> Goodnight Woon
>  by lunabrony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Nothing Could Possibly Go Wrong (1/2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Celestia stood proudly underneath the watchful gaze of her parents, who were in the process of being escorted out the front gates of the castle. The sun had just recently been taken down and the two elders were prepared to go out for the evening. Her father looked down at the girls with a loving yet firm expression of worry. Rain was pouring down behind them, and several Guards were standing by with umbrellas.
"Celestia, Luna. This is the first time we're leaving you two alone together. You'll have the Guard to call upon in case of an emergency. We should be back in a few hours. You know the rules?"
"Yes, dad." Celestia said impatiently.
"Don't lower the drawbridge-"
"-for anypony," Celestia said. "I know."
"Don't answer the door or-"	
"-or any scrolls," she finished. "I know."
"Take care of your sister," their mother warned. "Don't let her go wandering off, make sure she's in bed by midnight. And don't you stay up much later, missy."
"I KNOW," Celestia insisted, bracing her head against the back legs of her father and giving impatient pushes. "Go and have a good time, I can handle Luna, I''m a big pony."
"We know you are," her mother said. "And we trust you." With that, the two of them left, and Celestia gave a sigh of relief, turning to face her younger sibling and puffing out her chest.
"Alright, Luna. I'm in charge now, and you have to listen to me."
Luna, barely out of her foal years, just gave a rebellious 'No I don't' sort of look to Celestia, and stuck out her tongue.
"Alright, first, I'm supposed to clean up from dinner. Come on," she ordered, and nudged the young filly towards the kitchen.

Dinner

The kitchen was a mess. The royal family had eaten privately, with additional servings going out to the various Guards on duty at their posts. It had been nothing extravagant, merely salad with alfalfa sprouts soaked in a light vinegar glaze and coated with almonds. Celestia set to work almost immediately on the dishes in the sink, focusing her magic on various bottles of dish soap and rags. Luna sat and watched for a few moments, before going to retrieve a chair.
"Alright, this won't take long," Celestia said, her back turned. "Now just sit tight for a moment, and don't touch anything, and we'll-"
There was a great clattering from the side, and the elder sibling whirled around in panic. "Luna!" She exclaimed in fear. No, surprise. Surprise and fear. Fear and surprise.  No, amongst her emotions was worry as well. Amongst her emotions were such feelings as surprise, fear, worry-
[From the sidelines, Pinkie coughs loudly in irritation.
"Oi! Get on with it!"]
In any case, Celestia's eyes fell upon the massive bowl that had been used to prepare the salads for the castle staff, which still contained a large amount of leftovers. Luna had pulled up a chair next to the counter and managed to overturn the bowl completely, littering the floor with salad leaves, dressing, and various artifacts of salad and salad accessories.
"Lunaaaaaa, I told you not to touch anything!" Celestia groaned, and made her way over to the side where Luna had the biggest smile on her face. Accident or not, she found the entire thing hysterical. Celestia sighed and made her way over to her sister, slipping and falling on her face in a puddle of vinegar. She reached to grab for her sister, who ducked out of the way and ran down the hallway. Celestia summoned a mop with her magic, cleaning up the spill before wringing out the mop in a bucket before finishing with dishes.
It would only take a few more minutes, surely Luna couldn't get in that much trouble. She was just a little filly.
With dishes done and the kitchen relatively clean again, Celestia set off down the hallway.
"Luna!" she called, checking various doors. Nope, nope, locked, nope, empty, locked again. She came across the door to the Gardens, and sighed with relief. The door was cracked open. Of course. Luna loved watching the stars through the transparent ceiling, it only made sense that she'd be in there.
Entering into the Gardens, Celestia peered around the corners of the various displays. The Castle was closed for the evening, so although the Gardens was open to tourists, there was nopony here at this hour. She turned another corner, and gasped with dismay.
A leak had formed in the long-cracked ceiling, which usually wasn't anything to worry about. But in this rain, water was dripping down into the soil, creating a young filly's paradise.
Mud. Everywhere. And of course, in the middle of it... a laughing child.
Celestia cried out and sprang forward, yanking her sister from the filth. "Luna!" She sighed. "Oh, look at this place, look at you... how can such a small pony make such a big mess in a matter of minutes?" She asked.
Luna shrugged. "Love you, Tia."	
Her response was a glare. "Don't you go pulling the cute card now, you know what has to be done now."
Luna's ears drooped. "You don't mean..."
"Oh. You know I mean."
And with that, Luna was levitated into the air, and floated, while protesting, upstairs for one of her least favorite things.

Bathtime

While the tub was filling, Luna had been restrained to prevent her running off again. Towels of varying color had been twirled into fluffy chains which held the mud covered filly in place. 
"There, now listen, it's not so bad, see?" Celestia said gently. "I'm gonna be right here with you, so there's nothing to be scared of." Another glow of her horn, and various rubber toys appeared in the water. Celestia stopped the flow from the faucet, and looked back at Luna. Luna had calmed down some, but still didn't seem to want anything to do with the basin of death.
"Okay, um... oh, I know!" She picked up a bottle of Dehydrated Bubbles from the shelf, and scanned the label. "Bubble Formula, ready to go, just add water. One cup per bath. Easy enough." She carefully measured and lifted the bottle over the water, pouring the silver powder into the bath.
Luna apparently decided that this was not enough, and somehow managed to fire off a bolt of energy from her horn. The bolt bounced off the floor, to the ceiling. Bounced off the ceiling, to the wall. Bounced off the wall, to Celestia, who threw herself to the ground to avoid it. There was a dull splash as the bottle of bubble powder fell into the bath, and a soft glow came from the surface of the water. 
"Luuuuuunaaaaaa! That kills ponies!" Celestia said angrily. Although she couldn't be too angry, the younger filly hadn't gotten the hoof of her magic yet. Neither had yet noticed the bubbles swarming over the top of the basin, overflowing onto the floor and still forming. 
Celestia went to Luna and untied her from the towels. 
"There, now there really isn't anything to be scared about, is there?"
Luna pointed her hoof at the tub. Celestia looked, and paled.
"Except that."
The room was rapidly filling with bubbles, and Celestia plunged forward, diving into the basin of water with a violent splash. The bubbles had to be retrieved to stop this madness! Diving down far below, Celestia could just barely see the bottle of bubbles on the floor of the tub. She swam forward, reaching out for it, but was suddenly stopped by lashing tentacles. An angry octopus appeared, apparently not wanting her to take away its prize. Celestia rushed forward, diving around tentacles, and scooping up the bottle.
She'd only just begun to make her escape when the octopus snared her, dragging her backwards towards a hungry, snapping beak. Celestia, thrashed and struggled, but couldn't get free! Any moment she'd be eaten alive and-
"Celly, whatcha doin'?"
Celestia stopped. Luna stood nearby, watching her older and totally responsible sister fighting on the ground with a floating octopus pool toy. 
"I'm trying to save you, Luna, hold on!"
Luna blinked. The bubbles had stopped forming, but completely filled the bathroom, which was somewhat partially flooded at this point.
"Sometimes you're really weird, Celly."
Celestia got up and picked up Luna, placing her in the bubble filled tub. Both were completely soaked.
"What, just because I'm older means I don't get to participate in a completely harmless activity meant for a younger demographic? That's ignorant, Luna."
Poor Luna just looked confused. 
"Wha'ver you say, Celly."
> Nothing Could Possibly Go Wrong (2/2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Bedtime

