“I never imagined it would work like this...” Sombra said with amazement in his voice. Celeste collapsed onto her side; a whimper lurking behind her lips. Her cheek pressed into the cushioning beneath her face as she closed her eyes to the intrusive light of the room.
“What’s happening?”
“Terrifying... isn’t it?” he spat. Celeste kept her eyes tightly shut. “Do you have any idea what it would be like to live in your world? A world where you planned everything? How does it feel to be ruled by someone else’s plan, Celestia?”
Her eyes opened and revolved to look up at him as he squatted next to her. He was almost spitting in her face with each word.
“It’s not fun is it?”
“Please, let me go.”
“Oh, I have no control over whether or not you’re locked up here. That’s their decision.”
“Please, I don’t even—“
“Of course you don’t know what’s going on, you ridiculous excuse for a princess! I must say, I had no idea what this would bring out in you...”
Celeste fervently pulled at the sleeves restricting her movements; her eyes damped the fabric of her cell floor underneath her cheek.
“What about the album?”
“The... what?”
“Stop! You know what I mean! You’re in my mind and you know exactly what I mean! You’re just—“
His laugh cut her off.
“Dear Princess Celestia. You really want to be human don’t you?”
“Stop calling me Celestia.”
“Oh, I’ll never do that. But I will stop calling you a princess.”
“My name is Celeste—“
“I wonder how many times you have to repeat that to yourself to continue believing it.”
“Just leave me alone! You’re nothing more than a hallucination!”
“Celeste?” came a muffled voice from the door. “Celeste, what’s going on in there?”
Sombra watched, almost gleefully, as Celeste pushed herself against the wall and away from Dr. Cruebel’s voice. He stood and followed her casually.
“Dr. Cruebel, let me out of here!”
“I had no idea it would do this to you.” Sombra voice was soft, dangerous. “I had no idea they’d put you here. I’m just glad they gave me a chance to express my true feelings for you...”
His foot swung at Celeste’s abdomen and she cried out, feeling the kick in her empty stomach.
“Celeste?”
“Still believe I’m a hallucination?” he almost laughed before kicking her again, just where her arms didn’t cover. Tears obscured her vision as she felt herself about to vomit.
The door opened and Dr. Cruebel entered.
“Celeste?”
Sombra backed away.
“What’s going on?” Celeste choked as soon as she could breathe. The edges of her vision were black and white static.
“I heard you talking,” Dr. Cruebel explained.
“You might as well tell her, Dr. Cruebel.”
“Please tell me you hear him,” she begged.
Dr. Cruebel’s jaw clenched. He slipped his hand into his pocket.
“Do you think you can handle being out of your jacket now?”
“Wasn’t I just put in here?” she asked.
“You were brought here yesterday. The sedative wore off awhile ago. I guess you just needed sleep. How are you feeling?”
“She’s a nightmare,” Sombra interjected. “Though she doesn’t look half bad for a lunatic.”
Celeste had never noticed just how skinny Dr. Cruebel was. He was definitely more muscular than her, but compared to Sombra there was no question of who outweighed the other in brute strength. She thought of that while Sombra stood next to Dr. Cruebel as if daring him to acknowledge his presence.
“Please tell me you see him.”
“See who, Celeste?” He advanced towards her, taking the keys for the straightjacket lock out of his coat pocket.
“Sombra. He’s right here. I keep seeing him. How can you not hear him?”
“Oh, how romantic, a damsel in distress.” Sombra laughed.
“I’m going to let you out of the straightjacket. I’ll bring you back to your room and we can talk about your little outburst from before.”
“Dr. Cruebel, listen to me!”
“I am listening to you. Trust me, getting you out of this straightjacket will help.”
“But Sombra—“
“I won’t let Sombra hurt you when I’m here.”
Celeste stared at him, speechless. Sombra scoffed as Dr. Cruebel unbuckled Celeste’s arms and unzipped the back of the jacket to let her stretch.
“You couldn’t protect your own daughter. What makes you think you could...” His voice trailed off. Celeste looked up from Dr. Cruebel’s averted gaze to Sombra. He was giving her the oddest look. His eyes were fixed on her face as if he had just realized something. Something stopped him.
“Come on,” Dr. Cruebel quipped, taking a hold of Celeste’s elbow and helping her stand.
