Celestia looked around the busy restaurant before looking back down to Anon with a smile still plastered on her face. Gentle music softly played from the stage to their right as the orchestra played their instruments, seemingly exclusively for the Princess and her consort.

"I'm glad that the restaurant is to your liking. It's been around for quite some time now, and has become something of a favorite of mine when I'm feeling like going out... not that I tend to do so very much anymore." Celestia explained, trailing off with a small chuckle.

Anon frowned, "You don't really get out that much anymore, what with all the responsibilities of being a princess, do you? ." He replied.

Celestia's smile dampened somewhat, "Well, there was a time for quite a while where I would go out on the town and enjoy time with my subjects on a more personal level... sadly my responsibilities have seen me busier and busier as time passed, and these days I find myself only going out to restaurants like this one when there's some sort of important meeting with delegates from other countries, or something to that end. Well, that and taking cute stallions out for a date, every now and then." She responded, looking over to Anon with an innocent look in her eyes.

Anon took a moment to take in Celestia's words, before a small blush creeped up on his cheeks, "Is this flirting I'm hearing? Celestia, I'm shocked," He said, holding his hand to his chest in feigned shock, "You know all the words to get to my heart." He chuckled.

Celestia let out a laugh, "I should hope so. A thousand years hopefully didn't go to complete waste in the dating department. Granted, I'm out of practice, and I'm used to these kinds of things moving far quicker, but for now, I'm simply enjoying the ride as you are, Anon." She explained, before a waiter in a well fitted black vest approached.

"Welcome to the 'Maretta' signora e signore. My name is Ignacio, and I will be serving you tonight. We hope that you are having a most wonderful evening. Might I interest you in some of our fine vinos?" The stallion greeted, his accent thick as it rolled off his tongue.

Celestia immediately magicked the menu into her hooves and looked over the wine selection. After only a few moments, she replied, "We'll have a bottle of the Chateau Lafaurie Peyraguey Sauternes." She requested, receiving a small bow from the waiter.

"Of course, Princess," Ignacio responded, before turning tail and nearly galloping toward the kitchen.

As the waiter trotted away, Anon once more surveyed the room, "Well, this is a hell of a way to wind down after a long day. Must be expensive though." He surmised, looking back to Celestia.

Celestia chuckled, "Oh, Anon. It's well within the treasury's budget to wine and dine very important ponies, even if they happen to not be a pony, every once in a while. Besides, that's something that Raven would bring up... to... me..." She trailed off, a look of realization appearing on her face.

Anon tilted his head to the side, "Uh... everything okay, Celestia?"

Celestia's ears folded back against her head, "Um... yes. I just realized that I forgot something. Would you please excuse me for a moment?" She asked before standing up and heading toward the front desk.

"Uh, yeah... sure? I guess?" Anon replied, sounding completely lost as Celestia walked past him. He quickly leaned over to Javelin, "Hey, do you know what's going on?"

"I'm about as lost as you are, to be honest." Javelin answered, shrugging.

"She's really laying the charm on thick, though. Almost feels like a real date." Anon mentioned, sitting back upright.

"Certainly does feel that way." Javelin acknowledged with a noncommittal shrug.

Celestia quickly made her way to the front desk where the hostess was still sitting and tapped her on the wither.

"Oh my gosh! Princess, is there anything you need?" The hostess exclaimed, upon seeing who was trying to get her attention.

"Actually yes, there is. There should be a mare arriving soon, or maybe already waiting outside, by the name of Raven Inkwell. She's a white unicorn mare with a black mane and tail. Could you please do me the favor of inviting her inside if she's outside?" Celestia pleasantly inquired.

"Of course, Princess!" The hostess replied, before bolting out the front door.

"Is there anypony by the name of Raven Inkwell here tonight!?" The hostess shouted at the crowd.

"I am!" Raven responded, raising her hoof up in the air as the crowd around her grumbled at not being chosen.

Raven quickly swam through the crowd, much to their displeasure, and arrived at the front of the restaurant, wearing a black dress that hugged her haunches, withers, and barrel, but hung loose at her forelegs and hindlegs. Her mane was let down and brushed to the side, covering one side of her face while leaving the other exposed. A slightly noticeable amount of makeup and mascara was present on her eyes and face, highlighting her features nicely.

