//------------------------------//
// #22 - I Dream of Luna 
// Story: Techorse Short Stories 
// by Spirals95 
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I Dream of Luna


Techorse Series: #22


By Spirals95






Everypony needs a break from work once in a while to settle down and recharge. Even the hardest workers in Equestria found time to rest when they needed it. When work doesn't seem any different than play, however, it could be hard for the pony to figure out a way to relax after being hyped up by his or her job. This seemed to always be the case for Pinkie Pie, who absolutely enjoyed her job of making baked goods for the residents of Ponyville. Now that her workday was over, and Sugarcube Corner had closed down for the night after a good business day, Pinkie Pie was free to spend the rest of the night before bed anyway she wanted to. After feeding her pet alligator and her recently acquired fish, she bounded happily out of her room and downstairs to leave the shop. Soon she was outside in the cool breeze of the spring night, and the streetlamps had just ignited themselves as the mechanical timers inside them directed them to. Turning right and happily trotting down the path amongst the colonial-styled buildings of her home town, Pinkie Pie thought about what she might like to do with her night.

"I could set off some fireworks to light up the night!" she said to herself merrily, "Or I could break out the frozen cookie dough and make another one of those giant cookie cakes!"

"Hey," said a rather annoyed voice, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't set off any fireworks tonight."

Pinkie Pie stopped her most recent jump midair, and landed roughly on the pavement in front of a two-story house. She turned her head to find a unicorn colt in his early years, who looked extremely tired. The poor yellow-coated pony had some of his soft blue mane hair ruffled, and the dark circles under his eyes conveyed his state of insomnia to the pink pony down on the street below. He was leaning out of his bedroom window on the second floor, a single candle behind him providing the only light from the room.

"What? No fireworks?" she shouted at him in shock, "What kind of pony doesn't like fireworks?"

The colt rubbed his eyes and responded softly, "I do like them, it's just… I haven't really been able to sleep well lately and that'd just make it worse. Please do something a little more quiet tonight!"

Pinkie Pie smiled gently and answered, "Well, that's ok. I can do something else."

The young unicorn turned around went back to his bed. He hadn't laid down his head on his pillow again for more than 15 seconds when Pinkie Pie's head entered his room through the window.

"So why cantcha sleep?" she said quickly and rather loudly, startling the colt. 

He rolled out of his bed from the surprise, and turned to find that Pinkie Pie had fetched a stepladder and placed it up against the side of his home so she could visit through the window.

"How did you get that ladder?" he asked.

"Oh never mind this silly thing!" she answered, looking behind herself at the rickety wooden ladder.

She was standing on the top rung of the pine hardware, breaking every safety code associated with ladders. From the outside of the home, it looked like a ridiculous fire rescue was in progress.

"Well," continued the still disturbed unicorn pony, "I've been having trouble sleeping because I'm too worried about what might happen to my dad when he goes away on a trip this weekend. He's going to Manehattan, and he might get hit by a big cart or something!"

Pinkie Pie smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm sure your daddy will be safe, Depth!"

Depth seemed rather surprised Pinkie Pie knew his name and asked her, "How did you know who I am?"

"I know everypony in town!" she answered proudly, "It's always been my goal to make ponies happy when they're down, and you're the downiest pony around right now, mister!"

"Hmmm," he answered, rubbing his tired eyes with a front hoof, "If you can help me get to sleep, that would be really nice."

Pinkie Pie giggled, "I can't really help you get to sleep all by myself, I can see from your nightstand that you've been reading and drinking tasty hot milk! I was going to give you those things, but you've already tried 'em."

The colt reclined on his mattress and stared at the ceiling, "Then who can help me?"

"Don't worry, I know just the pony!" she answered, leaning back, "Leave it to…"

Unfortunately, Pinkie Pie had leaned back a little bit too far, and the ladder finally gave under her weight. Down crashed the ladder onto the city street below, causing Depth to get up and look out his window in a flash. He couldn't see Pinkie Pie anywheres, and wondered in a panic if he should call an ambulance. During his panic attack, a nagging leg poked him in the right side of his neck. Turning his head slowly, Dept found Pinkie Pie hanging on for dear life onto the rain gutter of his house with her rear legs.

