The Great and Powerful Dinner [Luna]

[Trixie Lulamoon]

It had been several days since her last lesson, and Trixie was certain that she had gotten the smell illusion down. Granted, it meant her room smelled like a mixture of a perfume store, fruit stand, and a pig pen from the various experiments in the spell, but it had been a success. She would deal with those lingering smells at some point or another. For now, however, she decided to enjoy her success by using the smell illusion as a perfume for herself. Why do something so fancy? Because the princess had invited her to a dinner before there lesson. Not only did proper etiquette suggest that she dress up a little bit- which is why for once she used her clasp as a makeshift necklace and had no cape or hat on- for the occasion, but it gave her a chance to show off her progress. For this first time she kept it simple and went with floral smelling smell. She didn't exactly know what kind of floral, but it was a smell she found while looking at some perfume shops in Canterlot. Point one for Trixie for being able to get expensive perfume smell with none of that perfume cost!

With a slight strut in her step she made her way into the dining hall, but she found herself stopped in her tracks by the sight of the spread. She was sure it was small for a formal dinner at the castle, but to her it was the most food she had seen in a while. The table was decked out in all sorts of fruits, cheeses, breads, and vegetables. For a quick moment she had to stop so as to hold back from drooling a little at the sight. Once composed, she noticed that Luna was not yet present at the dinner. That left her chair at the head of the table – which was a little fancier than the other ones and had a rather soft looking cushion on it – free.

Glancing around and spotting no one coming, Trixie non-chalantly made her way towards the chair. Taking yet another look to make sure there was absolutely no one around, Trixie proceeded to get in and make herself comfortable. Even just sitting at a dining table in a princess’s chair felt powerful. Sure, it wasn’t like it was a throne, but Trixie couldn’t help but shiver just a little at the thought that this was a chair royalty got to sit in. Although to be honest, she thought it could have been just a bit fancier, maybe with some gold on it somewhere. Still, Trixie relaxed herself just a little bit, and her thoughts began to float away a little.

To the left of her there was a servant pouring her a drink, and to the right a bard singing some songs for entertainment. The table itself was filled with guests from all over Equestria. Guests that were, of course, of the highest pedigree. All of them, of course, were praising her for her hosting skills and congratulating her on her recent rise to princesshood. Courtesy of the support of Princess Luna of course. Trixie, caught up in the moment of the thought, let out a small laugh as she “humbly” looked away with a dismissive wave of her hoof.

”Oh, please stop it. There’s no need for such affection.”

[Deleted]

Tonight, it was Princess Luna who was running a little late. She'd had an audience that had run a little long, and required her to sign a great many documents, which had to be inspected and read very carefully before she put her seal upon them. Luna opted to glide down a flight of steps instead of walking them decorously. Praise be to have wings! Oh, she was still not as late as Trixie had been for their first lesson. One reason the midnight mare had asked her student to join her for dinner was to make it easier for the unicorn to get to her lessons afterwards. Even after showing the mare the trick of finding her way through the hallways, Luna was still just a little worried she might still get lost. But that was really a minor reason. Mostly, it was because she wished to form a close bond with her student. Dinner was a way to do such a thing, was it not? Did not the ancient scribes once say that the way to a mare's heart was through her stomach? Or was that a male? And why did she yet have a sneaking suspicion that the proverb intended that she cook the food herself? Luna picked up her pace into something between a trot and a canter. Undignified, but it carried one much faster than walking, and was not quite as disgraceful as a flat-out gallop. Of course, if she HAD cooked the food herself, the only close relationship anypony was going to forge tonight was one with the restroom. Luna had just, just mastered the art of making a grilled cheese sandwich on her own. And tomato soup. If it came out of a can. So naturally, tonight's menu was A La Kitchen Chefs. Luna hoped they hadn't gone too outrageous with it. Or would that be better, if they had? Luna had begun to realize that her student was not quite a mare of simple tastes. Or perhaps, the alicorn had to consider, she had not experienced enough of the glamour and fanciness of haute cuisine to grow tired of it. Luna skidded to a stop outside the banquet room and took a moment to straighten her crown and settle her feathers and mane. She wished to look presentable, especially for her student. She glanced at a grandfather clock, standing by the door. She was a few minutes late, not too bad. She lifted her head and strode regally into the room, only to espy Trixie Lulamoon in her own royal seat of state, slouching casually, as might an indolent empress. Luna's eyebrows raised considerably, and a smile quirked the corners of her mouth. Well! She'd had no idea her student could be so bold. The alicorn was quite amused. So Trixie could see herself as a princess, perhaps? "Would your ladyship like to partake in red, or white wine?" Luna teased, coming forward.

