My dream was typical. There was the Pony of Shadows, and here I was about to be consumed by—No! Instead of me, it was Luna that the Pony of Shadows had grabbed in its tentacles. It was pulling her toward it, and she looked at me and screamed for help.

"I'll help!" But it was just me. How could I help?

Remembering how Princess Twilight and Starlight Glimmer had done it, I used my magic to grab Luna and pull her toward me. The Pony of Shadows' grip was every bit as tight and its strength every bit as overwhelming as it had been in real life, and I was no princess.

"Please help me!"

This was stupid. My mind knew it was a dream, but the power of dreams was such that I couldn't stop following its script. I pulled and tugged on Luna, but the best I managed was to fight the Pony of Shadows (somehow) to a standstill.

Back and forth we fought, but neither of us could win. I started to cry as my magic began to fail me. Then things got strange.

Luna began to glow with a shimmering silver-blue light, then all of a sudden she was free of the Pony of Shadows and—thanks to my magic grip pulling at her—flying through the air toward me. I couldn't stop her, we were about to crash together and, to my shock, it was our lips that met.

My eyes fluttered closed, but in the manner of dreams I knew what was going on around me. Luna didn't pull back, rather we both remained in place—kissing. The kiss was—It was a good kiss! I wanted more of it. I got more of it.

When finally things seemed to wind down, both of us drew apart carefully and I opened my eyes to see a Luna who looked just as confused as I felt. Confused, and smiling.

"This is a dream," I said.

"It is, Stygian, but dreams are my domain, and when I find somepony doing battle with their worst demon, it is my duty to intercede." Luna reached a hoof up to her lips. "Taking my own form in your dream might have been a mistake—but I don't regret it."

Facts crashed together. My unconscious mind was never the best at reason, but even it managed to put this Luna together with Princess Luna, and added her ability to invest herself in dreams… I shook my head.

"No?" Luna asked.

"I don't know. I thought we were just having fun, but I never thought—It didn't feel like a date. You're a princess!" I waved a hoof in Luna's direction. "And I'm just—"

"You're not just anything, Stygian." Luna tilted her head slightly as she looked at me. "I thought it was a splendid date. What was wrong about it?"

"I like stallions!" I shouted the words as loud as I could into the dream…

… And jerked awake on the floor of my bathroom. Blinking in surprise, I shook my head to clear the cobwebs of the dream. "This is mad. I'm mad." I was also wearing armor still.

Squirming and writhing, I blindly tried to remove the armor, only to find the buckles and straps too much for my hooves alone to deal with. Letting out a groan of defeat, I rolled to my belly and stood up. The armor moved with me and felt as weightless as a shirt.

I walked into my bedroom and looked at my bed. In the past week it had given me such relief from the horrid life I'd been living before it. The ~~day~~ date with Luna had been all I could think of. Okay, it was still all I could think of, but for a different reason.

Luna was nice. She was awesome to be around, and I enjoyed being with her. I liked the kiss.

That was the problem—something had changed.

Struggling with the straps again, I noticed movement in the mirror across the room and froze. From the corner of my eye I saw a midnight sky of mane flow to one side. "Luna, I—"

"Stygian, you don't have to explain. This was my fault for pushing without asking questions. Would you like some help with that armor?" Luna's voice didn't sound sure or solid—she sounded like somepony with a lot to think about. Yay, we'd formed a club.

"Th-Thanks. I can't seem to—" I cut short when Luna used her magic to unfasten the armor piece by piece. "It just kinda snuck up on me. I didn't mean for—"

Luna lifted off the leg-guards first. "For it to be a date? Or for there to be more? Or for the kiss?"

"Yeah," I said. "All of that."

Neither of us spoke until she was halfway through removing the main part of the armor. I couldn't keep the words in anymore and whispered, "It was nice, though."

Pausing for just a moment, Luna continued to remove the armor and hefted it (since it was now as heavy as it should be) off me and to the side with a loud thunk. "Hop on the bed, Stygian."

I froze. Nothing I could do would make my brain or body work right. "I'm not—I mean, we haven't—Should—"

"Relax. I'll help you sleep. Nothing more." Luna, when I looked at her, was the picture of innocence. She looked completely truthful to the point I could start breathing properly again.

