02: Explanations …and Embarrassment
The trip to Canterlot was by cloud, a method Twilight wouldn't have even considered as an option before experiencing it. Luna had simply grabbed a decent sized cloud from those in the area, gotten them both settled on it, and pushed it along with her magic. It was relaxing, and altogether too much like a dream. In fact, Twilight was considering that possibility as she stood alone on Luna's balcony.
She had imagined sitting on a cloud and watching the night sky with Luna before, so it was easy to accept that a dream might include that feature. They hadn't spoken on the journey either. Twilight because she was lost in thought and reveling in the lack of pain, and Luna... she looked to be lost in thoughts of her own. The lack of burning and feel of being rested were what made it feel so surreal. Feeling normal again, after the experience of the past few weeks, didn't feel normal and left her with the sensation of being disconnected from her body.
Luna had dropped her off, asked that she wait here, and flown off to another part of the castle. Figuring that "here" included the room from which the balcony extended, Twilight turned to walk inside as she tried to organize and focus her thoughts. First, something was making her ill during the day. No, that wasn't accurate. It was worst during the day, especially if she became exposed to sunlight, but night wasn't always a sanctuary. Second, Luna seemed to know what it is and said that it could kill. Third, there isn't a known cure, but-
Pain! Burning!
Twilight jerked back in shock at the sudden recurrence of the pain. It stopped almost as quickly as it had come, and she stood trembling in the aftermath. She consciously willed muscles to relax which had tensed in that brief moment, then carefully reached forward with one hoof. When nothing happened, she cautiously stepped forward - and scrambled backward as the burning shot through her again. She moved back out to the center of the balcony and stared toward the invisible barrier.
Why would there be wards inside the room instead of at the balcony doors?
Twilight knew there was something obvious that she was missing, but having faced that burning again had undone the efforts to organize her thoughts. Though, one thing she was fairly certain of now is that this wasn't a dream.
When Luna returned to her balcony she was greeted with the sight of Twilight sitting and staring into her room with unfocused eyes. She thought about asking Twilight if something was wrong, but decided it was probably just a case of having a lot to think about.
Landing next to her friend snapped her out of the daze and drew her attention. "My apologies for the delay Twilight, but I needed to arrange matters with the servants and collect a few books for you." She nodded her head at the pair of books floating along beside her. "I am sure you wish for some answers. Let us get comfortable and I shall tell you what I know."
She made her way into the room, using her magic to simultaneously open the curtains over the windows and placing the books on a low table, and settled onto a body-sized cushion. She looked around and was surprised to see that Twilight hadn't followed her.
"Twilight? Are you not coming?"
A flicker of something that looked like fear crossed the younger alicorn’s face as she asked, "What about the burning?"
"You need not fear that while I am here. Please, join me."
Twilight finally moved forward, but paused and took slow steps at one point before resuming her usual pace. Luna chose to ignore the strange behavior for the moment and waited for Twilight to get settled. She had just opened her mouth to speak when three knocks sounded from the door. She closed her mouth and waited for the second, quieter, set of knocks shortly after and opened the doors to the outer chamber. Deciding against moving from where they had already arranged themselves, she floated in the meal trays from the table where the servants had left them.
"I do not believe you need my encouragement to eat something, do you?" she asked of her companion.
A rumble from Twilight's stomach was answer enough, but the suddenly blushing purple pony also shook her head before digging in. While Twilight ate heartily and fairly quickly, Luna took her time and tried to determine if she had forgotten anything. She had checked the weather schedule, instructed the servants on the change in meal structure, announced that night court would be temporarily suspended, and left a note for her sister on what she had done so far. She couldn't think of anything else at the moment, and Celestia would no doubt inform her or take care of anything she had forgotten.
She brought her attention back to Twilight, who was staring quietly at her empty tray. "Do you wish for more food?"
Twilight's head jerked up as though she had forgotten she wasn't alone. "Oh, no. Sorry. I was just thinking."
