Once they climbed the final stair of the astronomy tower, Twilight gasped. There stood a giant bouquet of dozens and dozens of roses: lavenders, yellows, whites, reds, peaches.
“Oh, Celestia, these are beautiful! Are these from the gardens?” Twilight asked, her light voice carrying in the stone room. She sniffed delicately and smiled; their fragrance was unlike any other rose she smelled before.
“Excellent observation, Twilight. They are. I had them cut this morning, put immediately in water, and then brought here for tonight. I take it you like them?”
“Oh, I do, yes! They’re gorgeous!” Twilight simpered. “But... these aren’t why you brought me up here.”
“No, not the only reason. I know how much you love stargazing, so I arranged for some cushions and a selection of telescopes. Beyond the lovely brass instrument that takes up half the space in here,” Celestia said. She gestured to the large reflecting telescope installed in the tower. Celestia then nodded to arrangement of cushions and blankets on the balcony.
“That sounds lovely,” replied Twilight. She trotted over and settled down on a cushion next to one of the telescopes fastened to the balcony. Celestia joined her, seated close enough for the tips of their wings to touch.
Twilight looked out at the night sky. Luna had outdone herself: each star twinkled like a highly polished gem, and her full moon cast its silvery light across the night sky. Twilight sighed with an easy smile on her face.
“Did you ever create nights like this, Celestia?” Twilight asked, still gazing at the stars above.
“No, I could not. I did my duty, keeping the night for ponies who enjoyed it, but I was never the artist Luna is. I maintained the night, but she has been able to make it come alive like I have never done.” Celestia lowered her head to Twilight’s. “I take you enjoy the night?”
“And the day. I love both. I mean, it’s in my name. Twi-light,” she enunciated. “I’ve never been a morning pony, that’s all. I stayed up late all the time; between studying and astronomy, I just always found the night sky fascinating.”
“Tell me about them.”
“About who?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.
“The stars. The patterns. The stories.”
“Oh...” Twilight searched the sky. Where do I start? she wondered. “Well, you can see one of the brightest stars right now.” She pointed above to a star hanging low in the sky. “That’s Sirius. It’s part of the Canis Major constellation.” She traced her hoof in the outline in front of her face. “Do you see it?”
“I do, but it hardly looks like a dog,” Celestia said dryly.
“Ponies have rather vivid imaginations. Or Luna’s bad at making connect-the-dots puzzles. Take your pick.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Next to Canis Major is the Unicorn. It looks like it’s leaping?”
“Ah.”
“Then you have Canis Minor, and its bright star, Procyon.” Twilight pointed higher in the sky. “To the left, you’ve got the Sea Serpent, but a lot of it is still hidden beyond the horizon. We won’t be able to see all of it from here until way early in the morning. Above the Sea Serpent, you’ve got the Lion, and its bright star, Regulus. Heading west, you have the Crab, then the Twins, with the bright stars Pollux and Castor, and then the Bull, with its bright star Alderbaran.”
“Wait, what about those stars? Are they part of the Bull?” Celestia asked, pointing up and to the right of the Bull.
“Nope, not really. Those are the Pleiades, a group of seven stars, named after Seven Sisters. They’re said to guide sailors and keep them safe on their journeys. Some of the sisters have names and myths of their own. Not all of it makes sense, now, but I think it’s because writing down the stories didn’t rank high on the priority list back then. ‘Oral tradition’ and all that.” Twilight huffed, displeased that ponies wouldn’t write for others to read later.
“You have to remember, Twilight, writings don’t last forever. But as long as ponies remember the stories and are willing to put the effort, their words can last lifetimes.” Celestia smiled and nuzzled the base of Twilight’s neck. “Please, continue.”
“Next to the Bull is the Ram. It doesn’t have anything special about it. Back above the Lion, there’s Ursa Major, named after the giant star monster. Inside of it, though, you see from the tail, how those four stars form a trapezoid? The stars on the right form a line, and they point to that star, Polaris. They say it always points North. Also very helpful for early sailors. And Polaris is part of Ursa Minor.”
