You're going to need to know what an orrery is. Granted, his is a lot more complicated and much more fancy, but that should give you a general idea. Now, without further ado...

The Orrery:

I sighed as the spring sailed across the room. It was my third try to get the stupid little bugger into its compartment, and, truth be told, it really didn’t want to fit. My joints popped as I stood up, stepped on an escaped metal ball and cordially introduced my face to the floor. Ouch.

There were small pipes, ball bearings, tools and rods strewn about randomly, the result of hours of ‘tireless work’ and not so many hours of ‘thorough cleaning.'

Tinkering wasn't really my job per se, just as my workshop wasn't a workshop, instead being a repurposed basement room. My actual employment was with the palace, fixing their clocks and other mechanical thingamajigs. Speaking of the timepieces, there was a superfluous amount of them: one for every room, sometimes more.

In all honesty, it was a good life, even if it was sometimes dull. It kept my money bag full, but what I really lived for was my tinkering. My current project, an orrery, was my longest-running enterprise yet, totaling over a year in the making. Its small, gold-plated spires held realistic models of the planets, their moons, and the sun, all of which were carved in stunning bas-relief, covered in thin gold filigree and inlaid with platinum. Its gilded casing was domed, both for the protection of the delicate inner machinations and its aesthetics as a whole. The whole thing was about the size of a large loaf of bread, if you just so happened to be in the habit of making your loaves of bread in the shape of orreries.

Most nights I’d get home from the palace, plop down on my workbench and work until midnight. That night, however, it was three in the morning. Over a year of work, and it all led up to that stupid, stubborn spring not wanting to squeeze into its proper place. I mean, seriously, it’d taken me months to fully design the mechanisms alone. There were one thousand, two hundred and sixty five miniscule gears, pinions and springs in there. Well, actually, make that one thousand, two hundred and sixty four, since that asinine little coil of wire wouldn’t get into its proper place. Darn it, no matter how long it took, the project was reaching its culmination that night.

I huffed, returning to my seat at my workbench with the prodigal spring. Using a combination of my feathertips, hooves and mouth, I carefully maneuvered the small coil of wire into place, until finally, with a sigh of relief and an ear-to-ear grin, I sat up. The spring was in place! The orrery was finally done! Happily, I shut the small access hatch on the side of it, and promptly facehoofed. Of course, I’d forgotten the most important piece. Sighing, I opened a drawer in my workbench, carefully removing a simple wooden box. I smiled as I opened it, nearly quivering with excitement. In the box was a black diamond, which seemed to suck surrounding light into it, slightly dimming the area I was working in.

The diamond was a family heirloom, passed down to me from my grandfather. He found it, oddly enough, while he was fishing. That old stallion had paid to have it cut and put into a ring, which he then used to propose to my grandmother. After she and my grandfather died, my father inherited it, and when he died due to a heart attack while I was in my early teens, I did. I felt a bit bad about cannibalizing the ring for the jewel, but I was sure it would pay off in the end; not necessarily because I needed it to power the orrery—I could’ve done that with any old rock—but because of who this was for. According to some expert magi whom I consulted, the gem was of the cut and type that was ideal for the containment of magical energy, and therefore, after I had paid seven separate unicorns to enchant it, the diamond held enough magic to power the machinations of the orrery for a thousand years or more—an amount of time that, in my opinion, was not long enough, given the recipient.

Removing the gem from the box, I carefully reopened the access hatch. It took some finagling as a result of the tight space which I had to maneuver it into, but without too much undue trouble it clicked into place, its glow dimming slightly. The miniscule inner workings began to turn. From the outside, a tad less than half the diamond was visible, but, in my opinion, that half gave full testament to the manifest beauty of the gem. A ticking, dulled by the exterior walls of my creation, reached my ears. It sounded like music, instilling a melancholy ache in my chest. The planets, moons and sun all began their almost imperceptibly slow and mesmerizing dance. I beamed, a single tear of joy running down my cheek.

I was about to shut the hatch again and go to bed, but suddenly I had an idea. A wonderful, brilliant idea. It would take me another few hours and I would have to directly connect the timepiece to the gem, but I could do it.

Tomorrow was going to be the best day ever. Wait, no. It was six in the morning. Today was going to be the best day ever.

I awoke with a start to the blaring of my alarm clock. I hate this thing, I thought, slapping the top of it until it stopped screaming its jingly obscenities at me. I wanted my darned ‘five more minutes.’ As soon as I laid my head back down, I remembered what day it was. Yay! I practically flew out of bed, gliding my way to the restroom.

