//------------------------------//
// 2 - Going Loony 
// Story: Too Many Lunas 
// by David Silver 
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Sweetie sat up with a bright smile, her unpleasant dream that wouldn't quite qualify as a nightmare coming to a halt as silvery light shone down on her. "Luna?!"

That was not Luna. Floating from from above, wings spread, was a round simulation of the princess of dreams. Sweetie Belle had seen the real thing before, and that was not... her? "Um..."

Still, it landed before her and hopped closer, having no hooves, or legs, just bouncing like a ball and deforming in a rubbery like way. "The fun has been doubled!" declared the little ball of a pony enthusiastically.

It wasn't Luna, but it had chased away her unhappy dream? "Hey... thanks?" She offered a hoof, only to have a little Luna hopping against her in warm snuggling. "O-oh! Nice to see you too." She gently hugged the strange thing, smiling a little. It wasn't Luna, but that didn't mean it had to be bad, right?





"Stay back!" Bon Bon ducked behind a bench, holding a walkie-talkie to her ear as she shouted into it, "They're all over Ponyville, send backup!"

"You are the backup," came the stern reply.

Bon Bon gulped, looking out around the corner at the huge fearsome monster. She didn't really know what it looked like, and it didn't matter. In her nightmare, it was huge and terrible and unstoppable and that was all she really needed to know overall. The specifics came and went as it was most terrifying. "I'll use my secret weapons," she shouted as if that would scare the monster away.

"Moon!" came a chorus. Bon Bon peeked out to see a literal wave of small Luna balls crashing against the monster, their faces set firmly in their task of washing away the nightmare in a force of moon-flavored justice that could not be denied.

Her nightmare, interrupted. She couldn't really be sad about that. "What the..." Even if it was kind of confusing.

"How many points have we earned?!" excitedly asked one ball that bounced near her, smiling up at her.

"You... won all the points." Even as the small ball cheered, Bon Bon gently pat her on the head. "Thanks for the timely assistance."





"You seem positive this morning." Celestia smiled at her sister, who was eating her pancakes for a change. "Things going well?"

Luna, who normally was fairly dead to the world at that time of the day, took a nice syrupy bite of the provided breakfast. "Those little moonies have worked out better than I could have hoped for." She sipped from the orange juice in a deep swig. "Mmm, they're handling the bulk of the duties, leaving the most delicate to me to set my hooves on. It's really cleared my plate, and I am grateful."

"How nice." Celestia considered her sister, eating her own share while watching her. "Weren't they, originally, made to be undesired parts of you?"

"Well, yes." Luna colored faintly. "But let that be a lesson. Even the parts you think are without merit can be quite positive when looked at the right way." She cleared her throat sofly. "Now, sister mine. I do appreciate this lovely meal, but my bed does still call to me."

"And I wouldn't dream of holding you back from it."

Luna snorted. Had that been a joke? "I have to get ready for my own day, so mind your own." They exchanged a little touch of their sensitive noses, then she trotted away to find some sleep from her busy evening.

Celestia let the sounds of Luna's departure fade away, until even the echoes of the clip clops were lost. She rose slowly and walked towards her own room, nodding to the guards along the way. Nothing was out of place. nothing at all...

She closed the door behind herself and approached a small closet. "I have a treat for you."

"Huzzah!" came a little cry. She opened the door to reveal a moonie, bouncing joyfully at the sight of her.

Celestia's horn began to glow, a plate floating into view and settling before the little round version of her sister, who ate eagerly. "Now you both like pancakes..." She considered the little orb with a thoughtful hm. "But it's hardly fair she gets all the help. Would you like to help me?"

The moonie looked up, forgetting the food. "Huzzah!"

"Huzzah indeed," agreed Celestia. "You want to be helpful, don't you?" Her gentle smile was returned with eager bouncing and joyful noises. "I knew holding onto you would work out... Now, shall we?"





Later, a pony stroked his beard softly, peering at the strange pony that had become his point of contact. "I had expected Princess Celestia," he admitted, uncertain how to even approach the curiously rounded form that had been inserted instead. "You strike a resemblance to Princess Luna."

"Moon!" called the moonie, nodding in agreement.

"But it's the middle of the day," argued the politician, pointing out a window. The moonie hopped over and peered out at the bright and sunny day. There was no moon in sight. The sun was high in the sky. "See?" How he had arrived at the conclusion, he wasn't sure. But he felt sure just convincing the not-Luna of her mistake would resolve everything.

"Moon?" The moonie tilted left and right, but no moon was in sight. Just the sun.

"Sun!" She bounced into the air, erupting into golden brilliance and landing a bright off-white instead of the dark blue of Luna. "Gotcha!" she declared, sounding, well, like a little Celestia instead.

The politician slowly blinked. That was... closer to what he had been aiming for. "Nice to see you, Princess Celestia. Can we talk about the park on the west side? We just need to go over the fine details and we can begin."

