Some time had passed since the moon was raised for the night. And for the thousandth time that night, the tip of a pencil was dragged across a page of Princess Luna’s sketchbook, scratching out abstract images of stars and planets, rocky desert canyons, quaint little villages where the ponies slept under the stars, and fanciful boats on a river.
With her headphones over her ears, Princess Luna hummed along with the song she had been listening to on repeat for longer than she had remembered. The strums of the ukulele sweetly reverberated in her ears, and the mare and stallion duet filled her mind with what wonderful things they sang about.
It wasn’t until her dance in the garden with Capper that she remembered what a beautiful song it was. How perfectly it captured the feeling of young love. Of course, it had been many, many, many years since Luna was young. And love was something that she had never been able to experience with her royal duties. And of course, her downfall and banishment to the moon. Through it all, the song reminded her of everything that she had missed.
The picture was nearing completion. Eyes were drawn gazing into one another. Hooves were drawn gently clasped around their partners. And the soft glow of the moon poured down its crystal rays from its silver face, caressing all beneath it with its velvet touch, just as the song finished its last notes.
Princess Luna looked over her latest work, appraising it silently. With the details added, she may well place it on her wall of fame. Glancing over to the wall, she saw all of her favorite works. The mare who stood in the fields of golden grass, staring coyly from the portrait into the eyes of her lover. The one with the bride marching down the aisle, seen from the view of where her groom would have stood. And finally, the very first drawing she had ever placed upon that wall. The one with the mare and a stallion sitting across from one another at a restaurant table, facing away from the view out the window at the rainy streets of some unknown city in Trottingham.
It had never crossed her mind before but Princess Luna began to wonder who those two were. If they were longtime lovers, or simply strangers who simply happened to share that table on that day. Or, perhaps more likely than she had known, she thought that they were two ponies who had met once or twice before and were finally meeting for the last time before they went their separate ways.
Princess Luna sighed to herself. Of anypony who she could have thought about sharing a date with, Capper was probably the last cat, let alone any creature, that she thought it would ever be. After all, what Capper had said was true. They truly had no reason to meet with one another. It could have been any other creature. And as it happened, a cat with a bad luck streak had crossed her path. A cat who had no interest in her status or her riches. Who made her feel at ease with herself, even at the formal gatherings she couldn’t stand. Best of all, who she could be completely honest with.
Luna mouthed the last words of the song as it finished once more.
“Princess Luna?”
“Knock next time!!” Princess Luna shrieked as she slammed her sketchbook shut and rolled out of bed in one fluid movement.
To her everlasting shock, there stood the maid who had fetched her on the night of the Gala. The maid herself stood with an expression of pure surprise.
“I-I’m so sorry! I tried to knock, b-but you didn’t answer,” the maid said.
“No, no. I’m sorry. I thought you were my sister. She’s been known to treat my room as her own,” Luna said, keeping her voice steady.
“Oh. I see,” the maid managed to chuckle. “Erm, I was informed by one of the guards that somepony is waiting for you.”
“Say again?”
“Somepony is waiting for you. They said that they were to meet you around eight o’ clock,” the maid said. She raised a curious brow, “If I may ask: who is it you’re meeting? And why at this hour?”
Princess Luna wasn’t listening. Her eyes were cast directly on the clock on her nightstand, where the hands rested firmly on eight-thirty.
“Oh, no, no, no!” she said, bolting to her wardrobe.
“We could tell your friend to come back,” the maid suggested.
“No!” Luna nearly shouted. “Tell him to wait for me in the royal garden. I’ll be ready in–in just a moment.”
Dress after dress flew out of the wardrobe, until the maid watched her princess drag out an entire rack load and drop it on the bed. When she watched Princess Luna catch her hoof on a dress she had dropped, fall on her face and scramble across the floor to her bathroom, she decided to silently take her leave.
Princess Luna reached up to the counter and pulled herself up from the floor. Without even looking in the mirror, she magically picked up a brush and started yanking it through her mane. By the time she had looked in the mirror, she began applying lipstick and picked up a can of mane dye and tried squeezing it into her mane.
