Changing Lanes 12

>“Sister, where were you all night?”
>You’ve just returned to the castle, and already the questions are starting.
“We, uh, needed some fresh air, to look over Equestria ourselves.”
>Celestia looks very cross as you finish coming up with a lame excuse.
>“That’s fine, but you need to remember to let the guards know you plan to go out so they don’t panic.”
“Oh, right. Sorry about that.”
>She actually bought that?
“So when do our guests arrive? I probably look like crap after being out all night.”
>The white alicorn smirks.
>“You have about an hour to get ready, they should be here at 9 o’clock. I’ll leave you to it, I have some things I need to take care of before the meeting.”
>As she walks down the hallway, you open the door to your room and head to the shower.
>By this point, you realize how tired you really are.
>It has been an eventful night and early morning, and it’s still a long day ahead.
>As you turn on the water and step into the shower, you wonder if Twilight has found anything noteworthy in the Archives.
>Though your little breakdown undoubtedly cut a few hours out of what time she had to research.
>“You’re screwed like this forever, you haven’t figured that out yet?”
>You close your eyes and sigh as Nightmare Moon returns to annoy the shit out of you.
>Rather than respond, you focus on your thoughts and stay silent.
>No use in even acknowledging her, it will just egg her on.
>As you enjoy the heat of the water beating down on you, suddenly a shock is sent through your system.
“HOLY SHIT WHY IS THE WATER FREEZING?!”
>Loud laughter can be heard out in the hallway, even with two doors between you.
“CELESTIA, I’LL KILL YOU!”
>You charge out of the bathroom still sopping wet and burst through the door to the hallway.
>Celestia stops her laughing fit and stares.
>“Um, I think you forgot to dry off before coming out.”
“I thought you had shit to do?”
>Celly tries her hardest not to laugh again.
>“I got it done quickly.”
>Walking back into your room, you grab a towel and dry off as best you can.
> Celestia follows you in.
>“Oh come on, brighten up a bit. It’s going to be a long, stressfully formal day, may as well find some joy out of it.
>You sigh as your anger dies away.
“I’m sorry Celly, it’s just been a rather long night. I’m just already feeling a little tired.”
>“That’s alright, here.”
>She passes you a mug of liquid caffeine.
>You’ve never been a fan of the hot, black brew, but you’ll take any energy source you can.
“Thanks. Hopefully this can keep me going through the day.”
>“You and me both, sis.”
>Celestia comes up with her own mug of coffee as you get dressed and fidget with your mane.
>Took forever, but you’re finally getting used to the thing constantly moving.
>Figures, once you get comfortable with this body, you’re going to have to readjust to being human again when the spell is reversed.
>If it ever is, as slow and fruitless as the search has been.
>“Something else on your mind, Luna?”
“Huh? What makes you say that?”
>“The fact you’ve been staring blankly in the mirror for the last five minutes brushing the same part of your mane leads me to assume something is bothering you.”
>You turn back to Celly, who looks a little worried.
>The urge to tell her everything that is going on, that you aren’t even Luna, begins to build inside you.
>Being so old and wise, she has to know something that can fix this.
>But the consequences of a negative reaction hold you back.
“Nothing. Just some stupid figures that haven’t been coming out right in our recent reviews of the budget.
>“You fret over the smallest things. We need to break you out of that.”


>“Welcome everyp0ny, I hope you all had safe journeys here to Canterlot?”
>Celestia opens the meeting with a bit of formal small talk as you down another cup of coffee beside her.
>Meanwhile, Nightmare Moon wanders around the large table, biting some of the p0nies’ necks in a mock feeding frenzy to get a rise out of you.
>But you are not falling for this bait.
>Mainly be cause she is making herself look so stupid.
>“So without further ado, who wants to start with any issues they are currently facing in their province?”
>An older stallion stands and introduces himself as the governor of the province containing the city of Manehatten.
>Something like that, you aren’t really listening.
>-and so as you can see, while we are currently under our budget right now, we have had to make some unwanted cuts to our construction projects, including the new bridge to replace the existing suspension bridge.”
>“How much more funding is needed to complete the project?”
>Something something something, blah blah blah.
>You look up at the clock and see it is only 9:25.
>This fucking sucks.
>“I’m sorry, is there somewhere you need to be, Princess? Or do you find our issues to be of little interest?”
>You look back at the stallion speaking, who is looking at you with disapproval.
“No, I’m sorry. We were up all night, so we have not slept since yesterday afternoon.”
>“Then may I suggest next time taking a nap before our monthly meeting?”
>Asshole.
>“Anyways, as we were saying before we had to awaken Princess Luna-”
>Alright, fuck this guy.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just can’t find a reason to give a shit about your money woes when you’re the reason for your own failings. Please tell me, how much do you make in a year?”
>The governor is in shock at your outburst, but manages to stutter out an answer.
>“Six million bits, maybe?”
“So basically, if we threw you off that fucking bridge to nowhere, it would free up more than enough money to finish the project, AND we wouldn’t have to listen to you constantly gripe about money when YOU’RE half the problem. Perhaps you should try cutting back on your salary? Or maybe you like my other idea better.”
