Dancing in the Rain.
A Jake and the Kid Side story
***
Outside the tent, a steady patter of rain filled the night with sound as a cool breeze wafted through a gap in the door flap. Against the chill of the night, Twilight Sparkle was a welcome warm presence at Luna’s side. The heat of her small body went to great lengths to dispel the chill night air. Luna could endure the cold easily, but that did not mean she did not appreciate a warm bed, or a crackling fire. The fire was out of the question given how soaked everything around the tent was, but thanks to Twilight, she had the warm bed.
Luna looked at the sleeping unicorn with affection, and noticed Twilight shiver slightly. She frowned. For all her strength and determination, Twilight Sparkle was a lot more fragile than Luna. She should have thought about that before she’d dragged Twilight out into the woods to ‘rough it’ with her.
The Alicorn princess shifted her right wing, covering more of Twilight, and snuggling her deeper against Luna’s side. Twilight let out a soft little nicker of contentment and wiggled even closer. So cute, Luna thought as she twisted her neck around so she could lay her head down alongside of Twilight’s.
A drop of water fell from the roof of the tent and plunked on Luna’s horn, causing her to jerk slightly in surprise. She scowled up and took note of where another droplet was forming. A quick burst of magic and the water was evaporated and the canvas sealed. Not that it would do much good. She must have fixed two dozen leaks since the rain started and every time a new one appeared within minutes. It was making her paranoid. She’d even gone so far as to scan for her sister, or one of her sister’s avatars, with no result. The tent was simply worn to a thread and long since due to be recycled which was something she would take great pleasure in seeing to personally once this trip was over.
The tent was only an annoyance. The real enemy facing her was boredom. As the Ruler of the Night it was natural that Luna was nocturnal in her habits. At the castle, her workload had been slowly increasing so that there was no shortage of tasks to occupy her time. It was a very different situation from a thousand years previously where she had no duties beyond the raising and lowering of the moon and stars. When Luna had contrived this camping trip as cover for examining Jake, she hadn’t stopped to consider that she would be alone all night with not even a Night Guard for company, and nothing to occupy her mind. She really should have thought to pack a good book, or at least, allowed Twilight to pack one of the several dozen she had wanted to bring along. Instead she was bored, bored, bored, with not a thing to do.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There was vengeance to plot. Tia had gone totally overboard with the whole tent thing. Both this abomination, she had dug up from who knows where, and the Saddle Arabian Royal Tent that she had supplied for Luna’s other guests the various fillies and colts who had accompanied them on this trip. Tia had to have set it up even before she had found out about the picture Luna had moved from the gallery into the main entrance of the palace. So, it really was unreasonable. Luna felt perfectly justified in plotting something equally outrageous to pull on Tia. If only her mind wasn’t coming up a blank.
There was soft murmur from Twilight and the smaller filly twisted slightly to snuggle deeper under Luna’s wing. Luna’s expression softened and she shifted her wing again to cuddle Twilight. Once again she was struck by the fact that Twilight didn’t even seem to acknowledge Luna’s past. Even the Nocturne who all but worshiped her were not so comfortable in her presence. What a remarkable pony, she thought. It’s no wonder Tia values her so highly.
“Please, Princess Celestia. I want this more than anything,” Twilight muttered, nuzzling Luna’s wing.
Luna was tired, so tired that her body ached, yet sleep eluded her. She had not had more than an hour or two of rest here and there since Jake and Curry had arrived in Equestria. Her mind was not at its best. On top of that, the close interaction with Twilight over the last day and a half had left her normal emotional defenses at a very low ebb. When she heard Twilight say Tia’s name with such entreaty in her voice, a hot burst of jealousy set her stomach to roiling. Here, even here, miles away from Canterlot, Twilight’s thoughts turned to Tia, even as she slept in Luna’s wings.
How Tia must laugh at her foolish little sister, scrambling for her crumbs. It would serve her right if she were to steal her most precious object. It would be so simple. Twilight’s impressive defenses were down. She was an innocent, and had never considered how vulnerable she could be while she slept. A thread of magic into Twilight’s magnificent mind, a touch or two in the right places, and Twilight would never think of Tia again. Her world would be Luna. Every wish of Luna’s would be her passionate desire. It would be easy, so very easy. And what would it hurt? Tia had hundreds of ponies kissing her royal flanks. All Luna wanted was one boon companion. One intimate friend to share her life and her bed. Surely that was not unreasonable. A darkness crept over Luna’s face as her appearance became more feral, her teeth seemed to lengthen in the shadow of her face as she bent over to touch her horn to Twilight’s.
Luna’s horn was no more than a half-inch away from touching Twilight’s when she paused and seemed to sway. The shadows that had begun to fill the tent fell away, and left a shaken mare looking down at Twilight’s peaceful sleeping face.
***
“Hummph,” Twilight groaned, blinking water out of her face. She was laying on her back, all four legs sticking up into the air with her belly becoming soaked from the cold rain blowing in through the open tent flap. The coolness against her hot, slightly feverish flesh was actually comfortable, but Twilight knew that wouldn’t last. Once she’d been cooled downed, it would take forever to warm up enough to go back to sleep. Groaning, she rolled over and fumbled for the open flap. Waking up in strange places after being shocked out of a deep sleep was becoming far too common an event in her life. And, she’d been having such a nice dream too.
