To say that Celestia was feeling unsure about all of this would have been an understatement. She'd left the Palace in good time and, having donned her magical disguise once more, she was now walking among the Canterlot crowds yet again. Over and over in her mind, she played out how things might go, what she would say, what kinds of things would be interesting to talk about. And in each scenario, she dreaded things going wrong, leading to a long and exhausted-sounding sigh on her part. And on top of it all, there was the issue of actually finding the place where her date was waiting for her. Café after café she passed, and none of them seemed to fit the description given to her. However, there came a time when, finally, her eyes fell upon him. Eclipse Star, no longer within his armour but unmistakeable all the same. He was there, in an open-air place currently being served a coffee by the nearby waiter, with an empty chair opposite where he sat. Composing herself, Celestia took a few deep breaths, then walked on over, bearing a smile as she called out.

"Eclipse!"

Turning, the stallion matched her grin.

"Sunny! You made it!"

Taking her seat, she took a moment to get herself comfortable before replying to that.

"Sorry I'm late. It took a bit longer for me to find this place."

Eclipse chuckled slightly.

"Not to worry. This part of town gets pretty busy this time of day. It would have taken a while to get here either way."

Celestia smiled to that, then turned to look upon the aforementioned waiter, who now arrived to their table yet again.

"Would you be ready to order, Sir?"

Eclipse cleared his throat.

"Yes...um..."

He looked to his date.

"Sunny?"

Celestia nodded, looking to the waiter herself.

"I'll just have a salad, thank you."

The waiter nodded, then looking to Eclipse, who answered as well.

"Same for me, please."

Again, the waiter nodded, then headed off to collect their respective meals. Now alone, the couple looked to one another, but, for a long while, neither one of them looked as if they had any idea of what to say to the other. All of Celestia's carefully-made mental plans seemed to just vanish the moment this date of hers began, much to her chagrin. As for Eclipse, he bore something of a blush, scratching the back of his head and even avoiding her gaze for a time. Then, at the end of it all, Celestia decided to simply be as blunt as possible.

"So...um...how have you been since yesterday?"

Looking back to her, Eclipse smiled.

"Oh, I've...I've been good. Yourself?"

Celestia nodded.

"The same. Though I admit I've been somewhat nervous about all of this."

A chuckle escaped the stallion at that.

"Can't blame you. I...don't really do dates that much."

A smirk crept onto Celestia's lips at that.

"Preaching to the choir on that one, Eclipse."

The two shared a laugh, and as such, the tension of the previous few minutes began to slowly melt away. But, when the laughter died down, Celestia looked to her partner for the day with a degree of genuine interest.

"So...I imagine being in the Royal Guard has given you quite a few interesting stories to tell?"

However, rather than seeming eager to divulge such information, Eclipse's smile suddenly faltered, and he let out a sigh, glancing to the side. Naturally, this prompted a somewhat concerned look on he part of Celestia.

"I'm...I'm sorry, have I said something to upset you?"

Looking back to her, Eclipse shook his head.

"No, it's fine. It's just...whenever ponies find out what I do for a living, that's usually the only thing they ask me. What are the Princesses like? What goes on when nopony else is watching? That sort of thing."

Slowly, Celestia nodded, a thoughtful look coming to her.

"Yes...I imagine your position would make casual conversations rather...skewed."

Eclipse nodded back.

"I...erm...I actually do have one particular story, if you're interested. It's nothing spectacular, but..."

Her ears perking up slightly, Celestia resumed her smile.

"Oh? Very well then."

Clearing his throat, Eclipse began.

"Well...it's about Princess Twilight."

Naturally, such a remarked earned him Celestia's undivided attention.

"Oh? Do tell."

Then, realisation came to the stallion.

"Actually, no, that's not quite right, since she wasn't actually a Princess at the time it happened. Anyway, it happened a few years back. I was working the late shift at the library, and I was going around the grounds and inside the library itself."

A smile came to him.

"I was doing my job, as usual, when out of nowhere, Twilight was there. She was crawling around, trying to get into the library, along with two of her friends. Spike and...Pinkie, I think her name is? And they were all dressed pretty funny, in, like, cat-suits or something? I think that's what they're called."

A fond smile came to Celestia as she dwelt on that memory.

"Yes...I believe she was sporting a rather interesting mane-style too."

Here, Eclipse blinked, and Celestia, upon realising what it was she'd just said, immediately bore wide eyes and began to try and cover herself.

"Oh! Um...I mean...I heard a rumour that Celestia's apprentice had done something like that and...er...she was trying a new style?"

Slowly, Eclipse nodded to that.

"Yes...well...I'm not sure what she was doing, but...it's always fun to speculate sometimes."

Giggling, Celestia smiled to him.

"Indeed it is."

