Don't leave Celestia's Eggs in one basket
Don't leave Celestia's Eggs in one basket
Princess Celestia woke up one morning feeling somewhat groggy, slowly trotting through her daily routine. But then, as she was about to raise the sun, she saw some eggs on the ground around her carpet. The princess rubbed her eyes, not believing what she was seeing. She shrugged, thinking nothing of it, picked them up, and placed them; she went off and raised the sun. Afterward, she came down and went to eat breakfast. As she was enjoying her morning meal of pancakes and coffee, she noticed another egg roll down the way. Then, she turned to see her sister Luna walking over with a tired expression. "Good morning, sister."
"Good morning; how was your evening?"
"It was well…though ponies are still scared of me, I am doing my best to keep watch in the dream realm."
"I do hope things get better."
"I am sure they will, but sister, I have an odd question to ask?"
"Yes? Please go on?"
"Have you noticed eggs rolling around the castle recently?"
Celestia's eyes widened as she pulled out one of the eggs, gently placed it on the table, and shouted, "Thank Faust! You've noticed them, too. I thought I was going crazy!"
Luna looked around and asked, "Yes, well, where are they coming from? Is a chicken on the loose in the castle?"
Celestia shrugged. "I have no clue, but we might need to have the guards look aro-." Before she could finish, she squealed as she felt something come out of her and heard a plop. She slowly looked down to see a cracked egg, her eyes wide. "Did you see that?"
Luna's expression was the same as hers. "Unfortunately, I did, sister. It seems the rumors are true: You're part chicken."
The dark violet-coated mare laughed as Celestia reared her head at the joke and then said, "Haha, that's very funny. Now, seriously, think rationally: How could I be laying eggs!?"
They just stared at each other and shouted, "Discord!?" in unison.
The two ran at blinding speeds through the castle's halls. They burst out of the palace garden, only to find the statue of Discord standing over them as he had for the past millennia. The two princesses then sighed in relief, "Thank Faust!"
Celestia, however, groaned as she stomped a hoof in disappointment. Although she was glad Discord wasn't on the loose, it didn't help get her closer to finding out what was causing her egg-laying. "We might need to conduct research in the royal library to see what ailment could be causing this."
She cried, feeling another egg plop and crack on the ground. Luna blushed as she snickered, "Maybe you may need to nest."
Celestia's patience was rapidly fading, and grumbled, "Don't even start."
After heading to the royal library, they sat together, reviewing the various tomes on curses and hexes, but nothing mentioned an egg-laying curse. Frustrated, Celestia sat in a comfy chair with eggs plopping and rolling all over the place. Luna had a basket filled with them as she collected them, making Celestia twitch an eyebrow while secretly thanking her. But as time went on it felt as if they were getting nowhere.
The princess was getting frustrated as she threw a book of curses at the wall and shouted, "It doesn't seem like there's anything here!"
Luna paused, then asked, "tell me exactly what you did yesterday?"
The princess sat down and pondered for a second, then said, "First, I woke up, raised the sun, held court, had to go to Fillydelphia due to the parasprite epidemic, came back, went and had dinner with Fancy Pants…"
"Oh? Maybe something was slipped into your food or drink?"
"No, I don't think so. I don't remember eggs, then…I got one of Twilight's friendship lessons from Spike mentioning how they thought Zecora, a zebra, was a witch."
"I remember you telling me about that, that's just horrible that ponies would treat another with such animosity. "
"Indeed, I know the ponies can be xenophobic but this is somthing that should be adressed. I hope Twilight and I can work together on it, as it's difficult coming from me."
"Ok? Was there anything else about the friendship lesson that's important?"
"Just that Twilight and her friends were poisoned with Poison Joke."
Luna's eyes lit up, and then asked, "Was there any Poison Joke residue on the letter?"
Celestia stood up as another egg plopped onto the ground. "I remember some odd blueish pollen on the parchment! That must've been a poison joke!"
Luna's face lit up as she cried, "I see, that explains the eggs! We just need Zecora to come here, and she'll whip you up a cure like in the friendship lesson!"
