What Princesses Need
Part 15: Quiet Time
Twilight Sparkle sat in the royal library, resting and reading quietly. It had been a day since the group therapy session. She’d decided to stay in Canterlot for a time, if only out of morbid interest for what was happening. She’d quickly written home to Spike and the others, letting them know she was okay. Seated at a study table in the middle of a sea of study tables, she glanced about. Not many ponies around at this hour. She’d seen the librarian on her way in, and had visited the pony psychology section.
In front of her sat Basic Psychology: The Ego, The Super Ego, and The Id. It was a beginner’s book, but Psychology was a fledgling science so Twilight had never really read into it. Apparently, a pony’s mind was divided into three portions: The Ego, the Super Ego, and the Id. Twilight was delighted to find that the entire idea was explained in a very simplified way: an analogy.
A pony’s mind could be compared to three stallions standing on a street corner that see a beautiful mare walk by, winking at them. The Id would say “I want!”, and go after the mare to seduce her with all virile instincts in the forefront. The stallion called Super Ego would say “no you can’t have” and stops Id. Super Ego would represent one’s conscious and knowing right from wrong. The “parent” of one’s mind. Ego, being the wisest of the three stallions, says “I have an idea!” and mediates between the two.
Twilight leaned back, thinking hard. Nightmare Moon was obviously Luna’s Id. I want I want I want, with little regard for how it might hurt others. Luna, the Luna she knew from Nightmare Night, was probably either the Super Ego or the Ego. Perhaps a mix of the two. The purple mare pondered over Luna’s fragmented mind, turning a few pages.
“Twilight Sparkle.” A voice floated over her head, lowered to a whisper for the library’s sake.
Twilight startled, looking up with a little yipping sound. Luna stood before her, wings lazily open to display their full span. “Please.” Luna backed up a step so Twilight wouldn’t bolt. “Retreat not. We mean thee no harm.”
“Y… yes?” Twilight asked politely.
“We… we uhm…” Luna seemed to struggle for a few moments. “We are sorry.” She said, blurting, hanging her head. “Sorry for everything.”
“You’ve already apologized several times.” Twilight said slowly, not sure the point of this new approach. She flicked her eyes around. The therapist was nowhere in sight.
“True, yes, but…” Luna trailed off a bit, cocking her head and looking at Twilight sideways. “Only when coaxed. Tiz not fair to thee. We come without our therapist’s aide to say sorry.” She confessed warily, studying Twilight’s reaction. “We should be able to do it thus, without a doctor poking our royal hiney.”
Twilight chuckled a little before she could stop herself. Hehe, Luna had said hiney. “Well, thank you.” She said softly, smiling just a little. “It’s big of you, Luna. Just like Deep Psyche said.”
“We would make peace with thee, Twilight Sparkle, but we know not how.” Luna said a little eagerly, taking a step forward but no more. “Though the Nightmare is a different part of me, it is still me, so I am to blame.” She kept looking anywhere but Twilight. This was very hard for the night time Princess, and she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be saying, only that she should be saying it. Now and then her gaze would flick to the purple mare’s face to study her reaction, but not much more than that. “We merely wanted a sleepover, and then… all of this.” She gestured vaguely.
Twilight’s eyes flicked down at her book. Nightmare Moon was Luna’s Id, that was easy enough to see. “Princess.” The purple mare ventured. “Can I ask you something?” she gingerly flipped the book closed, title face-down so Luna wouldn’t see it.
“Of course, anything Twilight!” Luna would cooperate with anything she had to say.
“That night when the Lunar Stallions kidnapped me the first time and I stayed in your bed,” Twilight tried to word it carefully. “Were you thinking about… me? I mean, you and me?” There really wasn’t a gentle way to put it.
Luna cast her gaze silently to one side. She’d teased Twilight with molestation before blowing a raspberry on her belly, true—but in her heart of hearts ohhhh. The very sight of Twilight Sparkle tied up and made to be her love slave had stirred her loins and the fires of her heart. The dark alicorn sighed guiltily, and nodded, “Twas lust, Twilight Sparkle. I shan’t lie, thou embodies many of the things we find attractive.” She sat on her haunches, pink in her cheeks. “Knowledge, beauty, magic… many things. And after we befriended thee on Nightmare Night it twas difficult to push thee from our thoughts.”