Empty.
“Damn!” she silently cursed.
She placed the can on the counter and turned her head to look for more, only to smear her lipstick across her snout when she did.
“Oh!!”
She slammed her brush and lipstick onto the counter and roughly opened a drawer to retrieve a cotton pad. Perhaps she slammed the counter too hard, as her mirror fell loose from the nails that it hung from.
Quickly, she backed away from the falling mirror and caught it with her magic and hung it back on the wall, quickly reaffixing the nails into the wall as she did.
She looked at her reflection, seeing yet again a mess of a mare who was only going to make a fool of herself in front of everypony. Was she making too big a deal of things? Was trying to make everything just so going to ruin her? Slowly, Princess Luna started wiping away the smeared lipstick, reapplied it slowly, brushed her mane with only minimal styling, and only curled her eyelashes. When that was done, she looked at herself in the mirror, turned her head, threw her mane over one shoulder, and parted her lips ever so slightly. Surely this was the ‘inner model’ she had heard mentioned by ponies like Rarity.
When she left her bathroom, Princess Luna took almost no time to choose from the dresses she had strewn about. There, lying before her was just the one. A strapless purple gown that she hadn’t worn since she bought it the year before. Simple. Elegant. Perfect. Quickly, she slipped the dress on and took one last look at herself in her bedside mirror. Why had she not put that dress on sooner? She looked so good in it. But, she couldn’t admire herself for too long. She had a date waiting for her.
She quickly trotted out of her bedroom and down the hall. Before she ever reached the corner, there was a sudden wall of white fur and an aurora-patterned mane.
Two loud ‘oofs’ sounded as Princess Luna backed up and saw her sister shaking her head.
“Oh, my. So sorry, sister. I didn’t see you coming,” Princess Celestia apologized.
“Nor I. So sorry,” Luna said.
“Goodness. Where are you going in such a lovely dress?” Celestia paused a moment as a smirk crawled onto her lips, “And in such a hurry?”
“I…” Luna paused. She had always been open with her sister, but had no idea how to tell her about her plans with Capper, “I’m…going to help somepony who has been having nightmares as of late.”
“I see. How polite of you to make yourself up for your appointment,” her sister joked.
“It’s at a very formal household. No riff-raff allowed. Terribly sorry. Can’t stay any longer. I’m late enough as it is. Farewell.”
And she practically ran past her sister, all the way down to the garden doors. When she arrived at the glass doors, she hesitated. With one last breath, she opened the doors and wandered into the garden. Even though she hadn’t said where in the garden to meet, she thought she knew just the place to go.
Sure enough, there was Capper, lying on a bench, looking up at the stars, surrounded by tropical plants. Slowly, she approached him from behind, thinking to surprise him. Until she saw his ear twitch.
“Could but one little star be enough to light the sky? To guide us to that fabled paradise, where new worlds are found and heartbreak is forgotten?”
Luna froze, wondering just what he was talking about. Suddenly, the cat rose to his feet but didn’t turn around.
“You kept me waiting, Princess. And after you so earnestly asked me to not keep you,” Capper said.
“I–Yes. I’m so sorry. I was just so caught up in–No. There’s no excuse for my tardiness. How can I apologize for our lost time?”
“Apologies aren’t necessary. Not tonight, at any rate.”
Luna watched as Capper hopped off the bench. As he spun around in the air, she swore time froze for just a moment when their eyes first met. And with a soft thud, he landed on the grassy ground, dressed in a dapper black coat and hat.
“That’s some dress you got on,” Capper said, cool as ever.
“Th…Thank you. It’s a Dream Amaranthine,” Luna said.
“It’s fitting.”
“What do you mean?”
“You mean in a thousand years, you don’t know?” Capper said with a smirk, “Amaranthine isn’t just the color of that dress. It’s defined as something that stays beautiful forever.”
