> Luna's Quest for Cookies > by AlucardTheShadow > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Way the Cookie Crumbles... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the heart of Canterlot, a tall castle was nestled that was home to two royal Alicorn princesses, Celestia and her younger sister Luna. As the rulers of Equestria, it was their duty to keep their homeland in harmony which they had done so with the help of Celestia's student, Twilight Sparkle and her five friends who make up the 'Elements of Harmony' which had gotten out of many scrapes before such as a former incarceration of Luna known as Nightmare Moon and a Draconeequs with the ability to manipulate anything into a chaotic calamity. The day was bright and fairly quiet amongst the castle walls, most signs of life being the guardsmen that protected the castle from wrongdoers twenty-four/seven. Celestia was at her bedroom scavenging through bundles of treasures from her past in her closet, she dug through the nostalgia pile and pulled out what appeared to be a small little book that had a deep red leather case with an inscription that said 'Happy Family Photo Album'. The princess sat on her haunches and opened the book with the use of her magic and let a tear stream to her smile as her eyes laid on the very first photo, which was a photo of when her and Luna were foals. Celestia turned the page to then see a photo of her and Luna's past self a year older than they were on the previous photo, Luna was taking her first steps in magic with Celestia doing the same by slowly but surely lifting some letter blocks one on top of the other. "Tia?" Celestia turned her head to see her sister looking at her with a curious expression. "Oh hello, Luna. I was just looking through some old memories in this little book." Celestia greeted with a smile before turning back to the book and finding a photo of them both now older fillies taking a bath. The Princess of the night sat next to her older sister to get a look at the photos and had the same warm smile that Celestia had. "It feels really nice to look at your past and recollect those warm memories, doesn't it?" Luna said, Celestia responded with a nod as she turned the page and Luna's smile turned into more of an awkward one when her eyes fell upon the photo. Celestia put a forehoof to her muzzle to prevent her oncoming laughter. On the photo was a certain filly which happened to be Luna, six years of age sat in front of a glass cookie jar with a cookie in her fronthoof and her cheeks puffed up with crumbs on her mouth, her eyes were shrunk and fixated on the camera as if she had been caught by however took the photo. "I was afraid I would one day have to recall that time..." Luna said with an embarrassed tone. "The one where you tried to be a sneaky filly and steal from the cookie jar. Yes." Celestia retorted with a smirk as she and Luna remembered that day very clearly. Several Years Ago... "Please mother, just one little cookie! Pleeeeeeeeeease??" A small dark blue filly with a light blue mane and a Cutie Mark of the moon whined at a taller Alicorn mare with a white coat that had a gradient of orange at her hooves and wings, her mane and tail were a gradient mix of deep blue and the same glow of orange. The filly was sat on her haunches, holding both her fronthooves and curling them like a kitten while giving her mother the cutest Puppy-Dog eyes she could give. "I'm sorry Luna, but those cookies are for dessert only! Please just wait until after dinner, okay sweetie?" Luna's mother said in a warm caring voice, Luna only responded by crossing her front hooves and letting out a "Hmph!", curling her lips into a pout. Her mother stroked her mane to calm her down and exited the kitchen. Little did she know that Luna wasn't giving up that easily. The Alicorn filly trotted into the living room to find her sister sitting motionlessly in front of the TV set, she walked closer to get a better look at what Celestia was watching and recoiled with a bit of disgust. "Tia! Why are you watching that baby show again?!" Luna scolded to her sister who was too entranced in what she was seeing to have heard her younger sister at all. On the TV screen was a large grassy field, where four weird alien humanoid creatures on two legs were dancing like students on a high school dance party after drinking too much Apple cider. Luna groaned and reached out to the TV's power button and turned it off. "Hey, I was watching that!" Celestia complained, shooting a glare at the filly opposite of her. "Tia, you're eight years old for Faust's sake! You should be watching shows that are more suited for you like 'Spongeboy Cubetrousers' or 'The Mild Hornberries'!" Luna scolded before she continued. "But that's not what I'm here for. I need your help." "And what is it that you need me for?" Celestia asked, still a little annoyed by Luna's rude interruption. "See that cookie jar over there?" Luna said, pointing to the kitchen where the jar of cookies were. Celestia looked behind her and nodded, opting Luna to continue. "So... You wouldn't mind helping a little sister out and getting a cookie for her?" Luna asked, giving her a sweet smile. "What did mother say?" Celestia asked. "Well she said 'No' but--" Luna began her response when she was cut off by her sister. "Then that's my answer then!" Celestia said. "But Tia!