Dreams of a Princess

by Feenkatze

Chapter 8: Dreams of Falling

Celestia dreamed of falling. Or did she? Was this reality? She could not tell.

She wanted to spread her wings to slow down, to take control of her descent, but she couldn’t. Was she a unicorn again? Had her powers been taken from her?

Was she dying?

But this did not feel like dying. She felt alive. The darkness around her faded.

Celestia was standing in a field of rubble. The only thing remaining of the castle was its very foundation. Looking down at herself, she saw that a layer of ash covered her coat, mixed with the blood dribbling from her many scratches and cuts.

In the sky lingered still the corona of the solar eclipse, enveloping the world in shadow. Time seemed to have stopped, the land frozen in its current state, not yet dead, but not healing either.

“Lulu?” Celestia called. “Luna, where are you?” But no answer came.

Celestia tried to touch the Sun, and found that she could move it with ease. It could only mean one thing – that, ultimately, they had succeeded, and Nightmare Sun was no more. But at which prize?

“Please, Luna. I need you.”

She wandered around in the remains of the castle, knowing that it was time for her to move on and set the Sun, granting the land its well-earned rest. But she couldn’t bring herself to. Without Luna, the energy to merely keep the world turning seemed like a waste.

She walked. She would not stop walking until she had Luna back.

Celestia twisted in her bed, blinking as she woke up. The Moon shone through a crack in her curtains, right into her face.

Maybe that was what had woken her up, or maybe it was her throat, dry as any desert. She rubbed crumbles of dried tears out of her eyes and got up.

The tapping of her hooves on the floor echoed through the quiet room as she sneaked across the floor towards the carafe of water on her desk. As she passed a set of black hoofprints, she frowned.

She loved Luna. She loved her in every single way a pony could love another pony, and she needed to tell her that, or else she would go insane.

Pouring the water, she mused whether Luna might still be awake. Due to her nightly duties she did have a fairly irregular sleep cycle. On the other hoof, if she really was sleeping Celestia did not want to wake her.

She stood there for a moment in indecision, the glass of water floating next to her in the grip of her magic. It would probably best to get back to bed and wait until the next morning …

A few minutes later, Celestia found herself in the corridors, on her way to Luna’s quarters.

Exploring the nightly castle was an experience she rarely made. Everything was so much calmer, so much more serene. Even the main floor which, during the working hours, accommodated swarms of binder-laden government employees, lay now deserted. The only ponies Celestia came across were two sleepy guards on duty who hastily saluted upon seeing her approach.

She would knock quietly. If Luna didn’t answer she was probably asleep, and in that case, Celestia wouldn’t bother her, but come back the next morning.

But what if Luna did answer? What should she say?

Apologize. That was the first and most important thing. And then let Luna know how much she meant to her, or attempt to, anyway.

With that plan in her head she arrived at the door to her sister’s bedroom. She raised her hoof and gave it a gentle rap. No response. Her ears dropped slightly, and she already turned to leave, when she heard the sniffing.

“Luna?” she asked through the door. Muffled hoofsteps were the answer, then it slid open.

Luna peeked the crack and looked at Celestia with watery eyes. Forgetting about everything she was going to say, Celestia pushed herself in.

“Luna? What is wrong?”

She pulled Luna into a half-attempted wing hug, which ended up in a somewhat awkward mess of appendages, but Luna leaned into it all the same.

“Is it because of yesterday?” Celestia asked. “I am so sorry. I do not know what I did. I came to apologize for –“

“No! It is not that.” Luna freed herself from the embrace, pulling back, which made Celestia shiver just a bit.

With her gaze on the floor, Luna walked over to her bed and sat down on the edge. “I have to make a confession.”

Celestia followed her and took place next to her, closing the door behind herself. “Me too. But you can go first if you want to.”

Luna avoided her gaze. “I know that you do not want me to enter your dreams,” she began. “And I respect your wish, I really do.”

Blood rushed into Celestia’s face when it dawned on her where Luna was going with this. “So?”

“Dreams are a complicated matter, and even I cannot always foresee whose mind I land in. One week ago, it was yours. It was an accident, I swear! You were in Neighsopotamia, and Twilight Sparkle was threatening you. I know I should have just left, but you looked so scared! I could not turn my back on you.”

Celestia remembered her descending from the sky to come to her aid. “That is it?”

Luna shook her head. “I remained with you afterwards. Worse, I returned on several nights. We crossed the desert and the mountains, together, found the end of the world, and fought the Nightmare. It was me this entire time. I’m sorry.”

Celestia laughed with unease. “Why are you so sorry?”

“I could see how much it affected you in real life – saw you in pain. I even tried to quit for a few nights, but then I felt your unconsciousness reaching out for me tonight, and I could not ignore it. I am so selfish. You must hate me.”

Celestia flinched. “Do you know what my worst fear is, Luna?”

Luna did not answer, only peering at her from the corner of her eye.

“It is losing you again,” Celestia said. “I am not saying what you did wasn’t wrong, but I could never hate you. If anything, I am sorry that the only way for you to spend time with me was to sneak into my dreams.”

She extended a wing to gently stroked her sister’s shoulder. “Plus, I wouldn’t trade the experiences we made for anything. Wasn’t this quite the journey? I don’t know about you, but I certainly hope to return there with you.”

Luna gasped. “Do you mean that?”

“If you want to, that is. Nightmare Sun might be defeated, but who knows what kinds of adventures there are still left for us.”

Luna covered Celestia’s wing with her own, feathers brushing against feathers. “Thank you.”

They stayed like that for a while, neither wanting to pull back their wing, until Celestia’s tiredness returned to her. “Shall we finish what we have started?”

“You could stay here with me for tonight,” Luna offered.

Smiling, Celestia let herself sink onto the bed. “I would like that.”

A moment later, she felt her sister’s warm body nestle against her chest and draped her wing over her.

It was then that she knew that her fear had been for nothing. Luna would always be at her side.

“Good night, sister,” she mumbled, nuzzling Luna’s cheek. “I love you.”

Luna purred, moving just a little closer. “I love you too,” she mumbled. “Sweet dreams.”

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[Wahtiff]

“It is losing you again,” Celestia said. “I am not saying what you did wasn’t wrong, but I could never hate you. If anything, I am sorry that the only way for you to spend time with me was to sneak into my dreams.”

It WAS wrong? She SAVED your LIFE in that dream, keep you reassured.