A Lunar Sunset

by ed-stoneman


9 - The Morning After

As the mustang sped down the highway back toward the city, Luna broke the hard question.

“Sunset, I know that this is a good thing, what we have between us, but I would ask for a bit of discretion.  At least until you graduate.  This is a delicate situation in more ways than one and-”

Luna stopped as Sunset grabbed her hand and squeezed lightly.

“Don’t worry Luna.  We both have a lot to lose, and I know that you want to be slow with things.  I agree.  And after wanting this for so long, even moving slowly is still moving in my eyes.  Besides, we are both adults here, we don’t have to spend every waking moment together is silly when we both have lives and hobbies.”

Luna nodded to the darkness.

“It is strange, Sunset.  Of the very few relationships I have had, all that was ever wanted of me was to spend every moment of every day with them.  I was almost treated more like a puppy who was going to make a mess on the rug, than an equal partner in the relationship.”

A bark of bitter laughter came from the driver seat

“You have no idea how true that is in any world.  Even in equestria there is a streak of jealsouy in ponies just like here with humans.  I never understood it myself until I came here to CHS.  Then I wound up using that to my advantage.  Between that, and pushing friends away from each other, trying to make my way to the top.  I know more about it than most.  And I never want to feel that again.”

Luna squeezed Sunsets hand in return.  There was nothing that needed to be said to that.

It wasn’t long before they pulled up to the modest home, and got out of the car, walking through the garage into the kitchen.

“I really must be going Sunset.  I don’t want to intrude on you any further today, much as I would like to.”

Sunset nodded gently.

“I think that is a good plan.  Taking things slowly is the right thing to do.  Besides, the girls come over here for Sunday breakfast, and explaining things to them is going to be hard enough when the time comes.  Except for Pinkie maybe, nothing seems to shock her.”

“Indeed, Miss Pie does seem to take everything that comes her way with a certain… overactive grace.”

Luna and Sunset laughed at that.  Describing the manic activity of the pink-haired girl as ‘Overactive grace’ was an understatement.

As they walked to the front door, Luna stopped and turned to face Sunset.

“Thank you for today, Sunset Shimmer.  This was good for me.”

“You’re welcome Luna.  And thank you for not freaking out when I confessed my feelings for you.”

Luna giggled as she took sunset in her arms, wrapping the younger woman in a tight hug, that shocked the both of them.

“Sunset, shocking as it was, I don’t think that I would ever complain about the confession.  I feared that I would age into obscurity as a spinster, destined to be alone.”

Sunset squeezed the hug one last time as she opened the door.

“You aren’t alone Luna.”

Luna smiled and walked to her car parked on the curb, waving out the window as she drove away.

Letting out a sigh as she closed the door, Sunset reflected to herself on the day.

“Well, that wasn’t what I expected from today at all.”

-----------------------------

Luna sat on her balcony, enjoying the cool evening air with a cup of coffee.

Today was most certainly a sudden shift for her.  It wasn’t bad by any means, but it was unexpected.  When she woke up this morning, she expected a tense day of prying answers from Sunset Shimmer about the inner workings of magic in this world.  What she didn’t expect was to bare the innermost contents of her soul to a student.

Luna caught herself at the last thought.  Sunset may nominally have been a student at CHS, but there was a passing certainty that she was more educated than Luna herself.  If being the personal protege of the ruler of another world meant anything, then Sunset likely bordered on being able to teach anything that CHS had to offer, much less learn it.

Another thought that crossed the womans mind was that Sunset wasn’t truly a teenager either.  She carried herself in a way that was beyond her years, but that may have just been life experience.  Luna knew that all too well.  And sometimes age wasn’t truly an indicator of adulthood.  Life experience was worth its weight in gold.

It was true that Luna had issues in relationships in the past.  What few there were.  The women in the town were notably interested in men as a whole, and the few women that were available to her particular persuasion spent so much time trying to outdo the men in the world, that it wound up being often worse than being around a man.  Luna had truly resigned herself to loneliness so long as she stayed in the city.

And then there was Sunset Shimmer.  Oh Celestia would have a royal fit when she found out.  They studiously avoided speaking on any topic regarding relationships, but this one would likely be unavoidable.  Was it worth it?  Did Luna really want to confront Celestia over her chance at happiness with someone who seemed to truly understand her, scars and all?

Her hand traveled up to the bend of her elbow, feeling the ridge there.

Yes, she thought.  It would be worth it.

------------------------

With the morning sun streaming through her window, Sunset came awake.  Slowly.

