True to her word, in two short days Luna returned. The moment she walked into the library Twilight had to contain herself from crying. Just being away from Luna for two days felt like forever. Twilight knew that Luna could feel others emotions, but controlling herself was not something she had practice at. Luna didn’t seem to notice however. Twilight thanked the gods that the alicorn tried to keep her powers out of ponies. What followed was one of the most blissful weeks of Twilight Sparkle’s life. Luna and herself were side by side almost the whole time. The residents of Ponyville got used to seeing them together. Eventually Twilight began to feel what Rainbow Dash had described. The intensity of her feelings finally diminished into gentle warmth. Now all she desired was to be close to Luna.
Now, a week after she came back they were taking a picnic on a lovely hill in the sunshine. It was a warm and lovely day and many other ponies were out and about, playing, walking their pets and picnicking as well. Everypony in town had become so accustomed to Luna that they barely gave her a second thought. After they ate Twilight and Luna dissolved into pleasant conversation. They were both lying on the blanket, bathing on the sun.
“So you didn’t like foal-sitting?” Twilight said with a smile. They had both taken care of Pound and Pumpkin Cake the previous day. Rather, Twilight volunteered and Luna decided to accompany her. The princess admitted that she had little to no experience with children. While she was away from the castle she wanted to experience things. Needless to say she had a shocking experience.
“About as much as I like hobnobbing.” The princess replied, stretching in the sun. “I had no idea babies were screaming, stinking little balls of tantrums. I think I’ll pass next time.”
“Babies aren’t always like that!” Twilight replied with a large smile. “Sometimes they’re fun.”
“Not often enough.” Luna said.
“Have you never taken care of a baby before?”
“Never.” Luna said.
“Good grief!” Twilight said, actually sounding surprised. “How old are you Luna? How can you not have had any experience up until yesterday?” Luna chuckled. She should have been offended, but she knew Twilight well enough to not be.
“I’m old enough Twilight.” Luna said. “Oddly enough being a monarch does not entail much child-rearing.”
“What about before that?” Twilight pried. Luna didn’t like to talk about her past, but every now and then Twilight would ask little questions to glean what information she could. Luna paused, as if thinking for a moment.
“I was...busy.” Luna stated. Twilight knew she wouldn’t hear anymore. This was a dead end.
“Every think about having any children of your own?” Twilight asked, rapidly changing the subject. Luna laughed again in a high-pitch octave, as if the question was ridiculous.
“Nooooo.” She said, her voice suddenly deep.
“Not even a little?” Twilight asked, sounding surprised by her strong reaction.
“Not really no.”
“Uh...why not?”
“It’s not a simple decision for an alicorn. It’s also...difficult.”
“What is?”
“Just...everything about it.” Twilight had no idea what she meant, but decided to let it go. It was like she was playing a game with Luna, trying to get closer and closer to the truth.
“Does it have something to do with powers? Like yours?”
“Well there’s that.” Luna said, laying her head on the ground. “The last thing I would want is a foal with massive magical power being able to read my mind.”
“What’s Princess Celestia’s power?”
“I think it’s to find ponies, or to know where they are. She never told me outright.”
“Oh, what about...” Twilight stopped herself. She knew mentioning his name would bother Luna...but she genuinely wanted to know. “What about King Aecor?” Luna blinked a few times, silently. Twilight began to become nervous. Had she offended Luna? The last thing Twilight wanted to do was offend the princess, it would devastate her.
“I honestly have no idea.” Luna finally replied. “Truthfully I spent most of my life trying to avoid even thinking about him.”
“Oh, well more down to earth, Applejack invited us to their annual Apple family reunion next week.” The change of subject was much more awkward, but Princess Luna smiled and went with it.
“Sounds like fun.” Luna said, her blinking becoming slower and slower. “A huge gathering of ponies just like Applejack and her husband.”
“At least Macintosh has a mare to show off to them now.”
“I think he’s done enough showing off.” Twilight giggled and Luna yawned. Macintosh and Fluttershy, ever since the fair, had become as inseparable as Luna and Twilight. They had been caught numerous times nuzzling and kissing in hidden places. The whole town knew about them in a matter of days.
“If they didn’t get enough of him they certainly will of Apple Bloom.” Twilight said with a chuckle.
