Twilight Sparkle stepped lightly off of the train car that had just carried her to Canterlot. The evening was brisk and the smell of fallen leaves permeated the air, filling her nostrils with the earthy scent. This was definitely among her favorite times of the year and the only thing that could've made the dusk hour any better was to be spending it back in Ponyville. The rural hamlet, with its vast, sprawling orchards and surrounding woodland, offered what was quite possibly the best autumn view in Equestria. However, she had important business in the city that required her attention and the running of the leaves was still a week away, so she still had plenty of time to enjoy nature's beauty.
What had drawn her to Canterlot in the first place had been a simple letter. Simple, but in no way ordinary. This particular letter had been sent to her by Luna, the Princess of the Moon, who apparently wanted to speak to Twilight face-to-face. Luna was a good (if a little out-of-touch) pony and a good friend, so the minor inconvenience of having to come to Canterlot didn't bother Twilight in the least bit. She would gladly go to the ends of the world to make her friends happy, so a short train ride just to see one of them was nothing at all. Besides, she rarely got to see Luna, and she could probably have a short visit with her mentor, Princess Celestia, while she was here.
She crossed through the Palace gates, giving a warm smile to the statuesque Royal Guards before continuing on deeper into the castle. She knew exactly where she was going, but the Princess' letter said that the matter at hoof wasn't urgent, so she took the long way around, electing to take the route that let her remain outside the longest. The night was just too nice to waste by spending it inside. In fact, if she had she been back home in her library, she probably would have been curled up on her balcony with a good book.
Still, all good things must end, so she eventually crossed into the castle's ornate interior, making way for Luna's personal quarters. When she arrived, she glanced at her reflection in a nearby vase, making sure she at least looked presentable. Luna was her friend, but she was still a Princess. When she was sure that she didn't look like she had spent the day on a farm, she knocked lightly on the door with a hoof.
The door opened almost immediately and a soft, musical voice echoed from its other side, "Enter."
At the simple invitation, Twilight put on a sincere smile and trotted through the door, closing it gently behind her. She had never been in Luna's chambers before and was surprised at the simplicity. Unadorned, functional furniture filled the room, which was much smaller then Twilight had thought it would be. In fact, there was only one feature- the ceiling- that pointed to the importance of the room's inhabitant.
"Wow, Luna! That has got to be the most accurate, most beautiful painting of the night sky I've ever seen! It looks just like the real thing!"
"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. We painted it ourself, actually," the Princess' voice murmured from one of the room's corners. Twilight spun to face the direction and grinned at the sight. Luna lay on her stomach, sprawled across her bed, gazing at Twilight. The Princess was wearing a thin, flowing nightgown that extended halfway down her thighs.
"We?"
"Oh, sorry. I painted it myself, rather. I am still getting used to the new speech," Luna stuttered, her cheeks turning slightly red. "I suppose you wish to know why I've asked for you?"
Twilight nodded and Luna motioned for her to take a seat on the bed next to her, which Twilight did happily.
A deep sigh escaped Luna's lips as she began to speak again, "This is difficult for me to say Twilight. I have been thinking for days how to explain my predicament to you as delicately as possible, but nothing has come to me."
"Well, whatever it is, I promise I won't get upset. Would it be easier if you just came out and said it?" Twilight cooed back, worried at the feelings of distress radiating from Luna's eyes.
"That is possible," Luna muttered after a pause. She pushed herself up so that she too was sitting and scooted closer to Twilight.
It was then that Twilight noticed for the first time just how tight, how form-fitting, Luna's nightgown was. It was a beautiful garment that would have made Rarity's best work look like discount wares. Twilight could smell Luna's perfume in the air, an intoxicating mix of lavender and violets.
"You have been a good friend to me, Twilight," Luna murmured, pulling the unicorn in for a hug. "A much better friend than I deserve."
Twilight felt a wetness drip onto the back of her neck. Was Luna crying? She felt an uncomfortable warmth in her cheeks. Something wasn't right here.
"I wanted to tell you how much your kindness has meant to me, Twilight."
Twilight could feel the rise and fall of Luna's chest against her own. The Princess was breathing very heavily. Her heart was racing. Twilight's heart was racing as well.
