In Somnis Veritas

Veritas

“Nearing two thousands years, over a month of dating you, we work together daily, and I'm still feeling like a bashful little filly.” Luna took a seat on the other side of the table. Our seventh date, and for the first time we tried for “fancy”, with Luna wearing a designer dress, me in gala uniform, a place in a top elite restaurant. We were moving slowly in our relationship, but I didn't mind. I would savor every evening in Luna's company and I loved to see how each time more of her reservations vanished.

“Why? I'm certainly not your first, and hopefully not your last.”

“Oh, no... Actually, I had many suitors in the past. All I needed was a peek in their dreams. Fame, fortune, power. Some did dream about my body too. There was one who... who might have stood a chance, whom I might have accepted. He was climbing the vines to my window. He fell and broke his neck.”

“Oh. I'm so sorry.”

“Don't. He had some annoying habits and expectations, I really didn't think it could have worked out between us.”

The waiter brought the menus. I opened mine, and quickly realized I have no clue what any of the entries meant. I looked over the menu at Luna who threw one quick glance at the content, closed the menu and placed it on the table. She sent me a smirk I understood too well. “We'll ask for your recommendation,” she said to the waiter.

“The princess is quite concerned about maintaining a healthy diet.” I picked the thread. “The dinner should be between seven hundred and a thousand calories. Balanced amounts of vitamins, proteins and fiber.”

“Liquids,” Luna interrupted. “Don't forget about liquids.”

“Yes, of course. Liquids, reasonable sugar levels. Milk products are acceptable.”

“We prefer fresh organic produce,” Luna added with a gracious smile, “although Commander is not picky. Canned or pickled ingredients are acceptable. But please, no magical coloring, no crystal seasoning, no products processed through oxygenless fermentation or the like.”

“And no seaweed. I have bad wartime memories involving seaweed.”

The waiter stood there, blinking.

“Please, I believe these are very reasonable outlines for a normal, healthy meal.” I frowned. “Every common cookbook contains hundreds of recipes that fit the bill. What can you recommend?”

The waiter stood stunned, his mind obviously grinding at highest gear. After a minute of nothing we decided to interrupt the silence.

“Do you have dark bread in supply?” asked Luna.

“Oh, yes, we do.” the waiter answered, jerked out of his stupor.

“Fresh flowers? Daisy, rose, thistles?” I asked.

“Only freshly picked!”

“I believe daisy sandwiches will fit the bill. Some fruit yogurt will go fine with that.”

Somewhat shocked, the waiter nodded. “Yes, of course.” He turned and went to the kitchen.

We chuckled quietly.

“Do you have bad wartime memories involving seaweed?” Luna asked, concern in her voice.

“Yes, I do. Truly horrific memories. They served a seaweed soup in the canteen once.”

“...and?”

“And it's the most awful food I’ve ever had. As you chew it, it separates into long strands,” I kept showing with my hooves as I talked, “...that stick between your teeth and the other end goes down your throat and stays hanging there. The remainder is devoid of any taste, and literally removes any taste from whatever it's mixed with. And it smells like fish; not very fresh fish, too. Truly horrible experience. Never again.”

“Oh dear. That's horrible!” Luna laughed.

“War is hell.” I winked.

“So, what did you plan after the fancy dinner?” Luna smiled.

“We could go to a classical music concerto, visit the art gallery or have a romantic walk in the Canterlot Gardens.”

“Aren't the gardens closed for the night?”

“Did I just say 'romantic walk'? I might have used a bit wrong phrasing.”

“You meant that as a kind of euphemism, didn't you?”

“We can always pick the Oaks Park on the outskirts of the city for a genuine romantic walk if you prefer.”

“No, please, explain your idea.”

I pulled a napkin out of the stand on the table and got my fountain pen from my pocket, then began drafting the plan.

“As I analyzed the setup of our security, I have to concede, no single pony, earth, pegasus or unicorn can ever sneak across the gardens at night. Choke points seventeen, thirty and fifty-one make it impossible, mutually exclusive. Bypassing one, you forfeit the chance of bypassing the other two. I have a theory though...”

“Yes?”

