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"Okay, girls. Princess Celestia has asked us, the Elements of Harmony, to help Princess Luna. Apparently she is starting to look upset and depressed lately and Princess Celestia is worried that it might lead to another Nightmare Moon incident. In order for us to help Princess Luna, we have to help her get over her jealousy."
"But how can she be jealous? Princess Luna's nights are far more beautiful than Celestia's, and she is a wonderful, kind leader," Rarity replied.
"It's just in case. We don't know if she'll really unleash Nightmare Moon again, but it's not a chance she is willing to take. She has already lost her sister once, twice shouldn't even be entertained as an option. So, that's why we're here in Canterlot today." Twilight smiled at her friends, who in turn cheered excitedly at the combined knowledge that they were in Canterlot Palace as guests and that they were going to work with their Princesses for a noble cause. "We're going to find a way to help Princess Luna!"
Pinkie Pie jumped up, "I can't wait!"
Applejack nodded, "Let's get started already! I'm rearin' to go!"
"Don't be such a ruffian, dear Applejack. Let's try to be civil," Rarity said to her orange friend, who in turn gave her a friendly poke on the nose with her hoof.
"Even I don't get how Princess Luna can be jealous! Her nights are awesome!" Rainbow pointed out.
Fluttershy nodded, "Oh yes. She is so beautiful... her nights, I mean..." The butter colored mare grinned nervously as her friends glanced over to her, their brows thoroughly furrowed.
"Okay..." the five said slowly at the same time.
"Anyway, let's see. Why would Princess Luna be jealous of her sister's sun? I want you wall to find out, and then report back to me, okay?" All six mares saluted, and disappeared before Twilight could tell them: "Good luck!"
Applejack walked around the palace searching for Princess Luna. When she found the princess, she noted that she was staring at the sun in the sky with these tinted sunglasses.
"Um... Princess Luna?" Applejack said softly.
When the mare didn't budge, Applejack gently touched her shoulder.
"WHO DOTH GOES THERE!" Luna shouted in the Equestrian Royal Voice.
Applejack ears were ringing for a moment as Luna ripped off her sunglasses. When she saw the Element of Honesty in front of her, she immediately apologized for her atrocious behavior, and wished that she had not shouted in the poor orange mare's auditory organs.
"Aw, that's okay, Princess!" Applejack shouted trying to hear herself over the ringing that kept persisting, "I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions! If that's okay with you?"
"By all means, do ask thy questions! I shall endeavor to answer as truthfully and as honestly as thou wouldst!"
Applejack's hearing calmed down and she was able to return to her normal voice, "Um... well, me and the girls were wonderin' what you really like about the day."
Luna looked at Applejack for a moment, then outside the window at the sun, then downwards at the fields in the mountain's valley. From their vantage in the palace they could see miles upon miles, and the farmer noted that Luna's gaze lingered along the mountain slopes for a long moment before she looked up heaving a long, deep sigh.
"Does not the view of the wheat within this landscape dance with the majesty and freedom worthy of praise by even the stars I set themselves? Is it not simply wonderful how the colors bend and sway to my sister's burning sun, yet 'neath my moon's glow it mimics a dark abyss, as if the wonderful plants themselves wish to hide from the night..."
"Now I don't believe them plants have any thoughts or senses. It's just the plants got nothin' to reflect the moon's glow, cause that's when the plant sleeps," Applejack reassured the princess. She looked at the fields of wheat lazily swaying in the wind and she could see the beauty there.
"Pray tell then, why dost the plants of sleep as dost thee? We only have so very few plants that bloom under the night's embrace, and we have grown tired of viewing on them!" Luna sighed, "We very much would like to see fields such as wheat that bend and sway with the moon's light. It would make the nights shine with silver and white, like the stars and galaxies the bequeathed my nocturnal sky."
Applejack watched the princess stare longingly at the wheat for a while longer before taking her leave and heading back towards Twilight. She figured she'd discovered the source of Princess Luna's jealousy.
Rarity walked the halls of the palace in hopes of finding the Princess, but she could not. She had looked everywhere, but still the white unicorn's attempts at discovering the Royal's whereabouts remained a mystery.
"Where on Equestria could she be?" Rarity lamented. "I simply must talk to her! We cannot have another Nightmare Moon, not when Princess Celestia has only recently had her little sister returned to her."
As she passed a particular door she heard a familiar buzz coming from the inside. Despite her common sense telling her not to, Rarity knew the sound so well that she just could not resist. Carefully she pushed the door open only a sliver to peer inside. To her surprise, she found the Luna sitting at a sewing machine.
