The room was dark, save for only two sources of light, the bright moonlight from outside the window, and the tiny flicker of a candle placed neatly on an old wooden table. Twilight was quietly sitting and reading one of her favourite books, "Obscure unicorn history", and just doing her best to relax. It had been a long and eventful day for her, having spent most of it with her friends. They'd all had a good time here in the Crystal Empire, but now, all she wanted to do was mellow out before going to bed.

As she read through page after page of her book, a smile crept onto her face. So many good things had happened to her lately, and as such she reflected over the course of her life. She'd gained many friends, achieved many things, and she had found love. She had the kind of life that mares and stallions might only dream about, and that made her eternally grateful. Sighing peacefully, she closed her book and got up, before making her way towards the large window-doors of her chambers.

Outside was a glorious night sky, filled with both the bright light of a full moon and the glittering of the thousands of stars surrounding it. Luna had done fine work today, as it was, by far, a perfect night. Lifting her hoof, she opened the door and walked out onto the balcony. She enjoyed coming out here on the few occasions she'd been able to do so. This balcony gave her a great view of the city below, which glistened in the light of the moon. It wasn't that cold out tonight, so she was not uncomfortable out here, and as such simply took a moment to enjoy this beautiful sight.

However, as she gazed out upon the city, she heard the familiar sound of an opening and closing door from beneath her. Looking over the edge, she saw a very familiar stallion pegasus make his way out onto the balcony on the level below her, who then made his way towards the edge to stare out as she was. A smile crept onto her face, for she knew who this was, as the light of the moon illuminated him well enough.

"Flash."

Her beloved colt-friend, Flash Sentry, a stallion who had become far more important to her than she had ever thought any stallion could become, save for her brother, although this love was far different. As she looked down upon him, a thought occurred to her, this moment was eerily like when the two of them had first spoken to each other. It was a night very much like this one, and Twilight had worked up the nerve to speak to him despite her then-lingering feelings for his human counterpart in the other world. If somepony had walked up to her and told her how close the two would become after that meeting, she would not have believed them. And yet, she would not have changed any of it for the world.

Still smiling, Twilight spread out her wings and gracefully flew down to the lower balcony. She gently landed on the floor of it and furled her wings before making her way towards him. He was not clad in his usual armour, as he was on the night she'd first spoken to him, which struck her as odd. But, as she drew closer, she saw his ears pricked up, indicating that he'd heard her. His head turned and, as soon as he saw her, his face broke out into a massive smile.

"Evening, Twilight."

Twilight smiled back.

"And to you."

Twilight walked out next to her colt-friend and leaned against him affectionately as the two shared the brilliant view of the moonlit city below. A year ago, it would never have crossed Twilight's mind to ever be this close to a stallion. Now though, being this way with Flash was as natural to her as breathing. But, as the moments passed, a question grew in her mind, which she then chose to voice.

"Flash? Why are you out here?" She asked.

The stallion looked down at her, still smiling.

"I'm not on duty or anything, but I figured I'd come out here anyway. This place has become important to me. It was here that the most incredible mare in the world decided to speak to a lowly guard and changed his life for the better."

Twilight, in spite of herself, afforded herself a quick chuckle, which Flash joined her in. He'd always been something of a romantic towards her, but the way he described their first meeting brought a warm feeling to her heart. But then, to her surprise, Flash began to move away from her. Twilight kept her eyes on him as he looked at her with a serious expression on his face.

"Twilight, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

Twilight wasn't quite sure how to take his tone of voice when he said that. It was not like the warm and affectionate manner he'd spoken to her previously, but even so, she nodded and listened.

"There was something you did, back in the world of humans. Something that you enjoyed. And I feel that I have been remiss in my duties as your Colt-friend by not offering you the same experience here."

The young alicorn princess raised an eyebrow, confused over what he was saying to her. But then, the smile from before came back to his face, and he lifted a hoof before offering it to her.

