For mostly every other pony in Equestria, the night of Hearts and Hooves Day was the most romantically magical time of the entire holiday. Fancy dinners, movie/theatre dates, heartfelt gifts, and not to mention passionate wrestling in the bedroom.

For Princess Luna through, along with anypony else who still found themselves single… it was just another average day: if a bit more gloomier than normal.

As the night princess went about her traditional routine of placing lavender flowers throughout the halls of Canterlot Castle to ensure pleasant and well-rested slumber for the castle’s inhabitants, including her older sister, Celestia; she couldn’t help but feel the emptiness of not having a significant other there to help fill it. Sure she was loved and appreciated at the same level by her subjects as Celestia was for her duties. But it just wasn’t enough.

The last thing Luna wanted to come off as was overly needy which had a role to play in her becoming Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago. As much as she swore she would never go down that road again, and had already learned to accept and appreciate what she’s been presently given; some feelings were just too strong to ignore.

Of course Luna knew she could always talk to Celestia about anything if something was bothering her instead of keeping it to herself. Unfortunately courtship wasn’t Celestia’s best topic with the fact that given her immortal life, she never once dated or married anypony.

The first question would be why though since she was incredibly beautiful and compassionate. Not to mention that anypony interested would never pass up the opportunity to become a member of royalty; plus having the right to physically worship a goddess’s body.

The answer to that was quite simple: she would outlive any mortal spouse. That applied to Luna as well since she was eternal to.

Given that fact, Luna knew that Celestia would try to persuade her from not thinking about settling down with anypony mortal in order to avoid a constant and looping grief. She still had the freedom of choice though so she would gladly take that kind of risk if it meant she could experience a new level of happiness… even if it wouldn’t last forever. Nothing’s ever meant to.

After placing the last amount of lavender she had in the scone, Luna took a deep if solemn sigh to herself. At the same time she was relieved since she could now start up her shift in the Dreamscape to help take her mind off current thoughts.

She just had to be sure to avoid the dreams that involved romancing, or else she’d be even more depressed.

As Luna made her way back to her quarters, she was suddenly greeted by Dusk Terra; an earth pony stallion who worked as a messenger for Luna’s guard.

Sure it seemed unusual for a generic pony to be working alongside those who are nocturnal: that being the thestral ponies that made up a majority of Luna’s personal army; but Dusk suffered from a bad case of insomnia that prevented him from sleeping most of the night. In some cases he would be awake all night and sleep all day just like his bat pony comrades.

He had a short, dirty blond mane that was styled in your typical military fashion. He had dark, deep blue eyes, and a mild blue coat that was concealed by his factional uniform. His cutie mark depicted that of a rising full moon over a tiny bit of landscape.

Given his average, yet handsome appearance; Dusk seemed to lack some self-confidence that made it difficult for him to socialize, so he couldn’t really make friends fast, or even have the guts to ask a mare out. Nevertheless he always did his best to make a good first impression on anyone he met. He was lucky enough to thankfully get his current career.

“Good evening, Your Highness,” Dusk greeted with a slight bow. “I hope this isn’t a bad time for a delivery.”
Luna gave a slight smile and shook her head.

“Not at all. Of course I was just on my way to begin my duties now, so I say your timing was perfect.”

Dusk chuckled at the comment before proceeding to stick his muzzle into his carrier bag before pulling out a single red envelope. He then placed it on his hoof before offering it to Luna.

“This letter is for you.”

Luna used her magic to take hold of the envelope that clearly had her name printed on it; but the odd thing was that the name of the sender wasn’t despite it having the appropriate postage.

After giving the envelope a quick examination to see if there was any hint of information on the mysterious sender, which of course there was none, Luna furrowed a brow in confusion and concern.

“Why would anypony send a letter without leaving their own name or information on it?”
Dusk shrugged.

“No idea, princess. Perhaps they just wished to remain anonymous. This behaviour is not unheard of when it comes to sending messages.”

Luna nodded.