Not wanting to disturb Luna, Rarity watched patiently as the alicorn did everything wrong.
The spools of thread were not properly kept on top of the sewing machine making it constantly tangle up with the needle; the thread itself was the wrong color but Rarity was willing to ignore that. The cloth she was using was much too thin to be used by a machine in the first place. There was simply no rhyme nor reason for Luna to stitch the cloth that way.
After a few more attempt, Luna took the garment, held it in front of her and threw it down on the ground in anger. Then she got up and exited through a door on the far side of the room.
Cautiously, Rarity walked in and picked up the discarded cloth. She looked at it with the eye of a critic wondering what she wanted to create. The yellows, the oranges and browns were just too warm for the indigo alicorn's coat. Was she creating this for her sister then? What was it about these colors that she wanted to show.
It was then that Rarity's mind filled with visions of large fields waving lazily in the wind. Stalks of straw delicately swayed in the breeze's embrace and as they swayed as one the colors changed in ever cascading flows, like the waves on the ocean. The colors of the field matched those shown on this piece of cloth. The image passed as quickly as it appeared and Rarity looked at the dress tenderly for a moment.
Neatly folding the cloth, Rarity gently placed it on the table next to the sewing machine. With her mission complete, she headed back towards Twilight.
Rainbow Dash zipped through the halls. In truth, she did not know why she had to help her friends discover whatever it was that bothered the lunar Princess, but she was not about to let them down. While the thought of taking a quick cat-nap fluttered through her mind, she spotted her target exiting a room in a huff.
Quickly, she followed the Princess, but for some reason felt that she needed to keep her distance. After all, the way she stormed out of that room meant that she was not particularly happy for one reason or another. Better to wait until she calmed down a bit before bombarding her with questions that might be offensive if not tackled right. The last thing Rainbow wanted to do was hurt Luna's feelings.
Luna walked to the balcony and two guards walked to her.
"Nay, we wish to be alone. We shall return in a short time."
The two guards bowed and backed away. Princess Luna opened her wings and took to the sky. The guards watched her go for a moment before they jumped back in shock as a cyan pegasi zoomed past them and hit behind a cloud. The guards looked to each other wondering what the Element of Loyalty was up to, but considering that she was one of Elements, a personal guest of Princess Celestia, and had saved Equestria a few times, they let her go on about her business.
Rainbow kept up easily, not that Luna was trying to get away from her.
After a while, she stopped and draped herself over a cloud that was slightly smaller than her body. She drooped her head over the edge and stared downwards. Rainbow slowly crept up to the where Luna lay discreetly pushed a cloud she hit above over the mare, so that she could see what Luna was looking at.
The rainbow maned mare was confused. There was nothing there, just fields. Lots and lots of fields. Rainbow stared down at the straw as they danced lazily in the wind, and she felt a familiar heaviness beset her eyes.
"Just a couple of minutes. Nopony would notice," Rainbow thought as she laid on her back and closed her eyes.
She woke up with a start. Luna's sky was overhead, and her cloud had drifted quite a distance away from Canterlot. Cursing herself for oversleeping, she rushed back to Twilight hoping that the others had better luck than she did.
A gentle knocking came on her door.
"Come in," the voice announced from the other side.
Fluttershy gently pushed the door open and put her head in, "H-h-hello..."
"Oh! It is thou, Fluttershy! How fairest thee?"
"I'm f-fine, thank you," the shy mare whispered, curtsying politely.
Luna made a gesture with her hoof for the Element of enter, "Please sit. Grace us with thy presence. We would love thine company."
Fluttershy blushed a little at that, "Thank you, Your Highness."
"What can we do for thee?" Luna asked once Fluttershy was comfortably sitting in a sofa across from her.
"N-nothing. I just... it's been a while since we've had a nice chat," Fluttershy replied smiling politely.
Princess Luna nodded, "We appreciate thy time thous hast set aside for us. We are very grateful. It has been a rather tiring night, and I am unable to sleep during Celestia's day."
"Oh? You can't sleep?"
"Nay, dear Fluttershy. We have tried, but dost yonder sun burns ever so furious this season," Luna said peering outside the nearest window. The trees swayed in the wind, the leaves rustling gently against one another. "We have been unable to close our eyes. We fear that we shall be unable to raise the moon whence the time comes."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll do fine, Princess. You are the Princess of the Night, after all. I have so much love for your nights," Fluttershy said leaning forwards on the table, "Your moon, your stars... everything! Every night is another masterpiece that- oh, I'm so sorry, where are my manners?"
