that, the tour continued through some of the smaller rooms in the castle, with Celestia explaining the purpose of each room. Certain parts of the castle weren’t open to the public, but Sky, Lyra and Sugarcoat still managed to see a lot. During the tour, Lyra and Celestia reminisced about old times at the School for Gifted Unicorns. Sky and Sugarcoat got to hear many stories from Lyra’s time at the school, from her entrance exam to her graduation. “You never told me you graduated third in your class!” Sky remarked. “That’s so impressive!”

“Well, I didn’t remember exactly what rank I was.” Lyra chuckled. “I just knew I wasn’t first – that was Twilight.”

“Fortunately I still remembered.” Celestia said with a smile. “Twilight and Moondancer were comfortably the top two, but you were still very good. Your musical abilities never failed to impress me.”

“I can definitely attest to that!” Sky agreed.

The tour concluded in the telescope observatory at the opposite end of the castle. It was located at the top of one of the castle’s many towers. “The spiral staircase goes all the way to the top, but I’d rather not walk up three hundred steps.” said Celestia. “Let’s take the elevator.” She pushed the button for the gold elevator in the center of the tower, and the four ponies got in. The elevator shot upward at a rapid rate, and in a matter of seconds, they were at the top. “This is a really fast elevator!” Sky remarked.

Celestia nodded. “We have brand-new express elevators in every tower. They were installed two years ago after the old one in Luna’s tower got stuck. My sister teleported herself out, but it was another hour before the elevator technician arrived. He advised us to simply replace all the old elevators, so we did.”

“Wow. I’ve never been stuck in an elevator myself, but being an architect, I’ve heard plenty of stories.” said Sky.

Lyra looked around the observatory. It was a round balcony with two high-tech telescopes, one on each side, and a great view of the city below. “I’ve been in this castle several times, but I’ve never been up here before.” she commented. “The view is amazing! You can see the whole city from here!”

“Plus, this tower is much bigger than it looks from the outside.” Sugarcoat added.

Celestia grinned. “Isn’t it? I often come up to this observatory just to enjoy the view. It’s a wonderful place to relax.”

Models of the 10 main planets in the solar system were hanging from the ceiling. This included not only the six classical planets, but also the four outer giants that were discovered later: Merlanos, a big green gas giant with lots of rings; Ferlatta, a white ice giant with an extreme axial tilt; Olyria, a beautiful blue ice giant with glowing yellow rings; and Seforia, a cold and stormy purple ice giant. “I love the models of the planets!” said Sky. “Who made them?”

“They were made by a specially trained craftsmare about a hundred years ago.” Celestia replied. “She put so much time, love and care into making them. Each one is beautifully painted and the scale is almost perfect. Which one’s your favorite? Besides Renaia, of course.”

“Olyria, definitely!” said Sky. “Olyria’s always been my favorite planet. I love its bright blue color, and the way its rings glow is so cool!”

“It’s indeed the most beautiful planet in our system.” Celestia agreed. “It’s always a joy to observe with a telescope."

“Do you mind if I look through one of the telescopes now?” Sky asked.

“In the middle of the day?!” Sugarcoat laughed. “Nopony does that!”

“Indeed, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Celestia chuckled. “The sun is quite high in the sky right now. Twilight once pointed her telescope directly at the sun by accident, and had to wear an eyepatch for several days.”

“Seriously? Jeez! Yeah, probably not a good idea then. Forget I asked that.” Sky said sheepishly.

“Can you take a picture of us near the balcony?” asked Lyra.

“Certainly!” Celestia said with a smile. Lyra handed her the camera, and went back to stand with Sky and Sugarcoat. They stood together in front of the railing and once again smiled their biggest smiles. Celestia took the photo, and then handed the camera back to Lyra. “Here you go! Anyway, this marks the end of our tour, but you’re free to stick around here for a bit longer if you’d like. Otherwise, I’ll lead you back to the throne room. We also have a gift shop next door, as well as the sculpture gardens and the hedge maze.”

“What kind of things does the gift shop sell?” Sky asked.

