//------------------------------//
// Embrace Thy Lover 
// Story: Luna's Story: Rise of the Lunar Stallions 
// by Aegis Shield 
//------------------------------//

Luna’s Story: Rise of the Lunar Stallions
Part 9: Embrace Thy Lover

Luna awoke with a quiet purr, feeling warm and rubbery like a pony who had slept in. Was the sun on her? Could she sleep more? No, the happy warmth pressed to her was another pony. She blink-blinked stupidly, studying him for a moment. He was a handsome thing with brown fur and golden mane. The medallion pressed cooly on his chest reminded her, and all of her normal memories came rushing back. Snuffling a little, she took a deep breath of waking. It didn’t take the alicorn long to notice she was in the submissive position of the embrace. His head was tucked firmly atop hers, careful of her horn while his front hooves hung around her neck. She spent a long time looking at him quietly, her ethereal mane blowing with a breeze that wasn’t there. She didn’t want to wake him.

The dark alicorn pressed herself into the stallion for another long moment, moaning quietly. Careful not to gouge him with her long horn, she nuzzled quietly and enjoyed his sandy scent. She did not want to rise from bed, but she would miss dinner with her sister if she didn’t. Luna stirred softly, then leaned over him. One of her massive hooves stroked his mane absently. He looked so peaceful and handsome when he slept. Fighting down darker thoughts, she pushed the sheets back and rubbed his belly in wide circles. He nickered a little, smiling and turning over. “Oh ticklish, art thou?” she mused, leaning over him with a wider grin. She rub-rub-rubbed at his belly again, snickering. He curled up, giggling some, all four legs retreating and folding in to cover his soft undercarriage. She scrubbed at him harder, and he fell out of the bed with a bump. He whinnied a little, and she leaned over the side worriedly. “Aegis! Art thou alright?!”

Aegis Shield sat up, blink-blinking at the bump on his head and the naked princess leaning over him. His eyes traveled down to admire her fur for a long moment, for she had no regalia covering her chest and it was quite velvety. The few long moments of last night rushing back to him were interesting, for he stared at her like a stranger. Neither pony, apparently, were excellent risers. “Uh?” he managed, then shook his mane. “Oh, I’m okay.”

Luna relaxed a bit, smiling at him bashfully. “It is time to rise, my stallion.” She whispered more soothingly. He smiled at her in a private way, leaning forward to nuzzle her cheek softly. “Mrrrr… do not distract us, our sister will expect us at the dinner table.” She made a show of giving a lot of effort to pull from him, going to put on her regalia, shoes and crown.

Feeling mischievous, Aegis rose and leaned against her while she was still in front of her vanity mirror. Until the moment the princess stepped outside this room, they were out of the public eye and a little more than just princess and guard. “Distract you? How? Like thiiiiis?” he snickered, running a hoof from the base of her neck to the print of her cutie mark. The single lewd and easy stroke of her fur made her body shiver in excitement. She swatted at him animatedly.

“Yes, like that!” she said hotly, perching her crown upon her head. Turning her head back and forth to make sure it was perfect, she brushed at her mane a few times. Her stallion had other plans. He took the end of her long and starry mane in his teeth. “Ouch!” she said, tugging back. “Well! When thou wants attention!” she giggle-snorted a little, a hoof rushing to her nose to hide it. The stallion chuckled, letting go of her mane. What had him so frisky morning? Er… twilight? Still slow and lazy, he rather comically rested his chin on her back while she put her shoes one. She gave her rump a toss to dislodge him, giggling the entire time. 

A knock at the door jolted them both. Mumbling his oath, Aegis Shield imploded into his lunar stallion form. Shaking his head a few times to clear his eyes, he approached the door with a haughty expression and opened it. Golden steam was floating around his eyes, giving him an otherworldly look. “Her majesty is dressing, how can I help you?” he said to the solar stallion in the hall.

“Her majesty sent me to check on Princess Luna. Dinner is waiting.” He said, snapping a salute to the lunar stallion in truly formal fashion. Aegis couldn’t help but notice the guard’s eyes flicking all over his armor and teeth like so many others before him. Some ponies still thought the lunar stallions looked like monsters.