"Nay, do not apologize. It is words like these that inspire us to continue, reminding us there are those that do love the beauty of the night." Princess Luna smiled gently at the Fluttershy, "Only... there is one thing..."
"Yes?"
"You are truly the Element of Kindness, taking your time to listen to the despairs and woes of an older mare. Should you not be with your friends?"
Fluttershy shook her head slowly, "No. That's quite all right. My friends will be there when I need them. Right now I feel I need to be here... so here I am."
"You are a most magnificent mare, Fluttershy. If you were not a Bearer of the Elements, we would gladly ask that thou enter our personal service. Since thou are a Bearer, we cannot. Sister has forbidden it," Luna sighed. "Still, may we confide in thee?"
"Of course, Your Highness."
"Do you not find our nights... lacking?" Luna asked after a significant pause.
"Lacking? How so?"
"This may sound peculiar coming from us, but we feel that our nights have been... empty. The fields that glow under my sister's ethereal sun give Equestria a warmth that we cannot match. Our nights are cold and hard, the plants that blossom under our sky are always white. If we shall see another white bloom, we shall be overly annoyed!"
"Oh... my..." Fluttershy ducked behind the table at Luna's explosive Voice.
"Apologies, sometimes we forget ourselves."
"Are... are you talking about the fields of wheat?" Fluttershy asked, "Oh yes, they are lovely."
"Are they not? We wish that there were such fields visible under the moon's light. Think of it. What if they can sway as and reflect the moon's glow with as much fervor as the sun's radiance."
Princess Luna sulked as she said the last part and it took Fluttershy some time to help cheer the mare up.
It had been a hard day for Luna. She walked through the halls of the Royal Palace trying to avoid the attentions of the palace's keepers. The guards stayed with their posts, but kept their eyes on her. The staff moved around silently and discreetly (although they did pause to bow and curtsy to her), but did not speak to her. She was glad of that. The only thing she did not want to do is run into her sister.
"Luna?"
The hairs on her back stood up.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in bed?" the voice said gently.
"Sister!"
Luna spun around to see... Pinkie Pie! She had something in her hoofs and was rolling about the floor in gales of laughter.
"We do not understand. We hath heard our sister... Pinkie? What is the meaning of this?"
The pink mare brandished a device and placed it in Luna's hooves, "It's a Magic Mic! You can use it to imitate anypony's voice. Isn't it great?"
A twinkle appeared in Luna's eyes as she took it and grinned mischievously, "We have heard many a tale of your pranking exploits, Element. We are much amused by this device, and ask if thou wouldst lend it to us?"
"Sure! Knock yourself out. Say, Princess?"
"Mm-hmm?" Luna replied distractedly, her mind going through all the potential mayhem she could do within the castle with this thing.
"What's been eatin' you lately? You're not your usual peppy self."
Luna froze, "Peppy? Dost thou thinkest me... peppy?"
"Uh-huh."
Luna giggled at that, "Very well, we shall tell thee... but you have to promise not to tell anypony."
"Nope. Can't do that. I have to tell Twilight."
Luna furrowed her brow. "Why?"
"Because we're planning on doing something to cheer you up!" Pinkie replied jumping in her spot.
Luna giggled, "Thou art the best at making us smile, Pinkie Pie. We shall reveal all with the knowledge that it will put to good use in thy hooves."
"You know it! So, what ails ya, sista?"
And Luna told her about the fields of wheat.
"So, did you girls find out what's been bothering Luna?" Twilight asked.
"Wheat," Applejack stated.
"Wheat," Fluttershy replied nodding along with the orange mare.
"I would have to say it's because of wheat, darling," Rarity agreed.
"Uh... sure, yeah. Wheat sounds right..." Rainbow said, putting in her two bits. She had not realized the reason why Luna was gazing over that cloud until the girls pointed it out.
"It's because she didn't have a Magic Mic!" Pinkie shouted.
The others looked at her dryly.
"Yeah, and the wheat thing too..." she added quickly.
"Wheat? She's jealous of Princess Celestia because of... wheat?" Twilight shook her head, "Are you sure?"
"Eeyup."
"Uh-huh."
"Very."
"Y-y-yes."
"Yeppity yep!"
Twilight inhaled a sigh, "Then let's do something about it."
The girls wondered what Twilight meant by that.
