//------------------------------//
// The Brightest Star 
// Story: My Little Twinkle 
// by Next Gen Wonderbolt 
//------------------------------//

"Tia, how do you know when you love someone?" 

It was a curious Luna and a surprised Celestia sitting in Celestia's private quarters drinking tea. Luna had walked in not too long ago and at first Celestia thought it was some sister bonding time, but now it seemed like a sister asking another sister for advice. 

Celestia hesitated for a moments notice, opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, then closed it again. 

"I do not know, Lulu. I've had no interest in romantic love for as long as I could remember." 

Luna sipped at her tea and thought about her next question since Tia couldn't answer this one. 

"Then sister, how do you tell someone you love them?" 

"You mean other than walking up to them and saying it?" Luna nodded. "Lulu, why the sudden interest in love and its quirks?" 

A blush began showing on Luna's face. "I'm trying to help a friend with her problem!" Luna said a little too hastily.

Celestia smirked, piecing together what was going on. "Are you sure it's not you who needs help?" 

Luna's blush deepened. "Tia, I do not love anyone!" 

"Who is it? Is he a guard?" 

"No, Tia, she is not a guard." Luna didn't notice her slip up. 

"Oh so it's a mare." Celestia said holding back a fit of giggles. Luna, in turn, felt her heart quicken. 

"N-No!" 

"Who is she?" 

"No one!" Celestia's smirk grew into a smile. "Shut up!" 

"Is it one of the element bearers?" Luna blushed harder and tried to hide it by sipping her tea. "Is it Rainbow Dash?" Luna shook her head. 

"Fluttershy?" Luna put down her tea. 

"No." 

"Pinkie Pie?" 

Luna inwardly cringed at the mention of Pinkie Pie. She hadn't been the most helpful on Nightmare Night when she was trying to adjust to this time period.

"No." 

"Applejack?" 

"No."

"Rarity?" 

"Tia, please! I am not going to tell you who I am attracted to!" 

"I bet it's Twilight Sparkle isn't it!" Celestia pointed an accusing hoof at her sister. 

"N-No!" Luna's blush had died down not thirty seconds before and now it returned in full force. 

"It is isn't it." Celestia grinned. 

"S-Shut up!" Luna held up a hoof to hide her face. 

"I must say that that is very adorable, Lulu." Luna grew redder and redder.

"Tia, I-" She was interrupted by a familiar Draconequus hiding in the room. 

"Correct me if I'm mistaken, but did I just hear that little Woona had a crush on our little bookworm? Oh, this is simply too good!" 

Discord's eyes popped out of the teapot that held the sister's tea. His body began slithering out of the pot and sat down on a chair next to Celestia. He snapped his fingers and an odd looking tea cup appeared and he poured himself some tea, or it looked like it was tea. 

"Do go on my dear!" Discord pried. 

"I do not love Twilight Sparkle!" Luna shouted at the two beings before her. 

"Sure you don't my dear princess. I mean your obvious blushing and stammering wasn't a dead giveaway." Discord replied. 

"Fine! Yes! I love Twilight Sparkle!" Luna confessed. 

"Score!" Discord exclaimed offering Celestia a hoof bump, which she gladly gave. 

"I don't know how to tell her though. I want it to be special, something she will remember even if she doesn't share my feelings of affection."  

"Have you tried asking Pinkie Pie for help? I'm sure she would love to give Twilight a confession she won't forget." Discord suggested. 

"I'm not trying to scar her, Discord." Luna replied in a deadpan tone. 

"Lulu, what about that spell I taught you? The one that projects the images in your mind." Celestia asked.

"You mean tandem indagabit? Tia, I don't see wh-" 

"Lulu, you can create anything with your imagination. Why not use that imagination to give Twilight the confession she will remember?" 

