Tacos at Midnight

by D4ftP0ny

Just Shy of Disaster

“My first night out was quite a success, sister.” Luna’s voice echoed in the enormous hall in Canterlot Castle, despite her attempts to keep it from doing so. It didn’t seem to matter how softly she tried to speak- Luna’s voice always echoed in the throne room, and quite frankly she was starting to become quite self-conscious about it. She let out a silent sigh and continued on, her ears drooping minutely as the echoing refused to relent. “I served no less than two dozen ponies throughout the night, and your former student was the first... though I must say that I’m worried about Twilight Sparkle, sister.” Luna frowned, her brow crinkling deeply as she gave her head a shake. “After witnessing her in such a state last night, I-,”

From the front of the throne room near one of the windows the other princess of Equestria, Princess Celestia, made a dismissive noise in her throat and waved a hoof towards Luna.

“Oh Luna, don’t you worry about Twilight,” she said, her voice as warm and soothing as the sunlight she so accurately represented. “She’s just a young mare, experimenting with new things in life along with her friends. It’s perfectly natural and normal.” The Sun Princess turned her luminous violet eyes to Luna and offered the Moon Princess a knowing smile that made Luna shift uncomfortably. “As I recall, she’s not the only young Equestrian princess to experiment with things…”

Princess Luna blushed deeply, yet even so she managed to huff in a rather convincing display of indignation. “That was a long time ago, Celestia, and Equestria has changed quite a lot since then. For your protégé to be parading around at all hours of the night in a state of such drunkenness is disgraceful, shameful-,”

“Yes, it is,” said Celestia as she turned away from the window, the long red cape she was wearing billowing around her as she moved to face her sister more squarely. She arched an eyebrow at Luna, and when she spoke it was through pursed lips and a knowing smile. “It’s almost as if she was your protégé instead, isn’t it?”

Luna’s mouth dropped open so far that she was certain she felt it hit her hooves. “C-CELESTIA!” she gasped as anger, shame and the horrible sensation that Celestia was absolutely right welled up inside her like magma in a volcano, waiting to be spat at her mouthy and altogether intolerable older sibling; before she could do so, however, Celestia’s musical laughter washed over her and forestalled her angry outburst.

“Oh Luna, calm down,” she said between giggles. “As you said, it was a long time ago- and as you recall, I was oftentimes the catalyst for your own experimentations, was I not?” The Princess of the Night felt her muzzle scrunch tightly as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, but after a moment she managed to nod in agreement and Celestia gave her a gracious nod in return. “Yes, I was. I freely admit that I was a bit… less controlled in my actions when I was younger, and I have long ago accepted that such things are not only a folly of youth, but a necessity of it.” She gestured dismissively with her hoof, the red cape that sat across her shoulders waving dramatically as she did so. “As long as Twilight isn’t blowing up half of Ponyville in a drunken teleportation experiment, I think we can leave her be.”

“Well… when you put it that way… I suppose we can.” Luna snorted and shook her head. “But I still worry about her, as I’m certain you worried about me, or about Cadence, and…” Her words trailed off as she brought her eyes back to Celestia, who had stepped towards her and into a shaft of light from the setting sun outside. “…what in Equestria are you wearing?” she asked incredulously as she stared openly at the frayed red cape that her sister had donned.

“Oh, I’m so glad you finally noticed!” The tall white alicorn grinned broadly as she stepped fully into the sunbeam and spun deftly on her hooves, allowing the cape to flutter and billow in the air around her; it was tattered along the edges, ripped and torn as if it had been through a hundred years of war, and bore a strange insignia on the back of it that Luna did not recognize. “I made it myself,” the Sun Princess said, the pride in her voice obvious as she completed her turn and gave Luna a bright smile. “I had to have the insignia custom-made, but I think it turned out rather well, don’t you?”

“…it looks like you allowed your phoenix to nest inside it for a few seasons, then tied it around your neck,” Luna said flatly, her eyes narrow and her lips pressed into a thin line.

