Luna's Lessons

by Rhonie8k

The Dinner Party

Luna shot another glare across the table, right at The Goddess of the Day. The glare was returned, and the two took a moment to partake in a heated staring contest. The two goddesses sat, unblinking, at opposite ends of the long table in the royal dining hall. The contest ended in a tie when the aquamarine unicorn sitting to Luna’s left accidentally knocked her cutlery off the table. All attention migrated towards her at the blunder.

"It was an accident. I swear, it was just a mistake.” Lyra half-shouted and ended with a small nervous laugh.

Lyra looked at Luna with a small smile. Luna’s face remained cold as stone, and the unicorn tried against all odds to turn invisible. As she sank back into her seat.

Opposite Lyra, a white unicorn and grey earth pony were sharing in the solemn mood of the situation. The pair's usually warm and playful bickering was replaced with thick tension. Throughout the night when addressed separately either pony had acted just like themselves, however, when addressed together they would share a quick leer of their own followed by a frigid response. The subject was left untouched nopony seemed willing to get in the middle of somepony else’s problems.

The silence was broken once again; this time by a lavender unicorn occupying the seat to Celestia’s right clearing her throat.

“So Princess Luna, I was researching astronomy recently and one of the books said you originally arranged the constellations of the night sky. I find your work simply beautiful.” The lavender unicorn spoke with enthusiasm and a hint of nervousness.

Luna shot her sister another glare.

“Thank you, Twilight. While we currently leave our masterpiece in our sister’s hooves, we indeed mapped them originally.” Luna spoke calmly but her voice lacked any warmth or enthusiasm. Much to Twilight’s dismay.

Silence hung awkwardly in the air for a moment until there was a knock interrupted the group and a maid entered announcing dinner had arrived.

****

The morning sun shone through the blinds, abruptly pulling Luna from her slumber. She struggled with her covers in a wasted attempt to shield her eyes. It was too late though the damage was done. She was awake.

“Curse Celestia and her morning sun. If we didn’t know better we would swear she watches our dreams. She waits for the most inopportune moment before positioning the sun at that perfect angle so it shines right in our eyes.”

Luna went about her morning preparations; brushing her mane, putting the tea on, washing her face, and finally settling down with the paper and a cup of tea. Upon seeing the date atop the front page a huge smile broke out on her face. Today was her sister’s dinner party.

Before she could do anything else the bell she had installed for visitors started going off. She went to the window and saw Lyra waiting outside.

“Come on up,” Luna called, tossing her keys down to her friend.

Vinyl had shown Lyra how to do her wall walking spell, but she got sick when she used it. She continued with her preference for the front entrance over the use of such a nauseating spell. It was easier for Luna to just trust her to let herself in and lock up before making her way upstairs.

A few minutes later Lyra walked through the doorway and tossed the keys back to Luna. When Luna caught the keys she started making her way to the bathroom.

Luna made her way to the wardrobe to pick out a dress. After five minutes of throwing everything she saw into a pile on the floor, the wardrobe was empty. Now all her clothes were poorly arranged on the floor behind her. She quickly shoved everything back in the wardrobe, having decided to go without. Nopony would expect her to dress up for a dinner party after all.

As Luna closed her messy wardrobe Lyra emerged from the bathroom wearing an elegant but simple silver dress.

“Do you like it? You said this was a casual dinner party, but how casual can a dinner party with both princesses at the royal palace in Canterlot actually be? I asked Rarity to keep it simple and think she did a wonderful job.” Lyra proclaimed with a twirl to show off the whole dress.

“You look lovely. We couldn’t find a dress that fit the occasion so we shall be going like this." Luna gestured at herself emphasizing her choice to go bare. "We need to leave now if we're going to meet the others before the train leaves though.”

It was a short walk to the train station. The train was set to leave in ten minutes so the duo needed to find their friends posthaste. They walked the full length of the train before meeting up with the couple, both of whom looked rather upset. Lyra and Luna shared a look of concern before shrugging it off, as it's not their business. Both ponies wore nothing but bow-ties with collars. Vinyl sported a forest green bow tie with a grey collar, while Octavia wore a pink bow tie with a white collar. They exchanged hasty greetings before boarding the train and finding a private compartment.

