A Loony Luna
It was a quiet night in Equestria. Everypony was getting ready to sleep by now, but there was one particular pony still up at this hour
Princess Celestia, the Sun Goddess and kind ruler of the nation sat quietly in the Castle’s Study. It had been a particularly uneventful day for the Solar Princess and she yawned as she sipped some exquisite tea. She quietly flipped the page in her book and smiled at a funny scene in her trashy romance novel. Being over a thousand years old, she had seen many rehashes of the same plots and stories, all with different names and places, yet it still got her every time.
If only Twilight knew what Celestia read in her spare time. Celestia couldn't help but think of how her faithful student-now-alicorn would react. Perhaps she would freeze up and require more than a slight poke in the side? Or maybe she would have a mental breakdown and all of her hair would twitch out of place? Celestia mused this as she closed the book and moved on to one more fitting for royalty. Just as she turned to the first page, however, a loud bang caught her attention. It resonated from somewhere in the castle, and into the study hall.
“Bwahahahaha!” she heard someone laugh, and Celestia only slightly and tiredly widened her eyes. Was it that time of the month already? Casting a spell that would tell her the date, she choked on her tea and began to cough. Nope, not that time of month.
But it was that time.
Holding a hoof to her chest and wincing in pain, she slowly coughed out whatever had lodged within her throat and quickly put everything away. She heard another loud crash and what sounded like an explosion, and she made haste. Grabbing some parchment, she scribbled a letter as quickly as she could before sending it to Spike in a puff of magic. She could only hope Twilight and her friends could come quickly enough.
“SISTER! JOIN ME IN MINE FESTIVITIES! MAHAHAHAHA!”
Celestia grimaced as beams of light radiated out in the main halls.
Oh buck me…
“Goodnight, Spike!” Twilight smiled before closing the door. She began to walk away only to hear Spike begin hacking and coughing. Rushing to the door once more, she found Spike wheezing. In an instant, a puff of arcane smoke appeared out of his mouth and formed a scroll, which Twilight frowned at. What could the Princess think is so important that she needed to contact her just before bed?
“Hoo boy, that one hurt,” Spike groaned, rubbing his throat. He wheezed once more before clearing his throat and wincing. “What does it say?”
Twilight unrolled the parchment and frowned. “That’s strange. Celestia’s writing is all messy!” Spike motioned for her to show him and he cocked a brow.
“It looks as ‘Princess Celestia-y’ as it usually does,” he remarks.
“But don’t you see the imperfections in some of the script? Even the paper is slightly crumpled. This isn’t good.”
“Just read from it already!” Spike groaned, face-clawing at Twilight’s obsessive compulsive attitude.
Shooting a look at Spike, she shook her head slightly and began to read. “My most faithful student,” she started, “There is not much time for me to explain in this letter everything you need to know. As soon as you possibly can, bring your friends with you to Canterlot Castle. It is of utmost importance that you be prepared for anything as something has arisen in the castle. I am truly sorry for having contacted you at this late hour, but there is nothing I can do. Make haste, Twilight Sparkle. The supermoon has risen.”
“Supermoon? What’s that?” Spike asked, munching on a small gem he now held in his claw.
Twilight checked the other side for more but found nothing. She set it gently aside and began to pace the room, maniacally sorting through what she had just read. “A supermoon is when the moon is closer to Equus than usual is therefore bigger and brighter. Whether it has anything to do with whatever trouble Princess Celestia is in, I can’t tell, but I do know we need to go right now. If Princess Celestia sent a letter this late at night, it must be important.”
"Do I have to come? She only asked for you girls to go, not me,” Spike asked. Twilight immediately knew what he was trying to imply, and she sighed.
“Sure, you can stay,” she relented. She rolled her eyes as she now quickly exited the room. With one last parting thought, she yelled down the hall. “No reading comic books!”
She tried to hold back a snicker as she heard Spike groan in frustration.
She failed.
“Y’all… what now?” Applejack asked blearily, rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes.
“We need to go to Canterlot right now, Princess Celestia needs us!” Twilight exclaimed. Applejack half-liddedly yawned at her.
