Luna reappeared upstairs on Twilight's bed, when she'd desperately thought to go somewhere safe... well... Moon damn her...! Why does she have to do this...
'Cause it's fun!
Shut up, Celestia!
Nnnnooooooooope! She was definitely enjoying this too much.
Luna sighed, Celestia, please don't make me tell her... I-I-I'm ashamed of it...
Tough luck sister. Go tell her.
B-B-B-B-But!
No buts even if they're cute, moon-alicorn butts or sweet Twilight butts. I wont have any of them. ... Yet.
Luna just stared at the wall, had she heard her sister right? Finally she just sighed once more and walked dejectedly back down stairs.
"Heh," she gave a false, nervous laugh, "sorry about that, Twilight." she apologised, rubbing a hoof against the other ankle
"It's no problem, besides it's fun to see you shocked." Twilight giggled, "Also it's kinda cute."
Luna blushed, then looked away. 'Cute'? Couldn't be... "Thank you, Twilight... but I can't tell you about Lunacy."
"Why?" Twilight asked simply
"Because I'm ashamed of what it did..."
Twilight just nodded.
"Well I'm going to go out for a walk. Feel free to do what you want, Luna." Twilight smiled before departing the library.
Luna breathed a silent breath of relief, she'd managed to put it off. As Twilight left she looked at the books on the nearest shelf. Reading time!
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Celestia lay on her bed, exhausted and disconsolate. Which had become a usual thing. After the day's duties, tasks, meetings, and all the little minute of running a kingdom were done, she'd head to her chambers and wallow in... well whatever ponies wallow in. Do ponies wallow in pity? Celestia wondered briefly as she lay there.
There was no way she could help Twilight... And there sure as sunshine was no way she could spend time with that lavender mare. Why does life have to suck?!
She smiled briefly at her own acting like a filly, stood up and walked over to the window that looked out to the distant town of ponyville. All I want is for Luna to be happy... But does that mean I should ignore what I want? Luna has been out of the world for a thousand and one years, this would be so good for her. And yet why did it have to be Twilight? My Twilight? My faithful, studious, beautiful Twilight who shines so brightly to me that I can't even go see her in fear of what I might say or do. My Twilight, who will probably never see me as anything more than a teacher, while Luna grows ever closer to her!
Celestia curled her back legs under herself and sat, while her eyes closed in dejection. Life is unfair...
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Twilight walked along the street, her mind and body feeling relaxed. She hadn't felt this at peace since... well never... She found a nice spot, out of the way with flowers all around it, laid down on the grass and closed her eyes.
When she opened her eyes she wasn't on the grass, but in that all-too-familiar darkened space. Twilight shivered, she knew what to expect this time, and the expectation filled her with dread. Bring on the pain.
A shadowy figure appeared, dim and hazy against the darker and hazier backdrop, "Hello." the greeting was almost pleasant, almost.
"What do you want?" Twilight didn't want to prolong things,
"Well, there's a lot of things I want, but let's not get into that just yet... instead let's have some fun." Her voice sounded like she meant actual fun, the same way somepony would suggest a roller coaster ride. Twilight knew better though. As soon as it finished shackles appeared around Twilight's front and back legs, pinning her hooves to the ground. A muzzle, complete with iron bit thrust back into her mouth, clamped her mouth shut and nearly made it impossible to breathe.
Her five friends appeared in front of her, fading into place, but seeming all too solid once they were there, watching her with fear in their eyes. Shackles appeared around each of them in turn, locking to their limbs as securely as the ones that pinned her to the floor. She watched in horror as chains snaked out to these shackles, snapping into place and pulling taught before they were dragged slowly, too slowly, back to a wall bristling with spikes that shimmered into being. Screams and tears, sobbing and begging, the agony of despair on their faces and the eventual pain that took them... was horrifying. The spikes pierced her friends' bodies, slim tines emerging before her eyes out of stomachs, legs, chests, necks and... She had to look away, but she couldn't. After a minute, a full minute of agonisingly slow impalement, her friends disappeared and reappeared in front of her again. Twilight was made to watch her friends die over and over, screams and tears ringing in the dark, made to watch and be unable to make even a sound.
