*2* The Calm and the Frantic
Foreword: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It belongs to Hasbro and Lauren Faust.
Of Sunshine and Laughter
By M1Garand8
*2*
The Calm and the Frantic
The sweet aroma of pastries permeated throughout Sugarcube Corner as the Cakes rushed to and fro about the kitchen, getting all the pastries ready for the day. Their ears perked at the rhythmic clopping of hooves on the wooden stairs in lieu of the usual rumble of Pinkie Pie’s mad dash down.
Their gaze fell on the double swing doors, expecting it to burst open as Pinkie did with her usual cheerfulness. Instead, a pink head topped with messy poofy mane daintily pushed aside the swing doors and Pinkie Pie stepped in.
“Good morning, Mr., Mrs. Cake.” An awkward smile appeared on her face.
The Cakes shared a look. Pinkie was certainly acting unusual this morning.
“Uh, is anything wrong?” Their gaze returned to Pinkie, whose awkward smile still hung on her face.
The two of them blinked once, then twice before Mr. Cake spoke up:
“Nothing’s wrong, Pinkie. We’re almost done here, so would you mind opening up the front while we finish up?”
Pinkie’s visage brightened up somewhat to her usual cheerfulness. “Sure, I’ll do that.” She turned and pushed herself past the swing doors.
The Cakes shared another look. It was a while before Mrs. Cake opened her mouth:
“May be she was just a little unhappy from cutting the party short yesterday night?”
“Looks like more than a little to me, honey bun.” Mr. Cake set a hoof on Mrs. Cake’s withers.
***
Pinkie Pie shook her head clear again when the resulting tremor from the Royal Canterlot Voice subsided. “Oooooh, everything sounds soooo ringly!” The now white mare looked at Princess Luna, who was speaking rapidly, her mouth pouted in curiosity. “Um, Princess Luna? You might want to actually talk instead of mouthing things!”
A teeth grinding scowl replaced the shock on Luna’s visage as she now narrowed her eyes at the white alicorn. A blue glow lit on her horn and a dull roar shoved the ringing in the party mare’s ears roughly aside, followed by the rush of Luna’s voice, dangerously low:
“You. Surely. Art. Jesting. Sister.”
“No, I’m not— Wait, what’s jesting?”
Luna inched closer to Pinkie’s face. “Joking, sister, which you surely must be doing right now.”
Pinkie Pie’s white brows knitted in a frown. “But I’m not! I was hosting a birthday party for Berry Punch’s daughter Ruby Pinch and then a voice asked me whether I want to be the princess of party hosting and I was like ‘Well, duh’! Anyway, who wouldn’t want to be a princess of party hosting? Then suddenly I got really really tired and I had to cut the party short and everypony was so sad! And then I went to bed and then I woke up here and—”
“Wait.”
Pinkie blinked twice while Luna’s wide eyes bored into the white alicorn’s. The warm summer morning no longer felt warm. No… this isn’t possible… Luna thought. A blue shimmering glow wrapped over her horn as her magic reached out into the Royal Gardens. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when the magic return of the scan on Discord’s statue reverberated back through the wave of magic. Discord is still there, then… Wait…
“The voice…” Luna’s eyes had shrunk to pinpricks. “What does the voice sound like?”
Pinkie tapped a hoof on her chin. “Well… it was a teeny tiny voice… Kind of like Fluttershy’s but it sounded like it would break into a million pieces if you drop it!”
Cold stabbed Luna in the chest as if from an icicle. A voice shot to the forefront of her consciousness:
“Do you… desire the power to make your subjects appreciate your beautiful nights for all eternity, Princess Luna?”
If possible, the hallway had turned even colder. The moon princess swore it would have frozen over, if it wasn’t mid-summer right now. She was about to speak when a deep voice interrupted:
“Uh, your Highnesses, is everything alright?”
A squeak escaped Luna and she looked over her withers at the sight of two white coated guards, resplendent in their golden plate armor, their muzzles tinted slightly in pink. Luna looked down at Pinkie Pie, a wide smile gracing her slightly tilted head and back at the guards, then immediately leaping onto her hooves.
“E-everything is fine, please leave us!” she blurted out, her face growing hot. “Um… sister, there are some matters we must discuss, in private!”
“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie Pie was on her hooves in an instant.
Luna turned on her hooves, remembering to snag her dropped shoe before she trotted as fast as her dignity would allow back into the corridor. Pinkie Pie bounced after her a moment later, leaving the puzzled guards staring at the now empty space. Their eyes met briefly and they shrugged. Surely that it must be another of their diarchs’ many antics, they thought, as they resumed their patrol.
