Manehattan
“Deep breath, Luna.”
The princess of the night looked at herself in the mirror, her hair had been tied back in a ponytail and she'd managed to pull most of her natural magic out of it. What she was left with was a slightly shimmering white moonlight mane that could easily pass for well-cared-for, but perfectly normal hair.
“Just need to make yourself a bit smaller.” Luna pulled forth the spell Celestial had taught her, something her sister had designed for just what Luna wanted to do now. The Princess of the Night shrunk down a little, her stature becoming more like that of a tall pony rather than an alicorn princess. “However you make yourself a tiny pegasus I have no clue, sister…”
She looked out her room's window as she took a moment to see if the spell would hold, the spell didn’t persist when she’d go asleep so she had to reapply it every day she wanted to be anonymous.
Outside, the early-morning traffic moved through the Manehattan streets. Officially she'd come here for a royal visit with Celestia, going by various governmental offices and meeting the respective officials… unofficially she had come to spend a day at Manehattan Comic Con. So today her sister would cover for her while she took an undercover trip to the convention centre. Luna felt a little guilty about leaving her sister alone again as she had been fairly absent way more often than she used to be, playing games with some online friends rather than spending time with her sister.
“Just need to change that cutie mark and hide my horn.” Another spell swiftly found its way onto Luna's horn, the black of her cutiemark fading and two stars appearing alongside the remaining moon. Her horn simultaneously faded too, but an additional spell Luna herself had designed made the appendage completely intangible, making it impossible for anyone to touch it accidentally. “Almost there…”
The last bit of her outfit was a black hoodie that had a red stripe bordered by white running down a sleeve and a small N7 printed on the chest. One more look at herself in the mirror and she was done. “Alright, now let's see…”
Luna pulled out her tablet from her saddlebags and opened it up, using a pencil in her mouth to tap in the code and open up Discourse.
>Trexx: Hey, Helix, you're going to Manehattan Comic Con today, right?
Luna froze as she saw the most recent message. She'd been talking to these ponies for a long time but never thought she might run into one in real life. Really Luna? They have no idea what you look like… when disguised that is. You're disguised for exactly this reason. There's literally no point being afraid, you dunce.
>Helix: Heck yeah, putting on my cosplay now! Hella excited to run this baby for the first time!
>Stardust: You're going to MCC?!
>Pandora: Heyyy, look who's decided to break radio silence!
>Helix: Yeah! Was a bit of a last-minute decision. Must have missed it coming up here. Busy with work again?
Luna bit her lip as she told her friends here she worked in Canterlot's observatory.
>Stardust: You know me!
>Trexxx: Heck, I hope they pay you a fortune with how much you seem to be busy, Star.
>Helix: <IMG> 11/738/98.jpg <IMG>
>Stardust: Can't compl Whoa! You finished it?!
>Helix: I'm commander Shepard, and this is my favourite discourse on the internet.
Luna couldn't help but snort as she could clearly hear the words spoken out loud as they were written.
>Stardust: Well, maybe I'll get to see it on the con then.
>Trexxx: Wait?! You're in Manehattan?!
>Stardust: That's why I've been silent. Con prepping.
It wasn't a lie either, it took a lot of work for her to disappear for a day and not have ponies other than herself and her sister know about it.
>Pandora: You two have to meet up!
>Trexxx: Heck yeah! Pic too!
>Helix: Leave em some space, guys, nopony is gonna meet up unless they want to.
>Trexxx: Hey, what if he's a griffon? We don't fall under 'nopony' now do we? :3
>Stardust: I'm a pegasus, Trexxx.
>Trexxx: Allas! Our mysterious user lifts the veil on his identity!
Luna rolled her eyes but had to chuckle at Trexxx's eccentricities. The griffon was not shy at all about who he was, he even tried sending scone care packages to the people on the Discourse. Except it'd look kinda suspicious if I'd let him send stuff to the palace…
>Stardust: Well, if I'm going to be taking pictures… Not like we haven’t been talking to each other here for well over a year.
>Traxxx: Ha! Victory!
>Helix: Well… guess that settles it. When do you get there?
>Stardust: Aiming to get there a little before 10, I've got a VIP ticket so I'll be through fast.
