//------------------------------//
// The Mare of the Moon 
// Story: The Mystery of a New World 
// by Fanthrose 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 40

Ditzy paced throughout the first floor of the house; a look of worry, and concern plastered on her face.   For the thousandth time that night, she looked at the clock.

10:24P.M.

It took a bit of work, but Carrot was eventually able to get clean.  Maxie was even able to get the cinnamon bun out of her mane with enough work.  After she was clean, she took Maxie’s advice and just went out with some friends.  Now Carrot has gone out before.  She doesn’t go out very often, but when she does, she always tries to be home by, at latest, nine.  Her being out this late was pretty much unheard of.  “Oooooohhhh.  Carrot where are you?”

“Ditzy, she’s fine,” Star said before putting a hoof on her shoulder.  “She’s probably having so much fun she just lost track of the time.”

“Yea.  Besides, weren’t you the one that told her she needed to pull the stick out of her butt?” Maxie asked with a smile.  “You should let the girl have her fun, and get some sleep.”

“Maxie’s right.  Carrot Top seems too stressed out.  A night to blow off some steam is just what she needs.”  Star let out a yawn.  “Besides.  Don’t you have to work tomorrow morning?  Why don’t you go to bed?”

“Speaking of going to bed, it’s about time we finally get to bed,” Maxie said with a smile.  “Good night Ditzy.”

“Yea, you’re right,” Star said as he stretched his body.  He took one last look at Ditzy and sighed.  “Don’t worry sweetie.  She’ll be able to take care of herself.”  He pulled Ditzy in for a hug.  “Don’t stay up too late.”

Ditzy looked up at the clock one more time before sighing.  “I won’t.”

Star smiled as he let go.  “Good night Ditzy.”

At the bottom of the stairs stood Maxie.  He was waiting for Star before going upstairs.  Not wanting to be rude, Ditzy allowed the two of them to use her room for the duration of their visit.  Ditzy didn’t have any reservations about sleeping on the couch, and Dinky’s bed was too small for her liking, so the couch is where she slept.

“Thanks for waiting for me Maxie,” Star said before leaning in for a kiss.

Maxie was more than happy to return the kiss.  After their lips parted, Maxie stared deeply into Star’s seafoam eyes; a content smile on his face.  The memory of their first night together ran through his mind as he leaned in for another kiss.  Star smiled as they parted once more.  “My, somepony’s affectionate tonight.”

“I can’t help it.  You’re just irresistible.”  A sultry smile came to Maxie’s face as he looked over at Ditzy.  She was sitting on the couch; still completely engrossed with watching the clock.  He leaned in close to Star and spoke in a quiet, yet sultry tone.  “Say, I’ve been a naughty little colt today, eating all those sweets.  Why don’t you help me burn off some of those calories?”

Star’s cheeks flushed as his eyes got wide.  He turned to make sure Ditzy hadn’t heard Maxie before turning to him.  “I uh…I don’t know if this is the best place.”

“I’m sure Ditzy wouldn’t mind,” purred Maxie as he nuzzled into Star’s neck.

“B-but in her bed?”

“We’ll wash the sheets.”  Maxie licked Star’s cheek before starting up the stairs.  He brushed his hips against Star in passing; looking over his shoulder as he walked.  Half way up the stairs, he wiggled his rump to put on a show for Star.

Star watched every second of Maxie’s display.  He refused to blink until Maxie giggled and continued up the stairs.  Star couldn’t help himself.  Maxie’s rump was hypnotic.  Once Maxie started working it for him, he was under his control.  After taking one last hurried look at Ditzy, Star hurried up the stairs after him.


********************


Ditzy let out a long sigh.  “They’re right.  I’m worrying for nothing.  Carrot’s a grown mare.  She can take care of herself.  Right?”  As ‘convincing’ as the argument was to her, she couldn’t help but be worried.  “Alright Ditzy, just calm your teats.  Maybe some TV will help me calm down.”  She adjusted herself on the couch and groaned.  “And maybe I should take this armor off.  It’s starting to get uncomfortable.”  After removing the armor, she situated herself on the couch.  “Alright, what’s on at this time of the night?”

Ditzy laid there on the couch for about 15 minutes before she finally found something to watch.  Two and a Half Stallions had never been a show Ditzy found…entertaining.  She found it humorless, and she had great distaste for the actor Charlie Preen, but some of her co-workers had insisted she give it another chance.

Needless to say, the show failed to entertain her…again, and she soon found herself starting to doze off.  She tried her hardest to stay awake, but her eyelids kept feeling heavier and heavier.  It wasn’t long before her lids met in blissful sleep.

Knock, knock, knock.

Ditzy shot up.  “I-I’m awake!  I totally didn’t fall asleep!”  Another knock at the door got her attention.  She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes.  ‘Who in Equestria would be knocking at the door at this time of the night?’  “Coming!”

Ditzy let out a yawn as she headed to the door.  Another knock sounded from the door.  “Yes, I hear you!  I’m coming!”  Ditzy sleepily grumbled to herself as she reached the door.  Standing at the door was an irritated looking Berry Punch.  “Can I help you?”

“I believe this…”  Berry pointed over her shoulder.  Standing behind her was Lyra and Bon Bon.  A very familiar pale goldenrod mare with an orange mane was passed out on Lyra’s back.  “Belongs to you.”

It took a minute for Ditzy’s sleep addled mind to register things.  Her eyes got wide once she finally realized what was going on.  “Carrot?!  What in Celestia’s name happened to her?!”

“The poor girl drank herself silly,” Bon Bon said with a giggle.

“Yea.  You know, she’s a pretty good dancer once she hammered,” Lyra said with a smile.

“She got half the ponies there to join her in dancing on the bar before she finally passed out.  Isn’t that right Lyra?” Bon Bon asked with a teasing glance.

“At least I had the nads to get up there and dance.  Unlike somepony we know.”

Berry turned to glare at Lyra.  “Hey!  If she was trying to get between your bed sheets all night, you wouldn’t have been so eager to join her either.”

Lyra giggled until she felt Carrot shifting on her back.  Carrot’s eyes slowly opened out of sync.  She hiccupped as she looked around.  “Mghey!  Where’sh da pharty?!”

Berry facehoofed.  “Oh hell she’s up again.  Welp, I’m gone.”

“Oh lighten up Berry.”

“Hey!”  Berry pointed an angry hoof at Bon Bon; glaring a hole through her.  “I’m all for a little flirting, maybe even a little something extra in the bedroom, Minuette does like her three ways, but only in the privacy of our bedroom.  When some drunken pony starts grinding herself all over me where everypony can see, that’s where I cross the line.”

“Okay, I’ll admit.  Things did start getting a bit awkward there,” Bon Bon said as she rubbed the back of her neck.

“Just a bit.  I’ll see you girls later.”  Giving a slight wave, Berry began walking away.

“Hey, hey, hey.  Where ya going juishy teatsh?”

Berry froze as she heard Carrot’s slurred voice.  “Just calm down and walk away Berry.  Just walk away.”

“Dhon’t aye getsh a good night kish?”

Against her better judgment, she turned to look back at Carrot.  Carrot did the best sultry wink she could muster with all the alcohol running through her.  “Back dat ash up sho aye can kish dem lipsh between yer hipsh.”  Carrot puckered her lips and stuck her tongue out; making lewd sounds as she viciously lapped at the air.  Berry just shuddered before continuing down the street.

“Heeey.  Where ya going?”  Carrot began reaching for Berry.

The shift in weight caused her to begin losing her balance on Lyra’s back.  She began slowly sliding forward until she inevitably faceplanted on the ground.  Lyra winced when she saw Carrot’s face collide with the ground.  “Oooooh.  That looked like it hurt.”  Carrot, instead of showing signs of pain, instead began giggling.  “Or not.”

“Think you can handle her alone?  Or would you like some help getting her up to her room?” asked Bon Bon.