Twilight felt a touch of flattery rise in her chest, but tried to press it back. She also noticed another ‘I’ in Luna’s speaking. Deep Psyche, the therapist, always praised Luna for using ‘I’ when she spoke. “You said I.” she said quietly. “Good job.” She gave a small, coy smile when Luna blushed deeper. There was a thick tension between the two mares, but after the rough group therapy they could at least hold a civil conversation, it seemed.
“Can… can thou ever forgive us, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna suddenly braved, looking into her eyes.
They stared at each other for a long time. Twilight looked at Luna, unsure of what to say. It was so much more complex than yes or no. Her mind was split into at least two pieces. Both liked her. One had nearly raped her, the other wouldn’t hurt a fly. The purple unicorn was understandably torn. She sighed a little. “It’s… it’s more complicated than that, Luna.” She whispered. Turning out of her chair and coming around the table, she looked about for a few moments. Nopony around. She lifted one of her back legs, showing Luna the two little fang marks Nightmare Moon had left on her.
Luna gasped, lifting a hoof to her mouth and startling back a few steps. “We hath mauled thee!” she said, aghast. She turned quickly. “We shalt call the proper medical team, wait here Twilight!” she made to rush away, but a sudden lavender aura snared Luna’s tail and stopped her.
“No, don’t.” Twilight said in a small voice. “It’s too embarrassing.”
“Neigh! Thou has been marked by a predator’s touch and should be purified!” Luna said, mewling a bit. She winced at referring to herself as a predator. Poor choice of words.
Twilight noticed her silent chastising. “It’s alright,” the purple mare soothed a little. “I just… I’ll have it looked at on my own time.” She said, smiling a little. The unicorn looked up at the Princess of the night, smiling a little painfully. She’d shown Luna her privates. Already her coat was flushing dark. “Sorry Luna…” the look on her face was that of guilt.
Luna’s face turned fearful. Twilight had done that on purpose! To bring out Nightmare Moo-rrrgle?! Her pupils elongated and her legs turned long and spindly. Her neck extended and the glamour spell that showed Nightmare Moon in Luna’s skin took over. “Mhh, thou teases us, Twilight Sparkle.” She purred, cracking her neck one way, then the other. “Our sister says we may not touch you, but thou art flashing us.” she smirked a little darkly. “Tiz mean on your part.”
Twilight turned quickly to put the study table between herself and the black goddess. Nightmare stretched a bit, as though getting used to being in Luna’s body. There was something uncomfortable about it this time. The transformation had been less fluid. Huh. Grunting a little, she leaned over the table to study the purple mare. “Nightmare Moon.” Twilight said, as though that made it official. “I have to ask.” She stopped as though that were the end of the sentence.
“Yes, my little pony?” said Nightmare with a slight smile. “Thou sleekest us out, we are overjoyed! Ask us anything!” She was enthused, leaning aggressively across the table at her.
Twilight leaned back, steadying herself before she spoke again. “Can you keep your hooves off me until Luna is all the way better?” she said bravely. “For both our sakes?” Twilight knew she was playing a dangerous game, but… Luna would never hurt her. Nightmare might. If she could just delay the black alicorn’s efforts long enough…
Nightmare blinked at her, taken aback. “But…” she said, trying to come up with some argument. “If Luna is treated, we shalt cease to be, no? We shalt be one.” Nightmare Moon was referring to herself. She cocked her head a little, frowning in a worried way. Twilight watched her fight the mental battle for a long time, until she finally sighed and hung her head. “Twilight, Luna loves thee. Even if it is infatuation.” She mumbled at the floor, lowering her broad wings until they touched the floor. For a moment the purple mare thought she looked like she was molting. “But, we hath realized something through our therapy and watching thy horrified reactions to our face.”
“What’s that?” Twilight wanted to know.
“If we really loved thee, we would not force our company on thee.” Said the dark goddess softly. “And we mean not just in the bedroom!” She added quickly, color touching her face and Twilight’s. “It is… complicated.” She offered. Twilight saw a sliver of midnight blue poking its way into Nightmare Moon’s face. “We shalt leave thee be hence in romantic affairs, Twilight Sparkle.” She backed off a bit. “It shall be Luna’s job to seduce thee, we think.” She added with a smirk. “Even if Nightmare Moon vanishes into Princess Luna’s mind, do not think I shalt not be there, whispering that she should pursue thee.”
Twilight smiled in a painful way. Even when she was trying to be apologetic, Nightmare came across as rather overbearing and lusty. Well, it was what she was made of. The purple mare nodded once, rising and taking her book with her. “I’m going.” She said softly. “Can I ask you one more thing?” she turned her head, as she stood between the stacks.
