//------------------------------// // Starfall // Story: Starfall // by Kayes //------------------------------// "Are you calling me a liar?" A mint grin unicorn with a cyan main and golden eyes barked out, stretching her neck out over the table and glaring daggers at the earth pony across from her. "I'm not calling you a truther!" The earth pony with a beige coat and a short curled mane with dark blue hair and a pink streak through it. Her blue eyes narrowed a tad while they focused directly upon the mare in front of her. Her forehooves would rise to the oak table they were seated across from one another at, stamping heavily upon it and spilling some of the lukewarm tea she had neglected to drink. Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and Magic, was seated between Lyra and Bon-Bon Heartstrings. The mares had just recently celebrated their fifth year of marriage by debating for the past three days between an exhausted Twilight. The two mares only continued to bicker back and forth, leaving the princess to slump down into her seat a bit more at the rising voices. She levitated a sugar cube into her cup of tea, testing it with a smack of her lips. "It wasn't my fault that you ate the last of the cinnamon swirl fudge cakes!" Bon-Bon pointed an accusing hoof at the unicorn, her eyebrows narrowing further. The mares were inching further and further across the table to one another, nearly leaning over Twilight. "You shouldn't have left it unattended then, or should have at least written a note or something! How hard would it have been to write a simple 'Lyra, my sweetest goddess, you are so marvelous, but please do not eat the last of these cakes'? Would that have been so hard?!" The wives stared at each other further, but Bon-Bon's mouth hung open out of shock and a hint of redness could be spotted in her cheeks. She tilted her head away and gave a small humph, turning herself away from Lyra. "Come on Bonnie, you know that I didn't mean that ..." Lyra gently reached a hoof over to place over her wife's, only to have it pulled away with a startling jerk. "Please Bonnie, do you have to do this right now in front of Twilight?" The earth pony mare answered with silence. "Okay fine, I'm sorry for eating the last of the cake. How about we leave Twilight alone and we can go to the Sugarcube Corner? I'll order an extra-large batch of those strawberry tarts you like so much from Pinkie Pie. My treat." Lyra's ears flattened a bit and her lower lip stuck out in a hopeful pout. Bon-Bon turned around at last, the smallest hint of a tear could be seen streaking down her cheek, which she secretly wiped away and gave a small smile to her wife. "You would do that for me?" "Well, yeah. I don't want you to be mad at me." The unicorn gave her a gentle smile, levitating her cup of tea to her lips to finish off the cool liquid. "Oh Lyra, I forgive you!" Bon-Bon pushed her chair away, moving across the table and wrapping her arms around the unicorn in a warm embrace, stroking her right hoof through her mane. Lyra more than happily returned the embrace, nuzzling into her wife's neck. "Come on Bonnie baby, let's blow this castle. Thanks for everything Twilight, we'll see you later." Lyra pulled away from the embrace, only to intertwine her tail with Bon-Bon's and pulling her closer. The two mares walked away out of the castle with the giddiness of two foals. Twilight raised her hoof in a wave while her friends departed. A magenta aura of her magic grasped the doorknob to the grand doors that led into the study, allowing the two to depart. Once she was positive they were a safe distance away, she hastily slammed the door shut and locked it. A sigh of relief left her and she slumped further into the chair. "The next time that I am asked to be a mediator between those two, I am going to fly myself from the moon," Twilight muttered to herself before rising to her hooves slowly and allowing herself a pleasuring stretch of the wings, "Now where was that book that I was reading?" Before she could allow herself a moment to relax and slink to her studies once more, a prominent voice shot through the study with a soft and teasing tone. An aura of blue magic surrounded a moderately thick and old looking book, levitating it to the table behind the purple alicorn. "I do believe you would not be pleased on the moon, Twilight Sparkle. It is rather bleak and cold. Exceptionally boring as well, not a single text of word in sight for light years." The voice of Luna chortled to her mate, emerging from behind a large and overflowing mountain of books. Twilight yelped out, springing into the air and levitating there for several moments. Her ears perked, twitching in every direction for the owner of the voice. She had been relieved to see Princess Luna approaching her with a calm smile and proud stride. The alicorn slowly landed, folding in her wings and glaring at Luna. "How did you get in here? I have magical barriers around this entire castle from top to bottom, replenished every twenty-three minutes and fifty two seconds to a 't'!" Twilight huffed, turning her head to glance at the book behind her. She took a hesitant step