Chapter 1

Magic School Zord
Chapter 1
by Rixizu

“So, Hugh Jelly, what do you do for a living?” Cheerilee asked her date.

They were sitting in the Per Hay, the finest restaurant in Ponyville. Cheerilee wore an elegant green dress that sparkled in the dim light, a birthday gift from her sister. Her date was a gray earth pony stallion with a blond mane not unlike her friend and teammate Ditzy Doo. He wore a cheap black suit and his mane was excellently coiffed in a long ponytail. Cheerilee had to admit that he was a handsome stallion. The only problem is that he had a strong fruity scent. An odor the stallion tried to hide in, sigh, Axe body spray giving him a very off-putting scent. Cheerilee tried to not hold this against him.

“I make homemade jelly.” Hugh Jelly explained eager to talk about his profession which was a trait Cheerilee rather liked. “They sell it at the Ponyville market. Jelly is the best.” He took on a dreamy look.

"Okay," Cheerilee said not sure what to say.

“Nothing tops toast better than jelly.” Hugh Jelly declared like he stated a hidden truth of the universe. “It goes with almost anything.”

Hugh Jelly took a jar of grape jelly out of his jacket and topped his pasta alla norma with it. He put some in his salad too. “Want some?” He presented the jar to Cheerilee.

"No thanks," Cheerilee said trying her best to stay polite and respectful. She reminded herself that her friend Trixie had just as odd tastes. Her date shrugged and dug his face into his food.

Cheerilee picked at her meal. At the moment, she didn’t feel like she had much of an appetite. She tried to think of something, anything to save this already disastrous date.

"What do you like to do for a fun?" Cheerilee asked. "I personally love to read and garden. I have a small one I tend to behind my house. I should show it to you sometime. I also like to take care of fish.”

Hugh Jelly stopped eating and gave Cheerilee a conspiratorial look and whispered in her ear. “I love to swim through jelly. I can’t get enough of the way it rubs against my fur.”

Without another word, Cheerilee stood up and left. She had enough. Why did she ever agree to let her sister set her up on a blind date?

“Wait!” Hugh Jelly pleaded as his date left him. He slumped down defeated and miserable and put his hooves in his face.

---

“So how did it go?” Berry Punch asked as Cheerilee approached her house. One glare told her sister just how disastrous the date went. “That bad, huh?”

Cheerilee ignored her sister as she opened the front door with her keys not wanting to even look at her.

“He seemed like a nice stallion!” Berry said defending her recommendation. “I bet you didn’t even give him a chance! As usual, your standards are too high!”

Cheerilee finally turned to address Berry. “He likes to swim in jelly during his free time! What kind of pony does that?”

Berry Punch winced. “You never know, maybe it’s fun if you tried it?” She gave Cheerilee a hopeful look.

"We are not having this conversation," Cheerilee said glaring at Berry.

“You aren't getting any younger," Berry said, "I'm just saying that you spend too much time dedicated to your job and not yourself.”

"I'm a teacher," Cheerilee said coldly, "I don't have that luxury. My students count on me for their future. I don’t really have time for a special somepony.”

Berry sighed. “I know. I’m just worried about you that is all.”

Cheerilee walked up to her sister and gave her a hug. “I’ll be fine. It’ll all work out in the end. Like Lyra likes to say, one does not seek love, it should find you all on its own.”

Berry rolled her eyes. “Just what a love freak like her would say.”

Cheerilee chuckled. “Night, Berry.”

“Night. Just wait Cheer, I will find you the perfect stallion yet! He’s bound to come to my bar, eventually!” With that, Berry took her leave.

Cheerilee let out a deep sigh. “Please don’t do that.” She muttered. Hopefully, the next stallion will be better than the last one.

Cheerilee entered her house and stretched. Part of her was glad the date ended early. It gave her more time to garden after going over tomorrow’s lesson. She felt that she had neglected her precious garden a little too much in these hectic last few months. Having Carrot Top staying at her house for the moment until her new house was built didn’t help matters either. She was a fine guest, but the carrot farmer always seemed on the move and was restless. She was also a loud snorer. As Cheerilee entered her living room she found her guest lying on the couch reading a book.

“That was fast.” Carrot Top said getting up and putting the book down on the couch. “How did it go?”

“Poorly.” Cheerilee sighed again. She didn’t even get a decent meal out of it.

“Did he try something?” Carrot Top growled making the hairs on the back of Cheerilee’s neck stand on end.

Cheerilee waved her hooves trying to placate her friend. “No, we just weren’t a good match!”

“Oh.” Carrot Top went back to reading her book. “That’s a shame.”

"Indeed," Cheerilee said, "Someponies aren't meant to be together."

Cheerilee winced when a crashing sound came from her kitchen and a pony cursed. It was a voice she recognized all too well.

“Trixie.” Cheerilee cried out annoyed. “What are you doing in my kitchen?”

“Oh, hi Cheerilee!” Trixie greeted ignoring the question. She peeked her head in the living room with a carton of milk in her hooves. “Back already from your date?”

"Yes," Cheerilee said with a forced smile on face.

Trixie put the carton on a nearby coffee table and patted Cheerilee on the back with genuine affection. “Don’t worry, you will probably find love, eventually.”

"Thanks," Cheerilee replied in a strained voice. She told herself that Trixie was just trying to be encouraging. Trying being the keyword here.

"It doesn't matter how old you get, love is never off the table," Trixie said like a wise and aged sage.

Cheerilee scrunched her face. She breathed in and out trying to control her anger and reminded herself again that Trixie was just trying to be helpful. Trixie picked up the carton of milk and drank out of it and Cheerilee gave her a look.

“What?” Trixie said defensively. “It was almost empty, anyway.” She drank the rest of the carton and threw in a trash bin.

“You do have food at your own house, right?” Cheerilee asked. “There’s no need for you to raid my fridge.”

Trixie snorted. “We’re friends, aren’t we? I don’t see a problem. Besides, when you come over to my house I let you eat my food.”

“Trixie, we don’t normally come over to your house.” Cheerilee pointed out.

"You’re right," Trixie said, "why is that? “

Cheerilee pondered on this. It’s probably because you keep coming over to our houses first.

“Anyway, what are you even doing here?” Cheerilee asked. “It’s almost 8 o’clock.” She pointed to a clock.

“To keep Carrot Top company of course.” Trixie rolled her eyes. “In case you haven’t noticed, she’s had a rough couple of weeks and needs a friend.”

Cheerilee nodded. She supposed Trixie was a good friend in her own weird way.

“I guess you can stay for an hour at least.” Cheerilee relented.

Trixie brightened. “Good. I was just about to make grilled eggplant with tartar sauce. Sorry about the mess, I can’t control my magic very well yet.” She tapped her horn that, while looking for the most part normal, it still was a few inches shorter than it usually was.

“I’ll clean it up.” Trixie rushed back into the kitchen. Cheerilee winced at the sound of crashing pans and Trixie cursed Night Light’s name. Cheerilee sighed and wondered if she was the real doormat of the group.

---

"Okay, class," Cheerilee said in her most authoritative voice, "today we will start one of my favorite subjects, Astronomy!"

Cheerilee looked on at her class as they gave her bored expressions, except Sweetie Belle who was at full rapt attention as usual.

“Can anypony tell me how far the sun is from the earth?” Cheerilee asked.

Apple Bloom raised a hoof. “Ah light year?” She ventured.

“No, that is how far light goes in a single year.” Cheerilee corrected. “That is about 5.88 trillion miles.”

Her class seemed startled by this revelation. They never expected it to be that far. Five more minutes passed and nopony in the class seemed to have the answer. Cheerilee fought back her eagerness to tell them. She waited for the right moment to reveal all.

“The sun is 92.96 million miles from the earth.” Cheerilee grinned ear to ear. She drew a quick sketch of the solar system on the chalkboard.

"There are 8 planets in our solar system as you may well know," Cheerilee said writing the name of each planet under each drawing, "including Pluto which is a dwarf planet."

Sweetie raised her hoof. “Why is a dwarf planet and not a regular planet?”

“Good question!” Cheerilee praised and Sweetie beamed. “I’m glad you’re always so quick to ask the right questions!”

"Teacher's pet," Scootaloo muttered and rolled her eyes. Sweetie Belle stuck her tongue out at her friend. The rest of the class giggled.

"As I was saying," Cheerilee said trying to get the class’s attention back.

“Pluto is too small to be considered a planet. This might surprise you, but it is only two-thirds the size of the Earth’s moon. It shares many similarities to a planet like the fact that is a nearly round shape, but one of the biggest distinctions is that it doesn’t clear its neighborhood.”

“Cleared the neighborhood means that removed any debris and small objects from the area around its orbit and unfortunately Pluto isn’t big enough to do that.” Cheerilee continued. “It doesn’t have enough mass to have the gravity needed to remove the debris around it like the Earth.”

Cheerilee looked at her class expectantly, but most of the class weren't paying much attention and only about half of them were actually taking notes. Scootaloo, in particular, was totally ignoring her as she tried to balance a pencil on her hoof.

Cheerilee cleared her throat. “This will be on the test.” Those magic words got the rest of the class moving to write what she put on the chalkboard.

"For the following week we will cover each planet including its satellites, also called moons, and there will be a test at the end of the week. I hope you keep good notes!"

“Also, there might be a pop quiz along the way!” Cheerilee winked, and the class looked at her with abject horror.

That will teach them for not paying attention.

Cheerilee went on telling the class about the first two planets, Mercury and Venus. The class, much to Cheerilee’s disappointment, was mostly indifferent to the lesson. She worked hard to keep their attention, but it felt like they mostly ignored her. Oh well, nothing new. No matter, she had plans to spice up the lesson. Making a model of their solar system was one the best ones she thought.

“I want you to read all of chapters one and two of your astronomy textbook and answer every odd question at the end of each chapter. It will be due tomorrow.” Cheerilee said as the class was wrapping up. A few seconds after she got done speaking the school bell rang just as she planned.

Damn, I’m good. Cheerilee thought. No school bells interrupted her during a lecture. She always had the class planned down to the second. The class got their things and flew out of the class. Cheerilee gathered various papers on her deck and put them in a neat pile.

“Miss Cheerilee?” Sweetie Belle said nervously.

“Yes, Sweetie Belle?” Cheerilee asked. “What is it? Do you have some questions about today’s lesson?”

“No, nothing like that.” Sweetie Belle said fidgeting. “I got you something.”

Cheerilee brightened. “Really? What is it?”

“I baked you something.” Sweetie Belle searched through her backpack. “I made you some pudding.”

“That’s wonderful!” Cheerilee said excited. “Thank you!”

“What?” Snails said. “And you didn’t make us any?”

“Yeah!” Snips exclaimed. “That’s no fair at all!” Several of the other foals in the class nodded in angry agreement.

“It isn’t for you.” Sweetie Belle snarled.

“Now now class," Cheerilee said trying to appease them, "if Sweetie Belle wants to make me something special, it is her right. But next time Sweetie you should have made enough for the whole class. After all, eating with friends always makes food taste better."

“Alright.” Sweetie Belle relented. “Found it!”

Sweetie pulled out a Tupperware and opened it when she placed in on Cheerilee’s desk. It contained a blackish green substance. Cheerilee wasn’t sure what she was looking at. It had the structure of gelatin she supposed but it was like no pudding she had ever seen before. The faint odor of burning made her gag.

“Eat up!” Sweetie placed a spoon next to her teacher and looked at her expectantly.

"Thanks," Cheerilee said through clenched teeth.

“Er, on second thought, never mind.” Snips said backing away.

“Yeah.” Snails repeated the gesture along with the rest of the class. Many of her students ran like the building was on the fire.

“Wow, Sweetie Belle. It’s, um, nice.” Scootaloo managed.

Diamond Tiara snickered. "Nice pudding blank flank. Did you make it from stuff you found from your trash?" Her friend Silver Spoon joined in her laughter.

Sweetie gave the two bullies a glare before returning to Cheerilee. “Well?”

Cheerilee’s mind raced on what she should do. It would be rude to refuse the sweet gesture and Sweetie was giving her such a hopeful expectant look. Could she refuse a face like that? A quick smell of the “pudding” made her rethink all that. She dreaded putting this thing in her mouth. Still, Sweetie had tried so hard to create it. She could give the dish a helpful critique like any good teacher should. Sweetie obviously was new to cooking. It was her job to help her students grow after all. Sometimes were harder than others.

Cheerilee tried to resist shaking as she moved to pick up the spoon. The rest of the class watched her wondering if she had the guts to go through this. She put on the best smile and moved the spoon towards the pudding. She took a generous scoop of the dish and moved it towards her mouth closing her eyes hoping she won’t lose her resolve. With a shaky hoof, the concoction entered her mouth.

This was a mistake. Cheerilee could not be any more certain of anything else in her life. It was hard to tell if she should scream in horror or throw up.

