//------------------------------//
// chapter ??: A special intermission 
// Story: Of Consorts and Thestrals 
// by cealdra 
//------------------------------//

Twilight fluttered about the kitchen, tonight everything had to be perfect. From the kitchen counter a small checklist flew over.

Spike having a sleepover with Sweetie Belle? Check. A smile came to her face, nopony except for three had any idea. And they made such a lovely couple. She had been sure to slip the young drake some bits to take his filly out for a proper date tonight. While he could still be captured by Rarity`s beauty it did Twilight good to see him taking interest in those closer in age to him.
And besides after seeing pictures of Rarity at Sweetie`s age everypony could agree how much alike they looked, well besides mane color that was. So Twilight was sure that once fully grown Sweetie Belle would become quite the looker herself.

Fresh ingrediënts for dinner? Check and used. Yay for it being market day today, never more fresh than the Ponyville market. The one place where all farmers of the region sell their produce, fresh from the land is guaranteed.

Fluttershy's lasagna recipe in the oven? Check, Fluttershy had been nice enough to even write down how much of each herb she needed to use if it was dried or fresh, a little special touch like that made sure the dish would be perfect. Who would even write a recipe with telling ponies to add a pinch of this or that. What amount in tartarus` name is a pinch? One gram? Two? That just does not make any sense!
And why Fluttershy? Everypony thinks the cooks of their little group were Applejack and Pinkie, but those ponies never knew about the culinary treasures coming out of Fluttershy`s kitchen. That mare should really write a cookbook one of these days. It would be flying out of the shops like it was a gust of wind.

Quadruple chocolate surprise for desert? In the fridge, so check. Having to pry one of these babies from Pinkie`s hooves had been a real chore. But she managed to do so in the end. It seemed like everypony wanted one of these. But Pinkie swore that after running herself ragged last year never to make them again. Can you believe it? Pinkie 'living sugarrush' Pie being too exhausted to do anything else but sleep? If Twilight had not seen it herself she would not believe it either. But with much begging, swearing to secrecy and even having to promise to put in a good word with the castle`s cook to let Pinkie make the deserts for the next diplomatic meeting. But luckily Pinkie had caved in at end and made it for her.

After dinner wine? Check, a bottle of the first batch of genuine Crystal Empire ice wine since 1031 years, apparently Sombra had forbidden it when he rose to power. It was claimed he had hated the rather sweet wine. She got it from Cadence who had send it to Twilight the moment she learned that her sister in law was going to celebrate her very first heart`s and hooves together with her first ever special somepony. Neither of them had the necessary evolved taste buds to appreciate a wine of this caliber but that would not deter Twilight from planning to enjoy it with her wife.

Dreams still ignorant of tonight's plans? Hopefully, so check. Seriously that more could be so difficult to gauge.

Twilight giggled a bit at the random memories that popped up in her head about Pleasant Dreams and the first few days of them being together.

Especially memories about how awkward things where after the wedding. Bringing Dreams to the library. When asked the thestral still swore that she never got that 'nerdgasm' at the sight of so many books. But Twilight knew better, simply because she had the same thing with the restricted area of the royal archives, but she simply thought it was adorable.

But being stuck remembering the past, or even having her head in the clouds had a way with catching up with her. A good waft of a burning scent had been enough to do just that.
With a snap she turned around and saw the source.

Some cloth had been laying against the oven and was very busy with its attempt to catch fire. Not realising that like almost everything in the tree it had been treated with a special spell or chemical to make it very hard to combust. One of the precautions you needed to take when living with a dragon.

With a sigh Twilight ignited her horn and levitated the offending piece of cloth into the sink before pouring a generous amount of water on it. It were the little incidents like this that lay at the base of the misconception that she was a disaster in the kitchen.
She could not help it that she would sometimes get lost in thought or too concentrated on the recipe at times. It was something everypony had, right?

But the burnt cloth smell soon got overpowered by the delicious aroma stemming from the oven. A good clear sign that everything was going alright. And judging by the alarm clock on the small oven it meant that it was time for stage two of her plan.

Igniting her horn again she started to work. Several items stated to float from their hiding places. Twilight had been preparing for this very evening for quite some time now. Carefully hiding everything she would need. It needed a surprise. A special surprise for a very special pony.

A few minutes, five at most, later the small living space on the library's second floor had been dark. Well not completely, only the small flickering light of a few candles on the table. Plates had been set, glasses half filled with wine.
Pleasant Dreams had walked in a very strange set when she had opened the door. Twilight had asked her to go and pick up the latest set of books she had ordered for the library as well as running a few other errands. On the way back she had stopped by Roseluck to picked a few red roses, after all it was the night of hearts and hooves day.
She had really been surprised to learn that Roseluck had actually saved a few for her.

Yet here Dreams was, standing in the middle of their rather small but comfy livingroom. No lights, save for a few candles on a made table. And no Twilight Sparkle. But what she did notice was a scent coming from the kitchen. Something so delicious that the mere scent made her mouth water.

Wondering what was actually in the kitchen Dreams never heard the muffled steps of a pony sneaking up on her from the back. Atleast until she felt two hooves around her neck and the presence of another pony on her back.