“Fascinating,” mumbled Celestia. She stared at the stars, amazed by how well Luna crafted this night.
“And the last big one we can see from here is the Dragon, wrapped between the two Ursas. See where its head is almost at the horizon?”
“I do, a little better. This constellation finding is not something I’m used to.”
“I understand. The shapes can be a little hard to see at first. Not seeing a forest for the trees, I guess,” Twilight said. She stroked Celestia’s shoulder and smiled softly before returning her gaze to the sky.
A sudden, cold breeze blew past the Astronomy Tower, and Twilight and Celestia scooted closer together. Twilight magicked a blanket on top of them, and she snuggled against Celestia.
“Getting a little cold?” Celestia teased.
“Not anymore,” Twilight replied. She nestled in and closed her eyes for a few moments, simply enjoying the new warmth.
Celestia chuckled. “Tonight has been truly wonderful, Twilight. I can’t thank you enough.”
“It’s not over, is it?” Twilight looked up and pleaded, her wide eyes and slight pout lending more weight to her words. “A little breeze shouldn’t mean we have to call it a night.”
“Of course not, my little pony. I just wanted to say that I have had an astonishing time.”
Twilight’s bright smile returned, so she nuzzled along Celestia’s neck. Celestia returned the smile, then cooed. Her eyes fluttered closed and when she opened them again, she shot Twilight a coy smile.
Twilight bit her bottom lip, briefly considering her options. Buck it, real date or not, I should still show her a good time. She leaned forwards and tilted her head ever so slightly to the side, and pressed her lips to Celestia’s.
A bright explosion of light appeared in Twilight’s mind as she kissed Celestia, and nothing else could edge into her thoughts. Not the idea that she was kissing the beloved ruler of all of Equestria. Not the idea that she was being indiscreet or forward. Nothing else mattered but the delightful tingling of electric energy as her lips moved against Celestia’s.
They pulled apart, and Twilight quickly hid her face and her blush under her hooves, burying her head in the cushion.
“Twilight Sparkle...” Celestia said. Twilight couldn’t make out her tone, and that frightened her more than any other reply could have.
“Yes?” she replied meekly.
“Come here,” Celestia said, her gentle tones shining through as she wrapped her wing around Twilight, covering her in another loose embrace.
“You’re... not mad, then?” Twilight asked. She stared up at Celestia with wide eyes, and kept her muzzle covered with her hooves. She saw Celestia’s crooked grin and let her hooves down. She soon sported a sheepish smile to go with the deep red blush.
“Of course not, Twilight. We’re on a date, and you kissed me. How could I be mad?”
“Well, if it was a pity date, or an obligatory date, or just practice and you really have no interest in me, or if you’re only into stallions, or if you wanted somepony taller or—”
Twilight stopped speaking as Celestia’s lips pressed against hers once more, and she fluttered her eyes closed as Celestia pushed harder into the kiss. Twilight cooed this time, and her negative thoughts disappeared in another flash of that brilliant light exploding in her mind.
“And what if I want you?” Celestia asked after she pulled away.
“I’d be thrilled!” Twilight replied instantly. “But, was this ever a practice date? Or just a ploy to get me out here?”
“It stopped being practice about a minute ago, dear. I did intend this to be practice at the outset, but we really hit it off, didn’t we?” Celestia poked Twilight in the chest with a hoof.
“We did.” Twilight giggled.
“I guess the better question to ask is why did you kiss me?”
“It... I... Hmm.” Twilight frowned. “It, well, it felt right. At that moment. I thought it was the right thing to do. And you said we ought to live in the moment tonight, so...”
“Aha. I can’t really complain. Those were excellent kisses.”
“Really?” Twilight eyes shot wide once more, this time lighting up from the praise. I measure up to her standards?
Celestia nodded. “Really.”
Twilight tapped her hooves together. “Maybe, now that the first one is out of the way, maybe we can experiment?” Twilight offered.
Celestia nodded enthusiastically, and leaned in for another kiss...
After several long bouts of kissing and assorted fooling around, Twilight curled up on one of Celestia’s wings, snuggled against her chest.
