Twilight in the Sky with Sparkles

by Prince Paladin


A single night

You watch the moon rise, and look at your handiwork on the hill. A good distance away from the lone tree, a picnic blanket was set up, which had a basket that contained daffodil and daisy sandwiches for her, and grilled cheese for you. Satisfied with the basic setting you'd constructed, you decided to stare intently at the clock on your phone, which you brought from Earth.

"Come on Celestia, we're waiting on you..."

"Did you invite her along too?"

You must've jumped you own height. "Twilight! I, uh... I didn't think you'd be here so soon!"

"Well, getting ready for a date becomes a whole lot easier when you're told not to dress up too fancy. I will admit though, I was a bit worried when you said we'd be outdoors. But picnics are always nice! Even if it is a bit late in the day for one..."

"Well, I just figured--"

Suddenly, the sun started dipping below the horizon.

Thank you, o benevolent princess...

As the sun disappeared from the sky, countless white dots began shining through the dark, decorating the night sky. Twilight looked around as she realized what you were up to.

"A stargazing picnic... Nice move."

"Thanks. You want a sandwich?"

She took her seat beside you and began manipulating the flower sandwich with her magic, all the while staring up at the night sky.

"You know, I'll confess." You said as you grabbed your own sandwich and she took a bite out of hers. "We had our own constellations on earth, but I don't recognize any of them here."

"Mmm?" she hummed as she looked at you, a bite of her food still in her mouth.

"I wasn't here that long..." you reply defensively.

Twilight responds by swallowing her bite, and gently shoving you to the ground as she lies next to you. "Just stay right there and keep looking up. This is how I get all my friends interested in astronomy." Her horn started glowing, and suddenly, the sky was filled with images of creatures outlined by bright purple magic, and looking as if they were taken out of a book detailing old myths. You could only drop our jaw at this wondrous sight, only turning to look at her halfway through her own peek at your reaction. Suffice to say, she was amused. "So, that right there is Starswirl the Bearded, who's standing with the rest of the Pillars of Old Equestria to fight the Pony of Shadows..."

As she explained, the images came to life to act out the very events she was describing. Many of Equestria's constellations detailed ancient events in Equestria. The Pillars of Old Equestria, Celestia and Luna's rise to power, the fall of the Crystal Empire, the banishment of Nightmare Moon, it was all there.

"...wow." you say, completely dumbfounded. "And here I thought I'd be impressing you tonight."

That last line earned a giggle from her. "Can't expect to do all the heavy lifting, you know."

"Well, luckily I still have my own ace in the hole." you say as you pull various papers from your basket. Thank Celestia I downloaded that ebook before I came here.

"Oh? And what's that?" Twilight asks, now fully interested in what you were doing, which broke her concentration on the night sky. As you rolled out the papers, she started looking confused as they only looked like hand drawn star charts. Then it dawned on her. Those stars didn't look like Equestria's.

"Like I said, Earth had it's own constellations. ...well? Care to learn about the stars above an entirely different plane--"

"YES YES YES!!!!!" Twilight said excitedly as she knocked you down and climbed onto your chest. "How different are they!? Does your night sky still have comets and meteor showers!? Tell me everything!!!"

"Alright, alright!" you say with a laugh as you shove Twilight off of your body. "So, that right there's Orion..."

You then spend some time explaining Earth's constellations to a very eager alicorn, as well as the myths behind them. You really were lucky you had downloaded that ebook, because without it, you wouldn't have a clue what you were talking about. All of the myths, legends, and seasonal changes fascinated her, but then you got to one particular legend...

"Altair and... Vega?"

"Yes. The story's been told by many cultures in many different ways, but essentially, a peasant and an angel meet and fall in love, but the heavens forbid their union. So the separated them with a celestial river now known as the Milky Way. But the magpies grew sympathetic for the star crossed lovers, so every year, on the seventh day of the seventh month, they use their wings to form a bridge so that the two could be together for a single night of passion."

You look towards Twilight, who's already looking at you. You stare at each other for a moment, when suddenly, she leaped for you. You both land in the bush, and have your single night.