“But Celestia, my sister—“ Luna turned to Celestia as the doors closed, and Twilight Sparkle began her journey to the Crystal Empire, “—my protege can easily deal with the return of Sombra. I think we should send her instead of Twilight.”
Celestia was silent, staring after her student though she was no longer in view, before turning around and shaking her head. “Luna, I know she is powerful. But she is not the Element of Magic.”
“She could have been, and you know it!” Luna retorted.
Celestia turned her head to look Luna in the eyes. “But she's not. The fact remains that she was not the one to come to your aid. That was the test that the Elements used, and you know the Elements can't change hooves until a wielder has passed on.”
Luna looked a bit put out, but she knew it to be true. Though Trixie was every bit as powerful as Twilight, maybe even more so, being an Element holder gave her an edge that nopony else could beat.
Seeing as Luna seemed to have nothing to say, Celestia continued walking away, until she heard,
“Fine then. I shall away to console her with many hugs and kisses."
But by the time she'd turned back, Luna had teleported away in a flash of magic. Celestia scrunched up her face, staring at the spot where her sister had stood just a moment ago, and giving a “Hmm.” Luna couldn't have said what she'd thought she'd said. She must have heard wrong.
* * *
"I'm sorry Trixie." Luna sighed, once she was back in their room. Trixie had had no place to go when Luna found her. In exchange for becoming her personal student, Trixie was allowed to remain in Canterlot Castle. It was Luna's own personal decision to move the Unicorn into her own chambers. They were far too large for one single pony anyway.
“But Celestia doesn't even trust me to go. Just wants to send her little pet." she mumbled the last bit.
"I suppose it figures Sparkle would show me up again." she spat the name of the purple Unicorn.
"Hmm." Luna made her way to her bed, resting upon it. Trixie, instead of going to relax on her own bed, which was parallel to Luna's, joined the princess on hers.
Luna looked at her curiously, her head cocking to the side, but she did not protest as the blue mare snuggled up next to her. Any normal subject would not dare be so informal, so bold, to anypony of royal blood.
Even though Trixie was Luna's own special student, just as Twilight Sparkle was to Celestia, they had never gotten... well, quite this close.
"I guess while your sister is handling things, as usual, we're stuck here. Together." Trixie gave her own sigh, but a second later realized the implication of her words. "I mean, not, you know, together—" her face flushed, and she scooted away from her mentors side.
"Where do you think you're going?" Luna pulled Trixie back to her with a wing, smiling playfully.
Trixie blushed again, shuffling her front hooves in front of her.
Luna's gesture left Trixie speechless, for the moment. She wasn't sure what she should say, or do... or what the princess was now implying. She looked to Luna, the uncertainty evident on her face.
"You should smile." Luna said, her wing still wrapped around the smaller pony. "I like your smile."
"No one... usually compliments Trixie." A shiver ran through her, though it wasn't cold. "I know that you tell me how well I'm doing with my magic, how many spells I'm learning, how much stronger I'm getting. But it's not the same thing." she paused, trying to work out how to explain what she meant. "Besides, Trixie is not pretty." she blinked, and a tear rolled down her left cheek.
Luna grimaced. Often times when they were training, or even just talking, Trixie would start to go off on some little tangent and then... just stop. She would get this look in her eye, then quit for the day and go off by herself. Luna always let her go. It wasn't her business to pry. But she always felt bad, because it was always something she said that made Trixie become that way.
But tonight, she wasn't going to let her go. Luna herself was often sad... though years of practice had taught her to hide it from her subjects. Even around Trixie, she hadn't let her guard down. Maybe if she had, things would be different between them.
Luna leaned down, kissing Trixie's cheek before the tear had a chance to fall, and with a flick of her tongue, she had wiped it away. She knew she should have asked, she should have been more polite. But she wanted to comfort her friend, more than anything in the world right now, yet it was so hard to know how.
Trixie let out an "Oh!" in surprise, turning to the princess as she sniffled. She studied Luna's eyes for a long moment, the two staring at each other for several moments. Their eyes blinked, back and fourth, but nopony said a word. The only sound in the room was the breathing from the two mares, as each tried to read what the other was thinking.
Luna broke the silence as she cleared her throat, then opened her mouth to speak. But she couldn't find the words to say what she was thinking, or even what she should say, or ask, or even do.
The princess swallowed visibly, before inching her face just a tad closer to that of her pupil. She was testing the waters, waiting for a signal from Trixie as to whether she should pursue her growing desire, or if she was being too forward. This wasn't... normal behavior for a princess. There was all sorts of protocol, courting and romancing, all sorts of... old ways. This wasn't a thousand years ago, and maybe—
The two mares moved as one, though Luna's lips pressed much harder against Trixie's. She was a strong and powerful mare, after all, much more so than any normal pony.
Trixie's eyes had already closed, but Luna's remained open for a brief moment while she still held a hint of doubt in her mind. But as she felt the other mare's eager lips against her own, felt their breath begin to mingle, she suddenly didn't care anymore. She was a princess, and nopony should give a damn about how she decided to live her life.
Luna's eyes slid closed as she enjoyed the moment, relying on her other senses to tell her what to feel. She could feel her heart pounding, as she pressed forward for more.