With the kitchen clean, the bathroom was the next issue. Celestia and Luna spent a good forty minutes popping bubbles and drying everything, using nearly a dozen full size towels in the process. Once the floor had been dried, Celestia shoved the wet towels down a long chute in the wall which was tended to by the staff. Hopefully neither of them would have to explain why all the towels were wet, but at least the bathroom was clean and dry now.
"There." Celestia said. "Now let's get you into bed. I think we've caused enough excitement for tonight."
"S'early!" Luna said.
"It's not early for big ponies, only for fillies," the elder responded. "Now stop your whining."
"Not whining, I'm complaining," Luna said.
Celestia just shook her head. "Same thing," she responded, and led Luna upstairs to the private chambers. Luna still had a bit of trouble getting into the fluffy four footed pajamas by herself, and Celestia had to help. Even then, there was a good bit of struggling. Luna had several pairs, but her favorite were the ones with the stars on them. Celestia tucked her little sister into bed, it was just after ten. She was way ahead of schedule.
"Alright, you're all set. Goodnight, Luna."  Celestia headed for the door.
"Wait!" Luna said.
Celestia stopped.
"You forgot the light! I can't sleep without it!"
Celestia sighed, and moved to the bedside table, where a jar of fireflies was kept. She shook the jar, which annoyed the fireflies, and their flickering butt lights glared at her in reproach.
"There, light." Celestia headed for the door.
"Wait!" Luna said again.
"You forgot my story!"
Celestia sighed once more and sat down by the bed. "What story did I tell you last time?"
"The Ugly Barn-acle, but mom says you aren't allowed to tell that one anymore."
"Alright, once there was a little filly who wouldn't go to bed. She was normally a very good little pony, but when nightfall came the monsters would come out and wait patiently for disobedient little ponies. The filly wouldn't listen to her big sister, and even though she was supposed to be in bed when the sun went down, she got up anyway. The monsters were waiting for her, and gobbled her all up. The end."
"You're terrible at telling stories. You made that up."
"I did not, it's totally true. You wanna test it?"
Luna paled. "No. Not really. I'll go to bed."
"Good, and don't get up, or the monsters will getcha. Just like this!" And with that she lunged at little Luna, tickling her belly with her front hooves.
Luna burst into laughter, wiggling and thrashing. "No, no, stop, I got it! I don't wanna get eaten!"
"Then don't get out of bed," Celestia said, and tried to leave.
"Wait!" Luna cried yet again.
"Yes?"
"I don't know where Reaper is!"
"Probably under the bed again," Celestia answered, and checked beneath the bed for the alicorn plushie that Luna always slept with. It was a disturbing looking thing, covered in red and black stripes.
"So what's his backstory this week?" Celestia asked, picking up the toy and handing it over. Reaper's origins changed every time she asked.
"He fell in a puddle of glowing green slime, so now he can't be hurt by anything and never gets sick and he can defeat anyone he wants just by looking at them!" Luna explained.
"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, no pony would ever exist like that. And if they did they'd probably be carted away for study or locked up as a danger to Equestria."
"You just don't applicate my way of esspressing my creativity," Luna responded, and stuck her tongue out.
"Good." Celestia said, and left, closing the door. She had only begun making her way to her own room when she was alerted by a noise downstairs. Dropping low to the ground, she crawled towards the balcony. A shadowy figure was sneaking in through the front doors, which left Celestia quite frightened. The drawbridge was up, how had an intruder gotten past it? She raced for the stairs, bounding behind pillar after pillar, sticking close to the walls. She was in full ninja mode, determined to protect the castle.
As the shadowy figure crept forward, Celestia made a lunge from behind. She tackled the intruder, and the two went tumbling head over hooves into the next room.
The elder sister's horn flared with light, illuminating the terrified creature below her. She had never seen such an odd thing before, and stared right into frightened red eyes. The intruder appeared not much younger than Luna, and was biting her with a tiny fang. A paw and a talon were wrapped around her front leg, trying to push her off.
"What in Equestria..." Celestia wondered.
From behind, her parents, now returned, stepped through the front door. 
"Celestia!" Her mother sounded surprised. "I see you've met Discord already."
"Who now?"
Her father just smiled. "Luna was a test, although one we both knew you could handle. This little creature was found abandoned in the woods, and your mother and I are caring for him temporarily until a proper home can be found. How was Luna? Did she behave?"
"Of course," Celestia said. "I put her to bed and everything."
With that, Luna screamed from upstairs.
"CELLY! I got a drink of water and the monsters are gonna get me! I don't wanna be eated up!"
Father facehooved. "I see that."
Her mother just shook her head. "In any case, you two will have a new friend to play with for a while. If Luna wasn't much trouble, how much trouble could Discord be? Go on off to bed now, we'll get you in the morning."
Celestia hesitantly agreed, and headed upstairs. In the distance, from the direction her parents had taken the weird looking Discord, she heard a loud crash that sounded particularly expensive.
Surely just an accident.
Right?
> Micro: The Price of a Princess
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Being the parents of a set of fillies destined to be princesses could be a daunting task. It was fairly simple getting a hang of evading the media, that was only a simple matter of decoys. The girls, however, tended to be fairly untamed and impatient, which the media seemed to flourish on. 
Standing before the large doors before going out, their mother turned to look back at the two. 
"Do both of you remember protocol?"
"Yes, mother," they echoed perfectly. A bit too perfectly.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!" It wasn't as if they were even going to anything overly fancy, just a play at the outdoor auditorium. 	The doors opened, and the parents filed out, with the fillies close behind. 
Fans of the royal family were on them immediately, pushing to get a better look and being held back by guards. While it was a simpler time and there was no newspapers or tabloids or cameras, it didn't stop crowds from getting rather fanatical.
Luna pushed closer to Celestia, whispering in a quiet voice. "Come on, let me be in front. You're always in front."	
"I'm older, that's why. Stay on your side."
"But I want to be first for once!"
"Yeah, well too bad. You're younger, and you're always going to be second. Get used to it."
Celestia regretted it as soon as she'd said it, and her voice softened. "I'm sorry, I didn't..."
Too late. Tears were falling down Luna's face, and she let out such a loud wailing cry that everypony stopped to look at her. Celestia put a hoof over Luna's mouth to silence her, but all eyes were upon them.
"Luna, come on, I'm sorry, ponies are watching...I wasn't thinking, you can be in front. Really!"
The younger sister was in no mood. Luna did not like having a hoof in her mouth, and bit down on Celestia's foreleg. Celestia shoved her in response, and Luna shoved back. In a matter of moments the two were fighting on the ground.
Their father was not having this. "Both of you, stop it at once!
"She's touching me!" Celestia scolded.
"She started it!" Luna sniffed.
One of the nearby announcer newsponies called out in what would eventually become the Royal Canterlot voice, a necessary form of updating at the time in a world without smartphones and continuous news coverage.
"Attention! Breaking developments! Unrest and disorder in the Royal Family!"
Their mother was furious. "Now see what you've started! When we get home, you two better watch your flanks like hawks. At this rate you're going to be grounded until the gryphons make peace with the seaponies of Aquastria."
"Attention! Breaking developments! The princess threatens children into obedience!"
She turned her attention onto the announcer. "Silence yourself, that is an outright fabrication."
"Attention!  Breaking developments! Princess calls the news nothing but lies! Trust and credibility of news outlets falls into question!"
An official looking stallion who had been standing nearby whispered something into the ear of the announcer.
"Attention! Breaking developments! Newspony fired for being an idiot!...Wait, what?!"
Without another word, the young fillies were marched back into the castle and the doors shut. So much for the outing. Oh well. Some days that was the price of being a princess.
> Micro: Night Terror
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Celly!"
The voice that rang out from Luna's bedroom was young and frightened. The sun had gone down hours before, and Celestia had the hardest time putting her younger sister to bed. Luna was terrified of the night time, and wanted to stay up later with Celestia and their parents. But despite being frightened she couldn't bring herself to stay awake, and Celestia had found Luna slumped over a chair, fast asleep. 
Entering the younger's bedroom, Celestia found Luna sitting next to her Starswirl the Bearded nightlight, wide awake. Starswirl was an up and coming prodigy in the field of magic, and despite his comparatively young age had already broken barriers and won several groundbreaking awards. His merchandise was everywhere, and Starswirl nightlights were just a small piece of many desperate attempts to cash in on his popularity.
"Luna, Luna what's wrong?" Celestia asked, scanning the room for any sign of trouble. Moonlight filtered in through the window, but there weren't any scary shadows on the walls thanks to the height of the bedroom in the castle. All the trees were far down below.
"I scared," Luna said, and Celestia came to sit down next to her.
"Scared of what?" She asked. "There's nothing up here that can hurt you, Lulu," she said. "The only ones in the castle are me, mom and dad, you, Discord, and all the monsters who try to eat little unicorns."
"What?!" Luna's eyes widened.
Celestia laughed. "I'm just teasing, Luna. There's no such thing as monsters, you should know that."
"What about da Timberwools?" Luna asked.
"Well-"
"An' hydra?"
"They don't-"
"An' the Cebberus?"
"That's enough!" Celestia said. "Yes there are a lot of nasty animals out there, but they're not allowed on castle grounds, you know that. Nothing out there can get you in here, they'd have to get past mom and dad. And if they got past mom and dad, they'd have to get past me. And you know what I say about that."
"Nothin' gets past Celly!" Luna said, and Celestia pounced Luna, proceeding to tickle her relentlessly. 
"Too bad for you, perhaps you could've been saved from the tickle monster!"
Luna squirmed and laughed, trying desperately to escape her older sister, but failed miserably. When Celestia had finished, she sent Luna to bed, and cracked the door open. "Now you settle down, and if you're good I'll make your favorite waffles in the morning," she promised.
"Okay," Luna smiled and yawned.
Celestia shook her head in wonder, and left Luna's bedroom silently. She had only gone a little ways down the hallway when one of the doors cracked open, and the young draconequus whom their parents were allowing to stay for a while emerged from one of the guest bedrooms. He looked up at her with bright shining eyes, a crooked smile on his face.
"What's the matter, Discord?" Celestia asked.
"I can't sleep," Discord said.
"That seems to be going around," she said. "Now can I help you before I wake mom and dad up before we all get in trouble?"
"Well, there is one thing you could do for me," Discord asked, rocking slowly back and forth.
"Yes?"
Discord just smiled. "Could you get me a glass of water?"
> Micro: Stranded
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Water. That was the only thing little Luna could see in every direction. Stretching endlessly in every direction, spreading out beyond the horizon. Waves and waves of murky blue water. Salted, of course, as any ocean would be. Luna sat in a cardboard box which was jostled by the waves, bouncing calmly up and down with every swell and every crest. Although the box should have long ago  become soaked and deteriorated, the waves did not harm it.
Luna was hungry. Thirsty. Tired. She'd been floating aimlessly for days, with no way to steer her craft, nor any control over what direction it was taken.
Gazing down beneath the waves, she could see the glittering scales of various fish that swam past, completely blissfully ignorant of her presence. She'd had fish before at several of the formal palace dinners, but as her stomach rumbled, Luna was left in a position of conflict.  Mother had always told her not to harm another living thing, but that rule may stand between herself and starvation.
One would have to be enough. She'd punish herself later. Drawing breath, Luna leaned carefully over the side of the box and plunged her hooves into the water, trying to get a hold of one of the many small creatures that swam by underneath. Despite multiple attempts, every single one of them eluded her. She couldn't even manage to touch one.
Perhaps grabbing was not the way to go. She'd try impalement instead. Leaning over, Luna attempted to plunge her horn into the water, but her horn was too short and her body too small. After a couple of attempts, her center of gravity shifted and the young filly tumbled out of the box.
Flailing, Luna grabbed at the box. She prepared to pull herself back up over the edge, but some sort of restraint took hold of her back legs. Struggling and pulling, Luna tried to escape, but the restraints were too powerful. She was pulled underneath the waves, the only sign of her existence being a floating box and a few bubbles at the surface. 
Underwater, Luna squirmed to get a look at her attacker. She could only see a pair of green tentacles ensnaring her legs, reaching up from the pitch blackness that hid the ocean floor somewhere far below. The tentacles tightened around her legs, pulling her downwards, towards certain death. She'd never-
"What are you doing?"
Celestia stood framed in the doorway that led to the west wing hallway, staring into one of the many guest rooms available in Canterlot Castle. A single cardboard box sat empty upon the expansive blue carpet, nearby which Luna was lying on the floor, with Discord clinging in a vice grip to her back legs.
"S'not what it looks like!" Luna protested. "And you can't be in here, you's standin' in the middle of the ocean!"
"Well, maybe that's my special power. I can walk on oceans."
"Nuh uh!" Luna protested. "You gotta be a narwhal!"
"A what?" Celestia asked, dismayed that Luna knew something she didn't.
"A big whale with a horn on it!"
Celestia looked shocked. "Did you just call me fat?!"
"Did not."
Running out of the room, Celestia soon had tears running down her face. "MOOOOOOOOM! LUNA CALLED ME FAT!"
Discord and Luna looked at each other.
"She just doesn't understand the complexity of the mechanics of our inner mentalities," Discord said.
Luna stared blankly at him. "What?"
Discord patted her head. "Never mind, you going to escape or what?"
"I's gonna use my magic!" Luna announced.
"You can't use magic, you're underwater," Discord said.
"Since when?"
"Since now."
"That's dumb, how do seaponies use magic then?"
"Uh..."
"That's what I thought." Luna stuck her tongue out at him.
Back underwater, Luna's horn glowed a bright pure white. The light that blasted from it was not a physical attack, but a blinding light that stunned her attacker just long enough for the tentacles to break free. Desperately swimming upward, Luna's head broke the surface and she gasped for air. Searching the ocean nearby, it took only a moment to locate her box and climb back into it. Luna took a moment to compose herself, then looked out over the edge of the box again.
Water. That was the only thing little Luna could see in every direction. Stretching endlessly in every direction, spreading out beyond the horizon. Waves and waves of murky blue water. Salted, of course, as any ocean would be.
> The Teenage Years: Say Cheese
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Luna had just about had it with Celestia. With the foal years behind them, they had slowly begun being bred for life in politics. With Celestia being the older sister, she was tasked with more responsibilities and pressured with higher expectations. But more annoyingly, she never seemed to have time for Luna anymore.
Luna pushed through the wide open doors, flurries of snow swirling around outside. The temperatures were unpleasantly cold, but that hadn't stopped the young mare from going out to the marketplace. Placing a bag of vegetables down on the counter for the chefs to work with. From the kitchen, she made her way up towards the workroom where Celestia was always studying the sun.
"Celly!" She called, bouncing outside the door.
"I'm busy, Luna," Celestia said kindly. "Can you come back later?"
"That's what you always say! Can't we do something together? Do you want to build a snowmare?"
"Go away, Luna!" Celestia scolded.
"Okay, bye..." Luna sighed. "I'll show you... everypony is always raving about how great Celestia is... when is somepony going to notice me?" She didn't speak very loudly, but she was visibly upset, and Celestia didn't hear a peep from her after that.
Back in the workroom, Celestia leafed through paper after paper, textbook after textbook. The sun rose higher in the sky, reached its peak, and started to descend. Having completely lost track of time, Celestia yawned, and gradually put her book away to make her way over towards her room. "I really should make some time for Luna..." She admitted to herself. Luna always wanted to play, and wouldn't have to participate in the political side of things for several more years. She didn't know how lucky she was.
Swinging open the door to her bedroom, Celestia stopped dead in her tracks.
Her desk, her bed, her carpet, her lamp, her books. Everything. Every single thing had been turned into swiss cheese, and the smell was overpowering. Not an unpleasant smell, but there was simply far too much of it.
Backing out of her room, her disbelief soon turned to rage, and she went galloping down the hall.
"LUNA!" She screamed. There was no way the younger sibling was getting away with this.
Forcing open her sisters door, Luna screamed with fright. She was lying on her bed, reading one of Starswirl's newest research scrolls.
"Celly! What's wrong with you? I could have been naked!"
"We're always naked. What did you do to my room?!"
"What?" Luna asked. She looked innocent and sounded innocent, but Celestia wasn't playing that game right now. She was in full anger mode.
"What. Did you do. To my room?"
"I didn't do anything to do it!" Luna insisted.
"Lies! You were just earlier saying you wanted to get back at me, I heard you! And now my entire room has been turned into cheese! And the only ones here are us and Discord!" The draconequus had stayed with them since they were little, and although he occasionally turned out to be more trouble than they were prepared to deal with, the two sisters had taken a shine to him.
"Well ask Discord then!" 
"He wouldn't do a thing like that! I want to know where you were this afternoon, do you have an alibi?"
"Yes. I mean no. I mean, I was here, but nopony saw me..." The younger mare gave a resentful huff and Luna pushed past her sister, looking absolutely insulted. "I don't have to stay here and listen to these accusations!"
"Don't you lie to me, Luna! You admit what you did or I'm telling mom!"
"Is that your answer for everything? Wow, how mature of you," Luna muttered, stomping angrily down the stairs. Celestia yelled at her as she left, still unconvinced.
"This isn't the end of this!"
At the bottom of the stairs, Discord was sitting on the banister, despite having been told not to sit on it on multiple occasions. He had grown, and seemed to take that as an indication that he could do whatever he wanted.
"Why the long face, Luna?" He seemed amused by this. "Oh, that was good, I must remember that."
"Celestia's mad at me. Again. She's always getting mad at me."
"Whatever for?"
"Somepony turned her entire room into swiss cheese."
"AHA!" Celestia announced, shouting from the top of the stairs. "I never said what kind of cheese it was! You're gonna get it this time, Luna!" Triumphantly, she ran down the hallway, presumably to try and find their parents.
Discord tsk'd. "You know why you never get away with anything, Luna?" He asked.
Luna sighed. "Serves her right, she's always getting away with things. And I'm always getting blamed for everything."
"Like turning your sister's belongings into swiss cheese," Discord said.
"Yeah, like that."
"Well you're never going to get away with anything with a story like that," he said, rubbing his chin.
Luna frowned. "What's wrong with my story?"
Discord grinned, and snapped a pair of black sunglasses into existence, which he placed on his nose. "It's easy, Luna. It has too many holes in it."
Enraged, Luna chased Discord out of the room, while his infectious laughter echoed off the walls.
> Micro: I Scream
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Little Luna was busily tugging on her older sisters hair, bouncing up and down with unending waves of energy. 
"Luna, slow down, you're hurting me," she said kindly, wincing a bit as her younger sister pulled on her mane.
"Come on, come on, come on!" Luna yelled, abandoning Celestia's mane and opting instead to run in circles around her. Celestia attempted to crane her neck to keep an eye on her sister. This was a harder feat than she initially imagined, as the filly almost seemed  able to run at a million miles an hour.
"We're almost there, Luna," Celestia assured her.
"But we's gonna be late!"
"We're not gonna be late, the place is still open for hours."
The two sisters climbed up the top of a small hill, looking down at the other side. A large cart was sitting at the bottom of the hill,  which Luna squealed with delight at the sight of. "Celly, look, look there it is!" She raced down the hill towards the cart, prompting Celestia to pick up speed to chase after her.
"Luna, wait!"
The little filly bounced up and down in front of the cart, squealing with delight.
"Welcome to Silver Scoops, can I help you?" The stallion asked, smiling down at the child. He was completely surrounded by various colors of ice cream, and Luna's eyes were bigger than the gallons of dairy treats surrounding her.
"I want alla them!" Luna said.
Celestia finally caught up, and placed her wing around her sister. "You can have one flavor, Luna," she said gently.
"But I want alla them!"
"You can have one."
"But der's so many!" Luna looked up at the board of flavors, unable to read most of it.
"Do you want Cloudsdale Surprise? Canterlot Candy? That has mint in it, you like mint," Celestia said.
"Yeah! Dat one!" Luna bounced in place.
The stallion took only a moment to float over a small cone using his horn as Celestia slid several bits across the table.
Luna was absolutely delighted to have her ice cream, and Celestia had Nutty Neighbraska for herself.
With her wing over her foal sister, Celestia did her best to guide the child back towards home. "Now be careful, Luna, you don't want to drop it."
"I's not gonna drop it, I got powahful magic!" Luna said.
"Stronger than mine?" Celestia asked.
"Stonga than yours!" Luna said, her chest swelling. 
Luna struggled to bring the ice cream closer to her snout so she could lick at it, wasn't super good at her magic yet. The ice cream floated further away, then off to the side. 
"Eh!" Luna grunted, struggling to bring it closer. The cone wobbled for a moment.
"I got it!" She announced, moments before her treat rocketed into the sky at a thousand miles an hour.
Luna's eyes watered, then a wailing shriek erupted from her snout.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Celestia was instantly attentive to her little sister, and tried to calm her down.
"Luna, honey, I told you to be careful... come on, calm down now..."
The foal didn't listen, too busy crying.
Celestia looked down at her own ice cream, before sticking the cone upside down on the top of her head. "Luna, look! I'm a rare two horned unicorn!"
Luna looked up, her tears reducing to sniffling. Gradually she burst into reluctant giggling.
"There, see?" Celestia said gently. "Come on now. We'll get you another one." She nudged her little sister back towards the hill. As she approached the stand, the stallion gave her an odd look.
"You have ice cream on your-"
"Shut up," Celestia said.
> Game of Pones (1/3)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The innocence of childhood far behind them, Luna had slept for the majority of the day. She'd taken to being up late at night until the early morning hours, but with Celestia holding court during the day and sleeping at night, she hardly ever got to see her sister anymore. Luna had woken up a few hours earlier than usual today, raising a hoof to shield her eyes from the early evening sun that was blinding her through the window.
"Time to go," Luna said to herself, and quickly shed her formal attire for what some might call a 'peasant' look. This merely meant her crown and hoofguards were left locked in her room. Still easily recognizable, but not on the clock. She made her way down to the courtroom, where the last few ponies with scheduled audiences were waiting. Ordinarily at this late hour the guards on either side of the door would not let anypony inside, so Celestia would have time to finish up her affairs. Luna, however, was saluted and waved right inside through the doors. 
"Princess Luna, Princess Luna!" She was immediately met with the affectionate squeals of a young filly, who raced from the protective eye of her mother right up to the royal heir. A guard moved to intercept, but Luna waved him off.
"Well, hello, little one!" Luna said. "What brings you out here?"
"Mama's trying to get a loon," the filly said.
"Well she's certainly on the right track talking to my sister..." came the reply. "What does she wantday a loon for?"
"Her and daddy argue at night all the time. She says we don't have enough bits and might lose the house."
"That's awful!" 
"Yeah, but she won't talk to me about it. I'm too little."
Luna patted the child's head, and rose to cut in front to where Celestia was holding court. Her older sister looked at her with mild annoyance. "Luna, I'm working."
"You're always working," Luna said.  "Is this that childs mother?"
"Yes," the mare replied. "Did she bother you? I'm so sorry, I try to keep track of her."
"No matter," Luna said. "Give this mare the investment she wants. From my personal treasury."
Celestia and the mare's jaws dropped. 
"You what?" Celestia gasped.
"I'm not using it," Luna said. "And I want words with my sister. See the guard on your way out, ma'am. He'll arrange the rest with me."
"Oh, thank you, thank you!" The mare laughed joyfully. "I won't forget this, Princess Luna! I won't! I'm going to tell everypony about your generosity!" The mare scurried off, child in tow.
Celestia turned on her sister, eyes softened. "Luna, what was that about? I've never seen you dip into your personal treasury before."
"And that's exactly the point!" Luna said.
Celestia frowned. "I don't understand."
"I never get to use my bits for anything!" Luna complained. "You don't know what it's like at night, when you're here on your throne. You're busy all the time, ponies line up out the door and around the corner just to talk to you! You get the best of everything, while I'm stuck sitting by myself all night! Sure, I get to chart the odd star or comet, but nopony ever comes to see me aside from the occasional drunk, but everypony sleeps through my night, and I work so hard on it!"
"Luna, I-"
"Whenever I'm out on the streets, it's always Celestia, Celestia, Celestia! I guess the moon just raises itself, doesn't it?"
Celestia placed a hoof on her sisters muzzle. "Luna, I had no idea. Honestly." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Tell you what, I'm expecting a slow day tomorrow. Why don't you take the day shift? And I'll see what I can do for you about some proper recognition."
Luna's eyes watered. "You'd do that? For me?" 
"Sure. I'll raise the sun in the morning, and you take the throne. It'll be a fun surprise to play on the guards, and I'll get a day off! I haven't had a day off in ages."
"It's a deal," Luna said, beyond relieved. "I was worried you'd have forgotten all about me, since you're always too busy to talk to me anymore."
Celestia looked hurt. "Now, sister, you know that's an exaggeration. We can't spent every moment of every day together like we did when we were younger, we have responsibilities now. I'm sorry you feel that way, but dawn and dusk are truly the only compatible hours we have. I would never forget you." She paused. "Who are you again?"
"Very funny," Luna said. "It's agreed then. We switch roles for a day. It can't be that hard, and I do so look forward to mingling with the townsponies and listening to their stories! So in the morning, I'll take the hotseat. Oh!" She exclaimed. "I made a funny, Celly!"
Celestia snickered. "So you did, LuLu. So you did."


