> New Moon
>  by Majestic_Donut
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> "Welp... that wasn't supposed to happen..."
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Those darned little foals think they can defeat me? Ha! I'll show them, I'll show them all- what is that? Oh sn-

-BIG BLAST-



"W-what happened?" Twilight asked.

"I think... we just kicked butt!!!" Rainbow responded.

"Equestria is safe now," Fluttershy noted softly.

"Indeed it is," a voice said. A ball of celestial looking light appeared in the sunrise to reveal, who would’ve guessed it, Celestia!

"Princess Celestia?!" Everyone said in awe before bowing before her. Twilight skipped such formalities and just up and hugged her. 

"Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student," Celestia welcomed the hug.

"Um, what's that sound?" Rarity asked and everyone stopped.

"Something doesn't seem right..." Applejack noted.

"There's that sound again. It sounds like-" Fluttershy started.

"A foal..." Celestia finished as everyone looked to where the terrifying Nightmare Moon had formerly stood. In her place was a powder blue filly crying and making little cooing noises. 

"Is that?-" Twilight started to ask.

"My sister... I... wha..." Celestia looked on in confusion. Her baby sister looked back at her as best she could, craning up her neck to see this giant before her and then sneezed. "This... is not what I was expecting to happen when Nightmare was defeated..." Celestia began to silently panic (not that anypony else noticed). 

"Wait wait wait, your SISTER?!" Twilight shouted.

"Awww, it's a family reunion! Let's celebrate!!!" Pinkie shouted as she pulled out her party cannon.

"Hold up now sugarcube! Ah'm guessing the pony who tried to overthrow Princess Celestia and inflict eternal night WASN'T a newborn foal?" Applejack speculated the obvious (more so to make a point than anything).

"Indeed. She was very much a full grown alicorn... this, was not supposed to happen," Celestia explained.

"So what happened?" Twilight asked.

"Hm, perhaps your magic was a little too strong and the elements went a bit overboard on their heali- OW!" Celestia started trying to speculate before Luna decided Celestia's mane was the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen. Therefore, she must yank on it with every fiber of her strength (which was a surprisingly large amount for a newborn foal). 

Little Lulu giggled at her giant sister's reaction and pulled again. "AH OW! NO! Luna, please stop!" Celestia said firmly, prying her hair away from Luna's hooves. Little Lulu proceeded to cry. Loudly.

"Oh, it's okay, don't cry. Princess Celestia just doesn't want you to pull on her mane," Fluttershy cooed, her maternal instincts overriding her shy instincts as she picked Lulu up and cuddled her. 

While Fluttershy snuggled Luna and cooed at her, the others continued asking the important questions.

"How do we turn her back into an adult?"

"What are we gonna tell everypony?"

"When do you want the 'yay my sister has returned as an adorable filly' party to start? Oh I can start right now-" 

"Are you going to raise her if she can't be reverted back to normal age?" Twilight asked, interrupting Pinkie's rambling. 

"Let's just take everything one step at a time, starting with what to tell my little ponies. We'll state the truth, Nightmare Moon is no more, and in her place my sister has been returned as a harmless foal," Celestia explained. 

Perhaps harmless was the wrong term to use as Luna chose that exact moment to try out some magic and knocked down a pillar. Luckily, it was only decorative and not load bearing.

"Oh... I forgot how inquisitive she was as a filly..." Celestia sighed under her breath as she picked up Luna from Fluttershy and put a temporary magic inhibitor spell on her to prevent any... accidents. "Let us head back to the village now."



On their way back to Ponyville, Celestia remembered that Luna would also need a diaper and magicked one on her before they finished the trip back. Upon arriving in the village, everypony was relieved to see Princess Celestia and the others safe and sound. What they were not expecting, however, was for the Princess to be toting around a tiny blue alicorn filly.

Cue the diabeetus overload!

Luna's return was well received thanks to her new form's infinite cuteness and adorable noises. It didn't hurt that she also constantly explored her surroundings (much to Celestia's chagrin) and made not a few cute, photo op worthy messes. Nopony seemed to mind Luna getting into things too much, but after the welcoming ceremony was concluded, Celestia quickly whisked Luna away and took her home.

Finally behind closed (soundproof) doors, Celestia could go into full panic mode. 

"WHAT THE HAY IS HARMONY THINKING?! IS THIS SOME SICK JOKE?!?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TAKE CARE OF AN ALICORN FILLY?!?! I'M TERRIBLE WITH FOALS!!! LUNA WAS ALWAYS BETTER WITH FOALS THAN ME, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO RAISE HER?!?!?! I CLEARLY DID AWFUL THE FIRST TIME" Celestia screamed in fluent panicking. Having forgotten who was in the room with her, Celestia's very loud rant had scared the life (and poop) out of Luna and she began crying. 

"Oh my gosh Luna, please, not now! Ugh, how do I make you stop crying?" Celestia asked herself as she picked up Luna. More than one sniff might have killed Celestia, so it's a good thing she only sniffed once before quickly putting Luna downwind. "Oh Faust that's awful..." the now green princess gagged. Luna was still crying, mostly due to her dirty diaper. 

"Ugh, okay. Happy face, happy face, smile!" Celestia pep talked before opening her bedroom door and calling for some assistance. "Could somepony please change Luna's diaper? Thank you!"



-One diaper change later-

"Okay, clean diaper. You're fine now right?"

Luna was still a little fussy.

"What else, what else..." Celestia said as she held Luna in her forelegs. She at least remembered Luna liked cuddles as a small foal. 

Then Luna reached out for Celestia's teat.

"OH FAUST NO!"

Cue crying baby Luna.

"Okay okay! I'll get you some food! Patience foal! Ugh how I wish you were grown right now..." Celestia grumbled as she once again donned her mask and got Luna a bottle (with no small amount of help from one of the maids).

Celestia fed Luna her bottle and watched as Luna magically stopped being fussy and downed her bottle in record time. With a clean diaper, a full belly, and a warm sister to snuggle with, Luna promptly fell asleep in Celestia's embrace. Celestia may not have known much about how to care for foals, but she knew well enough not to wake Luna while she was sleeping right in her forelegs...

"Ooooh... I guess I'm stuck here for awhile... I'm not exactly in any position to move without waking her..." Celestia quietly realized to herself. But the longer she looked down on her adorable sleeping sister, the less she minded her predicament. As Celestia let out a yawn herself, she decided, "Perhaps this isn't so bad. I don't think I've seen Luna this little and peaceful since, well, ever. I could use a nap myself -yawn-... eh, why not." And with that, Celestia too fell asleep, the sun and moon at peace (for now).
> "How do you baby-proof an entire castle?"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Celestia awoke who knows how long later, she was quite refreshed and significantly less cranky. 

Hmm, I didn't realize how badly I needed that nap until now. I don't think I've slept that good since I was a foal! Speaking of foals, now that I'm in the calm, well rested presence of mind to enjoy an awoken Luna... wait. Where's Luna? 

It was at that moment that Celestia realized that in place of a cute, sleeping blue filly nuzzled against her there was just a cold blank space of nothing but air.

"Oh snap... LUNA!!!" Celestia screamed, full well forgetting her room is soundproofed and Luna would thus have never heard her anyways. Even if she had heard her sister screaming, there was no response or Luna coming back to her room. "Darn that magic inhibitor spell didn't last nearly long enough," Celestia panicked as she searched the palace with x-ray vision to see if she could locate her mischievous little sister. 

Since the dawn of her very existence, Luna has been a bit of a prankster or, at the very least, good at messing with ponies through disappearing acts and jump scares. Oh Faust I hope she doesn't decide to jump scare me right now, I'm still waking up a little... Celestia mentally groaned. 



Meanwhile, a certain little blue filly was spontaneously teleporting around the castle. She didn’t really know what she was doing, all she knew was that every time she did it, she was in a new place to explore with new ponies who seemed to really like her, and that made her happy. 

Luna didn't quite understand what they were saying, but this "Celestia" name seemed familiar. Perhaps it was that massive white pony creature that fed her and cuddled her in the night prior. If that was the case, she decided she was happy to hear the name. In response, she giggled and smiled a smile that would have killed with cuteness if such things were possible. Then she decided to do her little trick again and see where it would take her. 

Somewhere in the distance Luna heard a familiar voice, but disregarded it in leu of this strange pink pony in front of her. She wasn't as big as "Celestia," but she was still bigger than herself. Luna craned her neck up curiously to look at her before a very (happy?) high pitched squeal escaped the pink pony's lips followed up with Luna being swept up into her hooves and cuddled relentlessly. 

Perhaps the initial shock scared Luna and she fought a bit, but when the pony's voice calmed down a bit and the snuggling became more gentle, Luna didn't mind it as much and cuddled back. After all, no one can resist good cuddles. 

A few minutes later, this pony introduced herself as "Cadence" and asked Luna if she could repeat after her. Obviously, Luna could not and just stared at her blankly before mentally storing that information for later. Maybe she'd understand when she was older.

"Cadence" then began to play a game of peek-a-boo with little Lulu, which initially confused her. But then she grew to like this little game of pretending to disappear and Luna joined in, hiding under a pillow and then appearing out of it again. Just before Luna was gonna up her game and use her unpredictable little trick again to actually disappear, the big white pony entered the room and shouted what seemed to be her name. Luna at least responded to it, so it must be so.



"Luna! Oh thank goodness you're safe. Nothing's burned down yet and you aren't crying so I think all is well," Celestia said as she quickly replaced the magic inhibitor spell on Luna before she could disappear again. "I see you've met Cadence."

"Auntie Tia, when were you gonna tell me you have a foal?" Cadence asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I was going to tell you this morning, but then I couldn’t locate her. Though, it seems she's introduced herself to you already," Celestia smiled, glad to see them get along so well. I wonder how she would've reacted to Cadence as an adult? Perhaps they would still get along. They both love foals dearly. "Cadence, meet your aunt Princess Luna of the Night Skies," Celestia introduced with a tiny bit of fanfare.

"Aunt Luna?... I thought she'd be...  older?" Cadence confusedly stated. "What happened?"

"My best guess is that Harmony has a strange sense of humor. I suppose, yes, Luna is no longer full of the bitterness and hate that caused her to become Nightmare Moon, but this is a bit... much," Celestia explained to her niece.

"I see..."

"The palace staff and I are already planning to discuss how to get her back into her adult form."

"Aaaaaw, can't she stay a filly a little longer pleeeaaaase? She's so precious and squishy at this stage," Cadence pouted a bit as she held up a smiling little moon princess who stuck her tongue out a little simply because "why not?". 

Celestia couldn't deny that Luna was most likely the cutest little alicorn filly she'd ever seen. True, she may be a little biased since it was her sister, but her opinion still stood. "She can't stay a filly forever. We don't even know if she'll age in mortal years, alicorn years, or some strange mix of both! Hay, we don't know if she'll age at all! She may very well be a filly forever if we don't do something. So no, she needs to be returned to normal."

"How long could that take?" Cadence asked, hopeful that it would be long enough to enjoy time with her baby auntie.

"I don't know, days, weeks, months, years? We'll find a way..." Celestia guessed. "If you don't mind though, could you watch Luna for the day? I still have duties for the day (ugh) that I can't exactly reschedule. I'll make time to spend taking care of Luna myself sometime tomorrow."