"Right this way, ma'am." The hostess cheerily greeted.

Raven nodded as she was led inside and quickly found herself face to face with Celestia once more.

"Raven! There you are. I am so sorry about that! I completely forgot to inform the staff that you would be joining us." Celestia acknowledged, an apologetic look on her face.

"It's perfectly fine, Princess. I was just getting acquainted with some of the nobility." Raven coolly responded as she approached the solar diarch.

"Right, well that's good to hear then. Come along, Raven. I think you'll enjoy the atmosphere." Celestia smiled, before turning to the hostess, "And thank you for finding my friend out there."

The hostess immediately blushed, "Oh, why... t-thank you, Princess!" She responded, a beaming smile on her face.

Celestia nodded before turning around and leading Raven toward the back of the restaurant where Anon and Javelin were talking. As they approached, Javelin's eyes were drawn to Raven as she walked toward him, her dress tightly clinging to her barrel with every step she took, highlighting her figure and assets while she approached. Javelin's jaw not-so-subtly dropped, prompting Anon to turn his attention to the returning diarch and her secretary.

"I do hope you don't mind, Anon, but I wanted to invite Raven out tonight with us. I thought we could do a... double-date, of sorts." Celestia began, breaking the ice with a wide smile as Raven looked up to her in shock.

"A double-date?" Anon questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course, Anon and I are here to spend a the evening enjoying dinner together, and there does happen to be a dashing young royal guard sitting with us without a date." Celestia coyly replied, using her magic to push a now profusely blushing Raven toward Javelin.

"Uh, I... b-but... Princess-" Raven began, only to stop short as she bumped into Javelin's chest.

The tall stallion looked down at the secretary mare now pressed firmly against him while both of their coats adopted a shade of red more befitting of a tomato. After a moment of awkward silence, Javelin coughed into his hoof and stepped back enough to give Raven some breathing room.

"I... um... I suppose I'd be alright with that." He admitted, looking toward the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in the room.

Raven's blush managed to somehow darken even further as she stuttered for a response, "W-well... if... if the Sergeant is okay with it, then... then I suppose it w-would be alright."

Celestia absolutely beamed, "Fantastic! Come, come. Sit with us. The waiter is bringing a bottle of some Prench wine I'd just love for you all to taste."

The solar princess quickly ushered the guard and secretary to the table beside her own, before pushing it up until the tables connected, forming one large place for all four of them to sit and eat. As she diligently worked to get them all seated together, Anon watched with a raised eyebrow. He waited for Javelin to sit beside him before playfully elbowing him in the ribs.

"Looks like you're gonna get a chance with the hot secretary after all. Don't blow it." Anon teased with a grin.

Javelin shook his head and rolled his eyes, "I could say the same for you. Don't you blow it either." He chuckled.

Anon scoffed, "As if I could blow this even if I tried." He grinned, some bravado in his voice.

Before he could receive an answer, Celestia and Raven took their seats across from the man and stallion. Raven immediately took to drinking the glass of water placed out in front of her, while Celestia politely cleared her throat, indicating that she wanted to talk.

"So Anon, tell me. How has your week been? I haven't had a chance to really sit down with you and discuss anything other than your training with Raven all week, which I must say, I am impressed by, nonetheless. Raven's had nothing but good things to say about your progress every time I've spoken with her." Celestia spoke up, cheerily.

Anon chuckled, "Has she now? The other day she told me that if I didn't 'pick my head up from my book and pay attention, she was going to see how far monkey's can fly'." He responded.

Celestia's eyes immediately widened and she looked over to Raven with a look of shock on her face. Raven, meanwhile, spit out all of the water in her drink, nearly all of it landing on Javelin.

"W-what!? I didn't say anything like that!" Raven defensively exclaimed, before looking back to Javelin, "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry, Sergeant!" She cried, prompting Anon to double over in laughter, and attract the eyes of dozens of guests at the restaurant.

