By the time Celestia's journey was coming to an end, the sun was beginning to set, which bathed the whole of Canterlot in a warm orange glow. A smile was upon her face, showing clear satisfaction with how her day had gone, but now, she was eager to return home and get some much-needed rest from all of this. Gliding gracefully through the sky, she approached the Royal Palace, and soon arrived at her balcony. Landing gently, she let out a sigh to herself, before promptly making her way to the door that led to her chambers. Opening it, she found, to her slight surprise, that not only was her sister within, but also her niece, Princess Cadence. The two other alicorns were currently sitting beside one another at a small table, casually sipping some tea, and it was only when Celestia closed the balcony door behind her that they stopped and turned to look upon her. Luna gave a nod to her arrival, but Cadence merely looked to her with some amusement.

"Oh my! Well, Auntie Luna, it appears as though we have a visitor this evening."

She beckoned to the disguised form of Celestia.

"Come, stranger. Won't you please join us for some lovely tea? It's still fresh."

Though Celestia rolled her eyes to this faux-ignorance on the part of her niece, she nevertheless chuckled to it, and as she began to approach the other alicorns, she finally placed her hoof upon her magical amulet. There was a glow, and soon, she was engulfed within the light of the artefact. Within moments, the face of "Sunny Smiles" was gone, and instead stood the regal form of Princess Celestia. With her transformation now complete, Celestia used her magic to levitate the amulet off herself, placing it carefully on a cushion on the side of her chambers, before finally joining her fellow alicorns at the tea-table. Cadence had already made her a cup, and after giving an appreciative nod to this, the elder Princess took it within her hooves and enjoyed that first sip.

"Ah! A fine way to end my day."

Cadence giggled to this, but said nothing as Celestia turned her gaze to her sister.

"Thank you for setting the sun today, Luna. I was hoping to be back before that was needed, but..."

But the mare of the night merely shook her head.

"Think nothing of it, Celestia. It was no issue."

Leaning forward, Cadence took on a look of curiosity.

"So? How did it go today?"

A warm smile crossed Celestia's face as she considered that.

"It went very well, Cadence. Everypony I saw today was out there, living their lives, enjoying themselves...it was a good day."

Amusement came to her.

"Remind me to tell you how things went in Ponyville this time around. I swear, Pinkie Pie always has something interesting going on."

A giggle escaped Cadence, and indeed even Luna seemed interested in hearing what her sister had to say about her travels lately. But, for the time being, she instead spoke in that formal tone of hers.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, sister. But, I trust you're eager to resume your duties tomorrow?"

Celestia opened her mouth to speak, only to be struck with a very particular memory, at which point her smile faltered a little.

"Actually...I may require you to watch over Canterlot again tomorrow, sister."

Naturally, words like that immediately caught the interest of the other alicorns.

"Oh? Pardon me for saying so, Celestia, but you don't normally stay out among our people as long as that," Luna pointed out.

Nodding, Celestia took another sip of her tea before replying to that.

"True...but I'm afraid I've already made a...prior arrangement."

The other mares looked to her with some measure of confusion, prompting Celestia to further explain herself.

"While I was down in the market I...I had an unexpected run-in with one of the Guard. Eclipse Star?"

Luna nodded.

"Yes, I remember him. He guards the library on most days."

Nodding back, Celesta continued.

"Well, we encountered one another after a...minor coffee-related mishap. He asked me to join him tomorrow at some favoured café of his. And I agreed."

Immediately, both Luna and Cadence looked to the mare of the sun as though they were unsure of what they'd just heard. Celestia, for her part, was busy downing her tea, and was unaware of the stares she was receiving. Briefly, the other two looked to one another, silently urging each other to be the first to say something, and at the end, it was Cadence who did the honours.

"Um...Auntie? Would you...erm...care to repeat that?"

Finally looking up from her tea, Celestia finally noted the looks the other two were giving her, and after raising an eyebrow, she began to elaborate.

"Like I said, I was invited by Eclipse to join him at a café here in Canterlot tomorrow...and I agreed."

Clearing her throat, it was now Luna's turn to add her voice to the matter.

"Sister...do you not...well...see what's just happened?"

Though confused herself now, Celestia nevertheless nodded.

"Of course. Two friends enjoying each other's company for the afternoon in a place one of them likes going. Nothing bad about that, is there?"

Upon hearing Celestia's perspective on things, Cadence let out a long sigh, placing her hoof upon her forehead.

"Oh...Auntie."

Celestia frowned slightly, especially when she noticed that Luna was trying really hard to stifle a laugh of some sort.

"May I enquire as to what the joke is?"

Taking a deep breath, the Princess of Love just decided to flat-out tell her.

"Auntie...Eclipse has asked you out...on a date!"

