Changing Lanes 08

>You return to your room after a short time with Celestia before her shift.
>To say this experience was an eye-opener would be an understatement.
>Despite her calm demeanor and politeness, she always scared the crap out of you.
>There was always a feeling of constantly needing to be formal around her.
>But as it turns out, she seems to be just like everyone else.
>Except maybe a bit more mischievous.
>Just as you climb into bed to get some sleep, there’s a knock on the door.
>“Princess Luna? Are you in there?”
>It was Twilight.
“Yes, come in.”
>Twilight opens the door quietly and walks in.
>As usual, she has a number of books with her in her saddlebags.
“I’m guessing you really didn’t get much sleep last night, did you?”
>“….yes I did, what makes you say that?”
“I can tell those books are different from the ones you had last night.”
>Twi just sighs.
>“You pay more attention to the weirdest little things….”
“Twilight, you really need to stop pushing yourself so hard and just get some sleep. As in what I’m about to do.”
>“Alright, alright. I’ll put the books down tonight.”
“Good. Tonight before court I’m planning on checking how Rainbow and Lunanon are doing, see how much trouble they’ve found.”
>“Speaking of trouble, was that Celestia I heard yelling earlier this morning?”
“…..might have been. Holy shit is she loud.”
>Twilight narrows her eyes at you.
>“What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything. Someone mixed up her shampoo with black dye.”
>“Oh no. This better not lead into a prank war.”
“You sound familiar with this.”
>“More than I care to be. You get some sleep, I’ll head to the Royal Archives again.”
>She doesn’t have to tell you twice.
>As soon as your head hits the pillow, you are out like a light.

>“Oh sister, it is almost time or your shift!”
>Ugh, what you wouldn’t do for more sleep.
>You roll out of bed half asleep and get properly attired for court.
>Awful, boring court.
>You open your chamber door, and scream.
“WHERE IS THE FUCKING HALLWAY FLOOR?”
>It looks like an empty, bottomless black pit just beyond the threshold.
>You then notice a distinctive laughter coming from the room across.
“Really, Celestia? That could have killed me had I not stopped.”
>She opens her door and smirks.
>“In case you’ve forgotten Luna, you have wings. And it’s only an illusion.”
>With that, her horn glows, and the floor slowly fades into view again.
“What time is it, anyway?”
>“Oh, about 6:00. You still have a couple hours, if you want to go and visit Anon.”
>It was weird being referred to, yet not being referred to at the same time.
“Thanks, sis. I think I’ll head out there for a bit.”
>“No problem. I’m just glad to see you out and about again. Well that, and seeing the old Luna come out.”
“What do you mean?”
>“Oh, you know, the whole fascination with speed and racing you used to have. Before all of the royalty duties.”
>You feel your mind trying to explode at that point.
“I, um……..don’t quite recall any of that. You know, before the banishment.”
>Celestia averts her gaze at the word “banishment.”
>You trot over and awkwardly try to nuzzle her.
“It’s fine, Celly. You have to let it go at some point. But please, enlighten me.”
>You’re kinda impressed this is actually a good thing. Luna must really not talk to even her sister about her past.
>You feel a sudden tingling, then realize you are in another room.
>God this teleportation shit is weird.
>You look around the room. It’s filled with different pictures and what looks like old awards or something.
“Where are we? I don’t remember ever seeing this room.”
>“Yes, it’s been a long time, Luna. I made this room in the castle and hid it away after you tried to throw all these things out. Just before….”
>Geez, Celestia really beats herself up over what she had to do to her sister.
>Er, sort of her sister, you suppose.
>You take a closer look at some of the photos. All of them seem to be of you - er, Luna - at a much younger age.
>Most of them show her posed with different awards or flying, all of them with a number 43 on her flank.
>“You really don’t remember, do you?”
>You look back over at Celestia.
>She’s currently sitting down, a content smile on her face.
“No, I can’t say that I do. What are all these awards, Celly? Some sort of racing?”
>“Yes, way back before we overthrew Discord and rose to power, you were quite the accomplished flier. It was your whole life, and you were amazing at it. Speed, agility, everything about it, you just loved it all.”
>You look at one of the bigger trophies, dated almost 1300 years ago.
“But what happened?”
>“Well, responsibility happened. After Discord was removed, it was up to us to get everything in Equestria back into order. And that took a long time.”
>You vaguely remember one of Twilight’s history lessons being about Discord.
“But if I was so good at it, didn’t I try to get back into it?”
>Celestia’s smile vanishes.
>“Unfortunately, by that time you had grown a lot bigger. As in, reaching closer to a mature alicorn. You just didn’t have the same speed and agility you once had.”
>“And I didn’t like the idea of you being a princess competing in such events, nor did many others.
“So you forbid me from doing it at all?”
>The white alicorn sighs and continues.
>“It was not one of my prouder moments. It sort of crushed you, to be quite honest. I always felt at least half of the reason for your ‘rebellion’ was because of that.”
“So you hid it away from everyone over the years?”
>“Yes, sort of. The only thing mentioned in the history books about that event is about the jealousy. It was unfortunately a rather selfish reason. I hated myself for so long.”
>You walk over to Celestia again and giver her a hug.
“We all make mistakes at some point. Moving on and learning from them is the best you can do.”
>“I know sister, thank you. If you want to see Anon before you start your night shift, you might want to get going.”
“I will. Thanks for sharing with me Celestia. You’re pretty cool, after all.”
>Celestia’s expression turns awkward.
“Er, for a big sister. You also nag a lot, so that offsets it some.”
>Celly sticks her tongue out at you.
>And with that, you teleport off to P0nyville.


