All for One - One for Luna (MLP)

07: Moonbeams and Other Things

     Luna woke stiff and slightly disoriented. Mentally noting that sleeping on her lounging cushion is much less comfortable than lounging on it, she rose and drowsily made her way to the washroom to refresh herself. Then a sudden clear thought shot through her mind as she splashed water on her face.

     Twilight! It's the middle of the day!

     In her sleepy disorientation she'd completely forgotten that it wasn't still night and had left Twilight without a source of moonlight. She dashed back into the room expecting the worst, but instead skidded to a shocked stop at the sight of Twilight passed out and glowing with moonlight of her own.

     Part of being royalty is learning not to show emotion, even unexpected emotion, unless one desires to do so. However, nothing could have prevented the slack-jawed stare on Luna's face as she fought to process the relief, amazement, curiosity, and awe she was feeling.

     Twilight must have passed out while writing, as she lay sprawled out on her cushion with her head partially resting on a half-filled scroll, a quill not far from her mouth. A tiny background portion of Luna's mind labelled that as "adorable," but the focus of her attention was elsewhere. Soft moonlight poured out from Twilight and her dark hair shimmered as it shifted back and forth in a non-existent breeze. Slowly, one half-step at a time, Luna made her way back to Twilight. She couldn't seem to get her mind to function and had to check half a dozen times to ensure she wasn't dreaming herself.

     Upon reaching Twilight, she was able to make out the small smile on her sleeping friend's face and it brought one to her own. Luna was used to thinking of Twilight as cute, both in appearance and personality, but she thought that Twilight asleep and glowing with that small smile on her face was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She'd seen herself in the mirror when channeling moonlight plenty of times, but seeing it like this – seeing Twilight like this – was completely different. Without conscious thought, a hoof reached out and stroked from just behind Twilight's ear down to her shoulder...

     ...and suddenly cute and adorable were fighting for priority as Twilight released a sound somewhere between a murr and a purr. Suddenly snapping back to herself, Luna blinked and fought back a series of giggles.

     Did she really just purr?

     Repeating the gesture did indeed get another purr.

     I can't wait until Tia finds out about this, she thought as she let slip a giggle. Assuming she doesn't already know... It's just too adorable for words!

     Spellbound by Twilight for a whole new reason now, Luna continued petting Twilight's neck. Caught up in her giggles at this unexpected facet of her friend and imagining her sister's possible reactions, she failed to notice that the purring had stopped until she heard a sleepy, "Luna? What are you doing?"

     Snapping back to herself once again, Luna felt her face heat up as she locked eyes with Twilight. "Ah... Twilight... I was just trying to wake you so we could move to the bed. It'd be more comfortable than sleeping on the cushions."

     "Oh-kay..." Twilight glanced toward Luna's foreleg which was still rubbing the base of her neck.

     Luna's face grew even hotter and she jerked her leg back. "My apologies. I got distracted."

     "Distracted?"

     "Uh..." Ack! Think of something! Glancing away from Twilight's eyes she realized she did have a way out of this one. Best to have an excuse prepared in the future... "Look at yourself... You're providing your own moonlight."