“Sombra?” Celeste asked.
“There is no one here. Let’s go.”
“How is that even possible?” Sombra said more to himself, following them.
“Alice!” Dr. Cruebel called. Her head poked inside the room.
“Please take Celeste back to her room. I need to grab the jacket. I’ll see her in a little while. Try to keep her calm.”
“Discord! I’m talking to you! How is that even possible?” Sombra shouted.
“He noticed something about my face...” Celeste whispered as Nurse Alice began to pull her away. The door to the padded room slammed shut. Celeste tried to pull away but she was soon back in her original room. The view from the window was exactly the same.
“I have to take care of something,” Nurse Alice mumbled quickly and rushed before Celeste’s cries of ‘Wait!’ could be acknowledged.
Celeste sat on her bed, shaking. What she would give for a mirror right now. Just a mirror to try and see what it was Sombra saw in her face. Perhaps even the window could show it. She crossed to it and looked hard at what she could see of herself. She saw the most basic reflection but no matter how much she searched she couldn’t see what had surprised him.
He had called Dr. Cruebel Discord. So had she when she first woke up here. But, he was Dr. Cruebel. But Sombra had to be real. Her stomach still groaned at the thought of his kick. This would normally be the time he would show up and provide the other half of her thought process.
She moved to her bed and sat down. Pulling the blankets around her shoulders. She wasn’t cold but the blankets still helped her to think. It calmed her. Perhaps it would be nice to not have Sombra interrupting every thought in her head.
Her family was dead. She should know that. How could she have thought they were alive? She rubbed her eyes, trying to scratch the drug film over them that tired tears weren’t washing away. A she sat she recalled, with acute embarrassment, how she attacked Dr. Cruebel.
Why wasn’t Sombra talking in her ear now? Where was his boasting in her mind? He was a figment of her imagination. Dr. Cruebel never saw him.
Why did Dr. Cruebel stay in the room? Why close the door just to get a straightjacket?
“Celeste?” She looked up at Dr. Cruebel. He had entered while her mind was locked inside itself.
“Yes?”
“Are you feeling alright?”
She shifted, the warmth of the blanket seeping into her shoulders. Should she just lie and say she was alright? Or was there really nothing to worry about? The mattress sunk next to her under the weight of Dr. Cruebel as he sat down.
“Are you cold?” he asked, rubbing her back gently.
“I don’t know.”
“You were talking to Sombra again.”
“I know.”
“Do you find it hard to control him?” When she hesitated he leaned a little towards her. “It’s ok if you do.”
“I do. It’s like he used to just argue my thoughts back to me. This time he was actually there.”
“Celeste, your mind is not stable right now—“
“Why can I feel him? Can my mind tell me I’m holding him and that he’s holding me?” Her eyes were almost accusing him.
“Holding?” he asked, taking his hand from her back.
“Once,” she said as she turned her face away, “I was really frustrated and... I held him and ask him to hold me back... I was just scared about something. It was stupid.”
When she turned back to Dr. Cruebel, his eyes were set on the floor.
“Have you kissed him too?”
“What? No.”
“Has he tried to kiss you?”
“No. Dr. Cruebel, what is going on? One moment you sound like I’m making Sombra up and the next you’re almost...”
“Almost what?”
“Protective? Worried?”
“I just... I don’t want you to run away with your hallucinations.”
“Dr. Cruebel. Look me in the face and tell me that Sombra isn’t real.”
His face turned towards hers. His expression was so guarded she couldn’t read it. Once again his hand lifted to rub her back, pausing as he locked his eyes with hers.
“Sombra isn’t real. You don’t need to be scared of him. I won’t let him hurt you. You don’t need to look to him to feel safe. Do you understand?”
Celeste nodded. It felt easier to believe when he said it like that. He continued to gently rub her back across the shoulder blades.
“May I look through the album a little more?”
“I’ll take some pages out to show you next time. It’s an album with all of my patients’ photographs that their families give me. Although I must say, your aunt probably filled up at least half of it with you.” He laughed and Celeste smiled crookedly.
“When do you think I can see it?”
“Soon. Tomorrow maybe. It’s almost time for dinner actually. You’ve been sleeping for awhile,” he said, rising after giving her a soft pat on the back.
“Is Sarah coming?”