[Trixie Lulamoon]

Lost in her indulgent little fantasy, Trixie didn’t notice that the Princess arrived until she spoke. The moment she heard, however, Trixie flailed around as she got out of the chair, being as ungraceful as she could plopping to the ground. Her face was beet red, her brain partially shut down as she grasped at an answer to Luna’s question.

”Oh, uhm, red will be fine….”

Taking a deep breath to try and calm down, Trixie sheeply pushed herself off the ground and gave Luna an embarrassed smile. From how Luna sounded she had just been teasing her and wasn’t mad. Trixie felt rather relieved that was the case. Not enough to stop looking like the color of the wine, but enough she wasn’t fully panicking about. After all, how often do you get walked in on playing princess by an actual princess?

”So, uhm, evening Princess Luna. I, uhm, warmed up your chair for you,” she said, letting out a nervous laughter as she made her way to another chair nearby,”I hope your evening has been good so far. Thank you for inviting me to dinner.”

Hopefully the evening could be salvaged from this rather embarrassing moment.

[Deleted]

Luna winced slightly as Trixie nearly broke her neck in her haste to get out of the night mare's chair. She hadn't meant to embarrass the unicorn. She nipped her lip, wondering what she might say to ease the situation. She glanced at the chair, and then back to Trixie, tempted to offer her student the option of sitting in it, if she liked. But once Trixie had suggested that she was 'warming it up' for Luna, the offer would have seemed... well, she didn't know. Rude, perhaps. The refusal of a kindly-intentioned service. Settling into her chair comfortably, the alicorn gave Trixie a smile. "Thou art quite welcome," she replied, in response to Trixie's gratitude for the dinner invitation. Then she remembered to modernize her speech. "I am afraid that I asked for rather simple fare, since 'tis to be just th- you and I..." Luna looked over the repast anxiously. "I hope you don't mind. Perhaps you would have preferred fancier dishes? I could have them reordered, or if there be something that you wish especially for, we could have it made...?" As she spoke, Luna selected the bottle of red wine and filled the unicorn's glass, before her own. Not too much of course, for there were lessons to follow. But hopefully, enough to break some of this awkward tension!

[Trixie Lulamoon]

Oh, thank you," Trixie said as Luna poured her the wine. It wasn't exactly Trixie's first choice of drink, but it went with the atmosphere and Luna had offered it. And after her little chair faux pas she felt like she really probably needed to be extra polite here. Especially since Luna seemed particularly anxious about the food for some reason.

"Oh, no, trust me, this is wonderful! Never really liked a lot of the fancier restaurants anyway. Always had too small of portions...not that I'm a glutton or anything like that. Just, you know, being on the road and all had to be cost-conscious, and simple food usually got you more for your bits... Trixie said, adding that last bit in another burst of impression-management based anxiety.

To make her point clear, Trixie levitated over some bread and began to spread some butter on it. As she did, she tried to think of something talk about. Suddenly, she remembered she currently smelled like fresh spring flowers for a reason and jumped on to that topic.

"Oh, I think I got the smell illusion down! I'm even using it like a perfume right now."

