//------------------------------//
// Mistakes 
// Story: Incomplete 
// by Dark_Soliloquy 
//------------------------------//

"Celestia?" Luna called from the entrance of the throne room.
Celestia snapped out of her daze, turning towards Luna with a slightly bewildered look. "Oh, is it sunset already?" She asked, then softly chuckled to herself. "Forgive me, sister, I lost track of time."
Luna gave Celestia an inquisitive smile. "It's alright." She pondered for a moment, stepping closer to the throne where Celestia sat. "Are you?"
"Am I what?"
This time, Luna chuckled. "Are you alright, Celestia?" Her cerulean eyes shone slightly with concern. "You seem a bit... distracted, to say the least. Anything pressing on your mind?"
Celestia sighed, stepping down from her throne to stand in front of her sister. "Yes, actually... Luna, I wanted to talk to you about something." She quickly glanced at the stained glass window depicting Luna's defeat, beginning to feel a flood of emotions left bottled for too long.
"Oh? What is it?"
"Luna, I..." Celestia found herself struggling to fight back tears. She hadn't realized how much weight she was bearing on her shoulders, and the toll it took on her psyche-- She never expected it to be this hard, but so many deep feelings of regret and guilt rose to the surface. It took all the strength she could muster not to break down. "I'm so sorry." Celestia finally muttered.
It took Luna a moment to react, and for a second all she could do was stare at Celestia with wide eyes. The only times she had ever seen her sister cry were when Celestia banished her to the moon, and when Luna had returned from her exile. She stepped closer to the white mare and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Tia, what are you apologizing for?" Luna asked softly.
The sun princess shook her head. "It was my fault, Luna, I'm sorry..."  Tears began to flow down her porcelain face, glinting like diamonds in the light of the sunset. "I never meant to banish you." She brought up a hoof to her face to wipe away the tears.
Luna took her hoof off of Celestia's shoulder, and stepped back. "W-what...?" She croaked, her kind smile turning into a confused frown as she tried to piece together the meaning of her sister's words. "Celestia, what do you mean you never... You never meant to banish me...?"
Celestia looked into her sister's eyes with sorrow. "No, I... I wasn't strong enough."
"But you used the Elements--"
"They didn't work." She replied. "At least, not the way I wanted them too... I was never as strong as you are, Luna, I could never wield the Elements on my own, not fully." Her chest heaved a heavy sigh. "I was so scared, so afraid that I'd lost you forever, and that it would be all my fault. I let you slip from my grasp into the hooves of that-- that Nightmare. You were my only friend, and I had forgotten you in favor of glory and praise. 
"I was so selfish, Luna, I had no clue you were falling deeper into the clutches of darkness. I did nothing to help you. The Elements knew that. But what other choice did I have? I didn't know what to do, I just thought... the naive part of my brain thought that I could wield the Elements by myself, and against the only pony I ever cared about. I thought I could stop you, as foolish as I was."
"So you wanted to defeat me?" Luna asked, speaking slowly as she tried to process everything Celestia said to her.
"What? No, no! I was never trying to defeat you, Luna. I was trying to save you. Heal you. I wanted to bring back the Luna I knew and loved. I tried so hard to-- I thought the Elements would save you. I thought I would close my eyes, and when I opened them again, you'd be standing right there in front of me, smiling like you used to so many years ago. It all went wrong... I wasn't strong enough to heal you, I didn't have enough light inside of myself to dispel your darkness.
"I felt a surge of power in the Elements, and I thought I had done it. I thought, 'I've brought her back! I've brought her back to me!'. But when I opened my eyes, instead of seeing you there with me all I saw was dust, rubble, broken glass, and the Elements, encased in stone and void of power. I called your name, searching for you. It wasn't until I stepped outside the castle that I saw your face in the moon, staring at me-- Suddenly it had dawned on me what I had done." The sun princess croaked, tears now falling freely. 
"You can't just blame yourself..." Luna finally stated, reaching her hoof out to comfort her older sister. "My sins were my own to bear; I payed the price for what I did, sister. I've come to terms with my past-- I used to blame you, yes, but that was foolish. I told myself it was all your fault to distract myself from my own shame. I don't blame you anymore, Celestia, so stop blaming yourself." 
Celestia shook her head halfheartedly, looking into her sister's melancholy eyes. "One thousand years, Luna. One thousand. I banished you for lifetimes. Eras. I never wanted you to leave me... I needed you, but I cast you away." She felt tired and ragged, almost as defeated as she did that fateful night when everything crumbled before her eyes. "You were the very thing I needed the most, and I sent you far, far away from me for one thousand years. I didn't know what to do, Luna, and the kingdom almost collapsed because I just couldn't do it on my own."
"But Celestia, you did do it on your own." Luna said, smiling at her sister, so wise for others but foolish when it came to looking at herself. "Look around. Look at Equestria. Your subjects are thriving, because of you. This kingdom is a grand and prosperous empire, so don't you dare think for a moment that you are an incapable ruler."
