The city of Canterlot was a magical, breathtaking snow globe of immense beauty. Streams of almost liquid silver moonlight shone down, refracting off of every glistening surface, every snowflake, and pooled in every bright eye. It was a thing of magnificence, a thing of wondrous, fantastical beauty, witnessed only by those who ventured out into the night. Gosling, disguised as Straight Key, found himself left feeling small and foalish by what he witnessed.

Together, the threesome slipped and slided on the ice, with Sunshine Smiles doing it on purpose, squealing with delight while she did a crazy dance to remain upright. Sunshine had fun with an almost foalish, reckless abandon, because there could be no doubt that it felt good to let go.

The fun was interrupted by a pair of approaching ponies, one big and tall, the other not quite so big and tall. Sunshine Smiles pronked to Straight Key’s side and stood there, waiting, still smiling but cautious, while Moonlight Raven strode forwards with confidence. Several of the seeming passersby took an interest in this development, a keen interest with all of their eyes focused on the approaching figures.

“Moonlight Raven… it is always a pleasure to see you out to enjoy the evening.” The larger of the two ponies bowed his head somewhat, while his companion remained rigid and stiff. “And what a fine evening it is. Where are my manners? I haven’t introduced my associate, and I am sorry.”

Straight Key, his ears erect, watched and waited, his own guard training somehow shining through his disguise. Every muscle tensed, but had to be ignored. The whole point of the disguises was to be able to go out, meet ponies, and talk to them. To engage them. To socialise with their subjects and get to know them.

“This is Flicker Nicker,” the pony said, making introductions. “Flicker Nicker, this is Moonlight Raven and her sister, Sunshine Smiles. I am unsure of the identity of the no-doubt fine gentlepony accompanying them.” The tall, dignified pony bowed his head once more, and his smaller companion followed suit, his movements stiff, and some might say wooden.

“This is Straight Key,” Moonlight Raven deadpanned. “And you… woah”—she pointed with her hoof at the colt—“you have the perfect face for guard duty.” Something almost like a smirk appeared on her face, and she made a sweeping gesture with her raised hoof. “Straight Key, this is Doctor Sterling. He’s like… my friend. I guess. Whatever.”

The colt’s scowl intensified into a grimace that made Straight Key’s blood run cold.

“Have you nothing to say, Mister Nicker?” Doctor Sterling’s face became a stern, unyielding mask, but his eyes were merry, vivid, and bright. “You must excuse my companion, we are going out to a concert, and he doesn’t want to go. He doesn’t get music. Or art. Or the equinities in general.”

“Like, swinging a sword is like, no different than swinging a paint brush, and when you’re done, there’s like liquids everywhere in really expressive puddles,” Sunshine Smiles blabbed, trying to make conversation.

Arching one eyebrow, the left corner of Doctor Sterling’s mouth curled up into a fine, aristocratic smirk. “Indeed. I feel the same way.”

“We must be going.” One hoof kicked down and struck the icy cobblestones. “Come, Mister Nicker, we must educate you somehow, or I shall no doubt die of mortification due to my lack of success.”

The pair took off, Moonlight Raven, her hoof still raised, waved goodbye, and Sunshine Smiles watched them go. Straight Key too, watched their departure, and was glad that the little buzzkill was leaving. Something about that face… he dismissed it, shoved it from his mind, and remained resolute to have a good time.

“Who wants cocoa?” Straight Key asked.

“”I like, could totally go for some roasted chestnuts, like, literally, oh my gosh.” Sunshine Smiles leaned up against Straight Key, and whipped his backside with her tail.

“No doubt slapping against your chin,” Moonlight Raven deadpanned.

The Canterlot Royal Observatory was almost deserted. There were a few quiet, withdrawn, nerdy types, which made Moonlight Raven, Sunshine Smiles, and Straight Key stand out all the more. It was a public building, much like a public library, where the ponies of Canterlot could come and use the telescopes. There was an orrery that displayed the complicated workings of the solar system around Terra Prime. Terra Secundus and Terra Tertius were beginning their intricate dance with Terra Quartus and Terra Quintus.

Straight Key noted that Terra Secundus was pulling the sun away from Terra Primus, making its orbit elliptical, and causing winter to happen. Deep within Straight Key, Gosling had himself an almost spiritual moment when he looked at the orrery and witnessed the domain of the sisters: they kept a careful, complicated balance that allowed life to continue.

He stood, unmoving, only blinking when his eyes began to sting, and watched the almost impossible to notice movement of the orrery, in which nothing seemed to move, but perhaps offered the illusion of movement when one stood staring at it long enough. He felt somepony brush up against his side, pressing against him, and he turned to look at Sunshine Smiles, but found Moonlight Raven instead.

“It’s majestic, isn’t it?” she asked in her dull-sounding, gravel-choked voice. “So few come here. So few understand. So few appreciate. Nopony really cares what is going on in the skies up above us. Out of sight, out of mind.”

“I’m sorry, Moonlight, I—”

“Hush.”

Straight Key felt the hairs along his spine stand up when she brushed up against him once more, an almost catlike gesture of affection. Sunshine Smiles was on the other side of the Orrery, and there was an adorable squint on her face while she focused upon the movement of the moon around Terra Prime.

“Like, I have always loved the moon,” Sunshine Smiles said in a low whisper while she watched. “Ponies call it the lesser light, but that’s like totally wrong… I’ve always thought of it like, the more gentler light, because sometimes, like, you know, the sun is like totally too harsh.” She let out a sniff and her tail swished around her hind legs. “The gentler light is like, literally better for romance, it’s like, mood lighting for like really fantastic sex. And speaking of sex, tonight I’m totally going to be the little spoon. It’s gonna be great!”