Twilight suddenly flushed as the details of her dream registered on her waking mind. She’d been in Princess Celestia’s courtroom, standing in front of the throne, asking for Princess Luna’s hoof in marriage. The sides of the room had been lined with the nobles of Equestria, sneering at the common pony who dared to think herself worthy of entering their ranks.
Actually, Twilight remembered, as her flush grew far deeper, it hadn’t been herself in the dream, they’d been sneering at, in her dream she’d been a stallion and at her hooves had been hobbles and bridle she had carried into the throne room with the full intention of putting them on Luna and leading her out of the room after gaining Princess Celestia’s permission. The better to debauch at Twilight’s leisure once they reached a suitable venue.
She had been pleading with Celestia, going into explicit detail about how much she wanted Princess Luna. Twilight's face flamed as she recalled drawing the entire court’s attention to her male equipment, and how it spoke to her ‘ability’ to tame that little filly. Even that wasn’t the worst of it. Princess Luna had been standing beside her sister, looking down at Twilight in loathing at her presumptuous and disgusting behavior. In the dream, Twilight had merely smirked, knowing that she’d soon have the proud beauty howling a different tune. Awake, the memory twisted her stomach in disgust at her perversion.
Maybe getting woken up suddenly had been a blessing in this case. Who knew where things might have gone if she’d kept sleeping. She’d been a male, so Princess Luna might have called for the Royal Gelding Irons, which were rumored artifacts that had only theoretically existed -- to the best of Twilight’s knowledge -- but which she had no desire to discover were real, even if only in her dreams. Of course, things could have gone the other way, with Princess Luna hobbled and at her mercy. Twilight quickly dispersed that image. Bad enough such thoughts invaded her sleep, she would not tolerate such imaginings while she was awake.
Memories of Princess Luna in her dream reminded her of the princess in the real world, and that brought home the realization that she was alone in their camping tent. She looked around, just in time to receive a face full of icy rain as a gust of wind blew into the tent. It wasn’t the first time that evening this had happened. The door flaps had been very persistent about untying themselves and blowing open all night. A second frigid gust of wind blew even more rain in to soak her few remaining dry spots.
Twilight staggered to her feet, her horn glowing with magic as she reached out to secure the flaps. Only, there were no flaps. All that remained of them were a few tatters fluttering in the stiff breeze.
“What in Equestria,” Twilight muttered, examining the damage. Yes, the worn thin fabric had been more fragile than desirable in a shelter, but for the wind to do this... Why was the rest of the tent still standing? Clearly the flap had been ripped open by a specific force, and going by the ways scraps of it were scattered across the clearing in a clearly defined pathway directly away from the tent, there was no real mystery as to the cause.
“Princess Luna,” Twilight said in a breathless voice containing large amounts of concern. What could have caused her to go dashing out of here like this? Was there some sort of disaster the princess had sensed? Been informed of? Something so dire that she had to literally burst out of the tent to go and deal with it? Did she need help? Twilight listened with all her might, trying to hear over the steady beat of the rain against the ground.
***
Luna leaned over, dry heaving as her stomach tried to expel what was no longer there. Her abdominal muscles ached as if she’d done a thousand crunches, but that pain was a pale shadow of the torment going on in her mind.
Twilight Sparkle had shown Luna nothing but kindness, almost from the very moment the shadow of Nightmare Moon had been cast away from her. She had taken Luna in hoof and showed her the truth behind Nightmare Night, preventing Luna from making a foal of herself and jeopardizing the paper-thin tolerance the ponies of Ponyville felt for her. The evening before, Twilight had dismissed Luna’s insane vengeance-will-be-mine rant with a small smile and a comment about not being a pony who was able to throw stones at any other pony for that sort of thing.
Tia was her beloved sister, who loved Luna without reservations. Her Night Guards loved her in their own, sometimes rather disturbing, way. The staff at the palace were in all ways polite and proper, but there was a marked distance between them and her.
Twilight Sparkle, of all the ponies in Equestria, was her friend simply because she was her friend. Not because they were related or that she felt obligated or because she desired status or a favor. Twilight Sparkle actually seemed to like her. Luna had never had a friend, not one like that.
And how had she repaid Twilight Sparkle for this great unlooked for gift? She had schemed to subvert that brilliant intellect and turn her into a mindless thrall.
Tia had made a dreadful mistake. The Elements of Harmony had scoured Luna’s soul clean of the taint of Nightmare Moon, but they had left intact the mind that had first turned onto that dark path all those years ago. Her Sister should have ended her properly, while Luna had been weak and vulnerable. Before she could once again poison Equestria with her jealousy and hate.
Before she destroyed Twilight.
Luna’s stomach heaved, and she bent over as she retched miserably.
***
Faintly, in the distance, Twilight heard the rough gasping “Huck, huck,” of a pony being sick. A sound that was indelibly burned into her mind from the occasion Rainbow Dash had shown up on her doorstep, carrying a full load of hard apple cider and bemoaning her lack of a love life, right before trying to give Twilight a big sloppy kiss. Twilight had held her off for a while until Rainbow’s expression had turned startled and then desperate. Clapping a hoof over her mouth Rainbow had dashed into the bushes next to the library and killed some of Twilight's flowers in a most disgusting manner.