I trusted Luna not to do anything more, but did I trust myself? That was the problem I had, I'd kissed her already, what would I do if I let her—Don't overthink it, Stygian. She's a princess, she's been through the same things you have. She'll stop if you ask her.

Walking over to my bed, I climbed up and lay down. "Now wh—" Sleep fell around me like a blanket. Or maybe that was a blanket. Either way, I was dropped into a dream that had me sitting at a table with a large pile of cakes and snacks, a pair of milkshakes, and room for one more.

A heartbeat later he appeared. Big, strong—a stallion in every line and angle—and Luna colored. "Uh?"

"Like it?" Luna asked.

I liked it. Oh gosh did I go in for big, dark, and handsome sitting across from me. He vibrated with masculine strength that had me sitting at the edge of my chair. "You're amazing."

"I meant the cakes, Stygian, but I'll take a compliment when I get it." His voice was deeper than Luna's normally was—deeper and with more support. I could have drowned in the rich tone of his voice, but it was Luna's face I was beguiled by. "You have noticed the cakes, haven't you?"

"Why are you—?" I shook my head to clear all the wrong things I wanted to ask out of it. Finally, I was left with just one question. "Why?"

"Because we needed to talk. Talking, I realized, would be easier when you could look me in the eyes." Luna's smile got a little wider. "Though I hadn't expected this much of your focus."

"You made yourself look like the hottest stallion in Equestria, and you thought I wouldn't notice?" I could start to get my head down from the clouds, after all, this was an illusion. It was still Luna. "But it's working. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not so great at confrontation."

I sighed and leaned further back in the chair. "That's part of what was so good about being the Pony of Shadows, I was confrontation."

Luna's horn glowed with power and he floated a doughnut down from the pile that looked suspiciously like the kind Joe sold at his store. I was entranced as he opened his mouth and took a neat bite of the doughnut. "There was a lot of good things about not caring."

"Yeah," I said, "But it was lonely."

In the intervening silence I grabbed my own doughnut and started nibbling at it. By the time I got what would be considered a normal bite down, I had more questions. "So I'm asleep?"

"You are."

His voice was like warm caramel—I wanted to hear more of it slide down into my ears. "And you? Don't you normally have to use magic to do this? That means you're awake."

Luna took his time and sipped at his milkshake. "If you were on the other side of Equestria, I'd have to use magic. If you were on the other side of the city dreaming something huge and foreboding, I might be able to reach you." He took another sip. "But you're laying beside me in bed. Your dreams are mine with but a thought."

There was something special about all this, and it was all about what Luna wasn't doing—he wasn't making this awkward. I ate two more doughnuts before I felt ready to talk more. "We don't get fat from eating dream doughnuts, do we?"

Grabbing a piece of chocolate cake, Luna winked at me. "Not unless you want to. Dreams are flexible, as you can see." His voice continued to do a number on my mental faculties. Watching him devour the dark delight made me shiver.

"I think I just want to sleep," I said.

I'd so far managed to not say something stupid or potentially harmful to my life, and I wanted it to stay like that. The safest place for me now was deep, dreamless sleep.

"Very well. Come on." Luna stood from his seat and the cake, table, and milkshakes were gone. Beside us was a huge bed that looked almost as inviting as Luna did. "It's just a dream, and I'd rather not have to come back and deal with any more Pony of Shadows problems—though the first time was nice."

As I walked toward the bed, I realized Luna fully intended to lay down on it with me. My heart jumped into my throat as I climbed up on the bed and stretched out. I was about to roll to my back and get cozy when the weight of Luna settling onto the bed behind me gave me pause.

Not only did his weight on the bed back up the fact that he was a big stallion, but I felt his foreleg reach for my shoulder. "Luna?" I asked.

"I'll protect you from your nightmares, if you protect me from mine."

His words seemed profound. I hadn't realized the flipside of this was that Luna needed someone to fill the void in his—err, her life. Without thinking about it further, I shimmied and let him pull me back against him.

Luna was a big stallion, and I fit comfortably against his belly and barrel. He was warm, and when his wing stretched over me I was warm too. Sleep became easier.

As sleep receded from my mind, I knew exactly who it was that was warm and pressed to my back. This wasn't a dream, however, it was really Princess Luna laying with me in bed. It was comfortable.

I could have shoved my way free and put on a scene, but I just didn't have the energy to. Besides, getting up now would wake her, and if there was one thing I was sure of it was that Princess Luna needed her sleep.

