Trying to remain inconspicuous when you are a monarch, a goddess, and twice the size of everypony else is not an easy task.
Luna was well aware of this fact as she walked down the Ponyville's main street. She was also aware of how completely she was failing at said task. While the ponies around her tried to conceal their pointing and whispering, they weren't succeeding.
Luna mentally questioned why she was there. Did she honestly just plan to swoop into the library and tell Twilight about the dinner? "Hey, I - Y'know, little ol' Goddess of the moon - just wanted you to know, you know that relationship that you had the horrible nightmare about? The goddess of the sun - Who is also your supreme ruler, and who has a giant crush on you -wants to work on that. Also, I invaded your dreams and saw your most private fears about it, because I want you to date my sister for reasons unknown to myself. Even after I saw my sister dreaming about you and her gettin' busy. So, if you could be at the castle at 9:00 tomorrow night, that would be just peachy!" Yeah, that would go over well.
Luna had tried to plan this exchange out. She had tried to come up with the "foolproof plan" she had promised Celestia. It hadn't worked. So she had decided to just wing it. While that was probably a bad idea, it was the best she had.
So now she was slowly walking through Ponyville, with no excuse for being in the town, and no idea what to do. If she was lucky, she'd get a brilliant idea. If she wasn't... Well, hopefully that wouldn't happen.
While no brilliant ideas popped into her head, luck came to her into another form. Specifically, the form of a cyan Pegasus with an extremely colorful mane, who touched down some ten feet in front of Luna and began trotting to a building that looked like a giant gingerbread house. Luna, recognizing her as one of Twilight's friends, decided to follow her.
She stepped through the door a few seconds later, hoping that a crowd wouldn't follow her.
"Pinkie, can you get that?" A voice called from the back. Male, and not one Luna had heard before.
"Yes!" The bight pink pony responded, turning away from her pegasus friend. "Sorry, Dashie, this will only take a- Princess!"
Pinkie looked surprised, and rather pleased, to see her. Luna and her had some interesting interactions the last time she was here, and the party pony obviously remembered. Luna trotted up to the counter.
"Hello, Pi-"
"Princess?"
Luna was cut off by the same male voice, which now showed a mixture of excitement and fear. A fraction of a second later, there was an older yellow stallion at the counter.
"Oh, Celestia, so nice of you to..." The stallion trailed off in horror as he realized that Luna was not, in fact, her sister. He attempted to recover, his voice barely understandable underneath how shaky it was, "I mean - Uh - Luna, so nice to see you!"
Luna swallowed her inner annoyance. She was only mildly offended, but some part of her wanted to scream something about disrespect and dungeons, just to see the stallion's reaction. On any other day, she would have done so, but today she was on a mission.
"And you as well, Mr....?"
"Cake, Mr. Cake. Your highness," the pony continued, bowing deeply, "How may I serve you?"
"Well, actually," Luna replied, trying to keep her voice neutral, "I wanted to talk to your employee and her friend."
Pinkie smiled brightly at this, and probably would have interrupted the dark blue Alicorn if Rainbow hadn't shoved a hoof over her mouth.
"Bu- But of course!" Mr. Cake exclaimed, as best as he could over his nerves, "I'm sure she'd love to talk to you!"
Luna nodded, smiling. Mr. Cake nodded back. It took him a good four seconds to realize that Luna wanted to talk to them alone, but he eventually muttered something about giving them privacy and shuffled into the back room again.
Luna turned to the two remaining ponies, smiling. "And how have you been?"
"Ohmigosh, I've been so good and wonderful and now you're here and that's just-"
Dash cut off Pinkie's rant before it got out of control with a hoof again, while herself responding "Very well. And you, your highness?"
Luna shrugged. "Good enough, I suppose. So... Has Twilight discussed anything with you girls recently? Something important?"
That was a mistake. The others in the room stared at her, looking worried. Pinkie was the first to respond.
"No, she didn't. She's not in trouble, is she? Because," she said, her voice getting progressively less cheery and more pleading, "She hasn't done anything wrong, and if she has, she didn't mean it, and-"
Luna cut her off. "Oh no, no trouble. No trouble for any of you. It's just... Well, I need to talk to her, and I don't want to scare her, because she might think she's in trouble. So I was wondering if you girls could maybe go with me, so Twilight doesn't get scared."
"Why would she be scared?" Rainbow asked, arching an eyebrow. "I mean, it's not like you really talk with her a lot - As far as I know, at least."
"Well, that's exactly the reason. She would wonder why my sister wasn't visiting her, and that could frighten her."