"Very well." Luna returned the trays to the outer room and closed the doors. "Perhaps now is the time to explain what I do and do not know of your condition."
With Twilight watching her closely, she began, "I suppose the place to start is explain what your condition is, or at least what it seems to be. Ursa are, as I am sure you are aware, creatures of the night. What you may not know is that daylight is fatal to them. They require moonlight or starlight to function and remain healthy. Early in their life each Ursa develops the ability to produce their own starlight - just enough to support their self. A newborn Ursa cub is unable to produce its own light and relies on its parent...or parent surrogate."
She trailed off as her memories took hold. Twilight brought her back to the present with a quiet, "Princess Luna? Are you alright?"
She smiled at Twilight - a royal smile her sister called it, all show and no heart - and replied, "I am fine. And please, just call me Luna. After all, you are a princess as well, and more importantly a friend."
Twilight looked down in embarrassment. "Sorry. Habit, I guess." She took a deep breath and looked back up, "So what I have is related to the Ursas? I've never read anything like what you're talking about, and I studied them when we had the incident with the Ursa Minor in Ponyville."
"Right, the Ursas." Luna shook her head and continued, "Celestia and I call it lunar dependency. And it does seem to match the condition you have developed, though we thought it unique to the Ursa. We discovered it by accident in our youth, and no pony has researched the matter since to my knowledge. I do not particularly blame them given the dangers of attempting close study of them."
Luna's gaze wandered to the books she had brought with her. "Those books are the most complete I am aware on the topic of Ursa. Even though they do not cover this condition, perhaps there is something that can be used to figure out why you now have it. It is something like having an allergy to the sun and a dependence on the moon at the same time. Constant exposure to moonlight, or strong enough starlight, is essential or the body begins to attack itself. However, direct exposure to too much sunlight can be fatal, even if enough moon- or starlight is available to normally allow survival."
The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Twilight asked, "Why do you think it's the same thing?"
"The symptoms you listed in your letter. I also cast a diagnostic spell on you when I first arrived at your castle. Your body was attacking itself in the same manner that Celestia and I saw in the Ursa, and you responded to the same treatment."
"Wait, you tried treating an Ursa? What happened?"
"That is not a story for tonight."
"Oh." Twilight looked disappointed for a moment then seemed to snap back to herself. "You said treatment! What treatment? I thought there wasn't a cure?"
"There is no cure that I know. As for treatment, I exposed you to moonlight. Do you not recall?" A blank stare provided the answer, so she began to channel moonlight through herself once more. She couldn't help letting slip a giggle as Twilight's eyes widened and jaw dropped open.
After a short while Twilight snapped her mouth shut and turned slightly away with a mumbled, "I see." Luna thought her cheeks looked a little pink, but she could have been mistaken. Having answered the question, she cut off the moonlight and adjusted herself on the cushion.
"Have you any questions to ask? If not then I should be about my duties."
"No. Well, yes, I have questions, but I think I'll read first to see if what I want is there."
"Very well." With a glance through the windows at the moon and clear sky, Luna rested her head on her forelegs and closed her eyes. "The weather schedule called for clear skies all week, so you should be fine while I check in on the dreamscape. If I am needed, just call my name."
She was about to invoke her magic when she heard Twilight stand and begin walking in the direction of the doors. Raising her head she asked, "Twilight? Do you need something?"
Twilight turned to face her with the books held aloft in a purple glow, "No. I was just going to my room to read while you work."
Luna sighed and shook her head, "I'm afraid you can't do that. You need to stay nearby in case the moon gets blocked and I need to provide moonlight for you myself. And we don't know how you got this condition and if it is contagious. I would be unable to help all who were in need if too many ponies developed it. We cannot risk exposing others until we know more. That is why the servants left the food instead of staying to serve it."
Twilight turned completely toward her with a look that she couldn't interpret. "If you're worried I'll infect others, what about you?"
"I can produce my own moonlight. Even were I to become affected I could care for myself. And, I have to be near you to keep you alive."