Cadence withheld her excitement with all the grace and subtlety of a coffee mug crashing explosively on what is clearly not the kitchen counter in a formerly sleeping household at 4am. 

"YESYESYESYESYESYESYES OF COURSE!!!!"

"heheh, glad to hear it..." Celestia said as she rubbed the glee out of her ears. Before she left, she said one more thing.

"Oh also, I suppose we'll need to baby-proof the castle for both Luna's sake and the sake of those who do not want their wing of the palace to spontaneously combust. Okay bye!" 

"Wait what? How do you even baby-proof an entire castle?! Spontaneously combust?!?! How long does that magic blocking spell last again?! Tia!!!"
> "Never mind that, HOW DO I BABY-PROOF MY ROOM?!"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To the relief of all involved, Luna did not accidentally combust Cadence's room into a giant pile of ash and the magic inhibitor spell held until it was Celestia's turn to watch Luna.

"I can't thank you enough for watching Luna for me," Celestia said as she picked up Luna from Cadence's wing of the castle.

Cadence was just finishing up putting away some toys as she responded, "Oh, it was no trouble at all! Luna is an absolute angel. We had a lot of fun today!"

With the last of the toys put away and a sleepy Luna in tow, Celestia thanked Cadence again and bid her goodnight. On the way back to her room, Celestia noticed that Luna had fallen sound asleep on her back. Oh, you had a big day today didn't you? Hopefully you'll be as good for me tomorrow as you were for Cadence.



-Later that night-

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! Waaaaaaaaah!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!"

"Uuuuugh, Luna please GO TO SLEEP!!!" Celestia grumbled as Luna just kept crying. "What's wrong?! Ugh, we've gotta teach you how to talk ASAP..." Celestia mused as she tried to figure out what Luna wanted. Bottle? -swats it away- No... Cuddles? -still fussy- No... -sigh- I really hope it isn't what I think it is... -sniff- UGH! Those hopes were ill placed, yup. 

"Waaaaaaaah!!! Waaaaaah!!!!"

"Yes yes, I know Luna, I hear you. Let's just get this over with..." Celestia said as she donned a hazmat suit fitted with a respirator. As Celestia pulled out some diapers and wipes the castle staff had brought earlier that morning, Luna just sat on the changing table, still crying. Once Celestia began changing Luna's diaper, she calmed down quite a bit and even seemed amused by Celestia's silly outfit and started kicking her legs around.

"Luna, hold still! Getting this diaper on you is hard enough as it is!" Celestia pleaded as she accidentally put the diaper on Luna backwards. "... whatever, that shouldn't be a problem." Celestia laid Luna back down to sleep in the crib the castle staff had provided (I swear, these are the most efficient ponies I've had in this castle ever!) and watched Luna finally fall back asleep. "-sigh- Thank goodness that's over with."



-Two hours later-

"Waaaaaaaah!!! Waaaaaaah!!!!"

"You have got to be kidding me..."

This cycle repeated about every two hours or so, alternating between bottle and diaper (or both).



"Waaah, waaah, waaaah!!"

"LUNA I SWEAR IF YOU POOP THAT DIAPER ONE MORE TIME I- oh, it's clean..." Celestia started before stopping at a stink free sniff test. 

"Waaah!" Luna fussed.

"Are you hungry?"

Luna seems uninterested in the bottle.

"Your diaper is clean, you're fed, ummm..."

Luna isn't exactly crying now, but she is looking up at Celestia with those big baby doll eyes. She then reaches out for Celestia.

"Do you... need me to hold you?" Celestia asked as she picked her up and held her in her forelegs. Luna snuggled herself right against Celestia's soft chest. "Huh, well okay."

Celestia held Luna and walked around (as best as she could with only three available legs) until Luna started to fall back asleep. But, as soon as she tried to place Luna back in her crib, she started fussing again reaching for Celestia to hold her again. She toted Luna around and repeated this cycle about four more times before realizing it was hopeless, Luna was not going back to sleep in that crib. 

"-sigh- Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" Celestia asked. She wasn't expecting any sort of answer, but Luna seemed happy at the proposition. So, she brought Luna with her back to her bed and they snuggled together until Luna finally fell asleep (and stayed asleep). Celestia's internal clock told her there were only three or four hours left in the night, but it was a good thing she'd cleared her schedule for the next day. Perhaps I can sleep in tomorrow to make up for tonight...



The next morning, Celestia groggily got up to raise the sun. She was just about to go back to sleep when she got the nagging feeling she was forgetting something...

Was there somewhere I was supposed to be today? No no, I cleared my schedule for the day... Oh no... Celestia had woken up just enough now and could see with the light of the sun the MASSIVE mess in her room. But most notable was the prominent lack of a little blue alicorn filly. 

"Oh BUCK!!! Forget baby-proofing the castle, I NEED TO BABY-PROOF MY ROOM!!! LUNA WHERE ARE YOU?!" Celestia shouted. As soon as I find that little stinker, I'm having a magic inhibitor ring made in HER SIZE!!! We've never needed one that small before... I mean, what are the chances a magical threat faces Equestria who is the size of a filly?

Celestia searched Cadence's room first to see if Luna somehow decided to go there. 

"CADENCE!!! IS LUNA WITH YOU?!"

"GAAAH!!" Cadence yelped as she unceremoniously fell out of the bed. "Uuuugh, good morning to you too auntie Tia. Why are you shouting at me at..." -looks at her clock- "THE LITERAL CRACK OF DAWN?!?!?"

"I guess that answers my question..." Celestia noted as she saw precisely zero mischievous blue alicorn fillies playing in Cadence's room. 

"She's not with you?"

"Clearly..." 

"... So where is she?"

"DO I LOOK LIKE I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING?!?! I DON'T KNOW!!!" Celestia screamed. Just then, an audible explosion could be heard in the distance. "This room... is not soundproof, is it?..."

"No..."

"Darn it... I'll have some explaining to do later. For right now though, I think I know where Luna is..."



In the ballroom, Luna was having fun playing with her magic and creating all sorts of strange plants and creatures, some that had gone extinct long ago, and some still around today. Luna also made a small star in the room that then exploded into a plethora of fine glitter (I mean, usually these things are put in the sky, but not today).

"Luna?! What happened in here?!" Celestia asked, as if Luna could actually answer that question. Just then, a chicken flew past her and into the palace to who knows where. "Gah!!! That was you?!" Celestia screamed as she tried to cope with the fact that Luna was the creator of the most vile, most horrible, most terrifying birds to ever grace the planet Equus. We'll deal with that later...

"Okay come on Luna," Celestia said, once again swooping her up and inhibiting her magic. "We're getting you fitted for an inhibitor ring."






Breaking News

Long forgotten extinct creatures have been spotted near Canterlot Palace! It's uncertain where they came from or how long they'd been hiding, but when asked about the new sightings, Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia said, "No comment." 

In other news, inhibitor rings now come in foal's sizes! Perfect for that one overactive magical unicorn foal that needs a little help controlling their magical disaster causing surges. *Not available for public purchase, rules and regulations apply



> “What did you say?”
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Strange how few accidents happen when magic isn't involved. For about two weeks Celestia and Cadence alternated taking care of Luna for the day. The castle had gone three days disaster free (I mean, I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but where little Lulu is concerned, this is a record high), and Luna was sleeping through the nights almost completely. With planning for the Grand Galloping Gala going well and Luna being marginally more well behaved, Celestia felt like she could actually breathe for once.

-BOOM- 

-Sigh- Make that now zero days disaster free...

"LUNA?!!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!?" Celestia screamed as she rushed to where Cadence had been watching her.

"I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY SHE WANTED TO HELP MAKE COOKIES SO I TOOK OFF THE RING SO SHE COULD HELP AND THEN-"

"CADENCE!!!! What?!" Celestia interrupted.

"-deep breath- Luna was trying to help me make cookies, so I figured she'd have an easier time helping with magic instead of her hooves and well..." Cadence gestured to the massive explosion of cookie batter and chocolate chips covering every available surface, including a certain little filly who was eating what little batter remained in the bowl and the batter on herself. 

"I see..." Celestia acknowledged, craning her neck in every direction. How did the batter end up THERE?! "This is why the inhibitor ring stays on Luna's horn at all times. She is far too young to be using so much of it now. Until she's old enough to comprehend her actions, we won't be removing that ring. Understood?" Celestia lectured.

"I-I understand but..."

"But?"

"What did you do when you two were fillies then? We clearly did not have that technology in... your time..."

"Did you just call me old?"

"N-no I didn't mean-"

"Relax Cady, you're fine! As for when Luna and I were fillies, there was very little to lose. Most notably, there were next to no ponies or life of any kind when we were young. Today, however... there are at least 50 ponies in a hundred foot radius of us and at least 8 guards just outside these doors in the hallway. Alicorn filly magic definitely CAN NOT run rampant and unrestrained now like it did then..." Celestia explained. Not to mention there were um... a few casualties even to the few that populated Equus...

"Oh... yeah that makes sense. Never again!" Cadence agreed as she popped that ring back on Luna's horn. However, it didn't quite go all the way down. "Um... did her horn get bigger?"

Celestia looked and noticed the same thing. "Hmm, must be a growth spurt. We'll get her fitted for a bigger ring. For now, this should still work."



One sleep and a new inhibitor ring later, Celestia decided to bring Luna with her to the Day Court. 

Amongst the many nobles and common ponies who came to visit, not a one had any problems with Luna's presence. They even seemed to adore such a cute filly being there to lighten up the typically stale, negative mood in the Day Court. Word actually spread quickly that Luna was in the day court with Celestia and ponies came just to get a chance to see the baby alicorn or get pictures of her. Everypony absolutely loved her.

They... they love her... Celestia realized to herself. If Luna doesn't yet understand what a wonderful thing that is, I hope she does someday. I didn't love her as she needed me to a thousand years ago, but I don't think there's any doubt in her mind now that her subjects love her. I can only hope this love remains when she isn't a cute little filly anymore... 

At that last thought, it truly hit Celestia that Luna wouldn't be a little filly forever. Though they had encountered countless dead ends in finding out how to get Luna back to normal, Celestia found herself not caring, having just gotten used to raising her filly sister. 

Is it strange of me... to hope my ponies never find a way to age Luna back up again? I've never dealt with this side of Luna... with this experience behind me. We were both just foals. I could barely take care of myself, much less Luna. Neither of us had much in the way of a normal foal-hood... Perhaps this is a second chance for both of us. A second chance at the foal-hood Luna deserves and a second chance for me to be the sister she deserves. 

"What do you think Luna, do you like being a filly?" Celestia asked to a curious Luna.

"-incoherent babbling-"

"I'll take that as a yes. Is Tia a good mommy?" Celestia asked, not expecting any answer.

"Bah ble phff mmm Tia!"

Celestia suddenly stopped just looking at Luna and lifted her up with her hooves. "Wait, what did you say?" 

"-blows a raspberry-"

"Can you say 'Tia' again?"

"Tia."

