"Ugh..." Luna groaned as a shaft of sunlight fell upon her closed eye. She shifted herself in an attempt to evade the nuisance, but the stubborn beam refused to let her be. Finally, after a full minute of resisting, the princess lifted her eyelids and sat up, glancing around while a yawn stretched her jaw open to capacity. On the bed next to her slept Princess Celestia, specks of icing all over her muzzle from the doughnut binge of the previous night.
As if the thought of eating had been a cue, the dark alicorn's stomach twinged in protest.
I suppose consuming one's weight in doughnuts does not make for a good diet, she mused ruefully. She slid to her hooves and groaned once more as her belly lurched. Nope, definitely not a good diet.
"Whhaaaaaat's goooing ooooon?" warbled a raspy voice from behind. Luna's eyes widened in terror and her knees began to quake; she knew whose voice it was. "Whoo woke me uup?"
The lunar princess turned slowly while easing her way to the door. "N-now Tia, why don't you just go back to sleep. There's no need to do anything hasty."
On the bed, Celestia pushed herself onto her forelegs and cast a bleary gaze at her sister. A pair of incredibly sunken, dark eyes stared out from underneath a muted rainbow mane that was definitely not swirling as it usually did. On unsteady hooves, she stood and began to stalk forward, towards the frightened blue mare.
A quick burst of motion saw Luna out the door and down the hallway in a flash. "Flee!" she cried to anypony who would heed her words. "The Terrifying Monster of the Morning is upon us! Flee, I say!"
Celestia's nightmarish head poked past her sister's door, her expression decidedly bewildered. "Iiis theere somethiing on myy facce??"
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"Fluttershy, let's go over the checklist again." Twilight held her quill pressed up against the parchment, ready to start checking things off.
"We've already done this five times," the pegasus protested.
"But these things are important!" Twilight said. "What if you forget something because you didn't go over the list?"
"I would listen to her, if I were you," Rarity added. "You do want this to go well, don't you?"
The two other mares gathered in Fluttershy's cottage in order to assist her in preparing for the impending date. When she had found out about it, Twilight had insisted upon helping make certain that her friend got to live happily ever after with her one, true love (Twilight's words, not Fluttershy's).
"Then we can all write a letter to Princess Celestia to tell her what we learned!" the alicorn had exclaimed with a goofy smile, giddily bouncing in place like a filly half her age. Rarity's expression upon hearing that had been dubious at best, and Fluttershy's had become downright mortified; something about writing a note to the princess about dating her sister just didn't appeal to the pegasus in the slightest.
"Alright, I guess once more won't hurt..." Fluttershy said, caving in.
"Yay! Item number one—movie tickets."
"Check."
"Good, checklist complete!" Twilight folded it neatly and slid it into a binder specifically meant to contain used lists. "You can't be too prepared, after all."
"Do you girls really think this will be fine?" Fluttershy asked. Her voice wavered and her knees began to quake as her frayed nerves took control.
"Darling, come here." Rarity threw a leg around her friend's shoulders and pulled her close. "The most important thing to remember is that Luna is at least as nervous as you are!"
"Is she really?" Fluttershy said, daring to lift her head to look into the unicorn's eyes.
"Definitely."
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"Woohoo!" Luna cheered during her morning gallop as her mane whipped back and forth in the wind. "Today is going to be great! I feel so happy, I'm not even slightly nervous!"
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"Well, if you say so..." Fluttershy inhaled deeply, then slowly let the air out. "I do feel a little better."
"What time are you supposed to meet her?" Twilight asked.
"At ten o'clock."
"What?! That's only an hour and a half from now! You have to get going now, or else you won't be sufficiently early!"
Rarity smacked a hoof against her forehead. "The theater's only a five-minute walk from here, dear; I don't think time is something we need to worry about."
"But—but—fine, have it your way."
"Would either of you like some breakfast?" Fluttershy offered. "I thought I'd make some oatmeal."
"That would be marvelous!"
Twilight followed the pegasus into the kitchen. "Yeah, sounds good! Can I help?"
Images of mushroom clouds and vaporized ponies assailed the other two mares at the thought of letting their alicorn friend assist in the cooking. "No!"
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The Celestia that Luna broke her fast with was in a far better state than the Celestia from earlier that morning. Gone were the sunken eyes, the matted mane, and the raspy, I've-come-for-your-soul voice; the zombie-pony was no more, replaced by the alicorn princess that all in Equestria knew (although maybe not personally) and loved (also maybe not personally).
