Regret
You have a lot to think about.
The words bounced around endlessly in her mind. Turning it over and over again was a little bit like picking at a healing wound; it did no good, and yet it was almost impossible to resist. With every repetition, she felt another little surge of shame and nausea, but she couldn’t stop herself from dwelling on that moment.
You have a lot to think about.
Those words, spoken only a few days before…she knew that some part of her would be repeating them silently for a long, long time. That had been a turning point, hadn’t it? Trust had been betrayed. Everything that came after was just fallout from those seven words.
You have a lot to-
“Sister?”
Celestia looked up wearily to see Luna standing in the doorway, illuminated from behind by the dim lights of the corridor. She been so lost in thought that she hadn’t even noticed the sound of the door or the light spilling in. “Luna,” she responded in a low voice. “Have any survivors been found?”
The younger alicorn entered and lit her horn, using her cool blue magic to carefully close the door and cast the room back into darkness. “There were a few,” Luna said quietly. Gracefully, she picked her way across the floor, stepping over the sleeping bodies of the two pegasi who were curled up together in a blue and yellow ball on the tile. “They have been taken into custody, but it was necessary to place them in the infirmary. The physicians are not optimistic. Apparently, without their queen, they cannot survive for long.”
“I see.” Should that be a cause for guilt? Objectively, it would seem to be so, but she only felt numb. You have a lot to think about. Celestia returned her gaze to the pony who lay in the bed with an IV inserted into each forearm. In her peripheral vision, she could see Luna moving up to the opposite side and hesitantly placing a dark hoof on the sheets.
In a bare whisper, Luna asked, “How is she?”
“Alive,” Celestia replied. “Beyond that, only time will tell.”
They were silent for a few moments, and the only sounds in the room were the slow breathing of several ponies, the light snores of one little dragon, and the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. When Pinkie Pie snorted and turned over in her sleep, both royal sisters startled slightly. The earth pony’s stirring partially roused some of the others as well. Most were silent as they shifted and adjusted their positions, but Shining Armor emitted a particularly plaintive groan from the chair he was sprawled awkwardly in. The pink blanket that hung precariously across his barrel slipped and slithered toward the floor before it was caught in a pale golden glow and levitated to tuck securely around him.
Sighing, Luna turned back toward the bed and gave her older sister a sympathetic look. “Celestia, this was not your fault.”
“’You have to listen to me’,” the elder quoted. “’She’s evil.’ ‘She’s going to ruin my brother’s life.’” You have a lot to think about. Raising a hoof to her face, Celestia touched her temple and frowned, trying to hold the words at bay. “I had a responsibility-”
“You were not the only one who thought that it was merely a matter of jealousy.” Luna nodded toward Shining Armor, who had once again succumbed to his exhaustion, and to the other five ponies asleep on the floor and furniture. “The changeling queen fooled everyone.”
Celestia shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, Luna. I should have listened. I should have, at the very least, allowed myself to entertain the possibility that one of my most trusted and reliable subjects was worth hearing out. Instead…” You have a lot to think about. Knowing that her expression was haunted, she told her sister, “The doctors say that the longer she stays in this state, the less likely it is that she’ll ever wake.”
“I am truly sorry, sister,” Luna whispered. “If only I had found them sooner…”
“No, Luna,” Celestia countered firmly. “You, of all ponies, have nothing to apologize for. Without you, we would never even have known where to look for them. Truthfully, had it not been for your quick thinking, the changelings would have won.”
You have a lot to think about.
Luna looked uncertain and slightly embarrassed, the guilt not entirely erased from her expressive eyes, but a faint sound of crinkling sheets distracted her.
The pony in the bed stirred weakly and her forelegs twitched as if she was trying to clutch at something. When her legs met no resistance, her haggard face scrunched up in confusion. It took more than a minute for her to slowly drag herself to full consciousness, but finally she opened her sunken violet eyes. Her bleary, unfocused gaze swung around drunkenly until she finally settled on Celestia. Whether she recognized the princess or merely made a guess based on the size and color of her target, she weakly reached out a shaking hoof and made a desperate, rasping, interrogative noise.
“I will fetch the doctors,” Luna said hurriedly before collapsing into a cloud of stars and streaking out of the room via the gap between floor and door.
Celestia paid her sister no mind as she gently laid her own hoof on the outstretched, trembling one. You have a lot to think about. But not right now. “Welcome back, my little pony. You’re safe now,” she murmured comfortingly, a soothing expression painting over her features. “The changelings have been defeated. You’re in the hospital, and the doctors are giving you the best care possible.”
The wasted pony, not mollified, raised the pitch of her wordless plea. She was clearly trying to say a name, but her swollen tongue refused to cooperate.
Eyes misting, Celestia shook her head. “I’m sorry, Twilight,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry. Cadance didn’t make it.”
End.