Chapter 3
Nightmare Moon became rather bitter as the encounter with her older sister sparked an ire that she had been suppressing for countless years. In truth, it felt satisfying in a way, finally being able to vent her anger and frustration at the culprit of her countless years of suffering on the moon. She had a task to accomplish. To defeat Celestia proper and do something that her pacifistic sister was too weak to carry out: a violent upheaval and eradication of the Noble Court and its contemptuous constituents. They'd squeal, clutching onto whatever ill-gotten wealth and power they had, but they would all fall regardless. She'd bested mature dragons and hunted windigos down on her own in the past, her sister being the only one who could match her power. And with Celestia incapacitated and unable to protect her sycophants, she would carry out their overdue punishment with impunity. If they did not surrender gracefully and climb down from their pedestals, she'd gladly strike them down personally with her might. She couldn't care less whether they perished or not; they were nothing but overgrown weeds that needed to be pulled out. Why, she'd love to see them go down kicking and screaming.
Nonetheless, the pitch-black alicorn was not in a position to follow her plans. As much as she wanted to defeat her sister in clear view of all her followers, she knew she was in no shape to fight her. She needed to buy time—long enough for her magic reserves to fully recover. She survived for harmony-knows-long on the derelict moon; she could bear waiting for a few days more. As she went through her plans again in her head, she noticed Celestia cautiously taking a step toward her. That's not good. It was her cue to leave.
In response to her approach, Nightmare Moon fired another bolt of searing magic with the proper aim this time. With her magic pool strained to its limits, a sharp pain shot through her skull, making her wince involuntarily. She watched her shot whizz through the air, only to be deflected by a purple barrier cast by one of Celestia's guards at the last moment. The white alicorn froze, taken aback by the close call as the crowd's unease rose. And in that brief moment of diversion, Nightmare made her move. Her armored hooves scratched the stone floors of the terrace as she turned her lethargic body around as fast as she could, running as her legs kicked herself off the edge of the guardrail. She ignored her sister's panicked call and the onlookers' loud exclamations, her powerful wingbeats propelling her through the night sky.
In the air, she felt the winds wrap around her body as she glided away from the large building, a feeling she'd been missing for a millennium of her imprisonment. Nightmare could feel cold sweat breaking out from her back as she struggled to make out her surroundings. Below and around her, there was no familiar landmark in sight. None of the streets and buildings gave an idea of where she was. She looked around to find any sight of the Everfree castle but soon doubted whether she was even remotely close to it.
She decided to defer that particular concern for later, focusing on flying away from Celestia's eyes and ears. However, another immediate concern reared its ugly head. She's been trying to stifle it, but Nightmare Moon began to feel seriously unwell.
Her fur under her armor was damp with cold sweat, and with her strength waning, she felt as if her wings were strapped with weights. She assured herself that she was made of sterner stuff. She'd been through worse pain while fighting for her life, and she wouldn't let this stop her from achieving her goals. But as she endured her pain and discomfort, she began to feel something entirely different. Out of nowhere, a sense of impending doom hit her. It filled the weakened princess' mind, even as she tried desperately to clear her head of this seemingly irrational fear that managed to creep up on her. She was becoming increasingly nervous, the fear escalating as her heart beat rapidly... until something unsettling happened.
Suddenly, Nightmare Moon felt something inside her break, as if a thin thread within her snapped as it went taut. It was a barely noticeable feeling, but it sent an inexplicable and terrifying chill all over her body. Her slitted pupils became pinpricks at the small yet horrifying sensation, making her coat stand on its end. She wasn't given much time to think about it, however, as she quickly noticed something. She was falling at an alarming rate.
Much to the terrified Alicorn's dismay, everything happened too fast. Her wings could no longer "grip" the air around her, unable to keep her afloat. Any spell that she cast to slow her momentum failed to manifest. She flapped her wings in alarm, but her panicked, uneven wingbeats did nothing but make her lose her balance as she fell toward the ground below her. Bewildered ponies below screamed as they jumped out of the way, watching their princess crash onto the ground with a sickening thud.
Nightmare felt herself drifting in and out of consciousness, her ears ringing and her head spinning. Through her blurred vision, she could see that she was lying on her side, surrounded by numerous onlookers. Their mouths moved rapidly, but the ringing in her ears prevented her from hearing anything coherently. Laying on the ground, she felt her entire body burning in pain.