	
> Game of Pones (2/3)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The night proceed as normal. Princess Celestia lowered the sun, and Princess Luna raised the moon. The main difference here was that Luna, once the moon was raised, proceeded to retire for the night and go to bed. This prevented her from working a double shift, and she even managed to get a nice hug from her older sister, and an hour or two of conversation between the two of them.
"Good night Luna," Celestia said at last, and rose to return to her room. "I'm sorry you've been feeling ignored lately. I assure you it hasn't been intentional," she said, and slowly closed the door as she left.
Luna wasn't used to sleeping at night, and she was afraid she wouldn't adjust to it. It wasn't something that happened very frequently. But it seemed as though her body had just been waiting for the proper moment to sleep, as only a few seconds after she'd closed her eyes, a member of the Royal Guard was shaking her awake and the sunrise was streaming in through the window.
"Luna," he said. "Wake up. You have breakfast at 7, and then a meeting with the Ambassador of Clearview."
Luna's eyes snapped open. "A meeting? Me?" She said. "Of course!" She felt giddy with anticipation, as it was almost unprecedented for her to actually have ponies waiting on her. "I'm coming!"
It didn't take her long to prepare herself, and perhaps she could have presented herself a bit more professionally. But the citizens didn't realize how long it took to get ready when a mare had this much mane to deal with, and it was an extremely thankless task. Luna quickly gobbled up her oatmeal in the kitchen right afterward, before rushing towards the Meeting Room. She wouldn't be holding Audiences for another hour or two, so the higher ranking officials had to come first.
Pushing open the elaborately decorated doors, she found herself nose to beak with a gryphon who was lavishly dressed in what appeared to be fine silk.
"Princess Luna, a surprise!" He squawked. "I was under the impression I'd be meeting with Celestia."
Celestia, Celestia, Celestia. Everypony always went on about how great Celestia was. Luna forced a smile. "I am taking care of things today, for a change of pace. How can I help you?"
The gryphon looked momentarily stunned by this, but went on. "As I'm sure you're aware, Clearview is undergoing some hard times, economically. I was hoping you might consider lowering the taxes, just a bit. I would so appreciate your understanding."
"Of course," Luna said kindly. "Consider your taxes cut in half for the time being, I'm more than happy to help the Gryphon Kingdom."
"Thank you, thank you!" The ambassador exclaimed. "You won't regret this, Princess Luna!" The gryphon clacked his beak several times, and rushed out the door. Luna rolled her eyes, and made her way to the throne room. The ponies were in for quite a surprise when they came to talk to Princess Celestia. 
One of the higher ranking members of the Royal Guard approached her before the doors opened. "Princess Luna, I must remind you that we cannot be giving out investments and loans to every one of these ponies. The treasuries ARE limited, and we must find ways to help them without giving them all free bits."
"Of course I know that," Luna said. "I'm not an idiot."
"Oh, I wouldn't ever say you were an idiot!" The Guard exclaimed. "It's just that when Celestia runs things-"
"I'M NOT CELESTIA!" Luna snapped, with such severity that the Guard flinched. He gave her a questioning look but said nothing further, going instead to open up the doors. Luna was busy for the next few hours, though there was nothing of significant importance. Ponies mostly just wanted her advice on things, and she was happy to impart her wisdom. She didn't often get to interact with ponies during her working hours, and it was a nice change of pace.
Around late afternoon, while Luna was still busy holding Audience. a member of the Royal Guard knocked on the golden doors of Celestia's personal chambers. There was no answer after a few knocks, so he knocked again, harder this time.
Celestia opened the door with fury in her eyes, her pastel mane up in curlers. At least half a dozen open books surrounded her  favorite reading area by the window, and the Princess did not seem to appreciate being interrupted. "This better be important," Celestia said. "This is my first day off in I can't even remember how long. My sister is more than capable, and I trust her completely."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," the Guard said hesitantly. "The Evening Post came in, I just thought you'd like to take a look at it." He hovered a scroll in front of Celestia's muzzle.
FINANCIAL CRISIS! TAXES LOWERED IN CLEARVIEW. SHAREHOLDERS SELL STOCK - BUSINESSES PLUNGING INTO BANKRUPTCY. LUNABRONY HAS NO IDEA HOW INVESTMENTS WORK!
"What in the world..." Celestia's eyes widened.
Dropping the scroll, Celestia raced down the hallway, completely forgetting that she was still in her bathrobe.
The Guardspony blinked. Oh, this wouldn't end well.
> Game of Pones (3/3)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Celestia rushed into the room where Luna was holding court, immediately bringing the proceedings a halt. 
"Stop!" The elder sister cried, for fear of things spiraling out of control anymore than they already had. Luna was in the middle of talking to the remaining few ponies, and only had another couple of hours left in the day shift. The few who remained immediately diverted their attention from Princess Luna, and ran to her sister instead.
"Celestia..." Luna's voice sounded shocked, then absolutely hurt. For the briefest second, and unseen by anypony, her eyes flashed blue. This lasted only a moment, a prelude of things to come, before her dilated pupils rounded again. "I thought... you trusted me..."
Celestia looked apologetic. "LuLu, honey, I do, but-"
"No! Don't you LuLu me!" Luna shouted. "One day, just one day, that's all I wanted! And you couldn't even give me that!"
"Luna that's not... you're overreacting. Just let me explain..."
"If you want your day back so badly, you can have it. Take your attention and your love and your day back! I will continue to rule the night abandoned in isolation." Luna got up from the chair and galloped out the large double doors, slamming them behind her.
Celestia wasn't sure what to do, or what in Equestria had gotten into her sister. Luna needed time to cool off, and then Celestia would go find her again and talk things out. The elder sister took her place on her chair, and continued finishing assisting the ponies who were waiting and undoing any unintentional damage Luna may have already caused.
It's not like Luna's anger at such misunderstandings would get out of control or anything...

