In the star-domed bedchamber of the Night Princess on a massive silk-sheeted bed lay an indigo alicorn, her hooves held close and her head downcast. Her hooves seemed to hold particular interest as she avoided the ferocious gaze of the lavender unicorn standing opposite her.
“I am so sorry, Twilight,” said the alicorn ruefully, “Please believe me, I did not mean for this to happen.”
The younger mare glared at her. “What, you mean you never wanted last night to happen at all? Ever?” Tears clouded her eyes but her voice remained venomous. “So now you… I… I can’t believe this, Luna!”
Luna looked up tentatively, fear written in her great azure eyes. “No! I mean, Yes, I … Twilight, I would not have changed last night for all the stars in the heavens. I dreamed of it since the moment I realized you meant more to me than anything else. More than my throne, more than my moon!” Tears streamed down her muzzle, staining the disheveled sheets. “Please, you must believe me.”
Twilight held a fierce stance for a few moments then exhaled defeatedly and sat back on her hindquarters. “I do believe you, Luna. And I still love you. You’re the first and only pony I’ve ever dated. Or kissed.” She lowered her voice to a whisper to add, “or… slept with.” Her growing blush faded quickly as she looked up sternly. “So I hope you can understand why I’m a little upset at this development. It’s like I’m doomed - the most perfect night of my life couldn’t end with a happy sunrise, waking up in your hooves. You couldn’t have mentioned last night that sleeping with a Princess results in instant marriage?“
Again Luna was avoiding looking at her lover. “I hope you will forgive me, Twilight. In the throes of passion, such ancient laws were not the first thing on my mind. You – you do still want to get married, do you not?”
“Yes, Luna, one day. The right way.” Twilight walked slowly over and lay next to the Princess, barely noticing the tear-streaked sheets. “But not like this. Assuming we can still get married normally. Actually, is that what we are now, Luna? Married?”
The chastised ruler sighed deeply and lay a great wing across the smaller mare before finally looking ashamedly at her. “Not precisely. I believe the law states that having physical relations with a Princess results in your becoming” – she swallowed deeply before continuing – “my Royal Concubine. Officially, that is.”
Twilight recoiled and nearly shouted, “Concubine? Royal Concubine? You’re joking. Oh, no, you’re not joking, are you? I can see it now, ‘Here lies Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic and Princess Luna’s Royal Concubine’.” She sighed, the barest of grins starting to find its way to her muzzle. “I suppose there are worse titles to have. So how do we fix this?”
Luna covered her eyes with a hoof and winced. “We, ah, don’t. Rather, we can’t. The law comes not from the lower courts but from the Sisters themselves.”
Twilight looked sideways at her moon-marked lover and arched an eyebrow. “You wrote it, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did, which makes my forgetfulness all the more embarrassing. Celestia had a persistent suitor who believed he could become a Royal Prince by bedding her. She had no intention of admitting him to her bed, and she led him on for her own amusement. I was more concerned than she regarding this wretched stallion's schemes and plots, so by decree I passed a law which stated that laying with a Princess outside a marital union would result in Concubinage, which precludes any future marriage. It was rash and ill-considered. That was over a dozen centuries ago, my beloved. Can you forgive me?”
Twilight reached up to nuzzle Luna’s cheek. “Of course. So there’s really no way to change this? One night – and just so we’re clear, one truly amazing night – and I’m a Royal Concubine forever?”
Luna put a hoof to her chin and pondered for a moment. “A pronouncement from Celestia or from me would alter future encounters between citizens and Princesses but would not reverse our current situation. If I recall, the decree did not apply to ponies who were already members of the extended Royal family, only to those seeking a shortcut into it. If you were royalty, then the Royal Concubine title would not apply and we would be free to continue our relationship. Sadly, being Celestia’s student does not count, nor does bearing an Element of Harmony.”
“My Brother is Captain of the Royal Guard – is that close enough?”
“I fear not, love. But if he were to attain a Royal title of his own, even by marriage, then you would be freed from my,” and she broke into a sultry grin, “service.”
Twilight smiled a devious grin of her own. “Then we’ll just have to see to it that he finds a Princess of his own, won’t we? And Luna?”