"So, as you can plainly see, this is where we do the magic," the Doctor said pointing to a bunch of plants in an enclosed greenhouse. "We've been studying nocturnal blooms for years. This white delicate flower here is called a Moon Flower. They only bloom at night."
The girls ooh'ed and aah'ed at the flower. The fake darkness set by the greenhouse had made them bloom fully.
"They are beautiful," Fluttershy whispered leaning against the glass.
The Doctor nodded, "Yes, quite. Sadly, they are also very few flowers like these. So very few, and usually all in whites or pale colors. There are rumors of a few more species that exist inside the Everfree, but we've not had the pleasure of venturing there to find out first hoof as of yet."
"Now I can see why Princess Luna likes wheat so much. All those warm, gentle colors set against the ethereal whites of these and flowers like it... imagine staring at the same kinds of flowers for a thousand years from the moon. No wonder she got sick of them."
"Wouldn't she get sick of seeing wheat too?" Rainbow asked.
"The moon doesn't float around during the day as much. How many times do you see the moon during the day?"
The girls fumbled. They weren't too sure now that Twilight had mentioned it. They had seen the moon during the day a few times, but never really took notice.
"When she probably did see the fields of wheat it must have been a treat. Imagine spending a thousand years seeing Equestria mostly at night. After a while you'd get bored of staring at these white flowers and sleeping ponies. Anything with this kind of color is going to leave an impression."
"I don't think I could ever get sick of them," Fluttershy whispered as she peered at the delicate looking flowers behind the glass.
The Doctor nodded and walked by them towards a door, "Well, we have been doing some experiments and have created some really wonderful MMO's."
"MMO's?" The girls asked at the same time.
"Magically Modified Organisms," the Doctor replied over his shoulder leading them to a thick steel door. "We modify plants using magic to alter how they work. We've been working on a strain of wheat to grow in both night and daylight conditions. Not just wheat, but straws, grasses, even different kinds of fodder. There are, after all, still some places in our world where there are food shortages. Especially up in the far north and south parts of our country. They don't get enough sun for a full crop, and this is an answer to those problems! With a population that that is always expanding, it is getting harder and harder to feed all the hungry mouths."
"But isn't modifying plants like this... dangerous?" Rarity asked.
"Dangerous? I'm not sure what you mean," the Doctor guffawed. He shrugged, "I would say that the only real danger is doing nothing about it when we have the ability to use our intelligence to solve our problems."
Twilight looked at the Doctor, "But... won't it have any adverse-"
"Bo-ring!" Pinkie shouted. "Let's see the plants!"
"Uh... sure... right this way," the Doctor pulled back a small bolt and pushed the door open.
The girls did a collective gasp at what they saw. A small field of perfectly white wheat-like plants. It looked almost like a patch of snow, yet it swayed gently.
"There is wind here?" Twilight asked.
"Hm? Oh yes, we have filtration system that circulates the air. It really is pointless. These plants have no ability to cross-pollinate with other species because it-"
"Bo-ring!" Pinkie shouted again. "Can we grow these outside?"
The scientist adjusted his glasses. "Um... yes, we could."
Pinkie grinned from ear to ear, "Then what are we waiting for?"
It had been several weeks since the start of the Equestrian White Wheat, elegantly nicknamed 'Eww' by the famous Pinkie Pie, who liked going around and saying, "Do you know what I planted near Ponyville? Eww! Eww, Eww, Eww!"
Those who got it thought it was simply hilarious. Others just thought Pinkie was being Pinkie.
But today was special. Very special indeed. The girls looked up to see two large chariots arriving, each one being pulled by a team of the Princess' most trusted guards. It irked Twilight to see that her brother was not there, but considering he was a unicorn and not a pegasi, it was understandable.
"Girls, why must we done these coverings for our eyes!" Luna groaned. "It is impossible to see through."
Celestia smiled, "Now, now, sister dearest, what did we talk about earlier?"
"To not use the Royal 'We' whilst in the presence of friends," Luna answered as if she were a schoolfilly. "I apologize, it is a harder habit to break than I thought."
"It's quite all right. If it is something you've been doing a long time, then it's understandable why it's hard to-" Rarity was suddenly cut off.
"Bo-ring!" Pinkie shouted interrupting everyone. "Time to show Princess Luna the Eww!"
"Ew?" Luna asked.
Rarity rolled her eyes, "Must we call it something so... so..."
"We'll let Princess Luna rename it after she sees them. Is that okay with you, Pinkie?" Twilight spoke for Rarity who didn't really want to offend the pink mare.
Pinkie thought about it for a moment, "What's wrong with Eww?"