> Micro: Going Up
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ah, springtime. The time of romance, fairs, and the generational everlasting hope that school would soon be over. At this particular springtime annual fair, attendance was at an all time high. This was most likely due in part because the King and Queen were visiting, and had brought their children with them. The young heirs had begged their parents for money and tickets, and Celestia had convinced her little sister to try the climbing wall, despite that the little one did not like heights.
"Celly, Celly I can't do it!" Luna cried, holding onto the edge of the climbing wall for dear life. Despite being harnessed and buckled and strapped to all sorts of safety mechanisms, the young foal did not like this latest adventure. Not in the slightest. Celestia had taken her younger sibling out for a day at the park, and seeing a rock climbing opportunity, had elected to try and get Luna over her fear of heights.
"You're almost there, sweetheart," Celestia cooed. "Come on, one hoof over the other. Do it for Celly."
"For Celly..." Luna repeated, turning her attention back towards the wall. She was surrounded by weird little plastic rocks, and all she had to do was pull herself up.
"You're strapped in, I'm here, and the staff pony is here," Celestia said. "You're not going to fall, I promise. Keep going."
Luna scrunched up her nose, and reached above her for a rock. Her back hooves scrabbled for a hold, desperately clinging to the wall as if it were her last moments. She pulled herself up an inch or two, and a bright smile widened across her face. 
"Celly, Celly, I's doin' it!" She exclaimed. "I's climbin'!" Enlightened now, she did the exact same maneuver a second time. Her hoof took a hold of the rock, and she pulled herself up.
"That's my sister!" Celestia exclaimed eagerly, getting the attention of several other ponies at the small fair. "That's my sister up there! You're doing it all by yourself, Luna!"
Luna was overjoyed, and reached up to grab the next one. It was just out of her reach. She looked down to try and see where her last hold was, and her eyes immediately widened. The ground was so far away! Almost immediately a piercing wail burst out of her mouth and tears erupted from her eyes, clinging ever harder to the side of the climbing wall.
"CEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYY!" Luna screamed. "Get me down! Please! Please! Get me down!"	
The staff pony running the climbing wall looked kindly at Celestia. "I think she's reached her limit," he offered.
"Yeah, I'll get her," Celestia said, and walked over to wall, where Luna hung barely a foot off the ground. Her horn lit up the safety harnesses, and kicked the wall. Luna slipped off with a shriek and fell an inch onto her sisters back, where she clung for her life.
Celestia tossed him a bit, and the two left.
"Come on, Luna," Celestia said. "Let's go get ice cream."
"But... but... I don't... But I don't want.... kay."
> Let Him Go - One Door Closes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
Castle of the Two Sisters


1,002 years ago...

Now young adults, Celestia and Luna had finally settled into their respective roles as Princesses of Day and Night. Celestia handled the crowds and dignitaries during the peak hours, while during the night Luna handled the smaller details and kept close watch on the tidal patterns around Equestria. Very few knew or cared that she delicately guided the respective lakes and oceans, but it was one of her favorite tasks. And it all fell under the moons power.
Celestia, for the most part, handled the day to day political things that came up, meeting with other members of royalty and
At dusk on one particularly uneventful day, Luna was just descending the stairs to prepare for her role, and was surprised to see Celestia already standing at the bottom. "Luna, honey, we need to talk." She had a disgraced look on her face, and her tail was twitching impatiently. Luna knew that look almost instantly.
"What did he do now?" the younger sibling sighed, hurrying her pace down the stairs.
The two walked side by side towards the kitchen, with Celestia providing the needed exposition. "It was cute when he was younger, doing various sorts of things. And we overlooked it. But he's been getting older, as we all do, and with great power comes great responsibility."
Luna looked interested. "Huh, that's kind of catchy, actually. I like it."
Celestia smiled. "Well, you know. It's getting out of hand. And I believe the time has come for us to part ways with him. He can't stay here anymore, Luna. I know how fond you are of him but it needs to end. He's out of control."
Luna sighed. "I suppose I knew this day would come. Especially after the incident at the Annual Halloween Ball last year."
Celestia looked grave at the reminder. "He turned our pumpkins into carriages. Who DOES that? And then the pumpkins were ruined, and we I had to explain to all the children eagerly awaiting carving them that the event was cancelled. You should have seen the looks of devastation on their faces, Luna."
"I imagine it was similar to when he rearranged the hedge maze so it was impossible to win. I had to go in there with a chainsaw," Luna said. "He has an unnatural fondness for that hedge maze, it's going to cause somepony a lot of problems someday."
"Agreed," Celestia said.
"That said," Luna continued, "Once we have a real castle of our own, a hedge maze is an absolute must. I think they're a clever attraction, and I would want one there as well."
"You can have your maze, Luna," Celestia smiled, and the two rounded the corner into the kitchen.
"Good evening, ladies!" Discord chirped, in the midst of juggling several apples and oranges which had been set out for the following morning's fruit salad. He wasn't generally supposed to be in the kitchen for safety reasons, but very few of the staff dared to keep him out.
"Discord, put those down," Luna said. "We need to speak with you."
The draconequus immediately crossed his arms, and the fruit crashed to the floor. Luna glared at him.
"Well you said put them down," Discord reminded her. "Is about the new room I asked for? I would so love to have everything extremely oversized, then I could pretend I was just a little tiny draconequus in a castle of giant ponies..."
Celestia cut in. "Discord, I'm afraid this living arrangement just isn't working out anymore," she said. "Our parents are fed up with your antics, which is the last thing they need to worry about in their retirement, the staff have complained, and Luna and I are feeling rather uncomfortable. Now, we-"
Discord looked hurt, and clutched his chest. "You're kicking me out? After all these years?"
"It's not cute anymore, Discord," Luna said grimly. "Ponies are in danger of being hurt."
"Well why don't you just rip out my heart and take it," Discord said, dropping to his knees and doing just that, pulling the beating organ out of his chest and presenting it. Celestia looked disgusted. Discord grinned and shoved it back in.
"We'll help you get settled somewhere else," Luna continued. "You have no enemies here-"
"-yet," Celestia cut in.
"And you're still welcome to remain in the Kingdom. But you can't stay here. It's in everypony's best interest."
"Is it now?" Discord said, rising to his feet once more. "This whole time I thought we were friends, and you're kicking me out, just like that. With no concern for my well being."
"We have bigger responsibilities now!" Celestia shot back. "Our concern is for the other citizens, and out of respect for them we can't have them feeling unsafe in their own homes."
"I've never broken into their homes," Discord said.
"Almond Tart, last year. You turned her furniture into jello."
"Well that was-"
"Rolling Wave, two months ago. You turned his prized collection of seashells into lobsters."
"I hardly think that qualifies as-"
"Enough!" Celestia said finally, with such force that even Discord fell quiet. "We will help you, within reason. But you need to leave."
Discord looked grim. "Fine. If that's how it is," he said. "But I'll have you know I consider this a betrayal. And I don't handle betrayal well."
Luna instinctively moved in front of her sister. "Is that a threat?"
"There's a storm coming, ladies," the draconequus said. "And it's as they say... let the storm rage on." Without a further word, he turned away and slammed the door.

> Let Him Go - Halls and Oats
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Luna and Celestia stood together in the kitchen, was although a complete mess, was now empty save for themselves. Neither of them had a very good feeling about this. Discord was prone to making rash decisions when he was angry, and their intervention certainly could have gone better.
"Do you think we did the right thing?" Luna asked. "I can't help feeling we were only acting in our own best interests."
Celestia sighed. "Making the right decision is a hard thing, Luna. The staff was uncomfortable with him, as was I. He's cocky and arrogant, and those things do not bode well with as much power as he has. Come, let us talk to him before this gets out of hand."
Luna opened the door to the kitchen which Discord had previously slammed, and the two excited out into the hallway. The hallway had a pleasant wooden floor, with sets of armor lining the halls on either side at preset increments. It had a very medieval feel to it.
The two princesses headed down the hallway together, a route that each had taken thousands of times before. It typically took approximately 47 seconds to reach the door on the other side, so after about a minute or so, Luna stopped. 
"Something's wrong..." she said. "This doesn't feel right."
Celestia peered around, before finally looking behind them. She tapped at Luna's shoulder, who peered behind as well, staring through the doorway of the kitchen immediately behind them. They'd barely moved a few inches. She looked annoyed, and broke into a frantic gallop, running as hard as she possibly could. At this speed it would take mere seconds to reach the other side of the hallway, but as she looked behind her after a full minute, the kitchen door still remained there. Taunting her.
Celestia lit up her horn, teleporting to the other side of the hallway. There was a crackling sound like the harmless fireworks the children played with on holidays, and she appeared next to her sister, who looked bewildered.
Discord's haunting laugh filled the air, although the draconequus was nowhere to be seen. 
"DISCORD!" Luna yelled. "Whatever you're doing, stop it at once!"
"Oh, I don't think so," the voice said. "If from this hallway you wish freed, you must work together to proceed. Farewell, ladies! I have work to do."
"Discord!" Celestia shouted this time, although got no response. 
"What is WRONG with him?" Luna asked. "I thought he was our friend."
"Friends change," Celestia said kindly. "I'm sorry, Luna. I know you're fond of him, but this changes things."
"I'm not fond of him, Celly. Just because I dated him for a week doesn't mean I'm infatuated with him. I've somepony else that I like now. One who's much more mature and responsible and treats me like a lady."
Celestia grinned. "You're going to ask out Prince Sombra, aren't you?"
Luna turned bright red. "A lady does not discuss her affairs."
"Great," Celestia said teasingly. "So if I see a lady, I'll be sure to inform her while you tell me."
Gasping, Luna pushed her sister, who slid backwards several inches on the floor.
Suddenly distracted, Celestia looked thoughtful. "Work together..." she mused. "Luna, would you try to teleport me to the other side of the hallway? Perhaps that's a viable strategy."
"I can try," Luna said, and her horn glowed with powerful magic, attempting to do just that. Celestia vanished from her side in a burst of dark light, before reappearing in exactly the same place.
"No go," Celestia said.
"Perhaps I can push you there," Luna offered, and Celestia nodded her consent.
Luna shoved her shoulders against her sisters front, and Celestia began to slide backwards.
"It's working!" Luna exclaimed. But as she stepped forward, she suddenly warped backwards to the kitchen door again.
"It's no use, Celly!" The younger sister called. "Try and make it out from there!"
"And leave you here alone? I'd sooner die," the elder sibling promised. "I would never leave you behind." With that she gave up the few inches of progress she'd made, returning once more to Luna. "I think we both need to be participating," Celestia said. "i have an idea. Let me grab your legs."
"Wait, wh-"
Luna's legs glowed with a visible aura, and lurched forward underneath her without her control. She took several wobbly steps away from the kitchen door, and although appearing unsteady, she was moving.
"Now do the same!" Celestia encouraged.
Luna did, her darkened aura wrapping around each other's legs. Celestia moved Luna forward and Luna moved Celestia forward, their four legs unsteady and splayed out awkwardly.
"Someone should make a really difficult game out of this," Luna observed.
"How about not," Celestia said.
It took several minutes, but eventually the two reached the end of the hallway, energy drained and magic limited. They both needed to recharge, but had successfully navigated to the other side.
"Thank goodness for that," Luna said.
Celestia was already heading towards the main door which led outside, and Luna hurried to catch up. Together the two opened the front doors to the castle, peering outside at what had used to be a charming, inviting courtyard. In the fifteen minutes or so that they'd been stuck in the hallway, Discord had gotten outside first, and it was barely recognizable.
Celestia cringed at the mess, and the task that now lay before them.
"Oh, f-"
Discord's voice rang out once more, this time booming from all directions and interrupting the solar princess. "Welcome, welcome to my domain, ladies!" He echoed. "I do hope you can stay, the game is just getting started!"
> Let Him Go - What's This?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The door to the courtyard stood open, framing both Luna and Celestia. The outside world was already nearly torn apart, with trees standing upside down, extensive root systems stretching towards the sky. The sky itself, hauntingly enough, was a dark blood red, and two headed animals were running around in a desperate panic.
Luna and Celestia both stared in horror, knowing that the two of them combined would barely be able to get a handle over all this. 
"He's lost it..." Celestia finally gasped.
"Is this our fault?" Luna asked. Celestia shook her head.
"No, Luna. The powers of friendship are vast, but even they cannot overcome everything. We might need the Elements for this. We must retrieve them at once. She paused. Do you hear brass?"
"You mean like horns?" Luna questioned, and perked an ear. "I do! And bells!" The seriousness of this situation hit her in the face. "Oh, sweet Starswirl, he's not going to sing, is he?"
"I believe so," Celestia said with a sigh.
And just like that, whether anypony wanted to hear it or not, Discord was singing. Running through the streets of the small nearby village, casting his magic on anything he felt like.