A few blinks later and sleep called me back into its embrace. The moment my eyes were closed, Luna was there. He—she—was a he again.

"It's morning?" Luna asked. "Well, of course it's morning, but how far? Has sister raised the sun yet? I left a note for her to take care of putting my moon away, but I wasn't sure if she'd seen it."

"The sun's up. I was only awake for a few minutes. You're not usually awake at this hour?" I was at a loss as to what we could do. The bed was comfortable, but there was only so much we could do together without knowing each other a lot better than we knew each other.

"I am normally going to bed at this hour. The night and dreams are my responsibilities, but for one night a year my duty is to the ponies during their waking hours. Now the question is, what shall I do for the rest of the day?" Luna sounded playful and perhaps a little silly.

Rolling over, I turned so that I was facing him. The twinkle in Luna's eyes were almost certainly some kind of mind control—they had to be. I felt a smile spread across my face. "Well, the first thing we need to do is build a pillow fort."

I'm not sure I expect it to start raining pillows and blankets, but with so much building material around now a fort was inevitable.

Sharing a laugh of pure joy together, we started using our magic to assemble a fortress around the big bed. We'd gotten the third floor built onto the fortress when the manic energy seemed to run out. Quite how we had a three-story pillow fort, I don't know. "Do you want me to tell you a bit about—back then?"

"I'd like that very much, Stygian." Luna found himself a comfortable couch and climbed up onto it while I settled on one facing it. Outside the fortress, gale-force winds started to blow, though they had no effect on our pillow fort.

I pulled an extra large blanket around my shoulders so that I only had my neck and head poking out of it. "Then let me tell you about the sirens…"

The story of us chasing down the sirens, finally locating them as they fed for the showdown, and the big fight dragged on. I'm not sure how many hours we sat together, huddled under blankets that kept the chill away, but when I finished—describing the bait-and-switch that saw the sirens sent to another dimension—Luna produced a large golden hourglass from somewhere inside his blanket.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Almost time to raise the moon. I'd better wake up." As he spoke, Luna stood up and spread his wings. There was something completely magical about alicorns even when they weren't doing magic. Luna looked amazing—he was royalty.

The dream fell apart along with the pillow fort. Like streamers and ticker tape falling to the ground, the continuity that we'd built up over the day expired and I woke in the bed with Luna's wing still over me. We'd slept the entirety of the day away together and it felt wonderful.

"Good evening!" Luna's voice was brimming with excitement. She practically jumped from my bed and pranced through my house. "Come. We're having breakfast in the castle. You'll thank me once you've seen it."

Was there a way to politely tell a princess you just wanted to settle down and think about things? I opened my mouth to try, but when I drew a blank on what to say I just closed my mouth again. "O-Okay!"

The walk to the castle was somewhat calming and gave me time to think. This had turned into the oddest relationship I could have ever dreamed of. I liked Luna and I enjoyed our time together, but snuggling and playing with her as a big stallion had been the most satisfying thing since—since ever.

He was everything I'd ever wanted to be with. When his strong legs pulled me close—Just thinking about that gave me all kinds of warm tingly feelings that weren't appropriate for being out in public.

Around and around in circles. My mind chased the idea through loops of But she's and Then he until I couldn't tell what was going on anymore. I hadn't even noticed when we walked into the castle grounds, but I was aware of going indoors and dragged myself back to reality.

We were walking into the main doors of the throne room, and nopony was moving to stop us. I was a little sad that it took me a few seconds to figure out that of course nopony would stop us—I'm walking beside Princess Luna.

On the throne, Princess Celestia sat looking as regal and cheerful. Her expression turned brighter as we approached. "Sister! I was worried you wouldn't make it in time to raise the moon." She lifted from the throne and—with her wings out—glided down from the dais to meet Luna and hug her.

Luna showed every indication of enjoying a moment with her sister. "I ask but one day and night a year, I trust it was not too burdensome?"

"You're smiling, Luna."

I'd managed to be completely out of the conversation right up until Princess Celestia turned to look at me.

"And I find a stallion at your side. Coincidence?" Celestia's smile was about as cagey and insinuating as you could get.