"You are truly the best friend I have ever had."
Is it getting warmer in here? It's definitely getting warmer.
The soft brush of Luna's soft lips along the base of Twilight's neck sent a tingle of pleasure down the unicorn's spine. It also broke her out of her stupor. "Luna, stop!" Twilight felt Luna tense up and the outburst and took the pause to shove herself out of the warm embrace. "Luna, what are you doing?"
"Twilight, I don't understand. Have I done something wrong?"
"Yes- no! No, Luna, you didn't do anything wrong," Twilight squealed, fighting down a panic attack. "Luna I just don't feel that way about you. I don't even like mares!"
"Twilight, I... I..."
The sight of tears welling up in Luna's eyes was the last straw. Twilight didn't want to hurt Luna's feelings, but she couldn't take any more of this. She leapt off the bed, wrenched open the door, and burst out into the hallway, trying to put as much distance between her and Luna as possible.
Now Twilight was panicking. A full-blown panic too, not the slight feelings of fear and frustration one felt when they were late to an important meeting and couldn't find their bits. No, this was a full hyperventilating, heart-palpitating, knee-shaking, loss-of-all-rational-thought panic attack. She was so deep in the throes of her hysteria that she didn't notice the pony she barely missed running into. The very large pony she barely missed running into.
She did notice, however, when said pony stepped down on her tail, pinning it to the ground and causing her to fall flat on her face. "Twilight, my faithful student! Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
"Princess Celestia! It was Luna! We were- and then she- and then I- andIdon'tknowwhatI'msupposedtodo!"
To her credit, Celestia only replied with a warm smile. She had seen Twilight get this worked up time and time again, usually over something trivial, and thus knew just how to bring her student back down to Equestria. She used her magic to pick up the unicorn and trotted off with Twilight floating limply behind her.
A few minutes later the pair sat in Celestia's own bedroom with the Princess floating a cup of warm tea in front of Twilight's face, making the young mare sip at the steaming brew.
"There, much better. Now, care to tell me what has you so worked up?"
"Princess, I'm sorry but I just don't-" Twilight began before Celestia cut her off.
"Twilight, please. Remember what happens when you try to keep things from me? I always end up finding out and it always turns out to be a simple problem that could've been solved much easier with my assistance."
Twilight hung her head, defeated. Celestia was right She might as well just get on with it. "Luna tried to get me to sleep with her."
"Oh?" Princess Celestia inquired. "What's the problem then? Don't you have sleepovers with your friends all the time?"
"Not like that. Luna tried to get me to sleep with her."
"Oh!" Celestia gasped, her eyes widening considerably. "Oh, I see. That's a different story entirely. I understand why you are so upset. Strange though, Luna has never expressed such feelings about you. In fact, she has never expressed an interest in mares, she has always been much more interested in stallions. This is curious to say the least."
Twilight's expression hardened slightly as she listened to the Princess' musings. "You say that she likes stallions, but today she called me to meet with her in her room and when I got there she was lying on her bed in a sexy outfit and started kissing my neck. I'd say she likes mares quite a bit."
Celestia sat staring off into space for several seconds before a startled realization came over her face. "Of course! Why didn't I see it sooner? Why didn't I see this coming?"
"Uhhh, Princess?"
Celestia turned to her student, her signature comforting smile returning to her face. "Twilight, Luna was gone for a thousand years. You of all ponies know how much customs change over time, yes?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Well, back when Luna was banished, it was not uncommon for a pony to give themselves to a pony they felt most deserving. It was considered the most intimate, most treasured gift one pony could give another. That custom was the reason so many of our fairy tales ending with the fair mare marrying her savior. She was giving herself to the one whom she owed everything."
Twilight frowned, trying to put the pieces of what Celestia was saying together in her head.
"While I've never heard of royalty actually giving of themselves, it wasn't unheard of for ponies to give themselves to somepony they deeply cared about in a platonic way as a form of thanks or affection."
"So, you're saying that Luna wasn't trying to seduce me? She was just trying to give me a sort of present?"
"I believe so," Celestia murmured thoughtfully. "Luna has been very lonely since her return and you were the very first pony, the only pony aside from myself, to attempt to be her friend. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that what you experienced was her attempt to show her appreciation for you, rather than a romantic advance."