“How was it?” Sweetie Belle asked with an innocent smile on her face. “Have some more. There’s plenty more where that came from.”

Cheerilee plastered a smile on her face. It was, well, Cheerilee wasn’t sure exactly what she tasted, but she was certain gargling raw sewage would have been preferable. She made sure not to swallow any of it out of fear of what it might do to her.

“It’s interesting.” Cheerilee managed trying to think of the best way to put this without breaking the filly’s hopes.

“In other words, it’s trash.” Diamond Tiara quipped.

“What?!” Sweetie Belle turned towards Diamond and glared.

When Sweetie Belle turned her back, Cheerilee spat the “pudding” into the trash. The substance burned through whatever it touched creating small billows of smoke.

“It’s what everypony says when something is horrible, but they don’t want to hurt the pony’s feelings.” Diamond Tiara supplied.

“That’s not true, is it Miss Cheerilee?” Sweetie Belle’s looked on the verge of crying breaking Cheerilee’s heart

Okay Cheerilee, you can fix this situation.

“I’ll admit it wasn’t the best.” Cheerilee said and Sweetie Belle became downtrodden, "but it was an admirable first try! Keep at it. With a little practice, you will turn this disappointing dish into something amazing!”

"Thanks, Miss Cheerilee!" Sweetie Belle said brightening. “Next time will be the best darn pudding you have ever had!” With that, she took her backpack and waved as she left. Scootaloo trailed behind her.

“Really, Miss Cheerilee?” Diamond Tiara said in a deadpan voice.

Cheerilee crossed her legs. “It never hurts to be encouraging. Don’t you have some other place to be? Unless, of course, you want to try some of Sweetie Belle’s pudding?”

“No, no!” Diamond Tiara said backing away almost bumping into Silver Spoon. They ran after another glance at Sweetie’s desert.

The class cleared out leaving Cheerilee all alone. She put the lid back on the Tupperware container unsure how she would dispose of it worried it might cause some ecological disaster. She drew a biohazard sign on the lid with a marker and tapped the lid shut for good measure.

“I should contact someponies in Canterlot to make sure this is properly disposed of.” Cheerilee mused.

Cheerilee sat down on her desk and graded papers drinking coffee as she worked. It got some of the horrible aftertaste out of her mouth. She had asked the class to write a short essay pre-Corona history. She went through each one thoroughly making sure the grammar and punctuation were correct then grading the contents of the essay itself. Math and social studies were next, and she blazed through them with no difficulty. She noticed that Scootaloo was struggling in her grades again and promised to have a talk with the filly tomorrow. She wasn’t a stupid foal, just unmotivated.

After that, Cheerilee spent the next hour cleaning up and making sure everything was in proper order for tomorrow. She liked cleaning and keeping things in order. Nodding to herself for a job well done, she picked up her things leaving the rest of the cleaning to the school janitor. She saw that there was only about an hour or so of light left in the day. Cheerilee left knowing she would come back at seven in the morning to do the same thing all over again tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that.

Come on Cheerilee, don’t get depressed. Cheerilee said cheering herself on. You wanted this life, didn’t you? It’s rewarding! And no, that did not sound hollow to her own ears.

“You won’t believe this!” Berry Punch said running up to Cheerilee as she walked home.

“Did something happen?” Cheerilee asked with concern wondering if it was Corona striking back at last.

“I am so excited I can barely speak.” Berry hopped on her hooves.

“What?”

“This day can’t get any better!” Berry grinned ear to ear.

“Are you going to tell me or not?” Cheerilee tapped her hooves on the ground.

“My bar, the Punch Bowl, was voted the third best bar in Canterlot region in Equestria Bar Business Magazine!” Berry replied.

“That’s wonderful!” Cheerilee said overwhelmed with joy for her sister’s fortune.

“You know what this means!” Berry announced.

“I can’t.” Cheerilee replied. “I have to wake up at 5:30 tomorrow morning.” After all, she had to train, prepare for class, and groom herself. She didn't want to add a hangover to that mix.

"Come on." Berry pleaded grabbing Cheerilee's hoof. "I am not asking you to get sloshed. When was the last time you've gone out drinking with your friends?"

Cheerilee started to reply, but couldn't think of an answer. "Okay, so it has been awhile, but it's a temptation I want to avoid."

“So responsible.” Berry rolled her eyes. “You weren’t like this when you were younger.”

"I was a stupid filly," Cheerilee replied.

It was true. She was quite the wild child. If she wasn’t hunting for bounties, she was in the bar drinking without a care in the world. She remembered this one time where she woke up with a tramp stamp on her back after a night of drinking. She had to get it removed with magic which was not a fun process. Dear Luna that felt like another lifetime.

Cheerilee stood up straighter. “I’m happy where I am.”

“Yeah, now you’re boring old responsible Cheerilee.” Berry scoffed.

"I'm a superhero." Cheerilee countered and showed her morpher to prove it.

"Okay, so you're just mostly boring old responsible Cheerilee," Berry said. "I am just saying you don't seem to spend much time for yourself anymore."

“I garden.” Cheerilee huffed.

"Right, alone," Berry said.

"And I spend time with my friends," Cheerilee added.

"It's just, I think you are suffocating yourself with your work," Berry said trying to find the right words.

"I have responsibilities," Cheerilee stated. “My students are counting on me to give them the best education possible.”

“I know, but you do too much," Berry replied. "You teach six different classes. Six.”

“Yes, I do," Cheerilee said beaming with pride.

"You should pressure the school to hire another teacher," Berry suggested, "You're overworked to the extreme. You'll burn yourself out.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Cheerilee scoffed. “I’m doing just fine.”

“You’re always like this.” Berry huffed in frustration. “A complete workaholic.”

“I’m fine.”

“Look Cheer, I own a bar, but I hired several ponies, so the work is distributed in a way that there isn’t too much pressure on any one pony. True, owning a bar is still stressful, but it makes things easier.”

“I’m fine.” Cheerilee turned and trotted off deciding that the conversation was finished.

“You want to bring happiness to others, but what about yourself?” Berry asked as Cheerilee left.

Happiness? Ha! Teaching is my happiness! Cheerilee thought on her way home. True, I am a bit overworked, but I like it that way. It’s a challenge!

Cheerilee smiled to herself happy to resolve the situation. She opened her door and, much to her annoyance, found Trixie sitting on her couch. Carrot Top was nowhere in sight.

“Have a good school day?” Trixie asked.

“Trixie, what are you doing in my house, again?” Cheerilee fought the urge to throw the mare out.

“You looked stressed," Trixie replied, "rough day?"

"No more than usual," Cheerilee answered, “and that doesn't answer my question.”

Trixie waved a dismissive hoof. “What? Is a friend not welcome? Carrot Top doesn’t mind when I come over.”

“Where is Carrot Top, anyway?” Cheerilee asked again fighting the urge to grab Trixie and toss her on her flank on her hard cement doorstep.

Trixie shrugged, "She wasn't here when I got here. I guess she’s out.”

“That means you can leave then," Cheerilee said motioning her head towards the door.

“No way!” Trixie exclaimed. “I can’t!”

“And why not?” Cheerilee’s eye twitched.

"I just came up with the best idea," Trixie said grinning, "remember the charity magic show I wanted to do for Carrot Top? You know, before I was framed for murder and couldn't do it? Well, I thought I could retool it for the grand opening of Carrot Top’s house! It’s only about three weeks away. There is just so much to plan for! I wanted to go over the details with Carrot Top, but she isn’t here so I decided to just wait.”

"That's real nice of you Trixie," Cheerilee said smiling admiring Trixie’s thoughtfulness.

“I know right? And it will be a great tribute to Pokey. If only I could convince the princess to give him a statue already. She hardly even returns my letters anymore. It must be the stress from the Night Court debacle. She’s snappier than usual.” Trixie beamed. “Anyway, it will be a huge event with everypony in town invited. I guess I must talk to Pinkie Pie to help me organize it.”

"No need to do that," Cheerilee said, "I can do it. Carrot Top is my friend too.” Already coming up with several fun games they could provide for foals. Maybe they could even rent a bouncy castle.

“Wonderful, you can handle the boring organization stuff and I can focus on my magic act," Trixie replied.

"Yes, Trixie. I can handle the "boring organization stuff" while you play around with magic." Cheerilee sighed. Trixie loved pushing duties on other ponies and she wanted to be a big-time Night Court noble?

"Exactly," Trixie said. "You were born to do boring stuff nopony else wants to do.”

“You know Trixie, I used to be a bounty hunter.” Cheerilee pointed out. “I’m not as boring as you seem to think I am.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Come on Cheerilee. Nopony actually believes that.”

Cheerilee gritted her teeth. “I’ll have you know I was quite the firecracker in my youth.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure whatever you say.” Trixie said dismissively, "oh hey, it looks like Carrot Top is back.” She left a peeved Cheerilee to talk to Carrot Top who was entering the front door with some groceries.

Cheerilee wanted to say a biting remark, but let it go. Trixie wasn’t worth it. That didn’t make her any less annoyed with her friend though. She considered joining Trixie and Carrot Top in their conversation but decided to do her chores instead, she was too angry at risk talking to Trixie at the moment.

First, she fed all her fish making sure they all got enough food. She owned many of them, so it was a delicate process. Next, she went out to do some gardening since her tomatoes needed pruning. Growing her own vegetables was a good way to save money and Cheerilee never skipped an opportunity to save bits. She got her work boots on and started working on them.

Cheerilee hummed a little tune to herself as she worked. It was one of Lyra’s that she heard during one of the musician’s street performances. It worked wonders on calming her nerves.

Boring, huh? Cheerilee laughed to herself. If only Trixie knew.

Trixie had no clue what she was talking about. Cheerilee knew herself to be the most interesting member of their group and the best fighter. Stallions looked at her when she entered the room. Well, okay, when she was younger they did that, but she could still turn a stallion’s eye. Of course, Trixie was now the one they turned to the most. Somehow, that mare could attract stallions and mares alike despite not wanting their attention even a little and turned them away every time. Her constant rejection only made them want her more. Cheerilee, on the other hoof, was almost invisible and ponies didn’t pay much attention to her. She was just the teacher, nopony to care about.

No, I’m not jealous. Cheerilee told herself. Past my prime? Never.

Cheerilee sighed. If only there was some way to make others see it. It was frustrating. She worked so hard, barely anypony seemed to appreciate her, but she was happy. She put everything into teaching her students, but most the time they would rather be elsewhere and didn't listen to her. The hazards of being a teacher sure, but more praise from them would be nice.

Then, it hit her. She stood up from the revelation. If that was the case, then she would just have to become the best darn teacher ever. She would become somepony that they would never forget to the end of their days. She would make them listen by becoming the most awesome teacher ever.

But, how? Cheerilee scratched her chin. I need to do something amazing, something no teacher has ever done.

Cheerilee noticed that, during her thoughts, it had become dark out. That is what she got for being distracted by her thoughts. She moved to turn on a lamp so she could continue working. She stopped and admired the stars first. It was something she always loved to do ever since she was a filly. There weren’t as many stars due to Conora’s doing, but it was still beautiful. She pointed out every planet in view, and then she stopped when she saw the moon. It was full tonight. She gazed at it and wished that she had her microscope. The lunar maria would be lovely with the moon full like that.

The moon, huh? Cheerilee thought. Wouldn't it be nice to go the moon sometime? I doubt Princess Luna would mind. With my Zord, I could go there with no difficulty at all.

Cheerilee gasped. And so, could my students! That’s it! Cheerilee, you are a genius! You just thought of the best, most spectacular field trip ever!

Chapter 2

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Magic School Zord
Chapter 2
by Rixizu

Cheerilee relished the strange looks she got as she walked into the classroom. She wondered if this was what Trixie felt like when she went on stage with that ridiculous outfit of hers. Every eye stared at her with mouth agape.

“Morning class!” Cheerilee greeted.

“Morning?” The class replied reluctantly. They looked at each other with worried looks. After about a minute of awkward silence, Dinky raised her hoof in the air.

“Yes Dinky?” Cheerilee asked.

“Uh, why are you dressed like that?” Dinky asked concern clear in her voice.

“Good question!” Cheerilee said with a wide smile. She gave a little curtsey to show of the blue dress covered with planets, stars, and crescent moons that she was wearing. On her head was a ring with a model of their solar system attached by a wire. “I thought it would be fun if I dressed up. It makes the lessons so much more exciting! And what a lesson we will have today!”

This was part of her plan to make a real impression on her students. She needed to capture their attention and the best way to do that was with flash and style, not unlike what her friend Trixie does. She would show them she wasn’t the same boring teacher they all believed her to be. A new elaborate outfit a day would do the trick nicely.

There was a moment of silence as everypony soaked in what their teacher had just said. The moment stretched on and on. Some of her students looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. A little embarrassed by their reaction, Cheerilee coughed in her hoof.