Tossing the blankets off of her, she shuffled into the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker.  The bitter brew was her favorite thing in the world.  It didn’t judge her for having crusty eyes or messy hair.  It certainly didn’t judge the tank top and wrinkled shorts that she slept in.  Coffee simply understood that mornings were unpleasant and necessary, and it tried to reduce that pain as much as it could.

The pot was only half full when Sunset poured her first cup and shuffled back to the bedroom.  Sitting on the edge of the bed, she grabbed her phone and checked to see if there were any messages.  Her vain hope to skip the usual Sunday morning breakfast and go back to bed was dispelled.  Nobody had canceled.

Taking a moment as her head cleared, Sunset thought about last night once more.  And yesterday.  And Luna.  A smile broke through the haze of the morning.

She had admired Luna for quite some time.  The Vice-Principal had always been stoic under pressure, even when Sunset had tried to take over the student body and turn them into mindless zombies, Luna had remained collected and rational.  Not to mention that she was smart.  Not only as an educator, but as someone that a student could talk to.  Their brief conversations during her reformation after the Fall Formal had shown a much deeper understanding of student life than she normally let on.

Without realizing it, her hands had found their way to Luna's contact information in her phone.  Hovering over the call button, Sunset stopped.  Luna wasn’t a morning person either.  Thinking better, she decided on a text message instead.

Good morning.  Thank you for your company yesterday.

That was good.  Simple.  Nothing too pushy.

Looking at her now empty mug, Sunset decided to start on breakfast for the girls.  They would be to the house soon, and the coffee maker was also in the kitchen.

As soon as she started pouring her second cup, the doorbell rang.  Looking at the clock, it was still ten minutes before the girls were to arrive.  That could only mean that Applejack was at the door.  While Rarity was always “fashionably late”, Applejack could be counted on to be early, and to lend a helping hand.

Opening the door proved Sunset correct.

“Morning Applejack.  Come on in.”

“Mornin’ sugarcube.  You look like you didn’t sleep a wink last night.”

Sunset grimaced.

“Applejack, could you do me a favor and be a little LESS honest before I am fully caffeinated?  Please?”

The blonde only smiled.

“Nope.  Now run along and get yerself dressed.  This ain’t a pajama party.”

Sunset nodded and turned toward the bedroom to get dressed.  And ran face first into Pinkie Pie.

“Did somebody say party?  I didn’t know we were having a pajama party.  If I’d have known we were having a pajama party I would have worn my PJ’s, or we could have slept over and made it a slumber party and a pajama party and a breakfast party maybe next week we can have a pajama party and even sleep over and then we could stay up all night and tell ghost stories and play games and eat pizza and you could even invite Vice-Principal Luna and then we could all stay awake until morning and have a big old breakfast and everyone could have such a good time and everyone would be so happy!”

Sunset just stared.

“Sugarcube, you know that Sunset doesn’t do well before she’s had more than two cups of coffee, an’ judgin’ by that pot, she’s only had one and a half.  Let’s let her get dressed and then we can talk about next week.”

Turning toward Applejack, Pinkie bounced toward the kitchen.

“Okie dokie loki!”

Sunset raised her eyebrows at Applejack.

“Don’t look at me, I didn’t let her in.”

Without a word, Sunset went to the bedroom.  Pulling a tee shirt and jeans out of the closet, she wondered how in the world she was going to address this new development about Luna.  She knew that her friends were going to ask about yesterday, and Pinkie Pie had an unnatural ability to find things out that people were avoiding.

Pulling the shirt over her head and buttoning her jeans, she thought it best to just address it head on if it came up.  Though Sunset wasn’t going to lie, she also didn’t feel it was time to volunteer the information either.  Worst case scenario, she would extract a Pinkie Promise from the girls to keep things quiet.  Sunset had only heard of the ramifications of breaking a Pinkie Promise.  And those had only been discussed in whispers.

Coming back to the kitchen, Sunset followed her nose to the smell of waffles and coffee.

“Wow Applejack, you work fast when it comes to breakfast!”

“You’re sure as sugar right.  Can’t start the day without a good solid meal.  ‘Sides, if I let Rarity start the cookin’ we wouldn’t be eating anything but some frou-frou food that’ll just leave ya hungry in an hour anyhow.”

“Well, I never!  Applejack, you know that I always strive to provide a balanced meal that provides only the best in nutrition!”

Sunset heard the indignation from the entryway as Rarity let herself in.