back, only to feel a familiar tingling around her body. Luna's magic had placed itself around Twilight, forcing the smaller alicorn towards her. Even though Twilight could have easily overpowered the older princess with her magic capability, she allowed herself to be pulled near her marefriend. A moment later, the magic tingling had stopped and the warmth of Luna's wings wrapped around her replaced the sensation. "I grow tired of these constant games of running around like two young children that do not want to be seen by their friends for being an 'item'. When shall we tell anyone other than my great sister and thy five friends?" Luna rested her chin on Twilight's muzzle, her voice relaxed and a lazy smile upon her face. "We can't tell anypony else other than them at the moment, Lulu. We've been over this. We can't take the chances that anypony else would attempt to sabotage us. Plus, we all agreed that the privacy was more important to us. We've only been together a year." "I... suppose you are correct. However, I still disagree with your point. Should our subjects not be allowed to see that two of their princesses have found the gift of love? Such a rare and supple emotion?" Luna inquired, flicking her tongue out and slowly trailing it over Twilight's horn. The tingling returned in more places than one to the purple alicorn, causing her to shudder in delight. "Lulu?" Twilight softly whispered to her, pulling away with a bit of sadness away from the affectionate licking. Her large eyes studied onto the ruler of the night, pleading for her attention. "Yes, Twilight Sparkle?" Luna stiffened a moment at the retreat of her mate, but she smiled a bit at the adorable expression. Her wings trailed down the backside of Twilight, smoothing down her fur. 　　　　“I love you.” Twilight huffed out at last but her attention broke away from the Princess of the Night. Her amethyst eyes scored upon the book in the distance. There were pages of text left neglected by the librarian of Ponyville! How could she deny the presence of books such a bad existence? 　　　　 　　　　Luna observed the Element of Harmony with a keen eye, moving with the direction of her yearning stare only to land upon the book. It was a rather small thing, flattened out over the years and appeared to have seen better days. A grasp of magic levitated it into the air, only to bring it right past Twilight and in front of Luna’s face. 　　　　 　　　　Moments of blankness followed with a frown coming across Luna’s face that slowly turned into a joyous grin. “I forgot that you sometimes have the most marvelous taste in my creations, Twilight Sparkle.” 　　　　 　　　　“Wouldn’t it be beside the fact that I do not study my own marefriend’s nighttime sky? I always wanted to know more about it. I’ve mapped out every constellation since I was a filly, but I don’t know the whole stories like you do. Only what I’ve heard from sources and read from books.” Twilight replied curtly, but her magenta magic came to gently tear the book away from the thief. 　　　　 　　　　Luna grimaced for a moment and fell silent, her dark blue eyes resting upon Twilight. The purple alicorn gulped and pressed and allowed the book to fall gently onto the floor. 　　　　 　　　　“What’s wrong now, Luna?” The voice of reason broke the silence at last, but the tone was soft and almost fearsome. Twilight Sparkle knew that Luna would never hurt nor betray her, but the thought of upsetting the mare she loved had been a more upsetting thought. 　　　　 　　　　Silence only continued to follow, leaving Twilight to remember just a mere few minutes before when an offended Lyra and Bon-Bon had been fighting at her table. 　　　　 　　　　“Luna?” She continued to probe gently, testing the waters and reaching out to extend a hoof to press against the alicorn’s chest. 　　　　 　　　　At last, a response came but the speech was so soft that she could have sworn it was almost not there at all. Twilight bit her lower lip, her ear twitching while she strained to hear better. 　　　　 　　　　“Can you repeat that?” 　　　　 　　　　Once again more silence fell upon Luna, and she mouthed the words with an offended expression. Twilight could only do her best to not smile at the parallel memory to when she had first met Fluttershy, nothing more than a few squeaks and the yellow Pegasus shying away behind her mane. 　　　　Her thoughts came to again when Luna sighed and straightened herself up, withdrawing her soft wing from Twilight’s back and leaving a vacant coldness where it had lingered just moments before. 　　　　 　　　　“I had said that you used the term again, Twilight. The one you know that I do not approve of.” Luna stiffly replied, but she did not appear to be that upset. More caught off guard. 　　　　 　　　　“The term?” Twilight asked, tilting her head to the side. 　　　　 　　　　“Yes, the term. The term that I always loathe when you call me. Your marefriend,” the words came out with a shudder, “the term that you know is improper. I rather prefer the phrases of mate or lover, but the term you use sounds rather cold.” 　　　　 　　　　“Cold? You mean like I seem upset when I’m saying it?” Twilight chirped in response, her eyes focusing on Luna and her wings flexing to subliminally brush against the soft dark blue coat of the other princess. 　　　　 　　　　