“How many houses has she added on to now?” Luna asked.
“Fifteen so far.” Twilight stated. When the fair ended there was widespread concern of what to do with the sea of stands that were left. That problem solved itself when Apple Bloom began taking them down and adding rooms and whole new floors to other pony’s houses, sometimes with permission and sometimes without. All the same the stands were steadily disappearing. Now that she found her talent she was obsessing with it. “All of them are now insufferable.”
“How many agent offers did the other two get?” Luna asked, her voice becoming weaker.
“Sweetie Belle got fourteen, Scootaloo six. They’re awful now.” Twilight gazed up at the sky. “I hope, even if they get separated by thousands of miles, that they stay friends. I don’t think you’re willing to put on another fair just to bring them together are you?” Luna didn’t answer. Twilight figured the princess thought it was rhetorical. “I got a letter from Rainbow Dash the other day. They won their first competition. She’s as full of herself as she always was. Rarity started yet another fashion line. She calls it “Tastes of the Country Folk.” Applejack said it was a load of apple sauce and she’d never seen anypony dress that way. I wonder what Spike is doing...” Twilight narrowed her eyes, watching the clouds float by. “I should probably visit him.” Twilight turned towards her guest. “Luna? Luna?” There was an abrupt snore from the alicorn. The unicorn giggled. Luna could certainly be cute when she wanted.
The princess looked completely innocent, with her mouth gaping open and gentle snores coming out. No pony could ever guess just how powerful she could be when she was angry. A gentle breeze washed over the hill. Luna’s brilliant purple hair flowed, flickering the sunlight off of it. It looked like the sea, with gentle rolling waves. Twilight got an odd urge, one she desperately wanted to fulfill. The unicorn glanced around, making sure nopony was watching her. The hordes of ponies on the hill weren’t even glancing her way. They were all interested in flying kites and their own picnics. Twilight took a big gulp, leaned toward the princess and buried her face into her hair. The unicorn took in a deep breath, inhaling the sweet smell of lilacs that emanated from Luna’s hair. For several minutes Twilight blissfully smelled the princess’s scent. It brought back all the memories from the past few months, the ones that turned Twilight from a depressed shut-in with her friends all far away (whether figuratively or literal) to a love-struck mare with all of her friends closer than ever. It was amazing what Luna had done for everypony. Of course, not every moment can last forever.
“Wooooohoooooo!!!!” A loud shout filled the area. A pony dropped from the sky like a rock, slamming into the ground. It made such a loud noise that everypony in the park jumped and jerked their heads around. Even Luna jerked awake and gazed up.
“What the...?” The alicorn said, disoriented. A pegasus pony stood up, her knees wobbling, but seemingly otherwise unhurt.
“Oops, my bad!” She cried. Everypony sighed with relief as they saw that she was carrying a mailbag on her side. The mail pony’s eyes were going in different directions. Twilight wasn’t sure if this was due to the impact or if she was born that way. The pony meandered for a moment before heading directly towards the princess. Luna stared at the pony with a perplexed expression. The pony stopped in front the princess, crinkled her mouth and began digging in her bag without looking. She pulled out a mess of letters. She held the bunch of them towards the princess. “I brought you a letter!” She said it as if she had accomplished something. Luna gazed at the mess of letters, back at the pegasus and then at the letters again. She picked up the lot of them with her magic and began sifting through them. The vast majority of them were actually not for the princess. Finally however the alicorn found the single one addressed to her. She put the rest of them back into the mail pony’s bag.
“Thank you.” Luna said, giving a fake smile. The pegasus gave a salute and took off. Promptly however the flew in the wrong direction, hit a kite and tumbled into a tree. Everypony on the hill stared for several more moments.
“I’m okay!” The pony shouted from the tree.
“I think I know why the mail was so backed up during the fair.” Twilight said, having an annoyed expression. Luna sighed and opened the envelope. She extracted the letter and stared at it. In a matter of seconds her face fell. She furrowed her brow and quickly crumpled it up the piece of paper.
“Son of a cow’s loins.” Luna hissed. This caused Twilight to tilt her head and stare at the sky. She had never heard that particular phrase before. The princess stared at the sky as well. “What time is it?”
“About one o’clock, why?” Twilight asked.
