Rising Hope

Luna awoke slowly, her mind fighting to make sense of the new sensation taking over her mind. Everything hurt, that much she knew. However, she did not expect the highs and lows of her emotions, thoughts, and body changing by the second. The last time she felt this bad, she engaged in a drinking contest with 10 angry Yaks.

By the stars, could they drink like no tomorrow.

Out of all these feelings that began to overwhelm Luna, one among them made itself known; fear. Was it her fear? Fear that she may have failed at the one thing she thought herself able to do without messing up, or was it her mindset at coming back to engage with a whole new generation of subjects?

No, no. It. . .was something different.

''Why am I scared? I am never scared.'' Luna argued against herself. Her mind drifted off into the realm of dreams, her surroundings of black replaced by a low light landscape, where the last few flickers of the sun began to ebb and the cold, night sky slowly filled with clouds. ''I am the Princess of the Night, emotions such as that are beneath me.''

''Yes, you may think that, but we both know we would have to be above something in the first place for that sentiment to hold.'' Luna cringed at the inner part of her mind that spoke. Rather, it manifested itself in response to her time on the moon. At any given time, it held either a grossly negative or positive stance. It never was a true in-between. It was raw unfettered emotion, wrapped in the thin vices of logic, and spit back out with the reckless abandon at whatever particular individual or topic. ''Why do you think we were imprisoned for a millennia? Because that is our price; for one mistake, all the time in the world.''

Luna groaned, eyeing the body of water in the distance from the cool beach she sat on, her regalia off, and her mane and tail static. It was oddly soothing; the crashing of waves, the glorious light of the moon peaking in, only the silence this time, of all others was more suffocating than normal. Her mind wandered in various directions, but her emotion at the situation was the same. ''And why I am here? I cannot be dreaming.''

''Oh, but that is where you would be wrong, dearest me. This is a dream, it just has yet to become a bad one at least,'' Luna's psyche murmured, slowly beginning to personify the image of Nightmare Moon as she sat across from her, frowning. The look of discontent on her face only paired with the baring of her teeth to intimidate. ''How do you think Celestia will react when she discovers what we have done? And more importantly, what you lost?''

''Celestia is not here. I am, and she has no right to judge what I did-'' Luna turned her head away, small tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Don't cry; it would solve nothing, and only serve to make matters worse the longer she stayed in that particular headspace. ''She wouldn't dare.''

''And there, it surfaces again. Your failure.'' Nightmare Moon growled, the light of the moon and sky being snuffed out by a wave of darkness. ''Our sister was the better of us two, the one more gifted in the dark arts of magic, the one more in tune with the masses, and the only one capable of holding onto the greatest sin whereas you cannot.'' Nightmare's words rang through and played back and forth through Luna's mind, worming into the depths that she worked so hard to keep from unwanted eyes. ''Hahaha. . .when you finally realize the full scope of your folly, I shall take; pray you are strong enough to resist, lest I take the one thing you now seem to care about. . .'' with a flourish, Nightmare Moon disappeared.

''No,'' Luna mumbled to herself, her growing headache intensifying. No, she couldn't; she wouldn't.

''Luna. . .'' a distant voice mumbled to her. She ignored it.

''She cannot. Celestia will understand, she has to; I've done nothing wrong.''

''Luna. . .'' the voice grew more pronounced and clear.

''They would not dare take. . .that from me.~'' Luna began to sob, huffing and puffing.

''LUNA!" another call of her name along with a shake of her body drew her out of the dreamscape and out into the real world. Her eyes blinked away the tears blinding her vision as her brain began to make sense of her place in the world. She was lying down, on her back, facing up to the sky. Her sight focused on chipped, old boards of wood arranged in lines. A roof? ''Are you ok?''

Craning her head to the side, her neck screamed in protest for her to not move, but she pressed on, hissing to see the same configuration of wooden boards, only intersected by thicker beams of wood rising to the roof. A barn? ''Oh, u-uh, other side.''

That voice; Duncan? Was he ok? Turning to the other side, Luna laid her eyes upon the Human who looked at her with a look of worry. His entire body was covered in dirt, grime, and blood. Aside from the sunken look in his eyes and mangled mop of hair, he looked better. Luna shifted her view towards his lower body, seeing his injured leg perfectly fine. While shifting her body, Luna became more and more aware of her injuries, giving the pricking sensation of the wet hay bed against the deep cuts on her back and legs. ''D-Duncan?! H-How are you-''

''Hush, hush, it's ok. You took more of a hit than I did dealing with that bear,'' Duncan pointed his thumb over his shoulder, there was another thing that Luna became more aware of as time went on; the smell of death. In the far-off corner of the barn, she could faintly make out the shape of the bear that gave the pair such a hard time, rolled over onto itself. Duncan's glare softened for a second as she looked over her injuries. The ones he was able to help mitigate hopefully dulled some of the pain he knew she felt. ''I'm no doctor, so the cloak was only able to cover so much after I used some of it for compression wraps,'' Duncan said, helping her to sit up slowly.

