Moonie Shorts: The Beginning
“By all that is evil, kid you is intolerable,” Moonie snarks.
“That's the pot calling the kettle black,” you reply in your best sing-song imitation of kid you.
“What's that supposed to mean?” Moonie barks back.
“Get out! Both of you,” Bellows Trixie.
“But why would you kick us out just before we were gonna tell you how we met?” you ask tauntingly.
“Don’t try making excuses to…wait, you were going to tell The Great and Powerful Trixie how you met?”
“I thought we were gonna wait until she grovels at our hooves, her begging us to tell her the story before we actually told her,” Moonie chimes in.
“WHAT?!” howled Trixie.
“That was your plan, Moonie,” you assert your authority, “But we did make a promise after all. And I don’t plan on getting into the habit of breaking promises.”
You turn to Trixie, who already has a bucket of popcorn to listen to the story with. You don’t know where that popcorn came from, but you decide not to question it. It would probably just give you a headache trying to think about it anyway.
“To be honest, it wasn’t much different from what you saw,” you say.
“Of course it was different!” Moonie pipes up, “Our ages were reversed! And you became my caretaker and minion! And-”
“And you will let me tell the story, or you’re grounded.”
“That’s right! Tell her who’s boss!” Trixie cheered.
“I was referring to both of you,” you tilt your head and glare out of the corner of your eye, making Nightmare Moon’s terror look like a little filly. Trixie’s mouth clamps shut, as does Moonie’s, “Now as I was saying… It all started when-”
You wake up in the middle of the night, a dry taste in your mouth. You groggily sit up and look around the room that had been yours for the past few months. You let out a yawn as you get up to go get a glass of water.
You open the door to your room into the baren yet peaceful halls of the palace you currently reside in. There are still many things about this world that you are getting used to. But one thing he always enjoys is the peaceful quiet of the night…
…All that’s about to change.
As you make your way to the kitchen, you hear a tiny voice come from behind you. Tiny as it may be, there was a confidence behind it that was impressive.
“Bow before your queen, peasant!”
You turn around to see a little black alicorn filly. Her mane and tail flowed like Celestia and Luna’s. And though you’ve never seen her before, something was familiar about her.
“What’s up?” you say casually.
The filly growls as she flashes her pearly white, razor sharp teeth at him in what was supposed to be menacing, but you only find as adorable.
“What are you in such a bad mood for?” you ask curiously, completely unfazed by the fillies attempt at intimidation.
“Silence, mortal creature! Lest I swallow you whole!” The filly growls cutely.
“You know, I’m probably a bit big for you to be able to swallow me whole. Perhaps you should take me bite by bite,” you say with a cocky grin.
The filly’s expression seems to soften a little bit, “You’re not scared of me?”
“Nah. I’m not that easily scared,” you say as you sit down next to the filly, “Princess Celestia says that when I’m in a bad mood, I should talk about it. Would you like to talk?”
There is a silence in those wide marbled halls as the filly appraises you for a while. As she’s trying to come to a conclusion about you, you get back to your feet, “Come on, where is your room?”
The filly reluctantly tells you where her room is, and you take her there. After nudging the filly into the room, you quietly shut the door as to not disturb the filly. As you turn around however, she’s there right in front of you. You look behind you to see that the door is slightly ajar.
Rather than try to get her to stay in again, you just introduce yourself, “Hi, I’m Anon. It’s short for Anonymous. I’m called that because nobody knows where I’m from. So what’s your name?”
“I don’t care,” the grumpy filly grumbles.
“Hi, ‘I don’t care’. It’s nice to meet you,” you say with a knowing grin, “‘I don’t care’ seems like a strange name, don’t you think?”
“No, it’s Nightmare Moon!” the filly states.
“Ah, I see. So what are you doing up so late? Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
“I’m not tired,” Nightmare Moon states.
You grab the filly by the scruff of her neck, walking into her room, and setting her down on the bed, “Sleep.”
“I appears that is what the night must be for,” Nightmare Moon says in a bitter, icy cold tone. Though it doesn’t seem to be directed at you. You notice her eyes glaze over as she seems to become lost in thought.
“The night is also the best time when you need to think,” you say, trying to cheer the filly up.
“What?”
“Yeah. It’s quiet, so I can just be alone with my thoughts.”
“Every pony’s asleep, so I can do whatever I want without any pony noticing,” the black filly says as a small crack of a smile makes its way onto her face.
“Not everyone is asleep. There are still guards who keep watch at night, patrolling the palace to protect it from little trouble makers like you,” you say with a grin.
“They’ve never caught me before!” The filly grins. She then tries to hide her grin back into her grumpy face. But you can see right through it. The spark in her eyes betrays her grumpy facade.
It then occurs to you that you never really seen any of the guards yourself. You consider the possibility that they’re just that good at stealth. But then you remember something…
“I’m thirsty,” you say casually as you get up to go back to the kitchen to get yourself a glass of water.
“I’m thirsty too,” you hear the filly behind you say before she walk into view.
“Fine. You stay here, and I’ll get you something too,” you command. You then leave the room towards your destination.
As you walk into the kitchen, you walk up to the fridge and stop. You look down to your side to seek the filly Nightmare Moon smiling up to you.
“I thought I told you to stay put,” you say, though the fillies face was hard to stay mad at.
“You did,” she says matter of factly.
“And why didn’t you?”
“Because I’m thirsty now.”
You go to the cupboard to get two glasses. As you turn back, you see the filly sitting where she was, motionless. You open the fridge to get the water. You then fill the two glasses and return the water the the fridge. And look down, about to hand the filly her glass. But something seemed off. The filly was just sitting there, motionless, not even breathing. You nudge your foot towards the filly, your foot going right through. It was an illusion. You look around, and see a cupboard door slightly ajar. And in the quiet, you hear a slight giggle coming from the open door.
