Luna's Lessons

by Rhonie8k

Revenge is Sweet, Like Cake But Not Like Chocolate Covered Dirt

Celestia sighed quietly in her chambers, her face flushed with anger. Two cakes sat on her nightstand, all she could do was stare in disbelief. The first cake had a large bite taken from it. The second was nothing but a few crumbs with a fork laid across them.

“Even that whole cake couldn’t cleanse my tongue of the wretched taste of dirt. Every sweet delicious bite left behind a fresh aftertaste of dry soil.” Sorrow laced the ruler's words as she longed to rid the foul taste from her mouth.

The princess began to pace her chambers.

“It was a clever prank sister, but retribution will be swift and harsh. I’m not sure who all conspired with you against me; so all your friends will feel my wrath.”

She examined the box the first cake had been delivered in. Sugar Cube Corner was written across the top.

“In addition to Luna and her trio of friends, the pink one that’s friends with Twilight was obviously involved. How can I get revenge on a group of five without actually hurting anypony?” Her words were laced with childish scorn.

Celestia made her way to the balcony hoping the fresh night air would clear her mind and give her an idea. A cool breeze washed over her taking a little of her anger with it as it trickled slowly past.

“Oh, Luna what am I going to do? You had me so angry, for a moment I wanted to send you back to the moon.” Celestia sighed heavily gazing up at the night's sky

It was like a light went on above her head. Celestia had a plan.

***

“LUNA! LUNA! WAKE UP! LUNA, YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!”

The princess stirred a bit but kept her eyes closed.

“Vinyl your impression of the Royal Canterlot Voice is getting better, but the sun isn’t even up yet and I need more sleep.” The princess pulled her pillow over her head to drown out her friend’s persisting pleas.

“Luna, something strange is going on, and you have to open your eyes to believe it.” The sophisticated tone of Vinyl’s marefriend broke past Luna’s pillow barrier.

“Really, you too? I thought pranking was something too juvenile to expect from you Octavia.”
The princess pulled her pillow closer still. Her agitation with her friends was growing with every wink of sleep lost.

“Prank? Is that why it looks like we’re on the moon? We all got together to prank Luna? I don’t remember anything about that. Unless you guys are pranking me too. That must be it. Wow, you guys are the best at pranking.” A pink earth mare sprang excitedly from beneath Luna’s bed

“Pinkie Pie?” Luna mumbled from beneath her pillow face guard, her anger mixed with surprise that most of who she called her friends were involved.

“Luna, you know I like a prank as much as the next pony, but these guys are serious. You really should open your eyes.” Came the uncertain voice of a certain aqua unicorn.

“Lyra if this ends up being a prank you’re going have to find a new place to live for letting all these ponies in this late.” Luna tossed her pillow heavily towards the voices hoping somepony would pay for disturbing her slumber. Even if it just meant getting hit by a weightless bag of feathers.

With one last calming breath Luna opened her eyes.

“CELESTIA!!!!!”

Luna was left without a doubt now that she was seeing it with her own eyes. Five ponies, three beds, and a futon had been transported to her thousand-year prison on the moon.

Tears streamed down the alicorn's face and her breathing was fast and panicked.

“It was just a prank, Tia. This line of action was uncalled for. It was just a silly little prank.” Luna had curled into the fetal position and was rocking slowly back and forth as she wept to her friends, as well as herself.

“Whoa hold up Luna. Are you trying to tell me Celestia banished the five of us to the moon because we sent her a dirt cake?” Lyra’s words were filled with disbelief as she suddenly took some grasp on the situation.

Luna’s sobbing grew louder.

“You guys sent, the most powerful being in Equestria, a cake made of dirt? And she ate it, that is so awesome.” Vinyl applauded.

Luna’s sobs grew longer.

“Vinyl, this isn’t the time for praise. This is a serious situation. WE HAVE BEEN BANISHED TO THE MOON! Apparently, because of that prank you find so fascinating. “ Octavia scolded with a harsh glare in her marefriend’s direction.

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! TIA WHY WOULD YOU GO THIS FAR IT WAS JUST ONE LITTLE PRANK!” Luna buried her face in her mattress to muffle her sobs.

“WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! Guys, guys, guys, on the moon when you jump on the bed you go even higher it's so much fun you all have to try it.” Pinkie Pie cried as she bounced happily in the lower gravity of the moon.

“Pinkamena Diane Pie this is a serious situation, and I would appreciate it if you would act like it,” Octavia said in the same scolding voice she used before.

The pink pony stopped and froze mid-bounce lingering for a moment before she fell back to the bed with a frown.

“Tavi, first off let me start by saying you might have been a little harsh with her. Second, why do you know Pinkie’s full name?” Vinyl gave the pink earth mare a reassuring pat on the back as she glared at Octavia from behind her sunglass. A glare that would be unnoticeable behind the thick shades even outside the darkness of the moon.

“Vinyl this situation is quite serious, and if you don’t start acting it I’ll let the others know what your real name is.” Octavia’s words had lost some of the sharpness, but none of their purpose.

“Tavi you couldn’t, you wouldn’t.” Vinyl stammered dumbfoundedly.