They held each other's eyes for a minute or two before Twilight gave in to the inevitable and returned to her cushion.
The sudden closing of all the curtains in the room shook Twilight from her reading trance. Looking around she saw Luna standing by the doors to the balcony, glowing once again as she lowered the moon. She let that image drift across her tired mind for a few moments before standing and stretching out the kinks of extended inactivity.
Luna closed the balcony doors and reclaimed her cushion before turning her attention to the tray of food beside it. Twilight, who had been completely oblivious to the one beside her up to the point, immediately dug in as well. Again they ate in silence, but it was a comfortable silence as each allowed their mind to rest.
When both had been returned to the outer room, Twilight stood and started for the bath chamber. She was surprised when she arrived at the arched doorway to find that Luna had followed her. "Oh, sorry Luna. You can go first, I'll wait."
Unaccountably the blue alicorn blushed before responding, "I already took care of matters for myself before lowering the moon. Twilight... The lunar dependency means that you have to have constant exposure to moonlight, especially during the day. I have to be with you any time you're somewhere the moon's light can't reach..."
Now it was Twilight's turn to become a pony of a different color. "You mean...?"
"Yes... Everywhere..."
*****
It really didn't matter that Luna had faced away in an attempt to give her some privacy while she took care of necessities. In Twilight's mind, that was one of the most uncomfortable experiences she could remember. And it certainly hadn't helped when she'd realized that Luna facing away from her meant she had a perfect view of her crush's flank.
It was just a silly crush that would never amount to anything and she knew it, but a visual feast like that did not help her resolve to keep that in mind. At least it was over.
For now. Her all-too-observant mind piped up.
She sighed to herself as she arranged herself on the opposite side of the sizable bed from Luna. She was certain that Luna couldn't have been comfortable being there either, but she was being a good friend and helping her through this mess. So, as a good friend it was Twilight's job in return to keep her hormones in check and find some way to fix things as quickly as possible.
I just hope I can...
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4967469
I certainly hope so.
4967626
Thank you.
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4968271
This probably won't be that long a story overall, but I'll try to make it worth everyone's while.
And cuddles are always a good thing, even when they're unintentional.
Whoa! This made it to the popular stories box? I did not see that coming...
...and I need to allocate time this week for working on this to thank you all.
This is very nicely done, and it's earned an early thumbs-up and follow from me. Seriously good stuff you're setting up here, and I can't wait to see where it goes.
The only other "Luna can't leave Twilight's side" story I can think of on short notice is Oldnew Luna, though in that case it was Twilight saving Luna.
Just needs an ending period.
4970305
Thanks for the kind words and actions. This is actually my first time writing anything more than a simple one shot at all, not just in MLP, so I was a bit nervous going in. The massively positive response is a nice surprise - one that I certainly appreciate.
I'll have to squeeze a reading of Oldnew Luna at some point. Thanks for pointing it out.
Got it, thanks. Them pesky invisible periods...
We'll this is an awesome story
. Also thanks to Twilights condition can she never be near Celestia again
? I mean I know this story is probably going to be more about TwiLuna than anything else but it is sad Twi can't see her mentor/motherish figure/ great friend ever again,
till she finds a cure.
Great stuff, keep it up!
Okie Dokie Loki! I'm loving this! It has been little while since I read a TwiLuna story, good to get back.
So, now you have new follower for this story. Looking forward for your next chapter!
4970732
Yeah, she hasn't registered that Celestia is one of those she has to avoid quite yet. Have no worries though - it'll take some time before Twilight can face the day again, but she is quite resourceful and won't have to avoid everyone for long. Not meant to be a sad fic after all.
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4971039
Good to have you both here and enjoying it. Hopefully you won't be waiting too long for the next chapter.
This is good, very very good :D
Need more, as in, more chapters, or more length.
It will be wonderful
4974144
Glad you're enjoying it so far.
I'm not used to writing anything (fiction or otherwise) longer than about 1500 words, so this entire story is a learning experience for me. Length of chapters is likely to improve as my writing does. Currently expect the entire story to run 20-30k, but it could end up a bit longer. We'll see.