“Perfect, then!”

“I… I’m not certain that I understand what’s going on, sister. WHY are you wearing that… thing?”

Princess Celestia rolled her eyes, but her happy smile stayed firmly in place nonetheless. “I forget that you’re not as intimately invested in finding a pastime as I am, Luna… please, forgive me. I’m afraid that being here alone for 1,000 years has made my desire to find a hobby that I enjoy a rather pressing matter, and even now that you’ve returned I’ve found that I still enjoy picking up new hobbies and trying all of the new ‘latest crazes’ that the young mares and stallions get into.” She reached a hoof up and tugged at the corner of the cape’s high collar and dual golden clasps. “This is something that they’re calling ‘cosplay’, and it’s quite popular right now.”

Luna’s flat stare remained unchanged. “Cosplaying?”

“Costume playing, if you’d rather call it that,” Celestia clarified.

“So you are… dressed as somepony else?”

“Yes.”

“And… who are you supposed to be?” Luna pressed. Celestia’s horn lit up, and from behind her back floated a pair of very wide, very pointy orange sunglasses that she levitated up and over her head until they sat squarely on her nose.

“Who the hell do you think I am?” she whispered gleefully, her eyes sparkling with mirth. Luna stared at her for a long moment then turned away from Celestia with a shake of her head.

“Never mind… I’m going to return to Ponyville and see if I can sell some more tacos.” The Moon Princess hurried from the throne room, her thoughts quickly turning from her unusually dressed sister to her waiting taco cart. Tonight is a new night, Luna, she told herself confidently. Who knows what adventures it will bring?

As Luna closed the doors behind her, Celestia hurried to the window and allowed the evening breeze to billow the tattered cape dramatically behind her, the setting sun glinting brightly across the pointed shades.

“Go, Luna!” she shouted into the twilight. “Your cart is the cart that will pierce the heavens! Believe in the Celestia that believes in you!!!” From outside the door came a very loud, very aggravated groan and Celestia laughed loudly. “Nailed it,” she whispered, pumping a hoof into the air.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The night was clear and calm as Luna once again pushed her taco cart through Ponyville, the wheels squeaking gently as her rear hooves clopped along the road at a sedate, measured pace. She was in no hurry, of course, and had chosen to walk this night instead of standing in town square to see if it would, perhaps, net her a wider sample of Ponyville’s population; after all, that dream conditioning she had done would not wear off quickly, and if they weren’t thinking about tacos constantly then surely the smell of Luna’s personal recipe would bring that subliminal messaging roaring to the surface. The Princess smiled happily as she came to the end of the street she had been walking on and turned to her left, arcing around one of the outermost neighborhoods in the village. Who would have thought that I, the Princess of the Night, would be able to simply walk among the villages of the land and offer them the benefits of my long years of training? she thought as her eyes searched the night, eagerly awaiting her hungry subjects. It’s something that would have been unheard of a thousand years ago… but today it is considered a perfect way for me to meet and mingle with my subjects. What a strange time it is to be of royal blood…

As strange of a time period as it was, Luna felt a comfort deep in her heart as she turned her cart and started up the next street in the neighborhood, the steam from her perfectly heated ingredients rising from the doors that covered the food into the cool night air. I never knew that my culinary skills would be appreciated as they have been... and it is a wonderful feeling.

She smiled broadly into the night as she passed beneath a street light, her desire to be needed quickly outweighing the obvious moral implications of silently and clandestinely coercing her subjects to need the very thing that made her needed. All’s well that ends well, as the saying goes!

