The Dark Apprentice

Twilight gasped as the last tremor of pleasure left her body through the tips of her ears and her hooves. It had taken... a while for her first real orgasm to die down.

She thought that it would leave her feeling exhausted and spent. Or that once that heat died down, she’d feel left out in the cold, eager for more as though sex were some kind of drug.

“How do you feel?” Luna asked.

Twilight dragged herself back onto the tower—her head had still been hanging over the edge—and into a pool of melting frost. How did she feel?

Bliss. Sex was very much a drug, and Twilight’s brain was currently enjoying a fine neurohormone cocktail. Her breaths came deep and steady as she looked up at the sky. There was no tension anywhere—no muscle pain, no stress. It was almost therapeutic.

Twilight giggled. Sex therapy! She was high on sex!

“I see,” Luna said. “Take as much time as you need, Twilight Sparkle.”

Take as much time as you need. Twilight was just going to lie there and feel excellent for a little while longer, then. Her horn glowed as she harmlessly flashed the growing puddle around her into steam.

She grabbed the blanket beneath her with telekinesis and pulled it close, intending to wrap it around herself and snuggle in. The corners of Luna’s thick cover folded over her, then pulled tight.

Too tight. They were choking the life out of her, Twilight realized with a shock. She’d vastly overpowered her spell.

She tore her way out of the blankets, creating a snowstorm of fluffy down. Luna smiled as Twilight looked at her hooves. She’d only meant to loosen the blankets up a little. Instead she’d reduced them to a tattered mess as though they were made of nothing more than wet paper.

She’d also only meant to draw them close with her telekinesis. Not wrap herself up like Hearth’s Warming Eve gift.

My. Dark. Apprentice.

“Woah,” Twilight whispered.

“Close your eyes,” Luna said.

Twilight looked up at her. Luna looked back expectantly. Twilight closed her eyes.

“Point to Athura Valerius.”

Athura Valerius? Twilight thought, I don’t even know what that—

She pointed to Athura Valerius, a star not too far away from Arcturis. A star that wasn’t visible to the naked eye. A star that Twilight had never heard of or seen before in her life.

“Good,” Luna said, and Twilight opened her eyes. “Now tell me what time it is.”

Again, the knowledge filled Twilight’s mind instantaneously. “I don’t have to tell you,” she said, mostly just to prove to herself that was the case.

Luna shook her head. “Nay, my Dark Apprentice. You have perfect free will. Even I abide the laws of magic. Does the time of day come to you?”

Twilight nodded. “Two minutes fourteen seconds past midnight.”

Luna gave another one of her tiny smiles. “Good,” she said. “I have the same thing.”

Twilight pinged a couple dozen more stars in her mind in the space of a few seconds. “So I can feel the entire night sky now?”

“Indeed,” Luna said. “But you cannot change it.”

“And...” Twilight looked down again at the torn remnants of Luna’s cover.

“Faster,” Luna said. “Stronger. Almost impossible to tire out. You need not sleep, though you do need to eat. You can cast spells out of my own repertoire, now. Darkness will never hinder your vision, and most cold will not bother you.”

Twilight sat. “I don’t feel all that different.”

“You will,” Luna said, moving to sit beside her. Twilight felt the sudden urge to press herself against the princess’s lush coat again, to feel that cool softness.

“It may take some time to become used to, Twilight Sparkle: especially not having to sleep. I’m suspending your first week of lessons to give you time to relax and get comfortable with these changes.”

“Wait, what?” Twilight shot to her hooves.

Luna furrowed her brow. “Relax, Twilight Sparkle. You don’t need to learn anything from me for the next seven days. Just do what you would normally do. Frolic about in the daylight, and such.”

“But—but I came here to learn!” And have sex. We should do that again as well.

Luna cocked her head. “You truly wish to begin your studies now?”

Twilight gave Luna what she hoped was an honest expression. “I do.”

“Hmm. Come then.” Luna stood and strode to the center of the tower. There, a pool of shadow gathered, formed, and solidified into the table she’d dismissed earlier. “You will need books,” Luna said, “But what can you learn right away...” She began to pluck volumes off of her shelves. Volumes that looked to be a thousand years old at least.

Twilight perked up as she moved to stand by Luna’s side. She’d uncharacteristically forgotten about the books, having pushed them and everything but sex out of her mind to make her decision. Now, however, it was the prospect of sex that fled her thoughts in favor of books. Really old books.

“The Embrace of Darkness,” Luna read, placing a massive tome upon the table. “This should serve as a primer. The Shadows beckon... not yet. A Study in Ecstasy, yes. The End of Life, no. I doubt you’ll be killing anypony soon.”