***
Well, that could have gone better… Celestia thought as she trotted past the counter.
The front of the shop consisted of a half dozen fixed round tables, with low benches and cushions which Celestia set on the floor—in the case of the cushions—or made sure they were clean—in the case of both.
Finally, she trotted up to the front door and flipped the ‘Closed’ sign to ‘Open’ and headed back to the till – which was in fact a small cupboard for storing bits hidden behind a display counter of sweets. It was a simple enough job and now all she had to do was to wait for customers.
The quietness of the surroundings brought the thought Celestia had when she was upstairs. I will have to explain to Twilight what happened—
Wait, what did happen last night? All I remember was going to a party and waking up here… Celestia rubbed her head with a hoof. A fuzzy memory began to form in her head.
***
The annual Canterlot Garden Party was a quiet affair. Princess Celestia quietly sipped at her glass of grape juice as she listened with half an ear to the low murmurs from the gathering of Canterlot nobles and social elites. She had not like what she had been hearing.
Gone were the days where the nobles discussed the bounty and the wellbeing of their charges in their lands. Now, all they talked about were their fashion, their estates and their wealth, becoming ever more inane and frivolous each passing year. The feudal system had been abolished more than five centuries ago, after all.
Celestia lifted her glass and took another sip. Perhaps the topics were not so inane or frivolous… but it sounded that way to her. May be you’re getting old and stodgy, Tia. She sighed and took another sip.
Celestia’s gaze turned upwards to the night sky. As beautiful as the evening sky was, it did little to improve her mood. Even though Luna had taken back her half of the work for more than two years, Celestia still felt tired. It was not the familiar fatigue she endured while tending to the sun and moon in her sister’s absence but tiredness beyond her being.
Perhaps more than a millennium of watching over her loyal subjects was getting to her. May be I should have a vacation, yes, or even a sabbatical… A snort escaped her nostrils. As if that was really an option, Tia, there are still so many issues to resolve, so many petitions to read…
Celestia shook her head. No, she would not inflict that on her sister. Days of insufficient sleep and Luna’s temperament were not a good mix. It was an incident waiting to happen. She paused. Did she have so little faith in her sister? A couple of weeks away from all this would not lead to Equestria in chaos… could it? Celestia sighed yet again.
“You… look tired, your Highness…”
The soft, brittle voice jolted Celestia out of her reverie. Her head darted around, seeing nopony near her. “Who’s there?” she said, a frown knitted on her brows.
“You… desire a break, don’t you?”
“Who are you? Show yourself!” Celestia’s voice was soft, not wanting to attract any undue attention.
“Who… I am is not important,” the voice said. “You… desire a break, princess, and perhaps I can help.”
The sun princess narrowed her eyes. “I do not accept offers from strangers who would not even show themselves.”
A giggle echoed softly around Celestia. “Who said anything about offers, your Highness?” The giggle cut off abruptly. “You are accepting that help whether you want it or not.”
Sudden giddiness wrecked Celestia. She stood to her hooves and immediately the world started to wobble. None of the nobles seemed to notice her, animatedly chatting away while she was on the verge of toppling over.
A stumble of her hooves sent her tipping over the side. Just before her head hit the grass, Celestia heard the voice said:
“Enjoy your vacation, Princess Celestia.” The last two words were filled with hatred and scorn.
Then darkness swallowed her.
***
Celestia shuddered at the memory. She had not remembered anything after she passed out and the next thing she knew was the sun in her face. I must find Twilight as soon as possible. Whoever that voice was, her intention was not benign.
A jingle of doorbell brought Celestia out of her reverie. She glanced briefly back at the doors leading kitchen. She had to get out of here as soon as possible and without attracting too much attention—a hard task, given whose body she inhabited at the moment.
Celestia turned back to the patron—a grey pegasus—who was now drooling at the sight of the different selections of muffins in a display counter, a gentle smile on her muzzle.
“Hello and welcome to Sugarcube Corner.”
***
The alicorn and the earth pony in an alicorn’s body exited the auxiliary tower into one of Canterlot’s many castle courtyards.
KLUNK-BOING.
Princess Luna could feel the dull throbbing of a developing headache. Whether it was from her increasing lack of sleep or having to deal with one of the most random pony in Equestria, she did not know.
KLUNK-BOING.
Her left eye twitched at the sound. Pain shot through her head as though from a strike of a hammer.
