Epilogue: Praise
The pause for breath was entirely figurative. They’d spent more time than Luna could keep track of exploiting their very lack of a need to breathe. How does one keep track of time by their heart’s beat when the beat came faster than one could count?
It was unclear where Twilight’s voice came from, now, they were too intertwined in the tent. Everywhere, maybe. “I just figured it out. You have a praise kink.”
“A what?”
“A-” Twilight thought hard about it, face scrunching up from the effort. Her eyes opened again. “Okay. So, you know how there’s that theory that a lot of our… interests stem from our anxieties? I think- Well. I think you might like emotional validation a lot.”
Luna blinked. “Yes, who doesn’t?”
“No, I mean…” Twilight thought hard about her words. “Okay, so you want to be recognized by someone whose recognition matters. And before about an hour ago, that was probably just Celestia right? Except, as much as I love her - and that’s a lot - she’s really, really, really bad at that, right?”
“I know how dear a sister I am to her.” Luna said, guardedly. “She is forthright with that.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying, remember the time I was under so much pressure from her, back when I was still a unicorn and didn’t know she was grooming me for the whole Princess thing, which she never told me she was doing? I snapped so bad I put a mind control spell on Ponyville just to have something to write a report about to her, and when she learned about how badly I’d just broken under the stress she’d put on me, she made it feel like my fault for having a breakdown. I’d never seen her so mad and I was scared of how badly I messed up, but…” Twilight shook her head. “I had my friends as well. And I don’t think you did.”
“I had friends.”
“You turned Nightmare because you got mad everyone fell asleep at night.” Twilight pointed out. Luna grimaced.
“You make it sound quite irrational, put so simply.”
Twilight kissed the tip of Luna’s nose. “Do you, Princess Luna, recognize me as a rightful and just authority, of great wisdom and countenance, worthy and able of judging you? Do you recognize me as one who will take solemn pride in her deliverance and utterance of all things she deems true of you, and do you recognize that it must be true if I am the one saying it of you?”
Luna felt very small suddenly. Like the entirety of her being was compressed down into a tight ball in her stomach, and the rest of her body was just a puppet of that little ball of gut. Like something great and dreadful would happen to her if she said yes, but any other answer would be a lie. “I do.”
Twilight nodded. “Well. Let’s start with the obvious. You’re very beautiful. Tall, slender, just a very uniquely lithe build that I’ve never seen on anypony else. It suits you. Even other alicorns like Cadance are - well Cadance is gorgeous, but we’re soft, right? I think even though I’m bigger than you now, you’re still obviously stronger than me just because of how tight and athletic you are.”
Luna squirmed. “You think that so obvious?”
“Yeah, a mirror could tell you the same thing.” Twilight kissed Luna’s cheek. “That was enough to set you off, huh?”
“Well, I put great work into my health.” Luna admitted. “And I know alicorns are known for our beauty. I just had not considered… I had not thought that I might be considered especially beautiful among them, no. I know I am a shadow to my sister, certainly, but-”
“I like you more, honestly.” Twilight said. “Physically. I think your mane’s way prettier, with the flowing night? I was kind of disappointed when I kept growing and I realized I was just going to end up more like her shape, honestly. Well, now I have yours to myself, I don’t mind so much.”
Luna lost track of time again, of her racing heartbeat. No, Twilight definitely was on to something about how she would receive compliments. She had not realized the physical effect they would have on her - her mouth dried, her calves cramped from the force of suppressing her uncomfortable squirming, she wanted to run out the tent and never be seen again. She wanted to be buried in the deepest hole she could dig for herself and never emerge again. Yet she could not pull herself away from hearing more. “You have less obvious things to say about me, as well?”
Twilight grinned. “I know that you’re self-conscious about your speech still being pre-modern, but I honestly really like it. That whole thing I did asking if you trusted my judgement? I’d never say it like that to anyone else, but I knew you’d appreciate it. It’s not just that it’s dramatic, it’s that it’s really specific. There’s so much intentionality to everything you say, like you put so much care into being understood. I admire it a lot.”
“I- Well, yes, that is a difficulty I’ve had in adjusting to more modern speech.” Luna admitted. “It does feel a lot more like I must speak vaguely and trust the listener to simply understand what I mean. Yet, somehow, others seem to be able to. I… feel so much more self-assured when I know I can speak with clarity.”