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Twilight awoke in her own bed. How did I get here? Why did I have to see that? What did I do to deserve all this?! All these questions floated around Twilights mind as she tried to focus. It was morning... Not that late either, about the time she'd usually get up if she had something to do in the day. Breakfast time, really.
She got up, groggy and bushy maned, and made her way down stairs, she sat down at the table just as Spike leaned out of the kitchen. What she saw made her recoil in shock and fall away from the table; in Spike's hand was a bloodied knife!
"Twilight? Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." Spike peered at her from the door,
Twilight didn't answer because, even as she looked, the bloodied knife turned into a pancake mix covered spatula. I must be so tired. My eyes are playing tricks on me, that's all.
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Luna lay in bed staring at the ceiling, she didn't want to get up yet, but Twilight had gone downstairs already. I'll have to tell Twilight soon or my heart is going to explode... How I feel... And Lunacy, if it comes to that, damn Celestia to the sun, but she's never going to let that go. I'll do it tonight. I have to do it tonight. I can't go on living here with her with this hanging over my head.
She rolled off the bed, feeling better for making the decision, and started to walk down the stairs. Unfortunately she wasn't concentrating in the slightest and misplaced her hoof.
One heart-stopping tumble later and Luna opened her eyes and looked down to find what had broken her fall. A pained and dazed expression greeted her, complete with the most... beautiful eyes she'd ever had the privilege to gaze into. They widened as they, too, realised what had happened, but nothing was said. She'd landed on top of Twilight, pinning her to the floor, their muzzles only inches apart and it was... making her heart...
Luna's mind had stopped doing anything, and all she could notice was the way Twilight's lips were slightly parted, so invitingly, as she paused to collect her own thoughts. Whatever stroke of luck had stopped her from immediately trying to get up and get away, Luna thanked it and felt her heart hammering harder.
The door to the library burst open, "Hey, Twilight we're-" All five of Twilight's friends were framed in the morning light. All of them except the pink one were staring with mixed expressions.
"Ahem. We'll just be leaving. Come on girls." Rarity tossed her curls and tried to shoo the others out of the library.
"N-N-No! It's fine! I'll, uhm, I'll just... go out for a bit. And give you all time. To talk, I mean." Luna didn't recognise her own voice as it squeaked out while she scrambled to her hooves.
Luna tried to walk naturally past the group of girls, but her face still shone red.
"Sooo..." Dash turned back as soon as the door shut behind the alicorn, "I'm guessing you and the princess had a good time?" Dash's tone made it abundantly clear what 'a good time' was supposed to mean.
Twilight stood up, her face red. "No! She just fell down the stairs and landed on me!"
"Suuuure she did." Dash needled her,
"She did!" Twilight protested.
In the face of that innocent denial, Dash caved, "I was just kidding, sheesh..."
"What brings you all here anyway?" The embarrassed mare tried to steer back into normal conversation,
"We were going to go to the park and, uhm, well, we wondered if you and the princess wanted to join us...if that's ok." Fluttershy explained, tailing off as usual.
"I'd love to, and I'm sure that Luna would as well. We'll have to find her and ask though." Her friends wanted to spend time with her again! It felt like she'd had a shot of sugar to the heart.
"Ooh! Search party!" Pinkie bounced, "And that's one of the most fun parties, because you get to play hide and seek at the same time, although it kinda means you can't play some of the other games, like pin the tail on the pony, I mean duh! How can you when you're looking all over the place for somepony? It's like I always say-"
Twilight shook her head at the infallible party-pony and left her to babble, leading the way out of the library to look for her princess.
It took her a long while to realise that this was probably the first time she'd thought of Luna as 'her' princess... By the time she did, things were very different indeed.
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Luna walked through Ponyville, her face completely crimson. If Twilight's friends hadn't arrived when they did, I might've kissed her! Always they show up at the most awkward of times!
A call came from behind her, with the sound of cantering hooves; her name being called by multiple ponies. Her ears perked up as she turned her head to see who it could be, but of course, it was Twilight, her friends in a happy tumble of coloured manes, tails and laughter behind her, playfully teasing each other, and calling out to her when they saw her looking.
The group trotted, or slewed in mid-air, to a halt when they reached her, "Hey princess! We're going to the park for a picnic! Want to join us?" Pinkie Pie bounced in place.