“Alright class, we have a lot to learn today, so it would be best not to dawdle," Cheerilee said, "but first I have a special announcement!" She flipped the blackboard over revealing a detailed picture of the moon on it.

“Does anypony know what this is?” Cheerilee asked.

“The moon?” Sweetie Belle asked. It sounded like she was expecting this to be a trick question.

“Correct!” Cheerilee congratulated. “It is the very satellite that orbits our planet controlled by Princess Luna herself.”

“Well duh.” Diamond Tiara said impatiently. “Everypony knows that. So what?”

Cheerilee ignored the filly and continued. “Since we are studying it at the moment, how about we do something special?”

"I've talked to the princess, and she gave her eager consent," Cheerilee explained. She found it hard not to explode from excitement. She didn’t expect Princess Luna to agree so easily. In fact, the princess visited Cheerilee’s house herself after receiving Trixie’s letter about the trip. She was insistent that the trip takes place, and then said something about showing up her sister. Odd, but Cheerilee didn’t want to question her good fortune.

The class eyed her with curiosity and Cheerilee’s grin widened. "She gave the go-ahead for a field trip to the moon itself!"

The whole class gapped in surprise and wonder. They couldn’t believe their own ears.

“Hold on, what?” Diamond exclaimed. “How would we even get there?”

“I’m glad you asked.” Cheerilee pulled out her morpher. “It’s morphing time! Libra!” She transformed into her green armor.

“You seem to forget that I am a superhero.” Cheerilee crossed her front legs. “And thus that makes me a superteacher!”

“Are we going to use your Zord?” Dinky asked catching on.

“That’s right!” Cheerilee exclaimed and unmorphed. "With my Zord, it would only take us three hours to get there." It was a rough estimation, but Cheerilee had confidence in her math skills.

The whole class erupted into chatter and amazement. Even skeptics like Diamond Tiara looked excited by the prospect of the trip. Cheerilee coughed getting the class’s attention, and they soon quieted.

“I’ll need a signature from a parent or guardian before you can go.” Cheerilee handed out a sheet of paper to each of her students.

“The trip will be this weekend on Saturday," Cheerilee explained, "have this sheet signed by Thursday.”

Cheerilee soaked in excitement. This is why she became a teacher. She would show them sights they could only ever imagine. After the moon, she would have to come up with another exciting field trip. Like the middle of an active volcano, maybe? Oh well, she had time to plan for that later.

"Now class I want you to open your Equestrian textbooks to chapter 8," Cheerilee instructed. She got some groans from the class. What, did they really think the whole school day would be nothing but that announcement?

"Yes class, I know you are excited about the trip, but it will have to wait," Cheerilee stated, "now, learning awaits!" She did a heroic pose. The class just stared at her as if she was crazy.

“I am thinking it’s 50/50 that this trip to the moon is even real.” Diamond Tiara quipped in the silence.

Cheerilee groaned. How does Trixie pull it off? Nopony stares at her as if she’s nuts when she does something outrageous.

---

"Alright, class," Cheerilee said as they finished up for the day, "I want you to read chapters 3 through 5 in your astronomy textbook and do all the odd questions at the end of each chapter.” The class grumbled in acknowledgment.

“And remember class, I need your field trip permission slips signed by Thursday!” Cheerilee said as the class got ready to go. “You won’t want to miss this historic school trip.”

The class started rushed out of the building, but to Cheerilee it was obvious they looked more excited than usual. She smirked. Her plan was already going flawlessly. A thought popped up in her head and she mentally kicked herself for almost forgetting something important.

“Scootaloo!” Cheerilee called as the filly was almost out the door. “May I speak to you for a moment?”

“Ooo.” Diamond Tiara said amused. “It looks like somepony is in trouble!” She laughed and whipped Scootaloo in the face with her tail.

“Get out of here!” Scootaloo glared at her adversary. “You aren’t wanted.” She looked on the verge of pouncing.

“Like I would ever want to stay around a stupid blank flank like you!” Diamond Tiara mocked.

"Diamond," Cheerilee said in a clear calm voice, "you know my policy about name-calling.”

Diamond rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry Miss Cheerilee." She darted out before Cheerilee could say any more. She wasn’t the one the filly needed to apologize to.

Cheerilee fought back her annoyance. Why did that filly like antagonizing Scootaloo and the other foals so much? She would have to have a long talk with her father about this. The situation was getting out of hoof. Oh well, one problem at a time. She looked at Scootaloo who was fidgeting as she looked at her teacher with apparent nervousness.

“If this is about the firecracker in the toilet, I’m sorry!” Scootaloo blurted out. “I didn’t think six firecrackers would cause that much of an explosion!”

Cheerilee blinked. “So it was you that played the little prank?” The less said about the results of that explosion, the better.

"Yes, mam! I'm sorry!" Scootaloo said. "Please don't tell my dad!"

"I'm glad you told me about it," Cheerilee said, "alright, I won't tell your father, but you are getting a month of detention for it."

Scootaloo looked bummed by the news but said nothing in response.

"But that isn't why I called you here," Cheerilee explained. Scootaloo tensed when she heard this. "It's about your recent grades."

“I’m not passing?” Scootaloo asked horrified.

"No, you're doing okay," Cheerilee said. In truth, the filly was getting Cs and Bs for the most part.

“What are you talking about?” Scootaloo asked puzzled. “If I’m passing, what’s the problem?”

"I think you could do better," Cheerilee said with a gentle smile, "you're a very smart filly. If you applied yourself more, I don't doubt your grades could easily become A's."

“But studying is so boring and uncool!” Scootaloo whined.

Cheerilee wanted to remind the filly just how cool school really was but realized how lame that sounded so she took a different approach.

“And what makes you think that?” Cheerilee asked. “You rarely pay attention to your textbooks. How do you know if you never try?”

“Rainbow Dash says reading is for lame eggheads," Scootaloo explained making Dash's words sound like a holy script that it would be blasphemy to deviate from.

Cheerilee fought back from making a face. That Rainbow Dash was such a bad influence. The nerve of that mare telling an impressionable filly that reading is for lame eggheads! She wanted to thrash that prismatic pegasus. No doubt she inspired that little prank from earlier too. She needed to do something about this.

"Studying can't all be boring." Cheerilee ventured. "There have to be some subjects that you enjoy reading about?"

Scootaloo looked about to say something but stopped herself. “Nope. They are all equally boring. Studying is lame!”

Cheerilee blinked. Cheerilee opened her mouth to reply but noticed a pony standing in the doorway. Much to her surprise, it was Rainbow Dash. She was wearing a t-shirt with Trixie’s face on it and had a flag that said “Trixie No. 1” on it. The pegasus gave Cheerilee a bewildered look, then broke out into rapturous laughter finding her outfit a great source of hilarity. Cheerilee was not amused.

"She promised me we would hang out today," Scootaloo explained, "Trixie is doing a practice magic show, and there is no way we could ever miss it!"

Wonderful. Cheerilee groaned. Rainbow Dash was the founder of the Galaxy Ranger fan club and they loved to gush about the Red Ranger. It didn’t help that Trixie encouraged this behavior.

Why don’t they even come around to bother me? Cheerilee wondered. They never came around to the school and bugged her during one of her lessons with t-shirts and banners of her. Did they even make merchandise of the Green Ranger? No, she didn’t care about this sort of thing. It didn’t matter. No really, it didn’t.

Rainbow Dash stamped her hoof in impatience. "Sorry Miss Cheerilee, I got to go!" With that, Scootaloo ran off with her idol.

“Scootaloo!” Cheerilee ordered in a commanding voice, but it was too late and the filly was long gone.

Cheerilee sighed. She almost had the filly before that accursed Rainbow Dash interfered. There was no way that Scootaloo would ever admit liking nerdy stuff in front of her idol. No matter, at least now she had something to work with. She would just have to work harder to get through to the filly. There had to be something she liked about school.

---

After a long week, the day of the trip arrived. It took a lot of cajoling and convicting of the parents, but Cheerilee got them on her side and they all agreed to let their foals go on the trip. She guessed that the Princess’s official endorsement must have helped quite a bit. Despite agreeing, many of their guardians were still uneasy and Cheerilee made a solemn promise to protect their foals with her life. Raindrops herself made Cheerilee make a blood oath to bring her brother Snail back safe. That mare could be so protective. Much to her pleasure, every foal in her class was going. It was just about daybreak as the class arrived at the meeting point in the quarry near Sweet Apples Acres.

Everypony had a backpack full of supplies and snacks for the trip. Many of them didn’t appear to get much sleep last night, too excited about the prospect of the trip. They talked amongst themselves about what they planned to do on the moon. The class gathered around their teacher and Cheerilee cleared her throat.

"I'm glad everypony could make it," Cheerilee said, "this will be the most fun and educational school trip of your lives!" Many of the foals rolled their eyes about it being educational, but Cheerilee just ignored them.

“So, uh, how exactly are we going to get there in your Zord? The moon is far.” Snails asked. It was obvious he thought long and hard about this question.

“Good question.” Cheerilee congratulated. "It might not look like it, but every Zord is a spaceship of sorts, able to hold an entire company of ponies if it has to. It has more than enough room for everypony.

Cheerilee pulled out her morpher. “It’s morphing time! Libra!”

After transforming, she pressed a button on her morpher and teleported into her Zord in its orbiting launch platform in space. It contained a tight little room full of controls and switches with multiple monitors that surrounded her in almost every direction. It was cramped but cozy in Cheerilee's opinion. After checking that everything was optimal, she tapped at her Zord’s controls and set its landing course towards the meeting point making sure it landed far away from the class. She pressed a red button on her control panel and readied herself for the launch.

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Let’s Launch!

The class watched in wonder as she landed her Zord. As soon as it had touched down they all ran towards it. Cheerilee’s Zord, the Libra Zord, was a giant green mechanical pony. Hanging around its body were two massive scales held together with a chain that wrapped around its torso. They’d never seen a Zord up close before and the sight awed them. They were almost tiny specks compared to the massive size of the Zord. Cheerilee couldn’t withhold a smirk. If they thought this was impressive, they had seen nothing yet.

Cheerilee jumped from the top of her Zord, unmorphed, and let off a loud cough. “All right class, gather around.” The class gathered around her eager to begin the trip.

“Alright class, this way.” Cheerilee guided them to a door in one of her Zord’s hoofs. Inside was a metal corridor that led to an elevator. One admittedly long agonizing elevator ride later, they found themselves in a wide room. It had tables and comfortable green couches that wrapped around the tables with carpet underneath. The main part of the room was in a pit surrounded by stairs that led to doors that led into other parts of the Zord.

Cheerilee told them to follow her and she led them into another elevator that led to the cockpit. There was an area under the main cockpit that was full of panels with various button and controls that Cheerilee still didn’t understand. She was grateful the thing mostly ran itself. The class gasped in delight for in this part of the Zord they could see out through the head’s eyes.

“Stay tight class, I am about to launch us into space." Cheerilee announced, "watch carefully. You will see the earth from space very soon.”

Cheerilee motioned to some seats built into the wall. "Now class, I want you to strap yourselves in. The trip into space can be turbulent and I don’t want to risk anypony getting hurt.” This was a little unnecessary precaution for the trip into space was smooth for the most part, but she didn't want to take any chances. She buckled herself in after entering the cockpit.

Cheerilee made the final preparations and hit a blue button on the console.

Launch sequence activate.

An alarm buzzed and the class looked around with anticipation and trepidation. Rocket boosters expanded from the Zord’s back and it flew into the air. The entire Zord rattled from the turbulence of the launch into high orbit. Cheerilee and the rest of the class winced from the high Gs pressing against them. The Zord had systems that compensated for Gs, but it wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t crushing like it would normally be, but it was still uncomfortable. The window emitted blazing red light as it left the planet’s orbit. In a moment, the pressure passed meaning they were out into space.

Cheerilee unbuckled herself and left the cockpit. “Alright class, we’re in space now. Look.” She gestured to the window that led into the vacuum outside.

The entire class gasped and their breath caught for the Earth in all of its entirety was there for all to see. Nopony said anything or even moved, the awe-inspiring sight that transfixed them all. Cheerilee smiled as she watched the view behind them. She had had the same reaction when she viewed this beautiful sphere surrounded by endless blackness for the first time. Pictures didn't do it even a little justice. She knew the class would remember this moment for the rest of the lives.

"Science isn't as lame as you thought?" Cheerilee whispered into Scootaloo's ear and the filly nodded dumbly continuing to stare at the view wide-eyed and amazed.

It took at least twenty minutes before the class settled down enough to receive instructions again and Cheerilee didn’t have the heart to interrupt them.

"Alright, class," Cheerilee said getting everypony’s attention, "this trip will take a few hours so I want to make sure you’re comfortable.”