“I…I…” Luna could barely contain her smile as she flushed red and turned away from Capper. “I was just telling you the maker of this dress.”
“The mare has good taste. Not as good as my girl, Rarity. Check out these slick threads she made me,” Capper said, showing off his new ensemble.
Luna bit her lip as she looked Capper over in his dark clothes. Before, she never noticed how toned his body was. Then again, it was always hidden by that sleek fur of his.
“So, what’s the plan, Luna?” Capper asked.
“What?”
“I know it’s traditional for the man to escort his date, but I’m still a little new around here.”
“Oh. Yes. Follow me. If we go now, we’ll be able to just make it,” Luna said. She offered Capper her shoulder. And when his paw rested on top of it, they made their way out of the gardens.
Beyond the palace grounds, the nightly streets of Canterlot were much more lively than Capper had once thought. Though the atmosphere was very quiet and subdued, the streets were brightly lit by the many lamps, and the ponies mingled about. As they walked, many of the passersby stopped to look at their reigning princess with a dapper stranger.
“This is it,” Luna said, as she stopped before a building.
Capper looked up and was awed by the great pink neon sign, which was written in a language that he didn’t recognize. Wherever it was, it was beyond anything that he had seen in a great long while.
They walked inside and were greeted by a stallion behind a podium. No words were exchanged between him and Princess Luna, before he ushered them into the dining room.
“Take your hat, sir?” asked a colt who stood by the door.
“Sure thing. Keep anything you find inside,” Capper said, as he gave his hat to the colt and took his ticket.
The colt was about to ask what he meant, before Capper and Luna were led away to their table. When he looked inside the hat, he found ten bits just laying there. He didn’t question how, but he gladly followed the cat’s instructions and took them all.
Capper and Luna were led to their seats, somewhere near the edge of the dining room in a small, private area. Still, the maitre’d said nothing, but smiled knowingly as he offered two menus and a wine list. As soon as it was offered, Luna politely pushed the list back. The maitre’d nodded and bowed his way out, leaving them their privacy.
For a second, Luna thought Capper may have said something, and quickly opened her menu as wide as it would go. Capper tried to peer around the menu, only for it to shift to whichever side he tried to lean. Deciding it was best to let her engage him on her own time, Capper opened his own menu and started looking it over.
Luna’s eyes danced across the menu, repeating its entire script for the fifth or sixth time. By then, she had almost memorized what she wanted for each course of the meal. And with every line she passed over, she became more and more aware of her reflection in the menu’s laminated surface. How her mane could have been worked a little bit more. How just a light dusting of shadow would have brought out her eyelashes. And perhaps some rouge to hide any impending blushing. She tried to put her mind at ease with just a little small talk. Just a small word about how good the truffle salad looked. Or what that lovely smell was from somewhere nearby.
That smell? It was something smokey, but with a sweetness underneath it. Something that she had never experienced before. And it seemed to be coming from very nearby.
Slowly, Luna started to peer out from behind her menu.
“Ready to order yet?” Capper asked.
“Hm?”
“You’ve been looking at the menu for almost five minutes,” Capper said.
“It…seems that I have,” Luna said, casually closing her menu. “At any rate, I suppose we should just wait to be serviced. You have chosen, haven’t you?”
“Of course. I was thinking for the first course, this tuna pate with sweetbread sounded good.”
“Tuna? How feline of you.”
“There’s a reason stereotypes exist,” Capper joked. “How about you? What’s your first?”
“I think…I’ll have the…ruffage du whitewood,” Luna said, glimpsing back to the menu.
“What’s that?”
“It’s just a fancy word for a salad made from the leaves of whitewood trees.”
“I’ve never heard of whitewood trees. What makes them so fancy that they get made into salads at posh places like this?”
“They’re just very fancy trees,” Luna said. She tapped her menu on the table, then lowered her gaze as she held it up.
“Something wrong?” Capper asked.
“I told you that I’m not so good at these experiments…” Luna quietly said.