"Leave… it… to me!" she finished, panting a little from the scare of nearly falling.

She then flipped herself over and slowly slid down the side of the colonial home until she safely touched the ground, near the splinters that remained of the old ladder. Pinkie Pie then turned left and disappeared in a comical blur of pink and dust, leaving Depth alone to hopelessly try to go back to sleep.





Twilight Sparkle was sleeping peacefully in her upstairs bed in the library, dreaming sweetly about finally finishing a 40 page essay that she had been working on about the effects of dandelions on the population of dragonflies in eastern Equestria.

"Just one more paragraph to close this essay and I'll be ready to publish!"she dreamt, rolling over gracefully in her bed and twisting her sheets around her relaxed body.

Just as Twilight was about to write the last words of the imaginary paper, her sleep was suddenly interrupted by a loud thwacking noise as her circular bedroom window swung open, and Pinkie Pie rolled inside. Twilight shrieked from the sudden awakening of the break-in and the fact that she had really wanted to finish that essay. This noise caused Spike to flip out of his basket bed and land face-down on the wooden floor, hurting his nose. His spaded tail managed to catch the edge of the basket and flip it over the top of him.

"I'm really sorry Twilight, but I need to borrow a book right now!" said Pinkie Pie, jumping up and down impatiently, "This can't wait!"

"Pinkie Pie!" shouted Twilight furiously as she got out of her bed to yell at her friend, "It's past midnight, how could you possibly need a book right now?"

"It's hard to explain," she answered, "just lemme grab it and go."

Twilight groaned and answered, "All right, go ahead and pick it out, I'll write it down as checked out tomorrow. Next time remember that other ponies tend to sleep at this hour, ok?"

"I will thanks!" She answered, running past her friend and down the stairs as quickly as she could to find the book she had in mind.

Twilight heard the sound of hooves on wood below as she used her magic to pick up a nearby blue hairbrush. She fixed a cow lick in the top of her striped mane with the brush before noticing Spike's overturned basket moving around slowly on the floor towards the stairwell on the other side of the room. Redirecting her energy for a moment, Twilight set the basket upright, revealing a rather upset Spike on his back.

"What's going on with Pinkie Pie?" he asked her, "Just another freak-out as usual?"

The front door of the library was hard opening with a creak followed shortly thereafter with a loud crash as Pinkie Pie slammed it with her rear hooves on her way out. Twilight cringed, knowing there was most certainly a huge mess on the first floor that would have to be dealt with before opening time that morning.

"I doubt it's that much of an emergency," answered Twilight as she put the brush back on her dresser top, "if it was, she would have told us what was wrong."

Spike didn't buy that explanation for one moment, "Pinkie Pie sometimes feels ignored. What if there's something she sensed?"

"If that was true," answered Twilight, turning her telekinesis to straighten the sheets on her bed again, "she wouldn't have needed a book, just our help. The way I see it Spike, all we have to do is figure out which book she took, and we'll know what the problem was!"

The young dragon picked up his blanket and pulled it up to his chin, "That's true. It's probably going to be something random anyways, knowing Pinkie Pie."

Twilight slipped back into her own bed, and ended up staring at the ceiling for a good 30 minutes before getting back to sleep. Although she was sure she was right that there was no big deal, perhaps there was. Maybe Pinkie Pie's “Pinkie Sense” had kicked in that night and something terrible was about to happen. There was also the possibility of a late-night baking accident that could result in her waking up to a scorched Ponyville. But the need for sleep helped to put the silly thoughts away just long enough for her to go back to her dream of finishing that award-winning essay.





