Red Moon
Red Moon
By BSting
A loud, ringing sound echoes in the canals of Princess Luna’s ears, forcing her to awake from her dreams and greet the night. For most ponies, they would awake to the sun rising. This dark blue alicorn’s day starts, however, when the sun is setting. After firmly planting a hoof on the clock’s alarm button, she slowly gets out of bed, stretches her legs, and exits her bedroom to make a beeline for the kitchen. As she enters, the bright lights emanating from the ceiling lamps blind Luna momentarily, only to readjust her pupils to see her sister, Celestia, slaving over a hot stove.
“Good evening, Luna! I thought that it would be nice to treat you a special breakfast before you begin another busy night”, greets the snow white alicorn.
Luna licks her lips greedily. The smell of pancakes and fruit overwhelmed her nostrils, titillating her taste buds to eagerly await her special feast.
“Dear sister, you did not have to go out of your way to do this for me”, Luna replies.
“Nonsense, Luna. You know that I always look for opportunities to practice my cooking.”
“You wouldn’t happen to be doing this to learn to bake cakes for yourself, Tia? Tis not necessary for you to go out of your way to gorge on more treats on a daily basis. Your haunches are looking thick enough already.”
“That’s the kind of talk that makes little sisters lose their pancake privileges.”
Luna pauses for a second, maybe two.
“You look fine just the way you are”, Luna says with an overly-compliant tone.
“That’s better”, Celestia giggles. No matter what Luna said, she was eager to get some feedback on her cooking skills. She stacks the last pancake on the plate and tops it with blueberries, strawberries, and whipped cream. She also pours a cup of coffee, black as the night like Luna prefers it, and places both the plate and the cup in front of Luna sitting in a small, personal dining table. The kitchen in their personal chambers was different from the large kitchen and dining area down below. Here, they were able to cook and eat anything they desired in the privacy of their own sanction of the castle.
As Luna licks her chops, she stares at the decadent masterpiece that sits in front of her. She wonders what would go best with this breakfast confectionary. An idea pops in her head as she excuses herself from the table and makes her way to the pantry. She opens it up and searches through the condiments. Maple syrup is there, but it’s not what she’s looking for. In fact, what she seeks is nowhere to be seen.
“Sister, where is the honey”, Luna queries.
“Oh. Sorry, Luna. We are fresh out of that. There’s syrup in there for your pancakes, if you would like.”
“But, I like honey better. Its sweet, but it’s not as overwhelmingly sweet as syrup is.”
“Well, then go easy on the syrup, then.”
This wasn’t turning out what Luna thought it would be. Celestia made a good point, but the fantasy of her enjoying the perfect pancakes overwhelmed her common sense. In her mind, there was only one thing left to do. She takes a sip of her coffee to wake herself up and makes her way out of the kitchen.
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to an apiary”, Luna announces.
“That’s fine I- Wait, what? Isn’t that going a bit overboard?”
“I want the best honey for my pancakes, and I’ll personally choose the combs to drain the best honey from!”
“Can’t you just go to a store? There’s probably one still open.”
“No! The best for a princess! I’m off!”
Luna makes her way to the outside balcony, spreads her wings, and flies away. Celestia looks upon her sister’s flight and sighs.
“Oh, Luna. Why must you be so stubborn…? Well, I’ll stay up to see her return, but I have a bad feeling about this…”
“So, these are your bees?” Luna asks.
“Yes, yer majesty” answered the beekeeper. His coat is yellow like honey with a messy brown mane and a bee box for a cutie mark. He is a young stallion, but he is quite knowledgeable about bees and honey harvesting for his age. His apiary is located in the agricultural outskirts of Canterlot, away from the hustle and bustle of the main city.
“Excellent, I will pay any amount of bits for the finest honey you have!”
“Aw, shucks, your highness. Ah would be more than happy to share the best of what I have to offer. Follow me. Also, don’t worry about wearin’ a suit around my hives. My bees are as gentle as can be."
As she followed him to one of his hives making the premium quality honey, his point is demonstrated by the fact that bees landed on Princess Luna, only to fly away after a quick rest. One was even tickling her nose. She giggles as bees make use of her body as a resting place.