“Wait,” Twilight said. “Killing somepony?”

Luna shrugged. “Ponykind writes books about everything, Twilight Sparkle, and a thousand years ago it was hardly peaceful. Now then, 200 Ways to Please Your Partner: Mare on Mare Edition. This should round out everything you will need concerning lovemaking.” She placed it on the pile.

“Wait,” Twilight said again, levitating the most recent book into the air to examine its shiny, manufactured cover. “This can’t be more than a couple years old.”

“Indeed,” Luna said. “I have been supplementing my collection with modern works, in an effort to learn what developments ponykind has made in the past thousand years.” She frowned at the book Twilight held. “Sadly, not much when it comes to the sexual arts.”

Twilight opened the book and peered at the slip inside the cover. “Did you... did you steal this from the Canterlot Library?”

“No,” Luna said quickly.

“Yes you did,” Twilight said. “There’s no checkout stamp.”

“Those books belong to the crown.”

“Yeah, but...”

“I’m the crown, my Dark Apprentice.”

Twilight put the book back with a grumble. “Well I’m a librarian,” she said, more to herself than to the princess. “Coulda just gotten a library card...”

“The Call of Shadows,” Luna said, plucking another book free of its shelf.

“Do these all have to sound so... dark?” Twilight asked.

Luna gave her a queer look. “You are my Dark Apprentice, Twilight Sparkle. I am the Princess of the Night. Would you like me to let you read The Blackest Night of Dark Shadows?” She pulled a slim black volume free from the shelf and waved it around. Twilight gave it a look of disbelief, and Luna shrugged before putting it back. “I wrote it in my teenage years,” she said. Twilight wasn’t sure if she was joking or not.

“You will take these home with you, Twilight Sparkle. Once you have read and understood all of them, I will permit you to read from The Book of Secrets.”

“The Book of Secrets?”

“The Book of Secrets.”

Twilight waited for an explanation, but none came. “So, what’s—”

“Secrets.”

Twilight peered at the princess. Her face and tone hadn’t changed at all, but... was Luna joking? She couldn’t tell. “Okay.”

“You may wish to tell Celestia of you apprenticeship, Twilight Sparkle. You can do so at any time and there will be no consequences.”

Twilight frowned. “What? I thought you said—”

Luna nodded gravely. “When you were a prospective student, I did not want you to tell my sister. I wanted you to make the decision for yourself. And you did, which...” Luna paused. “Surprised me,” she said at last.

“I know Celestia is an important part of who you are, Twilight, and I... do not want to damage that bond. Everypony needs somepony they can share everything with. Please, do not hesitate to tell her if you wish.”

Twilight eyed Luna carefully. “Is... Is Celestia going to be upset?” she asked. Luna was Celestia’s sister, she was a princess. She wouldn’t ask Twilight to do something that Celestia wouldn’t approve of. Would she?

“No,” Luna said immediately. “I’m certain that Celestia would not be upset with you.”

“But you’d rather I didn’t tell her,” Twilight said.

“I would rather you do as you wish in this matter,” Luna said. Again, Twilight could discern nothing from the expression she wore.

“Okay then,” Twilight said, resolving to write Celestia a letter in the morning.

Luna nodded. “Dawn is not until six thirty eight,” she said. “Hmm...”

“What is it?”

Luna put a hoof to her chin. “It has been some time since I trained a Dark Apprentice, Twilight Sparkle. As I recall, I would now teach you some astronomy. But you’re Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight understood. Except for the stars she couldn’t physically see, Celestia had taught her almost everything there was to know about the sky long ago. And now she could easily pinpoint the ones she couldn’t see with the naked eye.

“Or, because you are a unicorn, I would teach you some more basic magic. But—”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

“Yes. We can move right into the darker powers, but not until you have finished your reading. And it seems a waste of our time together to have you sit here and read.” Luna seemed to consider things for a moment. “Kissing, then,” she said at last.

Kissing. Twilight felt a surge of girlish giddiness. She was going to learn how to kiss!

But wait. She’d already kissed Luna. And even Pinkie Pie, for that matter. Maybe she was a little inexperienced, but she was hardly terrible. Right?

“There is much to learn, my Dark Apprentice,” Luna said, striding back over to the bed. Was it just Twilight’s imagination, or was the princess sashaying a bit more than normal, now? Regardless, Twilight felt her eyes following her new mentor’s flank as Luna moved to lie down.

