Luna lay on the cold stone floor of her dungeon cell, despondent. The former princess had been stripped of her crown, necklace and metal slippers, which had been then placed onto Twilight, who now served as Equestria’s main ruler, with her allies on the League of Extraordinary Misfits backing her up with their might and magic. Now, the lunar alicorn was only brought out of her dank, frigid cell twice a day; to bring up the sun at dawn and to bring up the moon at dusk. She was fed only plain hay and water, and a single candle served as her only method of light. But worst of all, the alicorn was allowed no visitors, and she was not permitted to leave her cell without escort.
She had never felt this lonely and helpless before, not even back when she was trapped on the moon those centuries ago. Back then, Luna could still feel her older sister’s love and protection each night, even if her Nightmare Moon form kept her from fully appreciating it. But now, Celly was gone. She felt truly alone.
Just then, the clanging of the metal door of her cell interrupted Luna’s thoughts. She turned her head to see Shere Khan standing at the entrance, Kaa coiled nearby. “It’s time for you to raise the moon,” the tiger growled at her. The alicorn nodded meekly and stood, preparing to make her bidaily trip to the bleak tower in which she would perform her nightly duty.
“And let’ssss not forget thissss,” Kaa hissed, the magic-resistant chains wrapped up in his coils. He and Shere Khan used their mouths to clamp the chains around the alicorn’s legs and neck to prevent her from using her magic to attempt to escape. “Now let’ssss go.” The python yanked the chain around Luna’s neck, jerking her forward to follow him and Shere Khan out of the dungeon.
Luna slowly trotted down the desolate hallway that led from the dungeon to the tower, silently hoping that the Ponyville ponies were doing better than she was.
Meanwhile, Ursula was lounging in a saltwater pool in the royal bathhouse, sighing contentedly as the luscious cool water lapped over her obese body. “Ah, now this is the life I was hatched to have,” she hummed happily. She clapped her hands together. “Bath maid! Oh, bath maid!”
As soon as the cecaelia called, Rarity came into view, wearing a black and purple maid’s outfit and carrying a bucket of bath products in her unicorn magic grip. “Yes, Lady Ursula?” the ivory unicorn asked, her tone flat.
“It’s time for my nightly tentacle massage, if I recall correctly,” Ursula chuckled.
Rarity felt bile rising in her throat at the thought of pampering the hideous octopus creature in the tub before her, but she knew that if she refused, she’d be swiftly punished. Swallowing back the vomit, she forced a smile onto her face. “Of course, my lady.” She set the bucket down and used her magic to bring out a bottle of massage oil, squirting some of it onto her hooves. Once prepared, the unicorn began to rub the oil into Ursula’s tentacles, once again pushing back the urge to throw up as she did.
“That’s a good girl,” Ursula smirked. “And don’t forget to get REALLY into the suction cups.”
As Rarity was being tormented cosmetically, Fluttershy was being tormented emotionally. She stood outside in the royal garden, formerly a nature preserve, now the three hyenas’ personal hunting grounds. Because of the yellow pegasus’ talent with animals, the League had put her in charge of keeping the garden stocked with plenty of prey for the ravenous predators to pick off and eat.
The worst part was, she wasn’t allowed to intervene with the hunt in any way, even if the animals they went after were creatures she had personally raised and cared for in her little cottage in Ponyville. The one time she had tried, when the unspeaking hyena named Ed went after her little rabbit friend Angel Bunny, not only had the hyenas forced her to watch as Ed ripped Angel’s head off of his body, but Shenzi had given her a pretty nasty bite on the foreleg, which she still bore the scars from.
Now, Fluttershy watched sadly and silently as the three hyenas were lying next to a bear’s carcass, their bellies greatly bloated from devouring anything salvageable on the ursine body. “Yeah, this is the life, huh fellas?” Shenzi asked.
“You said it, Shenz,” Banzai agreed, giving his full stomach a satisfied pat. “Hey Flutter Butt! Tomorrow, see if you can score us some wildebeest, huh? I haven’t had wildebeest since we left the Pridelands!” Ed laughed in agreement.
“Oh…of course, anything you want,” Fluttershy agreed timidly. “I’ll get right on that.”
The day wasn’t going so hot for Applejack either. She had worked for hours cooking and baking for a banquet for one rodent and one feline, and she was forced to watch her clients eat her hard work without being allowed to taste even a morsel of the goodies.
At this moment, Ratigan was stuffing large handfuls of applesauce cake into his face, while Waul was slurping up noodles. “Mmm, this is delicious,” the cat purred between swallows.
“I’ll say it is,” Ratigan agreed. “You’ve outdone yourself, Applejack.”