“You know I can, and you know I will.” Octavia threatened once again the words laced with a degree of sharpness.

Lyra and Pinkie sat in awe of the couple's little spat. Pinkie somehow pulled a bag of popcorn out of nowhere and was munching on it as she watched the two go back and forth. She held the bag toward Lyra who was too mesmerized to even notice.

Vinyl turned a light shade of pink for a moment as her marefriend’s words sunk in.

“Okay so until Luna snaps out of her panic I vote that Tavi is in charge. Any objections? No? Good. Okay Tavi, what should we do?” Her words were rushed and laced with panic. Her motivation was simple.

Pinkie hid the popcorn before the pair had a chance to look her way.

“That sounds super duper great! I pinkie promise I’ll try to take this seriously for you Tavi.” She motioned with her hoof a few times before sticking it in her closed eye, “But to me, this feels like an exciting new adventure and that just sounds like it should be super duper fun.” Pinkie’s voice was still bursting with excitement, but the others could tell she had on the most serious face she could muster.

A moment of silence fell around the four ponies. Luna’s muffle squalls the only noise as the group stared at Octavia waiting for her to come up with a plan. After a long moment of silence Octavia let out a sigh. She knew nothing she could do would get them home. The only pony who stood even a chance at that was Luna.

The gray earth mare approached the distraught alicorn and gently patted her back.

“It's okay dear, but you need to calm down.” Octavia knew as soon as the word left her mouth that it was the wrong thing to say. Rule number one is to never tell an upset mare to calm down. “Everypony here is safe and that's good. We will all work together and find a way to get home, but we need your help if we're even to try.”

Luna’s tears finally began to subside. Octavia was right in a way. Truthfully she knew they had no way off the moon until Celestia came to her senses. They would however need to work together to make their imprisonment even remotely bearable.

“Okay everypony listen up. I don’t know what sick game Tia has decided to play with us but I do know it can’t last forever. We have with us a bearer of one of the elements of harmony…..”

“Ooooh oooh, that's me! I’m the element of laughter.” The pink pony interrupted bouncing up and down.

“Yes, Pinkie. Without you the other elements are useless so if an event were to break out that required their magic, Tia would be in trouble. This leads me to believe she doesn’t intend to keep us here very long. However, I haven’t the magical strength to send any of us home even if I channeled strength from Lyra and Vinyl. I will, however, try to send a message to Tia but to do so I must locate Terra. I want the four of you to stay put here. It’s very easy to get lost on the moon and the last thing we need is to be separated. I will be back shortly.”

Luna took off in a random direction. It didn't matter which way she went as long as she only continued straight ahead, so she wouldn’t get lost. Eventually, Terra would come into view and Luna would know where to direct her communication spell. Luna had another reason for leaving her friends behind, the words she had in mind for Celestia were not words one said in friendly company.

It had been nearly an hour of walking, Luna had forgotten how big the moon truly was when a strange sight came into view. There was some sort of blue magical veil radiating in the distance. Luna galloped at full speed to investigate the strange occurrence. As she breached it Luna was struck with a new sense of confusion.

“Vinyl? This doesn’t make any sense. I shouldn’t be back here yet.” Luna looked up at the sky and a realization sunk in. A surge of different emotions suddenly flooded the mare; anger, joy, sadness, and even admiration.

“These are not my stars and this is not my moon. Tia has tricked us all. I don’t know where we are for certain, but if this artificial prison is in Equestria I can teleport everything and everyone home myself. Before I do though I have a question. Who thinks we should get Tia back for her cruel prank. I have an idea that will get her back so well she will never be able to prank us back.”

It was surprising that the first hoof in the air was grey. It was less surprising that three other hooves quickly joined it.

There was a flash of magic that shone like the midnight sky and the group of ponies suddenly appeared in the familiar space of Luna’s living room. The familiar glow of sunset crept through the window.

The apartment was perfectly in order so Luna knew the spell had likely been a perfect success. At worst one of the other beds would be off by a few inches, and only because Luna had never seen them in their home position.

“We have to act fast before Tia knows we left. I will put on the guise of Nightmare Moon and you four shall be my Shadow Stars. Illusionary magic can be tricky I don’t think I can flawless cover us all, especially with some of the effects we’ll need. Lyra, you and Vinyl will have to cover your disguises. I should be able to hand three myself. We strike at sunrise.”

An evil grin spread through the group until everypony wore the same expression. One of revenge.

Comments

[Perteks]

Ooh this gonna be good

[Rhonie8k]

5096441
I think so too.

[Anarchy stead]

Great story bro! I am impressed at your knack for comedy mixed with the real emotions of the characters. That is what makes you a great writer in my eyes. Keep on doin you bro.

[Rhonie8k]

7977563 Thanks for you comment it means a lot that some one found this and still thought something nice of it unfortunately i haven't felt much like writing and I've never been able to find the right way to end the cliffhanger and if i wanted to end the story there or lead into further events or end it and set up a possible sequel. I have recently started reading more after a hefty break from doing that far too infrequently and that has a habit of leading into writing so its possible i may feel inspired to finish this sometime soon but i wont say its likely and i'd just like to apologize for that possibility in advance.

[Anarchy stead]

All good cuz, you do you.