It was quiet in the chambers of High Princess Twilight. There was no fire crackling in the hearth and even the lone alicorn's breath was soft, subdued; afraid to break the silence that had descended.
Her eyes were closed as she stood at the grand window of her room, reaching out with her mind and magic to the weary sun and eager moon. The amulet around her neck thrummed with power as she finally took hold of the celestial bodies and guided them to their proper places and started the evening.
Only once they settled did she dare open her eyes, a sigh rushing past her lips and, finally, broke the near oppressive quiet of her room. It was nigh on six months since she took the throne and completed the destiny set out for her since that fateful magic exam. A smile graced her lips as she stared into the beautiful night set forth by her magic, with some help from the amulet of course.
Never did she dare to dream or imagine she would be here now. A paragon of harmony, a hero, a ruling Princess.
A mare in love.
As if right on cue, there was a soft scraping noise behind her as, just beside the fireplace, a piece of the wall was opening. Twilight’s feathers ruffled on her side as she did her best to remain in the same, regal stance at the window. She was a Princess, and though the hoof and body coming through the secret opening was one she desperately wished to fall into the embrace of, she needed to hold some level of decorum.
If only it wasn’t so difficult.
The secret doorway was closed with a muffled ‘click’ and silence reigned again in the room of High Princess Twilight.
There was a delicate cough, a diplomatic clearing of throat, and Twilight turned to face her.
Raven Inkwell, royal aide to first Celestia, and now Twilight. Though, now, she also held the secret and coveted title of ‘royal consort’.
Raven bowed before her, her loose mane gracefully falling around her face and neck like the most luxurious waterfall. Twilight felt all breath leave her, stolen by the vision of beauty and elegance before her. She managed an un-princess like gasp, a longing sigh that came from deep within Twilight, from a reservoir of emotion she only let one pony see. “Raven…”
Raven stood, her eyes burning with passion behind those beautiful black glasses that showed Twilight her consort knew exactly what she was doing, appearing before her as she did. Twilight felt all royal bearing leave her at that gaze. Rather, she was the peasant before a god, a mare who knew nothing of love being played like the finest violin by the greatest player of all time.
“Twilight.”
In that single phrase, the utterance of her name in such a way by a mare that Twilight would happily give the keys to the kingdom to, Twilight knew she was home.
They lunged at each other, lips meeting in a furious yet gentle kiss, hooves pulled around bodies and mighty wings shielding them from the world. They released their kiss only to breathe, desperate pants and gulps of air that, unfortunately, they required for living.
Their lips met again, softer this time, a simmering love shared rather than the boiling fires of fervor from before.
Twilight kissed her way across Raven’s cheek, ears flicking with the amused giggles of her beloved. Then, when she kissed the spot right where her muzzle met her neck, she received a very different sound.
Raven gasped, a rare occurrence for the proper mare who, even in private moments like this, had only sounded an utterance like this four times, including that one.
Twilight smirked wickedly against her coat and kissed the spot again.
Five.
Raven trembled in Twilight’s grasp, her cheeks warming in another rare occurrence. Twilight satisfied herself with one last kiss, making six, before finally giving her love mercy.
“Well, I think I know what spot I’ll be putting in my notes.”
Raven’s eyes widened, “Notes?” The mare frowned slightly, though amusement and mischief sparkled in her eyes, “You’ve been taking notes without me? Why, Twilight, that’s what an aide is for.”
Twilight met her frown with a smile, eyes lidded as she spoke breathily, “Well then, let me fetch you some fresh parchment and a quill. I plan on a thorough examination with plenty of experimentation my love. Then, I can construct a chart with data gathered from this night and many more until I can draw conclusions on where you like to be touched most. I imagine it will take at least three months to gather sufficient data while accounting for external factors like a heat cycle and any physical exertions that might make certain areas more sensitive or de-sensitized to such touch.”
Raven couldn’t help but smile in return, giggling again and gently cupping Twilight’s cheek in hoof. “Only if you allow me to do a little note-taking and experimentation of my own, dear Princess. We have long started down a path of partnerships, it’s only fair if any... research is performed in equal parts. We don’t wish to have any unfair biases tainting any conclusions we may or may not draw from this experiment, do we?”
