• Published 25th Feb 2012
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Star Gazing - Konseiga

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Blocked

Twilight found herself before two beautiful alicorn statues. This is impressive artwork, she mused. Whoever the artist was did an impeccable job.

“Who says that they’re true statues?” a familiar silky voice wound its way around Twilight’s head. Twilight ruffled her wings in apprehension.

I don’t like what you’re implying, Twilight thought cautiously. She scratched the ground with her gold-clad hoof nervously.

“Remember what happened to Discord, love? Well, if you look closely, these alicorns have absolute looks of hatred upon their faces," the shadow purred. "Fact of the matter is, Celestia and Luna would go renegade if anything ever threatened their power. The empire they’ve constructed would not be given up easily. In this world of yours, the two 'beloved' princesses tried to fight you. You can see how well they did.

I’m not even interested in overthrowing anyone, Twilight thought, but a doubt began to take root in the back of her mind, and no matter how hard she tried to burn it out, it stubbornly clung.

“Ah, intent doesn’t really matter in a game as dangerous as the one they play,” the voice’s words flowed like molten gold through Twilight’s ears. “They would perceive someone with your power as a threat. Especially that mentor of yours.”

Celestia wouldn’t turn on me, Twilight thought. That nagging doubt made her thoughts less certain than she would like them to be.

“We’re talking about the same alicorn, right? The one who banished her own sister to the moon for a THOUSAND YEARS?” The emphasis on the timeline made Twilight wince. “That was for a total insurrection, yes. But why would Celestia want to go through that kind of conflict again? Don’t think she wouldn’t turn on her own protégé. Not if her authority was at stake.”

Twilight suddenly was filled with disgust and contempt at the sight of the statues. She turned away, briefly considering destroying the statues. Not worth my time, she decided, and briskly walked away.

“Oh, Twilight, I hate to see you doubt yourself like this…” the voice wrapped around Twilight like a scarf. “There’s really only one way to avoid this kind of confrontation, you know.”

Oh? And what is this way? Despite the laden sarcasm, Twilight already knew the answer. And it sickened her.

“Learn to use your power, and strike first.”

~*~*~*~*~

Twilight awoke in a cold sweat, her head pounding. She groaned and rolled over, looking at the clock.

“Fantastic,” she grumbled. The clock read 4 o’clock in the morning. Twilight sighed and rolled over the other way…

…and rolled right into the other pony occupying her bed. Princess Luna was sleeping soundly, wings tucked snuggly at her sides.

Twilight just stared at her for a while. Even asleep, she was breathtaking. Twilight studied every aspect of her face, her soft blue mane, and even the little sounds she made. Soon, Twilight discovered that every other breath Luna took was a cute little snore that made Twilight giggle a little each time.

Making as little disturbance as possible, Twilight extricated herself from the bed, and then froze, a massive blush coming over her face. Did…did anything happen last night? Five hundred worries flew through Twilight’s mind, not the least of which was I don’t know anything about that! Did I make a fool of myself?

Glancing back at Luna, resting peacefully in Twilight’s bed, she resolved not to make herself worried sick over it. Quietly, she opened the door to her bedroom and slipped out, padding down the stairs to the kitchen. She briefly considered making coffee, but decided against it, reaching for her favorite peach ginger tea. With a brief mental apology to Applejack (the orange earth pony had provided Twilight with a special apple tea blend, but after the previous night’s antics, Twilight wasn’t sure that she wanted to taste anything apple related for at least another few hours.

Sleepily, she floated down two of the tea bags and put them in a cup, filling the cup with water and heating it magically. Sighing happily as the smell reached her nose, she tentatively put a bit of sugar in her tea.

“Forever the sweet tooth?” a melodious voice pitched in from behind her. A warm body pressed itself against Twilight’s side, and she was unsurprised to see Luna standing next to her.

“Who told you about my sweet tooth?” Twilight asked. Luna just gave her a look that said who do you think?

Twilight sighed. “Pinkie Pie?” Luna nodded.

“What are you drinking? It smells delicious,” Luna twined their tails together, like she did last night. It sent shivers up Twilight’s spine.

“Well I was going to make coffee,” Luna stuck her tongue out, and Twilight grinned, “But opted for my favorite ginger peach tea.”

“Tea!” Luna said excitedly, clapping her hooves together.

Twilight levitated another cup down and asked, “Would you like some, too?”

An impish look crossed Luna’s eyes as she bit Twilight on the ear, hard enough to make the unicorn yelp. During the distraction, Luna wrapped Twilight’s cup in her own magic, took a sip, and sighed gratefully. “Absolutely, Miss Sparkle, thank you for the generous offer.”

Twilight looked crossly at Luna and rubbed her ear. “That hardly seemed necessary,” she whined.

Luna adopted as haughty of a look as she could with her bedraggled mane. “Are you going to deny the Princess of the Night her right to morning tea?” She asked, throwing a hoof into the air.

