41.Teamwork
One would think that, as two immortals who have stood side by side for longer that history can remember, the royal sisters would be an unstoppable and ultimately victorious duo.
Similarly one would assume that an obsessively organised scholar and the spirit of chaos would be anything but a successful combination.
It was on the premise of these hypotheses that the sisters had challenged their retrospective lovers. It was that challenge that led to their defeat.
Discord and Twilight shared a glance, the resolved game of Pictionary forgotten, before advancing on their bested opponents. “To the victors go the spoils.”
42.Not_Now
Luna shuddered, ever so slightly and oh so pleasantly. It was difficult not to, seeing that a certain purple unicorn was doing everything in her power to distract the lunar diarch. She bit her lip, trying to focus on the task before her; trying to ignore Twilight as she moved her hooves past the princess’s navel and lower still…
“Luuunaa…” whined the unicorn as her attentions gained her no response.
“Wait.” came a reprimand, spoken through gritted teeth.
“But I’m in heeat.”
“I shall see to thy needs shortly, but at the moment I am attempting to raise the moon!”
43. Blessing
“I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die, Spike, and it’s gonna hurt and then Luna is gonna resurrect me so that Celestia can kill me again.”
“Calm down Twilight. I’m sure Princess Celestia will go easy on you and besides, Necromancy is against the law.”
“She rises the sun! I have to defeat her in a duel and she raises the sun! EveRYdAy!!”
“Well if you–”
“It’s not fair! All Luna had to do was ask my parents for their blessings, but me? No, I have to duel the Sunderer herself! …Why couldn’t Luna’s champion be a goldfish?!
…I’m so dead…”
44.Illusion
It wasn’t a directional illusion and he had already checked for any form of mental manipulation, there wasn’t any traces of subconscious interference either… so all that remained was insanity. Yes, he was all but convinced the bringer of the moon and artisan of the night sky, was insane. It was the only explication.
He growled as his mistress fretted over the bedridden intruder. He would let the usurper have this victory, for now. But the great and proud Leo, last of the true star beasts, would not be beaten by some mortal unicorn.
Twilight Sparkle would not dethrone him.
45.Thoughts_of_Dying
In all her long live Luna was hard pressed to recall a time she more desperately wished for death. She contorted in agony as yet another spear of pain tore through her, her usually lush coat was matted in sweat and her throat was raw from her pleas to the merciful all-maker to end her misery.
“Maybe next time you’ll listen to me and pace yourself with the Saddle Arabian dates.”
“But Twilight, I love dates. Such divine bits of shrivelled fruit–” she was cut off, rather abruptly, as her stomach chose that moment to, quite violently, voice its disagreement.
46.Art
Twilight watched, enraptured, as the mare she loved so dearly absorbed herself in her art. She gazed on, not daring to make a sound fearing that, if she did, she might somehow lessen the beauty that she had the unique honour to behold.
Of course she had known that Luna painted the sky each night, but to actually see it, to hold witness as she danced across the at-first-empty skyscape and filled it with grand constellations and lone stars, colouring the heavens themselves as with layers of blues, blacks and – surprisingly – dashes of red.
Truly, the art of a Deity.
47.Childhood
“–so she ran out the lounge shouting “For science!” Shining still stuck to the wall!”
Luna gleefully joined the Sparkle family in a bout of laughter as Night Light finished regaling them with the tale of Twilight’s peanut butter-bomb. The only pony not laughing was Twilight herself, who instead chose to turn an interesting shade of red and attempt to disappear into the furniture.
They spent most of that night listening to the antics inflicted by the Sparkle children. A simple, contented smile settled on Luna’s lips, memories of her own foalhood misadventures drifting to the forefront of her mind.
48.Stripes
“Princess Sparkle!” Twilight sighed, responding to the jovial roar with a bow and the same polite correction she had used so many times before.
“Ambassador Trove, please, I hold no such title.” Frowning slightly, and against her better judgment, she added “With all due respect Ambassador, why do you keep addressing me as royalty?”
“We tigers have a saying ‘One who tames the huntress shares her stripes.’ Simply put it means ‘all that is your mate’s is yours too’.” The striped feline sent her a knowing – and far too toothy – grin. “And you, dear pony, have tamed quite the huntress.”
49.Different_Paths
In her long life Luna had walked many trots of life, she had chosen many paths and lived many lives. She had been a warrior; a conqueror; a defender of the just; a rebel against the tyrannical; she had been a swordsmare, an archer and a battle-mage – more often than not all at the same time.
And of course she had been, and still was – history be damned! – a sister and a princess…
But Luna would be hard pressed to remember when last she had been a lover… ‘Indeed it has been some time, since I last walked this path.’
50.Poetry
Pure black danced onto silken blue parchment in the most graceful calligraphy to which Twilight had ever born witnessed. The ink flowed flawlessly from a single speckled quill, forging ancient characters that held no meaning to the young unicorn, yet…
…yet the ether that intertwined, seemingly of its own accord, with those primeval glyphs called to her. Reached out to her and told her – in the strangest, oldest of ways – that they were for her and her alone.
“L-Luna? What are you writing?”
When she met the alicorn’s eyes Twilight found herself enraptured once more by ancient beauty “A poem.”