“Oh. I see,” Capper said. He waited a moment before he leaned over to try and meet Luna’s eyes. “I’ll be honest with you: it’s been a long time since I did anything like this. I was really nervous that I’d mess something up.”
“Were you?” Luna asked, lifting her gaze ever so slightly.
“Yeah. I actually wore cologne for the first time to do this. Just so if something goes wrong, I’d smell good doing it,” Capper chuckled.
That sweet, smokey smell registered to Luna again. And if she really concentrated, she thought she knew where it was coming from.
“That cologne? What is it, exactly?” she asked.
“It’s tobacco/vanilla. I got it back in Klugetown,” Capper said.
“Mm…It makes you smell lovely.”
Luna slowly put her menu back down and raised her eyes ever so slightly. She wasn’t even aware as her cheeks reddened again.
“I feel like I must tell you: I’ve…never actually done anything like this before," she said.
“You’re joking?” Capper said.
“I’m afraid not. It’s just that between my royal duties and other…certain unpleasantries, I haven’t had much of a chance to meet a stallion. Much less catch the eye of one.”
“That can’t possibly be true,” Capper said. “Regardless of being a princess, you’re easily one of the most beautiful ponies I’ve ever met. I don’t have a doubt that hundreds of stallions have looked your way, only to be turned away by the idea that you’re way out of their league.”
Luna was silent as she rubbed her hoof across the tablecloth. Finally, she spoke.
“I was very young when I became a princess,” she began. “I so wanted to see and do the things that all of my peers were. But, all I was ever shown was the ways of royalty. And with that comes the fear that anypony who likes you likes your crown even more. And then there was my, shall we say, ‘fall from good graces.’ I was still quite young when that happened, and I spent a thousand more years missing out on all of the things that I so yearned for. Even though I was only a few years older than you during that time, I still have to learn everything that creatures like you did over their lifetime.”
“Is that why you decided to dye your hair?” Capper wondered.
“It’s one reason, I suppose,” Luna shrugged. “I just don’t want to live my life in a bubble. I want to do things. Real things. Things that scare me. That’s why I agreed to go to the gala with my sister.”
“For what it’s worth. I’m really glad that you did,” Capper said, earning an appreciative smile from Luna. “I don’t know if it’s the same thing, but I think I know how you feel. Even before I ended up in Klugetown, I was running with thugs, pickpockets, fences, and all those other seedy types. I never really had a chance to live a normal life. Even now, I’m still adjusting to what it’s really like out there. I just feel like I wasted so much time that I have to make up for.”
“If I may say so, I think this is a great start for us both,” Luna said, smiling as she turned her gaze from Capper once more. Then, she slowly met his eyes. “Capper. I must ask, whose idea was it for me to participate in this experiment? This…date? Was it truly Trixie’s idea?”
For just a second, Capper didn’t know whose idea it really was. But, the more that he thought about it, he thought he might have known.
“I think what happened was Trixie was pressing ideas that one of us already had,” he answered.
“Do you mean you and Trixie, or you and I?” Luna asked.
“I think only you can answer that for certain,” Capper nodded. “So, you’ve never been on a date before?”
“I’m what Spike has called ‘socially awkward.’ Most ponies learn very quickly that I’m not like my sister.”
“What do you like, anyway?” Capper asked.
“Like?” Luna wondered.
“Hobbies. Interests. That kind of thing.”
“Oh. Well, reading is always a passion of mine. And drawing. Most ponies don’t know this, but I hardly go anywhere without my sketchbook. And the theater,” Luna said.
“Theater?” Capper said, his eyes lighting up.
“Yes. I’ve never performed. Nor would I. But, I always loved watching the shows onstage. All the colorful sets. The craft that goes into building them. And the actors, there, live and in person. I’ve always wondered how they felt up there, standing before a hundred spectators, baring their emotions to them all.” She rubbed her hoof more across the tablecloth. “I’m sorry. This must all sound so strange to you. I must seem strange…”
“I don’t think so,” Capper said. “I think we all get a little nervous when pressured. I was before this date started. Then I saw you in the garden, and it all just melted away.”