Raven immediately levitated no less than ten napkins from the nearby tables, as well as her own, over to Javelin's face and set about toweling him down. Javelin simply accepted the treatment as the water was quickly wicked away from his coat. Meanwhile, Anon wiped tears from his eyes while he continued to chuckle until his stomach hurt. Even Celestia struggled to keep a smirk from appearing on her lips as Raven frantically tried to undo her mistake.

Once Raven was finally satisfied enough to pull away from the stallion, she ignited her horn once more, forming a wave of heat energy that blew into Javelin's coat to dry any moisture she missed. After a few seconds, Javelin was completely dry, however now his coat was puffed up and overly-fluffed, giving him the appearance of a really large Pomeranian. Upon seeing this, Anon once again doubled over in laughter, this time joined by Celestia and a few snickers from the other guards and guests as well.

Raven held her head in her hooves in defeat as Javelin simply pursed his lips and stared straight ahead. A long, slow sigh escaped him after a moment, before he cast his own spell and smoothed out the fluffiness of his blow-dried coat.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Javelin rolled his eyes.

Anon and Celestia continued to laugh, then chuckle, and then eventually calm down after a few minutes, prompting the rest of the guards to resume their professional attitudes. Anon wiped one last tear from his eye as he held back a few more giggles at Javelin's expense just as Ignacio finally reappeared with the wine.

"Ah, I see that there are two additional guests tonight," He greeted, looking to Javelin and Raven with a practiced smile, "Welcome, welcome to the 'Maretta'. Is there a particular vino or other drink I could bring you two?"

Raven and Javelin shared a look before looking at the wine on Ignacio's tray.

"Um, I think I'll be fine with the wine Princess Celestia already ordered." Raven replied.

"Same here. I'm actually a little curious to try Prench wine. Never had any before." Javelin added.

"Well then signore e signora, you are both in for a treat." Ignacio responded, before levitating the bottle off of the tray and over to the table. He expertly poured an even amount of wine into each of the four wine glasses sitting in front of each pony or person at the table.

Celestia used her magic to pick up her glass and levitate it up to her lips. She took a dainty sip of the wine, its tart, yet lively flavor registering wonderfully on her palate as she gave the taste a moment to sink in, before swallowing.

"It's just as excellent as the first time. If not, better." Celestia kindly nodded to the waiter.

"I am pleased to hear that the wine is still up to your standards, Princess." Ignacio replied with a deep bow, before magicking a pen and paper out from his vest, "Now, have you all had a chance to look over the menu? Or shall I give you more time?" He asked, looking expectantly at the rest of the group.

Anon scratched the back of his neck while Javelin and Raven picked up their menus and looked over the entrees as quickly as they could.

"I think we'll need a few more minutes, Ignacio." Celestia chuckled.

The waiter stallion quickly returned his pen and paper to his vest, "Certainly, your highness. I will return in precisely five minutes."

With that, Ignacio trotted off toward the kitchen, leaving Anon, Javelin, Celestia, and Raven alone with only the pleasant sound of the music emanating from the stage across from them.

"I suppose I should have read over this a little sooner." Raven chuckled.

"Agreed... Everything on here is so expensive. I mean... I would go for the alfalfa salad, but it's over two hundred bits..." Javelin replied, his brow furrowing as he looked over his menu.

"Please, do not concern yourselves with the price of anything on the menu tonight. Even if we somehow overspend the treasury's allowance for the month in just one night, I have a private account that I haven't used in over two hundred years that will easily cover our meals." Celestia waved a hoof dismissively.

"A-are you certain, Princess?" Javelin hesitantly asked.

"Of course. You've done a fantastic job keeping Anon out of trouble lately, so consider this a reward for your good work ethic." Celestia cheerily replied.

The frown on Javelin's face instantly lifted, and he pointed to the aforementioned salad in his menu, "Well then I think I'd like to try the alfalfa." He declared.

Raven looked over her menu for a few more moments before setting it down and nodding once, "I suppose it would be rude of me to decline. I know what I want."

Celestia smiled before looking over to Anon, finding him swishing the wine in his glass around while he studied it closely. Javelin and Raven both looked on curiously as the tall man inspected his wine almost as if it was poisoned.