“I believe a team of two, consisting of an alicorn and one other pony different than a unicorn or alicorn, would be capable of sneaking past all the obstacles and successfully accessing point S.”

“That's your idea of a romantic walk?” Luna snorted. “We are both going to end up with tranquilizer darts in our flanks.”

“Then we'll end the date in here,” I knocked my head with my hoof.

Luna gave me a mix of a wince and a grin and poked my chest with her hoof. “You are freaking me out. I mean, did you sneak into my head to see my true desires? What kind of mare would ever think this is a good idea? You know me better than I know myself!”

“In all honesty, I just saw the stylized L as signature on a number of penetration test reports. You got all the way to exposure point 58, better than anypony in the guard, and leaving me with my pathetic 37 far behind.”

“For a pony without access to the plans 37 is not pathetic, it's actually very impressive.”

“I know there were ponies who got farther on their first try.”

“Yes, for example Princess Twilight Sparkle managed to get all the way from 15 through 27, 34, to L6, L8, L9, P6, P4, L4 and back to L6.”

“Why such a weird route?”

“She lost the way. She wanted to reach L6 in the first place.”

“Alicorns.” I held my hooves spread apart, in a gesture of “this explains anything.”

“No, she was still a unicorn back then.”

“Really? Wow. How did she bypass both 17 and 30?”

“She was blind in one eye at that time.”

Our sandwiches arrived. Cut in fancy shapes, decorated with a tower of various goodies stuck on toothpicks in the middle, with lots of greens around. They were very fancy and looked quite delicious if rather small.

“Are you sure these exceed seven hundred calories?” Luna frowned to the waiter.

“The yogurt, madame,” he said, placing big, tall glasses filled with fruity drink, with at least six different things — umbrellas, straws, fancy biscuit pipes and such sticking out of each, “contains enough sweet fruit for at least five hundred calories. The sandwiches combined with the dressing exceed the remaining two hundred. Still, you didn't order any dessert, and if I could make a suggestion, a dessert of ice cream flambé fulfills all the requirements of your original request and would push the total calorie count closer to the upper end of the bracket of the requested allowance. I believe you would find it quite to your taste too.”

We nodded, accepting the suggestion and got to eating our sandwiches and drinking the fruity drink. And true to the promise, the fancy ice cream, once it arrived, was quite good.

* * *

A grab of teeth on the vine, flexing my strong neck, twines around the hoof, another three inches up. Of course a disturbance caused by pegasus wings, even a mild flutter to keep balance, would have triggered the alarm. Even a spark of magic from unicorn horn, reaching for another vine and the place would light up brightly. Only an Earth pony could do this.

And seeing Luna's face observing me from the balcony and rooting for me gave me more than enough strength. Another grab, another pull, and she grew closer. Finally, I was level with her, almost a hoof's reach.

“You've passed the endurance point 98!” she said with glee.

And then I didn't stop. I passed the balcony, climbed even higher. Hooves in the vines...

“A little room, your majesty?”

“You... you are going to cross 99 with a jump?!” she gasped.

“Just two steps back please.” I grinned, and she did as requested.

I grabbed the vine with my teeth and began swinging. As my teeth released the grip, as my hooves scratched against the sheer wall, for a moment I thought I'd fall. But then one hoof found a small imperfection in the stone and I gained the sideways momentum. And there I was, hanging on the railing. I pulled my hind legs up and crawled onto the balcony.

“You are here!” she pranced.

“Almost,” I corrected. I reached to my utility belt and opened one of the pockets. The large sheet of blackness unrolled from my teeth. I slapped it at the wall by the door and it stuck, forming a big black circle.

“What is this?!” Luna gasped.

I dove in, and soon waved to her from inside, from behind the curtain. I moved it and invited her inside her room.

“You bypassed the point 100! We're at S! How did you do this!?”

“A portable hole. I don't have one for real, and they are awfully hard to come by, following Celestia's ACME ban of 376, but there are still a few in possession of assorted ponies around the country and a dedicated attacker could have obtained one.”

“Oh, my!” she swooned.”We could have done this today!”

“No, I told you I don't have the portable hole for real.” I smiled.