It had been no small relief to Twilight that Dash had no memory of the event when she’d woken up the next morning on Twilight’s couch.
“Princess Luna?” Twilight called into the night as she stepped out into the rain. There was no answer, and she followed the sounds, stumbling in the pitch black of the night before she thought to use her horn to light the way.
So suddenly that Twilight’s heart jumped in her chest, Princess Luna loomed out of the darkness. Only this was not the princess Twilight was used to seeing. Even after becoming covered in dirt and grime from wrestling with the old tent the day before, Luna had maintained an aura of dignity and decorum. That was no longer the case.
The princess looked terrible. Her eyes were haunted and her mane and tail were wet and bedraggled. Her tail was actually dragging in the mud. She looked every year of her long life, with her shoulders hunched and her head hanging low. It had to be an optical illusion, but even her horn looked like it was sagging slightly.
Princess Luna turned slowly, her haggard eyes unseeing for a moment, and then they focused on Twilight, and she found herself reeling backward slightly at the look of raw disgust that appeared on Luna’s face.
***
Oh, heavens above preserve me, Luna begged as Twilight stepped out of the rain. Her self-loathing had already caused her to cast up her accounts, and now her empty stomach cramped painfully as her disgust with herself returned ten-fold at the sight of the pony she had betrayed.
Twilight looked shocked to see her, a shock that turned to loathing in the next moment. Oh, merciful spirits of the stars, she knew. Twilight had sensed Luna’s almost invasion of her mind. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to flee, to fly back to Tia and beg to be sealed away.
She could not move. She, a creature of the stars, who could dance across a virgin field of snow and not leave a trace, was mired to her fetlocks in the gooey mud. She could not even find the spirit to lift her sodden wings and attempt to pull herself free. She stared at Twilight with an expression of utter defeat, waiting for her almost victim to pronounce sentence on her.
***
She knew! Twilight didn’t know how, but Princess Luna knew about her dream.
Wait! Twilight told herself sternly. Calm down, there is no way Princess Luna could know. No matter how sick and disgusting, It had only been a dream, it had never existed outside of head. Even then, those dreams only tormented her in the deepest part of the night when her inner Id came out to play. And her Ego and Superego were taking an hour long coffee break.
The vast majority of the time she didn’t even recall details. Only when she was woken from the deepest sleep, while in the middle of one, did the knowledge of how sick a pony she was once again become clear.
Twilight’s eyes suddenly widened and she felt her stomach lurch. Luna was a dream walker, it was part and parcel of her demesne. She ruled the nights, and dreams were part of that. Which meant that she very easily could have seen Twilight’s dream. Of course, Twilight tried to tell herself, that didn’t mean she had. Twilight took another quick look at the sick expression on Princess Luna’s face. Twilight’s stomach rolled as her supper threatened to make a reappearance.
Okay, skip any thought that she hadn’t. The Princess Luna who had looked at her in disgust from her Sister’s side hadn’t been an artifact of Twilight’s bad digestion and sick psyche, but the real genuine article. She had likely meant to visit in all innocence, maybe to discuss their upcoming spell collaboration, and she had walked into a scene of total depravity and seen first hand what a sick, sick pony Twilight was.
It wasn’t even Twilight’s fault, she tried to tell herself. It was all Rainbow Dash’s fault. She refused to understand that any romance between Twilight and Princess Luna was simply impossible and had run around telling all their friends that Twilight and Princess Luna were an item. Not to mention the way she constantly teased Twilight. Really, it was no wonder she was having those dreams again. Part of her wished she could have told Dash the real reason Twilight couldn’t have a romantic relationship, not just with Princess Luna, but with any pony.
“You see Rainbow Dash. I really want to tie mares up and sexual molest them while they are helpless.”
Oh, yeah, that would have gone over wonderfully.
Twilight had always told herself that she had gone this long avoiding any sexual entanglements, despite many offers from both stallions and mares, as well as one or two she was not quite certain how to categorize. She could continue to do so with no trouble. Only, now the secret was out. Soon everypony would know the truth about Princess Celestia’s special student. Oh stars, Twilight thought, what if they all thought we already have that sort of relationship. I can’t allow that to happen. I’ll tell Luna it was an aberration. I’m not a secret sadist, just a bibliosexual who happened to read a steamy novel yesterday. Of course she won’t trust me ever again, but that is all for the good. You would never have been able to make a life with her. The truth would have come out eventually. Princess Luna is no different from any other mare who has caught your eye.
Tears trickled out of the corners of Twilight’s eyes as she squeezed them tightly shut. Stop it, she told herself. Face the truth, no matter how much it hurts, how impossible it is. You have never felt this way about any other pony. Stop denying that there were times you wished you were a stallion. Stop denying that you have dreams of slipping in her window late at night intent on a little carnal conquering. How often have you imagined Luna secured and helpless against your desires?