“I have to go.” Luna replied. She had already turned and began trotting away. “I’ll meet you back at the library later.”
“Wait, what is it? Where are you going?” Twilight didn’t receive a response however. The princess was gone. The unicorn stood dumbly for a few moments before collapsing onto her bottom. Just moments ago her face was buried in Luna’s mane, now she was gone, like she wasn’t here at all. Now Twilight felt empty. She wondered if it would always be like this.
There was something nagging Twilight, something different from before. When Twilight finally realized how she felt about Luna she was overjoyed. After some time however she felt some new hole in her heart. It seemed like one turbulent feeling after another washed through the unicorn. If only Twilight had spent some time socializing when she was growing up instead of constantly having her nose in books. Twilight yawned, feeling drowsy in the warm sunlight. The unicorn guessed that a nap couldn’t hurt. She curled up on the blanket and closed her eyes. Maybe she could look at some books on relationships later. They didn’t help at all before, but it might give her some ideas.
Twilight was surrounded by fog, endless fog. The unicorn felt helpless. Somehow she knew that this fog didn’t have an exit. She could run for a thousand years and not reach the end. Twilight screamed into to white haze, tears streaming down her face. There had to be somepony out there. She couldn’t be here forever, she couldn’t be alone forever. It seemed as if the fog was consuming every part of her. How could she possibly escape?
That was when she heard hoof steps. Twilight whirled around and her face exploded with joy. Walking out of the mist towards her was the one pony that could make it all better, Luna. The unicorn joyously leapt towards the alicorn. In an instant, they were nuzzling each other. For several moments, Twilight was all better. When they finally stopped the unicorn tried to express her gratitude, but without her permission her mouth spoke something else.
“I love you.” Twilight couldn’t control her mouth. Luna then smiled, but it wasn’t the kind Twilight wanted to see. It was the one an adult would give a child when they said something absurd. Twilight quickly tried to recover, saying something to negate what she just said.
“I love you.” No! She didn’t mean to say that. Luna sighed and shook her head, in a similar manner to her smile. Twilight was desperate. She tried to scream it, hoping it would be different.
“I love you!” Stop it! Stop it! Luna began trotting away. Twilight tried to pursue her, but couldn’t. When she gazed at her hooves she saw that they were now deep in cement. She watched in horror as Luna began to fade into the mist.
“I love you!!!” The last vestiges of Luna disappeared into the whiteness.
“I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!”
Twilight jolted awake, instantly sitting up. For a few moments, she was disoriented. She then saw where she was. She was still on the hill, lying on a blanket. Ponies were still playing around her, enjoying the day. Twilight however was sweating profusely. She was also panting heavily. She put her hoof to her head and tried to calm down. What was that dream? It was one of the strangest Twilight ever had. It ended with Twilight screaming into nothingness, hoping Luna came back. It was almost as if the emptiness she felt became real. If that was really how she felt, then why was she telling Luna that she...
That’s when it Twilight. She knew what she wanted...and it scared her more than anything in her life. She wanted an answer. How did Luna feel about her? What her dream showed her was what she feared the reaction would be. The princess was older than Twilight could even imagine. How could Twilight, a filly by comparison, hope to get the love and affection of somepony so grand.
Twilight lifted her head. She didn’t know if she had the courage to do it, but there was one thing she wanted even more than an answer. She wanted to be near to Luna. Twilight stood and began quickly galloping away, leaving everything behind. She had to find Luna, at all costs.
Twilight ran like a madmare through the town. She ignored everypony who threw her a glance or a word of acknowledgement. At every alley and turn the unicorn would come to a grinding halt, desperately looking for the alicorn. Each time she came up empty. Street by street Twilight went through the town, running at a breakneck speed. It was only a matter of time before she collapsed. Finally, in an alleyway, Twilight tripped over one of her own legs and collapsed face-first into the ground. She tried to stand, only to find that her legs refused to obey. For a few moments the unicorn squirmed like a crab, but eventually gave up. Twilight felt like giving up. If she waited here in the dirt, would anypony even find her?
“Twilight! Are you okay?” That was fast. Twilight gazed up to the familiar voice.
“Pinkie Pie?” The pink earth pony was staring down at her friend, a worried expression on her face. “What are you doing here?”