After a cursory shower, preening, tooth brushing and deodorizing, I searched beneath the counter until I found an ancient, dusty bottle of hair gel. I'm not gonna lie, I gussied myself up a bit. Gotta look great for the big moment! I looked myself over. Blue eyes, grey fur, and a black, slightly gelled mane.

After a quick breakfast, I flew to the palace. Upon arrival, I began my job, fixing broken clocks and servicing others. Ugh, this is so boring, I thought. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but today each task I completed merely felt like a speed bump. Reaching the end of the day was going to take longer than a snail climbing the Canterlot watchtower.

After servicing a rather annoying cuckoo clock, I rounded a corner and my heart skipped a beat. Oh sun, it's her! I stumbled, nodding my head to her. “Good morning, Luna.” I felt my cheeks color.

“Dandy, although after three years I'm still astounded by the number of clocks in this palace. One for every room, sometimes more!”

She gave a demure chuckle. “Aye, I have wondered the same many a time, though I am quite partial to them myself.” While she was speaking, the clocks throughout the palace struck ten. “Ah.” Now that I looked closer, her posture was sagging a bit. “I am sorry, but I am weary, and thus I must cut our little chat short. We shall talk later.” She smiled. “Adieu."

“O-oh, very well Luna, sleep well,” I said with a smile, bowing my head once again.

“I assure you, I will.” She carried on her way, striding regally towards the same intersection which I had so recently come from. “Oh, and Gizmo? I am quite enjoying thy new hairstyle. It suits thee well.”

Even after three years of seeing her almost daily, my heart still did the pitterpatter every time she showed up, making me feel lighter than air.

Over those three years we'd actually become pretty good friends. In fact, I could still remember the first day I met her. It was my first time in Canterlot, and I was still a wet-behind-the-ears young stallion, fresh out of school, looking to make my mark on the world. Completely by happenstance, that was the day I—quite literally—stumbled upon my job.

I was visiting the castle, which, for the most part, was kept open to the public by the Princesses. Caught up in the beauty of the tapestries, suits of armor and architecture, I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going, when I rounded a corner and ran smack-dab into Nightmare Moon.

Well, you can imagine my reaction. “AAAAH!” I hollered, scooting backwards on my rump before turning tail and running for my life.

“Wait, pony, wait!” Nightmare Moon wailed from behind me. “We mean thee no harm!”

Yeah right. I kept running, completely disregarding her attempts to halt my bid for freedom. After rounding what felt like ten but was, in reality, probably closer to three corners, I checked back over my shoulder. Seeing no sign of the eldritch horror which had beset me in the hallway, I allowed myself a breather. I had just seen Nightmare Moon! Those evil eyes! Those sharp teeth!

WAIT. Three months ago, Nightmare Moon returned and was vanquished by the Elements of Harmony, which turned her back into... Oh crap. I'm dead. At this point, I pretty much panicked. I'd just run in terror from the co-ruler of Equestria! She would probably banish me, or something!

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I gotta calm down. I'm sure if I go back and apologize, everything will be alright. These are the Princesses, for pony's sake! It was, therefore, with no small amount of trepidation that I retraced my steps to the intersection where I had bumped into the Princess. Finding no trace of her there or in any of the adjacent hallways, I was about to give up and go home when I perked my ears. I'd heard something.

I followed the sound until it became clearer. Could that be...? No. I heard muffled sobs coming from behind a study door that wasn't quite shut. Normally non-staff ponies were required to stick to the main hallways, but I was in deep enough that I figured I could stand to get a little more in trouble.

As I opened the door, I found exactly what I expected but never thought I'd see: a sobbing Princess. I entered nervously, treading my way into the study as quietly as possible. The room was spartanly furnished, home to only a wall clock, a modestly sized desk and chair, and a faux-leather loveseat in which Princess Luna laid, back to me. Her sides were heaving slightly with the strength of her sobbing. I approached her quietly, placing a hoof gently on her shoulder as soon as I got within range. Her fur felt like velvet. “Princess Luna?” I said.

“Leave us in peace!” she cried morosely, slapping away my hoof without even looking at me.

“I'm... I'm sorry I ran away from you. I didn't mean to, you just surprised me.”