“I’ll make sure she gets the message.” Aegis returned the salute and shut the door quietly. Tapping his chest plate’s world-searching eye, he returned to his normal form with a gasp of magic. When he at last turned to Luna he found her staring. “What?” he asked. “You were half-dressed.” He said a little nervously.

“Thy transformation.” She said, lifting a hoof to point at him. “It was so natural. Thou did not miss a step!” The princess looked him up and down, shocked and awed. He smiled a little bashfully. Aegis had transformed and untransformed so many times over the six weeks or so since becoming a lunar stallion, it didn’t hurt or make him lose his mind anymore. It was like growing a second skin. “Do it again.” She commanded, smiling widely.

Aegis threw out his chest impressively as a stallion could, for there a watching mare waiting for him to do something impressive. He recited the oath for her. “In the dark, we tear and rend. To end all evils, with spines to bend. Lust and power, hunger and might. By Luna’s will, and dark of night!” The eye of the medallion opened, and the lunar stallion armor unfolded over his body with many clanks of metal. His fur flashed to grey and his eyes brightened to gold. His wings opened, membranes and not feathers. He’d hardly batted an eye!

“Impressive!” she praised, rearing on her back legs briefly. He smiled at her coyly. “Thou art in full sync with thy armor now!” she grinned at him, cheeks lifting with a squeaky toy sound. He tilted his muzzle up and closed his eyes, on display for his princess. She chuckled, sending him out into the hall so she could finish getting ready for dinner.

=-=-=-=

“And then I received a mare in the day court today, you’ll not believe what she asked, dear sister.” Celestia said, smiling rather grandly. Luna cocked her head, for it took something pretty special to elicit a genuine grin from her solar sister. “She asked me to bless her upcoming marriage! Nopony has asked me to do that in decades!” she chuckled with glee, practically glowing with pride. Luna smirked. That had always been one of Tia’s little vice’s, being able to hoof out blessings. It was a rare tradition to have a joining blessed anymore, for it was on older custom. But, it had made Celestia’s day.

Luna leaned over her plate while prince Blueblood tried very, very hard to eat his spaghetti without dripping sauce on his freshly-trimmed pelt. He sighed when a few speckles of red appeared on his chest. The dark alicorn chuckled a little. “So how have you and your lunar stallions been doing, aunt Luna?” he asked conversationally, setting his fork down in defeat to reach for the fruit bowl in the middle of the table. “I was told you made a second recently.”

“Word certainly travels fast.” Luna said with a mildly arched brow. “Twas less than two days ago.” She turned a wary eye to her sister Celestia to gauge her reaction. The only expression on the sun princess’ face seemed to be mild amusement. Luna saw Blueblood looking at her intently, and then remembered he’d asked a question. “They’re doing very well indeed. I think two is enough for the time being, however. With such old magic at work, anymore than that may do more harm than good.”

“What makes you say that, auntie?” Blueblood asked.

“If the palace had but one room, you would not assign a hundred guards to guard it.” Celestia said wisely, turning her fork and lifting noodles by magic. Luna nodded. It was true, she’d only had her guards follow her about really. She hadn’t stationed them anywhere to guard anything. With one pony to guard, two was certainly enough.

The meal progressed, and Blueblood spoke again. “Excuse me, I’ve a fencing lesson to attend before the evening is out.” He regally wiped his mouth with a napkin, rose and was away with farewells from his aunts at his back. Aegis Shield and Stalwart Hide were favored with a smile as he passed, and the royal pony was soon gone.

“He’s going to be ill, doing an activity like that right after eating.” Celestia tinkled with quiet laughter. “But, I didn’t have the heart to stop him. He needs to learn.” She sighed sympathetically, shaking her head. Luna gave her a look, and the sun princess quickly returned to her food. The sisters ate in relative silence, both content for different reasons. ‘So? Want to tell me why you’re in such spirits, Luna?’ Celestia thought quietly. Luna jerked at the thought-speak, for it wasn’t often the sisters shared it.