Luna was relieved to see that her friends appeared to buy her story. They were probably still mildly suspicious, but not as much as they could have been. Things were looking up.
"So, what, we just walk with you to the library?"
"That would be wonderful."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Exclaimed Pinkie, "Let's go!"
A few minutes later, they were on their way to Twilight's residence. So far, Luna's plan was going great.
Except for the fact that she had no idea what to say to Twilight. That part wasn't so great.
It was with these thoughts that Luna knocked on the door of the library. Then knocked again. And again.
She turned to Rainbow. "Could you say something?"
"Twilight!" Rainbow shouted, "We want to talk with you!"
The cyan Pegasus turned to Luna for confirmation that she had done well, which the princess gave with a nod.
The sound of hooves greeted them a few seconds later. Apparently Twilight was answering the door. This was good. This was very good.
"Yes?" Twilight said in a tired voice, opening the door. "What is-"
Twilight froze in place when she saw Luna.
"Oh, Twilight, thank you for answering the door," Luna said, struggling to keep her voice non-threatening. "I just had your friends come with me, so you wouldn't be afraid, because I wanted to clear up that matter with my sister. Do you mind if I come in?"
When Twilight did not give an answer, Luna decided that it would be okay to walk inside the library and close the door, leaving a very confused Pinkie and Rainbow standing outside.
Twilight continue to stare at the princess. The more Luna looked at her, the more worried she got. Twilight was a mess. She probably hadn't showered since the incident, much less combed her mane or coat. Any sleep she might have gotten wasn't very restful, and she had bags under her eyes. And now, the way she was looking at Luna... It almost broke her heart to see the fear in the little unicorn's eyes. She couldn't even imagine what this image would do to her sister.
Luna slowly crouched down, laying on the floor, in an attempt to be less intimidating. She was terrible at comforting ponies, but she had to try, for her sister's sake.
"I want to let you know that Celestia isn't angry."
Twilight didn't respond.
"In fact, she's rather sad at your reaction."
Still nothing.
"I just want to know, though - And this is me talking, my sister doesn't know I am asking this, and I will not tell her the response - Do you love her?"
Twilight was silent for a long time.
"I- I want you to leave, please."
Luna, for better or for worse, did not take this response.
"Please, Twilight. Just tell me."
Twilight shook her head. "I don't - I don't know. I thought I did, but now that it's out in front of me..."
She looked up at Luna.
"I don't even know why I'm telling you this."
Luna nodded. "Twilight, I know you're scared. My sister is as well. But the greatest regret I have was not communicating. Not talking about how I felt."
Luna briefly flashed back to a time she had tried to forget - Desolate, cold, and dark, the blue marble that was her home floating in the distance, deep sadness poisoned by hatred and regret - She shook her head, trying to clear it, then continued, "I don't want you to feel that."
Twilight briefly considered this. "But - I mean, we've known each other for so long - Me and Celestia - And this would just be - I mean, my parents don't even know I'm - And my friends, they don't either, and I know a lot of ponies don't really take kindly to - And-"
She ran out of breath, but did not continue after sucking in another lungful.
"Twilight," Luna continued, "I know. You are afraid. So is my sister. But all she wants to do is talk to you about it."
Twilight remained silent.
"Will you please do that? For both of you?"
Twilight still refused to respond.
"Please. All she wants is one night-"
Twilight's head jerked up in shock. What had Luna said that -
Luna quickly realized the phrasing issue. "No, no, no! Not like that. A dinner. She only wants a dinner."
Twilight nodded, her eyes slowly shrinking back to their normal size in relief.
"Do you think you can do that?"
Twilight looked uncertain. Her mind was, no doubt, filled with hundreds of possible ways the idea could go wrong. Luna was worried that she would reject the proposal, and began to mentally plan for that possibility. Thankfully, she was wrong.
"I- I think I can try. But no promises. Okay?"
Luna smiled brightly. Maybe I should take over from Cadence as the princess of romance.
Luna nearly slapped herself after that thought. Cadence! I could have talked to her! This is her job! Why didn't I- Ah well, it's too late now. Besides, I didn't need her. I just got my sister a date!
"Wonderful!" Luna exclaimed aloud, oblivious to the strangeness of her previous thought, "That will be just wonderful. Let's say, the palace, tomorrow night, at around... Five o'clock?"
Twilight nodded.
"Oh, just great. I'll be sure to go tell her right away. Oh, and be sure to not wear anything super-fancy, that would arouse suspicion. So, yeah, I'll just be going. Er- You don't mind if I leave, do you?"