>Helix: Heck yeah! I'll stick around the entrance area. You know how I look in armour!
>Stardust: Yup! Got to go if I want to get there on time though.
>Helix: Same here! See you there!
Luna turned off her tablet again, stashing it in her saddlebag along with a camera, her ticket, and bits. Strapping it around her waist, she left the hotel she'd gotten under her alias and flagged down a taxi.
“Convention centre I take?” The earthpony pulling the cart asked.
“That obvious?” Luna chuckled.
“Most ponies in town are either going to the convention or to city hall to see the princesses, either way it's good business for me,” the stallion chuckled. “One way to the convention centre coming up!”
The taxi took off, making good time as the pony made his way over to the complex. The crowds were quickly growing as they got close, Luna spotting various cosplayers on the way there both from franchises she knew and ones she didn't. Her excitement was steadily rising until she saw the convention centre, decked out in massive advertisements.
“First timer?” The stallion asked as he looked for a place to drop his charge off.
“Yeah,” Luna responded, having trouble keeping herself from leaning out of the cart to look around at the mass of ponies.
“Fo' shiz, you look like a filly in a candy store, ya know?” he laughed, slipping into the local accent. Luna blushed as the earthpony found a temporary parking spot. “Well, don't let me hold ya back. Have a good one, yeah?”
“I will!” Luna giggled, paying him and heading over to the centre. The row for the con was way larger than she’d expected, stretching all the way outside. “Ma’am, do you know where the VIP entrance is?” she asked one of the ponies in the queue after she didn’t immediately see an obvious path outside.
“Oh yeah, just walk in and it should be on the left,” The mare said with a smile. “Have fun at the con!”
“You too!” Luna replied as she walked by the row and headed in, not taking long to find the alternative entrance. A small group of staff were waiting at the gate for VIP ticket holders to approach.
“Good morning, can I see your ticket?” A unicorn asked cheerily, Luna pulling her ticket out with a wing.
“One VIP ticket for me!” Luna said as the unicorn checked it.
“Looks good to me miss Star, I’ve got a wristband for you and then you can enjoy the con!” She said as she pulled a small fabric wristband out of a box and wrapped it around Luna’s hoof. “All set!”
“Thanks!” Luna squeed as she was let past onto the con floor. Booths immediately surrounded her, various companies showed off their new and existing products. Many of the booths had gaming stations set up so ponies could try out games too, some other VIP attendees were already there to try out things before the big crowds would be allowed in. A glance at a clock on one of the walls showed that was only minutes away.
Better get to the entrance and see if I can find Helix…
Luna snatched up one of the convention guides and dropped it in her saddlebag, making her way over to the regular entrance. She got there just in time as the crowds started pouring into the convention hall, ponies of all ages passing her in all types of dresses and costumes.
“Come on, Helix, where are you…” She muttered as she scanned the crowd.
“I am commander Shepard, and this is my favourite spot on the con!” she suddenly heard somepony exclaim, drawing her attention to the large poster wall near the entrance. Her online friend, clad in replica armour stood there, posing with some colts for a picture. The small group burst out into laughter at the antics of the cosplayer.
That’s him. A rush of adrenaline coursed through Luna’s body as she spotted her online friend for the first time. Helix pulled off the helmet he was wearing, revealing an earthpony stallion with a brown coat along with a rough brown-orangy mane. Luna then realised that just like her he’d never uploaded pictures of himself fully exposed, only updates of his Mass Effect armour project with his real face blurred. Huh, first time for him too then I guess?
Helix waved goodbye to the ponies he’d just taken a picture with and got in with his ticket, helmet dangling from his side on one end while a bag hung on the other. He niftily pulled out a tablet and rapidly tapped it with his hoof. The tablet in Luna’s saddlebag buzzed, the message appearing on her home screen.
>Helix: @Stardust I’m in! Right at the entrance area!
Luna didn’t hesitate to type a short reply.
>Stardust: ICU
Helix looked up and searched around, trying to spot her even though he had no clue what she looked like. Taking the initiative again Luna walked over and tapped him on his shoulder.
“Hi.”
He looked over and froze, his mouth falling open a little. “H-Hi.”