>“N-no Princess. We get the gist of your argument. Perhaps some money can be freed elsewhere.”
“There you go. That wasn’t that hard, was it?”
>Celestia kicks you underneath the table.
“Who’s next? I’m sure I can help somep0ny else!”
>Your sister stands up and motions to you.
>“Will you excuse us, mares and gentle colts?”
>You follow Celestia out of the room and into the hallway.
>She leadings you into another room for privacy.
>At least you escaped from all of those pricks, though you’re going to probably get an earful now.
>Celestia glares at you.
>“Luna, what in the wide world of Equestria was that?”
>You shrug your shoulders.
“I figured he wanted me to help him come up with a solution to his problem, since he seemed so desperate to include me in his monologue. So I helped him.”
>“While I may have found a bit of amusement in your solution for him, I am shocked and rather disturbed to hear you speak like that during formal events. Something is going on that you aren’t telling me.”
>“Right, Celestia ALWAYS knows when something is wrong with her sister. Well, except for that time she had to banish her away because she didn’t notice the warning signs.”
>You strain to ignore your hallucination as you try to figure out what to say next.
>“LUNA! Dammit, say something!”
“I don’t know what you want me to say.”
>“Open up to me! ‘Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.’ Do you not remember the last time you tried to hide from me?”
>“Ooh, ooh, I know the answer to this one! Pick me!”
“I just need sleep. I haven’t slept in 24 hours, and I don’t feel well.”
>Celestia stares for what seems like an eternity, studying you, trying to find a hidden message in your expression.
>Your stomach tightens as the two of you stand off in silence.
>Finally, Celestia sighs.
>Either she believes you, or has given up on you spilling the beans.
>“Alright Luna, I trust you when you say there is nothing wrong aside from sleep deprivation. I do hope if there is something that troubles you, you will come to me at once.”
“Of course Celly. But really, I’m fine.”
>The white alicorn nuzzles you before she turns and heads out of the room.
>“Go get some sleep, I’ll tell them you aren’t feeling well. We can continue on without you, if that is alright?”
>Awesome, you got a free ticket out of this whole day!
“That’s fine, we can be filled in at another time of any noteworthy items.”
>Celestia flashes you a smile, but you can tell she is still a bit concerned about you.
>You feel bad for causing her worry, but it beats causing a panic by revealing the truth.
>As Celly rejoins the meeting, you head back to your chambers for some much needed rest.
>Realizing the Archives are on the way there, you decide to stop by to see if Twilight is still there, and what she has found.
>“Five bits says she fell asleep with her hear in a book.”
>As annoying as you find the black alicorn, you figure she’s probably right.
>Heading to the far corner of the room, you find Twilight among a stack of books.
>While she is awake, the bags under her eyes tell you it’s been a while since she has slept.
>“Damn. Oh well, we didn’t shake on it!”
>One again, you strain to ignore as you approach the purple bookworm.
“Twi, didn’t I tell you to get into a normal sleep schedule?”
>Twilight jumps as you speak to her.
>Apparently she’s so out of it, she never noticed you approach.
>“Ano - er, Luna! I thought you had a meeting to attend to.”
“I got out of it. Apparently sleep deprivation makes me an asshole.”
>“More than normal, you mean?”
>God, shut up.
>Twilight rubs her eyes and stretches as she stands up.
“I’m heading back to my room to get some sleep, do I need to drag you to your room to get you to do the same?”
>“Fine mother, I’ll get some shut eye. How is your little…….vision going?”
>You look over to where Nightmare is standing, raising her eyebrows at you and smirking.
“Annoying as ever. Definitely not getting any better.”
>“I think it may be a good idea for me to nap nearby in your room. So we don’t have a repeat problem like last night.”
“Yeah, I still have a slight headache from that blow to the head. Thanks for that.”
>Twilight giggles.
>“It’s not like I had a choice in the matter. It was either that, or watch you destroy the whole room.”
>You stop in your tracks, deep in thought.
“Why is it when I was unconscious, I had two or three oddly vivid, specific dreams? Real enough that I went crazy?”
>“Nightmare Moon is more than a sinister sounding name, Anon. Didn’t you know Luna had the ability to view and influence other’s dreams?”
“No, but that sounds rather creepy, to be honest.”
>Your mind flips to some of the more……interesting dreams you’ve had in the past.
>“Like Luna, Nightmare Moon had the ability to influence dreams. But she focused more on causing terrifying nightmares. I’m sure with her being within you, she has the same sort of power, but only on your mind.”
“In other words, I go to sleep, I go nuts. I stay awake, I go nuts. All roads lead to hell.”
>Twilight makes a face.
>“Hell? What is that?”
“Don’t worry about it. I‘m too tired to explain.”
>The two of you walk in relative silence the rest of the way to your room.
>A few minutes later, you open the door to your room and quickly climb into bed, exhausted.
“Where are you going to sleep, Twilight?”
>Rather than answer your question, she grabs several pillows out of your linen closet and arranges them into a crude mattress.
“Alrighty then. G’night.”
>“Night Anon. Try not to attack anything. Just assume anything you see is a dream.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
>“Sweet nightmares, darling.”
>Fuck you too.