Princess Luna sighed as yet another petitioner marched out of the throne room.
It was Celestia’s idea to have Luna take over the court duties after sundown. The goal was to have the ponies of Equestria get used to seeing the Lunar Princess in a public position so that they would be more accepting of her presence and input.
It’s been working like a charm. Luna hated it.
She couldn’t help but miss the days when she did not have to deal with self-important nobles and businessponies who demanded too much of the crown. Overseeing the nation’s military matters may be a more boring job by most standards, but at least the guards followed orders.
Hearing the throne room doors open, Luna lifted her head and was surprised to see not another “ailing” noble, but a guard briskly walking up to her position. Stopping at the foot of the dais, he quickly saluted the princess and snapped back to position before speaking.
“Princess Luna, Princess Twilight Sparkle wishes to have an audience with you. She says the matter is urgent and private, and that she will be waiting in your quarters.”
Well, this was certainly more interesting than holding Evening Court.
It hadn’t taken long for Luna to declare the court closed for the day and set off for her room. True, a lot of ponies would be upset over waiting so long only to be sent home, but what were they going to do about it? She was a princess.
Approaching a door emblazoned with her cutie mark, she gave a short nod of encouragement to the guards standing at attention on either side of it. As she entered, Luna turned to the side and made sure to shut the door gently. She had been told that her habit of slamming doors was starting to annoy the castle staff.
“Thank you for coming so quickly, Luna.”
“No need thank us, Twilight Sparkle. If the matter at hoof truly is as grave as –” as Luna turned to face her guest, she came face-to-face with a pony that was decidedly not Twilight Sparkle.
She was tall, certainly taller than Luna, who had dropped into a combative stance. Her mane and tail flowed ethereally. Her large eyes contained slit, cat-like pupils. Her mane and coat colors were magnitudes darker than the pony whom Luna was told she was meeting with.
There was no doubt in Luna’s mind. The Nightmare had taken control of Equestria’s newest princess and come to have its revenge.
“Foul beast!” she cried as she charged her magic. “Not content to retreat and lick thine wounds? Trying yet again to use a pony we call friend to hurt us? Thy failure to accept that we forsook thy temptuous power shall be your downfall!”
Its horn lit up, and although Luna was ready to dodge any number of magical blasts, the only spell the creature cast was to erect a shield around itself. “Woah! Woah, Princess Luna, it’s okay. I promise it’s just me. Twilight Sparkle. No passengers.”
“And how do we know thou speak the truth? Would pretending to be an unaltered Twilight Sparkle not be to thy advantage?”
“Well, the Nightmare would probably be bragging pretty loudly about taking control of me.” The creature offered Luna a small smile. “You remember how it acts.”
Its logic certainly checked out. Luna didn’t know what had happened to the pony, but she was acting like the Twilight that Luna had gotten to know over the years. Releasing the magic that had collected in her horn, Luna stood back to her full height.
Which only brought her eye level to the bottom of this new Twilight Sparkle’s muzzle. Not that that was an issue.
With a relieved sigh, Twilight dropped her magical shield. “Alright, let’s get down to business. Trixie has apparently been experimenting with centaur magic and wanted to show off a spell she ‘learned’ to Starlight. She volunteered me to be her volunteer, said spell obviously went wrong, and now I look like this.” Her face took on an expression that was hard to read. “Also, I don’t want to point hooves, but she said she heard about centaur magic from you. Which is why I’m here instead of going to Celestia for help.”
“Ah yes, the boastful pony that spends time with your student.” Luna nodded her head. “Just a week ago she came to us looking for information on foreign magicks. She ended up being most interested in the magic-stealing methods of the centaurs. We even allowed her to siphon some of our own reserves to practice with.”
“You…I’m sorry, you what? Why?”
“Out of all ponies, one would expect you to be the most encouraging of others looking to expand their magical talent, Twilight Sparkle.”
“No. I mean, yes, of course I’m all for unicorns expanding their repertoire of spells. But this is Trixie.” Luna was about to scold her for the uncouth implication, but Twilight continued. “I know that’s rude. And that as the princess of friendship, I shouldn’t be saying it. Especially since Starlight likes her so much. But, like…you weren’t there when she tried to take over Ponyville. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her pull off more than a standard card trick without help from the Alicorn Amulet.”
Luna thought it over for a minute. “Very well. We shall limit the content of what we share with this ‘Trixie’ to spells that are less potentially dangerous.”
“Thank you.” Twilight made her way over to one of the two cushioned chairs in Luna’s quarters and sunk into it. “Now if you could reverse this, then I can get back to Ponyville before it becomes a problem. Nice and easy.”
“You are sure?”
Twilight’s brow furrowed. “Yes?”
“Understood.” Luna trotted over to the large bookshelf that lined the northern wall. “We must reacquaint ourself with the basics of centaurian magic. Otherwise, we might only make things worse.” Pulling some tomes from a lower shelf, she glanced between the covers before returning all but one of the books to their place.