The night was clear, and the moon was high in the inky blackness of the sky as Luna moved towards the end of the street, her ponytail swishing merrily as she and the cart passed the last house in the row and entered one of Ponyville’s many parks. The Moon Princess paused in her nightly crusade and allowed herself a moment to take a deep breath and smell the scents of the night; the wet, crisp scent of dew slowly forming on grass and leaf alike, the earthen, musky scent of wet, exposed dirt… it was poetry to Luna’s nose. The nighttime truly is the most vivid time for the senses other than sight, she reflected as she closed her eyes eagerly. As she did so the sounds of the night leaped out at her, and it was all Luna could do to keep from gasping at the loveliness of it all. All around her she could hear the melodious sounds of crickets chirping in the short grass, the wind whispering through the leaves on the trees, and from somewhere to her left she heard the unmistakable sound of bats flapping and squeaking as they hunted.

The sounds of the night’s most representative denizens going about their nocturnal business made the Princess’ lip curve into a loving smile, and after listening to the mysterious noises of the bats for several heartbeats the alicorn opened her eyes.

“Guardians of the night,” she whispered fondly as she turned towards the sounds. “Watch over your mistress’s domain well…” She had always been particularly affectionate towards bats, creatures that had, being the symbolic of the night itself, piqued her interest as a filly and held a place in her heart ever since. She had even had a pet bat once upon a time named Mille Feuille, but he had passed away even before her banishment as Nightmare Moon. The memory of the funny, unusually expressive bat who had been her only companion in some of her darkest days brought a sad edge to her smile, and after a moment she turned away from her cart and walked towards where the sounds of the bats were loudest. Her eyes darted to and fro as she scanned the darkness for the creatures she loved, her ears perked expectantly. “Come out, dear friends,” she called softly into the shadows, “come out and speak the news of the night to your Princess.” Her hooves rustled softly through the damp grass at the edge of the square as the alicorn reached the area where the noises were loudest and stopped, her ears twitching as she listened to the leathery wings flittering unseen about her. It was once tradition for bats to share their knowledge of the shadows with me… perhaps they still remember the ancient pact.

At that moment, however, something changed around Luna; the flapping sounds of the bats suddenly ceased, plunging that corner of the small park into an eerie silence that seemed to want nothing more than to reach out and wrap the alicorn in its inky blackness. Luna’s eyes narrowed into the darkness ahead of her, and after a pair of tense heartbeats another sound reached her ears- the sound of hooves making their way tentatively across the grass towards her. But that sound is coming from the same place that the bats were making their noise, she thought as her brow furrowed. And that means…

Slowly from out of the darkness a pony took shape, but it was different from the silhouette of a normal pony. The shape’s ears were longer, more pointed than a normal pony’s would have been, and when the unseen equine’s wings fluttered in hesitation it was not the ruffling of feathers that greeted Luna’s ears, but instead it was the subtle rustling of delicate membranes that reached out to the Princess of the Night. The combination meant only one thing to Luna, and in spite of the surprise she felt herself relax.

Bat ponies weren’t exactly commonplace in Equestria, nor had they ever been a common sight to most of the citizens of the fair country; Luna, however, viewed them not as oddities or even as soldiers but as children of the night, destined to hold her realm against all who would exploit its darkness for their own wicked deeds- and as the very embodiment of the moon and the night, Princess Luna claimed each of the bat ponies as her children. As the shadow of the bat pony before her grew clearer her mind flashed to a time a thousand and more years ago when she had assisted in the creation of the first bat ponies... and with a sigh she pushed the memories back into the shadows where they belonged, her heart aching with remorse as she did her best to smile for the pony before her.

“Come forth from the shadows, my child,” she encouraged with a gentle smile, holding her hoof out towards the other pony. “You needn’t fear your Princess.” It’s true, I’m not wearing my regalia… she thought with an inward wince. A visor and apron don’t exactly exude authority… She let out an inaudible sigh and opened her mouth to reassure the bat pony that she was indeed who she said she was, but before she could do so a soft, uncertain voice reached her ears.

“Um… I don’t think you’re my mother, Princess Luna…”

The gentle, hesitant words brought a confused frown to Luna’s countenance, and after a moment she lowered her hoof. I know that voice…

“Fluttershy?” she asked tentatively into the dark. The shadow, still remaining just far enough away from the moonlight to remain hidden, bobbed its head in affirmation.