"Is everything alright with the wine, Anon?" Celestia inquired.

"Well, if I'm being honest, I've never been much of a wine drinker. Having said that, I can tell that it's old. Really old." He surmised.

Celestia smiled, "Very astute of you, Anon. That wine is actually over a hundred years old. It was a gift from the Hippogriff kingdom. Their queen and I have been friends for centuries." She explained.

"Jav and I were talking about them a bit earlier... I still haven't seen one yet." Anon replied, before taking a sip of his wine.

"You will soon enough. You'll have to learn about all of Equestria's neighbors and allies all over the world." Raven chimed in, before trying her wine as well.

Anon rolled his eyes as he set his wine glass back down on the table. He looked up to Celestia, finding her giving him an expectant look.

"What?" He asked.

"How is the wine?" Celestia questioned, excitedly.

"It's pretty good. Like I said, I've never been much for wine, but I can see the appeal." Anon replied with a small smile.

"Oh... I see. Well I'm glad you liked it." Celestia replied, a slightly downtrodden tone in her voice that she just couldn't seem to completely hide, even with her smile.

Anon looked at her curiously, but before he could say anything, Ignacio returned.

"Greetings once more. Have you all decided what you would like to eat this evening?" He inquired.

"Sure. Can I get the alfalfa salad?" Javelin spoke up.

"Of course. For you?" Ignacio replied, turning to Raven.

"I'd like the caesar salad." Raven answered.

"An excellent choice. For you, sir?" Ignacio turned to Anon.

"Uh... can I get the quinoa veggie soup?" Anon asked.

"Very nice choice, sir. And for you, Princess?" Ignacio bowed.

"I would like the fettuccine alfredo, if it's not too much trouble." Celestia politely requested.

"It's no trouble at all, Princess," Ignacio responded with another bow, before getting back up and addressing the group as a whole, "I will take your orders to the kitchen. I expect that your food will be ready very soon."

With that, the waiter pony left the group. Anon watched as he left, before his gaze shifted over to the solar princess sitting across from him once more. She swirled her wine in her glass for a few moments before taking another sip and placing it down on the table. Outwardly, her expression looked completely normal. There was a pleasant smile on her face, she seemed interested in everyone around her, and her posture was upright and proper. However, her eyes just didn't quite seem to convey that as much anymore. It made Anon frown.

"Hey, uh... Celestia? Are you alright?" Anon asked, leaning forward slightly.

Javelin and Raven both turned their attention to the solar princess as she looked at Anon quizzically.

"Of course, everything is fine. Why?" Celestia answered, tilting her head to the side.

Anon creased his brow for just a moment. He wondered if he was just seeing things or if his interpretation of equine body language just wasn't quite up to snuff, before shaking his head.

"Uh, no reason. You just looked a little upset for a second there. Sorry." Anon dismissed.

Celestia put on a winning smile, "Oh you needn't worry about me. I just had a passing thought about some work I need to do tomorrow. Not to worry though, I won't let a little distraction like that spoil this night." She happily replied, much to Raven, Anon, and Javelin's relief.

Anon chuckled, "I hear you. I'm not really looking forward to that part of the job if I'm being honest."

"Maybe if you paid attention to me more, you'd have an easier time understanding your duties." Raven chimed in with an unapologetic shrug.

"Now how would I annoy you if I did what you wanted me to?" Anon chuckled.

Raven pointed a hoof at Anon, "I knew it! You are just trying to mess with me!" She exclaimed.

Now it was Anon's turn to shrug unapologetically, "Well if I didn't, who would? It's a service that needs to be done."

Javelin snickered, earning a scowl from Raven that quickly made him avert his gaze and whistle inconspicuously. Meanwhile, Celestia brought a hoof over her mouth to keep from giggling at the exchange happening in front of her.

"You... you... ugh," Raven sighed, "I need a break from your antics." She sighed, shaking her head.

"Oh, Raven, I'm sure Anon is just joking with you. He isn't out to make your job any more difficult than it already is." Celestia spoke up, through her giggles.

"Yeah, yeah," Anon agreed, before leaning over to Javelin, "But like, not really though."