Cheerilee went into an outline of the Zord’s layout and explained where they could find food, bathrooms, the game room, and bedrooms if they so wished. She also explained what to do if they got lost since the Zord was so large and showed them the helpful maps on the walls they could use to find their way. Cheerilee made sure beforehoof to lock any sensitive or dangerous areas just in case. The last thing she wanted was to find one of her students hurt by any of the advanced equipment in her Zord.

The next three hours traveled by faster than Cheerilee thought they would. The class kept themselves busy one way or another. One of the most popular activities was just looking out of the viewing window into space. Many of the foals eagerly watched their approach to the moon giving them a nice and clear view of it as they came close to it. If felt as if you could grab out and touch the moon with a hoof if only extended it out. As they approached the final stages of their trip, Cheerilee called her class together for some final preparations.

“Class, as you may know, the moon has no atmosphere making it impossible for a pony to travel outside unassisted.” Cheerilee motioned to a bunch of lockers at the dock they used to enter the Zord from before. “Each one has a spacesuit we can use to go outside on the surface.” Each locker contained a green suit.

The foals opened the lockers and looked at their teacher confused. “What gives Miss Cheerilee?” Diamond Tiara asked. “These suits are huge. We can’t fit in these!”

Cheerilee smiled in a way that showed she knew something they didn’t. “That’s by design. They were made so that anypony can use them.”

Cheerilee grabbed one the oversized suits and put it on. It was too big for her as well and appeared to be the size of Apple Bloom’s brother Big Mac.

"Now watch closely," Cheerilee instructed. She pressed a button on the middle of the suit and it constricted around her until it was a perfect fit. It was a little tight, but it gave her free movement.

"I've tested it with Dinky, and these suits can even fit a foal if you want them to," Cheerilee explained and Dinky nodded in agreement.

Each foal grabbed a suit, put it on, and found that the suits could shrink to match their size. They looked at their suits in amazement.

“These suits have plenty of air so you don’t have to worry about that.” Cheerilee continued. “There should be enough for 6 to 8 hours at least. Since we will only be on the surface for four hours, we will have plenty of time. Just in case, I am bringing an extra tank of air."

She went over several safety procedures and explained what to do if their suit ruptured for whatever reason. Cheerilee also had a roll of duct tape in case something like that happened. Cheerilee did everything in her power to make sure the trip stayed safe as possible.

“To activate your suit’s helmet, press this button.” Cheerilee indicated a button on one of her legs and pressed it. A plastic dome flipped over her head. “Don’t worry about your helmet opening up on the surface. It is designed so it can only open while in oxygen.” She didn’t know who designed this technology or why, but she applauded their dedication to safety.

Cheerilee tried to stay passive as the door to the airlock opened, but she made a gasp of wonder with her class as she got her first view of the moon's surface up close. It was a barren, desolate, but magnificent as well. She was the first to jump out onto the ground. She wanted her students to be the first ponies on the moon besides Princess Luna, but she couldn’t help herself. Her hooves dug into the dirt on the ground. The rest of the class jumped after her and gasped in delight as they floated in the air before landing.

"As I said in our lessons, the moon only has 16.6 percent of the Earth's gravity so be careful as you jump," Cheerilee said through her suit’s comm pressing a button to address the entire class. She got some vague acknowledgments, but the class was having too much jumping around to pay much attention. She couldn’t begrudge them for that and let them play. Learning could wait. Foals needed to be foals.

“It’s like I’m flying!” Scootaloo exclaimed overwhelmed with emotion and tears welled in her eyes. To the little filly, it was like a dream come true. She jumped and leaped not wanting to stay on the ground for longer than she had to.

"Watch this!" Apple Bloom said and did a spinning triple somersault in the air. Dinky followed suit.

Diamond Tiara scoffed. "What that? That's nothing." She leaped into the air with the grace and poise of a ballerina.

"I want to try too!" Snips said before doing his own summersault, only to crash into several other foals, landing in a heap. They glared at him and he responded with a sheepish look on his face.

“Wee!” Snails shouted as he jumped back and forth between two spots, content with just doing that.

Cheerilee let them play like this for several minutes. she too couldn’t help but play around as well. She lept about without a care a wide smile plastered on her face.

"Alright, class settle down," Cheerilee announced and the foals gathered to her, "as fun as this is, we still have so much more we have to see, do, and most importantly learn!"

“There you guys are.” A voice proclaimed. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you guys! I didn’t expect you to land so far away.”

Cheerilee knew that voice and gapped. It couldn’t be.

"Trixie?!"

Chapter 3

View Online

Magic School Zord
Chapter 3
by Rixizu

The entire class gapped in wonder and amazement as Trixie, who was dressed in a red spacesuit, strolled towards them. Cheerilee's jaw dropped in shock for this was the last pony she expected to see on the moon.

“Trixie, what are you doing here?” Cheerilee demanded through clenched teeth.

"Well, when you told me that you planned on coming here, I was intrigued," Trixie explained, unperturbed by Cheerilee’s obvious anger at her presence, "the moon sounded like a fantastic place to go! I couldn't believe I didn't ever think of it myself.”

Cheerilee frowned. “And I suppose you used your Zord to get here?”

"Yep," Trixie confirmed. "I've been here for over two hours, and dear Luna I was right to do so. This place is amazing! Have you ever seen something so stunning in your life?! How can something so bleak also be so beautiful? I can’t get enough of it! Besides, I thought you might like some extra adult supervision on this trip.”

Cheerilee sighed and resisted the urge to put her face in her hooves. This was the last time she’d ever tell Trixie about one of her special field trips. She really should have seen this coming. In addition, calling Trixie an adult was stretching it.

All the foals gathered around the magician eager to be near their hero, for the Red Ranger was popular due to her heroics and skills in magic. Trixie accepted them gratefully. Dinky was jumping up and down with joy and seemed the happiest to see Trixie here. They waited on Trixie’s every move, eager to see what she would do next. Cheerilee fought back her annoyance at Trixie derailing her class trip with her antics.

"Now now class," Trixie said waving the foals around her away, “I am just a guest, an opening act at best. The real star is right here.” Trixie pulled Cheerilee out of her thoughts and the teacher yelped in surprise as Trixie thrust her in front of the class.

Cheerilee stared at her class dumbfounded for a moment unsure what to say or do. Trixie pushed her forward. “Well, go on. You have an eager audience waiting for you.”

Cheerilee felt awkward and self-conscious being suddenly thrust into the center stage like this. It took a moment, but she got her wits back and coughed.

“Alright class, we have a lot to see, so let’s get to it," Cheerilee said with a smile finally getting into the swing of things.

She didn’t expect Trixie to do that at all. She thought Trixie planned to hog everypony’s attention, as usual, loving being the center of attention. That mare was so hard to figure out.

It's like when you expect Trixie to go left, she goes right. When you expect her to go right, she goes diagonally. Cheerilee mused.

Cheerilee led the class, with Trixie in tow, to a large crater sunk into the ground a few miles away. They gasped at the enormity of it. It was wide enough that the entirety of Ponyville and its countryside could fit inside it, with plenty of room to spare and it was at least one or two miles deep.

“ You see this crater? There are hundreds like it on the moon’s surface created by meteor strikes creating deep holes in the surface.” Cheerilee explained. “The Earth is also struck by debris in space from time to time, but do you know why the Earth isn’t littered with craters like the moon?”

Cheerilee waited for an answer and Twist lifted her hoof. "Does it have to do with the fact it doesn't rain? I think if there was a large crater on Earth it would fill with water."

"And there ain’t no wind either to blow dirt in.” Apple Bloom piped in.

"That's right," Cheerilee said, "the moon doesn't have an atmosphere like Earth does. There’s no wind or rain to cause erosion. It also doesn’t have seismic activity meaning that the surface rarely changes.”

“That means that many of these craters are very old, with the oldest being two billion in age.” Cheerilee continued. “You see our hoofprints? Those will remain as well. As I said, there is little to no erosion. If a pony traveled to the moon hundreds of years from now, they would probably find those prints still there, unless they were hit by a falling meteorite of course.”

The whole class gasped in amazement staring at their hoofprints in wonder and they continued for several more miles. They came up to a plain of dark grayness that contrasted with usual dull gray that they were used to seeing. It was smoother than the rest of the moon’s surface with fewer holes in it than usual. It looked like a giant splotch or blemish on the moon’s face.

“See those dark barren patches on the ground? Those are called the lunar maria. They cover 17 percent of the moon’s crust. They are composed of basalt created from cooling basaltic lava, which can also be found in place on Earth like Heyaii. They were formed by ancient volcanic activity when the moon was young when its surface was bombarded by material from space causing an eruption of lava that flowed over the surface and created pools and filled craters creating the dark patches on the moon you see today. “

"Ancient astrologers confused these dark patches with oceans and that is where it gets its name "Mare" which is Haytin for seas." Cheerilee looked back to her class and was glad that her class was paying attention to her. She started when she noticed somepony was missing.

Trixie, where the heck are you? The last thing she wanted was for that mare to wander off. She found that Trixie had been left behind and was kneeling down on the ground. Curious, Cheerilee walked up to her and her eyes widened when she saw that Trixie was writing "Trixie Lulamoon was here" in giant bold letters on the ground with a hoof.

“What the heck are you doing?!” Cheerilee demanded.

“You said the moon’s surface never changes right?” Trixie said unabashedly. “I just decided to make my own mark that will last forever!”

"Think about it." Trixie pointed a hoof at the sky. "Years from now when ponies come back to the moon, they see this and know that Trixie Lulamoon was one of the first ponies on the moon! They will probably build a museum around it and make it their star exhibit. Foals will ask their parents who this Trixie Lulamoon was, and their parents will reply that she was a great hero that saved the world and is the second greatest magician who has ever lived!"

Cheerilee made a face and scowled. I hope nopony notices it and they run over it with a moon cart!

“Uh, second greatest magician?” Snails asked confused.

“Sure, next to my grandfather the Great and Magnificent Quartermoon naturally," Trixie replied.

“Was he really that amazing?” Dinky asked curious eyes alight with surprise and wonder.

Trixie beamed with pride. “You bet he was. He didn’t need a silly horn like me to do amazing magic. I’m not even half as great as he was.” The entire class looked amazed at this proclamation.

Cheerilee blinked. She wasn’t expecting that and never realized just how much Trixie idolized her grandfather. Sure, she did it in an over the top way as usual, but it was sweet.

“I want to do it too!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed and started writing on the ground with a hoof. The rest of the class started following her example.

“No!” Cheerilee screamed and everypony froze. “We are not going to deface the moon!” Everypony in the class looked crestfallen.

“Come on.” Trixie rolled her eyes. “You aren’t going to make some sort of memorial for the first class trip to the moon?”

“Well, um…” Cheerilee relented. Dang, she has a point there. She didn’t like the pleading looks the foals were giving her.

Cheerilee straightened up. “How about this, at the end of the trip, we’ll come back here and write out our names? I think that would work well enough.” She cursed herself for not thinking about bringing a plaque or stone with all their names engraved on it or being an Equestrian flag. It would have been an easy enough thing to do.

Oh well. Cheerilee thought. That will just have to do.

The entire class brightened at this. Trixie looked smug about getting her way and Cheerilee wanted to punch her in the face.

“Alright class, we have plenty to see so let’s go.” Cheerilee waved the class along.

They continued trotting through the barren landscape. Cheerilee gave out other moon factoids as they walked. She stopped when Apple Bloom pulled on her leg.

“Say teach, ah know ya’ll said we shouldn’t deface the moon and everything, but do ya think we might be able to take a moon rock home?” Apple Bloom asked hopefully. The rest of the class listened to this conversation intently thinking the same thing.

“Of course you can dear.” Cheerilee gave the little filly a soft smile. “You may all take one home if you want, there are pockets in your spacesuit.”

Each of the foals was quick to grab a nearby rock and put it one in their pockets. Some were choosier about which one they got. Snail, in particular, spent five minutes finding what he considered the prettiest. Cheerilee herself took many moon rock samples are well. She knew some friends in the Canterlot University that would kill to get their hooves on one of these. She made sure to get some moon dust in a plastic bag as well. Luna had brought rocks and dust from the moon before many times, but they were rare and usually in museums. Many of them ended up stolen. Cheerilee thought that she should come back at later date to get more. The science world would not be denied!

"Now class, these rocks must be sterilized before they come back to Earth," Cheerilee warned, "who knows what contaminants they might contain." The class nodded in agreement.

“Wait, are you saying that we might accidentally bring a death plague to Earth!” Trixie asked horrified dropping a rock that she was holding and examining.

Cheerilee laughed. “I doubt it, but better safe than sorry. Though, there have been theories that various diseases have come from space.”

“No way!”

“Oh my gosh, it’s just like the horror book I read last week!”

"Is it possible that we might bring back brain-controlling parasites?!"

