"...and until this time, I had only inhabited Luna's body occasionally, but always with her sharing my mind." Laetitia said.

Twilight was silent, and Shining Armor stood by the window of his sister's chambers in Canterlot Castle, looking outside the window, a contemplative frown on his face as he stared into the night sky.

Across from her, Laetitia shuffled in place, uncomfortable both with being in full control of Luna's body, and the look on Twilight's face after she had explained everything.

It was uncanny, how over here, she wasn't in pain. Her body was not about to break. She didn't suddenly just lose strength, she didn't need to fear magic. This body was strong and powerful. Much more so than she had felt ever before.

Sometimes, Luna had been able to bring her consciousness here. She even had some practice, moving in Luna's body, although they had confined themselves to Luna's quarters. Now… now she felt strong, and young and new and with so much potential.

"And my friends know?" Twilight spoke finally, drawing Laetitia and Shining Armor's eyes to her.

"From what Luna said… she had to confess everything to Princess Celestia when they accidentally were dragged into her spell," Laetitia said, smiling sadly. "I am sorry, ma cherie, I had no intention of worrying you like this."

Twilight snorted. "That explains a little of why Luna sounds like you sometimes. I can't believe—" she pursed her lips. "All this time."

"I never expected Sunset Shimmer to gather this kind of loyalty."

"Shining!"

Laetitia looked from Twilight to her brother, who was looking back at the pair. He didn't seem apologetic at all.

"The Sunset Shimmer I remember was a stuck-up brat that made it her business to show everypony that she was the best, and woe befall anypony that would challenge that notion. She'd never go too far, or Celestia would hear about it, but she was manipulative and too proud to see how she hurt others.

"Cadance tried to befriend her. I tried to befriend her. Many others did, but they weren't nobles, or important enough. Definitely not worthy of her attention." He looked out of the window again. "And then, one day, she disappeared. Everypony thought that Princess Celestia had had enough of her and sent her away… I'd be lying if I said most ponies were unhappy about it. But Cadance—despite their fights—wasn't… and because she and I were dating, she confided in me that she had seen Princess Celestia crying sometimes when she saw something that reminded her of Sunset."

"People change," Twilight said, her voice cold. "Even I did. Before Celestia sent me to Ponyville, I had little time for friendship other than Moondancer."

"I know," Shining said, sighing. "But this is what I remember of her. Now, I hear from you, Celestia, Luna and even our guest here that she's grown into somepony admirable. Somepony that I'd be proud to serve with…" he sighed again, and Twilight relaxed her stance, making him smile a bit morosely. "I feel like maybe I gave up on her too quickly."

"There are a million 'ifs' in a person's life," Twilight said, "but none in their actions. Galahad said that once, to one of the rookies."

"Geist said something similar," Laetitia added, nodding. "You couldn't have known, and sometimes people only give us reason to see the worst in them, regardless of what depths they might possess."

"I suppose," Shining said, smirking. "Just because ponies change, doesn't mean you can't change your thoughts about them. I would never respect, support, or risk myself for the old Sunset, but this one? I think I'd like to get to know her."

"Yes," Twilight said, smiling as well, and turning to face Laetitia. "And you'll be there with us."

Laetitia blinked. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, I'm not giving up on either of you!" Twilight stated, standing up and pacing around the room. "No problem is insurmountable! The fact that you're here and healthy, while Luna is in your body and she never has problems means that we can do something about you!"

Laetitia's eyes went wide. "Are you saying—"

"Yes," Twilight smirked, facing the pair. "Don't give up on teasing Sunset yet!"

Celestia lay on her bed, head resting on a large pillow. Her body did not move an inch, but her mind was consumed with thoughts.

"I shouldn't have given you access to the restricted section of the library, my Little Sun," she whispered morosely, "I could have spared you these horrors. Maybe you would still have been angry with me, but you wouldn't be transforming into a monster…"

"Mom? Can I sleep with you tonight?"

Celestia blinked slowly, as the echoes of the past resonated in her empty room.

"What is it, my faithful student?"

She had heard what Sunset had called her, of course. She had been warmed by the thought, but put it down to the little filly being tired. She had stumbled in, rubbing her eye and yawning.

She had also noticed the slight slump of Sunset's shoulders when her implied request hadn't been answered in kind. She had thought at the time that Sunset needed to grow out of that. That it was an act of kindness to both of them to not indulge that fantasy.

"I had a nightmare, mo—Princess."

"I see, well then, come on, Little Sun, we have a long day tomorrow and an early morning."

She could still remember the warmth of Sunset's little body, pressing to her side. How good it felt to slow down the shivers to nothing with a gentle embrace of her wing. How the fast-beating of the filly's heart had slowed down to normal and her breathing calmed down.

Soon after Sunset had been snoring peacefully, but a tiny frown had remained.

"My Little Sun… I wonder how much I hurt you and didn't notice… or how much I noticed and I didn't act on it." Celestia took a deep breath. "I wonder if things would be different, had I just embraced my wish to be your mother from the beginning. Maybe right now you'd be here, a princess in your own right. Of your own merit."

Celestia sighed, then her ears perked as Sunset's diary buzzed. Blinking, she levitated it over, opening the diary and reading the message as it wrote itself.

Dear Sister,

It is very convenient that Twilight modified the spells as she did, as I have no doubt this will not be a short missive...

As she read, Celestia slowly smiled. Luna was right, in the past there might have been no cure... but now they had everypony and everything they could possibly need to change that.

And she wasn't going to give up on her daughter.