“And I'm not letting you climb that dreadful 98 for real! Not to mention 99! I mean, I know it's just a dream but I swear my heart stopped there for a second!”

“All right. Better tell me why we failed 77. It was fairly trivial I believe.”

“It's my fault. I thought a spider was crawling on my face and I swept it with my magic without thinking. I'm so sorry!”

“Don't be. At 94 we'd have to split up. You'd be stuck down below and I'd reach empty, cold, dark point S. That would make for a rather poor date, wouldn't it?”

“That date was AWESOME!” Luna hugged me. “Wait. Normally at this point the colt leads the filly to the door of her place and she decides whether to invite him in or not. But we are already...”

“I honestly swear I didn't mean it like that!”

“And I certainly didn't intend us to part ways at my door tonight!” she smiled, looking into my eyes as I held her in my hooves, our mouth getting nearer. Such a beautiful gaze. Almost like the real one.

Regretfully, I wished for the illusion to dissolve, and not a moment too soon, as the real Luna stood in the doorway with her eyes aglow and her mane flowing upwards like flames, tall and dark, about to shout something but suddenly silenced by her rival's disappearance.

“I've been starting to miss you.” I smiled innocently.

“I do not approve of you fooling around with my imaginary depictions!”

“Are you... jealous?” my grin was reaching my ears.

She blushed. “You did this on purpose!”

“I was getting bored waiting for you to join up so I decided to produce a surrogate for the necessary partner and run the remainder of the track... at first.”

“At first?”

“After the first few times I learned to sense you snooping on my dreams. So, when instead of just showing up you decided to keep lurking...”

“You did do this on purpose!” she said in a hurt voice.

“Just an innocent little tease. When you're irked you get this little cute crease on your nose.”

“Please. Don't.” Her expression softened, she approached me and put her chin on my neck. “Whenever I think she managed to impersonate me, she did manage to trick you... made you believe she was me... I want to rage, I want to wage a war against Tartarus, I want to kill all of her kind. I know she’s dead, she’s as dead as only a demon can be, and still I feel like she could backstab us any moment. For such a long time I waited, I sought. I'm so afraid of losing you. Yes, I am jealous, I'm so incredibly jealous! Please, don't test me like that, don't tease me. It's not just petty ire or silly possessiveness. It's a chill that reaches my bones, a fear worse than any fear I’ve ever felt. For a youngster it may be just an itch, but after two thousands years... I don't want to take chances. Spiders? I failed 77 because 78 is genuinely dangerous. With enough bad luck you'd get hurt. I exposed us on purpose. Please, Shadow, don't make me worry, don't make me afraid.”

I backed off a bit and looked into her azure eyes. “I'm sorry. I didn't know. I won't. I'm yours and only yours, for as long as I will live.”

“Mine.” she held me close with her hoof. Then she leaned closer to my ear. “...and yours.”

“Mine?” I asked.

“I've made my mind. I don't want to wait any longer, I don't want to test, to hesitate, to question. Wake up, come to my room and let us be together.”

“Easier said than done,” I winked. “These sedatives are strong.”

“Are you forgetting who I am?” She smiled and took a step back.

She spread her wings, and her eyes filled with light. Waves of energy surrounded her body with a halo, a smaller ring formed around her horn, as she floated in the air, dark in blinding brightness. Her wings cracked with energy, and the cracking thunders grew, solidified into cracks in the fabrics of the reality of the dream, then kept growing, swallowing more of the dream, breaking it and melting into tiny stars.

We floated in a blue void as Luna's magic subsided. There were images floating around us — images from my life.

I wanted to ask Luna about them, but she shook her head. Not yet, not today. Sometime.

Then she cast a bright spell at me; its sphere surrounded and swallowed me. And then I stood in her room, in darkness, dazed and with some headache, next to her.

“Am I awake?”

She lit the the tip of her horn and cast her gaze at the wall. In Somnis Veritas, read the sign.

“So, was that one true?” I asked.

“Dare to test it!” she answered, her mouth a breath away from mine.

I closed the gap and our mouths met.

This was not a dream. This was happening for real. With eyes tightly shut I reveled in the sensation.

