The Great Equestrian Journey

I pace and pace around my room, pondering my decision. Its been five days since I've come here. Five days, and Luna could be getting worse.

And yet, I still can't decide.

Do I help Celestia? If so, this will be her chance to kill me. Remind me of everything I've done. I know, thank you very much.

My room is small. It takes five paces to get from one end to the other. The more I walk, the more I need to turn, and that annoys me.

I flop onto my bed--mine, I guess--and sulk. I pace some more. I sleep. I have dreams. Ah, the irony. They're nightmares.

Every single day, Celestia comes in with the same question and enough food to last the whole day. The food is good. The question is terrible.

I don't want to help her. But then I'd let Luna die, and it would be my fault. But there are doctors and Celestia has her magic, so it's likely that she's just using me--for what? Some days I choose this side.

Other days I think this: Celestia thought I was at fault for Luna's sickness. And I may as well be. You learn to get along with someone when you're with them for a thousand years. You learn to care for them, to...just...love them. I mean, I mean...Luna and I just depended on each other for survival. And now she might depend on me again, no matter how much she must hate me.

Her life is in my hooves. I find myself staring down at them a lot. I'm not exactly depressed. I'm just struggling, see?

And maybe I can get on Celestia's good side and then backstab her.

But that isn't the main reason why, the next time Celestia comes and asks, I say yes.

_____

"Good," Celestia remarks, half-smiling.

I stand still. I just did it. I just said yes.

Am I really doing this?

"Good," I echo.

"Good." Celestia repeats. I begin to wonder when one of us breaks the 'good' chain.

She does. "I reckon you'll need this." From somewhere behind her she levitates a box of--is that--

As soon as she sets it on the bed, I dig right in. I was right! My armor! Helmet, chestplate, even the boots.

Giddiness floods through me. Celestia. Just. Gave. Me. These. All I can say is "I hate you," even though I. Lurve. Her.

My life has suddenly become all armor and some one-word sentences.

_____

She leads me down a couple of hallways. I have my armor back on again, and now that I'm going to see Luna I feel very, very comfortable.

At least, I think I'll see Luna. I hope.

My armor clinks on the linoleum. I chuckle, thinking it's going to annoy Celestia. I'd do anything to annoy her if she won't let me see Luna.

You may ask why I'm not willing to kill her. It's complicated, see. If she lets me visit Luna, not killing her will be worth it. If not, I'm going to follow Celestia until she leads me to her sister. Then, I'll--

Help her. Not possess her. If I were to do that, she'd need to be healthy. And, yes, jealous. Not likely she will be right now. Right now, all Luna will have to worry about is being sick all the time.

So I'll do it after. But what will happen after? Will Celestia dispose of me? Will she forgive me, thinking I'm reformed? I have no idea. I'm even unsure about my decision. I'm even unsure about how I'm alive in the first place. I just remember fighting my sister and then...oh. A reason not to completely trust Celestia.

We take another right. Celestia glances at me, checking to see if I'm there. As if I need to be foal-sitted. The hallway we turn on is dimly lit. It reminds me of a prison.

Prison.

What if this is a trap? Then again, I did see a changeling die from Luna's supposed disease. But maybe that changeling has nothing to do with Luna. Celestia has the ability to lie. Did she lie? I turn towards her, searching her face for betrayal.

But all I see is firmness and...sorrow?

She's not lying about Luna.

She seems disgusted by my previous laugh, so I try to keep a straight face. We round maybe the tenth corner. At the end, there's a huge set of double doors. If these lead to a super-secure dungeon, I wouldn't be surprised.

But they don't. When Celestia opens them, I'm introduced to a dizzying sight. There are...things everywhere. It's hard to explain them. They're on the wall, lit up. One of them resembles a bunch a swirling stuff. The one next to that is all color and no sense. I can't even describe it. If my imprisonment is meant to drive me crazy, then it worked. I am definitely seeing things.

Celestia senses my confusion. She trots over to several ponies that I just now noticed are in the room. "This," she says, "is the lab."

My vision goes absolutely everywhere. My jaw unhinges. Celestia chuckles. "I suppose you've never seen screens before."

Screens?

Is confusion all I'll never know?

My eyes catch on each of the 'screens', searching each of them. One of the screens has bright red text at the top saying DATA, and below it is a string of numbers.

Then I scan the other screens. They're not very different, besides the swirling grey one and the colorful one. I'm immediately captivated by them.

I slowly walk towards them, studying the shapes that morph and disappear and come back again. It looks like they're in some misshapen circle.

The shapes shrink and then explode. I notice how irregular they are. They're not exploding and imploding. They're following a long, confusing pattern. Not even a pattern, actually.

The screen next to it has an identical shape, but the spinning grey is replaced with bright color. I notice that while most of it is green, there's a big red splotch slowly moving across the scene. I study it closely. The red must mean something.

I don't notice Celestia and a doctor beside me until the doctor speaks. He has a dark brown coat close to mine and a shaggy, unkept light yellow mane. "I see you're interested."

He seems unusually at ease around me, or maybe that's Celestia's presence. He's on my left; she's on my right.

Celestia nods. "I bet this is quite...new." She steps forward to touch the colorful screen, her tone mixed with fact and worry.

"What is it?" I ask.

Celestia takes a deep breath, turns to me, then turns back to the perplexing display. "That's what's going on...in Luna's brain."