Face it Twilight Sparkle, you are a sick pony, and now Princess Luna knows just how sick you are. The best you can hope for is that you can convince her it was a one time thing caused by reading Fifty shades of a Gray Mare the day before.
Twilight wanted to bolt. Run as hard as she could till she reached the sanctuary of her library, and never come out again. But no matter how Princess Luna’s merciless gaze seemed to scourge the flesh from her bones, she was unable to move. How could she? The punishment was only what she deserved for being such a wicked presumptuous perverted pony.
***
To both mares, seconds dragged as if they were hours, each stood still, bracing themselves against the coming denunciation, prepared to take it as their just deserts.
Finally the tension became so great that the words were forced up through their constricted throats, and they spoke as ony pony.
“We have wronged thou more grievously than it is possible to forgive, Twilight Sparkle.”
“I am so very sorry, there can be no possible excuse for my sick mind, Princess Luna.”
Both mares had been so focused on getting out the painful words that they hadn’t really fully registered what the other one had said.
They both remained standing, facing each other, shoulders hunched while waiting for the other pony’s reaction. Each nurturing a tiny kernel of hope deep in their hearts that maybe they could be forgiven, but not truly expecting it.
Twilight, being the younger, was the first to blink. She fell to her knees in the clinging mud and bowed her head to Luna. “I”m sorry, I didn’t hear you. I was so caught up in my own words. Please, I’ll just listen to what you have to say. Just, please…” Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, tears leaking down her cheeks. “Please, don’t hate me,” she whispered, twisting her head slightly to the side, fearful of Luna’s reaction.
Luna didn’t understand what was going on. But she did know that Twilight Sparkle was suffering. She stumbled forward, dragging her hooves free of the clinging mud one step at a time. A part of her mind that was not focused on Twilight took note that she truly did have feet of clay. A pity she had not noticed that previously.
Luna fell to her knees in front of Twilight, the wet mud squelching against her belly as she lowered her head and said, “Please look at me, Twilight Sparkle.”
“I-- can’t,” Twilight whispered, keeping her head adverted. “I don’t want to see the look in your eyes. I know I’m a bad pony. I’m so sorry for that.”
While it was wildly inappropriate, Luna felt a sense of elation. Twilight Sparkle didn’t know what Luna had attempted to do! That feeling was almost instantly replaced by gut-wrenching nausea when she realized that she ‘had’ to confess her sin to the younger pony. Bad as it had been thinking that Twilight had caught her in the act, there had also been a certain relief that the secret was out and Luna would not have to go through the pain of looking Twilight in the eye while she confessed as to what a despicable pony she was.
Twilight let out a choking sob, and covered her head with her forelegs to block out Luna’s gaze. Luna shoved all her personal feelings aside. The important thing here was that Twilight was in serious distress.
“Twilight Sparkle. You will look at me, now!” Luna said in the sternest, hard-ass voice she could manage. As it happened, that was a good eleven on the hard-ass scale. Several thousand years of being large and in charge had given her lots of practice.
Twilight hunched her shoulders and visibly tried to draw her head back between her shoulder blades as she pulled her head around to look up at Luna. The rain concealed any tears, but Luna knew that they had to be there, for no pony with that look on her face could avoid them.
Luna softened her expression, and as gently as she could, and still be heard over the rain, asked, “What is thy trouble, Twilight Sparkle? I swear, on mine honor, I shall hold your words sacrosanct. Naught that you say will pass my lips or come to the attention, in any other way, to any pony or creature of Equestria, less you give leave that it be so.”
Twilight blinked her eyes, that even reddened by distress were still lovely. “You don’t know?” she asked in a hesitant voice.
“Truly, I do not,” Luna assured her.
“Oh, well, that’s okay then,” Twilight said with a wide brittle smile that looked more like a crack in a fine piece of art than anything a pony should sport. Luna found it almost physically painful to observe it. “Why don’t we go back to the tent and get some rest? We’re going to need all the sleep we can get. Nice, sound, dreamless, definitely, dreamless. No dreams. No way. Just deep, deep sleep.”
Twilight turned away from Luna and took a step back toward the tent, fighting the pull of the mud caked around her hooves.
“I can not,” Luna said, staying right where she was as her stomach performed daring acrobatics in her belly.
Twilight didn’t turn around, but she paused in the mud and shivered. “Why not?” Her voice was shrill, with a slight tremor.
Luna bowed her head, her nausea returning fourfold. Only the fact that her belly was empty kept her from adding another level of disgusting to the mire she lay in. “I can not lay with thee Twilight Sparkle. I violated the trust thou hast shown me. Almost abused the friendship you offered freely. I am not worthy.”
“That’s not true,” Twilight said in a fierce voice. She turned and the brittle quality of her expression had turned to anger. “What pony told you that?”
“Me, Myself, and I. I state this as participant, witness, and accuser,” Luna said, lifting her head and staring intently at Twilight, while inside she felt her heart contract powerfully at Twilight’s instant defense.
If Twilight was taken aback by Princess Luna’s statement, she didn’t show it. Instead she marched, as best she could in the mud, toward the princess and nose to nose, demanded, “How? I was here. There were no other ponies. When did you do this?”