Ditzy just watched Carrot for a minute, who seemed content just chewing on some dirt and grass at the moment, before looking up at Bon Bon.  “I should be able to handle things.  Thanks for bringing her home you two, and in case you see her before I do, apologize to Berry for me for putting up with her tonight.”

Bon Bon giggled.  “Can do.”

“See you tomorrow morning Ditzy.”  Lyra and Bon Bon turned and began walking the opposite direction of Berry before Lyra stopped dead in her tracks.  “Oh, speaking of tomorrow morning, do you know if my new lyre strings came yet?”

Ditzy just shrugged.  “I have no idea.”

Lyra’s bright smile quickly fell.  “Oh poo.”

Bon Bon put a comforting hoof around Lyra’s withers.  “Don’t worry hun, I’m sure you’ll be the first to know when they do.”  Lyra’s smile slowly began to return.  “Now come on.  Unless I’m remembering wrong, we had some plans for tonight.”

“Can I call you Candy Ass?”

“Only if I get to call you G-string.”

Ditzy let out a sigh as the two mares continued down the street.  A great yawn escaped from her mouth as her exhaustion began catching up with her again.  She looked over to where Carrot had been lying as she tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes.  As she stared at the spot, she noticed the distinct lack of the carrot pony she knew as her best friend.  She knew that was the right spot.  There was a small wet area that Carrot had been chewing on.

Ditzy was suddenly knocked off balance as something slammed into her.  Her eyes were spinning in her head as she attempted to figure out what happened.  After shaking the cobwebs from her head, she turned to look at her assailant.  Well, maybe assailant was too strong of a word.  Carrot wasn’t doing much of anything threatening.  In fact, all she was doing was dancing.  She must have accidentally bumped into Ditzy as she danced around.  ‘Wow.  Lyra was right.  She really is a better dancer when she’s drunk.’

Carrot noticed that Ditzy was watching her.  Once again, her smile turned sultry.  “Come on Dishy!  Dansh wid me!”  She began shaking her rump more and more, almost as if she was trying to put it on display for Ditzy to see. “Aye wanna shee dat booty shake!”

Ditzy just stared blankly at Carrot.  Or more specifically, her butt since it was being constantly shoved in her face.  “I’m not going to shake my butt at you.  Also…”  Ditzy shoved Carrot’s rump away from her.  “Stop shaking yours in my face.”  Ditzy got up and brushed herself off.  “Now come on.  It’s time for bed.”  She began pushing Carrot into the house.

“Why?  Are ya going to join me?”  Carrot giggled as Ditzy grumbled to herself.

“It’s too late, and I’m way too tired to deal with this shit right now.”  Ditzy gave one last shove to get Carrot into the house.

To say Carrot was unfazed as she stumbled and rolled on the floor would be an understatement.  “Taking charge are we?”

Ditzy groaned as she closed the door.  “Just…get upstairs and go to bed.”

“But aye want shomepony to shnuggle wid.”

Ditzy facehoofed.  She needed to think of some way to get Carrot to go to bed.  More importantly, a way that didn’t involve her being forced to join her.  Her eyes slowly widened as an idea came to her.  “Okay Carrot.  You win.  I’ll join you in your bed.”

Carrot’s inebriated smile grew.  “WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

“But!”  Ditzy shoved a hoof in Carrot’s face.  “You have to go up to your room, like a good little filly, and wait for me.  I’ll be up there when I’m ready.  Do you understand?”

Carrot rapidly nodded her head as she struggled to get herself up onto her hooves.  After finally succeeding, she drunkenly swaggered through the house towards the stairs, flaunting her rump to Ditzy as much as she could.

Ditzy let out a loud sigh once she heard Carrot reach the stairs.  She shook her head.  “I need a drink.”


********************


Carrot continued to shake her rump even after Ditzy was out of sight.  She had a song in her head that she just needed to dance too.  She ended up dancing down the entire hallway, surprisingly, bumping into nothing along the way.

She eventually arrived at the door to her bedroom.  She stopped dancing as she stared at the door.  She just sat there staring at the thing as she wobbled back and forth.  “How do aye open dish ding?”

Her first couple attempts at opening the door failed miserably.  With her first attempt, she just poked it a few times, hoping it would magically open for her.  Once that didn’t work, she tried smacking it a few times.  After that, she tried dancing for it, hoping to woo it into submission…or something.  After about three more attempts, things became personal.  With a growl, Carrot dove at the door.  She bit the knob, and wrenched it around.  Fortunately for her, she ended up actually turning the knob as she wrestled with it.  She unceremoniously collapsed into the room; a smug look on her face.  “Ha!  Take dat door.”

After struggling to get onto her hooves, again, she began walking forward.  “Need to get in bed or Dishy won’t cuddle wid me.”  She unintentionally let out a yawn as she stumbled forward.  It wasn’t long before she bumped into something very soft and cuddly.  Normally she would have suspected something odd about a nice, soft, and cuddly object in the middle of her room, but at the moment, she was both too tired, and drunk to care.  “Aye didn’t know pillowsh were dish comfortable.  Nighty night.”

Carrot just sat there in the middle of the room; cuddling up against the soft, cuddly pillow as sleep slowly started to take her.  That is, of course, until she heard somepony clear their throat.  Carrot begrudgingly opened her eyes to find herself staring straight into a pair of pink eyes.  “I’m happy you find my butt comfortable honey, but do you think you could let go?  We’re kinda…in the middle of something right now.”

With a disgruntled look on her face, Carrot got a better look at the situation.  This wasn’t her room.  There were also two other ponies in the room.  She recognized one as Maxie from the voice.  Maxie’s light rose face was tinted red in embarrassment.  She had to squint to get a look at the other one.  It was Fresh Start, and his face was flushed a deep red with embarrassment.  Maxie had a certain item wrapped in his forelegs.

Carrot blinked her eyes before she took a better look at her ‘pillow.’  After taking a nice, long look, she discerned that it was indeed a butt, and not a pillow.  There was one thing she noticed though.  This butt was attached to Maxie, but something was…off.  “Hey.  Where’sh yer pushy?”

Maxie’s blush grew a bit deeper.  “Uhh, well…”

Carrot examined Maxie’s rump for a little longer.  It didn’t take long for her to notice something else that was off about it.  She reached out and poked it to see if she was just seeing things earning an ‘eep’ from Maxie.  As she stared, her eyes slowly got wider and wider.  She began feeling more and more coherent as the realization of what she was looking at became clearer and clearer.  “Y-y-y-you’re a-a-a-a…”

A sheepish smile appeared on Maxie’s face.  “Eheh, surprise?”

With a look of complete shock, Carrot kept turning her attention from Maxie, to his rump, and back to Maxie.  After a few seconds, Maxie was sure he heard something blow in Carrot’s head.  Her eyes rolled back into her head before she collapsed on the floor.

Both Maxie and Star could only stare at the unconscious heap on the floor.  “Well.  She took that better than I expected,” Maxie sheepishly said in an attempt to ease the tension in the room.  Star just gave him a blank stare.  “I uh…I guess we should take her to her room, huh?”

“Maxie, I’m not leaving this room like this.”

Maxie looked at Star and giggled.  “Fine, I’ll take her to her room.”  He grabbed a sheet that had been thrown off the bed when they started and wrapped it around himself to cover up before getting Carrot on his back.  “I’ll be back in a minute, but you owe me when I do get back.”  Maxie winked suggestively before walking out the room; closing the door behind him.


********************


AJ groaned as he cracked his neck; a smile on his face.  “Last night was AWESOME!!!”

“Yea!” chimed in Pinkie.  “Like when they were like NAH!!!  NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH!!!”  Pinkie started jamming out on an air guitar.

“Or, or BUDUMB!  BUDUMB BU, BU BUDUM TISH!!!”  AJ began hammering on some air drums.

“I KNOW!!!”

Stopping in the middle of the hallway, the two of them stood on their hind legs and put a leg around each other’s neck.  “IT’S A VIOLENT PORNOGRAPHY!!!  CHOKING CHICKS AND SODOMY~!!!  THE KINDA SHIT YOU GET ON YOUR TV~!!!”  The two of them sang as they rocked back and forth

“Would you two keep it down?  It’s too early for you to be so loud,” groaned out Rainbow.