Luna took a seat by the window and was surprised when Octavia took the open seat beside her. Vinyl sat opposite Luna, while a little confused Lyra took the seat across from Octavia. There was a certain tension in the air, but it was dissolved when idle chit-chat broke out. Lyra chatted with Octavia about classical music. Something Lyra knew a bit about since her special talent was playing the lyre. Vinyl told Luna about this insane rave she performed earlier in the week, some crazy ponies got in a fight with glow sticks. Lyra and Luna had a conversation about Pony Kombat and the advantages each of their characters had over the rest of the field.

The train arrived as scheduled in the early afternoon. The group made their way out of the station to find a royal carriage waiting to take them to the palace. The ride was mostly uneventful, and soon the four ponies found themselves in the entrance hall of the palace.

“Hey, Luna, which way is the bathroom? I want to check myself in the mirror before we get to dinner.” Lyra asked with a smile.

Luna called one of the guards over and ordered him to escort her friend to the nearest washroom, and show her to the west dining hall when she was ready. The guard gave her a salute before escorting the unicorn down a nearby hall. His only acknowledgment to the unicorn was a flick of the tail. She took it to mean she should follow.

Luna led the rest of her group down a different hallway and entered an empty dining hall. She took the empty seat at the nearest end of the table. Vinyl claimed the seat to her right with Octavia hesitantly taking the seat next to her mare friend. A moment after taking her seat a letter magically appeared in front of Luna.

Dearest Sister,

I have just been informed you have arrived and made your way to the west dining hall as I requested. My student and I will be along shortly, we’re going over her latest friendship lesson. It reminded me of a game we played as foals, the one in which we would see who can go the longest without smiling. I challenge you to a game of frowns. The winner will be crowned best princess. Telling anypony results in instant disqualification as it could be used as an unfair advantage.

Signed

Princess Celestia Goddess of the Sun

Luna frowned at the letter, a frown she planned to hold on to for the rest of the night if necessary.

Lyra followed the guard down a hallway, after a while, he motioned to the door before taking post outside. She went inside and stood in front of the mirror. She was the only one who decided to wear a dress, and now she was having second thoughts about it. She thought about taking it off but it seemed too late for that, for a few reasons. Luna and the others would question her change of heart; that and she had nowhere to put it if she took it off. Lyra did a quick turn, hoping to find a way to tune it down without destroying it. The dress got caught on a statue on the sink and before she could do anything it hit the floor. A look of panic grew on her face.

*CRASH*

“Miss is everything alright in there?” The guard asked from the hall a hint of concern in his voice, mostly for his job.

“Yes, I’ll be out in a moment. Don’t come in I’m fixing my dress.” Lyra replies in a rushed panic.

She scooped up the broken shards of the statue and tossed them in the trash before covering them with excessive amounts of paper towels. She was hoping the guard wouldn’t check the bathroom when she left and if he did she hoped he didn’t know about the statue. She unlocked the door and made her way back to the hall with a nervous look on her face.

“I thought I heard something fall?” The guard questioned.

“I-I tripped that was all. Please don’t mention it to anypony. I was hoping you hadn’t heard me, oh I’m so embarrassed.” Lyra pleaded with a little batting of her eyelashes.

The guard nodded and took off down the hall, motioning again for her to follow. They went down two halls before he pointed out the door to the dining hall where her friends waited. The guard made his way back to the bathroom with a sigh.

The door at the far end of the dining hall opened revealing Celestia and her student. Celestia bore a somber expression, while the young unicorn at her side had a warm smile on her face.

A moment later the other door opened as Lyra arrived and took the remaining seat next to Luna.

“Welcome Everypony. Originally this was going to be a bigger party, but I decided a small gathering would be more enjoyable.” It wasn’t a warm welcome but anything more and Celestia might have broken out into a smile, and judging by her sister’s expression she was in a very serious battle of wills.

****

An awkward silence hung in the air throughout dinner, nopony had said anything since the food arrived. That silence was broken when Octavia’s hoof bumped Vinyl’s plate, knocking it over.

“Wow Tavi, I told you I had nothing to do with your bow breaking, even though you already scratched my album, and now you had to do something childish like spilling my food.” Vinyl's tone was harsh and unrelenting.

“Vinyl you’re embarrassing me! Bumping your plate was an accident. I told you we would talk about our situation more when we got home. You’re ruining this for Luna.” Her tone was more hushed with a hint of panic.