Twilight shivered with the intelligence in Raven’s words. The mare was well versed in politics, of that there was no doubt, but it excited Twilight to see the beautiful mind she fell in love with was knowledgeable in the somewhat obscure topic of research and scientific experimentation in this world of magic. “I suppose you are right, as per usual oh dutiful aide.”
Raven leaned up and nuzzled her, pressing their lips together for a short kiss. “Of course I am your highness, it’s part of the job description to be right most of the time.”
Twilight playfully rolled her eyes, “Of course, how could I forget when you keep reminding me.”
Raven grinned, “Well, if history is proven to be correct, which it oft is, I either need to remind you every day or write it down and remind you every day.”
Twilight retaliated to that light jab by swiftly ducking down to not only kiss at that spot from earlier, 7 gasps, but to also nibble at it. This produced a soft moan and twitch from Raven, who then scolded her in a sultry tone. “Twilight, this is most improper for scientific research, we haven’t even set a baseline or written an introduction.”
Twilight snorted against her fur, sending a shudder down Raven’s spine, and reluctantly pulled away. “Oh fine.”
With a flash of her horn, the two were on the bed, Raven pinned beneath Twilight as she floated over parchment and a quill and ink pot, the pot settling on a bedside table.
Twilight, yet again, found her breath taken away by Raven, whose mane had spread around her head in a gorgeous halo of ebony locks. Raven, for her part, was unaffected by the sudden teleportation and set upon Twilight the same intense, burning gaze of earlier. From her position, it was easy to see why most compared alicorns to angels.
From Twilight’s elegant, elongated horn, her wings just barely in sight at her sides, immaculately groomed feathers slightly spread, and her gorgeous mane, which flowed around her neck and the bangs that perfectly framed her face…
Raven almost felt the need to check her pulse, but disregarded such a silly notion. Instead, she pressed her hoof gently against Twilight’s exposed stomach, slowly tracing little circles through her fur to confirm the reality of the moment.
Twilight indulged her tic, remaining still until Raven’s hoof traveled upwards again, pausing at her shoulder as her magic picked up a parchment and dipped a quill in the ink provided. “Well, my princess, where shall I start the notes?”
Twilight smiled and gently moved to the side to lay down, her wing curling around Raven and, with unexpected strength, rolled the mare over so they might cuddle.
Raven wrapped her hooves around her love, nuzzling into Twilight’s neck and being rewarded with a gasp. Twilight giggled, “Well, it appears both subjects have sensitive necks.”
Raven smiled and pulled away enough to look into Twilight’s eyes, even as her magic guided the quill to writing the observation across the parchment. Raven cleared her throat before speaking her ‘introduction’ as she wrote it. “Twilight Sparkle, henceforth known as ‘subject A’, is a female alicorn of 32 years. Previous studies of both unicorns and pegasi show increased sensitivity and erogenous zones near the base of the horn and attachment points of the wings, as well as the flight muscles that attach along the bones that make up the primary wing structure. This experiment, which shall last an at the moment indeterminate time but no less than three months, seeks to explore these areas and compare their physical sensations and reactions to that of an average pegasus and unicorn.”
Twilight was nearly panting as Raven finished, desperately pulling the mare into another heavy kiss, this one the longest yet. The parchment and ‘experiment’ was nearly forgotten as the two embraced, but Raven was not one to forget, nor let Twilight.
As they separated, a most unladylike string of saliva connected their lips for a moment, but neither cared for such decorum at the moment. Twilight gasped for breath as she brought her eyes and mind back to focus. She cleared her throat and Raven began to write again, this time scribing the alicorn’s words. “Ahem, Raven Inkwell, henceforth known as ‘subject B’, is a female unicorn of 38 years. Aforementioned studies of unicorns and erogenous zones near the horn shall be referenced through this study, though personal observations may challenge preconceived notions, as the subject is slightly above midline for magical abilities in unicorns. The effect of the amount of magic a unicorn can possess and wield on the horn sensitivity and erogenous zones has yet to be thoroughly studied to a satisfying conclusion, and therefore shall be regarded as purely theoretical throughout this experiment. As also mentioned previously, this shall last an of yet undetermined length of time yet shall be no less than three months.”
Both mares stared at each other as the sound of quill on parchment ended. A minute passed before Raven broke the silent staring contest, “Now that the introduction is out of the way, shall I begin with initial contact and observations on subject A?”
