>Okay, you have no idea how Luna manages to stay sane during her work.
>Stupid question after stupid question.
>“Princess Luna, it is an honor to even be in the same room as you.”
>Brown noser.
“Thank  you, what can I help you with today?”
>“I was wondering if you could arrange the stars tomorrow night. I am planning to propose to my special somep0ny, and it would be a real treat to have the stars arranged so they said, “Will you marry me?”
>Seriously? God damn.
“No, we apologize, that is something we cannot do. Best wishes for you though.”
>“Thank you anyways, Princess.”
> Fortunately, that looks like the last of your visitors of court.
>Like Luna had told you before, night court was rather quiet, which she didn’t seem to mind too badly.
>You sigh, rising from the throne you had been seated on, and stretch.
>“Princess! I am so sorry I was late!”
“It’s alright Twilight, I managed.”
>The guards look at you funny.
“Er…. Managed to get through this slow night, I mean.”
>You really need to carefully think out everything before you say it.
“Come Twilight, I have some paperwork my sister has left in my chambers to peruse.”
>As you walk out of the room, you lean in closely to Twilight.
“I have no idea how Luna manages to get through court without injuring someone.”
     
     
“So, I’m guessing you haven’t found anything in the archives yet?”
>You and Twilight had walked to your room in virtual silence.
>Mainly because of all the active guards around the hallways of both the throne room and personal chambers.
>“Well, I found a lot of really neat spell books that I really need to read sometime, but nothing that helps the current situation.”
“I wasn’t expecting to get the fix tonight.”
>“Sorry, I wish I had better news.”
>You glance over at Twilight. She seems a little depressed.
“Don’t be down in the dumps about it Twi, I just meant it’s a tall order for anyp0ny to find something like that on the first try with as many books there are in the archives.”
>“I know, I just really wanted to impress and surprise you.”
“The fact you’re willing to put up with my shit and help is impressive enough.”
>Twilight giggles at that one.
>You take a seat at your desk, casually glancing at the paperwork neatly stacked on your desk.
>Twilight takes a seat on your bed.
“So Twilight, we’re in a safe place, now what about this Nightmare Moon crap you mentioned earlier? I’m intrigued.”
>You swivel your chair around.
>“Well, we all thought the same thing you do, that when Nightmare Moon was defeated, she was gone for good.”
“What changed your mind?”
>“It was something not many p0nies know about. Those that do don’t like to talk about it.”
“Oh wow, this is already dark and edgy.”
>Twilight chucks a pillow at you in mock frustration.
>“Anyway, less than a year after Luna returned, a lot of p0nies throughout P0nyville started having very vivid, terrible nightmares. For two or three days this went on.”
>“It all came to a head when my friends and I spent the night together. We all began to have nightmares once again, before we were awaken by Rarity’s screams.  Some sort of dark shadows grabbed her and took her away, to the moon.”
“Oookay then, this story is already getting weird. Continue.”
>“By this time Luna and Celestia arrived, and filled us in on the second part of the story. While it was Luna’s jealousy and anger that acted as the trigger all those years ago, it turns out these “shadows” were in fact some sort of sentient being, that could harness that raw emotion and “infect” an individual, so to speak.
“Sounds a lot like a virus infecting someone whose immune system is compromised.”
>“A lot like that, yeah. Anyways, when we got onto the moon -”
“Wait, you guys went to the moon?”
>“Well, yes. We had to get Rarity back.”
“Right. I’ll just go with it.”
>“When we got there, the shadows had already infected Rarity and turned her into a being a lot like Nightmare Moon. Turns out, Luna’s desire to make night permanent wasn’t her idea, but these nightmare forces, as Nightmare Rarity had the same desire.”
“And it all ended with you getting back Rarity and defeating evil, and you all went home happily ever after, right?”
>“Er, yeah. But it’s hard to tell whether there are still malevolent forces waiting to take advantage of such a situation again, or if we got them all.”
“I don’t understand why they didn’t just go after Luna again, or wait that long when there surely was someone in Equestria having moments of anguish ripe for the picking.”
>“Well, they try to go for someone with some sort of power. Luna of course is an alicorn princess, and Rarity holds one of the Elements of Harmony, which was what helped defeat the nightmare creatures previously. But I’m not sure why they did not go after Luna again.”
>“My guess would be she still had not completely recovered all of her magical reserves and abilities by that time, or the original possession or infection or whatever caused her to be immune or resistant to be infected again.”
“Alright, so if Luna is immune, I should be safe. Right?”
>“No, because while the nightmare creatures change the p0ny they get a hold of, they still need an opening in the mind to make their way in. And Luna’s consciousness is in your body.”
“Wonderful.”
>“Now I want to know something from you, after explaining all of that backstory.”
“Alright, fire away.”
>“Do you really love Luna?”
>You fall out of the chair you were sitting in.
“What…… what the hell kind of question is that?”
 >“When you were trying to get Luna to come out of the room, you said you still lo-”
“I know what I said, Twilight.”
>“Well then?”
“I…. I don’t really know. I don’t even know why I said that.”
>Twilight doesn’t seem satisfied with your answer.
>“How do you not know if you meant it or why you said it? You act like you have something to hide.”
“Well, back on Earth, stuff like this was illegal, and just plain wrong.”
>“Falling in love?”
“With a different species, yes.”
>“But from what you have told me, humans are the only species capable of speech, higher planes of thought process, and so on. That’s not the case here, is it?”
“I……. never thought of it that way. Still seems a little weird to me to even think of a relationship with something outside my species.”
>Twilight rolls her eyes.
>“How is it any weirder than the situation you’re in right now?”
>You look down at your hooves.
“You got a point there, nerd.”
>“Shut up.”
>You turn your head towards the doorway, to the door across the room.
“I’m assuming the room right across is Celestia’s chambers? And I assume she has her own bathroom?”
>“Uh, yeah. But why do you ask?”
>A mischievous grin comes across your face.
“Oh, no reason. Just curious.”
     
