Sleep Is For The Weak

by MrMsSiren

The Bet

Canterlot’s palace was known to be one of the largest, if not THE largest palace in Equestria. Some have even argued that it could be the largest in the world, although the overblown debates died down with the building of the Palace of the Parliament in Romarenia.

Of course, there comes quite a few problems with a building so large. Mainly, attempting to find one's way. Countless numbers of rooms mottled the massive structure, and getting lost was quite commonplace. Two newly trained guards found themselves perfect examples of such a statement on this fine day.

The two guards went from room to room, hall to hall, attempting to find the room they were supposed to guard. They continued throughout the palace, asking directions, following them, only to find themselves turned around, and repeating the endless cycle.

They eventually stumbled upon a room buried deep within the centuries old building, which made them start. They profusely apologized, hurriedly backing out of the room. Two of the room’s occupants simply rolled their eyes, while the other gave them an apologetic nod.

The room was about the size of a master bedroom, a lush carpet adorning the floor. A large double glass door, framed by luscious purple curtains, led to a small balcony, which gave a gorgeous view of the opposite side of Canterlot’s mountain. The only bits of furniture in the room were three comfy chairs, all surrounding a large circular table.

The first occupant of the room was the princess of the sun, Celestia. In front of her laid a small teacup filled with an amber liquid, from which could be seen the tab of a tea bag. A small deck of playing cards was placed in front of her, as well as a small white token indicating ‘dealer’ upon it. The pastel princess had a fairly large pile of poker chips stacked in front of her.

The second occupant of the room, sitting to the left of the sun princess, was the princess of the moon, Luna. A coffee mug filled with a dark brown fluid was held aloft in a dark blue glow as the dark princess sipped from its contents. Two cards were face down upon the table, as well as a smaller stack of chips than Celestia’s. A small variety of snack bags were also in front of Luna, several of which were already empty.

The last occupant of the room was the lord of chaos, Discord. A lone glass of chocolate milk hovered upside-down above the table, a ridiculously long silly straw feeding its contents to the chaos god. Several empty glasses were strewn about the floor. A massive pile of chips seemed to dominate the table, most stacked redundantly high. As the two sisters were preoccupied with the confused guards, Discord swapped his current cards with the two aces he had hidden in his non-existent pocket.

As the door closed, the black and blue alicorn sighed. “That is the third time this has happened Celi. I thought you said that we were in an OBSCURE part of the palace?”

Celestia gave Luna an apologetic look. “Unfortunately, we are indeed in an obscure part of the palace.” She looked upwards in thought. “This did not happen the last time we played.” She glared at Discord. “I think the new addition to the palace has simply caused some confusion.”

Discord gave Celestia an innocent look. “What? Things were simply getting boring around here, and I figured that the palace’s staff should have some fun every once in a while.”

The white alicorn intensified her glare. “I don’t think that turning the palace’s main pool into your own personal chocolate milk factory would be very fun for the palace’s CLEANING staff.”

A golden halo appeared above Discord’s head, as a small group of white-winged mini Discords appeared. They each pulled out golden trumpets of various shapes and sizes. As they blew into them, one could just barely hear the heavenly sounds of dubstep.

“I assure you Celestia, I meant the best of intentions.”

Celestia rolled her eyes as the halo fell, hitting discord with all the feathery weight of a two-ton brick. “Well, we shouldn’t let such an event distract us from our game. Shall we?”

The others nodded their heads, and began their game once again. The fifth card was revealed, and the players revealed their cards. Discord gave Luna a nervous grin at the glare she was giving him. He brought out the original cards, throwing the two aces into the room-sized pile of cards in his own dimension. Luna managed to win with a two pair.

As the deck was being reshuffled, a small buzz was heard in Luna’s direction. She blinked, before shoving aside an empty bag of potato chips to reveal a cell phone. She took several moments to re-remember how to even unlock the device before reading the new text.

Her eyes widened. “Oh, that’s right, I almost forgot to tell you, Celi.” She placed the phone down, and looked to her older sister.

“There is a gaming competition being held within the next few days. It will last for an entire week, and matches will be held during both the day, as well as the night.”

She sipped some of her coffee before continuing. “I will be leading both the day and night teams for my group, and many of my night guard will be joining me during the night matches. During the day, I will lead a small group of royal guards as well.”

Celestia nodded her head, a hoof placed upon her chin. “Huh, well I guess that explains why a quarter of my guards called in, asking for a week long vacation.” She looked to her sibling, giving Luna a smile. “It is quite nice that you are becoming more social Luna. I wish you the best of luck during your competition.”

Luna suddenly started to look a bit sheepish, her ears turning downward and her eyes looking elsewhere. “Ah, well- you see…” She sighed. “There is a bit of a catch.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow as Luna continued. “During the competition, each team must have their team leader playing along with them, or else they cannot play in that particular round. We had to have already called in who our team leader would be, and we only picked me by mistake, rather than picking multiple leaders.”

Luna scratched the back of her neck with her hoof as Celestia’s eyebrow almost managed to reach Applejack levels. “And this means…?”

The alicorn of the night sighed. “This means that I will have to be there at every match that my teams play, meaning that I will not be able to rest during the competition. I will have to be awake for the entire week.”

Celestia’s other eyebrow joined it’s sister atop her forehead. “Surely you can at least take naps in between matches, right?”

