Trixie the Greatest

LUNA'S CEREAL

It was another sunny morning at Canterlot castle. Celestia has just raised the sun and ponies everywhere started their own daily routines once more. Princess Luna awoke with a cheerful disposition today, she had quite a nice night's sleep and was feeling completely refreshed. She hopped from her bed to the bathroom to freshen up and to comb her mane to the proper shape, along with straightening her tail which always managed to become a mess no matter how hard she tried to sleep properly. Some might think that because she is the princess of the night that she slept at such time, thing is, after being rescued by the elements, she had yet to return to said accustomed life, much less trying to get the moon up for the evening as she used to. No, she was still too weak to do such things, so her elder sister took care for her while she regained her powers slowly, but surely.

Luna, satisfied with the way she looked, retired from her room and cantered towards the kitchen to see if there was something new to try. After a thousand years of absence, many things have changed, including some foodstuffs she have never heard of before. Most of them were alright, some were intriguing, while others...she didn't want to try them much as she did the first time. Of course, there were other foods that she couldn't taste anymore for they seemed to be either forgotten, or ponies didn't find them with the times so to speak. Everytime she asked the royal chefs to do something that a millenia ago was common, they scampered to the archives to see if they could find the recipes but took way too long for them to come up with anything at times. So today she was going to try something quite simple...cereal. After deciding what to have for breakfast, Luna walked inside the pantry, excusing the chef in charge of the morning meals and looked inside a shelf filled with an assortment of mentioned cereal boxes. She looked left to right at the names edged on the sides of said boxes, trying to find out what each contained by title alone. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and picked one box at random with her magic, bringing it closer to her face. Upon inspection, she read the title aloud.

"Rice Oaties...fill your morning with the delicious sounds of crackle, snap, and pop!"

A rice-based cereal! She hasn't ever tried something like this. Smiling, she magically floated a bowl, spoon, and a carton of milk along with the cereal box, following close behind her as she neared the table in the kitchen. She poured the contents of both milk and cereal into the bowl, filling it up, and then dunked the spoon to get a bite out into her mouth. Eating, she moved the contents from left to right, eyes looking up as she tasted the crunchy oats. She nodded in satisfaction. Gulping the bite, she was about to dig in again when she started hearing noises coming from the bowl. She looked close at it and listened attentively. The cereal, as the box indicated, was making various popping, crackling noises as it settled in the milk. Suddenly, she gave it full attention as her eyes became enlarged while looking at it.

"The cereal...it is speaking to me..."

The crackling continued as Luna paid attention. She nodded at times as if understanding what the cereal was supposedly talking to her. She lowered the spoon besides the boel and continued listening to the noise.

"Yes...you're right...I should not stand for it..."

More crackling and more nodding.

"Yes, my friend...I need to take action..."

"Morning Luna," came a serene voice as her elder sister entered the kitchen. Luna turned to face her, the look on her eyes the same as it were while talking to the cereal.

"Oh...it's you..."

Celestia stopped abruptly, looking at her sister. She raised her eyebrows and leaned her head close.

"Luna? Are you alright this morning?"

Luna suddenly shook her head and came out of her trance. Blinking, she smiled at Celestia and nodded.

"Er...yes! Fine and dandy! How are you doing this morning, dear sister?"

"I'm fine, thank you..." Celestia dismissed what had happened, thinking maybe Luna had overslept and was still trying to wake up. She walked to the pantry herself, and decided what to prepare for herself without difficulty. She walked back to the table hovering some bagels split in half toppled with cream cheese and a cup of coffee. She settled them down on the table, taking a seat on the opposite direction of her sister. Luna looked sideays, not knowing what to do in case this happened in front of her sister. Strangely enough, the cereal stopped crackling, to which she thought it may have been because it was settled in the milk for too long. Whatever the case, she was glad it didn't continue to talk to her when Celestia arrived. Shrugging, Luna resumed eating it along with her sister, and both enjoyed breakfast while having small talk.

The rest of the day went as expected. While Celestia tended to the needs of other ponies in court, Luna spent most of the time in the library, catching up in history, economics, and a bit of trivia that some books contained telling her of cultural facts and modernized items ponies nowadays used. Clicking her abacus, Luna felt distracted a bit. She wondered what happened early in the morning was just her imagination playing tricks on her. She stopped researching and looked at the distance pondering about this What she unassumingly heard the cereal said brought up many questions and some doubts about the way she was living her life. Exactly where did it came from? Would this happen again if she decided to eat the same thing the next morning? She closed her eyes and shook hear head slowly, maybe her mind was just pranking her after all. She resumed her studies well into nightfall, when she left the library to walk up her room in the castle.