KLUNK-BOING—
Pinkie Pie crashed into Luna when the moon princess suddenly stopped.
“Would you stop doing that?” Luna glared at the white party mare.
“Stop doing what?” Pinkie said as she bounced in place.
“The bouncing!” Luna shoved a hoof in Pinkie’s direction.
Pinkie Pie screeched to a halt mid-air. “Oh.”
Luna huffed and stalked off further into the courtyard while Pinkie trotted behind, her ears flattened on her head. Soon after, her mood brightened enough that she stepped off the air and said:
“So… where are we going?”
Luna did not look back but said: “My study. It was not in jest when I said there were matters to discuss, dear Pinkie Pie.”
“What are we talking about?” A gasp left Pinkie’s mouth. “Are we talking about my party last night? Berry Punch and Ruby Pinch loved loved loved—”
“Hush,” Luna cut her off. “It is not about your parties, as wonderful as they may be. We have a grave matter in our hooves and you would do well to not speak of it until we reach our destination.”
Pinkie’s ears flattened against her head again. “Okie dokie lokie…”
The rest of the journey continued in silence, with the exception of the muted clunks of metal-shod shoes and bare hooves on the grass. A flight of spiral stairs later, they stood in front of a large, heavyset wooden door adorned with a white crescent moon.
The door flung open with the shimmering glow of Luna’s magic and Pinkie was ushered in with a wave of a hoof. The moon princess shut the door after herself and followed Pinkie to the center of the room.
“The voice,” she began, fixing a stare at the white alicorn that brooked no argument. “Tell me everything about the voice you heard.”
Pinkie Pie raised a hoof to her chin. “Well, it was a teeny tiny—”
“Yes, I already knew that.” Luna cut her off again. “What exactly did the voice say when it asked about your desire?”
The raised hoof now tapped Pinkie’s chin, a frown settled on her face. After a moment, her face brightened and she said:
“Well, I was happily bouncing about at the party, and the voice suddenly said: ‘Oh… you seem to like parties a lot…’
“So I stopped and looked around but I couldn’t see anypony talking to me and the voice continued: ‘I like parties too… Say… did you… ever wish to be the best at parties? Do you… desire to be the Princess of party hosting? I will be very happy to help…’”
Ice shot through Luna. Perhaps it was her sister’s voice or that Pinkie Pie was an undiscovered marvel at voice imitation or both. Her impression sent a chill down Luna’s spine and dredged up all manners of unpleasant memories of the time which was not in the right frame of mind.
“And I said: ‘Well, duh! Who wouldn’t want that!? Wait, I never met you before and—’ And then I got really—”
Luna forestalled any further words with a raised hoof. “That is enough, dear Pinkie Pie.” She trotted past the white party mare and out into the balcony.
The sun was now quarter way through its course in the sky, although from the vantage point of tower it seemed to be at the level of the city. The warm rays of the sun seemed to chase away the chill of the memories. Ponies bustled about on whatever business they were attending to, still blissfully unaware what was transpiring in the castle.
It will not last. The morning court would be opening session in about an hour and with the current state of the Princess of the Sun, she was in no condition to hold court. That would mean that I have to take over for Tia temporarily or cancel all sessions until the situation is resolved. Luna thought as she looked on.
Her mouth opened wide in a yawn and she rubbed a hoof on her dry, gritty eyes. Turning back towards Pinkie Pie, Luna spoke:
“We must find my sister the soonest; before everypony discovers that she is missing.”
Pinkie’s visage brightened. “Are we playing search the pony!? Can I play it too—”
Luna cut her off again with a stomp of her hoof. “This is a serious matter!”
“I am being super-duperly serious!” Pinkie’s face was suddenly mere inches away from Luna’s, her wide bulging eyes stared right into the moon princess’ eyes, or perhaps her soul. “I love searching games and I’m the best at finding ponies! I always find Rainbow Dash whenever she’s playing hard to catch!”
A platinum-shod hoof gently pushed Pinkie Pie’s face back. “There is no need for that.” The raised hoof now rubbed Luna’s tired eyes. “I believe I know the likely location of my sister.”
“Oh! Oh! Where is she? Where is she!?” The room resounded with the sound of bare hooves clunking on the carpeted floor.
“Calm yourself, dear Pinkie Pie.” A blue glow got hold of Pinkie mid-jump and set her gently down. “My sister is likely in your body right now, given that you are in hers. I believe the two of you are caught in the throes of a Body Swap spell.”
