Sogni Infetti

Most ponies, and indeed most sentient creatures, have an innate fear of darkness and shadows. There is no great mystery behind this predisposition, after all, the darkness is where the monsters hide.

The first time Luna heard this, it confused her. Shadows, after all, were just places the sun didn’t touch. Growing up away from… normal ponies, neither Luna, nor Celestia, realized that they were the only ones who could see just fine in almost any light.

For Luna, the confusion didn’t stop there. She’d always had an affinity for shadows, feeling somehow right when inside them. They were always her preferred playground, before and after becoming a princess. It wasn’t until she saw the ponies shunning her and her night that she described them as safe or comforting. Before then, it had been Celestia’s presence that she sought when doubt or fear gripped her. But when she became the cause…

Laid out on her bed, drowning in what other ponies might describe as a complete and oppressive darkness, Luna was searching for that old sensation. She hated herself for it, for breaking that promise she’d made upon her return, but, once again, she could not make herself face Celestia anymore than she could stomach the notion of going to anypony else.

Dinner had been too much. Every time she glanced at her sister, all she saw was that look of desire, of irrepressible lust from her dream. Celestia wanted her. She wanted her. Her sister wanted her. It was disgusting. It was reprehensible. It was… intriguing.

She drew deeper into herself, focused all of her attention on her breathing.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

The steady rhythm of her heartbeat pushed out her cluttered thoughts, filling all the nooks and crannies of her mind to keep everything else at bay.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

She let everything drop away, from the noises filtering in through the balcony to the small sounds of the castle at large. The little aches and sensations of her own body slipped into the background.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

She was at peace.

“Luna?”

Luna jumped to her hooves, heart racing as she turned to face the sound of her sister’s voice.

There she was in all her glory, all of a length away from Luna’s bed. Celestia, her pristine white coat glimmered in the non-light of Luna’s room, the hairs of her spectral mane caught in the same solar wind as her own. She was everything everypony imagined her to be, tall, regal, calm, radiant, beautiful…

Luna sighed and rolled her eyes—the adrenaline already gone because it had never really been there. Even in Luna’s dreams, Celestia was the pinnacle of the equine form.

Laying back down, she turned away from the dream-sprite. “Go away.”

As is the way of dreams, she could feel Celestia mimic her eye roll as she approached. “You know I cannot do that, sister.”

Her frustration built until Luna’s teeth were on the verge of grinding together. She should have known that trying to meditate would only put her to sleep. Worse still was her lack of control. There was nothing she couldn’t do in her dream… but her subconscious was just that much better at it.

“You can, and you will. This is my dream and I do not want you in it. Begone!” she shouted, then, in a more petulant tone than she would have liked, added, “And you are NOT my sister!”

The dream-sprite wearing Celestia’s skin, clicked her tongue. “Of course I’m your sister.”

She lifted herself onto the bed, her weight shifting the mattress and drawing a low, warning groan from the heavy frame. A series of smaller creaks followed with each of her movements until Celestia finally settled down, the hairs of her white coat just barely mingling with those of Luna’s back. Her great, sail of a wing stretched out, settling over Luna, wrapping around her and pulling her tight against the dream-sprite’s side.

Despite herself, Luna could not stop a pleased hum from escaping her lips. There was just something about the warmth of Celestia’s coat that was beyond relaxing, like spending an hour under the hooves of an expert masseuse.

“There. Now isn’t that better?”

“No,” Luna pouted, nuzzling against Celestia’s shoulder. “I want to be alone.”

Celestia chuckled at the dissonance between Luna’s words and actions, her whole body shaking with mirth.

Luna tried to hide behind her mane, but a long, white feather brushed over her muzzle, lifting the fall of cornflower locks out of her eyes. She stuck her tongue out at her sister’s still laughing face before burying her own into Celestia’s shoulder.

“Come now,” Celestia said, managing to sound both mollifying and chiding at the same time, “there’s no need to be foalish.”

“This is my dream.” Luna’s little wings ruffled against her sides. “I can be as foalish as I want!”

Another chuckle rumbled out of Celestia and through Luna. “I suppose that is true, and if it makes you happy…” —Luna nodded— “Then far be it for me to stop you.”

A smile found Luna’s lips for the first time since she’d fallen asleep… since she’d stumbled blindly into her sister’s…

She pushed that thought down before it could ruin the mood. This moment was too nice to let it be corrupted so easily.

Then Celestia began to sing.