One of the many fireplaces in Canterlot Castle was burning a modest pile of logs chopped a few weeks ago from a nearby forest. It was a large marble fireplace with white bricks leading up to the ceiling of the castle, with several pictures placed on top of the black stone shelf projecting over the opening where the fire burned. The fire was slowly dying down from its previously warm and welcoming blaze, and needed more fuel. One of the castle guards, Jops, grabbed a small log from the nearby pile with his teeth and with a twist of his neck tossed the wood on top of the other burning logs, causing a satisfying crackling noise. The light of the fireplace provided a good source of illumination for Princess Luna, who was sitting a few feet in front of the fireplace on a large red throw pillow, with gold lace around the edges. The dark blue alicorn was reading a magazine about the interesting jobs that had been invented since her banishment, including modern surgery and radio repair service. It seemed like everypony was appreciated for something they knew how to do best, and always had something interesting and new to do.

Everypony except for her of course.

Princess Luna loved her new-found job of watching over the foals of Equestria as they slept, and to soothe the ones who had consistent nightmares or were afraid of the dark. But it still seemed like she was missing something, perhaps a new way of doing things in order to keep them interesting. She turned the page on the magazine and found a description of a modest shipyard located in a nearby county. Princess Celestia would occasionally go there on a bright day to smash a bottle of champagne on a newly completed tanker or battleship, and it was always a huge event with thousands of cheering citizens. Luna wished that she could just for once christen a ship at night, on her terms, instead of during the day. 

It would be fun to watch the hull of the vessel touch the water, with the reflection of the moonlight making it a beautiful sight. But it was only a pipe dream, as there wouldn't be much of a place for the ship to sail if it was dark already, and it'd be difficult for younger ponies to see it if it was too late at night. The princess sighed deeply and continued to flip through the pages to see if there was anything else she could possibly do to feel less bored. The nearby guard heard the sharp exhale from his leader, and took off his bronze helmet to reveal his blue, sensibly-cut mane. He placed the helmet next to the fireplace and approached Luna from the front and stood silently.

She raised her long neck and said to him, "That will be all for tonight, Jops. See if your brother is in need of assistance."

Jops bowed, then retrieved his helmet and left without making any sound, leaving Luna to the slowly dying fire and her discontent. She rolled slightly to the left, and continued to read. After a few more minutes of browsing the pages, a curious thumping sound echoed from inside the floor of the castle. Luna's head perked up from the noise, and she scanned for whoever might be there. After figuring out that nopony was present, she tried to go back to her reading, only to hear another disturbing thump. It sounded like it was coming from underneath the floor right in front of the giant pillow she was sitting on. Suddenly, the floor tile in front of her began to grate and shift. The princess's horn began to glow as instinct told her to prepare to defend herself from whatever intruder might be trying to get in the castle. With a loud grinding noise, the tile moved out of place and broke its connection from the others. A pink leg lifted the end of the tile and flipped it over, and out from the floor emerged a rather dirty Pinkie Pie, wearing a white hard hat equipped with a mining light, and her two pink saddlebags. Princess Luna recoiled slightly at the unorthodox entry Pinkie had made, but her horn cooled down, as did her anxiety.

"We have a very well crafted front door. It's a shame you weren't able to use it, Pinkie Pie," stated Luna, displeased about the ruined floor.

"Arby said I couldn't come in," explained Pinkie Pie, "and I was all out of ropes to climb the walls, so here I am!"

Prince Luna chuckled, "Well, since our 'good friend' Captain Arbiter was so rude to turn you away at such a late hour, I guess he'll have to fix this floor tomorrow."

This got a nice giggle out of Pinkie Pie, who knew the Captain would be angry about having to redo the tiles by himself.

She then got on with her question, "So what's up princess? Do anything fun lately?"

Princess Luna frowned and answered honestly, "To tell the truth, no. I've been quite bored with my duties lately, and I feel rather unappreciated doing just one job. I'd really enjoy having more to do, and before you ask, it's not because I compare myself to sister. It's because my work is done now, at night, when nopony is around to appreciate it.  I'd like to have a part of my job where I can go out and work directly with my subjectvs."

Pinkie Pie reached above her fluffy pink mane and flipped a switch on her helmet, turning off the light.
"Let me go take this stuff off, and I'll help you find a reaaaaaally fun second job!" she said.

"Really? You had something in mind?" asked Luna.