“There it is! This bee box contains 100% pure apple blossom honey. Guaranteed to make your eyes water with delight”, proclaims the beekeeper.
Luna shudders in delight upon hearing that. It would be the perfect topping for the perfect morning. But then, curiosity starts to get the better of her. Of all her life, she never learned how beekeeping works. She always wanted to try it.
“I’ll pick out the honeycomb that we will empty!” she announces suddenly.
“Wh-what?” the beekeeper says shockingly. This was extremely dangerous, but he knew his bees would be docile enough to let her handle the hive. Besides, a princess wouldn’t make such a declaration if she didn’t know what she was doing, would she?
“A-alright. Help yerself.”
Luna giddily lifts the top of the bee box. Bees start flying around her, almost greeting her to their home. She looks through the frames to see which one has the most honey. She found it, forced it out of the box roughly, and waved it above her head.
“I pick this one!” she yells.
“G-great,” the beekeeper said nervously. “Now give it to me and I’ll drain the honey for you.”
“I will, but first, I have to get these bees off it first!”
The frame was covered with hard-working bees, confused and a little frightened about what is going on. Luna foolishly shakes the frame to force the bees off. Some let go, but others hold on. They are getting concerned. She gives it another forceful shake. Some fall off but few remain. They are getting annoyed.
“A-AH! Princess, stop!”
Luna is getting annoyed, too. She thinks that it’s best that, if all the bees leave the comb entirely, it would be ready to harvest. She wants the honey quick, while her pancakes were still warm. She gives one last shake, but the frame slips off her hooves and crashes against the hive.
Enough is enough. One bee decided that, after a long time of peace and productivity, it is time to attack. It circles around Luna, looking for a place to strike. It decides to settle on her round and cushy backside to attack. It dives toward her, stinger extended and aiming towards her butt, until it touches down and plants its dagger into her supple rump.
“OW!”
Luna, panicking, starts to swat at the bees in defense. “No! Don’t do that! Run away! They done marked ya!” shouts the beekeeper.
She closes her eyes and continues to swing her hooves, ignoring the beekeeper’s advice. She stands on her hind legs and swings her fore legs around. Then, she loses her balance and tumbles backward. Her entire backside plants itself on top of the bee box, trapping several bees underneath her cheeks. In desperation to avoid being crushed entirely, the bees, one by one in a rapid succession, dig their stingers into the offending orbs. Luna screams in pain and jolts her hindquarters away from the roof. The stingers pumping venom into her butt send an overwhelming smell to the rest of the swarm. They sense the alarm pheromones emanating from the backside of the poor pony and ready themselves in attack formation.
Luna, rubbing her butt and moaning in pain, looks behind her to find that they are not done with her yet. The swarm makes a beeline for her backside, covering two of her cheeks entirely and stinging with reckless abandon. Luna yells and tries to buck the bees from her backside, hoping that they would detach themselves from her rump. It’s no use as the bees continue to sting as tears form around her eyes. This is agony, but she feels that she deserves every sting that is thrust into her for being so foolhardy.
Just then, the beekeeper arrives with a smoker and a scraping tool and has donned his beekeeping suit for the first time in years.
He blasts the bees with smoke to mask the pheromones. Then, he uses his scrapper tool to scrap the bees in chunks off her majesty’s butt and also dislodges several stingers, too. He quickly works to scrap each one off. Satisfied with the rest, he shouts to go home and get some first aid ASAP.
Luna is made of tougher stuff than a normal pony, but the wounds on her backside are burning with wrath. She nods, spreads her wings, and flies away with her tears sparkling in the dust.
“Sheesh… I never met a princess so foolhardy. These bees will be extra irritated with strangers, now…”
What a fool she was, treating the insects so lightly. The pain lingers with the barbs still embedded in her buttocks. However, what will be damaged even more will be her pride as she explains to what she had done to her sister. As she lands on the balcony and makes her way to the kitchen, she see her sister sitting on the dining room table, eating a small cupcake that she made for herself while her was away. She looks up to see Luna with a smile, only to gasp in horror and Luna presents the “lesson” that she had learned.
“I think that I will have some of that maple syrup now, Celestia…”