What Princesses Need
Part 10: Check-Ups
“Ah, Princess Luna. Princess Celestia.” Dr. Psyche rose from his high-backed chair, bowing to them as they entered his little office. The palace staff had been taking excellent care of him, and he’d been laboring hard to diagnose and aid their princess in secret. The two alicorns nodded to his bow, and he rose, “I’m glad you came today, Luna, we have a lot of ground to cover today.”
“I’ll be out in the hall again if you need anything, sister.” Celestia leaned and pecked her sister’s cheek. “Be brave, and do as the doctor says.”
Luna looked up at her big sister with a docile smile, nodding. “Alright. See you soon.” She said meekly. The doctor gestured and the dark alicorn slowly clambered up onto the laying sofa. She folded her wings carefully and laid on her back. Celestia smiled, nodded once, and went out into the hall to sit and read on a small sofa while she waited. With the doors closed, she couldn’t hear what was going on in the room, so it was quite private.
“So how are you feeling today, Luna?” Dr. Psyche asked, smiling in a friendly way.
Luna looked at him with a mildly wary expression. He was a friendly thing and she knew he was there to help, but she couldn’t help but be a little off-taken by his forwardness sometimes. She smiled a little, pushing her mane behind her ear. “We are well, thank you, doctor.” She said in a whispy, meek voice.
“I thought maybe today we’d try something new. You remember the ink blots we looked at last time?” he asked, looking over his shoulder as he went to get something from his desk. Luna nodded mutely. “Well, your answers really helped me out a lot, and I think we can start making you well now.”
“You can?” Luna said eagerly, her ears perking. “You’ve found a medicine for us?”
“What?” the doctor turned, fishing around in his drawers. “Oh no no, Luna, I would never give you drugs for your condition. This isn’t something that regular medicine can help you with.” He smiled kindly, and Luna felt like a foal for a few moments. “No no, we’re going to work on both of your personas and see if we can’t mold them into one again.”
“You mean to fuse me with Nightmare Moon?!” Luna gasped, sitting up as he walked past her to get a little end table and drag it over to her. “Thou art a madpony, not we!” she pointed at him with an accusing hoof. Dr. Psyche turned slowly, giving her a stern look that made the meek princess wilt back onto her back. “I’m sorry…” she mewled a little, looking away. “Please explain?” she tried to make amends.
“Everypony has a dark side, Luna.” He said gently. “Yours just happens to be a bit more famous… and carries its own name.” the doctor smiled as he set a little device on the table. It was a metallic frame with a series of six silver balls hanging from strings. Turning it her way, he lifted one of them and let it swing down. As Luna watched, the silver ball connected with the others and sent the one at the end of the row swinging out. Back and forth it went, only the two on the ends making any motion. He stopped it, so he could turn to talk with her. “I’m going to work with both Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon, and try to coax you back together into one pony.” He smiled at her confidently. “When there is no distinction between the two of you, you’ll be well again.” He told her. Luna nodded her understanding, her eyes flicking at the strange device curiously.
“How long do you think it will take, doctor?” she asked innocently.
“There’s really no telling.” He admitted to her quietly. “Some patients take weeks, others take years. Others still never get better.” He winced at her soft eyes as he told her the last bit. “But I’m sure you’ll do just fine!” her expression brightened and she gave a slow nod. “Are you ready to begin, then?” he asked.
“Yes. Pray tell, what is that strange device?” she gestured as he scooted the table just a little closer. Luna shifted a little as the doctor moved around behind her to sit in his high-backed chair with his notebook and pencil. “Will it help make us well?”
“That is your hypnosis focus.” said the unicorn. “I want you to stare at it while we talk today. Nothing else.” He gave a flick of magic with his horn, and the silvery balls began to clack-clack-clack back and forth. Even the sound was rather interesting to Luna’s ears. She laid all the way down, obeying, and watched them go back and forth. Her deep blue irises flicked back and forth, back and forth. “Now Luna, I want you to take some deep breaths with me. This is a relaxing exersize. Innnnn…. Good, now out again, hahhhhh. Innnn…. Good, out once more, yes…” he nodded while the Princess did as she was bidden. “I want you to imagine that you’re drifting down into a restful, quiet sleep.”
“A quiet sleep…?” Luna mumbled, watching the clack-clack-clacking spheres.