“Y-yes, Princess- it’s me.”

“Oh… Fluttershy, what a pleasant surprise!” Even as a genuine smile spread across Luna’s face, she felt a pang of disappointment deep inside her heart so sharp that it felt as though somepony had punched her in the chest. “I… I apologize for my earlier words, Fluttershy. I thought perhaps… well, I heard bats around this area, so I thought… Well, never mind what I thought.” Luna gave her head a small shake and cocked her head to the side curiously. “What are you doing out so late, dear Fluttershy? I had always thought you were more of an early riser than a night owl.”

The shadow’s head bobbed again, but when she spoke again Fluttershy’s voice was laden with trepidation. “N-normally I am, Your Highness, but… s-something’s wrong with me, a-and it’s making it very hard to get a good night’s rest…” The unhappiness that clung to Fluttershy’s words like a heavy mist caused Luna’s ears to perk straight up, her wings rustling anxiously as she raised a hoof to her chest.

“Is something wrong, Fluttershy? Pray tell, what is bothering you? Is it perhaps something that I can help with?” The Lunar Princess took a step towards the shadow, but to her surprise Fluttershy’s silhouette gave its head a vigorous shake and took a step backwards away from her.

“N-no! No, please, I… I don’t’ want anypony to see me like… like this…”

Luna blinked at the silhouette. See her like… what? As far as she recalled, Fluttershy was a very normal young Pegasus with no physical abnormalities or deformities, and therefore nothing to be ashamed of showing to another pony. But I cannot deny what I saw earlier… perhaps it was simply a trick of my mind? The alicorn squinted at the shadow of the younger mare, her lips compressing into a thin line as she peered into the darkness. The lights of the street behind Fluttershy gave off just enough light for Luna to see the details of her once again… and again, she was certain that she saw something unusual about her friend’s ears. What in the name of the Moon is going on here...?

“Fluttershy,” Luna said gently as she straightened her neck and stood tall. “I would ask that you step towards me, into the moonlight.” Fluttershy’s shadow jerked in surprise.

“Wh-what?! N-no, Princess, I can’t do that, I-,”

“You shall, Fluttershy- unless you can explain the sounds of bat wings I heard earlier.” Luna’s eyes narrowed. “A sound that I heard coming from this very spot, I might add. So unless you can explain what happened to the bats I heard, you shall reveal yourself to me... and you shall do it now.” Luna knew that she sounded harsh, commanding and imperious, but it was, after all, what the Moon Princess did best. She also knew that many ponies did not respond well to being commanded unless they were properly trained military ponies, but she was doing what she had heard Celestia refer to as “playing a hunch”. Of course, at the time Celestia had been playing poker against Princess Cadence, but Luna believed the theory could be applied to this situation as well. After all, it had worked for Celestia, and Cadence had learned a very valuable lesson about betting. I believe she still has the maid costume, come to think of it. I hope Shining Armor doesn’t mind.

As luck would have it, Luna’s hunch played out. After several tense moments when Luna could all but hear Fluttershy arguing with herself, the other mare took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows into the moonlight. As she did Luna’s eyes widened, and it was all she could do to keep from uttering some very un-Princess-like phrases she had learned when she was younger.

There was not a doubt in Luna’s mind that it was truly Fluttershy who stood before her, but the mare had been changed so greatly that she was almost unrecognizable. Her ears were pointed and fluffy in proper bat pony style, her wings had changed from her soft yellow feathers to leathery yellow flesh, and even the yellow and pink of her coat and mane had been dulled to better blend in with the dark of the night. She allowed her disheveled pink mane to hide her eyes for several moments, but finally she raised her gaze to meet that of Luna, her bright eyes sparkling with unshed tears that only served to illuminate the slits of her pupils. The Princess of the Night felt her mouth drop open, yet even so she could not force any words to come out; they simply piled up on her tongue, each struggling to be said but all of them unable to make it past her teeth. Before her, Fluttershy wilted until her chin almost touched the damp grass of the park.

