The Moon's Shadow

Chapter 8

Twilight Sparkle could feel her cheeks burning and her stomach in complete knots as she trotted up the stairs. In her magical grip, she carried a tray with an assortment of food on it. The assortment just consisted of a vine or two of grapes with a few freshly peeled oranges, some strawberries and blueberries. All of it seemed like quite a bit for just one pony, however, it wasn't just for one pony it was in fact for two. Which was why the mare found herself growing even more nervous with each and every step up to her bed.

The very moment she reached the upstairs area, she could feel her stomach twisting into even more knots. It was only as her eyes came to rest on the stallion that now lied on her bed did she feel the discomfort get even worse. Twilight had never felt like this before in her life, it was an entirely new experience. What seemed to set her mind at ease though was the simple fact she had read about it in a book not more than a week or two ago, which allowed her to even put logic to what she was feeling. That, though only seemed to make matters worse and raise the level of tension she felt in her body.

The strangest part of all this too was the simple fact that he had only been at her place for about a day. How could she be attracted to somepony so easily? Shouldn't the process of attraction take longer to establish? What was it about this stallion that was so great anyhow? 'Well, he is very handsome...' she contemplated, 'And...any mare would have trouble resisting that charm of his too...'

“So, that's dinner huh?” Silver asked as Twilight trotted up the stairs. Even though he had quite a few bandages over his body and he had lost a bit of fur, he was still quite a stallion. Especially to Twilight whom visibly blushed as she laid her eyes on him.

“Y-yeah, I figured w-we could s-share it,” Twilight stammered, which was unusual for her. Silver noticed this right off the bat too, which in turn made him smile. He could see clearly what ran through the mare's mind at this point as it was evident by the blushing on her cheeks. “A-and I didn't want to make a mess on the bed either...”

'Depends on what kind of mess you're talking about,' Silver added in his mind, “That's perfectly fine, plus I'm used to eating rather light meals most of the time.” Twilight blinked when he said that, which seemed to put her mind a little at ease as she reached the bed. Where she set the tray aside gently before climbing onto it herself. That only made the internal situation worse for her though as she could feel her stomach tightening even more the closer she got to him.

Even though Twilight could've shared the bed with him the night before, she hadn't. She had been busy a fair amount of the night cataloging the new books that the library had gotten in. Eventually reaching the point where she fell asleep at her desk by the time she had finished. Perhaps it was a good thing though as she assumed Silver might not enjoy her company. In the end though, that thought proved to be far from right as she found he particularly enjoyed her company.

“So you don't mind just fruit, right?” she asked, only earning that simple smile again. “Its all we really have at the moment, I haven't gone to the market in around a week.”

“Like I said, Twilight,” he smiled, “Its perfectly fine. Plus, it'll give me the chance to spend more time with you.” If there was a way to intensify what Twilight was feeling at the present moment, that would be the way. Silver could swear he saw her entire face turn a very bright red as she just sat in place, completely motionless. It was adorable when he saw it, only working to widen his smile while making him chuckle at the very same time. 'She really does think too much...' he reflected upon, 'Extremely intelligent, incredible learning curve...but a bad habit of overthinking...just like Celestia said.' This only made it seem a bit funnier, his chuckling getting a bit louder. 'But what she didn't say was just how beautiful she is...'

“R-really?” Twilight finally asked, after working through her nervousness. In truth though, she was ecstatic to hear this. She could feel her heart jumping for joy the moment she had heard it. Even considering that by this time her heart was pounding very hard in her chest, to the point where she could feel it throughout her body. It meant quite a bit to her when she heard it, it even encouraged her to snuggle up a bit closer to his body on the bed. Still a comfortable distance from him, but just close enough to where she could feel his body heat.

It was before long when Silver began to levitate one of the vines of grapes up to his mouth, taking slow and careful bites as he did. In a single bite he took a fair number of them, before turning his attention back to Twilight. Simply just letting the vine fall onto his hoof.

“So, have you read any interesting stories lately?” asked Silver, but instantly he regretted asking it as he recalled the important aspect of this mare. She loves books. By the time he had caught himself it was far too late as her eyes began to sparkle a little bit the very moment he asked. It was like the perfect question to ask her.

