//------------------------------// // A Shoulder to Cry on // Story: Lessons in the Moonlight // by Harmony Split //------------------------------// Chapter Twenty-Three: A Shoulder to Cry on It was all hard to process, to take in. Just a few hours ago, I was pretty sure that Fire Breeze was dead. Now I knew she was more alive than ever. That was something that I had more than a few problems dealing with. Of course, in front of Twilight, Luna, Fire and the others, I was the perfect example of a calm pony. I had to be, if not for me, then for them. Now? Now my mind was a single feather in the wind, being tossed around by thoughts I couldn't control, thoughts that hurt to think of. Never, never would I have thought that it would come to all this. Life can be jokingly cruel, right? I find my first lover after centuries, and after finding my newest, deepest love. Being lost in thought seemingly didn't pass Twilight unnoticed, because a gentle nuzzle broke me out of my own mind, “Are you alright?,” she asked me with what looked like a caring, gentle smile. I sighed. There was no way I would ever lie to her, “Being honest here? No. It's a lot to take in, and I still can't believe they both lied to me for all these years,” I admitted with a small frown, my brow furrowing as I turned my attention to look out the window of the tower we were currently sitting in. She hummed before laying a wing around me, “I don't know how you feel, since I’ve never had such a moment, but I can imagine it. They both did something bad, but also did something good today with their actions,” She paused and looked into my eyes, “I was able to see it. They both care deeply for you, and they never wanted to hurt you. All they want is your happiness, even if it is not with them.” “How can you be so sure with that?” I asked her, puzzled by the suggestion that they actually cared about me. “Cadance was a good teacher,” she winked slyly, “Love and its feelings are just an extension from friendship, my reign, so it was pretty easy to learn once I got rid of my embarrassment about the topic,” she explained simply, making an idle hoof gesture as she explained it. “Must've been a pretty interesting lesson,” I replied, chuckling quietly as I continued looking out the window, refusing to look at her. Twilight actually blushed at that before coughing, “What are you going to do now?” She asked as she laid a hoof gently on my side, urging me to speak. I sighed, “If I just knew. This is kind of hard to process. That whole time, I thought she was dead. That I outlived her and that it was my fault because I didn't fight hard enough for her promotion. Now,” I hesitated, feeling a lonely tear starting to form in my eye, “Now she is back like I always dreamed, but just because of a few lies and Luna trying to replace her, I feel betrayed and hurt by the ones I loved. Not to mention anything about the conflict,” This time I looked directly at Twilight, “I’m still going to hold my promise, but I never left Fire Breeze. I don't know what to do. I love you, Twilight, with all of my heart, but at the same time I don't know if I can betray you both, since Fire is back.” “Do you still love her?” Came the question that I dreaded. It was a simple question, yet it hurt my heart, “Of course I do. You never forget your first love. But it's not as strong as it was. And, Twilight, I’m not just kicking clouds when I say that the love I have for you is way stronger. I mean it, and that's why I rejected Fire the whole time today. I'm not going to replace you with anypony, not even an old flame,” I said, not actually intending the pun, but noticing it as soon as it was out of my muzzle. Twilight seemed reassured by my words, even though the worried crest of her brow remained. She gave a soft sigh before she leaned in and hugged me tightly, wrapping her forehooves around me and pulling me close against her. She didn’t say anything, but there wasn’t really anything that needed to be said at that point. We had each other, even though there was so much else that was going on, and that was all that really mattered to me. As we slowly broke, she looked into my eyes. It was still a worried gaze, which was something that I just couldn’t let linger there. Before she could back away, I closed the distance again, but this time muzzle to muzzle. She hesitated, but leaned in, humming gently. I poured all the love, all those feelings into the kiss, trying to soothe her worries. It seemed to work, at least a little. She practically melted into the kiss, as if my touch were enough to just pull away the barrier that had been holding back all of her emotions all day long. I could easily say the same for myself; it was a relaxing, beautiful touch that warmed me to the core, and brought emotions buzzing to the surface. And then the tears started. I don’t know what made it start, really. Or if there was even a single thought that triggered it. All I know is that suddenly I had my muzzle buried in