The halls of Canterlot Castle were dark, faintly lit by torches placed sparsely across the pale stone walls. A musty sort of mildew smell radiated through the passageway, mingling with the thin scent of smoldering candles. The tapestries were faded and frayed, some stained with beige and some hardly tapestries at all anymore. The thread-bare carpet smelled of oak woodwork, tobacco and cat hair. This was Canterlot Castle's infirmary, complemented by the melancholy of the moonlight, accented by an imaginary d-minor triad hanging in the air and punctuated by an ominous coughing noise, a sort of hacking that seemed to come from the room just down the hall.
Twilight Sparkle cautiously followed the tall, silent figure of her royal escort down to the room from which the hacking noise came. The shadows cast by the torches seemed to march in time with each other, like a defeated army marching home, like a thousand Celestial Monks carrying frankincense towards an embalming, each mute figure following the two ponies down the still and near-silent corridor. Twilight Sparkle gave a shudder and set her eyes upon the door that emanated the harsh, unhappy hacking noise.
"Sir, is she...is she going to be alright?" Twilight asked the escort in a hushed tone.
"The doctors say they can't be sure. She's never been sick before, at least not on Canterlot records. We're all hoping she'll fight it off, but there's always that worry. That feeling that whatever's got her bed-ridden must be real bad." The escort bowed his head and kept walking. "The important thing, Twilight, is that you see her before anything serious happens. That you have this opportunity to talk, so that neither of you have any regrets."
The door was slightly ajar when Twilight found herself at the room from whence the horrible hacking sound echoed. Her escort stood by the door and nodded for her to enter. She put her left forehoof on the edge of the door and lightly inched it open, trying to avoid making too much noise. In the dim candlelight stood Princess Luna, whose face was plagued with bloodshot eyes and a desolate frown. Her gaze caught Twilight's for a brief moment before returning to the one who lay coughing in the hospital bed, obscured by a white curtain.
Blood pulsed in Twilight's temples as she came all the way into the room and approached the bed. Her eyes drooped slightly and her knees gave a tremble, but she managed to keep herself upright. She needed to be here. Comforting the ailing mare was more important than anything else she could have been worrying about, because for all she knew, this might have been the last time the two of them would talk.
"Why did you come so late, Twilight Sparkle?" Princess Luna asked in a vague monotone.
Twilight's heart stopped for a moment. Late? Was she late? The words made sense but the message was all wrong. Had something already happened? Had Twilight already missed her only opportunity? But her answer came from behind the curtain in the form of a painful and shuddering breath, followed by a few more hacking coughs.
Of course, thought Twilight, she meant 'late at night'. I didn't come too late. Everything's fine. I'm just being paranoid and scaring myself for nothing. Twilight returned her attention to the bed, and the two mares before her, one of whom proceeded to speak.
"Sister," came a weak and trembling voice from behind the curtain, "I will not speak on your behalf, but I for one am simply glad she was able to make it, regardless of the time of night."
"As am I," said Princess Luna, "I just thought that she might have had the courtesy to wait until morning when you are well-rested-"
"At which point I might very well be gone, sister!"
A sharp and piercing silence enveloped the room as the two of them attempted to calm themselves. Twilight found that she had stepped several paces back from the heated argument, her pulse now racing and her breathing suddenly jagged. She accidentally knocked into a tray of medicine as she edged away, and with the clamor of the silver against the floor, Twilight became perfectly still, hoping to avoid further disrupting the suffocating darkness of the airwaves surrounding the three of them.
"Do not talk like that, big sister," Luna murmured as tears began to well up in her eyes, "you are going to be fine, you just need rest, that's all-"
"Luna," said the ailing mare with a sudden air of strength about her, "the time at hand is not one for denial or tact, it is a time for truth, no matter how upsetting that truth might be. There is a very real possibility that there might not be a tomorrow for me, and there are some things I need to discuss with my young protege."
Luna bowed her head and let a few tears trickle off the end of her muzzle before replying softly, "I understand." She left the room, softly closing the door behind her.
"Twilight, come closer," said the voice from behind the curtain. Twilight approached the bed slowly, and sat down in the chair facing her old mentor, drawing it close to the hospital bed with a gentle and fleeting magical push.
"Twilight Sparkle," said Celestia in almost a whisper, "I think it's time I told you the truth about Nightmare Moon, Discord, and the history of Equestria."
Twilight sat upright in her chair, prepared to hang upon Celestia's every word. Though her mane was pale, unkempt and no longer flowed in an imaginary wind, and though her once radiant coat had tinted itself gray and tan in many places, one feature of the wise alicorn remained unchanged - Princess Celestia's lavender eyes remained keen and sharp in the soft glow of the moonlight as they connected with Twilight's.
Through this one, short moment of eye contact, Princess Celestia told Twilight how vital it was that she listen to this story. That the story Celestia was about to tell would be the most important story Twilight had ever heard, and that she would do well to listen carefully and intently. Twilight responded by leaning forward on her chair and perking her ears. Noting that Twilight was ready, Celestia began to speak softly.
"I think the best place to start," she said, "would be the story of how my sister and I first found Equestria..."
