Midnight Star had just finished his new telescope. The new, larger lens had had gotten in Canterlot the week before should give him much greater clarity when he was looking at stars, planets and all the other wondrous mysteries space contained. With the moon a waning quarter, the night was perfect to test and calibrate the telescope. He would start with something easy, like looking at Mares and it’s two moons. If I can see the crater on Foalympus Mons, then I’ll call that good. Just as he set his telescope up, he heard a furtive, gentle knocking on his door. That must be Dusk Breeze. Why is he knocking so softly? Midnight Star usually worked alone, but Dusk Breeze, one of the pegasi, enjoyed the night as much as he did, and occasionally came to visit. Opening the door, however, he saw not Dusk Breeze, as he had expected, but Princess Luna, and had to stifle a gasp.
“Surprised to see me? You did invite me to come visit.” she said.
“I did, but I am surprised to see you. I thought that perhaps my informality at our last visit had frightened you off.”
“You caught me off-guard with your forwardness, that is why I ran off, but now I have been having even more trouble sleeping than I was before.”
“My apologies, your highness. I regretted my actions immediately afterwards, but you were gone before I could apologize.”
“Again, please, just call me Luna, and do not apologize, no stallion has ever approached me like that before. It was kind of...exhilirating.”
Midnight Star smiled. “I’m glad I didn’t frighten you off. I don’t meet many new ponies, since I’m usually alone. the only other pony I’m close with is my friend Dusk Breeze. That’s who I was expecting at the door when you knocked.”
“Am I interrupting any plans for the evening?”
“No, not really, Dusky just sort of drops by when he isn’t working.”
“Good, because I am holding you to the astronomy lesson you promised me in Canterlot.”
“Then let’s start. Come in, and we’ll get started. Pull up a patch of cloud with a good view of the ceiling.”
Looking confused, Luna did as she was asked, and when she was seated comfortably, Midnight Star began projecting the stars from his horn on to the slightly domed surface above them, including in his projection the lines connecting the stars, to make it easier to identify the constellations as he showed them.. “These are the constellations that we’ll see tonight. In the East, the constellation Taurus, the bull is right on the horizon. moving higher, just east of straight up, is Pegasus, which we saw last week.”
Luna laughed, stating “I still don’t see a pegasus, even with your lines to help point it out.”
“Neither do I, the only time I’ve ever seen a pegasus in that group of stars is when Dusk Breeze thought it would be funny to ambush me from their direction.”
Luna burst out laughing at this revelation. “so even astronomers are practical jokers?”
“It seems I’m on the receiving end more often than not, but I do get a few good pranks in here and there. Back to the lesson! North of Pegasus, is Cassiopony, recognizable by her W shape.” Midnight Star was brightening each constellation as he named it to highlight it against the other shapes in the sky. “To the west of Pegasus is Cygnus, the swan. Under it’s wings, you can see Lyra, the lyre, and south of them, Aquila, the eagle. The three brightest stars in each of them, Deneb, Vega, and Altair form the Summer Triangle.” Luna was staring, transfixed with the brilliant specks of light winking on the ceiling above. “To the west of these three, we have Hayracles again, reared on his hind legs, and striking to the north of him, at Draco, the Dragon, which winds between Ursa Minor, slightly to the north of directly overhead, and Ursa Major, just on the northern horizon.”
“What about other things in the sky? Like Comets?” Luna gestured to Midnight Star’s flank as she asked this.
“Comets and asteroids are too small and erratic to project like this, but I can show you the planets, if you want.”
“Can I see them through your telescope?”
“Yes! In fact, you’re just in time, I was about to take a look at Mares before you got here, so the telescope is already set up.”
proceeding together up the short flight of stairs at the back of the observatory, Luna and Midnight star emerged in to the cool night air of the patio where the telescope was set up. Midnight Star peered through it, making minute adjustments to follow the progression the planet had made since his evening began. There’s Foalympus Mons, and the crater at the top. Looks like everything’s in order with this telescope, thank Celestia. It would have been embarrassing if it didn’t work. Stepping aside, he gestured for Luna to look through as well.
“That’s extraordinary! I’ve never seen Mares so clearly!”
“Would you like to see more?”
“I would, but unfortunately I have official business I need to deal with before the night is over.” Luna said regretfully, as she headed towards the door to the observatory.
“Perhaps another night then?” Midnight Star asked hopefully, as he opened the door for Luna.
“Perhaps tomorrow night.” This time, it was Luna who surprised Midnight star by giving him a quick kiss on the lips before taking off in to the night.