“May be the nest in nutrition, but my food has some good ol’ fashioned heart in it.  Good fer the soul, and a hard day's work after.  That’s what Granny Smith raised us on, and it’s done us just fine.”

Smiling over the rim of her coffee cup, Sunset quietly appreciated her friends.

“They really are cute together, don’t you think?”

Nearly dropping her coffee, Sunset spun around and saw Fluttershy beside her.

“Oh!  I’m sorry Sunset Shimmer.  I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that.”

Fluttershy hid behind her hair and started studying the floor very intensely.

“You’re fine Fluttershy.  I was just lost in my own world.  How are you doing this morning?”

The taller girl wrapped Fluttershy in a hug.

“I’m good.  It was a quiet night at the animal shelter, so I don’t think that it will be too busy today.”

The redhead smiled down at her quiet friend, Fluttershy was a nice counterpoint to the argument going on in the kitchen.  With a sigh, Sunset braced herself to step in between the feuding fashionista and farmer.

“Girls.  Is this really necessary first thing in the morning?  We can easily have fresh fruit AND waffles.  And, to be honest, as long as there is still coffee, I am perfectly happy.  Let’s just have a nice morning, shall we?”

Both girls muttered an apology, turning back to their respecting preparations for breakfast.  Applejack turned out another waffle onto the stack, and Rarity sliced a grocery sack full of fresh fruit into bite sized chunks.  Sunset poured another cup of coffee, and started another pot to brewing.

The remainder of breakfast went off without any issues.  Rainbow Dash showed up late, and smelling like a locker room, food was had by all, and it was generally an enjoyable time.  As they were sitting around the table Fluttershy decided to bring up the elephant in the room.

“Um, Sunset, if you don’t mind, maybe you could tell us how your visit with Vice-Principal Luna went yesterday?  We have all been wondering about it.”

“Oh that’s easy! Luna came over and they talked and went on a field trip and now they are dating and going to live happily ever after!”

Rarity looked over top of her glasses at the pink baker.

“Pinkie Pie, don’t be silly, that would just be ridiculous.”

“Actually Rarity, it’s not exactly as far fetched as it seems…”

Sunset blushed at the admission, and stared intently at her coffee.  In for a penny, in for a pound, right?

“Before I say anything, I need all of you to pinkie pie swear that not a single word of this goes anywhere outside of this conversation.  Got it?”

“Cross our hearts, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in our eye.”

Nodding in satisfaction, Sunset shared most of the details of the day before.  The more delicate parts of the conversation, she glossed over.  There was no reason to air her history, and she wouldn’t breathe a word of Luna’s.  Nobody else needed to know that.

The other girls sat dumbfounded.  With the exception of Pinkie Pie, nobody seemed to be expecting this revelation at all.

“Darling, not that we aren’t happy for you, of course, but isn’t it a bit odd for an adult to be involved with a student?”

This wasn’t an unexpected question.

“I can see where you are coming from with that Rarity, but the fact is that I am significantly older than you.  When I came through the portal, this was the body that I got, but I much closer to to 25 than I am to 17.  Where I’m from, I am essentially an adult, fully grown and a woman in my own right.  The only reason that I am pretending to be a student is because it is convenient for the body I am in.”

“That may be all well and good sugarcube, but ah still can’t see Principal Celestia bein’ like that.  It just don’t seem right ta me.”

“I can’t speak for Principal Celestia, but in the past Princess Celestia wasn’t always the most forgiving of ponies.  After she banished Princess Luna to the moon, Celestia was crushed.  The benevolent ruler that Equestria had known was a recluse, letting the government essentially run itself for years.  Only in the last 20 years or so had she come out of seclusion for more than the required public appearances.  I was the first true student that she had taken on in nearly a thousand years.

“While Princess Luna was banished to the moon, Celestia had the task of ruling the entire kingdom, including passing judgement over ponies that violated the law.  With that, and the weight of ruling, she became less of the kind-hearted ruler, and more of an iron-hoofed-dictator.  To keep the kingdom running smoothly, she had to be swift and decisive in her justice.  It was born out of necessity.

“When she found my notes and research, I think that pushed her fear of other ponies back into the front of her mind.  At least, that is the only thing that I can think of.”

The girls all nodded.  They didn’t know Princess Celestia, but it seemed as likely as anything else.

“So, um, does that mean you and Vice-Principal Luna are dating now?”

“I’m not really sure Fluttershy.  I would like to think so, maybe, hopefully.  I don’t think that we have gotten that far yet.  But I think that it might be the case.”