‘What dost thou mean?’ Luna thought back, locking eyes with her sister. If Celestia was thought-speaking, the conversation was meant to be truly private. Neither solar nor lunar guards were meant to hear, in other words. ‘We feel fine.’

‘I didn’t ask if you were sick.’ Celestia teased with a bouncing eyebrow. She lifted the noodles twirled on her fork and chewed on them quietly while they spoke. ‘You have a certain… radiance about you, don’t think I did not notice.’

Luna cocked her head, staring at her solar sister. Aegis Shield noticed the shift in body language, and furrowed his brow. Careful not to move too much from his at-attention posture, he feigned stretching his wings and flicked Stalwart Hide. Gesturing with his eyes, he got the other stallion to pay closer attention too. Luna was leaning and moving about like there was a conversation going on. Stalwart cocked his head as though he’d gone deaf then locked eyes with Aegis, who shrugged. It must’ve been a private conversation or something. Both princess’ horns were glowing faintly.

‘I… don’t know what you mean.’ Luna finally said, but even her thought-speak was unsure.

‘No no, sister. I’ve seen that look before.’ Celestia said silently. She wiped her slender muzzle before levitating the nearby glass to sip. ‘In fact, I believe I saw that look on that mare’s face this afternoon. You are in love, little one--’

‘That’s NONE of thy business!’ Both lunar stallions watched in amazement as the princess of the night turned a lovely shade of scarlet. ‘None at all, Tia!’ she fussed with her noodles, attacking them violently and cutting them up a few times. Even the solar guards on the opposite side of the table were paying attention now. They couldn’t hear the conversation either, but something was certainly making Luna clak-clank-clak the silverware harder than normal. Her flushed expression was a dead give-away.

Celestia allowed a small, sympathetic smile. ‘We’ve talked about this, Luna.’ She whispered warily in her thoughts. The light and milky glow of her horn lifted another mouthful of spaghetti to her mouth. ‘You know we live so much longer than other ponies.’

‘We do not care!’ snapped Luna.

‘It would only end in heartache.’ Celestia said quietly, her eyebrows lifting even though they weren’t looking at each other directly. It was a sympathetic gaze. ‘Can you truly afford an eternity of heartache for a few decades of passion?’

‘Tiz better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all, sister.’ The dark alicorn tried, whispering her thoughts.

‘Try it.’ Celestia said, something ancient and just a little bit bitter betrayed itself in her tone. A scowl went across Luna’s features and she chewed rather aggressively, clanking her fork on the plate. Aegis Shield and Stalwart Hide exchanged glances with the nameless solar guards across the way. Something was happening, and it wasn’t pretty. All four of them were on edge.

Something savage rose up in Luna just then. Something nasty. How dare her sister say such things when she was so happy and uplifted in her adoration for Aegis Shield? She was a princess, she could do whatever she Faust-well pleased! ‘Do not serve thyself up for pity when my own stallion comes along. Perhaps thou has painted thy virginal image a little too thickly, and thou has forgotten our old harems?’ One of the plates on the table cracked into two halves all by itself. The tension in the room was palpable. One of the solar stallions licked his lips a little, eyes darting back and forth between the royal sisters.

‘That was thousands of years ago, Luna.’ Celestia said a little defensively. Luna knew she’d struck home, for the pleasant half-smile had vanished from her sister’s face. ‘I’ve not kept a harem, ever, since we decided to disperse the original one before the great war.’

‘If we remember correctly, there was that one stallion you favored even after the harem was disbanded.’ Luna cocked her head and both sisters put their forks down. There was no illusion of a meal anymore, for they’d fixed each other with rather intense gazes.

‘Don’t talk about him.’ Celestia said, a very old wound suddenly rising up in her heart. To distract herself, the white alicorn lifted a glass to her lips with magic, busily gulping water from it. There was a certain quiver in her wings.

‘You loved him very much, sister.’ Luna whispered in her mind, and she saw Celestia visibly shudder. ‘You kept him around, he lived in the palace, do not think we did not see thee frolicking.’

‘Alright, that’s enough, sister.’ Celestia said tersely. Her thought-speaks were turning darker, rippling with quiet and tense power. The guards in the room shifted uncomfortably. Was the air in the room getting hotter? 