“In the tent, while you were sleeping. I looked at you, and was overcome by the desire to make you mine, heart and soul. To make you cleave to me alone. I was ready to attack your mind, to wipe all memory and thought of my sister from you,” Luna tried to keep herself detached, but her heart ached like it was going to burst, and there was the faintest of trembles in her voice. Twilight’s expression was puzzled, but she knew that once the unicorn processed the information that look would turn inevitably to horror.
“Well…, that’s just stupid. Pardon me for saying so, Princess Luna, but it is.”
If Luna had been on her feet, and not mired in mud, she would have staggered, and quite possibly performed a face plant. As it was her head shot back and her eyes went wide. “Didst thou not hear what I imparted to you, Twilight Sparkle?”
“Well, yes. You had a sudden powerful urge to bend the world to a shape you think more suitable. Happens to me all the time.”
“It does?” Luna asked weakly.
“Oh, sure. I spent most of yesterday morning wanting to strangle Rainbow Dash. That, or turn her into a frog. I waffled from one to the other.” Twilight’s eyes were evasive as she said this and Luna got the feeling that Twilight had considered other possible means of retaliation that were not so innocuous, or silly. She wasn’t about to push her on that, however. Instead she pretended she hadn’t noticed.
“Thou hast turned ponies into frogs before?”
Twilight laughed. “Oh, goodness no. I have just thought about it. Sometimes I work up the most elaborate daydreams concerning Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie, and how I’d go about giving them a lesson they would never forget.
(Involving whips, chains, and a good amount of whipped cream. But Twilight felt no need to go into that.)
"Then I take a deep breath, and remember all the good times and that the fact they drive me crazy is one of the reasons I love them.”
Once again Luna got the feeling that Twilight was locking something up deep in her mind even as she confessed to various trifles. “But, none of thy friends were the monster I was, or risked descending that pathway into madness that I so willingly trod.”
“They are not, and neither are you now,” Twilight said in a firm positive voice. “Princess Celestia always told me that it was fine to think such things. It was the doing that was the problem. You should have heard about some of the ideas she came up with in regards to some of the council ponies who were always nagging at her.”
“Yes. Of course. My sister,” Luna said, her voice going flat. “You think of her even in your dreams, or so I gather from your voice as you talked in your sleep.”
Twilight’s face was nearly obscured by mud where the rain had not washed it off, not to mention it was in the middle of the night in pouring rain, but even so Luna saw the unicorn pale, and the same sick look Twilight had worn earlier re-appeared on her face.
“I wasn’t thinking of Princess Celestia,” Twilight blurted out, and quickly clapped a hoof over her own mouth, only to end up spitting out the mud that had been transferred by her action.
Luna barely noticed, she was too busy castigating herself for so easily slipping yet again into bad habits. She had no claim or right to Twilight Sparkle, or to any other pony, not even her Night Guard. It wasn’t until Twilight began spitting clods of dirt that Luna left off her private self-scourging to quirk a mud-covered eyebrow at the unicorn.
“We are sorry, Twilight Sparkle. We didst not properly hear thou. Wouldst thou repeat, if thou will?”
“I was asking Princess Celestia if I might court you,” Twilight whispered, her face flushing. She once again twisted her head away and would not meet Luna’s eyes.
Luna’s heart thumped in her chest. “Thou asked to court me?”
Twilight nodded her head, biting her bottom lip.
Luna’s eyes narrowed as she considered Twilight’s account. There was something she just could not put a hoof on that was most decidedly wrong here. It was adorably cute that Twilight Sparkle was embarrassed about this, but her earlier behavior and reactions were most extreme for something so innocuous, even for a pony as socially awkward as Twilight. She had seemed obsessed with a dreamless sleep. Had she believed earlier that Luna had intruded on her dreams? What has been in them she so feared Luna might have seen? Luna’s was suddenly very curious. At the same time, her soul still ached from what she had almost done. That meant the obvious cure to her curiosity was out of the question. She would not knowingly violate Twilight, in any form. Slipping unnoticed into Twilight Sparkle's dreams would be such a violation of her mind, particularly if she were to find any of the thoughts that seemed so shameful to the young student.
“Dost thou feel thou are the better pony here, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna said in a stern voice.
“What? Of course not!” Twilight blurted.
“I bared my very soul to you, laid out my shameful behavior.”
“You did nothing shameful,” Twilight snapped, eyes fierce. “Stop denigrating yourself this instant!” Her eyes widened, and she clapped both forehooves over her mouth, this time remembering to keep it shut. Slowly she removed them, and said, as she inclined her head. “Please. Forgive me. I was out of line.”
“I laid out my shameful behavior,” Luna repeated, “and thou examined it, and declared me foolish for giving such weight to mere thoughts.”
“I didn’t say foolish,” Twilight muttered.
“Pardon?”
“Nothing, nothing. But, I was right. Everypony has dark urges. Even Fluttershy has a side to her that most ponies never see. She hides her anger well, but it is there.”
“And thus, we come to the point of the matter,” Luna declared. “You do not feel I, or other pony, possess your understanding. That I or they will judge you cruelly and harshly for thy inner thoughts. That we are not as good as thou art.”