“That makes sense. Out of curiosity, how long are we talking here? Three hours? Three days? Three –”
“It shouldn’t take any more than a few minutes.” Twilight let out the breath she was holding at Luna’s reassuring words. “Assuming you still wish for us to change you back by that time.”
“Okay, why are you doing that?” Twilight asked.
“Why are we doing what, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna did not look up from the pages as she responded.
“You’re going to change me back into my non-Nightmare form, right?”
“If that is what you desire, then we shall.”
“That.” Twilight pointed a hoof accusingly at the lunar princess. “Why are you so ambivalent about me not wanting to look like this?”
“We simply do not want to presume what you may or may not want us to do.”
“I’ve told you what I want. I would love it if you could just change me back to the way I used to look. I have classes to teach tomorrow and I’d rather not scar the students by making them think their teacher is being controlled by some evil force that wants to take over Equestria.” Rising up from the chair, Twilight approached Luna.
“Then that is exactly what we will do.” Luna began to sweat under Twilight’s piercing gaze. She was having trouble focusing on the words in front of her. “…If you’re absolutely determined –”
With a flash of magic, Twilight ripped the book out of Luna’s aura. “What is going on? Are you feeling alright, Princess Luna? Has the Nightmare found a way to start influencing you? Do I need to let Celestia know –”
“No! Twilight Sparkle, we are entirely uninfluenced and not in need of intervention from our sister!” Stealing back the centaurian spellbook, Luna buried her snout between its pages and blocked her face from Twilight’s view.
Twilight’s face softened as she lifted a hoof to Luna’s shoulder. Her new height made this exceptionally easy. “Then I just want to remind you that, as a friend, you can tell me anything. No judgement. You’re obviously worried about…something, and I’m willing to do what I can to help.”
Luna spoke quietly, but could still be heard despite being partially muffled by a book. “You look quite dashing like that.”
Twilight froze. “…Huh?”
Luna cleared her throat and lowered the tome so it was no longer hiding the blush on her face. “We are simply telling thee that thy current appearance is very pleasing to the eye.”
Twilight slowly removed her hoof and returned to her chair without a word. Several minutes passed before either princess spoke again.
“So you don’t want to change me back because I’m…hot?” Twilight Sparkle hesitantly asked.
“Nay, we wish to fulfill whatever it is that you desire of us. As such, we shall gladly restore you to your prior form. However, we also hope that sometime between now and the time we are able to safely cast the spell, you decide that perhaps retaining this darksome beauty has its benefits.”
Red tinged Twilight’s now dark-purple cheeks. “That’s incredibly flattering to hear, and maybe we can talk about this later. For now though, I really do think it would be best to get everything back to normal as soon as possible.”
“I am ready.” The sound of the spellbook snapping shut punctuated Luna’s words. “Although we would love to spend more time with you, as you said, it would be best to fix this as soon as possible.” Turning, she charged her horn and sent out a tendril of magic that was much darker in color than her usual cyan aura. As this tendril made contact with Twilight, an unnatural silence accompanied swirls and flashes of magic. After the light died down, Twilight opened her eyes and looked down to see the comforting sight of her natural coat color and a simple, non-flowing mane.
And she didn’t even need to get out of the chair!
“Thank you, Princess.” Twilight hopped down and trotted towards the door. Grasping the handle in her magic, she stopped. Before she left, there was one more thing for her to ask.
“Prin–…Luna.” Twilight couldn’t quite believe she was about to say this. “Do you want to get dinner sometime? Or maybe see a play? Or whatever you’d be interested in, really. A date.”
“Apologies, Twilight Sparkle, but nay.” Luna responded casually, returning the book to its rightful place on her bookshelf.
To say Twilight was stunned by Luna’s sudden disinterest would be an understatement. “Really? Then what was…were you only interested in me because of the way I looked?”
Luna spun around and lifted a hoof to her chest as she looked at the other pony, offended. “Twilight Sparkle! Art thou truly accusing us of being so vain?”
“That is exactly what I’m saying.” The two stared in silence, daring each other to make some move and concede their point.
Finally, Luna turned and began to fiddle with other books along her wall. “Pray, do not tell our sister.”
“I’m going back to Ponyville.” Instead of the creak of her door, Luna heard the pop of teleportation magic. It sent a harsh message, but perhaps she deserved it.
There were more important tasks on Luna’s mind than contemplating her behavior, though. She walked over to the door and opened it, sticking her head into the hallway.
“Guard?”
“Yes, Princess?”
“Please fetch the price each local artist charges for custom paintings and deliver them to us. We have some portraits we would like to commission.”
Author's Note
This story brought to you by my empty wallet. It's the only thing protecting all of you from the absolute deluge of NightmareTwi x Luna art I would commission.