"What's this? What's this? There's chaos in the air! What's this? There's ponies everywhere! What's this?
I've opened up my eyes, and finally realized, I was so very unaware, what's this?!
What's this? What's this? There's something oh so wrong... what's this? Do they not enjoy my song? What's this?
Everywhere there's little ponies unsuspecting,
so many problems need correcting!
I see nothing worth protecting... what is this... what's this?!
There's children in the schoolyard, but they all look the same,
They're chanting little rhymes instead of kneeling at my name!
There's so much I could do here,
And so much they could learn,
I'll turn this town upside down
And then I'll make it burn..."

Discord teleported throughout the village, laughing as he did. The villagers were helpless in his wake as loving homes were turned upside down, prized fruits growing to dangerous sizes, and the ground cracking apart as the terrain split in half. And the more Discord abused his power, the more he realized how much fun it was. As he appeared near a small home in the middle of the town, he peered inside the window, and his chorus continued.

"Oh, look, what's this? A quiet night at home. How sweet.
And when mare and stallion meet... a child.
Who is calling for its mother, a love story like no other... what's this?
What's this?
A tale at bedtime now? I'm bored.
It could be so much more... let's see.
I never cared much for a family,
My mother was soon bored with me,
Caused me so much misery,
Now watch me as I make them flee!
I've just begun!
I've just begun!
I'll filet them all like fish, WHAT'S THIS?!"

He vaulted forward into a nearby bookstore, electricity shooting from his antlers. Ponies who had previously been having a perfectly nice day screamed and ran in fear as books flew off the shelves, causing all sorts of panic and disorder. Discord shouted after them, continuing to taunt them even in their retreat.

"That's all? What now? I could do so much more.
But look, I'm stuck in generation four.
No Smooze, No Grogar here he's stuck in hell now,
Defeated by a bell how is there only me to run this place alone... what's this?!
The Everfree is wild and it's dangers are untamed,
When Discord's in his rightful place then all shall fear my name!
For far too long, I think
This place has just been riddled with disease,
And finally I'm free and I can do just what I please...
The screams! The looks!
They'll be begging me to go!
But I intend to stay... a while.
The chaos magic's taken hold of me
You'll learn respect cause Discord's free!
I want it, how I want it!
I want it for my own!
So bring it on and do your worst!
Where is is this place it all begins?!
WHERE... IS.... THIS?!"

It was then that he found himself on the edge of the village, a sign depicting exactly what he wanted to see.
PONY TOWN: POPULATION 157

A smile crossed his lips. "Pony Town? That'll work."

Back up at the castle, Luna and Celestia had been watching the entire chaotic display, and with a single glance, they knew just what they had to do.
"The Elements?" Celestia asked.
"The Elements," Luna agreed.






	





	


> Let Him Go - The Doctor Will See You Now
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	So close in bond were the two royal sisters, that the glance they shared was enough for them both to know they were thinking the same thing. Discord's attacks would have to be ignored temporarily, as both of them turned around to head back towards the castle doors. It was close enough, only a few steps away, shouldn't pose them any problem whatsoever.
Not under normal circumstances, anyway. And these circumstances were anything except normal. Discord's booming laughter filled the air, and an enormous thorny branch burst out of the ground in front of them. Luna screamed and fell back, while  Celestia immediately rushed to the side of her sibling.
"Luna, are you hurt?"
"No," Luna replied. "Just caught off guard. Celestia, the Everfree, it's..."	
"Out of control," Celestia confirmed. "It looks like it's growing wild in every direction, I don't know if we'll ever be able to contain it again. There's no telling what kind of twisted things Discord is filling this place with."
The growing branches and debris shot up towards the sky, so thick and unforgiving in their nature that within their depths the very light of the sun itself was turned away. In mere moments the forest had overtaken the castle, branches smashing through windows. Celestia was forced to pull back as a particularly aggressive tendril caved in part of the roof, and still the forest continued expanding.
"Luna, we have to go. Now," Celestia warned.
"But... our home..." Luna looked ready to cry.
"There's no time for that. We can build another castle, but this one is lost. Our home is replaceable, my beloved sister is not. Come!" Celestia hurried away from the scene, with Luna giving a look of sadness towards the castle before running after her.
"Celly, the Elements are still in there, we need to retrieve them or we don't stand a chance!" She pressed closer to her sister, ducking to avoid the growing thorns. 
"I know," she replied. "But I haven't a plan for that yet." She and her sister moved forward quickly, attempting to escape the horrors of Discord's magic before it consumed them. They raced towards whatever light they could find, skidding to a halt only when a pile of sticks before them began to swirl in ever widening circles.
"Not so fast, ladies..." Discord's voice rang out.
The sticks before them began to grow and twist, planting themselves firmly upon the ground. Some sort of nightmarish entity was forming, the likes of which neither of them had ever seen.
"What IS that?" Celestia asked. "It appears... part timber, part wolf. What sort of tree is that?!"
"Obviously it's a dogwood," Luna snarked.
Celestia glared at her.
"Sorry to interrupt, but this might be a good time to keep moving," A new voice chirped. A stallion appeared before them, emerging from the darkness. "Ello. I'm the Doctor. We're going to run now. Move!"
Everything was happening so quickly, the pair had little time to question this. Wooden claws slashed in their direction, and snapping jaws barely missed their tails. Celestia and Luna made a run for it, while the newcomer dealt with the strange animal. Eventually the snarls and howls and crashing subsided, leaving the two momentarily concerned about the fate of whoever that strange pony was.
"Well, that was fun."
The two sisters whirled about, contained in the small space the branches provided, and were astonished to see an average looking stallion standing before them, with their personal saddlebags at either side of him. He reached wordlessly into one, and pulled out a glowing blue rock. "I always do hate finding myself in situations unprepared. Good I've got these then."
Luna gasped. "The Elements?! Thief! Give them back!"
The stallion looked offended. "I am no thief, you gave them to me... to give to you."
"A thief and a liar, then!"
"Listen, we don't have all this, so allow me to answer your questions quickly. I'm the Doctor. Doctor Who? No, just the Doctor. I don't have to explain it. I help ponies in need, and in need you are. You two gave me the Elements of Harmony to give to yourselves and we've gone over all this already, you just don't know it yet."
"You've lost your mind," Celestia said.
"Perhaps," the Doctor said. "Or perhaps I've only just found it. Either way, the Elements are yours. Return them to me when you're done. I'm afraid I must be going, but you'll know what to do."
"Unlikely," Luna said.
Celestia, however, was willing to listen. If only barely. "He IS giving us the Elements, Luna. And only we have access to them. And Doctor, if you're so willing to help ponies in need, why don't you help us now?"
The stallion's face turned grim. "Fixed point in time... I'm so sorry." With that, he disappeared off into the surrounding darkness.
Luna looked bewildered. "What a strange pony," she remarked.
Celestia nudged her forward. "Onwards we go," she said. "This ends now."
> Let Him Go - Neighs of Future Past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Battered and bruised from scraping through the thorns of the Everfree Forest, the two royal sisters at last emerged from the perils of darkness. The land that lay before them was as torn apart as ever, as Discord had seen fit to tear apart Lake Hayrule and put it in the sky instead. Aquatic species of all types swam through midair, blissfully unaware of their situation. Several more were chased by bigger fish, and in at least one occasion, even an eel.
They approached the King of Chaos, who had seen fit to give himself a throne overlooking his master work. Neither of them were in any way amused, in any sense of the word. Luna was tapping at a nearby fish, frightening the poor thing.
"Astounding..." Luna remarked.
"Sister, focus! Or else I'll start referring to you as Princess Tuna instead."
Luna gasped. "You wouldn't dare!"
Discord spun around in his seat, interrupting the exchange. "Oh, look at the two of you. Bickering like small children. This IS so much fun, isn't it? If you like games so much, why not play one with me?"
"We're not here for-" Celestia began.
"How about pin the tail on the pony?" Discord suggested, holding up a disturbingly familiar pastel colored object. Celestia whipped her neck about to look behind her, and Luna burst into snickering. Celestia's enraged telepathic warning silenced her laughter.
"Luna!"
Luna quieted. Barely able to maintain a straight face, she resumed her attention towards their quarry.
"That's enough!" Celestia shouted. "Playtime's over!"
"Put everything back the way it was, this instant!" Luna added.
"Over already? I doubt that," Discord said calmly, leaning back in his chair and summoning what appeared to be a bag of popcorn. "My show has only just started." He offered the bag in their direction, filled with some sort of disgusting looking seeds. "Hungry?" His kindness seemed forced, and neither of the sisters wanted any. "Very well, more for me."
Celestia had run out of patience, and glanced at her sister. Luna nodded, and Celestia nodded in return. Both mares saw fit then to draw forth the Elements that the Doctor had provided, swirling in slow circles out of their saddlebags. This caught Discords attention. Not only was it something shiny to play with, but something magical as well. And he wanted it.
"What's this, then?" He asked. "A new toy, for me? And it's not even my birthday. You shouldn't have."
"We didn't," Luna warned.
"These are the Elements of Harmony," Celestia said. "A last resort to putting an end to troublemakers like you."
Discord tried to hold back his laughter, but failed. "Trouble? Me? Why, trouble is the LAST thing I want. The only trouble is from the ponies who resist me, who can't realize how much better a world of chaos would be! I mean, really. Just look at you. So intent, so serious. It's almost like you actually think you have a chance."
His laughter continued, not seeing the Elements spark to life. Not seeing the sisters touch horns. And only at the very last moment seeing a rainbow of death hurtling towards him. 
"That's not friendship," Discord observed, moments before being hit with the blast. His petrification was instantaneous, and left the two sisters drained of magic and energy. Luna had been fond of Discord, and turned away, not able to even look at what they had done. The effects of chaos magic slowly began to revert, though would take a while to fully do so. The lake in the sky swirled like a drain, depositing itself back into the basin.
"Will things be normal now?" Luna asked.
"Most of it," Celestia said. "I doubt the Everfree will ever be the same again. I don't think it can be tamed."
"A shame," Luna said sadly. "It was a beautiful place."
Their nostalgia was interrupted by a friendly stallion running towards them. "Oi! Are you ladies alright? I saw the blast from way over there!"
Luna's eyes widened. "Hang on, you're that doctor fellow."
"Yes, that's right, I'm the Doctor!" He frowned. "How in blazes did you know that?"
Celestia had to think about this. "You told us that we gave you the Elements, but we didn't know you knew that we didn't know that. You know?"
"Logical," the Doctor said. "And what are the Elements, exactly?"
"These," Luna said, and each of the two siblings presented their half. "They are drained now, but I suspect if you take them back to before they were used they will be recharged. You will encounter us in your travels at some point, give them to us. You said something a fixed point in time."
His face paled. "Well, that IS serious, then. I will do my best, you have my word." He placed them all in his saddlebag, which Luna questioned. 
"The Elements are enormous, how did you get them all in that bag?"
"It's bigger on the inside," The Doctor said. He looked about to say something else, but there came some sort of fluctuating generator noise in the near distance. "What in blazes... that's my ride! I have to go, I'm afraid!" He left in a hurry, running faster than either sister had ever seen him run.
"MISS HOOVES! I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING!"
"But I only touched the big red button!"
"And when has a big red button ever resulted in anything good?!"
Celestia stared off into the distance for a moment.
"Sister, what of Pony Town?" Luna asked. "Discord's magic did a number on it. And the earth ponies worked so very hard to build it."
"We will make it whole again," Celestia said. "We will help them restore it, and expand it bigger than it ever was before. We will make it a safe place for families to grow and children to learn."
"All that for a small town?" Luna asked. "It was fairly large to begin with."
"It will be an undertaking," Celestia agreed. "But we have time. We will restore it, and expand it. And it shall be called Ponyville."
"That sounds lovely," Luna smiled. "And what of us? The castle is destroyed."
Celestia peered out into the distance, her gaze settling upon the tall mountain ascending from the ground in the horizon. "We'll think of something, Luna." She promised. "We'll think of something."


