Trouble Sleeping
Luna couldn't sleep. It was her first morning in Canterlot, and she was tired after all the excitement of the previous night – being shown her rooms, adjacent to Celestia's own personal quarters, and introduced to her personal guards, cooks, maids, valets, secretaries... there were so many ponies here! - but the sleep eluded her.
She rolled over once again, hoping against hope that she'd find lying on her right side was somehow more conducive to sleep. No such luck.
It wasn't just the shocking twists and turns of the last few days and nights, Luna thought. She'd had no difficulties in Ponyville, falling asleep next to her sister after the party celebrating her release from the Nightmare.
It was the bed, another of those new-fangled innovations the ponies had come up with while she was... away. A proper bed, as far as the Night Princess was concerned, was a nice, fluffy cloud that swayed and shifted with your every little movement, even your breathing, and where you could bury your face in the cool, soft shade from the sun. Or, alternatively, soft and fragrant summer grass beneath rustling tree boughs, where you could feel the life throb through the Earth beneath you. Not this... this thing!
Luna raised her head and looked over the bed for the hundredth time, annoyed and tired. She could appreciate the basic idea of a low-legged, sturdy table you spread some blankets over to sleep on – it had the sort of an ingenious simplicity that characterized everything the Earth ponies did – but this particular bed was a warning example of what happened when you let a bunch of unicorns loose on a good idea.
The bed's iron frame erupted in an orgy of elaborate scrollwork full of decorative curls and curves, with nocturnal motifs – crescents, starbursts, full moons and more – sprinkled over the whole thing. And it was all done in shining silver, polished mirror-bright; Luna could see her own tired face reflected from one star-surrounded full moon at the foot of the bed.
The mattress was another case of unicorn over-elaboration. Not satisfied with simply padding it with straw or wool or ponyhair, they'd crammed it full of little coiled springs that squeaked and shuddered with her every movement, like some mechanical parody of a proper cloud bed. Luna was thankful that they'd spared the pillow from such indignities: it was filled with nothing more complicated or outlandish than down.
Luna rolled over again, to the tune of little creaks and squeaks from the bedsprings, and sighed. It would probably be the best if she gave up on trying to sleep altogether, and stay awake until she crashed...
There was a quiet hoof-knock on the door connecting her bedroom to Celestia's rooms. "Come in," she groaned. Maybe her sister knew some herbal tea or magical concoction that could make her sleep?
The door opened quietly, and Celestia stepped through. She had already raised the sun – Luna had felt the surge of her sister's magic – but the white princess was still in her nightshirt of rose-colored silk. Without the golden crown and jewelry, she looked more like the pink-maned sister Luna remembered from before.
"Are you having trouble sleeping, Luna?" she asked in a soft, benevolent voice.
To her credit, Luna didn't snap at her sister. "Yes," she admitted with a sigh. "This... this bed is bothering me. Do the ponies really sleep in these things now?"
"Only the very wealthy and fashionable ones," Celestia said with a little chuckle. "It's Duvet's Princess-size Royal Deluxe; he's my bedmaker by appointment. I have to admit it is a little bit overwrought, but everypony was so anxious to provide only the best for these rooms..."
Luna sighed again. "Do you sleep in one of these, sister?"
Celestia was smiling openly now. "Goodness, no. I have a very nice, sturdy wooden bed that has served me for better part of three centuries. I take it that you aren't a fan of Duvet's modern finery either?"
"You got that right," Luna groused, rolling over to face her sister. Again, the mattress jittered under her. "Why in Equestria is he the royal bedmaker anyway, if you don't like or use the beds he makes?"
"Because he's the most fashionable and famous pony in his trade in all of Canterlot and Equestria, and my councilors, who awarded him the royal warrant of appointment, wanted to make sure I get only the best," Celestia explained with a curious little smile on her face. To Luna, she looked like a proud, if a bit exasperated mother, who's indulging her children. "Once you've been a bit longer in Canterlot, you will see that at least half of all the fuss and pomp that surrounds me is for my subjects' sake. At least I've managed to tone the court etiquette down from the heights of silliness they took it two centuries ago."
Luna frowned. "So... I'm having to sleep in this travesty of a bed because you don't want to disappoint all those stupid ponies who don't want to disappoint you?"
Her sister laughed. "It is a bit silly sometimes, yes. But you don't have to sleep there, if you find it uncomfortable! Do you want to use my bed...?"
As appealing the idea of curling up nice and snug in her sister's blankets, surrounded by her soft flowery scent was, Luna didn't want to do it. It would mean admitting that the modern world, with all these well-meaning fussy unicorns and other ponies, had defeated her.