“Come,” Luna said. Twilight obeyed, eagerly settling into the lush cover before the princess. “Closer.” Twilight scooched forward until their faces were bare inches apart.

Looking into Luna’s eyes was unavoidable from this proximity, and Twilight couldn’t help but stare. She hardly noticed their color, instead focusing on their sheer intensity. Did the princess look at everything that way? It was as though everything Luna saw was hers for the taking, or even already hers. So much different than Celestia’s warm, calm gaze.

Don’t think of Celestia, idiot. You’re making out with her sister.

“Now,” Luna said. “Without coming any closer, show me that you intend to kiss me.”

Uh-oh. Body language. Not Twilight’s biggest strength. Twilight tried to give Luna what she hoped was a smoldering look, lowering her head and looking out from under her eyelashes. She immediately felt ridiculous, and started to blush.

“Mmm,” Luna said. “While very potent in its own right, blushing is not becoming of the Dark Apprentice.” Twilight blushed even more and tried to shrink.

“Feel not ashamed, Twilight Sparkle. It was a valiant effort. But I will teach you to do better. Telling a pony you intend to kiss them is a vital prelude to the act itself. And you do want to kiss me, do you not?”

“Er, yes,” Twilight said with a nod.

“Then you would do well to relax.” Luna paused.

Twilight waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. “Is something wrong, pri—mistress?”

“Nay, Twilight Sparkle. I just have the feeling that I will be telling you that often.”

Heh. Me, uptight?

“Oh.”

“In any case,” Luna said.

Then she gave Twilight the look.

It seemed as though all the cold intensity of her eyes shifted to focus solely on Twilight Sparkle, and her eyelids fell just enough to make themselves distinct. Her lips parted ever so slightly and curved upward into a daring smile. Her ears fell back a little, her nostrils widened, her head tilted down but also to the side...

Luna did a lot, and the result made Twilight’s stomach tighten. She tried to catalogue each individual change that went into the look, but she couldn’t. She was drawn to the whole, the smoldering stare of perhaps the most beautiful mare in the world, and was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that they were alone together on a remote tower, only inches apart. Inches that Twilight could cross in a second.

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Now you.”

Twilight pulled herself out of her reverie and back, having leaned forward for the kiss. She tried to remember exactly what Luna had done as she threw her own facial expression at the princess. She still felt ridiculous, but recalling the details distracted her from the absurdity of the task at hand. Her ears went back, yes, and her mouth kind of smiled like this...

“Better,” Luna said. “Now give me the most generic kiss you know.”

Gladly. Twilight leaned forward again and planted her lips on Luna’s, giving her a simple kiss with a light smack. It was, all things considered, not very exciting.

“The peck,” Luna said. “It’s likely what your mother gave you after tucking you in at night. What teenagers exchange after a first date and what colts and fillies exchange in treehouses. While a solid foundation, it is practically useless. You lingered too long and pushed too little. Try again.”

Twilight felt a tinge of embarrassment mixed with annoyance at being corrected, but she tried again nonetheless. She tried not to linger. She pushed a little harder.

“Better,” Luna said when Twilight pulled away. “Now show me that you intend to be kissed.”

Kissing Luna was making Twilight lose her focus, and she blinked a few times at the request. “Er... what?” How would that look differ from the intent to kiss look?

“Just try.”

Twilight tried. She couldn’t help but feel ridiculous, and another blush came to her face. This wasn’t much different from her intent to kiss look.

“Do not fear, my Dark Apprentice, the intent to be kissed is different for everypony.” Twilight heard her, but she couldn’t help but stare more at Luna’s eyes. They were either extremely bright, or glowing. She couldn’t decide which.

“Take a lock of hair and place it on the other side of you horn, on your left,” Luna said.

This shocked Twilight out of her thoughts once again. Rearrange part of her mane? She always split it evenly off her horn. Just like she always had it cut to a perfectly straight edge and uniform length. It was—well, it was more organized that way.

Confused, she did as Luna bid. “Good,” the princess said. “Tilt your head up more, the look should be subdued. Eyelids up. Ears straight. Relax, Twilight Sparkle. Now bite half of your lower lip. A little to your left. More smile, just enough to dimple your cheeks. Sultry, not cheery. Relax, Twilight Sparkle. Mmm, very good. I suppose I ought to kiss you now.”

Luna leaned in slowly until their muzzles were only an inch apart and Twilight could feel the princess’s breath across her face. She came closer, torturously slow, and brushed her lips over Twilight’s. The contact was electrifying, sending a tremor through Twilight’s entire body before Luna pulled away.