Luna laughed before replying, "That sounds like fun, of course I'll come."
At this Pinkie Pie's bouncing took her clear over Luna and then round the entire group, "To the park we go! OnetwothreeGO!" she vanished in a pink blur.
"I don't think I'll ever understand her..." Rarity observed.
"I don't think any of us will." Twilight giggled as they all followed after the candy-floss-curls of Pinkie Pie.
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The park, the picnic, the whole day had been nothing but laughter and good conversation. Before they even knew it, the sun had started to set and the girls dug blankets and flasks of hot drink out of the baskets, settling in for the evening. This had obviously been planned for a while, because they were in the perfect spot; as Luna dabbed her power into the sky to raise the moon, the task only briefly taking her concentration away from what the others were saying, fireflies had lit up the night as well.
Stars gleamed on high, the moon trod a silvery arc away from the horizon, and golden green tails made little loops and points in the shadows all around them. They'd stared at them in wonder, each quiet and enjoying the special evening with their friends. Time itself seemed to have no meaning right now, despite the passage of the moon getting higher and higher.
Twilight looked up at the moon and then at Luna, all her friends had fallen asleep in their blankets and against each other, but for some reason she was still awake, though she looked like she'd rather not be.
"Is something the matter?" Luna's question seemed to startle her, as if she'd thought the princess was asleep too.
"It's nothing." Twilight hedged.
"Are you sure?" she probed,
"Yes... No... I don't know." Twilight's voice was half babble, half tired frustration, "It's just that I've been having trouble sleeping, that's all." she lay down and yawned. Truthfully, she had started fearing falling asleep, but she couldn't deny the urges of her body.
Luna laid her head down next to her, "Do not worry... I'll watch you. I'll grant you a peaceful sleep tonight."
Twilight smiled, yawned again, and soon fell asleep with Luna following not long after.
Today had been a perfect day. So rare these past few months. Despite accidents, little scares of her mind, and the pervading fear of her own dreams, she wouldn't soon forget the beautiful time today had brought her, that her friends had given her.
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Twilight awoke at midday, she hadn't had a nightmare at all, and her body had taken full advantage of that it seemed. The sun was at its zenith and how she'd managed to sleep through it, she didn't know.
She rolled over, or tried to, only to notice she was being held around the waist by Luna. And now she became aware that her friends were all up, waiting for her to join them, and they were snickering. And there were people already in the park, staring...
Well this couldn't get any more embarrassing if I tried... At that moment Luna muttered Twilight's name in her sleep and, when the startled mare's head snapped around to look at her, the princess planted a soft kiss on her lips.
Twilight's mind shut down, unable to prevent it, unable to resist, she just let it happen. Part of her, a large part actually, was revelling in the moment.
Luna opened her eyes and turned completely red.
"I-I-I'm sorry!" She squeaked. Twilight couldn't reply, she was still in a daze.
Gathering herself enough, she looked over at her friends, Fluttershy was looking as if she'd just seen a baby bunny being cuddled by a kitten, the rest were smirking or smiling happily. Obviously they don't care that I'm a fillyfooler, even if they're getting the whole situation entirely wrong right now, they'd be okay with it if I was to get into... into a... relationship with Luna.
The voice chose this moment to perk up. Of course they do, they just don't want to say it with the princess here because they know she's one too! They're probably waiting until you're not around, until you're out of Princess Luna the Fillyfooler's protection. Just like they always do.
Mm-hmm and I'm sure the sky is made of blue cotton candy too... Twilight snarked her, Quite frankly I'm in bliss here, and nothing you can say can change that, so do me a favour and buck off.
Twilight looked back to Luna before breaking the silence between them.
"Luna, I think everyone is staring." She ducked her head in embarrassment,
Luna immediately jumped up and away from Twilight before looking around at everyone with a worried glance. Her eyes then met a pair of familiar faces; Bon Bon and Lyra, on their usual bench, who were both smiling as smugly as Twilight's friends.
She noticed Bon Bon hoof Lyra a few bits. Those two must love making those bets...i wonder what they bet about this time... Luna then looked at Twilight "Twilight I'm sorry! I guess I'm... well... and the kiss... I didn't mean to, I was still asleep." Luna said this last bit loud enough so everyone could hear.