“There… I… I’m a monster,” she muttered sullenly. “I don’t know why I’m showing myself to you like this… b-but it’s like I couldn’t say no…”

“You couldn’t,” Luna said finally. She gave her head a firm shake and turned a bright smile on Fluttershy. “I command bats and the bat ponies with authority that is unquestionable and undeniable- so you literally could not disobey me.” She giggled happily. “What good luck that you’re enough actual bat that it worked!” Fluttershy’s eyes widened in shock, but Luna danced on her hooves in elation. “This is incredible, Fluttershy! Why, you…” She turned her gaze to Fluttershy’s ears, and after a moment she frowned. “Well, you’re not quite the same as my bat ponies, are you…?” She took a step forward and closed the distance between the two ponies, her hoof reaching out and prodding one of Fluttershy’s ears delicately. The younger mare winced and squeaked, but she did not move- a testament to Luna’s authority over her. The Princess of the Night touched the tufted ears of her subject gently, then moved back and pulled Fluttershy’s right wing open with her magic. Again the younger mare squeaked, but she did not try to pull her wing away as Luna examined her thoroughly. Finally, Luna felt she was satisfied and allowed Fluttershy to pull her wing closed. “Hmmm… you’re a bat pony, certainly, but you’re not a bat pony as I created them… what happened to you, Fluttershy?”

The shy mare squeaked and winced in shame, but after a moment she gathered herself together; she stood up straight, took a deep breath, and allowed her gaze to meet the Princess’s own before speaking, and even though her voice quavered regularly Luna had to admit that bat pony pride looked good on Fluttershy. The smaller pony quickly recounted the events at Sweet Apple Acres that had led to her absorbing the very nature of the vampire fruit bats they had sought to expunge from the orchard, sparing no details as she recalled them- including the magic that Twilight Sparkle had used against the bats.

“…and after that the spell was broken and I stopped being a bat,” Fluttershy concluded, but after a moment her fluffy ears drooped and she sniffled. “At least… I did for a while…”

“Fascinating,” Luna whispered as she circled the other mare, her eyes absorbing every detail of her young friend. “A magical transference of the very essence of a bat into another creature, allowing not only mental but physical transformation… brilliant, Twilight Sparkle, absolutely brilliant…” She allowed herself an indignant snort. “So much easier than the way I accomplished it… I’ll admit myself jealous of her methods…”

Fluttershy’s head jerked up and she gazed at the Princess with wide eyes. “W-what do you mean, ‘the way you accomplished it’..?” she whispered hoarsely.

“Oh, never mind that, Fluttershy- it was a very long time ago.” Luna waved a hoof dismissively. “It’s nothing you need to worry yourself about.” Not to mention it would be a little awkward to explain… “But you mentioned that Twilight cured you, correct?”

Fluttershy nodded slowly, but her eyes watched Luna warily. “Yes Princess… I didn’t transform again until… until about a week ago.” Her ears twitched sharply. “Then… I don’t know how to describe it… As soon as the sun sets, this happens to me…” She unfurled her wings and gave them a flap, her eyes sad. “But I don’t know why.”

The Princess’s brow furrowed in thought as she moved to stand in front of Fluttershy once more, her ponytail swishing importantly as she pondered. “One week ago… let me think. Was there any kind of unique atmospheric or astrological phenomena on the day that you transformed?”

“N-not that I can remember, Princess…”

“And did you eat anything unusual that day?”

“Um… how unusual, Princess?”

“ANYTHING unusual at all, but particularly any red things: beets, pomegranates, the blood of other ponies?”

“No, I don’t think- the what?!”