“Anything, my little pony.”
“Does Luna really love me, or does she just lust for me?” Twilight wanted to know.
Nightmare gave pause, looking at the floor for a moment. “We art… lonely, Twilight.” She said finally, the force gone from her voice. This was her quietest honesty. “A thousand years on the moon, and we make one true and valuable friend on the night named after us, Nightmare Night.” She looked at Twilight with a pleading expression. “Dismiss us not for our crimes, please.”
“You didn’t answer my question.” Twilight said softly, smiling in a quiet way.
“We do not know.” Nightmare Moon hung her head. “I lust for thee in the worst ways, no denying such things.” She chuckled in a bitter way. “But we cannot have thee, we see this now. What thou shalt do about Luna, much less when she is healed into one mind again, will be in thy hooves.”
“You mean I get to decide if I want to court Luna or not?” Twilight said reproachfully, frowning.
“Neigh, Twilight.” Nightmare Moon shook her head slowly. “Thou shalt decide if we even remain friends when this is all over.” She sounded even more bitter than before. “Not that it shall matter. I shalt not be around to see it, myself.” The black mare mumbled, touching her breastplate a moment.
With a conflicted frown on her face, Twilight started away and vanished between the shelves of the library. Her hoofsteps faded before long.
Nightmare Moon did not follow her, only sighed and hung her head. Though she was want and desire incarnate, and certainly would NOT deny Twilight Sparkle if anything ‘happened’… it was just so complicated. For a flickering moment, Nightmare Moon’s green eyes shifted to blue. “H’oh Twilight…” Nightmare Moon mumbled in a heartsick way. “What shalt become of us when we are one mind again?” she felt uplifted that Twilight could stomach a conversation with her now, but… but… she sighed, hanging her head and letting Luna take over once more. Perhaps she would dream of Twilight while she slept in Luna’s mind.
End of Part 15
FINALLY something updates!
TwiLuna is back on the table!
... In maybe another 10 chapters, they'll have something beyond super awkward conversational dances.
So it'll be 15 chapters before the romance can even be a possibility.
Bow Ties are cool and so is this chapter.
I will be cross if Twilight and Luna get together. Rape, even a failed attempt at it, is a deeply scarring moment. Unless, of course, there are ... complicated issues of Twilight's that exist. I would like to know how long it had been since the incident. If it's been less than a month or so, Twilight is healing fast (too fast, could leave deeper scars). She shouldn't push herself. Admittedly, these are fictional ponies. And it's up to the author to hint at how similar and how different they may be from humanity.
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Also, lots of sad feels for Nightmare Moon
very nice, I look forward to seeing how this continues
Luna showed guts! EPIC !
awww she's so lonely
this was weird i checked my favorites list right as this updated leaving me with an empty list after a quick refresh I'm am happily brooding (yes i know that's an oximoron to "happily brood" over something but i never get a chance to use that word) over this latest chapter and can't wait for the next one
That is a bit of a thing to think about huh........While the issue is Luna having two personalities the fact remains it is like there are in a way 2 ponies in there and one will be destroyed if joined back into a single whole. A bit like a sacrifice which while for the greater good still going to be a bit hard I would think, even more so if the Nightmare Moon side is allowed to be out more and show off that she isn't all bad just has self control issues.
Oh well I'm happy that Twi and Luna are starting to work out, I missed their cute interactions.
it is getting very interesting!
A short chapter... but a needed one. It's really nice to see Luna/NMM and Twilight finally open up to each other. And Twilight NOT freaking out and being brave enough to let the scientist in her do the processing and 'legwork' on what's going on is fantastic.
They'll get through this yet. Whether everypony's "intact" by the end of it remains to be seen, but this is a nice piece of the puzzle. Very nicely done, and a good way for the duo/trio to hash things out, even if only on the surface to start. Lots to work through, but that's therapy for you.
Damn. I can't help think of Nightmare Moon as an individual entity, even if she is just another piece of Luna's damaged mind. So to think about the fact that she, as an individual, will be gone when Luna is healed......... It's strange to say the least.
Wow you are certainly pumping out the chapters! Even though you are mixing psychology with psychiatry and pseudopsychology somewhat. I have to say I was very disappointed to see the Id and Ego stuff in there. It's a load of malarkey and has been proven false many times since its inception.
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...And sex with the lovely unicorn of course.
You never cease to amaze me. Not sure where Twilight and Luna/NMM are going to stand when this is all over, but I'm going to enjoy the ride.