“That’s sweet of you to say,” Luna said. As a smile slowly bloomed onto her lips, she lifted her menu to hide her girlish grin. Not high enough to hide her gaze, which she kept firmly on Capper. Quietly, she cleared her throat. “Capper, what’s something I don’t know about you?”
“What’s that?” Capper asked.
“You say all the time that you’re nothing but a second-rate hustler. But, I think there’s more to you than that. What’s something that you haven’t told me yet?”
That same feeling of a twisted knot welled up in Capper’s stomach. But, after the encounter with Needy and the unpleasant exchange in his house, he felt that there was more to himself than he wanted to reveal. He drummed his paw on the table, trying to think of something to tell Luna. Something real that he wouldn’t have to gloss over.
“I…like writing,” he pitifully said.
“Really?” Luna said, quickly placing her menu back on the table, “What precisely do you write about?”
“Just anything, really. Whatever comes to mind. There’s no real train of thought when I start doing it,” Capper said.
“Do you want to be an author?”
“Not really. When I was a kitten, I wanted to be a singer. Not just any singer. I wanted to be one of those guys who wrote their own songs that they sang.” Capper sighed quietly. “I guess it was too big a dream for a small timer like me.”
“You shouldn’t say such things. It’s never too late to reach for a dream, no matter how far off or daunting it may seem. Most of the greatest inventions started out like a dream. And the world’s most successful children’s author couldn’t read or write until she was in the sixth grade. And then…Here we are, like this,” Luna said.
Capper grinned. If anypony had told him a year ago that he would be having a candlelit dinner with the Princess of the Night, he would have waved them off. That night, there he was, sharing himself, his hopes, his dreams with Princess Luna of Equestria.
He glanced down when he felt Luna’s hoof set on top of his paw. For the first time, he felt something inside of him that he couldn’t define. Something beautiful that he couldn't put into words. It was at once uplifting and heartwarming, like a first kiss or a smile that was long, long forgotten.
“Th…Thank you. And I really mean that,” Capper said.
“You’re welcome. And I really mean that,” Luna giggled.
They both suddenly became aware of the waiter approaching them. Somehow, Capper had lost his appetite. Not in any bad way. His mind was suddenly on something else.
The dinner was eaten. Over the five courses that they ordered, hardly any more words were spoken. A few bites of food were shared, one of which ended up with Luna getting a spot of bordelaise sauce on her snout. Something that Capper didn’t tell her, and she didn’t figure out when he didn’t stop giggling. By the time she cleaned herself off, she magically raised the plate of meat he was eating to lightly slap him on his nose, giving him a matching blemish.
Laughter and joy were shared for the rest of the meal until the two of them paid the bill and left into the lively nighttime streets. For just a moment, they thought that they could hear music somewhere. Where it was, or even if it was real, neither could tell. Whatever it was, they couldn’t have asked for a better complement to their evening.
“Thank you, Capper. It’s been fun,” Luna said.
“‘Been?’ You’re saying that like the night has to end so soon. I don’t see any reason why we have to rush it to the end,” Capper said.
Luna’s smile grew suddenly larger. She knew exactly where they could spend the rest of the night. A place filled with fun and games, prizes, and parties.
“Capper? Have you ever been to the Canterlot boardwalk?” she asked.
Even from a distance, laughter and voices blended together among the groups of friends who gathered at the Canterlot boardwalk for some late night fun. After their first steps onto the wooden planks of the boardwalk that overlooked the valley, it all flowed into Capper and Luna. A welcoming, heartwarming place where the good times never ended.
“Looks like one hell of a place,” Capper said.
Luna said nothing. She only smiled broadly at the sight. She had gone there so many times with her sister when they were younger, and never tired of what was to be found there. And after having been away for so long, it was all the more overjoyous to be there with somepony like Capper. Without any warning, she ran ahead of him.
“Whoa! Luna, where are you going?” Capper said.