And on raw instinct created from years of being harassed by Celestia knows how many nobles she reared up on her back legs to shake the unknown off before bucking backwards with all her might.
Only to realise who it was by the very familiar EEP, cry of pain, a loud crash followed by the sound of many books falling.

Turning around Dreams could see Twilight splayed upside down against one of their private bookshelves with two horseshoe like prints on her chest. The poor piece of furniture completely smashed and books sprayed all over the area around her.
Within seconds Pleasant Dreams had been at Twilight's side furiously apologizing.

With a rather ungraceful FLOMP Twilight had allowed herself to tumble over onto her belly and slowly started to rear herself back up again.
Simply smiling a bit sheepishly, and thanking the fact that her earth pony magic had been developing rather well lately, she just shook her head at the continuing apologizing from her wife.
“Don't worry sweetie, I`m alright. Only a few bruises. It was my own fault really, I should have thought it better trough. I should have known you'd react like that.”

This time Twilight approached Dreams from the front and wrapped her wife in a tight hug before planting a small kiss on her lips.

“But, I, how.” Pleasant Dreams` mind seemed to have been broken a fair bit. She had bucked Twilight at full force. But Twilight just shrugged it off like it was but a mere bump.

Kissing her Dreams again Twilight just smiled at the befuddled expression. “I`m a alicorn remember? I've also got earth pony magic flowing within me. But what you can do for me to apologize is to get that lovely rump of yours into one of the seats at the table. Because I'm about to serve dinner.”

Twilight`s eyes fell on the few roses now scattered across the library floor. Gently she picked them up and smelled them for a moment. With a small burst magic she stripped one of them of its leaves and thorns and gently placed it in Dream`s mane, just above her right ear. Creating a lovely contrast of red in that ocean of dark blue.
Leaning in for another kiss Twilight mischieviously sidestepped Dreams muzzle to whisper in her ears. “Thanks for the flowers, they are marvelous.”

Twilight simply turned around and teasingly let her tail gently slap against Dream`s face. Chuckling at the concerned antics of Dreams. But she had to admit, well to herself she`s die before ever letting Pleasant Dreams herself know, that mare had a mean buck. Not Applejack levels, but a mean buck nonetheless. She could still feel the hoofprints trob a little.

Picking up the now at edible level of heat lasagne in her magical grasp before walking back to the table.
Seeing Dreams sitting there patiently for what was to come gave Twilight a idea. Grasping a third fork she quickly walked back to the table.

“Dreams? Please close your eyes and open your mouth.”
After a bit of hesitation Pleasant Dreams complied allowing Twilight to continue with her plan. With a sly smirk she picked up a small piece from the large oven bowl. Gently blowing on it to make its temperature drop even further, no sense in burning the tongue or mouth of somepony, before slowly placing the morsel into Dreams` awaiting mouth.

The moment the food hit Dreams tastebuds and the fork had been retreated from her mouth the only thing that could describe the sound she made was a moan of delight.

Whatever it was it had been cooked to perfection, and there was only one explanation to that. Twilight had cooked it herself. Something she normally never would, almost always busy with some kind of research or obscure experiment. So normally Spike or Dreams herself would be the one doing the cooking.

Opening her eyes whilst still chewing Dreams found her staring in the expectant eyes of Twilight.
“Well what do you think? Is it good? Bad? Somewhere inbetween?”

Dreams could only roll her eyes, had she not already expressed that she loved it? But then again, this is Twilight she was talking to. It could never hurt to be almost too thorough with words. A small smirk formed on Dreams mouth.
“It is perfect. Now sit down and scoop up some more before it gets cold.”

The main course itself had gone by smoothly. It did Twilight well to see the Dreams really enjoying the meal. It had made all the effort she had put into making it time and effort well spent.
Neither had much to say, but the occasional glance told them all they needed to know.

It was already closing in on ten pm when the last bite had been eaten. All according to Twilight`s plan the dishes had been dumped in the sink, she would worry about those tomorrow.

With a few gentle pushes and soft nuzzles Twilight guided Dreams to the balcony attached to their bedroom. In her magic Twilight held a small box with their desert and the wine.

On the balcony Twilight had spread a blanket and another larger and fuzzier one was placed on the side.

Moments later they had both laid down huddled closely together and had the warm fuzzy blanket covering them. From their balcony they had an excellent view of the moon and stars.

Both of them had to admit that Luna had really outdone herself this night. A beautiful and large full moon created a nice offset to the twinkling stars.
It had been at that point that Twilight levitated the box over and unveiled it to her wife.
Pinkie`s quadruple chocolate surprise. A chocolate cake with a core of hazelnut and milk chocolate, a coating of white chocolate and mixed in a thick layer of milk chocolate. All in a heart shape.

Dream`s eyes went huge as she saw it, and even bigger once she saw the fancy winebottle. Sure the wine looked very nice, ever since Rarity had introduced her to it she had started developing a taste for it. But the chocolate! The massive amount of chocolate! How she had ever been able to live without that heavenly candy was a complete mystery.

Playfully Dreams jabbed Twilight`s side before nuzzling a bit further into the purple fur..
“Candle lit dinner followed by a fancy dessert and even fancier wine. I`d say you wanted to make a point or something.”

Twilight simply nuzzled Dreams.
“Maybe..... Or maybe I wanted wanted to do something special for a pony very special to me on our first official Hearts and Hooves day together.”