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1.
>luna sat loafed upon her pillow on the center of the balcony, gazing out upon her kingdom
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2.
>the near constant wafting breeze pushed against her coat in long bursts as with the rest of the canterlot cliffside
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3.
>but in the rare moments it dulled, a sickly summer heat hung dead in the air, refusing to let the drops of sweat on luna's skin dissipate
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4.
>all that effort to heave the moon across the sky...
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5.
>...just for it to be invisible on the night of a new moon
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6.
>the valleys and plains before luna were cast in an even darker night than usual
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7.
>petty thoughts of younger sibling spite would shoot through luna's head on these nights
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8.
>'i have to do this new moon bullshit once a month, making it impossible to see anything during MY night-'
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9.
>'-but we do a lunar eclipse ONCE EVERY FIVE YEARS and everypony thinks the world is ending?'
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10.
>'dUhUhUh BuUt ThUh mOoOn PhAsE cAlEnDaR'
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11.
>nopony's told time with just the moon in over 200 years
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12.
>conveniently when some genius named starswirl the bearded thought it was a good idea to actually put the days of a moon cycle on a piece of paper and print it for everypony to put in their house
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13.
>whats that? oh right: a PAPER CALENDAR
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14.
>'i still remember putting up the big one in the council room, and we have NEVER ONCE SAID "OH, I COULDNT SEE THE MOON LAST NIGHT, LETS SCHEDULE THE MEETING FOR TWO DAYS FROM NOW" SINCE THEN!'
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15.
>'SO WHY DO I STILL NEED TO DO ALL THIS WORK, SHROUDING MY MOON IN DARKNESS AND THROWING IT ACROSS THE SKY TO ABSOLUTELY *ZERO* FANFARE, JUST FOR NOPONY TO FUCKING SEE IT EVEN IF THEYRE UP ALL NIGHT!?'
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16.
>luna blew the residual rage out of her nose in a sharp snort
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17.
>"stupidnewmoontotaldarknessunnecessarybullshitassfucking..." luna grumbled quietly to herself
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18.
>out on the plains, a dot of light caught her eye
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19.
>upon focusing in the dark of the night, luna watched a thin, bright yellow-orange caterpillar work its way down the royal road
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20.
>a group of intrepid travelers trying to make canterlot by morning
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21.
>luna felt their struggle, and all the lantern oil they were wasting trying to power through the new moon night
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22.
>she did a faint grumble under her breath, visions of beating her older sister with the pillow she sat upon filling her head
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23.
>every imaginary blow conjured a cathartic, shit eating grin on her face
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24.
>itd be even funnier now that her hits actually hurt.
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25.
>and it was far from the first time this particular pillow had made contact with either of their faces.
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26.
>this was long past the point of actual malice, after all she was the only reason luna wasn't still wasting away on the moon
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27.
>IF ANYPONY COULD SEE IT.
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28.
>grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
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29.
>luna sighed, her head still a frenzy of milennia-old complaints, griping, bitching and moaning
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30.
>you know what, she cant be the only one
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31.
>its time to go dream surfing.
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32.
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33.
>taking the time to let her emotions recede, luna finally locked in about 10 minutes later
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34.
>focusing on the deep, natural rhythm of her breathing, all her grievances slowly flushed themselves away
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35.
>and once her mind was a blank slate, the glowing blue magic started to hum its way up her horn
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36.
>luna's spiritual essence smoothly compressed against the tip of her horn, soon bursting out into the astral plane above her own
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37.
>finally, some light and life under the swirling purple and blue skies of the dream realm
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38.
>luna exhaled and let her face rest in a calm, peaceful smile as she watched the sea of dream bubbles before her
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39.
>it was still a little warm for her tastes, but for a long moment she watched the bubbles pop, stir, and float around in rhythmic waves
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40.
>floating around the familiar black voids of space stabbing through the surface, luna knew most of them by name at this point
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41.
>healing moves at its own pace
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42.
>but the nights on which those rocks turned to luminescent, vibrant blue bubbles were more of a victory than any war she's won or beast she's slain
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43.
>luna scoped out a void far in the distance, then swan dove off her perch and glided along the top of the sea
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44.
>blue magic shined off the bubbles and sparkled off luna's tail with each powerful wing flap
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45.
>and once she was within 20 feet, luna did a quick back flap to stop her momentum and get herself steady on the edge of the void
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46.
>she sparked her horn, and brought this pony to light as the rest of the realm faded out in a black fog
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47.
>to her surprise, luna was met with a vision of Moondancer, passed out while seated in front of a wide open book, head down in her sweatered hooves near the spine of it
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48.
