“Well, that was a rather successful ball, I would say,” Bean remarked while he and his wife slowly walked towards their room. “However one would score a ball, that is. Either by points or a letter grade, it still gets very high marks.”
“Indeed,” Celestia agreed with a small yawn.
“Amazing how tiring standing around can be, isn’t it?” he offered with a yawn of his own to match hers.
“It is, but it was very much worth it. However, I am ready to kick these shoes off and to curl up with you until dawn, and I would guess that you would enjoy that as well.”
“Snugglestia? Yes, please!” Bean replied, and the two of them shared a light laugh together. “Did we have anything important going on tomorrow?”
“Not in the morning. Wysteria is good to keep the morning after a late event like this open so that we can sleep in once I have raised the sun. I do believe our first appointment is not until eleven.”
“That would be nice,” he replied, and he rested his head on her neck while they proceeded. “I love you, you know.”
“I love you too, my Bean.” she replied, and Bean felt the warmth of that love spread through his chest.
“Good evening, Sister,” Luna called out, “and to you, Bean. How was the ball?”
“Where are you?” Bean asked with a glance around the hall, and Luna dropped down out of the air in front of them with a sly grin. “Oh, right. You fly too.”
“Every now and then,” Luna said with a low laugh.
“The ball was nice,” Bean continued. “The guards who spoke to us all said they greatly enjoyed it, and Trixie didn’t disembowel Prince Blueblood with a dessert spoon.”
“That does qualify it for an unabashed success, then,” Luna replied with a smile. “I apologize for not being able to attend.”
“It’s fine; Celestia explained why to me. I can imagine it’s still hard for you to be without your Star, even after all this time.”
“It is. Perhaps one day I will be able to attend a social function without him, but the pain of his absence still pricks deeply, I’m afraid.”
Bean felt his heart drop with Luna’s wings, and he felt horrible for bringing up the subject. He could bet that Luna was understating how much she really did miss her beloved, and how much her heart still ached for him. He had heard the phrase ‘time heals all wounds’ over and over throughout his life, but clearly some wounds never fully healed, no matter how much time one had.
A gust of wind tickled the hairs of his coat just then, and while Celestia asked her sister about the progress of the evening, Bean found himself hearing the whispered voice of an unseen other.
“Ah, my fair Luna. How ah wish ah could cure yer pain.”
Bean glanced around the hall, but there was no sign of the speaker. He hoped that the whisper was who he thought it was, and that perhaps his impassioned desire could somehow be brought to pass.
When Baked Bean was young and new to the world of cooking, he would occasionally receive bursts of inspiration for new dishes to make, and new ingredient combinations to try. His father had gently and gleefully explained that such flashes were the inner muse of a chef, and that if he followed the inspiration he could create fantastic wonders for the world.
When Baked Bean’s eyes returned to Luna, he saw that flash of inspiration once again. He wasn’t sure if it was the mysterious voice speaking to him, or if he had just stumbled into the idea by himself, but it didn’t much matter either way. There was something he could do to help his sister-in-law, and the more he thought of it, the more happiness he felt.
“Luna?” Bean asked. “May I have this dance?” He crooked an elbow in her direction and gave a short bow.
Luna and Celestia both gave him a curious look, but it was Luna who replied. “Why would I do that? The ball is over.”
“Yes, but the decorations are still up, and the tables haven’t been put away yet. You could at least see how the party looked, so when we tell you about it you could have a better mental image to work with. And it would be a shame if you did not have at least one dance this evening.”
Luna contemplated the offer for a moment, and then she smiled. “You know, I do believe I would like to have one dance. That is, if your wife approves of the idea.”
“So long as you hurry,” Celestia replied with a playfully stern look. “He has stayed out past his bedtime, after all.”
“This should take only a few minutes. Please, lead the way, Bean.”
“Be right back,” Bean offered to his wife, and with a quick kiss they parted. Bean then smiled slightly while he fell in step with Luna, and she gave him a pleased smile in return.
“I had feared that you would not appreciate the formal balls that are held here in the palace,” Luna offered. “It is one thing to attend as a guest, but it is quite another to attend as the host. Was it tolerable in that regard?”
“Oh, I would have liked to move around a bit more, but it wasn’t so bad. I don’t think I could stand it if I was by myself, but having Celly there to talk with was helpful, and she told me she liked having me by her side to keep her company also.”
