//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Celestia Sleeps In 
// by Jenso 
//------------------------------//

In the belly of the royal palace was a room that very few ponies had ever heard about. It was here that Princess Luna slunk into her chair at the head of the table, hooves in her face. She had been in the Royal Emergency Room before, but it had never been this irritating - and exhausting.

She turned to the doorway, where a few guardsponies stood at attention. Next to them, one of the royal palace servants was fidgeting in place, twiddling her hooves.

Luna spoke up to catch her attention. "Ms. Platter, could you get me a coffee? Cream but no sugar, please." She gave a weak smile at the end to show some glimpse of appreciation.

"Yes, Your Highness. Right away." She was off like Pinkie Pie.

With nothing else to distract her, Luna turned back towards the battlefield ahead. Various adviser ponies and politician ponies were frantically debating, some leaning over the table and pointing accusatory hooves at others. Luna caught glimpses of conversation.

"I know you don't know a salt's lick about the economy, but this is the Equestrian Stock Exchange! We haven't seen a drop like this in centuries! And you have the gall to sit there and..."

"If we don't take care of this soon, my constituents will be kicking my door down because their crops are going bad! How am I supposed to win re-election with a crisis..."

"Oh, please! Equestria is in chaos, and all you care about is your Senate seat? I swear to Celestia, you politicians are nothing but a pile of selfish manure. You never change."

Had Luna been more awake and in her right mind, she would have tried to calm down the room diplomatically. As it is, she had just lost 3 hours of sleep and counting. She had no qualms about using her outdoor voice. Her very outdoor voice.

"PONIES OF THE ROYAL COUNCIL, CEASE THY BICKERING AT ONCE!!!"

The ponies in front of her abruptly stopped. As if coming from a daze, they sat back down, took their hooves off the table and looked bashfully at the floor.

Luna continued, this time in her indoor voice. "Ahem, thank you. Now, if I could have your attention, I may have a temporary solution that may stave off this crisis." She straightened her posture, folding her front legs on top of the table. "This may take some cajoling, but our alternative is sitting around while our country loses its mind. So the first step..."

Just then, storming through the doorway was one Shining Armor, panting and flushed. In bursting into the room, he bumped into Ms. Platter, who was gently carrying a much-needed coffee to Princess Luna. Luna watched the cup fall to the floor, the ceramic shattering, the liquid spilling in all directions, her hopes and dreams dying before her. She stared, watching the coffee stream through the cracks of the tiled floor, seeping its way into the void.

She was flung out of her reverie by Shining Armor.

"Princess, we have a situation of unrest surrounding the palace! We're talking full-on riot - pitchforks, torches, sofas. We've held them off from storming the entrance, but they're demanding that you come speak!"

Several things happened to Luna's body as she processed this information. First, her left eye twitched slightly. Then her usually neutral face contorted, her lips trembling. After that, her ethereal, flowing mane slowed down significantly in speed while also changing direction erratically. Lastly, she croaked out a couple measly words:

"I see."



Back in Ponyville, Twilight and her friends (some having just woken up a few minutes ago) galloped to the train station. Twilight's friends' pleas for an explanation from behind her fell on deaf ears. She was in a zone that would be very hard to pierce. Spike scampered next to her, struggling to keep up with his tiny dragon legs.

"Twilight... Why did you... Need me here to begin with?" He huffed.

"Because, Spike! You're my number one assistant, remember?" She turned to him while still galloping, eyes wild, mane frazzled. She vainly hoped that a compliment could keep the dragon placated for now. Instead, Spike looked at her with a worried expression. He had seen where this could go before.

The disconnected unit of the galloping Mane Six arrived at the boarding platform, only to be greeted with a large crowd of ponies crowding around the front of the train. Some were yelling. Some were pacing, clearly distraught.

"What in the name of Celestia is going on here?" Twilight thought aloud. She trotted through the crowd, making her way to the train, where Steam Engine, the conductor, was fending off angry ponies. Twilight pushed her way to the front.

"Excuse me. Could you please tell me what's going on here? Is the train not running on schedule?"

Mr. Engine, somewhat curious about her frazzled mane and twitchy eyes (but still nonplussed) recited his excuse for the 50th time that morning. "Sorry, ma'am. We can't run the Friendship Express while it's still dark outside. It's too dangerous." He coughed.  "And it goes against regulation."

Twilight's eyes narrowed. She leaned forward, nearly pressing her muzzle to his. "You know there's something called a spotlight, right?" She gritted her teeth.

The conductor curtly responded, closing his eyes. "Don't have one. We used to, but that was before Mayor Mare started her Finance Initiative." He almost spat while saying the last two words. He rolled his eyes and continued.

"If ya ask me, it's more like a Cheap Initiative. The mayor'll do anything to lower the budget, if it means she can waltz into Canterlot with the lowest tax rate in the country. Apparently, public transportation is such a money sink and so excessive that we can't even tape a flashlight to the front of the train without that old hag breathing down our necks. I swear I'll go to the grave before I let that sleazeball run the town for another term. I was tellin' people to vote for Filthy Rich, but the ponies in this town must want Ponyville to keep looking like a run-down group of shacks. I'm telling you, a member of the upper class could come here and give all their bits to the local hospital, and the folks in this town would still run them out to Appleloosa. Snobs about the snobs, the whole lot of 'em. The Town of Diversity, my ass. If you wear a scarf that costs more than 20 bits, they'll spit in your food and spit in your face while they're at it. Speaking of food, did you hear about the Hayburger Shack? My friend Rusty works in the kitchen there, and he was telling me..."

Twilight could take no more.

"The Hayburger Shack?! Who in the wide world of Equestria cares?! Can you run this train or not?" She was practically screaming in his face, and he was unfazed.

"This train ain't runnin' any time soon," he said. "That's that."

Twilight groaned and threw up her hooves in exasperation. Would anything go her way today? She resigned herself to a probable 'no' and sulked back to her friends.

Before she could face them and perhaps finally explain why this was such a big deal, she saw a stallion sitting on a nearby bench, his face tucked behind a newspaper.

Wait a second. Is that another edition? How fast do they print these things?

She scurried over. "Sir, would you mind if I take a look at this for a second? Thank you." Before he could respond, she ripped the paper out of his hooves and walked away. The front page read:

A SISTERLY COUP - Celestia ousted, Luna claims throne

"What?!" Twilight screamed, holding the newspaper at leg's length.

The subtitle:

A stab to the back and a twist of the knife! Has Nightmare Moon returned?

The paper slowly slipped from Twilight's hooves, calmly plopping to the ground. Perhaps she thought it would make a good pillow. Perhaps it was meant to cushion her. Regardless, Twilight followed suit, flopping to the ground on top of the paper, her vision going hazy. The first thing she saw before it all went black was a stallion trying to pry the paper from under her limp body.