She rolled over, glaring at me. “Yes, just as we surprise every other pony in this heartless palace. Everypony still thinks us a monster.” She sobbed. “We are naught but a thing of nightmares, a horror from a foal's imagination come to life. Now as we said before, leave us in peace! Allow us to mourn alone.” She turned her back on me, still crying.

“WHAT?” I braced as I was hit with the full power of the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“You're... pretty.” What in Equestria did I just say?! Apparently she was thinking along the same lines as I was, because the entire loveseat came flying through the air at me. It missed high, luckily, though judging by the sound of shattering glass, the wall clock didn't fare so well.

The Royal Canterlot Voice came back in full as she raged. “Darest thou lie to the Princess of the Night!? Thou thyself only just now ran from us in fear!”

She lifted the desk in her magic. Thinkthinkthinkthink! I spoke the first thing that came to mind. “No, Princess, no! I only ran because I didn't see you! I, like every other pony in this forsaken land simply assumed you were Nightmare Moon! I can see differently now, I swear! Please don't kill me," I whimpered. The desk lowered, but still remained inches off the floor. Deciding I was doing fairly well, I continued. “Your sister, Celestia, is considered by the entire nation to be the most majestic mare in history. She is regal, kind and understanding. You... you will never be like her." Crap. "Yipes, hear me out!” I exclaimed as Luna raised the desk once more, a scowl on her face. “You're a completely different kind of beautiful. You're regal, imperial, mysterious, even! Heck, you've seen the dark side of the moon! I mean, look at you! You're crying and you're still pretty! Anyone who can't see that doesn't deserve your attention anyway.” Wow, that was really awesome. Wish I could say stuff like that more often.

The desk resumed its place on the floor, and Luna's rump joined it. The crying had stopped, her face twisted in confusion. “Thou... Thou actually thinketh us beautiful?”

“Yes Ma'am! Er, your Majesty, ma'am!” I replied, leaning forward and looking her dead in the eye. A bead of sweat ran down my forehead.

Silence reigned in the study. Luna opened her mouth as if she were going to say something, before shutting it. Suddenly, with a flash, she was gone. I blinked. Well, that happened. I pondered trying to find her, but decided against it. Instead, I dragged the loveseat, which, after having been thrown at me, was remarkably intact, back into place. I was about to leave when I noticed the wall clock which the seat had hit. Unlike said seat, the clock was decidedly not intact.

“Dang.” I sagged. That was one busted up timepiece. The clock's glass facing was completely shattered; the hour hand was lying on the floor and the second hand was bent. No rhythmic ticking emitted from it, signaling that there was something wrong internally as well. I fidgeted. I'm not even supposed to be in here. I really should be going...

I sighed, resigning myself to my fate, and got to work. With only a few basic tools which I carried routinely in my saddlebags, what normally would've been an easy task took me nearly four hours. It was good though, the task gave me time to mull over what’d happened. The longer I thought about it, the more I realized that every word I'd said had been true, whether I'd realized it at the time or not. Even matted with tears, her face was beautiful, her eyes vibrant. I even found the little princessly tantrum cute, although it had almost left a me-shaped smear on the floor. I wasn't sure what I felt moving around in my gut, but it felt dangerously close to a crush.

Celestia spare me, I thought. I can't have a crush on the co-ruler of Equestria!

It was about that time that I finished my task, standing up. The clock was working beautifully, ticking away the time as if it had never been damaged. The only difference was the missing glass, which I had swept up and placed in a bin.

“Thy work is quite well done,” said a meek voice from behind me. I yelped, and, quite by accident, pulled a perfect military about-face. That's right. I can be cool... sometimes.

She chuckled, covering her mouth with a hoof. "'Tis fine, thou hath caused no harm."

She hesitated. “Please, call us... Luna,” she said. “We must be honest, we did not expect to find thee still here. Tell us, pony, what is thy special talent?”

“Uh... I'm Gizmo.” I turned slightly so that she could see my cutie mark. “I fix things. Clocks are my specialty, though.”

Oh, there's another thing I forgot to mention: my cutie mark. It's a trio of interlocking gears, the largest brass, the smallest gold, and the middle silver.

“Well then, salutations, Gizmo. We thank thee for cleaning up our mess. We... Trust no word of this incident will leave this study?”

“Of course not, Your Maje--er, Luna, and you're welcome. I can't resist a broken clock, and I just so happen to carry some tools on me, ergo, I fixed it.”