"What are your plans for the day?" she asked, sipping at a glass of juice.
"I shall be in Ponyville for most of it." Luna speared a large hunk of pancake onto a fork and stuffed it all into her mouth at once. Apparently, her stomach ache had long since resolved itself. "Ay oh ot when Ay ell ee eh-ing ack."
"Sorry, I don't speak 'mouth full of food'," Celestia said. Luna had the grace to blush before swallowing and repeating herself.
"I said, 'I know not when I shall be getting back'."
"Well, please say 'hello' to Twilight for me."
"I... am not certain if I will see her today, but if I do, I shall pass on your greetings."
Not going to see Twilight? the white alicorn thought, mildly surprised. "Do you have some kind of official function to perform there that will prevent you from having leisure time?"
"No, I am merely taking part in dinner and a movie with Fluttershy."
Fascinating... Celestia had been present when the pegasus accidentally proclaimed her feelings for everypony to hear, and thus wasn't wholly caught off-guard by this turn of events. "That sounds lovely. I hope you have a good day."
"You, too!" With that, Luna bounced to her feet and shot out the door, ready to have as much fun as she could.
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It's almost time... I hope she remembers. But, of course she'll remember. What if she suddenly doesn't want to be here? So much could go wrong, I shouldn't get my hopes up. Or should I? If I get my hopes up, then maybe I'll be more fun to spend time with! Oh, but what would happen if things don't work out? Then I'd feel terrible... Maybe I should panic. Yes, panicking sounds like a good idea; I'll go with that. With these thoughts whirling through her head, Fluttershy was quickly winding herself up while she nervously waited for the lunar princess to arrive.
"Psst, Fluttershy!" The yellow mare glanced at a nearby bush, behind which Twilight and Rarity hid; the unicorn poked her head out in order to get her friend's attention. "Everything will be fine! Just concentrate on having a lovely time!"
Lovely time... Yes, this is going to be fun, isn't it? "Thanks, Rarity," she whispered back.
"What are we whispering about?" Twilight asked in an obliviously loud voice.
"Hush! She's coming!" The two observing mares ducked back out of sight, just in time to avoid being seen by Luna.
"Greetings!" the princess said cheerfully to her waiting friend. "I'm not late, am I?"
"No no, I only got here a few, um, minutes ago." Fluttershy shook her head, and the two tickets drifted out of her mane and fell to the ground. "Here are the tickets." They each took one and, side by side, trotted into the theater, chatting animatedly every step of the way.
Within no time, the two found their seats in a darkened room filled with a multitude of other ponies.
"Are you looking forward to the movie?" Fluttershy asked.
"Almost as much as I looked forward to crushing the skull of Ivan the Monstrous against the rocks!" Luna said enthusiastically, smacking a hoof heavily on the floor to emphasize the "crushing" part. Both the pegasus and a number of nearby ponies gave the alicorn shocked looks, and she let out an embarrassed chuckle. "Heh, I mean, yes, I am anticipating this movie very much indeed." After another moment's pause, she added, "By the way, what is a 'movie'?"
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As soon as Luna and Fluttershy disappeared into the theater, both Rarity and Twilight emerged from their concealment. "I seem to be spending more time in foliage than normal, these days," the unicorn observed, pulling twigs out of her mane. "It's not a trend I can say I'm fond of."
"So what do we do while they're watching the movie?" Twilight asked.
"We wait here, I suppose. I thought that something like this would happen, so I made certain to be prepared." She flipped open her bag and pulled out a pack of playing cards. "Now tell me, Twilight, do you know how to play 'Go Fish'?"
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Drifting listlessly through the pleasantly warm air, Rainbow Dash fought the urge to fall asleep right then and there. I should find a cloud, she decided, looking around for a place suitable for napping.
"No no no, you don't just get to look at my cards!"
"But then how do I know you're not hiding any aces?"
"Twilight, you wound me! Can you not trust what I say?"
The mare's ears perked up when she recognized the arguing voices; she glanced at the ground so far below and realized that she was directly overtop Rarity and Twilight. "Eh, might as well see what's up." Her wings altered their trajectory and she lazily spiraled downwards to meet them.
"How long has it been, anyway?" Twilight asked.
"About an hour, now. The movie should be halfway done..."