--" Luna whined. "Nope!" Luna growled in frustration and stomped back in her kitchen, but not before turning the TV back on and switching to another channel. "Fine! Then I'll have the cookies all to myself! And I don't want to catch you watching that garbage when I come back!" Luna said as she retreated back to the kitchen, unaware that she accidentally changed the channel to a showing of 'Colt's Play'. Luna looked up at the cookie jar above her and put a hoof to her chin, pondering on how she could get onto the table. Being only six, her tiny wings wouldn't be strong enough to lift her even a inch above the floor so she had to think outside the box when her eyes fell upon a spring nearby looked to be capable of bouncing a little filly upwards. Her ears perked up as she walked over to the metal object. After several minutes, Luna stood back and admired her handiwork. The spring was attached to two plastic slabs on each end with glue and tape, turning it into a makeshift trampoline. The filly retreated backwards to prepare for a running start with her eyes fixated on the trampoline and suddenly dashed forward. With one leap, Luna landed onto the trampoline and bounced right up... ...into the ceiling. Luna's head had broken through the plaster leaving the rest of her body dangling in the kitchen, she wriggled vigorously to break free and fall back down onto the table but the cracks were holding her tight. "Tia, help!" Luna called out, but her voice was muffled from the plaster and was not heard by anyone. She looked around to find nothing but darkness save for the light peeking through the crevices of the hole she was stuck in, she then felt something touch her fur, it was like eight very thin finger were tapping at her rhythmically when suddenly, a Huntsman spider crawled onto her nose and stared at her. "EEEEK!!!" Luna screamed as she wriggled like crazy which finally made the plaster give way and the filly immediately plummeted down onto the floor, just missing the table with the cookie jar. Luna picked herself up off the floor and dusted herself. 'This is going to be harder than I thought...' The filly thought to herself. Luna stacked the last book onto her makeshift staircase of books that would lead her right up to the table, she took one step of the first book which made the others wobble a bit. Luna slowly continued upwards and was already halfway to reaching her delectable cookies. But the Huntsman spider from earlier had other ideas... Luna was on the last stair and her hoof was just inches away from the jar when she stopped in her tracks at the familiar feeling of eight legs crawling on her back. The filly screamed in panic and flailed around to get the arachnid off of her, this in turn caused some of the books to fall and in the end making the staircase collapse, taking Luna with it. Luna was out cold for only a few seconds before she woke up and the spider was gone, she stood back up and felt something retract from her fur. She turned to find the spider had been squashed under her flank in the collapse. The rest of Luna's ideas all failed and only resulted in Luna on the floor or in another precarious situation, she had tried catapulting, rope swings, etc. and none of them ended with her at the cookie jar. Luna picked herself up from the floor once again and trotted away sadly, she had finally given up on trying to get the snack she desperately craved. She kicked a closet with a hindhoof to let out a bit of frustration when a clatter was heard behind her. The door had opened from the kick and had resulted in a small wooden stepladder falling out and onto the floor. "That was in there the whole time?!" Luna exclaimed with astonishment as she picked up the ladder with her front hooves and dragged it to the table. The filly clambered up onto the table and stared at her goal which was now right in front of her, Luna's eyes gleamed at the sight of delicious cookies in front of her and slowly walked over to the glass container, she grabbed the lid with one hoof and pulled it off. She dipped her head in and picked up a cookie in her mouth and proceeded to chew it down. The golden biscuit dough crumbled into her mouth and melted with the chocolate chips leaving a mouth-watering aftertaste. Luna licked her lips and looked at the still open jar and pondered. "Maybe just one more..." Luna said as she picked up another cookie and munched on it, the taste getting much better and making it harder for her resist. The filly started grabbing more cookies and stuffing them into her mouth, leaving more and more crumbs around her. When she was just about to have her 14th cookie, a sudden flash of light beside her stopped her train of thought and her eyes turned to see her mother holding a camera, all the while keeping an unamused look on her face. "Now I have proof to show my friends what a greedy filly you are!" Luna's mother said in a stern tone. "I... Uhh... It's not... I..." Luna stammered, but was unable to find the words to say. Her mother observed her closely finding a few crumbs on her blue coat. "You are grounded for a week, young mare!" The Alicorn said. "But motheeerrr!!" Luna whined, but before her mother could counter her complaint... "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!" An ear-piercing scream came from the living room. "Yeah... Mother took it upon herself to further punish me with a few smacks to the flank. But I guess that's how the cookie crumbles, right Tia?" Luna said with a chuckle before turning her head to find that she was now the one holding the album and Celestia was nowhere in sight. Luna stood up and walked into the living room in search for her sister, which she of course found with her front hoof in the cookie jar at a short table. The white Alicorn was staring at Luna with pinprick eyes. "Oh Tia..." Luna said, shaking her head playfully as the two princesses sat down and shared a few cookies. Fin~