Luna was about to object to the idea, but then realized that it was pretty bulletproof, well mostly bulletproof. The only major problem would be keeping her mind on that exact image otherwise her mind would wander and the image would be lost or turn into a different one. If she were to do this she would need constant focus and allow nothing to distract her. Easier said than done, even the slightest thing, such as someone talking, would draw her mind away from what she was focused on. To ensure she wouldn't be distracted in the slightest, she would need a sound proofing spell to block out any noise and maybe something to enhance her focus. Perhaps the medical office would have something to help with that. 

"Alright, Tia, I will do it! For Twinkle!" Luna yelled proudly. 

"Twinkle?" Celestia had her hooves over her mouth holding back a fit of giggles while Discord stared in disbelief. "Twinkle." Discord repeated. "That has got to be-" 

"The cutest nickname I have ever heard someone call Twilight!" Celestia exclaimed before giggling like a filly. 

"Not what I was going to say, but what the hay let's roll with it." He turned to Luna. "As for you, Princess, I would suggest preparing yourself for this moment of truth."  Discord advised. 

"I've already done that." Luna replied. Discord raised an eyebrow. 

"Really? Alright then. What's your plan?" 

"I shall use a sound proof spell to-" 

"Hold up, when are you going to do this exactly?" Discord questioned. 

Luna opened her mouth to speak, but realized she didn't have an answer to the Draconequus's question. 

"I do not know." 

"Why don't we take care of that first?" Discord smiled slyly. 

"When do you think I should do it?" Luna asked. 

"That is for you to decide not me. After all I'm not the one whose going to confess their undying love to Twinkle." Luna blushed heavily at the mention of the nickname. 

"I shall do it at night. Where I am most at home and where there is little distraction." 

"Good. Then there will be no reason for a sound proof spell correct?" Luna nodded. "I hope you know what you're doing, Princess." 

"I do." 

"Then I wish you luck." Discord bowed respectfully. "Now if you'll excuse me this chat has been dreadfully boring, and there's chaos that needs to be sprinkled on this little world of ours." He started walking towards the door. 

"Discord, wait." Discord turned around to face the mare. 

"What is it?" He said with a bored sigh. 

"Why are you helping me?" Discord laughed. 

"Reformed. Remember? Plus not to mention that helping you hook up with Twilight not only means I can mess with her, but that this whole thing should cause some ruckus and chaos with all the shock and surprise it'll bring." 

"Just don'- wait what do you mean all the shock and surprise?" Luna questioned. 

"The Princess Luna dating a member of the Royal Family? I do believe that could qualify under incest my dear. Oh what chaos this will bring! I love the thought of it already!" Discord laughed heartily while Luna adopted a look of disgust. 

"Incest!? Discord what in the name of god are you talking about?" 

"Shining Armor is married to Cadence, right?" 

"Yes." 

"Therefor the Sparkle family is now part of the Royal family." 

"Correct." 

"So wouldn't that make Twilight your niece-in-law?" 

"I suppose, but how is that incest!? We are not of the same bloodline!" 

"But technically you two are related to each other. It may not be on the same level as you having a crush on your sister, but it'll spark something." Now Luna looked more worried than anything. 

"R-Really? Are you sure about this?" Discord nodded. 

"No, Lulu. He is not." Both beings turned their heads to face Celestia, who was recovering from her giggling. "Discord, stop messing with her. Luna, you are fine. Discord is just trying to add to the mix." Discord shrugged his shoulders and smirked.

"The more the merrier right?" 

"Lulu, you'll be fine, but he is right about the surprise that'll come with your confession should she accept and return your love. There is no doubt that some ponies may disapprove, but should they cause you trouble or harm then I will deal with them...personally." Celestia said in a serious tone. 

Luna ran over and hugged her sister. "Thank you, Tia." 

Celestia hugged her back. "You're welcome, Lulu." Discord groaned making the two siblings look over towards him. 

"All this love is starting to make me sick. I'm heading out to get some work done." 

"And by work you mean spreading chaos and creating problems for Equestria." Celestia replied. 

"Oh no my dear ,Celestia, I'm only going to switch a couple things around and watch the magic happen. Ta!" 