“It’s not like that,” Twilight protested. “I don’t think that.”
“And how am I to discern this, if thou wilt not share.”
“You’re really not going to let it go?” Twilight asked in a small resigned voice.
Luna looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded her head, “I shall not. Shall we return to the tent and once again attempt some girl talk?”
“If it is all the same, Princess Luna. I would rather do it here,” Twilight said, looking up into the rainy sky. “You will most likely not wish to share a tent with me after you hear.”
Twilight directed a hopeful look at Luna, her intent clear in her expression. Luna was merciless however. She knelt on the dirt as if it was the finest silk, and nodded at Twilight to continue.
Twilight heaved a sigh, and knelt herself. Not looking at Luna, she began.
***
“It was just after I received my Cutie Mark. Princess Celestia had not yet outlined a course of study for me, and a large part of my days were free, so I was given the run of the royal library. Most nights I had to be hunted down in whatever nook I had book-barricaded myself in and sent home. It was common for Shining Armor to come and collect me and walk me home.
I didn’t understand it at the time, but Shining was going through the last stages of puberty. As I’m sure you know, the bodies of young colts are flooded with hormones at that time, and are prone to such things as broken voices, growth spurts…” Twilight hesitated for a moment, and then seeing no give in Luna’s expression, continued, “and spontaneous erections. It happened just as we arrived home one evening. Cadence was in the living room, talking to my mother. I ran to greet her, and Shining went charging up the stairs to his room, I glanced, and was shocked to see that his pee pee--”
This time Twilight’s pause was to send a look of censor at Luna as the Midnight Princess audibly choked down an explosion of laughter. “I was young, that’s how I thought of it then. In any case, it had grown to huge dimensions. Cadance and my mother giggled and didn’t seem worried at all, but I was sure Shining was suffering from something dreadful, a disease, or an animal bite that had caused the affected area to swell so grossly.”
Twilight again frowned at Luna, who had given up on suppressing her reaction and had let out a very un-princess like guffaw. “It wasn’t funny. I was sure he was dying. I had never paid much attention to that part of a stallion, it was just there, like a tail. I’m sure I must have passed by dozens of colts who were having the same difficulty to various degrees, but I simply hadn’t noticed at the time. Shining was my BBBFF, so I noticed when it was him.
“After Cadence went home, my mother sat me down and explained the basic facts of life. About how a stallion became engorged so that he could slip his member into a mare, and inject sperm to help make a baby with her. She explained how when colts were young, their bodies were still learning what it meant to be mature, and that sometimes, without them wanting it, or having any control over it, they would spontaneously become erect.”
“Not much room for romance in such an explanation,” Luna remarked.
Twilight nodded her head in agreement. “My mother was not really comfortable giving the talk and as a result it was rather clinical. Unfortunately, I sensed that there was a lot she wasn’t telling me, and seeing as how I had this wonderful new resource, I decided to engage in some self-education.”
“I’m sure there were many books in the library that would offer a more complete explanation of the onset of puberty and the complications inherent in them.”
“Oh, there were. Unfortunately, there were also many other, more specialized, books, in areas that I really should not have been allowed access to at that age. Princess Celestia had informed the Librarian that I was to have the full freedom of the library with the exception of the advanced magic books. It had not occurred to her that I there were other, age-inappropriate subjects I might research. The Librarian was new, and was not about to gainsay the Princess.”
“I think I can see where this might be going?”
“I don’t think you can,” Twilight said with an embarrassed expression. Her face became haunted. “I still wake up screaming when I remember asking Shining if he got an erection because he wanted to tie up Cadence and spank her plot. At the dinner table.”
Twilight grew cross, and scowled at Luna who was very nearly rolling in the mud as laughter shook her body. “Its not funny. My mother freaked. I had to go to bed without supper when I wouldn’t tell her where I had gotten that idea. I was terrified she’d ban me from the Royal Library, or maybe refuse to allow Princess Celestia to teach me.” She blushed becomingly, and lowered her eyelashes so she could avoid Princess Luna’s eyes. “Despite that, I continued to sneak into that section of the library. It warped me. I was sixteen before I realized that you didn’t need a hundred feet of cotton rope, a bridle, and a riding crop to have sex.”
Luna made a motion to wipe the tears of laughter from her eyes, only to remember just in time that her hoof was covered in several inches of thick mud. “Forgive me, Twilight Sparkle. I did not mean to laugh. So, may I understand from this that you tend to dream of some handsome stallion securing you firmly in place, and having his way with you?”
Twilight, annoyed that Luna was not treating this with the seriousness she felt it deserved, snapped out, “No. I dreamed I was a stallion, and I was asking Princess Celestia to ‘give’ you to me, so that I could tie you up and have my way with you!”
Suddenly, the annoyance fled from Twilight’s face and she turned pale as she realized what she had just confessed.
It took a great deal of effort, but Luna managed to choke down her laughter. The expression on Twilight’s face was just so delightful. Falling back on the skill honed through enumerable hours of sitting through formal petitions upon petitions, Luna adopted a neutral expression that gave nothing away.
“I see. This is a very serious matter, Twilight Sparkle.”
