Whispers

by Fire-Dash

Them

The Second sets her gaze on me with slate-grey eyes, open to their widest. She wobbles on her hooves, all coated in blood that does not belong to her. She struggles to stand, quivering with fear. Her breathing is ragged, sharp, uneven. She doesn't blink. Merely stares. Stares at me behind a pale violet mask, so washed and worn, the rich colour I'm sure it once held has long since faded away. She is but a ghost of her former self. Walking in fur too old for her skin. She is young. They are all young.

The Third sits in quiet contemplation.

She says nothing. Does nothing.

Just sits there with her head tilted up, her gaze focussed on some point just above me.

She doesn't blink.

And her eyes are gold. Like the sun, but much deeper.

Her mane is long and white, a shade lighter than her coat, almost platinum.

She has a horn, but it means nothing.

She is ruffled.

Messy.

Covered with blood.

But I know that under all that torment, under the scars and scrapes and ugliness of battle—

She is beautiful.

And for the first time in only the stars know how many years, I wonder what I look like. It is a silly thought, a vein, stupid, self-conscious thought. But it is something to wonder. How have I aged? Have I aged at all? Do I look the same as I did when I was first banished? I do not know.

There are no mirrors on the moon.

No water to reflect.

I'm so thirsty....

And then She comes to me. Whispering, always whispering. She's trying to tell me something, but I can't quite understand. Something about stars. Something about Celestia. Something about weakness. I'm not sure.

The First is looking at me, eyes wide but brow curved with concern. I look down and realize I am covered in blood. I don't feel it, it doesn't hurt me. I wonder where it came from? I feel fine. I feel as though nothing could hurt me. I am not certain if I like this indestructible feeling or not. If I can't die, am I to spend my eternity here? Watching those below as they live and love and perish? Watching and doing nothing?

I look to the Second. "Are you alright?" I ask. She seems nervous, unsteady. She taps her hoof on the ground, kicking dust, specks of grey mingling with the red on her coat.

She shakes her head. "I-I... I d-don't know."

"All is not well down below..." the First explains, stepping forward. His voice is low, almost... tragic. I don't know what to think. I can see down below. I see that all is fine. They are happy. They are forgetting me.

"What do you mean?" I ask, standing up.

"The day cannot exist without the night. Celestia has grown weak, unable to keep up with raising the moon, the sun, the stars. It's too much for her. She thought about releasing you but... the spell was for a thousand years, and she doesn't have the strength to remove it."

Doesn't have the strength?

It is a lie, She tells me. Celestia has the strength for anything. She is a goddess. She could release you if she wanted. But why should she? She is afraid of your power. What she wants is to weaken you, until you're hopeless, until you're nothing but dust in the craters. A kitten is no threat to a tiger.

I shake my head. "How do I know? Why are you here?"

The Second looks afraid, moving behind the First as if for protection. Protection from... me? I suppose she has every right to be afraid, but it hurts nonetheless.

Celestia's lies have hit deep.

That's right, Luna. Lies. Always lying to you, always trying to make herself look better. To make you look like the villain. Let it fester, Luna. Let her words sink in. Don't you feel the hate?

I blink, trying to push Her voice away. I need to be rational. I need to keep the Nightmare at bay.

"As previously stated, we have been banished," says the Third, still distant. Her voice sounds hollow. She gazes up at the sky as though it holds all the answers, every key, every idea. Of course, it doesn't. Though I do wonder what she sees.

"But why?" I ask while stepping over to her, trying to read her blank expression.

"Does it matter?" says the First. His voice is hurt. And as I look at them, I realize. They're all hurt. All broken, fragmented little pieces of what they once were. Does it matter what they did? Should I care?

There is no law on the moon.

"Then do not tell me," I sigh. But there is a question that continues to nag at the back of my mind. Something I can't let go. "Do they... do they really remember me?"

The First exchanges a glance with the Second. The Third stares on, but answers despite the distance. "Yes," she says simply. "They remember."

I don't have the strength to ask what they remember me as, so I do not question her.

They remember us, Luna. Who could forget?

But there's just something about this that feels... wrong. Something that isn't right.

The Third then turns her head and looks me in the eyes. She looks past everything I am and sees the truth. "You are wondering, I can tell. You're thinking, what is wrong with Equestria? What is wrong with the world you left behind, when you so clearly still see it as paradise?" Then she sets her golden eyes on the planet below. "What you see is an illusion. Equestria is in turmoil, Luna. Look closer."

So I do as she says, look down, past the veil of perfection I've seen all these years, deeper and deeper into the chaos below. Ponies fear and fight and cower. The sun blazes down on them like demons from the land of fire. And Celestia, in her castle, sits at the end of a long hall with fearful guards posted along the walls. She looks nervous, concerned and exhausted. She has dark rings around her eyes and I can tell she has not slept. As the world outside is riddled with unknown wars, I see bats lying dead in the desert. Celestia sits still, she does not move as she tries to answer the pleas of the ponies lined up at her door. But they all speak at once and nopony can understand what they want.

"Do you see now?"

I don't need to answer. I see. I see everything, but I am still not sure. What am I seeing? What do I want to see? Paradise? Chaos? Who started this war, why is it happening? I know the logic seems in question but as I see this, as I see everything happening down below, I believe it. I believe it with every fiber of my being.

There's nothing left.

Then take it. Take it all while she's weak. Listen to me, Luna, you want to fix this, do you not? You want to prove that you are the rightful leader. You will save them from chaos! You will save them from everything! Break free! Let me out!

No.

I cannot let her out. I cannot let her take control. She's too powerful, too much. Whatever is happening down below, she would only make it worse. I know she would.

I close my eyes. I don't know who to listen to, what's real, what isn't. I don't know what to think. Which version is right? Which version to I want? But I believe... oh stars, I believe it all.

"So you were banished," I say, trying to pull myself up from the turmoil in my mind. I look at the three. I see they are scared, they don't know what to do, what to think. "Like me." Like us. "I know it is not easy. It never will be, but at least you are not alone. I am not alone." The First manages a smile that I am more grateful for than anything. It has been a long time since I last saw somepony smile. "What are your names?"

"There is no need for names," says the Third.

I study her. "But what shall I call you?"

"You shouldn't have to call. We will always be here."