"Hm, a very valuable lesson to have learned." The sunnie, no longer a moonie, nodded at the larger pony. She was, still, a little ball. Even a small ball of Celestia, she was easily dwarfed by a full sized pony. "From now on, we are regular, carefree ponies!"

"Yes, precisely. We need to see to the needs of regular ponies." The politician smiled, feeling he was getting somewhere. His horn glowed as he pulled out a scroll and unfurled it. "I was thinking most ponies would get a benefit from..." The sunnie proved to be a good listener.





Celestia peeked from her hiding place, the politician trotting away with a content look on his face. Somehow, that had worked out. "I admit it, I'm surprised." She trotted out towards the sunnie. "But you've changed."

The sunnie hopped up and came down facing Celestia. "I will light the way!" she cried with a jubilant expression to match. "Sun!"

"Sun indeed." She patted the head of the sunnie, considering things. "Can you... be any pony you wish to be?"

"Sun!"

It seemed she wasn't going to get that answer easily. "Nice job with the park. Your suggestions were exactly on point." She still wasn't sure how the little orb version of herself had managed to get the right meaning across... but it had gone well. "I have some important meetings to get to, but perhaps you could help with some also important, if slightly less pressing, ones?"

"Hm, a very valuable lesson to have learned." The sunnie nodded with a moment of gravity before she resumed her usual happy smile, looking ready to tackle the day. "Sun!"

Celestia considered a moment. "I choose to have faith in you." She gave the sunnie one last parting pat on the head and trotted off towards her next meeting. "See she arrives where she's needed," she ordered a guard on the way who had already seen the sunnie do her thing a moment before.

"Of course, your highness." He saluted sharply, then trotted towards the little sunnie. She was not Celestia, that seemed obvious to him. How it had worked as long as it had, he wasn't sure, but he gathered her up with a wing, holding her under it as he got to walking. "You are needed on the veranda."

There, a small crowd was gathered. They chatted and ate little morning snacks. They would do that with or without Celestia, but having a chance to see her would make their day. Perhaps a sunnie would be just as good. he trotted up to the dias that she would normally stand on and casually deposited the ball of sun with a flip of his wing. "Celestia has arrived," he announced with all due gravity, then trotting away quickly before any ponies present could call him out on what was clearly not Celestia.

Many eyes turned to see what had been announced. There was no towering queen of the sun there. Not even a princess of the sun! It was... a small ball? Things became quiet, ponies blinking at the small ball, unsure what they were seeing. None dared to be the first to speak, to complain. Was this a joke? Celestia was not beyond the little joke for levity. Perhaps it was... that?

"We are gathered here today to once again honor the heroism," was what the sunnie said. Was it even a complete sentence. The ponies gaped. "Sun!" She bounced in place and extended a wing at the sun high above.

"Oh," spoke Fancy Pants. "She's asking us to remember those who sacrificed so we can enjoy this sunny day."

Gentle noises of agreement began to ripple through the crowd. That made sense. Fancy Pants started a little applause, clopping his hooves alone at first, but soon joined by other ponies who felt, at least in part, it would be rude to not follow Fancy's lead. He knew how those things worked.

With the tension punctured, the sunnie bounced down towards them to join them for breakfast and to add her own little wisdoms. Sure, they were little snippets of things Celestia had once said, but she was welcome in their meeting without further worry, so it was all working out.

The guard that had brought the sunnie blinked slowly at how well that had worked out. Perhaps... he should bring her to the next meeting Celestia would not be able to attend? Yes, that is exactly what the princess would want... He let the ponies enjoy themselves for a bit longer before slipping in. "Her majesty is required." He grabbed the sunnie under a wing and began to trot off.

The little sunnie was nuzzling into his side, bringing a blush to his cheeks, imagining the real Celestia being so outwardly affectionate to him. That sure would be quite a day, but that was not his job. His job was to serve her, and if moving that sunnie around did that, he would do just that!





Celestia nodded from her throne to the pony that had just approached her. "Good to see you. Now, I believe you had a subject of importance concerning the badlands?"

"Sun," the declared as if it were some grave statement of faith. "I understand the badlands are not specifically part of--"

Celestia raised an ear. "Pardon me. Why did you start with 'sun'?"

"Isn't... that customary?" He looked genuinely baffled. "Everypony said you should say that."

Celestia leaned into it. "Oh, of course. I just didn't think it had spread that far yet. Please, do continue." She wasn't sure what was going on, but that was no excuse to keep the poor pony waiting. The borderlands between the changelings and Equestria had things to be ironed out, even if both sides were friendly with one another. Such was the duty of a princess.





Luna woke much later, yawning, but feeling much refreshed. And yet... something was wrong. She rolled out of bed, her magic snatching a brush to get to getting herself presentable. "A little snack will set it aside." It was just her being silly, clearly.

She opened the door. "Sun!" A little round version of her sister beamed up at her. 

Perhaps a snack alone would not solve the situation.