//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: The Brightest Star in Her Sky 
// by Muddy Waters 
//------------------------------//

The sisters arrived together at the front steps of the Canterlot castle. The guards standing at attention stared as the pair walked past. Staff inside halted in their tracks. No one spoke even to apologise for standing in the princesses’ path, they just shuffled aside. Celestia smiled often down at her younger sister, especially while other ponies were in sight, but Luna did not raise her head.
At the entrance to the sisters’ bedrooms Celestia stopped and waited until her sister looked up and met her gaze. There was nothing but love in the elder sister’s gaze. Luna struggled to smile back.
“I am so glad to have you back, sister,” Celestia said warmly, not for the first time that day.
“As am I to be back,” Luna replied softly.
“I kept your room as close to how you left it as I could.”
“Thank you,”
Luna bowed her head. Her sister took advantage of her lowered defences to wrap her in an all-encompassing hug. Luna leant into the embrace, much to Celestia’s delight, and for several long moments the pair were one. When Celestia eventually pulled away, reluctantly, she did so only out of exhaustion.
“I hope you sleep well, sister,” she said, “We have so much to catch up on in the morning.”
Luna smiled up at her. “I look forward to it.”
Celestia stepped away and entered her bedroom only after gracing her sister with one last tender smile. Luna slipped into her own bedroom hesitantly, unsure what to expect. Her memories from before her imprisonment were vague and dark. The only thing she was sure of was the destruction she had wrought in those last few days before she gave in completely to the nightmare.
Despite her expectations, however, her room was perfectly neat and clean. The ruin she remembered was long gone. Not even a speck of dust remained. Luna walked slowly around the room, seeing things she hadn’t even thought of in a thousand years. Her favourite pillows were fluffed and pleasantly arranged on the bed. Her treasured books on astronomy had pride of place on the bookshelf between a pair of rainbow coloured crystal formations. Authentic constellations dotted the roof and carpet. A collection of brilliant peacock feather quills and crisp paper was arranged on the desk. And hanging above the desk, in a simple silver frame, was a bright, childish painting of a starry night.
A memory, her last memory from before a thousand endless years of nothing but the moon, returned as clear as the ringing of a bell. In the wake of it Luna was suddenly breathless. She ran across the room, through the thick velvet curtains, and onto the balcony. She threw her forelegs over the railing and took deep, gasping breaths of the cool night air until she could take in no more.
As she stood there, barely holding back tears, she was almost sure she felt some pony watching her. She straightened with an effort and wiped her eyes dry on her wing. It took several deep breaths before she felt ready to speak, let alone turn around.
“What is it?” she sniffed, half turning.
No pony replied.
Luna turned completely to face the doors that lead back to her room, and there was no one else there. The balcony was empty, in spite of the soft pressure of a pony’s eyes on her. Luna looked all around, including in her room, and couldn’t find even a single eye to explain the weight that had settled on her.
She began to suspect there was still some shred of the nightmare left within her when she noticed the shape of her shadow against the wall. It was faint in the moon’s light, even to her eyes, but she could still see something strange in the outline. There were too many legs, to begin with. When she turned her head, the shadow of her mane shifted to reveal what seemed to be a second head growing from her shoulder.
And yet, she felt no fear, no threat.
In fact, despite all reason, she was sure the shadow was smiling at her.
With the smallest, softest voice she had ever used, Luna spoke to it.
“Smoky? I’m so sorry…”