[Deleted]

"Oh, I think I got the smell illusion down! I'm even using it like a perfume right now." Princess Luna smiled her approval. Trixie did indeed have a lovely smell about her. "If I am not mistaken, 'tis a fair replication of the perfume Mayflora, a very expensive and rare scent. How very clever of you to find such a practical, modern use for this neglected spell!" she praised her student. She did not, however, mention that Trixie was wearing it a little too strong. Nor did she mention the complaints she'd been getting from the maid assigned to Trixie's suite of rooms. Mysterious smells that could not tracked down and removed. The midnight mare made a mental note to teach Trixie a quick and effective dispel charm tonight. After taking a sip of wine, Luna selected several slices of a fine cheese and a serving of a hot vegetable dish. Though it wasn't quite how it was intended to be served, she allowed... well, maybe even encouraged, the cheese to melt over it. "Although many dishes in this age are new to me, I must admit that this... what ponies call 'Junk Food'... Pizza, oat burgers, hayfries... is particularly attractive to me. Yet I have the hardest time getting such food prepared by the kitchen." Luna deftly speared some vegetables on the correct fork and twirled it deftly to snap the string of melty cheese that threatened to stretch from plate to face. She sighed before taking the mouthful. "I suppose that they wish to feel all the grandeur of their positions. And perhaps it is difficult to feel proud of preparing a simple oatburger or pizza." The moon princess laughed. "I assume this must be so, for when I order such things, they come to me in such strange presentations that they do not even resemble what I ordered. For example, the last time I wished for pizza, I was presented with a grilled tomato upon a biscuit, with a crescent moon of cheese, not melted, pinned to the top by a toothpick. Very elegant, and I must say, t'was quite enjoyable. But it was not much like pizza." Luna took another sip of wine. It occurred to her that perhaps it wasn't particularly grateful or kind to be complaining about the chefs while eating a meal prepared by those same chefs. "What- What kinds of foods did you prepare for yourself when you traveled?"

[Trixie Lulamoon]

Like always, Trixie got a proud if a little bit goofy grin on her face upon receiving praise from the princess for her cleverness. Granted Trixie had no idea about what perfume she had replicated. She had just gone into a store and let them spray her with stuff till she found a smell she could stand. Still, she’d take the compliment.

”Yeah, it seemed a pretty natural use for it, and it’s gonna save me a lot of bits down the road. My next idea is to see if I can replicate the smell of fireworks once they’ve been shot off to add a bit more realism to my fireworks spell.”

Granted she doubted it would be that useful for the show, but Trixie prided herself on making her illusions as real as possible. Now that she had a whole new scent to play with, so she was going to use it. She would just have to make sure to get rid of the smells afterwards. Starting with her room, which she’ll have to get to after tonight’s lessons.

For now, however, she focused on the dinner, deciding for now to munch on her bread while carefully making herself a makeshift fruit salad from some of the various fruits on the table. Fruit always seemed better mixed together to her. This information about Luna’s love of junk food wasn’t exactly new, having heard all of it from Flash. Still, Trixie couldn’t help but sympathize with Luna about the inability of the chefs of the castle to make a good junk food dish. Which was weird because Trixie was aware that there was artisan burger and pizza places that would be able to make foods on par with professional chefs. But old cultures were hard to change she guessed.

”Yeah, I like the foods here, but I also went and talked with that guard Flash Sentry about finding some good diners or stuff in town. If you want, I’ll be glad to sneak you back something next time I go to one,” Trixie said, giving Luna a conspiratorial wink.

Trixie took a sip of her wine as she thought about her response to Luna’s question.

”Well, for shorter trips I usually brought along your basic vegetables and fruits since I wouldn’t have to worry about spoilage. So a lot of sandwichs, salads, and soups were usually pretty good too. You can make soup go a long way. But if it was a longer trip, I’d usually run out of those and have to rely on foods that could last longer. Mostly granola bars, oats, pretty much anything that could be stored easily and not spoil. But when I was in town I usually spoiled myself by getting the junk food and stuff.”