With a snap of his talons, Discord was gone and the two sisters were left in the room. Luna pulled away from Celestia and began walking towards the door to the hall. She had some preparations to do before nightfall, which was in a few hours. She was just about to open the door when Celestia called out to her. 

"Luna!" 

"What is it sister?" Luna replied. 

"Good luck." Luna simply smiled and left the room. 





Luna sat out on the balcony overlooking the grand city of Canterlot. The sun was halfway below the horizon and the hues of orange and purple exploded across the blue sky spotted with white clouds. The cities yellow fluorescent lights began to shine and shimmer in the twilight along with a cool summer breeze weaving in between the buildings. Ponies were milling about. Some were socializing, others were selling goods, many were just sitting and enjoying either their company or the day itself. Luna glanced up to see the moon peaking through the cloud cover, as if it too was eager for the show to begin tonight. There would be no audience besides Luna, Twilight, the stars, and the moon. 

It was just about time to begin. The journey to Ponyville by train was about 2 hours long, but the train station closed moments ago. Thus she would have to fly to the mare of her dreams. Her heart was trying to jump out of her chest and her mind began running through all of the possible outcomes. The only three that she could focus on were, Twilight rejecting her and never talking to her again, Twilight rejecting her, but they still talked and acted like friends, or Twilight would feel the same way about her. There were also the possibilities of Twilight not being sure or not having an answer for her, but Luna doubted that would happen. 

The sun slowly descended beneath the horizon and with it, the final remnants of the day. The cloud cover cleared and Luna's horn glowed helping the orb in the sky raise itself high in the sky. The stars began to show themselves, creating vast images that decorated the blackened sky. Some of the constellations reflected themselves in the alicorn's mane. Now that the stage was set, all Luna had to do now was fly to Ponyville and to the Golden Oaks Library. 

The Princess spread her wings wide allowing the feathers to feel the temperature of the night she created. It was warm with a light breeze trickling through the air cooling her down into a mild temperature. She crouched down and steadied herself for take off. She bent her legs a little further and leaped into the sky. The light breeze sped up into a howl as Luna flew higher and faster towards the clouds. If she could get above the cloud cover it would be a clean flight to Ponyville. Just as she was about to enter, she quickly leveled off and descended some. At first she wondered why she stopped herself, but then she glanced down at the glittering city beneath her. Various light posts were scattered around the plazas, streets, alleys, shops, and homes that she had now come to be familiar with. She saw two ponies sharing a meal, a single candle their only light source. 

The table was decorated with a red and white checkered table cloth and the dish being served was spaghetti. Yummy. Luna smiled genuinely and readjusted her focus on the little town now coming into view. The trees of the Everfree were teeming with life as could be heard by the various sounds emanating from it's borders. Fluttershy's cottage was slightly visible through the dim moonlight. 

Luna followed the dirt path leading into town and saw Sugarcube corner along with Carousel Boutique not far from it. Sweet Apple Acres lay far off in the distance, but the apple fields never looked grander. It truly was amazing how four ponies could run a field of apples along with a shop in the market. Lastly, Luna saw her destination, The Golden Oaks Library. The library stood out from most of the buildings in Ponyville, given that it was a tree, hence the name, and that it's librarian had saved Equestria three times over. 

Luna descended upon the library and landed with a soft thud on the ground. She stared up at the tree that now towered over her, the various branches protruding from it's base. A light was on in the upper bedroom, or at least it looked like a bedroom. It was hard to tell from the ground, given the angle she was looking at it and lighting issues. After seeing some shadowy movements from inside, Luna flew up to the balcony sitting atop the library and landed without any sort of sound. She moved silently towards the window and saw Twilight Sparkle reading a book on her bed next to an owl perched on the nightstand. 

Luna's heart quickened again and her breathing began to speed up becoming rapid. Sweat almost managed to slip out of her brow, but she took a deep breath, steeled her nerves, and knocked on the window.  

