Fluttershy was humming happily as she flew about her cottage. Everything was going perfectly — she had cleaned all her animal friends, fed them, found a perfect pet for Cherry Berry's filly, fixed the roof, baked a fresh batch of cinnamon cookies for Discord's visit, even managed to get Angel Bunny to be less grumpy. It was indeed a red letter day and she couldn't be happier.
I could go see how Sweetie Belle is doing, Fluttershy considered. It had been days since she had checked on Opalescence. The cat's fur was delicate and required special care. Usually, Rarity would take good care of her, but urgent business had called her Canterlot. That left Sweetie Belle to take care of the pet, and despite all her overwhelming enthusiasm, the filly wasn't fully cut out for it.
“What do you think, Angel Bunny?” the pegasus asked, as she carefully brushed the dust around a spiderweb. “Should I—”
Before Fluttershy could finish, the door to her cottage swung open.
“Meekest Fluttershy!” Princess Luna flew in along with a strong gust of wind that swept through the room. “There is something I need to speak with you about!”
Fluttershy didn't think twice. At the sight of the Princess, she shrieked in fear and darted to safety under her bed. Please go away! Please go away! she thought, shivering as memories of Nightmare Moon filled her mind. It didn't matter that she knew perfectly well that Luna had was a different pony now, or that, in fact, they had spent a whole night observing the migration of lunar moths five days ago. The yellow pony's reaction to any scare was the same – flight, never fight.
“Fluttershy?” Luna's voice repeated, this time closer to the pegasus' hiding place. “Fluttershy, why are you hiding?” Her head popped in under the bed. “Nightmare Night is months away. Is something else troubling you?”
“Umm, no, nothing, Princess,” Fluttershy moved further away, still shivering.
“Good, for I need your help with something,” Luna continued not in the least concerned with the shock the pony was going through. “There's this puff of chaos I don't know how to deal with.”
Puff of chaos? The phrase was interesting enough to get Fluttershy to stir a bit, then relax, then calm down enough so as to emerge from under her bed. Puff of chaos? Does that mean a chaos puppy? I've always wanted to see a chaos puppy!
Fluttershy took a deep breath, then timidly moved to the outside. The cottage was very much like it always was, with the exception of an impatient alicorn tapping her hoof in the middle of the living-room. Fluttershy swallowed.
“So, umm, where is the, umm?” She approached meekly.
Instead of an answer, Luna took out a small ball of fur from under her wing, placing it on the floor. Fluttershy's eyes widened.
“A baby kitten!” she said, instantly recognizing the creature. “I've always loved kittens! Just as I like all the other little baby animals. I never thought you'd get a pet, Princess.” Hearing that, the alicorn snorted, looking away. “I always considered you more, umm, reserved.” That was putting it mildly, of course. On the few occasions Fluttershy had tried to bring up the idea of a pet, Luna had seemed particularly disinterested in the prospect. For her get a kitten, of all animals, showed significant commitment.
“How do I get rid of it?” Luna asked uncompromisingly, causing the pegasus to eeep in fear. “Oh, no, no, no.” The princess quickly waved a hoof defensively. “I do not wish to harm it. I want it to stay away from me.”
“Oh.” Fluttershy asked. That’s a huge relief. “Umm, why do you want it to stay away?”
“Because it's ever so annoying!” Luna's entire expression became distorted as she spoke. “It keeps trying to leap onto me, claw me, bite my feathers and my tail, break anything it could, and unless it's asleep — it won't even stay in one place!” She stopped, breathing heavily. For a moment, Fluttershy could swear she saw steam coming out of the Princess' nostrils. “And every time I set my mind to punish it, it looks at me with the most adorable, innocent expression, causing me to forget all the harm it's done. A real menace! I have faced Discordian generals less bothersome!”
“Umm,” the pegasus chuckled. “That is how kittens behave, Princess. At times they could be a hooffull, but with enough care and dedication, they will—”
“No!” Luna cut her short. “No care, no dedication! You know everything about animals, tell me how to keep it away from me!"
