Waking from a Nightmare
Gods and goddesses above, it's over...
After countless years of banishment on a deserted rock in space, Luna has returned back to the place she had once called home. The palace had a far different look from when she last stepped inside it, but the familiar aura was as steadfast as the mountain it was built on. One thing about the castle that didn't change was her bedroom. Where she had expected it to be changed to accommodate visiting ambassadors or completely cleared for storage, she found it just the same. Not a cobweb or dust bunny to be found in the corners or a fine sheet of dust on her vanity mirror! It was as if she never really left at all.
The room was a dark blue two shades deeper than the fur of the owner. It was a mostly deserted living quarters, but it had the necessities to get Luna by. A large bed took up most of the wall opposite from the door, it was adorned with satin sheets and silk comforters, Luna felt her hand run through the soft fabric and gave a nod of approval to no one in particular that it met her criteria to lie upon. Her vanity was west of her bed and was quite modest compared to the rest of the room, for Luna wore very little make-up. The East side of the room was filled with an armoire full of all the outfits she had once wore in her youth. She had fond memories of dressing up as the Princess of the Moon and acting as such before she came of age with her sister. She would have to fill this place one day and perhaps get new clothing, most in the wardrobe would refuse to hit her tall, slender body now.
"You cannot believe how many years I had to deal with courtiers demanding this room be re-purposed." she heard a voice from the doorway. Her entire body froze in fear and shock, completely incapacitated to reply to her banis- her sister. She could hear the hooves clop their way to her bed and sat beside her as she looked at her. "I actually had to come in here and clean this whole place myself when the maids thought you would be gone forever." Celestia continued on joking.
Celestia was the other part of the castle that refused to succumb to change. Her flowing, sparkling mane was just like she remembered, her big sisterly smile and her curvy body wrapped in a comparably common dress to that of her court attire were that of the memories she held before. But above all else was her fun-loving personality. How many jokes and pranks did she pull on her people while she was gone?
"Luna, I-I wanted to know if you needed anything..." Celestia stumbled, putting an arm over her long-lost sister's shoulders. Luna cringed and stood on her feet, never looking her sister in the eye. "Luna, I know what I did was wro-"
"Wrong?" Luna finished in a cold voice. "Wrong is what describes when a pony is found murdered for no good reason. Wrong is what you tell a child when they give an incorrect answer to a math problem," Luna turned her head to reveal wet, bloodshot eyes and matted strips of dark blue fur under them. "What you did, Celestia, was torture."
Celestia was shocked to say the least, but she knew she could not get angry again. Could not push her sister farther away, but she needed to defend herself.
"You were someone else, Lulu. Someone had to stop that monster that consumed you, but they weren't here yet." the sun sovereign explained.
"Did you think I was just gone when Nightmare Moon came?" Luna asked rhetorically. "I was trapped in her, I could still think and see but was overtaken by a physical shell that refused to listen to anything but my flaws. And your first reaction was to not understand, but to exile?!" Luna shouted at the fellow alicorn. Celestia could feel her stomach turn and lower lip do the faintest of quivers. She let her head hang and closed her eyes, much to Luna's slight confusion.
"I cannot ever hope to right what I've done to you." Celestia started in a mournful voice. "But if I could, even if it meant the end of my own life, I would undo what I have unfairly did to you." Luna opened her mouth, but was cut off by her sister looking at her with eyes that were clouded with emotions. "I can never ask for your forgiveness, but what I do ask is that my sister, whom I love more than anything on this planet, stay with me." Luna could feel the pungent silence in the air and all the sorrow it screamed. Here she thought her sister would make excuses and here she is acknowledging her greatest failure in life. Luna could only grab Celestia's hand and pull her from the bed to give her a hug and a nuzzling behind her left ear, like they did when they were but fillies.
"You are right that you can't ask for my forgiveness, it is earned. So far, you have shown me nothing to grant it to you." Luna stated firmly, causing Celestia to swallow a lump in her throat and hold her breath for rejection. "But as for your request for me to stay, if you promise to try and understand me more and treat me as an equal, it would be my pleasure." Luna whispered, causing Celestia to tighten her hug on her sister and murmur "thank you" for what seemed like aeons.
"You truly are a princess worthy to rule this land to accept such an offer." Celestia stated as she pulled away from the Princess of the Moon.
"WE ARE THE FITTEST TO RULE OVER THE POPULOUS." Luna said in her Royal We voice. Both the sisters giggled and sighed in unison.
"Come, we got a 'Welcome Home' feast you have to eat." Celestia said as she pulled her sister to the dining hall by her arm. Forgiveness would take time, but when you're an immortal, that's all you have to give.