Twilight’s neck, and I was bawling against her coat, my cries only partially muffled against her. But her hooves were around me, and it felt like they had always been around me, as if somehow she had known this was going to happen and had prepared for it. I had no words to express to her, or anything to really say to explain myself. I just needed to cry, to let the floodgates open and my soul weep to the one I loved. And so I did just that; I cried, and wailed against her, and through the heart-wrenching, painful sobs, my princess was there to hold me and rub my back. She didn’t have any words for me either, but I don’t think she needed to say anything. Her actions were more than enough to give me a port to weather the storm of emotions that was raging within me. I don’t know how long it took for me to calm down, but Twilight never left her spot, never left me alone. Just that was more worth to me than a thousand bits, completely priceless and irreplaceable. After everything that happened, just that she was there warmed my heart completely. She was an anchor that kept me grounded enough not to be swept away, and the very thought of her being there for me made me warm and fuzzy inside, despite the emotional storm that ravaged me and caused me to wail against her. “Hey, everything will be fine,” she whispered, gently nuzzling the top of my head, “I’m here for you, I won’t leave you alone,” she reassured in a calm, soothing voice that just told me that everything was going to be alright, even if she had said anything but that. “I know,” I sniffed, “It’s just hard to take everything in,” I admitted pathetically, trying my best to blink the tears away so I could look at least somewhat presentable. “Shhh,” she whispered. “I’m sure I look horrible now. Your captain crying on your shoulder. I’m sorry,” I complained as I tried backing away, but she held me firmly in her grasp, refusing to let me leave. “No need for excuses. If I wanted a hard-as-steel captain, I wouldn’t have chosen you as my marefriend and captain,” she smiled gently, kissing the top of my head gently, giving me a silent reassurance that everything was fine and that she didn’t judge me for having a moment. “I’ve never had a breakdown like this,” I whispered back, “It just seems like the world chose today to simply fuck me,” I said, only realizing my choice of words after they had already left my muzzle. I waited for a retort to my choice of words, but all she did was chuckle in response, “That’s a way of describing it,” she agreed with a little nod, seeming not in the mood to make fun of my word choice. I appreciated the fact that she wasn’t making fun of me for my slip up, but at the same time, I kind of wished that she’d do something that would break the tension that I could feel in the air. After a few more moments of silence, in which she just held me and kept my head underneath her chin, she finally spoke up, “Besides, I’m the only one allowed to fuck you,” she said, finally pouncing on the joke. I gave a loud, irritated sigh and playfully shoved her chest with both my hooves, which made her break out into a fit of giggles. “Yeah, yeah, way to make fun of me, you meanie,” I pouted, crossing my hooves and making a show of trying to look as upset as possible. Of course, that didn’t work out so well when her giggling was so infectious, and I soon found myself laughing along with her despite my best attempts to act serious. I felt the weight of the emotions just slide off of my shoulders as we laughed together about my slip up, and I felt my need to cry abandon me just like that. “Better?” she asked after our laughter died down a bit. “Yes,” I snorted, “And I’m not going to comment on your choice of words. Since when do you use the word ‘fuck’ in reference to me so bluntly?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. She actually blushed. And I had to say that the pink matched her purple coat very nicely, “Well, let’s just say I feel like I can be more than open with you.” “That’s good to hear,” I replied with a gentle nuzzle, “I hope it will develop in the future.” “Who knows?” she answered with her very own smile, one that would always make my heart melt, no matter when and in what situation. Of course, it was at about that moment when I was nuzzling her that I realized that I was spreading the remnants of my tears and other stuff on Twilight’s muzzle, and quickly pulled away with a bit of an embarrassed wince. Giving her a nervous smile, I idly scratched the back of my neck, “Oh, uh, sorry. Maybe I should go take a shower?” I suggested awkwardly, suddenly feeling very conscious of what a mess I was. “Yes. Yes you should,” she replied teasingly, leaning in close as she spoke, “But under one condition,” she breathed into my ear. “That would be?” I asked, more than a little skeptical about what she might have in mind. Her smile was wicked. More than I was used to from Twilight, “I come with you. No funny business, though,” she winked with a devious