[Deleted]

When Trixie mentioned granola, it took Princess Luna some effort not to shudder. She recalled, rather vividly, the dry, sawdusty taste of the granola bars in her dream. And the raisins, too. Suddenly, she felt a little awkward. Complaining about not being able to get burgers and pizza when she was provided with some of the finest food in Canterlot- especially when some ponies subsisted on such dry fare almost daily... seemed rather... childish. Petty. She didn't let that stop her from nodding eager agreement to Trixie's offer of sneaking her some junk food, however! "So, thou hast met Flash Sentry, then." Luna mused. "He and I hath also gone out to a diner together.... but t'was not a date!" Luna insisted hurriedly, lest her student get the wrong idea. "Has he told you about that? It happened in the most foolish of ways..." the princess shook her head and covered her face with a hoof. "I... broke his nose with a door. T'was an accident, and he was quite gentlecoltly about it...." Too awkward! Change the subject, Luna. she admonished herself. "Anyway" Luna said, groping for a topic. She bought herself a little time by finishing her serving of vegetables. "Have you been practicing with the magical weights? And the divination spell? I can tell you have been very successful with mastering the scent-illusion spell. But you were not to focus on that alone~" she added with playful severity. Making Trixie the focus of the conversation was surely a good idea. It was likely to be the unicorn's favorite topic, and was unlikely to result in more recollections of Embarrassing Moments: Luna's Greatest Hits!

[Trixie Lulamoon]

Ha ha, success! Now she and the princess had some secret little plan together. Just hopefully Luna kept herself in good shape: Trixie did not want to be blamed for the princess letting herself go a little. Great, all this talk about it made her wish they had gotten pizza instead of this food though. Maybe next lesson they could practice spells over a couple slices. They could figure out the toppings later. Hopefully the princess liked hot sauce too. It was Trixie’s favorite sauce to add to many, many things…

Trixie simply blinked at Luna’s insistence that her thing with Flash wasn’t a date. Trixie had assumed that to be the case – though of course she understood the possible perception – but it seemed as if both sides of it were being rather adamant about it. For politeness sake Trixie tried to refrain from laughing at the idea of the Princess of the Night accidentally breaking a poor guard’s nose with a door, but the curling up of her lips at the corner showed she was doing the bare minimum of restraint.

Seeing as that story had made them even on the embarrassment scale, Trixie allowed for the shift in conversation. For Luna’s sake of course.

”Yes, I’ve been working on the magical weights…but I kind of forgot to work on the divination spell. I got caught up in the scent-illusion to get it to work. And then once I got it to work I….kind of couldn’t get it to dispel. At least some of the initial tests….I preemptively apologize for any trouble that’s gonna cause the cleaning staff,” Trixie said, rubbing the back of her neck with a foreleg as she gave a small laugh.

[Deleted]

Luna was in great shape, thank you very much, and it was no thanks to the Chefs, either. After a thousand years or so, one learned to manage one's royal proportions. Even if one had been imprisoned on the moon for most of that time. And then again, Luna would have had to admit that foods were sweeter than what they once were. And perhaps that accounted for her dear Sister's curves being rounder than she remembered, one thousand years ago. Not that she would have called Celestia fat, mind you. At least not to her face. Upon hearing that Trixie had not been diligent with her practice on the divination spell, she frowned. Slightly. Trixie said she hadn't practiced because of the effort had been putting into her smell illusions. Luna rather fancied there was another reason. "T'would be wise of you to make a point of prioritizing spells which are further outside your range of experience." she said solemnly, but not unkindly. "Magical learning is much like a muscle. The more you exercise it, put it to its limits, the stronger it will grow. Likewise, if you practice spells which are not illusions, you will find that, slowly, your ability to master magic outside your range increases." Luna made a mental note to skip the illusory based spell she had planned to have Trixie learn tonight, and save it for the next lesson. She smiled at Trixie's embarrassed disclaimer and her astute guess about the smell of her room. "Do not be distressed," she reassured her pupil, grandly, "Tonight, we shall learn a very simple and effective dispel charm. It should so the trick, and can be used in many different situations."