Twilight turned her head to the source of the knocking and saw a nervous looking Luna standing outside her window. Owlowiscious hooed excitedly flying over to perch himself on Twilight's back. The librarian giggled and unlocked the window for the princess waiting outside. She turned to go back to her book, but saw that Luna was not opening the window and walking in. Instead, she sat down on the balcony and stared at Twilight as if telling her that she was waiting for her to come outside onto the balcony. Twilight looked back at Owlowiscious, concern starting to etch itself in her face. She motioned for her friendly neighborhood owl to take a seat on the nightstand. Twilight then proceeded to go out onto the balcony and greet Princess Luna. 

She opened the window and was instantly buffeted by a warm atmosphere and gentle breeze. The wind ran through her mane sprinting across her skin and sending a tiny shiver through her body. Luna had her head down and she appeared to be lost in thought. What that thought was, Twilight did not know. Whatever it was it seemed to be troubling her or at the very least occupying her mind at the moment. To Twilight this seemed like the perfect opportunity to help out a friend. 

"Princess Luna! It's nice to see you again!" Twilight greeted. She then bowed. 

"It is nice to see you too, Twilight Sparkle, but there is no need for bowing. Not for you at least." Luna replied with a small smile. 

"What brings you to the library?" Twilight asked. 

"I-I needed to tell you something. I mean SHOW! Yes, show." 

Twilight's concern rose significantly as was Luna's nervousness. If that little sentence hadn't given it away she didn't know what could.

"Princess Luna, are you alright? You seem really nervous. Is something bothering you?" 

"No, no nothing. I would just like to show you something." Twilight's eyes glittered slightly. 

"What?" 

Luna closed her eyes and charged her horn up. "This." 

Her horn's magic exploded into thousands of sparks of magic. Her naval aura taking hold of each of the shards and gluing them together all the while the shards were lighting up, twinkling in the night's embrace. The whole balcony was lit up in a dim display of blue and white. Each twinkling shard came together in the middle then backed out and imploded into more shards, further enhancing the display. Twilight watched in awe as the different shards blew up into a piece of an image. One grew into a shade of green which dominated most of it while in the corner there was a hint of blue. All of the shards grew into more pieces of a picture which were pieced together in front of the librarian. 

The last shard grew into the final piece to complete the portrait. The stars were twinkling wildly and the moonlight had somehow intensified. The image wavered some, but it was still crystal clear. The image portrayed Princess Luna laying down in the royal garden, lilies, orchids, sunflowers, roses, daisies, and jasmines. Next to her lay Twilight Sparkle cuddled up against her side with a blue wing draped over her holding her closer. They sat under an oak tree whose trunk was tinted blue and the leaves shimmering in the moon's presence. Luna bent her head down and snatched up a lily in her teeth. She turned to Twilight and slipped it into her mane, adjusting it so it could be seen by everyone. Twilight looked up at Luna and stole a kiss from the alicorn before sighing happily. Luna nuzzled Twilight and said three words that held so much power. 

"I love you." 

The imaged Twilight had a tinted blush on her cheeks and kissed Luna once more, the love emanating from the picture itself. 

"I love you too." 

Just as the image was beginning to finish up, a voice could be heard from inside the library. 

"Hey, Twi, is everything alright up there? I heard a boom and thought you were cooking again!" the voice laughed, "you weren't in the kitchen though so I came up here." 

Then things began going downhill. Soon after that Luna's mind wandered trying to match the voice with somepony she knew. She was able to identify the voice as Spike, the dragon living with Twilight. The only problem with that was if she was using the spell right now, then...oh no. 

The image dissipated into a purple scaled dragon with green spines. The dragon was much larger than Spike actually was, but Luna's mind was basing this off of the many dragons she had seen over her lifetime. The dragon began spraying fire and burning everything in it's path. Everything was on fire and ponies were fleeing from the destruction. Just as the dragon was about to destroy the castle, Luna's eyes shot open and the spell stopped. The image disappeared, leaving a visibly stunned Twilight Sparkle and a frightened Princess Luna laying on the balcony floor. Spike stood off to this side with half of him stepping out of the window while the other half remained in the library. 