little smirk that set my fur on end. “So you can just be a big tease?” I asked accusingly, throwing her a narrow-eyed glance. “Where’s the fun without any teasing?” she asked innocently. “Well, there’s more fun to be had in having a bit of funny business, ya’know,” I complained, nudging her chest playfully with a hoof, which caused my princess to giggle. “Maybe later,” she winked deviously, accompanied by a smirk that made my regret bringing up the idea. “What? Really?” I asked, quite surprised by her openness towards the idea. It was unexpected from her, I figured she would be a lot less open about having sex while in Canterlot. Twilight giggled again, “Hey, I said maybe, don’t take that as a promise,” she said teasingly, that smirk never leaving her muzzle. “Good enough for me,” I shrugged, winking. I wasn’t about to turn the offer away, even if it was only a possibility and not a promise yet. Somehow, my princess found that more than amusing. At my words, she gave a little giggle, and that smirk turned into a satisfied grin. “What?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Nothing,” she denied, shaking her head with the playful grin still on her muzzle. “Spill it,” I prodded, also taking the time to poke her deliberately on the forehead, trying to annoy the answer out of her. “Noooope,” she said in a singsong manner, pointedly refusing to tell me anything that I wanted to know. “Pfft, suit yourself, if you don’t want this flank,” I teased her with a quick shake of my flank, making sure to flick the tip of her muzzle with my tail as I did so. Her laughter died immediately, “Shower. Now. Princess’s orders,” she said, quickly standing up to vacate the room and presumably escort me to the showers. “As you wish, your highness,” I teased her with a playful bow, receiving a hard nudge into my side as a result, “Ouh!” I exclaimed, the pained grunt turning into a little laugh as I looked up to see the unamused look of my marefriend in front of me. She turned around without another word, gave me a flick of her tail, and then she started making her way out of the room. Figuring that she was heading to the showers, I stood up straight and quickly set about following her. It wasn’t a terribly long walk to the showers, especially not with Twilight’s flank directly in front of me the entire way there. It gave me something to distract myself with, rather than paying attention to the walk. And I don’t think that Twilight really minded, even when she looked over her shoulder and noticed me staring, she just gave me a knowing grin and picked up the pace. With a simple touch of magic, the door to the bathroom was flung open ahead of Twilight, just slightly harder than was really necessary. I caught the minor flinch on her muzzle when she realized just how hard she flung the door open, but frankly, I think she had other things on her mind at that moment. She stepped to the side and waited for me to pass the threshold, which I made a point of doing as teasingly slowly as possible. “Get your butt in here,” Twilight practically growled as she reached out with a hoof to grab me around the neck. I was caught off guard by her movement, and she took full advantage of that to yank me into the bathroom, at the same time slamming the door behind me. I had never seen her so worked up, really. It was one of the hottest things I had ever seen. “Now, wipe your face, and get that flank in the shower. That’s an order,” the alicorn snapped at me, pointing at the shower with a hoof. Yes, ma’am. *** I was feeling much better after the shower. My muscles were much more relaxed, and my fur felt like absolute silk to the touch. Even my mane cascaded around me like a miniature silver waterfall. But all of that meant nothing to me, all that mattered was the lovely, beautiful mare in my arms immediately in front of me. We had showered for a good hour, which was something that came across as absolute bliss for me. It had felt like a long, long time since I had any decent private time with Twilight. It had really only been once the water turned cold that we parted and retreated back to the bedroom, wrapped in the fluffy embrace of her blankets there. Despite the warm embrace and comfort of my location, I was not yet overcome by the tiredness I thought I should be feeling. Instead, I was actually still fairly awake and full of energy. My muscles were still buzzing with energy brought forth by the moonlight, a hum that I just couldn’t shake despite my best attempts at trying to force myself asleep. Giving a soft sigh, I turned my attention to look out the window at the full moon that rested on the horizon just outside. The bright light coming from the moon almost beckoned to me to go out, work some of the energy out of my system during a night flight. After all, that was how I had gotten my cutie mark in the first place, so it was worth consideration. “Hey, Twilight?” I asked in a whisper, gently prodding her with one of the hooves I had wrapped