“Not in that sense, Twilight. However, in the sense that it feels so mundane and modern. I apologize if I seem old fashioned, but there should be a difference between a common coined phrase and how you truly feel for your special somepony. “ 　　　　 　　　　Twilight hesitated further while the realization came over her. Her lips came open to form a realized “o” and then were only pressed together tightly when met with the warmth that could outshine the rays she felt when in Celestia’s sun. 　　　　 　　　　Her eyes slowly opened just enough to see that Luna was pressed against her, eyes closed and wings once more coming to wrap around Twilight. The faint remnants of butterscotch were hinted at upon Luna’s lips. 　　　　As the surge of energy rushed through her, the two at last separated. Twilight’s eyes focused meekly on Luna who now smiled down at her. “You always do worry so much about me, Twilight. However, tonight, there is something that I wish to show you.” 　　　　 　　　　An eyebrow rose at once and Twilight snapped once more into reality, rushing over and half-galloping half-soaring towards the black agenda she kept stashed in her desk. Hastily ripping open the drawer with her magic and flipping through the various numbers and dates. 　　　　 　　　　“Oh no, did I miss a special event tonight? I swear to Celestia that I had triple checked every day this week just on Sunday night with Spike! Along with making another list to check after that!” Twilight stared blankly down at the page while a rather amused Luna watched. 　　　　“There was no special date for tonight, other than just checking the logging on the overdue books and sending out letters to the holders.” Twilight closed the agenda and fluttered it down into the desk drawer, kicking it closed gently with a back hoof while she made her way once more to Luna. 　　　　 　　　　“If you are done making yourself panic over something that was never planned, than may I bring us to the location?” Luna smiled softly at the smaller alicorn, raising a hoof before she could protest. “It’s not far from here and the letters can be withheld until later tonight, if not in the morning. I’ve already discussed it with th- I mean your assistant.” 　　　　 　　　　“Location? Am I supposed to wear anything regal? Do princesses require the need to go out in public dressed up for a date with one another? I didn’t with Cadence when we last saw one another...” Twilight trailed hoof when a hoof was stuffed against her lips. 　　　　“No Twilight, there is only the location of where you and I will be sitting. Upon a hillside overlooking the whole of Ponyville, when you are prepared, we shall take our leave.” Luna smiled and allowed her hoof to be moved from Twilight’s muzzle, only to met with a hesitant nod. 　　　　 　　　　Without another word, the two mares would walk down the spiraling halls of Twilight’s castle. Everywhere on the walls were pictures of great feats, marvelous pieces of art, scriptures of some of Twilight’s personal favorite writers and more. The castle itself had been revamped into a section of a library and a partial exhibit for tourists and local all around. 　　　　Walls and items of decor passed without a breath of sound other than the clopping of hooves on tiled floor. When they reached the main room of the castle they exited through it, Twilight making sure to flip the “closed for the night” sign upon the large golden door. The two continued to walk and on a silent nod of agreement Luna took into the air. 　　　　 　　　　Finding a steady current of wind to ride on, the two would soon be flying over the nighttime landscape of Ponyville. Far below a few lights flickered in windows, sometimes a brief glimpse of a shop owner could be seen closing down or taking the last stock of the day. The night time air was cool and fresh, something Rainbow Dash would perhaps enjoy flying in. 　　　　 　　　　The two hovered over land masses and structures of buildings all the way until they descended upon a rather steep incline. A magical shield of protection was cast around the two mares by Luna, creating the air around them to be much more breathable than thin while they climbed. When they reached the top nothing more than a single desolate tree stood on top of the hill. 　　　　 　　　　Twilight came to land upon the soft wet grass. A half-glanced three sixty view told her all she needed to know. The sky was clear above here and thousands of Luna’s stars twinkled in the sky. At the base of the tree was a preset up picnic basket with a simple blue blanket underneath. When they drew closer, Twilight smiled a bit to herself. 　　　　 　　　　The scent of apple fritters was amazing at this height when at last Twilight allowed the magic to drop off. “Mmm. Nobody has a smell like that quite like Applejack does when she bakes something. You must have put in a special order Lulu.” 　　　　 　　　　“Your senses are very keen, Twilight. You are correct, I did stop by thy friend’s house to ask her for a quality pie,” Luna hesitated a moment before quickly saying,”that is not to say that dear Applejack’s pies are not always quality. This one is just more special.” 　　　　 　　　　