AJ turned his head to look at the cyan pegasus.  “Well maybe SOMEpony should have gone to bed at a reasonable time instead of staying up all night.”

“Piss off.”

AJ let go of pinkie and got back down on all fours.  Pinkie was lost in her own little world as she continued down the hall.  “What kept you up so late anyway?”

“Just…thinking.”

AJ raised his brow.  “Thinking?  About what?  What’s so important that you need to miss out on sleep?”

Rainbow fixed AJ with a light glare.  “Just…shut up.”  She continued down the hall; yawning as she did.

“It’s that Gilda, isn’t it.”  Rainbow froze in place.  Her body tensed up, and after a few seconds began to lightly shake.  “I’m right, aren’t I?”

In an instant Rainbow was in AJ’s face.  If he hadn’t have gone before they left the room, he was sure her sun crushing glare would have made him piss himself.  “I TOLD YOU TO SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU WHINEY LITTLE BITCH, OR I WILL TEAR YOUR DICK OFF AND SHOVE IT STRAIGHT UP YOUR ASS!!!”

“Y-y-y-y-yes ma’am,” AJ let out a squeak as he did his best Fluttershy imitation.

As AJ feared for his life by curling into a ball, he felt a drop of wetness hit him from above.  Taking a chance, he poked his head out.  Another drop landed on his nose as he did.  Looking up, he saw that tears were falling from Rainbow’s cheeks.  She sniffled before rubbing some of the wetness from her eyes.  “I-I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to scare you.  You just hit a sore spot, that’s all.”  She wiped her nose on her leg.  “Can you forgive me?  Please say you’ll forgive me.”

AJ just stared up at Rainbow in confusion.  Rainbow had just gone from planet destroying anger, to depressed sadness in a split second.  Before AJ could even begin to comprehend what was going on, Pinkie decided to make her presence known.  “Come on you slowpokes!  If we don’t hurry, they might use all the syrup!  I can’t have my pancakes without syrup!”

Rainbow’s tears immediately stopped.  Her face lit up like Times Square.  She turned to Pinkie with an ear to ear smile.  “Do you think they have pickle stuffed pineapples smothered in ketchup?!”

“I don’t know, let’s go see!”

AJ just sat there as Rainbow and Pinkie tore down the hall to the elevator.  His mouth was agape as the elevator doors closed.  “What…the fuck just happened?”

He could only gawk at the elevator as he tried to piece together what happened.  He sat there for a minute before he realized something.  “H-hey!  Wait!  I’m hungry too!”  He took off down the hallway; hoping he would be able to catch the elevator.  He was so focused on the elevator he didn’t even see the door swing open until it was too late.

CRACK!!!

AJ crumpled into the door at full blast.  The last thing he remembered seeing before blacking out was a midnight blue hoof stepping out in front of him.


********************


Carrot groaned as the sunlight began assaulting her face.  She brought up her hoof in an attempt to block it out, but it was to no avail.  She slumped down on the bed; wishing the throbbing in her head would come to an end.  Her dry mouth was also a problem, but that was the least of her worries at the moment.

She turned her head towards the window.  The sound of a hammer striking a piece of wood filled the air.  “Stupid workers.  It’s too early to be working.  Don’t they know some ponies are trying to sleep?

After a minute, she decided that more sleep was the way to go.  Unable to block out the sun any other way, she grabbed her blanket and pulled it over her head; letting out a slight moan of happiness as her world was brought into darkness once more.

She lay there for a few minutes before sleep took her once more.

Knock, knock, knock!

Carrot’s bloodshot eyes shot open.  “Hey Carrot!  It’s time to wake up!” came Ditzy’s voice from the other side of the door.


********************


Ditzy had a giant grin on her face as she knocked on the door again.  She knew Carrot would call for her death for waking her up like this after a night of drinking, but she couldn’t pass this up.  Not after what happened the last time Ditzy had gotten drunk on a work night


********************


Carrot had an evil grin on her face as she took a step back.  She remembered to the last time this had happened.  Ditzy had ended up being late for work because she just wouldn’t wake up no matter what Carrot did to wake her up.  Even after half of her tail was accidentally torn out, and blowing an air horn straight into her ear, she continued to snore.

Carrot looked over her bathroom.  Ditzy, who had spent the previous night drinking herself stupid, was being dangled over the bathtub by a couple ropes tied around her body.  The ropes were hung up by a pulley system that snaked throughout the room before leading to a jury rigged pressure plate by her hoof.  Next to the pressure plate sat a lever.  A cord leading from the lever ran up the wall to a jury rigged claw like mechanism holding a big, fluffy towel in front of the tub.

She took a look at the tub.  It was filled to the brim with water.  Though the water couldn’t be seen.  Not only had she filled the tub with water, but she added 20 buckets full of ice into the already cold water.  Walking over, she stuck a hoof in to test how cold it was.  Her hoof quickly retreated the instant it hit the water.  The water was freezing.  Oh Celestia was it freezing.  Any colder and she would be looking at a big, tub shaped, block of ice.

“Perfect,” she purred.

She walked back over to the pressure plate and turned around.  Her grin grew more evil as she lifted a hoof.  “RISE AND SHINE BUBBLE BUTT!!!”

With the smile cemented on her face, she slammed her hoof down on the plate.  It released the ropes holding Ditzy up.  Carrot watched with sadistic glee as Ditzy dropped like a rock.  In Carrot’s world, the world went silent until the sound of a splash filled her ears.

“EEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Ditzy’s blood curdling scream echoed all throughout Ponyville.  She thrashed around in the tub for a few seconds, splashing water and ice cubes everywhere, before it finally ran through her head to get out of the freezing cold water.  It took her a moment to get her bearings, but she finally found the edge of the bath and crawled out; landing on the floor with a wet plop.

Her heart was pounding in her chest.  Her entire body was shivering.  Eager to find any source of warmth she could, she clawed at the floor mat and wrapped it around herself.  Unfortunately it didn’t do much of anything as it too was soaked with the ice water.  That’s when she heard the hysterical laughing.

A few feet in front of her, Carrot was grabbing her chest as if it were in pain as she rolled with laughter.  “BUWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  OH CELESTIA MY RIBS HAHAHAHAHA!!!”

Ditzy’s eyes, which were already going crazy after her surprise ice bath, began twitching.  “C-c-c-c-c-c-car-r-r-rot?  D-d-d-did you d-d-d-do this?”

It took a minute, but Carrot finally began collecting herself.  She was still gripping her chest as she sat up.  “Oh sweet Celestia that was hilarious.  You should have seen yourself.  You were like AAAHHH!!!” Carrot began spazzing out in an attempt to mimic Ditzy’s earlier bout of flailing.

“F-f-f-f-f-fuck…y-y-y-you.”

Carrot wiped a tear out of her eye.  “Hey, I got you up without ripping your tail out this time.  You should be thanking me.”

“W-w-w-when I g-g-get my h-h-h-hooves on you…”  Ditzy stood on her shaky legs, knowing she couldn’t do much else.

“What’re you gonna do, huh?  Wrestle me?  I’ll warn you, I’m stronger than I look.”  Carrot began sizing up Ditzy.  She wanted to make sure she could fend Ditzy off if she did try something.

She soon regretted letting the idea of wrestling Ditzy right now enter her head.  Ditzy was sopping wet.  It almost looked like her mane grew twice as long as it scandalously draped over her shoulders and down her back.  Her wet tail was matted against her rump; fitting every contour and curve of her body perfectly.  Her face heated up as Ditzy shook her head.  Her mane whipped around as water droplets splashed all around her.

Ditzy seemed to become surrounded in a warm, rose colored light as she stared at Carrot with a seductive smile.  After shaking her hair out, the wet strands were now hanging in front of her face in a way that Carrot could only describe as sexy.  Ditzy slowly began walking up to Carrot; lightly swinging her hips.  Carrot could only watch those hips sway from side to side as they got closer.  She finally looked up at Ditzy who was standing in front of her; the seductive look still on her face.