"Oh my gosh... you said my name. YOU SAID MY NAME!!!!! YOUR FIRST WORD AND IT'S MY NAME!!! CADYYYYYYY!!!!!!!" Celestia screamed with glee while a very confused and disgruntled Luna was hoisted away to be carried to Cadence's wing of the castle. W-what did I do??? (Luna thought, probably).
> "Foals don't do that..."
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"CADYYYYYYYYY!!!!" a voice could be heard in the distance. Please tell me this isn't an emergency... Cadence thought to herself.

"CADY!!! LUNA SAID HER FIRST WORD!!!!" Celestia shouted right in Cadence's face.

"T-That's nice..." Cadence said absentmindedly, rubbing the pain out of her ears. "Wait, what was that again?"

"Sorry," Celestia said, lowering the volume, "Luna said her first word! Luna, can you say it again? Say 'Tia'."

"Tia," Luna said, staring with blank confusion (and possibly a small cry for help) at Cadence.

"See! Isn't this great! I've never been more proud!" Celestia beamed, finally setting Luna down while she immediately went to go play with Cadence's pink teddy bear.

"Oh my gosh really?! That's so amazing and exciting and- wait... how old is Luna again?" Cadence asked.

"What do you mean?" Celestia said, her mood shifting.

"How old is she?"

"Um... (yesterday was Tuesday and if something happens twice every week and we've had -unintelligible murmuring- and carry the two...) About two weeks old," Celestia resolved.

"... Foals don't do that," Cadence stated blankly.

"What?"

"No foal in existence, even mortal ones, start talking at two weeks old. Maybe a word here and there at six months old, but never at two weeks old... and she did have that growth spurt..." Cadence explained thoughtfully.

"So what, she's just aging super quickly or-" Cadence nods affirmatively. "Wait... really?"

"Tia, we need to check this out."



Celestia just sat there, not a little bored while she waited to hear back from the pediatrician about the results of Luna's physical. He finally came back with the results and what he said completely rocked Celestia's world.

"SHE'S SIX MONTHS OLD?!"

"Eh hem... correction, six or seven months old, according to her biology compared to other fillies at her development level," The pediatrician said, ignoring the ringing in his ears.

"But, how is that possible? It's only been about two weeks!" Celestia exclaimed. "Answers. Now."

"We both know alicorns age very very slowly, correct? And ponies age more quickly, comparatively speaking. If my calculations are correct, and they usually are, Luna is currently on course to have aged one pony year in a total time of a month. By the end of the year, I project she'll biologically be about six years old."

"You mean to tell me my sister is aging ONE YEAR EVERY MONTH?!?!" Celestia panicked.

"Yes."

"Do we know if she'll stop?"

"No," The pediatrician stated bluntly.



Back in Cadence's room, Celestia and Cadence sat in beanbag chairs, watching baby Luna sleep on Cady's bed while they spoke in hushed voices.

"So, is Luna officially mortal now?" Cadence asked.

"I don't know. I don't sense any change in her magical signature that indicates that her immortality is gone. As I've told you before, we do age for at least some time. First, one pony year ever 100 years, and then our aging slows down much more dramatically at around our 20's until circumstances kill us, whether an assassin or very harsh illness," Celestia explained solemnly.

"I remember..." Cadence shuddered. "How old was Luna supposed to be when she returned?"

Celestia looked upon Luna, gently stroking her mane while she slept. "About 23, maybe 24. Somewhere in her 20's, though I'm not certain. We honestly stopped keeping track of our age after about a thousand years..." Celestia sighed.

"So... maybe she'll age like a normal alicorn once she has aged back to her real age? Who's to say the magic that regressed her into a foal isn't simply undoing itself?" Cadence speculated.

"I hope that's the case. I can't imaging ever living without Luna in my life again! I cost us one thousand years together..." Celestia sighed, still stroking Luna's mane as she recalled their foal-hood together. It was just the two of us... We only had each other. I should have been there for you more. I'll be there for you now. Celestia promised to herself. "I'll never make that mistake again."



As predicted, when Luna was "one month old" she was biologically a year old. She certainly had a lot more to say, but not yet enough for complete sentences.

"Tiiiiiaaaaaaa!!!!! I pooooped!!!!!" Luna yelled at her sister down the hall.

"Oh, that's nice... I'll come change your diaper in a second!" Celestia promised. I suppose one benefit of Luna aging so quickly is that I'll be able to potty train her in about another month.

"TIIIIAAAAAAA!!!!!"

"I'm coming!!!" Celestia called back, quickly running to Luna's nursery to change her diaper. Lets see if I can make that less than a month. I sure love speed-running parenting heheheh...
> "Nopony ever tells me anything..."
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello! I woke up today and my tummy felt funny. It did that little wiggly thing it does when I want food. I think Tia said the term is called "hungry." Strange word to say out loud. It usually comes out of my mouth as "hungie" without the "r." I try to say it right but my mouth doesn't want to do that. So,

"TIIIIIAAAAAAAA, I HUNGIEEEEEE!!!!!!!" 

Tia always comes really fast when I talk really loud. Oh look! It's Tia!!! She's my sister you know. When I asked her what that is, she said it means we have the same mommy and daddy. When I asked where our mommy and daddy were, she looked sad and didn't answer. So I asked again. Maybe she didn't hear me? She said she'd tell me when I was older... okay? I ate some "toe-may-toes" for the first time today and I do not like them! They taste icky! But Tia insisted that I eat them because "they're good for me." Blech. I want to play now.

"TIA!!! PLAAAAY!!!!!"

"Not today Luna, Tia is busy with ruling the kingdom. Equestria. Can you say that?"

Luna attempted to mimic the word, scrunching her face into a weird duck face as she tried to pronounce the "ques" in "Equestria." It ended comically.

"Ee-qwuess-wee-uh... like that Tia?"

"Not quite, but close enough. You'll be spending the day with Cady and Shiny! Won't that be fun?" Celestia asked.

"But... I wanna be wiff you though..." Luna whimpered. 

"I know you do Luna, but you'll be with me tomorrow. Today, I need you to be good for Cady and Shiny. Shiny has offered to help play with you, so that will be a new face. Won't that be exciting?" Celestia explained.

"Hmm, a new pony to pway wiff does sound fun..." Luna considered. Whine to play with Tia, or play with Cady and a new friend?... "Okay!" Luna decided and agreed to stay with Cady and Shiny.

This could be fun. I wonder what this new pony will be like. I hope he's fun!



"Okay Luna. Now remember, be good for Cady and Shiny!" Celestia reminded. "No being fussy or whiney. Say what you need calmly, don't just cry or scream your demands."

"I know Tia! I'll be good!" Luna said in her squeaky little voice. Once Tia had finally left, along with leaving instructions in the events of an emergency (like if Luna's horn ring falls off because she outgrew it again and does stuff), Luna turned to face Cady and observe the new pony next to her. He just a little shorter than Cady, but maybe that was because he wasn't an alicorn like Tia, Cady, and I. Can he have fun?

"Shiny catch meeee!!!!" Luna cried as she proceeded to leap onto the bed nearby and leap on his back in a feat of parkour that would make the best so proud.

"ACK!!! Hello Luna," Shiny said as he picked her up in his magic and brought her around so that she was facing him instead of on his back. "So, you're the little filly my little sister saved from Nightmare Moon," Shiny said before noticing Cady motioning for him to stop talking. "Um, I mean..."

"Who's Nightmare Moon?" Luna asked.

"That's a question to be answered at a later time! For now, all you need know now is that Twily and Shiny are siblings! That means they have the same mommy and daddy," Cadence interjected before Shiny could answer that question.

"Like Tia and me? Do you know where your mommy and daddy are?" Luna asked Shiny.

"Well of course! Why wouldn't I- oh..." Shiny started before realizing Luna's perspective. 

"..."

"..."

"Who wants to color?!" Cady said to break the awkward silence that had formed. 

"MEEEEEE!!!!" Luna said, quickly distracted from her internal questioning of why she didn't have parents. 

Cadence proceeded to pull out the paper and crayons while Shiny and her shared funny looks and silent gestures in a conversation Luna couldn't understand. Why are they acting so funny? Now they won't look at me. Is it something I said? What's going on? Ooh, crayons! I think I'll draw... me and Tia! Luna processed within herself before succumbing to her foalish desire to color with crayons. 

Hmm, how do you draw a white pony on white paper? I guess I could outline her in grey and not color in the inside. I'm blue! My favorite color. Tia has a lot of colors in her mane, I'll need pink, blue, and green... Luna planned within her mind as she grabbed the colors she needed from the crayon box. Tia is really big and high, so I think she should fill most of the page. Should I make the sky and the sun? Maybe some grass too! Need more colors.

While Luna was drawing, Cady and Shiny had a nearly inaudible conversation.

"You can't say things like that to her! Not yet," Cady said.

"You mean neither of you have told her yet?" Shiny asked.

"No, not until we think she's ready to hear it. Luna doesn't need to know something so dark about herself so young! It could scar her for life to find out so young that she tried to murder her sister and overthrow the kingdom!"

"So when will she be ready to hear it?"

"I don't know, maybe never?"

"That... doesn't sound like a good idea."

"Well-"

"Cadyyyyy, Shinyyyyyyyy, will you color wiff meeee?" Luna asked.

"Of course Luna, one second!" Cady said. "At least for now, we're not telling her anything. She is a foal after all."

"Okay, I'll watch what I say until you or Celestia let me know she knows," Shiny promised.

Cadence and Shining Armor went and took whatever remaining crayons were left in the box (Luna had decided to use nearly all of them in her drawing) and began their own doodles. Cadence drew a bunch of hearts all over her page while Shining tried to draw his mare-friend (emphasis on "tried"), which was hard to do while Luna was using the pink for Celestia's mane. He decided to draw Twilight too just cause. 

"Hey, I think I know that pony!" Luna said, noticing the purple unicorn in his picture.

"Yes, you met her briefly when you were a tiny foal," Shiny explained.

"But I still am a tiny foal..." Luna retorted.

"I know, I mean an even tinier foal," Shiny explained, giving Luna a gentle head rub.

"Oh. Look what I'm dwawing!" Luna exclaimed as she showed him her drawing.

A vaguely pony-shaped blob with pink, blue, and green spaghetti on it's head and a tiny blue barely pony shaped scribble in a field of blue and green snakes... "What is it?" Shiny asked.

"It's Tia and me of course!" Luna exclaimed, offended that he didn't see it.

"Oh, it's so cute! I love it. Looks just like you two," Cady d'awed.

"No it do-" Cadence shot him that look again, "I mean, it looks great!"

"Thank you!" Luna said as she continued adding more colorful scribbles to her drawing. She began drawing Celestia's cutie mark when she realized for the first time that she didn't have one. "What's this picture on Tia's butt? You have one too, and you! Why don't I have one?"

"That thing is called a cutie mark. It represents the pony's special talent. Tia's special talent is raising and lowering the sun in the sky, mine is spreading love, and Shiny's is magnifying spells, like shield spells or telekinesis," Cady explained.

"Well, what's my special talent?" Luna asked.

"Well... we don't know yet," Cady lied. Cady, Shiny, and Celestia all knew Luna would someday wield control over the moon, but Luna still needed to discover that gift naturally. "You'll find out someday."

"... Doesn't Tia also waise and lower the moon? Why isn't her cutie mark a sun AND moon?" Luna asked. 