"Sister," Luna said, "Stygian is a friend, and deserves a little more honor than to simply be a stallion beside a princess. Or should I talk about—"

"Well put!" Princess Celestia was quick to cut in before Luna could mention any names, but I had to assume there was something Luna knew that Princess Celestia wished Luna didn't. "Shall we perform Dusk?"

When Luna nodded, Princess Celestia led the way toward one of the rear doors in the throne room. She reached it first because Luna had stopped and turned to look at me. "Stygian?" Princess Celestia asked. "Are you coming?"

I had seen the sun and moon rise and fall many times, but never had I accompanied Princess Celestia and Luna while they did it. Stumbling forward a little, I walked quickly to catch up to Luna and walked with her through the door, down a hall, and out onto a landing that overlooked—nothing and everything.

As I walked onto the little platform, I realized I was on the furthest part of Canterlot from the mountain. Below was empty air and before me was Equestria. The steady breeze caught at my fur and seemed determined to pull me off the edge of the rail-less platform. This wasn't a place made for unicorns.

Luna looked back at me and gave me such a warm smile for such a chilling location. "You can wait at the door if you wish, Stygian, but neither of us will let you fall."

All of Equestria relied on the princesses for light and life as well as governance. "It's fine," I said and stepped forward to stand beside Luna—my left forehoof practically touching the edge of the platform.

A beautiful blue wing stretched out and hooked around me, and without meaning to I leaned against Luna's side.

From beside me—but further than Luna—a rush of magic like a thunderstorm but way bigger began. Princess Celestia's golden light became bright enough that even without looking her way, I could see it shining even on the trees and land far below. I shivered at how small it made me feel to witness that power, and how immense it made Princess Celestia seem.

It took Star Swirl and a team of unicorns (who almost burned themselves out in the process) to do what Princess Celestia was doing on her own. It was utterly humbling.

"Your turn," Princess Celestia said.

Before I'd had Luna as a buffer between me and Princess Celestia's power. This time I was literally touching Luna, and felt when she sent her own hurricane of power skyward, gripped the moon, and wrested it firmly into the night sky.

She was like a flame in the night. A torch I could stand near and be warm. I only realized it when Luna was done, but I had pressed a little tighter to her side.

We stood there together for I don't know how long. It was cozy and warm at Luna's side, and the world looked wonderful under the silver glow of her moon.

"You could have stood between us." Luna's voice, when it came at last, was deep and questioning. She turned her head to look at me, and for just a moment I thought she was coming in for a kiss.

"Then your sister's magic would have distracted me." I tilted my head and nuzzled at her shoulder. The body of an alicorn shared a lot of traits with that of a stallion—firm musculature and larger-than-normal size were two I could definitely live with. "I wanted to see and feel your magic."

"Really?"

I nodded.

There was a moment when I thought she would kiss me (part of me even wanted her to, if only to see if I wouldn't freak out over it), but instead she made a cute rising inflection and turned so that I was moved closer to the door behind us.

The balcony was just about the scariest thing in Canterlot for a unicorn, but with Luna I felt completely safe. Leading the way, Luna looked like she was practically strutting through the hall. Had I had this effect on her? Joe had said it was good to see her happy—was this Luna happy?

Walking behind her, I followed Luna back into the throne room that was now devoid of Princess Celestia. For a heartbeat I had a panic, but then Luna spread her wings and flapped up to land on her throne. The room seemed fuller. Luna's presence spread and it was like a magical force emanating from her flowed outward to take a firm hold on Equestria.

A mare came bustling in from the door behind me. She had a cutie mark of two long baguettes crossed on her flank, and she strode into the throne room like she owned it. "You 'Ighness! What would you wish for sup—breakfast?" Her Prench accent was thick but understandable. An earth pony, her mane and tail were dark in color and combed to within an inch of their lives, and her coat was a muted orange—though her eyes would likely be called enchanting by somepony who hadn't just had long conversations with Luna.

"Two for breakfast today, Pomme Frites. Stygian is joining me for breakfast." Luna seemed louder and more sure of herself on the throne. She looked down at me and winked. "I'll have my usual, but I'm not sure what he'll have. Stygian?"

"Oh, uh…" I fumbled for an answer. "What's on?"

Pomme raised one immaculate eyebrow at me. "Anything."

That was just about the scariest menu I'd ever heard. If I asked for it, she'd have it prepared for breakfast. I was just about to tell her I'll have what Luna's having, when a memory hit me.

