//------------------------------//
// Royal Rut 
// Story: Sisterly Switched 
// by Harbinger Of Mist 
//------------------------------//

	"...It has always been of our greatest interest to indulge in the culture of our gracious pony neighbours..." A griffin ambassador chided on about foreign relations.

Celestia sat at her usual end of the table during the discussion, keeping her utmost composure and being sure to absorb every word. All this talk about exchange and trade is something she has heard hundreds of times before. She knows exactly how these all end, it's nothing new to her. In these such meetings, she would usually let her sister do most of the talking. She made sure to nod and give her brief two bits on occasion, but she already had her answer. Whether her visitors knew the answer as well or not, it was still important to not miss any details. It was always a politician's specialty to speak for hours while saying nothing.

With this meeting coming to a close in a few moments, Celestia's mind began to wonder. Her experience with these extended meetings gave her a capability of losing herself in a dream world whilst still being fully aware of what was around her. Perhaps that is why she is always smiling. She had time to think; time to consider what else could be accomplished.

She and Luna have the upcoming weekend all to themselves for the first time in years. With all that free time just up ahead, she began feeling anxious. She didn't know what she could do.

"Sister?"

Celestia shifted her focus back to the meeting at Luna's beckon. "Yes. It all depends on the demand and value of our wares." She turns her attention to the griffin ambassador. "I remember the griffin kingdom showing much interest in pony art?" She inquired.

"It's the magical precision that makes all the high pieces so endearing." He responds.

"Well with our growing mechanical industry, we ponies will need an excess of iron to create such machines. If we were to give you one our more prized vintage portraits, you'd have plenty of income just from the tourism alone."

"It's true, we do have a flourishing wealth of the metal..."



Having reached an agreement, the meeting soon finally met its end and the partakers have left on good terms. On her way to her chambers, Celestia was followed at the side by her sister. "You seem a tad tense, dear sister," said Luna. "Are you uncomfortable about the art trade?"

"It's not that at all, Luna." Celestia began to share her worries about their upcoming "vacation" (two days would be enough for them to justify calling it such, given their positions). "It's just that I'm not sure what to do with our time off this weekend. I'm too used to having business to occupy myself from dawn to dusk. I'm still grateful to you staying awake to help me in certain tasks."

"'Tisn't a worry, sister." Luna assured. "I've had too much free time on the moon. I need to make up for time I didn't spend awake."

Hoping that Luna's remark about her banishment was casual enough, Celestia decides to prod for information. "What else have you done to keep yourself busy?"

Luna begins to respond, but suddenly stops dead in her tracks without an immediate response. "I... I'd rather not say." She turns her head away and bites her lower lip in embarrassment.

"You can share your insecurities with me. You know that."

"It's not-- I think-- Or actually... Umm..." She inhales and gives a confident reply. "Let's just say there's a reason I'm more..." She turns to head to her own bedroom, but not without bumping their flanks together. "...toned." She briefly looks back with a smirk and dashes off. "Night, Tia!"

Celestia scoffs as she watches her sister scamper away with a hop in her step. She then looks down at her flank and sways it lightly side to side, contemplating Luna's remark. A guard just so happened to rear the wrong corner as she observed herself. She felt surprised at first, but quickly asked the guard, "I'm not... eh, am I?"

The guard maintained a stoic form despite his wide eyes. "We were trained not to have such discussions, your highness." He turns back to avoid further words. "...at least not outside private areas."



Celestia decided to perform a few aerobic stretches before retiring to bed. She hoped to get not only a short workout to spite her sister, but to give herself an excuse for more time to work out her unresolved issues of her weekend. She doesn't plan to shed the extra cake-pounds from her flank the whole time. Though, it was a plan at first, she didn't want to give Luna the satisfaction as she would surely find out.

Her elongated pose for stretching her front legs out in parallel along the floor garnered an unfortunate response. "What a fantastic view!" She spins and plants her haunches firmly on the ground in a humiliated panic, and soon found herself on the receiving end of a bright white flash from a couple of feet away. When her vision returned seconds later, she saw Discord sitting in a theatre chair with popcorn in his lap and a camera in one of his hands. The other held a photo that instantly developed. "Hmm... This adorable face will work just fine though."

Celestia shook herself back to stability. "D-Discord?! What are you doing in the castle?! In my chambers?!" She snags the photo out of Discord's claw. "...Eyeing my--" She takes a short glance at the picture and growls as she slams it on the floor.