"Um, that's a question to be answered another day heheheh," Cady replied nervously, knowing hiding Luna's past would only get harder with time. Sweet mother of Celestia please tell her sooner rather than later! She's too inquisitive for her own good...

"Hmph, nopony ever tells me anything!" Luna complained. Noticing the growing frustration in Luna, Shiny decided it was his turn to initiate a distraction technique.

"Ponyback ride?"

"Yaaaay!!!" Luna agreed ecstatically as she was lifted onto his back and he ran in circles around the room before tossing her in the air dramatically and onto the bed for a safe landing. "Weeeee!!!! Again!!!" Luna cried.

So he repeated this a few times, running around in circles and then tossing her onto the bed until he got tired. Obviously, Luna was not tired at all and wanted more ponyback rides.

"Are we done now?" Luna asked sadly.

"Yes, we're done..." An out of breath Shiny replied.

"Aaaaaaaaw..." Luna pouted. 

"I believe it's lunch time anyways, do you want some hay and cheese crackers Luna?" Cady asked. 

Luna thought it over before coming in with a counter offer. "Can I have a cookie?"

"Not now, no. You need to eat your lunch first," Cady calmly explained.

"Pwetty pweeeaaaase?"

"No, Luna."

"Pweeeeeeeaaaase?!"

"Luna-"

"I JUST WANT COOKIES!!!"

"LUNA!!! Remember what you promised Tia?" Cadence said firmly.

Luna proceeded to cry.

"Here Luna, just eat your hay and cheese crackers. You'll feel better," Cadence sighed. Luna begrudgingly accepted her tiny cracker sandwiches and ate in silent denial that she was just told "no" to cookies before lunch. 

After a few minutes of munching and filling her empty stomach, Luna did calm down a little bit.

"Was that so bad?" Cady asked.

"N-no... Can I have a cookie now?" Luna asked quietly.

"Will you be sweet and patient and not scream again for what you want?" 

"-sniff- I'll be good, I promise..."

"Good," Cady said as she got Luna a cookie. "One cookie, okay?"

"Okay!" Luna said as she took her cookie and ate it happily. Once she had finished her cookie she asked, "Can I have another one?"

"Luuuunaaaaaa..." Cady groaned.

"So, that's a no..."

"Correct. Back to drawing?" Cady asked to try and divert Luna's attention away from the cookie jar. 

"Okay!" Luna replied, happy to take the bait and be lead back to the colors and paper. Meanwhile, Shiny was just in awe of how well Cadence was handling Luna and her outbursts. Dang, I would've caved... he thought to himself.



Lots of colors and scribble filled pages later, Luna was sleepy, though she refused to admit it.

"I'M NOT TIIIREEED!!!!" Luna cried. "I DON'T WANNA TAKE A NAAAAAP!!!" 

"Luna, you are definitely tired! You're grouchy and you can barely keep your eyes open. You need to sleep for a little bit," Cadence explained.

"NO I'M NOT!!!" Luna protested, physically holding her eyelids open to avoid proving Cadence right. 

"Luna, you'll feel a lot better if you just take a little nap," Cadence insisted.

"BUT I DON'T WAN TOOOOOO!!!!" 

"Luna, lower the volume! I can't understand you when you scream like that," Cadence commanded firmly. 

"I'm not tired... I wanna keep playing..." Luna said more quietly, hiding a yawn behind her hoof. Luna struggled to even stay standing and not fall asleep on the floor.

"Come on Luna, just lay your head down and close your eyes. We'll see if you don't fall asleep soon," Cadence said.

"Hmph, I accept your challenge," Luna said resolutely. However, the moment her head hit the pillow she was out like a light. 

"Phew, I'm glad that's over with!" Cadence sighed in relief. "I was worried I might have to call in... you know who (Cadence wasn't sure if Luna could still hear her) to get her to go to sleep."

"I think you did a fantastic job," Shiny exclaimed.

"You really think so? I didn't like that I had to raise my voice with her a few times. Was that okay?"

"Of course it was! It was what she needed to listen to you. You showed her you were the leader, not her, and that she needs to respect and obey you. Between you and me, I think you'd be a wonderful mother," Shining praised. 

Cadence turned to hide her blushing face as she responded, "You really think so?" 

"I know so. You were always so great with Twily and foals love you! I'm not dating you just because you're pretty you know," Shiny explained.

"Hmm, what other reasons did you have in mind?" Cadence asked.

"You're smart, beautiful, kind, amazing with foals, the best mare to have ever graced my life with your presence-"

"Oh please, you're being too kind," Cadence said, blushing and smiling even harder at the deluge of praises. 

"Humble," Shiny finished. 



About a half hour later, Luna woke up to the sight of Cady and Shiny kissing each other for a long time.

"Eeeeeeww!" Luna gagged.

"Whoops, look who's awake heheheh," Shiny said nervously as he and Cady broke their kiss. 

"How did you sleep, Luna? Feeling better now?" Cady asked.

"A lot better! But one question: who is Nightmare Moon? I think I saw her in my dreams..." Luna asked.

Cue massive but hidden panic from Cadence.

"U-uh n-nopony important! That is a question for Tia to answer okay?! Yes."

"But-"

"No buts! Thank you. Tia will be picking you up soon for dinner so we need to clean up now, okay?" Cadence asked pleadingly. 

"O-okay..." Luna said, confused as to why everypony seemed so stressed out over the mention of this "Nightmare Moon" pony. She helped clean up the crayons and put away the drawings in a small box to keep for later. Celestia came to pick Luna up and asked the obvious question.

"Did she cause you any trouble? I thought I heard some angry screaming a few times throughout the day."

"Nothing we couldn't handle, right Shiny?" Cadence nudged.

"Of course, Cady," Shining corroborated.

But then Cadence leaned in to whisper quietly in Celestia's ear, "Meet me in my study tonight after Luna is in bed! We need to talk. It's about... her.”

Celestia nodded subtly, hiding her concern from Luna and then took Luna for the rest of the day. After dinner, playing with blocks, and a bedtime story, Luna was finally laid down to sleep for the night and Celestia went to meet Cadence in her study. 



Several hallways and a couple turns later, Celestia arrived at her destination and knocked three times on Cadence's door. The door cracked open and Celestia let herself in. Upon entering, Cadence was standing in the middle of the room, waiting for Celestia.

"What's going on? What happened?" Celestia asked.

"I think Luna knows," Cadence said enigmatically.

"Knows what?" Celestia asked a little impatiently.

"About Nightmare Moon. She said she dreamed about her during nap time," Cadence explained.

Celestia took a step back. "Wait, what?! How is that possible? I thought her memories got regressed with her age."

"It seems like they did. But it looks like her memories are also returning with her age," Cadence speculated solemnly. "So, does this change when you tell her?"

Celestia sighed responding, "I was going to tell her before Nightmare Night, I just wasn't sure how soon before Nightmare Night... I may need to tell her tomorrow..."

"She's barely even two yet, do you think she can handle this information?" Cadence asked with concern.

"It may not matter if she's ready or not. We don't have to tell her everything in detail, perhaps just the most pertinent information, before she gets her two cents in..." Celestia resolved. 

"Weren't the Elements supposed to purge her of her?" Cadence asked.

"I honestly don't know how the Elements are supposed to work anymore. First they regressed Luna to a foal, then they didn't remove Nightmare from her completely! I'm at a loss Cady, I really am!" Celestia groaned. 

"Well, at the moment, it doesn't seem like Luna is getting any ideas from her past, so I think we're safe... for now. But I agree, you need to tell her sooner rather than later about Nightmare Moon for the sakes of everypony in Equestria," Cadence comforted Celestia, giving her a hug. 



This dream is funny... where am I? 

I think we're on the moon... 

Who are you?

I think my name is Nightmare Moon...

My name is Luna. 

I feel... sad. I just wan fwiends...

I can be your fwiend!

Weally?

Yeah!

Yaaaay!!! A new fwiend!! I love new fwiends...

Me too!

Unbeknownst to anypony else, Luna continued to dream of her new little friend. What she doesn't know... well, nopony knows what will happen next.
> "Can I have a little sister too?"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

That next morning, it was Celestia who woke Luna and not the other way around. Luna jolted a little bit from having been woken from such a nice dream so suddenly. 

"... Tia? What time is it?..." Luna groggily yawned. 

Celestia smiled at her baby sister. She's so big now... Is she really ready for this? Maybe I should wait a few weeks-

"Why are you stawing at me like that?" Luna asked, her head titled to the side in confusion.

I need to do this. "We need to talk, about Nightmare Moon." 

"Weally? I was just pwaying with her before you woke me up!" Luna perked up at the mention of Moony's name.

"R-really?" Celestia said with no small amount of concern. "Tell me more. What exactly were you two doing?"

"Well first, we twied to play hide and seek, but there wasn't weally anywhere to hide on the moon. Did you know it's not made of cheese? Just a bunch of gway wocks. Anyways, I decided to show her a hoof-shake Cady taught me and then we pwayed tag. I was it and was about to tag her when you woke me up... Huh, I wonder if she's still waiting for me..." Luna rambled while a shocked Celestia tried to process what she heard.

"Is... Nightmare Moon a... filly, by any chance?" Celestia asked.

"Yeah! We're fwiends," Luna said happily. "Can I go back to sleep now so we can finish our game?"

"U-uh um, of course... sweet dreams Lulu," Celestia allowed hesitantly. Once Celestia left the room, she knew she had some serious thinking to do.



"So, Nightmare is a filly too? Age and memories regressed like Luna?" Cadence asked.

"Yes. It doesn't seem like she's an immediate threat to Luna... yet," Celestia confirmed.

"But, what happens when she remembers who she is and what her plans were?"

"Perhaps... maybe... Luna could reform her before she grows up?"

"... reform her? That... could work. Love and friendship are powerful magics," Cadence mused.

"Agreed. I believe as long as we keep Luna happy and loved, even if or when she remembers everything her past motives shouldn't have any ground anymore. Who knows, Nightmare might even become a valuable asset... if we can figure out how she even works," Celestia resolved. 

Meanwhile, back in Luna's dreams, the game continued where it left off.

I'm back! TAG YOU'RE IT!!! -Luna runs off-

HEY WAIT WHAT?! NO FAIR!!! COME BACK HERE!!!! I'M GONNA GET YOU!!!

-The two chased each other around for quite awhile, tagging back and forth until Moony surrendered-

I'm tired! 

Stwange, I'm not. Can you even get tired in dreams?

Apparently I can...

I wonder why...

I don't know, but can we get back to this tomowow night? I need to sweep now.

Oh, okay... 

Luna proceeded to wake up. Out of curiosity, Luna asked, "Moony? Can you still hear me?"

No response. I guess she's sweeping... “Tiaaaa?” Luna looked around her room, but Celestia wasn't there. Luna was about to go out to see if Celestia was in her room, when she opened to door to one of the royal staff.

"Oh, you're awake! Princess Celestia told me to escort you down to the dining room for breakfast when you were up," she explained. 

"Oh, okay!" Luna beamed, happy to know where her sister went. The mare helped brush Luna's messy mane out and generally get ready for the day, and then brought her downstairs to where Celestia was. Or at least, where she was supposed to be...

"Tia?" Luna called into the empty room. 

