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/ Ch.3 Of Starlit Nights and New Ideas / Story: Aero's Amorous Adventures / by StormHoof32 /-/

CHAPTER 3

Of Starlit Nights and New Ideas

When the sun rose and Aero came to, he figured he would still be in the castle. What he didn't expect was an hour long lecture from his mom about the importance of leaving a note. He had heard this lecture countless time's before and that just made him feel even worse. After all, she wouldn't be yelling had he just remembered. Before long however Aero was finally able to speak.

"Um, mom?" He asked, "I was wondering if you could help me."

"With what dear?" she replied, having calmed down to a much more manageable level.

"Well, I may or may not have asked somepony on a date. And I have no idea what I'm doing." Aero explained. What he expected was for his mom to maybe give him some advice. What he got was his mom crushing him in a bear hug of epic proportions.

"OH! MY BABY IS FINALLY GROWING UP!" she cried as the air left his lungs and every bone in his body cracked. After what felt like forever to Aero, she let go. Never in his life did it feel so good to feel air enter his lungs.

"Now who's the special mare?" she asked.

"Well, that's the interesting part mom. I uh, I asked Princess Luna on a date..." He replied, looking off to the side. When Aero didn't hear anything, he looked up only to find that his news had broken his mom. She stood there just staring above him at the wall.

"Uh, mom? Are you ok?" Aero asked. But she wasn't answering, she just stood there like a statue, that was until he tapped her shoulder. She jumped so high that she had almost put a hole in the ceiling.

"MY SON IS COURTING A PRINCESS!" she exclaimed, "Oh honey we need to get you prepared as soon as possible!"

"Mom, that's why I was asking for help. I've never been on a date before." He explained.

"Well, don't worry sweetie, Momma is gonna teach you everything she knows. But first, we need to come up with a plan." she said, "Do you know where you wanna go for this date?"

"Well, no. But I was thinking that it could be something simple maybe?" he replied. He didn't know much about Canterlot having just moved here. The fact that his mom had asked him if he had a place picked out seemed kind of silly to him.

"Hmmm, well son, she is a princess, so simple is probably the best way to go. After all, their lives must be hectic enough already without having to play dress up for a fancy place."

Sitting once more at the desk in her study, Celestia poured over paperwork that she would need for the day. It was the one part of her day, though she'd been doing it for over a millennia, that she disliked the most. Sighing, she took a sip of coffee and got down to business. Or at least she would have had her door not blown open.

"SISTER! WE ARE IN NEED OF THINE ASSISSTANCE!" Luna yelled as she barreled in. She carried a beautiful blue dress with sequins that made it look just as beautiful as Luna's mane and tail, a frantic look on her face. What she didn't notice was that in her haste she had lapsed into not only her old speech patterns, but her royal Canterlot voice as well. Celestia's ears would have swiveled back had she not already been use to that voice. After all, she had used the selfsame voice at one point in her life as well. But to be fair, having discord replace ones mane and tail with cotton candy and marshmallows would send anypony over the edge.

"Luna, you really musn't shout. Feather Duster still won't be able to hear right for quite some time." she said, taking another sip of coffee, "You mentioned you need help?"

Luna took a deep breath before she spoke again, making sure to control her volume this time. What her sister had said was correct, she had allowed her royal Canterlot voice to break out while she was in the company of one of their maids. The poor mare was practically deaf for almost three months. And as Celestia said, her hearing still hadn't quite returned to a hundred percent.

"Celestia, I need your help. I don't know anything about dating in this day and age. I was hoping you could teach me, and maybe let me know if this dress is too much?" she explained. After all, it was her first date in over one thousand years. She didn't want to mess anything up.

"I take it Aero asked you to be his special somepony?" Celestia asked, smiling.

"He did sister. And that is why I need your help. Should I wear this dress? Should I not? What if he takes me someplace fancy?!" Luna replied, worry and nervousness quite evident in her voice. "I only have until tomorrow night to make sure I'm ready!"

"That is more than enough time Luna. First thing's first, I'm sure Aero will find you beautiful, with or without the dress. So you need not worry. As for courting, it's truly not difficult. It really doesn't matter where you two go as long as you are getting to know one another, remember that. And remember to ask him about himself or his home life, the things he likes to do, his favorite foods, and so on." Celestia explained. It had been quite some time since she had taken a suitor as well, but unlike her sister, her last love had passed on thirty years ago. That allowed her a bit of an insight into courting in modern times, though she was no expert.

