//------------------------------// // Panic and Pastimes // Story: The Plushie Replacement // by HeavyStripes //------------------------------// To say Luna struggled during her sister's absence was a gross understatement. Ever since her adventure in Ponyville during Nightmare Night she had taken on her readjustment into Equestrian society head on. She learned of all modern things of interest though as always, the princess of the night gravitated towards the more intellectual and hobbyist niches of society that most would refer to as nerdy. She dived into the fascinating subculture and forgot along the way what even brought her there in the first place. She did not anticipate nor prepare for her sister's sudden departure. She thought it was a test at first. The mere idea infuriated her to no end but the anger spurred her on to meet the challenge in full force as always. Sure did not try to hide Celestia's disappearance and did her best placate the fearful masses. Most blamed Luna for this, her tumultuous return still fresh on many minds but few could hold onto that belief for long when the elements of Harmony stood behind the princess. Though of course they die more than just give her moral support. They all took very active roles in the search for Celestia. Twilight put her great intellect to great use. Sure combed through both grand and ancient libraries of Canterlot for any leads be they prophetic or otherwise. The lavender unicorn did not stop there either, she directed the massive campaign alongside Luna in the largest ponyhunt Equestria and the world aside has ever seen. However in secret with Cadence, they helped Luna raise and set the sun each day. Applejack used her extensive family network to spread the news of the solar Diarch ' s disappearance to the farthest reaches of Equestria and beyond, hoping that that if any caught Wind of the princess they would be that much closer to an occupied twin throne. Fluttershy did the same but instead used her talent with animals to achieve the same extent and be her eyes and ears. Rarity's use while not as immediately apparent as Twilight or even Applejack, became glaringly obvious during one of the many confrontations of the local population that still believed Luna had a hoof in Celestia's sudden absence. Fluttershy tried valiantly to calm the angry mob but the poor pegasus never stood a chance with her crippling fear of strangers. Seeing her friend in danger, Rarity stepped up to the challenge. Elegant in poise but firm in tone, she managed to sway the crowd into a much more peaceful state. From then on she became the spokespony for the ongoing search, her eloquent speech and dazzling smile calmed the fearful populace of Equestria. Pinkie Pie was the most enigmatic of the bunch but even more so than her friends ever remember seeing her. When she wasn't throwing parties to distract everypony from their problems she was "checking fanfictions for clues" as the pink pony put it. They simply chalked up that last bit to Pinkie Pie being her usual self along with how she any time to look after her own needs with all the parties she was constantly throwing. A few quietly hoped the mirror pool had nothing to do with it but Rainbow Dash could certainly use a few pointers. The rainbow maned pegasus used her skills in flight to personally deliver any and all news and leads on Celestia's whereabouts. True to her element she did whatever was asked of her without much thought to her own needs and it wasn't long before Dash's body began to give out on her because of the lack of sleep let alone food. However, she soon was lent a helping hoof from an adored fire maned celebrity. With Spitfire and her crew now helping with the handling of crucial information and even coordinating the equestrian mail delivery services. During this time of uncertainty, ponies began to finally rally behind their last princess in hopes that Celestia would be found soon. A hard the months of trials and tribulations had passed and the common folk have calmed down considerably. The nobles did anything but that and it was quickly coming to a head.of course that is another story all together. One that did not involve rage quits, porn, and the ever dignified Celestia. ~~~~~~ Ever since her brief exposure to that nefarious nexus of carnal creations Celestia thought it best to let Lenny do the information gathering. This however left her with an unheard of amount of free time because of Lenny's work schedule. She worked anywhere from ten to sixteen hours a day at this Star Buck's and her hours rarely started after this alien sun rose over this even more alien planet. Even after a light day by Lenny's standards of work she came home exhausted with paperwork to fill out. This gave her few moments beyond her initial search to help Celestia and what she found was troubling to say the least. Celestia learned that the next so called season of her protégés adventures was months away and episode leaks were something that Lenny knew little about or where to even find them. Unwilling to face the earlier horror show she passed by the days of boredom by meditation and slowly regained her magic. It was a long and painstaking process and the world she currently inhabited had so little to draw upon to begin with. Almost as if it had all been used up. It was a disturbing notion that made the alicorn recall one of the few conversations they had when Lenny had a moment for Celestia. Though it did eat into the human's sleeping time. --------- "The thing is that-" a long quiet yawn interrupted Lenny's answer. The pale woman was laid out on her bed half covered by a flannel sheet and still wearing her employee uniform hat and all. "We are all sciencey and stuff here. There is a reason why magic and myth go hand in hand. They are just stories for the most part that explained away what we couldn't understand at the time." Her honey brown eyes struggled to stay open, "Certainly make my life a lot better. Poof up some cake to eat everyday. Mmm!" The alicorn giggled at that, "Lenny, even magic has limits. The avid cake enthusiast I am, I can't simply "poof" up cake at every whim." Celestia smiled at the thought before she shook herself from fantasy, "Besides, the weight gain would not be flattering to either of us." "I'll poof that shit away with some magic too. Yay for liposuction is magic!" Lenny laughed softly but soon light snoring emanated from the tired woman. Still smiling Celestia turned in for the night as well. -------- Magic was interwoven into every moment of her life and