“Body swap? Wait, what body swap?” A loud gasp escaped Pinkie’s mouth. “My hooves, they’re white— Oooooh, that’s why I’m white!”
“Yes, and my sister is likely… pink right now,” Luna deadpanned.
“Wait, if I’m in Princess Celestia’s body and she’s in mine, how do we get back?” Pinkie’s alabaster brows scrunched in a frown.
Luna made a dismissive gesture. “Do not worry, dear Pinkie Pie. It is merely a simple spell. Once we retrieve my sister from Ponyville, I will perform the counter-spell to return the two of you to normal.”
“Then there’s no time to lose!” Pinkie reared on her hind legs, a hoof on her chest and declared: “I’ll go get her back!”
“What? Wait—” Pinkie Pie disappeared in a blur of white out of the door, somehow managing to open and shut it in that instant. “Ugh…” Luna raised a hoof to her face and let it run down and hit the floor with a muted clomp.
Next, she summoned a sheaf of parchment and quill and began writing rapidly:
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
There has been an incident involving my sister. As you may have known, the sun was late in raising this morning. I cannot explain much right now, only that she is… indisposed. I hereby request that you bring dear Pinkie Pie with you to Canterlot the soonest, so that we may resolve this situation. I will explain more when the two of you reach Canterlot Castle. Please make haste.
Your Royal Highness,
Princess Luna
The parchment, wrapped in the blue glow of magic, rolled up, sealed itself and disappeared into nothingness. With the letter delivered, Luna galloped to the door, threw it open and leapt off the top of the stairs, her wings flaring in the stiff morning breeze.
As the door of the study closed of its own accord due to Luna’s magic, a set of ethereal magenta hooves alighted on the carpeted floor. The figure simply stared at the door, as if looking at the retreating back of Luna past the obstacle.
“Oh… poor Luna… What… have they done to you? Why… aren’t you happy?” Her pale pink eyes drooped in sadness, and then narrowed. “Something… changed you…”
“But… not to worry… I will make your fondest desire come true again and make the ones who did this to you… pay.” The anger and sadness on her face evaporated as if from a flip of a switch.
A smile curled on her face. “And… everything will be fine again…” She dissolved into thin air in a swirl of ethereal pink.
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What is this? Chapter 2 is up!? And there's an OC in it!? Oh no, the fic is ruined!
Okay, okay. Jokes aside, the plot is starting to kick in and I'm liking where I'm taking the fic to. Hope you guys and gals would enjoy this new chapter. =D
As usual, please post any SPaG errors and feedback!
A mysterious character appears! Is she an imaginary friend given life and power by Luna's loneliness before her transformation into NMM?
A spirit of temptation and wish fulfilment with an unhealthy obsession over the Lunar Princess?
Some form of magical pastry?
Cadance or one of her relatives screwing around with magic they shouldn't?
I can't wait to find out!
1743346
I'll totally go with the magical pastry. Pinkie Pie would love love love it!
Too bad the thing that would make her happiest is for you to disappear. FOREVER!
Well well well, sinister things be afoot! Or ahoof, whatever.
cadence you evil...evil
1745000 Cadence have you been experimenting with magic that you shouldn't have been experimenting with?
Yay! Pinkie being pinkie in Celestia's body!
1744233
Thanks for being so patient.
1744262
Wut?
1744911
*Rubs hooves* Yes... Yes! Muahahahahahaha- I mean, yes. Something sinister is ahoof. =x
1745000
1746550
Cadance! What have you done!?
Um... What did I do? I'm not even scheduled to appear until chapter 4...
Shhh...! You're spoiling stuff! D:
1746554
Yay! You noticed!
1747727
Referring to the mysterious voice that wants Luna to be Happy. She would be happy if the voice went away forever.
1749844
Ah. Well, maybe. Or maybe Luna will just yell at her to Stop Helping Me.
... I'm wondering. How are you people hearing about this fic? I haven't advertised much of it other than a select few places and currently it's buried about 60 to 70 pages in the Browse Story section and I'm still getting views (sporadic, but still trickling).
The third chapter got into the feature box, that is how I heard about it
Ciao darling
*your
The culprit enters the scene. Drama! No longer are these the innocent, childish body-swap shenanigans of yore. Now, they are the body-swap shenanigans of a super villain, dedicated body and soul to making... ponies... happy.
In a very evil way, of course. They won't like it at all.
Huh. So there's an evil something behind this. I wonder how you will expand that.
10684655
The crap the Princesses got up to (especially in the IDW comics), the Royal Guards are pretty inured by now.