Celestia blinked.

"Um...pardon?"

Here, Luna finally unleashed her chortle.

"A date, sister! You know, as in the kind of thing boyfriends and girlfriends do?"

Again, Celestia blinked, and then, she shook her head slightly.

"No, that...that can’t be what he wanted."

Cadence smirked a little.

"Oh, it's totally what he wanted."

"And you said yes!" Luna reminded her.

Though clearly taken aback by this, that didn't stop Celestia from trying to get her head around this.

"Now that you mention it...he did say something about being worried about "being too forward" when he asked me."

To that, Luna buried her face in her hooves.

"Oh, sister! I knew you could be naïve sometimes, but not that naïve!"

Now giving a long sigh herself, Celestia turned, looking out to the balcony window.

"Well...that's...not what I was expecting."

Giggling again, Cadence reached forward, placing her hoof upon Celestia's.

"It's no bad thing, Auntie. I'm sure he's a decent guy. I mean, I doubt you'd have agreed to go with him, even as a friend, if that was not the case."

Celestia gave a slow nod.

"True...but perhaps...it would be best not to go through with this."

Immediately, both of the other mares' heads snapped in her direction.

"What? Why?" Luna asked.

Celestia looked to her with a frown.

"What do you mean why? I cannot, in all good conscience, go on a date with a stallion who thinks he's going with...with...somepony else."

She turned, gesturing to the now-unused amulet on the pillow.

"He's going to be there, expecting "Sunny Smiles" to arrive at that café to join him on a date! It would be one thing if we were merely going as friends, but...but something like this?"

It was Cadence who now responded to that.

"It's not as bad as you think, Auntie. You know...you could simply think of this as...as something fun for yourself. You might have a nice time with him, after all."

Celestia sighed.

"I appreciate your suggestion, dear niece...but it's still wrong for me to be tricking Eclipse like this."

Luna rolled her eyes.

"You're no more tricking him than you are everypony else who sees you with that fake face of yours."

Celestia gave a frown to her sister's remark, but said nothing as Cadence, who had gained a somewhat thoughtful look, gave her more soft-spoken words.

"Auntie...is there...some other reason why you're so hesitant to do this?"

Celestia looked to her, as indeed did Luna, but while the latter was confused by the young Princess' remark, Celestia knew otherwise. There was a silence between them all, and Cadence looked straight at her Aunt, giving her an expression far more serious than she had before. Celestia, after a while, simply let out a sigh to this, and slowly got up from her sitting position, all while the other two watched her. The elder Princess thus began to walk a very familiar walk, and soon found herself in front of a small tree growing from a pot in the corner of her chamber. A tree whose branch bore a peculiar item hanging down from it. A shard. A mirror shard. Immediately, Luna looked on with understanding, and looked down to her tea, now feeling more than a little sorry for her sister. By contrast, Cadence got up, and began to slowly walk over, now standing beside Celestia as the two of them looked to that piece of shattered mirror.

"Auntie...I realise that you miss him...that you even still love him, but...he's gone."

Celestia shut her eyes, hanging her head slightly.

"...I know, Cadence."

Cadence turned to face her.

"I know that it can be difficult, opening your heart to another, if only for a day. But..."

She gestured to the shard.

"...do you believe, truly believe...that Sombra would want you to spend the rest of your life mourning him? Remaining alone?"

Gradually, Celestia opened her eyes again, looking to that shard and seeing the light of the sunset glisten off it. After letting out a long and difficult sigh, she shook her head.

"No...he wouldn't."

Raising a hoof, Cadence placed it gently upon her elder's shoulder.

"Going to join Eclipse tomorrow will not betray Sombra's memory. That stallion will always have a place in your heart. But that does not mean that you can't..."

Slowly, Celestia nodded.

"Yes...you're right, Cadence."

She looked over to her, bearing a small smile.

"...Thank you. Your words are...appreciated."

Cadence smiled back, and soon afterwards, Celestia looked over to her amulet, looking deep in thought.

"So...a date then? I suppose that’s nothing to be afraid of. I mean...it's not like I've never dated before."

Chuckling, Luna finally spoke up again.

"True...but that was a long time ago, sister."

Celestia cast her another frown, before letting out another long sigh.

"Well then...let's see how this goes."

Cadence spoke up again, this time in a more reassuring tone.

"And if you're still worried, just think of it as a chance to have some fun. Nothing needs to come of this, just...two consenting adults having a nice time out. If something does come from it, great, but if not, then at least you’ve have had a decent afternoon out."

Hearing that, Celestia nodded.

"Yes...fun...I can do that."

Then, her smile faded a little.

"...I hope."

Next Chapter: The Date Estimated time remaining: 12 Minutes