"Now class, calm down,” Cheerilee said holding up a hoof before a panic started, "that is why Nurse Redheart will give everypony a thorough examination when we get back. “Don’t worry, I will make sure nothing back will come back from space.”

The class and Trixie were relieved, though someponies seemed still worried about the possibility of getting moon parasites.

"Hold on to these rocks tight class," Cheerilee said getting back on track, "we are going to do some tests on them to see what they are made of.Though these rocks aren't as special as you might think," Cheerilee explained, "they contain minerals that you would commonly find on Earth like anorthosite, iron, and even titanium.”

Cheerilee continued to explain more about the moon and its structure and minerals. She stopped when she noticed that she was getting too technical and was starting to lose her students. She wisely decided to change topics.

“Coming up in the next few miles is something I really want to show you," Cheerilee said, "it is the reason I parked my Zord in this area in fact.” This caught the class’s attention.

“Are you going to show us moon ponies?!” Scootaloo exclaimed excited.

“Dummy.” Diamond Tiara mocked. “Nothing lives on the moon.”

Scootaloo growled and got into the bully’s face. “Says who? You don’t know.”

“Says common sense.” Diamond shot back.

"I'm afraid Diamond Tiara right on this one," Cheerilee said pushing the two fillies apart before it came to hooves, "the moon isn't capable of supporting any life."

“See.” Diamond stuck her tongue out at Scootaloo who stuck her tongue back out in response.

"The lack of any atmosphere is a big reason," Cheerilee explained already thinking about what the two fillies would do in detention when they got back to Earth, "without an atmosphere, a planet can't hold any gases like oxygen which end up dissolving into space. It can’t have any liquid water either which is also a vital requirement for life. The moon does have water though, as ice, but it’s scattered in small deposits over the surface or deep underground.”

“That isn’t why I brought you here,” Cheerilee said picking up the pace excited for this next part, “it should be just over that crater.”

They walked another three miles and they all gasped when they realized what Cheerilee meant for them to see. Along the ground was a black line where it was dark as far as the eye beyond it. It was as if the sun suddenly turned off from beyond that point.

"That class is the moon's terminator which separates its day and night sides," Cheerilee said, "the moon has a slower rotation than the Earth taking approximately 27 Earth days to complete a single cycle or day.”

“That’s so cool!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “I want to stand in the middle.” The rest of the class tried to run towards it, but Cheerilee put a stop to it before anypony could and grabbed Scootaloo before she could get any closer.

"Hold on class." Cheerilee yelled, "we can't." The class stopped to look at her.

“Like I said, it takes 27 days for the moon to complete a single cycle, so that means parts of the surface spend a lot more time in the dark than on Earth," Cheerilee explained, "the dark side of the moon can reach temperatures of minus 396 Fahrenheit. I am not sure our suits can withstand that kind of cold.”

The entire class let out a moan of disappointment causing Cheerilee to chuckle. “I know class, but I would rather not risk it, but I will let us walk around it for awhile. It really is quite the sight.”

As they walked, Cheerilee strolled up to Trixie who was walking behind the group in silence. She had a wistful expression on her face.

“You know Cheer," Trixie said absentmindedly, "it's moments like this that make being a Ranger worth it. I could do without the constant harrowing attempts after my life, but this is nice. I never thought that when I first befriended you that we would ever meet such great heights as this!” Trixie proclaimed gesturing to her surroundings and chuckled. “Friendship is pretty awesome.”

“To think I used to be content being locked away in the princess’s castle scheming and plotting for my rise in the Night Court.” Trixie continued. “I don’t think I could ever live that way again. It was like I was a prisoner, and I didn’t even realize it.”

"I'm surprised you think that way," Cheerilee said with complete honesty. She never thought that Trixie was ever this introspective. Trixie rarely talked about her old life. It must have been a painful and lonely one.

Trixie smirked. "I'm not the empty-headed filly everypony seems to think I am. Shallow? Yes. Empty-headed? No.”

“Is that why you have been so silent through most of the trip?” Cheerilee asked half teasing.

"This trip has given me a lot to think about," Trixie said, "I'm just grateful that's all. I just wish he was here with us to share it…” Trixie’s ears folded back and she looked down at the ground.

Not sure what to say, Cheerilee just put a hoof around her friend. They continued to walk in silence side by side. It was getting late, it was about the time to go home, and the group started making their way back to the Cheerilee's Zord.

“Uh, Miss Cheerilee?” Snails said looking a bit troubled when they were only a few miles away from Cheerilee’s Zord.

“Yes Snails, is something the matter?” Cheerilee asked.

Snails shook his head. “No, but I was just wondering, should there be a castle on the moon?”

Cheerilee blinked for that was the last thing she expected him to say. “What do you mean?”

“Come on Snails.” Scootaloo groaned. “Didn’t you just hear Miss Cheerilee? Nothing can live on the moon!”

"Scootaloo is right," Cheerilee said, "what would make you think that?"

Snails said nothing and instead just pointed to his left. Cheerilee could see something. If she squinted, she could make out an almost make out a shape in the distance.

“What is that?” Cheerilee asked. “Was that there before?” She supposed it could be a castle, but it was hard to tell. They made their way towards the shape and she gasped when they got a better sight of it. It was a castle!

“What the hay?” Cheerilee gapped. “What is that doing here?” Why didn’t they see it when they passed this way before? It made no sense.

The whole situation seemed impossible, but there it was standing tall with it stones pearl white and the design reminded her of pre-Corona castles. It was elegant more designed for beauty than protection against sieges. It had multiple spires that rose high into the sky and the building was smaller than most castles Cheerilee had seen in her life. It wasn’t like the Princess’s castle in Canterlot, meant to house hundreds. It was more like a personal estate that a noble might have owned a long time ago before castles went out of fashion.

"Stay here," Trixie ordered and pulled out her morpher, "I'll check it out. Protect the foals." She grumbled to herself about knowing that something like this would happen.

Cheerilee nodded ushering her class away. She didn’t want them anywhere near it. They complained wanting to get a closer look at this mysterious castle. It was hard to keep them under control.

They all yelped in surprise when fireball flew from the castle straight towards them at a frightening speed. It crashed a small distance in front. Everypony gasped for they knew this pony.

“Corona!” Trixie growled, getting into a protective stance in front of the foals and Cheerilee.

“Greetings, Rangers, and foals of Ponyville, to my home. I have been expecting you.” Corona said somehow using magic to talk to them in their heads. She surprised them all by giving them a respectful bow.

“What are you talking about?” Trixie said. Her posture told that she was ready for any surprise attack Corona might throw at them.

“I hereby welcome you as guests to my home and my hospitality,” Corona bowed even lower, “and announce my formal surrender.”

Chapter 4

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Magic School Zord
Chapter 4
by Rixizu

"What," Trixie said not believing her own ears.

"Come again," Cheerilee asked. She was also not sure she’d heard that one right. It was impossible, wasn't it?

“You win Trixie.” Corona clarified. “I give up.”

“Wha-why?” Trixie stammered.

“The fight with Corvus gave me a lot to think about,” Corona folded her ears back and looked down in shame, “I saw the destruction she created after she was let loose. I made that monster.”

"And you're giving up?" Trixie asked her voice full of skepticism and doubt.

Corona nodded. “Indeed. I’m tired of all the fighting. Fighting with my sister. It’s been a thousand years. I just want it all to end.”

“Really?” Trixie asked not believing a word of it.

Cheerilee wasn’t sure what to think. Part of her was skeptical sure, but she believed in giving second chances and if it was possible to redeem Corona, then she would take it.

“We accept.” Cheerilee extended her hoof towards Corona, no, Celestia in friendship. Trixie and the foals in her class gasped in shock and dismay. Trixie, in particular, wasn’t happy with the decision at all.

"You cannot be serious," Trixie exclaimed, "this can't be real!" She looked at her friend like she was out of her mind.

Cheerilee stared Trixie right in the eye. “And if it is?”

Trixie snorted in derision. “It’s obviously not!”

Celestia smiled. She wasn’t angry or even annoyed at Trixie’s outbursts and blatant suspicion. “I understand your distrust. I would feel the same in your position. I want to make amends. Can you at least let me attempt that? I'm not saying I will redeem myself tomorrow or even a hundred years from now but please Trixie, let me try!" Celestia pleaded overcome with emotion.

Trixie looked unsure now, torn between distrust and hope. She pawed at the ground in her nervousness. Dinky walked up to her and put a hoof on her leg.

“Please Miss Trixie, give her a chance!” Dinky pleaded. “I know she’s done some bad things, but my mom always says to give ponies another chance and offer forgiveness when they ask for it.”

Trixie looked even more conflicted now. Dinky looked at the older mare with beseeching look. Finally, she gave up, grabbed Celestia’s hoof, and shook it. “Fine.” She muttered under her breath. Cheerilee clapped her hooves together in delight and shook Corona’s hoof grinning in delight at this momentous occasion. Equestria had been saved.

“You are Pink Ranger’s foal, correct?” Celestia asked looked the small filly over. “You were with the foals I foalnapped?”

Dinky gave a solemn nod and Corona’s ears flattened in shame. “Thank you. I have wronged you and many of the other foals here, but I promise to make it up to you.”

Dinky smiled and nodded. "I just want to be a good pony like my mother."

"That is all we can hope for," Celestia replied. Trixie crossed her hooves and harrumphed, but said nothing.

“Now come.” Celestia beckoned them towards her castle. “You are my guests and I have dinner ready for you. Think of it as my first attempt to mend the ill between the two of us.”

“Alright,” Trixie sighed and followed.

The rest of the group followed close behind after Cheerilee nodded in agreement. The foals looked unsure, still not ready to trust the ancient foe of Equestria, but followed Cheerilee's lead. Many of the foals weren't as quick as Dinky to forgive Corona for what happened on the Longest Night and were still terrified of her. It was a nice first step at least.

"I'm surprised that you were so quick to accept Celestia's invitation," Cheerilee whispered to Trixie as they approached Celestia's castle. It didn't have a gate or wall, instead, it had large marble steps that led into the castle itself. Much to everypony's surprise, the gravity became like Earth's when they stepped on the castle's courtyard.

"Feel free to take off your helmets," Celestia said aloud and they could hear her just fine. Cheerilee's eyes widened. This meant that they were in the air again. Before Cheerilee could use her suit's sensors to make sure it was safe, Trixie took off her helmet, and it appeared she could breathe just fine. Cheerilee sighed at Trixie’s recklessness. With some hesitation, everypony took off their helmet as well.

“If there is a trap, I doubt it is here," Trixie said face serious, "we are Corona's guest. She’s an old school pony and if she's anything like her sister than she takes the laws of hospitality very seriously."

“The laws of what?” Dinky whispered walking up to them.

"They are the laws of how a host should treat their guests," Celestia explained apparently able to hear their conversation just fine, "I can't say I'm surprised my sister still follows them. Respect and hospitality were always very important to her."

Trixie smirked. “Yep, that’s her. She once had a noble pony severely fined and jailed for three months for breaking them. That wasn’t two hundred years ago, it was two years ago.”

Celestia let out a belly laugh. “That’s my sister. Don’t worry my little ponies. I always treat my guests well.”

“Ah think ah get it.” Apple Bloom said. “Sis always says to treat guests well and give ‘em the best comforts available.”

Cheerilee nodded. “In the old days, they called it Xenia. It was an unwritten sacred rule of hospitality and guaranteed not only food and board but also protection to guests. To break this was a serious faux pas.”

“That’s a relief.” Diamond commented. “I was worried she might try to poison us.” The other foals nodded in agreement.

“Welcome to my home.” Celestia declared and used her magic to open the front door to her castle.

Even Trixie gasped at the majestic décor of the front entryway of the castle. It was tastefully decorated with rich dark wood with a giant staircase in the middle. On the floor were lavishly detailed rugs that depicted images of not only the sun but the moon as well. The walls had rare old paintings and many of them were over a thousand years old and Cheerilee could recognize many of them. She started at a well-known piece painted by Raphayel himself. It depicted a scene of Celestia and Luna descending from the heavens to an amazed crowd of ponies.

“A bit overdramatic don’t you think?” Celestia asked startling Cheerilee, who had been consumed by her admiration of the painting. “Ponies back then loved to depict us as basically gods that came from the heavens to bring salvation to Ponykind. Sadly, the real event wasn’t nearly as glamorous. All we really did was help some local farmers with their failing crops. We did nothing all that special.”

“Is this an original?” Cheerilee asked.

“Oh yes.” Cheerilee chuckled from a private memory. “He begged me to let him paint it for me. Still, I cherish it.” Cheerilee’s eyes went wide. That meant this painting was over 1500 years old. There must be some real powerful magic protecting it.

“But come, I have dinner waiting for us.” Celestia motioned to the stairs. “I know you must be famished from your long hike across the moon.”