In the next instant, she'd scooped Trixie up in her wing, rolling onto her back and letting the other mare rest on her chest. Luna pressed Trixie to her own body, enveloping her in her wings and forcing her to stay close. Believe it or not, Luna hadn't had the chance to have much experience with this sort of thing... but she took Trixie's continuation as a sign that she was doing well.
After several minutes, the Unicorn mare pulled away, gasping for air and shuddering with excitement. They hadn't yet gotten past the kiss, but it had still been a rather eccentric one, and both ponies seemed to need a moment to recover.
The two sat up, facing each other while they caught their breath. Luna waited patiently, unsure if they should continue, or if she had done something wrong, and still trying to push away the thought that maybe this was a bad idea. It was all up to Trixie.
"No!" Trixie suddenly yelled, panic in her eyes.
"Trixie?" Luna began to move towards her, concern evident on her face and in her voice.
"No. No!" Trixie extended a hoof to keep Luna back. "This isn't right! Trixie doesn't deserve this!"
Luna at first looked fearful, scared that she had done something wrong and was going to lose her closest friend. She had known from the start this was a bad idea, but she'd refused to listen. And she'd done it again. She'd upset Trixie. Luna silently cursed herself for letting her emotion rather than her brain control her actions.
"I—you—you've been too kind to me. You don't even know anything about me!" Trixie seemed to instantly get defensive, even after the moment they had just shared.
"I-I'm sorry! I mean, not for being nice, but... I should have asked. You shouldn't have felt obligated." Luna rubbed her face with a hoof. She was so stupid! Of course nopony was going to deny a princess, but she thought that she and Trixie were close enough that the other mare would have denied her if they did not have the same feelings.
"Obligated?" Trixie looked offended. "You think Trixie just did that for you? That she can't love somepony else? That she's easy, or desperate?"
"I said I was sorry." Luna watched as she was slowly losing the one friend she had in Equestria. Watched as the friendship they'd built up over months was crumbling, with one stupid headstrong mistake. She had finally found somepony she could talk to, somepony who she had thought even looked up to her. But Trixie would be going now, or in the morning... and chances were she wouldn't be back.
Luna turned away, shrouding her face with a large wing. She didn't want to show weakness. She was supposed to remain strong, for her country, for her ponies! Luna would let her go... after all, it was Trixie's decision. Luna cared about her too much to tell her how to run her life. Her body shuddered as she tried to hold in sobs, tears sliding down her face. She had tried so hard, she thought she had come so far... only to mess up now. She'd have to start all over, with somepony else. Or maybe she wouldn't. Maybe it was better this way. You couldn't hurt your friends if you didn't have any.
Trixie didn't move for several moments. She had been wrong to speak so harshly. It wasn't Luna's fault that she was in the dark about Trixie's past. But Trixie felt unworthy of what the princess wanted to offer. Why would—why would a princess, of all ponies, choose her? Normally Trixie took random acts of kindness as pity, which she did not tolerate. In this instance, though, the princess had been genuine... and Trixie wasn't giving her a fair chance.
She moved over to the princess, pushing her wing away with a hoof to reveal a damp and red face. Luna sniffed as she turned away, her ears drooping in defeat. Trixie took the wing, and wrapped it about herself, snuggling up to the princess once again.
"Trixie shouldn't have yelled." she leaned her head on Luna's shoulder. It felt comforting, to have somepony so close, somepony she could trust, somepony who wasn't going to up and leave her. She should have realized all of that so much sooner.
"Thank you." Trixie said. "I didn't mean to hurt you." she took a deep breath, letting out a heavy sigh. "There have just been a lot of ponies that have hurt Trixie."
Luna finally moved, squeezing Trixie with her left wing. She lifted her right wing to brush away the remaining tears, turning back to her student again.
"You should tell me about them, sometime. I know it would have helped me to have somepony to talk to when I was suffering." she spoke of the time before Nightmare Moon, though she didn't have to say it.
"Come on." Luna slid away from Trixie, crawling under the bed covers. Rest would allow them both to consider the events of this eve much better in the morning.
Trixie cautiously made her way across the bed, ducking under the covers and laying next to Luna. Luna's horn glowed for a moment, and then the room was enveloped in darkness. Trixie sighed, and Luna sniffled one last time.
"You can show me how great and powerful you really are some other night." Luna said, trying to brighten the mood.
"We'll see." Trixie said, reluctantly.
"Only if you want to." Luna reassured her. "I might be a princess, but that wasn't an order."
"Thank you." Trixie whispered into the dark. Luna felt her warm breath splash across her face.
There was silence, and Trixie wondered for a moment if the princess was already asleep. "I won't let you be alone again." she replied quietly.
"How—?" The blue Unicorn could only manage one word.
"Lucky guess. I know more about you than you might think. But I'd love to know more." Luna rested her head on the pillow.
There was a pause, and Luna felt the pony shift next to her, as Trixie herself laid down. "Maybe-maybe tomorrow." It wasn't a definite answer, but it was a step in the right direction, for both mares.
Luna moved closer, lightly kissing Trixie once on the nose. "Good night." she whispered.
"Good night." Luna fell asleep with the sound of Trixie's voice in her ear. What tomorrow held was uncertain, but one thing was for sure--what she held now, was Trixie.