Though a tad wet, Luna appreciated that he used his cloak from his Nightmare Night costume to cover her. ''Thank y-you. But where are we?''

Shaking his head like a lost foal, Duncan huffed and spoke. ''That I haven't got the slightest idea,'' Duncan tried his best to remember what happened, only to come up flat. He remembered the bear, crawling away, then Luna coming to his aid. The pain he felt then was unlike anything else, even getting shot was a little less of a hassle. His mind swam, trying to come up with an answer, only to fail.

Luna hummed, coughing a tad at her parched throat. ''You remember nothing else?'' Luna began to feel duped. How could he not where he took them? ''How did you get u-us here?'' Luna began to backtrack in her mind about what happened earlier. She weighed the positive and negative, though she may have misjudged herself.

''Again, can't tell you, not even how my injuries healed. I was sure my leg was broken at least,'' Duncan replied with a frown. ''I guess I stumbled upon this little barn. The last tenants didn't really leave much, but I was able to find a few odds and ins that could help, we need to make sure you're as ok as you can be so you can heal.''

Laying her hoof on his chest, Luna scoffed. How dare he? He assumed she was weak because she was not. Luna was strong, brave, and a leader. Being waited on was Celestia's prerogative, not hers. ''I-I am Princess Luna, I do not 'heal', as you say.'' Luna turned over on her stomach, slowly spreading her hooves outward to prepare herself to get up, only for her limbs to cry out in pain. She would have nearly hit her jaw on the ground, if not for Duncan catching her at the last moment. ''R-Release me!''

''Easy, Luna. It's ok. Stop being so damn stubborn for two seconds,'' Duncan chided, rolling his eyes when she gave him a pointed look. ''You've been out for at least a few hours, and you don't know what's wrong with you, but I do. Mostly,'' Duncan shrugged his shoulders. Another few seconds of her glaring and she resigned to let Duncan lay Luna on her back again. ''From what I saw, you have a broken front hoof, multiple cuts on your back and legs, your breathing's been irregular from what I can tell, and I think your wings are locked up.''

Lies. He was making excuses. She was not as hurt, as he would have led her to believe. The only thing she knew was that the pair of them were in a situation that neither could deal with. And with the debacle back in Ponyville, the only thing she knew was that they could not stay here for long if they wanted to survive. Luna stared back at the ceiling, only to huff and turn over to face Duncan. ''You should not see me like this, it is. . .unbecoming.''

''And why do you say that?'' Duncan asked, confused.

''Because I am Princess of the Night; I and my sister should not be seen in such a state to any creature; it would. . .'' Luna mumbled before going silent. She gave Duncan a side-eyed look, watching each subtle twitch and movement as he stared back. It was unnerving; to feel the judgment of a Human, in so long. ''Ruin the image.''

Image? That's what she was worried about? Her image? Though not as enthralled about the intricacies of one's looks to the public, Duncan could tell when someone just went through the motions to appease the egos of others. Combining that with how Celestia carried herself, and the lack thereof, the true reason revealed itself. ''You mean Celestia, don't you? Because call me crazy, but-'' Luna interrupted.

''-You are,'' Luna muttered, breathing at a slower pace to calm herself down.

''Regardless, the last thing anyone should be worried about in a situation like this is how they look, including you. I don't give a shit how I look, and the same thing goes for you,'' Duncan argued. He stood up, walking out of Luna's sight for a moment, only to come back with a bucket that had seen better days, with pieces of his cloak hanging from it. ''Going to need to sit you up for a moment.''

Luna quirked a brow. ''For what reason?''

''So I can bathe you.'' Duncan simply said, the statement nearly throwing the monarch for a loop. ''Can't have you all dirty, gathering up dirt and any infections.'' Duncan nearly laughed at Luna's eyes growing to the size of dinner plates. ''And pretty sure you're in no position to do it yourself,'' Duncan nodded to her body.