“I know,” Twilight whispered. “If you wish to have nothing further to do with me, I’ll understand. I know that you need to tell Princess Celestia about this. If you can wait, I’ll pen a letter of resignation to her.” Twilight stifled a sob at the last bit.
“Mine sister is not a cruel tyrant, Twilight Sparkle. If you will divulge the location of your dungeon, so that we can free your prisoners, she will apply your cooperation against your sentence.”
“What? No. I never. I don’t have a dungeon,” Twilight protested, stumbling over her tongue in her haste to get the words out.
“Ah, so you have restricted yourself to random assaults. Very well. Do you recall the names of the mares you have violated?”
“I haven’t,” Twilight gasped out. “I’ve never. How could you…” Twilight trailed off.
“You’re playing a joke on me,” Twilight accused Princess Luna, her face flushed with embarrassment, and maybe a little anger under its coating of mud.
“A little one,” Luna admitted, holding a hoof a fraction of an inch above the ground to illustrate, which might have been more effective if the gap had not filled instantly with dripping mud.
“How could you? I thought you were my friend. This is not something to joke about.”
“On the contrary, Twilight Sparkle. It is very much a thing to joke about.”
Luna held up a hoof to forestall Twilight’s rebuttal, causing Twilight to flinch back, not out of fear, but in an effort to avoid the splatters of mud that flew off the tip of Luna’s hoof.
“Not ten minutes ago you assured me that I had done nothing wrong when I came within moments of attempting to bind thy will under enchantments and reduce you to nothing more than a mindless puppet of my foolish desires.:
“I told---”
“Shush!” Luna said in a firm voice. “I know very well what you informed me of. That thought was not action, and that you yourself have been guilty of such ‘evil’ thoughts. And yet, here you are, crawling in the mud, bemoaning your irredeemable evil nature because you had a few naughty dreams. If this be not the stuff of laughter, I know not what is.”
“It wasn’t a few,” Twilight whispered in protest.
“And what of it?” Luna said haughtily. “Do you know what my first thought was when you confessed your wicked dream to me, Twilight Sparkle?”
Twilight looked like she had a whole list of likely reactions on Luna’s part, but she settled for merely shaking her head in the negative.
“Dang, that’s some smoking hot plot-dampener.”
“Huh?”
Luna looked concern. “Did I not get the vernacular correct? I have been studying, but have had little chance to practice.”
“I can’t say,” Twilight said hesitantly. She was trying to draw some meaning from the random words Luna had just spouted out but for the life of her she couldn’t.
Luna gave a sigh. “It would seem I am yet in need of further practice before I can claim mastery of the modern idiom. My point, Twilight Sparkle, was that I found the scenario you described to be personally arousing.” Luna waited for her words to percolate into Twilight’s mind. It only took a few seconds before Twilight’s eyes widened, her pupils dilating slightly, as she directed a look of total confusion and uncertainty toward Luna.
“You want to tie up other ponies and… do other stuff to them?” Twilight asked in a voice that was a touch high pitched.
Luna gave Twilight a predatory grin that caused the smaller pony to back away slightly. “Not in the least,” Luna replied, once she decided she’d teased Twilight enough. “On the contrary, with the right pony, I could see it being quite relaxing to allow myself to be secured, and to have ‘other’ things done to me.”
“You could?” This time there most certainly was pupil dilation, and Twilight sounded more like a mouse than a pony as she all but squeaked as she asked the question.
It was Luna’s turn to take a moment to think before replying. “Actually. Yes. I think I would,” she said, giving Twilight a speculative look. Luna abruptly stood up, giving herself a shake that shed several dozen pounds of mud from her hide. “Walk with me, Twilight Sparkle,” she commanded.
Twilight blinked in surprise, and then hastily got to her hooves to follow Luna, who was walking away from the tent.
“Do you feel slightly more at ease now, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked.
After a bit of introspection, Twilight was surprised to find that the answer was, “Yes, I think I do.”
“I’m glad we could talk,” Luna said. “It had been a very long time since I could discuss anything so personal with another pony who was not my sister. You helped me a great deal, earlier, Twilight Sparkle. I was in true distress, sick with self-loathing. You grounded me, and our discussion was a most welcome distraction from the darkness I fear at times is still within me.”
There wasn’t much Twilight could say to that other than, “I’m glad I could help.” She paused for a moment, and then added, “I’m glad you made me tell you.”
“Ah, this should do nicely,” Luna remarked as she walked out into a small clearing between the trees. The ground was covered in sodden, but strong, turf that squished slightly under their hooves. Spreading her soggy wings, Luna held up her head and closed her eyes as the heavy rain sluiced over her body, washing away the muck that had covered her.
Twilight copied Luna and found that while the rain was cool, it was not uncomfortable. The relief of being free of the dirt and grime that had coated her was palpable.
“Can you hear it, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked without lowering her head or opening her eyes.
“Hear what, Princess Luna?” Twilight asked, blinking away the rain as she looked up at the royal pony.
“The music of the night. Listen carefully.”
Twilight did as she was directed. She closed her eyes again and lifted her ears, taking in all the sounds that surrounded them. The pattering of the rain, the sound of the wind rushing through the trees, the small rustles of various creatures going about their business despite the wet and the night. At first she didn’t understand what Luna was talking about when she spoke of music, but as she listened she found that just on the edge of her awareness was a rhythm to the sounds as they blended into each other.