“Hmm, I’ll take that as a no…” The Princess sighed. “Fluttershy, you are not a regular bat pony- you are a vampire bat pony, a breed altogether different from the bat ponies who bolster the ranks of my Night Guard.” She turned and fixed Fluttershy with a stern gaze. “Vampire bat ponies are always driven by a need, Fluttershy, a deep, unquenchable thirst for something, and you are no different.”

“L-like with the apple juice?” Fluttershy offered tentatively.

“Precisely, Fluttershy. So tell me, what is it that you are craving?” Luna leaned forward, her eyes narrowing pointedly as she inched closer to her friend. “This transformation lay dormant because you did not need something with your entire being, but that has changed and therefore so has your body. This need is something that will be rooted deep into your mind, so deep you may not consciously know it until you see it, but still undeniably part of your subconscious.” Luna took a step closer to Fluttershy, her eyes firm. “THINK, Fluttershy- did you feed on one of your friends a week ago?”

Fluttershy’s eyes welled up with tears, and after a moment she flopped herself down onto the ground and wrapped her leathery wings around herself protectively. “I don’t KNOW!!” she sobbed into the grass. “I… I don’t remember anything but waking up late at night and looking like THIS! I… I just don’t want to be a MONSTER ANYMORE!!” The younger mare buried her muzzle in her hooves and cried loudly in the night, her sobs echoing off of the nearby buildings as her sorrow poured out beneath the stars.

Luna sighed and straightened, her lips drawn into a tight line. Well, I suppose that may have been a bit more direct than necessary, she admitted to herself. But she’s telling the truth, and from my knowledge of vampire ponies, amnesia isn’t a side effect of their feeding process- so I’m going to have to assume she’s not a threat to other ponies. She gazed down at her friend sobbing on the grass and sighed lightly. Wonderful, Luna. Depress the poor filly with your talk of feeding on others… perfect.

“Fluttershy…” she began gently, but for the second time that night her words refused to leave her open mouth. What do I say? She thought after a moment. I’ve just implied that she may be a blood-sucking creature of the night… what does one do to recover from such a thing? She thought hard for several moments until finally she said the only thing that she could think of:

“Fluttershy, would you like a taco?”

In a heartbeat Fluttershy’s crying ceased, and in one swift motion the other pony sat bolt upright on the grass, her eyes burning with need and desire.

“…did you say… tacos?” she hissed into the silence, the moon dancing in her eyes.

Luna froze, and as she watched Fluttershy she felt a horrible twisting sensation in her stomach. Oooooooh… oh dear… oh my… dammit…

“Y-yes, I did, Fluttershy,” she stuttered finally, giving her head a shake before turning and facing the cart. “I have plenty of tacos right over there, at my cart. Would you care for one?” There was no coherent response from Fluttershy- only a loud hiss and the flap of leathery wings that turned into a whoosh of air that passed the Princess at such high speed that it tossed her ponytail over her face and spun her apron halfway around her torso. The Princess grumbled as she raised a hoof, straightening first her mane and then her apron before turning back to the cart where Fluttershy stood, her nose pressed against the warm metal of the lids as she perched atop it. With a sigh that felt guiltier than it sounded, Princess Luna swallowed audibly before hurrying to the cart.

“Here, stand back please,” she said, extending a wing to shoo the Flutter-bat off of her cart. Fluttershy turned and hissed at her, the fangs that adorned her front row of teeth glittering in the moonlight, but unfortunately for her Luna was not a stranger to fangs; the Princess of the Night felt her muzzle scrunch as she gave Fluttershy her most authoritative glare. “You will STAND BACK!” she ordered, the last two words echoing loudly around the park. Fluttershy’s eyes widened, and in a heartbeat she was seated next to the cart at a respectful distance, her sizeable ears flattened against her head. The Princess gave her one last warning look before her magic ignited and she set about assembling tacos.