She lifted her hoof and stuck it forward.  “All you ever do is stare.  Why don’t you join me in my bedroom for a little…extra pre-work fun.

Carrot’s cheeks flared with an intense blush.  “W-w-what?!”

After shaking her head, she took another look at Ditzy.  The warm light around her was gone.  All that remained was a pissed off, drenched pegasus.  “I-I-I-I said, g-g-g-get me a f-f-f-fucking towel y-y-y-you b-b-b-bitch.”

“O-oh…right.”  Carrot fumbled around for the lever before pulling it.  The big towel, which thankfully managed to escape getting drenched, fell on top of Ditzy. Carrot watched for a moment as Ditzy’s wrapped herself in the warm, fluffy towel.  That was the last thing on her mind at the moment though.  She had other pressing issues to take care of.  “Breakfastisonthetableifyouneedanythinggetityourselfexcusemebye!”

Before Ditzy could even comprehend what Carrot had just said, she was already out the door.  Ditzy could hear the door to Carrot’s room open slam shut.  She wanted to know just what was going on, but she didn’t care at the moment.  She now had a source of warmth, and she was going to take advantage of it.


********************


“Wake up sleepy head!” shouted Ditzy as she hammered on Carrot’s door.  She had a big, shit eating grin plastered on her face.  “Don’t make me get the air horn!”

Ditzy began internally celebrating when she heard Carrot walking towards the door.  The door to Carrot’s room slowly creaked open.  The smile on Ditzy’s face slowly dropped, and was replaced by a look of horror as she got a better look at the zombie that was her housemate.  The first thing she noticed was the empty, bloodshot eyes staring straight at her.  Her breath reeked of alcohol and whatever nasty bar food she had consumed while there.  Not to mention the unpleasant odor coming from the rest of her body.  Her mane and tail were an absolute mess.  Her coat was dull, and dingy.  The only thing she was missing to complete the look was missing chunks of flesh, and an exposed brain.

“Uhhhh, hi…Carrot.”

“Bluh.”

“It’s, uh…it’s about time you woke up.”

Carrot slowly turned her head until she was staring at Ditzy.  “Shouldn’t you be at work?”  Ditzy just stared blankly at Carrot for a moment.  “What?”

“Carrot, I just got home from work a half an hour ago.”  It was Carrot’s turn to stare blankly.  “It’s 11:30 A.M.”

“Are you serious?”

“Mmhm.”

Carrot swore under her breath.  “Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?”

“Because after last night we thought you could have used the sleep,” came a masculine voice from down the hall.  Carrot and Ditzy turned to see Star standing at the top of the stairs.  He had a bright smile on his face.  “We were almost afraid you were going to sleep all day, so we sent Ditzy to go wake you up.  Good thing too, Maxie wanted to make sure you looked good for your date.”

Carrot let out a tired groan.  “I forgot about that. You sure we can’t put it off till tomorrow?”

“No can do.  Maxie would kill me if I started changing everything.”  He turned back to the stairs.  “Now come on down.  Lunch is almost ready.”

Ditzy smiled as her stomach growled for nourishment.  “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.  You coming?”

Carrot shook her head.  “No.  I’m pretty sure I reek of ass right now.  I’m going to go take a shower before I do anything else.”

Ditzy wanted to laugh, but it was true.  Carrot was pretty much offensive to all five senses right now.  “Good idea.  I’ll see you down stairs.”  Ditzy made it half way down the hall before she remembered something.  “Oh yea.  Maxie wanted me to remind you to use conditioner this time.”

Carrot could only facehoof as Ditzy continued down the hall.


********************


Lunch was well on its way by the time Carrot got down stairs.  To her credit, she did manage to clean herself up pretty well all things considered.  She still wouldn’t pass Maxie’s test, but there was still plenty of time before the date.

Carrot couldn’t get over the feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.  She had never been on a date before.  With nothing to go off of, she had no idea how to act during one.  What was she supposed to say?  How would she know if the pony was actually going to be interested in her?  What if the ear piece Ditzy and crew were going to give her so they could talk to her failed and she would be left on her own?

Carrot stopped halfway down the stairs as a smell hit her nose.  “What in Celestia’s name is that smell?!”  She covered her nose in a vain attempt to keep the stench from burning her nose any further.  She hurried down the steps; following the smell so she could rid the house of whatever it was that was poisoning her house.

Maxie smiled as Carrot rushed into the kitchen.  “Carrot!  Good to see you finally join…”

Carrot stuffed a hoof in his mouth, effectively shutting him up.  “Shush.”

Ditzy and Star looked at each other in confusion.  “Uhhh, Carrot?  What are you doing?”

“That smell.  It’s coming from in here.”

“What smell?” asked Star.

“That smell!” shouted Carrot.  “How can you not smell it?!  It’s revolting!  It’s like…dog poo, covered in cat urine, mixed with a foals dirty diaper that’s been vomited on.”

With an annoyed look on his face, Maxie removed Carrot’s hoof from his mouth.  “Excuse me?  My food does not smell horrible!”

Carrot looked confused.  “Food?”  She looked over at the table to see the dish Maxie had placed out.  It looked like a normal stir-fry.  It had carrots, potatos, peas, celery, red and yellow peppers, onions, you name it.  But something was different.  Carrot leaned in close; taking a tentative sniff of the dish.  She recoiled back after getting a whiff from ground zero.  She began choking as she scrambled away from the pile of pure evil that sat on the table.  She struggled to get to her legs in an attempt to get away from the vile stench.  Unable to stand, she looked around for an escape.  That’s when she saw the window above the sink.  The heavenly light coming through it beckoned for her.  After clawing her way across the floor, she climbed up to a standing position.  With her last ounce of strength, she opened the window.

She was immediately hit by a burst of cool, Autumn air.  She leaned foreword so she could hang her head out the window.  She just sat there for a minute, taking in the fresh air, before she angled her head down; upchucking on the ground beneath the window.

The entire time, she was being watched by Maxie who was not amused.  “Oh come on.  It doesn’t smell that bad.”

Carrot turned her head to look at the light rose stallion.  Her right eye was twitching.  “Fuck me it doesn’t smell bad!  I’ve changed dirty diapers that smelled more pleasant than that abomination you call food!  If AIDS had a smell, I’m sure this is what it would smell like!”

“Oh come on Carrot, now you’re just over exaggerating.  Be nice.”

Maxie smiled as he looked at Ditzy.  “Thank you honey.”

“I mean, okay, it does smell something fierce, but it tastes a lot better than it smells.”

Maxie’s smile immediately dropped.  “Oh come on!”  He turned to Star.  “Sweetie, tell them my food doesn’t smell bad!”

Star, who had been taking this all in stride, swallowed the food in his mouth.  “Maxie’s right.  It doesn’t smell bad.”

“HAH!!!  You see?!”  Maxie had a triumphant smile on his face.

“Then again, I’ve had years to get used to the smell of Maxie’s cooking, so it doesn’t really phase me anymore.”

“WHAT?!?!?!”  Maxie leaned foreword so he could glare into Star’s soul.

Star swallowed the lump in his throat.  “W-well, your cooking has never been the most…pleasant thing to smell Maxie.  I had to force myself to get used to it over the years.”

With a ‘harumph’ Maxie sat back in his seat; an unreadable look on his face.  “Well, now I know where we all sit on this.”  Without saying another word, he grabbed the skillet and tossed it towards the window.  Carrot yelped as she saw the skillet fly towards her.  She ducked as the hot metal flew over her head.  The skillet flew out the window; landing on the lawn with a thud.  Everypony looked at Maxie with looks of confusion and shock.  “See if I ever cook for you ungrateful ponies again.”

Maxie stood up and stormed out of the room.  Everypony looked between the living room and the open window as an awkward silence filled the room.  Star cleared his throat.  “Sorry about the skillet.”

