//------------------------------// // 10: "Doctor Faustus" // Story: Celestia XVII: The Broken Princess // by brokenimage321 //------------------------------// MEPHISTOPHILIS:  But tell me, Faustus, shall I have thy soul? And I will be thy slave, and wait on thee And give thee more than thou hast wit to ask. I glanced uneasily up at the sun, sweat rolling down the back of my neck. I wasn’t sure what time we had gone into the maze, but I was pretty sure I had been walking around this stupid thing for at least an hour. I was hot, I was sweaty, my mane was a mess, and— I rounded a corner and stopped cold. Gingerly, I took a step forward, and looked up in wonder.  I stood in the cool, dry, half-dark of a library. Towering shelves, filled with books of all description, loomed over me, their upper reaches disappearing into the gloom. The path under my hooves was no longer dirt, but beautiful dark hardwood. I turned around nervously to look behind me and discovered, not a twisting path leading back the way I had come, but a wood-paneled wall, blank and featureless, just steps behind me. I gulped, then turned back around. Ahead, just around the next shelf, I could see a flickering glow of light.  “Ah, Your Highness,” Discord said suddenly, making me jump. “Glad to see you’ve finally made it. Please,” he continued, as one gold-scaled claw reached around the corner and beckoned to me, “walk into my parlour.” I stayed frozen where I was.  After a moment, Discord sighed heavily.  “I mean you no harm, Princess,” he said, a note of irritation in his voice. “You have my word on that point. Besides,” he added, “you don’t really have an alternative… unless you happen to particularly like reading, that is…” I paused another moment, then hesitantly walked forward.  Slowly, a cozy little nook among the bookshelves came into view. A round table flanked by two scarlet armchairs stood on an antique Saddle Arabian rug. On the table stood several small stacks of books, with an old-fashioned oil lamp, its flame wavering gently among them. And, in the closest armchair, his back to me, sat Discord.  I blinked. Discord wore a velvet smoking jacket, and a pair of wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. In one claw he held a thick, leather-bound book, which he was reading intently. In the other, he absently held a pipe. “Please,” he said, waving his pipe at the other chair, “sit.” I walked to the other chair and sat uneasily.  “Tea?” he asked.  “...sure,” I said hesitantly.  He gestured vaguely at the table, and I looked down at it. As I did, my eyes widened. A second ago, there had been nothing on the table but the books and the lamp, but now, a whole tea service lay before me, glittering in fine china. Discord took a puff on his pipe, and a few soap bubbles drifted out of the bowl.  “I wasn’t sure how you took your tea,” he said, “so I took my best guess. One sugar, no cream—sweet, but with a bit of a bite to it. Just like yourself,” he added.  I glanced reflexively down at the teacup sitting in front of me, and caught sight of my own reflection. I was filthy. There were smears of mud all over my face, leaves in my mane, even one or two small scratches in my coat… I pushed the tea away and looked up at Discord. Golden letters stamped on the cover of his book glinted in the lamplight. I leaned forward to get a better look: The Tragicall Historie of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, they read.  Hm. Never heard of that one.  I looked at the other books on the desk, and read the titles from their spines. All of them were equally strange: Fear and Loathing in Las Pegasus, The Garden of Forking Paths, Pride and Prejudice, Leviathan, La Principesa… Discord slammed his claw on top of the stack, and I let out a little yelp. He turned the books so I couldn’t read their spines and shot me a dirty look.  “Just a little light reading,” he said. “While I was waiting.” “You… read?” I asked, a little perplexed.  “On occasion,” he responded. “Doing a little research. For a side-project of mine. You understand.” I nodded slowly, uncomprehending, then risked another glance down at at the table. What sort of research could he be doing that required those sorts of books? Discord sat back and puffed on his bubble-pipe. He watched me with his bright, golden eyes, as if waiting for me to say something.  I swallowed, then licked my lips.  “So,” I began. “I’ve found you, then. Does that mean I win your game?” “Not necessarily,” he said, eyes glittering anew. “If you recall, the rules were that you had to find me at the center of the maze. This,” he said, gesturing around himself with the pipe, “is not the center. Rather far from it, in fact.” For just a moment, I felt disappointed. I’d been walking for what felt like hours, and I was still so far away… “If this isn’t the center of the maze,” I said cautiously, “Then what are you doing here?” “It’s simple,” he said. “Now that you are separated from your friends and we can finally steal a few minutes to ourselves, I thought I’d take the opportunity to pull you aside make you an offer.” I raised an eyebrow. “What… what kind of offer?” I asked.  He leaned forward, his eyes glittering. “The sort of offer you can hardly refuse,” he said, his voice barely a whisper.  I leaned forward too—I couldn’t help it. “An offer of what?” I asked.  His grin widened into a smile.  “The thing everyone wants,” he said. “The thing you most desire.” His eyes flashed.   “Your freedom,” he said. The word hung there in the air, tantalizing, for a long moment “My… my freedom?” I repeated, breathlessly. “I… I already am free,” I said. “I’m the Princess. I can do whatever I want.”  Discord quirked a little grin.  “So they say, Your Highness,” he said. “And yet…” My office. I sit at my desk. Across from me stand Lemonhearts, and Twinkleshine, and Lyra. My friends from school. “I wish I could,” I say. “I really do. But I have to get these reports done…” Lem opens her mouth to speak, but Lyra butts in.  “That’s okay,” she says. “We know you have a lot on your plate. We just thought we’d ask…” “Especially since Twink is supposed to be having her foal next week,” Lem adds sourly. My eyes jump to Twinkleshine. She smiles brightly, then shifts to one side. Her abdomen is swollen, about to burst.  “Oh my gosh, I forgot—!” I cry.  I stand and spread my arms for a hug. Twink rushes in and takes it, wrapping her arms around me. I stroke her mane with one of my hooves. This feels right. It has been too long. I should go with them. I need to go with them.  And yet… my eye drifts back to the reports on my desk, two weeks overdue... I gasped for breath. We were back in the library, Discord puffing away on his pipe, nose buried in Doctor Faustus again. “She’s had her foal since then, hasn’t she?” he asked, almost casually. “A little filly, am I right?” I took another deep breath, then nodded. “Avocado Toast,” I murmured.  “An adorable name,” Discord purred. “Her father’s idea, I presume? Trenderhoof has a real talent for keeping abreast of fashion, doesn’t he? Really quite admirable...” I started to nod—but then shook my head.  “That… th-that doesn’t change anything,” I stammered. “I could have gone with them. I just… didn’t want…” Discord looked at me over the top of his glasses, smirking. "That's the nature of gilded cages, Your Highness," he said. “Only rarely can you see the bars from the inside.”  I blinked.  "Take your friend Rarity, for example," he continued. "She’s found a cage of her own, recently. She loves the spotlight, but fears the scrutiny. She's convinced herself that everything she's gained as wife of a Prince is worth dodging the paparazzi for... and yet, her sister publishing her secrets in a school paper nearly destroyed her..." Something in his voice made my eyes go wide. “What have you done to her?” I asked.  “Please don’t change the subject,” Discord replied, a little smile on his face. “We’re talking about you, my dear. You, and the key to your cage. After all,” he added, “we both know that you want out. You’ve said it yourself: you’re no good at your job.” My breath caught in my throat. Something inside me cracked.  “And, at this point,” he continued, “inflicting yourself on Equestria just because you are afraid of stepping down is sadism of the highest order.” “I—I don’t—” Orange flames leapt into being. The fire billowed outwards, and there she was, fangs bared, leaping towards me, the flames licking her gleaming black chitin— And it was gone. I sat back in my chair, taking deep, gasping breaths, my eyes wide and trembling.  “You are a Princess of the Sun who is afraid of the dark,” Discord observed dryly. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that speaks to your fitness to rule.” A part of my mind spoke up. There was something wrong here. Something else was in my brain, rooting around, looking for a weakness. But, before I could even think what it was— “You know, Celestia,” Discord said, his voice low and gentle, “there is a way out of your predicament. A way to make sure that you will never have to say the words ‘I can’t’ ever again.”  I cocked my head—but just the slightest degree. A sour feeling was growing in my stomach.   Discord closed his book and set it down, then leaned forward, steepling his fingers. “You know me,” he said. “I am a being of bargains. And, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I am also a being of great magical power. Just say the word, and Pow—” he snapped his fingers, making me jump “—I can make this all go away. I can set you free from the burdens of a kingdom you are not fit to rule, and a Peytral that is too heavy for you to bear.” He grinned. “I can even make everyone forget you were ever Princess, if you like. That way, you can live your life the way you want, unburdened by public scrutiny…” Slowly, I nodded. He was so kind, so reasonable! After all, why shouldn’t I let him help me…? But something inside me clawed its way to the surface.  “What are you asking in return?” I asked.  I had thought he’d be annoyed at my question. But instead, his smile widened.  “That’s the best part,” he said, eyes glittering. “All I want is something that I already have. All I want—” his tongue snaked out between his teeth and flicked across his fangs, leaving them glistening in the lamplight “—is your Peytral.” “M-my Peytral?” I repeated.  “Yesss,” he hissed, barely masking the glee in his voice. “I’ve already taken it from you, after all. All I need is for you to tell me that I can keep it. Then, you will be free of all this. You can go and do whatever your little heart desires. No one will be able to stop you. All you have to do…” he leaned forward “...is say yes.” I could feel it now. Something pressing on my mind. Something alien. Something trying to force me into giving in. After all, he made it sound so easy… I stared into his eyes, full of manic glee, and then, slowly, shook my head. Discord’s grin became a snarl, and his claws clenched reflexively.  “Really, Cece?” he asked, his voice full of brittle sweetness. “I had thought that this was everything you’ve ever wanted. To be shed of your responsibilities. To be your own pony again.” “But they need me,” I said, in a tiny voice.  Discord let out a sharp bark of laughter. “Need you?” he laughed. “Need you? My dear Celestia, don’t flatter yourself. They need someone, true—but you? Who in Equestria would ever need a Princess as clumsy and broken as you?” I flinched—but only because the words were true.  “I mean, really,” he said with a scoff. “You let those bugs into the wedding, didn’t you? Or close enough, at least. Not to mention, you have to have Granny Luna make all the big-girl decisions for you. And look at yourself—age twenty, and still no heir.” He snorted. “You’re so hopeless you can’t even get knocked up right.” I sat in my chair, trembling. I said nothing, just looked down at the floor.  After a moment, I heard Discord push his chair back, and heard him walk around the table and stop behind me. Gently, he laid his claws on my shoulders, and I jumped with a little yelp. But he said nothing, just lowered his head down next to mine.  “Let me make this very simple, Your Highness,” he said. His fangs were long and sharp, and his breath was rank and smelled of dead things. “I already have your Peytral. Enough of your friends have already forfeit my game that, per our deal, it’s mine anyways. All I’m giving you is an opportunity to get something out of this in return—the opportunity to be quit of your responsibilities, once at for all, and for no one to remember they were yours in the first place. You’re not good enough of a ruler  to be Princess anyways—and now, you won’t have to be anymore.” He licked his lips again. “You have my word.”  Something inside me cried out, but, whatever it was, it was too small to make itself heard. Not with the great, black weight forcing itself down on my mind.  “Do we have a deal?” he murmured.  And slowly, I nodded.   The laugh started low and deep in Discord’s throat, growing louder and louder, until it billowed out around me, endless cascades of sound, a cruel and joyless mirth— —and suddenly, I knew no more.