> Micro: Paging Doctor Woona
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Coming through, coming through!"
Woona and Tia, both dressed in scrubs, raced down the extensive hallway of the hospital, side by side. They'd been out to a very nice day off at the playground, when they'd been called in on an emergency. Both of the little fillies barked at the orderlies to move out of their way as they rushed down the hallway, bursting through the doors to the surgical center as they stuck their front hooves under running water.
"What do we have?"  Tia ordered.
"Stallion. Teenager, got a bad case of Hay fever. We're gonna have to knock it down," a nurse said. "His vitals are all over the place, we need to stabilize them," she added.
"Right, I'm on it," Tia said.
"What 'bout me?" Woona asked.
"He was complaining earlier of a horse throat, can you take a look at that?" Another doctor asked.
"On it!" Luna said.
Tia was already at the base of the subjects belly, poking at his stomach with her hoof and making general orders to the other doctors. The nurse who was working with Luna handed her a long pair of tweezers. "Time is of the essence, Doctor Woona," he said. "Can you work quickly? His throat is very swollen, we need to get the horse out of it at once."
Woona's horn glowed, and surgical gloves strapped themselves around her front hooves. The doctor hovered anxiously nearby as the stallion's  mouth was propped open. Luna leaned over, her horn slowly lowering the tweezers into the victim's mouth. 
"Careful now," the doctor warned.
Woona focused all her attention in front of her, the tweezers ever so carefully searching for the horse lodged deep in the stallion's throat. Minutes ticked by, and sweat poured down her face.
"Towel," Woona ordered.
"Towel," the doctor said, dabbing at her mane and forehead with a cloth.
"Apple juice," Woona ordered.
"Apple juice," the doctor said, placing a juice box underneath Woona's mouth so she could suck from the straw.
She was so close now, so very close. The tweezers gripped the lodged object, and Luna very carefully began to withdraw it. 
Almost there... almost there...
Almost there... almost there...
"I WIN!" Tia shouted, holding up a bale of hay that she'd pulled from the stallion's belly. Woona jumped with such fright at the exclamation that she dropped her tweezers into the stallion's mouth, setting off the most annoying, ear-piercing alarm  she'd ever heard in her life.
Little Luna and Celestia sat in their bedroom, the game of Operhaytion between them, blasting them with a droning buzzer noise. Luna was so frightened that she burst into tears, and started wailing.
Their mother rushed in moments later, seeing the scene before them and scooping up Luna in her front hooves. 
"Celestia, I've told you a thousand times not to play this game with your sister, it frightens her!"
"But it's raining outside and we don't have that many games!"
"Then make one up!" Mother said. It took her a moment or two to calm Luna down, and Celestia moved the game board so as to silence the screeching. Luna was set down, and Mother glared at her. "Play something else," she demanded, and closed the door.
Celestia thought for a moment, and looked at her little sister. "Hey, Luna, you wanna play a new game? It's really fun."
"No buzzers?" Luna asked.
"No loud buzzers of any kind," Celestia promised.
"Kay," Luna said. "Wuzzit?"
Celestia just smiled. "It's called Perfection."
> Author's Note: Help Needed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I can't thank you guys enough for all of your support on this diabeetus driven adventure. I never expected it to go this far. Or take off like it did. That said, I would like to periodically continue to update this story, and I've been hit with writers block lately, as far as childhood adventures go. I would like to take a moment to invite you all to share with me your own games and ideas in the comments, things you did as kids that you might like to see Tia and Woona do. Even Discord, perhaps. Tia and Woona pretended the floor was lava, and got on each others nerves. Did you guys build lemonade stands? Did you have your own games you made up? Let me know, and if you inspire a new chapter, you'll be credited.

From this point onwards, Goodnight Woon will advance only with the participation of you guys, as my cuteness well has run dry, and I'm working on Life Lessons in the meantime.