Twilight hugged Luna tight. “See, this is what I mean. I tell you that I like that clarity, and it’s like I’m hurting you. Or like I’ve caught you stealing something from me?” Luna nodded because yes, that was far more what it felt like. It did hurt a little, but only because it hurt to get caught taking something which you did not earn and did not belong to you. “A compliment is not owed a confession, Lunana bread. I like that you’re telling me about yourself, it’s interesting, but I don’t think good things about you just because you’ve tricked me. Or maybe it’s more like you’re trying to explain why you haven’t earned the praise, yet?”
Twilight had her dead to rights, that’s exactly what it felt like. With every wonderful, lovely kind word Luna felt the praise so wonderful she could not imagine anything she had done that could possibly justify this positive opinion of her. She became increasingly fearful she would do something to disappoint or betray this too-wonderful view of her, that the compliment must come from a place of misunderstanding that needed correction. Still she craved it more than she knew possible.
Through the drunken, heady haze she caught something more important still.
Luna cocked her head. “Did you truly call me Lunana bread?”
“Yeah, I wasn’t really thinking about it, it just kind of came out.” Twilight flushed. “I’m new to the girlfriend thing, I don’t really know how to do pet names. Is it bad?”
“Awful.” Luna giggled. “I did not hate it, this once, but best not to make a habit of it.”
“First try!” Twilight cheered. “Anyway, it’s really cute how good you are with children. Foals love you. I think it always says something really good about someone, because kids are people you can’t get anything from, just give to. I don’t think it’s possible for someone to be as good with them as you are without enjoying selflessness for its own sake, and that’s really sweet.”
“It’s just that, the children so often are more understanding of me than their parents. That makes for pleasant company.” Luna blushed from the tips of her ears and down to her neck. She was burning hot, now.
“They just have less preconceived notions.” Twilight lifted her chin and pulled Luna’s head to be tucked underneath, warm against her. “It’s not your fault. Everyone who doesn’t have an idea of what a pony ‘should’ be like clearly likes you for what actually ‘is’.
That one actually brought Luna to tears, much to her own surprise. She didn’t notice it at first, not until the bit of sniffle had started to run down the back of her throat. Only then did she take a heavy blink to test her eyes, and felt her eyelashes sticky and wet.
Twilight pulled back. “Too much?”
“When one is hungry for too long, they no longer feel the pain of it.” Luna said. “I should be saying kind things about you as well.”
“Nah,” Twilight dismissed, bringing Luna tight against her chest again and stroking her mane. Long, slow and patient strokes with the tip of her hoof pressed against the back of Luna’s neck in a most wonderful, most soothing way. “I already know how good I am. Actually, I’ve decided I’ll be quite cross with you if you try.”
“Whatever for?” Luna suddenly felt guilty about making Twilight’s chest damp, so she turned her face away as she pressed against her. She wished they were on a proper bed, now, instead of the large camping cot on the tent.
“Because then it’d be too much like you owe me anything for saying this, and you’re trying to find ways to pay me back.” Twilight faked sounding like she was stern, fake even to Luna’s ears. “How could you owe me for the truth? The truth could only ever be a debt that we are owed.”
This, Luna thought, is what she got for making out with a legal scholar. She tried to say as much with all the sarcasm she could muster, but found herself too burdened by Twilight’s sincerity to manage it. “Surely the debt is paid, then. I cannot imagine any more that could be said.”
“You are such a brat.” Twilight kissed the top of Luna’s head. “You ready for a really big one?”
Luna nodded, though inside she screamed. With a hoof she twirled a handle of the thin sheet over Twilight's cot and gripped it tight to prepare herself.
Twilight whispered mischievously in Luna’s ear, as if she were letting her in on a wicked secret; “Just because Celestia’s better with ponies, and everyone loves her so much, doesn’t mean it’s your fault when you feel neglected or like you’re a disappointment. Sometimes it really is just her fault for making you feel that way, and she does feel bad about that because she’s bad at that. You don’t deserve to feel that way, and you never did.”
“No, I-” Luna started to correct Twilight immediately because what she said had to be wrong. There was no alternative. “These are my mistakes, my failures. I will not offload the burden of them onto my sister for…” She stopped. “I cannot blame Tia for- She is not the one who turned into a Nightmare.”
“Yeah, and I mind controlled a town with a stuffed doll because she didn’t notice how badly she was messing me up, and I loved her and admired her so much I took it for granted when she yelled at me, I just blamed myself too.” Twilight said. “I’m still the one that did the mind control, you’re still the one that embraced the Nightmare. Celestia… just makes the kind of mistakes where other ponies get the blame for it. Talking to Sunset Shimmer really helped clear my head on this.”
Luna winced. “It had not occurred to me how many of my sisters’ students turn to madness. I had thought the only fault was that she had made bad choices in students.”