“Well what are we doin'-” she let out another big yawn “-standin’ around? Let’s get movin’...”
“Woohoo! Night-time road trip!”
“Uh… I’ll take that as a yes?” Twilight said questioningly. She hadn’t even asked Pinkie Pie yet, or knocked on her door for that matter.
“Yay!” Pinkie grinned.
Flump!
Rarity fainted at the news of having to go to Canterlot. She had curlers in her mane, and her coat was all frazzled. Facehoofing, Twilight sighed and floated her over to Applejack.
“Can you carry Rarity for now, Applejack?”
“Wha- huh?” Applejack blinked, “Oh, sure,” she yawned again and grunted when Rarity was plopped onto her back.
“Now let’s go get Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.”
“W-what? Why are you waking me up when I literally just went to sleep?” Rainbow asked grumpily.
“We have to go to Canterlot. The Princess needs us!” Twilight argued.
“Can’t we just go tomorrow?” Rainbow complained.
“No!”
Rainbow dragged her hooves down her face.
“Ugggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”
“Oh! Sure…” Fluttershy whispered. She stifled a yawn and put a hoof over her mouth. “Excuse me.” She then closed the door behind her.
After walking back to the main path to Ponyville, they stopped. “Okay everypony, strap yourselves in! I’m going to attempt a mass teleportation since we don’t have time for a train ride or a flight. Since Canterlot is a short distance away as well…” Twilight winced. “We’ll just have to wait and see. Three! Two! One! And…” Twilight began to charge her horn.
They were all suddenly enveloped by magenta light and they all as a group flashed away, disappearing from Ponyville proper.
“Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked, her voice echoing in the silent castle. All was quiet, but Twilight could swear something was here, that something was happening. The hextuplet had arrived just seconds before and were eerily greeted by magically charged chunks of floor, wall, and even… cake?
“Ooh! Fun!” Pinkie exclaimed, picking some cake up and shoving it in her mouth. She swallowed and instantly beamed. “Wow! Mooncake! Who would’ve guessed!” She then winked knowingly into empty space.
“Let’s just get this over with,” Rainbow Dash grumbled, floating lazily beside them. Applejack was now sleeping standing up with Rarity still unconscious on her back. Fluttershy occasionally yawned, but was as silent as usual.
“Alright, let’s get moving then,” Twilight whispered, not knowing why she lowered her voice. As she took a step forward, they heard maniacal laughter and the sound of lasers.
At the end of the hallway, Princess Celestia skidded to a halt and bolted down at an alarming speed. As she neared the Elements, Twilight couldn’t help but realize how disheveled her mentor looked, and how panic-stricken she seemed. Now almost at their hooves, she didn’t miss a beat and shouted one thing.
“Run!” Celestia cried, not stopping for one second. Those conscious enough to comprende looked on as they saw their benevolent ruler running away in fear. They would soon find out why. At the end of the hall, another figure skidded to a stop. This time, it was Princess Luna!
“Princess Luna! Why is Princess Celestia so… so- Princess?” Twilight began to ask, but took a tentative step back when she saw the energetic grin on the Lunar Princess’ face.
“TWILIGHT SPARKLE! JOIN IN OUR FESTIVITIES!” she boomed in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “THE SUPERMOON HAS RISEN, GIVING US MUCH ENERGY!” She crazily began to shoot beams of light from her horn and her ethereal mane was blowing out of control. Twilight widened her eyes and looked to her friends in worry. She then began to backpedal as Luna began to charge them with an overzealous grin. Items began to appear beside Luna as she ran; cakes, streamers, confetti, even! And worst of all, it looked like Luna didn’t seem to have a care in the world for what she was doing.
“EVERYPONY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!” Twilight screamed as she turned tail and bolted. Her five friends followed, save for Rarity who still remained unconscious.
“Wh-what’s happenin’?” Applejack muttered, speech slurred from lack of sleep.
“Princess Luna’s gone coo-coo!” Rainbow shouted, motioning around her head.
“But why now?” Fluttershy asked fearfully, glancing behind them.