"When I was a colt, my—my mother made us warm bread each day, and the ends were reserved for breakfast. A dollop of cream spread over the flame-toasted ends was the base for a thick and rich apple and blackberry jam that was the best thing I'd ever eaten."

I hadn't realized I'd spoken until Pomm Frites said, "This I can manage. Coffee?"

Her voice shook me from the past. "Y-Yes, please. That would be wonderful." She looked immensely happy about something, and her walk wasn't the firm one she'd come in with—she pranced.

"You gave her a challenge! Did you see her excitement?!" Luna sounded like she was having a great time. "I knew this was a good idea, but seeing Pomme's face when you told her you want the best food you'd ever eaten from your childhood was amazing!"

"I didn't even realize I was saying it. I'd be happy with some jam on toast." I walked around to the bottom of the dais—where ponies would be if they were entering from the main doors—and looked up at Luna. "So, uh, what do you do all night?"

"First I cast my magic out—I already did that bit—and then I can relax a little until the first pony nightmare happens. Since my return, there have been many such each night, but the number of them is decreasing." Staring at me for a moment, Luna eventually gestured at the space between the thrones. "Please, Stygian, I don't wish to talk like this. Come up here."

The two Royal Guard at the foot of the dais didn't so much as twitch as I stepped up to and past them. Climbing the stairs, I eventually made my way to stand between the two thrones. What surprised me was there was a small table, some writing materials, and a small stack of books there.

"That's where my sister has her scribe sit while she's taking supplicants. It's a rather boring position, I'm afraid, but it affords quite some time to talk and—in Raven's case—read a book or two. You might recognize her latest." Luna used her magic to edge one of the books a little out of the stack. Of course it was one of my books.

I used my own magic to lift the book out completely and sit it on the little lectern that seemed built for the task. "Okay, but why am I—"

"A nightmare!" With a flash of cobalt magic, Luna seemed to freeze in place and her eyes fluttered closed.

Watching her features shift from determination, to anger, and then calm was curious to behold. While I watched her fight whatever nasty had invaded somepony's dreams, I used a quill to sign the book, blotted it dry, then put it back in its position.

I didn't have too much time to wait before Luna yawned and stretched her wings. "That was a thorny one. The plunder vines left quite a mark on the minds of Equestria."

Relief flooded me at hearing Luna was safe and back to herself. "Plunder vines? Those were the black plants that came from the Everfree Forest?"

"Indeed. They took over most of Ponyville, and spread—somehow—almost clear across Equestria. We found out that it was Discord who planted them, though that was done well before he learned the lessons of friendship." Luna kept glancing down and to the side. I wasn't sure what she was doing until the rear door opened once more to reveal Pomme and a trolley she was pushing. "Ah! Breakfast!"

Lifting from the throne, Luna began walking down the stairs while I struggled to catch up—the steps had been made for the gait of a much larger pony. A stray thought hit me, and I was fighting not to giggle as I reached the bottom.

"Your usual, Your Highness, and Mr. Stygian's requested breakfast." Pomme Frites seemed to almost buzz with energy. She tapped her trolley and it jumped and stretched into a huge table that almost stretched the full width of the throne room. A pair of seats appeared, and I realized that this was somehow normal here.

Before one seat sat a stray with a metal dome over it with a large cup already filled with coffee. Before the other was no less than seven trays. Feeling somewhat at a loss, I stepped forward and sat on the chair.

"Toasted fresh bread—only the butt of the loaf—with rich butter and slathered in apple and blackberry jam. A cup of double-roasted espresso, just how you like it." Pomme looked even more excited now, but there was something that had my interest.

"How do you know how I like my coffee?" I asked.

Pomme Frites' smile grew a little wider, but she didn't answer.

Levitating up one of the slices of toast, I lifted it to just before my nose and my mind seemed to seize up. Just the smell of the bread, the sweet scent of the fruit-filled jam, and the rich undertone of the butter took me back to my foalhood.

Closing my eyes for fear I'd cry, I took a bite of the toast.

The bread wasn't exactly how I remembered it—Mom made her bread with more whole grains—and the jam wasn't as tart as I could recall, but the toasted breakfast still coaxed tears from my eyes for how good it was and how close to my earliest memories it had come.