>normally she's toward the west, but the sea of snowpities is an ever-changing place
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49.
>luna fanned her wings and plunged into the young student's subconscious
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50.
>a pearly realm devoid of any dream bubbles, nothing new to her
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51.
>the moon princess sat patiently, as if waiting for a fish to catch on her lure
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52.
>OH! there's one-
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53.
>aww it popped
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54.
>she was too far away to see what it was anyway
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55.
>minutes passed, turned into 10 turned into 20
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56.
>a speck of sand compared to how much time Luna's spent in the heads of troubled ponies
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57.
>the moon princess zoned out and scratched a small itch below her ear with her-
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58.
>THERE'S ANOTH-
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59.
>aww too slow, better luck next time
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60.
>hours seemed to drift by, Moondancer's head completely blank as it rested on her hardcover pillow
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61.
>luna caught a ray of light, and behind her she clocked a stiff bubble floating to the surface
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62.
>the first one to hold its form in hours
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63.
>the moon princess didn't even stop to get a read, she needed to take what she could get
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64.
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65.
>words, concepts and bits of spells floated around Moondancer's head in a hazy image not unlike the last thing she saw
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66.
>spell of the mystic wind mixes with aegius loop sure, but how does that lead back to wind wall if you use orange aura instead of green? wouldn't that cancel it out?
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67.
>even though she was deep in REM sleep, her mind continued to work through the logic problem
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68.
>she had been in the library every night for the past week, knowing that Wind Wall was the foundation for the next spell book that she was going to take on
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69.
>like a miner poking at a rock for crystals, she kept stressing the points in her head
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70.
>it's not like she missed anything, it was just three paragraphs at the beginning of the chapter
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71.
>"...so naturally, if you follow the Celestial process of Orange Aura Reshaping discussed in Chapter 4, this will conjure Wind Wall. Proving this is left as an exercise for the reader." was the riddle that closed out the section
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72.
>some exercise alright
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73.
>orange aura reshaping, that's high school material.
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74.
>easy as 1... 2...
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75.
>suddenly, the points started to become crystal clear, and moondancer's brain kicked into warp speed
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76.
>spark orange, pull the air in-
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77.
>then you push the essence FORWARD, not around
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78.
>like cleaning her room, all of the cluttered thoughts poofed out of existence
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79.
>she had it confused with Orange Aura RECURSIVE, not reshaping as the book said
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80.
>in a fraction of second, she had solved the conundrum and was back in the calm dreamscape of-
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81.
>black snooty was standing in the reading room, having been watching Moondancer from behind the curtain
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82.
>"Princess Luna!" Moondancer yelled out joyfully, as if reuniting with an old friend
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83.
>she pounced out of her chair and ran over to glomp the moon princess
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84.
>stopping herself about 3 paces away to give a quick bow of respect, wanting nothing more than to jump into her loving hooves
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85.
>"what has kept you from a peaceful rest tonight, my student of old?" luna asked authoritatively,
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86.
>"i'm trying to learn some advanced wind spells since i just finished volume 2, and i'm about to start the section on..." moondancer recounted excitedly, then trailed off as she realized what happened, "DAMNIT! i fell asleep didn't i." she said out loud, annoyed
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87.
>before sheepishly looking up at the princess, blushing under a cute smile when she realized she swore in front of royalty, "sorry..."
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88.
>"i accept, but none is needed. your passion for knowledge and magic continues to amaze me,"
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89.
>moondancer nodded like a teacher's pet
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90.
>"but why must you let it drive you to exhaustion night after night?" luna questioned, catching her off guard
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91.
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92.
>moondancer felt vulnerable, expecting to have a fun nerding-out conversation with her best friend and idol,
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93.
>"i dont know, ive always worked better at night. that's just how it's been" moondancer said,
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94.
>"i understand, as does myself. what is it about the night?"
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95.
>moondancer slunk back into her awkward shell
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96.
>"its just like... i dont know, the darkness is cool? its quieter, calmer," she looked for things that weren't balatantly obvious, "there's less ponies around..." she added on
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97.
>"what makes you crave solitude?" luna almost abruptly asked
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98.
>"because i dont like other ponies." moondancer snapped back rather tersely,
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99.
>the moon princess knew that answer would come automatically,
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100.
>"my dear, you were created for companionship and to make friends with your fellow pony. has princess twilight not taught you that?"
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101.
>"i dont know, ive just always been like this." moondancer had ready to say, "maybe that's how it is for every other pony, but not me. i tried to get along with them, and it never works. now i just have to live with it."
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102.