"Oh great," Twilight muttered sarcastically, "so she invited me to her home to give me what she considered a heartfelt gift and I run screaming from the room. She's probably really really good about her self right now."
"I take the blame for this. When she came back, she asked me to let her figure out things on her own and I agreed. This particular change was probably one I should've told her about anyway." Celestia sighed into her tea, "Perhaps I should go talk to her."
"No, I'll do it," Twilight murmured back. "She probably thinks I hate her right now or something. Thanks for the talk."
Twilight finished her tea and stood up, pausing to give her mentor one last hug. She trotted out of the room, allowing Celestia's reassuring smile to boost her confidence. She made her way to Luna's chambers while keeping her mind at the task at hand; allowing her mind to wander would only bring her anxieties back. The first thing she noticed when she arrived at Luna's bedroom door was the absence of its usual guards. The second and more prominent thing was the terrible sound of muffled sobs echoing from within. At that point, even if Twilight had wanted to turn back, she knew she wouldn't have been able to live with herself if she did.
She took a deep breath and pushed the door open. "Luna?"
The Night Princess' ears twitched as the mare's head whipped around towards the door. Luna stared in ger general direction,but Twilight noticed that Luna was specifically avoiding looking her in the eyes. "Twilight? Twilight after you left, one of my guards came in to see what was wrong and he explained everything! I am so sorry, Twilight! You see, back when-"
"Luna, it's okay! Celestia told me all about it. For what it's worth, I'm sorry I freaked out on you." She moved over to the bed, climbed up, and sat down next to Luna. "I forgive you, Luna, I really do. You didn't know that things had changed and your heart was in the right place. I am curious though, what made you decide to, ummm... 'give' me that particular gift?"
"Well, that's a long story," Luna muttered, hanging her head. She Princess flinched as Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder, but began to speak anyway. "Okay, so it's a short story. You're my only friend, the only pony in the world aside from my sister who isn't afraid of me, so I wanted to show my appreciation by getting you something nice. It used to be that I would show my thanks by putting ponies who truly mattered to me in the stars, but now there's almost a dozen commities I must go through to create a new constellation. Celestia has always given one of her personal heirlooms out, but all of mine have been lost since I was banished. My servants suggested I just purchase you something, but that has always seemed too impersonal to me. Besides, how much meaning could a cheap trinket have when I have nearly unlimited wealth at my disposal? Neither Celestia nor I have, to my knowledge, given of our bodies to anypony before. I thought perhaps, maybe..."
"Luna, I'm your friend because I want to be, no other reason. You don't have to get me anything."
"Yes I do!" Luna cried out, bursting into tears again. "Your friendship is a gift of itself and I wanted to give something back! I wanted to show you that I truly care, so I decided to give you the most valuable thing I could think of. Yet I still managed to mess everything up."
"You didn't 'mess everything up', Luna. I'm honored that you'd want to give me something so important to you. I just got scared because I didn't know what was going on. Honestly, I've never even done that before."
To Twilight's dismay, her words only seemed to make Luna even more miserable. "I almost stole your first time from you? Great! Not only did I make myself a fool in front of my sister yet again and scare my best friend out of her wits, but I almost hurt her in a way that could never have been healed."
This isn't working, but maybe...
Twilight laid down and slid herself closer to Luna. "Stop beating yourself up. You didn't know. You couldn't have known. You tried to give me something you've never, ever even thought about giving somepony else. It's the thought that counts!"
Twilight winced as Luna gave a melancholy sigh.
"Luna, there's one more thing. When I was a filly, my mom taught me to be polite. She told me over and over that a rude pony was one of the worst things in the world." Luna lifted her head, finally looking Twilight in the eyes with a questioning expression that plainly asked where Twilight was going with her story. Twilight smiled, put her hooves around her friend and continued, "You were trying to give me a present, and she told me that it's very, very rude to refuse a gift."
Twilight leaned in and firmly pressed her lips against Luna's, cutting off her Princess' sharp gasp. She could feel herself smiling as Luna went limp in her hooves, the Princess' contented sigh tickling her cheek.