'He's...perfect...' Twilight concluded as her eyes began to fill with a bit of desire. 'Too...perfect...' It was only after she realized this that the glint in her eyes began to vanish. 'No stallion can be that perfect! How could one like him exist? He's handsome, he's charming and he's intelligent! There has to be a catch...' As the glint in her eyes began to vanish, she just simply sighed. “This has to be a dream...” she muttered.

Silver had grown a little worried, but it only lasted a second until she finally spoke. This was a bit of a relief to him as he feared she would go off on a tangent about a story. It was also a bit of a problem too, as he became aware of just what ran through her mind. 'She must've just overthought her crush on me...' he assumed, just judging by the look in her eyes. It was depressing just how fast the emotion shifted in them too. Which meant he had to do something about it.

“Twilight?” he started, causing her to shift her gaze back up at him. “This isn't a dream...I know you may think it is...but it isn't.”

“Prove it!” she stated, “Prove to me that this isn't a dream!” Silver's ears fell back when those words were spoken. How would he do this? He had already proven one thing to her in the past, he just needed the right kind of idea to do as such. It was as he thought of this though that he realized one thing; that what he had already proven to her could make matters worse! It was only as he was thinking though, did it dawn on him and a grin began to spread across his face.

“Easy...” he cooed in such a tone that it brought back her blush instantly. The tone was so soft that it seemed to ease the tension she had all throughout her body. Which was something he took quick advantage of. Without a moment of hesitation, while Twilight had been in a daze she wouldn't notice him fully extending his right wing. Where he then used it to pull her in as close as physically possible. “I can do that.” he snickered.

This proved to be quite a big jump in this particular matter, but one that seemed to work out relatively well as Twilight just seemed to go right for the warmth of his body. Even with her heart pounding in her chest, she simply just leaned right up against his side peacefully. It was pure bliss in that moment as she had never felt such a wonderful warmth in her. The blushing vanished and the knots in her stomach along with it. All she could really think to do was just to close her eyes slowly and enjoy the moment she was given.

'This...has to be a dream...' The rational part of her mind called out. Giving an attempt to argue with the other parts of her mind and heart. 'But...it can't be a dream! It feels too real...by Celestia let this be real...' These thoughts though began to fade as she relaxed for the first time in a very long time. The euphoria of being close to somepony you like enough to make her just forget all of her previous thoughts. In a matter of seconds, she eventually reached the point of complete peace.

“That better?” Silver smiled,

“Uh-huh,” Twilight nodded, enjoying the very first time she had ever cuddled with somepony of the opposite gender that she wasn't related to. She didn't think it would feel like this, even her precious books didn't describe just how incredible it felt to be this close to somepony you liked. She couldn't even think of the words that could best describe it either. Instead though, she found herself just enjoying the moment. Which was something she rarely ever did. What occurred next just became icing on the cake for her though.

With Silver's magic around the stem, he lifted the vine of grapes up to Twilight. The gesture was one she had read about in various depictions of leadership and even relationships. Something often done while the two were cuddling or the leader was relaxing. This seemed to bring a greater euphoria to her as she lifted herself up to take a bite. The grapes themselves seemed to taste even better as she ate them and while she could potentially explain it, she simply didn't want to.

“How are you feeling now?” he asked as he popped a strawberry into his mouth. It took a good minute before the question actually registered within Twilight's mind, which quickly brought her back to reality.

“I've never felt better...” she replied, glancing up at him with a smile, “You're so warm...and comfy...” Acting solely on her present desires, she just nuzzled into his side. Feeling the warmth of his body and softness of his coat. It was like a pillow and his wing was a blanket. “It doesn't feel like how authors describe it...”

“Of course not!” Silver smiled, “Not many authors can describe just how cuddling feels unless they've actually cuddled with somepony. Even then its kind of a difficult thing to give words to.” This seemed to reassure Twilight of her present feelings as she continued to eat the grapes he was offering, occasionally letting off very soft and pleasant sighs the longer she remained like this.

“It...actually feels better than they describe!” Twilight added, “Especially...with you...” she only blushed at her own words, once again using his fur to conceal it. Even if it was to little avail as Silver was easily able to notice again.

“If cuddling and snuggling feels nice...just imagine what...” The stallion didn't need to finish that sentence as Twilight was able to just guess what he had been about to say. While the thought had been in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but consider it even more now. Exactly how accurate were the erotic and adult novels she read? Exactly how realistic were they in describing the sensations? It simply just made her wonder what the real thing felt like and not just self pleasure. These thoughts only intensified her blushing further, reaching the point where her entire face was now as red as a beet.

