Luna awoke violently. A headache gripped her, her throat felt dry. She turned to the side and tried to vomit, but no food came out.
“You are finally awake.”
Luna turned to the voice. Celestia sat in a chair next to the bed, looking immaculate as always. Her surgeon’s whites looked pristine, and not a single hair or part of her mane was out of place.
“Celestia?” Luna glanced around. It certainly looked like a hospital. The starchy bedsheets dug into her, now that she noticed. “What happened?”
“We managed to…purge your alter-ego. It wasn’t easy, but the Elements of Harmony seem to have removed it.”
“Oh…” Luna turned her head back to ceiling. Memories trickled in. Of prowling the university grounds, of breaking into Celestia’s quarters, of whispered threats and insults. Of Celestia’s research assistants casting some spell. “Did…did she hurt anyone?”
“She certainly tried. We managed to restrain her long enough to save you.”
“And you are sure she is gone?” Luna ran a hoof through her mane.
“What were you thinking, Luna? Testing that concoction on yourself, after the board denied it?”
“I…I suppose I wanted to help everyone.”
“Did you?” Celestia leaned forward. “That creature, Nightmare Moon, she called herself. She mentioned some…troubling things, Luna. Things about us. About how you feel, about me.”
Luna screwed her eyes shut. The memories were certainly there; vague but with spots of clarity. Nightmare Moon had said so many things to Celestia, things Luna would never have dared to say.
“Were they true?” Celestia whispered.
“I…” Luna turned her head again, away from Celestia. Her sister did not betray emotion often. The tone of Celestia’s voice and the droop of her shoulders felt comparable to a shout. “Some things…yes, they were.” She closed her eyes again. “I’m sorry.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I couldn’t. I didn’t have the courage to.”
“Luna, I am your sister! There is nothing you can’t tell me!”
“That is the problem, Celestia!” Luna bit her lip. She continued staring at the window. The curtains were drawn. Celestia must have coerced the staff into giving her a private room. “Every time I introduce myself, the other pony mentions you. ‘Oh, you must be Celestia’s sister’, they say. Every colleague of mine compares me to you. Every student asks about you.
“Sometimes, I wonder if that’s the only reason I completed my degree. The only reason I was hired here. If that was the reason I received a grant.” Luna tried to turn her body to match her head, but her foreleg tugged on a catheter. “I wanted to know, I had to know if that was true. If I could have my own success. If I was more than just your sister.”
Luna heard Celestia shuffle on her seat, but did not turn towards her.
“And was it worth it?” Celestia asked. “Was giving that thing control of your body…was it worth it?”
Luna finally turned to Celestia. “I did not surrender to that creature! I fought against her at every moment!”
“She said otherwise.” Celestia had shifted in her chair. Now she was the one staring absently at a window. “She said that you let her take control. That you wanted her to…to hurt me. To prove that you were superior, mentally and…physically.”
“No…” Luna turned to the ceiling. The memories of the confrontation with Celestia were so vague. Had Nightmare Moon really said such a thing? “That isn’t true. I…I would never wish that upon anyone. It was my formula. I wanted to dilute a ponies inner darkness, to control it and restrict it. Nightmare Moon wasn’t that. She was…an amplification, a concentration. She can’t represent me, no matter how deep in my subconscious she claimed to draw from.”
“I see.” Celestia’s chair scraped as she stood up. “Thank you, for finally being honest with me, sister. I am sad that it took such circumstances for you to finally trust me with such information, but I am glad you finally did.
“I think it would be best if I left you alone to rest. We both need to reflect on this unfortunate incident. And I must inform the constables and the board about what has happened.” Celestia rested a hoof on Luna’s. “Do not worry, Luna. This is the beginning of healing. Rest your body and mind. We shall talk more later.”
Luna closed her eyes. Perhaps Celestia was right. She ran a hoof through her mane again. The hospital room remained quiet, and the lights had been turned low enough to be comfortable, but not so bright as to be disconcerting. Luna just needed to quiet her mind and sleep.
One memory of the confrontation floated to the forefront of her thoughts. Celestia’s words were still muddled, but she remembered Nightmare Moon using her throat and body to say things. “She didn’t have the courage to tell you,” Nightmare Moon had said. “That’s why I’m here.”
Luna licked her lips. The words were only a memory, and she had not even said it, not really. They tasted sour nonetheless.