"You may take tonight off," Luna told Phoebus around six months later. "Tomorrow morning, you will accompany me and Princess Celestia as we travel to the Crystal Empire. Princess Cadance has just given birth to a daughter, Princess Flurry Heart, and we must go to the foal's crystalling ceremony. We will stay in the Crystal Empire for one night and return late the next day so that Princess Celestia and I can have plenty of time to spend with our great-niece." She smiled excitedly.
"Look at the gift I got for the foal," she squealed, conjuring a large white teddy bear with light blue eyes and a royal blue ribbon tied around its neck. "Isn't it adorable? Look at its little face! And little Flurry is the most adorable thing ever; Cadance sent us pictures just after she was born. She's the tiniest foal I've ever seen. I can't wait to cuddle her and squeeze her chubby little legs!"
"You really like foals, don't you, Princess?" Phoebus said, smiling. He had never seen Luna like this before, and he liked it.
"Oh, yes!" Luna enthused. "I've always wanted a family of my own, but I've never found the right stallion. Even after three thousand years I still haven't met the right one. What can I say? I'm very picky."
"You must be, because I'm sure you've had no shortage of suitors," said Phoebus. "If I may be so bold as to say so, Ma’am, you are exquisitely beautiful, and you're a princess. Have you tried letting anypony get to know you?" He knew he had just crossed a line by complimenting Luna so brazenly, but he didn't care.
"You and Princess Celestia are my closest, most trusted friends," Luna said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "I don't trust anypony in our social circle; they're always leaking ridiculous stories about us to the tabloids and telling photographers where we're going so they'll harass us. Any stallion who happens to be a commoner is automatically assumed to be a social climber, which isn't exactly a ridiculous notion. If I were to fall in love with somepony, I would have to be absolutely positive that he loves me for who I am, not because of my title, my status, or my rank, but apparently that's too much to ask." Her voice broke a little, and though she cleared her throat to try to mask it, Phoebus knew immediately that she was concealing a lot of pain.
"There is definitely somepony out there for you, Princess," he said, reaching out to touch her shoulder. "There's somepony for everypony." Luna jumped ever so slightly at Phoebus’ sudden touch, and though he knew he had just broken royal protocol, Phoebus’ hoof remained on her shoulder as her eyes met his. Her dark blue coat was softer than anything he had ever touched before, much like the velvety softness of a pony's muzzle. Her eyes widened a little, and she cleared her throat. Phoebus jerked his foreleg back, knowing he had just crossed another line. Luna, the Princess of the Night, the Mistress of the Moon, who always exuded confidence, who was always in control of every situation, didn't seem to know what to do.
"Captain," she said, her voice clipped and businesslike, "we will depart at six o'clock tomorrow morning, and though you get to enjoy a night off, I am not allowed such a luxury. You will go and pack your things now, and I will see you at dawn."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Phoebus said, clicking his heels and saluting before hurrying off to pack.
"Awww, aren't you just a teeny weeny itty bitty wittle angel?" the Princess of the Night cooed, tickling Flurry Heart. The filly smiled up at Luna and lifted her hooves to be picked up, and Luna happily obliged.
"You are just about the cutest thing I have ever seen!" Luna said, smiling from ear to ear as she cuddled the newborn princess. She tossed Flurry Heart into the air and caught her with her magic, and the alicorn foal squealed happily and began to giggle even more loudly. Phoebus tried with all his might to keep a straight face as he watched Luna fuss over the Crystal Empire's littlest princess. He had never imagined Luna as anything other than a stoic, serious princess, a relic from another age. He had certainly never imagined that she would show such shameless affection towards a foal, but Luna was putty in Flurry's tiny hooves.
"You need to have one of these, sister!" Luna told Celestia as she tickled Flurry with one of her feathery blue wings, making the foal giggle. "When is Sombra going to pop the question so you can give me a little niece or nephew? Tell him to hurry up!”
"Ugh, here we go again." Celestia rolled her eyes. “We’ve been over this a thousand times, Lulu. Sombra knows I’m much too busy to think about marriage right now. That may change in a few years, though. Who knows?” She exchanged a grin with Cadance, who took Flurry from Luna and kissed the filly’s forehead.
After the crystalling, the royals returned to Cadance and Shining Armor’s palace for a reception. Luna cooed and fawned over Flurry for most of the party, even changing the foal’s diaper eagerly at one point to give Flurry’s parents and their servants a well-deserved break. She and Twilight nearly fought over the baby alicorn, but eventually Luna gave Flurry to her aunt Twilight and walked over to the dessert table, where she munched on some pink and blue petit fours and absentmindedly chatted with Flurry’s godparents. By the end of the gathering, Luna was noticeably exhausted, but there was still work to be done. Phoebus followed the blue alicorn out onto the east portico of the palace and saluted as Luna raised the full moon and adorned the sky with stars. As always, Phoebus was enchanted by Luna’s beauty as she turned back towards him and the other Lunar Guards marched back to their temporary barracks. Suddenly, her eyes locked with his. Luna felt her stomach flip as Phoebus took a small step towards her, and she turned so that her back was to him. Phoebus took another tentative step closer.
“Princess,” he whispered. Luna’s left ear flicked in his direction, and she sighed softly but said nothing as they walked to night court.