''Nonsense! For I possess my magic, it will be a quick process,'' Luna hummed, focusing her energy to bring her horn to life. The situation itself was one she wished so badly to put behind her, just a simple healing spell, and it would be the end of Duncan's worrying and extinguish this strange feeling.

Or so Luna thought. Nothing happened. Her mind was clear, the pathway to her horn was unimpeded, and she even memorized the incantation needed, so why?

''-Uh, Luna, what are you doing?'' Duncan tapped her on the shoulder at her lowering her head and grimacing for the past 5 minutes. She looked to be in pain, was it something that he missed while checking her? Possible, given the lack of available light, or were Alicorns just built differently? ''Headache?''

''Be silent. I require focus.'' Luna clarified, which only served for Duncan to look at her with a look of disbelief. Another moment passed by in her still mind, running through all of the different spells she knew, which granted was only two, but it never hurt to be sure. ''And could you possibly do something about the smell of the bear? Why bring it here?''

Duncan wanted to retort on instinct of such a stupid question; how did she not know? Could royals not read the room? Plus, he figured he must have brought it with in the blank space of his memory. ''To eat? I don't know about you, but where I come from, you get food, you make it work; I can't remember exactly how long ago it was since I ate, and I don't know about you, but I refuse to starve.'' Luna continued to be in her trance, on the verge of growling. "Luna, I don't think whatever it is you're doing is working.''

''Curses!'' Luna slowly began to realize what was happening. ''My magic is drained, no doubt from the battle with the bear from earlier. It should replenish before long.''

So that's what she was doing. Seems Duncan had more to understand about the concept of magic than he did at first, but he also was sure that Luna's reasoning was. . misplaced. ''Hopefully, you can still use magic, given your horn's gone.''

''What?'' Luna flatly asked, her full attention on Duncan. Has she misheard?

''You didn't notice? Your horn's gone; well not gone but more like broken off at the base, I can only see a little bit of it.'' Duncan pointed to Luna, the sentence slowly beginning to dawn on her the longer she tried to perform magic without feeling a tinge of the energy rising up and out of her horn. ''Here, it's not much, but I found this,'' Duncan produced a hand-sized chunk of a broken mirror; Luna did her best to focus in on herself, only to gasp.

Nearly gone, save for an inwardly curved chunk was the space where her majestic horn should have been.

''Luna, you ok?'' Duncan's question was muffled by her erratic breathing where she seemed intent on sucking all of the air out of the barn, to no avail. The same hissing from before wormed its way back into her mind, causing her hooves to race to her head to quell the throbbing headache that followed as she fell back onto the hay pile. She didn't know when she started to cry, only that no other feeling compared to this moment; not even close.

''And like that. . .you realize the very first of your mistakes,'' Nightmare Moon's voice filled Luna's thoughts. The slow grab of dark magic around her psyche would have been an easy deflection, only this time around, it was anything but. Distant memories flashed throughout her mind, forcing buried feelings to surface. Her time in exile, when she and Celestia fought against Discord, the day the two of them were named Princess, and even the first time she was able to perform magic. All of it came crashing down in a wave of sensory overload, causing Luna to fight the aching pain in her body and follow instinct.

''Whoa! Hey, you ok? Luna?'' Duncan asked, feeling the slightest bit uncomfortable at the sudden lurching of her onto him in a hug. For as messed up as Luna was, she still managed to hug him with quite the grip as her scattered cries, mixed with deep wheezes. It felt offputting as his thought told him to get her off of him, but also comforting in a way that he didn't want to let her go. Celestia was her sister; the same one who caused him so many headaches in such a short amount of time, only for Luna's appearance to lead Duncan into another train of thought.

''I-I have. . .SNIFF! made a mistake.~'' Luna mumbled into Duncan's chest, wetting his clothes with the stains of her tears. ''I-I did not m-mean to,'' Luna began to babble, the strong persona she managed to hold onto for the entire exchange beginning to slip away. ''I did what I only t-thought would be-''

''Luna, what's going on?'' Duncan's vision started to blur once again, the entirety of his and Luna's body feeling like lead, forcing her to lay on top of him. Before his sight went to black and his body succumbed to the force of gravity, Duncan faintly made out the barn door on the other side slowly opening as two figures appeared. ''W-Wait.~''

The faint sound of hoof steps grew closer and closer before stopping just shy of the pair.

''Oh my goodness. Is that who I think?'' a female's voice was heard in a state of shock. Daring to get a bit closer to confirm the identify, a gruff male's voice replied.

''Probably not thinking about the same thing here, but I know just what to do with these two.''