One change in the cog
Tonight was like any other, some ponies began preparations to sleep under the night sky and wait for a new day while others admiring, or beginning new adventures under the same veil of stars.
Luna stepped into her room to maneuver to the balcony and shut her eyes to focus onto the strings of magic. She focused and willed her magic to slowly rise the moon while the sun began the descend. As she felt the motion of the moon begin to rise she had opened her eyes to see the stars from the previous night. But there was something off from the blanket of the night sky.
The stars, while usually spaced out to make shape the art Luna had made on the dark blank canvas, seemed to have moved, not just one or two but a series of stars seemed to have aligned and create a sort of string of focus onto the edges of the night. They seemed to have in a way, stray away from the spiral of stars that seemed to have been created out of it's own will in the center.
Luna began to think aloud, "It isn't entirely impossible for the stars to move without my permission." She began to think of possibilities for the reason, "Discord could have aligned the stars in such disarray to be of a prank but, it seems unlikely due to the attachment of the element of kindess. And there are no special events going on that I know of that could moved the stars to align, and tia would never touch my night."
'Strange...' Luna thought but quickly dismissed it to begin trying to recorrect this error but when she focused her will onto the magic to move the stars it... resisted. Luna's eyes began to increase in size in the shock, she was at a loss for words. "This has never happened before!" Her caution arose to true worry, she began to pace around in circles on the balcony. "For the years I have been brought back and have had no troubles with my magic, never has this happened to me. This is not the case of my magic failing me." Luna once again tried to move the stars but she felt a pull, as though the stars were attracted to a magnet, as if, something was holding it still for some unknown reason. She began to take this more seriously and quickly trot out of her room to seek the royal library.
Everything was dark, a sort of bleak and dark void of nothing with no end or beginning, it felt like I wasn't even supposed to be here. It's emptiness of vast and made me feel lonely in the space.
A blinding light shines through and I try to cover my face with my hand but it comes out to be a hoof. Wait what?!
The light dissipated in shines and sparkles and what's left of my vision is the stone cold ground, also very cold, did I mention it was cold? Because it was freezing to the touch, I think I actually shook a bit from how cold it was jesus.
A female voice spoke up, "Hey Rusty? Do you think we did it right?" I felt something poke at me but kept playing the dead game.
A male voice replied. "Doesn't seem like we did, Rose."
One hissed, from the direction of the sound it seemed like that plus one was in between them and a pissed higher up guy. "We did everything she said we were supposed to, just bring it along, she might have need of it later." I hope they're not talking about me. I stood frozen just to see where this goes as being brought to the cold floor would do to someone. But nope, I was not that easy to escape the clutches of strangers, I just kept playing dead and tried to keep silent while one held me over the shoulder.
The sound of hooves passing the ground was the only sound I heard and was enough time to freak out about the whole situation. WHAT JUST HAPPENED? WHY AM I BEING KIDNAPPED AND WHY ARE THERE HORSES HERE? WHY AM I A HORSE? AHHHHHH!!
"You think it's dead?" Rose whispered.
Rusty whispered back "I mean, she didn't really say what would happen right? What do you think captain?" I was actually surprised I could hear them, I don't think my hearing was this good and precise before.
The one holding me up over his shoulder, 'captain' replied at the normal level of tone. "If I had to guess the Queen's intentions, I'd say it's a new body for her."
Rusty spoke back. "Okay but why a stallion? Wouldn't she want like um, a mare body? I get being a thestral but-"
The captain was about to speak when Rose replied quicker on the draw. "Maybe she had a thing for mares."
That stopped the captain in his tracks of three limbs to process what Rose said. "Rose, you are getting three weeks of cleaning duty just for putting the image of our Queen bucking a mare in my head."
Rose started to protest, "Wha-? Oh come on that isn't-"
The captain cut her off though, "four weeks of cleaning duty."
"That's not-"
"Five weeks, do you want to make it six, Rose?"
All I heard as a response was a huff and a, "hmph" she cursed under her breath and 'of bullshit superiority something something' while Rusty just stifled a laugh.
I was at a complete loss for words, playing dead wasn't getting my anywhere and I needed answers and these guys didn't seem to bite... much. I sighed, this was insane-
"Jeez captain, I know it's a lot of work but I don't think I've heard you sigh before." Rusty seemed surprised from his tone.
"I thought that was one of you" he seemed to be surprised from the thought, I thought might as well introduce myself.
"It was me." As soon as I spoke up they all seemed to freeze, especially the captain, he seemed to have completely gone stiff for a few seconds before putting me down and immediately bowing.
The others seemed to have took a moment before the captain gave them a glare and they soon followed.
"Your highness! Please forgive us for not knowing you were awake!" The captain seemed to have sweat heavily in that moment as did the other guards and they bowed so low I thought they could've won a limbo contest with their forelegs.
"Highness?" I spoke back as if a echo.
The captain was first to raise his head to look at my direction, "y-you are not, Nightmare Moon?"
I was completely dumbfounded, 1. That sounded like a corny name, 2. I was completely expecting a different response from these horses- bats? Oh shit they are bat horses!
"Uh, no?" I was now completely confused as a sane person that was facing three bat horses in entirely new body would be.
Rose whispered to the others probably thinking I couldn't hear her or not caring if I heard her. "I told you guys we did it wrong."
Rusty whispered back, "Well maybe if SOME pony didn't forget to rehearse the spell lines we would be fine!"
"Well maybe I didn't think this would actually bring back Nightmare Moon, I mean she barely gave us any information to go off of!"
The captain shushed his two teammates and gave them both a stare to tell them to shut the fuck up. While he turned to me, "So if you're not Queen Nightmare Moon then, who are you?"
"I'm- uh" I paused for a second and then another and went on for a bit, I actually couldn't remember.
"Erm, not to rush you, but?"
"I actually don't remember." I was sorta at a loss here, I can't actually seem to remember much before this whole thing happened. I rubbed the side of my head, "it's actually sorta a fuzzy, like there's something blocking me from knowing, if that makes sense?"
Rose leaned over, held her hoof to the side she wasn't talking towards and whispered to the other two, "maybe she actually lost her memory when being summoned here."
Instead of the captain swatting her or telling her to shut up he kinda seemed to agree on the theory if no movement from the possibility was anything to go off of.
Oh shit, they think I'm Nightmare Moon now don't they?