I knitted my eyebrows. What? I thought. “Oh! You mean when I said ergo? I took Latin as my foreign language in school, but I'd know that one whether I knew the ‘old tongue’ or not. It's one of those words that's just still used, you know? Kind of like per se or non sequitur.”

Silence flooded the room. For some reason, I blushed. Luna and I both opened our mouths to say something simultaneously, and, noting the each other's intentions, said, “You first.”

She opened her mouth again, hesitated, then said, “We... we would like to thank thee for thy words, earlier. It has been many a century since we last heard them.” Her face scrunched up spasmodically and a single tear rolled down her cheek before she reasserted control over herself. “Sir Gizmo, what should we do to win over our subjects? We are at our wits end.”

“Uh...” A Princess asking me for advice? I had no idea what to say. I mean, maybe she could get the Bearers to use the Elements on the populace? Wait. Suddenly, it hit me, and I grinned. “Princess, have you ever heard of Nightmare Night?” She nodded. “Well... there's this nice little town called Ponyville. Now, you'd have to talk to Princess Celestia, but I'm pretty sure that's where her student lives...”

In hindsight, that idea could've gone wrong in so many ways. I'm told, however, that it went swimmingly, so there's no use in beating a dead horse. What is a horse, anyway? I've never understood that saying.

Anyway, after that day, I had been smitten. Soon after that first encounter I realized that not only was Luna beautiful on the exterior, but on the interior as well. Her spirit, imperious, honest and wise, seemed to shine through her, manifesting itself in her every movement. I'd fallen head over hooves for her the moment I'd met her, and there was nothing I could do to stop myself from rolling. Not that I wanted to, but still.

Luna had soon offered me the ‘head repairpony’ job at the castle. Given that I was the only repairpony, that wasn’t that impressive, but whatever. I had been working for three years, using every opportunity I could to stray to the south wing of the castle to speak to the Princess. In retrospect, that was probably terribly awkward, seeing as her chambers were at the top of a tower, but I digress. It had taken me every day of those three years to work up the courage, but I was finally going to ask her on a date to L'Astrance, one of the premiere Prench restaurants in Canterlot. In fact, the only reason I had constructed the orrery in the first place was to give to her as a gift, one which, given the Princess’ love of the cosmos, would open her eyes to the possibility of a courtship. I hoped.

Yeah, basically, an entire year of my life rested on tonight, not to mention a large chunk of my salary due to the reservation costs. It was a bit ridiculous; I was required to make them six months in advance due to their insane backlog.

I puffed my chest out. No matter what, I was giving her that orrery tonight. It was a gizmo, I was a Gizmo. If she liked one, she'd definitely like the other, right?

I grinned, carrying on down the hallways of the Canterlot Palace. I had a job to do, and I was going to complete it. After that? Who knows, maybe I’d get a very, very special somepony.

The day had gone well. I went back to my residence and prepared for the big moment. The orrery, with all of its splendidly crafted orbs, had been placed gently into a padded box. I donned nothing but a simple black bow tie. Luna’s speech may not have been completely modernized, but she had certainly taken to heart the more modern custom of minimalism when dressing.

I now sat in front of Luna's chamber doors. The great ebony sentinels guarded her inner chambers. I knew I had some time to kill, so I sat down against the wall across from them.

I wasn't allowed in, of course. The Princess and I may have been friends, but these were her private quarters. However, she usually woke up around nine, which just meant I had to wait.

Remember that comment about the day passing as slowly as a snail climbing the Canterlot watchtower? Yeah, this is what I'm talking about.

My stomach churned with worry. I felt slightly nauseous. Hey, at least I wasn't bored anymore. Now I could play "keep yourself from vomiting!"

After about twenty minutes, I was wound up like a spring, quivering with nervous energy. To alleviate some of my nerves, I made faces at the batponies guarding Luna's chamber doors.

“You know, we are ponies,” said one of the guards, growing impatient with my antics.

“Eheh... Sorry,” I said. I didn’t often spend time with the guards. Their barracks were separate from the palace, and when on duty, they were all seriousness, which pretty much made them boring in my book. Luna's door opened a crack, and I snapped to attention.

Luna's eyebrows creased. “When I stated that we should speak later, I did not mean… now.”

Her chambers came as no surprise to me, as I had been to them on several occasions, most of which were to address a rather cantankerous old grandfather clock that repeatedly malfunctioned. The walls were lined with shelves of books, and there was a grand desk and chair situated at the far side of the spacious study. There was a balcony behind the desk with a telescope situated on it. In the center of the room, there was a spiral staircase leading to what I could only assume were Luna's bedchambers.