Twilight dissolved into giggles. “Oh, no, of course not, my Princess,” she said falling into a steep curtsy. Her legs wobbled slightly as she stood back up. “Heh, I guess the party from last night hasn’t completely worn off yet…”

Luna just smiled and sipped her newly acquired tea. “It really is delicious, Twilight,” she said with a slight tone of satisfaction. “And the sugar does make for a wonderful additive.”

Twilight blushed a little, floating another two tea bags down to restart the tea making process.

Luna meandered over to Twilight’s table and sat down lightly. “It’s been so long since I’ve actually slept longer than an hour. I feel greatly refreshed!” the alicorn stated happily, stretching all her limbs.

Twilight yawned hugely, but still managed a smile. “I’m glad to hear it,” she said. And that means nothing actually happened in bed last night!

“Oh, my apologies, Twilight,” Luna said suddenly. Twilight’s face instantly became a deep shade of crimson. Can Luna read minds?! “I keep forgetting you’re used to long hours of sleep.”

Twilight visibly relaxed. Phew. “It’s fine,” she waved off any hint that she might be tired with a casual hoof, then yawned hugely again.

“Oh, no it most certainly is not!” Luna said. “Under normal circumstances, I would issue a royal decree that would force you to go back to bed!”

Twilight grimaced, and a wave of disappointment flushed through her. I don’t want to miss out on any time with Luna, Twilight realized. Even at the cost of sleep deprivation.

“However, these are not normal circumstances,” Luna’s cheeks became tinged with pink as she continued, “and I’d really like to spend more time with you. So, do you mind if we cheat, just once?”

“You know, I’ve never actually cheated before,” Twilight said, mind wandering back to her days under Princess Celestia’s direct tutelage.

Princess Luna just chuckled. “Well, this isn’t really cheating, per se, but a different path to the goal. Sound better?”

Twilight nodded, the smile she wanted to put on interrupted by another huge yawn.

“Right then, just close your eyes and try to relax,” Luna said, her horn glowing with a soft blue light.

Twilight did as she was told. She felt Luna’s horn graze against hers and jumped a little. It was an interesting feeling, to say the least. But then, she felt Luna’s magic envelope her. She didn’t have to look to see a soft blue light radiating around her own body. It felt like she was being caressed by a gentle summer night’s breeze, or being wrapped in a warm cloud. As the feeling began to sink into her bones, she felt a source of energy well up inside her, as if Luna’s magic was burning away the exhaustion from her bones.

“Wow,” Twilight managed to say after the entire process was complete. “What was that?”

“My morning routine,” Luna responded impishly. “I perform that little spell on myself every time the moon goes up and every time it goes down. I like to stay in practice.”

“Amazing… I could seriously get so much work done with that spell…” Twilight muttered, sipping her tea.

Luna snorted, “Where’s the fun in that? On second thought, don’t answer that,” she put a hoof up to Twilight’s mouth as the unicorn prepared a monologue about the enjoyment of knowledge.

“What are we going to do first?” Luna pondered.

“Well, you know there aren’t many places that are open at five o’clock in the morning,” Twilight said dryly.

Luna giggled. “You sound like my sister when you take on that tone of voice.”

Twilight blinked. “Really?”

“Yes! Very prudish,” the alicorn princess replied impishly.

“I do NOT consider my modesty and pragmatism to be prudish, thank you very much!” Twilight huffed. Then, in a quieter tone, she added, “But maybe I am a bit too uptight about things.”

Luna just pressed against Twilight’s side wordlessly and twined their tales together. “Twilight Sparkle, don’t change yourself,” she said suddenly. “You’re a wonderfully gifted unicorn who is beautiful, smart, and kind.”

Twilight’s mind reeled at the sudden praise. I know she isn’t drunk anymore, because that spell burned the alcohol from my body. And by the looks of things, she cast the spell on herself, as well.

“Th-thank you, Luna,” Twilight murmured. “But I’m nothing special, really. You’re a gorgeous, intelligent, powerful and benign princess. I couldn’t hold a candle to you.”

“I don’t think so. You’re amazing,” Luna said quietly. They stood there, tails entwined, pressed against each other’s sides for a while. Twilight’s mind was calmed, and she was enjoying the moment.

“Would you like to sit down?” Twilight asked after a while. Luna nodded, letting Twilight lead her to a couch situated in a study, tucked in a corner of the library.

“I know quite a bit about your past adventures now,” Luna said quietly after situating herself comfortably on the couch, “but I don’t really know a lot about you.”

“About me?” Twilight frowned, thinking. “There’s not really much to tell. What do you want to know?”

