Princess of Eventide

Not much sooner than Twilight had sent out the letter did she get a reply.

My dear Twilight, as it currently stands, all the doughnuts I've just eaten have made me thirsty. Will you meet me at Pony Joe's for warm drinks? Yours, Celestia.

It was a good thing she had set up a corresponding array to the one at Pony Joe's before actually having Spike send the letter. She stepped onto the pad as her horn started glowing, and when Spike looked up, she wasn't there.

The minute she appeared in Pony Joe's, she felt her Princess' eyes on her, watching her movements. Her heart fluttered; this was too good to be true, but here she was. She approached her teacher and sat down near her.

"You know," Celestia said, smiling softly. "This is the first time in 512 years that anypony has even asked to court me."

Twilight looked up at her mentor, something stronger than fondness, with trust mixed in evident on her face. A blush appeared on both ponies' faces as Celestia bent her head to kiss her student's head.

"Thank you, Twilight," said Celestia. "For not seeing me as an unapproachable Sun-Goddess."

Twilight, feeling that actions better spoke her feelings than words, ducked her head and neck into Celestia's warm embrace, and looked up, hope and optimism on her face. Celestia's face neared hers as the regal alicorn brushed a hoof down to lift her chin, an indescribably warm look on the alicorn's face... Then, Pony Joe interrupted them.

"Anything I can get for you tonight," the extremely brave stallion asked, somehow managing to keep a frightened smile on his face.

Celestia narrowed her eyes. Twilight almost glared at the unicorn. Joe's already frightened grin quivered.

"That will be one medium sized coffee with two prance vanilla creamers and two sweeteners. Twilight, what would you like?"

"I'd like a large Twilight Special. You remember how I like it?"

"Yes, I do, Miss Sparkle. I'll be right back with it," said Pony Joe.

Never did a stallion look so relieved to dash away. Twilight looked up at Celestia, smiling.

"You know, Princess, I don't believe you've ever tried any of my Twilight Special. Think maybe you'd like some?"

"I could say the same about my coffee," the Princess replied. "Also, when we're out like this, and no particularly courtly pony's around, I'd like to ask you to call me Tia."

"Yes," replied Twilight, pausing to catch breath and courage, leaning inward to get as close as she could to her mentor. "Tia."

That dear face started down towards hers again. Soon it would be that the gap was closed. Soon-- Pony Joe would interrupt them. Celestia and Twilight outright glared at the pony, and Joe darted back to the neutral area behind the counter. They turned their attentions back to the other. Celestia pushed her coffee towards Twilight, a glimmer in her eyes.

"Well?"

Twilight pushed her Special towards Celestia.

"I will, if you will!"

Both ponies lowered their heads-- this time to each other's drinks.

"This is nice, Twilight," said Princess Celestia. "What goes into it?"

"A little bit of a lot of things," replied Twilight. "But mostly hot chocolate. Your coffee wasn't so bad, either."

They swapped drinks, and began sipping on them. All the while, they communicated in an unspoken language that only the two of them could understand. They were growing in intimacy.

"They're about half way gone," said Twilight. "Want to mix them together?"

"I'm not sure, Twilight," the Princess replied. "Who knows what it might taste like?"

"Aw, it'll taste good," said Twilight. "Hey, Pony Joe," she called to the wincing stallion. "Don't you have a drink that mixes coffee and hot chocolate?"

"Actually, I do," replied Pony Joe. "It's rather popular. Would you like to try some?"

The two errant sweethearts were back to focusing on each other. Aside from an errant sideways twitch of Twilight Sparkle's head, Pony Joe was never answered.

"Okay," said Celestia, "Why not? Let's try it."

They mixed their drinks together, and stuck straws in both ends of the up. They both sucked together, and soon found that it had been emptied.

"This was really nice, Tia," said Twilight, sighing, and leaning up against the larger alicorn.

"Yes it was," answered Celestia, ever so tenderly.

Their heads drew nearer. Nopony would stop them-- Pony Joe had went into the kitchens. Their lips met. Twilight tasted the sun's fire that night, and Celestia knew of  her student's love. Celestia's strong lips embraced Twilight, and Twilight put her all into kissing her teacher. They had sold themselves out to the other, and nopony would ever be so close to the other as they were, as long as life was shared.

After they payed and started to leave, Twilight opened her mouth to sigh, and finished it with a yawn. For all that she had just had coffee and shared that kiss with the love of her still relatively young life, it had been a really long day, and her body was starting to tire.

"I'm sorry," said Twilight. "It's been a really long day. The best night ever has really tired me out getting to here," she finished, looking up to Celestia, eyes glowing.

"That's perfectly all right, Twilight, I know what you're talking about," responded Celestia with love gleaming in her eyes. "How would you like to spend the night at the castle, my dear?"

"Thank you, Tia, not just for the offer, but for such a wonderful night," said Twilight, as they walked together.