Chapter Fourteen
“To Truly Understand Someone…”
‘Veronica, wake up, we have a major problem on our hands.’
I groaned “Shut up, Leon, it’s too damn early to be putting up with your crap…”
I rolled over in the comfortable, heavenly bed. Mmm, it feels like it’s been forever since I’ve been in a bed…
‘My point exactly, Nica, which means you need to get your lazy ass up right now.’
Ugh... whine, whine, whine, whine, all he does is whine...
“Look, we’ll deal with your love life once I’m ready to wake up and face the world now let me sleep, dammit!” I snapped irritably while snuggling under the nice, comfortable blanket.
Wait a second… I’m sleeping, I can feel the bed, and if that rumbling pain in my stomach is anything to go by I appear to be hungry.
Oh.
Oh no.
Oh God no.
Oh please God, no!
I sat up, instantly awake and examined my hands. My real hands. My real, flesh-and-blood hands!
‘Tighten the drawstring on my pants before you go running off, please. The last thing we need this morning is you getting a concussion because you’re flipping the hell out.’
I did as he asked and immediately charged out of the bedroom and into the adjacent bathroom, running past Terra who’d gotten up to see what all the commotion was about.
“Oh, excuse me; I didn’t realize Leon had… company over.” She said, somewhat tensely.
I didn’t care about that what I cared about was, when I looked in the mirror, my own face stared back out at me, green eyes and blonde hair included. I heard Terra go in the master bedroom, calling for Leon, but I was currently suffering from the shock of seeing myself real for the first time in who knows how long!
Then my shock ended… and I screamed.
Terra came in to see what was wrong, but by that point I was sitting on the floor with my back against the wall, hands gripping my head.
“Oh no… nonononono, this isn’t happening, this can’t be happening, we’re just having a vivid-ass dream and when we wake up, Leon’s gonna be in control and everything will be right again, oh please don’t let this be happening, please please please!” I muttered while I pinched myself repeatedly trying to wake up from whatever twisted freakin’ dream I was having.
‘Veronica, will you calm the hell down?!’ Leon snapped in my head (oh dear God, he’s in my head now!) ‘This is not a dream and losing your shit is not gonna solve anything!’
“Ok, ok, I just need to take a second to breathe and calm down, just breathe…” I said, taking several deep breaths.
“Excuse me, but are you alright?” Terra asked me, concern in her voice “I can call a doctor for you, if you want.”
“No, Terra, I’m going to be fine, I just… need a minute.” I replied, holding a hand up to her.
“I’m… sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met before. How do you know my name?” She asked me warily, which made me face-palm.
“Crap, that’s right, sorry.” I replied wearily “My name is Veronica and I typically only exist in Leon’s head.”
Terra said nothing and kept staring at me warily.
“Look, sweetheart.” I said, using the name he often calls her “This is not turning out to be a great day for anyone, but if we wanna fix this, we’re gonna need some smart monkeys hammering away at something.”
Wait a minute, we don’t need smart monkeys, we need smart ponies; Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia! I ran back to the master bedroom and grabbed Leon’s phone so that I could send a text to Twilight.
To: Twilight
Twi, we have a problem; can you come over to my place as soon as you can? Thanks. Oh, and send a letter to Princess Celestia for me, if you don’t mind. The issue is… rather unusual and quite severe, we could use her assistance in this matter.
From: Twilight
What’s going on, Leon?
To: Twilight
I really think it’s better if you send that letter to Celestia and get over here, it’s not something I can explain over the phone or in a text, you’re just gonna have to see it for yourself.
From: Twilight
If you say so, Leon; I’ll be there soon.
With that done, I decided a change of clothes was in order. While I didn’t like the idea of subjecting Leon to watching me change (‘Oh, like you haven’t seen me naked before, Nica.’ Hey, it’s different when it comes to women, cut me some slack here!), There wasn’t much that could be done about it.
“Hey, Terra, can I borrow some of your clothes for a little while? Leon’s are kinda big for me.”
She stared at me for a second before leaving, returning a moment later with a simple pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a basic set of underwear. I returned to the bathroom and changed (they didn’t fit me as well as I would’ve liked. Terra’s a tiny whip of a thing and while I’m not exactly Rarity in terms of proportions, I still filled out her clothes a little more than she did), taking Leon’s pajamas and throwing them on his bed.
‘Hey, I have a hamper for those, Nica!’ He protested, but I didn’t give a crap at the moment ‘Wow, someone must’ve fed you a heaping pile of bitch pudding this morning, huh?’
“Get over it, Leon; we’ve got bigger fish to fry than your stupid sleepwear.” I snapped back, causing Terra to look at me curiously.