"Thank you for the offer, Celly," she said, using the ancient nickname to show that she really meant it. "I'm sure I'll get used to this thing... and if I don't, I can have it thrown off the balcony before tomorrow morning!" Possibly with its maker. I'll have the guards catch him before he hits the ground...
Celestia nodded. "As you wish, Luna my dear. Ah... I think I have something that might help you fall asleep. Just a moment, I'll go fetch it!" The white alicorn vanished back into her bedroom, returning soon with something soft and purple held against her breast with one leg. "Here you are, my dearest sister," she said, looking... bashful? Embarrassed?
Luna took the purple thing with her magic and floated it over to her. Her tired eyes widened in surprise when she saw it for what it was: a purple plush unicorn with soft felt wings, green buttons for eyes and even a little knitted tiara on its blue-maned head.
"Is this... is this me?" Luna asked, turning the toy before her face. It looked old but well cared for, like a loved toy that has been passed down several generations of foals.
"Yes," Celestia said in a curiously small voice. "She's been my companion for a very long time, Luna. I'm ashamed to say I cannot remember the name of the pony who originally made her for me, but I remember her face perfectly well. Some day, if you want to, I can show you her picture in one of the murals of the Painted Hallway..."
Luna brought the plush unicorn close to her face. It had a friendly smile, she noticed. It smelled of her sister, of roses and honey and sun-warmed feathers. "How long is very long?" she asked carefully.
"Nine hundred and eighty-three years, and three days," Celestia said, still in a small voice. "She kept me sane through some very bad times back then, and, well... She means quite a lot to me. More than quite a few living ponies have, over the centuries. I've had her renovated many, many times over the years... There's a reason why I also have the best toymakers of all Equestria appointed to me. I... I think she'll help you to sleep."
Luna blinked away the sudden moistness in her eyes and carefully lowered the plush version of herself to the pillow next to her. "I think so too, Celly," she said. "Thank you for lending her to me."
Celestia nodded again. "You're welcome, Luny," she replied. "My breakfast is getting cool, so... I'll see you again in the evening. Sleep tight, my dear sister." She backed out quietly and closed the door with a wave of her horn.
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i came here because luna is my favorite. awesome story dude. IT IS 20% COOLER
Damn!!! This is so cute, and so sweet!!!
have a five-star!
DDDDDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWW
Oh my Celestia.
I read it again and shed tears
I love these small, cute, everyday moments.
Short and sweet.
5/5 !
I think the other Luna adjustment fic I read and liked was 15k (maybe more) words and resulted in Luna committing suicide after getting attacked by sun spiders (Bit of a polar turn..) and written by a master.
Good job.
ALL OF MY D'AWWWW.
This was amazing.
I feel all warm inside now.
What a sweet story!
It was really kind of Celestia to share something that meant so much to her with her sister. And it was adorable how the doll was fashioned after the very pony. ^ ^
I've been reading so much depressing fiction lately and this was a refreshing break from that.
this replaced the annoyance and frustration in my mind with a nice warm feeling in my heart. So thank you kindly
nice story please make more
That's cute. It's vaguely amusing that Princess Celestia has been sleeping with a plush version of Luna for the last ~983 years. Over all this seems like pretty good writing, at some point in this story it might be interesting to know what modern ponies think of Luna and some reflection on what major things have happened in the last thousand years. Wonder what Canterlot was like when Luna was banished, sounds like a potentially interesting fanfic, anyone know of any?
One of these days, I think I'm just going to sit around patching together bits of fanfic that I like until it somewhat resembles a very long chunk of story.
Cute story I want more of this
Very well done. Want to see more from you...
You should follow up with a short story based on the 900 year old tale of how Celestia had longed to be with her dear sister once more, to the point which, even after all advisers, therapists, doctors and subjects had tried to help her, only a gift from a young pony with a bit of crafting skill... only a bit really... gave her a stuffed toy, in hopes it would help. A filly's gift, a youthful idea, a toy companion, innocent and naive... but that is why it genuinely helped. A filly's gift, though not refined, it was earnest and true, a simple wish of happiness on her beloved princess and role model.
Not an idle suggestion, actually, I would very much like to see the story behind it. Call it a request perhaps. In my entire life, this is the first time I've ever requested a story, and I have enjoyed many a thing, and thought many a thing should be given more content... and this is the first time I've ever considered asking for more.
I give your short and sweet fic, a simple and honest 5/5.
So cute. Nice stories are nice before sleep. It's a step up from those euology stories about the death of the Elements of Harmony. I mean seriously, fast forward 100 years on any character and anyone will mourn the death of their favorite fictional character. I was actually sad the the Princess could not remember the name of someone who she was close to 900 years ago. It doesn't make her bad, just the fact that noone else remembers her except the Celestia and she could only remember her face. That's life I guess lol
Anyway, nice story. Do more Luna!