Celestia thought for a second as she considered the idea. Zecora, which isn't well known, but ponies will ask questions and wonder why a zebra is coming over to the castle. She wanted to make sure nopony ever knew about this and shouted, "What, no! That's a horrible idea!"
"Why?"
The white-coated alicorn's face was bright red as she started to trot back and forth, explaining. “Nothing against her; it's just… I don't want anypony to know about this. If Zeocra comes here to cure me, it'll look odd, and ponies will be asking questions, which could lead to them discovering my egg-laying! I think it's best if we go to her."
"Wouldn't that draw more suspicion?"
"We already have Quill Feather taking care of my duties for today. As most ponies think I'm ill, we can sneak off and fly to Ponyville without anypony noticing."
Luma blushed as she said. "That's an idea, but sister, however you can't seem to control this egg-laying. If you accidentally lay an egg while flying, it could fall and land on somepony."
Celestia groaned, hiding her face behind her wings just at the thought of one of her eggs landing on some poor pony. Realizing her sister was right, she cried, "You're right! Maybe it's best we call Zecora here."
"Alright, we just need to write a letter to Twi-"
Celestia started flapping her wings, threw her hooves up, and shouted, "NO, TWILIGHT CAN'T KNOW ABOUT THIS!"
Luna was somewhat astonished. "But why!? You said we need Zecora to come to cure you?"
The princess of the sun took a second to calm herself and exclaimed, "Yes, but I don't want her to know either! Not only is it embarrassing, but she would blame herself for this! I don't want Twilight to feel guilty for accidentally cursing me."
Luna rolled her eyes and threw out her wings in frustration as she sighed, "Fine, so if we can't send a letter to Twilight or fly to Zecora, how are we going to cure you?"
Celestia got up and trotted back and forth for a few moments; then, an idea came to her: "There's one way we can get to Zecora without anypony seeing us or me dropping eggs on ponies' heads."
Luna eyed her sister, who seemed rather skeptical about this, and asked, "Okay, explain your brilliant plan?"
The white-coated alicorn slowly turned her head towards her sister and said, "Alright, but I'll admit it's abit embarrassing."
"Right, I mean, the egg laying is bad enough."
"I mean for you…"
Luna was now looking rather worried as her sister explained the plan.
Celestia was now sitting in a chariot with her sister Luna, pulling it along with a very stone-cold look on her face. The white-coated alicorn had cast an invisibility spell on each other. Still, regardless, the princess of the sun was so embarrassed about her situation that more eggs came out of her flank, and she gently put them in a basket near her.
However, she was getting somewhat worried seeing Luna hard at work pulling the chariot through the sky. Being concerned, she asked, "Sister, are you doing alright?"
Luna turned to face her, looking rather sweaty as she said, "Dear sister, I must admit this is quite taxing. Please just let me concentrate."
Celestia then said, "I'm sorry. I'll find some way to repay you."
"Just try losing weight next time."
Celestia reared her head a bit, somewhat taken aback by Luna's statement about her weight, then laid it down, mumbling angrily about how she "wasn't fat" under her breath. They eventually came to the Everfree Forest, and there, Celestia undid the invisibility spell and knocked on the door frantically. She heard it open as Zecora poked her head out. "Oh my! Princess Celestia, what a surprise!"
"Please, Zeocra, I apologize for intruding, but It's an emergency. I…”
Before she could finish, an egg fell and plopped on the ground as Celestia replied sheepishly, "I've been cursed by a poison joke. Can you help me?"
Zecora waved a hoof as Celestia walked through and said, "I see that poison joke has made you an egg layer! Do not worry; I still have the cure I made for Twilight and her friends, it'll make you feel a lot better."
The alicorn then trotted into the hut, trying to be careful not to knock things over. She then patiently waited, minus an egg plopping out of her flank every now and again. But eventually, Zecora hoofed the vial to her and said, "Remember, just take a bath with this cure, and you will return to being normal, I'm sure."
"Thank you, Zecora. Also I apologize for how the ponies in Ponyville treated you. I will address the concerns of other non-ponies living within the kingdom and how they're treated."