Right now I'm working on deciding at which point I want to have a few things take place in the story. Once I've got that decided I'll be working on the next chapter, which I'm hoping to have finished by Thursday night as I won't have any time this weekend to spend on it.
So twiluna is the only relationship twilight can have basically, <3
4974519
Well, Luna's the only person she can currently interact with. She's not going to be stuck away from everyone else or the sun forever, just until they figure out why it happened and what to do about it.
4974529
The time that happens...feelings would have been discovered, and I'm pretty sure twilight will be able to create moonlight eventually and maybe have Luna's wonderful mane.
4974564
Is it love, or is it Stockholm syndrome? - Equestria may never know...
4974602
love
4974381
I would say that's a good length :)
I'm just hungering for more information :D
And this is where all of my hopes for this story took a huge hit.
I STRONGLY urge you to read Chuckfinley's latest blog posts, especially "the traps of trappings".
Look, dude, this story has potential, so I feel compelled to warn you: if the characters can't articulate to themselves why they're attracted to someone, if their actions are dictated by "butterflies in their stomach" or other such mindless drivel, readers won't be able to empathize with them.
Also, the story hasn't taken that direction yet (thankfully) but I'll put this here just in case: if you're considering having an anguished declaration of love as a focal point...don't.
That's not how real people behave.
Imagine what would happen if, out of the blue, a really unattractive girl you don't know confessed her love to you. How would you react?
4978974
It's my fault for not having things clearer there. She wasn't staring because she was struck by the beauty or blushing because of unknown feelings of love. My intent was for her to be staring in a "wow, I didn't know that was possible" manner, and the blush was meant to be for realizing that her mind had wandered from the glow to basically "checking out" her friend. (Debated even having that last bit of description even in there. Still torn.)
Not the plan, and hopefully I can correctly pull of what I intend... There's a lot new to me here, including trying to properly develop a relationship. Part of what I've been doing today is skimming through some of my favorites that have really good relationship development and making notes about how they expressed it, because I know it's going to be a weakness for me if I'm not careful.
I had no idea this story would get so much attention so quickly, so I hadn't done as much pre-planning as I should have. Now that I've about finished organizing my notes from start to finish I'm prepared to move forward with a bit more purpose. There is a decent chance I'll also be tweaking the already posted chapters in a few spots (like the one you pointed out) in order to make the story flow a tad more smoothly.
As I've said, I have a lot to learn even as I'm writing. Thank you for the constructive feedback. That sort of help will be key as I work to improve.
4979056
Widdle Woona?
4979092
Having twilight be physically attracted to Luna is kinda brilliant, although hard to describe in prose.
It also immediately sets up a possible conflict or change in their relationship; namely, how Luna is going to react to Twilight's attention.
It is possible such a thing could annoy her; thanks to Fleur De Lis' character model, it's not a stretch of logic to assume that the princesses are paragons of beauty in Equestria. And being subject to romantic attention because of what she looks like instead of who she is as a person is probably very frustrating.
On the other hand, it is possible that due to her role as a princess, nopony has ever dared to approach her in that way; and knowing that she was being thought of as a sexual being could be a completely novel experience to her, flattering her.
4979153
Those are good points.
I do have a full concept and progression mapped out mentally, but finding the words/phrases to bring it to life can be such a challenge. It's fun and annoying at the same time - much like a particularly difficult puzzle.
Ok, I'll bite. Faved and waiting.
Good start, fics have a tendency to start strong and peter out though.
Plenty of forced time together means plenty of time for romance.
I am defiantly going to be watching this story. this code go a long ways.
Too many ships in the sea...
Can't they just have a bunch of mirrors redirecting moonlight from one room to another so that Twilight and Luna don't always have to be in the same room?
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Thanks for giving it a shot.
4980391
I know. Part of that is (I think) having a start and end in mind, but not planning out how to get between those two points. I actually have an outline for the entire story, and a rough of every chapter now so I don't see that happening here.