“Spike!” Celestia yelled and a familiar purple dragon came down the stairs.

"Yes, your majesty?" Spike replied with a bow.

"Show our guests to their rooms. They no doubt desire to freshen up before their meal.” Celestia ordered.

"Yes, ma’am!" Spike replied and gestured with a claw towards the stairs. “Right this way.”

"Dinner begins in an hour," Celestia said, "feel free to enjoy anything in the castle. It is all at your disposal.”

“What is that thing?” One foal asked staring at Spike.

“She’s kinda cute!” Sweetie Belle cooed.

Trixie squinted her eyes staring at the newcomer hard. "She looks familiar."

Come on Trixie. How could you forget Spike of all ponies, er, dragons? And his gender to boot? Cheerilee opened up her mouth to correct them, but Spike beat her to the punch.

“Thing?” Spike huffed in annoyance. “I’m a baby dragon! And a guy!”

“Oops, sorry.” Sweetie Belle said sheepishly.

“Oops, but never mind that. I remember you now.” Trixie said. “What are you doing here?” That was a good question. Nopony knew where he disappeared to after their first fight with Corona. They worried that he might be dead.

"I work for the princess," Spike said puffing up his chest with pride.

Trixie ran up to Spike startling the baby dragon grabbing him with a hoof and pulled him close to her mouth. “Are you okay? Has she hurt you?” She demanded in a whisper.

"I’m just fine," Spike replied pushing Trixie away, "she hasn't done anything."

“Really?” Trixie said skeptical.

“Yes, really," Spike said irritated, "she's nice when you get to know her."

“Stockholm syndrome.” Trixie shook her head in dismay. "Or maybe it's brainwashing." She mused.

Spike growled and flame burst from his mouth. He clenched his fists ready for another nasty retort.

“Weren’t you going to show us somewhere we can refresh ourselves?” Cheerilee interjected before the situation got more out of hoof. “I don’t know about you Trixie, but our trek across the moon has left me real sweaty!”

"Good idea," Trixie said nodding. She slipped out of her spacesuit and flung it over her shoulder. "Well come on Spike, show us. We don’t have all day.”

“Right this way.” Spike gestured towards a door fighting back his irritation.

"I forgot how annoying she is," Spike mumbled under his breath. Cheerilee sighed. Was it possible for Trixie to go a day without alienating someone?

---

Celestia was more generous than Cheerilee expected. Not only did she provide lavish rooms for them to rest and clean up in, but provided fancy dress wear for the dinner. She even allowed them to keep it if they wanted. Cheerilee wore a stunning green dress that sparkled in the candlelight. The way it fit around her was perfect and showed off her body in a very flattering light. She couldn’t wait to show it to her sister. The colts wore little tuxedos, and the fillies wore simple but colorful dresses. Trixie was dressed, however, in her usual red cape and magician hat much to Cheerilee’s horror.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Cheerilee growled in a whisper as Spike led to the dining room. He looked quite offended by Trixie’s choice of attire. Flames escaped his mouth again and with difficulty held back his anger.

"What?" Trixie said in mock offense. "This is fancy dinner wear. It’s the height of fashion.”

“Don’t you think this might, I don’t know, offend our host since she was so gracious to provide clothes for us to wear?” Cheerilee offered in the vain hope Trixie might change her mind.

"Don't care," Trixie replied. Cheerilee could only put her face in her hooves.

Spike led to a dining hall and they could only gape in wonder at the décor. Each wall had a mural with a vibrant illustration of both the day and the night. The day mural depicted the sun as it traveled through the sky with ponies working, playing, and finally going to bed as the sun set. The other wall displayed the night sky in all its glory and as far as Cheerilee could tell, it was an accurate depiction of the stars. She could spot many of the constellations. It also showed the moon’s journey through the night. On the ground, ponies were asleep in their houses resting up for the day ahead. In the center of the room was a long dining table made of rich dark wood with enough seats to sit twice their number. The room was lit by golden candelabra that sat on shelves on each side of the room. The silverware, plates, and cups were golden and aligned neatly for each pony. They looked hoof crafted with rich and detailed patterns engraved on them.

Trixie looked less than impressed and scoffed. “And they say I have an ego. The day princess sure likes to display how awesome and important she is.”

“She is a princess.” Cheerilee pointed out. “Such lavishness is to be expected.”

“Presenting Miss Cheerilee and the class of Ponyville, our honored guests.” Spike formally announced, puffing out his chest with pride and dignity. “And Trixie.” He gave the mare a dirty look which she promptly ignored.

“Welcome friends.” Celestia greeted. She sat at the hoof of the table dressed in her finest royal regalia. She looked a perfect model of a princess prim, proper, and elegant. “Come join me.” She beckoned them to sit down. If she felt offended by Trixie’s choice of attire, she didn’t show it. Instead, she seemed genuinely pleased to see them. Her eyes were filled with gentleness and warmth.

Trixie was about to sit in one of the middle seats, but Celestia stopped her. "No, Trixie. You should sit next to me. You too Miss Cheerilee. You are the guests of honor after all."

Cheerilee felt a surge of warmth and gratitude. She had never been so recognized and honored before. Even when Trixie invited them to have dinner with Princess Luna that one time, she was never shown as much respect as this. Trixie yawned and didn’t seem to care at all, killing Cheerilee’s excitement a little. That mare seemed determined to be a hard case the entire night. Cheerilee prayed to Luna that she wouldn’t cause an incident.

The rest of the foals in the class squirmed with nervous energy in their seats. Celestia and the fancy dinner setting unnerved even Diamond Tiara. They looked at the dizzying array of fancy silverware with no clue which utensil did what. They still seemed unsure what to make of the sun princess and former Tyrant Sun. Celestia, however, only gave them a gentle and reassuring smile that put them more at ease.

"Relax my little ponies," Celestia said, "this is a casual dinner between friends. There is no worry you will offend me if you, for example, use the wrong fork. Please, eat however you like." The foals gave the princess a reassured looked and relaxed.

"Now class, despite what the Princess said, I want you all to be on your best behavior," Cheerilee advised giving Trixie a sidelong warning glance that again was ignored.

“Yes, Miss Cheerilee.” The class answered automatically.

Cheerilee moaned in delight as Spike came into the room with a cart with plates covered in delectable food with sandwiches, salads, casseroles, steamed vegetables, and fruit salads. Cheerilee's stomach growled as the plates were placed in front of them. Some foals tried to grab something early, but Cheerilee whacked their hoof with a spoon and gave them a look which placated them in an instant. Their cups were filled with any beverage of their choice with many fruit juices to choose from. Cheerilee chose lime her favorite.

Celestia extended a cup in a toast. “To new friends. Enjoy.” Trixie did a visible eye roll and Cheerilee glowered at her.

The foals were quick to grab everything and anything to their liking and Cheerilee let them have first dibs as she sipped at her fruit juice. Trixie and Celestia did the same letting the growing ponies fill their plates and stomachs first. Much to Cheerilee’s amazement, almost nothing was left by the time the foals were done.

Celestia giggled in amusement. "Spike, get the second cart, please. Our little guests were more ravenous than expected."

“Yes, your majesty.” Spike did a formal bow and left.

Celestia pulled out a bottle of pills and took one of them and used her drink to help get it down.

“Are ya sick Miss Corona, er Celestia, mam?” Apple Bloom stuttered not sure how to address their host.

Celestia gave the filly a sad smile. “Yes, I am and have been for a very long time.”

“Oh, you mean the whole declaring yourself the Sun and trying to take over Equestria thing.” Trixie quipped. Cheerilee tried to signal her to stop, but Trixie continued on anyway. “And burning everypony to death who annoys you or get in your way. With the trademark crazed evil laugh of course.”

"Trixie," Cheerilee growled through gritted teeth.

Celestia nodded. “It’s alright. She’s not wrong.”

Trixie blinked. “I’m not?”

“No, I am well aware of my mental issues," Celestia said voice full of emotion and turmoil, "I've known for a long time I'm not well and need help. I'm just glad Spike gave me the courage to seek it out."

“So you’ve been seeing a psychiatrist!” Cheerilee said excited. This explained so much. She had been wondering why Corona’s madness had become mellower over the last few months.

Celestia nodded. “That’s right in secret. A Doctor Algorithm. He’s been helping me with my issues. He believes that my stress-related breakdown a thousand years ago might have triggered a previously unknown mental illness.”

“So you’re all better now!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed in excitement

Celestia looked down with a sad pained expression on her face. “No my little pony, the medication helps, but, well, the truth is I may never be completely healthy again.”

Cheerilee and rest of her class looked at the fallen princess in sympathy. She had no idea. She had grown up knowing Corona’s evil deeds and back then she always seemed like nothing more than a monster. Right now at this moment, however, she looked weak and small and, in the end, just a pony. Even Trixie looked sympathetic despite her skepticism.

Dinky got out of her seat walked up to the sun princess and gave her a hug. “We will be here for you princess.”

Celestia stroked Dinky’s head. “Thank you little one. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

Dinky said nothing and just smiled and nodded.

“But please, don’t worry about me.” Celestia waved their concerns away. “Even if it is just a little, I’m improving every day.”

Trixie leaned on the table with an elbow. “So, what now? Are you hoping to join Princess Luna’s side as co-ruler of Equestria?”

"No, I don't deserve it," Celestia replied with a shake of her head, "my wrongs cannot be easily amended. My sister is the rightful ruler of Equestria. She's led the country better than I ever could. No, instead I will make amends with charity in the vain hope of making up for what I did. What I really want is to live here and be left alone. It would be for the best.”

Trixie snorted. “Good deeds, huh?”

"I'm sure the princess will be happy with that," Cheerilee said trying to stop Trixie attempt to sour the mood of the conversation. “It’s a good start.”

Trixie was about to say something, but Spike’s reentrance interrupted her. The sight of the food made her mouth water, and she sat down eager to get her hooves on those tasty morsels. She took generous portions onto her plate, taking pretty much everything.

“Does anypony have some mustard?” Trixie asked. “It’s fantastic with cauliflower!” Spike pulled a bottle from the cart and gave it to her.

“Mustard?” Apple Bloom asked confused.

Trixie combined various dishes she picked up into strange concoctions making sure each had a generous helping of mustard while the class gave her odd looks. Trixie didn’t even seem to notice and seemed quite happy with her creations, moaning in delight at their taste. The class looked at her repulsed by her strange eating habits.

“Ugh, there goes my appetite.” Diamond groaned and many of the foals nodded in agreement.

"I never get used to that," Dinky commented and pushed her plate away from here.

“You guys don’t know what you’re missing.” Trixie huffed and shoved her face into her food. Much to Cheerilee’s embarrassment, her friend wasn’t even attempting to use good table manners and ate as loud as possible.

Cheerilee narrowed her eyes. Was she doing this on purpose? Was she trying to ruin this dinner? Celestia seemed nonplussed by this, but even she looked strained at this point by Trixie’s antics.

“So, I have a question Corona," Trixie said and, much to Cheerilee's horror, talked with her mouth full.

“Yes, Trixie.” Celestia pretended not to be put out by this somehow keeping her princess dignity despite the situation.

"Here is what I don't get. If you're throwing in the towel, why did you give me that Faustian deal in prison?” Trixie asked while eating some salad. “You didn’t seem like a defeated mare on her last ropes to me. Didn’t you say that you saw the error of your way after we defeated Corvus?”

“Excellent question.” Celestia praised and everypony looked at her with eager expectation. “I fudged the truth a little. That, in truth, was the moment I finally gave up. I saw that if I wasn’t able to turn you to my side, well, what was the point anymore? You had all grown far too powerful for me. How could I ever match you again?”

"Uh huh," Trixie said full of doubt, "another question."

“That’s enough Trixie.” Cheerilee was done with this nonsense. She didn’t want Trixie badgering the princess with nonstop questions. She won’t stop, no doubt, if Cheerilee didn’t put her hoof down.

“Come on.” Trixie scoffed after taking a bite of some casserole. “She has a lot to answer for!” At this moment, disaster struck. As Trixie was shouting, a speck of casserole flew into Celestia's face as Trixie was pointing at her.

Time froze as the reality of the incident hit everypony in the room. Nopony moved or said anything and moments dragged on and on with each second like an eternity. Then, time resumed. Everypony stepped back as the table started on fire and the plates and silverware melted like they were made of cheap wax. Celestia’s face turned from serene to one of unbridled fury. Most terrifying of all were her eyes. They were glowing pure white and burning with white-hot intensity glaring death at Trixie.

Chapter 5

View Online

Magic School Zord
Chapter 5
by Rixizu

Cheerilee backed away in panic as the fire spread around her. She almost didn’t get up from her chair fast enough before it burst into flames. Anything not made of stone was lit on fire or burned to a crisp. The stones under Celestia melted from the intense heat coming from her. Spike stared at his mistress in a panic unsure what to do. He tried and failed to put out the mural as it burned away. Nothing seemed to be able to put out these flames.

