Although I had to pay a little more to rent the suit from Sassy Saddles, that night was going to make it totally worth it.
"Titanium, where are we going?"
"You'll see."
I was too excited to slow down or explain anything to Circe. I really wanted to make it a surprise for her. As the sun was lowered and the moon began to rise, my pace grew quicker.
It was a long walk to get there, but we finally made it to Canterlot Square. Although it was a wide open space, in the center of the square it had a large stage where there would be performers every night. Majority of the time, it was independent entertainers trying to get noticed. We got there before it became too crowded.
"Where are we?" Circe asked.
"This is Canterlot Square. There would be ponies performing on stage every night."
"Oh, like music? A play?"
"That's the beauty of it, every night it is a different... type of entertainment." Oh pony feathers! How could I have been so stupid? Tonight might not be musicians; it could be a play, a magician, a-
"Hello everypony! My name is Charlie Horse! Who's ready for a laugh?" Or maybe a comedian ready to ruin the night.
The moment he stepped on stage I wanted to unplug that microphone. Not only was he not a musician, but he was a terrible comedian.
"Anypony like that show 'Hole in the Wall?' Well I gotta tell you, I have a sister who is a unicorn and she is a pro at it. One night she was walking around her living room and tripped on the rug. Wow did she ever put a hole in the wall."
I was practically begging that somepony would boo him or something to have him leave the stage.
"Umm... I get it but, but it wasn't that funny." Circe said. Sweet Celestia, send me to the moon. I was so embarrassed that I couldn't even look at her.
"I... have to go to the bathroom..." I told her.
"Oh okay. I will come with you."
"Okay..."
You know the show is bad when she would not even wait for me to come back from the bathroom. We began to make our way through the crowd to leave, but then suddenly I felt a hoof pull me to the side.
"Found you!" It was a earth pony Royal Guard.
"Hey! What's your problem?" I demanded to know.
"Titanium, you are under arrest for going AWOL."
The ponies around us gasped. Apparently, they found us more entertaining than Charlie Horse.
"What? I didn't go AWOL. I was just out on the town."
"You were granted time off to recover, but you were not allowed to leave castle grounds. Captain Bronze Plate would like to see you."
That night was not my night.
"There you are!" Speak of Sombra.
"Hello captain." Of course I was not thrilled to see him.
"I will take it from here. You head back to the castle and fill out your report."
"Sir, are you sure you that-?"
Before the guard could ask his question, the captain practically roared at him, "Did I stutter? MOVE IT!"
The guard ran off without hesitation. I had to admit, I don't think I could have ran any quicker.
"As for you, you will get a hoof full out of me."
"Wait sir, I need to-" I turned to look at Circe, but she was nowhere to be seen. Did she abandon me? I thought we were friends... I thought... Of course she ran off. That Changeling never really saw me as a friend did she? She only used me to walk around Canterlot without the fear of being arrested. Plus, she got a free dress out of it.
"Move it!" The captain shoved me forward.
We made our way out of the crowd of ponies of staring ponies. I am just glad they did not follow us to see how the show ends. While we walked, I noticed that we were not heading to the castle. Instead, we entered a nearby park. Something did not feel right, so I took a chance and stopped.
"Is there a problem Titanium?" The captain questioned me.
I turned around to make eye contact, "Captain, where are you taking me?"
"What does it matter to you?
"This isn't the way to the castle."
"Hehe. You're right about that."
Soon the captain was engulfed in pink flames. When the flames died down, Circe appeared in her dress with a large smile on her face.
"Circe!?!"
"Hahaha! You should have seen your face! Hahaha!"
"Wha-? How? When?"
"I morphed into the captain while hiding in the crowd. I remembered what he looked like when I first saw him leaving the Infirmary. The other ponies were so focused on you that they didn't notice me change. I would have told you sooner, but I thought it was nice to have a little payback for the brain freeze."
"..."
"Titanium? I-I'm sorry. I didn't meant to make you mad. It was just a jok-."
Before she could finish her sentence, I embraced her in a hug.
"T-Titanium!?!" She was surprised by my actions, but I didn't care.
"I'm so sorry Circe."
"Sorry? For what?"
"While you were taking me away and I didn't see you in the crowd... I... I thought you ran away. I thought you abandoned me. I felt betrayed and I had thought terrible things about you."
As I held her, I felt her fore legs wrapped around me.
"Of course not. You could have turned me in to the guards back in the forest, but you treated my wounds and let me go. Then today, we spent some time together. I got to try delicious food and... this beautiful dress. You are my friend and I wouldn't abandon you."
After hearing those words, my heart began to beat faster and faster. We both loosened our fore arms and we were staring in each other's eyes.
My thoughts became distracted as I heard... guitar strings? I looked in the direction of the sound, "Do you hear that?"