No! I can't fail like this! At least... at least not yet. Even in her dazed state, fear and adrenaline from the injured mare drove her to get up, but her attempts under her dizzying mind were unsuccessful as her feeble legs buckled under her. The black alicorn's helm-worn head struck the ground again, the impact making her cry out in pain. And before consciousness failed her, the last thing she saw was a pair of large white wings enveloping her barrel and her pain-stricken face from behind, teleporting her off the crowded streets of Ponyville.
The fact that the Ponyville Royal Observatory was not exactly ordinary was well known to anyone who paid attention to its history. Built to research and help in the safe retrieval of the lost princess, the long-standing building harbored facilities considered unconventional for an observatory. The medical wing was one of them, the partially operational part of the building that incorporated rooms for treatment and operating rooms, wards, medical devices, etcetera. Only a small part of it was used as an infirmary for the Ponyville guards and observatory personnel; the rest of the unused rooms were used as storage space for other branches of the observatory. That was recently changed, however, as the facility was supplemented with medical professionals and equipment ahead of the extraction plan for the princess on the moon. Now with its rooms cleaned, renovated, and fully functional, it was ready to quickly react to any medical emergency that might occur near its premises.
When Princess Celestia had urgently brought her wounded sister in, the medical wing burst into activity as doctors and nurses swiftly ran the unconscious alicorn through a multitude of screenings for a proper diagnosis and treatment. As much as she wanted to stay with her sister throughout the process, Celestia trusted her medical team to do what was best for her and let them work unimpeded. Now, she was waiting inside one of the refurbished doctor's offices, constantly shifting her position on the comfortable chair that failed to provide her with any comfort. The only thing on her mind was her sister's condition, and her anxiety refused to subside. After her long wait, a frazzled doctor walked inside carrying a large folder and a mug of lukewarm coffee, with a few stands of her pink mane sticking out of her bun.
"Is she alright? How bad is she?" Celestia immediately got up from her seat and approached her as Redheart sat on her chair, putting down the folder on her desk.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. She's in stable condition now." Celestia sighed in relief, sitting back down on her chair as the doctor opened her folder and began to splay out numerous large films of images showing the scans of the injured alicorn. "Though she's in a rather rough shape from her injuries."
"She's got a minor fracture on the left side of her skull; we suspect she'll be experiencing some mild concussions after she wakes up. She's also got a fracture on her front left hoof and leg, wing, as well as on her ribs." The doctor pointed out the location of the injuries on the images one by one, circling them with a red marker. "They did their best with the noninvasive surgery to set her bones back in place and prevent further complications. Now she just needs time for them to heal back. Aside from that, we've taken care of her superficial injuries; it's fortunate that she's rather resilient. At that height? Any other pony would have fared worse. I'm just thankful that her horn didn't suffer any damage."
"Do we know why she's fallen from her flight? I feel like it's quite unlike her to make such a mistake like that."
"Well, we figured that out when we took her magical tomography scan. We suspect that she crashed from acute magical exhaustion."
Celestia raised an eyebrow in confusion at the doctor's comment. "Although that makes sense, that's still... rather peculiar. I haven't heard of any fliers crashing from magical exhaustion."
"It's nearly unheard of for pegasi and other flying creatures to lose their flight from magical exhaustion. Typically, they pass out from physical exertion before they can reach anything close to that. But her Highness, on the other hoof, is an alicorn." Redheart took a sip from her mug before continuing. "She likely drained all her magic reserves from spellcasting before she took flight, and she ended up overextending herself during her panic. For now, we've decided to put an inhibitor ring on her to limit her magic usage until she makes a sufficient recovery."
Hearing that, Celestia sighed dejectedly, staring at the white floor below her. "Maybe I should have approached this differently. I didn't want to frighten her, but... perhaps we should have restrained her for her safety."
The mare sitting across from her pondered over the hindsight. It was regrettable that Princess Nightmare Moon's arrival didn't go as planned and ended up with her being severely hurt. But considering the past encounter between the two royal sisters, Redheart wasn't sure whether the other option would have led to a more favorable outcome. Judging from the initial reaction to her arrival, it was evident that the Night Princess was willing to risk everything to fight her way through. How many royal guards would it have taken to restrain her? Many ponies would have been hurt, and the panicked princess would have ended up becoming injured in the process regardless. With that line of thinking, the doctor chose to break the silence by moving on to the next thing on her agenda instead.
"Your Highness, there was another subject that I needed to talk to you about."