Trixie was the only one not panicking. She stared Celestia in the eyes with a grin on her face and her eyes glinted with eagerness.

"I've been waiting a long time for this Corona," Trixie said. She held her morpher in her hoof. Her pose told her readiness for battle.

"How dare you, Trixie," Celestia said and howled in fury, "I offered you hospitality and you spit on my face."

Trixie shrugged. “Why not? I never believed this surrendering nonsense for a second. I’m not like Cheerilee. I know you will never be redeemed. You’re selfish and rotten to the core. Ponies like you can’t change. You can’t be happy unless you rule everything. I’ve heard stories about you Corona. The ones before you went insane. You weren’t the picture perfect pony Luna loves to paint you as. Your insanity just made it worse. Sane or not, you’re evil, selfish and maybe even cruel. Ponykind would be better off without you.”

“How dare you!” Corona spat. The heat in the room intensified. Almost all the stone in room melted from her fury. Trixie, on the other hoof, didn’t even seem to care.

“You and I both know this was the only way things could end," Trixie said voice going cold, "I just sped things up a bit."

“We need to get out of here, now!” Cheerilee yelled ushering the foals away towards the door. Her first priority was getting them to safety. No way she wanted the foals in the middle of a battlefield.

“Very well!” Celestia said spreading her wings wide into the air. “You aren’t the only one who has been looking forward to this battle.”

“Spike!” Cheerilee yelled getting the baby dragon’s attention. “We need to leave! Help me find a safe way out of the castle!” She needed to get the foals back to her Zord and Spike was her best choice to find the path out. He was the only one of them who knew their way around the castle. Cheerilee cursed herself for not thinking about memorizing the castle’s layout. They needed to get back to the front entrance and their spacesuits. She would come back to save Spike with her Zord as soon as possible.

“Got it!” Spike said nodding. “This way!” He didn’t run towards the front doors of the dining room as expected, but a servant’s door instead which led to a kitchen that wasn’t on fire thank Luna almighty. Not yet at least.

"Follow Spike," Cheerilee ordered.

“But what ‘bout Trixie?!” Apple Bloom asked terrified.

"She can take care of herself," Cheerilee replied, "she’s strong and knows what she's doing."

Damn you Trixie! Did you even think for a second what would happen if you started a fight? Have you lost your mind?!

Apple Bloom nodded and ran into the kitchen with the rest of the foals. Cheerilee did a mental count of the all the foals making sure each one ran to safety. She blinked and noticed one of her students was missing. She looked over the foals and realized the identity of the missing student in an instant. Her heart skipped and searched around in an almost hysterical desperation.

Dinky, where the hay are you?! Cheerilee’s frantic thoughts said. Her anxiety became worse when she couldn’t find the little filly.

“Dinky!” Cheerilee cried out. Spike turned back to look at her in concern. "Go! I will find her." Spike nodded and led the foals to another door.

"Dinky!" Cheerilee cried out again and in a moment she found the foal in question. Little Dinky was watching the confrontation between Celestia and Trixie with an angry frown on her face. This was the angriest she had ever seen Dinky. Cheerilee pulled out her morpher ready to jump in and grab her.

“It’s morphing time!” Trixie thrust her morpher forward. “Ur…”

“Stop this right now!” Dinky screamed, and a startled Celestia and Trixie stared at her.

“Dinky, what are you…” Trixie was about to say, but she screamed in pain when Dinky used her magic grabbing Trixie by the ear making the Red Ranger drop her morpher.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow!” Trixie said whining as Dinky pulled her closer.

“I said stop it!” Dinky repeated. “No fighting!”

Dinky released Trixie and glared at Celestia. “You too!” The sun princess gave the little filly a bewildered expression before nodding. In an instant, the room became cool again and all the fire stopped at once leaving the room a burnt out mess.

“I can’t believe you two. You’re grown mares, act like it.” Dinky scolded.

“But she’s a…” Trixie tried to explain, but Dinky cut her off in an instant.

“No buts!” Dinky said growling. “This conversation is over, missy!”

“But…” Trixie shrank under Dinky’s glare. “Fine.” She muttered and looked away.

"Phew, that was a close one." Spike let out a sigh of relief.

Cheerilee watched the scene in amusement half expected Dinky to send Trixie to her room. Trixie looked less than pleased with this turn of events and sulked.

“Uh, so is it over?” Scootaloo asked peeking out behind Cheerilee using her as a shield.

"It's over," Cheerilee confirmed and Spike and the rest of the class looked relieved, "nice work Dinky."

Dinky looked embarrassed and rubbed the back of her neck. “I just did what I thought my mom would do.”

“You did very well.” Cheerilee praised and Dinky beamed from the compliment. The other fillies and colts did the same treating little Dinky as a hero.

"I must thank you again little one," Celestia said peering down at Dinky, "I lost my temper. I might have done something I would later regret. You saved my castle considerable damage.” She gestured with a wing to the burnt out room at large.

"It was so pretty too," Dinky lifted up the skirts of her pink dress and showed the soot marks, "and it ruined my dress!"

"It's alright," Celestia said, "they're only things. Unlike ponies, they can be easily replaced. I will make sure give you a new one." Dinky gave a grateful nod.

"Now Trixie, you owe Princess Celestia an apology," Dinky said in another motherly tone.

“What?” Trixie stomped her hoof in protest.

Dinky glared hard at Trixie who squirmed under the little filly’s frown and looked away in shame and embarrassment.

"S-sorry," Trixie muttered in a low almost inaudible tone.

“What was that?” Dinky demanded.

"I'm sorry," Trixie repeated loud enough for everypony to hear.

"I hope this teaches you a valuable lesson in manners," Dinky nodded in satisfaction. Trixie grumbled under her breath again.

Cheerilee smirked glad to see Trixie put in her place for once. She admired the little filly for being so brave and strong when a literal fire was all around her. Ditzy had raised her well and Cheerilee felt sure Dinky would grow up to be a wonderful mother one day.

"Come, I have a lounge we can use to have dessert," Celestia said clearing her voice, "I don't know about you, but I could really go for a piece of cake.”

The entire class broke out into mummers of excitement at the sound of dessert especially when the princess mentioned the word cake. After that mess, a piece of cake sounded fantastic to Cheerilee too.

“Except Trixie,” Dinky added.

“What?” Trixie exclaimed in outrage.

"She's been a bad filly, so she doesn't deserve dessert," Dinky replied.

"I quite agree. Bad little fillies should go to bed without dessert." Celestia gave Trixie an impish look and Trixie glared in response.

“Right this way!” Spike said gesturing towards the kitchen exit. He looked glad everything was in control again and was eager to get the night back on track.

Spike led them down several corridors to yet another well-furnished room. It seemed Celestia had spared no expense when designing this castle. It contained hoof carved chairs and couches in the with their own unique flair. They were just as comfortable as they looked and Cheerilee moaned as her body melted in the couch's cushions. The walls had bookshelves with more subjects than she could count. Too bad Twilight wasn’t here. She would freak out over all the old books in Celestia’s collection. The soft lighting called and relaxed her and by Luna did she need this after Trixie’s little spat with Celestia.

Spike left to return with a cart covered in a wide variety of cakes from chocolate to carrot and even some fruit cakes and provided tea as well. Spike served each of his guests a piece of whatever they asked for, except Trixie of course. The Red Ranger pouted in the corner pretending to not care at all. He seemed glad to serve, and it was obvious he took pride in his work. He was different from the nervous baby dragon Cheerilee remembered from the Longest Night. She felt grateful to him for being such a positive influence on Princess Celestia. Spike left them to start cleaning up the mess Trixie and Celestia started and gave the offending mare another glare before leaving to his task.

"Your castle is magnificent, princess." Cheerilee complimented and took her first bite of cake. Cheerilee wasn’t sure she had ever had a cake this good in her life. Whoever made this cake was a cake master. The taste of chocolate and strawberries almost overwhelmed her in flavor. "Forgive me, but I am a little confused how you got it here on the moon in the first place. It would have been quite the undertaking to build it in the first place much less construct it on the moon."

Celestia put down her piece of chocolate cake she was eating on a nearby table and smiled. “As you can imagine, it wasn’t cheap to make this castle. Hundreds of ponyhours were used in its construction. I had it built in secret as a get away from the stress of court life.”

“Looks like they didn’t do a good job then considering you snapped and went completely bananas,” Trixie said in a quip. Celestia’s ear twitched in irritation.

"Trixie," Dinky glared at Trixie who shrunk and hid behind a chair.

“As I was saying.” Celestia continued pretending like she wasn’t just interrupted in such a rude manner. “I had it built on Earth and used several of the court magicians to teleport it to the moon. After all, what would be a better place to not be interrupted? A personal joke on my part. Lulu never did learn about it.”

“That’s ah cute little nickname yah got for yah sister princess.” Apple Bloom replied.

Celestia laughed. “It came about because as foal I wasn’t able to pronounce my sister name properly.”

“That’s adorable,” Cheerilee replied. She cooed imagining a tiny filly Celestia trying and failing to say her sister’s name.

“Do yah think things will ever be right between yah and Princess Luna?” Apple Bloom asked with a sad almost heartbroken expression on her face.

Celestia fell silent for a long moment staring at her half-eaten cake in thought. Finally, she spoke her voice solemn. "I don't know my little pony. There's bad blood between the two of us. Even though I want to forgive her, a part of me is still mad at Luna for locking me into the sun.”

"Hold on," Trixie said in protest and wanted to say more but stopped when Celestia held up a hoof.

“Yes, I was a monster and out of my mind. I understand that, but you remember how I said I’m taking medication for my condition correct?” Trixie gave a curt nod to Celestia’s question.

“Back then the pony mind was not that well understood, the best my sister could have done is lock me away.” Celestia continued. “Things have changed though and there have been dramatic improvements in the field in the study of the mind. My sister must have known that. Why didn’t she try to unseal me and get me the help I needed?”

“Well…” Trixie’s voice trailed off.

Celestia stood up full of emotion and anger. “She just left me on the sun to rot! She didn’t even attempt to help me! She was perfectly content to leave on the sun for all eternity!”

The room went silent no pony daring to say anything. Even Trixie couldn’t give a reply and had a scowl on her face.

"I will probably always be a monster to her," Celestia said in a voice almost too low to hear.

This time it was Apple Bloom's turn to give the sun princess a hug. "Please give yah sister’s another chance. Ah know what it’s like to be mad at yah sis. We’ve had some bad fights, but ah always made up with her the end. She’s my kin and ah will always love her.”’

"You might be right my little pony," Celestia said with a sad smile on her face, "I just hope my sister will forgive me too. I haven't exactly been the best sister." Celestia lifted up a cup of tea to her mouth and drank from it. Cheerilee blinked. Did Celestia just smirk for a second there? Nah, it was only her imagination.

“Knowing the princess, she will fer sure!” Apple Bloom said with the utmost confidence. “When she learns of yah new situation, she’ll run up and hug yah and the whole thing will be settled.”

“As my mom says, hugs fix everything.” Dinky said with absolute confidence.

"No doubt she's been lonely without me over the last couple of years," Celestia said smiling.

Cheerilee clapped her hooves together in excitement. “Trixie, you should write Princess Luna a letter as soon as we get back.” She could already see the heartwarming hug the two would have and then Equestria would be whole again at last. The country had suffered enough with the two sisters apart.

"Already planned to," Trixie said with a wave of her hoof.

“Trixie, if you don’t mind, I have a request.” Celestia levitated a scroll over to Trixie and dropped in her hooves. “I would like you to give my sister this.”

As soon as Trixie got the scroll in her hooves, she tore open Celestia’s royal seal and read the letter. She read it over at least six times before nodding.

"Fine," Trixie said, "I'm sure Luna will appreciate this letter. It seems a genuine heartfelt apology.” The last part dripped with obvious sarcasm.

Cheerilee rubbed her head and felt herself getting a headache. Did this mare learn nothing over the last hour?

"It's alright Miss Cheerilee," Celestia said in a reassuring tone, "some paranoia is to be expected." She grabbed the letter back from Trixie and resealed it.

"Paranoia," Cheerilee grumbled. Being cautious was fine, but this was going too far. No doubt Trixie used some subtle magic to scan the scroll for traps too as if Princess Luna would ever be so careless.

“That Trixie has been going along with this is a good sign,“ Celestia said, “if a stubborn and hard-hearted pony like her can accept my offer of peace than it is a fine first step to being accepted back into pony society.” Trixie rolled her eyes at this.

“Don’t worry Princess Celestia!” Sweetie Belle stated. "I will tell everypony how you aren't bad anymore and how nice you've been to us." The other foals nodded in agreement and looked eager to spread the news of Celestia's reform. They heaped praise on her and one foal, Pipsqueak, declared Princess Celestia to be his favorite princess. Celestia, of course, was genial and looked upon them like a mother would to her foal.

