Is that...?
Luna blinked away the weariness that gnawed away at her consciousness, watching her moon and stars slowly dip beneath the horizon, clearing the skies and making the way for yet another new day. The sound of birds in the distance could be heard in the winds.
She gave a tired and drawn out yawn, feeling just about ready to collapse of fatigue. It had been an especially rough night in the dreamscape. The “nightmares”- and she was being very generous with the word- have seemed to plague a sizable portion of the population last night.
How does one develop a fear in confetti, of all things? Or balloons? How?
And she was just beginning to understand the fear of clowns, too. Oh well.
Nevertheless, Luna took the time to calm each and every one of her subjects down, no matter how silly their fears were. She cared for them and all, but sometimes, she questioned her very sanity while performing her night duties.
Her mind began wandering, and soon drifted to a time before her banishment- back when the nation was still young and when war was still common. Believe it or not, there were actually less nightmares she had to attend to back then in the gruesome world. And by a sizable notion too, in fact.
Equestria had grown just a little bit soft- unable to deal with even the smallest inconvenience.
For Faust’s sake, things like confetti? Or balloons?! And other party items?...
Actually, maybe that had something to do with Pinkie, now that Luna stopped and thought about it.
“That might actually make sense.” Luna murmured to herself idly, noting the sun slowly emerging.
She sighed in bittersweet sadness, watching the first of the sunny rays pierce through the mountaintops and basking the land of Equestria in the morning light. She could recall a time when she was jealous of the unending affection their subjects towards Tia and her sun.
Dark times. No pun intended.
That had been enough to send her over the edge a thousand years ago.
Now?
She scoffed at the very thought. She could care less about the respect and affection. Especially when it came from the subjects of the nation nowadays, and these weird phobias they had…
But…
Her mind did a double backflip before tripping down a slippery slope of depression.
What was her life other than a ruler of Equestria?
What purpose were she to seek other than caring about her subjects?
If she didn’t care, did she have a purpose?
DID she have a purpose??
DID ANYTHING HAVE A PURPOSE?!
“WELL?!” She stopped and covered her mouth, suddenly aware she had said the last part aloud. A tad bit too loud, perhaps.
“Lulu?” A voice called from the doorway to the balcony, causing her face to flare up. “Are… You okay?”
“Tia! We- I am surprised to see you here…” Luna chuckled in embarrassment, turning to face her sister. “I… was just… setting the moon! Yes! Um… and I was just thinking….”
Celestia gave a blank stare, not believing a word of what Luna had said, but still trying to fathom whatever just happened.
“You don’t look too well, sister.” She said slowly and deliberately. “Are you sure you are ready to attend the meeting scheduled today afternoon?”
“The meeting? Hah! I’ll be fine… HMM!!!” She was suddenly aware of a delicious aroma floating from Celestia’s direction. “WHAT IS THIS SMELL?”
Celestia recoiled at the sudden outburst, and took a moment to make sure the comment was not directed towards her. “Um… Is it my shampoo?”
“NO.”
“My perfume?” Celestia was pretty certain she hadn’t used any today.
“NO.” Luna’s eyes twitched ever so slightly. “’TIS A GLORIOUS AROMA. WE HUNGER.”
“Flowers. Wine. Pancakes. Cake.” Celestia began to rattle off all the smells she could think of in the palace, growing all the more concerned about her sister and this unusual behavior.
Luna’s senses heightened, and directed her towards the unremarkable small brown cup Celestia held in her hoof.
“What. IS. THAT.” She pointed, jaws slack, entranced by the simple, but undoubtedly sacred object that was a brown cup.
“This…?” She looked to the cup, then back to the frenzied Luna in confusion. “This is coffee, sister. My pumpkin spice latte.”
Luna slowly reached out to take the cup, seemingly as if possessed.
“WHOA WHOA Whoa Wait a moment, dear sister…” Celestia laughed uncomfortable, keeping the cup safely outside her sister’s reach. “In the case that I did not make this abundantly clear, I said this was MY pumpkin spice latte. Not yours. Mine.”
“WE HUNGER. SURRENDER THE CUP, SISTER, OR FACE OUR WRATH.”
“AHAhaha… Yeah, no.” Celestia stuck out her tongue. “Go get your own coffee, sis.”
Celestia was gone in a sudden flash of light before Luna could tackle her down.
She looked down in tears of shock and denial at her pair of empty hooves.
Cup. Gone.
“TIAAAAA!!!”
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“Well! Er. That… that must have been quite an interesting morning, to say the least.” The barista smiled awkwardly, staring in suppressed horror as Princess Luna down yet another cup of dark coffee in a single gulp. The crowd that had gathered by the princess a few minutes earlier had quickly dissipated after the 7th cup. “Um. How about I see you tomorrow, princess?”
“Heh heh…” A small giggling emerged from the dark and vibrating figure. “Just another cup, please.”
The barista could feel a wave of cold sweat break out as she quickly glanced over to the small but quickly growing pile of empty paper cups by the princess.
“I… I don’t believe that is wise, your highness,” She chose her words carefully. “You see, too much-”
“SERVE YOUR MASTER, MINION.”
The barista filled another cup and threw it at the princess in record time.
“My thanks, Ms. Barista.” The princess smiled happily as she downed it in in a gulp, completely oblivious to the shaking mare that was now hiding under the counter. “Mhmm. Another cup, please.”