"As long as you do that, then I don't think anything will go wrong." Celestia finished. Smiling she took another sip from her coffee mug.

"Thank you sister, I'll take your advice to heart." Luna replied, smiling her nervous smile. "Do we still announce ourselves as a couple to the populace?"

"Luna, that practice hasn't been around for over two hundred years. However if that is something you wish to do, then I advise you speak to Aero about it first. I do not believe he would take too well to the crowds." Celestia answered.

"Ah, in that case, thank you sister for your advice. I must get some sleep now. Goodnight Celestia." Luna said as her loud yawn followed shortly after.

"Sleep well sister. I'll be here if you need me." Celestia replied.

Aero stood in front of the castle gates. After thinking back, neither he nor Luna had picked a time for their date. So Aero had decided to show up just as the moon was rising. After discussing things with his mom, they had agreed that a simple date would have been best. Thus, Aero only carried with him a single Queen of The Night Tulip that his mom had picked up for him. She said the name was significant because in the past the Princess had created the blooms, They were said to be a gift to her sister.

After taking a deep breath, Aero went to head inside. But instead of the guards that would normally greet him, He found Luna without her regalia. Her mane was done in a loose pony tail, and in that moment, she was more beautiful than Aero could imagine. What he hadn't noticed was his wings popping out again. The blush on her face grew almost immediately.

"Hello Aero. Is that tulip for me?" she asked.

"Uh. Yeah, it is." He replied, handing the flower to her.

"You know, I remember when I made these for Celestia. Whenever she comes within a mile of them, her horn goes limp and her mane turns purple." She laughed. These particular flowers had been the result of a prank war between the two.

"LLLLUUUUUUNNNAAAAAAAAA!"

The two of them laughed hard as Luna grabbed Aero's hoof and took off. Aero was going to bring Luna to a field that was near his home so that they could stargaze, but it seemed that Luna had other plans. He looked up at her as they ran, and the sheer joy on her face was quite a sight. After a few minutes they slowed down and took a look around at their surroundings. What Aero saw was amazing.

They stood in front of a large series of waterfalls that cascaded down boulders and rocks that stuck out from the flow. The roar of the water, however, was quieted by the nature that surrounded the falls. The trees that grew nearby were greener than even the most beautiful forests. And the grass that grew in this area seemed to Aero as though it were healthier and greener than grasses elsewhere in Equestria. The light of the moon shined off the water, causing the falls to resemble the now glittering sky. The spray from the falls had come to lay among the blades of grass, leaving a sparkling sheen that would leave most speechless. Closing his eyes, he could feel the mist of the falls on his face, the sound of night herons and the owls filling the air. This place was a masterpiece of beauty.

"Aero, welcome to my favorite place, my sanctuary. I use to come here when I was young, before I was banished. This was where I'd go if I was ever feeling sad or lonely." Luna said, smiling a sad yet serene smile. One full of memories of this wondrous place.

"How were you able to keep it so beautiful?" Aero asked. If it had been around since she was little, then how, over thousands of years was it still here.

"When I first discovered this place, I thought it was so pretty. I wanted it to stay that way. I didn't want anypony to get rid of something as special as this. I cast a spell that I had asked Starswirl to create. It hides this place from anypony that I do not wish to see it. My own sister to this day does not know of this." She explained, "Many of the creatures that live here did not exist when I discovered it however. I have been studying them since my return."

"Luna, it's the most beautiful place I've ever seen." Aero replied.

"Aero, would you like to go for a swim?" she asked.

"I-Yeah, actually. After all that running a swim would be great." he said as they headed to the water. Aero placed a hoof in the water, testing it's temperature, but before he knew it, she had grabbed him and pulled him in. When he broke the surface, he looked around for Luna. However he nearly jumped when she tapped his shoulder.

"Your it!" she yelled, laughing as she swam away. To Aero it would have been adorable had she not scared the daylights out of him. He started swimming after her, attempting to tag her. But, she was much larger than him, and therefore she was able to move much faster. Spreading out his wings and dipping them into the water, Aero used his wings like oars. Now that he was using his wings, he was able to move much faster. After a few minutes of laughing and giggling he managed to tag her. Now that she was it, Aero was hard pressed to get away in time. He felt her hoof miss by mere seconds as he pushed his wings against the water. He was laughing as she came after him. It had been weeks since he had played a decent game of tag.