Celestia then came from behind the kitchen doors carrying two plates of flat looking cake stacks with fruit faces on them. "Oh, Luna! I didn't think you'd be up again that quickly. This was supposed to be a surprise... well, I suppose it still is. Please, sit down," Celestia explained.

After Luna took her seat, she eyed her plate and asked, "What's this?"

"They're pancakes. I've been perfecting my recipe for years and I think I've finally done it. Do you like them?"

Luna took one bite and proceeded to wolf down the rest in a heartbeat. "Mhmm!! Cin I haf moore?" Luna asked through a full mouth. 

"Haha, I'm glad you like them. Finish chewing and, yes, you can have more," Celestia responded happily. She got Luna one more pancake and sat down to eat her own stack. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mhm," Luna said, her attention still fixed on the yummy pancake on her plate and in her mouth.

"Tell me about your new friend, Nightmare Moon."

"I call her Moony. She's nice. I think I wore her out though, cause she's sweeping in my head now."

"... Sleeping in your head?"

"Mhm," Luna said, still eating her breakfast.

"Can you tell me anything else about 'Moony'?"

Luna shrugged her shoulders at that and finished off her plate. "What are we doing today?"

"Well, first I have some meetings to be at so I'll have your colors for you to play with. Then I have to make some appearances around Canterlot," Celestia explained. "I think this time, I'll let you come with me. If you want to that is. I have no other obligations after that, so we could spend the rest of the day around Canterlot Square." 

"-gasp!- A whole day in Canterlot with you?! YES YES YES!!!" Luna bouncily agreed before stopping bouncing around so she didn't lose her pancakes. "Uuugh, too many pancakes... Can we go now?!" 

"Well, I have other work to do first remember? But yes, we can leave now," Celestia resolved before Luna went back to excited bouncing.



I think I underestimated how wong Day Court would wast... Luna thought to herself as she got tired of coloring and moved on instead to pony-watching and seeing how many feathers she could count in a pony's hat before they left the room. Then she started counting the ceiling tiles before realizing she couldn't count past ten...

"Tiaaaaaa? Are we done yet???" Luna whined. 

"Luna, it's only been one hour. We still have over two dozen ponies' requests to hear out."

"Uuuuuuuuuggghhhh!!!" Luna groaned loudly, much to Celestia's chagrin and the confusion of the other ponies in the room.

"Do you want to go play in your room while you wait on me? This isn't going to get any more interesting..." Celestia offered.

"Yes PWEASE!!!" Luna shouted that last word.

"Inside voice Luna. Would you please take her back to her room? Thank you," Celestia said and the nice mare from earlier took Luna back to her room where she played for about 2 hours (those ponies were long winded with their requests and the line grew a bit before shrinking down to, finally, only one left). 

That last pony... was Blueblood. 

"Auntieeee!!!! I've been hearing about this newborn filly in the castle and I have to ask, WHEN DID YOU HAVE A DAUGHTER?!?!?!" 

Oh for crying out loud what?! Celestia rubbed the bridge of her nose to preventatively offset the imminent headache that was to come. "Blueblood, she is not my daughter, she is my sister, remember? Where have you been for the past two months? She's already two years old now due to the age regression magic wearing off," Celestia explained.

"You age regressed her? Why?" Blueblood asked.

"No, not ME! The Elements of Harmony regressed her after she returned from the moon to stop Nightmare Moon from taking over Equestria-"

"SHE'S NIGHTMARE MOON?!" 

"Oh for crying loud Blueblood, WHAT ROCK HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING UNDER?! This is why you need to pay attention during announcements," Celestia fumed. 

"If I'm not being told I'll receive more bits or that I'm fabulous, I'm not going to listen," Blueblood said plainly. 

"Well mister fabulous(ly arrogant, stupid, good for nothing-), your question has been answered so you can leave now. I have a day to spend with my sister thank you very much okay bye!" Celestia said as she shoved him out the door herself and let out a heavy sigh. "I still have to invite him to the Gala, don't I..."

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Her royal adviser confirmed.

"Darn it..." 



"Luna! Are you ready to go?" Celestia said as she turned down to Luna's hallway.

"I DIDN'T BREAK IT I SWEAR IT KNOCKED ITSELF OVER!!!" Luna yelped out in shock at Celestia's sudden presence. Next to her was a broken flower vase that Luna was hiding about as well as a pony who drinks 200 cups of espresso daily and retains their sanity. 

"Umm, that's not what I came here for... But we'll address that vase later. Are you ready to go to Canterlot with me? The public meetings should be more eventful than Day Court was," Celestia assured.

"Yaaaaay!!!" Luna cried as she quickly threw her new little crown back on and put her little shoes on and was ready. Sort of... 

"Hahaha, here Luna, let me help you," Celestia said as she turned Luna's crown the correct way up and rotate her shoes in the correct direction. Now that they were officially ready, Celestia and Luna headed out to the chariot to be taken to their first destination. 

First, they went to a ribbon cutting ceremony to cut a ribbon and take some photos, then they went to judge a cake contest in which Celestia added the "bonus prize" for first is that Luna get's to eat a slice of it too ("Wow, TWO PRINCESSES have eaten my cake! THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!!!" somepony probably). After a few more photo endorsements at other places, they stopped at an orphanage to visit the foals.

Upon arrival, Luna asked a question Celestia should have expected but didn't. "Tia, what's an orphan?" 

"U-umm... well, they are foals who don't have parents," Celestia explained.

"Like us?" Luna asked.

"Um, yes. I suppose that's technically correct..." Celestia responded, not having thought of herself as an orphan in a long time. I try not to remember that fact... 

"Ok."

"Ok?" That's it?

"What? Is there something wrong with being an orphan?" Luna asked innocently.

Celestia was about to inform Luna about the importance of having parents in a foal's life, when she remembered one very critical detail. Luna has spent her entire new filly life without parents. Of course she doesn't see any problem in not having them! She can't miss what she doesn't know... She's only ever had me, a sad charade of a mother sister hoping that my little sister turns out okay... 

"No, there's nothing wrong with it," Celestia sighed. "Foals end up in orphanages for a lot of reasons. The purpose of being here is for foals to find new parents to love them and give them a home." 

"Oh... will we get new pawents someday?" Luna asked.

Oh darn it... "U-um... no, Luna. We aren't getting new parents..."

"Oh..."

"..."

"Can I pway with them?" Luna asked.

Celestia smiled. "Of course you can, if that's okay of course," Celestia looked at the director of the orphanage.

"Oh of course! The foals would love that," she responded.

"Yay!!!" Luna squealed as she went to play with the other foals her age. While Luna was playing, Celestia looked on with concern.

"Am I doing this right? Being a 'mother' that is? What if I mess everything up all over again? Will Luna just be regressed again, or worse, sent back to the moon? How many times can one filly be raised before I've finally done it perfectly?" Celestia ranted.

"Well, I can tell you a little secret Princess: No one gets it perfect. All you can do is your best," the Headmare explained. 

"I just don't wanna screw her over again..." Celestia sighed.

"I'm sure you won't. You don't seem intent on repeating the mistakes of the past."

"I'm trying not to. I hope I don't repeat them..." Celestia looked at the time and it was time to go now. "Luna! It's time to go. Come along, we have our own plans for the remainder of the day."

"Okay Tia! Bye guys!" Luna said.

"Bye Woona!"

"Will we see you again later?"

"Of course!" Luna promised.

Oooh... I wish she wouldn't have promised that... Celestia mentally sighed. 



Celestia took Luna to the zoo to see some of the really cool animals. Luna then proceeded to try and jump in one of the habitats and hug a bear before Celestia quickly caught her mid air and pulled her back behind the iron wall again. I think her flight feathers are growing in now because there is NO WAY this tiny filly simply jumped up over the fence with her own little legs... Celestia introspected as she also noted she needed to teach Luna magic at some point too. Why does she have to grow up so quickly?... 

"Why can't I hug the bear Tia?!" Luna cried.

"Because the bear could hurt you or eat you," Celestia stated plainly. "I prefer my sister alive and uneaten thank you very much."

After the zoo, they went to a simple diner to eat. The castle food is nice, but I can't help but feel more at home with the simpler meals Celestia thought to herself as she got a meal for her and little Luna to share. 

While they were eating, Luna asked, "Why don't we do this aw the time?" 

"Do what all the time?" Celestia asked back.

"This! Just spending time together without you having to do bowing woyal work. Can't you just quit and be with me aw the time?!"

"Well, no. Not really. Ruling a kingdom is a very important job that not everypony can do. The ponies are counting on me to rule them with love, wisdom, and kindness," Celestia explained. "Someday though, you'll rule with me and then we could spend more time together."

"Hmm, I don't know. What if I don't want to wule?" Luna asked (Oh, how ironic given the very reason she is regressed). 

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. No rush now," Celestia responded, secretly hoping Luna would want to rule alongside her when she was older again.

"... Can I have a wittle sister?" Luna asked.

Celestia's sip of water promptly exited her mouth and made itself at home on the table between the two sisters and left a few small kisses on Luna's cheeks while it was at it. 

"W-wha-where did THAT come from?!" Celestia stammered, failing wonderfully at holding on to her "I am a wise and experienced ruler" mask and donning one that looked more like "I am a single mother of seven children and I have no idea what the hay I am doing!"

"Well, I figure if you're awways busy with work and I'm never busy, we could get another sister who awso isn't busy. Then she and I could pway aw the time when you can't pway with me, and I won't ever be awone!" Luna explained matter-of-factly. "So, can I have a wittle sister Tia?"

So many reasons why the answer is "No," but which one to actually give Luna?... "Umm... Well you see... uh... no? Uh what I mean is... -sigh- I need to tell you something. Something I should have told you sooner, but I think now is a better time anyways. You... age quickly. Very quickly." 

"And?"

"You will age one pony year every month until you are somewhere in your twenties. From there, you will (hopefully) age one pony year every 100 years. You won't be little forever and you will grow busy too like me," Celestia explained.

"And I guess that isn't nowmal?" Luna surmised.

"No, it is not. I'm sorry Luna, but it's just gonna be you and me for awhile."

"And Cady?"

"... yes... and... Cady..." Celestia hesitantly replied. I won't tell her just yet that Cady will leave the castle someday. Baby steps.



The day had ended and it was time for a little blue alicorn filly to go to bed. As per usual, she fought sleep to the bitter and ugly death. 

"BUT I DON'T WANT THE DAY TO END!!! I WANNA STAY WITH YOU!!!" Luna screamed.

As hard as Celestia tried, she couldn't help but laugh just a little bit at the pure irony coming from Luna saying she didn't want the DAY to end. 

"Luna, I'll still be here tomorrow morning. It's not like I'm going anywhere! You need your sleep."

Suddenly, Luna got very quiet and stared blankly at the wall past Celestia. 

"Luna?..." Celestia asked with concern.

"Okay, I'll go to bed!" Luna perked up as she laid down in her bed and pulled the covers up.

"Really? Okay. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Moony is up now and she wants to pway in my dreams, but I have to be asweep to dream, so sweep is good now!" Luna said casually.

Right, I forgot about "Moony"... "Oh, well... okay. You two behave I guess... Sweet dreams Luna," Celestia said as she kissed her little sister goodnight.

"Goodnight Tia! I love you!"

Ah, and there it goes. My heart. Dying of overwhelming pride and ecstasy... "I love you too Luna."



