//------------------------------// // To the moon by palaikai // Story: Dark Paradise 2: The Twiluna prompt tag collab // by Majora //------------------------------// “If this carries on much longer,” Twilight Sparkle said acidly, using her magic to levitate her golden shoes off of her tired hooves and hurl them across the lobby of the Castle of Friendship in the same motion, “I'm gonna have to talk to Princess Celestia about turning my wings in.” She made her weary way to the throne room and slumped into the first available chair; even the normally-soothing remnants of the Golden Oaks library high overhead, a reminder from her friends of her best times in Ponyville, failed to assuage her irritation. “You don't mean that,” Spike said; he brought with him a tray with some tea and biscuits on it, and set it on the table in front of Twilight. He was getting quite used to her outbursts now. A little Earl Grey with a dash of honey usually helped her to calm down. “No, I don't,” Twilight replied, patting Spike on the head as a gesture of gratitude. She let her fatigued head fall on to the table with a soft bonk. “But I do wish I could just take a break from everything,” she added, rubbing the sore spot on her muzzle where she'd bumped it just a little bit too hard. “You're the one who wanted to do more than smile and wave,” the young dragon said, nudging Twilight's ribs with his pointy elbow. “All right, you don't need to rub it in!” Twilight lifted her head up slightly and gazed into the mug of brown liquid, wincing in disgust at the haggard reflection staring back at her; she'd accepted that being one of the Princesses of Equestria came with many responsibilities, and she was happy to carry them out, but Celestia knew they were tiring as heck! Stressful, too. If it wasn't the ponies squabbling with each other over trivial things, it was the yaks throwing a hissy-fit because the straps on their helmets weren't perfect. And of course, if it wasn't that, it was some kind of cosmic horror that required the Rainbow Power to defeat it. Yeah, being a princess wasn't like in the fairytales she'd read as a filly. It wasn't all costume balls and pageantry. The next thing she knew, she was being awoken by shards of moonlight filtering in through the open window. Twilight didn't even recall having fallen asleep. She felt a pang of regret grip her. The work itself is hard enough, but it's made even more difficult when I don't have the time to talk to Luna, let alone spend any meaningful time with her. Their relationship, such as it was when both were constrained by the burdens of their respective positions, hadn't been planned, but it had been a welcome source of joy for both. Princess Celestia had assigned Twilight Sparkle to catch Luna up on the one thousand years of history she had missed out on while banished to the moon, and it quickly became apparent to the pair that they had a lot in common. Similar interests, similar senses of humour, and a mutual appreciation for fermented grape products. Of course, Twilight hadn't known how much she liked wine until Luna had introduced her to it. The sour, fruity taste was about all that she could remember from that night. Her mind turned of its own accord to their first kiss; Luna hadn't been in the room they had been given at the time they'd agreed to meet for one of their study sessions, so Twilight – in a slightly panicky frame of mind, it had to be said – had scoured the castle and the surrounding gardens until she'd found her by a glade near one of the many canals flowing through Canterlot. She had been sitting next to a large purple flower whose petals gave off a radiant glow. It was clear from the way that she was rocking silently that she was crying. Twilight had been hesitant to disturb her, but she couldn't just leave when somepony was in need. Especially not this pony. “Luna, what's wrong?” “I … I'm afraid, Twilight.” “Of what?” “In my dreams, I still see the remnants of what I had become because of my envy. I … I think that, somewhere deep inside me, Nightmare Moon still lurks, waiting for an opportunity to be free again.” “Maybe she is, or maybe you're just feeling guilty for what happened? It's perfectly natural that you'd still be ashamed of what happened, but you have to put it behind you. You have to learn to forgive yourself.” “I don't think I can. I don't deserve forgiveness.” “Everypony does.” “Twilight ...” In that moment, when Luna had turned to face her, her crystal blue eyes filled with tears, an impulse that she'd never felt before seized Twilight. The embrace lasted but a second, but it had left an indelible mark on both ponies. It was the realization that what had passed between them was something a bit more serious than just an idle fling, but rather it was something special, something permanent. Twilight stood on the balcony at the top of the castle; the slightly-charred telescope that she had recovered from the terrace of Golden Oaks was set up here and though there was the temptation to do some stargazing, she settled instead for merely enjoying the view of Ponyville at night. The bucolic town was tranquil at the best of times, but picked out in delicate shades of beryl it was positively soporific. Only a few wayward lights courtesy of Ponyville's night owls broke up the sapphire sheen. She leaned into the cool night air, letting it reinvigorate her cramping muscles, and she resolved never to fall asleep at the table again. Resolved, rather than Promised, because Twilight was loath to make promises that she couldn't keep. She couldn't remember the last time she'd actually made it to bed. A freshly-made cup of tea was there to keep her warm, but Twilight was rather enjoying the breeze drifting down from the glistening, snow-peaked