As I was heading downstairs, I heard the distinct sound of Twilight teleporting in and hurrying down the hallway to the bedrooms.
“Leon, what’s going on?” She called urgently, stopping cold as I came down and brushed past her to the living room “Who are you and what were you doing upstairs?”
“I’m pissed and I was upstairs waking up in your boyfriend’s bed.” I snapped irritably.
‘Nica, be nice. Twilight’s worried and you just made it look like I’m already cheating on her.’
“Leon, get down here and explain to me just what the hay is going on here!” Twilight called out angrily.
“He’s already down here, Twilight, you just can’t see him.” I said which caused her to hurry into the living room and glare at me, with Terra standing behind her.
“What do you mean?” She snapped at me, which made me tap my head.
“He and I are currently experiencing a bit of an identity crisis; you see, I’m normally the one riding shotgun in his head, but today it seems I’m driving, which is not good. Like, at all.” I explained, rather tersely I might add.
“Somehow, I doubt that.” She replied “Why don’t you try telling me where Leon is and what you’ve done with him before I do something unspeakable to you.”
I shrugged and flopped down on the couch. Twilight obviously did not approve.
“Hey, who said you could lie on his couch?! Get up and answer my question, now!” She yelled, yanking me off the couch and throwing me across the room. Like a cat, I twisted my body around and landed in a crouch, before standing and crossing my arms across my chest.
‘Can you please not pick a fight with my marefriend, Nica?’ Leon pleaded with me.
Hey, she started it. ‘Twilight didn’t start anything, you’re afraid and your reaction is to lash out at everyone.’
“Look, Twilight…” I said, exasperated “We can sit here and duke it out in a fight that you’ll lose, or we can set our differences aside for now and find a way to fix this mess. Your choice, missy.”
We glared at each other for a moment until there was a bright flash in the living room and Princess Celestia stood before us in all her radiant glory. However, her beautiful face was marred by concern, which was directed at me.
“Veronica, what in Equestria is going on?” She asked me, to which I shrugged, completely ignoring the fact that she knew who I was.
“Beats me, one moment I was watching Leon flop onto his bed after his date last night, the next I was waking up in it.”
Celestia put a hand up to her chin in troubled thought, while Twilight looked between us in disbelief.
“Just like that, you believe her, Princess?!” Twilight asked incredulously “And for that matter, you know who she is?! What is going on here, Princess?!”
“Yes, yes and I don’t know, my student.” Celestia replied without missing a beat “Veronica, allow me to try something; just hold very still for a moment.”
Her horn glowed and I felt her magic begin flow through me, but then the sensation vanished immediately, and Celestia looked at me in surprise.
“Uh, Celestia, what just happened?” I asked worriedly, and her shaking her head did not make me feel better.
‘Imagine how I must feel, Nica; as far as I’m concerned I’m stuck in your head indefinitely.’
“No you are not, Leon, we shall find a way to make this right.” Celestia responded, which caused me to blanch at her.
“You heard him?” I asked her, to which she nodded “Mother of pearl…”
Then I noticed the grin tugging at the Princess’ face and I glared at her.
“What?”
“Oh, it’s nothing… Nica.” She replied humorously, and I blushed at my nickname being muttered aloud for the first time by someone other than Leon.
Twilight was holding her head in an exasperated manner, muttering something to calm herself down I guess. After a moment, she clapped her hands in front of her and turned an irritated expression towards me. To my credit, I flopped back down on the couch.
“Okay, before we do anything, can somepony please explain to me what the hay is going on here?” She asked, exasperated.
‘Princess, is there a way you can make it so that everyone in the room can hear me?’ Leon asked, to which the Princess nodded. Instead of replying, she closed her eyes and her horn glowed for a moment before fading.
“Go ahead, Leon.” She stated, gesturing a hand to me.
“Hello, can you all hear me?” Leon’s voice came from nowhere, sounding like it was coming from an ancient radio “Twilight, I apologize for Nica’s attitude, she’s… a little grumpy this morning.”
“That’s the understatement of the century…” I huffed in response. Twilight shot me a ferocious glare.
“Is she always like this?” Twilight asked, still glaring at me.
“She can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but otherwise no; she’s actually very nice and helpful most of the time.” He replied humorously, but then his tone grew serious “I ask that you cut her a bit of slack, Twi. Her attitude is in response to the stress of our current situation.”
“I was rather content being a voice in your head, thank you very much.” I quipped, but then held a hand in front of my eyes “Though I’ll admit I kinda missed having a body…”
“If you promise to behave, I may decide to let you spend the day like this once we figure out how to change back.” Leon replied casually.