Moony? Where are you?

Woona? Woona!!! Yay you're here!!!

-the two fillies hug each other excitedly-

What did you do while I was sweeping?

Well first, Tia had a bunch of bowing woyal stuff to do and I drew. Then we went to a bunch of pwaces to make pubwic appeawances and take photos. THEN we went to the zoo and a bear awmost ate me and we ate at a fun westaurant. Oh, I also pwayed with other foals who don't have parents wike me! But... they also don't have a home or a sister wike I do...

Oh... that's sad...

I asked Tia for a wittle sister today, but she said no.

Oh oh! Can I be your wittle sister? 

-GASP!!!- MOONY YOU'RE BWILLIANT!!!! OF COURSE YOU CAN!!! WE CAN PWAY TOGETHER AW NIGHT!!!

YAAAAY!!!!

YAAAAAY!!!!

and so that night, the two new "sisters" played and had fun to their hearts content, until it was time for one to wake and one to sleep.
> "Say hello to my friends!"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's been two weeks now since Luna and Moony declared each other sisters. Of course, because sisters tell each other everything, Luna told Celestia about this decision so she would know that Luna wasn't going to ask for a little sister anymore. Celestia actually seemed quite fine with that, happy even that Luna and Moony were getting along so well! Behind closed doors, however, Celestia voiced her confusion and concerns with Cadence.

"Ok, on the one hoof, Luna and Nigh- I mean 'Moony' are doing so well together and seem so close and that's a good thing, right? On the other hoof, it could all be a trap to get Luna close to her and then convince her to fall and create eternal night again! On the third hoof, we could assume that Luna and Moony are mentally developing at the same rate and thus there are no ulterior motives to this friendship, but I'm not sure that's a risk I want to take and- Cady, are you listening to me?" Celestia ranted before noticing Cady's far off expression, which promptly died at Celestia's annoyed gaze.

"Oh, uh, yeah uh huh... But ummm..."

"But what?" Celestia asked.

"Don't you think you may be acting a bit... paranoid? Just a little?" Cadence asked.

"This is my little sister we're talking about here and she is currently sharing a subconscious with the same monster that helped her try to kill me and bring on eternal night. Do I not, in turn, deserve to be just a little bit paranoid for my sister's mental safety and sanity?"

"Honestly Auntie Tia, I think she'll be fine. She hasn't shown any resentment towards you, no moody attitude, she's actually been doing much better about throwing tantrums for cookies, and is an overall happy filly with a happy life! She has everything she'd ever wanted as Nightmare Moon and more! I don't think she'll suddenly turn on you last minute, not with this second childhood of memories in her mind," Cadence explained.

"Do you think I should still tell her about her past? Does she need to know about it?"

"Hmm, I think it's unnecessary at this point. All that may do is accidentally divide the two against each other or worse. Don't get me wrong, she needs to know someday, but... not today. Not while she's still so young."

Celestia sighed as she remembered, "I suppose she should meet Twilight and her friends again. They haven't seen her since she was regressed nearly three months ago! Perhaps Luna could attend this year's Gala."

"A three year old... at an elite event for adult nobles and upperclass ponies? Do you hear what you're suggesting Auntie Tia?" Cadence voiced with concern.

"Oh don't worry, Twilight and her friends will make good company for her," Celestia said with a mental wink.



Hey Moony? Are you up? Hello? MOONY!!! Luna shouted within her mind as an experiment to see if she could wake her up. 

-very angry grumbles- WHAT?! What do you want Woona?!?!

"Yay! It works! So I can wake you up by yelling in my head! You can go back to sleep now," Luna exclaimed aloud.

... you woke me up... for THIS?! Uuuuuughhh!!! Moony seemed to turn over in Luna's mind to go back to sleep.

"But Moony, you know what this means right?" Luna asked.

That I'm gonna have a harder time sleeping in your noisy mind?

"It means we can still communicate when I'm awake! We could talk and play in the daytime too and not just in my dreams!" Luna squealed excitedly. 

Sounds nice Woona, but can I go back to sleep now? Thank you! Moony turned over again as Luna could've sworn she could feel Moony pulling blanket covers over her head. 

"Lunaaa? Are you in here?" Celestia's voice rang out from the other side of the playroom.

"Yeah, I'm here!" Luna responded. 

Celestia came into view and smiled as she saw her sister, drawing as usual. She always was the more artistic of us two, Celestia reminisced. "What are you drawing?"

"I'm drawing me and Moony on the moon," Luna explained. Not that I understand how I know what it looks like on the moon, but it feels right somehow... 

"Oh... that's nice..." Unfortunate that that's the first and only thing she can remember from her past so far... Celestia mentally sighed. "I was wondering, how would you like to see some friends of mine tonight? They're very sweet and haven't seen you in a long time. I think you'd like them a lot!"

"Ooooh, new ponies?! What do they look like? I wanna see them!" Luna exclaimed.

Celestia showed Luna a photo of Twilight and her friends that she'd sent with one of her friendship letters. 

"Huh... where have I seen them before? They look familiar..." Luna noted, looking closely at the ponies in the picture. 

"Oh, you met them when you were a new foal," Celestia explained.

"Like, when I was born?"

"Not quite..."

"They seem nice."

"They are. There's a party tonight here in the ballroom and they'll be there. How do you feel about staying up a little later to meet them again? Just this once though! We are not making late nights a habit (just yet...)," Celestia asked.

"-GASP- YES YES YES YES!!! That would be so much FUN!!!" Luna squealed.

Oh it will be with you and the Elements there heheheh, Celestia thought to herself mischievously. "You'll also get to wear a cute dress and your royal regalia!"

"Like you? YAY!!! SPECIAL OCCASIONS ARE AWESOME!!!" Luna shouted as she bounced around the playroom. 



One downside to being allowed to stay up late for tonight was that Luna would have to take a long nap during the day so she wouldn't be cranky that night.

"But I'm not tired!!!" Luna whined.

"Well you will be tonight if you don't conserve your energy during the day," Celestia responded. "At least try to get some sleep, okay?"

"... Fine..." Luna sulked. I didn't think having extra playtime tonight meant less playtime during the day...

It took awhile, but Luna did eventually manage to fall asleep.

Moony? Are you still sleeping?

-Stirs- hmm, huh? Woona? Why are you asleep?

There's a party tonight that I get to attend. But because it's late at night, Tia says I need to sleep beforehoof so I don't get tired tonight...

Oh, that sounds fun. Hey! I'll be awake then too! 

-gasp- So we can be at the party together yay!!! And we'll both get to meet Tia's friends!

Oh, who are her friends?

Luna dreamt up the picture of them that Tia had shown her. Moony suddenly looked very uncomfortable

What's wrong Moony?

I don't know. I just have a bad feeling about them...

Why? They seem really nice.

I know they do, but there's just something about them... I can't put my hoof on what though...

Well, we'll see them at the party tonight. Then you can see they're super nice and we'll have lots of fun together!!!

Hmm, maybe... I suppose I'll get back to sleeping again just to make EXTRA sure we both don't end up tired at the party tonight.

Sounds like a good idea to me!

So the two fillies spent the rest of the dream time sleeping.



Later near late afternoon or evening time, Luna was woken up and it was time to get ready for the Gala.

First things first, Celestia had to shrink Luna's regalia down to her size (She would grow them back up again as Luna grew bigger). Then she helped Luna into her cute dress (made by a certain violet-maned fashion unicorn who had no idea who this dress was for) and had Luna eat dinner beforehoof (Celestia didn't think the food would be suitable to Luna's foalish tastes and she would be right). 

Finally, the time for the Gala had come! Celestia and Luna greeted ponies as they came in, Luna mostly just waiting until she saw the mane six. 

"Are they here yet?" Luna asked.

"No, not yet. You'll know them when you see them," Celestia replied calmly whilst shaking another dignitary's hoof. 

I still don't feel good about meeting them... Moony perked up from the back of Luna's mind.

Then you can just stay back there, because I'm excited to meet them! -GASP- THERE THEY ARE!!! Luna replied before she noticed Twilight and her friends coming into view through the doors.

"TIA THEY'RE HERE THEY'RE HERE THEY'RE HERE THEY'RE HERE!!!" Luna squealed at the top of her lungs while bouncing up and down.

"Luna, inside voice please! I see them too," Celestia smiled. "Please have some self-contr-" Celestia didn't even finish that sentence as she looked to her side to see a clear lack of a little sister next to her. Oh Luna, hahaha!

"Who's that charging towards us?" Rainbow asked.

"Is that... Luna?!" Twilight speculated first.

Luna ran right up to them and instinctively gave Fluttershy a hug first. "Hi!" Luna chirped excitedly. "Are you the pony friends Tia told me about?" A question that, if she was wrong, probably should have been asked before tackle hugging them. 

"I... think so. -gasp- Princess Celestia!" Twilight said before she was in earshot of Celestia.

"Twilight Sparkle! I believe my sister has introduced herself already," Celestia said now that everypony was together again.

"Ah don' get it. How'd she get so big so fast?" Applejack asked first.

"Yeah, wasn't she just a liiiiiiitle bitty baby when we last saw her?" Pinkie continued.

"That's something I'll have to explain later," Celestia answered. "But Luna, this is Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity!" Celestia introduced as she gestured to each mare when she said their names. They all said "Hi" to Luna and then Celestia encouraged them all to go enjoy the Gala. So the others dispersed throughout the castle while Twilight and Luna stayed with Celestia to greet more ponies. However, an hour of just standing there welcoming ponies spent all of Luna's attention span and she grew very bored. 

"Tia, can I go into the party with the others?" 

"Of course! Twilight, do you mind going with Luna and introducing her to your friends? She's been looking forward to meeting you all all day. I don't think we'll get to talk much here anyways," Celestia asked.

"Oh, it's no trouble at all heheh... Come on Luna, lets go see what the others are up to," Twilight said, doing a fine job of hiding her disappointment in not getting to spend time with Celestia. I suppose I ought to spend time getting to know Princess Luna too.

"Yay!" Luna cried as she pulled on Twi's hoof eagerly to go into the ballroom, her energy revived. 



Upon entering the ballroom, the first ponies they came across were Rarity and Prince Blueblood. 

"Hey Rarity! How's it going here?" Twilight asked. 

"Oh just fantastic! Mhmm," Rarity lied through her teeth.

"Since when did they allow foals into the Gala? Don't you know this is a grown-up event for only the most elite of the elite? Run off to bed little pest," Blueblood commanded rather rudely and with no semblance of any respectfulness.

"And who exactly do you think you are to boss me around?" Luna asked, not a little miffed. How dare he speak to us like that! Does he not know who we are? Moony echoed in the back of Luna's mind.

"I am Prince Blueblood, nephew to her Royal Majesty Princess Celestia of Equestria. Who are you to address me with such disrespect?" Blueblood asked haughtily.

"Her little sister," Luna stated plainly, gesturing to her hard to miss wings, horn, and crown. 

"oh, Oh, OH!!! Of course! W-why, a thousand apologies my little (very little) auntie!!! I-I never meant any disrespect of course heheheh," Blueblood squirmed as he realized his mistake. So, Auntie Celestia wasn't trolling with me... I suppose I should've listened to her meetings and announcements after all...