Nice story
my favorite part wa...
OW OMG
My HEART
(BANG!)
DEAR GOD MY HEART EXPLODED
All I can do is awww at a short but well written piece of fiction.
i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk309/Corvolt/shit-just-got-real.jpg
Is not the way to react to this story XD
I giveit a 5-star for being touching and a watching for it being...Somewhat lesbian XD
I think I just made an embarrassing squeaking sound.
*cough* Excuse me.
D'aww! I believe you have given new meaning to the phrase "Short and Sweet" in this particular piece. Congratulations, it was wonderful.
188203
Nah, this is not that kind of a story.
Solar spiders?
188629
Thank you! You will; I've got a backlog of stories I'm going to post here, bit by bit.
188744
That is something I've long wanted to write, but I haven't quite gotten there, for various reasons. It's something I will keep in mind for the future, certainly.
All in all, thank you, everypony! Glad that you enjoyed this story; it was fun to write, as well.
im gonna hug my luna plushie and cry now.......
Dat ending man. Short and sweet.
Now I need to invest in a Luna or Twi plush to sleep with when Im alone, which is all the time (man, I need a girl friend).
I remember this little tale. Wow, I must've read this one a loooo-oong time ago. Was it, by coincidence, for a Friendoff?
189164
I think so, yes. It's been a while, hasn't it?
So much sympathy for Celly
She missed her sister so much...I might cry if this wasn't such an adorable story.
ASDFHG Squeeeeeeeeeeeee!
That was so freaking cute. Thank you.
i only have 1 problem
"celly" and "luny"?
i prefer "tia" and "lulu"
thats is all
kthanxbai
188170 nuff said
D'awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
img.memecenter.com/uploaded/1Dont-let-them-see_0226028699eb5733cd0551bde909ae57.jpg
This was pretty much me at the end of this story. It was so good
189014 i think its called lunacy very good yet disturbing fic
189676 best suicide fic ever written, and my favorite character progression.
This is way too adorable...
"So if I am reading these expense accounts correctly, Princess Celestia spends about five percent of the total annual budget for all of Equestria to keep the greatest toy makers in the world on retainer. Am I reading something wrong here."
"No, that is correct."
"And the entire reason for hiring these dozen master craftsman is solely to maintain one stuffed animal."
"Yes."
"This is ridiculous! The budget could be better spent elsewhere!"
"OK fine then. You be the one to tell Celestia that the doll of her sister that has kept her company and protected her sanity for the last nine hundred and eighty-three years of her life shouldn't have this level of budget. Or perhaps you'd like to tell her that the toys creator should not have been immortalized in mural in the Painted Hallway next to the likes of Starswirl the Bearded, Fyrfly, the Elements of Harmony, or the Downfall of Discord?"
".....as I was saying there is no problem whatsoever with the budget for the upcoming year."
"I'm sure Celestia will be glad to hear it."
You very well detailed this story- a short piece of work. Oh, if I could write my stories like you. Short, detailed, valued by others. Give me a hint how to attract my new stories! Awesome, by the way.]
dawww
Adorable
It's so sweet and cute. At first I thought it would be an incestious clopfic but this is much better, and I could see it as part of a real MLP episode.
188203
Oh yeah, I remember that one. "Lunacy", I think it was called.
The entire time I was just thinking at her, "You have delusional parisitosis, go see a psychiatrist. Either your magic is acting up or you're going insane," and by the end, "You are insane, you need serious help, GO SEE A FREAKING PSYCHIATRIST!!!" And then she committed suicide, undoubtedly sending Princess Celestia into a deep depression.
Luna is best subject.
I need an MLP plush... Very badly. Perhaps a life-sized Rainbow Dash or Derpy would be nice...
I keep attempting huge stories for my first projects. I've tried writing again and again on fimfiction, and I'm constantly reminded by stories like this that I don't need 50,000 pages to paint a beautiful idea in the mind of my readers.
Thank you, Lurks-no-more. You made my night, and it's rather odd: My bedspread is a bunch of stars and moons... I might be a Luna fan yet!
Dawww.... ;w; What a cute story
That's why I love this fandom, for stories like this that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I tip may hat to you my good brony and wish you best of luck in your future endeavors.
Amazing, I loved every bit of it. Every intricacy of details wasn't spared
192242 It was a good story! And polar opposites to this one, which is also a good story!
192350 I think Hasbro would be reluctant to make MLP plushes because they would be converted into sex toys very quickly and they want to keep the voice-actors from living in fear of being raped.
Especially since Bad Dragon has a couple of horse toys...
Screw spring beds i hate them to.
That was so sweet of Celly