I felt weakness overcoming me. My legs buckled under me but I focused all my will on maintaining the kiss, I extended my neck and held my mouth to Luna's.

The kiss seemed simple, chaste, just lips, no tongue, no pushing, just a soft touch. But there was more magic, more delight in that kiss than in any of my dreams. I felt the sweet nectar of life obliterating my worries, soothing my aches, quenching burning needs. Whatever wounds there were on my soul, were healed.

The satisfied fullness filled my soul and I opened my eyes.

I saw her eyes shut tightly, tears shining between the eyelids, little trembling of her lips as she drank the same power from my mouth, fed on it hungrily — what is my short life compared to her ageless experiences? How many wounds of the soul did she bear, how many unfulfilled desires eating at her over such a long time? And it cost me nothing, no, it earned me this wonderful time, prolonging that blessed kiss — I could stand here for ages and let her feed forever and adore her beautiful face and the expression of a pony who spent for a long time without water, drinking from a spring.

The trembling stopped, the hunger subsided. The tears ran free from the closed eyes. Still, she held the kiss, afraid to let go, afraid it would never happen again.

So I reached with my hoof and held her, and pulled her close, and as our lips parted we held each other in embrace so tight as if we were in the middle of a storm afraid for elements to tear us apart.

“Mine,” she whispered.

“Luna,” I said.

We lay in the pillows, close by. Luna grabbed one of the comforters with her magic and wrapped us in it, a tight cocoon where we were pushed to each other so tightly. Our breaths interchanging, her inhale for my exhale, so that we'd never push each other away.

"Yours."

Her whisper in my ear bore the sweet promise, her soft wish. There was no urge, no compulsion. That wasn't a request. We could just be for each other and be satisfied. We could delay it, observe social customs, play the whole courting game for months to come and it wouldn't mean a thing, because I knew she was mine, I was hers, and time didn't matter. Still, just as there was no need to hurry, there was no reason to wait. We could do it anytime we wished, and we wished it now.

I pushed a little, sliding deeper into our comforter cocoon. Luna squirmed, moving up. I found in our tight coupling, as we kept holding each other snugly with both pairs of legs each, I got my hind legs on her above her own, and now they tangled with hers, my hocks hooked against her stifles, the comforter wrapped under her back without any give. I squirmed for a moment, but it was hopeless. I looked up at her face; she looked at me, puzzled.

“It seems we're bound for better and for worse,” I smiled sheepishly.

She first snorted trying to withhold laughter, but she failed. We both laughed without restraints... well, actually within restraints.

Still laughing, Luna grabbed a tight hold of me and we rolled through the pillow-strewn bed, unrolling from our feathery bonds. The cool night air reached our hot, sweaty coats, and as I untangled my hocks at last and laid my abdomen between her hind legs, she covered us with the comforter again, this time loosely placed on my back.

There, we lay embracing again. She bent her neck, pushing her chin to her chest, nose to nose with me, so that we were breathing each other's breaths. We wouldn't say a word but our expressions were enough to converse. Her little playful frown of mock scorn, the minimal smirk meaning “I don't feel anything firm down there." I replied with a mock indignant shock, it would be crass to wave your erection in presence of the princess. Then I followed with a soft, gracious nod, like bowing to a lady asking her for a dance, very respectful and proper. And her welcoming reply: a gracious accepting nod.

I rested my sheath against her opening, and my member, still soft, began filling, growing. The soft petals parted under the minimal push of the still soft tip, her warmth welcoming me as my stallionhood nestled within. I could feel each of my heartbeats pushing more blood into it, as it inched its way in, filling and sliding inside. There was a small barrier, a ring, that would not allow my maleness in its fully erect state to enter, one I would have to conquer and break. But currently, the yielding tip squeezed in, the tight ring pressing into the sides. And yet the pulse kept pushing, stretching it, filling her.

I felt her breath shifting; the former calm, regular respiration replaced with shorter, rapid gasps. Her look was a little panicked as if she suddenly had second thoughts, as if she agreed to it without thinking it fully through and was now unsure if that decision was right.