“While I was in the castle,” Luna recalled, “a new hoofmaiden arrived. Shy little thing, I tell you. As I was on my way to have lunch with ‘Tia, I overheard her and one of the senior maids playing a game called ‘Twenty Questions’.” Luna frowned. “Apparently, it’s designed to get to know someone better through a series of questions about the newer person.”

“Oh, right!” Twilight smiled. “Fillies my age always played that.” Then Twilight’s face fell. “I was never invited to play, though…”

“Well, we can play now!” Luna said triumphantly, raising a hoof into the air. “Who goes first?”

“Well, since you brought it up, you can ask questions first.” Twilight said with a half smile.

“Oh, okay!” Luna screwed up her face, her mind searching for an appropriate lead question. “Alright, what is your favorite flower?”

“A rose,” Twilight promptly replied.

“Why a rose? Also, that doesn’t count as one of my twenty.”

“Cheating already, Princess?” Twilight teased. “I’ve just always found roses to be the prettiest flower. See?” Her horn glowed for a moment as she levitated a midnight blue rose from out of a vase display in the main library.

“Oh, it’s beautiful,” Luna said, eyeing the rose appreciatively. “How did you get the petals to be such a beautiful blue? That also does not count.”

“Carefully,” Twilight replied impishly. “I had to study my copy of A Botanical Guide to the Flora of Equestria, and then had to alter a particular illusion spell to make the effects permanent and isolated.”

Luna whistled softly, impressed. “That’s some serious magic.”

Twilight just shrugged. “It was complex, sure, but not particularly taxing. You know, you were the inspiration for the color…”

Luna nuzzled Twilight. “It looks wonderful, Twilight.”

“Here, you can have it,” the unicorn said, nestling the rose in Luna’s soft blue mane.

“Thank you. Now, on to the true question two…” Luna thought for a minute. “Favorite food?”

“Oh, definitely dandelion sandwiches,” Twilight replied. “Easy to make and, when seasoned just right, extremely delicious.”

“I have not had a ‘sandwich’ before,” Luna remarked.

Twilight gasped. “We need to fix that!”

“Maybe after we’re done?”

Twilight grumbled, “Oh, all right…”

They went on like this for an hour, trading questions back and forth. It wasn’t until the sun was on the precipice of the horizon when Luna turned to Twilight, a very serious look in her eye, and asked the unicorn, “Have you ever been in love?”

Twilight stared at Luna. How am I supposed to answer? She thought back to her first time seeing the Princess of the Night, when she had begged forgiveness of her sister. She thought back to Nightmare Night, when something inside Twilight compelled her to help the lonely alicorn. She thought of all the sketches under her bed, her ‘artistic’ expression of Luna’s sky, and her midnight blue roses. All of these things made Twilight turn to Luna and say,

“Only recently, Princess.”

Luna smiled a knowing smile as the sun steadily rose higher in the sky. Twilight blushed during the subsequent silence.

“Wh-what are we going to do first?” Twilight stammered nervously. Have I driven her away? Was that a trap? Oh, what am I going to do…?

“Well, what’s fun to do in the morning hours?”

Twilight thought carefully. “Well, we could always go and relax by the lake for a while. I haven’t been there recently, and I usually find it really good for meditation, or studying.”

“You meditate?” Princess Luna said with surprise.

“Well, I have to,” Twilight replied evenly. “If I don’t, my emotions usually break through the thin wall I have to keep around my magic. This helps me stay in check.”

“I shall join you, then,” Luna replied. “It has been a while since I’ve meditated as well.”

“Awesome!” the thinly veiled enthusiasm in Twilight’s voice made Luna smile once more. “And we can pack a picnic for lunch! And you can finally have a sandwich!”

“Great!” Luna said around a bout of giggles. Twilight was nearly bouncing around the room in a very Pinkie Pie-like fashion.

“I’ll just have to write a note for Spike and my friends, but that won’t take too long. Then I’ll make our lunch and we’ll be on our way!” Twilight dashed upstairs to fetch parchment and a quill, all magic forgotten in her excitement.

“I want to help make the sandwiches!” Luna called after her.

~*~*~*~*~

A horrible scream rent the air as the shadow swirled furiously.

“How DARE she. How DARE THAT ALICORN!” it hissed with an otherworldly sound. “How dare she block my plans! I should have done away with that useless princess when I had the chance!” The shadow swirled around the door, trying vainly to reach it’s quickly-disappearing sketches.

“No! NO!” It screamed again as the last of the spindly shadows vanished off of the door, which was now bathed in a soft midnight-blue light. Every time the shadow attempted to reach the door, a crescent moon appeared and blocked the shadow’s path. If the shadow expanded, so did the moon. If the shadow divided itself into multiple shadows, the moon multiplied accordingly.

“Mark my words, you useless star pony,” the shadow hissed, sparking with a dark energy in its anger, “you will be the LAST to die. I will kill every single pony you hold dear right in front of your eyes, and you WILL suffer the longest.

“And I. Will. End You.”