Twilight shook her head, then watched as the Goddess of the Night turned and trotted happily out the door.
Right as the door closed, all of the scenarios playing out in Twilight's head were momentarily silenced by one single thought:
What the hell did I just get myself into?
* * *
Celestia was nervous. This was to be expected. After all, this was her first date in... Dear god, she couldn't even remember how long. Her life had been so full of meeting and treaties and laws that she never got much time for romance. And now that she finally did, it felt like a python as squeezing her chest. She was actually on a date. A date. Good lord.
She shifted in the chair, quickly adjusting her crown. She could never keep the damn thing straight. Wait, maybe she shouldn't be wearing the crown - That could imply that she was above Twilight, which was the last thing she wanted, and - Yes, it was a good idea to take it off.
Celestia quickly magicked her regalia off of her, looking for a place to put it. Thankfully, a servant noticed, and quickly came to her with a pillow. She placed the crown on top, and the servant shuffled away. With the crown safely out of sight, she could get back to panicking about what to say. It had to be casual, not nervous, and-
She heard a knock on the door to the dining room, quickly followed by her sister's distinct voice: "Sister, she's at the gate! She'll be in in a few minutes!"
Oh gods! She- She was almost-
Celestia wanted to run. She wanted to hide, to shrink out of sight, to disappear, to-
She took a deep breath. She hadn't ever felt this vulnerable before. Here she was, god-empress of the most powerful nation on the planet, and she was panicking over a date like a schoolfilly.
Twilight entered the room a few minutes later, looking like how Celestia felt. So at least they were on the same level. Twilight wasn't wearing a dress, as per Luna's instructions. Celestia's sister had tried to make the atmosphere as casual as possible. The normally elegant dining table had been replaced with a much smaller, circular one, and the chairs with slightly simpler ones. The tablecloth was a plain white sheet, without its normal frills and lace. It was set for two ponies, with stark white plates and simple glass cups. Lighting was provided by three candles in the middle of the table, as well as the lamps around the room.
Twilight sat down.
"Uh - Hi."
Genius, Celestia. Really great opener.
"Hi," Twilight responded, sounding uncertain.
After a few seconds, Celestia tried to break the silence. "I'm - I'm really glad you're here. After, y'know, I sprung the whole... Dating... Thing.... On you. I know that must have made you nervous."
Twilight smirked. "Yeah, a bit."
Celestia's voice dried up in her throat. That almost sounded angry. Was she mad? Maybe she didn't want to be here. Maybe-
"I'm glad you did, though."
Celestia's heart, impossibly, started to beat faster. She was-
"Not that- I've ever- Thought about the idea before, but, I, Uh-"
From the doorway, Luna suppressed a giggle. Good lord, this was adorable, in a painful and awkward way. This thought brought on a sudden realization that the spying she was doing was, in fact, extremely creepy, leading her to retreat from the doorway to go and check on the food.
"It's okay. I mean, I've - This all came on rather suddenly, and-"
Celestia's voice trailed off.
"Yeah, I know," Twilight responded. "It's been... Well, a bit startling. I must admit."
The atmosphere in the room was slowly warming up. Both ponies were starting, in spite of themselves, to relax.
"Yeah. I'm sorry for that."
"It's okay, it really is. If anything, I should be apologizing for just running off like that. It was inappropriate."
"It's okay. You were scared. I mean, I did just spring this on you."
Twilight nodded. "It was terrifying, actually."
Upon seeing Celestia's reaction, the purple unicorn was quick to continue, "I mean- It was terrifying, in a good way. Like - Like those action parts of the Daring Doo books. Or, no, it was more like - A romance novel, I guess."
Celestia smiled again. Always back to books with her. For some reason, she liked that. "Do you read a lot of romance?"
Twilight shook her head. "Not really. I find most of them to lack anything that resembles a story. It tends to mostly be rather juvenile."
Celestia nodded. "As I've heard. I don't get much time to read fiction."
Twilight nodded. "Being a princess must be busy. Still, it's a shame you don't get to read more - Believe it or not, I think it's a wonderful pastime."
They both chuckled at Twilight's joke.
"Quite..."
They sat in silence for another few seconds, but it was a different kind of silence. The awkwardness that penetrated the room was slowly turning into something else, a bluish red atmosphere that permeated these types of situations.
"Maybe you can recommend me some books sometime."
"I'd love to."
They looked at each other for a while before the sound of a door opening interrupted them. Two servants entered, each carrying a small booklet that listed wines.