“No worries,” Carrot said as she looked out the window.  She couldn’t help but feel for the ponies that passed by her house.  Some looked towards the house as they tried to figure out what the stench was.  A few of them were gagging at the smell; fleeing from the stink as fast as they could.  One even passed out and had to be dragged away.  “I was probably going to throw it out after this anyway.”

“As you can see, Maxie doesn’t take criticism about her cooking very well.  She tries so hard, and it does taste pretty good, but the smell…”  He shook his head.  “Never been able to get it down.”

“Speaking of Maxie…I had the strangest dream about her last night,” Carrot said as she took a seat at the table.

“What was it about?” asked Ditzy as she took a bite of what was on her plate.

“Well…I dreamt that I had walked into Star and Maxie’s room last night while they were doing…uh…’things.’”  Carrot failed to notice the glare Ditzy shot to Star who could only smile sheepishly.  “When I got a good look at Maxie’s rump, she had a…well…she had everything BUT what she should have had back there.”  Carrot shook her head.  “Don’t remember much other than that.  I probably shouldn’t have drunk so much last night.  I always have the strangest dreams when I do.”

While Ditzy stared blankly at Carrot, Star began to sweat.  “Uhhhh, yea.  A dream.  That’s what it was.  Just a…”

“Fresh Start, just stop,” Ditzy said as she silenced him with a hoof.  “This was funny at first, but now it’s just getting sad.  She needs to know.”

“Know what?”

“Carrot, that wasn’t a dream.  You did walk in on the two of them having sex.  In my bed!”  She shot Star yet another glare.  “And what you saw was not something brought upon by how wasted you were.  Maxie is, 100 percent, male.  Never has been a mare, never will be.”

More silence filled the room for a minute before Carrot burst out laughing.  Ditzy just rolled her eyes; turning to Star to get his thoughts on this.  He only shrugged his shoulders.  After a short bit, Carrot finally stopped laughing.  She wiped a tear from her eye before speaking.  “That’s a good one Ditzy.  Maybe you should quit your job and become a comedian.”

Ditzy was clearly unamused.  “Hey Maxie!”

“What?!”  Maxie still sounded angry.

“Come here for a minute!”

“Why?!  So you can make fun of my cooking to my face instead of behind my back?!”

“Forget about the food for now and come in here please!”

After a few seconds, Maxie appeared in the entryway to the kitchen; an angry pout on his face.  “What do you want?”

“I want you to tell Carrot the truth.”

Maxie looked confused for a moment before his pout returned.  “The truth about what?”

“That you’re really a stallion, and are only pretending to be a mare to mess with her.”

Maxie fell to his haunches as a look of understanding replaced his pout.  “Oh…that.”

“What do you mean by ‘oh that?’” questioned Carrot.  “Ditzy can’t be right about this.  I mean, look at you!  You’re hot!  You’re down right sexy!  You sure as hell look better than me!  There’s no way you could be a stallion!”

Maxie nervously tapped his hooves together.  “Well…that’s not entirely true.”

Carrot stared blankly at Maxie.  “What?”

“Honey, I’ve been lying to you since we’ve met.  It’s just a little game I like to play with ponies I’ve just met.  I’m not a mare.  I never have been.”

Carrot looked between the three ponies in front of her; not quite sure what she should believe right now.  An uncertain laughter filled the air.  “Y-you’re funny too, eheh.  Everypony’s just playing a prank on ol Carrot Top, eh?  Funny, funny.”  Everypony was looking at her with serious looks.  She slammed her hooves on the table.  “No!  No, no, no!   I refuse to believe that that pony right there has a dick!  It’s just impossible!”

Maxie let out a defeated sigh.  “I was really hoping it wasn’t going to come to this.  Honey, you’re coming with me.”  Without waiting for conformation from Carrot, Maxie grabbed her by a leg and dragged her out of the room.

Star could only shake his head.  “Oh boy, here we go.”

“What?  What’s going on?”

He lifted his glass of water and took a drink.  “You’ll see.”  He had an unreadable look on his face as he placed his glass on the table again.  Ditzy looked towards the living room with unease.  “Three…two…one…”

“WHAAAAAAAHHH…” 

THUNK!!!

Star’s eyes widened.  “Thunk?  Why was there a thunk?”  The frantic sound of hooves dashing through the house hit both their ears.  Maxie bolted into the kitchen, a look of horror on his face, and clung to Star.  “Maxie!?  What happened?!”

Tears started rolling down Maxie’s cheeks as he tried to speak.  “C-c-carrot Top!  S-s-she’s, she’s…”

Star began comforting Maxie.  “Shh, shh, shh.  Calm down.”  Maxie took a few deep breaths to try to calm himself down.  “Now tell me.  What happened to Carrot Top?”

“S-she’s…she’s…”

“Yeees?”

Maxie sniffled.  “MY ASS KILLED CARROHOHOHOT!!!”

Ditzy looked at Maxie in both confusion, and fascination.  “You killed Carrot…with your butt?”  Realizing that was the last thing she should be thinking of right now, Ditzy got up from her chair and hurried to the bathroom without waiting for an answer.

“Maxie, what happened?”

Maxie wiped his nose before speaking.  “I-i-I took Carrot Top into the bathroom to prove to her I was a stallion.  So I showed her my butt like I had to do with your friends.”

“Don’t remind me.  That wasn’t the way I would have liked for them to find out I was a colt cuddler. ”

“S-s-she was so surprise.  She tripped over her legs and hit her head on the sink.”

Star drew him into a hug.  “Don’t worry sweetie.  I’m sure she’s fine.”

He took a loud, ragged breath.  “S-s-she wasn’t moving Star.  I killed her.  I murdered ano…”

“She’s fine,” came Ditzy’s voice from the living room.

“H-huh?”

Ditzy flew into the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge.  “I said she’s fine.  She’s probably going to have one hell of a headache, and a wicked bruise on the side of her head, but she’s fine.”  Opening the freezer, she pulled out an icepack before moving back towards the living room.  “I moved her to the couch if you’re interested.”

Maxie looked at Ditzy with a look of relief.  “Y-you mean she’s okay?”

“That’s what I said.  Maybe you should have checked to see if she was breathing before freaking out like that.”  With a slight grin on her face, Ditzy exited the kitchen.

Maxie let out a big sigh of relief.  He was about to go into the living room when he heard Star chuckling to himself.  “And just what is so funny?”

“She’s right you know.  You did handle that in the worst possible way.”

Maxie put on his angry pout once again.  “Hey, I was scared!  I thought I had killed a pony for Celestia’s sake!”

Star kissed Maxie.  “You know, you’re adorable when you’re angry.”  With a ‘harumph’ Maxie stormed out of the room once again.  Star just chuckled before sticking a forkful of stir fry into his mouth.


********************


AJ began to come to as the sound of somepony’s voice hit his ears.  It was hard to understand what was being said due to the ringing in his ears though.   There was also the throbbing pain in his head and his muzzle that made it difficult to concentrate on much of anything else.

He did notice something odd though.  The last thing he remembered was walking down the hall with Rainbow and Pinkie.  After that, everything is a blank.  What he was lying on was not the hard, yet surprisingly cushy carpeting.  No, he was lying on something much softer.  His head was resting on something soft and plush, almost like a cloud.  His body was surrounded in a blanket of warmth.  It felt like the warmth of a mother’s embra…  The urge to facehoof hit him like a brick as he finally realized that he was lying in a bed.

He decided to just lie there for now.  He was in too much pain to really care about much of anything else.  After a little while, the ringing in his ears began to fade away.  The voice became clearer as the ringing in his ear became duller, and duller.  It wasn’t somepony talking, somepony was singing.  It was a haunting tune, yet…strangely beautiful and alluring.  The song rang through his ears.  The longer he listened, the more he felt compelled to find the source.

He turned his head; looking at the door to the room he was in.  With as much effort he could muster at the moment, he got out of the bed.  Standing on unsteady hooves, he made his way to the door.  He tried to use his magic to open the door.  The only thing that succeeded in was making his headache worse.  After a few seconds of fumbling around with the knob, he finally managed to get the door open.

