If You Give a Moon Pony a Cookie

by Nugget

Chapter III - Mending the Pain

An hour had passed since Aaron left the apartment.

Luna sat on the couch and glared out into the living room. She hummed to herself a tune she learned from many years of attending the Hearth's Warming Eve Pageant. It was her favorite, the only song she could recite by memory. It was The Hearth’s Carol. Bobbing her head back and forth, Luna lost herself to the anthem as she got down from the couch and ran over towards the middle of the room.

Raising a hoof into the air, she belted out the rest of the chorus. “We are a circle of pony friends! A circle of friends we'll be to the very end!” She held the last note, trying to hear how long she could hold it.

After a few seconds passed, the air Luna had left to exhale out of her lungs ran out. She coughed. It was a long note she held, but Luna was proud of how it seemed to last a bit. She jumped and hopped around the room, celebrating her accomplishment. “I did it, I did it, I did it, Tia!” she exclaimed.

Suddenly, Luna stopped upon saying her last word. Blinking her eyes a few times as she stood over the carpet, Luna looked around and realized nobody was with her in the room. The filly was all by herself in the apartment. Rubbing her face, Luna felt like a fool as pity ran through her body.

Luna used to have all the attention she ever wanted. At the least, she had her sister, Celestia, around to enjoy the good times and achievements they both endured. From traveling around Equestria to doing just about anything childish around their castle, Luna could always count on her sister to be there and support her. In return, Luna did the same since they never left each other’s side.

However, that wasn’t the case anymore. Celestia wasn’t there, and Luna was stuck in this world she didn't understand. All Luna knew about at the moment was the place she had wound up in, Aaron’s apartment. It was where she had been for the last few days, hiding herself away since Aaron told her to for reasons she could only presume.

Luna began to cry, realizing the reality of her situation. She missed her sister, her real home, and the land she came from. The feeling of comfort to her was gone along with being wanted by the ponies Luna surrounded herself with every day. While Aaron could only do so much to give her the care she needed, Luna knew after a while that he couldn’t replace the family she tragically, and instantly lost in a flash of magic. They were gone, and Luna felt lost without them.

With tears running down her face, Luna thought about when she might be able to return home, if she could return home. She didn’t know where it was, how far away, and what it took to get there. To which, Luna still had no idea how she exactly got into Aaron’s apartment in the first place, or about the new world she inhabited. The only thing the filly knew was she got there by mistake, one that had separated her from Celestia.

She missed her sister dearly. Her feelings towards her wrecked Luna’s emotions. Curling down and into a tight ball, wrapping her tail around herself, the filly cried her eyes out about the high chance of never seeing her sister ever again. Luna thought to herself about the fact she wasn’t going to hear her voice, see her face, and play with her again for probably the rest of her life.

The reality finally hit her, hard.

The apparent shock she was under for the past few days wore itself out. At first, it provided a quick recovery from the accident. The overwhelming feeling of awe and wonder had kept the little filly happy up until this point. Her mind was constantly occupied by the ideas and thoughts of what place she found herself in. Now that she finally settled down for a bit, Luna’s mind finally caught up to what mattered to her more.

Another hour had passed and Luna still remained on the carpet. Sniffling out the water that remained within her eyes and nose, the filly looked up towards the ceiling. “I know that you are out there, sister,” she spoke out loud, wiping a tear from her eye. “I know that you love me, too. Whatever went wrong wasn’t meant happen, not on purpose. You love me too much, and I know now that we did make a promise to always still be there for each other.”

Luna cheered up after saying those words. “Besides, Aaron said you sent that note. I know you are coming for me Tia!”

---

A day earlier...

“Well, great,” Aaron sighed.

He held the notice within his hands, completely shocked about the fact that someone saw Luna in his apartment. Aaron couldn’t understand how it happened until he walked back into the living room. Luna followed Aaron, trailing behind him.

Gazing upon the window, Aaron suddenly realized the blinds were perpendicular to the glass, making it easy for anybody to see into the apartment. He felt like an idiot, leaving it easy for anybody from management to see Luna from the outside. To which, it was the reason why he now held a notice to get rid of the animal they couldn’t exactly identify or seem to care about. It was a pet to them, and it needed to be gone.

“Why are you staring at the window?” Luna asked, wondering why Aaron was fixated on it.

