//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Why Am I Luna!? // by Grim The Pony Reaper //------------------------------// After my little ‘outburst’, I sat on the hospital bed, trying (and failing) to keep myself calm. Celestia was sitting in the chair, attempting to hold back a laugh while still feeling bad. Eventually, she said, “I guess I should have mentioned that the potion wears off quickly.” I looked at her with that ‘You don’t say?’ face we all knew. “Yeah! That might’ve been helpful… how do we proceed?” Celestia looked at me with a confused look on her face. “Could you explain?” I replied, “Like, do we keep this under wraps, or do we tell the public, while probably causing anarchy that would Discord proud?” She almost instantly said, “Well, if you put it like that, the choice is obvio… how do you know who Discord is?” That put my thinking cap on. How did I know who he is? I’m also getting random memories of events I never had. I had a pretty good idea of why this is happening though. However, I am not proud of why. “I think I’m getting your sister’s memories. Still not completely there, though. Could I ask a few questions?” She nodded. “So I’m…royalty?” She said, “Yes. Along with me, we are the co-rulers of Equestria, which is the country you’re in.” I asked another question. “What exactly… am I?” She replied, “You’re an Alacorn, which is a combination of the three pony races: Earth ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns. We also have each races magic, which makes us incredibly powerful.” I sort of understood what she was saying because of the memories, including the magic, surprisingly. “I have one more question. It’s an important one… do I get any student athletes?” Celestia gave me a raised eyebrow. “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand.” I tried to explain the best I could. “You know, the people that work really hard, yet don’t get paid?” She tried to think of what I was talking about, but by the look of her face, she knew pretty well. “Are you saying you want…slaves?” I answered, “Wow, it does sound bad if you say it that way. And yes, I would like some student atholetes.” “…No.” “…Please?” “NO!” I realized I wouldn’t get my way with this, so I decided to drop it. Good call…thou was joking…correct? Why don’t you find out? Speaking of which… “Hey, Celery? Is it normal here to have a voice inside your head that isn’t yours? And I’m not talking about my conscience.” She was a bit taken back by the ‘nickname’, but answered anyway. “…No… wait, does this particular voice speak…strangely?” Sister! Why must thou degrade our self-esteem with thy words!? We are only speaking in… “Yup. Shakespearean crap. And she seems ticked with you calling her strange…it’s getting really annoying.” Thou shall not speak of us in this manner, unnatural inhabitant! We shall punish thou for thy deeds once we are free! “Yeah, we get it. Thou this, thou that. Oy!” As Celestia watched her sister bicker with herself, she wondered…could Luna still be there? She decided to test it. “Grim?” The night-like alacorn turned to Celestia. “Yeah?” “Does the…voice…go by the name of…Luna, by any chance?” We do. “It does. How did you know?” Celestia felt a spark of hope inside of her. “I think my sister is still in there, Grim. Just…not as in control.” Ooo…this will either be really good…or really annoying. Hey! Well, figured out that in a hurry. “But seriously, do we announce this to the public? I feel that the consequences would be bigger if we kept it hidden and they found out on their own.” Celestia gave this some thought, and said, “I think I will need to go over this with some other ponies. In the meantime, would you like to see a bit of our castle? I feel you might need it.” Oh yeah! Oh no… After the fast paced events in the hospital room, Celestia took me to the castle. It was grand, to say the least (I got lost at least three times, followed by a ‘You’re an Idiot’ speech by Luna). The last stop was Luna’s room. “…and I’ve already informed your guards about the situation, so they won’t get confused when you don’t exactly act like yourself. I feel like I should warn you however, your guards are a combination of pony and…well…bat.” I looked at her, with a single thought on my mind. “Then you’ll have to excuse what I might do when we get there.” Before Celestia could question me, we arrived at my new room, with a bat-pony at each end of the door. I walked up to the mare on the left side of the door, and asked, “You’ve been informed of this little…situation?” She nodded. I also asked, “Are you actually part bat?” Another nod. I started to look at her leathery wings, strange eyes and bat-like ears. “You know, I know somepony who would definitely say that you’re actually more owl than bat.” She gave me a curious look, and asked, “Who?” Oh my God…she fell for it! I started giggling like crazy, unable to control the merriment. Ugh, thy attitude is so…foalish. To almost instantly contradict Luna’s statement, Celestia and the guards started laughing too, enjoying the little trick. You were saying? Thou art still foalish…but sister is too. After I went into my room, I found myself unable to sleep. Luna thought this was incredibly stupid, seeing as how I’m a night princess now. Fortunately Celestia took over the moon lifting job until I learned how to ‘magic’ things. Trying to entertain myself, I tried to strike up a conversation with Luna. Hey, Luna? Yes? I’ve been thinking about something, and I don’t really want to disturb the guards with it… but seeing as you’re always here, can I ask your opinion on something? …Alright. Well, here’s an idea I’ve had for the last thirty minutes. You know that clouds are incredibly soft, right? Tis true. And winged ponies are the only ones who can touch them directly, right? …yes… Well, what if we decided to cover it with something tangible to everypony? …Where art thou going with this charade? Get this. Are you ready…? …Cloud. Bean bags. We sell ‘em. What’ja think? …That is ridiculous…yet, to be honest, it would probably work. Whew! Now I can rest! … … Never mind.