Like so many other nights before, you lie on your side spooning Princess Luna. Everything about the night seems the same as it usually does; the sounds of her breathing and her happy sighs are just so, her calming, familiar scent is the same as it is every night, and her tail teases your legs like normal. Even your fingers dance over her cutie mark in the same, practiced pattern as always, tracing out the blotches and the crescent moon with a memorized precision.
Still, this night felt different.
“You are a very pretty and very cuddly pony, Princess Luna.”
“And you are a very predictable flatterer,” she responds in a teasing manner, pressing her body back against yours in a cue to tighten your grip around her. “What is it that you want this time, hm? A massage? To watch one of those silly documentaries you like so much? Come on, out with it.”
“No no, I’m quite happy after you gave me those solid gold bits for my birthday last week. Although, if you’re offering, I wouldn’t mind another cuddle session with your sister.”
Luna chuckles softly. “I think we both know you’d much rather cuddle me.”
You nuzzle her ear. “You know me too well, Princess,” you whisper.
“Alright, well, how about we flip, and you can be the little spoon?”
“That sounds like a plan to me,” you say, releasing your grip on her and flipping onto your other side.
Luna flips as well, wrapping her hooves around you and slipping a back leg in between yours. She jostles for position, finally bringing her body in close and tight against your back and burying her muzzle in the back of your neck, where she lets out warm breaths that tease your skin. “We’ve been cuddle buddies for a long time, you know.”
“I know, and yet we’ve only ever spent two or three nights cuddling in your castle.”
“I like it here better. Less pressure. Everything is more intimate and cozy.”
“Can’t argue with that,” you say, bringing up a hand to hold her hoof.
Luna sighed like a filly talking to her school crush, rubbing her cheek against your neck. “I’ve gotten so used to it that I can’t imagine life without snuggling you.”
“Better get used to the idea. You’re like a billion years old, I’ve only got a hundred to live, if I’m lucky.”
“Fifteen hundred and change...and believe me, there is a difference between being ‘immortal’ as ponies think of it and truly being...eternal.”
“Either way you’re old,” you tease. “Still, I understand. Don’t be sad when I’m gone, okay? It’ll be a happy day when I meet my maker- I’ll be on to bigger and better things.”
“Even better than cuddling me?” she asks, faux disappointment in her voice
“A true and final fulfillment. Everything will be...perfect. I bet I’ll still miss you though- even though you sneezed on me that one time.”
“You’re one to talk- you puked on my royal slippers last month! I had to have them cleaned and polished by some very confused guards!”
You chuckle evilly. “I would have loved to have seen the look on their faces. Sorry about that, by the way. I will not be eating Chilean sea bass again any time soon.”
“Well, I’m worried about losing you a lot sooner than you were talking about. You’re going to go and marry a human one day, and then what about me? I doubt your wife will let me come over and snuggle with you both.”
“Probably not, but maybe I’ll have a super cool wife that’s okay with a cuddle puddle involving a magical pony princess. Even if she's not cool with it, it’s better that way- you don’t have to cuddle me when I get all gross and old.”
Luna squeezes you tightly against her. “I’ll never think of you as gross. You’re my best friend in the world.”
“Well, you’ll find some handsome horse to marry too, one day. And then we’ll both have someone, or somepony, to cuddle every night.”
“Promise you’ll still think of me once in a while when you cuddle?” she pleads.
“I promise. I wouldn’t worry about that happening anytime soon, though; if the last few years are any indication, my skills for courting the ladies leave much to be desired.”
Princess Luna giggles. “Well, you got a beautiful princess who is also a skilled cuddler to make her second residence with you, so that’s got to count for something.”
You flip around and rest your nose against the tip of her muzzle, staring into those deep pools of blue you know and love. “Maybe, but all you ponies are so cuddle-hungry that it’s a little different. That goes double for you, miss ‘I’m not going to let him go even if he really needs to go to the bathroom’.”
“Well, okay,” she smiles.
“We have plenty of cuddling nights like this left,” you assure her softly, running a hand through her mane. Your eyes light up in sudden inspiration. “But, if it’ll make you feel better, I can make a little catalog of our best experiences.”
Princess Luna tilts her head. “What do you mean?”
“We’ve been doing this so long that we have all sorts of great stories. I remember a lot of them; I can get to work writing them down in a book, and even add to it when we get new ones. That way, when the day does come, you can always read it and think of all the comfortable nights we spent together.”
Luna smiles broadly; a more genuine, loving smile than you’d ever seen on her face before. “I’d love that. I’ll make my own record for you to read.”
“It’s a deal.”
“I love you, my brave cuddle knight,” Luna whispers, closing her eyes and nestling her muzzle into your chest.
You kiss her once on the forehead. “I love you too, Princess Luna...Now, let’s get some shut eye.”