"Princess Twilight.......would you do me the honour......by consenting to dance with me this night?"

Twilight's mouth fell open with shock over that request as it was, needless to say, not something she'd been expecting. She'd told Flash of her dancing in the other world, with his counterpart, and how much it meant to her to do so. It was something that had brought her and the other Flash closer together, even though their relationship had been fairly short-lived. For Flash to offer to do this for her now was completely out of the blue for him. And yet, as she looked upon him and the sincere look in his eyes, her smile returned, and she felt a joyous sensation. She raised her own hoof and gently placed it in his.

"Yes......I will."

The two lovers smile at each other and, without saying a word, they spread out their wings and started flapping them. It was not enough to launch them into the air, as they normally would, but just enough strength to lift their front halves upward. They kept up this pace of wing-flapping and kept their hooves together, giving the illusion that they were standing on their hind legs, much like the humans would have done. There was no music, but they didn't need it, because all they wanted at this moment was to just enjoy each other's company.

They began moving their hind legs in steps, one-two, one-to, in an almost perfect rhythm, despite neither of them having danced with each other before, and certainly never dancing like this before. They moved all along the surface of the balcony, never taking their eyes off each other, but keeping their hold on their partner. It was hardly a professional dance, but they didn't care. To them, it might as well have been the greatest dance of all time, solely because they were doing it with the one they loved.

There were a few stumbles here and there. Even with Twilight being more used to her wings than the day they first met, there was some difficulty on her part when trying to keep them flapping at this rate. But every time her wings felt tired, Flash merely flapped his harder, keeping her held up so they could keep dancing this way, which was something she was immensely grateful for. To all who might have seen them, they were blind to the world around them, their gaze focused only on the eyes of the other, and never needing more than that. It was a feeling they both shared and voiced at once.

"I love you."

And they truly meant it. But they couldn't keep dancing forever, and after a good half-an-hour, they stopped, easing themselves back into their previous stance on all-fours. They didn't need to say a word to each other at this point, because this moment had been perfect for them. They knew they would remember it, their first dance together as a couple, and that it would be a memory they'd cherish. Still bearing their massive smiles, they moved back over to where they were before, the edge of the lower balcony. But, to their dismay, they saw that clouds were gathering, and the once brightly-lit city was beginning to darken.

Twilight knew that she would have to go back to her room at some point, which brought a pang of sadness to her. This was, after all, her final day in the Crystal Empire before she would have to go back to Ponyville the next morning. And because of that, it would be yet another great separation between her and Flash. This did not weigh as heavily on her heart as it once did, for she knew now from her weekend here that Flash would still love her even with that distance between them, just as she would still love him.

"I'll miss you." She said mournfully.

Flash nodded as he placed his hoof upon hers.

"And I you."

He turned to face her, causing her to do the same, before he spoke again.

"But we'll still see each other, eventually. This is not an end Twilight. Just like it was not the end between us last time."

As always, his voice bore no trace of deception, for he truly meant those words, banishing the sadness that had threatened to emerge in Twilight's heart. But even with that connection between them still firmly established, there was yet another thought on the young alicorn's mind. It was a possibility she'd been considering for some time, but had never felt the time was right. Tonight though, she felt different, that it was finally right to go ahead with what was on her mind.

"Flash......could you come with me, please?" She asked.

Flash looked at her, trying to guess her expression, but it was too hard to read. Still, he had no reason to deny her this request, and so he simply nodded. Smiling back at him, Twilight turned away before unfurling her wings and flapping them hard, causing her to fly fully this time. Flash kept his eyes on her as she flew higher and higher, back towards the balcony above where she'd come from. He unfurled his wings and did the same, following her up. Being a more experienced flier, it didn't take him as long as her to reach the balcony, and soon both of them were up on the higher level. Twilight kept on walking, with Flash close behind her, before reaching her door. She paused for a minute before turning to face Flash again.