“It is a shame that the modern gala has become so stiff and formal,” Luna commented thoughtfully. “But even back in my Star’s day, it was an unwelcome surprise to most when my sister and I participated in the festivities. You learn quickly that our little ponies expect a certain degree of decorum and propriety from their rulers.”
“Yeah, we do,” Bean agreed. “I suppose it’s comforting to know that you and Celestia will always behave in a respectable and predictable manner.”
“The familiar may be dull, but at least one knows what to expect and can grow comfortable with it,” Luna observed, but then she smiled softly. “Forgive me, Bean. I should not lay such weighty thoughts on you at this hour.”
“It’s fine. As a chef, you learn to get away from the familiar. You can’t just cook the same thing over and over again. Writing is the same way, from what I’ve seen so far. I won’t ever get any better if I always write the same way.”
“A wise observation,” Luna noted as they approached the vaulted and gilded double doors of the Grand Ballroom. “It is a shame you were not born a thousand years ago. Celestia and I could have used an observant commander like yourself on the fields of battle.”
“No, I’m pretty extra sure I would have seen all of the sharp, pointy things and then passed out,” he replied with a small chuckle. “I am a writer, not a fighter.”
“Huh!” Luna snorted out an amused laugh. “Star would say nearly that exact same thing just before he took off in a gallop towards the enemy’s lines. In my experience, idealists like yourself have the most to fight for.”
“I guess we do, huh?”
“Indeed. Shall we?”
Bean pushed open the door for Luna, and he bowed to her as she entered. She said nothing to him, but that slight glare he got from her was exactly the same as the one Celestia gave him when he deferred too much to her. He offered a cheesy grin as he straightened, and she shook her head a little and rolled her eyes.
“Did you know that this hall is an exact replica of the one we had in the old castle?” Luna remarked over her shoulder as she took in the decorations.
“It is?”
“Yes. Celly felt it was important to keep some of the old, even as she built anew. Even the tilework is exact, down to the pattern.”
“Wow. We visited the old castle a while back, and Celly did mention she wanted to visit again. I’ll have to look at it if we do.”
“I believe you will be interested.”
“What were those old Galas like?” Bean asked in soft reverence.
“Oh, they were simple affairs, especially if you compare them to today. It took many years before Equestria was prosperous enough for Celestia and me to feel comfortable with making them more lavish.
“I would naturally start here, at the entrance,” Luna continued with a wistful gaze and a small smile. She swept a hoof before the empty room. “In those days, the Royals were the last to arrive. This hall would be full of guests, and one or two rounds of dancing had most likely passed by already. The Yeomare of the Guard would be posted about where you are, ready and waiting to announce the arrival of Princess Luna, Diarch of Equestria and Mare of the Moon.
“You know,” she gave a small laugh, “the blame for those flat topped, flowered hats they wore is rightly placed on me. When Celestia and I were given the final designs for the formal uniforms of the time, Star adamantly noted his displeasure of the flat hat and he threatened to revolt if it was included in the final design. Naturally, this meant that I had to include it. He acquiesced in the end, but there were a lot of sighs and eyerolls during those first few months when it came into formal use. I added roses around the rim to make it a bit more tolerable, and that seemed to appease him.”
“Roses do tend to make everything better,” Bean offered in a gentle voice.
“They always did for me,” Luna replied back with a glance to her left and a small smile. “Once I had been announced, I would move into the crowd in the hopes of sharing some pleasantries with my subjects. It was one of the few times that they would reciprocate my friendship. ‘Hello, Baron Gaberdine, how are you?’ I would ask. ‘Just fine, thank you.’ ‘Lady Winding Roads, so good to see you again!’”
Luna dipped her head to the air, and she laughed lightly. “‘Oh, the moon is just as round as ever, Duke Whinnyfield, thought if I let mine wee rascal raise it once more, I run the risk of it becoming oblong. She doth not yet have the subtle touch that is needed, but she hath made great bounds in that regard.’ Oh, I loved to talk about my wee rascal, Bean. I couldn’t have been prouder over her accomplishments. But the best? By far, the best was when I had mine Star with me. He would blush in a most furious manner when I would place him within the conversation. ‘Yes, Lady Fairlane, Prince Star Struck still labors under the impression that his daring midnight raids of the castle’s stores doth go unnoticed. He feigns innocence, and yet he doth complain that his armor is shrinking!’”
