//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: The Heart Never Seems To Learn // by BronyBraeburn //------------------------------// The two alicorns simply stared at each other for what seemed like forever, each trying to find the right words to say to the other. Celestia's heart sunk deep into her chest as she saw the betrayal in her beloved sister's eyes. Her suddenly parched mouth opened to try and explain her actions, but the moon princess beat her to it. "You, you…" She fumed; her chest heaving as her horn glowed a bright white, restraining a strong blast of magic. "Slut? Whore?" Celestia suggested, her voice resigned with despair. Luna dropped her eyes for a moment, letting the magic in her horn dissipate to nothing, unwilling to agree or disagree with such choice words, before meeting the elder alicorn's gaze again with blazing eyes. "I raised the sun for you, a small kindness after you took care to preserve the beauty of my night for a thousand years, and I am rewarded with the sight of you sleeping with…him," she spat, her quiet voice laced with malice. "That thing made me become Nightmare Moon; he's the reason we were separated for so long; he targeted innocent ponies to hurt us; he nearly destroyed Equestria with his magic; your precious Twilight Sparkle almost lost her dear friends because of him, yet you welcome him in your bed! The monarch of all Equestria, putting all her beloved subjects at risk for a monster! What is wrong with you, Celestia?!" Thundering hooves came down the corridor, "What is going on, Princess Luna?" A pair of guards demanded as they approached the door. "Leave us be," the princess boomed, her eyes nothing but white light with her magnified voice echoing with a roar down the hallway. "Yes your highness," they squeaked, falling over themselves to quickly leave, the heavy door smacking the slower unicorn's flank as it was slammed shut. "Ugh, I knew this would happen," Discord groaned as he moved to the floor, gracefully dodging a blast of magic. "You can't place all the blame on me for your transformation, Luna. Take some responsibility yourself, please." "It was your cursed tongue who filled my head with images of revenge, of teaching the ponies the wonders of the night by force," she reminded him, prepared to blast him again if he dared come any closer. "These images followed me for years, dark fantasies of delight until I was filled with an overwhelming desire to make them real. In an instant, I became Nightmare Moon, prepared to send all of Equestria into wreck and ruin for my own selfish desires. Enough with your lies!" She commanded as she stomped the floor, leaving a hoof print in the stone floor beneath the rug. "No lies, just the truth," he said in all seriousness. "Yes, I did paint little pictures of vengeance, however, what if I didn't? Do you really think that nothing would have come of your anger against your subjects? That one day all the ponies would collectively wake up and decide the night is wonderful, or you would no longer take offense at their desire to sleep through it all? One way or another, you would have lashed out at them. Maybe not as drastic as Nightmare Moon, but somehow, someway, you would express your anger and harmed their image of you. They would no longer feel safe and instead they would flock around Celestia, depending on her to be their savior against a thing of evil." "I still hate you and I curse the Great Creator for even conceiving of you, monster!" Luna shouted back. "I will never regain that millennia I spent trapped on the moon! And for that, you don't deserve to live, even trapped in stone!" "Come at me then," he challenged, stretching his claws. "With pleasure," she growled, her horn glowing a bright white. Celestia's great heart stopped a moment and she dove between the two before either of them could strike the first blow, spreading her wings wide to further separate them. "Stop, please!" With only a moment's hesitation, the two combatants stood down, but Luna maintained her angry glare, her magic still swelling against her horn. "Stand down, sister; I am overdue for my vengeance." The once-proud monarch only solemnly shook her head, her shoulders slumped with defeat. "I know I am unfit to rule, having put Equestria in great danger allowing him to run free rather than killing him as soon as I learned of his escape, but I love him. I can't stop myself no matter how dangerous it is. Don't you feel the same way about Clodhopper?" The moon princess's face scrunched up as struggled to maintain her anger, bringing up painful memories of the distant past to bolster it, but how could she fight the image of her beloved sister and powerful princess transformed into a sullen, pathetic mare? "Please forgive