"Of course, go ahead, doctor." Celestia stopped wallowing in her self-doubt, raising her head back up at the inquiry.
"Aside from the injuries we've been able to treat, we've found something concerning during her scans. If you look closely over here, here, here..." Looking back at the film images of the patient's bone structure, Redheart began pointing out numerous locations and circled them with a white marker this time. About a dozen circles were made, each one marking noticeable large marks on her bones.
"Are these...?"
"Dr. Horse first thought these were a type of osteosarcoma and almost went into a full-blown panic. Even for me, they did look unnatural from the way the preliminary scans showed. Thankfully at a closer look, we found out that these were areas that healed from fractures in the past, albeit mended rather crudely with what we presume is a first aid spell. Some of them are malaligned unfortunately, I suspect this was done during her attempt at self-treatment." The doctor cringed at the locations of some of them, several of which like the femur and the base of the wings, the areas that sported high mortality rates in a fracture case. "I'm glad that it's not bone cancer, but I'm still not entirely relieved by this revelation. This is likely to cause complications in the future, and we highly recommend she undergo additional corrective surgery after she fully recovers from her current injuries."
Celestia looked startled, her ears pressing against her head as she took in the information the doctor had shared with her. How had her sister managed to accumulate such scars within her? Perhaps it was wishful thinking that her sister would simply turn out fine after all those years of punishment. Now, it was another concern that weighed on her conscience.
"Your Highness, I know this might be a sensitive issue, but I need you to tell me what could have possibly caused all these injuries in her past. We don't have her medical history, and we would appreciate it if you could give us any insight about this."
With a slight frown on her face, the alicorn replied. "I know my sister and I have had a fair share of battles and injuries throughout our lives. Burns and cuts mostly, but I don't ever remember her being hurt to this severity, not even in our final fight.
"Could the Elements of Harmony have caused this?"
"The Elements can be... unpredictable in how their power manifests, but I'm not sure. I'm sorry that I can't provide you with a definite explanation for what happened to her, doctor. The answer eludes even me."
Throughout her career, Redheart has dealt with patients who weren't so honest, lying or exaggerating about their symptoms or circumstances(their lies would just come to light anyway after thorough examinations), making her work even harder. With her accumulated experience handling them, she'd come to know when a patient wasn't exactly telling her the truth. When she looked deeply into Celestia's eyes, she felt slightly guilty for trying to doubt the truthfulness of the princess' words. She was thankfully relieved when she saw no signs of dishonesty on her face.
"Then we'll just have to ask her when she wakes up. Do you know of any other past medical complications or allergies of hers that we should be aware of?"
"There are none, as far as I can remember."
Hiding her fatigue under her professional attitude, Redheart collected all the images and put them neatly back into her folder. "Well then, I think that's it for now, princess. We've done everything we can for her so far; we just need to sit tight and help her heal back up. And if you remember anything about her condition, please don't hesitate to notify the medical staff. Did you have any questions?"
The large Alicorn sprang up from her seat immediately, so prompt that it almost scared the pony in front of her. "Can I see her now? I have to make sure she's okay."
"W-well, regarding that, the doctors had a bit of a disagreement."
"A disagreement?"
"In her current condition, Her Highness needs absolute bed rest. Normally we would allow friends and family to stay by the patient's side and keep them company, but considering her negative reaction upon seeing you, some argued that you may startle her and might cause another incident. Not only does she need peace of mind, she also can't afford to sustain any more possible injuries."
"...I see. I understand that it's a valid concern."
"However, I won't stop you from seeing her just yet." Celestia's face lightened up just a bit at that. "As her only kin, I think it's right to give you a chance at least. I assume you plan on visiting her right away?"
"That was what I was hoping for."
Hearing her response, the doctor nodded. "I see. I have to tell you, however, that she won't be waking up for about another hour or so. Until her anesthetics wear out, she'll probably stay unconscious. I hate to repeat myself, but after she wakes up, please try to be careful around her. She's in the Dusk ward, by the way."
"Thank you for having confidence in me, doctor. It means a lot to me."
"Don't mention it, your highness. I trust you'll always do what's best for her."
With that, the solar diarch gave her a small smile before bidding farewell. After she had left the room, Redheart slumped onto her chair with a sigh. With the medical wing on full alert, she had a long time before her shift would end. She wondered how her friends were doing right now. Hopefully better than her. Her coffee had gone cold at this point, so she picked up her mug and downed the rest. She had a feeling that she was going to need several more.