"I'm sure you didn't..." Luna smiled insincerely, just trying to stay calm(ish). Moony was less calm about it spewing words Luna didn't recognize.

"You won't tell your dear sister about this will you?"

"No promises," Luna responded plainly. "Come on Twilight! Let's go see the others!" Luna suggested as she once again dragged Twilight along with her earth pony strength to go further into the room. 

Heheh, surely his Princely side will come out soon, right? I mean, he wasn't being that rude to little Luna, right? Just a simple misunderstanding. Yes! This night can still work out. Rarity thought to herself as she watched the little filly trot away with great speed.



In the VIP area, Rainbow Dash was (sort of) hanging with the Wonderbolts when a small blue projectile came right at her.

Wait, small blue projectile?

"Nows my chance! Don't worry everypony, I'll protect you from this threat!" Rainbow boomed to no one's knowledge. Rainbow caught Luna's momentum, but failed to actually slow it down any as both crashed to the ground. "Ugh, ow... Oh, it's just you Luna. I thought you were a blue torpedo threatening to crash the party," Rainbow said as she got up off the floor.

"Twilight said you liked to go super fast, so I went super fast too! Was I fast? I was running like weeeee and flapping my wings to get extra speed," Luna flapped her wings super fast and almost hovered off the ground, but not quite. "And then I crashed into you!" Luna finished with a beam. 

Just then, Twilight caught up to them (very much out of breath), and began to speak to Luna. "-Big wheeze- You can't just -huff- run off like -HEEVE- that! Princess Celestia -heavy breath in- trusted me -heavier breath in- to watch you!" 

"... I found Rainbow Dash!" Luna responded with an innocent smile. 

Just then, Rainbow got a very bad idea. "Hey! How would you like to play a game with me where I pretend to save you from danger?"

"Oh oh, a game! Yay!! How do we play?" Luna asked.

"Rainbow I don't think-" Twilight was interrupted as Rainbow assured her of the safety of this "game."

Rainbow then flew Luna up to a chandelier and plopped her on it.

"W-wait! But I don't know how to fly yet!" Luna immediately panicked being so high up off the ground. I-It's not that high, right? W-we'll be fine... Moony said within Luna's mind. Though whether she was trying to convince Luna or herself was uncertain.

"It's okay! I'll be sure to catch you! I just need you to pretend to fall off and then I'll catch you and save you!" Rainbow explained.

"You can NOT be serious?" Twilight groaned.

"Oh, okay!" Luna calmed down and smiled.

"Okay, but I still need you to act scared," Rainbow instructed.

"Oh, okay... HEEEEELP!!! I'M GONNA FAAAAALL!!!" Luna began acting (quite well, might I add). Rainbow was down below just waiting for Luna to "fall" off the chandelier. Luna then "fell" off as Rainbow immediately raced to her rescue and caught her before she hit the ground (A little too close a call for Twilight's sanity). 

"Haha, yes! I have saved Princess Luna from falling to her doom!" Rainbow beamed.

"Yaaay!!" Luna cheered. Huh... that wasn't so bad... Moony agreed.

Aaaand, absolutely no one reacted at all.

"Oh come on! Did nopony see that?!" Rainbow groaned.

"I saw it-" a random pony started.

"Not you! A Wonderbolt," Rainbow interrupted. 

"Can we do it again?" Luna asked. 

Before Rainbow could answer that, Twilight said no. "Come on, maybe we should go see what Applejack is doing."

"Oh, okay!" Luna cooperated as they went outside to find AJ.



-sigh- Minute 63, no sales. What am Ah doin wrong? a dejected apple pony thought to herself while still trying to get ponies to buy her apple goods. Then, she noticed Twilight and Luna coming into view and waved to them.

"Heya Twilight, hi Luna! Can Ah interest either of y'all in an apple fritter?" Applejack asked. 

"Ooooh, yes please!" Luna said as she jumped up and grabbed one off the shelf and began eating it.

"Luna, you're supposed to pay for that," Twilight scolded lightly.

"Ah, it's alright! It's on me. Anything for the little sugar cube," Applejack assured Twilight.

"Oh, well okay. Can you say thank you to Applejack?" Twilight said to Luna.

"Than' oo!" Luna said through a full mouth. Then she swallowed and corrected herself. "I mean, thank you!"

"How's life in the palace sugar cube?" Applejack asked.

"It's fun! But sometimes it can get boring. But mostly fun!" Luna said. 

"What did you do today before the Gala?"

"This morning I ate breakfast with Tia and then I went back to my room to color and I drew me with Moony on the moon cause it seems cool then Tia told me I was coming to the Gala and told me about you guys and I was super exited but I had to sleep all day and that was no fun but then it was time for the Gala and I met you guys!" Luna rambled, never taking a breath until she had finally finished.

"Wow, sounds like a good day!" Applejack exclaimed.

"It does! Also, it's excited, not exited," Twilight couldn't resist correcting. "Who's Moony?"

"She's my little sister!" Luna explained. 

Wait, I thought I was the BIG sister!

No, little sister.

But whyyyyy?!

Because I was here first!

But I wanna be the big sister!

But that's not how it works!!

I don't care how it works!!!

Moonyyyy!!!

Lunaaaa!!!

"Are you okay sugar cube?" Applejack asked.

"Little sister?" Twilight asked. Is there a third sister Celestia is hiding that even history doesn't know about? Is it Cadence's mom?! 

"Oh, I'm fine! Just having a little talk with Moony... NO!! YOU ARE THE LITTLE SISTER AND THAT'S FINAL!!!" Luna shouted to everypony's collective shock and confusion. "Oops, I said that out loud didn't I..."

"Yes... maybe we should go see what Fluttershy is doing!" Twilight suggested, desperate to get away from the prying eyes of the confused and judgmental ponies around her right now. 

"Okay!" Luna said, getting a particularly warm feeling inside at being able to see her again. 



"Don't worry my little ones, I won't hurt you. As soon as I catch one of you, you will love me! Yes, I will be the queen of these gardens and you will be my loyal and loving subjects!!!" Fluttershy monologued as she broke out into complete maniacal and unhinged laughter before falling into one of her traps set for the animals.

Meanwhile, a few yards away Luna and Twilight just watched Fluttershy act insane and fall into a net.

"Um... now doesn't seem like a good time..." Twilight said uncomfortably.

"Agreed," Luna affirmed as they slowly backed up back into the ballroom. 



-Sigh- I haven't been able to spend any time with Celestia this whole night! This was not how I thought tonight would go. Maybe Pinkie can keep Luna occupied enough for her not to notice I'm gone? Twilight thought to herself while still keeping an eye on Luna. They finally made it to where Pinkie Pie was (she was hard to miss when doing the hokey-pokey with several unwilling dance partners). 

"Hey Pinkie! Have you officially met Luna yet?" Twilight asked over the loud party music.

"-GAAAAASP- LUNA!!! HEY!!! ARE YOU READY TO PAR-TAY?!" Pinkie shouted as she hoisted Luna up onto the stage with her and they began dancing together.

"Hahaha, yeah!!!" Luna cried, ecstatic to hang out with such a fun and bubbly pink pony. Deciding that Luna was occupied more than enough to not miss her, Twilight snuck back to where Celestia was. All the while, Luna and Pinkie had a blast being the only ponies who liked this more bubbly, confetti filled style of party.

 This feels fun! I wanna dance too! Moony exclaimed within Luna's mind. 

How do you plan to do that? We only have one body when I'm awake, Luna asked.

I think I have an idea... Moony said cryptically. 

Are you... looking at something? Why do I feel like you're looking at me?

Because I am... have you always been here?

Where?

Here, Moony said as she suddenly pushed Luna's mind out of the way and accidentally took control of Luna's body.

Hey! What was that for? Since when could you do THAT?! Luna asked, now inside her own subconscious. But now that she was in there, she found out her guess was correct, there is indeed a blanket in her mind. A very soft one at that!

"Hey, I didn't know I could do that either!" Moony retorted back. Suddenly, she noticed that she had said that out loud. "Um, hi! I'm Moony..."

"... IT'S NIGHTMARE MOON!!! RUUUUN!!!!" Pinkie shouted as chaos quickly broke out.

"Hey y'all! I've got just the thing for y'all. A nice fancy cake for yer fancy tastes!" Applejack announced as she rolled out a huge cake into the ballroom. Then Pinkie barreled right into it and launched it into the air. Then Rarity and Blueblood entered the room just in time to see the cake plummeting towards them. And of course, being the perfect gentle-colt he is, Blueblood used Rarity as a shield against the oncoming cake.

That was a very bad idea.

"YOU, ARE THE MOST UN-CHARMING PRINCE I HAVE EVER MET!!!" Rarity screeched.

"Ah help!!! Don't touch me!!! I just got my mane done!" Blueblood cried out.

"AFRAID TO GET A LITTLE DIRTY?!" Rarity then shook the cake bits off of her and onto Blueblood. 

"What even is going on?!" Moony cried out in all the madness.



Back with Twilight and Celestia.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight called.

"Twilight Sparkle!" Celestia responded before noticing the lack of her little sister with her student. "Um, Twilight? Where is Luna?"

"Oh don't worry, I left her with Pinkie!"

"..."

"Which... now that I say that out loud..."

"Indeed."

"Let's go back."

With greeting ponies finally done with anyways, Celestia and Twilight re-entered the war-zone ballroom. Cue both of them staring open mouthed at the chaos ensuing. 

"I-I left her here for all of five minutes!" Twilight exclaimed.

"With Pinkie Pie as well," Celestia added.

"Heheh, at least it can't get any worse..." Twilight dared to jinx.

Suddenly, a manic, disheveled butter-yellow pegasus burst into the room with one very important announcement.

"YOU. ARE GOING. TO LOOOOVE MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!"

"... run," Celestia instructed.

"Sounds good to me!" Twilight obeyed as she called all her friends to flee the scene and get out while they still could. Celestia levitated Moony Luna onto her back and they got out just in time. 



At one now very busy Donut Joe's, the girls were recalling all of their Gala mishaps to Spike (most of which had been missed by Twilight and Luna). 

"Wow, that sounds like you guys had the worst night ever!" Spike exclaimed.

"It was!!!" All but Twilight agreed. 

"You know, I may not have got to spend as much time with Celestia as I wanted to, but you're a pretty fun filly to be around Luna," Twilight admitted, her night probably going second best to Luna's. "I'm so sorry we ruined tonight though!"

"Are you kidding me? I had a BLAST meeting you all! Well, except Fluttershy, but you're sweet and nice again, right?" Luna asked skeptically.

"Oh, of course! I'm so sorry to have scared you like that. I don't know what came over me!" Fluttershy assured as she gave Luna a gentle hug.

"Yes, I knew inviting you all would be a great idea! The Gala is always so dull and awful every year. But this? This is the most fun I've had at the Gala in centuries! It clearly made Luna's night too," Celestia praised.

"Really? Well I'm glad to hear that!" Twilight beamed.

Then, Spike (the one we probably all forgot had even attended as well) introduced himself to Luna. 

"We didn't get properly introduced, but I'm Spike! Twilight's number one assistant!"

"Hi Spike! Do you want to meet Moony too?" Luna asked before suddenly shifting into Moony.

"GAH!!" Spike yelped as he fell out of his seat.

