Moondancer looked over the table and what food was offered. Mushrooms and potatoes appeared to be the predominant ingredient, but they were cooked in various ways and in sauces mixed with other things. Things that could grow underground were popular, meaning much of it she couldn't immediately identify, but it was devoid of meat, so she figured she could at least give it a try.
With a glowing horn, she felt around for a plate, but didn't see any. "What do you put the food on?"
Toby perked a large ear briefly. "This." He gestured at the circular platform in front of himself jutting up from the table just a precious inch. "Watch." He reached forward and grabbed a handful of goopy food and slapped it down on his serving platform. He shook his furry hand quickly, shaking loose some of the bits and goop all about. "Be fast or get burned."
Moondancer blinked softly. "Why don't you use forks, or spoons?" She eyed the food, imagining countless other paws reaching into it. "This is not very sanitary."
"San-what?" Toby tilted his head a moment before he shook it. "I ask fork and spoon before, Sombra said no."
"Why?"
Toby frowned softly with thought. "He say... is dangerous. Is weapon."
Moondancer glanced between her 'plate' and the food being offered before snatching a cooked but whole potato in her magic. She set it down quickly. Unicorn magic could be hurt by heat as well as any finger. "Your people don't seem inclined towards violence. I think they could be trusted with some forks." A thought struck her. "How do they cook this?" She waved a hoof over the table as a whole.
Another tsuki, a female, suddenly leaned over the table. "I like cooking! Sombra not be mean there. Let us use things. No can touch cooking food with paws." She raised her hands and wriggles the furry digits. "I get tools, make good food!"
Toby nodded quickly. "Is true. Food making tools not allowed outside kitchen. In kitchen, allowed."
Moondancer sat up tall. "This is unreasonable." She gave her potato a gentle poke. "Does his rule only apply to tsuki?" Toby looked confused, and she smiled a little. "Did he say anything about ponies not using forks?"
Toby shook his head. "No, not say anything about that."
"Good." With a twinkle, Moondancer summoned a full dining set for herself on either side of her plate. She plucked up a fork and a knife with her magic and got to slicing into her food, cutting the potato open along its length. "Much better."
A male tsuki seated beside Moondancer leaned over with wide eyes. "How you do that!? Give one for me?"
The female from before nudged him roughly. "Is no allowed. Stop asking for pony to break rules. Not want her punished."
Moondancer got a slice of starchy goodness into her snout after some huffing to cool it down. "Not bad." She glanced to Toby. "Are you allowed to make rules, or just enforce them?"
Toby sat up tall. "When Sombra not here, I am ruler for him."
Moondancer rolled a hoof. "Great, so you don't mind if I give him a fork, do you?"
Toby blinked slowly. "But..."
Moondancer looked at the male with a gentle smile. "Do you promise to use it only for eating food and to not remove it from the dining hall?"
The male raised a paw and crossed his heart with it. "Promise. I not take fork or other things from dining hall, except food. I take food, in here." He patted his belly. "I like that."
Moondancer looked to Toby silently. He squirmed in place a moment before giving a hesitant nod. "Make food eaters, but new rule! No food eaters outside dining hall. Tsuki with food eater outside dining hall is punished. No be bad tsuki."
"No be bad tsuki," echoed the entire room suddenly. Moondancer looked to see that dozens on dozens of eyes were upon them, bearing witness to the new law being decreed.
One bounced to his paws. "I make food eater place." He quickly dug out a hole near one of the entrances with great digging motions of his big paws. "Put food eaters here. Take food eaters here. All food eaters live here when not eating."
A female landed beside him and quickly dug a new hole. "Put dirty food eaters here." She pointed. "Not put dirty food eaters there." She pointed at the first hole. "Take clean food eaters there."
Moondancer nodded towards Toby. "Your people are very eager for their own order. Has Sombra tried letting them set their own rules to an extent?"
The male that shared their table nudged against Moondancer, practically bowling her over with the friendly nudge that would barely phase another tsuki. "Make food eaters now?"
As Moondancer got about crafting multiple forks and spoons in a swirl of pale pink magic, Toby sat up to regard the many tsuki that were crowding around. While many eyes were on the magical pony that was giving them a gift, several approached Toby with smiles.
A jack tsuki bobbed his head. "You give good laws. We--" He gestured around the crowd to make sure the word was understood. "--we obey. We use food eaters here."
A tsuki doe raised a paw suddenly. "I clean."
Another female beside her looked confused. "Clean what?"
"Food eaters."
The second female snorted her spotted nose. "That silly. Tsuki clean food eaters when eat. No good tsuki leave food eater with food on it."
The first shoved the second suddenly. "Not clean! I clean!"
Toby put a paw on either doe, gently seperating them. "No fight. Good tsuki not fight tsuki. No be bad tsuki."
Both does dipped their heads low. "Not be bad tsuki," they echoed in unison before the first sat up on her haunches.
"I clean. Is good for clean."
Toby nodded. "Is good for clean. I eat in pony land. Food eaters always clean. You clean."
"I clean!" she repeated with a joyful smile.