"Oh, now forgive me for the intrusion." Discord slithers up to Celestia's side and massages her chin. "I couldn't help but eavesdrop on your little weekend situation."

Celestia's body tensed up. "I never said anything of the sort out loud recently." A mental light flashed on. "What were you doing in my mind?!"

Discord summons a filing cabinet out of thin air and pulls open a drawer. "Oh, nothing that I could hold against you." He spouts with a posed look as he places his new photo in a file labeled 'The Real Celestia'. "It's just one of my favourite boredom-killing activities..." He smirks innocently as he closes the drawer. He made the cabinet vanish as he leaned over the top, leaving an invisible platform.

Celestia could pick up very quickly on what he was up to. "I'm not interested."

"I understand your caution. But couldn't you give a friend a chance?" Discord clasps his hand together as a halo materializes above his head.

"I'd hardly call you such."

Discord's halo shatters as he gives a defeated moan. "And here I thought I was reformed."

Celestia trots over to her bed and crawls in. "I know what kind of 'help' you would try to employ. You're not one to offer assistance unless there was something in it for you."

Discord sat at the foot of Celestia's bed as he pleads his case. "Now how can we build our trust if you keep pushing me away? Whether it entertains me or not, I want to prove I can be helpful to you." He stretches out and lands himself beside Celestia on top of her sheets. "You're looking for something to spice up your weekend, and that is something I specialize in." His words only caused the princess to roll over and face away from him. "Hmm... How about this? If you accept my offer and you're angry with me by the end of the weekend, I will never butt in on your personal affairs again." Celestia turns back slowly with a look of intrigue. "And you can tell Twilight and her friends I can no longer be trusted."

"You seem so confident..." Celestia responded, causing Discord to form a smile. She sighs. "Alright. Do your work. Spice up my weekend! And for your sake..." She turns back over to face away. "I better enjoy it."

Discord teleports himself to the center of Celestia's room and jumps with glee. "Woohoo! This I can promise you -as a friend-, you won't regret it." He snaps his fingers and disappears with a flash and a cloud of confetti.

Celestia groaned as she rubbed her eyes. "I'm starting to already."



Discord had waited until an hour or so before sunrise to execute his plan. Now that he was sure the riled princess was off in Neverland, he took a position beside her bed. He snapped his fingers softly and summoned a door off to his other side. It landed with a thud and caused him to clench his eyes shut. The noise fortunately went unregistered by the royalty in slumber. He opened the door as it led to a new room entirely. The "portal" door formed an instant rift between Celestia's room and that of one of Twilight's friends. He walked in and examined the pony of his choice.

In the bed was a sleeping Rarity, complete with earmuffs and sleeping mask to assure her beauty sleep. Discord carefully reached down to her forehead and with a quick motion, phased his hand through and plucked out a ghostly apparition of Rarity. His prize was snoring lightly as it dangled between his fingers. Discord quickly returned to other side of the door and did the same to Celestia with his other hand. Now with both of their bodies empty, he pulled the old switcheroo. He gently placed Rarity into the lifeless husk of the sun princess, then quickly hopped back through the door to put Celestia into her new temporary home.

Sorry Celestia. Discord thought to himself so as not to stir his work. But any specific activities would have surely had you pulling your mane out. He walked over to the fashionista's dresser. May as well have you spending your weekend off with more work to do. If I recall, this friend of Twilight's is normally working on a project of some sort. He quickly noticed a picture of Rarity with what he presumed to be her little sister. Hold on... He disposes of the door and stretches his neck through a few of the walls of Rarity's home. He happened upon a sleeping Sweetie Belle and another idea instantly sprouted.

Discord brought the rest of his body into Sweetie's room and he looks down at her with wide eyes. I shouldn't... He conjures another door leading to Luna's room. Should I? He repeats the process with the filly and lunar princess. No. I really shouldn't. With two more bodies switched around, he rids of the door and teleports back to some undisclosed location away from other ponies. "But I did anyway!" He cheers to himself with a smile on his face. He falls back onto an "insta-hammock" and quickly lifts his head, pondering how this would affect the situation. "Is this really worth Celestia not talking to me for the next few months or so?" He scratches his chin for a few seconds. "Of course it is!" He lays back and awaits the morning.

"I can't wait until they wake up..."