He snapped out of his concentration. “Umm, uh. It’s nothing really.”

“Really?” Luna leaned her head towards the side. “It seems to me like you were looking at something?”

Aaron tried to be dismissive. “I wasn’t, really.”

“Does this have to do with the note?” Luna pointed at it.

“Uh, no.”

“Really?”

“Uhh...”

Aaron huffed. The filly wasn’t letting up with her questions. Giving him grief, Aaron thought about telling the truth to her about what was going on. However, he couldn’t think of an exact way to tell her about the problem he just encountered. For him to simply say that she couldn’t live there anymore, do to the stupid rules he lived under, was cruel and drastically sudden. She had only been there for a little over a day, and now he was told she must move out into the world.

No, no, no! He thought to himself, scratching his forehead. I promised this little girl- filly, dang it, that she can stay with and never get abandoned by me. What kind of a person would I be if I just said that and then turn around and did just the opposite?

A hypocrite. A cruel, heartless, careless hypocrite, he declared. Gritting his teeth and crumpling up the paper in his fist, Aaron told himself to make up an answer to satisfy Luna’s questioning. At this point, he didn’t want to do anything to upset the filly any more than he could. She had been through enough. Instead, Aaron thought about what he could to help boost Luna’s spirits and give her a sense of hope.

Realizing that Luna mentioned something about having a sister of her own, Aaron bent down to her level and lied. “Ok, I will tell you the truth. It was a letter from your sister.”

Luna was elated. “Really!?!”

Aaron groaned, “Yes, the note said she loves you and knows where you are. While it will be awhile before she can come to pick you up, she wants you to understand that she is sorry for what she did and hopes you will forgive her later.”

“I will,” she promised. “I love her too much to never forgive her for anything.”

Aaron smiled, hiding the guilt from his own shame. “That’s wonderful.”

“How long will it take for her to get here?”

“Uh-hm.”

Aaron searched his brain for an answer. “Well, the note said it will take a while, so, I’m not sure about when it will be, but I promise to let you know when she is coming.”

“Are you going to be ok with that, Luna?” Aaron looked directly at her.

Luna nodded. “No problem! I can’t wait though!”

Aaron sighed, rolling his eyes toward the side. “I can’t either.”

---

The Present Day…

After crying for nearly an hour, Luna laid out on the floor. The filly’s eyes were beet red and her stomach growled. Apparently, having a mental breakdown after realizing that you might be trapped in an alternate universe for the rest of your life can make you a little hungry. It was then that Luna realized, she was starving.

“Uhh,” she moaned, not wanting to get off the carpet to find something to eat.

She really wanted to lay there forever, but her stomach had other plans. Rumbling again, Luna had to force herself up and onto her hooves. Managing to stabilize herself at the moment she wanted to care about walking, the filly hung her head low with the top of her mane draped over her face. Luna then took each step with a thud into the kitchen.

Passing through the wooden door frame, Luna dragged herself through the cooking area. Picking her head up, she searched for where Aaron had placed the cookie jar. It wasn’t hard to find. The doggy-shaped cookie jar was situated near the pantry door, standing there with its ballcap on. When the little filly saw it, she slowly walked over to the jar and stopped. She sat down in front of it.

“Huh?” Luna pondered, titling her head to the side.

Looking at the jar, she scratched her head. How do you open it? Luna asked herself. She has never seen this type of cookie jar before. It didn’t look like a typical oval jar with a removable top. The cap couldn’t be seen. To her, the jar looked like a mutt wearing a baseball cap on its head. This conundrum confused Luna with its absolute absurdity.

The filly looked closer at the jar, scanning for any clues on how to open it. She then gasped, it became clear for her. Luna giggled, the hat was the cover to the jar! The filly could see there was a clay line that divided between the dog and the hat. While she wasn’t able to see it at first, Luna was relieved to find it without resorting to another plan she had in mind.

“I am so glad I didn’t have to mess with it! But now to open it...” she huffed, focusing on her horn. As it began to glow, the jar illuminated in the same velvet light. Luna began to lift the cookie jar into the air, wanting to prove to herself that she could use her magic on heavier objects. Luna grunted, the excessive magic was taking its toll on her.