"Mornin'," Rainbow greeted when she got close enough.
"Hey there, Rainbow."
"Good morning, darling."
The pegasus clapped her wings to her sides and dropped onto all four legs. "What's going on?"
"We're just waiting here while Fluttershy and Luna watch a movie," Twilight answered.
"Whoa! Did she seriously ask Luna to the movies? I didn't think that mare had it in her!"
"It did take just a little bit of prodding, but in the end..."
Rainbow grinned at her yellow friend's moxy. "So, what're they seeing?"
Rarity's eyes grew large and a huge smile spread across her face. "I've been waiting all morning for somepony to ask me that!"
"Really?" Twilight wondered. "Is it important?"
"It's very important! Tell me, what do you imagine would happen if poor little Fluttershy had to sit through a frightening movie? Why, she'd need somepony to comfort her, to hold her and keep her safe. If Luna is that pony, then surely we will know after this." Her eyes took on a starry sheen as she imagined her friend, enveloped by soft alicorn wings.
The purple mare glanced at her friend askance. "That's eerily manipulative," she noted, to which Rarity just huffed and looked away.
"You got them tickets for The Manehattan Mangler, didn't you?" Rainbow asked.
"Indeed I did. Quite brilliant, if I do say so myself."
The pegasus flopped over backwards and casually rested her head on her hooves. "Eh, I hate to tell you this, Rares, but it's not going to work."
"What?!" Rarity exclaimed. "Why wouldn't it?"
"It's a good plan and all, but there's just one problem—Fluttershy isn't afraid of scary movies."
The expression on the unicorn's face became wooden. "What."
"I know, weird, right? I found out a while ago, when I caught her watching The Nightmare on Nightmare Night; she wasn't even trembling. I've made her watch all the scariest flicks I could think of, too, and none of them worked, either. She's officially immune!"
Twilight scratched her head in confusion. "Hold on, that doesn't make any sense at all. This is Fluttershy! She refuses to come outside on Nightmare Night because she's scared of the costumes! If a tree falls and nopony is there to hear it, she's still terrified by the sound! Why are scary movies the one exception?"
"Don't look at me! You're the scientist, you figure it out!"
"Huh." Rarity glanced thoughtfully at the theater. "I suppose we'll just have to hope things work out for the best."
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Back inside, Fluttershy hummed quietly while she watched the slashing, stabbing, murdering, and general mangling that the big screen displayed. Nopony would ever have anticipated that their kind, gentle, graceful, timid Fluttershy was capable of gazing upon such a macabre film while maintaining that calm little smile of her's, but here she sat, seemingly enjoying herself. On a whim, she glanced over at Luna, and the smile suddenly disappeared.
Where the pegasus was utterly calm, her fellow movie-goer was most definitely not. The princess's face was an ashen-gray as she stared forward, wide-eyed and unblinking. Her legs wouldn't stop shaking, so tense were her muscles.
I don't suppose that is a good thing, Fluttershy mused, wondering if Luna would be able to survive until the end.
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"Look!" Twilight exclaimed an hour later, pointing excitedly at a crowd of ponies that was emerging. "Looks like they're coming out now!"
"Hide!" The two accomplices ducked back into their hiding space, remembering to pull Rainbow along with them.
The mass of movie-goers dispersed, and still neither Luna nor Fluttershy made an appearance. Finally, just as the three ponies were about to give up and go back to shooting the breeze, the two mares in question appeared, pressed up against each other, just like Rarity originally expected. Well, almost like Rarity originally expected.
Instead of being the pony in need of comfort, Fluttershy was the one with her wing over her companion's back. "There, there," she said softly, "it's over now... it wasn't real... don't be afraid... everything's all right."
On the other hoof, Luna looked absolutely miserable. She was pale and trembling, and muttered to herself semi-coherently. "No, watch thy blind side... go not into that room... he waits inside, prepared to stab thee... the horror... the horror..."
Rainbow tried her hardest to refrain from laughing, but it was a losing battle. "Looks like your plan worked after all, Rares," she said, unable to restrain her quiet snickers and chortles. "And on top of getting them closer to each other, you even managed to traumatize Luna!"
"Don't you think that—" Rarity began, but the blue mare cut her off.
"Hold on, hold on, I got one more. It looks like you just made Luna," she said, pulling out and donning a pair of sunglasses, "into Fluttershy's 'maim' squeeze."