That seemed to satisfy the girls, at least for now, and the rest of breakfast passed without comment.  As the girls were all leaving, Rarity stopped as she was walking out.

“Really Darling, we are all happy for you.  Just, please take care of yourself, we don’t want to see you hurt.”

“Thanks Rarity.  You really are a true friend, and I will, for sure.”

---------------------------------

The phone was ringing.  The infernal contraption wasn’t worth the money she paid for it every month, and Luna was fed up with people calling her in the mornings.  She grabbed the phone and answered.

“Unless the world is on fire, this had better be important.”

“Come now, Lulu, you really need to become more of a morning person.”

With a grunt, Luna hung up on her sister, and tossed the phone across the room.  In retrospect, that was not a great plan, because the phone started ringing again and it was now out of reach.

“Of all the blasted… I swear that that woman lives to irritate me.”

Luna stomped across the room and picke up the phone from the floor.

“I’m upright.  What more do you want from me?”

There was a laugh from the other side of the phone.

“Perhaps some breakfast?  My treat.”

“Celestia, it is 9 in the morning on a weekend, and you think that pancakes are enough to tempt me to not murder you in your sleep?”

“No, but perhaps fresh doughnuts and coffee from Doughnut Joe’s might.”

Luna paused and sighed.

“Fine, but you agreed to pay and I am holding you to that.  Remember that when the bill comes.”

Another laugh from her far-too-perky sister.

“I’ll see you in an hour.”

The phone went dead.

As infuriating as her sister was, Celestia knew how to make good on an agreement.  Grabbing clean clothes and heading for the shower, Luna knew that she would take full advantage of the fact that Celestia was paying the bill for breakfast.

45 minutes later, Luna was pulling up to the diner and looking forward to a hot cup of coffee.  Celestia was, of course, early.  Walking to the table, Luna spied a fresh cup of the morning elixir waiting for her.  At least Celestia was thoughtful enough to have it waiting.

“Good morning Lulu.”

Celestia earned a glare for the simpering tone.

“Coffee first, pleasantries after.”

Celestia slid a cup of coffee across the table.  The thought briefly crossed her mind to put sugar into Luna’s coffee before she arrived, but there were some lines that even Celestia wasn’t willing to cross.  The elder sister came back from her thoughts when the empty cup was set on the table awaiting a refill.

“Now, it is a good morning.  Dare I ask what possessed you to wake me up so early on a weekend?”

Celestia rolled her eyes.

“Oh come on, it’s surely not as bad as you make it out to be.  I’ve been up for hours with no ill effects.”

Another glare was earned from Luna as the waitress refilled her coffee and took their respective orders.

“I assume that you would like to discuss my meeting with Sunset Shimmer yesterday?”

“Well, if you must get straight to the point of things, yes I was rather curious as to how things went.”

Luna didn’t want to have this conversation.  While she didn’t want to lie to her sister, she also know that revealing the extent of the events of yesterday would create havoc.  It was a fine line to walk, but she ultimately decided on the truth.

“Celestia, I think that this is a fruitless endeavor.  You know my own feelings on the matter, and I was fully candid with Miss Shimmer on the matter.  She is a girl who respects candor and honesty.  She did express some information to me about the subject of magic which I found educational, but I believe that it may take more than a single afternoon to come to the root of your request.  I imagine that our next opportunity to examine the subject will not be until next week.”

As she spoke, Luna noticed her sister's mouth becoming a tight line of frustration.  Every word was the truth, but the blunt honesty was not to Celestia's liking.  As far as Luna was concerned, that was too bad, she never promised to be anything but truthful on the matter.

As their food arrived Celestia turned to more mundane topics of conversation, mostly considering the state of the school, and gossip about the students and staff.  Until Celestia opted to bring the conversation to a screeching halt.

“I am going to be going to church after breakfast Luna, would you like to join me?  It would be nice to see you come back to us again, and you could be so happy with us.”

Luna set her fork down with more force than was strictly necessary.

“Celestia, you know full well my stance on the matter.  I will not now, nor ever, be returning to that place.  My life is quite satisfactory as it stands, and I will appreciate it if you do not bring up the matter again.  I respect your decision to remain involved with those… people.  I ask that you respect my choice to never interact with them again.  Now, if that is all, I do have plans for the day.”

Luna didn’t even wait for her sister to respond, she simply walked out, leaving Celestia staring open-mouthed at the chair where her sister had just been.