me, Lulu; I can endure anypony's hate except yours," Celestia pleaded as she dropped to her knees, looking up at her dear little sister through tear-filled eyes. Luna's heart plunged deep into her body, horrified at the sight before her. With no regard for the draconequus's opinion, she slipped her head beneath the sun princess and helped her back to her wobbly feet. "I could never hate you, Tia," she vowed, burying her tear-filled eyes in the white fur of her sister's neck. "I was convinced you would attack me when I came after you as Nightmare Moon, but you didn't. You never lifted a hoof against me, never once showed me hostility even though I imprisoned you, threatened to destroy Equestria, and rub the destruction of the country in your face." Discord turned around, suppressing the urge to snap his fingers and a few emotional enhancements to the scene before him. Luna wouldn't think twice of lashing out at him with everything she had, and would find offense at the slightest thing. The younger sister smiled lovingly at her elder as she pulled back, rewarded with a timid smile as she wiped her sister's teary eyes with her magic. "You've been nothing but supportive and loving since my return, letting me ease into modern society at my own pace, always at my side when available, and I could never hate you, no matter what you've done. Of course I love Clodhopper, and I had plenty of doubts about how 'right' our relationship was, but I could never give him up, I loved him too much. I could never and will never understand what you see in Discord, but I know it's similar to what I felt for Clodhopper. I don't have to like it to support you, and I know you'll do the right thing if he betrays our trust," she angrily added, speaking directly to Discord. "What is it with you ponies and your lack of faith in me?" He retorted, pirouetting on his hoof to face the alicorns. "I loathe that stone prison everypony always wants to throw me in. Don't you think I wish to permanently escape it?" "Just because I will allow you your freedom doesn't mean it is guaranteed." "Like a princess has any real jurisdiction over me," he scoffed. "I'm not a little pony, I am a draconequus. Therefore I am exempt to your rules." "Every creature in Equestria, pony or not, hoofed or clawed, they all answer to us," Luna asserted with a poke to his chest, slipping into her royal mode, "especially someone like you. You're not and never will be a regular denizen; you have the power and the will to manipulate reality. If you disturb the natural lives of so much as a sand fly deep in the San Palomino desert, you will be severely punished, and eternity in your stone prison will be happily considered." "Duly noted," he grunted, rubbing his chest. "Be a little easier next time. Those steel shoes of yours can easily leave damage if you aren't careful." "Thank you, Lulu," Celestia smiled, a great weight lifted from her heart, now knowing what it felt like for the common pony when she granted them a great favor. She knew exactly how stupid and selfish this was, but out of everything she sacrificed for her subjects, must love be one of them? Luna returned the smile, for once feeling like the sole ruler of Equestria. "Am I correct in assuming no plans were made as to his living quarters or how we will hide this from our subjects?" She asked, savoring the look of embarrassment on both of their faces. "I haven't been myself ever since he came back," Celestia awkwardly explained. "I was…" "Who could ever discuss the future when this fine flank hasn't been smacked in over a thousand years?" Discord rationalized with a sharp smack, making the princess involuntarily shudder with delight. The dark alicorn rolled her eyes. "I don't know if anypony in the past knew about your particular relationship, and I would much rather leave it that way. Everypony would be screaming for your banishment and possible execution if they knew you were free again. I would happily oblige them if my sister didn't vouch for you. I order you to stay in this room while I search for an ideal place for you to live. You can't stay in the castle forever; someone is bound to discover you—" "Not to mention that the crystal caves are too stifling for me, even without being encased in stone. Like it or not, Lulu, you can't completely reign in my chaotic tendencies. I need to do something randomly with my magic; it's a physical impulse that I must release." "Surely magically altering a hidden away area of uninhabitable land wouldn't harm anyone," Celestia reasoned, eager to find a middle ground that satisfied everyone's needs. "Agreed," she nodded. "I will check the map room and—" "I will stay here, in this room, hidden away, getting better reacquainted with my dear Tia. If no one was