certainly a vital part of her very being. To think of it as a finite resource no matter the size was not pleasant. But how could she have been pulled, or more than likely pushed to such a place with so little magic? If it was a teleportation spell there would have been a massive amount of magic used and the backlash the environment would have suffered would make the Everfree look like a paradise. Of course the price the caster would pay for altering reali... Discord. He's the only one capable of- "You're staring pretty damn hard at my laptop Celi. You really hate it that much?" The voice shocked her out of her inner mind but her face betrayed none of it as she looked up at the approaching human, "No we just think it should have it burn a few things from the internet's inventory." Lenny laughed as she tossed her keys onto the desk and hung up her cap and apron on an antique coat rack next to the door of her room, "Such a prude." She paused mid-step as something clicked in her head, "Aren't you guys polygamists because of that herd mentality crap?" Celestia raised a brow, "Herd mentalitly? What does- oh hmm... It is not uncommon for a stallion to be tied to more than one mare but that is because there are so few stallions to begin with and it has always been a part of our culture. Ponies don't deal with solitude real well." "Well I ain't gonna cuddle with you if that's your game. Sure I'll give you a scratch between the ears and maybe even a hug but that's it, sorry. Not really into interspecies kinda stuff. Unless it's gay furries but that will never happen." Celestia nearly snorted but stopped herself just in time, "No that is not my game and there is no way I would use such lowly guilt laden traps to get such things. I have much better things to do than play such games." "And that is why I have a laptop, so I can play different games than just that." Lenny pushed a button in that infernal device and it awoken from its dark slumber. She quickly clicked an icon before she settled down into the chair fit for the giant's size and Celestia was completely surrounded. Two arms forming the point of her fleshy triangle prison and the coffee scented body forming the base. In all honesty she didn't care, she just couldn't figure out why she was giving it any thought at all. A soft orchestra melody played as her screen came to life with a dragon roosting atop a castle. It was quite beautiful with the moon and sea at its back. The red scaled creature was proud and arrogant like most of his kind but not insufferably so with the power he held. "Dragon's Dogma?" She tilted her head before she realized her time with Lenny was having an adverse affect on her elagant poise. And why wouldn't it be? This human could care less about royalty in general and didn't care much for any sort of formality to begin with. It was almost comforting if she would just allow herself to enjoy it. The woman looked down to her four legged companion with a smile, "Best game in the world in my totally biased opinion." She quickly jumped through a few menus before the world opened up and then closed in on a seemingly random person. She stood tall and skin of bronze with her midnight violet hair in a low tail braid that rested on her shoulder and cobalt blue eyes that shone with strength backed by kindness, a rarity in the circles Celestia was use to. The rest of her face was sheilded from view thanks to a bandana she wore that mimicked a fanged maw ready to eat. Her outfit was that of a mercenary archer, metal covering her bow arm while her right was bare save a fingerless glove. She had a sky blue leather skirt and chain mail leggings that disappeared into strong iron boots. Her bow itself was impressive with its strong recurved wood being plated with metal as well. She looked truly impressive. "I'd ask if you want to try but I dont think your hooves could really work my controllers." Celestia was shocked out of her staring and looked up to see Lenny digging out some sort of contraption with various buttons and a two sticks of somesort. "Well, magic does help in many day to day chores." "Magic? Oh you mean laziness?" Celestia rolled her eyes with a smile as her friend laughed at the playful ribbing. "No it is simply the royal way of doing things." "And that Princess Lazy Ass is why I don't bother with them. Now give this a try if you can." The strange black contraption was set in front of Celestia and she just stared for a moment unsure what do, "It won't bite I promise. I took out its teeth at an early age." This got a glare from Celestia. Despite the playful trading it could have been true in this strange world. With a dignified huff her magic enveloped the device and she gave it an experimental push. The woman on the screen suddenly began to run before the camera's view shot up to look at the sky. Just as quickly as that happened, the view changed back to her character falling off a tall cliff and into the ocean in a gurgling mass of red water where her character once was. The human snickered as she watched Celestia panic, the thumbsticks going every which way. "Ah the Brine. A scary bastard that inhabits the water. Sometimes he eats you and other times he just tosses you back ashore." She smirked down at the flowering princess until a familiar voice spoke up from the game. "Master!" She felt a little bad now though. She loved this game and one of the things about it that drew her was the company the hero/heroine kept. " Sorry I probably should have given you a quick look at how the controls work but you know, gotta get my entertainment somewhere." A smile finally broke through on her face as she gave a long suffering sigh, "I am glad to see I can provide something in that regard." Lenny rolled her eyes, "Oh you know you would do it to me in a heartbeat if the tables were turned." Celestia stuck up her snout in a haughty expression but smiled softly, "Taking advantage of a foreigner is unbecoming of a princess." "Damn straight, you may be a princess but not my princess." "As if you would have the chance to court me!" "As if I would give you the time of day and you are the one who sets the damn thing!" ~~(Ch)~~ A small creature lurking in the shadows let out a pleased grow and instead of the soft burp that came up from the delicious emotion radiating from the two. No not love, it was too content in this state to become more but all it would need was a push. The changeling could do this but it was unnecessary. After all Chrysalis preferred to play with her food. Even if Celestia's friend was a giant.