“The whisper,” Luna said, “is extraordinarily useful. Now you try.”

Twilight hesitated. She hadn’t been paying attention to what Luna had done, on account of the fact that her nethers were aching and all she wanted to do was pounce the princess for another round of glorious lovemaking.

“Can I, um, see that again?” Twilight asked.

Luna’s gleaming eyes looked unamused. “No,” she said. “You must learn not to lose yourself, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight gave an exasperated sigh. How could she manage to be frustrated and aroused at the same time? “I have no idea how to—”

“I’m not going to teach you by giving you tasks you’ll succeed at, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight let out another sigh. Fine, Princess, I’ll kiss you. She leaned in as slowly as she could, then clumsily brushed her lips over Luna’s. She felt about as sexy as a plate of unsauced spaghetti.

“Quite terrible,” Luna said after Twilight had pulled away. Twilight gave her a sullen “I did warn you,” look.

“Now,” Luna said, throwing her head back and sending a ripple through her ethereal mane. “Try to pay attention this time, my Dark Apprentice.”

* * *

Dawn would come in nineteen minutes, thirty three seconds.

Thirty two. Thirty one.

“The wave,” Luna said.

Twilight leaned forward and cupped Luna’s cheek with a hoof, pulling their muzzles together. The contact was brief, but deep, She kissed Luna head on, open mouth, and rolled her tongue in and up before breaking away with her lips slightly parted. She pulled away from Luna for the thousandth time that night, and a bead of sweat trickled down her forehead.

“Invite me to bed,” Luna said. Her expression betrayed nothing of how she felt about Twilight’s kiss.

Invitation to bed. Twilight frantically searched her memory, hoping not to break her streak. That’s the... right! Her face melted into one of eight come hither expressions she’d learned in the past six hours. Six hours she’d been sitting in the same spot, and not a single muscle in her body ached.

Except of course for the ones between her legs. First she’d been aroused. Then Luna’s steady stream of intentionally erotic kisses had made her wild. They’d kept going, for one hour, then two, and Twilight’s focus had faltered on more than one occasion. Her want turned into an ache that had grown into a distracting, physical pain... and still they’d continued, with her no less aroused.

“The twist,” Luna said, and Twilight complied, forcing herself to perform. Lock lips, tangle tongues, rotate the head and work the mouth, disengage. She wanted to scream at Luna out of frustration, then have the princess screw her senseless. Failing that, she wanted the lessons to stop so she could relieve herself on her own. This was insane.

“Intent to be kissed.”

Twilight resisted the urge to grit her teeth, and did her best to look like she wanted to be kissed. She did want to be kissed, just not on the lips. She wanted an end to this torment.

“The devourer.”

This one Twilight didn’t have to fake, because it was the devourer. It was lust unleashed, pure and unadulterated need.

She pounced Luna, wrapping both hooves around the princess and pressing Luna back as she forced their lips together. In went her tongue, forceful and expedient, and Luna’s met it in kind. Luna rolled back, and Twilight moved with her, landing on top of the princess as she pressed them together with no sense of patience or grace.

She dragged her hooves across Luna’s shoulders, bit Luna’s lower lip, slid her hooves over Luna’sr chest, and the embers inside her burst into a sudden flame, furious and demanding.

“Do you want me, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna growled into her mouth.

As if Luna hadn’t been watching her squirm for the past six hours.

“Yes!” Twilight hissed. Yes, yes yes.

Luna broke away and gave Twilight that terrible, intense look. “Tell me what you want me to do to you.”

“I... just... have sex with me again!” Twilight knew it was the wrong answer as soon as the words left her mouth.

Luna became suddenly rigid in her hooves, and Twilight wanted to scream in frustration. “One,” Luna said, “you will be more specific when giving orders. And two, you will call me mistress.”

Twilight’s head slumped onto Luna’s chest. “Please, mistress,” she said. “This hurts. How can one pony stay aroused for six hours?”

“They typically can’t, unless they’re an earth pony or the Dark Apprentice.”

Well aren’t I blessed. “What was the point of this?”

Luna rolled Twilight onto her back and sat astride her. “To teach you control,” she said. “To teach you to think when every fiber in your being wants you to feel. What would you do for relief right now.”

Anything. This is torment. She looked up at Luna, eyes pleading.

Fast enough to make Twilight gasp in shock, Luna pushed herself downward and brought her muzzle to Twilight’s ear. Her turquoise eyes gleamed, luminous. She spoke quickly, quietly.