“Yes.” He lowered his voice into a soothing whisper. “I’m going to help you relax, and then we’ll see if we can get to the root of things.” It was very close to a lover’s tone, border-lining inappropriate. But, it made Luna’s limbs feel heavy. “Shhh, relax now…” he said, using his magic to dim the lights slightly. “Just keep your eyes on the moving spheres. Slowly sinking… you’re slowly sinking now… deeper and deeper into a relaxed state…” the doctor sat in his chair and very, very patiently repeated his last two sentences for almost a full half an hour.
Luna stared quietly at the focus in front of her, her eyes glazing over into a barely-aware state. Her limbs refused to obey her, even when she tried to move them. She was paralyzed in the deep, comforting warmth of the doctor’s voice and moving spheres. His voice was relaxing, whispery and it seemed to envelope her in its quiet embrace of security and reassurance. Her ears shifted gently down like she were sleeping, and her eyelids fell most of the way closed. She curled onto her side, hooves pulling up under her undercarriage while she barely clung to consciousness. “Mh-h-h-h…” she mewled softly, at the very deepest state of relaxation after almost an hour of gentle coaxing by her doctor.
“Luna-ah-ah…” Dr. Psyche’s voice seemed to echo quietly in the deepest reaches of her fuzzy mind. “Can you hear me, Luna?” he asked softly, leaning to whisper in her ear and not disturb her deep relaxation. A firm voice would jolt her back to reality.
“Mhhh-h-h.” Luna said, looking barely awake. She didn’t even turn her head at him, only stared at the swinging silver spheres, the focus of any consciousness she had left at the moment.
A gentle hoof touched her shoulder and the doctor whispered. “Luna, why did you hurt Twilight Sparkle?” he whispered softly, straight to the point. Luna fretted like a foal having a nightmare, and her fur slowly blushed black. Seeing what was happening, the doctor prepared for the worst. But no… no, Nightmare Moon remained under the hypnotic state. “Luna,” he whispered again, refusing to acknowledge the dark half as another mare. “Luna, why did you touch Twilight Sparkle like that?” he whispered. “Didn’t you know it was wrong of you?”
“I wanted to give her myself…” Nightmare Luna whispered, using the pronoun ‘I’ very suddenly. Deep Psyche’s ears perked, and across the room on his desk the pencil danced on paper.
“Why?” he whispered.
“Twilight Sparkle… she… does not want for bits… or powers…” Nightmare Moon said dreamily, curling up into the fetal position with a quiet moan.
Dr. Psyche slowly edged around her so he could see her face again. “Did you think having sex with her was a gift?” he whispered intently.
“She wants not for wealth… powers… so much knowledge…” Nightmare’s face scrunched up a little. She was speaking slowly, dreamily, as though every breath could only produce three words. But the doctor was patient, and waited for the full answer. “So beautiful… befriended us… I’ve been gone so long, I’ve nothing…” she shifted with a fretting whimper, and the doctor listened more intently. “Nothing to give but myself…” she sighed sadly, curling to hide her head meekly under her wing. The blush on her face was a very genuine one. Her fur brightened back to a dark blue.
“It’s alright Luna,” Dr. Psyche said, leaning over her with interest. “Tell me more?”
Luna mumbled under her wing until the end of her muzzle poked out. “Please, please love me, Twilight Sparkle?” she whispered in a lonely way, wilting into a little ball of feathers. “Thou art my only friend. I would give myself to you, just keep me company?”
“Luna…” the doctor whispered, his expression saddening.
“I’m lonely.” Luna curled up into a shivering ball. “I’m lonely.” She whimpered like a foal. “Please love us, Twilight Sparkle. My only friend.” She began to cry softly.
The doctor opened his mouth to say something, his hoof reaching out as though to stroke her back comfortingly. But, it hovered above her without making contact. This was too delicate of a moment. He had to press deeper. He had to learn all he could, even if it meant harming Luna in the process. Some wounds had to be ripped open, to let the infection drain out. He heaved a great breath, leaning over into her ear. “Nightmare.” He whispered to her.
The swirl of dark magic took Luna over instantly, and her body flushed back to a dark grey. Her triggers were so instantaneous, so powerful it almost made his head spin. “Mh-h-h-h…” the deeper, more sultry voice made him shudder. She peered out at the hypnotic focus, staring at it blearily even as her body changed shape.
“Nightmare,” Deep Psyche whispered. “You hurt Twilight Sparkle.” He said softly, in a concerned voice. “Aren’t you sorry…?” he let the sentence hang quietly.