I stretched my neck a bit, the shift of my body pushing another inch into her, eliciting a sudden gasp. But my mouth met that gasp, closed her lips gently and stayed touched, the same sweet, chaste kiss as before.

And with that, all her doubts were gone. She recalled who we are, she understood nothing bad will happen. She relaxed, and flexed her loins, taking me another inch deeper.

Now my stallionhood began gaining girth and hardness. With most of it inside, deep, past her navel, I could feel the minimal bulge on her slender abdomen. The tight ring of her virginity, now not far from the base of my shaft was cutting into me painfully, and I could see her face tensed in discomfort too. Then, suddenly, the ring snapped, the pressure vanished. Luna gave out a quiet yelp, a deep gasp, and then smiled contently. And now the unrestrained flow of blood suddenly filled my maleness out, pressing against her walls snugly.

I tried pulling a little, observing her face for signs of discomfort. She did squint a bit as my maleness moved.

“If it hurts...” I began, but before I could continue, she cut me off. There was just a minimal blink of magic on her horn, and I felt a spark of the healing spell within her — I'd received that spell too many times in the past to not recognize it, though I'd never seen it executed so expertly, so casually. “Not the least bit,” she said with a smug grin. “Please, Shadow, I adore your care, how gentle you are, but really, I am not a porcelain doll you could break.”

I saw how she wanted to add some words of encouragement, then she bit her lip and stopped, a pained thought running through her mind. I could guess the thought: she'd ask me to plow her hard, unrestrained, she'd love to be bold and cheerful in love and in sex, but she was afraid. If she appeared too bold, she might remind me of her, she might appear greedy and demanding like the succubus, and drive me away. So, meek and shy was it for her, and despite being banished forever, the demoness managed to leave a seed of darkness in our relationship.

No, it shall not stand. I will not let Khuzul get between me and Luna ever again.

“Mine," I said. “Yours. Let us make love like no mortal, no demon or god ever did.”

She looked into my eyes and saw my trust, my total confidence. No mere baroness, no mere succubus could compete with her. She was the alicorn princess, she was simply better.

I pushed myself up with my hooves to sit, my loins retreated, and I saw my flared tip spreading her dark labia. There were a few drops of blood on my length. But before I could even think about what it meant, before I could ponder the implications and consequences, I was swept with her magic.

The glow of her magic surrounded us and lifted us off the bed. The comforter slid and fell of my back as I floated in the air. She reached out to me with her forehoof and bent it lightly, as if beckoning, calling me closer. Her magic replied, pulling us together, pushing me in, deep, to the hilt, hard. She cried out quietly, I gasped, the sensation was overwhelming.

She recovered, smiled, then moved her forehooves as if pushing me away, and I floated away, sliding out, most of the way.

She beckoned again, and I slid into her, slightly slower, but this time we both reveled in the sensation. That warmth, that small bulge traveling up her abdomen, that texture smoother than silk.

“Now you,” said her lips without making any sound, her hoof pointed at my chest. I extended my front hooves and made a pushing gesture, and we drifted apart. I spread them and readied for embrace, and she flowed into that embrace. I held her, with my nose buried in her mane. The stars were little electric prickles, the blue space was a gentle breeze. I felt the tip of her hoof tracing a line along a scar on my shoulder, touching a small bare patch left after a wound on my chest.

The magic was still within my grasp. I pushed us apart again, just halfway out. I gave a small naughty smile, seeking her approval. At first she raised her eyebrows, then she gave a little nod.

Weightless in the grip of magic, I pushed away, still halfway in her, but now I had her slender hind legs in front of my face.

This time my hooves didn't operate in sync. I gave a little push with one, little pull with the other, and my dearest pivoted on my stallionhood, until she was facing away, and I had her lean back in front of me.

I pulled, hard, until her back slapped against my groin. She gave out a little, surprised yelp, then a giggle. Using both my loins and the magic she lent me, i gave another deep, long, fast thrust. And another, faster.

She turned her head, her face filled with a mix of shock, exhilaration, joy, and coy encouragement. Her tail, loose so far, now flared up and to the side; welcoming, exposing, inviting.