"I'll just leave you two be. Night, Twilight! Night, Princess!" 

Spike closed the window and retreated back into the library. Twilight sat with her mouth hung agape, no emotion visible on her face. Luna stared back but kept looking down, then looking back up to Twilight, then down again. She felt like crying her heart out, she felt like running as fast as she could to Tia, Canterlot, and to safety. She had messed up her gift to Twilight. She hadn't felt this crushed since Tia had imprisoned her on the moon. Luna tried to hold back the tears, but she didn't have the strength to do so right now. Tears trickled down her face and she began crying. Her cries echoed and the tears rolled down her muzzle. The droplets felt cold against her skin and her eyes began to itch and irritate. Luna's heart felt heavy and she hid her face in her hooves. She didn't want to have to face Twilight right now, for she had failed. She failed in her attempt, it was going perfectly until Spike had shown up and ruined everything. 

Luna stopped herself from going any further. It wasn't Spike's fault for her mishap, it was her own. Only now did she realize that she had forgotten to use the soundproof spell and that cost her everything. Her chances of showing Twilight how much she meant to her was lost. She would have to tell Tia and Discord how she had failed in her attempts, Tia would show her sympathy and try to cheer her up. Discord would make a poor attempt at doing so and instead point out her failure right away and either savor it or show sympathy as well and try to cheer her up with some chaotic notion. 

Luna was just about to look up and take flight to hide her shame when a gentle hoof lifted her face from her hooves. She sniffed and looked through tear stained eyes and saw the lovely lavender eyes of Twilight. Her eyelids were half closed and a dreamy smile was showing. She leaned down and kissed Luna without hesitation. Luna was still crying, tears were still escaping, but she felt warm inside. Luna wondered how a mare like Twilight Sparkle, who would put much thought into all of her descisions, would act as rash as she did. It surprised Luna at the most and she did not expect this outcome. 

Her lips felt warm as she ignored her thoughts and focused on the kiss. Every nerve in her body exploded with bliss and joy. Her brain had shut down and she was completely oblivious to the world around her. Her crying dissolved into tiny sniffles and then into nothing as she calmed down, then let the joy overtake her. 

Twilight pulled away, much to Luna's disappointment, and stood the Princess up in front of her. 

"Luna, that was absolutely beautiful, except for the dragon part. That was a little scary." Luna blushed in embarrassment. 

"So you liked it?" Luna asked sheepishly. 

"I loved it." 





Two lovers sat on the balcony of a library built inside of a tree. Both sat close to each other and shared their warmth while watching the night give way to the dawn. Luna looked up towards the sky and saw many of the stars still twinkling, but this time she saw a particularly bright one shining the brightest out of them all. It's lavender-like glow besting all the other shades of orange, red, white, blue and many others found in the night sky. The moon was now below the horizon and the sun started peaking up above it. To say it was beautiful was an understatement, for it was spectacular. The many shades of yellow and peach flying across the blue sky along with the tiniest shade of lavender. The alicorn looked down at the unicorn sitting beside her and kissed her on the forehead, raising a blush out of the studious unicorn. 

Twilight turned her head and stole a kiss from Luna and scooted closer to her. 

"I love you, Luna." Twilight said in an affectionate tone. 

"I love you too, my little Twinkle." 

Twilight smiled big and leaned against Luna. She stifled a yawn and rested her head on her shoulder. Luna draped a wing over Twilight and sighed happily. The news of this new relationship between them would cause some ruckus and Discord could have that as a thank you for helping her, if he helped at all. Luna banished the rest of the thoughts from her head and instead focused on the sight in front of her and the mare next to her. 

Both were equally beautiful, but Twilight was the brightest star the world had to offer. 

She twinkled like no other. 


THE END