Luna was striding through the hallway, passing by the royal kitchen when she heard something like a whisper behind her. She stopped and looked at the direction of the sound. Noting that nothing was there, she shrugged and began walking. A few paces later, she swore she heard her name again. This time, she turned and walked straight to the source of this, which directed her into the kitchen. Turning on the lights, she inspected the empty location, failing to see anypony who might've called her here. Again, she heard her name, and this time, it was closer than before. She thought it came from the pantry so she walked towards it. Opening the shelf containing the cereal boxes, she brought down the same box she had eaten from this morning, and stared at it. She licked her lips and without hesitation, helped herself to another bowl, filing it with milk afterwards. She walked to the table and set the bowl on it, and looked at it as the contents began its noise anew, starting a new conversation as she intently listened to it.

"Yes...I understand now...it is all so clear to me..."

The cereal snapped loudly, as if trying to accentuate its point on what it was telling her. Luna nodded and exchanged words with it, each time stating what she had to do and what to do with it. The door swung open and the noise of hoofs on the floor woke her up from her "conversation". She stared at the pony standing mere feet away from her, a chef of the court.

"Princess? Are you hungry? Should I get anything for you this evening?"

"Um, no! No, its fine, cereal at night is a new thing I've been trying to eat! Er...I think I will eat it at my room tonight, so if you excuse me, heh..."

Luna levitated the bowl and walked past the chef to the hallway. The chef looked on with a confused look on his face, then looked at the table.

"Huh...she forgot her spoon. Well, I guess she won't need it this time."

Luna walked inside her bedroom and closed the door behind her, ensuring that she would have total privacy with her newfound friend. She set the bowl on the floor and sat besides it, listening to the sounds it make to tell her what it was planning her to do. After a few minutes of listening, Luna raised her face, a look of mischieviusness as her eyes stared at nothing.

The next morning, Celestia awoke with a stifled yawn, she was getting ready to lift the sun as she always did. Today however, she noticed that she seemed to have something covering her face. Blinking, she licked the sides of her mouth and tasted something sweet and cake like. Her eyes widened as the flavor was all too familiar and darted from her bed towards her vanity mirror. Upon inspecting her face, she also noticed that parts of her body and wings were covered in what it appeared to be-

"PIE! I HAVE PIE ON ME!"

Celestia quickly went to the bathroom within her chamber and turned on the shower to wash off the offending pastry covering her. She kept washing it off for several minutes even when her coat and wings were completely devoid of it. When she decided she was cleane enough, she stepped out and with a shiver on her body, encouraged herself to get her royal regalia on and stepped outside to raise the sun.

After what happened, the sisters were eating breakfast together again. This time however, Luna opted for some croissants and dark tea, eating them while she watched Celestia trembling in her seat, taking tiny bites of her bagel as if she were afraid it might bite her back.

"Celestia? You seem quite jumpy this morning. Something's the matter?"

"Huh? Oh...no...nothing. Just...not feeling the urge to eat much this morning. Yeah, that's it! Not that hungry today."

Luna said nothing and resumed her breakfast. In the back of her mind she was giggling at what she did the night before, just as cereal told her to. She started hearing a familiar crackling noise from the pantry as she looked past Celestia. She smiled.

"By the way, Luna. I am thinking that maybe you could raise the moon tonight, as a way to train yourself when you are fully recovered."

"Oh? Well I guess..."

"Trust me, sister. This will do you good."

Luna shrugged, to what Celestia took as something out of the blue. She always thought her sister would be anxious to do her job again after she came back to her. Celestia tried another subject to lighten up the mood, but found out that Luna got up and excused herself, leaving the kitchen. The alabaster princess looked at her all the way to the exit, leaving her with her own thoughts. She then gulped a piece of bagel and a look of horror came to her face.

"Pie..."

Later that evening, Celestia and Luna were at the highest balcony. Celestia brought down the sun to let the moon princess try and raise the moon by herself. When the elder sister was done, she nodded to Luna to raise the moon. Luna closed her eyes and began lighting her horn, in an attempt to raise the satellite. She gritted her teeth, giving more power as her horn glowed intensely. Celestia looked on as a glint in the horizon announced the rise of the moon.

"Almost there! You can do this Luna!"

The moon rose slowly, filling the night sky with its glow as Luna kept summoning it. She started faltering, and then the moon began lowering again, back behind the mountains were it vanished out of view. Luna let go of the power and gasped for air, legs trembling as she looked down in defeat. Celestia tried to embrace her with a wing in sympathy, but as soon as it touched her, the moon princess shove it away with her head.

"Don't...just leave me alone!"