[Trixie Lulamoon]

Even a slight frown was enough to send Trixie into a small state of worry. It was a good thing, then, that it was an admittedly a small but fair point that she was chastising her for. While the though hadn’t crossed her mind when practicing, there was a sense to the idea she had focused more on the illusion spell since it was her specialty and therefore more comfortable for her to do. That, and she hadn’t felt all that great seeing some of those images last time and wished to avoid reflecting on them. This ignoring, of course, that she had indulged in some of those princess fantasies within the last half-hour!

”Right, I understand. If I want to get better at magic I need to get out of my comfort zone…” she said, giving a slight sigh before thinking of something that put a bit more of a smile on her face.

”Although, I did sort of leave it, just a little. Normally when I do illusions either they’re short timed ones that go off on their own, like the fireworks, or it’s a continuous casting. If wanted to use the smell illusion for perfume though I couldn’t really keep my horn going at all times. So I went off to read up a little on the basics on enchantment to try and work on making the illusions stick without me constantly putting magic into it.”

Hopefully Luna would appreciate that bit of initiative, but she still got her point.

”But still, I’ll work on doing some magic other than illusions. ”

The promise of the dispel charm was wonderful, and hopefully she would have it mastered before the end of the night so she could sleep in her room without being attacked by mysterious odors. Plus, you know, whatever other illusions Luna might teach her to do.

”Great, that would really help me a lot.”

Taking another sip of wine, Trixie’s mind shifted back to the divination spell. She knew she had the materials to practice it in her room still. Maybe after the lesson tonight she would take another shot at it. Then again, after being caught with those fantasies once tonight, Trixie wasn’t exactly sure she wanted to risk them popping up again during practice. Chances were even if she tried to suppress them they’d pop up again simply because they had already appeared once tonight.

Glancing up at Luna, Trixie wondered if maybe it would be a good idea to talk with the princess about it. After all, she was a mentor, right? Mentor’s were supposed to listen and help their students. At the same time, however, Trixie was still sort of in a disbelief any of this was happening and absolutely terrified that any perceived flaw would get her sent back out.

”You know, there might be another reason why I didn’t want to practice the divination spell…” Trixie mumbled, possibly with the hope that Luna didn’t hear and she could get away with not being heard and she could excuse the attempt as a failure and try another day.

[Deleted]

Luna was doubly pleased, first that Trixie understood her meaning in getting out of her comfort zone, and then secondly, hearing that she had brushed up on enchantment basics in order to make the spell 'stick' "That is well!" she exclaimed in approbation. "You see, my dear Trixie, magic... it all works together. 'Tis all connected. Let me see..." The Moon Mare looked around the table sharply, in search of something she could use to demonstrate her point. Her eye alighted on a chocolate cake. Floating cake and of course, the cake knife closer to where Trixie could observe, Luna quickly divided the cake into large fourths. "Suppose this line." she suggested, using the knife to point out the edge of one of the large slices, "Suppose it represents the progression of a pure line of illusion magic study, with the easiest spells at the center, graduating to the most difficult and powerful spells at the far end. Now, reaching the far end is no mean feat, but at the end of the day, you can see that there is not much cake to be had from the accomplishment, a few crumbs at best." Luna now pointed the line that defined the other edge of the same slice. "By that same token, let us suppose that, for the sake of argument, this line represents a pure line of enchantment study. If you mastered them both, you'd be capable of all the magic in-between, where illusion and enchantment mix. That is certainly a great deal more cake, or, well, Magic... to possess, is it not?" Pleased with her little demonstration, Luna floated out the large wedge of cake and served it- to herself. When you were a princess, you didn't need to finish your dinner before beginning dessert! Even so, the Princess did not fail to hear Trixie's mumbled suggestion that there might be another reason why her student had neglected to practice her divination spell. A reason why she had not wanted to. Luna looked up with surprised, wide eyes. "Many ponies are quite eager to begin divination studies," Luna replied, gently and kindly. "What troubles you, my dear Trixie? Tell me."