"No need to fret. Twilight learned her lesson, and now the others treat me with respect. You cannot control what other ponies do; just lead by example, and I will be good too."
Celestia then hoofed her a bag of bits. "Alright, just let me know if you need anything else. I'm in your debt. Just don't tell anypony about this."
"Do not worry; you will be healed, and my lips will remain sealed."
Celestia bowed as she left, then came to her sister and held out the bottle with a smile on her face as she chirped. "I have the cure!"
"Good, now we can get out of here."
They both then turned their attention back to the chariot as Luna snapped, "You really do owe me for this."
"I know," Celestia sat back as Luna hitched herself and flew off with the invisibility spell placed on them; she laid back abit, gazing at the vial, being rather happy this ordeal was about to end.
Later that afternoon, after Luna returned from carrying her sister throughout the entire night, she helped Celestia take a relaxing bubble bath with the cure. Then Celestia gave her a relaxing massage in exchange for all the work she did for her. Then, the princess of the night went through her responsibilities of guarding the realm of dreams. Despite being exhausted from towing her sister back and forth across Equestria, she had to admit they did bond, and it was nice seeing her sister being more vulnerable and allowing her to help her. It was the interaction she longed for before turning into Nightmare Moon, and it seemed this little misadventure brought them together.
Then, as the following morning the sun rose, she trotted downstairs, and her nose sniffed as the delicious smell of eggs wafted from the kitchen. Curious, the princess walked into the kitchen and gasped, seeing tons of castle staff eating eggs, scrambled eggs, sunnyside up, hardboiled, and some eating omelets of all kinds. With a smile, the chef trotted over to her, threw a hoof in the air, and exclaimed. "Ah, good morning, Princess Luna! I found a whole basket of eggs in the royal fridge, and they are delicious!"
Luna's eyes widened as she shouted, "I put a note on that basket!"
"Yes, the note! I'm sorry, but I didn't know you wrote it, and I didn't want the eggs to spoil. I apologize; I should have asked if you were saving them." Before she could even respond, she heard her sister shout.
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!"
The princess of the night then turned to see that her sister was standing by, her face now a beat red. Luna flew over to her and quickly said, "Well, um, I can explain; you see, I, uh, had a basket of eggs, and well, the chef here decided to use them for making breakfast."
The stallion removed his chef's hat and said, "I apologize. It was not my intention to cause any harm. I just wanted to make everypony a lovely breakfast, and the eggs called out to me!"
Luna put a hoof to her face and grumbled, "It's fine. Next time, ask if you see a note saying don't touch."
"Of…of course, Princess Luna," The chef replied with a bow, then quickly trotted off. Seeing nopony in earshot, Luna whispered to her sister, "I swear I put a note on it saying not to touch it."
"That's all you did; put a note on them!? Why didn't you throw them out!?"
"I don't know they were eggs! I just thought I would find a way to dispose of them without anypony knowing but not let them go to waste."
Then, Princess Celestia was offered a platter with an omelet, a side of cake, and a cup of coffee. The chef threw a hoof into the air and proclaimed, "Here you go, an omelet with a small side of cake and coffee, just how you like it."
Celestia slowly pushed the food aside, picked up her cup of coffee with her magic, and, through gritted teeth, replied as politely as possible, "I'm not hungry, but thank you."
The chef bowed. "I apologize, I really shouldn't have touched those eggs."
"It's fine; as my sister said, please don't touch food with notes on them," Celestia grumbled as she slowly trotted off, muttering under her breath. Luna then looked dowm at it and felt herself unable to resist the smell she sat down and mervously said, "Well, can't let good food go to waste."
As she chomped on the omelet, her eyes widened; it was delicious; the eggs tasted so good, and they had this sweetness to them, unlike normal eggs, but it didn't take away from the meal's flavor. She continued eating, unable to stop taking a second serving, then a third! Once she was stuffed and trotting to her room to get some sleep, the princess of the night pondered as a prank if she should sneak some more "poison joke" onto her sister to get more of those delicous eggs in the future.