A little bit of awkward silence fell between the two of them as Helix got his bearings. “I guess we never swapped our real names, did we?” the stallion eventually said, breaking it.
“No we didn’t, did we?” Luna chuckled, holding out a hoof. “Shimmering Star, but feel free to just call me Star.”
“Shouldn’t be too hard to remember,” Helix chuckled as it matched her Discourse shorthoof. “Button Mash. You can call me Button.”
“Understood, commander,” Luna cheekily replied. “We should make that picture the others are waiting on.”
“Traxxx is going to have a field day once he sees you're actually a mare,” Button chuckled.
“Hey, I can't help it that he addresses everyone as a male?” Luna smirked back.
“Rule thirty,” Button simply replied with a laugh as he got somepony to make a picture of the two of them. He struck a pose while she just put on a smile for the picture, Button uploading it the moment he got his tablet back.
>Helix: <IMG> 11/739/98.jpg <IMG>
>Helix: Found Her.
>Trexxx: Holy buck! Stardust is a mare?!
>Pandora: And a hot one at that!
>Stormy: The buck, Stardust?!
“Pfff, really?” Luna snorted as she almost immediately got a reaction.
“Told you,” Button Mash snickered as some of the lurkers got involved too. Luna pulled out her tablet to respond too.
>Stardust: You all really thought I was a stallion?
>Trexxx: There are no mares on the internet, and definitely not around us nerds.
>Stormy: Exactly!
>Pandora: That ^
“Hey, don’t look at me,” Button defended, “That’s one of the rules of the internet!”
“You guys are the worst,” Luna couldn't help but snicker.
“Definitely!” Button laughed as he put away his tablet. “Now let's stop wasting time! There's an entire con out there and we're at the entrance!”
The two of them were off into the crowd, passing by booths and getting stopped by other attendees as they wanted pictures with Button. Luna helped them out a little as she acted as Button's camera pony. After visiting some game booths and playing some demos the pair decided to check out the merchant hall.
“Celestia help my wallet,” Button stated as it didn't take him long to spot all kinds of stuff he wanted.
“Well, if you come by in Canterlot we can ask her?” Luna smirked, drawing a laugh from Button. Luna herself froze a moment as she realised what she'd just said.
What in the world Luna!
“Careful, I might take you up on that!” Button laughed, not noticing his companion's brief freeze. “And besides, the princesses are here in Manehattan so who knows, we might run into them here!”
“Y-Yeah,” Luna couldn't help but blush, glad that Button's eyes decided to fall on a T-Shirt to geek out over.
“I have to have that one,” he gushed, pointing out a shirt that had the male Commander Shepard posing on it. Luna’s eyes fell on the shirt’s counterpart, the female version of the character instead.
“And I need that one,” Luna said as she stepped up next to Button after composing herself, the geek inside of her taking over. The vendor quickly pulled the shirts out of a box after asking which size either pony needed. The two of them put down the necessary bits and set back off to the next stall.
“I really hope there’s somepony here that has those figurines Biomare released last month,” Button said as he scanned a few of the nearby stalls.
“We’re probably going to have to be fast for those if there are, I had a hard time finding them online too,” Luna replied, looking around the stalls with Button until she spotted something on a stall covered with prop weapons. “No way…”
Pushing through the crowd, she quickly found herself in front of the stall and looking right at a replica of an M8-Avenger assault rifle.
“Whoa, that one’s amazing!” Butting said as he took a closer look at the replica. “That’s incredible work.”
“Took us a good while to make these in the quality they are now,” the sales pony behind the stall smiled, seeing two potential customers.
“I can believe that,” Luna said, pupils wide as she had to stop herself from bouncing in place. “How much?”
“Two-fifty.”
“Whoa, that’s still-”
“Deal.” Luna cut Button off, already having fished out her bag of bits, pulling out the more valuable coins she had taken along. The vendor chuckled and took the coins, getting a box from under the display table and passing it over. “There you go, enjoy the rest of the con!”
“Thanks!” Luna squeed as she couldn’t help but immediately open the box and pull out the replica. There was also a custom stand, which needed to be assembled, and a sling included. She attached the sling to the rifle and put the stand in her saddlebags for the time being. “This is awesome!”
