Chapter 48

Dave and Luna both entered the dining room, the servant responsible for making Luna’s meals was already waiting for the princess to walk in, her eyes widened as Dave entered shortly after

“Princess Luna, would you like your usual meal?” The servant bowed, she nodded as the princess of the night ordered her usual. “And what would you require Prince Dave?”

“I will just have some… pancakes,” Dave smiled to the servant as she walked to the door, pausing to look at Dave

“And congratulations on your engagement,” the servant gave a final bow as she trotted away, leaving Dave with a small grin he couldn’t hide

Dave sat down in his usual seat and looked down the table at Luna, “I still can’t thank you enough for that eclipse”

Luna smiled, “It was no problem, and I would do anything to make my sister happy”

Both the human and the alicorn stopped their conversation as the servant returned with their meals. The chefs obviously had been quick in making these meals as the portions seemed slightly smaller, probably due to the chefs wanting to go into the city and join the celebrations

“Excuse me…” Dave turned to look at the servant, the mare bowed as she looked at Dave. “But can you send a message to Princess Celestia telling her that I will be with her about midnight?”

The servant bowed, “Certainly Prince Dave”

“And then you can take the rest of the day off along with the chefs,” Dave smiled as the mare suddenly beamed before she regained her composure

“Thank you Dav… I mean,” the mare smiled as Dave waved it off and she almost skipped out of the dining room

Dave shuffled in his seat as he picked up his fork, preparing to tuck into his light meal. His eyes wandered over to Luna, her eyes watching him carefully. “Have I done something wrong?”

“I was just wondering who will wash up our plates,” Luna looked down at her waffles. “Normally the chefs clean these up as well”

“I’ll do it,” Dave shrugged as he began to break a piece of his pancake away from the others. His pancake was skewered by his fork and was halfway to his mouth when he caught Luna looking at him again. “Do you want my pancakes?”

Luna shook her head, “No, nothing like that but… why would you do something as small as wash up some plates and cutlery when we have servants that are more than happy to do that?”

“If I can do it myself then I won’t allow servants to miss out on festivities that will happen once in their lifetimes,” Dave finally managed to get the pancake into his mouth and he began chewing as he twirled the fork around his fingers. “I’m a nice guy like that”

The princess of the night finally levitated up her knife and fork, intending to start on her meal but had the wave of feeling that made her instinctively drop her cutlery and begin raising the moon. Dave paused his eating as the room turned dark, the lights flicking on almost instantly, casting a warm glow around the room

Dave settled into his seat as he placed another piece of pancake into his mouth. “Well at least this day is finally winding down…” Dave muttered as he imagined what the citizens of Canterlot must have been doing

Dave began poking at his pancakes again as a loud thud and smash caused his daydreaming to shatter. His eyes scanned the room before he noticed Luna was sprawled across the table, her plate had fallen on the floor, her normally flowing mane had become still, and flat, the normally starry appearance had fallen to a plain dull blue

“LUNA!” Dave gasped as he rushed over, pushing his large chair aside as he ran to the alicorn’s side. His hands grasped her shoulders as she remained limp, offering no resistance as Dave picked her back up and placed a hand to her face

Dave scanned Luna’s body, looking for any sign of injury or other problems. Luna began to tip forwards again so Dave swept her up in his arms and gently laid her on the ground, leaning over her as his hands brushed her strangely flat mane aside

“Come on Luna, don’t do this to me!” Dave panted as his fears became more and more worrying. His hand stroked the alicorn’s neck as he searched for a pulse, his mind put slightly at ease when he felt a slight pulse

The panicked human placed his hands on either side of Luna’s face. “What’s wrong? You were fine before you raised the moon, you do that every day!” Dave’s face dropped as his head began to slowly move back and forth. “No, no, no, no, don’t tell me that the eclipse did this”

Dave picked Luna up as he wrapped his arms around her, “You shouldn't have done it if you couldn't handle it.” Dave buried his face into Luna’s neck begging to the weak pulse he could feel throbbing against his cheek. “Please don’t leave me, I won’t have you suffer because of me… I want you to be happy”

Luna’s wing twitched as her eyes fluttered open, a small groan began to escape her but she stopped herself as she felt Dave’s arms around her. She looked down from her position and saw the human was not only holding her, but stoking her as well

“I should have checked what you were doing,” Dave whimpered, his hands cradling Luna’s limp body as he rocked back and forth. “I should have thought about you more, I should have cared, I should of…”

Luna groaned as she raised her head, her tired body hardly giving her enough strength to lift her eyes to look at Dave. The human pulled his head back to look at Luna, his arms still holding her as his fingers moved from her neck to the start of her mane as he supported her head

The princess of the night felt broken, her body felt too heavy for her to move. She rested her head, trusting Dave to keep it in place as she used all her energy to try to move her lips, to form words

“D-Dave… don’t…” Luna’s tongue felt large and heavy behind her teeth. A small part of her almost fearing it would roll back and choke her. She continued to focus her efforts on trying to reassure Dave but her lips were stopped as Dave gently placed his hand on her cheek

Dave shook his head as he smiled down at Luna. “Don’t tell me not to worry…” Dave whispered as he gently placed his lips against Luna’s, the princess did not have the energy to gasp, recoil in shock or kiss back at the same time.

So she focused her energy on trying to kiss back. Luna’s lips were still void of feeling except the heaviness that pinned her body down. She allowed her eyes to drop, she ignored the rest of her body as she gave a final burst that would have completely pressed her lips against Dave’s

Dave felt the princess’ lips twitch before slowly but gradually returning the feeling he was giving

To Luna, the kiss felt like the chains and doubts around her mind had been lifted. Her heart began to race as her lips seemed to draw power and energy from the being that was embracing her, his hand that had been resting on her cheek had moved behind her back and was now pulling her body towards his, closing the small gap between their bodies but breaking down the wall that had separated them from being this way

Luna used her new-found energy to lift her hoof and place it around Dave’s head, allowing herself to pull back for a short breath before returning for a larger kiss, drawing more power and more happiness as she allowed her joy to fill her body

Slowly Luna pulled away, only enough so her lips could move but her breaths were still being shared with Dave’s. “I love you Dave”

Dave’s eyes slowly opened as he gazed into Luna’s teal eyes, his fears pushed aside as a small smile spread across his lips. “I love you Luna”