4981776
Is that complaint that I'm making it a TwiLuna story instead of just leaving the entire focus on the crisis/resolution? If so, sorry, but that's why I noted it would be a relationship fic from the start - so people that weren't a fan of that could avoid it.
4981824
They probably could, but what if something were to block the light? Also, light from mirrors diffuses very quickly (doesn't work like in The Mummy) so range would be quite limited. The goal is to find a permanent solution, not a stop-gap.
I like
more please 
Well done so far!
I understand the story's progression is currently farther beyond than where I am now, but I feel the need to point out something as I read through.
Here, I find a size able fault with this:
I think an expositional dump of her feelings here is both ill-timed and detrimental. First, it would've made for a nicer declaration of her feelings if the reader wasn't directed to Luna's flank. It's that the juxtaposition of declaring her crush and her vision makes Twilight seem lecherous and thirsty.
Secondly, and much more important to the story, is that you could easily show this blossoming and growing relationship between them without this reveal. In fact, it would probably make things much more interesting, seeing Twilight slowly learn how she feels about her savior. Her character grows and evolves, and ultimately has an arc -- a key facet for making a story come alive is that its key characters change and grow, not just physically, but internally.
Just some thoughts for another time.
5402327
May-hap you've never had an honest crush on someone (not simply lusting after them) then encountered them in a situation that was completely innocent, but your mind presented it to you in a provocative manner before you reeled it in. I could probably have held that bit off for later and gone with something more subtle there, but this is my first attempt at romance and first go at a longer story so I'm bound to make mistakes.
Ah, but I'm not going for a "they both go from looking at each other as friends to seeing something more." Twilight *already* is interested in Luna, but doesn't believe there's any chance of it going anywhere. And perhaps she'd be right without something happening to intervene since Luna does currently just see her as a dear friend.
The interactions do evolve (at least I hope I'm managing to show that) over the course of the story. It's just not happening from even ground.
Thanks for the feedback. I'd like to hear your thoughts again once the story is finished and you've gotten to read the entirety.
4981824 Or at least rig the bathroom. Maybe use this advanced and high-tech invention called a 'skylight' and combine it with this theoretical material I once heard about called 'one-way mirror'... to maintain privacy. Maybe use a mirror array to concentrate additional moonlight on the skylight. Although the whole 'moon blocked by clouds' just completely ruins this with no possible work around... it's not like ponies control the weather and clouds after all. It's also not like Luna controls the moon's exact location in the sky and can park it directly over the skylight or anything.
6086743
Are construction projects, altering lunar behavior, and/or rewriting the entire weather schedule really the best first options? For the short-term it's far simpler for Luna to provide directly, and her having to be present in the restroom is really a minor inconvenience in the overarching scheme of things.
6093042
Compared to shutting down Luna's court and half of their diarchy neglecting their duties? Yes.
Given that this is right after Twilight's hamfisted attempts at maintaining the celestial cycle showed no major consequence to it... I don't see the problem.
If 'no clouds over a small portion of the castle' is disruptive to the weather of the rest of Canterlot... then the capital city's weather crew is incompetent. Because Rainbow Dash did the same thing in Ticket Master no problem, and she was even doing it spur of the moment.
6093201
Temporarily (1-2 weeks) suspending something that didn't exist a year prior isn't a horrible thing, and for such a short term matter is still a better option in my opinion than renovating.
Considering that when Twilight did that a large portion of Equestria already had lost a massive amount of its magic, ponies were probably worried about more important things than a wobbly sun/moon.
This would be easiest to do with no side-effects true, and Luna probably would have proposed for the night skies to be cleared if it wasn't already scheduled that way (hence why she checked weather schedule). Forcing a significant change in the weather schedule over the course of a full week or two for the benefit of one pony might be a tad extreme though.
Could things have been done differently to give Twilight more autonomy? Yes. However, the approach I took is the one I think is fitting to the personalities as we know them. (And the most supportive of my intended story progression.) Your take on what they might have done may be different, but I'm not you and this is what we get.
