The moon and stars (Patreon)

That evening as Princess Celestia returned to Canterlot from her visit to Neighpoles Link her sister Luna had her own rendezvous in my Equestria dreamscape.

     Applebloom was filled excitement and was eagerly looking for tonight and the next day. Princess Luna was coming down tonight to give another astronomy class to her, and this would be Stone Mane first astronomy lesson. Then the next day she'd be taking the colt to her next Shik-ka-lim lesson so he could meet Zecora for the first time. Although the filly had been lax in her drills since Stone Mane had arrived; a fact that she was certain the zebra would notice and comment about.

     Because of this AB and Stone Mane got their afternoon chores done early so they would have time to bath before the alicorn's arrival. All they would have to do after dinner is help Granny Smith with the dinner dishes.

     Dinner that night was thin, crispy corn fritters with shredded cheddar cheese sprinkled on them and fried eggs on top. If one wanted to there was a bottle of Flaming Mane's Fiery Concoction which one could sprinkle on their eggs. The hot sauce was originally a Manehattan only favorite, but recently it had starting to grow in popularity across the kingdom. A salad of mixed greens, diced apples, and walnuts was tossed with a sweet vinaigrette joined fritters as the main courses. For dessert there was fresh baked brownies with vanilla ice cream and sliced strawberries served on them. Everything was washed with glasses of iced tea with mint.

     The sun was starting slip below the Western horizon as the foals finished with the dishes. Washing their faces and hooves stepped out on the front porch and awaited the arrival of the Princess of the Night. Stone Mane had only had routine meetings with the princess in the Dream Realm and had only met Luna once by chance in the waking world. The colt looked around confused not seeing anything different. Finally he spoke.

     "Um. Okay. When and how is she going to arrive? Is she coming in some sky chariot with guards and stuff? Do we need to say anything in particular when arrives?" He looked at the filly for guidance. Applebloom laughed.

     "Nah! Dontcha worry. These lessons are much more laid back. Just remember ta be polite and bow when she arrives. After that just be yerself!"

     The colt was pondering what exactly just being himself was when a few feet in front of the porch steps a great globe of blackness and dancing stars erupted into view. Out of it slowly stepped Princess Luna. Floating alongside her their was a folded picnic blanket and a small wicker basket. Once she'd completely exited the orb quickly collapsed.

     The foals quickly came down the stairs and then came to a stop in front of the Luna and then bowed. Applebloom spoke first. "Good evening yer Highness! Thank ya fer taking the time ta give me another lesson!"

     Stone Mane then spoke. "Greetings Princess Luna. I'm honored to be here tonight."

     The alicorn smiled at them. "Thank you dears but enough with the formalities. Tonight is an evening of learning and discovery. Not some ceremony burdened with pomp and circumstance!"

     As she said this she gave the basket a little shake. "And for tonight's gathering I brought from the Palace Kitchen fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and a flask of chilled milk! So shall we begin the lesson?"

     "Yes please!" Said the foals in unison.

     Luna led them to small, gentle at the entrance of the apple orchards. Carefully she laid out the blanket of pale blue. Then she laid down on her belly. She lifted her left wing and spoke.

     "Stone Mane come and sit here." The colt joined her on the blanket and then sat down next to her. Slowly the Prussian Blue alicorn lower the wing and started to lift her right wing. "And Applebloom you can–"

     Before she could finished the sentence Applebloom jumped on the blanket and joined the colt under Luna's left wing. The princess arched an eyebrow and a little smile danced across her face, but she said nothing about this turn of events. She then proceeded to dispense milk and cookies to everypony present.

     Later Stone Mane would admit he didn't remember much of that evening's lesson. Partially because astronomy wasn't a subject he was very familiar with, but primarily because as the evening progressed Applebloom started inching over more and more until the colt found himself pinned between the princess and the filly. The colt found this to be a very distracting place to be. On his right he could feel the warm, silky-smooth coat of the princess, and the downy soft feathers of her wings that brushed against him like a gentle breeze on a summer evening.

     On his left Applebloom's surprisingly toasty, velveteen body was snuggled up tight against his as she looked up evening sky. Adding to distraction was the way the filly would tilt her head over when pointing at a particular star or location in the sky. This resulted in her rubbing her right cheek against his left and filled his nose with the scent of fresh cut hay, apples, cedar chips, and snickerdoodles.

     Whether intentional or not the result of this contact was that the colt found it very difficult to focus on anything the princess was saying about the heavenly bodies of him when the bodies nearer to him were taking so much of his attention. Also as the evening progressed he found himself struggling to stay awake. At some point sleep took hold of him and he drifted away.

To be continued.