A puzzling request. The kitten looked quite calm, innocent event. Still not used to its surroundings, it looked about curiously. It seemed so absolutely adorable! Why in Equestria would anypony not want to be with it?
Gently, Fluttershy moved closer, then started patting the feline on the head with her hoof.
"Careful!" Luna warmed. "It'll leap and claw and climb all over you!"
"Now, now, I'm sure it'll do no such thing." Fluttershy scooped it from the ground, then to Luna's horror hugged it tenderly. What was more the kitten seemed to like it. "You're a good little kitty, aren't you? You would never do anything bad."
"Just wait ‘till it bites off a feather," the Princess said, unconvinced. She did appear a bit intrigued, though. Possibly because the kitten's purring was loud enough to fill the entire cottage.
"You just want some attention, don't you, little one?" The pegasus snuggled the kitten a bit more than put it on her head. So sweet. Just like Opal, when she was younger. "What's its name?" She turned to Luna. The Princess looked back blankly. "Umm, Princess, it does have a name?"
"Oh, probably." The alicorn waved a hoof. "I just call it 'puff'."
"Puff?" Fluttershy's eyes grew wide. "That's a lovely name!" Luna arched a brow. "It really is a cute little puff."
"That's not all it is," Luna grumbled. "It can fly," she stated, at which Fluttershy gave her a confused look. "Float rather. It can also walk on clouds, vanish when it feels like it—" she gave the kitten a quick glare, "—and also one other thing. Just take it to your hiding place, and you'll see."
“Oh, no, I, umm, can't possibly do that,” Fluttershy shooker her head, careful not to have the kitten fall off. “I don't want to frighten the poor little dear and...” Her voice trailed off. By the looks of it, the princess wasn't taking no for an answer. “Umm, maybe I could go there for a teensy weensy bit.”
Of dear, oh dear. Princess Luna is upset. Surely she doesn't want anything bad to happen to the kitten. I'm just imagining things, again, like when Princess Celestia brought Philomena. I got everypony in so much trouble back then, and even had Philomena go through a horrible ordeal.
Reluctantly, the pony went under her bed again, kitten on head.
“And be sure that there is no light!” the princess ordered.
Fluttershy complied. There’s nothing to be afraid. It'll only be dark for a few moments, she tried to give herself courage. Slowly, she took the kitten from her head... then gasped in amazement. The kitten was glowing! Stronger than normal luminescence, more powerful than a firefly’s glow, the animal light up the space under the bed, with soothing white light. For a moment it almost seemed as if the moon itself had changed shape and crawled next to Fluttershy.
“You can shine!” she said excited and petted it. The kitten let out a happy meow. “As if your fur is made of moonlight. Moonlight?” the pegasus mused. That wasn't a bad name. Actually it was quite nice – far better than 'Puff' for one thing. “Do you want to be called Moonlight, little one?”
The kitten meowed again happily.
“I'm so happy, Moonlight!” Fluttershy rubbed her nuzzle against it. “And Princess Luna will be overjoyed. I am sure that—”
“Meekest Fluttershy?” Luna's voice boomed. “Did the beast try to chew your feathers off? Do you need any help dragging it off you”
“Heh, heh,” Fluttershy laughed tensely. “I am sure the Princess is just joking.”
Remember, Fluttershy, this is not Nightmare Moon. This is your friend, who also finds night creatures fascinating, and who... is really scary looking when upset!
"Well, what do you think?" Luna asked eagerly, as Fluttershy emerged from under the bed. Seeing the alicorn, the kitten instantly meowed and ran in her direction. Annoyed, the Princess pretended to take no notice, although she didn't move away when the kitten started rubbing itself against her hooves.
"Umm, well, it shines." Fluttershy tried to remain neutral.
"It shines, it flies, it follows me everywhere!" Luna complained, although unconsciously she lifted a hoof to pat the kitten on the head. Only after a few moments did she realize what she was about to do. Annoyed with herself, she promptly pushed the creature back towards Fluttershy. "Just take it and keep it here! And if anything unexpected happens — have Spike send me a scroll."