Dr. Cruebel crossed to the door, not looking back.
“Sarah’s not well right now. I don’t want her getting you sick too...”
The door’s slam reverberated throughout the room. Celeste hugged her knees, feeling the rumble in her stomach. Her head still felt stuffed and heavy. She was going to trust Dr. Cruebel again. She had a choice and Dr. Cruebel had promised to protect her. He cared about her. What had Sombra offered? A kingdom? His kingdom. He would never keep her as a queen even if he were successful.
Why was she thinking this? Shouldn’t her choice depend on what was true? What she knew the facts to be? She drew her feet up to rest on the ledge of mattress in front of her. After all this time she still didn’t want to say what was true and what wasn’t? Could it be her choice? What if she could control that much of her destiny?
The door opened and she instinctively rose, pushing her blanket off, and crossed towards the table. It would be Nurse Alice as always. Nurse Alice and her usual snide expression.
“Princess Celestia?”
Her feet stopped. Her breath caught. She slowly turned her head towards the door. A girl about Sarah’s age peeked in at her, wearing hospital clothes similar to her own. The girl’s straight bangs were a valance above her wide eyes as she stepped into the room, her hand trailing on the doorknob.
Celeste was going to trust Dr. Cruebel.
“I got out. I knew you had to be close by. I felt it!” the girl excitedly stammered.
She had to trust Dr. Cruebel. She was Celeste Marlowe.
“Princess Celestia? It’s me!” The girl’s eyes pleaded through tears. “It’s me. Luna sent me. I got through. Princess Celestia, I’m here to take you home!”
She had to trust Dr. Cruebel. She was Celeste Marlowe.
“Princess Celestia? Why... Why are you looking at me like that? I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner...” she apologized, placing her hands on Celeste’s crossed arms
She had to trust.
She had to trust...
Her arms slipped out of Twilight’s grasp as she crumpled to the stone cold floor. Darkness rolled over her mind like the rumble of thunder.
She heard Sombra's laughter inside her head.
Oh my...that is brilliant. Here I was, happy that Celeste was actually moving toward recovery, and then you spring this one us? I don't know what to think now. Is it real? Is it not real? Was that Twilight there? Is she really a patient? What happened to Sarah? You have left me with so many questions. This story has quickly moved into my top five spot.
You do a wonderful job with this story, you really do. I'm always happy to see it update, so thank you for writing it.
2448256 Thank you so much :) I love that you're enjoying it.
Oh ho ho, I think this is a better way to introduce Twilight to the story- I'm absolutely loving the rewrite thus far
2448439
I've said it before, but it bears repeating: You are doing a much better job this time around.
I'm actually having a lot of fun going through this and noticing the differences. Keep at it.
2448740 Thank you. Next chapter will be delayed because of school but yeah...I think it will fix a scene that didn't quite work in the first one.
Glad you're enjoying it!
2448746
School... the bane of all fic updates.
Well, most of them, at least.
I really hope that Celestia is real and all of Equestria is real. I wonder how this is going to pan out I am really really interested!!!
Amazing, and I do think a Twi sort of character should be released. Maybe as another one of the patients, that believes in Equestria, and tells a similer story to Celestia's. See how the Hospital reacts.
OH MY GOSH! I just read everything you have up here, and I am shocked and amazed at the quality of this work. It is brilliant. I have seen comments about this being a re-write, and since I just discovered this today, I have not read the original. From the perspective of someone who has only read this version, everything is spot on and brilliant. The pace of the story, Celestia's thoughts, the parallels the characters draw from Equestria, oh my goodness this whole story is a masterpiece! I have been on the edge of my seat with my heart in my throat the entire time I have been reading it! This is not the first of this 'waking up in a mental hospital, is reality real? or Equestria?' stories I have read but this one is certainly one of the best. I just can't wait to know what happens!!!
This story made me cry hysterically. It is beautifully written and I favorited it. The plot is great and the cliffhangers at the end of each chapter is good. I read chapters 1-11 in less than an hour. I`m excited to see if Twilight is a hallucination like Sombra or if she is another patient who dreamt up the same world, Equestria. I love this story. It is executed perfectly. I only found one spelling error I think. Great story.
What... How... I just don't understand this. So is Twilight really there? Or just another hallucination? And also, what about Sombra? And finally, WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON? This story is so confusing...