A strange mix of expressions crossed Twilight's face before she replied, "It's fine, really... Let's just forget about it." The smile on her face, meant to reassure the princess, didn't quite make it to fully sincere.
As Luna and Twilight left the park, everypony in the vicinity facehoofed.
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Twilight was down in the library and it was three in the morning... things had been awkward between her and Luna after that stunt earlier so, without really talking about it, they had decided to avoid each other for the day. She to her library duties and studies, Luna to her reading in the upstairs rooms.
As Twilight turned the page of her book the letters started to pull away from the pages, as she watched them, feeling that something must be wrong, they formed bugs of all kinds in mid-air. From centipedes to cockroaches, everything that crawled or buzzed and just made you want to stamp on it that she'd ever known had crawled off the pages to circle in the air and on the ground in front of her. Twilight stared in shock This... cannot possibly be happening. It's impossible!
The voice laughed, Twilight had annoyed her, and now it was time for revenge.
The word creatures circled closer towards Twilight, Twilight tried to back away from the writhing mass, but found herself locked in place. More word creatures appeared, coming out of the books on the shelves, slowly dropping down onto the floor or whirring in close and trying to land on her. They were like an inky sea covering the walls and floor, waves of shifting, clicking, buzzing movement, she couldn't see anything else other than these absurd, sickening creatures.
She felt them touch her, flinching and twitching, but unable to move as they climbed all over her, covering her. She felt their little sharp fangs dig into her arms and legs, and she tried to move, she desperately tried, but her body wouldn't. Soon she felt fire in her skin, absolute red-hot flames of needle sharp pain; the creatures were crawling inside of the wounds! Immediately Twilight body began to react, she jumped up, tring to push the creatures off of her, but they just kept crawling back trying to claw their way into the wounds.
Twilight hadn't realized it but her panicked retreat had backed up into the kitchen. She bucked and flailed her front hooves and bucked again, shaking her head to throw the tormenting things away. Her hooves hit a counter-top, a knife went flying into the air... only to land point first in her shoulder buried deep to the bone.
Although it hurt Twilight couldn't help but laugh. Creatures were crawling all over her, the pain was intense as they bit and clawed and scrabbled where they'd opened her, and now she'd accidentally stabbed herself! It was too much! She couldn't take it! She was going insane and the laughter bubbled through.
Unable to fight back anymore, the pain making her nauseous and the laughter making her want to bend double, she noticed... She noticed that the creatures were avoiding the flow of blood from the wound. With insanity gripping at her mind she grabbed the knife in her magic's grip and ripped it free. She sliced her ankles, one, two, three, four, blood welling up and making red rings around the top of her hooves as a dam to keep the creatures from crawling all over her.
Before she could do anything more, the creatures faded away, leaving her in her normal kitchen with nothing around her, blood dripping slowly from her shoulder and forming little droplet puddles around her hooves. She stood, panting, waiting for the next attack... but it didn't come.
Twilight closed her eyes and sleep claimed her. As she slipped into unconsciousness, she fell against the counter once more, her hoof out to stop her didn't make it in time, and the limp leg slid wildly, sweeping glasses off the edge to smash on the floor
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Twilight opened her eyes, blearily. As she slowly focused her eyes, she realised she wasn't at home. Instead she was where she didn't want to be again... a hospital bed.
She slowly sat up and looked around to see her friends watching her quietly, even Pinkie standing still and expectant.
"Twilight? You okay sugar cube?" Applejack tentatively asked, her voice low, as if scared that louder would hurt her.
"I'm... okay...? Although I dont remember much..." Twilight replied honestly,
"Spike and Luna found you in the middle of a whole pile of shattered glass... from how they described it, it looked like you managed to slip and slash yourself open on the glass." Rainbow Dash added, she put her hoof onto the sheets, the others coming closer now that Twilight was talking,
"Well... that sucks, now I'm behind on my reading." She frowned,
Her friends looked at her in disbelief.
"You could have died, and your worried about reading?" Rarity seemed aghast, but just like the others her voice was low.
"Sure, why not?" Twilight replied a slight grin on her face. "C'mon guys, lighten up, I'm alive, aren't I?"