mountains. Oh, Luna, you should be here by my side. The emptiness was impossible to describe; it was like the void that had unknowingly existed in her heart before she'd been introduced to friendship by her fellow Elements of Harmony, only several orders of magnitude worse. She ruminated bitterly on that. If ponies really knew how much love hurt, nopony would ever dare to start a relationship. Icy clouds of condensation floated high into the sky when Twilight Sparkle let out the world-weary sigh that had been building up inside of her for weeks. She'd damn-near got down on her knees and begged Celestia to allow her to go with Luna on her journey, but to no avail. While the Princess of the Night was off dealing with some crisis on the southern islands, the Princess of Friendship had important diplomatic talks with a potential ally. Talks that any idiot with a half-working brain could've carried out, but no, the delegates would only talk to somepony who had a fancy title. When the temperature took a sudden dip, Twilight decided to go back inside; trying to catch up on her reading wouldn't be much fun, especially when she was feeling so distracted, but she figured that it might take her mind off things for a couple of hours before sleep. Just as she'd opened the doors, however, a shadow flitted past her field of vision. “What the-?” She ignited her horn, preparing to take aim at the wraith when it returned, but it appeared to have vanished. Twilight ran to the balcony's edge and surveyed the terrain around the Castle of Friendship: nothing. Okay, there was no shortage of weird phenomena in Equestria, and it was just possible that it was some kind of random flux of magical energy. She briefly contemplated alerting her friends, or at least Spike, but ultimately decided against it. Whatever it was, she was sure that she'd be able to handle it … always assuming that it was dangerous, of course. It was easy to forget that there were plenty of benevolent – if annoying – creatures around, too. Parasprites, to name one. “Greetings, my love.” Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin. She'd been two steps away from her bed when the voice had come out of the darkness. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” the young alicorn said, breathing heavily and certain that she was about to pass out from the fright she'd just been given. When her rapidly-beating heart finally settled down, she used her magic to ignite some candles, revealing the intruder. Princess Luna favored Twilight with a sardonic smile. “Still not a fan of pranks?” “You think?” “I apologize profusely,” Luna said in a tone that suggested that she wasn't the slightest bit sorry. Okay, maybe our senses of humour are a BIT different. Twilight found that she couldn't stay mad at Luna for very long however; whether it was because of the adorable pout of her bottom lip when she was trying to get what she wanted or just because she was too tired to be angry, Twilight didn't really care. “What are you doing here? I mean, not that I'm not happy to see you, despite the horseplay, but I thought that you were going to be on the islands for some time yet?” “Turns out that the locals were overstating things when they called it a crisis,” Luna said with a shrug of her forelegs. “I was able to get away earlier than expected and after briefing my sister, not to mention raising the moon, I came straight here. I thought that you might've been asleep already, but I'm glad that you're not.” The Princess of the Moon's calm voice, gentle demeanor and and sparkling teal eyes gave off a peaceful, calming aura, and Twilight immediately felt herself relaxing as all of her tension melted away into the ether. Perhaps it was some passive application of Luna's dreaming power? She'd have to ask about that one of these days. “I'm really glad that you're here, Luna,” Twilight said, the words practically tumbling out of her mouth. “I've been so annoyed, so frustrated, with the fact that we can't be together more often. I really wish-” At some point during her ungainly babbling, Luna had got up off the seat she had been perched on, crossed the room, and placed her muzzle against Twilight's. For a confused half-second, the younger alicorn was still trying to speak, until she realised what was happening. Finally, she closed her eyes, leaned forward and kissed Luna with the passion of a burning sun; Twilight felt something wet brushing against her lips, became aware that it was Luna's tongue, and opened her mouth to receive it. They met, they clashed, they intertwined. When they finally broke apart, panting and flushed, they remained connected by a long string of saliva. “-that we didn't have so many duties to perform,” Twilight finished, her cheeks burning bright red, the thread of spittle breaking. She noticed that, at some point during the clinch, her wings had sprung up of their own accord. Luna laughed; it was a quiet, musical chuckle that warmed the very core of Twilight's being. Just like everything else about her, it was beautiful. Suddenly, she stopped and gave Twilight a quite serious look. “Shall we … go to bed?” Her muzzle shaded to a reddish hue. “Are you … do you want to?” Was this too fast? This is too fast, right? But at the same time, I know I want more of that. Twilight felt a greed stirring in her belly; she'd never desired much more than the pursuit of knowledge before, but now her body cried out for Luna's touch. The Princess of the Night nodded. She, too, felt the craving deep within. If anything, it was worse for her because of the thousand years of absence from Equestria; her heart ached, her soul yearned, to be close to Twilight Sparkle. Her forelegs snaked around the younger alicorn's waist and she nudged her in the direction of the bed.