Derpy is confused:
Best thing i have read here, but
derpicdn.net/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTIvMDYvMTcvMTZfMTlfMTVfMTQ2XzQ2NzVfX3R3aWxpZ2h0X3NwYXJrbGVfY2VsZXN0aWFfYXJ0aXN0X3JpemNpZnJhIl1d/4675__safe_twilight-sparkle_princess-luna_princess-celestia_filly_cute_woona_heart-attack_feels_artist-rizcifra.png
so much feels
I started this story a while ago but I just saw it on the frontpage, so I may as well finish it.
His foot issued a fearsome battle cry.
2449913 ROFL!!!! I'll fix that. Not sure what I was saying there.
Well. This'll be interesting.
Anybody watch Once Upon A Time? I kinda picture Doctor Cruebel as Rumpelstiltskin. Also, this story is the biggest mindfuck i have ever experienced XD
2449913 I really hurt my abdomen yesterday, you made me hurt, badly. Damn you and thank you, and damn you some more.
Keep up the good work thanks.
Stahp... You're hurting my head with your mind games.
2451545
Happy to serve.
what, why, please hurry must find out what happens Believing Stories get one hundred mustaches
There are three versions of this story, all with different outcomes. The original Google Docs one, this one and False Memory.
2453497 Yes and no. the gdoc is the original. This will be the official version. False Memory is the same concept but a very different storyline.
2453506 Thank you for clarifying that. Will they all end differently then?
2453525 Basically, yes :)
abbabababa-wha-wha-why is there no more story? Where is the rest of the story?
WHERE IS THE REST OF THE STORY?!
I really should have been in bed hours ago, but I foolishly decided to start reading this, as I had marked it for reading earlier.
Goodbye, sleep.
This is remarkable. Truly a masterful story. Gripping, poignant, terrifying and maddening. One moment everything makes sense one way, then all of a sudden it makes sense the other way, like some crazy tennis match in Celestia/Celeste's head:... or maybe more like a baseball...
Can't wait for more. Please, do try and get it out soon! But, don't rush! Quality over quantity, of course... but soon... I is so sad and confused Poor Celestia...
2454954 Keep calm and know the next chapter is being edited :)
Very well crafted. As you may have guessed from my comment on chapter 4, I had all the pieces I needed to come to the conclusion that Celestia was
not insaneoriginally from Equestria, but I can't deny that every chapter after that only seemed to undermine those points entirely. I am aware that this is a reboot of a story that was already written, but you're doing such a good job, and I'm having such a good time reading it that I really don't want to spoil the ending (especially since there's absolutely no reason that you wouldn't be able to make plot altering changes) so I haven't read the original, and plan to develop my theories based only on what I read as I go.What is rather interesting on a personal level is that the turning point for Celestia to believe she was really Celeste was the Pen and Paper she found hidden away, but that still makes me wonder how she gained access to that paper, and why, when they kept finding paper with ink on them, they didn't do a proper thorough search of her room to find where her stash was.
For me the turning point was actually Dr. Cruebel giving her the ball back and admitting making a mistake. It had not actually occurred to me then that he might just be a well-meaning, but flawed doctor, maybe even to the point of just outright not being good at his job. (Though with an admirable ability to retain an outwardly calm demeanor)
Normally it probably would have been quite easy to tell one way or the other which direction the story would go, but you threw in a remarkable game changer in having Celestia as the antagonist in the battle with Sombra and nightmare moon. It so completely conflicts with my own headcanon that I'm tempted to insist it as an Alternate Universe equestria, rather than simply a possible dark speculation theory.
At this point, I've been trying to keep an open mind as to whether she is Celestia or Celeste. Even with the presence of Twilight, this could be more delusion, or simply another patient who has latched onto Celeste's insanity and is building her own insanity on top of it. My other pet theory (on the assumption that she really is Celeste) is that "Twilight" is actually a friend or relation, or possibly even alternate personality of Sarah who is enamored with Celeste's stories about Equestria, and is actually secretly interfering with her father's progress in order to keep her lost in that world. This would make her the go to choice for how Celestia kept getting pens and paper to write her letters with and be hinted at by how Sarah has been the only one willing to listen to what Celeste had to say about that world.