GRRRRRRROWL! Applejack’s stomach let out a loud roar of hunger. “Oh c’mon, you two, lemme have just ONE bite! I’m starvin’!”
“Hmm…” Waul looked at his rodent companion. “What do you say, Padraic? Shall we let the poor hungry pony feed her hungry tummy?”
“Oh, why not?” Ratigan chuckled. He took a baked apple, cut off a tiny slice, and gave it to Applejack. “Here you go, my dear.”
Applejack eyed the baked apple slice, her eyebrows arched. “Gee, thanks,” she responded sarcastically, wolfing down the morsel before the sadistic animals could take it back.
Waul smiled as he finished his meal, rubbing his slightly distended belly. “Ah, that was a fine meal.”
“What say we have some entertainment to help aid the digestion?” Ratigan suggested. He took a small gold bell out of his jacket pocket and rang it. Immediately, Pinkie Pie jumped into the banquet hall, dressed in a yellow and blue jester’s costume. “Do your little comedy routine, pink one.”
“Grrrrreetings, ladies and germs!” Pinkie began, her tone chipper but her mood dour. “I just flew in from Saddle Arabia, and boy, are my forelegs tired!” She flapped her forelegs, mimicking a pegasus’ wings. Noticing her audience wasn’t really getting into it, she started pulling rainbow-colored balls out of nowhere and juggled them. “Say, why do chicken coops have two doors? Because if they had four doors…”
“They’d be chicken sedans,” Ratigan groaned. “We’ve heard all those tired jokes! Move on to the GOOD part.”
Pinkie groaned slightly. “You got it, Professor.” She pulled a cream pie out of hammerspace, then smashed it in her own face. While she wobbled around, the whipped cream blocking her vision, she tripped over one of the balls she’d dropped from her juggling routine, crying out “Great googly moogly!” and falling flat onto her back with a dull thud. “Ta-da!”
Ratigan and Waul laughed like crazy at the display before them, holding their stomachs. “Physical comedy,” Pinkie told the audience reading the story. “Gets ‘em every time!”
“Oh, oh good Lord, Pinkie, too funny,” Ratigan panted, trying to get his breath.
“Ohhh, that’s gold,” Waul agreed, taking his monocle off from his left eye to dab at the tears streaming down his face.
“Glad you liked it,” Pinkie replied, standing up on her hind legs, then backflipping out of the room, followed by Applejack wheeling out the dirty dishes on a cart. “Owie, I think I snapped a tendon on that fall…”
Out in the training courtyard, where the royal guard had once held sparring practices and trained to be in peak physical condition, Rainbow Dash was dressed up in a pink fluffy ballgown and plastic gold-colored jewelry, standing on a raised platform, not enjoying anything going on. The pegasus’ wings had been trussed up in strong leather bonds, rendering her unable to fly. “Oh, woe is me,” she lamented dryly.
“More emotion!”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “This is stupid! I’m not some damsel in distress!”
“Do it or else!”
The cyan pegasus groaned, but made her voice softer and more feminine. “Oh woe is me, I have been kidnapped by the brilliant, talented, beautiful Mistress of All Evil! Whoever will save me?”
“Fear not, fair maiden,” Shining Armor spoke up, wearing flimsy faux leather armor and carrying a wooden sword meant for foal’s play in his hilt. “I shall save thee.”
“Not so fast, dashing knight,” Maleficent replied, stepping in front of Rainbow. “You shall not get past me and the powers of Hell!” With that, she swung her staff at Shining, missing him entirely. However, Shining reacted as if she had struck him through the heart with an iron blade. He clutched at his chest and toppled over. “Oh no, I have been defeated! Surely no knight is enough to defeat your beautiful wickedness, Maleficent!” He then pretended to die.
Maleficent smirked at the play scene performed. “VERY nicely done, you two; though next time, Shining, remember it’s “MARVELOUS wickedness,” not “BEAUTIFUL wickedness.””
“Yeah, you’re lucky I’m not able to get up into the air,” Rainbow muttered.
“What was that, “damsel?”” Maleficent asked, eyeing the colorful pony.
“Uh, I said “Yeah, Shining, be sure to put in more flair,”” Rainbow lied.
“That’s what I THOUGHT you said.”
As all of these torments were happening to the various ponies, Luna had been unshackled long enough to set the sun and raise the moon and first star, then she was quickly chained up again and led back to her prison. The tiger and python locked her up in her cell. "Ssssleep tight, PRINCESSSSS," Kaa mocked her before he and Shere Khan left.
Luna collapsed onto the stone floor. What could she do but wait for the morning for her daily duties? She could only pray that some miracle would release her and save Twilight Sparkle from the League's grasp.