"Flash. Do you remember what happened the last time we had a day like today?"

Flash raised an eyebrow at that, clearly confused by what he was asking of her. So Twilight decided to elaborate.

"The day before we last parted from each other. Do you remember what happened between us?"

There was still a lingering look of confusion on Flash's face, but that soon gave way to one of comfort. The expression made it as clear as day to Twilight that he now understood what she was talking about, and he nodded to her soon afterwards.

"Yes. I told you I loved you. Then we kissed. Our first."

Twilight smiled back at him. She was glad he remembered it so well, and indeed he should, for it was also one of the happiest days of her own life. Nopony, at least outside of her family, had ever expressed love for her until that day. It completely changed everything for Twilight, and she had been the one to step forward and kiss this stallion, something she never would have considered before hearing those words. But, this was not just about fond memories, and Twilight spoke further.

"That's right. It was a special day, for both of us. And with today being our last together for a while, I think......I think we need something just as special."

Flash raised his eyebrow at that and Twilight decided to make it clear for him, not with words, but with action. She raised a hoof and opened the door to her bed-chamber. She looked inside before turning back to Flash, giving him a warm expression. Flash meanwhile was looking from the door and back to Twilight. A few moments passed before the confusion began to fade from his face. What replaced it was a look of surprise, and his mouth hung open for a minute before he finally managed to get his words together.

"Do.......do you mean......?"

Twilight nodded. She couldn't blame him for being surprised, as she'd never once hinted that this was something she wanted. Flash kept staring at her, still shocked over what his filly-friend was suggesting to him.

"Twilight........don't think I'm not tempted, but.......are you sure?"

Twilight gave him a quizzical look, somewhat surprised that he would react in such a way. Flash spoke again.

"I mean......is this something you want? Truly?"

Twilight smiled again.

"Yes. I've been thinking about it and...... think the time is right."

Flash stood silent after hearing that, as did Twilight. As the seconds passed, Twilight felt a very familiar knot in her stomach, one which had only ever been felt whenever she was nervous about something regarding her relationship to Flash. She began to doubt. Was she truly ready? Was he? Would him not being ready make this suggestion a mistake on her part? Would their relationship change after this, for the worse? Those and many other questions began pouring through her mind, and her doubt began to gnaw away at her earlier choice to go through with this, emphasized by Flash's continual silence.

But, after who know how many moments, Twilight felt she could breathe easy, as a small smile crept into Flash's face. He stepped forward and took Twilight's hoof in his. The two gazed into each other's eyes and Twilight smiled before hearing Flash speak.

"Twilight. I will only do this if your ready. Are you?"

Twilight, hearing those words, thought hard about it. She looked back over the moments they'd shared together so far, from their fist meeting, the dates they'd been on, sharing their doubts and insecurities about their relationship, endured the revelation of their mutual involvement with Sunset Shimmer, sharing their first kiss with each other, and even sharing their dreams courtesy of Princess Luna. She looked back over all of it and realised to herself that they had been through so much, grown so close, and she asked herself, was she truly ready to make this commitment? And, as she conjured fourth all her happy memories with Flash, the answer came to her, as did a big smile on her face.

"Yes......I'm ready."

Flash looked at her, trying to see if there was any doubt in her eyes. But there was nothing but certainty and confidence there, and when he saw it, he returned the smile, nodding as he did so.

"In that case, Princess, on this night.......I am yours."

Twilight tried her best to resist the urge to blush upon hearing those overly-romantic words from her colt-friend. She then took her hoof away from his and began making her way inside, stopping briefly to look back at Flash, her eyes inviting him in. Flash, still smiling, accepted and followed her in, making sure to close the door behind him. With both lovers inside, Twilight's horn began to glow, and she used her magic to move the curtains of her large windows. And the last thing anypony might of seen of the two of them, was them moving closer, and placing their lips gently together in a kiss, before the curtains hid them from all the world.