“What is it that thou so greatly need to discuss? It must be important if thou art pestering my guards for it,” she said.

“I brought you a gift, Princess,” I said, presenting the red, ribbon-clad box.

She cocked an eyebrow, levitating the box towards herself before pulling the top off gently. She gasped. Not a small, demure, genteel type of gasp, a gasp befitting a princess. No, this was an audible, 'most wonderful thing I've ever seen' gasp.

Maybe that's part of her allure, I thought. She's not afraid to express herself.

She removed the orrery from its box, looking it over. Her eyes widened as she saw my signature engraved in the base. “Thou created this?”

Not as beautiful as you. “I thought it went well with your cutie mark.” Wait, what did I just say? My brain started doing loop de loops. "Not that I look at your cutie mark, it's just that-"

“Gizmo!” She cut me off. “It is alright. Truly, I thank thee. 'Tis magnificent,” she said, then, after a moment, continued, “I hear a ticking, but see no movement. Why?”

“It has a timing mechanism built into it, so it only moves at the same rate as our actual solar system. So what you're hearing is the mechanisms moving, but very slowly.”

“It is... Marvelous. We are very grateful.” She smiled warmly. “Now, I feel this is not the only reason for thine visit. Is there something else you wish to tell me?”

Princess Luna, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to L'Astrance? “Um...” Darn it.

She tilted her head. “What was that? I could not understand thine utterance.”

I gulped, mentally regrouping. “Well... Luna...” I met her eyes. “When we met, do you remember the first thing I said to you?”

She looked upward for a moment, a wry smile appealing on her lips. “Yes, thou sounded a bit like a banshee as thou screamed and ran from me.”

I blushed again, my grey coat turning a light shade of red. “Yes, but... Um... After that?”

“I was crying and you... you said I was the most beautiful mare you had ever seen.”

“So... Luna.” I inhaled. “Wouldyoudomethehonorofacompanyingmetolastrance?” I stuttered. Darn it. “Um... what I mean to say is... I mean...” I felt a hoof on my lips. It was the best feeling ever, physical contact with Luna. Like lightning, seeming to shock my brain into coherence.

I inhaled again. “Will you go on a date with me? I've made reservations at L'Astrance, a table for two, balcony seats.” I looked into those eyes, shifting my weight from hoof to hoof as I felt my wings shuffling.

She smiled, placing her hoof on mine. I relished the electrical current again. “Thy choice in restaurants is stellar, I must say.” I loved her speech patterns so much. “To answer thy question... thou art a sweet stallion, so I suppose that yes, I accept thine offer.” My heart did a backflip.

She giggled. “Thou hast been making sheeps’ eyes at me for years, Gizmo. 'Twas only a matter of time.”

My cheeks burned brighter than a flaming lighthouse. I’m not that transparent!

The reservation is for seven o'clock, Saturday evening. I'll come by then? “You're prettiest mare I've ever seen.” Brain. Seriously. What the absolute crap.

I floundered for a moment, my ears pinning back against my head. “Er... Yes. Um... the reservations are for Saturday evening at seven o'clock. I'll come by then?” See, brain? It's not that darned hard.

Suddenly, I had a thought. “Um... Luna? I just thought of something. You're nocturnal, right? Doesn't that mean an evening date would be breakfast for you?”

“Well... I just now remembered that you're nocturnal! Don't you eat dinner in the morning?” My ears laid back against my head.

She smiled. “Thy thoughtfulness knows no bounds, it seems. I see the source of thine misunderstanding. I am nocturnal. Nevertheless, in order to not overly inconvenience the cooks, I eat dinner for breakfast, and vice versa.”

I smiled at her use of Latin, hearkening back to the aftermath of our first meeting. “Oh, good.”

Thank you Princess, you have no idea what this means to me. “Awesome! I'll be by at six thirty on Saturday.” Darn it, brain, it's your fault I have such a large vocabulary but can never use it.

“And I shall await thine coming. Good bye, Gizmo, and thank thee for the orrery.”

That night, as I lay in bed drifting off to sleep, my last conscious thoughts drifted back to the orrery. Well, at least I know she likes one gizmo. Time to find out if she likes the other one just as much.

Moonlight

by Unimpressive Vagaries

The Orrery