Changing Lanes 25

>"Do you have any horror movies that aren't lame?"
>Rainbow Dash yawns loudly as the credits roll on the TV, casting a dim light into your otherwise pitch-black living room.
"What? The Shining is a classic!"
>Dash blows a raspberry in response.
"Right, I forgot. You don't like anything."
>Suddenly the TV blanks and the hum of your DVD player stops, leaving the two of you blind on the couch.
>"Did you do that?"
>You sigh.
>"No, but I know who did."
>You focus in the silence, quickly reaching out and grasping at the darkness.
>"Ah, not the tail, do not pull my tail!"
>The lamp beside you lights up, revealing Luna in front of the two of you, her aforementioned tail in your grip.
"Luna, I understand this is your favorite time of the year, but could you tone it down just a bit on the scare tactics?"
>Nightmare Night is tomorrow, and Luna has become more animated with each passing day.
>You free her tail, which rests beside her as she takes a seat on the floor in front of you.
>"Wait, how did you know she was right there?"
>Really, Rainbow?
>As if she heard your thoughts, Rainbow corrects herself.
>"Right, mental link thingy. Forgot."
>"I apologize, it is just so exciting! Our big day is only twenty hours away!"
>You take a chance to lean forward and run your fingers through her silky mane.
"I know, and that's great. Just maybe, less trying to scare the shit out of me and everyone else every moment of the night?"
>She cracks a smile.
>"Well, it would seem sneaking up upon you is a tall order lately. Perhaps we can consider these exercises for your mind?"
>The blue alicorn is right about your mental abilities.
>While physical magic still seems to be beyond your grasp, you've developed some sort of ability to see or feel certain things beyond your normal senses.
>Most notably Luna, which is becoming easier with every attempt at a quick scare.
"Whatever you say, Luna."
>She giggles, while Rainbow Dash gags.
>"You two are embarrassing to be around when you're like this. Twilight doesn't believe me when I tell her this stuff."
>Ah Twilight, still keeping mum about her relationship with you.
>Though unfortunately, she has been rather busy with her new duties, you haven't seen her in almost a week.
>You reach over and ruffle Dash's mane, as she struggles.
>"Don't get me involved in this crap! What time is it, anyway?"
>She jumps down off the couch, slicking her mane back.
"Ten. You calling it a night already?"
>The cyan pegasus nod.
>"Yeah, I still have to get my costume ready for tomorrow. This is gonna be awesome!"
>She streaks out of the room, a quick goodby to you and Luna.
"Wow, everyone is pumped for tomorrow."
>Luna tilts her head.
>"And you are not?"
>You shrug.
"To be honest, it's not a big deal to me. We had something like this back in my world, it was mainly for little kids. The only kick I get out of it is horror movies and folklore."
>"Folklore?"
>Nodding, you continue.
"Yeah, you know. Ghosts, monsters, shit like that. None of it's real, just interesting."
>She smirks at you, leaving you to wonder what is brewing in her head.
>"I must go home and myself prepare for tomorrow. Perhaps none of these creatures are real where you are from, but the late hours of Nightmare Night are not called 'the witching hour' for nothing, Anonymous."
>She lets out a low cackle as she exits the room in a flash of light.
"You get into this way too much, oh Keeper of the Night."
>You get up and grab another movie from your DVD case as you plug the player and TV back in.