“I work here.” Pinkie said, pointing to the building behind her. Twilight had failed to notice that it was Sugarcube Corner.
“Oh.” Twilight replied. She attempted to stand again. After a few wobbly near-falls, she managed to be on her own four hooves. “I was jogging.”
“It doesn’t look like jogging.” Pinkie said, her usual cheerful tone back.
“I-I’ll be fine.” Twilight said. “I have to go.” The unicorn tried to trot away, but failed as with every step her legs wobbled.
“Twilight, why don’t you come inside and rest?” Pinkie asked.
“I’m...I’m fine.”
“Oh come on, I won’t take no for an answer.” The pink earth pony began dragging Twilight inside, whether she agreed or not. Twilight found her friend to be stronger than she thought. No matter how many times she tried to talk her out of it, Pinkie pulled her inside.
When Twilight was finally plopped into a chair she realized that she was more exhausted than she thought. The unicorn found that she couldn’t get back up. Pinkie meanwhile quickly brewed some tea. Twilight wasn’t even aware that Pinkie knew how to brew tea. However, minutes later there was a warm cup right in front of her. With a sip from a floating cup the unicorn found that Pinkie was actually decent at it.
“So,” Pinkie began, sitting down in front of Twilight with a smile. “what’s on your mind?”
“What makes you think there’s something on my mind?” Twilight asked.
“Because I haven’t seen you go jogging in six years, that’s why silly.” Pinkie sounded completely carefree. Twilight suddenly remembered something. Luna once said that Pinkie was smarter than she let on. Perhaps the earth pony already knew there was a problem. Twilight sighed and took another sip of tea.
“I don’t know Pinkie.” Twilight admitted. “My head hasn’t been right in a long time.”
“Come on, tell me about it!” Pinkie said, smiling, their faces inches apart. Pinkie’s face still gave her an impression of being blissfully unaware. Twilight paused, wondering if this was really worth the effort. It certainly couldn’t get worse.
“I was lonely when everypony left.” Twilight began. “I just hid in my library. Then Luna came and everything...I just...I don’t what to think anymore.” The unicorn didn’t feel like spilling her entire heart to anypony, even if it was one of her best friends. The last thing she wanted everypony to know was the fact that she was madly in love with the princess.
“Why don’t you tell me without saying names?” Pinkie asked. Twilight gave her a blank stare. How did Pinkie know that was the problem? The earth pony tilted her head, as if she didn’t know how astute she was.
“I...I feel something for somepony.” Twilight said. “It’s deep, powerful and I can’t control it. I...I want to know if they feel the same but...what will I do if they say no?”
“Would that be so bad?” Pinkie asked. “You can still be friends.”
“Pinkie, I can’t bear to be away from them for a few minutes.” Twilight said, feeling weight beginning to press on her shoulders. “When Rainbow Dash said her feelings to Applejack and was told “no” she ran away. What if...they run away?” Pinkie sighed. She was silent for a few moments.
“Sometimes ponies say “no” Twilight.” Pinkie said. “If you never ask them, you’ll never know. If you never know, it will eat at you the rest of your life. I’m sure she...I mean they won’t just leave you Twilight.” Twilight gave her another blank stare. Did Pinkie know who Twilight was talking about?
“I guess...you’re right.” Twilight said, gazing down at the table. “But if she says “no” I...I...” Twilight began shaking. “I don’t...I don’t know if I can take...” Twilight’s eyes began to well up. Pinkie’s face melted into sympathy. She quickly hopped out of her chair and ran around the table. Twilight felt the warm arms of her friend wrap around her. The unicorn instantly reciprocated. They both held onto each other for what seemed like a long time. Twilight let out a few tears and Pinkie gently comforted her.
“It’ll be okay Twilight.” Pinkie said. “No matter what happens, we’ll still be your friends, no matter what. I’ll still throw you a party, whether she says yes or no.”
“That’d be great.” Twilight replied quietly.
“Now cheer up.” Pinkie said, separating from her friend. She gently wiped Twilight’s tears away. “I can’t stand it when my friends are hurting.”
“Thanks Pinkie.” Twilight said. “I feel a lot better now.”
“Good. I’m going to get you more tea and some cookies. You’re not leaving here without enjoying some of my sweets.”