By the time they were finished, both Aero and Luna were quite tired. After they left the water and Luna dried them off, they moved to a tree that Luna had motioned to, and from behind it she pulled a basket.

"I spent some time thinking about what we could do in the way of dinner. I thought a picnic would be nice." she said as she unpacked the basket. She laid out a quilt, covered with moon's and stars, and began placing the food out. She pulled out two bottles of Sweet Apple Acres apple juice and placed them between the two of them, along with two sandwiches and some potato crisps that some twin brothers had come up with a while back.

"I haven't been to a decent picnic in a while. It's awesome Luna." Aero replied, "What kind of sandwiches are those?"

"I didn't know what you would like, so I settled on daisy sandwiches with some seasoning and lettuce." She explained.

At that moment however, the natural sounds around them were pierced by the low grumble of Aero's stomach. Luna giggled as they both took their food. The sandwich was perfect to Aero. The daisies tasted like they had been picked fresh, as had the lettuce, and the bread was neither too dry, nor too moist. It was light and fluffy and contrasted well with the rest of the ingredients.

When Aero finished eating, he sat back and looked up at the stars. Luna had really outdone herself when it came to the canvas that was the night sky. He could see many of the constellations he'd been learning about in school. The way they were positioned told him that winter would be here soon, and the winter solstice would soon follow. He thought on that. The summer solstice was when they held the summer sun celebration, where they held a celebration in honor of the longest day. Which would mean that the winter solstice would be an amazing time to celebrate the longest night.

"Luna, I was wondering, how would you feel about having a celebration in honor of the night?" he asked. He knew this would be something that would get her attention.

"Celebrate the night? Aero that would be fantastic. Why? Did you have a plan?" she asked.

"Well I was thinking, it's going to be wintertime soon, which means the winter solstice is gonna be soon too." He explained, "We usually celebrate the summer solstice with a festival in honor of the longest day, so I figured, why not do one for the winter solstice too."

Luna sat there, her mind allowing what he told her to sink in. This could finally be a chance for her subjects to finally celebrate the hard work she put into every night. She knew they couldn't view it every night, but once a year would be plenty for her. Plus there were still the club ponies who stayed out all night.

"Let's do it!" she yelled as she jumped up, her fore hooves in the air, "Aero we will make this the best celebration of the night, ever! And I know exactly who to talk to about organizing it."

"Who?" Aero asked.

"Our dear friend, Twilight Sparkle!" she exclaimed, her smile widening at the mention of one of her first friends.

"Celestia told me a little about her. She didn't say anything about her being good at organizing though." Aero replied. The most Celestia had told him was that they use to drink tea when she was Celestia's student, and that she would send friendship reports every so often.

"She is one of the best organizers I know, And she is the first friend I ever made. We met a few years ago on Nightmare night, and she showed me how much fun it was." she explained. "Now Moony takes care of that. She absolutely loves chasing the foals."

"Luna, I was wondering, what's it like now that Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker work with you guys?" he asked.

"It's strange to be honest. Though we have gotten quite use to them helping out. In fact Moony is the reason I was able to be here. She was taking care of my nightly duties so that I could show you this place." Luna replied, gesturing at the falls as she did.

"Wow. Do you think there might be a chance I could meet her? After all, we should probably thank her for taking your place for tonight." Aero asked. Part of him did want to thank her, but another part really wanted to meet the source of so many legends.

"I believe we can see her for a bit. After all, I'm sure she'd love to hear our idea!" Luna said happily. Once they had there picnic cleaned up, and everything was in the basket, they headed back the way they had come. What they didn't know, was that a certain purple haired, floppy horned alicorn was waiting to ambush them. The second prank war had begun.

Nightmare Moon sat on the throne, humming a simple tune to herself. She had just finished her night court, but, her moment of relaxation was cut short by the long and drawn out scream of a certain Lunar Princess.

"CEEEELLLEEESSSSTTTIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Nightmare Moon's eyes widened considerably as Celestia dove through the throne room door. Her purple hair and limp horn trailing behind her. As fast as she had come, she had gone, as she left through the back door of the throne room. Luna and a young colt, Both covered in neon pink paint, came soon after, steam coming from her nose and vengeance in her eyes. They too exited through the door, leaving Nightmare Moon to gawk at possibly the strangest thing she had ever witnessed.

Soon after however, she resumed her tune, and continued her vigilance over the night.