>As the sun begins to set, you wait for the inevitable.
>"Anonymous!"
>There it is.
"Yes, hello to you too, Luna."
>The princess strides in, looking rather stern.
>"What exactly are you doing?"
>You look around the room.
>"Um. Sitting in my house?"
>You feel yourself lifted off the couch by her magic.
>"Tonight is a very special night! Why must you be so anti-social?"
"I'm not anti-social. I just really don't like being around lots of other people. Or ponies."
>She shakes her head as you are set down on your feet and released.
>Meanwhile, her expression turns from irritation to pleading.
>"Could you at least come for me? I will not require you to wear a costume. Though everypony else will be wearing one."
"Fine. Just for you. But if everyone is wearing a costume, where's yours?"
>A wicked grin greets your question.
>"In time, Anonymous. In time."
>Your home disappears before your eyes in a flash, as Luna teleports you to who knows where.
>As your vision returns, the heart of Ponyville greets you, with a massive thrum of ponies gathered around city hall.
>On a makeshift stage is the mayor, talking to everyone enthusiastically through a microphone.
>Before you can tune in to what she is saying, a voice from behind interrupts.
>"Anon!"
>As you turn, you are greeted by a flash of lavender leaping into your chest.
"Hey Twilight, good to see you!"
>You hug her as the mayor's voice stops.
>"You too. And it looks like I got here just in time to see Luna!"
>You turn back to the stage to see the aforementioned alicorn stride onto the stage.
>She doesn't bother with the microphone, instead using her royal voice.
>"Greetings, citizens of Ponyville! I see everypony is in quite the festive mood!"
>A cheer erupts to answer her as she continues.
>"It was many years ago when this night first became known as Nightmare Night. And who better to signify the start than ME!"
>As she finishes, the moon begins its ascent into the sky, as she begins to glow in an eerie blue haze.
>In an instant, the glow is blinding, making her no longer visible.
>Some ponies in the crowd gasp, while others scream, as a cackle erupts from on stage.
"Twilight, what's going on?! Is she.."
>You feel as if your heart has leapt into your throat.
>And yet, at the same time, something else strikes you equally as hard.
>But you can't put your finger on it
>A wing brushes your back, pulling you closer.
>"Relax Anon, it's part of the show."
"What?"
>The glow fades, and on stage is a familiar black alicorn in place of Luna.
>Her cackle stops, as her feral turquiose eyes scan the crowd.
>Massive black wings unfurl as she finally speaks again.
>"Tonight my ponies, the night is ours! Nightmare Night has officially begun!"
>The crowd cheers wildly as she takes flight, slowly dispersing into various directions where games and food are set up.
"So that was just a show?"
>"Luna didn't tell you?"
>"Didn't tell Anon what?"
>You jump as a voice directly behind you interrupts you and Twilight.
>Turning, a pair of turquoise eyes greets you.
>Once again, you jump a bit as Nightmare Moon looks over at Twilight.
>"I'm so glad to see you could make it Twilight. What did you think?"
>Even as she looks at Twilight, listening to her response, you feel drawn in to those eyes.
>You don't hear Twilight, you don't see anything.
>Just those eyes.
>"Anon, are you alright?"
>Finally, you are broken out of your trance as the black alicorn speaks to you.
"What?"
>Twilight speaks up.
>"Luna, did you already forget about what happened a few months ago to him?"
>Luna, or Nightmare Mo- whoever's jaw drops as a flash quickly envelops her.
>Luna stands before you once again as she squeezes you in a hug.
>"My goodness, I'm so sorry, Anon!"
>Something in you finally snaps, allowing you to speak.
"It's... fine, I'm fine. I guess it just startled me. Wasn't expecting that."
>Luna looks at you, worry in her eyes.
>Twilight steps away from you and turns, duplicating Luna's expression.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. It's all good now.
>The two exchange glances, then seem to settle down.
>"Now, with opening festivities out of the way, what shall we do?"
>You look around, glancing at the various booths and games set up around Ponyville.
>Unfortunately, they all seem catered to little kids more or less.
"Uhh, not to be rude, but is there anything more adult-oriented to do?"
>"Well, there is a corn maze just a trot east of town."
>Better than this stuff, you suppose.
"That sounds interesting, Luna. Lead the way."
>She beams a wide smile as she takes off in a fast trot.
"I didn't think you mean trot as in actual pace!"
>"Catch me if you can, you two!"
>You and Twilight run after her to catch up.
>As you make tracks, you flash back in your mind to what you felt when Luna 'transformed' on stage.
>Deja vu maybe?
>all you know is it was fucking weird.
>Not paying attention to where you're going, you suddenly stumble over something, landing hard on the ground face-first.
"Goddammit, that was intelligent."
>Twilight stops, coming back over to you.
>"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I think so. Wasn't watching where I was going."
>You rub your head, feeling a bit of warmth as you pull your hand back to see a bit of blood.
>Not enough to be alarming, but you're curious to see what you managed to do.
>You look around to see one of those cheesy funhouse mirror booths conveniently nearby.
"Give me a sec before we take off after Luna again, make sure I didn't do anything too stupid."
>Twilight nods as you gingerly get up and walk over to one of the mirrors.
>As you step in front of it, you freeze.
>It's a stupid picture of Nightmare Moon
>You turn and look at the booth attendant.
"I thought this was a funhouse mirror booth, not a picture gallery."
>"What's wrong, afraid of your own reflection?"
>You turn back to see it - or her - step out of the mirror.
>Quickly, you take several steps back.
"What the fu-"
>The black mare holds a hoof up to interrupt.
>"First off, daydreaming and running at the same time isn't a good idea. I was going to wait until you went to sleep to talk, but since you decided to knock yourself out, here we are."
>So you're dreaming.
>But how did she get in your head?
"What do you want?"
>"Relax sweetheart. I don't want anything from you. On the contrary, you've got questions, I've got answers."
>You glare at Nightmare Moon as she takes a step closer to you.
"So you're a RadioShack commercial now? Cute."
>She seems to be getting a little irritated now.
"Look, I don't have to help you. I can just go back into my own corner in your head and leave you in the dark."
>Wait, what?!
>She seems to know what you're thinking as she continues.
>"There we go, got your attention for at least a moment. You see, that feeling you got when you saw Luna, not deja vu, it was like.."
>She points a hoof towards a mirror.
>Like a bombshell, shock overtakes you.
>"And the last horse crosses the finish line. Yes, you and me are one..."
>The alicorn quickly grabs you with a wing, standing you shoulder to shoulder with her.
>"...and the same."
>You feel sick to your stomach as your knees buckle.
>A few moments pass as it sinks in.
"But how? And why am I still in control? Last I dealt with you, I was hanging on by a thread to my sanity."
>Nightmare's nostrils flare as she huffs.
>"Well, it certainly is not one of my crowning achievements to be stuck with you. Yes, I did have you almost broken before Luna cast the reversal spell. Unfortunately, I put all my chips in on you."
>You stare at her blankly as she rolls her eyes.
>"The castle, when you let that beautiful dark wave of power flow, that wasn't you using my abilities. That was US using OUR abilities."
"So you're saying that bound us together. And when everything got swapped back..."
>"I was along for the ride. Yes, and unlike Luna's mind, where I have the master key to everything, yours, well... it's quite a mess in here. So no, unfortunately for me, I can't do anything."
>You stare at her, more questions brewing by the second.
>"Anon!"
>A voice seems to echo throughout the whole town. Or dream of a town.
>"Time for you to wake up, kiddo. Hit me up later, you know where to find me."

>You snap your eyes open, jolted awake by shaking.
>Luna and Twilight are both standing above you, amongst a small crowd of other ponies.
>You sit up slowly, as everyone seems to breath a sigh of relief.
>But your gaze is locked on Luna.
>She seems to sense something is amiss.
>"Anon, are you okay? You're scaring me."
"We need to talk."