“Oh, all kinds of things, really.” said Celestia. “Plushies of me and the other princesses, some history and astronomy books, models of various buildings in Canterlot, novelty T-shirts, et cetera. It’s got something for everypony.”

“In that case, I’d love to stop by there!” said Sky. He turned to his marefriend and his cousin. “What about you?”

“Sure!” said Sugarcoat. “I’m sure I can find a good book there.”

“Me too!” said Lyra. “Can we also walk through the sculpture garden on our way out? I’ve wanted to show it to you for a while.”

“Of course we can!” said Sky. “You can lead the way!”

“I guess you can take us back downstairs now.” Sugarcoat said to Celestia. “We shouldn’t linger around here for too long.”

“Certainly.” said Celestia. With that, she led Sky, Lyra and Sugarcoat back down to the throne room.

“Thank you so much for giving us a tour!” said Sugarcoat.

“It was an honor meeting you for the first time.” added Sky.

“The honor was mine.” Celestia said kindly. “I always enjoy giving ponies tours of our magnificent castle.”

Sky, Lyra and Sugarcoat bid farewell to Celestia and exited the castle via the main hall, the same way they had come in. They then headed to the gift shop, a much smaller building right next door. Inside, they found several shelves lined with books, toys, plushies, shirts and models. “Wow, Celestia wasn’t kidding when she said this place has something for everypony!” Sky remarked.

Lyra walked over to the plushie shelf, which was stocked with plushies of Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Twilight. “Twilight says the head on hers is too big.” Lyra giggled, picking up one of the Twilights with her magic. “Imagine the look on her face when she finds out I bought one!”

“So you’re buying a plushie of your foalhood friend just for that reason?” Sugarcoat inquired.

Lyra grinned. “Yep!”

Sugarcoat tilted her head to examine the plushie. “Well, the head is kind of fat compared to the rest of the body, I’ll give her that.”

Sky flew up to the next shelf over and picked up a box containing a solar system mobile. “I had something like this when I was a colt, but it broke a long time ago. I figure it’s time I got a replacement.”

“Good idea.” said Sugarcoat. “I remember the old one you had, it looked nice until the strings started to come loose.”

“Yeah.” Sky agreed. “But it was pretty cheap anyway. This one here looks a lot fancier.”

“Definitely. Anyway, I’m going to go see if there are any good books here.” said Sugarcoat. “Do you two want to come with me?”

“Sure!” said Lyra. She and Sky followed Sugarcoat over to the books section.

“Stargazing is a hobby I’ve been thinking of taking up for a while.” Sugarcoat explained as she scanned a shelf of astronomy books. “I still need to get a good telescope, though.” She pulled a somewhat thick book off the shelf. It was an in-depth guide to the planets of the solar system and beyond. “Ooh, this looks like a good one! I’ll buy it.”

“That looks like a great book!” Sky agreed. He then pulled out a book from another shelf. “Between the Lines: How Equestria’s Railways Were Built… I think I’ll get this one!” Lyra, meanwhile, couldn’t find a book about music or anthropology that she didn’t already own.

“There’s a lot of nice stuff here, but just remember that the more we buy, the more we have to carry with us this afternoon.” Sugarcoat advised.

“True.” said Lyra. “I think I’ll also buy this model kit of my old school, though. I can build it in my spare time.”

All together, their haul consisted of two books, a Twilight plushie, a solar system mobile, and a model kit of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. They each paid for their own items, and Sky offered to carry the bag as they headed out of the gift shop and into the sculpture gardens.

The sculpture gardens consisted of many stone and marble statues of ponies and other creatures. The lush green grass was perfectly trimmed, and the dirt paths were very smooth and comfortable to walk on. Lyra put her leg around Sky’s shoulders. “I’ve been wanting to show you this place ever since our first date!” she said with a smile. “What do you think?”

Sky placed the bag on the ground so that he could talk. “It’s beautiful!” he replied. “The statues are really impressive, and whoever is in charge of these gardens maintains them really well.”

“Oh, definitely!” Lyra agreed. “We can walk around the main path, maybe take some pictures, and then have lunch somewhere. How does that sound?”