Twilight only smiled briefly and sat down upon the blanket. The soft material beneath her was a relief from the cold grass they’d just walked through to get all the way here. Luna joined her within a moment and flashed her a toothy grin, clearing her throat. 　　　　 　　　　“As you know the annual Starfall is coming up. 'Tis in honor of all the great souls that I have known in my lifetime, both after and before my banishment as Nightmare Moon.” The dark blue alicorn levitated one of the flaps of the basket open with her magic, gently levitating out two wineglasses and a bottle of red wine. 　　　　“I recall reading about that somewhere in “Hooves Monthly”. It was an article by the columnist Ink Tip. He wrote about the brief history of the tradition for the “Starfall”.” Twilight watched while Luna uncorked the wine bottle and began to drizzle an even amount of liquid into the two glasses. 　　　　 　　　　“The true reason for the Starfall is in honor of the greatest minds in ponykind. Everpony that has influenced me has a special history among my night sky. Very few other than historians and my dear sister remember several of such pleasant ponies.” 　　　　 　　　　Luna sighed and reclined onto the blanket next to Twilight. She raised the glass to her lips and took a small sip, and the look that crossed her face was one of delight. While the cool liquid trailed down her gullet, Luna’s eyes were caught by the sight of Twilight’s. 　　　　“The greatest minds in Ponykind? Like Starswirl the Bearded and Heavenly Cloud, the greatest Pegasus theorist of all recorded equine history?” Twilight observed rather excitedly. 　　　　 　　　　“Indeed, both have held places in my stars for centuries.” Luna replied curtly while she finished another sip. She held the wineglass in one part of her aura of magic while she hummed softly and retrieved more food from the contents of the basket. 　　　　 　　　　Twilight’s mouth watered hotly when she saw Luna withdraw a fresh batch of hayfries, a petunia and cabbage salad (a personal favorite of the bookworm), and what appeared to be an apple fritter along with a large batch of cupcakes that could only be described as from Pinkie Pie. 　　　　A sense of curiosity caught the purple mare for a moment, in which she opened up the basket and gently levitated out a small note from underneath the lid. 　　　　 　　　　Twilighty and Princess Luna, 　　　　 　　　　I hope you enjoy the fresh batch of rainbow sprinkle cupcakes I made! They’re a big combination of chocolaty goodness! By the way, can we ask Discord to make it rain chocolate in Ponyville? That would be super duper terrific! 　　　　 　　　　Your friend, 　　　　Pinkie Pie 　　　　Twilight couldn’t help but laugh ever so softly at the randomness of her pink pony friend. The bouncing pink ball of energy always knew how to brighten even the darkest of days. 　　　　 　　　　“She surely does have a keen sense of friendship.” Luna remarked while she grasped the letter in her own magic now to read it, leaving Twilight to sip from her own bit of wine. 　　　　 　　　　“Pinkie Pie has her own sense of pony magic that is special only to her. Along with being able to surely make anypony become happy and make them feel special on a person level, she also manages to defy the very laws of psychics and all of Isaac Neightwon’s theories of gravity.” 　　　　 　　　　Luna only smiled more in this response while her magic would release the letter to gently flutter back down into the bottom of the basket. “Quiet tonight, isn’t it?” 　　　　 　　　　“Well considering we’re more than ten miles away from anypony in sight and are at the top of one of the highest points in eastern Ponyville, I would say yes.” Twilight teased. 　　　　 　　　　The hours ticked by slowly with the two mares enjoying their meal in a companionable silence, only broken by the sudden moment where Luna had buried her snout into a cupcake and returned with a mustache full of sprinkles. Twilight had burst out laughing and conjured a napkin to wipe the remnants of the devoured treat from the princess’s muzzle. 　　　　 　　　　“You really need to learn how to stop being so messy, Lulu.” Twilight said with a soft smile upon her face. In a flash of magic the napkin and remaining sprinkles disappeared into thin air, leaving the two ponies to their date. 　　　　 　　　　“I can admit that I am rather nervous about the events of tonight,” Luna replied softly,” this only happens once every twenty-two years where the moon is perfectly aligned in the sky.” 　　　　 “Can’t you make the moon perfectly aligned every night, Luna? After all, you are the ruler of the night.” 　　　　 　　　　“I cannot bend the power of the moon to my own will just as you cannot bend the power of friendship or the essence of magic to yours. Yes, I may shift the moon but to do so would throw the cosmos of our world out of balance. As would be if Celestia did not bring the sun during the day, our world would be thrown into chaos.” 　　　　 　　　　“I see.” Twilight took another sip of the remaining wine in her glass, smiling to herself a bit. 　　　　The date area was aligned with cupcake wrappers and littered plates from where the two mares had ate heartily. If Twilight’s calculations were correct, the time would be reaching around midnight soon. 　　　　 　　　　