To be clear: I'm not putting down your opinion on how things should have been handled. The reason I enjoy fanfiction is because I love to see what different people would do with the same source material. It's fun. Same goes for when I read comments on stories (mine or others'). It's fun to see what others would have done with the presented story-line.
I encourage anyone to bring up things they think don't make sense as they are, or things they'd have handled differently...or even ideas for what should/could happen next (even if the story is already complete). I'm happy to point out why I did things the way I did them, to admit if something was an honest mistake made, or to smack myself and say "Dang! That's so much better an idea than what I did!" I also keep every suggestion in mind for future writing.
My only rule: Presenting opinions and ideas is fine, but don't turn it into an argument over which approach is better. That's always going to boil down to opinion and arguing about it takes the fun out of exploring the world of possibility.
My first thought about how to give Twilight some privacy is built a bathroom of the roof or at least outside and make the air above a no-fly zone. Next step is put mirrors that diffuse light instead of reflecting it in the bathroom a mirror in the main room so Luna can sit in the Main room and light up the bathroom without either being able to see the other.
Outside bathroom: a tub(for baths) and a chamber pot(for number 1and 2, Luna and Celestia should be familer with this given they are over thousand years old)
Reflecting light into bathroom: 1 special mirror(which could be reused for other preposes) and 1 normal mirror.
No major construction needed for either option.
Oh my goodness, Twilight with Luna at all times? I-I don't w-what to say.
Ursa illness?
Whoa that does sound serious.
I think Lupine Illness might have fit better but that's just me.
Lupus is one of the diseases that makes the body attack itself in real life, also the name of a constellation, which is named Lupus for the Latin word for wolf. A lot of stories add more than Ursa's to the star beast roster, so a Star wolf being the creature the sisters first discovered with it could have been doable.
8273187
I specifically wanted to use canon from the show (as of time I wrote this) for the story. While I can enjoy seeing stuff people create outside what we see in the show, I prefer in my writing to think of what-ifs that use canon material as their support.
Okay, time to take pass Number 3 on this little gem (read it first time back in '15). So, I don't remember the rest of the comments on the following chapters so some of this might be addressed there I'll just have to wait and see. But in the meantime, here's some thoughts that just popped up NOW (in 2021).
Now I'm imagining each Ursa growing and keeping their own individual Starlight Glimmer. Somehow I'm not sure how Trixie will handle that knowledge.
Joking aside, the first "hrm..." thought that ran through my head while reading this chapter was, Sunlight, Moonlight, and Starlight (not Glimmer) are basically all the same thing: light from a star. At least in our universe. So why is light that is reflected from the moon, or originates from some start that isn't the Sun, a help here while light from The Sun is bad? Or is it that light from the Sun is just inherently bad? Of course, all three types of light source operate on Equestrian Laws of Physics so who knows? But that's what ran through my head at first.
(I'm betting the magical amount of UV in the light, right?
)
11003766
I see sunlight, moonlight, and starlight as three separate and distinct things in MLP universe. After all, even in the show we see sun and full moon next to each other (latter impossible if getting light from sun. And in that same scene, the night sky and day sky are sharing space - again should be impossible by our solar physics.
Tangent not particularly related to this story:
I'd often considered possibility that Equestria actually exists within what amounts to a giant cave and the day/night cycle and heavenly bodies are actually just magical constructs used to simulate an open environment - which would go long way to explaining some oddities that exist in show world (though this thought also has show evidence that could be used against theory). Mostly just fun random musings I've had while bored.
I'm gonna guess Twilight developed this illness because of defeating Tyrek.
Unless, Twilight isn't an ordinary Alicorn, they said this affects Ursa Minors right? Twilight could be a hybrid but that is most unlikely.
I'm gonna go with Tyrek had a plan B. When getting defeated, the one who defeated him would get a rare illness that is incurable, basically meaning that if he was defeated, he still wins in the end.