As if he was caught in a trance, he mindlessly stepped out of the room.  Almost immediately he knew something was wrong.  As his hoof came down, it found nothing but a void.  His eyes widened as he began falling forward.

Time seemed to slow down as his sense of awareness returned to him.  The room that he expected on the other side of the door was not there.  Instead, it was replaced with a deep, dark, endless void.  Despite how dark it was, he could see perfectly.  Dots of light littered the void, making it look like he was staring into space.  In the distance, a comet could be seen flying by.  The singing could be heard coming from somewhere in the void.

He finally remembered what was going on as he felt himself being pulled through the gate.  His three remaining hooves left solid ground as he tumbled into the void.  AJ cried out as he helplessly floated through the void.  He tried to get a better view of things, but it was too hard to pay attention in his panicked state.

Suddenly, AJ felt his body stop dead.  He just floated in place as his body righted itself.  Once he became calm enough, he took a look at his body.  His body was surrounded by a cobalt blue aura.  Before he could muster an idea as to what was going on, he once again felt his body moving.

It didn’t take long before he realized where he was being dragged as the destination quickly came into view.

The moon.

His body was slowly lowered to the moon’s surface.  As afraid and panicked as he was feeling right now, he was just happy to be standing on something solid once again.  He made a mental note to thank Luna for not making him a pegasus pony, whether she could have helped it or not.

His ears perked as the sound of singing hit them once again.  As if the voice singing the song was magical, he immediately began to calm down.  His fears began to wither away as the words washed over him.  Wishing to find the source of the singing, he began walking across the rocky surface.

It didn’t take him too long before he found the source.  It was coming from up top a giant plateau.  He stared up at it in both awe and defeat.  The sheer walls of the plateau were impossible to climb.  The only way he would have been able to get up there would have been with wings, or teleportation, and he was never able to perform a teleportation spell.  His head fell in defeat.  Now he’d never be able to get to the source of the music.

As AJ opened his eyes, he saw the same blue glow that had surrounded him earlier covering the ground in front of him.  He stepped back as the ground was raised, and carved until it looked like a step.  The same thing happened to the ground just beyond that.  AJ watched as the ground was raised and carved into steps that curved up and around the entire plateau.  He looked on tentatively for a moment before steeling himself, and starting up the steps.

About halfway up the steps, his muscles began fighting against him.  He was still feeling somewhat groggy from whatever it was that happened to him, and the workout was taking its toll on him.  But he couldn’t stop.  He needed to get to the top of those steps.  He needed to find out who was making such beautiful music.  Forcing strength into his legs, he continued on.

When he reached the top, a gasp escaped his lips as his eyes grew wide.  Sitting in the middle of the plateau was the regal form of Princess Luna.  She was facing away from the top of the stairs.  In the darkness of the void, her mane and tail shone with an eerie, yet beautiful light.  She wasn’t wearing any of her royal vestments.  She kept her eyes closed as she sang with all her soul.

AJ could only watch as Luna continued her song.  Without even realizing it, he slowly began moving towards the Princess of the Night.  He couldn’t help it.  He was compelled ever closer as if he was in a trance.

He stopped dead in his tracks as silence filled the air.  His eyes blinked as his senses returned to him.  It didn’t take him very long to notice the Princess no more than two meters in front of him.  She was still turned away from him.  In fact, she had not moved since she stopped singing.  At that moment, a million questions began running through his head.  “P-princess?”

“Welcome…”  She turned just enough to look at him.  Her cyan eyes falling on his.  “To my kingdom.”

“Your…kingdom?”  It took a moment to register in his mind.  “Princess…are we really on the moon right now?”

Luna said nothing.  She turned away from him and raised her leg.  Pointing upwards into the void.  AJ looked to where she was pointing.  His eyes widened when at what he saw.  There above them, was Earth.  From the maps he looked at in Twilight’s library, he could make out Equestria, and he was pretty sure that was the Griffon Kingdom to the west of that.  They truly were on the moon.

“The stars that glow in the night sky.  The comets that fly among the stars.  The aurora’s that paint the sky in beautiful colors.  The moon that lights up the night with its splendor.  Every night the sky is my canvas.  It is my muse.  It…is my kingdom.”

With a sigh she looked up at Earth.  “That is the sight I stared upon for a thousand years.  A thousand years of fear, loneliness, and sadness.  All buried under the deep, intense feelings of anger and hatred directed at my sister.”

Luna stayed silent for a moment as she stared at Earth.  “The tales state that I was trapped in the moon, but that wasn’t true.  I was neither in, nor on the moon.  Rather, I became the moon.  Or that’s what it felt like.  For a thousand years, my sister would raise and lower me with her magic.”  The haunted look in Luna’s eyes was a look AJ would never forget.  “Every time her magic touched my essence I felt a rush of emotions.  Regret.  Sadness.  Longing.  Hatred.  Self loathing.  My sister hated herself for what she had to do.  With the Elements of Harmony she banished her only sister, the only family she had left in this world, to the heavenly body which she controlled.  The only silver lining she could find in this situation was that, in banishing me, she had saved the lives of all the ponies she ruled over.”

AJ stared at Luna in confusion until it hit him.  “Are you talking about Nightmare Moon?”  Luna nodded grimly.  He remembered back to the night Twilight told him the story of Nightmare Moon.  How Celestia banished Nightmare Moon to the moon for a thousand years, and how she returned only to be defeated and purified by the Elements of Harmony.  “I’m sorry if I’m crossing any lines here, but do you still feel anger for what your sister did to you all those years ago?”

Luna shook her head.  “She did what she had to do.  I see that now.  Without the sun, crops wouldn’t grow.  Food would quickly grow scarce.  Eventually, ponies would have turned against one another for what little food there was.  It would have been anarchy.  All because of my selfish need to be loved as much as my sister.”  Luna let out a sigh.  “I hold no ill will towards my sister for anything she did back then.  I just wish she would finally forgive herself.”

“She still blames herself?”

Luna nodded.  “She believes that there were other options that she just hadn’t seen back then.  In her mind she believes there was a way to both save Equestria, and myself.”  Luna stared up at Earth.  A look of longing on her face.  “Oh Celestia…It has been so long since that time.  I have already forgiven you.  So please…forgive yourself.”  Luna closed her eyes as her horn began to glow.

AJ was forced to cover his eyes as a blinding light erupted from her horn.  A moment passed in silence as a strange fog cleared from his mind.  Once his mind cleared, he uncovered his eyes.  “Wha?”  Confusion struck him when he saw that he was sitting in a room at the Encore.  “W-what’s going on?  I-I thought…”

“It was an illusion.”

AJ turned to see Luna standing behind him.  She looked at him with a straight look.  “An illusion?”  Luna nodded.  “B-but it felt so real!  The moon…I could feel it!  The rocks and dust…it was real!  I know it.”

An amused smile crossed Luna’s features.  “A good illusion spell must be able to trick every sense a pony has, not just one or two.  It took me decades to hone my craft.  The only pony who ever came close to matching my abilities was Ethereal Wisp, the pony that helped me control my magic when I was but a young filly.”

“Ethereal Wisp?”  

Luna nodded.  “He was the grandson of Starswirl the Bearded.  It seems that Starswirl’s family line is destined for greatness.  From my understanding a young mare from his family is making quite a name for herself all around Equestria.” she said with a smile.  “It was unfortunate when his life came to an end.”

She let out a small giggle.  “It was always fun messing with my sister when we were younger.  I once had her rolling around in mud because I made her think it was delicious cake frosting.  She even began eating it.  The look of horror on her face when I lifted the illusion.”

