"Excuse me?" Princess Cadance says as she unties the blue ribbon in her mane, hanging it along the top of the mirror. "I don't quite think I heard you right. You want me to go on a date with your nephew?" Her mane flows down around her neck, the purple, pink, and golden strands mixing with each other as they fall. She glances up at her adoptive aunt, the white alicorn towering above her.
Princess Celestia nods from the doorway, a pleasant smile on her face. "Yes, Cadance. That is what I said." Her mane quickens its flow back and forth by a third, the frequency increasing with every time the question has been asked. She steps further into the room, admiring the decorations that Cadance has added to make the room her own. Small pictures on the walls, an obviously foal-drawn picture in crayon of a pink alicorn and purple unicorn standing together in a green field. A much better rendition of the same landscape follows, this time in colored pencil.
"Are you sure? We are talking about the same pony, correct? Tall. White coat. Golden aura. Blue and gold cutie mark. Built like a train?" The ribbon along Cadance's tail comes undone next, a quick shake back and forth folding the ribbon into a tight ball. She shakes her tail, a relaxed sigh as the hairs splay around her back.
Celestia nods, her eyes lighting up as the conversation finally progresses. Her eyes continue to trace along the room, noticing a similar drawing, the quality again in crayon, of a blue and gold compass star. "Yes, and unless my eyes deceive me, you have a bit of a crush on him as well."
"As well?" Cadance turns, a smirk on her muzzle, "And here I thought he cared nothing for any noble, given how little time and effort he puts towards fitting in around here. I heard he prefers those bouncer mares down at the salt licks. Faust knows how many it takes to satisfy him." Cadance titters as she moves into her closet, hiding her grin. He is interested in her! She can feel her tail flick to the side of its own account, her mind flicking it back the other way for good measure. So many of the stallions had shown the tiniest hint of interest, but all had held off. Whether it is Celestia's doing or just them waiting for the mare to make the first move, she doesn't know. Or it could just be them being polite, much like how she innocently flirts with everypony.
The stomp of a hoof comes from outside the closet, "Cadance! I would be insulted on his behalf, if I did not know the number already."
Cadance's head peeks out from behind the door, a scandalized look at her elder. "What? Princess! And you expect me to go on a... a date with this pony?" She disappears again, the sounds of a hoof frustratedly tapping against the floor outside the closet. She couldn't see the Prince actually doing that, but it is certainly fun to tease her elder whenever she can get away with it.
"It isn't like that and you know it," Celestia eventually says, the white alicorn feeling her mane wave back and forth even faster, her eyes closing as she takes a deep breath. She moves up to the closet door, not yet poking her head inside. Celestia's voice tries to sound convincing, "I have it on good authority that he has eyes only for you."
"Oh, come now, he and every other eligible stallion in this castle. And quite a few of the ones already in a herd, judging by the way their looks linger." Cadance struts out of her closet, her mane and tail completely undone. She is running two brushes through the long hairs, separating the pink, gold, and purple strands into their individual colors as she moves up to the mirror. She admires her visage before a towel levitates, wiping the makeup from her eyes and muzzle. "It's not like I'm desperate for the attention."
"Oh? Is there another pony you are interested in?" Celestia asks, a frown rapidly developing. "I hadn't considered that; I am sorry, Cady, I assumed-"
Cadance shakes her head, interrupting Celestia, "None have caught my eye, not yet. Besides, what makes you think that I should be interested in him?" The towel drops down, replaced by a few skin and hair products. Not that she really needed it, but old habits as a pegasus died hard. "Sure, he flirts back, but doesn't everypony? Even you and your occasional... oh, I don't think 'slip of the tongue' is correct, knowing you, but your casual remarks?"
Celestia sighs, lounging on the bed. The four posted monstrosity barely sags under her weight, the lacy curtains pulled aside. Celestia kneads her hooves into the soft mattress, watching as Cadance prepares for using the same. "Not in the same way, not in the way that I sometimes wish would happen, and yet I know it will not work for me. But for you, there might be hope. And this one means it. He is devoted to the things he cares about, Cadance, and you are one of them. He is willing to go to the ends of Equus for you. But, like many of the stallions you are talking about, he has put you on a pedestal." Celestia sighs, "Much like what has happened with me, though I may have cultivated that image intentionally, to my occasional consternation. I suppose it has rubbed off on how they see you. That you are unapproachable."