Luna ran away from the balcony towards the castle, leaving Celestia by herself as she watched helplessly. She turned to face the horizon and conjured the power to rise the moon herself. After a few moments, the moon was shining high in the sky, illuminating a saddened princess.

"Oh Luna...if you don't try how will you succeed?"

Luna found herself sobbing in front of a filled bowl of cereal inside her room. She kept talking to it while trying to regain her composure.

"Oh cereal, why did she do that to me? Do you think she knew of the prank we set and tried to get revenge on me because of it?"

The cereal began to crackle, and again, Luna's trance began anew, paying close attention at what it had to say to her this time.

"She will pay...you know exactly what to do...really? You can do THAT for me? Oh cereal, you are my BEST friend..."

Princess Celestia opened her eyes to a new day and this time, she made sure that there was no pie covering her face. She checked herself in her vanity mirror to double check this and smiled, giving a sigh of relief. She entered her bathroom and began grooming herself to the point of princess level satisfaction. She got out and put on her regal accesories and golden shoes. Checking on the mirror once more, she nodded and exited her bedroom to raise the sun. She happily trotted to the uppermost balcony of the castle and was about to bring on the day when she noticed Luna sitting on the edge of the balcony, head raised to the sky. Celestia noticed that the sky outside seemed dimly lit, as if the sun came up but was covered by clouds. She wondered how this could be and approached her sister. When she was close enough, Luna turned her head and greeted her with a big smile.

"Morning Celly! Guess what? I did your job for you today! Isn't it neat?"

"Luna what are you talking about, just yesterday you couldn't raise the moon much less..."

Celestia looked up at the sun only for her mouth to drop, her eyes becoming tiny pricks in her sockets. Luna did raise the sun, but that was not the only thing she did. She also raised the moon to align itself with her own celestial orb, causing an eclipse that she imagine was up well before she got out of bed. Luna turned and began walking away as Celestia was still stunned at the sight.

"Well, time for me to retire for the day! See you tonight, Celly."

"Ah...ah...huh?"

Waking up from her shock, Celestia worked to get the moon back down and keep the sun up at the same time. Unlike the effort taken to raise one of them, the work doing it for both got her drained. Taking a short break before court, Celestia was now at her throne, getting ready to tend to the needs of her ponies. After a few subjects expressing their needs to her, a dark teal unicorn dressed in a business vest and sporting a monocle on his right eye approached. He bowed and then stated his business today.

"Good morning, your majesty, I'm Ink quill and I am here to offer something we found in our archives the day before. It is a tome that was presumably lost years ago in the Everfree castle, recovered by one of my assistants when he explored the ruins of the castle. I take it will be in your best interest that you get it back."

"Hmm, that sounds interesting indeed. I am grateful for your findings, Ink quill. Let us have a look of this tome you spoke of."

"Of course, your majesty." He clapped his hoofs and another pony, light grey and younger than Inkquill, approached, levitating a sizable box with his magic. Inkquill dismissed him as he took hold of said box and showed in front for the princess to see. Celestia nodded at him, and Inkquill began opening the box. As soon as it was opened, the sound of a spring was heard, and it tossed something straight at Celestia's face. Time slowed down as her eyes grew big as saucers, mouth wording what it was coming close to her. The offending projectile hit her right on her face as time resumed normally, leaving her covered with cream, pastry chunks, and strawberries. In Inkquill and the rest of the court had their mouth agape at this, and then Celestia jumped down from the throne, running to the back into a hall while screaming the word pie at the top of her lungs. Inkquill was then dragged out by two royal guards from the court.

"But, but...I don't understand! How did a pie replaced the tome? I am not to blame for this! Let me go! Please?"

He was bucked in the rear and tossed to the streets below the stairs. The guards snorted and went back inside. It took most of the royal staff to get Celestia to calm down as they cleaned her up to continue the court. When news reached Luna in her room, she simply cackled maniacally. She picked up her cereal bowl and nuzzled it tenderly. After Celestia came to her about what happened, Luna denied any association with the prank, claiming that she as in her room the entire time when it happened. Celestia left her still a shivering mess to continue with the day. Luna plopped on her bed and rested her head on her hoofs.

"Well, cereal...what else can we do to get our little revenge?"