However logically, when you factor in the existence of magic, her being Celestia actually makes far more sense. Sympathetic magic and intertwined destinies are a huge part of worlds that support magic, so if Celeste has much the same type of guilt as Celestia, then Celestia may have been drawn to Celeste as a sort of "grass is always greener on the other side" type of effect, where Celeste would rather live in Equestria, where her sister is still alive and she hasn't lost everyone, and the trade is with Celestia, who has lived 1000 years and grown accustomed to loss, but at least would not have to live with being responsible for hurting her family.
This actually is a major plot point that has convinced me that Equestria is absolutely real, seeing as how if Celestia is merely a fantasy created by Celeste in order to escape her terrible life, then why would that escape leave Celestia feeling even WORSE? Fantasies are meant to comfort us and escape from reality, not create harsher realities. Celestia admitted that Celeste's life would be more bearable to live than her own, so that means that Celeste is the escape, not Celestia.
Which then draws us back to Discord as Dr. Cruebel. If Celestia is real, and Sombra and Twilight are real, then Discord is almost definitely real as well, which means that this whole thing is likely a plot by Discord, but to what purpose? One might initially think that this is all a game by Discord, but it has far too much focus and direction for that to be true. Discord is chaos, anarchy, and complete dissolution of rules, structure and sense. It would be all but impossible for him to play the role of Dr. Cruebel, someone logical and steady and who uses reason to help her gain a direction, so convincingly for such a long time.
But then there is Sombra, who has a history with Celestia, and who also believes Dr. Cruebel to be Discord. This tells us that not only was discord present, but also involved in affairs with Sombra and/or Celestia enough that sombra was able to recognize him and address him directly. So if Sombra had a history with Celestia, then perhaps Discord also had a similar history?
So my theory (assuming Celestia to be real) is that Discord actually cares for Celestia, and recognizes how troubled she is over her crimes against her sister. Now the rational solution would be to work out those feelings by talking to her sister, apologizing and trying to make amends, but this is Discord, so his solution is to give Celestia an escape by linking her to a woman who has gone through similar loss. Dr. Cruebel may even not actually be discord, but merely a counterpart who is ironically the very opposite of insanity. Perhaps the intention was to switch minds, but since this human world lacks magic, the path for Celeste to be moved to Celestia was unable to complete.
Either way, Celestia has never existed in a world without magic, so she has always been able to magically manifest the scrolls that are sent to her, but now lacking magic, the components of the scroll sending spell become more clear, magic is used to break down the scroll to its core information, then magically sent to celestia, at which point she magically interprets the information to recreate the scroll from raw data, much like 2 fax machines talking to each other. though the information can reach her, she is not able to magically manifest the information, but must do so manually, by writing the letters herself using whatever she can. Once she lost access to all writing, the raw energy begins to affect her body directly, etching lines onto her skin.
The tornado was obviously a physical reaction or manifestation of whatever was done for Twilight to reach Celestia. The question now is if they will be able to get back. More than likely if they manage to break out they will need to be at a certain spot at a predetermined time in order for Luna to open a way magically that they will be able to ride back through, however to everyone looking from the human world, it will be a tornado that you would have to be crazy to walk into, and if they disappear through it, it will look like they had been sucked up by the tornado and flung to who knows where, killing them in the process.
The biggest question I'm left with is how is Sombra there, unless the human world is where he was sealed away to. Being able to use dark magic when Celestia has none is another interesting and confusing tidbit, but could again be explained by humanity simply being a darker and more horrible place, which makes it easier to tap into Negative energy, while Positive energy that Celestia would normally use for her Spells are almost completly cut off, with the drugs Dr. Cruebel is giving her dampening her abilities to nonexistent.
But these are all theories, and I refuse to read ahead and find out. I do look forward to finding out how this all pans out though.
2455955 Actually, your theories hold a lot of water, which is why I agree with you.
2455955 I love that you're putting so much thought into theorizing about this! I'll not tell you what's right and wrong or even if you're close because I don't want to ruin it for you and others. But, I appreciate your speculation.
2457098
Oh but there you are wrong. You will tell me, slowly, but certainly, with every new chapter you add.
Eventually answers will be found.
2457128 and yet you won't ever ask the most significant question
I want to cry...
Does it get better? Does Celestia go home? I almost goign insane myself here reading this.