Celestia trotted through the hallways of the medical wing, passing by the occasional nurses and other observatory staff. Most ponies, except those who have been working at the facility for some time, were prone to becoming lost within the intricate halls of the building. But that wasn't the case for Celestia. She was the one who oversaw its construction, seeing it built from the ground up. Knowing the interior of the observatory through and through, she knew exactly where to go. She shortly arrived at her destination, a private ward with two armed royal guards stationed at its door. She acknowledged their salutes and stopped in front of the room where her sister was inside.
The Dusk ward. Its unassuming white door looked just like any other door in the medical wing, but in truth, the room was more than just a regular hospital ward. Inside, complex spell matrices were lined inside its walls. As long as the enchanted door held together, a shield would remain intact, and no unwanted intruder would be able to teleport inside. Now with guards stationed in front of it, it was perhaps the most secure area in the entire building. Under her protection, it was a safe space for her sister's recovery. She would be safe here, no matter what turmoil or enemy would target her.
When she stepped up to push the door open, she stopped. As much as she wanted to comfort her sister at her most vulnerable moment, maybe it was right to leave her be for now. Luna, no, Nightmare Moon had already shown enough animosity towards her, and she feared that she would just end up proving the other doctors right.
Sister... Just what happened to you up there? Celestia thought in her moment of indecision, Nightmare Moon's disturbing amount of past signs of injury refusing to leave her mind. For a moment, the ruler of Equestria stood there in contemplation, her hoof pressed against the door. And when she was about to lower her hoof and step back from it, she heard something from beyond the door. It would have been easy to miss, but Celestia thought she heard faint sounds of hoof steps coming from inside. Has she awakened already?
"Stay here and stand guard. I need to go check on her."
"Would you be alright by yourself, your highness?"
"I'll be fine. Do not enter unless I call out, understood?"
"Understood, Your Highness."
Celestia ordered her guardsponies, the two standing stalwart at her command. A bout of hesitation still lingered in her mind, but the Princess of the Sun decided to push on. With that, she carefully opened the white door, entering as she closed it behind her with her golden magic aura.
Stats
Page generated in 0.013 seconds
Total duration
1,082 users online
1,734,964 hits today, 1,960,719 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Not the most regal of landings. I'm sure she'll try to walk it off while Celly kills her with kindness.
Sooo, skull and brain injures had a hand in NMM in this story?
It is possible
Did nightmare moon got beaten up by that Discord’s ex girlfriend? I remembered this villain was sealed on the moon or something.
11662043
Uh, do you mean Eris? Or Cosmos? Eris is just Discord Rule 63, I believe. Cosmos, however, as I get from Netap's fic "Trash of the Royal Castle", Cosmos was locked in a gem, which got shattered and spread across Equestria and beyond.
Both were only used in comics, not the canon.
11662043
Doubt it. I'd bet she did it to herself. Imagine being alone for 1000 years, not a whole lot to do other than breaking your own bones or etc. to remind yourself that you're still alive.
I've always felt bad for her in the stories that keep her awake on the moon. It would be a horrible fate.
I think the injuries were done by NMM herself as a means to try and end her life. She probably felt despair from the fact she was ignored of what was wrong in Equestria and even her own sister turned on her. She tried to end her own life, but a part of her didn't want to fully give up and healed herself to come back and fight back against anyone who got in her way.
11662105
The comics are Canon
11662423
True enough. By canon, I meant the show only with my comment. Comics are just as canon. Never actually read any of them...
11662891 I've read *some* of them. Canon can get twisted around a bit on those, like the one where they lasooed the moon and walked up the rope to go there. Generally, it is best to write as if the reader has not read any of the comics, and possibly only watched one or two episodes. Reduces confusion.
Someone's up for a promotion?
That doesn't sound good...
Good question.
Is there any chance she was in a fight with another powerful being, maybe even a fellow alicorn of comparable power?
My theory: this is either Cadance or Chrysalis.
Both are royalty supported by minions. They probably have however different plans on what to do with NMM.
Good chapter!
I enjoyed reading it.
I'm guessing the purple barrier was caused by Shining Armor which means Twilight does exist, not sure if she is Celestia's student or not or if her cutie mark is different, although I doubt it since Celestia would need the elements of harmony to be awakened to defeat Discord when he appears again.
I'm also curious where Luna got those injuries, I would guess maybe she was slammed hard against the surface of the moon therefore injuring her greatly.