Star-filled hair brushed the table as Luna shook her head. “Nay, I cannot. Since I still have my royal duties to uphold-“ She stopped, giving Discord a confused glance as he chuckled into his paw. “Pray tell, what is so hilarious?” He chuckled harder. “'You said ‘duties!’” Luna blinked, before rolling her eyes, mumbling something about maturity before continuing on.

“Since I still have my royal obligations to fulfill, I will still be going into the dreams of those who require my assistance. I will only be able to do it around two to three times a night, however, and I will not get any rest while doing so. During the day, those two or three hours will be used for basic needs such as food, bathing, and the like.”

Celestia’s brow furrowed. “And what of night court?”

“A notice will be put up, telling those that truly require help to sign a form that will get them first in line at the next day court session.”

Celestia’s brow attempted to hoofbump it’s cousin's snout. “And what will you do if there is an emergency that requires immediate attention?”

Luna offered an Applejack eyebrow of her own. “When has any national emergency not been solved by Twilight and her friends? And even if it was something quick, like a fire or some such, not ALL of the night or royal guard will be joining me for the competition.”

Celestia sighed, backing off. “Alright Luna, you seem to have this at least somewhat planned out. Even though I think it is a bad idea, you have my support.”

Celestia looked to Discord. “Well, you’ve been mostly silent during all of this. What is your opinion on Luna competing like this?”

Discord absentmindedly pulled at his goatee. “I think it is quite a wonderful idea! It is always a good thing to try out something new every once in a while.”

A sudden sly look crossed Discord’s face as his claw dropped back down to the table. “I do have one question, however. How exactly are you going to stay awake during this competition?”

Celestia looked alarmed, while Luna rolled her eyes. “You do realize I am the princess of the night, yes? I have had my fair share of all-nighters.”

The white alicorn gave Luna a concerned look. “But when was the last time you attempted to stay up an entire week?”

The moon princess opened her mouth to speak, only to close it. “I… am afraid that I do not remember.”

She looked to the two others in the room with a determined look. “But I doubt that fatigue will be a problem whatsoever. I have had practice in staying up for more than the recommended hour count, I have my coffee, and I have my will.” Her gaze grew more confident. “Besides, alicorns have different anatomies than regular ponies. What’s to say that I will even grow tired?”

Celestia sighed. “It seems you have already made up your mind, then. Well, at least you have a few days to prepare.” Celestia’s eyebrow went in for round two when Luna gave her a nervous grin. “Seriously?”

Luna chuckled, her eyes directed to her phone. “Ah, well…” She gulped, and looked anywhere but at Celestia, finding a very interesting looking dust bunny in the opposite corner of the room. “The text was from one of my teammates, asking me if I happened to be ready.”

The eyebrow started to rise even higher, before seemingly being stopped by some unknown force.

---

Applejack suddenly stopped moving, the cart behind her threatening to spill its load.

Apple Bloom blinked, noting that her sister was no longer in the lead. ‘Huh, she ALWAYS makes it to the barn before me…’

“Somethin’ wrong sis?”

Applejack’s glare moved away from the city on the mountain. Her gaze softened slightly, and she began to make her way towards the barn.

“Just a feelin' Apple Bloom. Nothin’ to worry about.”

---

Celestia ignored the involuntary shudder as her eyebrow lowered somewhat. She sighed, giving Luna a motherly look. “Well, I don’t think any of this is such a good idea, but… you have my support.”

Luna gave out a little squee, and rushed over, hugging her older sister. “Oh, tis’ a good day! Thank you Celi!”

Discord looked down at a small wristwatch that seemingly came out of nowhere. “Well, you may want to hurry. It’s two hours to ten o’ clock.”

The blue alicorn let out a very un-royal sounding whinny, before rushing out of the door. Celestia called to her just as her cutie mark disappeared past the doors frame. “Good luck to you and your team!”

Celestia continued to stare at the empty doorframe for several seconds afterwards, listening to the receding sound of hooves hitting tile.

“I am sad to say, but I don’t think she will be making past the third day.”

“Oh, I am quite surprised, sunbutt! I’d bet all of my cotton candy clouds that she would make it to the end of the last game!”

Celestia raised yet another eyebrow, this one somewhat scared to go to far. “Really now, you’d be willing to bet ALL of your cotton candy clouds?”

Discord scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Well, I wouldn’t bet those precious little things. I don’t know how I could part with them. But, I would certainly be willing to bet something in Luna’s favor.”

The playful side of Celestia began to show through her royal exterior. “Well, how about this… If Luna doesn’t make it to the end of her week, you have to use absolutely no chaos magic for an entire day.”

Discord gave an over-exaggerated gasp. “Not even levitation?”

Celestia smirked. “Not even levitation.”

Discord let a smirk melt onto his face. Literally. “Hm, well since you’re playing dirty… If Luna gets to the end of her final game, you have to let me replace you in a single day of day court.”

Celestia put a hoof to her chin, looking upward as she thought for several seconds. Finally, another smirk appeared on her face and she held out her hoof in front of her.

“You have a deal.”

Discord’s smirk deepened, and he shook her outstretched hoof.

Author's Note:

Comments

[poppys]

"If Luna doesn’t make it to the end of her week, you have to use absolutely no chaos magic for an entire day.”
"If Luna gets to the end of her final game, you have to let me replace you in a single day of day court.”

[Bojack H]

comsider, discord has one very nice celly wig as of last episode