As soon as the jar was lifted off the ground, Luna tried to control her breathing. As the filly maintained her concentration on the jar, her mind was strained by this one simple action. Letting out a small breath of air, she attempted to manipulate her magic in order to remove the top of the cookie jar. It shook as the magical force pulled on the opposite ends of the jar and hat. Suddenly, the ballcap popped off dog. The jar was opened!

Overcome by happiness, Luna hopped and cheered. The filly was satisfied with the small feat she had accomplished. It went to show how far her magical development had come. “Tia would be so proud of me!” she smiled, still distracted by her own celebration.

That’s when she lost control of her magic.

Without the aura to keep the jar and the hat suspended in the air, both objects fell towards the ground. Luna quickly used her magic to catch the jar, but by the time she was able to save the hat, it was too late. It hit the floor, smashing into several pieces. They scattered throughout the entire kitchen floor, leaving behind a speck of clay where the hat had broke.

Luna’s jaw hung loose, horrified by the sight. As she gently set down the jar, Luna re-lit her horn and ran around the kitchen. Gathering the pieces into a single aura of magic, Luna tried to reassemble the ballcap. Though to her misfortune, the pieces didn’t seem to merge back together. The filly then knew it was broken. It was really, really broken.

Luna was scared, trembling in her hooves. I am in so much trouble! she thought, putting a nervous hoof to her chin. How will Aaron react to this? Will he ground me like mommy and daddy did? Will he send me off somewhere? Luna gasped at her last thought. Will he throw me out?

The filly quivered. Luna knew she was in trouble, but what she didn’t know was the severity. The filly had no clue how Aaron would handle this situation. No amount of speculation and thought could predict exactly what Aaron might do. He could ground her, send her off somewhere, or worse, straight up abandon her! All of this actions seemed possible to Luna, just for breaking a clay ballcap.

Luna frantically searched around the kitchen for anything at could help mend the situation. While Luna wasn’t sure on what she was looking for, the filly was certain she could find something to help her out. Luna opened every single cabinet, door, and shelf, seeking items or tools useful to fix the broken ballcap. Tape? Glue? Anything would be useful at this point! The filly threw stuff she deemed useless out on the floor, cluttering it up with various kitchen supplies. However, when Luna found absolutely nothing helpful from those piles, she extended her search.

Quickly running out of the cooking area, the filly darted towards the bathroom. Using her magic to flick the light switch on, Luna did the exact same thing she did in the kitchen. She opened up every single cabinet, door, and shelf, looking for anything that could put the clay hat back together. She madly tossed out the towels, soap, and Aaron’s dirty laundry onto the floor, letting them pile up as a dirty stack of common bathroom items. She huffed, desperate to lay her hooves on anything that could assist her. However, when Luna found nothing, she left the littered bathroom and continued her search.

Stepping into the living room, Luna glanced at the couch. Letting her tongue hang out to the side, the filly figured the couch wouldn’t have anything that could fix a broken clay ballcap. Glaring over at the television, she looked up at the mantle and concluded that there really wasn’t anything there that could help her either. Is there something in the bedroom? she thought, getting even more desperate. Well, I guess there’s only one to find out!

The little filly made her way into Aaron's bedroom. This room was her last hope in finding something that could repair the hat. Sweating from the pressure, Luna stared at the mattress, peering at the unkempt covers. "Oh Tia! I could really use your help right now!" she pleaded, looking up towards the ceiling. "I don't know what to do, and Aaron is going to be really mad at me if I can't fix this!" She tapped her head, "Come on! Come on! Think Luna, think!"

She gasped, an idea came to her head.

It was her last option, the one that could make-it or break-it for Luna. She hasn't checked the walk-in closet. Ever since she saw it in Aaron's apartment, Luna had a bit of a fascination for it. To which, when she had tried to go in there the other day, Aaron had unfortunately pushed her out. He told her to never step foot in there at all, no matter what. Aaron specified that there was nothing in there for her particular interest.

Letting out a slight huff, Luna figured that now wasn't a time to obey Aaron's demands and rules. She had already broken at least one, maybe all of his rules. Besides, she figured her actions could be justified since she was going in there to find something to help fix her problem. Luna was certain Aaron would understand. Or at least she hoped...

Maneuvering around the bed, the filly walked over towards the closet. Once she was in front of the walk-in's door, Luna stared up at its knob, using her magic to turn it. The door swung open and the closet's light automatically turned on. Luna then proceeded into the small room.