The cereal spoke to her again, and Luna smiled the more she paid attention to it. For the next few days, Celestia has been the target of many pranks including sitting on a whoopie cushion hidden under her throne, slipping over butter on the floor, getting drenched by a bucket of tomato juice when she opened the door to her study, falling to several levels below when she stepped on a rug covering a large hole where she could fit, and drinking tainted tea that made her sound like a little filly for the remainder of the day. Still, she took it wit ha grain of salt and decided whoever was doing this would eventually get tired of it. She didn't have the patience to hunt down the joker, and would not even try to accuse anypony of it either. She let sleep wash away her misfortunes for the night. It all lead to the part when she opened her eyes and stared up the ceiling, just in time to see an anvil that was dropping on her head. Celestia teleported away just before it hit her, landing on the bed and making a crashing sound as wood was smashed. Celestia appeared several feet away from her now ruined bed, and glared at the anvil.

"Alright...this is enough. It was all harmless pranks when it didn't involve my well being. I'll have to solve this on my own."

Her horn lit up and started making a spell to find out who was responsible. She figured that the anvil was being held by magic as well, so it would leave any residue from the one who levitated it over her head. After scanning the heavy object with her horn, Celestia's eyes grew bigger as she realized who was responsible. She quickly exited her room and went on to find Luna. She immediately knocked on the door of the moon princess' room with sheer annoyance.

"Luna? Luna! Open the door, we must have a little chat young alicorn."

After moments of waiting for an answer, Celestia tried to open the door by herself, but found out the knob didn't budge. She used her horn to open it magically and after a few tries, the door slammed against the wall as the alabaster princess entered with downright anger. She fond her sister in the far corner of the room, sitting in front of what it appeared to be a bowl filled with cereal. Celestia neared her and the more she got close, the more she noticed that Luna seemed to be talking to herself. No, it seemed that she was talking to somepony else, but saw nothing but the bowl Luna was staring at while talking. Celestia's expression turned to that of a worried sibling.

"Luna...? Luna who are you talking to? What is wrong with you?"

Luna refused to answer he, still chatting with the inanimate object. Celestia gulped and tried to get closer, regretting it instantly.

"Yes cereal...by now she should be looking at stars, it was quite satisfying what you considered for today. Next time, we will use a trapdoor filled with spikes..."

Celestia turned Luna to face her using her magic. She noticed that Luna's eyes were giving her a vacant stare.

"Oh...it's you again. Enjoyed your headache?"

"Luna! What in the name of our ancestors has gotten into you? Snap out of it!"

Celestia began shaking Luna until the midnight blue alicorn blinked her eyes, coming out of her trance. She stared at Celestia in a look of confusion.

"Celly? What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"Luna, I am not sure what has happened here, but I think you are being manipulated somehow. So please drop the act about feigning innocence with me and tell me what is wrong with you."

"What? I am not feigning anything at all! I am not sure what you are talking about either, I-"

Luna then suddenly turned her head as she heard words only she could hear coming from the bowl on the floor. She began acting the same way Celestia found her moments ago.

"Yes...I must act quickly."

Before Celestia registered what was that she meant, Luna's horn lit up and the sun princess found herself smashed to the wall. She tried to get up, but then Luna began tossing objects in her room at her. Celestia simply dodged everything with an invisible barrier of magic, but then noticed Luna was trying to levitate her bed to use it against her, all the while muttering to the bowl on the floor. Celestia thought this was insane, but went for her instinct and levitated the bowl of cereal, tossing it outside the window. As soon as it was gone, Luna once again regained her sanity, shaking her head and looking around as if she had no idea of what was going on. Celestia then approached her once more, this time with caution.

"Luna?" she said while keeping her guard up "Are you alright?"

The moon princess looked up at her and began sniffling. She ran to her sister and embraced her in a hug. Startled, Celestia returned the affectionate gesture.

"Oh Celestia, I have no idea what came over me! It was that cereal! It...it talked to me! It kept telling me to do all those pranks until it decided to step up things where you could get hurt! I din't mean it to get out of hoof, I just wanted to get back at you without harming you at all! Really, I am sorry..."

"It's alright Luna...I forgive you."

In the kitchen, Celestia observed as Luna levitated the responsible box of cereal for recent events. The alicorns stepped near a window with the box in tow, then the midnight blue princess turned her head to see her sister. Celestia nodded, and Luna tossed the box out of the window, while she still heard the insane crackling sound that the box was making in an attempt to protest her decision. Luna then turned to her sister to embrace her in another hug. Both royal sisters exited the kitchen to resume their lives. The box fell several feet below before bouncing off the head of a homeless pony, who stared at the box on the ground and picked it up. Shrugging, he downed the contents in his mouth, munching away and tossing the empty box while relaxing on the royal gardens.

Back at the kitchen pantry, the rows of cereals stood idly as a familiar sound crept from one of the boxes. The sound led to a brown box of cereal marked "Chocolate Rice Oaties, make your day the most satisfying way to enjoy the chocolaty crunch!"...

THE END