Oats, cheese, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and then a delicious sauce of Luna’s own creation went into a freshly made flour tortilla two, three, four times before the Princess was done, and after she had made four of her delectable creations she levitated three into a small bag… and one directly to Fluttershy, who’s eyes widened until Luna felt they may pop out of her head. The taco hovered before the young mare, who sat staring at it like a puppy who had been ordered not to eat her treat until directed to do so, and after a moment Luna sighed again.

“Eat, Fluttershy,” she commanded, and as soon as the words left her lips Fluttershy leaped into action, tackling the taco out of the air and rolling with it onto the ground. Luna gave her head a mournful shake and closed the doors on her cart as the sounds of sucking filled the park. For her part, Luna simply held the bag with the other tacos in her magic as she stared up at the sky, her expression almost disinterested as the sucking turned to munching, and then inevitably lapsed into silence.

After several minutes of silence, Luna turned back to where Fluttershy had landed and smiled. “Feel better?”

Up from the grass stood Fluttershy, now looking completely normal with the exception of a few stray blades of grass sticking out from her mane. The Pegasus wiped a hoof across her mouth, clearing it of any excess sauce that may have staked a claim there before turning back to the Princess and offering her a grateful smile.

“Yes I do, Princess… better than I’ve felt in a week!” Fluttershy extended her left wing so that she could see it, and when it became obvious that her feathers had returned she gave Luna a broad, happy smile. “I’m back to normal! Oh Princess, how did you do that?! Were… were those magical tacos?” Luna snorted loudly but shook her head.

“Oh no, not magical… I haven’t made magical tacos in a very, VERY long time…. Not since Hoofstock.”

“Since… when?”

“Never mind, Fluttershy.” Luna twitched her horn and sent the tacos sailing over to the yellow mare, who grasped the bag with her wing as Luna released it from her magic. “Here, I’m going to give you three more. Enjoy!”

“Oh thank you, Princess!” Fluttershy gushed happily. “I can’t believe that fixed my problem… but…” Her frown returned, and she gave the Princess a worried look. “But what do I do if it happens again..? Or… or will it happen again, Princess?”

“It may happen again, Fluttershy,” she said with a solemn nod. “But if it does, all you need to do is find me.” She gestured to the moon with her hoof, her ponytail and apron strings flaring brilliantly in the light of the heavenly body. “If the bat rears its head again, dear Fluttershy, do not be afraid- for you and for all like you, there will be Tacos at Midnight!” Luna dropped her hoof back to her side and gave Fluttershy a sheepish glance. “Now… off with you, Fluttershy! Go home and get your rest!”

“I… I will! Thank you, Princess!” The Pegasus dipped a quick bow to the alicorn before turning and darting off down the street, her gait quick and light… and as she vanished into the night, Luna’s ears flattened against her mane as she inhaled sharply through her teeth.

“That was… unexpected… but easily remedied, so there’s no harm… I think.” She allowed herself a glance at the moon. “All’s well that ends well… right?”

Maybe this plan needs some re-thinking…

Comments

[-TheStoryteller-]

“Fluttershy, would you like a taco?”

In a heartbeat Fluttershy’s crying ceased, and in one swift motion the other pony sat bolt upright on the grass, her eyes burning with need and desire.

“…did you say… tacos?” she hissed into the silence, the moon dancing in her eyes.

Luna froze, and as she watched Fluttershy she felt a horrible twisting sensation in her stomach. Oooooooh… oh dear… oh my… dammit…

Adorable FlutterBat is BACK! And those must be some hella good tacos!

Damn, now I want some...

[Fireheart 1945]

(Sees last sentence) Ya think?

[OmniFox]

Hope to see Tiberius again I like the little guy.

[Captain Hurricane]

It's Taco Tuesday!

[Wellwater]

“Your cart is the cart that will pierce the heavens! Believe in the Celestia that believes in you!!!” From outside the door came a very loud, very aggravated groan

Yeah I can imagine! Yeeeeesh, Celly, don't you realize only Pinkie can pull that off?