“Heck yeah!” Button exclaimed as the two of them studied the rifle further. An idea popped into Luna’s head after her initial geek-out started dying down.
“Hey, Button, what if you hold onto this thing for the con?” She proposed.
The stallion’s eyes widened. “Really?!”
“It finishes up the cosplay pretty nicely,” Luna blushed as she gave the rifle over to Button, the stallion carefully taking it from her.
“I…” He shot forward and hugged Luna, “Thank you!”
“N-No problem,” Luna replied, placing a wing on the stallion’s back, something in her stomach fluttering. After that, the two of them raided another couple of stalls before heading out for the main stage. With the rifle, Button was stopped a load more times as ponies desperately wanted pictures with him.
“Think they'll have new info on Mass Effect 3?” Button asked as they finally found a spot in the crowd.
“No idea but Biomare's lead dev is here, there's bound to be something interesting to be released,” Luna replied as the lights on the main stage dimmed, a spotlight falling on the announcer.
“Lady and gentlecolts! Fillies and colts! Welcome to the Biomare panel! Is everybody excited to be here?!” A cheer went up from the crowd, Luna and Button happily joining in as well. “That's what I thought!... But! Before we start, I have something to show you!... Here at Manhattan Comic Con, a new trailer from Biomare, Mass Effect three!”
The previous cheer was nothing compared to the cheer this news got, the crowd going wild right up to the point the music kicked in. Luna couldn't help but jump in place at the announcement. “They have a trailer! They have a trailer, Button!” she exclaimed, shaking the stallion.
“I heard, Star,” He laughed, “Now hush and watch!”
The trailer started off with a view of Canterlot, the imaginary future version of the city expanded into the valley below, serene with greenery all around it… The peace was disturbed as a mechanical horn blew. A golden shield was put up around the city but the mechanical horrors that were the gigantic insectoid-looking starships called Reapers blew right through the shield, cutting off the overhanging section of Canterlot and sending it crashing down.
“We should have listened.” The voice actor that played Celestial in the game stated, her voice hoarse. “I should have listened.”
Flashes of combat on the ground played, husks of ponies running screeching at lines of marines. “Because if help doesn't come soon… ”
The next scene was Luna levitating her battered sister into the Normandy, Commander Shepard's ship.
“There won't be an Equis left to save.”
The screen went black before a date popped up on it, the crowd went ballistic at that sight. Stomping hooves and cheers almost drowned out the music as it returned, the announcer calling on the Biomare team of developers and community managers to join him on stage.
“... And then our last guest! A pony I had not expected to see here today but showed up at the last minute! A pony you all know… I present to you, Princess Celestia!”
The crowd gasped as the white alicorn stepped onto the stage, the shock soon turned into another cheer as Celestia waved and took her seat at the side of the table. Luna's jaw had dropped for an entirely different reason than the rest of the crowd, not having expected her sister here at all.
“Hello everycreature!” she greeted as the cheer died down a bit. “Before I allow this team of talented ponies to go ahead I wanted to explain a little of why I'm here.”
You better sister… Luna had to struggle not to glare as she got over her shock. Disrupting the presentation after a trailer like that…
“As a Princess, I like to keep an eye on new developments in Equestrian and since this is a topic I admittedly don't know a lot about. I thought I'd learn about something new here and get a bit closer to the regular pony.”
Luna felt her gut twist into a knot as Celestia's gaze briefly met hers, her sister probably having sensed her from a mile away. Message received, Tia…
“Well, I hope we will not disappoint then!” The announcer chuckled.
“Can you believe it, Star?!” Button quietly squealed to Luna. “A princess interested in games!”
“Y-Yeah, it's unbelievable,” Luna managed to say, almost cringing at the irony while also trying to suppress how bad she felt. I really should give her more attention if she's this desperate…
Luna thought about her behaviour in recent months, she had been a little more withdrawn and had skipped quite a few chances to bond with her sister to play games with her Discourse friends.
“I hope this'll help get developers some breathing space, the publisher was really breathing down their necks on the last game already and that release date looked tight,” Button stated as the panel started discussing the video game they were making.
