In the middle of a pleasant garden kept pristine despite many incidents of gardeners being assaulted by angry birds (and one angry ‘part-bird’ alicorn), two regal sisters rested in lounge chairs beneath an umbrella. A small table sat between the two chairs, holding two drinks and an uncorked wine bottle. Leisurely resting to chirps of songbirds, the serenity of such a scene seemed few and far between other moments of chaotic nonsense and aimless shenanigans for the princesses.
In fact, the calmness of this event seemed so bizarre, it’s a wonder why no one’s pointing it out—
“Sister? Don’t you think this is a bit… too peaceful?”
—aaaand there it is.
Celestia lifted her head off the lounge chair and turned to face Luna. “Whatever do you mean?”
Luna’s eyes drifted toward the overcast sky. “I mean, here we are at the castle with no meetings to attend, no school or city events to monitor, and no plans with the other girls for today. We have nearly a whole day and night off while only having to deal with shifting our celestial bodies!”
Celestia scoffed, and cast a golden aura upon a wine glass with a light pink liquid inside. “Well, of course! We’re barely moving around as is, Lu! That’s the point of relaxing!”
Luna narrowed her eyes. “You know what I mean, Tia.”
“I do, but so what? Should it not be pleasant that you’ve only had to observe dreams in the evening for two hours as opposed to the whole night?” Celestia finished, sipping some of her rosé.
Luna shook her head. “I agree, yet I still worry. This placid time leaves me anxious, sister. Anxious for a coming storm.”
Celestia set her wine glass on the table and waved a hoof dismissively. “Sister, let it go. If there are any major problems that come about, I’m sure Twilight and her Forced Friendship Map will spot the problem and get it resolved before we even know anything happened.”
“Speaking of things to let go…” Luna muttered.
“What was that?”
“An inconsequential utterance, sister!”
Celestia squinted her eyes. “...Uh-huh. Suuuure.”
Luna sighed. “Look, I understand I’m sounding somewhat paranoid—“
“You totally are,” Celestia interjected.
“—but maybe there’s something we’re missing, something in our vicinity that’s going wrong right now and we’re none the wiser!”
~~~
“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!” came one of many maniacal cackles that echoed within the castle hallways. Two ponies stood in one such hallway, one positively mad with excitement, and the other stricken with concern. “Behold, littlest sis! Fear me and tremble!” a white-hot being pulsing with searing flames announced in a deep, booming voice. “For I have become… an orange creamsicle!”
Beholding this sight just a few feet away, a little sister with a noticeably darker sheen and teal eyes could not decide whether to show shock or annoyance, but ultimately went with an expression that displayed both. “Okay… but why?”
“Well, because I just learned about it. I had this super weird dream last night where a nasty-looking evil lady that looked like me-but-not-me because she looked like a creamsicle said I could look like this too! She said it would feel awesome, be cool, and she even presented a slideshow with big letters and numbers and charts explaining all the ways looking like this was amazing! I was thoroughly convinced.”
Moony brought a forehoof to her snout. “So you just… listened to the dreamy evil voice in your head so you can look like a creamsicle? That’s all it took?!”
“Duh! What about you? Did you get hooked by promises of eating moon treats whenever you wanted?”
“N-No! I did not!”
“Oh, you totally did.”
“Well, you know what?! At least I wasn’t only sold on looking like a creamsicle!”
“But I don’t just look like one, Moony! I am definitely the greatest and powerfulest creamsicle ever! And to celebrate, I want to know if I taste as good as I look!” Sunny grabbed a bit of her fiery mane and began nomming on a section of it, her eyes lighting up with glee.
The shock-annoyed expression on Moony’s face tightened up even further as it found a third roommate: disgust. “I’m… just going to pretend I didn’t hear that—“
“Oh my gosh! I taste delicious! Here, want some?” Sunny asked as she offered a part of her mane.
Moony clamped her hooves down over her ears. “I am pretending even harder that you didn’t ask that question!”
“No really, you should try some!” Sunny continued as she pushed her mane closer.
“No thank you!” Moony slowly shifted away from Sunny.
“Little sis, please try some for me.”
“No! I refuse!” Moony said as she felt her back hit the wall.
“Moony,” Sunny began as she leaned toward Moony. Inches separating their faces and boring into Moony’s face with smoldering charcoal eyes, Sunny’s cheerful tone gave way to something quite nasty as she spoke two words devoid of any chance for negotiation:
“I INSIST.”
“But I… I…” Moony choked as she sought out some words, any words to say to get her away from the red-hot gaze drilling into her. Then, she had something; it wasn’t much, but it was all she could come up with in the heat of the moment.
“I’m allergic to eating mane hair!”
Sunny stopped, pulling the tuft of mane hair away. “...You are?”
“Uh, yeah! I accidentally ate some on one of the moon biscuits we made, and I couldn’t breathe for like an hour!”
Sunny tilted her head. “I thought you said it was because the biscuits were too dry.”
“Uh… that too. But the hair also made it much worse, I promise it did!”
“Oh. Well, that’s a shame,” Sunny replied, the anger fading in her voice at least. She then promptly stuffed the tuft of mane into her mouth. “More for me then!”
“Yes, um, please enjoy yourself. I’m… going to go get some fresh air, okay?”
“Go ahead!” Sunny replied, happily savoring the apparent sweet and/or citrusy flavor. “I’ll be right behind you!”
As Moony rounded the corner of the hallway, she stopped to take a few deep breaths and shake away the fear in her trembling limbs. The respite was brief, however, as the cackling around the corner started up again, growing louder with each approaching hoofstep.
“Oh Moony, I just realized! I bet you taste different too. Can I nibble on your mane, maybe chew your ear? Ooh, I bet you taste like blueberry pie!”
Moony wasted no more time as she leaped into the air, taking flight away from the laughter behind her.
It wasn’t long before her sister started catching up. “Mooooony, I want that pie!”
“No!”
“Gimme dat pie!”
“NOOO!”
~~~
Celestia nodded in understanding. “Aha, so that’s your concern. I have a solution then!”
“What is it?” Luna asked.
Celestia shot her forehooves up in the air. “You need to fully embrace the art of hakuna matata!”
“...Seriously?”
“Relax, sis. It’s fine. I’m sure if something terrible is happening near us right now, we absolutely won’t be oblivious to it.” Celestia leaned back in her lounge chair. “Or we’ll definitely see the aftermath of something going wrong soon. Either way, I’m confident we won’t be caught off-guard at all!”
Luna rolled her eyes, but returned to a relaxed position in her chair. “If you say so, sister.”
“I know so.”
“By the way, did you hear anything coming from the castle just now?”
“Not a peep, and that’s how I like it!”