As always, thank you for reading, and I look forward to hearing your stories.
Lunabrony
> The Woona Chronicles: Technical Fowl
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Little Luna ran far ahead of her sister, bouncing impatiently. She had her favorite inflatable ducky life ring around her waist, which she didn't ever want to take off. Celestia, a little bit older, was struggling to catch up. She was hauling all the important things, such as the picnic basket, blanket, and other necessities for a day at the beach.
"Luna, why don't you help by taking one of the buckets?" Celestia asked.
"No!" Luna decided.
"I'm not a donkey, Luna," Celestia warned. "It would really help if you carried something, too."
"Okay, okay!" Luna shouted, and attempted to make her way back towards Celestia. She tripped, however, and still wearing her ducky life ring meant she was essentially trapped in a large tire, and began rolling down the hill.
"Cell...LY.. I'm... com....ING...!" She said dizzily, threatening to to roll right past her sister, all the way down the hill they'd just worked so hard to climb.
Celestia dropped her things at once, and her long horn burst into life. A pink aura grabbed a hold of the younger sibling, and lifted her off the ground, all the while her legs were flailing.
"Not fair, not fair!" Luna cried.
"Would you rather have rolled all the way to Pony Town?" Celestia asked.
"...No..."
"Well then."
Celestia turned around, only to find the young and ever annoying Discord juggling all of her things in the air at once. He was wearing a ridiculous old fashioned striped bathing suit, and a little matching straw hat.
"You ladies weren't going to leave me behind, were you?"
Actually, they had been. 
"Of... course not..." Celestia lied. "We were just going to get all set up first, and then call you later."
"You're a terrible liar, Celestia," Discord said. "If you didn't want me to come, all you had to do was ask. But since you didn't, I think I'll just take all these things with me."
"Discord, that's not,"
"Ta-ta, ladies!" The young draconequus quipped, and disappeared in a flash, taking all of their picnic items with him.
"That son of a-" Celestia began.
"Son of a what?" Luna asked, being slightly lowered to the ground.
"Um..." Celestia caught herself. "A hamster.
"But Diskie's not a hamster," Luna said.
"He's part hamster. His mother was a hamster, and his father smelt of elderberries."
Luna giggled.
"Now come on, we've the whole day ahead of us!"
---
Once in the water of the popular Lake Hayrule, Celestia made sure Luna was snug in her ducky life ring. The filly also had inflatable water wings on her front hooves, and was perfectly happy to splash and go charging after small fish which swam underneath her.
"Now, Luna, I'm going to go tell Discord a thing or two about taking things that don't belong to him. Do you see him, right there?"
Luna kept splashing and laughing.
"Luna! Do you see Discord?"
"Uh huh."
"I'm going to be right there for just a moment, and I'll have my eye on you the whole time. So stay right here, alright? I'm only going to be a few feet away while I get our things back. He took our things, and you know what that makes him right?"
"A meanie!" Luna answered.
"Right!" Celestia gave her sister a fond look, and charged off towards Discord's nearby position.
HISSSSSS.
Luna stopped splashing, her ears pinning back. "Tia?" She asked hesitantly.
HISSSSSS.
Luna slowly turned around, finding herself muzzle to beak with the biggest goose she'd ever seen. Luna had no idea where it had come from, it'd just sort of... appeared. They had a tendency to do that.
The little filly slowly paddled backwards, and the goose paddled forwards.
"Tia!" Luna called.
Celestia stopped what she was doing and looked over, a worried expression turning into a smile. "Aw, look, it must think you're another bird!" She said. "I think it likes your ducky, Luna!"
Luna frowned and glared at the goose. "My ducky," she said.
The goose spread its wings and let out another demonic hiss, charging towards Luna.
Luna screamed and paddled backwards until her hooves hit the sandy beach, the goose right behind her.
Celestia was on her hooves instantly as soon as Luna screamed, glaring at Discord. "Don't think we're done here," she warned.
Discord grinned. "Why, dear Celestia, I wouldn't dream of it."
The elder sibling ran towards her sister, hugging her protectively.
"I think it wants your ducky, Luna," Celestia said quietly. "It feels threatened."
"No!" Luna protested. "Mine!"
"Yes, I know its yours, but I don't think it's going to give up that easily. I'll get you another ducky."
"But I like this one!"
The goose hissed at them again with such severity that Celestia fired a harmless blast of light at it. The goose squawked and covered its eyes with its wings.
"Now, Run!" Celestia said, taking Luna and running past another sunbathing, brown coated stallion who peered up at them through red and blue glasses.
"That's my line," he said, before closing his eyes again.
Luna and Celestia ran across the beach, Celestia taking a cautious look behind them to see the goose chasing them, though far behind. They ran up a small hill and around several bushes.
"I think we lost it," Celestia said. 
Luna tapped Celestia's shoulder, and Celestia turned around.
They had run right into the nesting area of at least a dozen other geese, all of whom were spreading their wings out aggressively.
"I'm sorry, Luna," Celestia apologized, before yanking the inflatable ducky ring from around Luna's waist. Luna immediately started crying.
Celestia threw the ring into the nest, where it was immediately pounced upon by the birds and torn to shreds.
Celestia took hold of her sister and ran back the way they had come, but quickly found the path blocked by the first goose who had been harassing Luna.
The goose spread its wings and hissed at them, but Celestia planted her front hooves on the ground and bucked it firmly in the face with her back legs, sending the honking creature stumbling backwards.
"Geese are the devil," Celestia muttered, before looking at her little sister.
"You want ice cream, Luna?" she asked.
Luna wiped her tears and nodded. "Uh huh."
"Good." She marched over to Discord, and  gave him a look. "You're buying my sister an ice cream," she said.
"Nah," Discord shrugged.
Celestia gave him The Stare. "That wasn't a suggestion," she hissed.
"You know, I think I suddenly want an ice cream," Discord said. "Maybe I'll get a few extra." He darted off and off to the kiosks nearby, so Luna and Celestia took their positions on the blanket.
"I hate geese," Luna said.
"Me too, Luna," Celestia agreed. "Me too."
> The Tia Chronicles: School Daze
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Twilight."
Princess Celestia walked alongside her unicorn pupil, a look of concern on her face. Given the current set of circumstances, Twilight had been the one pony Celestia felt authorized to call.
"You're welcome," Twilight said, still a bit uneasy. "But now that we're in Canterlot Castle, could you finally tell me why I'm here? All you said was it was an emergency."
"Of course," Celestia assured her. "As you very well know, Cerberus escaped from his post in Tartarus some time ago, and we've been cleaning up ever since. What you may not know is that Cerberus caused quite a bit of damage during his running around."
"Damage to... what, exactly?"	
Celestia gave her a fond look, and turned the corner. Twilight followed, and stopped dead in her tracks. Her jaw dropped open, and her brain struggled to comprehend the scene in front of her. Canterlot Castle had quite a few libraries, the one in front of her, although small, remained in shambles.
Bookshelves were broken and leaning, and books of every size and color were scattered across the ground. It was one of the most horrible thing Twilight had ever seen.
"This WAS part of the historical archives," Celestia said. "Old scrolls and documents, mostly. If you don't feel up to the task, I can always ask another-"
"Leave me," Twilight said. "I got this."
Celestia smiled. "I figured as much. I'll leave you to it," she said, and departed.
---
Twilight Sparkle spent the next several hours cleaning up books, which happened to take a lot longer than it normally would have as she kept trying to read old research papers. Putting the books back was easy, it was organizing them that was difficult. They all had to be arranged by date, and then by author, and then by title before being put back on the shelf.
Twilight sighed, picking up a large, white, official looking book with gold trim. There was no author on the spine, which annoyed her. "How is anyone supposed to know what they're studying?" She grumbled, and opened the book.
Blank pages. Hundreds and hundreds of blank pages. 
"What is this nonsense?" Twilight asked herself, wiping beads of sweat from her forehead. She'd been at this for hours, after all. A few beads of sweat splattered onto the blank page. They remained there for a moment, before dissolving and receding into the blank pages.
Gross.
The words appeared on the page after only a few seconds, leaving Twilight momentarily confused.
"Wha..." She found herself glaring at the book." It's hot out here!"
No response.
Pulling a quill from her saddlebag, she wrote on the blank pages.
I am not gross, I am Twilight Sparkle.
You're still gross, Twilight Sparkle.
Infuriated, the purple pony fumed. 
And just who do you think you are? She wrote.
My name is Celestia.
Twilight stared at it for a moment, not trusting this situation for a moment. She hesitated, then wrote once more in the book.
I've seen enough. I have work to do.
Silly Twilight Sparkle. You haven't seen anything yet.
Twilight blinked, but there was no further response. The pages of the book began fluttering, flipping open. A bright, shining light emitted from its pages, and Twilight threw a hoof up in front of her face to protect herself against the glare. The floor tilted beneath her, leaving her scrambling to get a hold on the wooden surface. Unable to find one, she was pitched forward, and the room spun around her. She landed face first on a large dirt floor, rubbing her nose in annoyance as she got up again.
In front of her were several young children seated in front of an older pony, who was drawing circles in the ground with a stick.
"And while the exact circumference of the sun is not yet known, it is thought to be able to contain our planet inside it at least 100 times."
A young mare with bright pink hair in the back row raised her hoof.
"Yes, Celestia?"
Twilight gaped. The mare with her pink mane in pigtails was as awkward as they came, with a wooden support structure balanced around her head and on her nose, delicately balancing twin pieces of glass on top of it, which rested in front of her eyes. She smiled widely, revealing that her teeth were bound by strips of copper and small pieces of metal. 
"The circumference of the sun is two million, seven hundred thirteen thousand, four hundred and six miles," Celestia said. 
The older pony glared at her. "You don't know that, you're making up figures again. This class is based on facts, not estimates. How did you come to that number?"
"I don't know..." Celestia admitted, shrinking back in her seat. "I just know it."
"Well when you can prove your claim, then we'll talk," the older pony said. In the meantime, we continue with our arithmetic. Everyone, take out your abacus."
Twilight Sparkle just stared silently at the events she was witnessing. She finally grew bold enough to approach the group, clearing her throat as she did.
"Actually, Celestia is correct. The sun is a powerful celestia body, and only recent advancements in the scientific community have proven that-"
She paused, none of them were listening.
"Hey!" She tapped the teacher on the shoulder, looking astonished as her hoof passed right through him. He paid her no attention.
"Luna, where is your abacus?" The teacher sighed, as if this had happened before. Twilight whirled around, her eyes settling on a younger filly with light blue hair seated near the front.
"Forgot it," she said quietly.
"I'm going to have to mark you up again for not being prepared," he warned. "One more time and you get sent home."
"Kay," Luna muttered.
"You can use Rogue Wave's abacus today. Rogue, share with Luna."
"I don't want to share with Luna, she always messes it up," the blue colt next to her protested.
"Do it anyway."
"Fine..." He sighed, and Luna scooted closer.
"I like your tail today," Luna said.
"Shut up," Rogue hissed at her, and Luna's lip trembled but she fell silent.
Twilight was instinctively enraged at seeing best princess treated like that, and stormed forward with the intent of giving the colt a piece of her mind, temporarily forgetting he was, presumably, but a memory.
Her lecturing was cut short, however, by a voice which came from behind her. Familiar and yet so unexpected, it made her blood run cold.
"Enjoying yourself?"
"Well yes," Twilight began. "But I-" her eyes widened, and turning around once more found herself face to face with Princess Celestia, who did not look the least bit amused.
"I thought I burned all these," Celestia said. "They're never to be spoken of again." She took hold of Twilight by the tail and dragged her backwards, while Twilight protested.
"But it's history! We could learn a lot from this! And look at Luna, she's adorable!"
There was a feeling of disorientation as Celestia continued pulling the purple pony backwards and Twilight skidded backwards onto the wooden floor of the library. Celestia closed the book and took it with her, presumably for destruction.
"Wait!" Twilight called. "Whatever happened to Rogue Wave?" She had a ton of questions, but for whatever reason that one became the priority.
Celestia thought a moment. "Luna told him he was cute, he told her she was fat and ran off after sticking tree sap in her hair. Now finish up, there's a hot meal waiting for you in the dining area when you're done." Celestia left the small library, closing the door on her favorite pupil.
> The Woona Chronicles: Dead in the Water
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Tia?"
Little Luna slowly crept into her older sisters bedroom, framing herself in the doorway while watching her sister hard at work trying to work the sewing machine. Celestia liked making things, but had never been very good at it. Scraps of fabric littered the ground all around her, and mismatched portions were set precariously on the sewing table.
"Tia, can I talk to you?" Her voice sounded nervous, and she bit down on her lip in an adorably nervous pout.
"I'm busy, Luna," Celestia said. "I fell far behind on my projects while we were on vacation. What do you want?" She didn't mean to sound rude, and of course usually made time for her sibling, but hadn't had any time to herself all week. The two had been dragged along on a trip to visit foreign dignitaries, and it was boring as sin.
"Well, it's my fish," Luna said. "He won't wake up. I poked him a whole bunch of times."
Celestia froze instantly. Oh, Tartarus. 
"Didn't you arrange for him to be fed while we were gone?" She asked. Maybe the fish was just in a coma or something.
"No," Luna said.
Celestia gasped. "Luna! You can't just not feed him!"
"I fed him!" Luna protested. "I gave him a week's sprinkles before we left!"
Celestia's heart sank. "Luna, honey, it doesn't work like that. He's a fish. He's not gonna know what to do with a week's worth of sprinkles. He's either going to eat it all at once and then not have any, or eat a little bit and the rest is gonna go bad."
"How come?" Luna asked.
"Because he doesn't think like us."
"How come?" She asked again.
"Because he doesn't," Celestia said, and turned off her sewing machine. She moved over towards Luna, and nudged her out into the hall. "Come on, let me see."
Luna escorted her older sibling to the next room, and Celestia entered. The small bowl that Luna kept her fish in was slightly green from a week's worth of neglect, and old bits of food were clumped floating at the top. Next to a motionless orange fish of decent size, which floated near the edge of the water.
Celestia frowned. Luna had only had the thing about three weeks, after winning it at the fair. "And you fed him every day?" She asked.
"Uh huh."
"And how often did you clean the bowl?"
Luna stared blankly.
Celestia sighed.
"How come he's not wakin' up?" Luna asked.
Celestia brushed part of her mane out of her eyes, glancing at the bowl. "He's not going to wake up, Luna," she said gently. "He's dead."
Luna started sniffling, and turned to look at the bowl. "Well... maybe we can make him un-dead," she offered.
"No, it doesn't work like that," Celestia said gently. "He's gone, nothing we can do about that. We're gonna have to flush him, and then maybe we can get you a new fish."
"But I don't want a new fish! I want this one! I was trying to teach him tricks!"
Celestia's horn took hold of the bowl, and lifted it off the dresser.
"I'm sorry, Luna, there's nothing we can do here. Come on." She began carrying the bowl down the hall, with Luna chasing after her, the little filly crying with tears streaming down her face.
"Maybe he's just really tired, he could wake up!" Luna protested.
Celestia continued onward, taking the bowl into the bathroom. She placed the bowl next to the toilet, which was scarcely more than a dark hole in the ground.
"We have to let him go, Luna, do you want to do it?"
"No!" Luna protested. "...Yes... are you sure we can't bring him back?"
"Ponykind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain it, something of equal value must be lost," she recited. "There is nothing equivalent to a life that we can give. Especially not for something as replaceable as a fish. I'm sorry, Luna, I am, but you do have to learn to take better care of your things."
"Okay..." Luna said, and tipped the bowl over into the dark abyss, watching her fish disappear. As soon as she realized what she'd done, tears filled her eyes once more and she flung herself into Celestia's front legs. "I'm sorry, Tia, I didn't mean it!"
"I know, honey," Celestia said. "But we'll get you another one soon and you'll get a little better, and the fish will live a little longer. And you'll learn."
"And I can teach it to jump through rings of fire?"
Celestia blinked several times, but smiled regardless. "Of course, Luna," she said.
"Of course."
> The Tia Chronicles: Half-Baked
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Is you sure about this, 'Tia?" Luna asked.

The little filly was standing on a small table so that she could reach the counter, while Tia, being a little older and a little larger, was rapidly mixing ingredients in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. She didn't have to stand on anything to reach the counter, and kept a watchful eye on her younger sibling. Luna had a bowl in front of her as well, but was having a harder time stirring her own ingredients as the spoon kept getting stuck.

"Of course I am," Celestia said. "Mom and Dad are out for the afternoon, and I want to surprise them. They do so much for us, it's time we did something for them. Have you finished your bowl yet?"

"Uh huh," Luna said, and slid it over. Tia looked down into the bowl with slight suspicion. "There's a lot of dough in here, Luna. Are you sure you did it right?"

"I'm sure!" Luna protested. "I know how to read numbers, I can count up to a hunnred by myself!"

Celestia softened. "Alright, alright, give it here."

The large oven they were going to be using was more like a kiln than anything. A hulking monstrosity with a fire lit underneath it. Celestia took the two bowls and dumped their contents out onto the counter, mixing them together into a large lump. She started tossing it back and forth in the air with her horn.

"Lemme do it, lemme do it!" Luna begged.

"Maybe next time," Celestia said. "You've barely even started magic training."

Luna crossed her front legs defiantly.

Splitting the dough apart into even segments, Celestia placed the segments into baking pans.

"When do we get bread?" Luna asked.

"Not for a while yet," Celestia said gently. "Come on, we have to let it rise now. You want to play marbles?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright, but first we need to do your timekeeping lesson," Celestia said. "Go get the sundial."

Luna pouted. "But I don't like the sundial!"

"Luna..." Celestia warned.

"Fine..." And Luna left the room.

After a timekeeping lesson and several rounds of marbles, Celestia and Luna returned to the kitchen. Celestia gasped in shock at what she found. The bread had risen neatly, as it was supposed to, but then in a not so neatly fashion, it had CONTINUED rising. The dough had spilled over the sides of the baking pan and was rapidly covering the counter like a magically enchanted vine.

Discord, though little, stood nearby and was watching this entire process with faint amusement.

"Discord!" Celestia snapped. "What did you do?!"

"Me? Nothing," he sounded offended. "I'm just standing here... loafing around, I guess you could say."

"My bread is everywhere, its ruined!" Celestia's voice was dismayed.

"Well I wouldn't say ruined," Discord said. "But I'd say the mess is the yeast of your worries right now."

Celestia glared at him. "Discord!"

"I didn't do it, honest! Would I lie to you?"

Celestia didn't answer this, and instead looked at Luna. "Did you put the ingredients in EXACTLY like I told you?" She demanded, her horn lighting up and trying to contain the assault of rising bread.

"Well... not exactly..." Luna said quietly. "You said we were in a hurry, so I put in twice as much of everything."

"What?!" Celestia was mortified.

"But that way it'd be done twice as fast!" Luna insisted.

"Luna, it doesn't work like that! Help me!"

The two children rapidly tried to push together all the rising dough, but there was a wild amount of it.