"But I have tea with Discord in less than an hour—" Fluttershy began.
Before the pegasus could finish, the Princess had gone, just as unexpectedly as she had arrived. Fluttershy was at a loss for words. Had Luna dumped a kitten on her? Maybe she has terribly important work to do and wants me to take care of Moonlight until she’s done?
The kitten turned out to be quite well behaved, despite Luna's insistence on the contrary. It's peculiar nature made it a bit more reckless than most kittens Fluttershy had taken care of. The floating, in particular, proved to be a nuisance, as it would easily reach top shelves and play with the most fragile objects it could find. A few words from Fluttershy, however, had ensured that the only damages were a few broken glasses. It also helped that Angel kept an ever-vigilant eye, constantly following Moonlight throughout the cottage.
The only concern, on Fluttershy’s part, was the kitten's complete dislike of food. The pegasus wasn't foreign to picky eaters. Angel Bunny was a prime example choosing to eat only what caught his fancy. Fluttershy had lost count of the amount of times she had resorted to the stare to get him to eat. Moonlight was different. the kitten wasn't choosy, rather it found everything offered completely inedible. Solids posed no interest, milk had caused it to become sick, even pure rainwater had set the kitten on a coughing spree.
"You really, really, really must eat something, Moonlight." Fluttershy pushed a cup of sweetened milk mixed with catnip. "Just a tiny little sip," she pleaded. "Just one."
The kitten looked at the milk with its large blue eyes, then back at the pegasus, as if saying "please don't make me eat that." Fluttershy was just about to make another attempt, when a loud poof came from the living-room.
"Why, hello there, Fluttershy!" A familiar voice said. "So sorry, but I seem to have come a tad early today," he said in mock-apology, as he knocked on the door from the inside. "I do hope I could come in?"
"Oh, yes, if course," Fluttershy turned around with a smile. Oh, Discord. You always are so silly. "Please, take a seat, I'll be with you in a moment." For a few seconds she wondered whether to remind the draconequus not to take the phrase literally this time. It's just a little fun. And it's not like anypony will get harmed. I wouldn't want to hurt Discord’s feelings.
"Please try to eat something, Moonlight." Fluttershy turned towards the kitten again. "I'll just spend some time with a friend. Angel will keep you company so that you don't feel lonely. Isn't that right, Angel?" The bunny didn't seem one bit pleased, but after a moment's grumbling, nodded. Apparently he preferred anything than to be near Discord.
"Oh, thank you, Angel!" I knew I could always rely on you. "I promise to prepare your favourite dessert tomorrow!" Receiving a disgruntled nod, Fluttershy quickly rushed through the kitchen to get her tea set. No sooner had she done so, then she suddenly found herself sitting across a table from the draconequus, tea tray still in her hooves.
"Well, seeing how rushed you were I thought I'd give you a hand," Discord said mischievously, then snapped his fingers. A tray of cookies appeared on the table. "Get it? Give you a hand?" He started laughing. Fluttershy politely joined in, clueless as to what the funny part was.
"So tell me, Fluttershy," the Spirit of Chaos took a cap and started pouring tea back into the teapot, "did I tell you about my latest adventures?"
"Umm," the pegasus managed to say, before her guest continued his tale.
"So, there I was, innocently improving the gardens of Canterlot.” With the flick of his claw a green hat appeared on his head. "You see, I was convinced that dear old Celestia was about to get bored with the current state of her garden. Why, that dreadful place has seen less change than me when I was a statue. So, I decided to plant a few chaos seeds, to liven things up. Just a small amount — hardly seventeen hundred or so."
"Seventeen hundred?" Fluttershy took a sip of her tea. "Oh, my..."
"Yes, I know," the draconequus sighed. "Should have been seventeen thousand. Guess you can call me a bit stingy, but with the cost of chaos being at an all-time high, I thought—" There was a sudden silence. Discord's expression changed to alarm, then surprise and finally annoyance. A full ten seconds later he coughed diplomatically once, paw in front of his mouth. "Tell, me Fluttershy, has something new happened to you since my last visit?"