alerted to our presence last night, I can assure you, nopony will ever hear us," he said with a wink and a grope. "No, you will stay here, ALONE. Put any body part out of this room, the guards will discover you, and we will have no choice but to imprison you again, forever." His jaw literally dropped to the floor. "Alone? How cruel of you! A thousand years of separation, and every time I get any significant time with my beloved, something always tears us apart." "If the bearers of the Elements of Harmony are not comfortable with the idea of you running free again, then our hooves are tied, and back to stone you will go." "You just want to find something that will make me stone again and keep your conscience clear." "The safety of our kingdom is the most important thing. My happiness can never override that," Celestia seriously reminded him. "As much as it would hurt me, I would never lift a hoof in protest if you encourage anything to ensure your demise." "Understood," he said casually, jumping onto her bed. "So go, both of you, leave me to my lonely fate. You happen to have any Mareiquin romance novels to pass the time by any chance?" He started digging through her nightstand, tossing random objects carelessly as he searched for his goal. "I will never understand you two," Luna shook her head. "But you support us all the same, and for that, I can never thank you enough," Celestia wrapped both of her wings around her sister in a strong hug. "I love you, Lulu." "I love you too, Tia. I pray this works out. I had a long and happy life with Clodhopper, you deserve the same. Wish you could have found someone better, but the heart never concerns itself with right or wrong." "SUCCESS!" The draconequus roared with delight. "My my, this summary sounds awful decadent, Celestia; I had no idea you had such a naughty side." Celestia's white face turned bright red. "I get lonely at night." Luna placed a comforting hoof on her sister's shoulder. "It's alright. I can't tell you how often I dream of Clodhopper and the things we would do. After a lover like him, nopony else could ever compare. Now go on, go tell the bearers. If Twilight loves you like I think she does, surely she can convince the others to be okay with this madness." "I genuinely hope so." With a gentle kiss on the cheek, Celestia left the room. As soon as the door clicked shut with a lock, Luna put her forelegs on the bed and levitated the book out of Discord's hands. "Hey! I was reading that, and the action starts rather quickly!" "Listen to me and listen to me good," she growled, jabbing her horn into his throat. "If you ever hurt my sister, if you ever break her heart, you won't go back into stone; you'll go six feet under. I will personally kill you, do you understand me?" "Loud and clear," he replied, extending his claw, "My book please?" The levitated book hovered just out of reach before slamming itself in his face, leaving an imprint. "Now was that really necessary?" "I told you I can never forgive you for what you did to me. Consider yourself lucky I love my sister, because your corpse should be lounging on that bed instead of your living body. You're right, I still would have found some way to lash out against my subjects so long ago, but nothing can convince me I ever would have been separated from my dear sister for so long without your cursed tongue, and for that, I can never forgive you." "Then go find me my new home so I can be out of your mane and leave me to my smut." She made a move to leave but being so close to his face made her notice something for the first time. "Your right fang, what happened to it?" "Celestia bucked it off after Nightmare Moon was banished. I think she was aiming to remove my head from my shoulders but my poor tooth decided to sacrifice itself for me instead. And yes, you can get blood from a stone, because for a while blood did seep from the wound." She smiled grimly, "A trophy worth keeping forever, and I take it as a sign that she would agree with me if the decision was made to 'imprison' you. Watch yourself, Discord, before I take that second fang myself." "I've grown quite attached to it so trust me, I am watching myself. See?" With a snap of his fingers, his eyeballs floated out of their sockets and hovered around his body. Luna rolled her eyes, hoping that he took her promises seriously, if only for the sake of her sister. "Remember what I said. I won't tolerate begging for mercy from you." "Trust me, Luna, I get it," he growled in annoyance. "Just because I like to play games doesn't mean I can't take things seriously. Celestia's off doing her thing, I suggest you and I do the same." I really don't understand this, Tia. Please let everything work out for the best, she prayed as she left the room.