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// 2 Time, Love and Couture 
// Story: Written in the Stars 
// by Bronyxy 
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At the same time as Luna went to bed, Rarity awoke and took stock of what had happened the previous evening.  She lay in her bed, quite content to relive the wonderful meeting with Princess Luna the night before, still unable to believe the interest that she had shown in her dress designs.

The privilege of sharing so much quality time with the Princess in person had been simply overwhelming, in fact she still felt dizzy thinking about it even now and reached over for a pillow that she drew close to herself and hugged tight, giggling like a filly.  The Princess had been so kind and so supportive in her endeavours and even created a whole new constellation, just for her.  How giddy that made her feel!

She dared for a brief moment to consider how a future meeting could go between them; they had been close; not just a meeting of artistic temperaments united in mutual admiration of each other’s abilities, but also physically close and it had felt good, it had felt right.
“Oh Rarity, you naughty filly!” she said to herself giggling some more.

Throughout the entire day, the fashion designer applied herself with a fervour to her new range of dresses she had decided to call ‘The Princess of the Night Collection’ and hoped Luna would approve.  She wanted to have the dress designs finalised so that if they were to meet again tonight, as she sincerely hoped they would, she would be ready to showcase the range.

Opalescence started mewing pitifully around midday to remind Rarity that she wanted feeding, an interruption without which her mistress would have happily worked through continuously until nightfall.  All day long she focused hard on the new wardrobe, humming happy songs and occasionally congratulating herself or telling herself off for some intricate feature of the designs, always immersing herself again immediately afterwards with renewed vigour.

Although she had absent-mindedly had something to eat when she had fed Opalescence, she had otherwise seen the whole day fly by from within her bubble of rapt attention, utterly unaware of anything else happening around her.  Finally, she straightened up and let out a little gasp as she stretched, looking to the clock in horror; it was almost dark!

She wanted to look nonchalant for the anticipated arrival of Princess Luna again tonight and poured herself a glass of her favourite wine, just to help her relax.  It tasted good; so good that she poured herself another and then once having assured herself that the drawings were all secure and arranged in the correct order, she adjourned outside to admire the onset of night.

Night, she suddenly realised, had always been her favourite time of day.  Or was that because she had suddenly developed a deep interest in the Princess herself?  No, she was sure it had always been her favourite time.  The wine tasted very good and she abruptly realised that she hadn’t eaten anything in a very long time; but equally that she couldn’t stop to prepare herself something now in case she missed the arrival of Princess Luna.  She rolled the name around in her mouth and in her head and giggled.  Her glass was empty again.  Time for another refill; just one more.

A short while later, with the moon high in the sky, the graceful silhouette of a regal alicorn descended towards Carousel Boutique, her wings flaring just before landing so that she touched down with barely a sound.  Waiting for her was an immaculate white unicorn with a glass of wine by her side.
“Good evening Princess” she greeted warmly “I’m sho pleased to see you again.”
“Good evening, Rarity” she replied, overlooking the slight slurring “I too have been looking forward greatly to seeing you and your progress with the new dresses.”
“Your night shky looks lovelier than ever” continued Rarity leaning back to appreciate it all in one large vista and slightly misjudging her point of balance.
Luna rushed forward to catch her as she elegantly tipped over backwards, white forehooves outstretched as if embracing the entire sky.  Rarity found herself giggling at the soft embrace she found herself in and whilst on one level feeling a little embarrassed, on another she was quite happy for it not to end.  In the back of her mind, something was trying to tell her this was not alright, but this was a voice she definitely didn’t want to listen to tonight.

Luna spied a pair of glasses and a bottle of wine set on one side and hazarded a guess as to what had happened before she had arrived, a reconstruction which whilst not accurate in every detail still delivered her to the same conclusion.
“Come Rarity” she soothed “You have had a busy and I dare say industrious day, but perhaps now is the time to go inside?”

Rarity’s mind, assisted by a few too many glasses of wine had toppled at the same time she had overbalanced and her composure was taking a turn for the worst.  Still within Luna’s embrace, she tilted her head even further backwards until their eyes met, then burst out laughing because the Princess appeared upside down …
“Did you know your head is upside down?” she asked in mock solemnity before being overtaken with bouts of laughter once again.

Luna gently propped up the exhausted fashion designer, careful to hold her securely lest she overbalance again.  Rarity felt liberated by the firmer embrace and in response turned to wrap her forehooves round the startled Princess and before she could react, planted a deep kiss on her lips.

Although such an act was something that Luna had long desired, she knew these were not the circumstances in which she should be responding in kind; seducing an inebriated pony, even a willing one had the potential to play out very badly.

