Luna had been sitting beside Twilight for close to two hours before she was joined by her sister. It was with silent, once proud grace that she entered the room bearing two tray laden with food. Luna noticed a couple bowls of broth and some dry crackers among the food Celestia had decided to bring. The rest was food more fit for a princess but still light, mostly finger sandwiches and salads. Celestia didn’t say it but for the first time in a long time she felt no desire to eat sweets, she felt too guilty to enjoy it especially since Twilight wouldn’t be able to partake. Going from not eating to eating too much would make her sick. The doctors had recommended broth for a week or so, nothing heavier than a few crackers until she could work her way back up to solid foods and then full fledged meals.

“Anything?” the sun princess asked softly, so as not to wake the youngest in the room, as she settled the trays down on a nearby desk.

“I found her a few hallways down, she had left the room but panicked when she saw me,” Luna paused wondering if she should continue or not before deciding she should be honest “I’ve never seen her frightened of me before.”

“I don’t know if it was you she was scared of Luna,” the eldest princess tried to reassure. “I don’t know if she even remembers us.”

“Then what was she afraid of?” The younger sister demanded in a harsh whisper.

Celestia narrowed her eyes and responded calmly and a bit coolly. “Do not make this about you Luna.”

“I’m-” Luna started before the words really sunk in. She was making it about her. She had decided to take offence because Twilight was frightened of her. So what? Twilight had endured trauma a lot of things probably terrified Twilight right now, what made Luna special? “I’m sorry, you’re right.”

“We need to focus on Twilight right now,” Celestia replied firmly. And find that alicorn stallion. She thought silently.

Celestia had only ever felt this conflicted once before, when she had to decide to use the elements against her own sister. Then, just like now, she was torn between her nation, her ponies, or someone she loved. She wanted more than anything to be by Twilight’s side and help her become the mare she used to be once more but she also had a duty to find the alicorn that had attacked her ponies, her city, her sister, her Twilight.

Even though Twilight had been ‘safe’ in her cell and had not been attacked she had been targeted a hundred and fifty years ago. Twilight may not have been injured or killed by the alicorn’s hand but his actions had directly resulted in Twilight’s torture and imprisonment with the intention of having her killed. He had committed treason against the crown, every one of them, and he would pay dearly for it.

“Did you send the letter to Cadance?” Luna asked after several minutes of silence.

Celestia winced at the reminder. It had been the first thing she had done after taking Twilight out of her cell. Cadance had quickly replied with a very long letter that amounted to an extremely angry ‘I told you so’. Celestia had no doubt she was already on a chariot to Canterlot and it would not be the last of the princess of love’s rage. Still it was anger well deserved, after all the only thing Cadance was truly guilty of was believing that Celestia would only do what was right and not coming for the trial.

Both Cadance and Shining Armor had heard of the accusations against Twilight but at the time they had been learning how to juggle ruling the empire and being parents to a newborn alicorn. Cadance had expressed a desire to be there for her little sister but reluctantly admitted that since they didn’t know how long the trial would last that at least one of them needed to stay to make sure nothing collapsed while they were away. It was decided that Shining Armor would make the trip to the capital to be there for Twilight while Cadance would remain in the empire but that she had full faith that Celestia would discover who was behind the mass murder and punish them accordingly.

The trial had been short, Celestia admitted to herself, looking back on it. Even in cases where a pony confessed to the crime it usually lasted a few days. It took time to go over all the evidence and how remorseful the perpetrator was. There were quite a few things Celestia usually considered before reaching a verdict and the sentencing. Yet it hadn’t happened for this case. For whatever reason all she could remember about the trial itself was wanting it over with. She had a few vague memories of speaking with Spike the night before the beginning of the trail, promising that there would be character witnesses, that Twilight’s various heroic acts would be taken into consideration for sentencing and yet she hadn’t called for them. Luna hadn’t either, she realized, now that Celestia really thought about it. They had called for the evidence to be brought forth, they had talked about it for an appallingly short time, then they had asked what Twilight had to say for herself.

She had been willing to be open minded about the trial and unbiased and yet when she had entered the court room she had decided Twilight was guilty. Why?

“What do you remember about the trial Luna?” Celestia asked deep in thought, searching her memories for the relevant information.

The midnight blue princess frowned in thought. “Feeling betrayed, mostly. Wanting to punish the one who had betrayed me, teach them that I wasn’t someone they could cross without consequence. I was angry and I wanted Twilight to pay.”

“But do you remember the trial itself?” the alabaster sister asked insistently. “Did we call character witnesses? Did we bring up all the good Twilight had done for Equestria? I know we asked what Twilight had to say for herself but do you remember asking for an alibi? A motive? Anything? Any contradictory evidence?”

Luna searched her memories, slowly shaking her head. “Now that you mention it sister, I don’t believe we did. I remember the evidence against her and arguing with you that she should be executed in private during the break. I remember speaking to Twilight just before we sentenced her. I also remember saying that we should forget all about this incident after the trial, that Twilight was imprisoned now and we didn’t have to worry or think about it anymore.”

“But Twilight was only supposed to be imprisoned for two hundred years. Eventually we would have let her out, we should have discussed the matter a few times over the years like we do for any criminal before their release. Yes her imprisonment was significantly longer than a standard ponies but we always discuss their progress, keep an eye on them to see if they’re still a danger to society. We didn’t even keep a close enough eye on her to see if she was eating. We didn’t even give her anything to do. Anyone placed in confinement is supposed to be allowed to keep themselves mentally stimulated since they can’t have physical activity, we can’t risk letting them out. Twilight was left in her cell with nothing.”

The younger princess began searching more recent memories. Celestia was right. Something wasn’t adding up. All the guards knew the protocol so how had Twilight slipped through their fingers? Cadance and Shining Armor had repeatedly asked for updates about Twilight, even if they weren’t allowed to speak with her but every time they were brushed off and forgotten about. For the first few years Spike had almost incessantly demanded to speak with Twilight and then to see her but he was redirected to a guard to deal with. Twilight was supposed to be locked away and forgotten about. Almost compulsively. Why?

“Send for a doctor.” Luna demanded suddenly.

There could be only one reason for their behavior. Someone had been using mind magic on them and neither had noticed or if they had they didn’t remember it. The fact that they were now noticing the behavior meant it was trigger based. One to activate it and another to remove it. The most troubling matter was that Alicorns had a natural resistance to mind magic, in order to pull something like this off it had to be someone close to them who was with them most of the day. It painted a sinister picture. The royal guard had been compromised.

Author's Note

I want to make this clear. This is not a chapter erasing blame. Even IFCelestia and Luna were put under some spell (or maybe just getting too old) they are still responsible for their actions. Just like if someone got drunk and then drove a car and got in an accident it would still be their fault. Their decision making skills may be impaired but they still made the decision. This is a chapter moving the plot forward nothing more. You may still freely continue to hate/blame the sisters or you may decide they deserve some slack after reading this. I won't judge or tell you how to feel either way because even as the author I both sympathize and rage against the mistreatment.