The pegasus blinked. It was very unlike Discord to stop mid sentence. If anything, the problem usually was to get him to stop.
"Umm, no, not that I..." She tried to think of everything that had happened since last week. Well, I did get a few books to read to my animal friends. And I did agree to have my mane done at Rarity's insistence. Maybe the letter I got from Treehugger counts as something new? I thought she and Discord had made up.
"Well?" The draconequus asked impatiently.
"I, umm, fixed the roof?" Fluttershy suggested. "I, umm, also had my mane done." She blushed ever so slightly.
"What?" Discord arched a brow. "Yes, yes, very nice," he said waving a paw, entirely disinterested. "Have you been around any magical beasts, by chance?" He looked her straight in the eye. "Like, you know, a savage magic kitten?!" He showed her his tail — there was kitten a dangling from.
"Moonlight!" Fluttershy screamed in panic.
"Well I'm glad you are worried about—" Discord began, then stopped abruptly. "Wait what? Moonlight? Seriously? You wound me, Fluttershy." A set of violins appeared in the air behind him, all playing a sad melody. "You wound me more than the teeth of this foul beast that is trying to eat me alive!"
"Now, now, Discord, that isn't very nice!" Fluttershy scolded, as she flew to the kitten. "Moonlight is just a small innocent kitten. Just because he’s playful, doesn't mean you have to be mean."
"Playful?!" Discord said in utter disbelief. "You call this playful? It's trying to eat me alive!"
"Oh, hush!" Gently, the pegasus took the kitten with her forehooves. "Now, now, Moonlight. It's all right to be playful, but we don't just bite the tail of guests. Discord could be a dear—" a loud "humph" came from the draconequus, as he crossed his arms, "—but it is impolite to do that, while we are having tea."
"Mrrw?" The kitten looked at her. For several moments it hesitated, before releasing its prey. "Meow," it sad sadly.
"Don't worry, Moonlight." Fluttershy smiled. "I'm sure he forgives you."
"What?! I what?" Discord asked, furious. "Why I, never! I've been hurt beyond measure!" He said dramatically, paw over face, before proceeding to fall backwards on a therapist's couch that just happened to poof into existence beneath him.
"Discord..."
"Fine, alright," the draconequus grumbled, proofing back to the tea table. "I suppose I could, as long as that aether beast keeps to itself."
"Moonlight is no beast! He is just a cute little kitten in need of some love and care!"
"Yes, sure, and I'm Princess Celestia." Discord transformed into a caricature of the Sun Princess, crown, horn, mane and all. "Wait? Don't tell me you really don't know."
"Know?" Fluttershy asked.
"Really?" Discord's jaw dropped off his face, landing on the table and tap-dancing away. "You really don't know what this thing is?" A new jaw appeared as the draconequus asked. Fluttershy just looked at him, saying nothing. "What you have there, dearest Fluttershy, is what we in the biz call an 'aether beast'. A creature most foul that is aether materialized, made solid in a..." He looked at the creature inquisitively. "A furry ball of—"
"Moonlight," Fluttershy added helpfully.
"A furry ball of moonlight?" Discord mused, paw on chin. "Well, I guess it could work. Then again, you don't have my vast experience of thing-naming and whatchamacallit. Still, I'm curious where you got an aether—" he shuddered, "—kitten."
"Aether kitten? Is that what it's called?" Fluttershy continued to rub the feline's belly, making it purr happily. "Hear that, Moonlight? You are an adorable aether kitten. Princess Luna is going to be so happy when I tell her."
"What?!" Discord's eyes popped out of their sockets. "Little Luna brought this?"
"Uh huh." The pegasus nodded happily. "She said it was following her everywhere, so she brought it to me."
"Following her everywhere, you say?" An evil grin appeared on Discord's face. "And I thought nothing interesting happened in Canterlot." He rubbed his forelimbs.