“To see the boardwalk, silly! Come along! The night won’t last forever!” she replied, before continuing her excited rush into the midway.
Capper wasted no time running after her. She was always some ten or fifteen steps ahead of him, rushing from booth to booth, seeing what they had to offer. But, Luna never stayed long. Only a second for Capper to call her name, before she dashed to the next attraction. In time, Capper lost sight of her.
“Luna! Wait up!” he called.
He looked around, not able to see mane or tail of Luna. The very last place he could conceivably think she had gone to was to the juggler straight ahead of himself.
Capper approached the juggler, who was tossing several styles of hats into the air, letting them land on his head one after the other, rolling them across his shoulders, twirling them two at a time on his hooves. And all the while dancing madly.
“Hey!” Capper called.
“Hm?” the juggler said, letting the black pork pie hat land on top of his messy, black mane.
“Did you see Princess Luna come by here?”
Capper was taken completely aback by the answer.
“Who’s that?”
“Y–You’re kidding, right?” Capper said.
The blank stare of the juggler told him the answer to his question.
“Wait. The alicorn in the purple dress. She went–”
“Capper!”
Before the juggler ever finished answering, Luna came trotting back to Capper’s side and grasped his paw.
“I’ve found it! My favorite game here! Come with me! Hurry! Hurry!” she said, dragging Capper away.
Capper was pulled by his paw through the crowd for what felt like a hundred feet, until Luna stopped before a booth where a basketball hoop hung above a wall loaded with fuzzy stuffed animals.
“A hoop shot?” Capper said.
“Yes! It’s always been my favorite game here ever since I was a filly!” Luna said.
Capper watched Luna’s beaming smile, then glanced to the wall of prizes.
“Which one of these plushies catches your eye?” he asked.
Luna hummed quietly to herself as she scanned the shelves. It was only a moment later that her face lit up. “The panda. I must have it!”
Capper looked to where she pointed, and saw a stuffed panded that was half the size of Luna herself. Having gotten his start as a hustler with things like this, Capper already knew that there was some catch.
“How many shots do we get?” Capper asked the game’s operator.
“For a prize like the panda? Three shots in a row,” the stallion at the booth said.
“Seems simple enough,” Capper said.
“You’d be surprised,” the operator said, tossing a ball to Capper. “Normally, it’s five bits a game, but I’ll put this one on the house, seeing as you got royal company tonight.”
Capper twirled the ball in his paws and looked pensively up at the hoop. He pulled the ball to his chest, crouched slightly and made his shot.
The ball bounced off the edge of the backboard, and into the safety net below it.
“That’s one,” Luna said.
“There goes our shot at a panda. Let’s try to get one of the two shot prizes,” Capper said.
He aimed again. He shot again. He missed again.
“Damn!”
Before he could grab another ball, Luna took it in her hooves. She aimed carefully and sent the ball through the air right through the hoop. All net.
“It seems I’ve still got it,” she said.
“One shot. That’s worth at least this turtle,” the operator said, offering the stuffed prize.
“Put it back. We came for a panda. We’re leaving with a panda,” Capper said, placing his five bits onto the counter.
“Perhaps I’ll take the next shot?” Luna offered.
“Sure. See if you’ve still got it. Luck, that is,” Capper said, rolling the first ball across the counter to Luna.
Luna smirked, aimed the ball and shot again. And there was another swish of the net.
“Aren’t I the one who’s supposed to win you something?” Capper joked.
“I suppose so. Then again, I always end up getting what I want for myself,” Luna replied.
“I’m sorry, are you saying that you got your own powers back from Eris?”
Luna’s ears dropped and she stared blankly at Capper.
“Very well,” she said, passing the second ball to him, “You make the next shot. But, it’s going to be your bits if you need to try for the panda again.”
Capper assumed his position and carefully analyzed the trajectory of his throw. From the hoop to where he was, it was only about fifteen feet. And the hoop itself was only about eight feet off the ground. But, there was still something off. Only one way to find out.