“That's griffons smelling money for you,” Luna replied, deciding she would talk to her sister first thing in the morning.
Hmm… perhaps I could give the publisher another subtle nudge behind the screens…
Luna's attention returned to the panel as the devs started talking about the new game. Her sister's presence in the end really didn't disturb the conversation all that much, only having to have the story of the previous games recapped to her. By the end, lots more juicy details had been revealed to the crowd for them to speculate over and once Celestia and the dev team had left the amphitheatre that held the main stage slowly cleared out as there were some smaller panels planned.
“Want to go check out some other parts of the con again?” Button asked as they headed back out onto the con floor.
“Sure, we still have a good few hours before the con's end, would be a waste to leave early.” Luna smirked, “And I still have way too many bits left.”
“Hear hear!” Button laughed, “Let's go.”
The two of them visited a bunch of additional booths before Luna’s eye fell on one in particular. A few ponies were sitting on chairs while a group of unicorns were shaving off parts of their fur and generally prepping them with some liquid. “What are they doing there?”
Button looked over to where Luna was pointing. “Oh, that’s the Manehattan Central tatoo parlor, I heard about them coming. They’re pioneering the magic at the moment, their fur recolouring techniques are unmatched by anyone at the moment.”
“Huh, interesting…” Luna knew ponies had been re-dying fur in patterns for a long time, but a closer look at the booth showed that Button indeed was right as these had a remarkable accuracy and claimed to be permanent.
“I think they’re cool but I’ll have to save up before I really think about something like that,” He chuckled as the two of them walked up to the booth to check out some examples and designs of work that had yet to be done.
Tia would probably find it… interesting to see me with one of these.
Luna’s eyes stopped on a pattern of lines with sharp angles and smooth curves, her eyes glued to them and biting her lower lip as she contemplated it. I could easily hide it during the day…
“Like that one? We call ‘em Tribal patterns,” One of the booth ponies that wasn’t working on a pony said, coming up to the duo. “A pattern like that takes about forty-five minutes to apply.”
Luna saw Button glance at her as the bigger mare studied the pattern some more, her eyes looking over at the price list too. “So if, theoretically, I wanted it to run over my shoulder into my neck, you could do that?”
“I see you're a VIP so no problem at all!” The tattoo artist smiled.
“You only do tattoos for the VIP ticket holders?” Luna questioned.
“We'd be absolutely swamped otherwise,” the artist smiled. “We put priority on the VIP's and if there's open spots and the timing's right we also take everypony else.”
“Fair enough,” Luna admitted, contemplating the choice.
“I know you have the bits, so what’s stopping you?” Button asked as he saw Luna hesitate.
“Well, I don’t know how happy work would be with it…” Luna replied, that was certainly not a lie even though Button really didn’t know what her actual work was.
“Why would it matter what they think? If you like it and it speaks to you you should get it, right?” Button argued simply.
I guess it can be that simple too? Even if it got out, ponies would get used to it eventually…
“Why not,” Luna smirked as she stepped into the booth. “You don’t mind me being here for a bit, Button?”
Button Mash smiled and shook his head. “I’ll stick around here and just pose for ponies that want to take pictures. I’ll see you when you’re done!”
“Thanks!” Luna smiled as she paid the pony and took a seat on one of the work couches, taking off her hoodie.
“Alright, I need to cut your fur short to work, understand?” the tattoo artist told her as she took a pair of scissors in her magic.
“You do what you have to,” Luna told her, allowing her to get to work. The pony swiftly cut the area Luna had pointed to as wanting tattooed short, prepping the area properly before grabbing a design book. She showed a couple of different tattoo variations and applied a temporary overlay so Luna could see how it’d look once done. After going through some alterations she finally got to a design she liked, the tattoo artist grabbed her tools and imprinted the pattern into the skin and fur.
“There, that’s it.” the tattoo artist stated as she levitated a mirror around the tattoo to give Luna a good view of the work in the neck where she couldn’t see.
“It’s amazing! Thank you so much!” Luna squealed, brushing a hoof over the sorter hair region of her shoulder and neck. The magically altered skin and hair felt a little tender.