Twilight nodded, “O-of course, that,” she licked her lips, “that would be most appropriate.”
Raven responded with a short nod before untangling herself from Twilight’s limbs and nudging the alicorn to her back. Raven trembled in excitement as she climbed on top of her then, straddling Twilight’s chest and adjusting herself so she could reach her horn. Raven hesitated for a moment, eying the instrument of magic, “Do be careful my love, we do not want to have to interrupt the study with any injuries.”
Twilight almost nodded, but stopped herself. “Of course, I am a princess now, it would be rather embarrassing if I couldn’t control myself, not to mention heartbreaking if I were to hurt you.”
Raven smiled down at her, “I have faith in you.”
Twilight blushed with the words of confidence and Raven found herself thinking the alicorn looked absolutely adorable like that, like a puppy who just got called a ‘good girl’. She mentally shook her head to focus herself, and, like earlier, announced her words as she wrote them for the study. “I shall begin with a moderate nuzzling of the horn, starting from the top where there are less nerves and blood vessels and making my way downward towards the base. I shall note any changes in the subject, such as an intake of breath or noises or changes in physical appearance like blushing and moving.”
After a moment, Raven did just that, pressing her muzzle to the very tip of Twilight’s horn and methodically moving downwards. Twilight’s horn was, as expected, firm, but there was an almost unperceivable tingle that tickled Raven’s fur as she moved down. Silently, she wrote down,
Do alicorn horns hold more inherent magic? Physical sensation of magic in the horn’s surface, no pain or unpleasantness. Further research required.
While she was sure Twilight could answer the question, it was better placed after initial notes during review. She noted no obvious change until she made it to the middle, where Twilight shuddered. Raven wrote it down and continued.
When she reached the base, Twilight let out a sudden moan and Raven smiled as she noted the sound. “Initial observations hold to previous study findings. The tip and top half of the horn produce no obvious physical pleasure, the middle produced a physical change in a shudder and touch on the base produced an aural reaction with a moan.”
Twilight, who had covered her muzzle with her hooves at the near involuntary ‘aural reaction’, carefully squirmed under Raven as she announced her findings. All of a sudden, she felt embarrassed, hot with shame and a hesitance to take things any further tonight. It was strange and confusing and she didn’t like it. “R-Raven?”
Raven’s ears perked at the squeak of her name, immediately putting the parchment to the side and looking down at Twilight with concern. “Yes, Twilight?”
Twilight took a deep breath, preparing herself for a ramble that had earned the title of a ‘Twilighting’ moment. “I think I need a break. Um, this is very sexy and appealing and I love you and love when we can banter like this but I think I just realized that this is the first night we can truly spend together and I’m not entirely sure if I am ready for it to be an evening of debaucherous research and activity because now with the secret tunnel we can have more time together and-”
Raven chuckled softly as she removed her hoof from Twilight’s lips, it had been near three moons since she last saw Twilight have a moment like this. “Hush my dear, it’s quite alright. To be frank, I was just about to propose the same thing. We have all our lives to explore each other and fill countless libraries with our data and discoveries. While I may yearn for you deeply, we are not mere fillies in the throes of passion and mercy to hormones. We are mares, and sometimes mares need breaks and to let the passion simmer rather than boil.”
Twilight sniffled, wiping an embarrassed and self loathing tear from her eye. Raven scooted down on Twilight’s chest until she was laying on the alicorn, muzzle to muzzle. Her smaller, unicorn body was not quite enough to cover her, but Twilight appreciated the gesture nonetheless and wrapped her wings around them.
“Thank you Raven.”
“Think nothing of it my dear Twilight.”
Their lips met once more in a gentle kiss. Raven pecked Twilight’s nose, earning a giggle and adorable scrunch as she brought over two wine glasses. “Would you mind? You are much better at conjuring magic than I.”
Twilight smiled and lit her horn in return, filling the glasses with a light, sparkling champagne. “A slight buzz is permissible, but if we are to return to study tonight we must keep our minds sharp.”
Raven pecked her lips again. “I would have it no other way. I love you, Twilight.”
“I love you too Raven.”
The two clinked their glasses together in toast before sipping at them as a comfortable silence settled over them.
It was quiet in the room of High Princess Twilight, but she was not alone, and never would be again.