>“LUNA!”
>Holy crap, Celestia had a set of pipes on her.
>It is morning, the end of your shift, and the start of Celestia’s.
>After the chat with Twilight, she had returned to her guest chambers to sleep for the night.
>Meanwhile, after looking over paperwork that you only had a basic grasp on, you spent the rest of the shift wandering the halls of the castle.
>Not much else to do, it seemed.
>Well, other than sneaking into Celly’s room.
>Meanwhile, she walks in to the personal dining room, and you try not to laugh.
“Oh, hello sister. You look….. different today.”
>“Yes, I was wondering if you could tell me why my normally white coat is BLACK!”
“….maybe you’ve been spending too much time around the sun?”
>Celestia’s glare almost feels like it could slice through you.
“Okay, I might have put a little bit of dye in your soap. It’s only temporary.”
>“How long, pray tell, is ‘temporary?’”
“Two days, maybe?”
>Celestia closes her eyes and her horn glows.
>Well, this is it, you get to visit the moon like Luna did.
>“You’re lucky my illusionary magic isn’t as rusty as it used to be.”
>Celestia’s coat turns white again. Or at least to your eyes, anyways.
>She opens her eyes after finishing the spell. She’s still not happy.
>“I thought we agreed any pranks were to be kept to personal chambers.”
“Technically, it would be, if you didn’t leave your room.”
>Celestia giggles.
>”I have to admit, you did get me pretty good.”
“I’m just full of surprises. Night shift was boring last night, so I got through all the reports you left me.”
>The white alicorn turns to you, her face sporting a rather surprised expression.
>“Really? Normally you are so meticulous in your reading, you’d only get through half of that stack in a night.”
>You grin sheepishly.
“Like I said, full of surprises.”




[Originally posted 17 July 2013