"Yeah!" answered Pinkie Pie with a twinkle in her blue eyes, "It's actually a lot like this storybook I'm reading! Can you meet me someplace so I can show you?"

"I'll meet you in my chamber," dhe answered, standing up from the pillow, "I'd love to hear about this new task in this story. It sounds like it could be just the thing I need to be less, as you'd say, boring."

"Okie Dokie Lokie!" answered Pinkie Pie, smiling brightly.





A few minutes later, Pinkie Pie and Luna were together in the princess's bedroom, sitting on top of the bed with the storybook opened up between them. The bedroom was a large, dark-walled room with white stars painted onto the ceiling. The carpet on the ground was a soft gray color with blue fibers mixed in for variety. The furniture in the room was sparse besides the large black canopy bed, but a door that led to a balcony and one to a walkway closet existed. Pinkie Pie had scrubbed herself clean of the filth from tunneling into the castle, and Luna was now wearing her favorite black nightgown. The light in the room was provided by a beautiful glass chandelier, filled with modern electric lights.

"This is my favorite storybook, 1000 Tales From Saddle Arabia!" announced Pinkie Pie, trying to find the story she had in mind, "I just borrowed this from Twilight again."

Eventually she found the story she wanted and explained it to Princess Luna,
"See? This is a story about a really neat guy called a genie!"

Princess Luna looked at the illustration by the text, showing what looked like a ghostly-looking diamond dog emerging from a small gold oil lamp. The genie in the illustration had a confident smile on his face, a solid blue vest, and crossed arms as he looked at the awestruck mare next to him that had rubbed the lamp.

Pinkie Pie continued, "Whoever finds the genie's lamp and rubs it with their hoof gets a free wish. This is how a genie gets to help ponies, and it's lots of fun!"

The next illustration on the page showed the result of the pony's wish. She had wished for a very large palace of her own to live in, and was being fanned with palm branches by two handsome stallions with short-cut tails and strong leg muscles.

"But what does this have to do with the tasks you were telling me about?" asked Luna, "Are you suggesting…"

Pinkie Pie nodded and said, "Yeah! You should become a genie and grant wishes to other ponies!"

Princess Luna laughed heartily and then answered, "That's ridiculous!"

"But with your amazing alicorn magic and stuff, I'm sure you could do it," protested the pink earth pony, digging her legs into the comforter on the bed, "and ponies would be really happy to get a wish from the princess!"

Now this had gotten Luna's attention. Sure it would be ridiculous to use her magic to grant wishes, but on the other hand, it would be nice to get some recognition while the sun was still out.

"Very well Pinkie Pie," she said, nearly shouting, "I shall become a genie and grant wishes!"

Pinkie Pie pointed to the nearby walk-in closet and suggested, "Let's get you dressed up like one then, this should be great!"





Princess Luna got into her new outfit without much trouble. She was now wearing several gold and silver bands around each of her legs, to which flowing pink lace was attached. A small blue tiara with a golden star on the front sat on her head, and a red gown was worn around her middle. Her tail featured a large turquoise ball threaded through the hair to the middle. Luna's eye shadow had also been changed to a soft pink. The alicorn was looking at her new form in the mirror, which Pinkie Pie was admiring.

"I look… absurd," she said honestly to Pinkie Pie, lifting a front leg and looking down at the pink ribbons.

"That's the idea, silly!" said Pinkie Pie, "Now all you need is a lamp!"

She ran out of the large closet and re-entered with a small oil lamp she had purchased from a curio shop a while ago, and placed it on the floor in front of Princess Luna.

"I'm sorry," she said, frowning, "but there's no way that I could fit myself into that small lamp."

Pinkie shook her head, "You don't have to fit inside it! All you have to do is hide, and then when somepony rubs it, use your flashy-movey spell all alicorns know to appear next to it!"

"Oh, I think I understand now!" said the princess, catching on to the idea, "I just flash in when the lamp is discovered. So, tomorrow, we'll leave the lamp out where it can be found and watch dutifully."