“Parliament has unanimously decided to expand our realm,” Luna told Phoebus after her night court was dismissed. “They took a vote yesterday, during our absence. The next piece of news I am about to share with you, I am telling you in the strictest confidence. If anypony else hears about this, I will know you have told somepony. Only my sister and I know of this. The Crystal Empire has petitioned to annex with Equestria. Cadance will abdicate the throne as princess and empress, and she will instead become prime minister. Celestia and I have expanded our realm, so our parliament decided to make us queens. At midnight, in just a few hours, the Crystal Empire will henceforth be known as Crystallia, and we will officially be its princesses.”
“Is that a problem, Your Majesty?” Phoebus asked. Luna heaved a sigh and turned towards the bat pony. Her turquoise eyes, which were usually so bright, were dull and tired.
“No,” she said, “but it means that more responsibility now rests squarely on my shoulders, as well as my sister’s. It is a lot to process. So many ponies seem to think being a royal consists only of smiling, looking pretty, and being adored, but it is so much more than those things. We are always expected to be stoic. Our mantra is ‘never complain, never explain.’ Any display of emotion is considered to be a sign of weakness by our subjects. Phoebus, between you and me, I am exhausted. Huge royal news is about to break, so I am telling you this now in the strictest confidence. After the crystalling, my sister told me that Sombra proposed to her, and she accepted. They will officially announce their engagement next week.” Her voice trembled slightly, but she kept her composure. “Phoebus, you are my dearest friend apart from my sister, so I need to ‘vent’ to you, as the young ponies say these days. I am thousands of years old and have had my fair share of lovers, but I have never married. This will be my sister’s first marriage; she, too, has extremely high standards when it comes to stallions. I have never been able to find a stallion to spend eternity with; as the younger sister, I always had to watch as everypony fawned over Celestia. The few romances I did have were short-lived. Most of my ex-lovers only used me to get closer to my sister, so I have found it quite difficult to trust anypony.” She looked down, and Phoebus could tell she was trying to mask the pain in her eyes. All he could do was marvel at the magnificent alicorn before him.
“I don’t understand,” Phoebus said slowly. “If I may say so, Ma’am, you are incredibly beautiful, more so than your sister in my opinion. You’re intelligent, funny, witty, kind. I don’t want to overstep my boundaries here, but perhaps it would help if you opened up to ponies more.” He moved closer to her so that he stood shoulder to shoulder with the queen.
“You, the rest of the Lunar Guards, and my sister are the only ponies I trust with my life,” Luna told him. “One can never truly know who one’s friends are when one is a royal.” She shook her mane and gave Phoebus a sad smile. “Come,” she said, “let’s go find something more exciting to do. The night is young, and I have nothing left to do unless I am alerted that I am needed in the dream realm. Take me to the guards’ tavern.” It was clearly an order, not a suggestion. She cast a spell that disguised her as an unassuming powder blue unicorn with a cotton candy pink mane and tail. Phoebus nodded and led her to the tavern, where the off-duty Lunar Guards were drinking.
“And then I said, ‘Starswirl, you crotchety old bastard, I may be younger than you, but I can still drink you under the table!’” Luna yelled, guffawing and making the other guards crack up. “Bartender, pour us another round!” The guards cheered, and Luna whooped happily.
“Come back to my bedchamber after sunrise, Captain,” Luna said to Phoebus as she stumbled toward the castle. The sun was rising after Luna had drunkenly lowered the moon.
“Your Majesty, I don’t believe that would be a good idea,” Phoebus said cautiously. “I think we should probably get you into bed and let you get a good night’s sleep.” Luna rolled her eyes and gave him a smoldering look that made his nether region stand at attention. She was clearly undressing him with her eyes.
“So serious all the time,” she teased, giggling. “There is fun to be had today, Phoebus. Come have another drink in the safety of my bed.” Her brazen flirting shocked Phoebus, but he kept his composure as he led Luna to her bedchamber. She’s drunk out of her mind, he reminded himself. She doesn’t actually mean what she’s saying.
“Aww, no fun today, then?” Luna pouted, batting her eyes. “I just wanted some company. Nights are so long for me, and nopony ever really tries to make sure I’m okay. Maybe I just want to be taken care of for once.” She stood so close to Phoebus that he could smell the strong scent of liquor on her breath. Then, out of nowhere, she gently pressed her lips to his. Too shocked to react, Phoebus froze. Her kiss tasted of alcohol, cherries, and the dark chocolate she had eaten earlier. Her lips were impossibly soft, and Phoebus desperately wanted to kiss her back, but he resisted the urge to do so.
“Ya know,” Luna slurred, “I’ve liked youuu eeeeverrr since I first saw you, Phoeeeeebus.” She giggled coquettishly and batted her eyes. “Yer the best Lunar Guard I’ve had in a looooong time, didja know that? Yer also suuuper cute. What do you say we resume this party elsewhere, hmmmmm? Whadja think about a little alone time with da Princessuhduhniiight?” She brushed her flank against him, and Phoebus moaned. Her offer was tantalizing, but he couldn’t accept it.
“With all due respect, Ma’am, you’re drunk,” he said slowly. “I don’t think it would be a good idea.”
“Aww, am ah nawt purrrdy enough for you?” Luna pouted.
“Ma’am, you’re absolutely beautiful,” Phoebus assured her apologetically. “You’re intoxicated, though. I think we should get you in bed and make sure you get plenty of rest.” Luna pouted again, almost falling as she opened her bedchamber doors.
He helped her climb into her bed and left her after she had quickly fallen asleep. Her flirting stayed on Phoebus’ mind as he got into his own bed. Had she only been drunkenly rambling, or was she actually interested in him? Did that kiss actually mean something? Only time would tell.