A role-playing gamer in Celestia's Court

by Gsarge9289

A Day in Manehattan

A week had passed and it was the day that Rarity was taking the rest of the mane six to Manehattan for the fashion competition. I had remembered this as the episode "Rarity Takes Manehattan", but I wasn't about to try and effect the events in any way. Rarity had made a whole dresser full of clothes for me in the time I had been in Ponyville, but had been quite eager to have me in more formal attire for my date with Luna. She had helped me don my new black three piece suit with a white shirt and green tie which Rarity commented went great with my eyes. I'd even made a few pieces for the outfit myself in the form of a pair of gold cufflinks capped with a small jet on each along with a little surprise that I hoped Luna would like. For the moment, I left my suit open to show off my black almost pinstripe like vest.

I had mostly left the mane six alone during the ride reading a Daring Do novel which rather reminded me of pulp adventure novels geared to young adults. I was sure I was going to miss Rick Riordan's style of storytelling. Of course, knowing this was all something that really happened did give me a lot of respect for her as an adventurer.

We got off at Manehattan Central Station and I was greeted by a navy blue unicorn with a light blue mane in a bob cut that reminded me a lot of Luna right after she had been turned back from Nightmare Moon.

"Hello Onyxian, I trust the train ride was pleasant?" I quirked a brow at her holding my luggage close to my side.

"It was good enough. You have me at a disadvantage, you seem to know me, but I have no idea who you are." I got a slightly better look into the mare's midnight blue eyes as she looked into my emerald green before I trailed along the rest of her as I noticed she was wearing a kind of black slip dress with fishnet stockings on all four of her legs with her cutie mark hidden by the dress. The mare gave me a pout as she beckoned me to lean down which when I did as she whispered to me in Luna's voice

"I think you might know me a little better than you give yourself credit for." I leaned back trying my best to hide my surprise.

"Well, that certainly is a different way to greet your date. Dodging guards again or just not sure how ponies will react to you among them in an informal capacity?"

"A little of both." Her voice had changed back as she gave me a smile.

"I also thought you might prefer to enjoy a day unmolested by guards and journalists, At least for a first date."

"Really Onyxian, you can't even wait for your first date is over to start flirting with another mare?" Rarity walked up to me with a disappointed look on her face. Luna only smiled at me.

"Oh, I assure you, he is only flirting with his date, but thank you for your concern, Rarity." Rarity almost squealed at hearing Luna's voice come from the mare in front of her.

"Oh my, a disguise! A secret engagement between a lost soul and a princess? It's just like a romance novel, how delightful! What a lovely outfit you picked out, Your Highness. Onyxian, why don't you let us take your bag so you and Princess Luna can get started on your date?" I handed over my bag as Luna giggled after Rarity trotted away.

"She is quite excited for the both of us is she not?" I turned to look back at Luna with a grin.

"She does enjoy being in the know on the subject of relationships. So is this an illusion or a transformation?" Luna cocked her head to the side at my question.

"Does it really make a difference?"

"Well for the function of a disguise I'd say no, but for interacting with you on our date, it might be good to know if you're your normal height now or that of a normal unicorn's."

"You make a fair point, it's a transformation spell." I walked with her out of the station and onto the busy sidewalk.

"Perhaps I should learn my fair date's name. So I won't make a fool of myself." Luna stiffened up her eyes going wide as it seemed she hadn't thought up of a name to go by while she was in disguise.

"The thought of a name never even crossed your mind did it?"

"It really had not." Luna hung her head and gave a light sigh. "I can't believe I hadn't thought about it before you brought it up. I was rather excited to have a nice time with you without having to worry about my rank." I gently put my hand on her head. "I worked hard on this disguise."

"And it's a very good one. You deserve not having to live under a microscope. How about Aurora? Aurora Nightglow?" Luna perked up and gently pushed her head against my hand.

"Aurora, I like it. Nightglow is a nice touch, too. So where are we going first?"

"Well Rarity helped me get tickets for a musical tonight. I was told by Pinkie that there's a popular amusement park on a pier on the bay called Pony Island. If I recall correctly, you're quite good at festival games. Pony Island should have games like that but are a bit harder and offer the winner prizes. Or if you're looking for more of a quiet enjoyment of each other's company, the central park and zoo isn't too far of a walk from here." Luna simply smiled as I had noticed a few token glaces from what I figured were locals but got longer stares from tourists like I'd sometimes get from out of towners in Ponyville. Luna moved in closer beside me in a protective fashion as I smiled at her.

"This Pony Island place sounds like a nice change of pace for the both of us. I think I would like to hail a taxi." She made her way to the edge of the sidewalk waving her hoof in the air. "Taxi! Woo Hoo! Taxi please!" I gently picked Luna up and put her on my shoulders. "Woohoo! Taxi!" She continued as I waved a hand in the air along with her as after a bit of time, a taxi pulled up. I walked over and set Luna down in the cab before getting in as the large built earth pony cabbie turned his head to watch us.

"Where ya headin'?" Luna perked up as I motioned for her to tell him our destination.

"Oh right, Pony Island, please."

"You got it. You and your friend having a little tour of our city?" I sat down and the cabbie started walking artfully weaving his way around traffic like the professional he was.

"Indeed, we were both in the city and figured we'd make a date of the day. Neither of us were busy." I was busy looking around taking in the landmarks and the staggering energy of the city.

"Interesting choice of date you found there, miss. He talk much?"

"When I have things to talk about. This is a very impressive city you're a part of. I've not seen this much controlled chaos in my stay in Equestria until I got off the train today."

"Indeed , it sure has the energy to it that's almost overwhelming ." Luna chipped in as the cabbie chuckled and continued pulling us along to the harbor area.

"So, do you two always dress up for a day on the town?"