“That wouldn’t explain why her wonderful, really cool sister is crying because I started complimenting her.” Again Twilight whispered in Luna’s ear, but this one was soft. As if the words themselves were so harsh and heavy that Twilight had to let them down with as much gentleness as she could. “Just because you’ve been starved of recognition doesn’t mean it’s all you deserve.”
“Tell me more?” Luna begged, and with her face still tight against Twilight’s chest, she felt Twilight’s smile against her ear as her widening lips pushed against it.
“I like your poetry. The way you can go between grim stoic severity and excited playfulness is extremely charming. Your magic really is beautiful. The way you act as the guardian of dreams shows how talented you are with that magic, but it also shows your kindness and your selfless dedication. It’s something that, if you stopped doing it, nobody would be physically hurt by it. There’s almost never any physical danger from it. But you still treat it with the same sense of urgency as if they would, because even that much suffering is unconscionable to you.”
“Thank you.” Luna was shivering. She was completely burning up, now, her stomach filled with every species of butterfly imaginable. Nobody had made this much of an effect in all her long years, and never with such simple words uttered so plainly. They could not have been so potent otherwise - if she had detected even a single thread of flattery at which to pull at, the entire thing would have unravelled. Twilight was very careful to limit what she was saying only to exactly what she meant, without hyperbole.
“I like the way your cutie mark takes up so much of your butt.” Twilight said. “I know it’s a weird one, but it’s interesting to me. Your writing’s really pretty, too, the way you do calligraphy? I like that you’re an amazing kisser, because I have been uh, I’ve been really self-conscious about learning.” Twilight’s confidence crumbled a little at that, as she admitted it with a blush. “I think that’s all I can think of right now though. I think we’ll have to spend some more time together, so you can remind me of everything else, and I’ll tell you when I remember.”
Luna nodded, basking in Twilight’s desire for more time together, and she untangled herself to make a request. “Might I kiss you, now? Not because I feel you are owed a reward for your kindness, but because I desire to kiss someone so kind?”
“I’d like that, too.”
And because Luna had asked so sweetly, she got to be the one to kiss Twilight.
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This was one of the most beautiful stories I've read. And I've read a ton. I love everything you did here. Its going not just into my public Eternal Rememberance bookshelf, but into my private collection. Im downloading the text of this to keep on an external hard drive to make sure i never lose access to it.
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This was beautifully written... and I feel like it does capture an aspect of Luna that doesn't get explored often. That she has little validation from an equal.
This is the sort of sentence that would (or at least should) make one pause and consider the varied life choices that led to them ever using it
.
I absolutely adore everything about this story!
And I have to mention that I am still in slack-jawed awe at how quickly you wrote this, particularly considering how meticulous the result was!
In a fluffy little romance tale, jam-packed with stealth wisdom, this is a real gem. Adulation from the masses always means less than another master of your craft saying, "Hey, I saw what you did there, and that was really great." (And it probably helps if they're a good kisser.)
That was a good story.
I really liked this.
Incredibly adorable; a brilliant presentation of both the pairing and a more confident Twilight who’s settled in and found the throne to her liking. She’s good at this rulership stuff, and the confidence born of conclusive evidence shows elsewhere. The continued talks with Sunset to demystify Celestia are a lovely touch, as is the couple bonding over their respective scars from Celestia’s unintentional mistreatment. (Sunbutt Sr. does try her best, but nopony’s perfect.)
Also, “Fighting monsters for me is just an engineering problem, solve for death” is one of the best Twilight lines I’ve seen in months.
In all, a great read from start to finish. Thank you for it, combat and cuddles alike.
I'm not sure calling the moon creatures "monsters," is fair. Apparantly they just chill out harmlessly eating starlight unless you invade their territory. They're only a threat if deliberately provoked. It's not like they need their numbers to be thinned out to prevent innocents stumbling across them either. Luna is just killing beings that pose minimal threat to her for fun.
I know her morals are from a thousand years ago but she's apparantly described her hunts to Fluttershy, who is completely fine with her behavior for some reason?
que? x.x
on the tent? like, on top? they are giving
everybody who is telescoping the moon
a show?
Probably, no, definitely the best whirlwind TwiLuna romance fic I've ever read.
I love everything about it.
I'm still struggling with the first draft of my own TwiLuna fic and I often find it difficult to write an older, powerful and confident or even cocky Twilight that is still her old adorkable self. You just nailed that bit like it was nothing.
And Luna getting owned in single combat and liking it because of who was besting her? Not the first time I've read something to that effect, but the first time I've seen it done so well.