“Yes, Royal Concubine?”
“Can we keep my, er, ‘title’ just between us?”
“As you wish.” She chuckled and added, “Though I admit, announcing the Entrance of Princess Luna’s Royal Concubine would make the Grand Galloping Gala far more interesting.”
Consort isn't much better...
Well there's that title that didn't get mentioned to Twilight's parents. That may have been for the best.
So hilarious, one title no one ever wants to mention to their parents. Good chapter.
Yes, yes it would make for an awesome Gala. XD
BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *cough* I-Imean, uh, Poor Twi. A very well written chapter. Have for Luna getting yelled at by Twilight!
To concubine or not to concubine? That is Twilight's question.
... wait... what?
I...
What?
What purpose does this chapter serve to the overall story? I know these are one-shots strung together, but this is just such an odd episode and conflict. is it implying that Shining Armor's marriage to Cadance was a scheme by Luna so Twilight and her could marry? That's just so... convoluted and dumb.
The rest of this has been good, with the first three chapters being magnificent. This chapter was just kind of weird and unnecessary. You couldn't make Twi and Luna's first morning after interesting without this bizarre plot turn? At all?
This was great! Such wonderful swings between despair, love, and humor. The ending was perfect.
'Sexy-time best friend' is what the title should be
1685521
Wasn't meant to come across as such.
Given that canon says the whole Cadance / Shining marriage was a surprise to Twilight, this story would mean that either she and Luna didn't try very hard to hook Shining Armor up with a Royal (and that he found Cadance on his own), or that they did try (possible future chapter idea!) but he ended up rejecting every pony they tried to set him up with because he already had his eyes on a certain pink foalsitter. I certainly don't think they'd force or trick Shining and Cadance into a marriage just for their own sakes; my version of TwiLuna is far too fluffy and cute to do something Romance Reports-ish.
BTW, the 30-minute writing prompt that spawned this chapter was "Somepony remembers. But at what cost?"
1685592 I'd go for the second one. So many possibilities there
1657515
You seem to be everywhere, which is why I now make it a goal to find any one of your comments on any story I enter...
Oh shit, I need to check "Not Exactly Green; No ODST Is."
STAY RIGHT HERE!
I think escort may sound better does anyone else agree with that?
...what? good chapter and all but this installation is, by far, unnecessary. Not only have you gone to a pre-dated chapter thats....well at most, poorly placed (by that i mean placement of twilight and luna getting into the situation and then shining armor/cadence getting together. Having said this, you could have worked a lot into this had you fiddled around with it a bit more, say, extend it from nightmare night or such. However, in the canon they repeatedly say 'have to stop only visiting when equestria is in danger' or some such, which means your previous chapter with them in the house is after Crystal Empire when luna was glaring at her.) and sadly doesn't make a lick of since by law-form. If you're a consort, you're the SAME as a concubine, only bound by a different name, that and an amendment. A concubine is a consort, only stuck in a group of people to do the bidding's of the royal member. So...not to sound pessimistic bro, but you kinda shot yourself in the foot with this.
Saying all this, I still enjoyed it. Was very VERY well written, grammar checks out and everything. I would like to see the next chapter as a continuation from the parents meeting, due to the fact you left that open. As an author, mind you, you should be wary of doing something that was intended to be a one shot that ties into a series, which is what this is. By definition a one-shot is basically like...actually, perfect example, the story The Star Well here on fimfic.
1685792 Her Booty-Bumpin' Buddy?
1685892
A concubine is not married, a Princess Consort is married. [Prince/Princess] Consort is a title obtained by marriage to a sovereign.
Is this before Cadence & Shining Armor's wedding?
Cadence is a princess, and she's married to Shining, so that actually makes Twilight a member of extended royal family :/
Good.
1686122
Mmm, i suppose it is, thought consort can't be taken seriously as if it were a regular pony but i guess since Luna is a goddess, meh. its to late at night XD Friggin better get some sleep, though Lunas' night was beautiful, celestias friggin sun is gonna be a pain.
1686411
DISREGARD SLEEP, READ ABOUT PONIES
Y'know... It's in Luna's nature to ultimately turn this into a prank, isn't it?