The ball sailed from Capper’s paws again. It flew threw the air and hit the back of the hoop, then bounced into the net.
“My, my. Impressive,” Luna said.
Impressive. That was exactly the word to describe it. Impressive that he made that shot, even though he could now see how the game was rigged against him. The way the ball had bounced was not in any way it should have. Not if the game was set up fairly. Capper looked at the panda, and a devious smile crawled onto his face.
“Wait,” he said, before Luna took the last ball. “Let me take the last shot.”
“If you really feel you’re up for it,” Luna said.
Capper took the last ball and aimed again. Not to the basket this time. His aim was a little higher.
Pulling the ball directly to his chest, Capper thrust his arms directly forward as hard as he could. The ball rocketed into the backboard and bounced off. Not upward, as it should have. Instead, it shot directly back to Capper, hitting him squarely in his face, taking him off his paws.
“Capper!!” Luna gasped. She knelt down and lifted his head, “Capper, are you alright?”
“Better than that…” Capper moaned. Through his spinning, foggy vision, he could see the shocked face of the game’s operator. Capper pointed an accusing finger at him, “I knew it…Shenanigans…”
It wasn’t long after that Capper was lying against the side of a gigantic panda with Luna pressing an ice pack against his forehead.
“Who cares about my head? I got your panda, didn’t I?” Capper said.
“Honestly, there must have been a better way than risking a concussion,” Luna replied.
“Forget about it. I can spare a few IQ points to bust a hustler. No way was he going to get away with angling the hoop downward.”
“But, for a stuffed panda?”
“He was lucky I just took that. Between busting him in front of royalty and the personal injury, I could have cleaned out his whole booth!” Capper laughed. His head throbbed again, making him groan.
“Capper…” Luna said, lifting the pack. She turned Capper’s head and lit up the tip of her horn. “Capper, look at me.”
Both were silent as she shone the light into each one of his eyes. To Luna’s greatest relief, both his eyes contracted equally. And even then, she lingered as she looked at his eyes.
“If you found what you’re looking for, can you turn out that light? I’m starting to see spots here,” Capper said.
“Oh. Sorry,” Luna said, dousing the light from her horn and reapplying the ice pack. “So, the good news is that you’re truly not concussed.”
“I’ve had worse,” Capper shrugged.
“Was it really worth it?”
“It’s not the craziest thing I’ve done for you.”
“Shamefully, that’s true,” Luna said.
Capper leaned his head back and sighed as he sank into the side of the panda. His smile spread to Luna’s face, as she settled down next to him and allowed her weight to sink against the plush animal. Their eyes both turned upward, gazing at the many stars that twinkled in the sky. Where they were, far on the edge of the boardwalk, nopony was there to interrupt them.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Luna began, “When I went to meet you in the garden tonight, what was it you were saying?”
“What do you mean?” Capper asked.
“You said something about the stars and a light to paradise. What did you mean by that?”
Capper turned his whole head, his nose only inches from Luna’s.
“It’s nothing, really. Just a song I heard when I was a kitten. I don’t know who sang it, or even what the song was called. But, I heard it so many times. I don’t know how it all goes, but that opening verse always stuck with me. I tried and tried to find out what it was, or where I could hear it, but it turns out that it’s a ridiculously rare song. Not even a full version of it has been discovered. Still, as long as I live, that song won’t be forgotten.”
Capper kept the gaze of Luna, who smiled sweetly back at him. A low sigh issued from her mouth as she nudged toward him. Capper could feel his heart jump when the top of Luna’s head brushed beneath his chin. And there she rested.
“Will you sing that song for me?” Luna asked.
“I…don’t remember how it all goes,” Capper said.
“Please sing it anyway.”
It was a request he couldn’t refuse. Capper rested one paw around Luna’s shoulders, pulled her closer and began to sing.