“I like this fun-loving side. I haven’t seen it in a while,” Twilight whispered, tracing little circles on Celestia’s chest with her hoof.
“I like all of your sides,” Celestia whispered back as she nibbled on Twilight’s ear, eliciting a surprised gasp and little whimper.
Twilight smacked Celestia’s chest. “You naughty filly! Cut that out!”
“Only when you stop being adorable when I do it.”
Twilight buried her face in the crook of Celestia’s arm, hiding her blush from view, but not from feel. Celestia chuckled at the almost boiling heat pouring from the young mare’s cheeks. She settled on continuing to nibble at Twilight’s ears, delighted at the pleasured gasps and flicks.
Twilight decided to get on the offensive and slid her hoof down from Celestia’s chest, moving lower and lower...
Celestia gasped and stopped her nibbling. “Twilight, you’re the naughty filly here!”
Twilight pulled her hoof up from the lower half of Celestia’s belly. “Got you to stop, didn’t it?” She stuck her tongue out playfully and smiled.
Celestia grudgingly rolled her eyes. “So it did.” She lifted her wing gently to get Twilight to slide off, and rolled to the other side, laying on her hooves. “Come here,” she whispered. Her open wing beckoned Twilight, who quickly took her place under the large mass of white feathers.
As she lay nestled under Celestia’s wing, warm and comfortable, Twilight glanced over at the giant bouquet that had taken her breath away. She plucked one rose out of the bouquet, yellow with red tipped petals. She giggled softly and started plucking the thorns off of the stem. After removing the final thorn, she magically incinerated them.
“What do you have there, my dear?” Celestia asked, poking her head under her wing.
“Oh, just a little something for you,” Twilight replied, levitating the flower to Celestia’s eye level.
“Twilight, you are aware of the meaning of the color of roses, no?”
A brief nod. “Naturally.”
“So, am I correct in assuming you deliberately picked this very flower for this very specific reason?”
Twilight smiled sweetly, a pale pink blush dusting her cheeks.
Celestia took a delicate sniff of the rose. “If only it smelled as sweet as the mare who gave it to me.”
Twilight hid her face as she blushed harder, but she beamed and nuzzled Celestia’s shoulder. “I’m just a nerd who knows random facts, that’s all.”
“You and I both know that facts alone aren’t your sole area of expertise. You can put all of your knowledge to such great use. I am not surprised in the least that you would tell me you’re falling in love like this.” With that, Celestia kissed Twilight on the lips once more, cradling Twilight’s cheek with her hoof. She wrapped her wing more tightly around Twilight and brushed the trailing flight feathers along Twilight's cutie mark.
With her magic, Celestia grabbed a similar red-tipped yellow rose and dethorned it as Twilight had. “For you, my ever-faithful ‘student’.”
For what felt like the hundredth time that night, Twilight blushed deeply. “I— I think you answered my question from earlier tonight. And I hardly think ‘student’ is a fitting title any more,” she whispered.
“It’s a little early for marefriend, don’t you think?”
“Whatever happened to no titles tonight?” Twilight put a hoof to her head. “Aren’t we supposed to just enjoy this for what it is?”
“And I do, more than you know. And whatever titles you want to use... I’m happy just being here with you. You have given so much of yourself, Twilight, and I can’t thank you enough for all you do. For all you have done.” Celestia nuzzled the top of Twilight’s head.
Twilight replied a barely-stifled yawn. “Sorry, Celestia, I guess it’s been a long day for me. Lots of things to do.” She giggled and stole a quick kiss. “But I think it’s time I got some sleep.”
Celestia nodded and continued to nuzzle the top of Twilight’s head. “I’m sure nopony will mind if we stay up here. I’m comfortable. How about you?”
Twilight nodded slowly, and she stifled another yawn, much less successfully. “That’s fine,” she whispered as sleep crept its way into her mind. “Good night, Celestia.”
“Good night, Twilight.” Celestia kissed the base of Twilight’s horn, and curled around her to go to sleep herself.