You walk over to the cupboard, “Funny,” You say as you reach in, handing the hidden filly her glass of water, “Drink, then bed.”
“Okay.”
“No more getting out of bed. No more trouble. No more following me. Just sleep.”
“I said okay.”
“And I don’t believe you.”
“And what about you? Aren’t you supposed to be in bed too?” The filly accused, “Or perhaps you enjoy roaming the halls at night too.”
This caught you off guard, but easily regain your composure, “You catch on quicker than Celestia.”
You watch as even though Nightmare Moon was trying to keep her composure, she couldn’t resist puffing out her chest in pride.
After the two of you finish your drinks, you follow the filly to her room and tuck her in. You begin to hear a light snoring as you exit her room. You then head back to your own room.
It's breakfast, the next day. Princess Celestia and Luna sit at the head of the table. You sit to one side, eating some cereal. On the other is Nightmare Moon who is grumpily glaring at anyone who looks her way. Then down the rest of the table is various noble stallions and mares, though there is a three seat gap between Nightmare Moon and the other guests.
You look over to Nightmare Moon, who glares at you. You return the cute attempt at a glare with a smile.
“I want him seated somewhere else,” The filly said.
You notice that Celestia and Luna react to this oddly, the two exchanging curious looks.
“Who?” Luna asks.
“Anon. That creature.”
“You… Know his name?”
“What is so strange about that?” you ask, wondering why this was odd to them.
“You have been here for months and this is the first time she has acknowledged your existence,” Luna answers.
“We met last night,” you mention.
“Really?” the sisters say in unison with almost identical smiles.
“She didn’t cause you any trouble, did she Anonymous?” Luna prods, her grin growing all the more.
“Nah. She’s kinda cute when she tries to be intimidating.”
“Oh,” Celestia gives a sideways smirk to the filly, “So, you didn’t find Nightmare Moon troublesome at all?”
“Well, yeah,” you answer honestly, “But she’s a child. What kid her age isn’t a bit troublesome to deal with?”
“Technically, Nightmare Moon is over 1000 years old,” Luna points out, catching your attention, “The Elements of Harmony reverted her into the form of a filly as it took most of her power away.”
“Is that so?” you respond casually, “Has she always acted that childish?” This earns you a cute glare from the filly in question.
The princesses seem to find your reply amusing.
“Then how would you describe her?” Celestia asks you in anticipation. Her grin seems to grow with every passing second.
“To be honest, silly, or… maybe cute.”
You watch as the filly’s eyes shrink to pin-pricks for a second before returning with a furious rage. Her horn sparks to life as dark storm clouds form overhead.
“What?” the filly snarls as lightning flashes and reflects off of her razor sharp teeth.
To others, this would be a sign to leave, knowing that even in her smaller form, Nightmare Moon could still cause havok when she was angry. Some of the ponies even duck under the table. Luna looks cautiously to her sister, who returns the look as they wonder if they pushed the filly too far. It was difficult to determine where Nightmare Moon’s short fuse ended after all.
You however see this as little more than a cute display as the filly comes over and presses her nose against yours and growls.
“Hello, Moonie,” You say with a grin, deliberately and obviously adding fuel to the fire.
“I am the night incarnate born beyond entropy. All of yours and every pony's nightmares made corporeal is my form. The power I wield is the moon's fury. Fear me!”
You muffle a snicker at how adorable the display was. You then let out a very poorly acted wail of fear, which seems to brighten Moonie’s face up. Though you’re not quite sure she knows that you are clearly pretending or not.
“The end hath come for you, Anon,” Moonie cackles loudly.
You let out a small giggle before getting to your feet and running off, Moonie following behind. The two of you run down the halls in a combination of shouts and laughter, certainly earning the attention of any pony in the vicinity and leaving the princesses to wonder what just happened.
“…And after that, the princesses made me Moonie’s official legal guardian. They saw how she had bonded with me, and thought I was the best option,” you explain, finishing the story.
You watch as tears form in the corners of Trixie’s eyes, “That was so adorable!” Trixie exclaimed, “I mean, in a strange way.”
“You’re telling the story wrong, Anon,” Moonie insisted, “I never bonded with you that night.”
“Whatever you say, Moonie,” you say tauntingly, “I guess that means I don’t have to tell you bedtime stories anymore. After all, it’s not like I have to tell you what happens from where we last left off, right?”
You watch as Moonie’s resolve begins to dissolve, “Well… uh… telling bedtime stories doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve bonded. I mean, the ponies who write books are telling stories to others, but the writers don’t have bonds with their readers. And you just told a story to Trixie, and you don’t have a bond with her.”
You watch as that comment makes something click in Trixie. Moonie’s words had hurt her feelings. But you continue your verbal emotional assault.
“It truly would be a shame if years from now there’d be nobody, or pony to be there to care if I had gone,” you watch as something clicks in Moonie’s mind, “But at least I know you won’t be heartbroken after I’m dead and g-AHH!”
“NO!!!” Moonie had suddenly wrapped her hooves around your neck in a strangle hole of a hug, “Don’t talk like that! Please! I don’t want to think about that!”
“Moonie… can’t… breath…”
Moonie gasps and releases her stranglehold on you. You also gasp as life-giving air once again fills your lungs. As Moonie releases her grasp on you, you catch her as she’s about to fall. You feel her trembling as she sobs into your chest. You feel guilty as you realize that you struck a sensitive nerve with her. But you also feel a swell of pride as you proved your point.
And you’re witnessing a side of Moonie that you weren’t sure even existed. A fragile little filly who’s terrified of the idea of losing someone she’s close to. And you can do nothing but hold her close to you to make sure she knows you’re still there.