“Lunanon, Rainbow,  I’m back!”
>You could have teleported into the house, but you really didn’t want to scare the shit out of everyone.
>But you’ve been outside knocking on the door for about two minutes now.
>Where the hell are they?
>Just as you are about to teleport in, the door opens, and Lunanon is standing there.
>“Oh, sorry, we had the TV up really loud. How did last night go?”
“It sucked. I don’t know how you can do it every night. Between the stupid questions and the boredom.”
>“Yes, it is rather dull at night. Where is Twilight?”
>Shit, you forgot about her in your haste to visit and talk about what you found out.
>You both walk into the living room and sit down.
>Rainbow is so immersed in whatever she’s watching, she takes a few minutes to acknowledge you.
“I was pressed for time, so I kinda rushed and forgot.”
>“Just as well. Knowing her, she is likely buried in a book.”
“Yeah….hey, Celestia shared something with me just before I got here that I thought was pretty neat.
>“Oh? What’s that?”
“She showed me all your old awards and pictures from when you raced when you were younger. I thought it was really cool.”
>Lunanon’s expression goes cold, while Rainbow suddenly snaps to attention.
>“Luna, I never knew you used to race. That’s awesome!”
>“No, it’s not. I have no idea what you are talking about, Anon. Are you feeling okay? Maybe you are getting sick and a bit delusional.”
>She glares at you and motions with her head toward the door.
>“Rainbow, we shall return shortly, I’m going outside quick. Anon, would you like to join us?”
“Er, sure, I guess.”
>You both walk out the door, you behind Lunanon.
>She leads to into the nearby woods a short ways, then stops at a clearing.
>“Anon, never bring up anything about that part of my past again.”
>She finally turns toward you, and she is more pissed than you’ve ever seen her.
>Oh boy.
“But why, Luna? Why do you feel the need to hide something that’s a part of you? It’s awesome.”
>“MY DREAM WAS TAKEN FROM ME AND CRUSHED! AND FOR WHAT?! TO SIT IN COURT AT NIGHT AND ANSWER STUPID QUESTIONS!!”
>Oh shit, she has the Canterlot Voice in your body as well.
“Luna, just calm down…..”
>“I ASSUMED YOU WOULD PRETEND EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL WHILE IN CANTERLOT, NOT DIG THROUGH MY PAST AND SPEW OUT SECRETS TO EVERYONE!”
“Look, I’m sorry, I just thought - “
>“YOU DIDN’T THINK! DO NOT FOLLOW ME HOME!!”
>And with that, Lunanon storms back towards the house.


>That went well.
>Sighing, you wander further into the woods, gathering your thoughts as you go, before coming to a small river.
>You sit next to the river’s edge, back to the sun so you aren’t blinded by it as it sets.
>It’s a good thing you still have about an hour and a half to relax before your shift.
>“Don’t beat yourself up too much, Luna has always been a bit touchy with her past.”
“Really? I couldn’t tell.”
>Wait, what the fuck?
>You look around the surrounding forest. Maybe you really are losing it.
>“No, you’re not losing it. Well, relatively speaking.”
“Who are you?”
>“I’m you. Sort of. Look down.”
>You look down to see your shadow on the river’s surface.
“Wow, that’s a great joke. Can’t you come up with something better?”
>Suddenly, your shadow starts moving on its own.
>It gets a little larger, and two bright white eyes seem to appear and glow on the water’s surface.
“What the fuck?”
>“Do you always use such harsh language? It’s rather unbecoming.”
“I like making a bold impression. I’ll ask again, who the hell are you?”
>The shadowy being sighs and shakes its head.
>“You really aren’t too sharp, are you?”
“Bite me. I’m losing my patience, you overgrown shadow puppet.”
>“I’ll turn down the offer for now.”
>Your shadow seems to lift off the water, shifting form once again.
>As it takes shape and color, you recognize what is going on.
“So, you’re Nightmare Moon, I’m guessing.”
>She finally finishes her dramatic show, and shows off her fangs in a wide grin.
>“So you’ve heard of me. I’m flattered.”
“That’s nice. I thought you were wiped off the map a year or two ago. Well, twice, actually.”
>“It is rather hard to pay attention when Twilight goes off on one of her monologues. Or maybe you just have a bad memory.”
>This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder the more time you spend in this world.
>But fuck it, may as well go along with it.
“No, I understand the whole nightmare forces shit or whatever, but you, or me, or whatever got violated by the Elements of Harmony. So how can you be here talking to me without a body?”
>The jet black alicorn face hoofs.
>“Look, let’s put it a very simple way so you can stop asking stupid questions.”
>Bitch.
>“I am part of you, or Luna’s body, to be specific. That being said, I heard that.”
“Great, I don’t even get personal thoughts anymore.”
>“Anyways, despite the unfortunate battle which supposedly ended me, a little piece of me still exists in there. I’ve just been….sleeping, so to speak.”
“Then what woke you up?”
>“The presence of a different mind. Luna was used to my tactics I suppose, after a thousand years and then being freed. But you, well, just acknowledging me and answering back in your time of frustration let me through.”
“Good, you’re free. Now fuck off and find another body.”
>“Oh, I would if I could, but I’m stuck on you. I am you. So now you’re stuck with me.”
>Goddamn, this is really getting to be a headache figuring this shit out.
“You’re screwed when everyone sees you’re back.”
>Nightmare Moon just laughs.
>“I’m not really here. You’re just seeing me, hallucinating me.”
“Wonderful. Just fucking wonderful.”
>“Oh come on, I’m not that bad. Now, it’s probably about time we returned to Canterlot. It’s almost night.”
>She, or it, or whatever, is right. Probably best to get a move on.
>Luna is pissed at you, and now you’re talking to a hallucination.
>This is going to be one long night.