“D-don't...say anything further!” Twilight snapped, while simultaneously glaring at him.

“Aw, come on! Its fun to talk about!” Silver teased, “Plus...we're all alone here tonight too.”

“No!” she cried out, this time being a bit more stern. “I-I don't want to talk about those kinds of things!” Silver got the point the instant she had raised her voice. He didn't need to be told more than once or twice not to go a particular way, especially when it came to mares. Twilight on the other hand wasn't so much angry or anything, she just seemed rather embarrassed by just how quick this stallion was trying to work. 'I can't talk about it yet...' was the thought that popped in her mind.

“No need to get hostile...” Silver said, “I was only teasing, Twi.” This in turn caused her to push away from him a little bit, still not wanting to leave the complete warmth of his body. Yet, at the same time she also wanted to keep her distance.

“You're just like every other stallion I've heard about!” Twilight argued, “All you care about is one thing!” The words hurt Silver a tiny bit even if he did consider them to be true about himself.

“You're right...” he admitted with a sigh, “I was like that. But, after an incident a few years ago...I changed.” Silver turned away from Twilight at this point. “After I had my heart broken...rather badly I might add, something in me changed...” he simply just turned back to her with a smile returning to his face. “While I am a physical stallion in the regard of romance and love...I care a bit more about whom I spend my time with.” Twilight seemed to return the smile as she listened to his words. All of them seemed very genuine to her ears and it brought comfort to actually hear them.

'Guess he's not as perfect as I thought...' Twilight noted, 'But...who could hurt such a sweetheart? Even if he is a perv...'

The two ponies carried on a conversation for hours. Eating the fruit that Twilight had brought and simply enjoying one another's company. By the time the fruit had been finished off however, the two had slowly begun to dwindle down their topics. Through a sheer stroke of luck as the conversation died down, so did the mare as well. So by ten o'clock that night, she fell into a very deep and peaceful slumber snuggled against Silver for warmth instead of using the blankets. This left him technically alone as long as he didn't disturb the mare.

'Good...she's finally asleep...' Silver thought as he glanced down at her. 'But...should I really move to disturb such an adorable mare?' he asked himself this question as he gazed down at her in silence. As he did, he contemplated actually trying to get up from the bed. While he did have the strength for it, he worried about whether Twilight would start asking questions or not. It didn't take him very long to come to this decision either as he just simply smiled. 'I can't disturb her...' he concluded. 'But...how do I get a piece of paper and a quill?'

This posed another question for him, where could he even find paper and a quill? He was in a library, yes. And one that was run by the student of Celestia no less. Which meant she had to keep an abundance of parchment as well as numerous quills with ink. As he pondered the very question, he began to glance around the room in hopes that something was actually there. As his gaze passed by the vanity on the other side of the room, he nearly screamed with delight as out of the corner of his eye he saw just a small piece of torn parchment.

'Next I need that damned quill...' he added, 'Oh...and some ink...' This is what took quite a bit more looking on the other hand. After the initial glance he looked a bit more carefully. Moving his eyes over every detail of the room as best as he could in the dark. First past the windowsill and then over the vanity a second time to ensure he didn't miss anything. That was followed by the nightstand and eventually the bookshelf opposite of the vanity. “Yes!” he cried out, only to cover his mouth with both of his hooves. As his search had finally come to an end. On the nightstand he noticed the ink bottle and while on the bookshelf he took notice of the owl feather. This all came very short of his shout as he was forced to glance back down at Twilight, just hoping he hadn't disturbed her.

It was a relief when she just simply mumbled something in her sleep and shifted her position slightly as now he could finally focus on bringing the three objects to him. Here, his horn lit up, surrounded by his signature silvery aura which quickly enveloped the items. While the items were fairly light, he still seemed to have a bit of trouble levitating all of them to him at once. Silver had to be careful as he did too, because one simple mistake could disturb the sleeping mare. He just became even more thankful that it didn't come to that by the time he received all three items. Silver moved fast at this point, using his magic like a piece of cardboard this time for the paper. Unfurling it as quickly as he could before carefully dipping the quill into the bottle.

'Emerald, I have very important news...'