"Yes, but you almost weren't." Luna pointed out in a firm voice as she walked through the door, her eyes were slightly red and her mane was a mess, Twilight could have sworn she'd been crying.
"You've been unconcious for about five days, Twilight... you lost a lot of blood. The doctors didn't think you'd wake up..." Fluttershy said quietly.
"Perhaps getting something to eat at three am wasn't a good idea..."Twilight said, trying for a wry twist, shocked, but not wanting to let it show.
"Ya think?" Applejack replied, most of the others laughed, and Pinkie booped her nose, calling her a silly filly.
Twilight sighed "So when can I leave?"
"Three more days, they want to keep you for observation." Luna stated before leaving without another word. And leaving Twilight to wonder if she'd be back at all in that time.
Meanwhile, her friends were here to keep her from going stir-crazy from boredom.
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Twilight sat in the library, she'd just gotten out of the hospital limping gently along while Luna watched over her progress ready to catch her if she stumbled, and the bandages still weren't off. Her friends didn't know she'd done the damage herself, so that was a plus... sort of.
From this one experience Twilight had learned that whatever those creatures were they didn't like her blood, If they ever came back, she was sure they would, she'd know exactly what to do.
The voice was cackling madly as it watched her thoughts, her plans, That worked better than I'd ever hoped! She actually put herself in hospital! And now that she's weaker it'll mean I can slip in control again, maybe for a while this time. And it is wonderful playing with her imagination, she has such a mind for fear, all her little terrors are weapons in my arsenal. Adds to fun! As long as nopony breaks her attention, I can make see what I want her to see... this will be SO FUN!
The voice laughed to itself as it haunted the back of Twilight's mind.
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Luna sat, legs tucked under herself, on her bed, thinking. What happened, Twilight? I know there's more to this... So what happened? She got up, trying not to let her mind dwell on the sight that she'd found when Spike had screamed for help that morning a week ago, she found herself staring out at the sunset, at the ponies at play after school and work, going home for their meals and their beds. Luna didn't even notice Celestia in her mind until her older sister decided to speak up.
Hey Lunacy! It isn't nice to keep family waitiiiiing!
Luna nearly jumped out of her skin, her hooves scrabbled as she nearly fell out the window in shock, Celestia! Dont do that!
But it's fu-uun!
I almost fell out the bucking window and you call it fun?!
I see you kissed Twilight, Celestia's quick change of subject threw Luna off guard
That was an accident...
You seemed to enjoy it. Her voice was the equivalent of a raised eyebrow,
So what?! I was asleep. I had a good dream, that's all.
About Twilight?
I, uhm, N-NO!
So why did you mutter her name then? Seems odd to me.
...
No answer from the night princess? My my, someone really has been bitten by the love bug. And now I can't wait to come to Ponyville, to see my sister and my most faithful student, ooh the things we could do together!
Luna stopped... she thought she'd heard a lust filled tone to her sister's voice... Realisation hit her moments later, making her blush to her ears, Celestia! Stop thinking like that you PERV!
Oh, like you don't think like that. Celestia accused probably rolling her eyes,
Maybe I do, but I certainly don't let others know what I'm thinking!
Celestia just laughed, she had done what she'd wanted to do; stop her sister focusing on such depressing thoughts... like always it was Celestia's job to cheer Luna up, but hey she didn't mind, more fun for her.
She decided to make one final comment, just to ensure there'd be only one thing on her sister's mind Hey Luna, the meaning of life, wanna know what it is?
Go on, surprise me. Luna was not amused
IT'S THE PLOT! Celestia cackled before disappearing from Luna's mind
Y....y...you PERVERT! I can't believe you! Luna huffed, threw herself onto the bed and buried her glowing face into her pillow until she fell asleep.
Authors Notes: So im hoping that by doing a chapter once a week i can slow the pace...i don't know if it's working...but to hay with it also i have to thank thay for this chapter because again he is a awesome editor and without him sorting this story out from the way i write it would look a bit of a mess also if you have any ideas that you want used in this story feel free to post them and ill consider it (i want to get my readers more involved) also i will certainly give you the credit you deserve. if you find anything wrong with it tell me and ill try to fix it.