"Exactly!" said Pinkie Pie cheerfully.

Luna pointed out the whitewashed open door and answered, "Pinkie Pie, why don't you spend the night in one of the spare rooms down the hall? I'll see you tomorrow morning after a good rest."

Pinkie Pie gave a happy, "Thanks! See you tomorrow!"

The two retired for the night, with Pinkie Pie getting to stay in a nice comfortable bed. Pinkie Pie knew that her idea for Princess Luna was going to make her really happy. At the end of the day, everypony's happiness was all that mattered to Pinkie Pie.





After getting some much-needed sleep, Pinkie Pie and Princess Luna decided to go find a place to hide and watch the lamp in Ponyville. After taking a chariot ride to the outskirts, they settled on an area on the west side of town that did not feature the most traffic, so that the lamp would not be discovered too quickly or too often for Luna to handle the wish demand. They set the lamp in the flower box of a home alongside an alleyway occupied by ponies who would be away at work for the day, and they hid in a nearby cart filled with textiles of various colors that had been woven by its owner. The oil lamp was slightly hidden by the marigolds in the tiny pink box, meaning a passerby would have to look directly at it in order to find it. It was rather hot inside the cart given the heat of the day and the insulation the rugs provided, but it was the only thing that allowed a clear line of sight to the lamp without blowing their cover.

After a good twenty minutes had passed, a unicorn pony with a happy trot in his walk came along and saw the orange flowers planted on the windowsill. It was Steiner, back from his weekly morning trip to buy vanilla ice cream for his soda business. The plastic bag around his neck contained a single pint of hoof-packed ice cream, and bounced around on him as he walked. He stopped suddenly in the alleyway, looked around to make sure there weren't any other ponies to watch him, and took a nice deep sniff of the flowers' aroma.

"Ah, freshly planted marigolds!" he said in his soft Germanic voice, "My favorite flower."

Spotting a twinkle of light underneath the flowers, Steiner overturned a few of the blooms with his magic, bending the stems gently with light-brown energy. He saw the lamp, and picked it up while releasing the flowers with his energy.

"Hmm, an oil lamp?" he asked himself, turning over the metal vessel, "What's this doing here?"

Thinking it over, he finally concluded, "Ah! This must belong to Twilight Sparkle; it has to be a reading lamp of some kind. I'll return it after I close shop today."

Taking the lamp, he placed it magically inside the bag around his neck next to the cardboard ice cream box, and continued his walk back to the soda shop he owned. Pinkie Pie and Luna shadowed him there, using alternate paths to avoid being seen. Once they got back to the Froth Shop, Steiner's place of work, they waited for him to unlock the glass front door on the flat building and walk inside. The unicorn pony turned the sign on the front to the "open" side, and disappeared. Pinkie Pie pointed silently with her head to a window on the bar, and the two walked up to it. Steiner had grabbed a cloth and set to work cleaning the lamp. This was the moment the two outside had been waiting for. Luna charged up silver-colored energy from her horn-tip, and closed her eyes tightly before teleporting herself inside, taking Pinkie Pie with her. The two appeared right in front of the bar, knocking over two stools and making Steiner shout in surprise.

"Get up!" commanded Princess Luna, spreading her wings.

Steiner obeyed and walked out from behind his counter, being careful not to break any mugs on the rack between him and the exit. He approached the pair, recognized who the figure before him was and bowed gracefully to Princess Luna.

"Your majesty!" he said to her, "I didn't know you were coming, else I would have brewed something special for you, and Pinkie Pie!"

Pinkie Pie snickered and said "Hi Steiner!"

"I'm not here to sample your product!" the alicorn informed him while pushing aside Pinkie Pie, "I'm here to grant you your wish!"

"A wish?" inquired the soda maker, standing up from his bow, "What do you mean by that?"

"You have found my lamp first, Steiner, and now that I am the genie of that lamp, I now must give you a wish!" explained Luna, "It's how I am to do a better job being at service to my subjects!"