It was packed tight to the walls with neatly hung clothing. Every single shirt Aaron owned was on a hanger, dangling from a bar underneath the top shelf. It wrapped around the upper part of the closet, supporting the stacks of blue jeans and small unmarked boxes. On the floor, various pairs of shoes lined the walls alongside a weight scale and a couple more unmarked boxes.

Luna looked around the closet, checking up and underneath the shoes and hung clothing. She then levitated the various cardboard boxes down and began to open them up. Sadly, most of her efforts were fruitless. Besides finding books and random pictures of who she assumed was Aaron's family, Luna didn't manage to find anything that could put back together a clay ballcap. Afterwards, she left the checked, opened boxes out in the bedroom.

Just as she was getting ready to call in a defeat and walk away from the closet, Luna managed to have something catch her eye at the last second. Turning towards the top corner of the walk-in closet, she saw what resembled a stuffed teddy bear wearing a blue baseball cap, similar to the one she broke.

Luna's eyes began to beam, she had found her solution. Instead of repairing the damaged hat, the filly figured she might be able to get away with the problem if she just switched out the clay one for the hat worn by the bear. She thought the idea was genius. If Aaron doesn't notice the difference, I should be alright! she said to herself, hoping it would be the case.

Slowly levitating the bear down, Luna placed it on the floor. As it sat upright and stared at her, Luna took its hat off and turned away from it for just a moment. Then it dawned on her, something just didn't quite feel right. Turning back towards the bear, Luna set the hat down and stared back at the bear. Luna curled her lip, feeling guilty for stealing the bear’s hat.

"I am very sorry, Mr.-uh..." She hesitated for a moment, not sure about a proper name for the stuffed animal. Stopping her hoof towards the ground, it took a couple of seconds for her to finally come up with a name for the bear. "Ah-ha!" she squeaked. “I am very sorry Mr. Tiberius, but I need to borrow your hat.”

The bear still glared at her with its brown, plastic eyes.

“What!?” Luna shouted, thinking the stuffed animal said something to her. “I am not stealing this from you! I am just borrowing it like I said!”

The filly glared back at the bear, squinting her eyes. She stuck her tongue out at it. Of course, the bear didn’t react. It just sat there, looking at her with the same deadpanned tone it was stitched with. Luna retracted her tongue, frustrated with not knowing the bear’s demand.

A moment passed by before an idea dawned on Luna. “Well, since this is your hat, Mr. Tiberias.” She addressed, “You want to go with me at see where I am taking it?”

Luna ran behind the bear. Nodding it’s head, the filly finally finding out what the bear wanted. “Ok!” She cheered, “Let's go then!”

Levitating the bear, Luna bit the hat and carried it in her mouth. Making their way out of the closet, the bear floated beside the filly as she walked across the bedroom. Exiting the room through its door, the bear still held its unamused expression as the duo processed toward the kitchen.

As soon as they made it to where Luna last left the cookie jar, she used her magic to set the bear down. Positioning it in front of the jar, Luna proceeded to place the hat on top of it. “You see, Mr. Tiberius, this is where I am putting your hat!” she declared, pointing at the ballcap. “It’s going to stay there for a little bit, but don’t worry.”

Luna placed a hoof across her chest. “I promise I will not lose it.” She ran behind the bear. Luna magically altered her voice to make it sound more masculine. “I believe you Luna! But what about the mess you left behind?” she said, impersonating the bear.

Luna’s ears drooped downward, feeling guilty for going a bit overboard on throwing everything out on the floor. “I know,” she admitted to herself. “What can I do? The mess out there makes this place seem like a jungle of clutter!”

Luna sat on the ground, upset with the idea of cleaning up the unkempt mess she had made. There was a lot she had thrown out and on the floors in the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. To Luna, it would seem like it would take forever for her to clean everything up. Besides, she had no idea where to put everything back.

Suddenly, Luna smiled, an idea came to mind.

Author's Note:

When all the truth does is make your heart ache, sometimes a lie is easier to take. - Discord

---

Well... I guess I lied a little bit about an all Luna chapter. I recently received feedback from various sources in regards towards the progression of this story and it changed how I will be approaching it for now on. Other than that, I hope you guys enjoy the update!

- Nugget

P.S: As usual, if you see a grammar error in the story then feel free to PM the corrections to me and I will be swift to fix them. Thank you!