“I’ll make no such promise… but I’ll try and keep a lid on it, okay?” I said, which was met with his approval.
“I guess that’s as good as we’re gonna get from her, now; back to your questions, Twi.” Leon stated “This is Veronica, she is what’s called a Nobody; a being that’s created when a particularly strong individual is… submerged in darkness, you could say. She’s been residing in my head since I got to Equestria, acting as a voice for my subconscious.”
“He’s a real asshole, by the way.” I quipped, then grinned wickedly at Twilight “Though he and I both agree Leon needs to stop holding back so much and just-”
“Nica, no!” Leon snapped immediately, though Twilight looked confused.
“‘And just’ what?” She asked, genuinely curious.
“Leave his door unlocked, darling.” I replied with a wink, but she still looked confused.
“I don’t get it.” Twilight deadpanned.
“She’s referring to when you locked us in here for a week, Twi.” Leon said with a sigh and Twilight’s face went from lavender to red faster than a chameleon.
Celestia gave her an interested expression “You locked yourself in here with him for a week? Perhaps you are learning more than I thought, my faithful student.” She teased, managing to make Twilight turn even redder.
“Though it pains me to say it, nothing happened during that week… other than the Doctor crashing into Terra’s room. Leon went to a lot of trouble to ensure your precious student’s ‘honor’ wasn’t compromised.” I droned, but Celestia giggled.
“Oh, I had complete confidence he would. You have proven most honorable and noble, Leon, as I am sure my sister has mentioned.”
“She has, actually, but let’s not get distracted here.” Leon stated, and made a sound like he was clearing his throat “The fact that Nica is the active body right now is… startling to say the least.”
“You can say that again.” I replied, suddenly very interested in my foot, wiggling my toes and all that jazz.
“Will you stop playing with yourself?!” Twilight snapped, but then turned red again when she realized what she said. I was briefly aware of Leon snickering to himself.
“Hey! You try being a disembodied spirit floating around in the Void for who knows how long, and then stuck as a voice in a guy’s head; you’ll wanna make sure everything’s in order, too.” I replied indignantly.
“Surely you weren’t in the Void for that long, Nica. Leon, himself, only showed up a couple of months ago.” Twilight said, but she withered under the new glare I was giving her.
“Do not speak to me as if you know what it was like there.” I growled, sitting up on the couch “Inside the Void there is nothing; no light, no darkness, no time and no space. Nothing lives and nothing dies, because nothing exists in the Void.”
“She’s right, Twi.” Leon said morosely “I lost track of time when Terra and I were swallowed by it. I have no idea if I’d been in the Void for minutes, hours, days… or years. All I know is how old I was when I went in.”
“I believe it is best we move on; Leon, did something happen to you last night before, during or after your date with Twilight?” Celestia asked, though she gave Twilight small grin.
“Not that I noticed."
“Well there was that moment when you’d threatened to kill an idiotic stallion, and don’t pretend you don’t know about it, Princess; your sister tends to run at the mouth and I’m sure she told you everything.” I chimed in, my voice serious “Then, of course, there’s the fact that the owner of Aurora Hall is a freakin’ alicorn, we can’t forget that, can we?”
“Actually, that reminds me of my next question; Princess, are all alicorns capable of reading minds?” Leon asked, to which Celestia gave me a thoughtful look.
“Only once we reach a certain level of mastery with our magic, Leon.” She replied “And even then, we must be actively listening for your thoughts to hear them. However, if your question was actually ‘can all alicorns hear Nica’, it is largely the same with the difference that we can hear her as clearly as we can now. It’s… far too complicated to explain, though. Regardless, I believe it is best you speak to Spectra about what is happening to you.”
At that, I stood from the couch and walked towards the front door. Twilight stopped me before I actually opened it, though.
“Where do you think you’re going, Veronica?” She asked irritably.
“Aurora Hall
“At this hour? What makes you think they’re open?”
“They’ll let me in or I’ll let myself in, either way, I’m going to see Spectra.” I replied seriously, which caused Twilight to stare at me in disbelief.
“You can’t be serious, Veronica, you can’t just waltz in there like you own the place!”
“Why not?"
“Because you’re going to be respectful to them and request entry.” Leon stated sternly and I groaned “Don’t give me that, Nica, you know you’ve been excessively rude this morning and so you’re going to spend the next couple of hours being civil, okay?”
“Feh… whatever.” I grumbled.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” Leon asked, though he knew damn well what I’d said.
“I said ‘okay’.”
“That’s what I thought.” Leon replied smugly. I merely huffed and slung his bag over my shoulders “Why are you taking that with you?”
“Hey, I’m your Nobody, which means I share your personality quirks.” I stated irritably and I heard an audible sigh come from Twilight. I ignored her, opened the door and left.
