"Luuuuunaaaaa!"

Luna rushed in the direction she heard her name. She had no idea where she was, nor could she see her surroundings, as everything was shrouded in darkness. The light she lit from the tip of her horn illuminated very little. Only that voice guided her.

"I will not fight you!"

Why did that sound so familiar? Where and when had she heard those words? The voice was too distorted for Luna to recognize, but she knew she'd heard those words before. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

"You must lower-!"

Luna froze in place. Something stopped her. Up ahead, some of the darkness cleared out and she could see a fuzzy, distorted image. The voice was still speaking, but Luna could no longer understand the words, nor could she make out the image. She wanted to reach through to try to touch it, but she was frozen where she stood.

The image faded out and a sudden flash of bright colors overwhelmed Luna. She screamed in agony as she faded away from existence.

"CELESTIA!"

The scream rang throughout the castle. Within seconds, several guards were at Luna's bedroom door, quickly followed by Celestia via teleportation. All entered, ready to fight whatever threat showed itself, but they were quickly relieved to discover no such thing was present. They were only greeted with the sight of a very distressed Luna, tearful, trembling, and seemingly struggling to breathe. Celestia and the guards ran to Luna's side and helped her back in bed, being cautious just in case she'd hurt herself.

"Thank you, gentlecolts," Celestia addressed the guards. "You may resume your posts. I will help Luna."

The guards bowed and calmly exited Luna's bedroom, leaving the two princesses in privacy. However, the moment they were out of sight, Luna suddenly burst into hysterics.

Celestia closed the door and grabbed Luna close to let her cry out. To her surprise, Luna clung to her tightly, almost like she feared Celestia would vanish if she let go. Celestia tried to move, but Luna only clung tighter. "I'm here, I'm here! I'll always be here." And that was all Celestia whispered in Luna's ear before remaining quiet until Luna calmed down. Inconspicuously, she let a few tears of her own fall.

The time Luna spent crying herself out was shorter than it felt, but she still did not let go of her sister. She knew it'd only been a nightmare-they hadn't completely gone away after the tantabus incident-but she now remembered. She knew where and when she'd heard those words before.

"I'm so sorry. I missed you so much, big sister," she mumbled, her voice holding a pang of grief.

"Shhhh," Celestia whispered. "It's over. That's over. Don't hurt yourself again. You don't deserve it."

"But-!"

"Enough!" Celestia snapped, though not as stern as it should've sounded. She fought against her own tears. "Sister, please. I don't know what it will take, but please stop. You don't deserve it. You don't."

Finally, Luna loosened her grip and slowly sat up to look Celestia in the face.

"If... if you really feel the need for punishment," Celestia spoke, letting out a sigh, "let me join in sharing that punishment."

"Ce-Celestia, I will not do that!"

"I am clearly not the older sister I thought myself to be."

"Ce... no! That's not true!"

"How? How is it not? Were I a better sister, you would be struggling with none of this. You would never have been lost."

"No! It is my fault for what I became! You had no choice! Everything... everything is my fault!"

"If I had paid attention to you-"

Luna couldn't stand to hear any more and, out of instinct, she pounded on her sister. "You are a wonderful sister! You have forgiven me, accepted me, held no grudge against me! Stop blaming yourself! I've no regard for what happened in the past! I want us to rule together! I love you! Even if you've done wrong, I forgive you!"

A smile showed on Celestia's face as she sat up and hugged her younger sibling again. Luna was confused, but didn't reject. "So, you do understand," Celestia said softly.

"Pardon, sister?"

"Luna, do you realize what you just said? Do you really feel that way?"

"Of course!"

"Then, you know how I feel."

The next several moments were silent as Luna reflected on what she just said. Celestia still smiled as she watched her sister begin to make sense of it all. She waited until Luna's eyes met with hers again, but Luna spoke first.

"Rosewell asked me a question," Luna stated. "She asked me my feelings were I to discover a pony I cared for did harm to themselves and I failed to see their pain beforehand. I did not answer."

"But now, you understand," Celestia said gently, still smiling. "Luna, what happened in the past was awful, but you do not solely carry those sins. Even if you did, it is over. We know how to prevent it. No good will come of holding on to that part of the past."

When Luna didn't reply, Celestia continued speaking.

"If you are still hurting, I will help you through this. I will help you heal. But we must talk. Everything must come out until there is nothing more to say."

Luna nodded. There was no arguing, and this should've been done a long time ago. It was going to be painful, but maybe it had to hurt for a while.

"Sister?"

"Yes?"

Luna paused briefly. "Please... accompany me to my next appointment."

"Absolutely," Celestia agreed.