Javelin struggled to keep from laughing as Raven looked at them both with a deadpan expression on her face. Celestia decided to take the lull in conversation to initiate a new one with Anon once more.

"So, Anon," She began, ripping his attention away from Raven, "I haven't had a chance to ask much about it as of late, but I have been exceedingly curious over the past few weeks. Could you tell me a little about your life back on your world? I do find the concept of life on another planet just fascinating." She asked, giving him her full attention.

Anon nodded and took a few moments to collect his thoughts. Once he was ready, he fixed Celestia with an expectant look, "Alright, what would you like to know?"

"Well for starters, where did you grow up? What was growing up there like?" Celestia inquired.

Anon nodded once more, "Well, I grew up in a city named Syracuse. It's a nice enough place if you like the winter. Gets really cold up there and we got a lot of snow. Sometimes it was almost teo stories high." He explained.

"Two stories worth of snow? Oh my gosh." Raven spoke up, clearly interested in the story.

"Yeah, we got a lot of snow during the winters, and a lot of heat and humidity during the summers." Anon laughed.

Raven cringed, "Humidity makes my mane all frizzy. No thank you."

The group shared a small chuckle before Javelin chimed in, "You know what, now that we're talking about this, I just realized that I don't know much about you from before you got here. What did you do before you wound up in Equestria?"

"For work?" Anon asked, receiving a nod, "Well, I went to college for engineering. Found out that there's a lot of math involved and I'm actually not the smartest guy in every room I walk into," He chuckled, "That and parties are way more fun than calculating the solubility of carbon dioxide in aqueous amine solutions."

Raven, Javelin, and Celestia all stared at him blankly.

"The solubility of what?" Javelin asked, his ears folding back as he squinted in confusion.

"Exactly," Anon laughed, "So once I managed to fail that class, I had student loans to pay. So... I found a job at a local car shop, just fixing up trucks and other stuff people needed to have fixed. It paid the bills, and I didn't have to do complex equations. Win-win."

"I see. What exactly are these trucks you were fixing?" Celestia inquired, giving Anon her full attention.

"Long story. Basically, they're just carts that are powered by engines so you don't have to pull them yourself. Work great in pretty much all conditions, but we did get a lot of them coming in because people can't drive for crap in the snow." Anon shrugged.

"Well when you're getting a building's worth of it, I imagine it'd be hard to do just about anything." Raven shook her head.

Anon chuckled, "And don't even get me started on how cold it got. I think the lowest I ever saw was negative fifty degrees, and that's without the wind chill."

"Wow." Javelin whistled.

"I don't think I've heard of temperatures that cold anywhere in Equestria. I believe the lowest temperature we've ever recorded was long before I was born, back when the wendigos ruled and the pony tribes all lived separate from each other." Celestia thoughtfully added.

Anon did a double take, "Wait a minute... there was stuff going on before you were born?"

Celestia chuckled, "Of course there was. I'm only around thirteen hundred years old. Somepony had to raise the sun and moon before my sister and I did."

"You didn't think Equestria was only a thousand years old, did you?" Javelin playfully elbowed Anon's side.

Anon shook his head, "I mean... kinda, yeah. Who raised the sun and moon before you guys were born?" He pressed, leaning forward with interest.

"Oh well, to tell you that story, we'd have to go back to the very founding of Equestria and Hearth's Warming." Celestia replied.

"Well, we've got some time before the food comes out. Besides, I haven't really had any history lessons yet, so this is interesting to me." Anon smiled.

Celestia felt a warmth in her heart at Anon's smile, and allowed a dainty little smile of her own to form on her face.

"Oh, I suppose we have some time. It all started back over two-thousand years ago, long before ponies knew harmony..."

Author's Note

I think that it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that a bit of this story was inspired by "Everyday Life with Guardsmares". While I can't say I'm super into the story anymore, I really do like a lot of the characters and world building in there. So I may have... borrowed a little bit here and there, purely in a way to pay homage to that story.

But anyways, yeah! The princesses and Anon sharing their culture is something that I think is super neat and important for an actual relationship to form, and I am super hyped for the next few chapters. I think you guys will really like them. Hopefully. I'm just spitballing at this point.