"Well I do when it's a date for Aurora here. Her living in Canterlot and being in Ponyville myself, I don't get to see her often so I tend to make an effort to look nice for her."

"That's pretty sweet, but Canterlot and Ponyville are closer together than either of them is to Manehattan . Wouldn't visiting each other be easier?"

"To a point but I'm sadly so busy in Canterlot and it just worked out that we would both be in Manehattan at the same time, so we thought we would have a date while we were both here." I noticed the taxi was coming up to a pier and, after a bit more walking, stopping as the cabbie turned to look back at us.

"That'll be-" I reached out and handed him four small emeralds and stepped out of the taxi and turned around holding my hand out for Luna to take. "Uh more than enough. You want change there, big spender?" Luna put her hoof in my hand as she stepped down and set her other hooves on the pier.

"I think you earned a tip." The cabbie's jaw dropped looking at me.

"Thank you kindly, Sir. You've certainly made my day." The cabbie gave a nod and trotted off to find his next fare.

"Trying to impress me with your generosity, Onyxian?"

"Not intentionally. Shall we take a chance at one of the games, Aurora?" She smiled as we made our way up to a booth as the male earth pony manning it reminded me of the Flim Flam brothers but with a blond mane.

"Take a chance, win a prize. Whaddaya say there, Mister? Win the lovely lady a prize?" I looked at the game seeing it was the one where you had to knock over three stacks of bottles in six throws of a baseball. I handed him a bit and then handed the balls to Luna.

"I think my lovely lady can win her own prize." I then leaned down and whispered into her ear. "I remember how this game works, one of the bottles is weighed down. Just throw as hard as you absolutely can." Luna looked up at me and nodded her head as she lined herself up taking the first ball in her hoof, chucking it down range where it connected, sending them flying.

"Very nice throw there, Miss. Just two more stacks to go." Luna lined up with the second and gave another mighty throw which connected with the bottles sending them scattered around the floor of the booth. "Another amazing throw, I can see why you let her go first." I simply smiled at him as Luna lined up with the last stack with a determined smile. She then let the ball fly as it struck the bottles so hard I noticed one of the ceramic bottles crack at the impact point as they tumbled down as the stallation running the booth let his mouth gape open. "Uuuh...We have a winner. Pick your prize." Luna looked wide eyed at the plush dolls hanging from the booth as I chuckled at her playfully.

"Having a hard time choosing?"

"Well, I... yes it's just.." I gently gave her a pat on her head between her ears as she stopped talking and tried to pick out something. After looking around the booth I took note of a Celestia plush and looked around trying to see if one was a Luna.

"Do you have a Luna doll? She's Aurora' and mine's favorite princess and I noticed you have a Celestia doll." He perked up and looked around his side of the booth bending down to put a plush version of Luna on the counter.

"This what you'd been looking for, Miss?" Luna looked at the plush and nodded her head as she then hugged me. As I hugged her back I looked around and saw a ferris wheel along with a few other couple's rides. I let her go and she levitated the plush onto her back .

"It's perfect, thank you, Sir." We made our way from the booth as I could tell he was a bit miffed that she had won. "So, what should we do now, Onyxian?" She looked up at me as I pointed to the ferris wheel.

"Have you ever been on that kind of ride before? I know since you can fly, the view might not be all that special , but it's a big couple's ride where I come from. She tilted her head to the side looking at the wheel.

"Really just going up and down?"

"Well, it's a lot more fun with a special somepony to ride it with." I brought Luna into the line with me as she blushed.

"Oh, so it's sharing the view that makes it more special?"

"That's the idea. So has work been going well?" Luna seemed a bit confused by the question, but then it seemed to click and she played along.

"Yes, work is going well, still watching for that thing you said I should watch out for." The line moved on and soon we were at front where I then paid for the both of us. Once the next car was free, we were led up and into it. Once we were seated and the car was closed I turned to look over at Luna with a smile. Luna looked over at me. She gave a small gasp of surprise as I leaned over and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"Are all stallons so bold where you come from?" I chuckled and shook my head.

"Most aren't, some are, and some are even more so." I gently nudged my muzzle with her as she leaned in against me watching the horizon slowly sink lower and lower in our field of view. I reached my hand back behind her head as she jumped when she felt me touching both of her ears again.

"Onyxian, what do you think you are doing?!" I grinned a bit and touched our horns tip to tip as I let her ears go.

"Letting my special somepony know I feel about her." She blushed as I pulled back and gave her a wink as I pulled out a necklace box. "I made something for you. I hope you like it." I opened the box showing her a silver necklace with a silver pendant in a crescent moon shape laid over an onyx to act as the night sky.

"It's beautiful, the nicest gift I've ever gotten." I had a slightly hard time believing that, but having her say it was still very nice all the same. I put it around her neck giving a bit of a frown.

"A little big for your disguise, but I'm sure it will look nice on you in your true form." I unhooked the necklace and made it shorter as I put it back around her neck. "There, better fit." Luna looked over the necklace more and then gave me a hug.

"Thank you Onyxian, this has been wonderful, a great date." I smiled and gave her a gentle pat on her head.

"It's not over yet."

Author's Note:

Sorry about the wait guys. As always feedback is very welcome. I'll get back to action at some point.

Comments

[Sprocket Jockey]

Yay!!!! New chapter!!!!!!!!

[Rain Nero]

Well, giving it a like for now and a favorite to keep track of it. I'm hoping this'll turn out better than my pessimism thinks it will...

[SharpNote the FABULOUS]

Rick Riordan's AWESOME! In fact:[youtube=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t6lHm-stXdM]

[Jarimor]

a few smallish errors, but overall its good. I'll talk to you about them later.

[EonAon]

I like the story, but you REALLY need to look at some of the misspelling of words throughout your chapters. For instead of far and the like.