"I do."
Curious, we both walked to the sound of music. Making our way through the park, we saw a small outdoor stage with ponies dancing in front. On the stage, there was a earth pony playing a guitar. Although the song he played was slow, it was a nice set of strings. To prove that, the ponies danced in tune with him. All the ponies dancing were obviously couples.
"Aww, they all look so cute together. That guitarist really knows how to play." Circe said with her hoof on her chest. It was obvious that she was touched by the scene and the background music.
I was going to thank Hasbro so hard that night.
I walked in front of Circe and bowed with my hoof extended. Although I acted confident, I was nervous and had cold sweat down my back.
"Circe, would you care to... to... May I have this dance?"
Circe blushed and had her hoof cover her mouth. It felt like minutes was going by as I waited for her answer. Slowly, her hoof left her muzzle and she grabbed my hoof. "I... I would love to..." She said with a smile.
When we were about to reach the dance floor, she pulled my hoof back.
"What's wrong?"
"I... I don't know how to dance."
"Hehe. Neither do I." I pulled her hoof and we made it on the dance floor.
We both observed a couple that was dancing near us. We both stood on our back hooves, wrapped one of our front forelegs around each other's waist, and then I grabbed her free hoof with mine. In sync, we started off with small steps until we became comfortable with our pose. Slowly and steadily, we danced just as well as the other couples.
"Haha. And you said you couldn't dance." I joked to Circe.
"Same thing can be said about you." She replied.
As we danced, I spotted a couple that looked deep in each other's eyes. I noticed the distance between their muzzles were getting shorter and shorter; both their lips met for a kiss.
My heartbeat was faster than that time I flew over 30 laps around the castle. I looked at Circe and she stared at me with those innocent eyes. I knew what I wanted to do, but could I have gone through with it? She was a changeling and I was a pegasus. Yet... I didn't care. I did not care what she was. I couldn't deny what I felt for her. I think I have... fallen for her...
"Circe..."
"Yes?"
"Come with me."
She looked at me with confusion, but she nodded that she would. We left the dance floor and walked through the park.
I didn't care where we went, but I just needed to be alone with her. I was happy that she did not ask questions since I probably would not have been able to answer them. As we walked, I spotted a small lake. We walked to the lake and stood by the edge. It was beautiful to look at as the moon reflected off the surface of the water.
"Titanium, what's wrong? You are making me nervous?"
I looked around to be sure that we were alone. After checking if the coast was clear, I took a deep breath and looked to Circe.
"Circe, I am going to ask you something crazy."
"What is it?"
"Will you... come out in your true form?"
"What!?!" She gasped, "But somepony might see me. Why do you want me in my true form?"
I walked up to her and placed my hoof on her cheek. "Because this whole time, you have been wearing somepony else's face. I want to see the real Circe..."
Circe's eyes began to glisten with tears. She grabbed my hoof that I still had on her cheek. As she held onto my hoof and she closed her eyes, the pony form that she had slowly disappeared. Soon enough, I was looking at the changeling that I first met in the forest. The Changeling that I hurt so badly and I deeply regretted.
She opened her eyes with a smile, "I'm... I'm so happy that you didn't forget about this changeling..."
"How could I?" I said with a smile.
I had closed my eyes and began to close the gap between us. With my eyes closed, I could only hope that she saw what I was doing and that she would have accepted it. As I drew closer and closer to her, I felt her breath on my lips. Then, I felt my lips touch her's. I might not be a unicorn, but I knew what was happening was magical. The time we shared together, I thought that the sun might have been rising above us. I did not want that moment to end, but unfortunately we needed to breath.
Once separated, we both had gasped for air. We opened our eyes and smiled at one another.
"Circe... would you... be my... very special changeling?"
"I... I would."
***
In the castle, Celestia sits in the Throne Room.
Princess Luna appears, "Sister, you should get some rest. I will handle the rest of your duties for the night."
"Thank you sister." As Celestia was leaving the Throne Room, a Royal Guard ran right into the princess.
"Ah! Forgive me your highness!" The guard apologized as he bowed.
"It is quite alright." She noticed a scroll on the floor next to him.
"It is my report for the day your highness. I thought you might be interested in this one. If you are tired, I can show it to Princess Luna instead."
Celestia levitated and then opened the scroll. The guard waited patiently as she read his report. "What is this about a guard going AWOL?"
"A guard named Titanium was accused of going AWOL by Captain Bronze Plate. He left the castle grounds while he was supposed to be recovering in the Infirmary. I spotted him in Canterlot Square, but the captain arrived and took him in his custody."
"I see. Tell me, where is Captain Bronze Plate now?"
"I am not sure your highness. He is probably still on his way to the castle with the prisoner."
"Hmm... I will be going out for a bit. Give this report to my sister."
"Yes your highness."