"What would you like to drink, my ladies?" One questioned, passing a book to Celestia as his partner handed one to Twilight.
"Hmm... What are we eating for dinner, again?"
"A lettuce and carrot salad, lightly dressed with sweet vinegar, followed by a cake of Fer De Bâck oats in a thick carrot gravy. I'd recommend something dryer."
"In that case, get what you recommend."
The servant nodded, turning to Twilight. "And for you, miss?"
Twilight looked confused. "I don't actually have any experience in wine tasting. In fact, I rarely drink it. So, uh... Maybe I could just have what the princess is having?"
The servant nodded again, before shuffling out of the room.
"I'm terribly sorry," Celestia said, feeling her nerves perk up again, "I shouldn't have had them put you on the spot like that."
"No, no, it's okay," Twilight muttered back, "It's my fault for not being sophisticated enough to know what to order. I should have remembered I was in a palace."
Celestia's heart sank. "No, no, don't think like that! You don't need to know useless things like what wine to get. In fact, I barely know myself."
"Still," Twilight responded, "This just seems a bit... Over my head. I'm... I'm just a librarian. Not anybody special."
"But..." Celestia's voice was a mixture of depression and pleading, "That's not true. You are somepony special. You're - You're wonderfully intelligent, hardworking, ingenious, creative..."
Twilight and Celestia were both, at this point, blushing deeply.
"You're amazing."
Twilight looked down at her plate, embarrassed. "Glad you think so."
"Yeah..."
They talked about various subjects - How Twilight's research was going, what her friends were doing, and the like - Until the food came in, some five minutes later. They ate mostly in silence, both attempting to be as neat as possible.
"Well, that was delicious," Celestia said after they had finished.
"I agree," Twilight responded, "It was quite good. So, I must ask..."
Celestia waited expectantly.
"Why... Now?"
Celestia arched an eyebrow, leading Twilight to elaborate, "I mean, why would you ask now? Not that I'm complaining, of course, but I don't know why - I mean, you of all ponies, a goddess, wanting to date some silly little unicorn, and all so suddenly, and I was wondering why..."
Her voice trailed off, her nervousness finally managing to shut her mouth. Celestia, for her part, attempted to suppress the part of her brain that was screaming about how cute she was when she rambled.
"I just... I saw another couple. On a stressful trip. And they were dancing, just - Just dancing, in a field, and they just looked so happy... And I started to wonder what it would be like if I could be that happy with another, and... And I realized that you were the one that came to mind."
Celestia looked into her eyes.
"And then I couldn't get the idea out of my head, so I decided to ask, and, well, you know the story from there."
"So it was just... Just a sudden burst?"
Twilight looked nervous.
"I- I don't think so. It was more like - More like all of these feelings I'd been suppressing because I was too worried about so many things just forced themselves into the foreground of my mind."
After briefly considering, Celestia continued, "And I am so glad they did. Because here, looking at you... There's just some- Some kind of magic in the way you're sitting there. In everything about you."
Twilight, understandably, blushed. "Thanks, Princess."
"Please. Call me Celestia."
"Thanks, Celestia."
She nodded. A few seconds later, the servants returned with the main course, which both of them ate nervously. They were really into it now. Really, actually, truly dating. Talking like a couple. And, with all the nervousness that brought, both of them were overjoyed at the prospect.
After they finished, Celestia turned to Twilight.
"So. What happens now?"
"What do you mean?"
"Would you- Would you like to do this again?"
Twilight thought for only a second before answering. Yes, there was so much that could go wrong. But this was one of her dreams, something that she had wanted for so long. She wasn't going to let it slip away.
"Yes, Celestia. I would. I very much would. So, should I leave now, or...?"
"You don't have to, if you don't want to. I'd love to spend more time with you."
Twilight nodded. "So... Maybe we could go up to the observatory? I always love watching the stars..."
Celestia nodded. A few minutes later, both of them were in the highest tower in the palace, looking up at the stars.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Twilight said, still staring upwards.
"Very much so..." Celestia responded. She was nervous, but she managed to continue, "Just like you."
Twilight turned to look at her, surprised. She slowly faded into a smile. "And you, Celestia."
They both looked up at the stars again. Twilight perked an eyebrow.
"Is that- Are those stars moving?"
She pointed to a spot in the sky, which Celestia looked at. The stars were, in fact, in motion. Both ponies were confused until a few seconds later, when the stars stopped. There was now a very obvious constellation that said, in capital letters, "KISS HER."
Much to Luna's delight, they both obliged her request.