In case you’re wondering, no I do not have any shoes one, but here I don’t really need them. Besides, I wanted to feel the Earth beneath my bare feet again.
“Nica, wait!” I heard Terra call from behind me, but I didn’t turn to look at her.
“If you’re gonna try and stop me, sweetheart, you might as well walk back inside.” I said without slowing my pace “I’m gonna get to the bottom of this if it means I have to turn the whole damn town inside out.”
“I wasn’t going to, Nica.” She replied casually, which caused me to stop and stare at her suspiciously. She merely gave me a calm smile “I’m going to help you.”
“Why? I’ve been nothing but a grade-A bitch since I woke up.” I asked her, to which she shook her head.
“That’s not true, Nica, you’re just scared.” She replied calmly “And besides, Leon wouldn’t vouch for someone who couldn’t be trusted and he clearly trusts you, so I will, too.”
I stared at Terra in surprise. Despite the way I’ve acted all morning, she was not only willing to forgive me, but help me as well. I looked away from her, suddenly feeling very ashamed of myself. Ugh, see what I mean?! Xemnas is so full of himself; beings without hearts don't feel shame!
“I… Thank you, Terra and… I’m sorry.” I murmured, but then I felt one of her hands on my shoulder. When I looked at her, she was giving me one of her gentle smiles.
“It’s alright, Nica. Let’s go visit Spectra and get this figured out, ok?” She said, to which I nodded.
“Yeah. C’mon, Aurora Hall is this way.”
When we got there, they let us in without argument. Sakura wasn’t at the desk this morning (probably because she was there all night), but the wolf who was told us that Spectra was awaiting our arrival and he led us to the alicorn’s office, which was surprisingly Spartan in comparison to the rest of the club.
Spectra himself sat at the desk looking over papers and writing on some of them, before handing them off to his secretary who took them and returned to her own desk in the previous room. Once that was finished he looked up at Terra and I and smiled.
“Welcome to Aurora Hall, ladies.” He greeted us in his smooth voice, and I saw Terra blush “Aunt Celestia called me a few minutes ago, warning me that you were on the war path, Veronica.”
“So you know why we’re here, then.” I stated, placing my hands on my hips, to which he nodded.
“Of course I do. You’re here because you and Leon have currently swapped roles, to which I must say I’m sorry.” He said, adding the last part rather sheepishly.
“And why are you sorry?” I deadpanned, glaring at him.
“Because it was my spell that switched you.” He replied, rubbing the back of his head “You see, I don’t like it when someone doesn’t fully understand the plight of another. I switched you two because I wanted you both to see what it was like to be the other for the day.”
“So… we’re stuck like this for the whole day, is that it?” I asked him, to which he nodded “Well, that’s just fantastic. What the hell am I supposed to do for a day?”
“That’s up to you.” Spectra replied with a shrug “There’s always something going on around Ponyville, you need but ask somepony.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration.
“When does the spell expire?”
“Overnight.” He stated “As soon as you fall asleep, the change will be made and Leon will be back.”
I sighed and glared at Spectra.
“You’re a jackass, Spectra, you know that?” I snapped irritably, and I heard Leon groan in response. Spectra merely gave me an amused glance.
“Well that’s certainly a first, though I suppose it applies in this situation, doesn’t it?” He chuckled.
“Damn straight it does. Do you have any idea what went through my mind this morning?! I was ready to tear the whole town apart in search of answers!”
‘Nica, calm down. Now that we know this isn’t permanent, why don’t you go out on the town and find something fun to do?’ Leon said, trying to keep me calm. I took a deep breath… and turned to leave.
“Veronica, wait.” Spectra called out, causing me to stop “I truly am sorry I put you in this predicament, but I assure you I had the best intentions in mind.”
“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, Spectra.” I replied coldly “If that’s how you feel, I suggest not interfering in things directly because that will only screw them up more.”
I heard him sigh heavily, but I didn’t turn to look at him again.
“I’ll tell you this much, though; I do appreciate being given an opportunity to experience what it’s like to have a body again. But at the same time, I chose to leave mine behind for a reason and I am content with that choice. Please do not assume you know what is best for me again. Good day, sir.”
And with that I walked calmly out of his office and the club, with Terra close behind me. Once we were outside, I stood and stared out at nothing for a moment.
“So I have one whole day with a body… what to do.” I asked myself quietly.
“We could go to Carousel Boutique and get you fitted for proper clothing, Nica.” Terra offered, and I shrugged.
“Good a place as any to start.” I said, turning to smile at her “Lead the way, Terra.”
And so, my day officially began.