Sex is many things: significant, binding, magical, leaving impact, with consequences... but above all, sex is fun. And we had fun, like a colt and filly discovering life. The magic made fatigue a non-issue, and I could plow and thrust and push and dig, and slam, and Luna laughed cheerfully like on a funny ride, giving out joyous yelps whenever I'd drive home harder than normally. And I slammed into her oblivious to consequences, propriety and status; we weren't a princess and a soldier, we were a stallion and a mare, in love, making love, happy. Our bodies were making all kinds of undignified noises, and that made us only laugh and enjoy, droplets of our fluids shone on our coats, excitement causing facial expressions that would make the partner snort with laughter. At another time and place I learned that demons hate laughter. That was something no demoness could ever give me. But at that moment my mind never even approached the damned. I lived the “now" with my beloved, shagging her hard!

In our future there would be times of tenderness, of slow, tantric binding, of kinks, of dreams, of angry sex and make-up sex, of “make it better” sex and of “make it even better” sex. But now Luna needed to know she's no porcelain doll for me, no mighty goddess and no rich, influential princess, no ageless sage nor ethereal beauty. She was my mare, and I was her stallion, we were in love and there was no second bottom to that.

Her yelps got more high-pitched, more frantic. My breath grew heavy, I felt the tension rising towards a climax. For a second there I thought to slow down, keep it going, keep her on the edge, but I recalled her plea, “do not tease me.” So I didn't. I actually did slow down a little, but only to make sure I finish last.

Luna was losing herself in the sensation. Her little slit would pulse with short, sparse rapid throbs, then there would be a period of break, and a moment when her insides go loose, just a smooth slippery touch, no pressure, no tension. Then another pulse, a ring of pressure running from deep inside to the opening, quickly massaging my length from tip to base.

I looked at her flaring wings and something let go in me, some kind of muscle that I kept tense since birth went relaxed, followed by a spike of pleasure. My eyes closed without my attention, I thrust a couple times more and suddenly my orgasm hit; sudden, unexpected, tightly squeezing some muscles I didn't know I had, pushing my semen through my urethra, it felt chunky, almost gritty, but the flow felt like a most delicious massage along my urethra, making me spurt more.

The spurts felt all the stronger, as Luna's insides held me tightly, with rapid, sudden throbs deep in, and a firm, solid grip near the opening. Then pulsing followed, her long, smooth tunnel acting as two parts, the inner and the outer playing in sequence, one squeezing while the other would let go. A splash of her liquids leaked onto me, and I still wouldn't let go, wouldn't stop. Drained, I kept thrusting, keeping her going, her orgasm still strong.

I opened my eyes and they got assaulted by flashes from outside — the sky was filled with bright discs of light, as if there were hundreds of tiny moons. Luna's magical grip that keep us floating subsided and we landed in the pillows. I kept embracing her, kissing her neck, holding her back.

She turned to me, as my maleness finally slid out. She held her nose to mine, no kiss, just touch. We didn't need to say a thing. We just knew all that was to be said, and we knew everything was alright.

At least that's what I hoped...

Luna turned and looked at the window, then covered her mouth, gasping. She ran up to it, looking at the sky in panic. “My stars! All my beautiful stars! They all went nova! What have we done? What have we done?!” she despaired.

“Room for new constellations?”

She turned to me with a glare, then it softened. She held her hoof out at me. “You and your improper optimism! Do you think fixing it will be easy?”

“We've done harder things together, haven't we?”

“We? We?” she scoffed. “All right, WE broke it, WE fix it. Enjoy your being mortal while you can, this is three centuries worth of work and you're not going to escape that one into death.”

“Of course, Your Majesty!” somehow my voice failed to carry any regret.

“And get that grin off your face. You're not getting any until we find a way to make sure this doesn't happen again!”

I nodded and tried my best to conceal my smile. I really tried. Then she got that little crease on her nose...

“STOP GRINNING! THIS IS NOT FUNNY!” she hit me with a pillow.

I hesitated only for a second before kicking a pillow at her face.

“You!!!” she grabbed a dozen pillows with her magic.

Despite taking heavy damage in pillow fight, I got her good mood back in ten seconds flat.