I honestly feel bad for nightmare moon, i mean to be the one who is going to be pretty much erased from existance. Is it wrong to hope that she might somehow become a entity of her own?
There's one thing I love about the show, right there. Ponies are so much more forgiving and understanding than we are. Sure, they may flip out at first, but a lot of the time they will at least try to understand. Unless, you know, it was flat out intentional, but even then they find a peaceful or less violent solution. I dunno. I felt like ranting.
Great chapter Aegis, I think you pulled it off flawlessly.
Aww, I really am loving the direction of this along with the incredible update speed.
~ Timid
Lol! Luna said hiney!
~ Scare
Nice dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Cloudchaser_dealwithit.png
yay for updates. really liked this chapter with the whole confrontation going on between twilight and luna. Luna is definitely my favorite character in the mlp universe, and im feeling really bad for her in this story, but i will be pretty disappointed if a twiluna love relationship goes on here. twiluna is my favorite pairing mind you, but with all the things that have gone down so far it almost doesn't seem like it would be right. hopefully they can get a good friendship going on however.
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YEA!!!
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A miracle might just yet happen.
Another update! And not long afterwards it returns to the feature box, damn that was fast.
Man, you pump these out like a machine.
I wasn't expecting Twilight to be so brave and face Nightmare Moon like that, and all this talk about psychology is making me feel crappy that I've never taken a class on it, despite many opportunities to do so. Well anyway keep up the good work--are we to expect another chapter tomorrow?
Damn just damn that was very painful to read.
You certainly know how to set an atmosphere and emotion on a scene aegis.
Damn it. Now i haz a sadzalz(the ultimate form of sad). Now the only thing that can banish it is moar
How are you doing this? it's like you don't even sleep, these updates are rolling in so fast
heheheheheh luna said hiney.
nigtmare and luna just want some love
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The story says that these are early days in the development of Equestrian psychology, so they would still be giving credence to such notions, even if we consider them outdated. Everything else about it parallels Earth psychiatry, so there's no reason this shouldn't, either.
Good chapter
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AEGIS SHIELD!
Prepare thyself...
For the great honor of being watched by this very, very picky person!
Although I will read anything which strikes my passing fancy, I only watch the few authors I deem have proven themselves masters of prose! You, who first caught my attention with Spartan Shield, added to your qualifications the badassery of chapter 14 and the complex but interesting plot.
Thy name shall be recorded amongst Device Heretic and Larathin Bradley on my userpage, such that all shall be able to enviously gaze upon it! I only hope you do not fail to prove yourself in the stories you are yet to write!
(Too much dramatics? I really do have standards for my watched list though... Honestly, though, I don't remember exactly why I added Larathin Bradley, except that a story he wrote was absolutely amazing. Like, second-to-best story I'd ever read amazing. Ohh, right, a quick look at his userpage shows his only two stories - both of which made me shed tears. And I'm a pretty hardcore dude; I was in a car crash, my aunt nearly died, and I never cried OR had nightmares.)
1160447 [img] http://www.nerddogueto.com.br/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/i-know-that-feel-bro.jpg [/img]
My mix of emotions disables me to even come up of what I should comment.
Now I actually feel sorry for NMM. She gonna disappear in Luna's mind
“Thou sleekest us out"
No, the grooming comes several chapters later,
I am happily astonished at your update schedule. You generally have several chapters queued up ahead of time, yes?
The feels, they overwhelm my heart and mind.
1160087 He updates every day.
If I were Twilight, I'd hug Luna and never let go.
Sad Nightmare is sad. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Vinyl_sad.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Vinyl_sad.png
1160191 And you don't
At the end of the last chapter I was just thinking about how the only thing missing was Twilight conversing with NMM. I said that, didn't I? And look, an entire chapter dedicated to interactions between the two. Nice!
I honestly love the slow growth of the characters, the fact that the story is painted in a moral greyscale helps matters, after all life is far from simple
I see some of my advice in use, Nightmare is facing her problems instead of trying to bulldozer through them to get her way.
I think this turned out lovely
Somber mood for this entire chapter. As it was meant to be, of course. Good job, well written, etc etc. Your rapid updates are quite impressive though, I must say.
Good god!
You've updated once a day for the last week with chapters that are at least in the 2,000 word range. I haven't even found the time to read anything since the second chapter.
How do you do it?
too much clishe in 1 fic
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Yet another great chapter
1160388 I'mma Lunar Stallion. I'm always awake at night and all odd hours.