"That he's taking another bite and still crying means you got things very right, Pomme, as always." Luna was looking at me with a smile on her lips that grew when her own breakfast was revealed—pancakes and syrup.

Trying to curtail my emotions was impossible. The wonderful breakfast just made me warm and happy all over, and infinitely more amenable to eating breakfast beside a princess in the royal throne room.

"About last night—" Luna's words galvanized my attention to her, "—if you want to stop, if you're not enjoying that aspect of our friendship, I'll understand." Her tone was as heavy as I'd ever heard it, and I couldn't help remembering how easy it had been to relax with her when she was a stallion.

Searching your heart wasn't easy, but I did it anyway because Luna was worth it. I liked her, probably a lot, but could it be more than friends? The biggest two arguments were me having another bad reaction and it doing more than ruining our mood and it actually working out and—and going to places I couldn't even dream of.

"Can you—Will you understand if I need a moment here and there to—to get used to things progressing?" I asked.

"I promise that if you need time alone, I'll give it, and if you need time with a particular type of pony, I'll give it. However, I will make one little demand in return." Luna looked at me with a more serious expression than any I'd witnessed her display before.

What she was about to ask seemed momentous. I braced myself both mentally and physically. "What's that?"

Luna opened her mouth in what felt like slow motion. "You must always talk with me, tell me when you aren't having fun, and don't hold back your feelings for fear of hurting me. If you can agree to that, Stygian, I can agree to let things move at your pace."

Honesty was a tough thing. I'd been honest—mostly—in my books, and had taken very little artistic license with anything. But my books were public matters. Being honest with Luna would mean being honest about the Stygian nopony ever really knows. Maybe not even me.

"I don't know if I can. I—I've always been so private, but I can try." I looked up at Luna (and I definitely had to look up at her), and put on as brave a face as I could, which was probably a tiny bit above absolute terror.

"Then we will both try our best, but let's not give up before we even started," Luna said. "Now, would you like to stay here for the night or go home and work on your book?"

"Did you need some help with anything?" I could see her question for the request it was, and I wasn't above offering some help if it was needed.

Luna gulped down a mouthful of pancake. "I'd hoped you would ask. Celestia has her own scribe for taking down notes and writing letters, I'd wondered if you could do the same for me?"

The ~~day~~ night had been most interesting. At various intervals Luna had to enter her dream world to save somepony, but most of the time she spent seeing petitioners that were referred on from the Canterlot Courthouse, and in one case she was asked by a very tired looking farmer if she could come and negotiate with some bats in his orchard.

I packed up the writing materials and stretched in my position at Luna's side. "Is that it?" I asked.

"Celestia will be along soon, and I will rescind my moon and she can raise her sun for the day." Luna let out a satisfied sigh. "I have never known a night to go so easily. Thank you, Stygian."

Standing up, Luna waited for me to join her in walking down the dais stairs.

As we reached the bottom the main doors opened and Princess Celestia stepped into the room. She looked magnificent, so long as you didn't notice that she was literally still waking up. Hiding most of her face behind her mane, her horn was aglow with magic that held a large mug of coffee. "Good morning Luna, Stygian. Quiet night?"

"For nightmares only. You wouldn't believe the strange case we had of somepony who had all their cakes stolen. Judge Just Heart, for some reason, sent them up here with a bill." Luna was lying, there hadn't been any such case. I wondered what she was about when Princess Celestia broke the trailing silence with a huge laugh.

"Luna, it's so good to have you back." The two hugged, and whatever morning weariness I'd seen in Princess Celestia was gone by the time it was over.

Luna turned with Princess Celestia toward the special hallway that led to the kitchen and their platform from which they raised and lowered the sun and moon. "It's good to be back. How in Equestria did you manage this for so many years without me?"

Princess Celestia just held up her mug of coffee, but broke into laughter a moment after it. "But truthfully, I was in the process of establishing a successor, as you—" she paused because Luna had stopped to look back at me, "—know. Stygian, would you care to join us to set the moon and raise the sun?"

Go back to the scariest and most amazing place in all Canterlot? I jumped forward and walked at Luna's side. "Do you think I can bring my manuscript tomorrow night?"

"Oh come on!" Luna stretched her closest wing over my back and pulled me a little closer to her side. I shivered at the gesture, but not because it was unwelcome. "It wasn't that boring, surely?"