When Twilight finally left the bakery she did really feel a lot better. Pinkie certainly seemed to clear her head. The unicorn tried hard not to let her imagination run wild and make her panic. She continued to search Ponyville, but was much calmer now. Even as the sun began to go down, Twilight didn’t give up. Where could Luna be? Eventually, Twilight left town, beginning to search the area around it. The unicorn ended up in the fair graveyard, where the stands still resided. Despite the fact that they had been disappearing quite rapidly there were still hundreds of them. Twilight trotted through them, beginning to feel lonely. There wasn’t a soul in this entire place and it was that time of day when everything was dead quiet. After several minutes Twilight decided to give up. In the end, Luna would have to come home wouldn’t she? The unicorn gave a hefty sigh and turned to head home. That was when she heard it. Her spine straightened and her ear perked up. It was Luna’s voice. It was like music to the unicorn’s ears. Twilight turned towards it and began galloping towards it. It was at the now unused clock tower, which had been at the center of the fair.
Twilight cleared a building, giving her a good view of the center. Luna was indeed under the clock tower...but she wasn’t alone. This made the unicorn freeze. She easily recognized the two that were with her. It was the Retussians, the ones that had been at the fair. It surprised Twilight so much that she froze. Then, partially panicking, she jumped back behind the building. What was Luna doing with them? All Twilight heard...was Luna chewing them out.
“I’ve spent hours trying to find you!!!” Luna bellowed. “Where the hell were you!?!?”
“Ve said clock tower.” Coltov stated. “Ve vait under clock tower.”
“This one doesn’t work anymore!!” Luna shouted. “I was under the one near town hall forever!!”
“Zis only one ve know.” Coltov said. “Ve sent letter veeks in advance.” The princess sighed, realizing that it was useless to argue with a Retussian.
“Whatever!” Luna shouted. “I got your letter late, what was the decision?” Coltov and his nephew glanced at each other.
“If you can really provide ze money...our tsar accepts the second page.” Coltov stated. Luna sighed, as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
“Thank the heavens.” Luna said. “When will the troops arrive?”
“Tomorrow.” Coltov stated. “Zey vill arrive in Canterlot, but with so many zey cannot travel quietly. Your...Princess Celestia vill know zey are coming.”
“Of course she does.” Luna said, gazing at the ground. “She knows everything that goes on in her kingdom, or so she thinks. Hopefully they’ll be in the castle before anypony is the wiser.”
“If zis fails,” Coltov stated. “ve run, and disavow any connection with you.”
“Your loyalty is overwhelming.” Luna said, giving Coltov a stiff stare.
“Our only loyalty is to our tsar.” Coltov said.
“Yeah, yeah.” Luna said. “Remember, don’t do anything until I tell you to, understand?”
“Dah.” Coltov stated.
Twilight couldn’t believe her ears. Her jaw was hanging wide open and it felt like a knife had been stuck in her heart. Was she hearing what she thought she was? Luna was ordering troops into Canterlot? She was keeping it a secret from her sister? She was going to lead them into the castle? She was going to...to... Twilight jerked her head to the ground. This couldn’t be happening! Luna was going to take over Canterlot! In a moment of sheer panic, Twilight turn and ran away. There was only one thing on her mind now. She had to tell her life-long teacher, Princess Celestia. Her rapid hooves startled the ponies under the clock tower.
“Ubivat!!” Coltov shouted to his nephew. Herzkoof, in the blink of an eye, stuffed his head into his cloak, came away with a knife in his mouth and began darting towards the sound, at top speed.
“Leave her!” Luna shouted. The Retussian stopped in his tracks, giving Luna a confused look.
“You knew zey were zere?” Coltov asked.
“Of course.” Luna said, walking over to Herzkoff and taking the knife out of his mouth. “She’s terrible at hiding her emotions, but if you lay a hoof on her...” The alicorn roughly re-sheathed the blade. “...I will break both of your spines. Is that crystal clear?”
“Dah.” Coltov replied.
“Nyeizbezhno” Herzkoof stated.
“I’ll take that as a “yes.”” Luna said. She sighed and shook her head around. “I’ll deal with this. You two go prepare.” The two unicorns nodded and began trotting away. Luna spread her wings, preparing to take flight. “Forgive me, Twilight.” Luna zipped into the air, instantly being lost in the sky.