“No problem dear,” the unicorn smiled as she pulled out a card. “If you want more work done in the future you can drop by our parlour here in Manehattan and get ten percent off.”
“I’ll definitely keep that in mind,” Luna told her as she pulled her hoodie back on and strapped on her saddlebag. “Until next time then maybe.”
It didn’t take long for Luna to locate Button, the stallion only being right around the corner. “Star! You have to show me!” he exclaimed the moment he noticed her walking up.
With a goofy grin on her muzzle, Luna pulled back her hoody a bit, showing the black lines on her dark blue fur. “They had some great designs.”
“For sure!” Button smiled. “Back to wandering then?
“You know it!” Luna grinned.
By the end of the day Luna and Button had gone around the entire con twice more before closing time had them outside again, the sun starting to dip towards the horizon.
“That was so much fun,” Luna smiled as she and the stallion walked down the street together.
“For sure!” Button smiled back. “So, did you have any other plans for tonight?”
Getting ready to have a talk with my sister.
“Not really, Luna told him. “I had planned to just go back to my hotel.”
“Ah…” Button bit his lip. “Do you want to pick up a hayburger with me?” Luna gave him a blank stare. “I-If not then that's fine too.”
“No, no… I mean, yes!” Luna stumbled over her words. “Yes, I'd like that.”
“FlimFlam Burgers then?” Button asked, letting out a small sigh of relief.
“Sounds good to me, lead the way,” Luna told him, trotting after the stallion as he quickly located the nearest establishment. They drew some eyes as they entered, Button still in his full armour cosplay, but soon after ordering they found an empty table at which they could eat at.
“That was one hell of a day, wasn’t it?” Button sighed as they finally got some time to just sit down, saddlebags placed to the side while they waited for their order.
“That it really was,” Luna chuckled. “I wonder if the word about Celestia coming to the con has reached the guys on Discourse yet…”
“Why don’t we find out?” Button grinned as he pulled out his tablet and opened up the app.
>Trexxx: @Stardust @Helix Stuff is blowing up on other servers about Princess Celestia showing up at the con?! What do you guys know?
>Pandora: I got some pictures from other people too. Pretty sure she really was there.
>Pandora: <IMG> WTBPRINCESSCELESTIA.png <IMG>
>Trexxx: Holy, no way that’s doctored!
Both Luna and Button laughed as the entire server was going crazy about the princess showing up, dozens of messages back and forth with multiple pings to both Star and Helix.
>Helix: Can confirm. Princess did show up at the Biomare panel.
>Trexxx: Helix! That is awesome dude! There’s so much speculation floating about right now. What do you think, does she play games?
No. But maybe I can make her…
>Helix: Don’t think so. Devs had to explain a bunch of stuff to her during the panel, though she wasn’t completely oblivious.
Probably because I’ve been geeking out to her at breakfast on the occasions I haven't skipped them... Luna blushed as she remembered how her sister would patiently listen to her rants.
>Stormy: Still cool to think a Princess might be one of us.
If only you knew.
>Helix: got to bounce, hayburgers for me and Star are done.
>Traxxx: hold up, the two of you are still together?
>Pandora: Helix and Stardust, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-
“Well, that answers that question,” Button chuckled as he closed down the tablet halfway through reading Pandora’s message, his cheeks colouring red.
“That’s probably going to be reaching national news,” Luna chuckled as she knew the immense impact her sister could have. She was occasionally thankful she was usually considered the lesser princess as it gave her some added privacy to do the things she wanted.
“And I’ll enjoy it as it comes. But now I’m going to enjoy these hayburgers!” Button exclaimed as he took a big bite out of his burger. Luna couldn’t help but giggle at the antics and took a bite out of her own too. It may have been cheap and shitty food but considering that was something very rare to the palace, Luna savoured every bite.
“So, what now?” Button asked as both of them finished their meal.
“I guess we both head back to our hotels,” Luna suggested. Button stayed quiet for a moment as he visibly looked conflicted. Luna remained quiet as she waited for him to ask what he clearly wanted to ask.
“Well… what if you stayed over at my hotel?” He proposed carefully, “I got a princess-size bed because I like the space, and why not, but that means two ponies would easily fit…”
Luna’s heart skipped a beat as it sped up. Why are you acting like this, Luna?! You have suitors vying for your attention every week!