"That farmer spent over half an hour describing how bats were eating his pears." Without even thinking about it, I leaned up and nuzzled against Luna's neck. The motion had felt so right that I didn't even realize what I'd done until after I'd done it. Fortunately, we were in the final hallway leading to the platform of doom, and with Luna between myself and Princess Celestia, there was nopony to have seen it.

Luna snorted, but as she did she tilted her head so she could look back at me from one eye. "The trick, Stygian, is to tell them there's a dream emergency. Then I just find somepony with a truly delightful dream and spend a little time to leave—"

"And then he started talking to me about it!" I said.

Giggling too much to respond, Princess Celestia used her magic to open the way out to the landing. None of us looked down—though I was the only one not looking up.

Fear should have clutched me, but Luna's wing left no room for it to wrap around my heart.

In a show of magic that was exactly opposite to what I'd witnessed at dusk, Luna drew the moon down and below the horizon before Princess Celestia's magic thrust the sun up to begin a new day. The amount of power each expended was phenomenal—literally impossible for a regular unicorn to even fathom.

We all walked wordlessly back to the throne room, and as we watched Princess Celestia ascend to her throne, I felt a tension in the air build. When she sat down, the tension was gone—the throne of Equestria was occupied once more. The very seat of power filled.

"You two compliment each other well. Will you be working with my sister from now on, Stygian?" Princess Celestia asked, and thanks to her position on a throne there was extra weight behind the words.

My throat seemed to go instantly dry and I had no idea what to say. Fumbling for the words that would describe how I felt for Luna to her sister, I finally caught onto our a little pledge from earlier. "W-We're taking it as it comes, Your Highness."

Princess Celestia's smile might as well have been the sun itself. She looked into my eyes with her one visible eye, and gave a slight nod. "Then go and rest, your night's work is done and it's time for myself to take the mantle. Where's Gretchen? I think I'll have something different for breakfast today."

It was as clear a dismissal as I realized we'd get. I turned once more to walk beside Luna and we beat a retreat from the throne room and the responsibility it represented. Mares, I'd seen, could often take up a prancing gait that left them looking ten times more feminine than normal, but the way Luna strode—with purpose and surety—was completely different.

I did my best to keep up even as we left the castle and started heading in a direction I could have guessed. "Doughnuts?" I asked.

"Mmhmm! I don't know about you, Stygian, but I need something to remind me that I'm alive in a wonderful age of peace and prosperity, and there's nothing better to do that than to eat a doughnut."

When our meal was done, when we were back at my house and Luna was making herself comfortable in my bed, I had a little ping of nerves. She was a mare now, even if the moment I closed my eyes that would change. "Luna?" I asked as I stepped into my bedroom.

"What's the matter, Stygian?" How she could tell something was the matter I would, naturally, ascribe to alicorn superpowers—because I surely wasn't that readable.

"You're a mare and this is a bed. I know it's silly bu—"

Luna turned her head to gaze fixedly into my eyes. "It's not silly, Stygian, It's how you feel. Would it be easier if I used an illusion, or perhaps sent you to sleep there and lifted you over with my magic?"

I chuckled at that, perhaps a sign of my nerves, or perhaps not. Taking one step after another, I approached my bed and climbed onto it. "I said I'd be honest, and that was honest. Honesty will not stop me from doing what I want with myself."

The moment her wing touched me, I knew she'd used magic to pull me to sleep. I woke on the bed in the dream world with a wing stretched over my side and the warm breath of Luna's on the back of my neck. He was big against my back, his barrel solid, and when one foreleg reached to my shoulder and rolled me over, I kissed his warm lips.

He was firm, soft—both at the same time in all the right ways. His tongue explored my mouth, and when I pushed back, I was able to explore his. Luna made things tighten all over me, but none as much as between my legs.

It would have been so easy to surrender to the desire and give ourselves to the moment, but when the kiss broke, Luna just spread his wing over my shoulder and pulled us belly-to-belly.

The night could have gone much further, but Luna kissed me once more and smiled. "We both need our rest—true rest, Stygian."

"I'd really like to go further, but I can see the truth in your words." To show my acceptance, I snuggled closer to Luna so that our bodies touched from our shoulders to our balls. The latter part of that description swam in my head as Luna let the dream fade to normal sleep.

Author's Note

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