The laugh that Bean and Luna shared seemed to stir an ancient dusting of happiness that had sat idle for far too long, and a breath of life began to tickle the edge of the senses. Imperceptible as it nearly was, the echoes of the ancient voices seemed to be at the tips of Bean’s ears, but those ears folded back when he saw Luna’s demeanor droop.
“It is the memories, sometimes, that cause the greatest amount of anguish; and that is where Death has its greatest victory. The loss of anypony ends the opportunities for more of those memories, more moments, more time. I ache for those moments, Bean, when I sat and listened to him as he would tell me of his day, or of the news that he had heard. Just to…”
She paused for a moment. “What I wouldn’t give to hear his delightful brogue again. No more can I feel his coat against mine, no more do his tears mingle with mine own. While he lived, I felt that I could protect him from all ill that could possibly befall a pony. I learned eventually that I could not save him from the ravages that come to all whose lives are measured by the steady fall of the sand in the glass.”
“Do you ever regret falling in love?”
“No.” The answer was swift and true. “Not in that lifetime, not in this lifetime, nor in any lifetime that yet may be. Even if I did have some foresight into what would be back then, I would have willingly tread the path.”
“Do you think Celestia and I have something similar to what you had?”
Luna smiled. “You do. Now, about that dance?”
“I do have to warn you about my four left feet,” Bean admitted with a sheepish grin, but Luna scoffed.
“Dancing is a very simple affair, Bean. Here, let me show you.” Luna turned to face him with a grin. “Let us start with a waltz. It is a simple dance, and you should be able to handle it.”
“And if I can’t?”
“Then you can not. Let us see how you fare, then I will know how to help you best.”
Another faint puff of wind ruffled his coat, and he smiled slightly while the two bowed to each other. Bean then gently swept Luna up and into his arms, and with an introductory cue from the unheard orchestra, they began.
The nonexistent song was a simple one, easy to follow and familiar even to Bean’s uneducated ears. He allowed her to lead at first, following her gentle directions as they began to sweep across the empty floor, and yet she seemed to be mindful of the other dancers and their relationship to her. Luna knew exactly when and how to move, how each hoof should fall and where each turn should occur, and she did it all with the subtle grace that only a true princess could ever hope to have.
Bean could almost feel the glares of the nobles that were not there, leering at and condemning this most unbecoming pair. She was the royal, and he was nothing more than the commoner, and decorum and tradition were quite clear about the rules regarding the two. Such a mixture was a distasteful affront to the station that Luna held, and a pure perversion of the proper order of things. Every pony had a place in the world, but nopony was meant to go beyond those bounds.
He smirked a bit as the absentee orchestra struck up the tempo of the tune. There had been one other who had bucked convention, and Bean knew that Star Struck was a major reason he could even stand where he was without getting blasted, in either a literal or a figurative sense. Thanks to Luna’s love, he had the precedent, however foul it may taste to the nobility, to be at Celestia’s side and to dance with Star’s Luna.
The common could ascend, no matter how many objections were raised. Let the nobles sniff in disgust, let them leer in derision. True nobility had always been more about one’s heart and character than one’s birthright and lineage.
Bean tried to be graceful as he attempted to glide about the room. The totality of his dancing experience could be encapsulated by his ability to deliver a full tray of soup bowls to the various patrons of the Zurest, so rough as it was he did manage to produce something that resembled poise. Luna never mentioned his missteps, however, and whenever he did stumble she would simply smile and allow him to regain his footing before moving in earnest again.
He did have to admit that the atmosphere of delight that began to fill the room helped his confidence and his willingness to continue trying. The notes of the music motivated his hooves towards elegant movement, the soft touch of Luna gave him the direction he needed, and the strength of tradition gave him the will to move on. Despite his own misgivings about a life with Celestia, he was doing it. He could do it.
And he could keep doing it.
“May ah cut in, Your Highness?”
Confused, startled, and surprised were three words that should have been used to describe how Bean felt at hearing the voice, yet none of those applied. Instead, Bean simply nodded and stepped aside, allowing the unseen speaker to seamlessly move in where Bean had once been.
Princess Luna’s entire countenance lit up like the night sky when she was passed into the embrace of her new partner. A cry of delight rang out in the hall, and the dance was interrupted for a moment for Luna to move into a deep and passionate embrace with…
Nopony. There was nopony in the arms of the Princess. As far as Bean could see, they were alone still. Nothing had changed in the grand hall from when they had entered.