It was an old song, so old she almost didn’t recognize it at first. There were no words, none that anypony alive understood. Ancient memories, little more than half-formed pictures, found their way up from the depths of Luna’s past. A gentle kiss over a scraped knee. Trying to fly, and being caught in a loving embrace. A long, rust-red mane parting to reveal a face she’d nearly forgotten.

Tears flowed freely down Luna’s muzzle. How long had it been since she last thought of her mother? Centuries at least, discounting her abeyance.

Luna wiped her tears into the silken warmth of her sister’s coat.

The song stopped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“Yes you did!”

“Why would I—”

“Because thou art trying to break us!” Luna screamed, her starry mane rippling like it was caught in a hurricane. She tried to stand, but with her legs tucked beneath her, she lacked the leverage to overcome Celestia’s wing. Even her sudden return to size did nothing to improve her situation. Twisting and thrashing, she fought to escape. “Get thee away from us, thou perverted whorse!”

Celestia’s horn sparked and a crack of magic burst against Luna’s flank, making her yelp in surprise. “A princess does not use such foul language.”

“We shall speak with words of our own choosing! Now get thee gone or suffer our wrath!”

The dream-sprite chuckled again, holding Luna in place with almost no apparent effort. Realizing that she would never be able to force her way free, Luna started to charge her horn.

Unfortunately for her, Celestia was ready for that. Her long feathers curled under Luna’s barrel and started running along her ribs. In an instant, Luna’s struggle for freedom became little more than squirming, twitching, and writhing as she fought a losing battle against the giggles rising in her throat.

Her protests were ignored, and she didn’t last long, her first laugh bursting out and paving the way for many more. Before she knew what was happening, Celestia had paused, granting her a respite as she was rolled over onto her back. Now straddling her younger sister, Celestia was far from finished. Mercilessly, she brought both wings to bear before Luna could properly catch her breath.

Fully exposed, there was not a sensitive spot on Luna’s body that went untouched. From tickling her ear with a feather to poking a hoof where her legs met her body, Celestia drove her little sister to the point of exhaustion.

Luna fought back as best she was able. She kicked and flapped her wings to in futile attempts to ward off Celestia’s prodding. Going on the offensive only left her that much more exposed, and, even when she managed to reach her older sister, it never seemed to affect her at all.

“I give up!” Luna gasped, all her limbs wrapped in a bid to protect herself. “Please!”

Celestia relented, drawing long strokes with her wings to help cool her sister off and catch her breath.

Luna was left a twitching, gasping mess. The not-quite hairs of her mane were a complete shambles, with tangles and clumps splayed out around her head like a sparkling halo. A light sheen of sweat glistened on her coat.

Gradually, she came back down, a content sigh falling as the last spasm subsided. She gazed wearily into her sister’s bright pink eyes, basking in the ebbing euphoria.

The beautiful, slender muzzle lowered until Luna could smell the hint of jasmine tea on Celestia’s breath. “I love you, Lulu.”

A tear rolled out the corner of Luna’s eyes, tracing a jagged trail to the pillow below her head. “I—I love you too, Tia.”

Celestia closed the last of the distance, brushing her lips against Luna’s before slipping into an affectionate nuzzle to wipe away the lone tear.

The dream-sprite of Celestia cooed, nibbling tenderly at the base of Luna’s ear and sending a shiver down her spine. Her own hooves reached up to touch Celestia’s chest, to feel the beat of her heart through her skin and coat. She knew it wasn’t real. That it wasn’t Celestia, that it didn’t even have a heart.

She wanted so badly to be mad at her, at it. She wanted to believe that she didn’t want this. That the feeling of her sister’s body pressed against her own wasn’t something that she’d always sought after. More than anything, she didn’t want to be Celestia’s sister for the next five minutes.

The first kiss was chaste, a peck just below her ear.

Three more followed, tracing a line up her muzzle until their lips touched a second time. It was an ephemeral thing, as delicate as a cherry blossom caught in the wind. The bare contact drew out a pained moan, leaving Luna on the brink of begging for more when Celestia pulled away.

More tears followed the first, leaving dark rivulets in Luna’s fur as she stared into her sister’s eyes. “Please,” she whispered, her voice shattering across the simple word. “I can’t.”

The droop in Celestia’s ears did nothing to alleviate the longing in Luna’s heart. She nodded though, accenting to Luna’s decision and turning to leave.

Luna reached out, touching a hoof to her sister’s cheek. “Don’t go… just… don’t go.”

Again, Celestia nodded. With careful grace, she lowered herself back to the bed. Laying on her side, Celestia pulled her into a tender embrace, warping Luna in legs and wings, holding her sister’s head to her chest.

For the first time in centuries, Luna wept.