‘What was his name…?’ Luna cocked her head, trying to call up the old memory. ‘To see thou as flushed as a spring-time filly over him was a joy I must say I never—‘

Celestia’s glass exploded violently, sending water and glass in all directions! She rose so hard from her chair it toppled backward. Luna did the same, thinking her sister about to attack. The solar guards nearly fell over themselves to rush to her aid, thinking it an assassination attempt. They flanked the white alicorn on both sides, trying to shuttle her out of the dining hall and away from the invisible attacker. “I only try to shield you from the inevitable, Luna.” the princess of the day’s voice was cracked with an oncoming weeping. All four guards gave a start at the sudden sentence. She started to rush away, but paused at the threshold of the dining hall. ‘We outlive them all, sister. All of our loves end in heartache.’

“Tia?” Luna said softly, reaching towards her sister.

“Mountain Hide.” Celestia said aloud. “His name was Mountain Hide, b-because of his big firm ch-chest you see...” With that she exploded into a shower of golden sparks, teleporting away. Luna’s magical senses found her again in her private chambers. No doubt the door would be locked and a hundred shields cocooning the room. Soon, Luna couldn’t even sense her anymore, so thick were the wards. The solar guards rushed away to find her.

Princess Luna sat down hard, a little stunned. Both lunar stallions rushed forth to either side of her, demanding to know if she was alright. “J-just a royal tiff, my stallions.” She said a little shakily. “It happens now and again. S-sisters do that.”

=-=-=-=

It was several days later when Luna approached Celestia again. She’d avoided sharing meals with her, and a serious silence was starting to make the servants nervously gossip. Deciding it best to actually approach her sister and not sulk like she had in the past, Luna went to her bedroom. It was the middle of the night, Celestia’s relaxation time. The white alicorn had not been hiding away, but rather doing her duties and then returning to her sanctuary with no social activities. This was her form of sulking, though to the public view it was little more than the princess taking time for herself for once. They thought it healthy. Only Luna saw otherwise.

Tapping lightly on the door, Luna opened it and slipped inside. Celestia looked up, startled. She was on her belly on the floor, a massive painting in front of her. The frame was of deepest oak, and the painting truly ancient. A rolled up series of sheets lay on the floor next to her. Faust only knew what dark corner she’d pulled it out of. The dark alicorn leaned without meaning to, spying a handsome face and a huge barrel chest. Celestia seized a sheet and threw it over the image. “Tia--” Luna said softly.

“Forgive me.” Celestia interrupted quietly, her head hanging. “You opened an old wound and I snapped. I’m so sorry, sister.” The princess of the day had tears wetting her poor cheeks. 

Luna went to her sister quickly, laying on her belly and extending a wing soothingly over her. Leaning and kissing away her tears quietly, she crooned over Celestia. The dark alicorn clacked her horn gently against her sister’s, a gesture of affection they’d been doing since the dawn of creation. The sun princess looked up slowly into her eyes, soft and large-pupil’d.  “Oh Tia…” Luna whispered, leaning to nuzzle and comfort her sister. They shared quiet crooning sounds, little chirps of twin-speak nopony else could understand. Celestia had given her heart to that stallion thousands of years ago, so completely and fully, even today she’d not recovered. Or perhaps, not allowed herself to. Her knee-jerk reaction was to keep Luna from making the same mistake. “Thou cannot keep us from loving, sister.” Luna said gently.

“I know.” Celestia said, ashamed of her negative reaction. “I just wasn’t expecting… and so soon after your return…” Luna nuzzled her quietly, but suddenly the solar princess paused. She leaned around Luna and pricked her teeth into her fur. Pulling away she produced a single golden hair. The princess of the night flushed at her sister’s cock-eyebrow’d look. “You’re already sleeping with him?” Celestia asked, a lopsided grin suddenly appearing on her face. She’d shifted from somber over to ‘older sister’ again. Luna was happy for the shift, but suddenly she was in the spotlight again. She tried to snatch the golden hair, but Celestia wouldn’t let her.