"I'll throw you a party if you agree..." Twilight tempted the pink mare.
Pinkie zipped to her friend in a blur, "Really?" she screamed in Twilight's face. "Deal!"
"You may take off your blind now, sister," Celestia said gently.
Luna did so and her breath caught in her throat. A field of snow was in front of her, only it was not snow, but wheat. The kernel looked almost translucent, and seemed to want to glow in the evening sun.
Celestia smiled at her sister, "Isn't it time you raised the moon?"
Nodding, Luna took to the air, spun around and used her supreme magical powers to raise the moon into the sky. Every pony who had never seen the Eww gasped, and even those that had seen it every day stopped a moment to marvel at its beauty. The field of white swayed in the breeze and the colors changed from translucent blues, greens and whites to silvers, grays and other nightly colors.
Luna landed gently by her friend's sides, tears in her eyes, "Thank you! Thank you all! I haven't seen anything this beautiful before. Even though it still resembles those plants I see night after night, the way they move and shift in the wind... I am so thankful."
"Don't thank us, Your Highness. Thank the Doctor." Twilight stepped aside revealing the stallion in question.
He bowed formally, "Your Highness, I am very happy that our MMO has pleased you."
"Pleased me? Pleased me! My dear Doctor, this is the single greatest thing anypony has ever shown me!"
"With the exception of a Magic Mic," Celestia said quietly making Luna's face turn pale and pink at the same time.
Pinkie leaned in and half-whispered, "Prank gone wrong?"
Luna nodded quickly, trying not to remind herself of her sister's retribution on discovering the source of said practical joke. Desperate to change the subject, she continued speaking, "I am curious as to why you picked such a name for it."
"I thought it was common knowledge that the Element of Laughter thought it up. The true name for the plant is Nocturna triticum or night wheat. It started out in memory of you, Princess Luna. A project that Princess Celestia commissioned many years ago -- decades in fact. My father and grandfather both worked on this project."
"Sister?"
Princess Celestia's cheeks colored slightly, "I confess that I'm... a little jealous of your nights. You have such a wonderful way with the stars and everypony says that your nights are far more beautiful than mine. For one thousand years I have tried to come close to your mastery of the heavens, but I cannot. You are, little Luna, exceptionally special at what you do, and I couldn't be more prouder that you're so talented."
"Sister!" Luna exclaimed, and wrapped a wing around Celestia in a tight embrace a huge grin on her face, "Thank you! Thank you for those words. I am... happy that you think so highly of me."
The Doctor coughed politely, hating to interrupt such a tender moment.
"Do continue, Doctor," Celestia politely requested.
"Yes, well, the experiment with altering the structure of the kernels and stems was successful, but there are two significant issues on why we cannot plant these en masse across Equestria. The first is that there is no significant yield from these crops. They grow far slower than their counterparts because of the light colors. They reflect light thereby making photosynthesis far more inefficient, despite their ethereal beauty."
The girls all looked at each other. None of them had noticed it until now, but the other fields of wheat had already been harvested almost two weeks prior, and these plants were still developing.
"What's the second thing?" Twilight asked politely.
"The second thing is that, because of the light hues of this plant, they prefer to grow under the daylight rather than the moon. We have tried to develop plants that can grow quicker at night, but it seems that we have only a very basic understanding of what that entails. I am sorry, Your Highness."
Princess Luna bowed her head. "No, i-i-it's okay... I am still very happy."
"But there is at least one good thing about this plant. It is a fantastic nitrogen fixing one." The Doctor smiled at Luna, "So, even though it won't be found or used a lot at once, I can assure you that it will still be used. Especially in places where fields need to remain fallow for a time. This beautiful specie will speed up the replenishment of the nutrients in the soil. Maybe not every field can be used to grow these plants, but certainly quite a number of them could. In conclusion, this plant is special in that it energizes the soil, will do so over a longer period of time replacing nutrients faster, and prefers the daylight as oppose to the night's in order to grow. So, when the fields of normal wheat are gone because of the harvest, your Nocturna triticum will remain."
"Is it edible?" Pinkie asked.
The Doctor looked at Pinkie and nodded, "Of course. It makes exceptional fodder. I have a bowl of it for breakfast every morning. The light colors make for a very delicate flavor that-"
"Hey! That reminds me of a saying!" Pinkie giggled, looking up at her friends, the Princesses and the Doctor before jumping on her hind legs and flourishing her front hooves over her head excitedly.
"Light fodder? Like sun!"