“So it would seem. However when it comes to any royal recipients; sender identification is required, or else the delivery will be denied.”

“Oh… I see,” Dusk said. He looked a bit disappointed but Luna didn’t seem to notice. “I had no idea about that rule. I can send it back if you wish.”

Luna shook her head.

“No, it’s possible that detail wasn’t given at your orientation by mistake. I’ll make sure to have that fixed for future standards. Besides the least I can do is see what this is all about before making a final decision to have it scrapped or not.”

That seemed to perk Dusk back up.

“Alright then. Um.. I best be getting on my way. There’s other deliveries to be made, and you need to begin your shift soon.”

“Indeed. I bid you goodnight, Dusk Terra.”

“Same to you, Your Highness,” he said while giving another bow before heading out of sight around the corner of the hallway.

Once Luna was sure she was completely alone, she opened up the envelope to reveal a neatly folded up letter that was decorated with a heart-theme ribbon.

“What? Could this be…?”

Luna didn’t want to believe what it was, but the signs were too obvious for any denial. That being the anonymous sender, and the heart decor.

Overcome with curiosity and excitement: which was indicated by her sudden rise in heartbeat, Luna graciously removed the ribbon from the letter allowing it to unfold. Once that resolved, she proceeded to read the following aloud:

“My Dearest Luna,
I’m writing to you to confess my truest feelings for you for Hearts and Hooves Day. Yes I wish to keep my identity a secret, but that’s just because I don’t wish to ruin any connection we might have now, or in the times to come. We’re still considered strangers to each other after all.

That’s not the point though.

What is, is that my love for you goes beyond what your other subjects give for your duty for them. You’re their dream guardian while you’re my dream angel.

Your eyes shine brighter than that of the most common star.

Your voice is melodic and harmonious as all of Equestria.

Your personality is alluringly mysterious, and your hair is a breathtakingly beautiful incarnation of the night itself.

You two are one in the same hoof.

The only difference is that the night in the sky alone cannot speak back when spoken to, nor listen to a word given.

It also cannot be physically touched to be given any sign of assurance when feeling down while being told that everything’s going to be okay.

I wish to tell you that very thing. I’m aware of your past troubles and I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like to go through. What I can imagine though was that it was horrible enough to not go through with again.

I want nothing more than to be there with you to help you along with any remaining worries that you might have, along with your sister and your friends.

I understand if you don’t have the same feelings for me like I do.

I just wanted to let you know that you’re capable of being loved by others in more ways than you can imagine, even if it’s somepony who doesn’t share your immortality or power.
It’s you yourself that matters the most.

Yours sincerely, Your Secret Admirer.”

By the time Luna finished reading the letter, she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with emotion. She sniffed as tears of joy filled her eyes before gradually flowing down her cheeks. She then took the letter in both her hooves as she pressed it against her chest while sitting on her haunches.

Somepony out there truly loved her, despite her past transgressions and her eternal life. If there was a forbidden magic out there that would grant eternal life to this individual, she would certainly be determined to find and give it to them despite the risks that would come with such a thing. It would be worth it in the end.

The only current thing that mattered to Luna now was figuring out the identity of her admirer. It wasn’t going to be easy of course. Then again nothing ever is.

From around the corner, Dusk was watching the whole thing go down, and heard every word he wrote to her in his letter.

It was a relief to know that she was infatuated by his word choice, even though they may have seemed cheesy or amateurish. However his primary concern now was how she would react if he revealed himself as the admirer.

Would she be disappointed if she was expecting somepony more dashing than him? Worse, he could lose his job if she suspected and assumed that he just wanted to bed her with honeyed words.

Or instead would she accept his feelings so that both her and him wouldn’t have to be domestically alone for the rest of their lives?

Dusk just silently sighed before sneaking away to carry on with his duties.

‘One step at a time, Dusk. One step at a time.’ he thought to himself.

Finally after all this time, I've made a Luna-centered story. About time, eh?