around her barrel. “Mhh?” Came her murmured response, little more than a grunt of dismissal. “What would you think about a quick flying trip under the moonlight?” I smiled at her. “Flying? Now?” She asked, puzzled. I gently nuzzled her coat, “Yes. Just us two. It might help get my head free, and having you at my side would be an enormous plus.” “You do remember I'm not the best flyer?” “And it still worked fine last time,” I grinned, “C’mon!” I could see that she wasn't really thrilled, but I gave her my best puppy stare I could muster. Something even she couldn't stand up long against. “Fine, we’ll go flying,” she huffed, “But in return for that, I want you to take me out to dinner,” she added with a wink. “Anything my princess wants,” I laughed in response. “Anything?” She asked. I gulped. Oh oh. The way she pronounced that question didn't seem good for me. She had something her her mind already, something I wasn't really sure about. She looked at me with a smile that made my heart flutter, that made me sure I would do everything for her. So I did the only thing I could. I nodded. “Good mare,” she purred before smiling and approaching me, “Now, lets go flying, and then,” she stopped and leaned in, her next words nothing above a seductive whisper, “Then, I’m going to tell you what I want from you.” She turned around and made for the door. How was I even going to resist? I couldn’t, that was fact. The way her hips gently swayed, her tail brushed from side to side, it was hypnotizing. It showed me that she had another side, a new side that was just for me. Not Princess Twilight, no. She was my marefriend. “Should we do it like the last time?” she asked, shuffling her wings slightly. I wanted to say yes. But I had something else in mind. A memory that was freshly burned into my mind, something that was buried with Fire Breeze, yet newly awakened. It was something I had done once with one single pony. It was time to see how much we trusted each other. Giving Twilight my most inviting wink, I dashed out of the door and spread my wings, trying to get as high as quickly as I could. I could make out a ‘not fair’ shriek down below, but that was my plan. Come to me, Twilight. I could see her. First just as a small purple dot, then she was getting bigger. Fast. I didn’t expect her to approach me that fast, and was more than surprised as she stopped before me and kissed me on my muzzle, “Tap, you’re it.” Blinking, I watched her speed away. Where does that confidence come from? I chuckled and made my way to speed after her. Twilight tried to get a distance between us by flying directly next to the clouds, making my route like an obstacle course. That was, until I had enough. Just as Twilight lowered down behind a cloud, I sped up and smashed through the cloud and right into Twilight, sweeping us into the next larger cloud below us. First, the only sounds she managed were some ear-piercing shrieks, but as soon as we hit the cloud she burst into a laughing fit. I soon chimed in with her giggling eagerly, “Guess we’re even now.” She nudged me in response, “Next time, don’t fly away.” “Well, I had plans,” I replied in my defence. “Oh, really?” “Yeah. Twilight, do you trust me?” She didn’t even hesitate, “Of course, with all of my heart.” “Good. Follow me, and once we’re up high enough, fly directly beside me. I’ll show you something,” I smiled before getting up off of the cloud, “Ready?” Twilight nodded and we lifted off. My destination was over the clouds, more than high enough to correct any errors before the ground, and also high enough to have the clouds as a sort of emergency buffer. “What are we doing?” Twilight asked as we glided over the clouds, wingtip to wingtip. Smiling, I brushed my wing against hers, “Don’t freak out about what I do now. Our wings have to synchronize, or it won’t work.” “What?” Twilight asked, but it was a bit too late. I had already rolled onto my back, gliding under her and smirking. Before she could ask anything, I approached her, gently nuzzling against her coat and wrapping my hooves around her. Her eyes went wide, and I could see her concentrating as she tried to get her wingbeats match mine. After a few seconds, she was still trying to adjust her beats, looking at me with slight panic. I responded by pressing my lips against her own soft ones. Twilight hummed gently into my mouth and her wings slowed down, her beats less frantic as they began to match mine. The kiss lasted for a while, neither of us wanting to break apart. Sadly, even alicorns and ascended Lunar Guards had to breathe once in awhile, so we had no choice but to break after a few seconds. “Wow.” That was all she said, yet, it was enough for me. Her eyes, her beautiful violet eyes spoke of love and trust, making my heart jump in my chest. “I love you,” I whispered. “I love you, too.” There wasn’t any need for more words. After all, we had the whole of Equestria beneath us. The chapter continues here if you are open to clop. Have fun!