Steiner's ears went fully at attention, "Oh? In that case I know exactly what I want to wish for! You see, for several weeks now I've wanted to be the pony to make the world's first color changing soda pop! I tried using rainbow water from Cloudsdale, but carbonating it destroyed the color-changing property of the water before I could even add the flavor to it. I wish that I could invent this drink!"

"If you bring me a barrel of water, I can grant your wish!" said Luna, flicking her tail and clacking the glass ball on the floor.

Steiner nodded and went through a set of two stainless-steel doors on hinges to his back room. He returned pushing a large wooden barrel with his front legs, walking forward with his hind ones. After propping the barrel up and opening the lid, he took a hose from his bar's sink and filled the barrel to the second metal ring near the top.

After a moment of preparation, Princess Luna looked into the barrel, closed her eyes, and directed a solid beam of energy into the water. The liquid changed into a light red color, and then the alicorn ended her spell with an electrical zapping noise. Steiner had watched the whole time so he could try to copy the spell himself if possible, but was very curious as to whether or not the wish had actually worked. Looking into the wooden container, he could see that the water was indeed shifting from red, to yellow, in order of the rainbow all the way to violet. All he had to do now was carbonate this and flavor it, and it would work.

"This water retains the color changing effect you want, without taking on the properties of the water pegasi use!" said Princess Luna, "Your wish has been granted, Steiner!"

"I'll get to carbonating this right away! You will stay to try some, right?" asked the excited colt, knowing he was going to make a fortune off the drink.

"Oooh oooh!" said Pinkie Pie, licking her lips, "Yes! I want to be the first."

"I suppose one drink couldn't hurt." said Luna, smiling, "I was very hot in that textile market."





Steiner added the remaining ingredients to the barrel, sugar, flavoring, and syrup, before attaching the barrel to a nearby carbon dioxide pump and flipping the switch. It wasn't long before the soda was ready to enjoy, and Steiner attached a small faucet to the barrel to help dispense the drink. 

The unicorn filled several glass mugs with the color-changing soda, which frothed over the top of the mugs with white foam, and carried them outside of his shop, where he shouted, 
"I now have Color-Changing Candy Ale! Try the only drink in Equestria that actually changes color while you drink it!"

This got the attention and conversation of the outside ponies, and within minutes they had either lined up to buy a drink of the new soda, or had rushed to tell a friend about the new discovery. The Froth Shop was now full of patrons, sitting at all the tables and stools, and drinking the new invention.

"Ooh, this looks so pretty!" said a mare with teal curls, "And it's very sweet!"

Derpy Hooves sat at another table with her landlord Upkeep. She watched the drink in its red form, and said to her friend,

"I think it's cherry flavored!"

The soda morphed into a vibrant yellow, and Derpy tilted her head in confusion, "No, maybe lemon…"

As the carbonated drink shifted colors, she continued to guess what flavor it might be before giving up and slurping the whole drink down in 3 seconds flat.

"This is great!" said Steiner with joy, dispensing another soda to a customer, "I'm having my best business day all month!"

Two mares talking to each other while seated at a nearby table, however, began to notice something rather odd. One of them screamed loudly, startling some of the other customers. Her tongue, which she stuck out to show everyone was stained with the drink and was now changing colors. The same effect had happened to anypony who had taken a drink, even Pinkie Pie, who fell on the ground and laughed until she cried from just how stupid everyone looked with a color-changing tongue. Although some of the customers loved the novel effect, many of them didn't, and either left the bar in disgust at Princess Luna for helping to invent such a nasty drink or asked for Steiner to put up a warning notice to prevent any future "accidents" with the staining drink. Despite the setback, it seemed like he had a new gag product on his hands that might appeal for pranksters or younger ponies who liked to dye their tongues different colors. The bar cleared out shortly after the rainbow tongues incident, and it was quiet again.

"Perhaps we should move on with the lamp," sighed Princess Luna, "I'm sorry the drink didn't turn out quite as we'd hoped, Steiner."

"No, no, I shouldn't have added syrup, and used real cane sugar," said Steiner, looking at a half-empty mug, that's what made the color stick. I suppose it's true that you should be careful what you wish for. Anyways, I managed to get something out of this, and I appreciate the help."