"Our subjects, Luna. It is your kingdom too."
Luna's smile faltered slightly, a dark shade passing over her eyes. She cast her gaze sideways, chuckling a low, empty laugh that failed to fool anypony. "It never was." She muttered sadly.
Celestia was taken aback, forgetting her former distress. "Don't say that." She replied loudly enough so that her voice echoed off the palace walls.
"You know it's true," The moon princess sighed. "Even in your greatest defeat, they still find victory and praise. But in I--" She attempted a smile again, but the strain was obvious and her eyes showed no glimmer of a grin. "Defeat is all that they see." Luna turned at stared at the stained glass, the one with the monstrosity that was she and the savior that was her sister. "Even now, they celebrate your great triumph over me."
Celestia stomped, the distinctive cling of her golden shoes resounding across the throne room. "No. That is a lie, and you know it. They no longer celebrate your defeat, sister, they celebrate your return." She shook her hoof at Luna accusingly. "Don't you dare think for one moment that you are not loved and appreciated. You say you want to leave the past far behind-- I suggest you do it! You may have been ignored in the past, Luna, but not anymore. You are no longer overlooked. Ponies see you now, and they see your night. And-- and those fillies you helped-- they adore you! You are impacting their lives. You are impacting the future of Equestria. You weave their nightmares into dreams of comfort, sing the restless lullabies, and lead the weary to peace."
"But Celestia, you impact the whole kingdom much more--" Luna began.
"All I do is put on a show. I never could do what you can. I can't soothe troubled minds, or correct the paths of the lost. All I do is smile and sign documents and attend meetings. I don't fight dream demons, and I don't end nightmares," She stated emphatically. "I will not tolerate you berating yourself; that was the very thing that fed that Nightmare, and I will not let it steal you from me again. Understand?"
This time, Luna really did smile, eyes glinting with tears that she hastily wiped away with her hoof. "Yes, Tia. But there's one thing I don't understand."
"Hm?"
"Why do you impart such kindness and wisdom upon me, but refuse it upon yourself? You tell me to stop berating myself, yet that is the very thing you were doing. Why are you so hard on yourself? Why can't you accept those ponies' love and praise for what it is?" Her eyes glinted accusingly.
Celestia paused, feeling the guilt return.
"Because, sister, it isn't real. You of all ponies know that." Celestia finally sighed in a tone of resignation. "They think I'm a goddess, and that's simply not true. I'm nothing like the monarch they believe I am-- just as you are not the monster they once believed you were."
Luna pursed her lips together tightly. After a long pause, she spoke. "They don't believe I am... a monster anymore, because they know the truth about me. About Nightmare." She replied carefully. "If you want them to stop idolizing you, Celestia, you need to tell them the truth. Show them who you really are, just as you helped me to do."
"I don't know if I can."
"Well, you will never find out if you don't try."
"What will they think of me, when they see me and all of the mistakes I've made...?"
Luna took Celestia's hoof and led her out onto one of the main balconies of the castle, surveying most of the kingdom from the elevated height. "The ponies of Equestria-- our ponies are more accepting than you realize. They forgave me, just as they have forgiven so many others who have wronged them."
Celestia still was not convinced. A voice in her mind kept telling her she would never be forgiven, never be accepted for who she was. "All the lies I hid behind--"
Luna frowned. "I don't think you understand me, sister." She gestured to the land spread out before them. "Equestria is your home. Equestrians are your people. They will never abandon you. You have made mistakes, yes. But haven't you made so many great strides for the kingdom? We haven't had a war since the fall of the Crystal Empire, and that was centuries ago. You discovered Twilight Sparkle's potential, and now she is helping so many others in your name. Honestly, Celestia, you are foolish to think they do not truly love you. Just as I was foolish to think, so long ago, you never loved me."
At that moment, it was almost as if a light illuminated Celestia's thoughts. She looked at Luna hopefully. "They all deserve the truth, don't they?"
Her sister nodded in reply. "I'd say they did."
The sun princess nodded back, inhaling deeply. "We'd have to plan a formal gathering. I wouldn't want--"
"I think you should get some rest now, sister," Luna interrupted, nudging her older sister towards the exit of the balcony. "You can worry about that tomorrow morning; for now, it is my turn to look after the kingdom." 
Celestia smiled, turning to go back inside of the castle when she turned to face Luna again. Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight, while her dark fur and starry mane blew softly in the evening breeze. She looked so at home in the nighttime, just as Celestia looked one with the daylight; it was hard to see, at first glance, that they were sisters. But if one noticed the wise gleam in both the sisters' eyes and that same kind smile they both shared, the fact that they were sisters wouldn't be surprising at all.
"You know," Celestia spoke. "We're not so different, you and I."