“No, of course not!”

“Then how did this get in your pelt, sister?” Celestia began to smirk at her, rather un-princess-like. Luna’s response was to turn a deeper shade of red. “Uh huh, I see.” There was something younger, more radiant in Celestia’s eyes now. A sister drilling her sibling about the new stallion she was dating, it was a universal look.

“We swear upon all things sacred, we are not… We mean, we can’t…” Luna winced when she dropped the hint without meaning to. Celestia’s brow rose. “Well it’s not as though we may hit the dating scene in lower Canterlot, Tia!” Luna said defensively. “Of course it would be one of the palace staff!” Celestia smirked. It was amazing how much Luna would give away when she was embarrassed or angry. 

The twin sisters soon broke into giggles. They spent the evening together until it was time for the night court to begin and Luna was needed. Celestia even allowed her sister to look upon Mountain Hide’s ancient portrait. Time and light had faded the picture into a pitiful state, but magic had preserved it for centuries. He was a handsome thing, Luna could not fault her sister for taste. It wasn’t often to see a stallion so big, stocky, and big in the chest. Males that size and stature only came along once in a generation, paragons of their breed. Luna even helped her sister lovingly put the portrait away and hide it under her bed.

=-=-=-=

Aegis Shield was quite surprised when Luna basically followed him home at the end of his shift. Going into the barracks with him, she came to his private bunk room. She saw Stalwart Hide had gone out, probably to eat and entertain himself for a few hours. “Princess?” the stallion asked when she leaned on his doorframe. “Did you need me for a few more hours tonight?” he asked, reaching up to activate his armor. She stopped him, silently shaking her head. “What is it?” he asked softly.

Leaning over, Luna put out his second lamp and plunged them into a romantic half-light. Quietly, she told him everything that had happened since the odd dinner. The lovers suddenly saw eternity stretched out before them. A normal soldier and an alicorn, starkly separated by longetivity. “Even thy armor has its limits. It will not make thou immortal as we are.” She whispered quietly. There was a long and rather sad silence between them.

“What are you saying, Luna?” Aegis Shield asked quietly. “You don’t want to be with me anymore?” he looked into her eyes and her heart quivered. Oh no no dear stallion, she wanted to beg his forgiveness. It’s nothing like that. She shook her head mutely. “I don’t want this--” he paused to gesture between the two of them, then tried again, “I don’t want us to be bittersweet about all this. It’s like a foal suddenly realizing what death is. Yeah it’s a big deal and it’s a little terrifying but… doesn’t it matter more what we do with the time?” Luna nodded slowly, eyes going soft. Of course he was right. How selfish of her to think of herself only like that. That had been her sister’s mistake, to worry and then mourn for eternity without forgiving herself for loving so deeply. Luna would not be the same. “Then don’t worry about it, Luna.” He smiled at her in that charming way he always did when they were alone. He tossed his golden mane, and her heart melted.
Luna’s horn ignited with magic and the door slammed behind her. She threw herself into his embrace, nuzzling him strongly. “Love us.” she begged quietly, rubbing her cheek in his wonderful mane. The stallion nickered, blushing and rubbing up against her as well. “Please, please just love us.”
“I love you, Luna.” Neither pony remembered how they got to Aegis Shield’s bed, or how they managed to fit a fully grown-alicorn upon it. The ancient stone room was surprisingly welcoming both in warmth and softness of atmosphere. Aegis could hear the ancestors in the back of his head, quietly conferring with one another. As a gelding he couldn’t just mount her as much as they would all like it (stallion, mare, and ancestors alike). Nuzzling her quietly, he searched his mind for the perfect thing to say. Something romantic, something that would really let her know how he felt. Gathering the happily whimpering pony in his hooves, he pulled her head to his chest and stroked her. She murred quietly, closing her eyes to just enjoy the feeling of a stallion’s hooves on her. Finally he had it. Leaning to one of her ears, he whispered to her and bore his soul. “If you were meant to live forever— and I to die tomorrow— I would still love you just as much.” Luna kissed him happily, fighting the emotional tears, her wings spreading and her cheeks warming.

End of Part 9