Pinkie Pie bid Steiner farewell, and the two were on their way again to find another hapless pony to grant a wish for. This time, they found a spot near the east side of town, and a nice shady bush to hide from the citizens. The lamp sat unguarded near a small public water fountain, which due to its high use would certainly attract attention.

Along came a rather angry-looking pink-colored pegasus mare with a curly light blue hairstyle. She was staring at a stallion browsing Rose's edible flower cart. Spotting the lamp on the ground, she huffed and gave it a sharp kick with her front leg, sending it away from the fountain. Princess Luna took this as her cue, and once again teleported herself and Pinkie Pie to her location.

"Congratulations!" announced Princess Luna, appearing in a flash of dust and smoke, "For finding my lamp, you are to receive a wish!"

The mare snorted in disbelief, "Seriously?"

"Of course she's serious, she's Princess Luna!" stated Pinkie Pie, "Just make a wish already!"

"Well if you want to help me, there's this mean brute over there who dunked my little brother's head in a bucket of water at school this week," dhe said, her eyes showing intense hatred as she pointed at him.

The colt was a bratty teenager, his white coat offset by his short red mane and long red tail. Princess Luna wrinkled her nose in disapproval as she watched him make sure Rose wasn't looking, then quickly devoured one of the flowers from her cart.

"I wish you could cut that guy down to size!" she said.

Princess Luna turned towards the bully, and bent her head down. Firing a zigzagging bolt of blue light from her horn, the energy homed in on the colt and picked him up from the ground, before carrying him back screaming from the cart, getting everyone in the nearby area's attention. Following the literal meaning of the mare's request, the spell also shrank the mean stallion down to the size of a toy. He was held helplessly in the air before being dropped, and the light-blue haired pegasus caught him by his tail with her front teeth. She walked away from the two to deal with her brother's tormentor, while many other ponies started to surround Princess Luna and marvel at her new outfit.

"Wow, who designed that dress. Was it Rarity?" Came an awed female voice.

"No no, not the whole dress, just the glass ball on her tail," answered her husband.

Another male observer added, "You're kidding, right? That's a Saddle Arabian style. She must have gone on vacation and is showing off the gifts she got from 'em."

"Either way," said an excited voice, "The princess is out granting free wishes! Can I have a pool for my house?"

"That's not the way it works!" fussed Pinkie Pie, "You have to try to find the lamp after we hide it again!"

"Well that's not up to you," said someone eager for their own wish, "it's up to the Princess."

Princess Luna gave a nervous look to the small crowd, and took a step back. Her ridiculous genie outfit made it hard to move very quickly, so there was likely no escape save teleporting and risk hurting someone.

"My intent," she explained slowly, "was to help out just one pony at a time, in order to be of more use to you."

"You'd be of much more use if you'd just grant our wishes!" exclaimed one of the mares, hoping to wish for lots of money.

Now Princess Luna was trapped, but agreed to perform a few spells to help out. Some ponies wanted something as simple as a change in hairstyle or a repair job on their home. But many of them had more demands that the Princess simply couldn't fulfill using magic, requiring materials that could not simply be conjured out of nothing. Some of the wishes were also beginning to backfire, a new coat of paint on a house turned out to be striped due to Luna's rushing to fill the wishes, and a poor mare who'd asked for a new perspective on Ponyville had been left stranded in a tree.  The crowd was starting to get restless about the mistakes and the lack of free wishes, and talked amongst themselves until they all heard a loud flushing sound from the closest public restroom.

The dark pink pegasus from earlier stepped out of the ladies room and let out a huge laugh of victory.

"EEK!" shouted Pinkie Pie, jumping in the air as her hair went up in spikes, "YOU FLUSHED THAT GUY DOWN THE TOILET?"

"It seemed fitting," she answered, nodding her head.

"You fool, you could have drowned him!" shouted Luna angrily, "Now go get the sanitation officer and have him search the sewer for that stallion! I hope that spell doesn't wear off while he's in a small pipe!"