But, while both of them were having a fine moment together, they were soon interrupted by the arrival of that same waiter from before. Sure enough, he was using his magic to levitate a pair of salad bowls in front of the couple, and after placing them down gently, he gave a slight bow of his head before walking off again. The two smiled eagerly at their meal, but, while Celestia took her first bite, Eclipse reached forward for the pepper-shaker in the middle of the table. And as he did this, he winced slightly, taking hold of his shoulder. Celestia noticed this at once, and looked to him with genuine concern.

"Eclipse? What's wrong?"

Sighing, the stallion looked as though he was equal parts angry and disappointed in himself.

"It's nothing. An old irritation from a while back."

Celestia's face softened.

"You were injured?"

Eclipse said nothing for a few moments, then gave a single nod, causing Celestia to enquire further.

"...How?"

Though it was clear that he didn't want to talk about it, there was no stopping now that he'd been asked.

"It...it was during the attack by the Storm King."

Celestia's expression became one of worry, but she said nothing as her date carried on.

"As those creatures were making their way through the city, me and my squad gathered whatever civilians were close by on the Palace grounds, and we got them into the library, trying to give them someplace safe to hide. We remained outside, and we saw those...those things come for us."

He looked away, frowning.

"We couldn't let them near the other ponies, so we fought. But they were too strong, too powerful, and they breezed right through us. One took a swing at me...and I was sent flying."

A grimace came to him.

"I hit the wall...and everything went black."

Slowly, he let out a long sigh.

"When I came to...I was in chains, like everypony else. We were like that for days, paraded around like slaves...until Princess Twilight came."

Ever so gradually, his expression softened.

"I cannot even begin to tell you how grateful my friends and I are that she saved us."

Here, Celestia's smile returned.

"Yes...she and her friends truly did something wonderful."

Eclipse nodded in agreement to that, but then, Celestia took on a look that seemed to walk the line between fear an curiosity.

"Do...do you resent the other Princesses?"

Eclipse looked to her, confused.

"What? Why?"

Celestia paused, then began to explain.

"They were unable to stop the attack or the imprisonment of their people. Do you...do you maybe have bad feelings towards them over that?"

Eclipse stayed silent for quite some time, turning away from his date and looking out into the various crowds that passed the café. After a while, however, he spoke with a somewhat sombre tone.

“I’d be lying if I said I'd never thought about it...but no. I don’t blame Celestia or the others for what happened. The attack was unforeseen, and even if we had been given time to prepare...that force might have been too much for us anyway.”

A sigh escaped him as he looked back to her, and was now bearing a small smile.

“Regardless...I’ve never had anything but respect for all of them. They’ve done so much for us, led us for so long...it’s hard to imagine what Equestria would be without them.”

Celestia matched his smile.

“I’m sure they’d appreciate hearing that.”

At long last, Eclipse took a bite of his salad, but, as he slowly chewed it, a new thought came to him.

“Not to sound too probing, Sunny, but...how is it that a mare like you is still single?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow, prompting Eclipse to realise how he’d worded that question, and so started frantically explaining himself.

“Oh! I mean...not that you need to have somepony or anything, it’s just...”

But, luckily for him, the mare let out a chuckle.

“You needn’t worry. But...”

Her expression became, to a degree, sadder than it had been before.

“...in truth...there was one I knew...a long time ago. We didn’t know each other for very long, but...it was a very special time to me.”

She sighed.

“And...I still think of him.”

Eclipse’s face softened.

“I’m...I’m sorry. Maybe...maybe asking you out wasn’t a good...”

But Celestia shook her head before he could finish.

“No. It's fine. Him and me...I accepted a long time ago that it wasn't going to happen. It may still hurt, but...I’ve come to terms with it.”

Slowly, Eclipse nodded.

“Well...I don’t claim to want to replace somepony that special...but I hope I'm at least giving you a pleasant time here.”

Hearing that, a smirk crept onto Celestia’s lips.

“Jury’s still out on that one, Eclipse.”

The two shared another laugh together, and when it faded, they spent the next few minutes trying to finally get through their respective meals. Thankfully, both of them were hungry enough that the salads didn’t really last that long, and when their bowls were emptied, they let out simultaneous sighs of contentment.

“Not bad. I can see why you enjoy coming out here,” Celestia remarked.

Eclipse nodded.

“In that case...I hope I’ve been a good date for you so far, Sunny.”

The mare smiled, giving a nod to that.

“I daresay you have. In fact...”

Raising her hoof, she tapped the end of her chin, glancing upwards to the towers of the Royal Palace, which could be seen if one looked up high enough.

“...one could even say you’d be a good enough date even for a Princess.”

The stallion, oblivious to her hidden meaning, let out a hearty laugh to that.

“I appreciate the vote of confidence, Sunny...but I doubt some night-shift guy’s going to be getting attention like that anytime soon.”

Placing her hoof upon her amulet briefly, a knowing smile came to Celestia at that.

“Well...funny you should say that.”

Eclipse raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

Smiling again, Celestia leaned forward, bringing her voice down to a whisper.

“Tell me...how good are you at keeping secrets?”

Next Chapter: End of the Day Estimated time remaining: 4 Minutes