Dark Paradise: the TwiLuna Group Collab

by Habanc

Stuck - palaikai

Written by: palaikai

*****

Luna hadn't expected things to change overnight, but a year was taxing her patience. Not that she'd ever had a lot of it to begin with. Wherever in Equestria she went, she was met with guarded stares, if not outright apprehension. Foals who had been fed a diet of dark tales, she could understand, but the disgust she saw in the eyes of grown mares and stallions … she had tried to brush it off as no more than the anxiety one would feel around royalty, but seeing how openly they interacted with her beloved sister … no, there was no point in denying it any further. They still saw the evil Nightmare Moon, not the reformed Princess Luna.

Hell, the word nightmare had since passed into common vernacular to describe bad dreams thanks to her actions.

Not that she would ever admit it to anypony, even to Celestia herself, but she was hurting because of this; anger, bitterness, resentment … these feelings would never dominate her soul again, the nightmare had ended, but despite this, she knew not how to go around convincing everypony of that fact.

Well, there was one pony. Twilight Sparkle, much to her chagrin, was – not to put too fine a point on it – enamoured of her. It was rather embarrassing, being the focus of the studious unicorn's attention; Twilight had a keen mind, and she absorbed new information in much the same way most ponies inhaled oxygen.

Twilight, when her friendship studies allowed, would often travel back to Canterlot to visit her family and Princess Celestia, but she always made time for Luna, too. The endless questions about the night sky that was her domain had made the Lunar Princess feel awkward at first, but very soon, she grew to love those long talks that would last into the wee hours of the morning.

What thrilled her most was Twilight Sparkle's attitude toward her; she never felt uncomfortable in her presence, never put on a smile to make her feel welcome, never betrayed a sliver of fear in her eyes. There was only the pure, unbridled joy of learning. Maybe even of comity, too? Luna certainly liked to think so.

One night, while they were sitting on a balcony, discussing the phases of the moon, Luna realised something; Twilight was babbling something about waxing this or waning that, and her mulberry eyes were radiating with such intensity that they shone as brightly as any of the heavenly bodies high above them.

The unicorn seemed unaware of Luna's discomfort and continued her spiel; Luna felt something stirring within her, something she hadn't felt in more than a thousand years. Celestia had tried to prepare her little sister for everything that she might face on her return, but her classes hadn't included affairs of the heart. Her brutal past would've served as a deterrent to all but the most determined of suitors, anyway.

So young, and already so brilliant, so talented, and indeed, so beautiful, the Lunar Princess thought, watching Twilight's muzzle move, but failing to comprehend the words. Luna realised that she was stuck: there was no way in Tartarus that she could tell Twilight how she felt, but at the same time, her bosom ached with a loneliness that could not be filled by her dear sister's companionship alone.

No, Luna told herself, Twilight's attention, her friendship, will suffice. Even if she felt something for me in turn, it could never work.
A delicate hoof-touch brushed against her foreleg. “What?” snapped Luna, shook out of her reverie by the slight contact.

“Sorry,” said Twilight, recoiling slightly from Luna's outburst. “You were zoning-out pretty hard, there. Was I that boring?” she added sheepishly.

“No, not at all,” replied Luna, “you were most interesting. I was simply distracted.”

“Nothing important, I hope?”

“Nothing important at all.” Luna suppressed a sigh, letting her heart break just a little more. She'd had a thousand years of it, and it was nothing she couldn't handle.

Comments

[Hobbestc]

[TwilightXLuna]

why?

[goaway]

5315079

'Cause I'm evil and I can't write happy endings.