The pegasus' eyes grew wide as she realized she might have just bumped off the stallion, an unfitting consequence of him bullying her younger brother. She flew away as quickly as she could to go find the sewer maintenance crew.

"Can we go back to getting wishes now?" asked a pony.

"What is wrong with you ponies?" asked Pinkie Pie, "You're all asking for crazy stuff that's getting us into trouble! Can't any of you ask for something nice?"

At this point, a young colt pushed his way past the legs of the adults, and showed up in front of the two.

It was Depth, his eyes still bloodshot from his insomnia, who was ready to make his request. 

Princess Luna looked down at him and asked, "I suppose you have something to wish for too, young one?"

Depth said with concern, "I wish you'd just go back to being Princess Luna! I haven't been able to sleep for days."

"Come to think of it…" said a parent in the crowd, "My foal hasn't been sleeping so well lately, either."

"I know you've been granting wishes to try and be helpful and all," Depth continued, "but I'd really love it more if you'd just help us face our bad dreams and sleep."

"You want me to do my old job?" asked Princess Luna, "I thought nopony appreciated that part of my service anymore."

"We DO appreciate it!" assured Depth, "Or at least I do. Maybe some ponies take getting a rest from bad dreams for granted. Sometimes I think lots of ponies forget how much we need you every other day of the year besides Nightmare Night."

Pinkie Pie watched the faces of the adult ponies grow shameful. They were getting help from the Princess without giving her enough credit for it. Luna was overjoyed that she was still appreciated for what she did originally, and was more than happy to go back. Stepping back, she charged up her magical energy, and blasted away all of her new outfit, scattering it all over the ground. The wave of magic soared through Ponyville, undoing all the bad wishes, and freeing the bad stallion from the sewer pipes.  After all the wishes had been undo, Princess Luna once again was wearing her silver shoes, her tiara, and her hair returned to its cloak-like form, and waved gently.

"I accept your request! From now on I shall continue to do my job for as long as I am Princess!" she said, to the stomping applause of the residents. Depth let out a breath in relief, knowing he was finally going to get some aid.





Later in the day, Princess Luna prepared to leave Ponyville to head back to the castle for a busy night of making up for all the time she spent "being bored". Jools and Jops waited for her, tied up to the chariot.

Before she left, she said to Pinkie Pie, "I'm sorry your plan didn't turn out quite the way you hoped. I do not make a very good genie, Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie Pie smiled and said, "Actually, my plan went just as I thought it would! You're Princess Luna again!"

"What?" she asked, stumped by what Pinkie had said.

She laughed and then explained, "I talked to that little pony Depth yesterday. He was having trouble sleeping last night, and I knew that if you were being yourself you would have helped him already. So I knew I had to cheer you up and help you realize that we do appreciate your help! I made you go through all that silliness as part of my plan to get you back, and it worked!"

"You mean you planned this entire day just to try and make me feel better? The whole idea wasn't just a random thought of yours?" Luna asked, dumbfounded.

Pinkie Pie chuckled, "Of course not, Princess! What do you think I am, stupid or something?"

The alicorn smiled and said, "No, of course not. You're a very clever pony, Pinkie Pie. Thank you so much for your help."

"You're welcome!" she said cheerfully, "Now if you'll just let me get going, there might be enough time for me to use some of those fireworks I've been saving!"

The princess watched her bounce away merrily, and then boarded her chariot. As Jools and Jops pulled her away back for Canterlot castle, she looked down at the town below and knew that she felt appreciated by its residents. It didn't take trying to make everyone happy to be useful; all it took was doing what she was good at. She was also really glad to have gotten rid of that ridiculous costume, and was thrilled to be back in her royal clothes. Looking, down, she saw Pinkie Pie standing next to the pegasus pony from earlier, and the now-rescued bully making up with her little brother.

A shell from a cardboard tube near Pinkie Pie shot up from the ground and exploded in a flash of red and green stars. She had found those fireworks, and was setting them off as a treat for Ponyville. They knew that they could finally rest, now that they had their Princess of the Night back.