“Sounds good to me.” said Sugarcoat. “As long as we don’t do the hedge maze. I never understood the appeal of those.”

“Me neither.” Sky chuckled. He picked up the bag again, and let Lyra lead the way along the main path.

The main path was the wide loop that circled around the outside of the garden. Part of it ran along the edge of the mountain, and came with spectacular views of the countryside below. Sky, Lyra and Sugarcoat took several pictures of each other during their walk, including a few where Lyra made Sky strike a pose to match a particular sculpture. Sky complied, but he would only do so for Lyra.

“That was a lot of fun!” Sky said when they came back to where they had started. “I got to meet Celestia, I picked up some cool stuff from the gift shop, and I got to take a nice walk!”

Lyra winked at Sky. “And you got to do it all with your two favorite mares!”

“That’s right!” Sky pulled Lyra and Sugarcoat into a group hug. He then felt his stomach growl. “Anyway, where do you girls want to have lunch? I’m getting hungry.”

“How about the Mountainside Cafe?” Sugarcoat suggested. “It’s kind of a hike from here, but the food is delicious.”

“Yeah, that’s a great place!” Lyra agreed.

“I’ve never heard of it before, but I’ll take your word for it!” said Sky.

“You’ll like it.” said Sugarcoat. “They have outdoor seating on the edge of the mountain. With railings, of course.”

“That sounds awesome!” Sky exclaimed. “Let’s go there!”

With that, the trio left the Canterlot Castle grounds and set off down the road to the cafe.

“Wow, that lunch really filled me up.” Sky remarked as he departed the Mountainside Cafe with his marefriend and cousin. “Best food I’ve ever had in this city, though. I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of this place before!”

“Because it opened the year after you moved to Manehattan.” said Sugarcoat. “But at least you know about it now.”

“That’s right! Thanks for recommending it!” Sky replied. “Anyway, where do you want to go next?”

Lyra smiled. “Well, I actually had a surprise planned for this afternoon, if you’re interested…”

Sky’s ears perked up. “Ooh, what is it?”

Lyra magically opened her saddlebag and pulled out three tickets. “Parish Nandermane, a friend of my parents, is performing in a classical concert this afternoon. I got tickets for all of us!”

“Oh, that sounds great!” said Sky. “When does it start?”

“In about half an hour.” Lyra replied. “The concert hall isn’t too far away from here, though.”

Sugarcoat nodded. “It’s on the Jade Parkway. So it’ll be another nice, scenic walk.”

The Jade Parkway was a major road in Canterlot that was lined on both sides with lush green trees. No other road in the city was quite as picturesque. “You know, it’s always impressed me that a city built into the side of a mountain can have so much greenery.” Sky commented as he strolled along the parkway.

Lyra nodded in agreement. “This is pretty much the only spot on the mountain with any plant life. The rest of it is just bare. The unicorns who founded the city definitely picked the right spot!”

“The unicorns who founded the city needed to be able to grow their own crops instead of relying on the earth ponies.” Sugarcoat added. “And Princess Celestia always encourages ponies to build around the trees and bushes rather than over them.”

“That’s a really good policy.” Sky agreed.

The trio soon reached the concert hall, where many other ponies were filing in. Lyra showed her ticket to the guard pony at the entrance and was allowed to enter. Sugarcoat and Sky followed suit.

“Where should we sit?” Sky asked as he looked around for three consecutive empty seats.

“How about right here?” Sugarcoat suggested, pointing to three empty seats in one of the middle rows. “Not too close to the front, and not too close to the back.”

“Perfect!” said Lyra. She and Sky followed Sugarcoat into the twelfth row. Sky took the middle seat, with Lyra to his right and Sugarcoat to his left. Then they sat back and waited for the concert to begin.

Within a few minutes, a well-dressed unicorn stallion stepped out onto the stage. “Ladies and gentlecolts,” he said in an upper-class voice, “you are all gathered here today for a performance from three of the most accomplished musicians in Equestria. Please welcome Parish Nandermane, Beauty Brass and Frederic Horseshoepin.” The audience gave understated applause as the curtains opened to reveal a trio of earth ponies. One was a purple stallion with a harp, the second was a blue mare with a brass instrument, and the third was a gray stallion sitting in front of a piano.