1685521
No, you jumped to conclusions. Which makes -you- look dumb. It's as the author said. Try asking instead of proclaiming or denouncing, next time. You don't deserve your Kamina shades. :|
1686226
Yes, it's before. Should be kind of obvious.
LOL! And I thougt I had a bad memory^^ Luckily Twilight seemed to have overcome her initial shock. Also, looks like she owes Cadance big time for saving her from her 'title'
Whoa daddy, that was hilarious!!
that was awesome!
Hilarious! :D
Man! You are genious!
In previous chapter, I didn't know why Twilight said "I used to be......." and why Luna stopped her saying that..
And this great chapter comes!!! !
1686226
This scene happened the day after the first nightmare night (season2 episode4).
And Twilight knew her BBBFF Shining would marry to Cadance at season2 episode25.
1686425
i kinda did, but my mind was all muffed
1685892
I can totally see where you're coming from. About the chapter order, keep in mind that these chapters were all one-shots written for 30-minute writing prompts. I try writing them in batches (one per day) and sticking to a theme for extra challenge. In this case, my personal extra challenge was to write a whole cycle of TwiLuna. I wrote them out of order (Every Morning After was one of the first TwiLuna shorts I wrote) but never really intended to make a complete fic out of them. After I realized how many I'd completed, I strung them all together to make a more or less in-continuity TwiLuna tale. Knighty has hinted that re-ordering chapters will be part of the next FiMFiction update, and if so, I'll rearrange things then.
Regarding the confusion of titles - well, I admit I was forcing the story to fit that day's writing prompt a bit. When you only have 30 minutes to write, little details like that tend to get ejected out the airlock. Still, the semantic distinction was Luna's point: the way she wrote that ancient law (understandable that she'd forgotten it while "thanking" Twilight), being named Concubine meant unmarried and forever ineligible to be married, basically an instant one-way trip to the Royal Harem. "Consort" is used here in the Earth historical context, as in the legally married spouse of a reigning monarch.
Hope that clears things up a tad! I'll fix the chapter order whenever Knighty fixes FiMFiction.
1689176
I made that post because I was doing the same thing. (Of course I can pull a 9-hour shift on 5 hours of sleep. I'll spend a few more hours reading about ponies!)
1689877
It does, and thanks ^^
Heh! The funny thing here was:
Twilight: Last night you were basically going 'SEX NOW! THINK LATER!' Luna?
Luna: Forgive me?
1692334
Bingo! "Always easier to ask forgiveness than permission," they say.
1692419
Well I wasn't thinking THAT specifically. You just made my night you silly pony!
1689877
wouldn't this chapter have to be before "Twilight Hustle"... Shining's and Cadance's wedding is mentioned in that one
(plus, if u take fluttershy's story in a dirty way, as intended, then Luna and Twi already did it )
1692558
Featured for days, still in the Popular Stories sidebar, been on TMP (in pieces) for a couple of months, and you're the first person to point that out! Nicely done. That's what comes from writing these chapters as one-shots based off of writing prompts - given just 30 minutes to write, sometimes I don't remember everything that came before.
Twilight Hustle could have taken place any time after Luna Eclipsed, so I think cutting out the reference to the Cadance/Shining wedding will fix it. Once FiMFiction (that means you, Knighty!) gives authors the ability to change the order of chapters, I'll get these all sorted out.
Thanks for keeping your eyes open!
1693825
no problem...
i have really enjoyed these one shots so far, keep up the good work.
PS. i still can't think of or hear the word "Huzzah" and not laugh anymore
Now announcing, Princess Luna, Ruler of the moon and stars! and Royal Concubine.
Hilarious story, makes great reading.
Come to think of this. She saved the world twise! Why hasn't she been granted the title?
At least Viscountess?
This has gone from a heart rending romance to a hilarious comedy, and I'm not complaining.
1700878
I am afraid not, because heroes follow special rules:
1) They work alone or form party to fight great evil.
2) They never get help from good armies or good super powers or everyone around hero are useless and pathetic so that heroes can look better.
3) Heroes beat evil army, evil minions or pass some sort of trails to gain experience before final boss battle.