“Yes…” she whispered in a far-off voice. “Of course. I… just wanted… Twilight, I wanted you to… I wanted to…to…” she seemed to be going a little off kilter, speaking to Twilight and Deep Psyche back and forth. A great well of tender vulnerability was filling the black alicorn like a damn threatening to break.
“Yes?” the stallion whispered, knowing he was at the point of a major breakthrough.
“To be loved! Is that so much to a-hah-hahhhhsk?!” Nightmare Moon suddenly burst into wracking sobs, curling into the fetal position and hiding herself under her wings. She squeezed her eyes closed, broken beyond all of her pride and ego. Her doctor could now see the lonely, pitiful soul that had spent a thousand years alone on the moon. She was not some creature of nightmare, fighting for the chance to have sex with the nearest mare. No. She was a lonely thing that just wanted to be accepted—to be loved. And, like any diluted creature that thought she had nothing, she’d devoted herself to her interest sexually. She thought her body was all she had to offer, and had even forced herself upon another. Poor, confused thing…
Deep Psyche felt his throat constricting a little, and he rubbed at his temples a little to steady himself. He was a young doctor, fresh out of the academy. He had to keep his grip on the situation. He’d finally hammered through all the defenses, and found the very core issues. The pencil danced animatedly on his desk, some feet away. “It’s alright… shhhh-sh-sh….” He soothed.
“Forgive me, Twilight!” Nightmare sobbed, feathers falling from her wings as she hid from the world. “Oh Faust, forgive me-hee-hee!” she ached all over while she wept, a long-held weeping that she’d dared never release. Unable to bear anymore, Deep Psyche lit his horn. His magic snatched the device off the table, stopping the clack-clacking balls. Hypnotic focus gone, the dark alicorn flinched. The background static of the noise itself had held her under its sway. “Uh-hwuh?” she said blearily, her brain shifting back and forth as it lingered in the grey space between her two personalities.
“Luna.” said Dr. Psyche firmly, tilting the scale. Sure enough, her fur and body shifted over towards the meek and sane version of the Princess of the Night.
Luna sat up in wild confusion, panting. She rubbed at her eyes, feeling the warm wetness of tears on her muzzle. “Wh… what…?” she whispered, looking around. “What’s happened to us? Were we weeping?” she rubbed at her face a bit, confused.
“We made some excellent progress today, Luna.” Dr. Psyche said, smiling grandly. There was an ache in his eyes, and a weariness in his chest, though. He looked positively drained, and just a little bit pale. Princess Luna stared at him curiously. “We’re well on our way to making you well again.”
“What? We’ve only just arrived here.” Luna jabbed a hoof at the clock on the wall, then gaped at it. Almost two hours had gone by since she’d come to see Dr. Psyche. “B… but…” she looked at him for guidance.
“It’s been a long session.” The stallion said, pushing his brown mane back. “Why don’t you head out for now, and we’ll meet again soon, okay?” he smiled grandly. Luna got up, sore from her wracked weeping that she didn’t remember, and slowly left the room. When she opened the doors, however, she found the hallway positively packed with ponies.
“Sorry, Luna, they insisted on staying here to wait for you.” Princess Celestia smiled gently from her couch. Apparently it was nap-time for the Lunar Stallions, for they were piled this way and that and pressed into corners, breathing deeply. Piled together like puppies to keep each other warm on the cool marble, they’d left their Yugimon: The Gathering trading cards scattered everywhere across the floor (what? They’d gotten bored sitting still!). Luna smiled with a soft and loving expression at her children. Slowly closing the door behind her, she moved to quietly wake them with gentle nuzzles and move them back to their staying quarters.
“Thank you for watching them, sister.” Luna said as bravely as she could. Celestia nodded slowly, smiling in a quiet way. Her sister was clearly exhausted, they could talk later. “Come, my stallions. It is nap time for all of us, we think.” Luna slowly led a sleepy-eyed herd of twenty-two armored ponies down the hall. Servants moved out of the way as they blearily focused on Luna’s sparkly tail while she led them to their bedrooms. As she nosed the last one into bed and pulled the covers up for him, she found a large couch for herself and laid down, sighing long and loud. It was a troubled sigh, one of a mare that was unsure of herself. She scrubbed at her cheeks again, the phantom leavings of tears in her facial fur. She was tired, so tired…
End of Part 10