You actually made me proud of Twily for pulling this off so smoothly and also happy for Luna for finally getting the recognition and understanding she deserves and needs. All hail the night princesses.
(Seeing who commissioned this story raised my expectations even higher; it's been less than a month since my second re-read of the Alicorn Adventures^^.)
Adorable, I love it.
If I had a nickel for every space themed character I know to (now) have a banana themed nickname, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
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I think what I figured out from writing this is that Luna needs recognition from an equal, of which there are few, but what she desperately wants is to be pat on the head and told she's a good person. And that kind of moral recognition can only come from someone we hold genuinely above us, of which I think Luna has only Celestia who... Well canonically doesn't give her that. So she's got nobody else she can believe, and the one person she believes wont say it well into like, season 5.
I think I really need to go back and watch the Nightmare Night episode again while thinking about this.
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Continuing on that I tried not to be too critical of Celestia outside of that here, but I do think it's interesting that the show ended up portraying her as the perfect, idealized but distant mother figure... And boy is it extremely funny to think that the "but distant" is always kind of seen as a circumstances or situation thing because she does mean well, but it explains a lot about a lot of other characters. It makes her someone you are always desperate for recognition from and impossible to blame when she doesn't give it to you... At first.
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I will say that the commission was for 5K but knowing this was for iisaw made that simply impossible to contain myself to, I agree.
As for a confident Twilight - I think the mindset I tap into for her is that a lot of her anxiety comes from catastrophizing, being able to imagine the worst possible thing that could happen that she isn't ready to deal with. Ascended Twilight doesn't do that anymore because there simply stopped being anything she can't deal with. She won. This is what winning looks like.
Which is why she sounds like she does to Luna here, where nothing she says is a brag or a flex. She has just thought about it as hard as she ever does and these are the correct answers.
It's actually one of the biggest reasons I wrote this from Lunas perspective, beside Luna having a very fun brain and voice. I wanted Twilight to be just a little bit terrifying and just a little bit alien as her absolute lack of anxiety made more sense. Even doing things she's never done before.
Not gonna lie, this romance and this style of writing leaves me cold. Still, there is some interesting points to be considered.
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What's up with the writing style?
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It's too cute!
Gah! They’re adorable! Wonderful!
Absolutely adorable. Luna would absolutely be the k8nd of person who needs some positivity in her life from someone she looks up to. I also love this explanation of Celestia's MANY failures, as it finally helped me make sense of her problems as a charecter in the show whilst still having her be a good person. I also am a huge fan of how Twilight is written here, as. This feels like a proper examination of how she would be have post show; just as nerdy as before, but with a new level of condlfidence about herself. I also really like how you've written the, erm, "adult" aspect of Twilight’s praise of Luna. Very well written.
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If Luna plays her cards right, there might be a different kind of Luna that is b- I am yanked away from the microphone by an old timey cane
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I will shamelessly plug that I accept NSFW commission requests
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You should make sure those nickels are Australian ones. They're adorable:
i.ibb.co/7nPvwN4/5c.jpg
That was fantastic! Always a sucker for TwiLuna but the interactions between the characters was extremely well written. Love the confident Twilight too, a very unique characterization.
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The fact that Australia put echidnas on their nickels, is all the more reason I need to get a couple now.
I love it whenever I find these little romance fluff stories, they always put a smile on my face! It was funny and cute, and I loved every second of it. While this is one of the few TwiLu stories I've read, it's easily the best of the bunch.
Also, (I can't believe I haven't realized this just now), why don't we have a Luna emoji?
This is fantastic.
The kind of TwiLuna I aspire to write. I especially like how you wrote Luna.
I enjoyed every moment of reading this story and wanted it to continue when it came to its cute end.
This is one of those rare stories that I will read again.
This was really nice, and it was fascinating to see a TwiLuna story where not only is Twilight the one in control, she isn't nervous about it at all. From Luna's perspective, you did a good job making Twilight seem fearsome but also attractive. As soon as I think every deeper thread of character analysis has been dug up by the fandom, I encounter interesting ones I hadn't seen before like Luna being starved of praise by people she respects.
The moon battle scenario was fun too; hopefully the moon monsters have a high replacement rate.
I feel personally attacked throughout this fic.... It's a great read, good job.
An oddball ghost happened across your fic and read it. Have a review!
I cannot possibly express how criminally underrated this fic is. Maybe I'm a little biased towards twiluna stuff but beyond that the writing in this? Chefs kiss, absolutely beautiful. It's legit annoying that this isn't being showered with praise to this day. Author oh good author, please have yourself a most splendid day and I hope that whatever you write in the future gets the recognition it deserves.