"I help?" offered the second doe, pointing at herself.
"You help." The first hugged the second, their brief spat forgotten.
The first suddenly drew back. "No place to clean." She looked around in a panic. "Need lot water. Need soap."
Toby patted her gently. "Is okay. Tsuki who clean allowed take food eaters to clean, then take back, put in food eater place." He pointed to the hole that had been designated for clean food eaters. "Is okay."
The two does looked pleased and bounced off together, already planning their new duty.
Moondancer let out a weary sigh. Such spells were draining, drawing metal from all around to fashion into crude objects was easy enough when one did it once or twice, but each casting meant there were less trace minerals to draw from. By the time she had a small pile of cutlery, she was panting for breath. A sudden bowl of water slid in front of her, a furry paw behind it pushing it into place.
"You is good pony. Drink?" offered the jack tsuki that owned the paw.
"Drink," she readily agreed, grabbing the bowl in her magic and dipping her snout into it, slurping up the refreshing water. "Thank you," she sighed out, the heat within her fading with the needed break. When her eyes fell to where her work was, she saw it was gone. "What?"
The same tsuki that had given her a drink pointed off to where her many spoons and forks were already scattered into the hole they had dug. Other tsuki were gladly picking up the created instruments, but they didn't seem to quite grasp how to use them.
Some were juggling them around, others were poking their food with them without understanding how to properly hold or employ them.
Two tsuki, a jack and a doe, had begun to play-spar with a set of forks for swords and spoons for shields, vigorously jousting with excited cries, until the doe scored a lucky strike and the tines of the fork reminded the jack that they were not toys at all. He yelped and dropped his weapons, clutching the new wound.
Other tsuki looked over at the alarmed cry and began to clamor around, murmuring and trying to be helpful.
Toby landed among them. "What happen?"
The doe that had struck the telling blow was a short distance from the crowd, her ears as low as they could go as she whimpered out, "I hurt. I bad tsuki."
Toby nudged his way forward towards the hurt jack. "Food eaters for food. Not for play. I wrong trust tsuki be good?"
"Not be bad tsuki," rang out the crowd.
Toby nodded as he looked over the jack's injury. While painful, it hadn't been too awful. Toby nuzzled his kin gently. "You alright. No play that again. Now go." He pointed to the doe. "You both wrong. Say sorry. She say sorry. Not do again, yes?"
"Yes." He nodded to Toby with a little smile. "I dumb. Not do again." He fell to all fours and approached the miserable doe. "We dumb. Not do again? Be good tsuki."
"Not be bad tsuki," agreed the female as she perked up. "Eat with food eaters?"
"Yes." They went off together to get something to eat.
Moondancer approached Toby, glancing off towards the two chastised tsuki. "These are lessons we learn early." Toby shrank. "No no! I mean you have to teach these things right away, not when they are adults." She thought of a class full of adult tsuki learning how to properly use forks and knives. She couldn't help the smirk the image brought, but a new idea came to her.
"Tomorrow, let's show the children how to do it, and they'll show their parents. The children seem to enjoy having things to teach."
Toby perked up at that. "Not show grown tsuki?"
Moondancer put a hoof to her chest. "I think it's important that tsuki learn how to teach as much as they learn how to learn. It will be good for the young and the parents, a community building project of sorts." She nodded with growing confidence. "Besides, you tell a young of any race that they're allowed to correct their parents on something, and they won't pass up the chance."
Toby seemed to consider that a moment before he reared up on his hindlegs. "I not correct parents. Not know parents. Is bad?"
"It's unfortunate," agreed Moondancer. "But you've grown past that. You are your own tsuki, and a good one at that." She adjusted her glasses idly. "For now, I feel I've had a full and productive day. Where do I retire to?"
Toby looked at her blankly a moment before he was nudged from the side. He looked over to see Celene right beside him. "She ask where sleep, stupid." When Toby shrank, she rolled her eyes. "Is okay, you learn. I show lady pony where sleep."
Celene approached Moondancer with a smile. "Hello. I Celene. You Moondancer, yes?" Moondancer nodded stiffly. "Why worried? I good tsuki, and you friend Toby. Mean you friend Celene." She turned, offering her side. "On, like with Toby. I take to sleep."
Toby watched the two bounce away, a goofy smile on his face. Why was he smiling? It hit him. Celene just said they were friends.
Celene rapidly passed through the tunnels, occasionally waving or nudging against another tsuki along the way. She had a smoother gait, leaving Moondancer more opportunity to watch things go by instead of clutching for her life. Their home was dim, but full of happy people.
They had so much room to grow, but she wondered if they would ever get that room with the ruler they had.
Celene leaned to the side, prompting Moondancer to slide off. "Here is sleep place." She waved a paw over the small cave. "Is for you. Is for me. I keep stupid tsuki away." She gave a firm nod. "You have big work. Need good sleep."
"About that." Moondancer sat on her haunches beside a simple cot. "You called Toby stupid."
"Because is stupid." She shrugged softly. "Is true. Is good tsuki. Is stupid. Is stupid good tsuki."