"Come," Celestia said as she stood, "there’s one thing I must show you before you depart."

The foal groaned at this, but Celestia only gave them a gentle smile in return.

"Sorry little ones, but the hour is getting late," Celestia said, "I have kept you too long. I mustn't keep you from your beds."

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Let’s get going already; I still have paperwork I need to finish.”

Celestia led them up a flight of stairs and they found themselves on the roof of the castle. It provided a lovely view of the lunar landscape. There wasn’t much up here, but it had one thing of interest. One a tripod was an old-fashioned telescope. It shone golden and despite its age, it looked to be an excellent condition and it was obvious Celestia took loving care of it.

"I thought you might want a gaze at the Earth from a telescope for a change," Celestia said, "It’s a little out of date, but it will still give you a breathtaking view of the Earth."

“I want to go first!”

“No, I should obviously go first.”

“No me!”

“I wonder if I can see my house from here.”

The fillies and colts bumped and jeered to the first in line. Cheerilee wasted no line to put them back in order. She forced them into a line and told them they could only have five minutes each on it. They grumped but obeyed.

"I must commend your skill at herding these little ones," Celestia said, "much has changed since my time in Equestria. Back then, only the wealthy and the privileged had schooling. Most ponies would be lucky to even know how to read. It warms my heart to see that learning is available to the common ponies.”

Cheerilee puffed out her chest in pride. "Indeed, Equestria has improved and advanced much since the public school has been established. Equestria wouldn't even be half as prosperous without it. It's hard to imagine it’s only been a little under two hundred years since education has become available to everypony."

“So many advancements. Already ponykind is reaching for the stars. When I see these little ponies, I see the future. “Celestia mused.

Cheerilee looked at her students with pride. Particularly at Scootaloo who was now having her turn at the microscope. There was an excited energy about her now. This whole trip she had never seen the little filly have such a rapt attention to her lectures before. The little filly had fallen in love with space and its wonders and majesty. The whole trip had changed her life Cheerilee knew and no doubt many of her other students as well.

Cheerilee snuck up behind Scootaloo. “Enjoying the view?”

Scootaloo nodded and jumped up and down in her excitement. “This telescope is amazing! I can actually see Canterlot and part of Ponyville!”

Cheerilee cracked a smile and patted Scootaloo on the head and looked down at the Earth with her. The planet was huge far bigger than the moon appeared on Earth. It was so crisp and clear too since the moon had no atmosphere or pollution to block the view. It looked like a giant globe just out of reach almost like she could reach out her hoof and touch it. The princess was lucky if she had a view of their planet like this every day. Cheerilee wished she could stay right here forever.

Scootaloo looked up at her teacher with a sad expression on her face. “It’s almost time to go isn’t it?”

"I'm afraid so Scootaloo," Cheerilee said, "the princess has been very nice to us, but life must go on."

Scootaloo’s looked transformed from crestfallen to a determined one. The little filly stood to her full height. “I want to come back someday, only I want to do it under my own power! I want to fly into space and see just how far I can go!”

“What a wonderful dream Scoots,” Cheerilee said her heart booming with pride.

"Indeed it is," Celestia said grinning ear to ear, "push yourself as far as you can."

Scootaloo nodded. “I will.”

Apple Bloom gasped. “Ah don’t believe it!”

“What is it?” Cheerilee asked looking around in concern.

Trixie narrowed her eyes and pulled out her morpher. “Did something happen?”

“No no." Apple Bloom pointed at Scootaloo. "She's got hur cutie mark!"

"What?!" Scootaloo looked down at her flank and sure enough, a mark adorned it. It was a shooting star with a tail with a multicolored lightning bolt that blurred and zipped through the heavens.

“I got my cutie mark!” Scootaloo screamed and ran after her flank much like how a dog would run after its own tail.

“Congratulations!” Celestia praised. “Well done my little pony.”

"Huh, wasn't expecting that," Trixie said flabbergasted, “Congrats squirt.”

Cheerilee patted Scootaloo on the back. “Congratulations!”

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! This is the best day like ever!” Scootaloo said unable to control her excitement.

Diamond Tiara scoffed a sly grin on her face. “It’s alright. I guess a dummy like you can do something right once in a while.”

Scootaloo scowled her good mood ruined. “You always have to ruin everything don’t you?”

“That’s why I’m here.” Diamond Tiara said standing up proud. “I have to keep you ponies in your place.”

“Don’t listen to her.” Sweetie Belle replied. “She’s just jealous! Your cutie mark is so much cooler than hers!”

The three fillies descending into bickering and Cheerilee sighed. Note to self, give Diamond Tiara double detention.

Still, Cheerilee couldn’t contain her grin. This was the first time she had ever helped one of her students get a cutie mark. She glowed with an indescribable feeling of exertion and glee like she was floating in the air.

This, this is why I became a teacher. Cheerilee thought. For the first time, she made a concrete change in one of her students. She didn’t just give her students some semi-useless factoids they probably would forget about in a few years or foalsit them. She helped them grow as a person and there was nothing better a teacher could do creating a foundation they would use for the rest of their lives.

Why did she ever think she wanted to be a bounty hunter of all things? Sure, it seemed an exciting and daring life, but what did it really accomplish? Somehow those early years seemed wasted now. Besides, she had to admit she wasn’t a great bounty hunter to begin with

Yep, I’m definitely where I need to be.

---

“A little to the left, then rotate it about 34 degrees and there!” Cheerilee ordered Celestia and the princess dropped the plaque. It landed right next to the “Trixie Lulamoon was here” that Trixie wrote earlier. The message was engraved into a stone made of marble in the shape of a miniature obelisk.

The fillies and colts whooped and cheered as the plague landed. It contained each one of the class's signatures with Cheerilee's at the bottom and proudly announced they were the class of 1001 NLE (New Lunar Era) of Ponyville. Trixie's name was the only one missing from the plague. For some reason beyond Cheerilee's comprehension, Trixie was quite happy with her crude writing on the ground. Was it because Celestia was generous enough to provide the plaque for them? Whatever. Let her be that way.

“Again, thank you so much,” Cheerilee said to Celestia one last time.

“I am more than happy to help,” Celestia replied using her magic again to communicate telepathically, “you ponies made history and I am more than willing to celebrate that.”

“Will we ever see yah again Princess Celestia?” Apple Bloom asked.

A smirk tugged at the sun princess’s mouth. “You just might.”

"Poor us," Trixie said muttering to herself. Cheerilee groaned. Would that mare ever give up her grudge against Celestia? Her opposition of Celestia at every turn was starting to get annoying.

Everypony waved Celestia goodbye as she flew away back to her castle even Trixie gave her own half-hearted wave. They walked back to Cheerilee’s Zord, and the class talked amongst themselves about what they saw and did today. Scootaloo continued on and on about her plans to fly to Mars one day and maybe even find aliens while she was at it.

"Now Scoots, if you want to go to Mars in the first place, you need to study really hard," Cheerilee said in warning, "they don't just let anypony be an astronaut."

Scootaloo’s eyes bulged wide, and she nodded. “Oh my gosh you’re right!”

"You need to be a very capable pony with plenty of education and experience." Cheerilee paused. She didn't want to overwhelm the filly with the amount of work required, so she kept it simple for now. "You will need a degree in engineering or physical or biological science to qualify.”

Scootaloo nodded mulling the problem over in her head filling her face with concern and worry. Cheerilee put a comforting hoof on the little filly’s back.

Cheerilee gave Scootaloo a wink. “Don’t worry. I think I have some books that might help you get started. Just promise me you will study hard.”

"Yes, mam!" Scootaloo said with a salute and ran into Cheerilee's Zord.

Cheerilee noticed Trixie looked quite entertained by the conversation. Her face broke out into a wide grin.

"You did good today Cheer," Trixie said grinning ear to ear happy for her friend, “The world needs more ponies like you, not third rate stage magicians and meatheads like me. You’re a much better role model.” After saying this, she left to go back to her own Zord.

Cheerilee watched Trixie left with a flummoxed look on her face. That was probably the nicest thing Trixie had ever said to her. First Corona turning a new leaf and now this, was the world about to come to an end? Cheerilee took one more long loving glance at the moon before entering her Zord already eager to go on her next adventure of teaching.

Epilogue

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Magic School Zord
Epilogue
by Rixizu

Luna growled in frustration and crumpled up her sister’s letter. She had read the thing at least a dozen times and every reading infuriated her more. It was like she was being spat in the face. Trixie had suggested the letter might have a hidden cipher in it. Some message that pointed and laughed at them revealing Corona's true intent. But it had no such thing; it was just a genuine apology and wish to rekindle their broken friendship and sisterhood. What a laugh. Luna threw the scroll to the floor and smashed it with her hooves then jumped up and down on it a few times for good measure. It was quite cathartic.

“Is everything alright mam?” A guard peeked his head into her office. He eyed his princess stomping on a scroll and froze. He stared at her more than a little baffled by her behavior.

“I am fine.” Luna snapped. “Leave me. I require some time alone. I will call you if I need you. Understand?” She stared the stallion right in the eyes and he gulped and nodded before fleeing from the room.

Luna flushed a little when the guard left. She didn’t mean to snap at him. He was just doing his job. She owed him an apology and swore to give it to him the next time she saw him.

Light shined through windows illuminating the room and Luna turned towards the rising sun and frowned. It was a wondrous sunrise and her balcony gave her a perfect view. The way the red shimmering light shone through the light cloud cover took a pony’s breath away. It also wasn’t hers. For the last few days, Corona had been raising the sun. Somehow, the tyrant had wrested control of the Sun from her and no matter what she tried, she found it impossible to take it back.

Even after a thousand years, Corona hadn’t lost her style. In the distant past, ponies wrote symphonies about her sister’s sunsets. Most were lost to time now and ponies wrote pieces about her sunsets instead, but it wasn’t the same. Somehow they both never managed to be quite as good. They didn’t touch the heart like Corona’s. Even after a thousand years, Luna had never come close to matching her sister’s mastery of the sun. This recent sunset proved this more than enough. It had a magic hers didn’t.

She saw what Corona was trying to do. Already she had tainted Cheerilee and her class. Thankfully her student Trixie was too smart to fall for any of Corona’s tricks. Whatever happened, Trixie would always be hers. Luna looked down at Canterlot and the surrounding countryside from her balcony and scowled. Soon Corona would try to take this away from her like she always did. It didn’t matter if she used to be the pony equivalent of the personification of evil, known and feared by all for centuries. Corona would worm her way into their hearts like she always did. Once again ponies would love her sister over her.

No! No! No! Luna refused to let it happen! Equestria belonged to her and her alone! She was the eternal ruler of Equestria now and forever! She would never hoof over her kingdom to that monster! Never!

She needed to act before that monster could execute her plan. Thank goodness her sister failed in the first step. The bauble Corona placed inside her had no visible effect. In fact, her mind felt sharper than ever! The constant pain the thing provided only gave a point of focus for her thoughts and hatred. She would use that against the Tyrant Sun. Putting those Planetary Stones inside her was the worse mistake her sister had ever made!

Luna forced herself to calm down. Getting angry and freaking out would only play into her sister’s hoof. She felt bad about getting so mad at Cheerilee and her class. They didn’t deserve it and Luna was glad the trip went so well, despite somepony butting their nose in where it didn’t belong. It filled Luna’s heart with joy to learn one of the foals got their cutie mark on her moon. Something Luna previously thought impossible. She never dreamed mortal ponies would even make their way to the moon. Could her sister ever say the same about her sun? She thought not! Luna planned to hang this over her sister forever.

How would she fight against the monster’s plan though? Luna knew for a fact she could only at best guess half of it. Corona’s plots ran far and deep with subdue particulars that were hard to guess and understand. She would have to ruin it somehow. A wicked smile grew on her face for had the most delightful idea.

---

Luna gazed down at the barren earth below her. It was hard to believe something lived down here. The land consisted of nothing more than rocks and hills, she couldn’t even see a single blade of grass. The only thing of note was the jagged piece of rock that rose high into the air. It looked like dead earth otherwise.

She landed on the edge near some half-dead trees at the border and cleared her throat. “I know you are there. Come out!” Luna wore the guise of her sister. The illusion was perfect and even a skilled illusionist like Trixie wouldn’t be able to see through it.

A moment of silence hung in the air and Luna waited patiently. She was rewarded when some nearby rocks morphed into two black insect-like creatures. They approached her with spears raised and Luna resisted rolling her eyes. Like those things could hurt her. These guards had not expected a princess of all things and did their best to hide how much it worried them.

“What do you want pony?” One Changeling guard asked.

"I want you to give a message to your queen," Luna said in her best regal voice, sounding exactly like Corona. “I want to make a deal.”