"Why does everypony keep reacting to me like that? Did I do something wrong?" Moony asked.

"That's my fault. I should have told you sooner. I suppose now is as good a time as any, all of you need to hear this too. Luna? Can you hear me too?" Celestia asked.

"Yes," both Luna and Moony's voices rang out.

"Huh, that's new..." Moony noted. 

"... Okay. The simple answer is that you were once an adult. As an adult, you tried to take over Equestria and rule alone. I sent you to the moon and then you came back to try again. Twilight and her friends then used the Elements of Harmony to stop you and you were turned into a foal. Since then, you have been growing up again really fast," Celestia explained. 

"Most ponies know that Luna won't do bad things anymore, but Moony is not yet known to the public. I suppose another announcement is in order," Celestia noted.

"I see... so I did something very bad and scary as a big mare but now I'm not bad?" Moony clarified.

"That is correct. Now I just need to let Equestria know that this is the case," Celestia affirmed.

Luna then came back into the front and took control of her body again. "Why would I want to take over the kingdom?" Luna asked.

"Well, you see... um... I think we'll have to save this conversation for when you're older," Celestia started before remembering Luna didn't rule the night again yet. It would be wise of me not to tell her what her cutie mark is before she earns it heheh...

"... okaaaaay, I guess I can wait. Especially if I'll be older super fast!" Luna mused. 

"Great! Now, Rainbow Dash, about dangling my little sister from a chandelier?" Celestia redirected the conversation back to the night's events.

"U-uh I had everything under control heheheh! I would never put your sister in real danger!" Rainbow quickly tried to smooth things over.

"I know that Rainbow Dash and I thank you for that," Celestia assured, calming Rainbow's panic down a few notches. "Though I do wonder how unobservant my ponies have to be to not notice a three year old filly falling off a chandelier while crying for help..." Celestia noted with concern. 

"I guess they knew I'd be just fine in the hooves of a great hero!" Luna speculated.

"You are officially my number one little princess!" Rainbow beamed.

"I think we can all agree that now tonight has been," Twilight started.

"THE BEST NIGHT EVER!!!" everyone finished together.
> "Who did I used to be?"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that night, when the Gala had finally ended and the last of the ponies had returned home, it was time to get a little filly in bed to sleep for the few remaining hours of the night.

"But I'm not tired!"

Yes... That's going well.

"But Luna, you need to sleep!" Celestia groaned, very much tired herself.

"But now I'm wide awake! It's only 2:36 at night! Can't I just stay up longer pleeeeaaaase?!" Luna whined. 

"No Luna! You have to sleep!" 

"But whyyyyyyy?!"

"Because I really don't need you to be nocturnal again right no- oops..." Celestia stopped before realizing her slip up. 

"What's nocturnal?" Luna asked.

"Goodnight Luna! Just sleep please!" Celestia quickly tucked her in, kissed Luna on the head, and fast-walked out of the room.

"But-"

"Goodnight!"

Now Luna was alone in her room, wondering what being "nocturnal" was and why Celestia made it sound like she'd done this before.

Maybe adult me stayed up all night every night... Well, if ADULT me can do it, FOAL me can do it too!!!

Hmm, that sounds about right... THE NIGHT WILL LAST FOREVER!!!!! Moony piped in.

I don't know about forever, but at least a few more hours couldn't hurt! Luna thought back. What to do though... the guards are still patrolling at night. They'd probably escort me back to my room if I left...

Then we'll have to SNEAK out!!!

What's your plan for doing that?

Just step aside and watch the master of stealth!

Since when did you become the "master of stealth"?

Just now! Watch. Moony then came into the front of Luna's mind, taking control of her body. She then concentrated super hard and turned into a blue cloud. As she did, the inhibitor ring Luna usually wore fell off.

Wait, how did you do that with the inhibitor ring blocking our magic?

I didn't use magic.

Then what did you do?

I don't know. I just, knew I could do it...

... Okaaay. I guess now that the ring is off though, we can go try out magic in the gardens! It should be clear there. Luna suggested. Do you know how to get there?

Woona, we share a mind and body, if you know where it is, I know where it is. Moony responded snarkily. 

I was just making sure! No need to be mean...

Operation "Sneak out into the gardens past a bunch of guards to have some more fun for the rest of the night" commence!!!



Moony begins by seeping out from the space under the door, staying as light and thin as possible. No more than a small wisp, she crept through the halls with a calculated speed just between fast enough but not in such a way as to draw attention. She continued her careful movements until she suddenly felt herself halt.

Woona? What are you doing?!

I wanna get a cookie!

But we're on a mission, remember?

Yeah, a mission to have fun!

True... Okay! Cookies it is!!! 

The two fillies, resolved in agreement, took a detour from the gardens to go to the royal kitchen instead. Upon arrival in said kitchens, however, they were met with their first problem.

Uh oh, it looks like Cady is having a late night snack...

We can still get a cookie and avoid getting caught, right?

We can try...

So Moony worked her way quietly towards the cookie jar, careful not to knock anything over (though, I don't think she could've anyways being a cloud of fog). 

Sneak, weave, prowl, squeeze between cracks. She moved to the darkest shadows in the ceiling to get closer to the cookie jar, avoiding the revealing light from the open refrigerator door. The cookie jar was in a slightly lit area not quite outside the light of the refrigerator, so this was the most important part of the mission. 

Okay, now to get the cookie jar and we're home free!

Yes! But... how do you grab things while being a cloud?

I-I thought you knew how...

I thought you knew!

"OH MY GOSH WHAT IS THAT THING?!" Cadence screamed having glimpsed a dark smokey cloud near the cookie jar.

"AAAAH!!!" Both fillies screamed in turn, shocked out of their smoky form from Cadence's scream. When Luna's body went solid again, she was a good four feet in the air. Naturally, she also fell four feet back to the ground.

At first, Luna didn't react. A small part of her knew she was fine and nothing was hurt. But the other, much more filly part of her...

"wwaaAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!" Luna slowly increased her crying like an approaching ambulance, shock and pain catching up to her.

"Oh my gosh Luna! I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you. What are you doing up at this hour?" Cadence asked, her heartbeat slowing down as she scooped up her small aunt. 

"I just wanted a cookie..." Luna sniffled. 

"Can't sleep?"

"Nuh uh..."

"Just this once, you can have a cookie," Cadence stated. "But, don't think you can just get cookies every night, okay?" Cadence added as she levitated over a cookie for Luna.

"Okay," Luna said, taking the cookie in her telekinesis and eating it.

"Wait, where's your inhibitor ring?" Cadence asked, suddenly concerned.

"It fell off -nom nom- when Moony and I -nom nom- became smoke," Luna explained between bites of cookie. 

"When did you learn telekinesis?"

"... I don't know. I just... know? It feels like a muscle," Luna explained, unsure. 

"Well, I suppose you're old enough and aware enough now to control your magic... right?" Cadence asked, hoping this wouldn't bite her in the butt later.

"Uh huh!" Luna quickly agreed, glad the second part of the mission tonight could still work. Then Luna took notice of the empty ice cream carton on the table. "Why are you eating ice cream Cady?"

"Um... Shiny and I had a bit of an argument... We're not talking to each other right now. I couldn't sleep tonight and I didn't feel like attending the Gala, so... I sat in here. Eating ice cream..." Cadence explained as Luna took note of the fact that there was much more than just the one empty carton.

"Hmph, how come I can only have one cookie, but you can have 7 cartons of ice cream? And why are you mad at Shiny? I thought you loved each other," Luna asked the important questions. 

"W-We still do! It's just... I need to clear my head..." Cadence explained. 

"And ice cream helps with that?" Luna asked dubiously.

"Heheh, no, I suppose not. We really should talk about it shouldn't we?" Cadence noted.

"Yeah! If you don't talk to each other about your problems, then how can you fix it? Then you'd just keep getting mad until you do something stupid and get sent to the moon! Wait, I won't get sent back to the moon if I get mad at Tia again, will I?" Luna asked.

"No Luna, you won't ha ha ha," Cadence assured. "I don't think you'll ever go that far again." 

"Hey Cady?"

"Yes Luna?"

"Can you teach me some magic tonight? Pleeeaaase," Luna pleaded. 

"Oh, well I don't know..."

"We're both awake and can't sleep anyways! I miss spending time with you!" Luna pouted.

"I know I haven't been around as much these last few weeks, and I'm sorry. Of course we can spend time together tonight. And maaaaaybe I'll teach you some basic magic," Cadence said.

"YAY!!!" Luna shouted happily.

"Inside voice Luna! Ponies are still sleeping," Cadence warned.

"Oh, right..." Luna said more quietly.

"Let's go. I've had enough ice cream heheheh," Cadence acknowledged sheepishly.



Out in the gardens, Luna was learning all sorts of fun new spells. As she did, she noticed the stars outside and stopped to just admire them.

"This is the first time I've stopped and just looked at the sky at night... I'm always inside and asleep at night..." Luna noted. Why do I feel as if I miss it? Did I used to spend a lot of time admiring the night? It is beautiful... I don't want this moment to end...

I get the feeling we won't get our questions answered anytime soon...

-sigh- Probably not. But the promise that they WILL be answered eventually is enough for me...

"Are you okay Luna?" Cadence asked, noticing her sudden silence and expression of deep thought.

"Who did I used to be?" Luna asked bluntly.

"What do you mean?" Cadence asked.

"I was an adult once. I can only assume I had quirks and interests that may not be like I am now... Am I super different now that I'm growing up again?" Luna asked, her tone laced with the vaguest of memories of her adult self. 

It was then that Cadence noticed Luna's memories seemed to be coming back faster than she was growing into them. Perhaps they were triggered when Celestia told her about her past life... in any case, she's speaking and asking questions in a far more aged tongue than any three year old should be speaking... 

Finally gathering some of her thoughts, Cadence simply stated, "No, Luna. You're not much changed. Not that I can tell. From what Tia told me, you were a very sweet but rambunctious little filly who loved to explore the world. You are that way now too, though the setting is different."

"I'm just worried that I'll lose a part of myself..." Luna sighed. 

Cadence reached out to the scared filly and held her close in her wings. "Luna, you can never stop being you. No matter what happens, you will always be Luna and you will never lose part of yourself just because of a change in scenery, not your real self. You can still grow from past mistakes though and become a better pony than you used to be, but you'll never change so completely that you don't know who you are anymore. You were Luna, and you are Luna," Cadence assured. 

That answer seemed satisfactory to the little blue alicorn as she gazed at the stars. Just then, a shooting star danced across the sky. 

Then another. 

And another.

A meteor shower. 

It was the most beautiful display Luna had ever seen in her life. 

"I wanna stay in this moment forever..." Luna sighed, gazing at the sky with awe and wonder in her eyes. Then she felt it. That feeling that the night would have to end soon. "But it cannot be..." 

"It's okay Luna. It'll be night time again tomorrow," Cadence assured to Luna.

"I suppose you're right..." Luna yawns, finally feeling tired enough to go to bed just as the sun is rising. 

"Let's get you to bed now. You've had a long and busy night," Cadence said as she carried Luna in her wing back to her room and tucked her in. She then closed the curtains, making sure no bright sunlight would get through, and kissed Luna good sleep.

"Sweet dreams Luna."