>luna sat down on her haunches and leaned her snoot closer, letting her subject have the floor
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103.
>"do you feel broken?" she gently tried to coax out of her, to no response as moondancer worriedly avoided eye contact
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104.
>"it's like- magic makes sense. you do A, B, and C, and you get D. with ponies its like one day you can say hi to them and theyre like 'hey whats up?' but then the next day theyre like 'screw you!'" Moondancer spoke her point, "and then theyll say one thing but then do the opposite, its always so hard for me to figure out"
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105.
>"and i hear all this stuff about how 'ohhh friends do anything for each other' but its always me that they conveniently forget about when its my time. im just done with it." moondancer finished her point, luna continued to listen
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106.
>"and besides, aren't you happy that im staying up to see your night?" she asked, resuming eye contact as her eyes grew into saucers,
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107.
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108.
>luna needed not a second to think about the dilemma she was presented with
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109.
>"my young and faithful, i sincerely appreciate your want to keep me company, but my duty is to see all of my subjects to a peaceful rest, and that is where i find my solace," luna said as a hoof crept behind moondancer's head
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110.
>"but don't you get lonely?" she whimpered out in response, giving in to the urge to put her front hooves around luna's head,
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111.
>luna felt the desperation in Moondancer's snowpity, and almost gave in
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112.
>but she knew what she needed to do
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113.
>"but im a pony, arent i?"
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114.
>moondancer's eyes were wiggly from the burn in her chest
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115.
>"yeah but, youre different..."
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116.
>moondancer pulled herself closer, putting her snoot right in luna's face
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117.
>"you *understand* me..."
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118.
>her heart was beating through her chest, the tension between their eyes was palpable,
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119.
>"hold me close... please..." moondancer said with only the slightest hint of voice
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120.
>as much as luna knew that she had to hold her ground, sometimes this is what the troubled ponies need
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121.
>so she obliged
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122.
>luna held moondancer tight to her chest, her subject wrapping herself around with all 4 hooves
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123.
>feeling like melted butter, moondancer gave luna a clingy kiss, sliding her tongue in to meet the princess's
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124.
>luna reciprocated, helping moondancer get on cloud 9 in this eternal moment
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125.
>moans and noises of pleasure poured out of moondancer for a long while until they finally parted
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126.
>luna gently set her down, moondancer's front hooves still on her shoulders
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127.
>the frazzled yellow mare blushed hard, not knowing what to say
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128.
>after all, socialization wasnt her strong suit
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129.
>her eyes were screaming 'i love you,' but the lump in her throat kept it from coming out
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130.
>"listen, Moondancer:" luna started to speak, "i love you, as i do every pony under my care,"
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131.
>moondancer's knees went wobbly for a second, her eyeballs muddied by a layer of liquid glass
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132.
>"but i am not here to be the partner you seek. you have as much capacity for love as any other pony, even the ones you shun. but you will never find them if you hide away in the darkness of my night."
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133.
>"i love you too luna..." moondancer said quietly, a delayed reaction that earned an earnest smile,
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134.
>"now, lie before me, and please try to relax."
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135.
>moondancer was still starstruck, taking a solid 60 seconds to lie down in something resembling a position of slumber
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136.
>luna rested her chin in the crook of moondancer's neck, feeling the tension wash out of her body
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137.
>and at the bottom of one of her breaths, luna sparked her horn back up,
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138.
>"rest easily Moondancer, my sister looks forward to seeing you under her radiant sun."
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139.
>and with a slow burst of magic, the dreamscape washed both of them away
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140.
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141.
>Moondancer gasped awake to the wall behind her desk, glasses at 45 degrees across her face
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142.
>she quickly picked up her head, to realize she was completely alone in the public library
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143.
>"ughhhhhhh" she groaned out, fixing her glasses and lint-covered sweater as she got her bearings straight
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144.
>stopping suddenly when she noticed the lake of drool that wetted the center of the page
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145.
>"mmmmmmff" she groaned out again in slight annoyance, "i should really go home." she vocalized in a groggy voice
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146.
>and that she did, packing her things, slinking away down the deserted streets of canterlot, and into her unmade bed to sleep off the rest of her night in comparable comfort
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147.
>princess luna deactivated her horn, and calmly opened her eyes out on the royal balcony
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148.
>an orange glow was starting to burst up over the horizon to the west,
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149.
>luna smirked, knowing celestia was already grumpy from having to raise the sun this early
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150.
>that, and only one of them made out with somepony tonight
by GreenFNPON3
by GreenFNPON3
by GreenFNPON3
by GreenFNPON3
by GreenFNPON3