Luna’s ear twitched as the low, sweet sound of a quiet hum or chant rang to her. After, it was followed with pretty words of the stars, love enough, and that sweet, fabled paradise. Only a few lyrics after that, Capper’s voice simply hummed in her ears, keeping her entranced on the tune. Whatever would have been sung next, she knew it could only be wonderful.
In time, the song ended and Capper’s voice fell silent. Luna laid with her eyes closed, letting the echoes of the melody play again in her head. She let the last of her breath release, and rubbed her mane beneath Capper’s chin as she lifted her head.
“Tonight has been wonderful, Capper. But, I’m afraid I must get going,” she said.
“Already? But, the night isn’t over yet,” Capper said.
“That’s the thing. Ponies will be expecting to wake up any time now. And the moon must be lowered for the sun to come up.”
“Right. Duty calls, and everything,” Capper chuckled.
“Oh, Capper, don’t take it too hard. I’m sure Trixie will be pleased to know that her experiment went quite well.” Luna hovered her lips directly to Capper’s ear, “And I’ll definitely want to hear that song of yours again.”
Capper let her breath waft warmly in his ear, before he answered. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
“Sooner than you think,” Luna said.
Capper stood first and helped Luna to her hooves. The two of them walked all the way to the end of the boardwalk, where Capper allowed Luna to fly the rest of the way home with her panda. Once she had gone, the cat watched her go until she was just another shadow in the sky. With that, he walked his own way home.
By the time Luna landed on her balcony, she practically threw the doors open and rolled onto her bed without taking her dress off. She laid her head against the panda, smiling to herself. When she stretched a hoof out, she found that her headphones and sketchbook were still exactly where she had left them. For the last time that night, she put her headphones on and played that song she had so loved. Only this time, it was Capper’s song that she heard. As the music played, a new picture for her sketchbook formed in her mind.
“So, everything turned out well?” Trixie asked.
Capper wasn’t surprised when he found Trixie squatting on his couch when he got home. And he was equally unsurprised when he found that she had eaten all of his sunflower seeds. Taking his seat next to her, he emptied a fresh bag of the seeds into the dish on the table.
“I told you. She said that I can tell you that you’d be pleased with your experiment,” Capper said.
“And…?” Trixie asked.
“And that’s all the details you’re going to get.”
“Oh, pshaw. You make it sound so perverse.”
“Tell you what: on our next date, I’ll let you have a little more dirt,” Capper said, cracking a seed for himself.
“The…next…?” Trixie screeched loudly and bounced on the couch. “You have made The Great and Powerful Trixie so proud! I told you you could do it!”
“Okay! So you were right! It’s no call to make me deaf!” Capper said, plugging his ear nearest to Trixie.
Trixie took a hoofful of sunflower seeds and stuffed them into her mouth, staring intently at Capper.
“What?” Capper asked.
“Did you kiss her?” Trixie asked.
“No.”
Trixie swallowed the seeds, shell and all.
“Why not!?”
“I don’t know,” Capper lied. “I guess I’m not the type of tomcat to kiss on the first date.”
“Talk about your missed chances,” Trixie said, reaching for more seeds.
Capper grasped her horn and moved the seeds away from her, before taking some for himself.
“You heard what I said. A second date’s practically guaranteed. I’ll have my chance one of these days,” he said.
“So if a second date is guaranteed, what do you plan on doing?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Haven’t thought of it,” Capper shrugged.
“I’m sure you will think of something.” Trixie used her magic to pick up a hoofful of sunflowers seeds.
And for the first time, he believed it. Once again, he thought back to the night of the gala. The one chance that he took to talk with the princess. To dance with her to that beautiful, wonderful song. He had no idea where his path would take him next. But for everything he had done, he was sure he wouldn’t have to walk it alone.
“Excuse me,” Trixie said, taking Capper from his thoughts, “What is that song you have playing? Haven’t I heard it before?”
Capper glimpsed down to his cassette player, which was still going since he turned it on before.
“They played it at the gala,” Capper chuckled.
“What’s it called?”
“Someone you like…”
And maybe, just maybe, he thought that he could be someone that Luna would like.