Reluctantly, she pulled away from the affection and half walked, half dragged her giggling friend into the boutique where they were greeted by indignant meows from a very grumpy looking white cat who was pawing at an empty food bowl.

Luna thought briefly about using her magic, but didn’t want to encourage a magical response from the inebriated unicorn just in case things escalated into a barrage of spells and counterspells of unpredictable outcome.  Rarity had to be put to bed to sleep off her excesses before she could get herself into any further trouble.
“Which way to your bedroom?” she asked, immediately regretting the suggestive connotations of her innocent request.
“Oh Princess!” gasped Rarity “I accept!”

It was now Luna’s turn to be dragged along by the eager white pony, who led her briskly if slightly inaccurately upstairs and into her bedroom.  She stopped and turned to face her intended seductress, looking deep into her eyes; “Take me any way you want Princess!  Don’t hold back!”
At this request, a blue aura emanated from Luna’s horn and Rarity drifted from consciousness for her own good.
“Another time perhaps” whispered the Princess, smiling sweetly at the beautiful fashionista and levitated her into her bed, tucking her in carefully, turning out the light and soundlessly closing the door behind her.

Angry stares from a petulant white cat met her as she tiptoed downstairs; her next duty was clear also.  A brief look around showed her where the kitchen was, but in spite of looking in every cupboard there was no sign of cat food.  Sensing that she was next on the priority list but still in imminent danger of not being fed, Opalescence stalked into the kitchen, tail raised high, to stand beside a box hidden behind rain clothes, from where she meowed loudly.
“Ah, I see” said Luna who levitated the contents and deposited a generous portion into the food bowl and proceeded to fill her water too.
“A ‘thank you’ would have been in order” she mused to herself, a wry smile spreading across her face.

With her duties completed, Luna caught sight of a pile of sketches and took the opportunity to flip through them.  There was a large body of work showing a cleverly conceived and beautifully crafted range of designs all based around a common theme of the night sky; there was no doubting the vision Rarity had and the talent with which she had developed the themes into such elegant dresses.  Then there was the name: ‘The Princess of the Night Collection’; she flushed a little with the honour this bestowed and gently put everything back in its place.

Now she had put the house back in order, Luna let herself out and looked at the two glasses Rarity had set out for them, noticing not only a part filled bottle but also an empty one next to it.  She poured herself a glass and tasted its reassuringly warming glow as she looked back at Carousel Boutique, allowing her mind to play out how events could have unfolded had her hostess taken better care of herself during the day.  This would be something for another day if Rarity still felt the same way once she had sobered up.  Nurturing fond feelings of what might have been, she stretched her wings majestically and launched herself into the night sky.


“How was your night Luna?” enquired Celestia gently with none of the previous day’s inquisition “Did you return to Ponyville?”
“Yes Sister, I did.”
“And how was your friend?”
“Indisposed, I fear” replied Luna.
“I trust she will soon recover” sympathised Celestia “And I wish the two of you well.”
“Thank you, Sister,” she replied cordially.
The rest of the handover was completed with customary formality, and once concluded, Luna excused herself to retire to her bedchamber, her thoughts firmly focused on a beautiful white unicorn many miles away.


Rarity awoke to a hammering in her head and groaned.

Her memory of the night before was sketchy and incomplete.  She remembered having spent all day completing her sketches and Princess Luna arriving, but then it all got a little cloudy.  Her body was screaming at her to get to the bathroom, but by the same token was extremely reluctant to let her get up.  She vaguely remembered a little sauciness, but couldn’t recall the details or even how she had got to bed.  Reluctantly, the pressure in her bladder forced her to slide out of bed, a task made all the more complex by getting a rear hoof caught in the bedding, causing her to trip forward onto the floor with the grace and dexterity of a Tatzlwurm.

She completed her basic bodily functions in just about the right order and then set forth to tackle the day.  Opalescence looked remarkably content which set alarm bells ringing immediately, so she went to retrieve the cat food for her taskmaster, only to find that what she thought should have been a nearly full box was now almost empty.  Slightly perplexed, she decanted sufficient for her breakfast and then went to make her own, not that she fancied too much.  Black coffee; that was what she wanted.

Once sobered up, Rarity went to look back at her sketches.  She couldn’t remember if she had shown them to the Princess or not, but flipped back through them all and confirmed that she was still broadly happy with them anyway; just a few little tweaks needed here and there.  She put them back down again and then checked her projects board to see what she needed to catch up on from the day before and gave a sigh; it would be another busy day.