Twilight heard Luna moving, and opened her eyes to find that the Princess of the Night was dancing gracefully in the rain. She whirled and twisted, her wings snapping out to send cascades of water arching out from her body in shining sparkles of light as she glided across the the wet grass. For a moment, all Twilight could think of was joining her in the dance, the two of them joined in blissful harmony with the pouring rain. There was no timid princess or muddy pony in those moves, only an elemental force of beauty that pranced and glided around the clearing as if the stars were descending to the ground as rain and wished to dance with her before they returned.
Luna opened her eyes and looked at Twilight. “Come. Dance with me, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight closed her eyes and recaptured the music she had heard before. Uncertainly, she began to move in time with it. Soon she let the pleasure of motion take over and she was dancing with her usual abandon. Mud flew through the air as Twilight’s hooves jerked in random directions. She managed to do the impossible, none of her six extremities moved in anything close to time with each other.
Luna had to repress her laughter, something she was finding very common while around the young unicorn. Saying that Twilight was a bad dancer was a huge understatement. The pony was the very antithesis of dance. But her sheer joy in the motions more than made up for what she might lack in grace and style.
Luna made a quick sidestep to avoid getting bucked as Twilight whirled in place, her hooves flying in random arcs with little flecks of what mud remained on her legs heading off in all directions.
Mind you, a pony had to keep on her toes around her.
Luna contemplated Twilight from a safe distance as the smaller pony danced in the rain. It would be easy for a pony to think Twilight shy and compliant. She was eager to please, and so very frightened of other ponies bad opinions of her. But those ponies had not seen her face down the Nightmare by herself. The heart of a lion beat in Twilight’s chest, and she would always do what she felt was right, no matter who faced her. Not bad traits for a companion to one who feared her inner darkness was waiting in the shadows for a moment of weakness.
***
Twilight felt as if the rain was washing away much more than the mud from her flanks as she gave herself over to the music of the night. It was as if was also washing away a burden she had been carrying for years. Ever since that horrible, horrible, night, when she had asked Shining the question. The night her mother had sent her to her room in the middle of supper. The night her mother had demanded to know where she had gotten such wicked idea. The night her mother had told her that nice fillies did not have such ideas.
Twilight’s mother had never mentioned the topic again, and Twilight had never discussed it with her, or with another pony, till now. All those years, wasted, thinking she was a disgusting evil pony for having such dreams. And all it had taken was a heart to heart talk with another pony on the subject to learn that she was not beyond the pale.
Mind you, it was still something you’d only want to discuss with very good friends, possibly after feeling them out on the topic. And, of course, with a pony you hoped might be your special somepony.
For some reason as she thought that, Princess Luna’s image floated up in Twilight’s mind. After all, the princess had said she did not find the idea of being secured distasteful, in fact found it arousing. Despite the rain Twilight felt her cheeks heat and she told herself to not be a foal. Princess Luna was Princess Celestia’s sister. She was so far beyond Twilight’s reach she might as well still be in the moon.
“Twilight Sparkle?”
Twilight paused and opened her eyes, to find Princess Luna looking at her with a strange expression in her eyes. “Yes, Princess Luna?” she inquired.
“I wish to ask your permission to approach your mother. I wish to seek her approval to formally court you. If you have no objection that is?”
****
Epilogue, some time in one of many possible futures.
“Tell me, Twilight. How did Princess Luna ask the question,” Rarity all but begged, her romantic soul burning for inspiration.
Twilight gave a laugh, careful not to disturb the small bundle she held cradled between her forelegs, or to put too much pressure on her tender wings “She was so old fashioned. She insisted on asking my mother’s permission to court me.”
Unseen by the two mares till then, Luna, who had just entered the hospital room, said, “Nay, my love, that was not old fashioned. Old fashioned would have been sending a bag of gold to your mother, and two large guards to escort you to my bedchamber.”
“Well, that certainly would have saved us a lot of problems,” Twilight conceded.
“I hope you’ll pardon me for saying that I’m rather happy that things did work out the way they did,” said the stallion who had followed Luna into the room, his form obscured by the over-sized bunch of flowers he was carrying. “Despite the frequent baths in assorted public fountains.”
***
If you just have to know who the stallion is, check out The Traveling Tutor and the Librarian by Georg
Why did I give Twilight a secret BDSM fetish. Well besides being a pervert, the idea was partly inspired by this new’s story which came out as I was starting this story.
If you think that Twilight’s quick turnaround in thought was unbelievable, you haven’t been watching the same show I have.
The Traveling Tutor and the Librarian by Georg
Author's Note
I'm leaving this as complete for now. If I get a lot of requests for more then I might be inclined to do a "Meet the Parents" chapter.
Edit 05/26/19
I've decided that this story is going to be relegated to only being partial canon. The character building is canon. The sexual bits not so much. I don't really want to re-write this and eliminate those, because I think the story is a fun read with them, but I don't want to be bogged down living up to the whole kink thing in the main storylines.
Opinions?