Discord, standing off in the corner, raised his talons and an umbrella appeared within them, and snapping his claws once more  resulted in a violent explosion from the counter that knocked both Luna and Celestia on their backs.

Dough and yeast was everywhere, coating the entire kitchen. The walls, the ceiling, the floor. The fire underneath the kiln had whimpered and gone out completely.

Worst of all, completely covered in muck, were Mom and Dad, standing with horrified shock in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Celestia..." Mom said with deadly malice dripping from her voice. "Explain."

Stammering, Celestia found she had temporarily lost the ability to speak. Both children pointed their hooves at Discord.

"Oh, sure, blame the draconequus," Discord complained.
> Micro: Drained
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
With Mom and Dad downstairs and heavily occupied greeting and playing host to an array of important foreign dignitaries, and doing general grownup political things, it had come down to Celestia to give her foal sister a bath. The water was run, and just warm enough to be pleasant. It was a very large tub, completely filled with bubbles and floating toys of all shapes and sizes. Little Luna sat in the middle of all of it, amusing herself with a plastic boat.
"Vroom! Vroom!" Luna laughed, skidding the boat across the bubbles.
"Luna, boat's don't go vroom vroom," Celestia said gently. "Especially not sailboats."
"Dis one does!" Luna said. "So there."
Celestia sighed, and dumped another bucket of warm water over the foal's head. "Alright, you're all clean, it's gonna be time to put the toys and bubbles away," she said.
"Five more minutes!"
"No, not five more minutes," Celestia said. "You've been in the tub for an hour. It's time to get out." She reached into the bottom of the basin, and pulled the stopper from the drain, while the water level slowly began to lower.
"Alright now, you have until the water goes down. Be out of the tub before then, or you'll be sucked down the drain and nopony will ever see you ever again." Celestia smiled a bit, figuring that would get her out of the tub, and left the room temporarily to go get a towel.
Luna didn't believe it, at least she didn't want to believe it. She lowered her gaze onto the sinking surface of the water, and all seemed well at first. until before her eyes, as the water approached the bottom of the tub, a little whirling tornado appeared, making violent sucking sounds as it took the water down with it.
The filly screamed in terror, and bolted out of the tub, flinging bubbles and water everywhere.
Downstairs, their mother frowned a bit at the noise, but focused on her husband, who was in the middle of winning over the dignitaries with amusing anecdotes about Japanese golfers.
With a violent banshee like shriek, without any warning whatsoever, little Luna, completely naked, blazed through the middle of the scene with bubbles in her hair and fear in her eyes.
"I DON'T WANNA GET SUCKED DOWN!" She screamed, disappearing around the corner.
Mom turned bright red, and their father had completely frozen.
Celestia was framed at the top of the stairs, a towel levitating nearby. She was equally horrified, peering down at her foal sibling running wet and naked around the downstairs.
Their mother rose with fire in her eyes and silently moved towards the stairs, and Celestia dropped the towel and raced for her bedroom. The dignitaries eventually let out a sputtering of awkward laughter, and the father relaxed a bit, though the girls were still going to get grounded forever later on. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened, and it probably wouldn't be the last.
> Micro: Godzilla
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	An elaborate dance sequence was taking place, perfectly synchronized and choreographed. By which of course meant that absolutely nopony had practiced it or in fact knew it was going to happen at all, it just sort of did. A set of pegasuseseses leaped and twirled over the purple unicorn standing on a table in the middle of Ponyville in front of her library, her eyes shimmering and her heart full of ignorance towards anything bad that could possibly happen.

"Morning in Ponyville shiiiiiiines," she sang, jumping off the table and onto the ground. She trotted forward, flanked (no pun intended) on either side by two other unicorns, who matched her movements and provided background support, as Applejack had been unavailable. "And I know for absolute certain, that everything is certainly-"

"KREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!"

Her song silenced by the sudden, awful noise, Twilight was aghast. "What in the world?!" She began, turning around to try and identify what creature had interrupted her musical number. Her eyes widened in shock as she beheld the monstrosity approaching the outer walls of Ponyville. It was ugly and green, its mottled skin scaled and broken by clumps of growing spikes. Bright purple eyes shone with rage, and it stomped forward one one of it's stubby legs.

Ponies had seen it now, and were running fear for their lives in all directions. The majority were running away from it, screams echoing in all directions. Twilight ran towards the behemoth, her interrupted song already forgotten, eyes narrowed and horn glowing, ready for action. She fully intended to lecture this thing if not take it out completely, and wasn't about to let it destroy her home. The lizard roared again and swiped forward with its claws, taking out a chunk of someone's roof.

Twilight dodged debris, and suddenly Pinkie was overhead, moving forward with lightning speed on some sort of wires. The wires appeared at first to be coming out of a device on her back, but she was moving through the air too quickly to be able to say for sure.

"Nein, wir sind der Jäger!" Pinkie yelled excitedly.

Twilight stomped her hoof. "Pinkie! We're not doing that!"

The party pony untangled from the device and retracted the wires, plummeting towards the ground at dangerously breakneck speeds. Twilight cringed, but Pinkie slowed to a halt right before he hit the ground and floated the last few inches like a feather. 

"We're not?" She asked.

"No! We're doing Godzilla!"

"Oh! Okie dokie!" She threw a hoof across her forehead and swooned. "Aiii! Is Godzirra!" She screamed, before taking off in a different direction. Twilight groaned in exasperation, and rushed forward between the monster's green legs. She grabbed a hold of the device that Pinkie had dropped, instead using the wires to run in circles around the lizard's legs. The monster didn't like this, and roared in anger once more.

"KREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!"

It swiped at her, but missed. Twilight ran out of reach, and the lizard took a step forward to pursue her. Its legs wound with wire, it lost its balance and begun to fall forward, arms thrashing, fury and hate in its large purple eyes. The ground was getting closer and closer now, just a few more inches and-

"You're so scary, Gummy!" Pinkie said, watching her alligator. The reptile was motionless except for the occasional blink, standing surrounded by wooden building blocks that a foal might play with. She'd brought them out in an attempt to inspire her pet to be more creative, but it didn't seem to be working.

"What are you thinkin' about? Are you thinking about cake?" Pinkie gasped. "Me too! Oh! Oh! Let's go make one!" She bolted into the kitchen, leaving her alligator to wonder just what in the world was wrong with her.
> Micro: The End
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Celestia and Luna stood on the highest turret of Canterlot Castle, not a word spoken between them. They were gazing out at the horizon, and Celestia's horn lit up the darkening twilight skies. It was a calm and gentle moment between them, and all seemed well, until Luna suddenly began to pitch forward without any explanation, her wings folded and legs stiff. The Princess of the Night hurtled towards the unforgiving ground, while Celestia remained upright and uncaring.

Clack

The small plastic purple horse hit the floor and came to rest near the wide double doors, her white unicorn twin still precariously perched on top of the childs plastic castle. Nearby, a large stuffed plush alligator towered over a wall made of building blocks, and a demonic chimera of a monster with mismatched parts lay forgotten near a plate containing a cheese sandwich.

"Dinner's ready NOW!" A female voice called from downstairs, sounding annoyed and impatient. "Don't make me call you again!"

A little girl in a pink hoodie sat crosslegged by the castle, her small and fragile hands carefully picking up the purple horse and setting it back on its hooves.

"Five more minutes, mom! Celestia is making the sun go down!"

"Now, Lauren!"

The girl sighed, and stood up, bumping against the castle. The white unicorn wobbled, not meant for this particular display,and clattered over the side, knocking over its purple counterpart and leaving them both laying on the floor. The girl pulled back the hood of her sweatshirt, and dark red hair tumbled down to her shoulders.

"I'm coming!" She called back, and turned out the light, leaving the adventures behind.

For now.
> Bonus: Luna's First Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Celestia and Eclipse sat together in the lobby of the old fashioned hospital, signing paperwork. The new sister, Celestia, who was barely more than a foal herself, kept getting up and running in hyperactive circles around the large fish tank that sat in the middle of the room, traumatizing a small swarm of minnows were were swimming in equally wild circles to try and escape her.

"Celly, honey, leave the fish alone," Eclipse said, while filling out a scroll with a quill dipped in black ink. It was only a quick visitor sign in sheet. "Are you ready to go meet your new sister?"

"Yeah!" Celestia exclaimed, and rushed over to him. The nurse behind the counter gave him a patient, fixed smile, and gestured them both to follow her. 

"Come with me," she said cheerfully. "Mother and foal are both doing perfectly fine." Eclipse gave a sigh of relief at this, he had left his mate alone only at her insistence, she'd told him to take Celestia and get some sleep, since all three of them had been up all night. Eclipse had been up with her during the labor, and back at the castle, Celestia had stayed up all night only because the foalsitter she was with told her not to. Had that all really only been twelve hours ago? It felt like five minutes.

The two were led down a primitive, quiet stone hallway, and the mare who'd been behind the desk gestured to the far room. Eclipse gave her a thankful smile, and entered. Aurora was sitting up in bed, and gave them both a welcome smile as they entered. 

"Where's my sister?!" Celestia demanded.

Eclipse frowned. "Celly, be patient. Your sister was born a few days early, she's being watched." 

"You want to see her?" the receptionist asked.

"Yeah!"

"I'll take her," she said. Aurora frowned, not entirely sold on the idea of having their daughter running around with a stranger, but it was the early days, and ponies tended to be more trusting. "We'll be right back," the receptionist said, and handed over a few scrolls. "In the meantime, I'm going to need you two to fill these out for our records."

"Oh, joy, my favorite," Eclipse deadpanned.

---

Celestia followed the receptionist down a few doors, and was led inside while the door was propped open. The little one ran to the window, propping herself up on her hind legs to get a better look at the amazing sight on the other side. Rows of three foals were lined up, at least a dozen in all.

"Which one's mine? Which one's mine?" Celestia demanded. 

The mare, unphased, pointed to a light blue form sleeping in a crib at the end of the rows. She lay on top of a blanket, eyes closed, peacefully asleep.

"That's my new sister?" Celestia asked, awed. "She's so small..."

"She'll get bigger," the mare promised.

"Whoaaaaaa...." Celestia couldn't stop staring at the small foal. Barely a day old, light blue, and completely unaware of the world that awaited her just on the other side of the glass.

"Come on, let's get you back to your parents."

"But I wanna stay here!"

"She'll still be here when you come back. She'll be coming home with you next week."

Celestia pouted. "Next week?! But that's like, forever!"

The receptionist smiled, and nudged her back down the hallway.

---

"Eclipse, be careful," Aurora was warning. "That ink is permanent." His face was scrunched up in concentration, to be sure all the information was filled out correctly. It was mostly completed already.

NAME OF NEWBORN: Luna

SIBLINGS: Celestia

"Careful," Aurora said.

"I know."

"Careful, Eclipse!"

"I know!" Eclipse gave an exasperated cry, and very  nearly knocked the bottle onto the floor. Aurora just gazed at him patiently. "I told you to be careful."

Celestia entered, and ran to them, hugging her mother who hugged back. 

---

Back in the room of foals, the dim light, suitable for napping newborns, had been penetrated by a bright blue light only moments before. The mare who snuck into the restricted room was quite literally the bubbly sort, who gazed down at the newborn Luna with ever-widening crossed eyes. "Whoaaaaa," she giggled. "It's a little Luna!"

Bending over, the cross-eyed mare tried to get a better look, but was startled out of her reverence by a sharp, angry voice.

"Miss Hooves! I TOLD you to stay where you were! We're in a fixed time stream! Come on now! Allon-sy!"

The Miss Hooves in question backed up suddenly, having been startled, and backed right into the rack of equipment against the wall. Bottles and instruments jangled together violently, sending a large bottle of that permanent ink straight towards the sleeping foals. She made a desperate dive for it, but missed, and the ink splattered itself all over the foal's flank.

"Come on!" The voice called again. "We're in a very delicate period here, let's go before we cause irreparable damage!" It was clear by his tone that by 'we' he meant 'her', but wasn't about to come right out and say it.

"Uh... uh... uh..." the mare stammered. "Coming!" She made a run for it, skittering around the corner and out of sight, her presence followed by a bright blue flash of light. The commotion was discovered only moments later as the receptionist burst through the locked door, and shrieked with terror as she discovered the mess and no sign of what had caused it.

Luna was cleaned up immediately, of course, but the ink never did come off.