“I-I mean, if you’re not interested then that’s fine too,” Button stammered as Luna didn’t answer.
Yet he’s the only stallion that likes me for me instead of me… Ponies at court always want things like power, influence, not caring for me like he does… What if I want him to be more than just a friend?
Luna leaned forward and kissed Button’s cheek. “Sure, why not.” Button’s face turned almost completely red as his ability to string together coherent sentences was severely reduced. Luna giggled at the sputtering stallion and leaned in again. “You have to show me the way to your hotel, I don’t know where it is after all.”
“Right! Follow me!” The stallion lead the way, skipping across the street, light as a feather as Luna followed him to his hotel and up to his room.
“I should get out of this armour and take a shower,” he said sheepishly. “Mind waiting a bit?”
“You go ahead and clean up,” Luna giggled, “I can wait.”
“Thanks.” Button disappeared into the bathroom while Luna walked up to the window which gave a remarkably good view of the sky for Manehattan. Her sister had already pulled out the moon for her. A sense of dread fell upon Luna as she heard the shower turn on and she had some time to think.
What are you doing, Luna? Are you going to keep your identity hidden forever? What if once he knows he freaks?! There’s no way he won’t freak, is there?! And what if he doesn’t want to be friends anymore?! What if he tells the others and they don’t want to be friends either?! And-
No.
He's been nothing but kind, Button would do none of those things.
A tap on her shoulder snapped her from her thoughts, her head snapping to the side where Button was looking at her with concern. “Hey, are you okay? Why are you crying?”
The pure and honest look in Button’s eyes completely shot the rest of her doubts apart.
“Button, I’ve not been completely honest with you…” Luna admitted as she wiped away the tears.
“Star, you’ve known me a day in real life,” Button pointed out with a chuckle. “I’m not exactly expecting you to share your deepest secrets with me.”
Luna couldn’t help but let out a choked laugh through her tears. “And what if that’s exactly what I want to do?”
“I- uhh-” Button didn’t know how to reply to that as Luna took a deep breath.
“My name isn’t Shimmering Star… It’s Luna Morningstar.”
“Okay?” he stated, seemingly still completely oblivious. “So you didn’t want to tell me your real name to me yet when we first met? I've met nervous ponies before, there's no shame in that.”
Luna facehoofed. “There’s only one Luna Morningstar, Button.” She shut off the spell keeping her horn invisible and pushed some extra moonlight into her mane to get it waving again, small stars sparkling in the mass. Button had gone completely pale as what the significance of the name did hit home.
“L-Luna M-Morning… Y-You’re… You’re Princess Luna… I-I convinced you to get a tattoo! I invited a princess to slee-” He froze a moment before he steadied himself. “You kissed me in the burger place.”
“I-I did,” Luna replied, biting her lip as Button found a bit of courage.
“You wanted to come here… and you trusted me enough to reveal who you really are…” He said astonished as he got his thoughts in order, moving closer to Luna who didn’t move at all. “It wasn’t too hard to see I was crushing on you, was it?”
“A little,” Luna couldn't help but giggle, hiding her muzzle behind a hoof.
“So you're not mad?” Button asked carefully.
“Why would I be mad?” Luna asked. “I found it rather flattering, but if I am going to explore this then I'll do it honestly as Luna, not Shining Star… if that's okay with you?”
“No… Yes… I don't know!” Button stated, rubbing his head. “Dating a Princess?...”
Button paused, looking to be deep in thought for a moment before continuing.
“Dating one of the biggest super nerds I know, however…” Luna smiled sheepishly at the comment. “That I’m willing to try.”
Luna let out a breath of relief. “In that case, shall we see if this princess-sized bed really fits a princess?”
“Yes, we should,” Button said as he leaned forward and stole a quick, tentative, kiss.
Luna immediately pulled him back in, losing the small bit of required grip on the magic that made her smaller. As Button opened his eyes again he was looking at the princess in all her glory.
“Whoa… not going to lie, this'll take some getting used to.”
“How about we start cuddling up for a night for a start then?” Luna smirked, drawing a chuckle from Button.
“Sounds great.”