Light of the moon

Dead silence filled the room. Everypony seemed to be waiting for something to happen, but Moon was not quite sure what. He looked back to Applejack, but she had disappeared in the crowd. He sighed. He could see the questions on their faces.

“Ok, yes. I’m a blank flank. I’m Princess Luna’s student. I was stupid and went into the Everfree forest. I got hurt. Any other questions?” Moon looked down at the floor, but caught sight of pink legs. Looking up, he found himself face to face with Pinkie Pie.

“Just one… ARE YOU READY TO PARTY?!?”

Pulling a DJ station, complete with a brown Earth pony DJ, from behind him, music immediately began playing. All the others seemed to relax, and began moving around to hang out with their friends.

Moon looked around the room, and quickly found the three little fillies that had interrupted him. They were off in a corner, attempting to discuss something in secret, and failing miserably.

“Oh! And then later we can try Cutie Mark Crusaders explosives creator!”

“That doesn’t seem too good… I think Rarity would kill me!”

“Eh, what she don’t know won’t hurt her! And it’s better than Cutie Mark Crusaders Hydra Fighters. Big Mac was sooooo angry, I thought he was gonna give me a talkin’ to!”

Moon shook his head and smiled. Children were all the same, from the Crystal Empire to the Badlands, always finding new ways of getting into trouble. He scanned the crowd for a pink pony, but only managed to get glimpses of her as she popped out behind others, talking to them, and then vanishing.

He walked into the crowd, and began greeting people. Many of the younger ones wanted to know why he still did not have a cutie mark, which was a question he didn’t truly know the answer to. The older ponies tended to ask about the Princess, and how he met her. After telling the story of the dream several times, word got around, and that particular question drifted off.

Fairly soon, the party died down, and ponies began leaving to go home. Looking at a clock, Moon realized it was already 8:30. As everypony left, he shook hooves and made mental notes for each one. The three little girls made him promise to come and visit the clubhouse they had made. Promising he did so, he looked at the ponies still inside. Only three remained: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and a large red stallion. Walking over to them, he smiled.

“Thank you for the party, Pinkie Pie. It was the best one I’ve ever had.”  Reaching over, he hugged the happy mare, and turned to Applejack. “I also can not thank you enough for this. Without anywhere else to stay, I would most likely be forced to ask Princess Luna for a bit of extra money, and I doubt she would be as forgiving. And… Is this your brother?” gesturing to the red stallion.

“Eeyup. Ah’ll be teaching to you work on the farm tomorrow,” the stallion said, and promptly walked out the door. Applejack sighed.

“Don’t mind Big Mac, he don’t talk much. Anyways, we got you a present. Turns out Lyra got her hooves on the bag, and was holdin’ it for ya, but couldn’t make it tonight. Here ya go!” Moon’s bag, still full of the things he had brought with him to Ponyville, was lying on the bed, its contents partially spilled out. “Oh, and Rarity wanted to talk to ya. After you get some work done tomorrow, she is gonna show you around Ponyville. Also… She hates your cloak, so be prepared for whatever may happen.” Laughing slightly, Applejack and Pinkie Pie walked out, leaving Moon alone.

Moon looked at the mess left by the party, and began to clean. It was unfortunate that he had to clean, but it was worth it. Smiling, and with a spring in his step, he began collecting the pieces of confetti strewn about.

The metal bars of the cage began to glow. In the complete darkness surrounding it, the light illuminated nothing. With a sharp crack, a pony appeared inside the bars. The gold stallion looked around at the utter darkness, but he smiled. The darkness didn’t bother him, because he was happy.

Moon collapsed in his bed. The room was spotless, and the trash was all thrown away. It was time to speak with Luna.

Again, the moon hung low over the forest. The sun had moved once again, casting early morning light over the treetops. As Moon formed in the dream, he looked at the moon. His constant companion in the realm of dreams, the strange moon always reminded him that he was asleep, and nothing could truly harm him.

“Moon Light, what in Tartarus is wrong with you?”

Well, nothing except a pissed off Princess.

Turning around, Moon saw Luna sitting on a low-flying cloud, her head resting on a hoof, and an annoyed look on her face. “I can understand running. I’ve done it too. But, the Everfree? I’m sure even you have heard the stories! I’m disappointed in you.”

Moon hung his head. “I’m sorry, my Princess. I just thought they were stories. It was foolish of me, and I paid the price. However, I have learned something from it.”

The Princess cocked an eyebrow. “First, no formality here, please. Second, what is it?”

“Well, running can sometimes seem like an easy solution to a problem. However, sometimes that just makes the situation worse. If you don’t know where you are going, whether in life or while running through a city, then you need to stop. It is possible you will get lost, and then all sorts of bad things may happen. The best solution is to remain calm and try to find somepony who can help, but you always need to explain everything beforehoof. And, when lost and alone, acting without thinking can be very dangerous. Always take time to look around and think before flying into a new problem.”

The Princess nodded sagely. “Very good, my student. Quite a valuable lesson. Now, I shall teach you how to move in a dream. This is much more difficult than one would expect. Imagine you are three feet to your left. Then, generally shift your awareness so that you are, in fact, three feet to your left. This will be hard to start off with, but I’m sure…”

Two green eyes watched from the forest, learning the new lesson with the Pegasus. Soon, the lessons would come in handy, and Luna would be powerless to stop it…