Cadance closes her eyes, one brush pausing its motion. She sighs, the long sigh of a competitor who can foresee their impending defeat before the game is done. "You truly think it can work between us? And I do mean, you think it will work between us? I know it has never worked for you in the past." She looks over, a hard look as she watches Celestia's reaction. It softens as she sees the suffering in Celestia's eyes, still visible despite hundreds of years of grieving and acceptance.
Celestia briefly closes her eyes, a long breath out as she thinks back to the past lovers she has had. Cadance knows of them, of course; there is no sense in hiding her past attempts and failures from another who is, unfortunately, likely to face the same. Of the struggles Celestia had gone through. The early lovers she had, and the devastation of their failed attempts to conceive. The later ones, and never making the attempt for fear of the same happening. But, perhaps, with Cadance, things might be different. "I truly hope that, my dear niece. That, as you say, it will work between you."
Cadance briefly smiles, "Well, I suppose that I am the Princess of Love. Perhaps it will be different. But," she glares at Celestia, "I thought I was the Princess of Love here." She turns back to the mirror, a shake of her mane as the brushes run through her hair. She haughtily looks upwards, again relishing Celestia's annoyed huff.
"I am not forcing you to fall in love with him. I am merely requesting that you go on one date with him." Celestia grimaces, glad Cadance's eyes are looking away as she feels her mane speed up yet again. She forces a smile to her muzzle, a glare at her recalcitrant mane failing to quell the rapid motion. "Won't you at least consider it?"
"One date?" Cadance, her mane now ensconced in curlers, stands, staring at the white alicorn already in her bed. The two stare at each other for a few seconds before Cadance sighs, "You aren't moving until I say yes to this, are you?"
"Well, I do have to raise the sun in the morning. But I think my absence from Night Court would be noticed before that." Celestia smiles at Cadance, the two at eye level with each other.
Cadance looks to one side and then the other, the much larger alicorn effectively taking up the entirety of the bed. Her hoof is even resting on her favorite pillow, such that Cadance cannot just take it and lay on the floor with any modicum of comfort. "And when is this hypothetical date to take place? I hope it is not tomorrow, I have a busy schedule ahead of me."
"Oh? Foal sitting young Sparkle again? I didn't think her sire was that busy. And, isn't she old enough now to no longer need a foal sitter?"
"Yes, well, Night Light is off with Velvet at some scientific gathering. You would think the astronomers are busy during the night, instead of the day, but apparently they try to maintain at least the appearance of a normal life when the other disciplines are involved. Plus, it isn't really foal sitting, just one of the last times I get to see her! After all, she is leaving for your school, then who knows what kind of mischief she'll get into before we meet again."
Celestia stretches out, her hooves sticking off the end of the opulent bed. "Well, then, I expect you would like to get a good nights sleep if you have such an important day tomorrow." She rolls to her side, squirming against the silk sheets. They rumple up against the white alicorn's heavy weight, the bed occasionally creaking as it slides back and forth, a thump against the wall. Celestia smirks at the thump, rhythmically repeating the motion with a growing smile on her muzzle.
Cadance rolls her eyes, managing to tug one of her pillows out from under Celestia as the alicorn shifts around. The pillow flies up, smooshing against Celestia's muzzle with the lack of a satisfying boop. Maybe she should have gone for one of the firmer ones.
Celestia grins as she gets to her hooves, hopping off the bed. "I take it that is a yes? He will likely be getting back from his assignment in two weeks or so. Plenty of time to reconsider."
"Fine, 'Tia, I'll do it." Cadance sighs, finally returning a smile as Celestia walks to the doorway. "Good night, Celestia."
Celestia smiles at the pink alicorn, pausing at the door. "Good night, Cadance," she gives a long wink, "Pleasant dreams." Celestia starts walking out of the room, a firm pillow levitating over and smacking the white flank with a satisfying *thwack*