4) No matter how powerful villain is, heroes will always win, or because of some plot devices like super powerful artefacts, or they get some sort of weird buff coming from love, emotions or other stuff like that.
5) Hero rewards are always pathetic,
6) If hero will not play nice ( do something bad, go again law or be brainwashed and turn to work for evil guys, willingly or not or if evil villain ruin heroes reputation ), all good armies and super powers who did not bother to help them, all of the sudden they thrown everything they had again heroes.
7) continuation of rule 5, when hero safe the world, reward is pathetic and it does not seems important, if hero do something bad, punishment is big ( no matter that you saved the world 3 times, you steal something or kill someone, all police and army is on you, and they do not care that hero saved millions ).
So considering hero rule number 5 and 7, no, Twilight will not get royal tittle for saving the world, I know that it sounds like being hero suck, but this is the price for winning all the time and being far more competent then everyone around her. ( if Twilight would be anty-hero, then maybe she would be rewarded better ).
There are special exceptions where hero or heroes can not defeat evil villain on they own, where they get help form good armies and super powers to add the odds and where they get rewarded well for they actions and not punished unfairly, but it is very rare ( I personally think that Generator Rex is a good example, in there main hero actually cooperate with competent people and competent army, he can not win alone but when he work in team he succeed, but it is only cartoon I found to be this rare exception, if you know any anime, game or show where this happen, then you sure deserve a big congratulation ).
2004868
I disagree. Deus Ex Machina (ie. your rule #4) is completely overused and contradicts your second rule of heroism.
Also take Final Fantasy X for example, Auron is a sage badass who only needs one arm to lay down the hurt on Sin. or Virtue's Last Reward, where all of the supporting cast has to be gauged as both friend and foe and they are all intelligent and dangerous. A good hero is made by those around them and yes they can be surrounded by the useless or idiotic but it is not a rule nor a guide line for a good story.
as to rule #7... the Incredibles? they are relocated multiple times because the family causes problems with their super powers
P.S. I think both Mario and Link would disagree with you on that one! $20 says both Princess Peach and Princess Zelda walked funny for a week
2004868
No, plenty of heroes get rewards like ending up ruling entire kingdoms, becoming wealthy, or just getting their romantic interest. I think what you were trying, and failing, to sum up was that one of the modern heroic ideals is doing things without the hope of reward, that any rewards they receive were not part of their goals and frequently unforeseen.
Many heroes deviate from this, of course, but it's a common theme. Much more common than "the hero never receives a reward" which happens but less often than "the hero somehow gets a big reward".
LUNA!!!!!! YOU TROLL!!!!
One idea I never got to explore in Night but had in the back of my head was brought to the fore by this.
In Night, adoption by royalty and nobility is a very messy and controversial ordeal. Latent homophobic sentiment that was all but dead coincided with a few high profile adoptions gone wrong during the century or so after Luna was banished and Celestia was disconsolate. She was unable to do anything about it, or rather barely willing to rule.
Basically, in Night, magic hasn't allowed for homosexual couples to produce offspring as you see in some fanfics. It can do surrogacy and make birth easier, but all attempts to tamper too much proved horrific. They just didn't have the know how, and one can only inflict so many soulless infants on horrified mothers before no one ever wants to try it again.
So adoption and surrogacy were the only options. Schemers used the holes left by years of war in the houses to insert orphans into houses and then use them to gain vast riches and power, driving at least one remorseful foundling to suicide.
The end result was that a prejudicial homophobic sentiment became the norm because adopted foundlings could only inherit if a vote of the Houses Major allowed it, and often the price of attaining their favor was ridiculously prohibitive, which meant that those unions became dead ends often, because surrogacy brought other ponies into the picture and nobles are paranoid about losing power to grabby "common" blood.
However, Celestia would later do as much as she could to ameliorate this by pressuring the Houses to change their rules. Some said it was because she herself swung that way, or early after the war, some said she was trying to put her own foals in the houses. The truth was that she remembered Luna's constant and almost never expressed wish that one day magic would prevail, and felt as if she had betrayed her sister by letting the Houses do what they had done.
I dunno, having the two things on your tombstone be "hero" and "fucked a princess" sounds pretty good to me.