A single tear ran down Moonlight Raven’s cheek, smearing her mascara—a sign of powerful illusion indeed—and after making its way down her velvet fuzz, it plopped to the floor, leaving behind a black, inky splotch. She pressed up against Straight Key, pushing against him, and her whole body trembled. For a moment, her mouth opened, but no words came out, and Sunshine was too busy studying the moon to notice.

Even though he had been hushed, Straight Key dared to defy. “Moonlight, are you alright?”

“Just shut up.” Another tear rolled down, leaving behind a black streak on her cheek, running parallel to the first. Closing her eyes, she pressed her face against Straight Key’s broad neck, smearing him with runny mascara, which seemed rather real for being an illusion.

“I used to come to this place with Helianthus and together, we’d like watch this here orrery, not even talking really, and I’d watch the planets moving around like hands on a clock, and I was totally like a foal waiting for the clock on the wall in class to say that school was like, you know, over.” Sunshine paused, gulped a few times, and never once took her eyes off of the tiny orbiting moon. “This was like, my clock that I watched, waiting for a thousand winters to pass, and like, near the end, like, oh my gosh, it felt like each year was getting a little longer than the last, until it was like, you know, unbearable and I couldn’t take it any more, and I think I finally like, you know, totally understood how a foal waiting in class feels for those last few minutes to tick away.”

Straight Key recoiled. He could only imagine that the orrery was moving, well, most of it. He was pretty sure that he could see the moon moving if he stared at it long enough. But to use it like a clock? Watching the second hand as it crept closer to the time when the bell would ring? That summed up his experience in secondary school. Those last few minutes were the worst, and some kind of horrible, weird magic made the seconds stretch out. Sometimes, it felt as though the second hand had got stuck and would never move again.

But to watch an orrery and wait for entire seasons to pass like quarter hours? Deep inside of Straight Key, Gosling shuddered. Sunshine Smiles wasn’t smiling, she had a troubled look upon her face, a look mirrored on the face of Moonlight Raven, no doubt, if she were to pull away from his neck and stop smearing her mascara all over him.

Sniffling a bit, Moonlight Raven pulled herself away from Straight Key and peered through the orrery to look at the pony on the other side. After a raspy cough and clearing her throat a few times, she had this to say: “It’s why this place has such a high budget and remains so well funded even though it’s deserted, isn’t it? You kept this place running so you would have a place to wait, right? Every bureaucrat in Canterlot wants to cut the funding for this place, and you won’t let them.”

Sunshine Smiles pulled her eyes away from the moon and focused on Moonlight Raven. After a few seconds, her sunny smile returned, and a merry twinkle illuminated her eyes. “Ya, you know, like, this might have been one of the few times where I actually abused my power. I like so totally threatened to throw a comptroller out of the window about two hundred years or so ago. I was a bad pony, but, like, so was he. That jerk tried to lead a financial revolt against my spending policies.”

“You’ve changed,” Moonlight deadpanned.

“Have I?” Sunshine replied.

“Yes. In the past, the past that I remember, he would have gone out the window and right into the rose bushes.” Something that was almost a smile spread over Moonlight’s muzzle. “You’ve grown more patient as the years have passed.”

“Well, I totally had to be patient.” Sunshine Smiles pawed the floor with one hoof, her ears twitched, and her tail became extra-swishy. “I, like, had to wait for my sister to come back to me, and it like, totally taught me a lot about patience.”

Straight Key watched with a lump in his throat as the two disguised sisters moved to embrace one another, and he couldn’t help but feel that something profound had just changed. He didn’t know what it was, but he suspected it had something to do with these bodies, their sincerity, and their utter inability to hide anything. Quiet, respectful, he remained where he stood so the two sisters could have their space.

Back in the castle, the two sisters were acting as if nothing had happened, and Straight Key was glad to be home. As they made their way to the residential wing, Sunshine Smiles was humming to herself, leading the way, flicking and wafting the inviting scent of mare musk with her tail. Moonlight Raven walked a little behind and off to one side, giving her sister a wide berth.

Straight Key already knew how this night was going to end, and he trotted with a wide, wolfish grin. Tonight was going to be special—a real treat—and all of his anticipation was about to pay off in a big way. Tonight, he was going to be the big spoon, and maybe indulge a certain pony he knew with their mounting fetish.

“Tonight, I’m totally gonna be the little spoon,” Sunshine Smiles said while she cast a sidelong sultry glance over her shoulder at Straight Key. “Your mission tonight is to like, hold me down and overpower me with your big, burly body. Make me feel like the little, helpless mare that I am.”

“I think I’ll be going.” Moonlight Raven paused mid-step, frowned, and then shook her head. “This night was great while it lasted. I had a great time.”

“Stay with us.” Straight Key turned to look at Moonlight Raven, and he saw her eyes widen. “No, I don’t mean like that… don’t you dare! You know me! I’m not like that and I’m not about to let you create drama where none exists! Don’t you even think about ruining this great night we had by starting a fight!”

Scolded, her ears pinning back, Moonlight Raven made a strange sound deep in her throat.

“How about we all watch a movie together—”

“B-b-but the little spoon needs her big spoon!” Sunshine Smiles stammered, interrupting Straight Key. “I, like, totally got a bad case of the squishes when I walk!”

“I know.” Straight Key let out a resigned sigh. “I know. But we should stay together. Drop the illusions, be ourselves again, and spend the night together.”

Lower lip trembling, Sunshine Smiles stomped her hoof. “Fine! But I am like totally owed some little spoon time!”

“And you’ll get it.” Straight Key sighed, winked at Sunshine, and then looked at Moonlight Raven. “How about we watch our wedding? That’s a happy moment.”

Swallowing, her ears perking, Moonlight Raven gave a nod. “Once I turn back to myself, I’ll go set up the projector.”

Author's Notes:

I'm sorry, I need a moment...