“Which one is friends with your parents?” Sky whispered to Lyra.

“Parish? He’s the one with the harp.” Lyra replied. “He and my dad went to music school together, and they performed together a bunch of times. They had sort of a friendly rivalry since they were both harpists.”

“Your dad can play both the harp and the lyre?” Sky asked.

“Well, yeah, they’re pretty similar instruments.” said Lyra. “I can play both too, but I prefer the lyre because it’s easier to carry around with me.”

“Shhh, they’re about to start playing!” Sugarcoat hissed.

Sky and Lyra fell silent and turned their attention to the stage. The lights dimmed, and the three musicians began to play a slow classical symphony.

At first, Sky was enjoying the performance. The sound of the harp was smoother than melted butter. But after about ten minutes, he began to feel bored and tired. He thought classical symphonies were supposed to start slow but get more lively. In addition, he could feel his body digesting the large lunch he’d eaten at the Mountainside Cafe. He was losing energy and struggling to pay attention. Eventually, he couldn’t keep his head upright any longer, and rested it on Lyra’s shoulder. He then felt his eyelids beginning to close. The room was warm and dark, and Lyra’s shoulder made such a nice, soft pillow…

The next thing Sky knew, he was waking up to the sound of hooves clapping. He looked up at the stage and saw Parish taking a bow. Sky had no idea how much time had passed, and struggled to regain his senses.

“That was so good!” Lyra exclaimed. “What did you think of it, Sky?”

Sky shook his head. “What did I think of what?”

“The concert, Sky.” Lyra replied. “Did you like it?”

“It was, um… pretty good, I guess…” Sky said slowly.

“You fell asleep ten minutes in!” Sugarcoat laughed. “I saw you. You were using Lyra’s shoulder as a pillow.”

Sky went red with embarrassment. “Oh. Yeah…”

“You were sleeping on my shoulder?” Lyra asked, trying to suppress a laugh. “I didn’t even notice! You missed a really great performance, though.”

Sky sighed. “I’m sorry… the room was dark and the music was so slow. And I’d just had a large lunch.”

Lyra smiled. “You don’t need to apologize, Sky. It’s all right. I hope my shoulder made a good pillow for you.”

“Of course it did, Lyra.” Sky replied. “You are the pony I love the most, after all.” He leaned over and gave Lyra another kiss.

Sugarcoat looked up at the clock. “You were asleep for 46 minutes, Sky.” she quickly calculated. “That’s a good long nap. I hope you enjoyed it.”

“I’d say I did, yes.” said Sky. He followed Lyra and Sugarcoat out the theater’s exit, and squinted as the outdoor light hit him again.

“Anyway, that’s pretty much everything I wanted to do today.” said Lyra. “Visiting the castle grounds was the main thing. Thank you so much for booking the tour, Sugarcoat.”

“You’re more than welcome.” Sugarcoat replied. “And thank you for getting us tickets to the concert.”

“No problem!” said Lyra. “And thank you, Sky, for suggesting that we spend today together, and for being such a lovely coltfriend.”

“It’s all my pleasure.” Sky said with a warm smile as Lyra hugged and kissed him. “Anyway, I guess we’ll start heading home now. What a great day this was!”

Sky, Lyra and Sugarcoat walked back the way they had come, until they reached Sugarcoat’s house. Sky said goodbye to his cousin, and he and Lyra trotted down to the train station to catch the next train into Ponyville. The train soon arrived, and Sky and Lyra found seats on the far side of the carriage. The train blew its whistle, and then pulled out of the station and began to descend the mountain. Sky rested his chin on Lyra’s shoulder, and they looked out the window together. It had been a great day for the two of them – the first of many, they were sure.

Author's Note

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! It feels so good to have this story back in action!

I also included my headcanon of the Equestrian solar system in this chapter. Hopefully you found that interesting.