Everypony was watching the situation with wide eyes. Nopony had expected anything like this from the couple.

The tension was too much for Lyra and she broke it the only way she could think of.

“I broke a statue in the guest washroom and hid it in the trash!” It came out as a shout but in a soft whispered voice.

Even Lyra was surprised at her words. Every pony present reacted differently. Vinyl’s mouth went agape with shock. Octavia regained most of her composure but frowned at the fact it came at somepony else’s expense. Twilight was wearing a look of total bewilderment. Luna gave her sister another cold stare.

This was where Celestia lost it. She burst into a fit of laughter.

“Excuse me. I’m so sorry. I got so caught up in a game with my sister I didn’t think to ask anypony what was troubling them. More importantly, I forgot to deliver this note to the two of you.”
Celestia produced a note with her magic and levitated it to Octavia, who proceeded to read the short message to the entire company.

“I hope this gets to you before my mistake causes too much trouble. I was making a delivery to your apartment this morning and when no one answered I tried to set it in through the window. It fell off the desk and I think it broke a few things. I’m awfully sorry. I tried to stick around to explain myself but I had so many other deliveries to make. When I got finished I asked around if anyone had seen you. Spike said he heard that you were attending a dinner party at the palace. He told me I could write a letter and he would send it to Celestia. I hope you two enjoy your evening and I promise to pay for everything. My regards, Derpy Hooves.” A fresh wave of embracement washed over both Vinyl and Octavia as she finished.

“I’m sorry for what I said Tavi. Can you forgive me?” Vinyl was playing with her sunglasses and trying not to look at the other mare.

“I’m sorry as well Vinyl. I also said things, pretty awful things, I wish I hadn’t.” Octavia was trying to find her marefriend’s eyes behind the thick lenses.

The couple shared a tight embrace that lasted until Celestia spoke again.

“Let me apologize again for forgetting to deliver that. I did not expect it to be so important. As for the statue, think nothing of it my little pony. Those statues get broken at least once a week. If I had to guess it's already been replaced. We have an entire walk-in closet filled with them. Sometimes I think it’s too much, but we already have thousands of them. I suppose when the last one is finally broken we won’t bother anymore. “

It was Luna’s turn to speak.

“Twilight let us apologize for our earlier coldness. Tia challenged us to a game of frowns; the goal being to see who can go the longest without smiling. We shall do our best to make it up to you. How about we come over one night next week and we can watch the stars and discuss them further?”

Twilight’s eyes lit up with joy and she broke into a giant smile.

“That sounds like fun!” Twilight was oozing with enthusiasm

With that everyone returned to their food. A new plate was brought in for Vinyl, nachos this time as Celestia asked if she had a special request. Luna stole a few chips when she thought nopony was watching.

Everypony had a good time with the rest of the evening. The mood was light and laughter was plentiful. When it had come time to leave Celestia followed the group of friends as far as the entrance hall.

“Well sister, despite our rough start, tonight was very enjoyable we must do it again. Also, rules are rules and you won our little game. I, Princess Celestia, declare that Princess Luna is best princess.”

Comments

[Thorax]

Looking good so far, when I have some more time I'll try and catch up.

[Perteks]

i.chzbgr.com/completestore/12/11/13/PMr7mhdb8UOYQIbJ9MWfSg2.gif

[Luna Secret Stallion]

Princess Luna is best princess. Well no duh everybody knows this.

[Rhonie8k]

2775590
Well yeah but now Celestia has admitted so no pony can deny it.

2774586

Sadly I have to admit that the Derpy encounter was not my idea. I was talking to my editor and explained the chapter had a snag. I explained that I wanted Tavi and Vinyl fighting over broken stuff but didn't know how to cause it or resolve it. She suggested Derpy show up to explain it was her fault. I liked the Derpy idea but I thought it would be better to use Trollestia [although she hadn't read the letter to know how important it was]as a reason for things to be resolved later. Plus I couldnt justify Derpy chasing them all the way to the palace.

[Rhonie8k]

2774518

How far along are you if may ask?

[Rhonie8k]

Very sorry but I have to take another week off because my keyboard broke in a very particular way that hinders my writing attempts so yeah I might have it fixed in a day or two but Its not overly likely
very sorry