AJ couldn’t help but smile as the thought of watching Princess Celestia not only rolling around in, but also eating mud.  “Excuse me Princess, but I…”

“Please, just call me Luna.  I’ve always been uncomfortable with such formalities.  Besides, it’s just the two of us here.  I don’t see any problems with treating me like you would any other pony.”  She walked past him towards the couch, beckoning for him to follow her.  The room they were in wasn’t as big as the one he, Rainbow, and Pinkie were staying in, but it was still big enough.  The couch was more than big enough for the Princess of the Night and a simple unicorn stallion to sit comfortably.  “Besides, without me you never would have come to Equestria in the first place.  It was the research of me and my top scientists that Twilight followed.  I believe we could…should be more than just acquaintances.”

“You do mean as friends right?  Cause I’m already spoken for.”

“Of course I mean as friends,” Luna said with a giggle.  “I wouldn’t wish to get between you and Ditzy Doo.”

AJ blinked.  “How did you know it was Ditzy?”

“I may have been busy after we rescued you from Nightshade, but I took the time to visit every victim.  I was responsible for what happened.  If I’d been able to find her after she escaped, none of that would have happened.”  She took a moment to regain her composure.  “I visited you when you were still asleep.  Ditzy told me that the two of you were together.  Not to mention how close the two of you were after the initial transformation.”  AJ nodded in understanding.  “Even if I didn’t know, her scent is all over you.  It would have been pretty obvious.”

A light blush came to AJ’s face.  ‘Do I really smell like Ditzy?’  “Uhhh so…what was with that illusion thing anyway?” he asked trying to change the subject.

Luna giggled as his obvious attempt.  “While being trapped in the moon may have been a torture I wouldn’t wish upon even my greatest foes, I can’t deny how peaceful it was.  If there’s ever a time I need to think about things, or feel like I just need to get away from things, I’ll seclude myself in my room and weave my spell.  And before you ask, no.  You were not the first to be consumed by my illusion.”

AJ could only nod.  It made sense.  Space was quiet.  Why wouldn’t it be a good place to think?  “And what about the song?”

“What about it?”

AJ closed his eyes as he collected his thoughts.  Just remembering that haunting melody seemed to dull his senses.  He gave his head a slight shake before speaking.  “Well…it was beautiful.  Just thinking about it...I felt compelled to listen, like my life wouldn’t have been complete if I didn’t.”

Luna nodded her head in understanding.  “I don’t remember where I learned that song.   I’ve known it for as long as I can remember.  I don’t know much, but it’s always been a source of comfort for me.”  She brought a hoof to her chin.  “I don’t know much about it, but if it had that type of effect on you there must be something more to it.”

AJ put a hoof to his chin as he thought.  His eyes suddenly shot open.  They were practically glowing as the idea hit him.  “Oh, oh!  Maybe it’s like…”

Luna couldn’t help but laugh to herself over AJ’s fascination over the song.  He almost sounded like an over exited foal as he delved into the deepest recesses of his imagination just trying to figure out the hidden meaning of song.  Not only was it entertaining to hear the downright foalish things he was coming up with, but it also gave her a bit of insight into AJ’s mind.  As much as he hid it behind his, probably forced, maturity, he was a lot more childish than she had realized before.  Just watching him ramble brought back happy memories from her foalhood.  Her happiness waned slightly when she realized that, do to the certain events in his life, he was forced to grow up earlier than he should have.

“What do you think Pr…I mean Luna?”

“Huh?”  Luna blinked as she was torn from her thoughts.  AJ was staring at her with a big, expectant smile on his face.  She quickly mulled over what AJ was talking about before smiling.  “Well, there are numerous possibilities.  Any of those could be true.”

“But…what if…”

Luna raised a hoof to silence him.  “I know your mind must be filled with questions right now, but if it’s alright with you, I have some questions for you.”

AJ just gawked as he thought for a moment.  “Umm, sure.  Go ahead.”

She smiled as she cleared her throat.  “First things first, how are you feeling?  Are you still in any pain?”

“Pain?”  That’s when it hit him.  He woke up in somepony’s, now known to be Luna’s, hotel room.  His muzzle was throbbing when he first woke up, and his head hurt.  He had completely forgotten about the pain with what all happened.  He brought a hoof up to his nose, and began to rub it.  It did still hurt, just not as bad.  “A little, I guess.  What even happened?  The last thing I remember before waking up in your bed was walking down the hall with Rainbow and Pinkie.”

“You ran into my room door,” Luna said as she pointed to the door.  “I don’t know why you were running, but I heard some loud yelling in the hallway.  Fearing that somepony was in trouble, I rushed to get out there to see if I could help.  In my hurry, I swung the door open with as much force as I could without ripping it off its hinges.”  She hesitated before continuing.  “That’s…when I felt something hit the door…hard.”

AJ was able to put the pieces together himself.  “I was that thing, wasn’t I?” he asked with a facehoof.

Luna sheepishly nodded.  “I was actually quite impressed that you managed to crack the door with your face.  You must have been running pretty fast to pull off such a…feat.”  Luna smiled sheepishly when she noticed AJ’s unamused glare.  She awkwardly cleared her throat before continuing.  “Eheh, anyway…after I found your unconscious body, I took you to my bed.  You had a broken nose, and a minor concussion.  Nothing to fret about.”

AJ looked down and began to contemplate things.  “I’m beginning think that this universe has something against me or something.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because that is literally the second time I’ve busted a door with my head since I’ve come to Equestria.”  Luna decided not to question the destructive abilities of AJ’s skull.  She would rather not bring back more memories of him getting hurt in, admittedly, interesting ways.  “I was kinda hoping I could have gone thorough this vacation without getting hurt…for once.”  A thought rushed into AJ’s mind.  “Speaking of things I wasn’t expecting to happen here, I sure as hell wasn’t expecting to see you here.  I would have thought you would have been busy in Canterlot.  Did Celestia give you the week off or something?”

Luna could only stare at AJ with an unreadable look.  “Uhhhh yea.  Sheeeee gave me the week off.  That’s it.”  She fixed AJ with a sheepish smile.


********************


Celestia was never one to wish harm on anypony before.  Violence was never the answer.  Even during times of war, she would put more effort into diplomacy than she would actually fighting the war.  She hated violence and everything that came with it.  Even when she was forced to fight, she never went for the killing blow instead opting for rendering her opponents unconscious.

So when she of all ponies had to force back thoughts of violence, you know something was wrong.

“You must understand Princess.  All I’m asking for is that you consider what I’ve been saying,” said Mitt Roaney.  He was as slimy, and stuck up as they came.  He was a unicorn with a pure white coat.  His perfectly combed, dark brown mane was beginning to grey.  Everywhere he went, that same, scummy smirk could be seen plastered on his face as he looked down his nose at everypony he passed.  He was fairly well known throughout the bigger cities of Equestria for his complete and utter disdain for any race of pony other than unicorns.  Not only was he one of the richest ponies in Equestria, he was also a politician.

Celestia let out a frustrated sigh.  Her composure was beginning to crack.  Even she had a limit.  “I’ve said this many times before Mr. Roaney.  The propositions you’ve laid out before me time and time again just would not work.  You’ve tried hiding your intentions under fancy words, but it’s always the same.  Your proposition would lower the taxes on ponies like you that make millions of bits a year, but it would also make the taxes of those ponies that are less fortunate skyrocket.  I just can’t let you do that.  It would be catastrophic for smaller towns such as Ponyville or Appleloosa.  Even Cloudsdale would be hurt by your propositions.”

“Ponyville and Appleloosa,” scoffed Mitt Roaney.  “Those ramshackle, hodunk towns started by…”  A look of disgust crossed his features.  “…Filthy, dirty earth ponies would be fine Princess.  Trust me when I say this.  Besides, if something did happen to those towns, it wouldn’t be a big loss.  I mean, those ponies are poor after all,” he said as his smug smirk grew even slimier.  “I’d be more than happy to send some ponies to bulldoze the areas so something of actual worth could be built instead.”

Celestia couldn’t take it anymore.  How could one pony care so little about he wellbeing of others?  He didn’t even try to hide it.  She stood up from her seat.  “I’ve said my peace.  Your request is, for the fifth time, denied.”  Without another word, Celestia began walking out of the room; her guards flanking her on both sides.