As if on a silent cue, Luna rose slowly from her spot. Her translucent mane blew in a breeze that did not exist while she made her way from their roost underneath the tree. A good distance away, she took in a deep breath and straightened her posture. 　　　　 　　　　At first it was only the sign of a spark of single blue magic that ignited from her horn. Only to be followed by a fully growing aura around it. Luna’s eyes were squeezed shut tightly in concentration while she conjured her magic to its full extent. 　　　　 　　　　When her eyes reopened the radius of her horn’s aura had expanded to three times the magic it had previously been. The fire of it burned brightly in the dark that fell upon them. Luna raised her head to the sky and scrunched her nose up. 　　　　 　　　　The stars in the sky would begin to one at a time flicker into something of a different color. One could be describes as a pastel blue while another one burned a marvelous pink. For this night alone in the first time in centuries, ponies would withhold a marvelous view. The constellations lost their shape in this night while dozens of stars of different colors and hues swirled around in the sky. 　　　　 　　　　As if they were all in a specific pattern that was to be sewn together by the hands of a cloth worker, Luna began to place the stars into individual patterns. A red one followed by a white one, a green one followed by a faintly glowing yellow one. With each moment a cluster of stars would appear into the sky, a single formation began to form from them. 　　　　 　　　　Across the inky black sky of Luna’s nighttime canvas was several thousand stars aligned into specific cutie marks of some of the greatest minds of all time. A cutie mark of a nebula appeared among several. Along with one of a planet aligned with orbitals. Another with numbers and another with an ancient calculator-like system. Geniuses of years gone lit up the night. 　　　　 　　　　Right next to the moon there was a brief spark of pink that was organized carefully into the slightly awkward looking image of a six pointed star. Around them, stars which had been left alone in color and swept to the side were now brought in to form smaller white outlined versions of the very star in the center. 　　　　 　　　　The shining image of Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark took into a wide degree of the canvas of the night sky, burning brightly in a companion distance to the full moon. 　　　　 　　　　 　　　　“Luna, this ... I .... This is amazing. Thank you.” Was all the awed lavender mare could utter before her eyes were once more directed to the show in front of her. The whole thing had taken a few minutes in total to do, but it was still far too brief for what Twilight should. 　　　　 　　　　A grunt came in response from a focusing Luna that at last allowed her magic to drop away from her horn. In response, the flickering lights of color began to fall one by one, creating a streak of color across the black. It would come slowly at first, but then began to pick up pace one by one. 　　　　 　　　　By the time the top of Twilight’s cutie mark was disappearing into the sky, the entire night was ignited with colors. Hundreds of them mixed together to create something new when they pace another in the random paths they took. Instead of fall into a specific order though or disappearing, they would instead maintain a path directly for their original spot in the beginning. 　　　　 　　　　When the show for one star would end, it would flicker out like a candle in the wind only to leave the bright glowing ball of light in response. 　　　　 　　　　Luna huffed out and collapsed onto her flank, breathing heavily as exhaustion took over her body. Twilight spread her wings and floated over to the mare to wrap her forelegs around her lovingly. “Thank you Luna, I could have never seen anything more wonderful in all my life. Are you alright?” 　　　　 　　　　“Indeed I am. Just a bit exhausted is all, doing this after so long requires a lot of magic that is drawn from my own energy. Twilight, please. Retrieve me another cupcake?” Luna muttered while she attempted to slowly stand up but her shaking legs gave way and sent her once more to the ground. 　　　　 　　　　Twilight flew away and returned shortly later with the last cupcake of the batch. Luna hastily unwrapped it and shoved the entire thing into her mouth at one bite, possibly forgetting at the moment she was royalty and had manners to maintain. The final lights continued to streak across the sky with the fading colors. Twilight sat beside her lover and another hour passed. Then another. The lights would disappear into the sky, leaving no trace of the phenomenon that had occurred just before. When the lights of dawn started to spread over the neighboring mountain tops, Twilight yawned. Her wing had grown stiff since Luna had fallen asleep upon it. 　　　　A gentle hoof probed at her shoulder and rolled off the larger alicorn so Twilight could massage her wing into a more comfortable position. She then draped it over Luna once more and yawned sleepily. Her eyes closed softly and her body pressed against Luna’s. 　　　　 　　　　“All the stars in the sky still cannot add up how much I love you either, Princess Luna.”