Yet somehow, everything had changed. Bean blinked again, and a satisfied smile spread as he watched the dance resume. No matter how alone Bean had thought he and the Princess had been, there was yet another here, one who would forever hold the heart of the Night within his hooves and who had never stopped giving his heart to her.
Now the dance was as it should be. Luna swept around the room with no hesitation, no question. Her moves were familiar, born and bred from a thousand such dances over a lifetime long removed from the one she lived now. With him, there was no need to think about mechanics or control. She moved with pure feeling, acted with the flow of the moment, and loved without restraint.
Bean exclaimed in delight when Luna’s wings flared and she took to the air, her dance unhindered by the lack of a floor. She and her own defied gravity with the assured confidence of a pair that had dared to defy fate itself and won. She moved effortlessly through the air, her body taking flight in a way that hadn’t been seen in centuries. The sweep and the swing were so natural to her, so much so that Bean couldn’t help but believe that the dance he saw before him was as beloved to the Princess of the Night as the raising of the moon.
The forever couple then swept out through one of the open stained-glass windows and into the night, and Bean quickly followed as best as he could. His heart leapt with the dance of the Princess, and the flow of the heavens above him filled the very essence of creation with love unbound. Across the firmament and within the stars, he found not just the love of Luna and her love, nor just the single pair of dancers. The skies were filled with the love of all generations, from the distant then to the very now; dancing in beautiful partnerships across the technicolor borealis of existence and reality. Though Luna and Bean had started in a room of nothing, they now were part of the Grand Something, the summation of life, the universe, and everything. Unicorn and Pegasus, Alicorn and Earth. Each with her own, each loving his more than all other.
Bean’s tears flowed freely while the grand dance before him filled his eyes with illustration and understanding. This is what he could have with his Celestia. One day, the very definition of majesty, as it was displayed before him, would be his to have with her.
* * ☽ * *
Celestia’s hooves gently moved across the dewdrop grass, and her eyes swept across the carefully manicured grounds while she gave her little stuffed Bean a small hug. The live-action Bean had not yet returned to her, despite the imminent approach of dawn, and she was eager to find him before beginning her day.
Eager, but unconcerned. She had nothing but complete trust and faith in both her Bean and her Sister, and she was sure she would find her beloved out here, just as sure as she was sure her name was Celestia Bean.
She giggled slightly to herself and nuzzled her plush companion as the thought passed. Celestia Bean. It only became more perfect with each repetition, although she dared not use it in court for fear of breaking out in unstoppable giggles unbecoming of a Princess.
A gentle snore caught her ear, and it gave the rest of her a tug in the direction of her one and only. She smiled a bit more with her tiptoed approach, and when she did find Bean, she couldn’t help but let out a small coo of delight.
He was just too cute! He was on his back, his legs twitching slightly with his snores, and a small grin remained on his face while he slumbered. It looked like he had fallen asleep while watching the stars, and he would still be admiring them if he was awake.
“Bean?” Celestia gently nudged his cheek with her nose, and she kissed him softly as he stirred and yawned. His eyes slowly opened, and the look of delight that overtook him filled her heart with that incomparable joy that she could never tire of.
“Hey, beautiful,” he offered, and a sly grin overtook him. “Who is that devilishly handsome partner you have there?”
“This is my temporary cohort. He is helping me to find the one I love. Are you all right?”
“I think so. I was… I was just…”
Bean’s eyes darted back and forth, and his legs twitched again. “It’s morning?”
“Almost, yes.”
“But I was just with Luna. She was dancing with...”
Celestia giggled again while Bean flipped onto his stomach, and with one smooth movement she laid down next to him and spread her wing across his back.
“I’m not entirely sure what happened last night,” Bean offered with a note of worry in his voice. “I think Luna was… and she… huh. I don’t even know if it actually happened, or if I was just dreaming the whole thing.”
“Did you see it, Bean?” she gently asked. “Did you feel it in your heart? Can you still recall how it touched you?”
“Of course, but—”
“Then it was real in the only way it matters.”
Bean nodded to this, and his smile matched hers while they both looked to the twilight sky. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the stars dance like they are now.”
“Luna always could bring out the best in them.”
“And from him?” Bean softly asked.
Celestia gave him a gentle boop. “And he from her. The moon will forever be touched by him, just as you will always touch the sun.”