“This is the night’s final lesson, my Dark Apprentice. If love is to be considered the light side of sex, then this is the darker. Sex is powerful, Twilight Sparkle. It can make you beg. A mare fully in control of her body and mind is unstoppable. She takes whatever she wants. What do you want, Twilight Sparkle?”

For you to shut up and—

Twilight spoke through gritted teeth. “I want you to put you muzzle between my legs, and I want you to make me scream.” Her legs were trembling. “Mistress.”

“Of course, Twilight Sparkle. Let me help you relax.”

There was no foreplay—or perhaps there was six hours of foreplay. Princess Luna simply slid down Twilight’s belly, planted a simple kiss on her navel—a peck, as Twilight now thought of it—and went to work devouring her sex.

Twilight thought that she would be finished almost immediately, but she was wrong. She’d been wound up tight, and as Luna’s lips and tongue ran over her folds and drew a circle around her clitoris, that tension began to loosen. It wasn’t the wonderful ecstatic pleasure she’d felt earlier—it was more like the relief felt upon scratching an itch. Except it went on, and on...

Her moans were barely more than ragged panting, at first, but as Luna worked, she felt her muscles begin to slacken. This was bliss, and damn Luna for keeping her on the edge for so long.

Damn Luna? Twilight Sparkle the virgin never thought like that.

You’re changing, and it only took a single night.

She pushed the thoughts from her mind. She wasn’t... she couldn’t...

Twilight sighed and let her mind fill with the hazy pleasure that came from Luna’s oral skills. She was fully unwound now, and now she was being pulled the other way, tightening in an altogether different manner...

She took the orgasm as soon as it came to her, letting a smile break across her face as she rode it, trembling, to its conclusion. Soft, throaty moans and rolled back eyes were her only way of showing Luna her appreciation.

“Get up,” Luna said after Twilight had finished. “Nine minutes to dawn; your ride will be here shortly. I’ll get you cleaned up.”

Twilight was stricken by her businesslike tone, but before she could say anything, Luna had spread her wings and taken off into the lightening sky. She circled around the tower, a streak of deep blue, and returned moments later with a dark cloud, which she pushed into the air above Twilight and kicked.

Freezing cold rain poured forth from the storm cloud, and Twilight was soaked in moments. “Thanks.”

Luna didn’t join her in the makeshift shower. She still looked pristine and flawless. “We’ll begin your lessons in other subjects as soon as you’ve read the books, Twilight Sparkle. Before then, you’ll learn more kissing. How to combine forms properly, how to kiss the body instead of the lips.”

“Are you going to torment me again?” Twilight asked, noting with satisfaction that the cold water wasn’t bothering her at all.

“Yes,” Luna said. “If you want real sex, you’ll have to get it from another pony, Twilight. I’m here to teach you.”

“You want me to sleep with other ponies?”

Luna blinked. “Of course. What else would you do with this skillset?”

“But I don’t know any ponies who...”

Pinkie Pie.

Luna smiled. “You would do well to relax, Twilight Sparkle. Find a pony who wants to sleep with you, and sleep with them. It’s that easy.”

The water from the cloud died down to a low trickle, and Twilight wrung out her mane as she stepped out of the rain. “I can’t just have sex with whoever I want,” she said.

“How would you know?” Luna said. “You’ve never tried.” The princess looked out over Canterlot, at a carriage being pulled through the air by two pegasi with bat wings.

Twilight walked to the edge of the tower to meet the carriage. Her carriage.

“I’ll see you tonight, my Dark Apprentice.”

Twilight looked at Luna. The princess was still beautiful and divine. But something was different. Twilight wasn’t as smitten with her anymore. Not after Luna had made her suffer for hours and then beg just to prove a point.

“Good morning, mistress,” Twilight said as way of farewell. She stepped onto the carriage, levitated her books in with her, and nodded to Luna’s guards to take her away.

Her journey back to the Everfree was not a pleasant one. Luna had made love to her, given her an incredible amount of power, then toyed with her. The worst part was that it had worked exactly as the princess intended. Twilight had taken in every iota of information the princess had presented her with. She knew twenty two kisses and eight come hither looks, all because the humiliation suffered by getting them wrong had driven them into her mind. And she knew exactly what it felt like to be at the mercy of another mare, to want them with every fibre in her being.

What was more, the way she’d spoken to Luna had been unlike her. She’d practically spat the word mistress, she was so angry. She’d never acted that way before, certainly not toward a princess. Twilight was in over her head, and there was one pony who she could always count on to make any problem seem solvable.

It was time to send a letter to Princess Celestia.