“Because of the superifically amazing Supermoon!” Pinkie remarked, grinning from ear to ear. “I heard her say ‘festivities’, which means parties, and parties means me, and me means woohoo!” Pinkie then jumped forward in an explosion of confetti and streamers, a pink background card now behind her. “Woohoo!”
Behind them, Luna cackled with unbridled fervor, sending chills down their spines. “WHY DOST THOU RUN FROM US, ELEMENT BEARERS? COME! WE MUST CELEBRATE!"
They all collectively shivered save for Pinkie who gleamed at the word ‘celebrate, and Rarity who was flip-flopping on Applejack’s back. She was still unconscious.
“There’s no time for silliness, Pinkie! One of the rulers of Equestria has just gone mad! We have to find a way to-” Twilight began to say but was abruptly cut short when golden magic enveloped the former Element bearers and pulled them into a side room. They then heard the doors slam and the sound of a large lock clicking into place.
“Twilight Sparkle!” a hushed voice said from deep within a now somewhat magically-charred mini-study.
“P- Princess Celestia?” Twilight stuttered, raising a hoof in angst. They then saw the form of Princess Celestia appear from the shadows and the collectively sighed in relief. Applejack slumped to the floor, exhausted and Rarity landed beside her. The alabaster mare then jolted awake and comically floated in the air for a few seconds.
“EEEK!” she shouted, and everypony winced. She then landed gracefully on the floor and immediately began to tut over her current condition. “Oh heavens! What happened to my mane and tail? I’m missing two of my curlers! Ack! My coat is singed! What-?” Rarity stopped when she slowly realized where she was. Turning her head towards her monarch, she widened her eyes in disbelief and horror. She began to quickly hyperventilate, running around in circles as she glanced between herself and the Princess before…
Flump!
She passed out again on the floor. Rainbow could only facehoof as Princess Celestia looked on in tired amusement. “Please tell your friend Rarity to not be so worried every time we were to meet,” Princess Celestia suggested in a lowered voice. Those still standing or floating slowly nodded.
“Princess, what is happening!?” Twilight finally asked. Princess Celestia grimaced and began to rub her temples.
“Yes, about that. Since it has been a thousand years since Luna was last on Equus, I nearly forgot about the fact that a ‘supermoon’ would come around every 100 years, give or take a few decades. When supermoons occur, Luna tends to get very hyper and emotional, due to the effects the moon has on her own well-being.”
As if to prove her point, they began to hear Luna sobbing a fair distance away from their hiding spot. “WHY DOST YOU ABANDON ME?! We just wanted to play! Wahahahaha!” they heard her crying and sobbing. Suddenly, they heard a large boom and a shriek. “WE WILL FIND THEE ‘TIL WE DIE!” they heard her cry in anger. Celestia widened her eyes and quickly backed up, hugging the wall.
“There is no stopping my sister from finding us now. It’s only a matter of time.” Celestia closed her eyes.
“What?” Fluttershy whispered, terrified. And with that, the doors to where they hid blew open in a grand display of midnight magic. Ethereal smoke filled the room, and Luna stood in its midst with glowing white eyes.
“THINE TRESPASSES AGAINST US WILL NOT GO UNPUNISHED. FACE OUR WRATH!” Luna announced, and everypony except Celestia, Rarity and Applejack screamed in terror before…
Celestia woke up.
She was panting, a bead of sweat trickled down her head. Wiping her forehead with a hoof, she sighed. Oh well, it looked like it was time for another day… until she realized where she was.
She was upside down, on the ceiling of her room. Her whole room seemed to have been flipped, and she looked down in horror.
Below her were thousands of delicious… scrumptious… cakes…
“No!” Celestia whispered, but it was too late. She fell into the Caketopia, and couldn’t help but begin to devour everything. “Noooooooo!” she cried with a mouth full of deliciousness.
Outside the dreamscape, Luna and Pinkie (Pinkie?!) could be heard giggling to themselves and they shared a hoof-bump. One fun-ishment down, five more to go…
"MWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Luna cackled maniacally, still on a moon-induced high.
"You really need to work on your crazy laugh," Pinkie commented, munching on a cupcake.
"I DO MY BEST OKAY," Luna shouted.