[Trixie Lulamoon]

Having already understood the point, Trixie didn’t feel she needed to listen to the analogy. Still, it was hard to ignore a piece of cake, and she guessed it helped a little to demonstrate the point. As a magician, however, she was pretty aware at how mixing things together could lead to new possibilities. After all, every good trick sometimes needed a little help from something other illusions. It was about the only reason she knew things like the cloud-making spell, and a few other things here and there. The more entertaining bit of information, however, was yet more news of Luna’s diet. From what rumors she had heard, it was always Celestia that had a thing for cake, but it seemed Luna had just as big of a sweet tooth. Seriously, she took a fourth of the cake at once. Not that Trixie would have been much better, but it always seemed funnier to see royalty do such things.

Something a little less funny, however, was the talk of divination. Even after she said it, Trixie regretted bringing up her worry. Now Luna was worried and trying to be comforting, and all Trixie felt was guiltier about it. It was too late to try and brush it off: she doubted Luna would back off completely. Besides, she could go into dreams, so it was just a matter of time till her worries came to light. Better to just get it out of the way now. If it led to any kind of break, better to do it before they got too close after all.

”Well, it’s just…”

Trixie took deep breath and sighed before looking down at her plate: looking at Luna while talking about this just seemed to chicken her out more than anything else.

”Ever since that Ursa Minor incident I’ve been trying to be a better pony, but I still can’t help but get jea…err….look, the point is, I kept seeing myself as an alicorn princess or something when I was doing the divination stuff. And then here I was playing princess in your chair. I know I wasn’t seeing the future at all and it was my imagination running amok, but the fact I keep having those thoughts when I’m trying so hard to be better is just so frustrating!”

Trixie shut her eyes, wiping at one of them to try and get rid of a little bit of tears that had formed up at them.

”I’m just a horrible pony, aren’t I?”

[Deleted]

Luna listened quietly. She knew about 'The Ursa Major Incident.' She knew a bit more than that, too. She had made it a point to find out as much as possible about her student, in the hopes that it could somehow bring them closer. She knew about Trixie's attempts to apologize, to make up for past wrongs, and even her attempts to make friends. Attempts that had a lot of sympathy from this Princess. "A horrible pony?" Luna asked softly, floating a clean linen napkin into Trixie's hoof to use. It would work much better. "No, I do not think so, my dear Trixie. For one thing, most horrible ponies would not worry and be distressed by the idea that they were horrible." Luna gave a gentle chuckle to let her student know she was only making a little joke, to lighten the mood. "Perhaps you wish to be more than you have been, Trixie." the dark alicorn suggested, still very gently. "Who could blame you for that? Do we all not wish to feel important, valued, powerful, respected, even loved and adored? Even I- I have wished as you have wished. I do so even yet, in spite of my status and power. The wish is not an evil one. You are embarrassed because you believe such rewards to be undeserved. Perhaps, at this time, some of them are. But thinking that- how can you say that you are horrible?" The alicorn smiled. "A horrible pony would believe she deserves all, without effort."

[Trixie Lulamoon]

Trixie thanked the princess for the napkin, using her magic to gently dab at her eyes as she listened to the princess talk. This had probably been the first time she had ever expressed any of her feelings on the issue, so she wasn’t sure what to expect. While it really shouldn’t have been, Trixie was surprised that Luna continued to be so patient and kind to her. Enough, at least, that as she continued speaking Trixie actually looked up to her and made eye contact.

Now that she thought about it, Luna did know where she was coming from, right? After all, the stories went she was jealous of how Celestia seemed to be loved by everypony and so become Nightmare Moon to try and take over. All Luna had wanted was love and attention: she had just been a little misguided in how to get. Seriously, why did Trixie think Luna would hate her for these feelings? They were, in a sense, kindred spirits.

Setting down the napkin, Trixie took another deep breath to try and get herself composed a little before responding.

”Thank you, really. It…it really helps having somepony say something like that. I mean, I’m guessing I probably still need to work on the jealousy stuff but it helps being told there isn’t anything wrong with me….”