Davenport's eyes darted around the moonlit glade, searching, desperately, for what he expected to be there. But it was not. The owner of Quills & Sofas had been stood in the glade for at least an hour, waiting. At first calm and relaxed, he had stood by the edge of the pond in the glade, occasionally dipping his hoof in and allowing the cool water to relieve him of his anxiety. But as time had passed he had grown more and more anxious, awaiting the presence of that he now searched for.
The glade darkened as a shadow passed between the moon and the clearing. Davenport gazed upwards as a dark, hooded pony descended to land on the soft grass of the glade, wings retracting back to the pony's side as it did so. Davenport smiled; this was who he had been awaiting. As he stepped closer to the newcomer, a magical aura encompassed the hood of the cloak and pulled it back, revealing the mare Davenport had come to meet this night in secret, the mare none could know had visited him.
Princess Luna returned Davenport's smile as he bowed to her. "I have waited long for this. Thou couldst not understand my...apprehension...about coming here tonight." Davenport moved closer to her, until their muzzles were only just apart.
"I understand perfectly, Princess." he whispered, before closing the final few millimetres between them and kissing her. As they kissed, Davenport guided Luna over to the edge of the pond, where he lowered himself onto his haunches, breaking the kiss. Luna lay down beside him, resting her head on her forelegs as she gazed at the shop owner, who for his part was smiling lazily at the two ponies' reflections on the surface of the pond, lost in thought. Luna closed her eyes, her horn glowing with magic, and the leaves of the trees surrounding the glade began to glow brightly, casting light in their various colours. The lights bloomed more, growing brighter and brighter, and focusing more and more, until the trees around them looked the same as the starry sky above. Davenport gazed in wonder at the tree-stars as they shook off their leafy binds and began to rotate around the glade.
"It's..." Davenport swallowed, "it's so..."
"Magnificent? Beautiful? Dazzling? That is how the night sky has often been described. But few see it as you do now, as I do as I traverse the stars in my search." Luna was smiling as she watched the facsimiles of the stars sparkle and twirl. Davenport faced her, his eyes still darting to the lights now and again.
"Your search, Princess?" he inquired, brow furrowing.
"My search. I searched for the amazing, the astonishing, the unique. I searched the universe for the most beautiful, unbelievable things." Luna's voice dropped to a whisper, "I searched the universe for what now lies here before me, because why would it have been here, when such love is so rare?"
The lights continues to whirl and spin for a while as the two ponies lay beside one another, Luna resting her head on the ground as Davenport stroked her mane. Eventually, though, the lights faded as Luna turned her attention and magic to lowering the glowing silver orb above them to make way for her sister's sun. Sunlight crept into the glade through the trees, removing the darkness the two lovers had shared and cloaked themselves in.
Luna rose, raising her hood once more. Davenport continued to lie on the grass a moment more, eyes closed, and sighed. He rose too, slowly, but continued to keep his eyes shut to the world. "If I keep them closed, the world never changes," Davenport said, "the stars you made are still there, the night still in height, and you still by my side."
"Should you keep them closed, you shall not see where you are going, and you shall fall over something."
Davenport raised his eyelids. "You're right, as usual. And then where would we be? I'd have every customer fawning over my black eye and broken leg and teasingly demanding I tell them how I got it, all for gossip's sake."
Luna waved a hoof. "Let them gossip, they know nothing."
"Come on, now. We've gone to all this trouble to stop that very thing happening." Davenport began stretching to bring feeling back into his body, which was numb from hours not moving.
"But-"
"Princess-" Davenport hesitated, "Luna. It's frustrating, I know. It is to me too, but it's necessary, isn't it? We agreed it was necessary, to keep everypony happy."
Luna was silent, but kissed Davenport gently on the cheek. Davenport returned the kiss on her forehead.
"I am tired of hiding. There is nothing shameful in our love. I am a mare, you a stallion. The disapproval of the upper echelon is misplaced, backwards-thinking and entirely inappropriate. We may also be imagining a threat that does not exist! Neither of us know they will react as we anticipate!" Luna stomped the ground with her hoof, "We are simply assuming!"
Davenport shook his head gently. "Their opinions haven't changed in the last one thousand years, as you well know, you were there! Why would they suddenly change their minds and think it was okay for a pony to love someone outside of their class?"
"Because I demand they do!" Luna huffed and spread her wings, taking to the air and exiting the glade. She circled the glade for a moment, wondering if to return to the earth and apologise to her lover, before deciding against it and turning for Canterlot. Davenport turned and headed back for Ponyville, worried about Luna and whether she would do something rash.
As he was soon to discover, she did.
Celestia was holding court when Luna arrived at Canterlot's grandiose palace. The entirety of the Canterlot oligarchy was assembled for her usual Friday morning session, when important news would be announced, new titles distributed and tea drank in the gardens following court. Luna, still upset about her argument with Davenport, but determined to end the secrecy, burst through the double doors as Celestia was finishing reading a notice about next week's weather. Celestia looked up from the parchment listing the notices, startled.
"Luna! This is unusual, what is it you-"
"Sister, I have an announcement to make, if you would not mind." Luna stared at her sister, frowning, defying her to refuse. But she didn't. Celestia nodded and placed the parchment on a small table beside her with her magic, before concentrating on the Princess of the Night.
Luna cleared her throat before addressing the assembled ponies, turning to face them all as she spoke.
"You all take great pride in the traditions and lineage of your ancestors, ancestors whom I knew when last I was ruling Equestria with my sister and with whom I shared many opinions and views. Not only did I know them, but I was friends with many of them. I watched them grow from young fillies and colts into Lords of Here and Ladies of There and Barons and Baronesses of Every Which Place. All through their lives, and the lives of their ancestors, and the lives of their ancestors, I remained.
"And I agreed. I agreed with their views and opinions and their ways of thinking. I encouraged them that they should remain stout and unyielding in their beliefs, beliefs they had learnt from their parents, whom I had also encouraged. In this way, nothing changed. Equestria remained the same for centuries - millennia. But today, that changes. Today, I shall attempt to undo the damage I have wrought by breaking the chains I wrought. I shall attempt to free our society from old ideas that hold no place within our society now.
"What I say next may shock many of you, and will certainly cause some outrage amongst you. But hear me, for my actions are not to be looked upon as something foul and unthinkable! I have fallen in love."
The assembled gentry began to stomp in approval, however some had realised that something was wrong, that none of the elite present were the object of her affection - and all the elite were assembled.
"I have fallen in love. Not with a higher-up. Not with a member of the upper class. Not with an aristocrat. I have fallen in love, with a salesman of quills and sofas." Some of the ponies began to laugh, sure this was a joke, but most had realised it was not a joke, for Princess Luna never made them.
Then silence fell, and was broken only by a single chuckle, followed by Celestia clapping her hooves together.
"I am glad for you, Little Sister. And you are right," Celestia raised her voice to address all the assembled aristocracy, "things should have changed. It does not matter what, where or to whom you are born. What matters is how we deal with our lives, tackle the challenges we have been presented with, and that we find happiness. And I believe I am correct when I say now, that Princess Luna has found happiness. Am I correct?" Celestia looked down to Luna, who smiled gently and nodded.
Both princesses knew it would take time for things to change, but change they would have to, and change they did.