Once the doors to the great hall were closed, she turned to Aquilinus.  “You are dismissed.”

Aquilinus turned to the other guard with a grimace on his face.  With how much time he spent guarding the princess, he could tell when she was angry, and she was never in a good mood after a visit from Mitt Roaney.  It was generally a good idea to do what she said.  “Of course your highness.”

Celestia let out a frustrated sigh as her guard left.  “I don’t know how he does it, but that pony always brings out the worst in me.”  She stretched her neck as she started down the hall.  “Maybe Lulu will take the rest of my responsibilities for the day.  After that I need some time to relax.”  She could already feel her body starting to relax at the thought of Luna taking over her duties for the day.  Her younger sister was always happy to help her when she was busy, or had other things she needed to do.

It didn’t take her very long to get to Luna’s room.  She knew the layout of the castle by heart.  She dismissed the guards that were tasked with guarding the princess of the night.  Knowing her salvation sat on the other side of the door she raised a hoof and knocked.  “Sister, it’s me.  May I come in?”  She got no answer.  “Lulu?”

A look of worry crept its way onto Celestia’s face.  Why wasn’t Luna answering?  Was something wrong?  Was she hurt?  Sick?  Worse?  Using her magic, Celestia opened the big door in front of her; letting the light from the hallway pour into the room.  There, sitting on the bed, was the pony she was looking for.  But something was wrong.  Something looked off about her sister.  She flicked on the lights inside the room so she could see.  Any and all relief she had felt immediately drained away as light filled the room.

The room was spotless.  The bed sheets were done up perfectly.  Luna’s comics were properly put away.  Her video games, which were usually scattered all around her giant TV, were put in their proper place, and the consoles themselves looked untouched for days.  This wasn’t right.  Celestia’s heard, usually on a weekly basis, how horrible it was to clean Luna’s room.  It usually took an hour after it had been cleaned for it to look like a disaster area again.  The room she was looking at looked like it hadn’t been touched since it was cleaned three days ago.

She took another look at the bed.  She walked closer, an unreadable expression on her face, as she stared down Luna.  No, that wasn’t Luna.  Rather, it was a big Luna plushie, about half the size of Luna, which was sitting up in the bed.  It just stared ahead as the princess of the sun walked closer.  Floating next to the plushie was a balloon with the words ‘I AM AN ANTEATER’ written on it.

Celestia slowly brought up a hoof and poked the plushie causing it to let out a squeak before it collapsed on the bed.  Celestia’s head dropped causing a shadow to fall over her eyes.  The plushie became enveloped in a golden glow as Celestia’s magic lifted it into the air.  Her body slowly began to tremble as the plushie hovered there in front of her.  Her mouth opened showing her teeth grit in anger.

A plume of black smoke started coming from the plushie.


********************


“Mom, dad, it’s good to see the two of you again,” Twilight said with a bright smile.  Like she had promised, Twilight decided that she needed to go visit her parents more often.

“It’s good to see you remembered your promise to visit us more,” Velvet said as she hugged her daughter.

“Of course I remembered mother.  I was serious when I said I should have come to see you more often.”

“And you brought Spike this time,” Night Light said with a smile.  “How are you doing kiddo?” he asked as he ruffled the fins on Spike’s head.

“I’ve been just fine Grampy,” Spike said as he sucked up the attention.

“Oh Spike, you look thin.  Has Twilight been feeding you properly?” asked Velvet after she took notice of the baby dragon.

“Excuse me?” Twilight asked.  “You wouldn’t be saying that if you saw him eat.  I have yet to find a good hiding place for the gem jar.”

“She’s right Grammy.  Besides, I have to do all the cooking, so I make sure there’s enough for me to eat,” Spike said with a smile.

“Well that doesn’t matter.  Now that you’re here, Grammy’s going to fill that little belly of yours with all sorts of treats.”  Velvet lifted Spike off the ground and onto her back.  “Do you still like emeralds?”

“Do I ever!”

As Velvet reached the door to their house, a loud eruption filled the air.  The view of everypony in Canterlot was drawn to an explosion near the top of the castle.  Screams filled the air as panic filled the city.  The top of the tower in question had been completely demolished.

“The castle’s under attack!”

Night Light saw the expression on Twilight’s face, and the posture her body was in.  He knew what she was thinking.  He placed a hoof on her shoulder and smiled.  “Go give’em hell honey.”

Twilight turned to her father in amazement.  Her look of confusion quickly turned to a smile.  “Right.”  Without another word, Twilight willed the magic into her horn.  In a blink of light, she was gone.


********************


Twilight appeared in a hallway of the castle just at the top of a set of stairs.  The place was buzzing with attention.  Most of the guards stationed at the castle were rushing towards the source of the explosion while others evacuated any and all non-combatants to safety.  Knowing where she had to go, she followed the flow of guards.

“Lady Sparkle?” said a gruff voice as she reached the top of the stairs.

“Captain Aquilinus, what’s going on?!  Where’s the Princess?!” asked Twilight; fear lingering on her voice.  He looked over his shoulder to the large door that leads to Luna’s room.  It had somehow managed to survive the explosion.  Her eyes widened in fear.  Celestia may have basically been a goddess, but even she had her limits.  Without thinking, her horn flared to life.  The door became surrounded in a pink aura as it creaked open.  Fearing for her teacher’s safety, she bolted into the ruin; Aquilinus hot on her tail.

There was nothing left of Luna’s room.  All that was left beyond the door was a big pile of rubble.  Anything that would have remained intact was crushed by all the rubble.  That included Equestria’s Princesses.  Twilight could only look at the demolished structure in pure horror.  Nothing could have survived this.

Twilight fell to her haunches as a tear rolled down her cheek.  Aquilinus stared on in disbelief.  He took of his helmet and let it drop letting his short blond mane blow in the wind.  He failed.  His job was to protect both princesses, even if it meant his life.  He didn’t want to believe it.  He, the one who was chosen to take Shining Armor’s place after he went to rule over the Crystal Kingdom with Princess Cadance, had failed.

More soldiers were looking on from the open door.  None of them could believe what they were looking at.  This was truly the darkest day in the history of Equestria.

Then the rubble began to move.

Aquilinus was the first to notice this.  He stared at the moving rubble in disbelief.  Something had survived the explosion.  But there was no way to tell who or what it was.  He lowered his posture, ready to strike at a moments notice.  “I don’t know who, or what you are, but I, Captain Aquilinus of the Royal Guard, command you to show yourself!”

“H-huh?”  Twilight looked over at Aquilinus in confusion.  She turned to where he was looking.  A gasp escaped her lips when she saw the movement of the rubble.  Not knowing what to think, she backed away from the rubble.

A golden aura suddenly surrounded a large area of the rubble before it lifted into the air.  Everypony was shocked when the matriarch of the day rose from the destruction.  Her royal vestments were all damaged in some way.  Her once white coat was covered in scrapes and dirt.  Despite all that, her mane and tail were still as radiant as ever.  She even had a bright smile on her face.

“My, I think I over did it a bit.”  Celestia turned her head to see Twilight, Aquilinus, and over half of the royal guard staring at her from the door.  “Oh, Twilight.  This is a pleasant surprise,” she said as her horn began glowing again.

Twilight watched as Celestia’s coat magically cleaned itself.  “P-princess!  You’re okay!”

Celestia just stared at Twilight for a second before she began giggling.  “Of course I am.  Why wouldn’t I be fine?”

“But…but the explosion!?  You were right at its epicenter!” questioned Aquilinus.

“I assure you that there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go talk to Silver Mortar to see about getting Luna’s room rebuilt.  Come Aquilinus.”  With that, Celestia unfurled her wings and took into the air.

Neither Twilight, or Aquilinus knew what to say.  “What just happened?”

A smile slowly made it’s way to Aquilinus’ face.  He lifted his helmet off the ground and back onto his head.  “I have no idea.”  Unfurling his wings, he took off into the air after the princess.

****************************************