//------------------------------// // The Princess // Story: The Virtues of Vice // by RoyalPonySisters //------------------------------// The benevolent Ruler of Equestria was concerned. Since her sister had returned from her imprisonment in the moon, she had remained distant from her elder sibling. The Solar Princess had been looking forward to, nay, dreaming of, nay, yearning with every fiber of her very being for this moment for a thousand years, ever since that cursed night when they were separated. When it had finally arrived, she was overwhelmed with joy. But now she felt melancholy. Her sister was with her, physically, yet her spirit remained distant. Rather than spend time with the Princess of the Sun, the Lunar Guardian preferred to spend her time alone, or often, sitting quietly in a very particular place. Now was one of those times. “Straight Arrow?” Princess Celestia called to her most loyal guard. “Where is my sister?” “I do not know, Highness,” he responded solemnly. She had tasked him with keeping track of the younger Princess’s whereabouts, but even the best hunter cannot track an Alicorn who does not wish to found. Celestia fidgeted on her royal throne just a bit. She sighed. “Straight Arrow, inform the Castle staff that I shall be gone for most of the evening. Tell them I shall be back by tomorrow to raise the sun and that they should not worry.” “Of course, Highness,” he nodded, and then trotted off. Celestia exhaled, and then magicked herself out of Canterlot Castle towards a space in the very center of the sky. Once she appeared there, she easily began to fly, and began her journey to the location of her sister. Luna was sitting there, as usual. She was not wearing her ebony crown and chestplate, but instead, the silver armor of Nightmare Moon. Celestia watched her younger sister sadly for a few moments, and then decided to reveal herself. “Sister, may I join you?” she asked softly. Luna did not even flinch from her sister’s sudden appearance, but merely nodded. “Princess. It’s you,” she said flatly. Princess. “Luna, we are sisters. You don’t need to address me by title.” “Then what else should I call the Ruler of Equestria?” Celestia? But the Solar Princess did not say that. Instead, she said gently, “Luna, we rule together. You know that.” “Right.” Luna agreed, but her voice sounded distant. “Sister, it is not good for you to always be coming here,” Celestia reprimanded her softly. “I like it here.” Luna replied, getting up to hug the huge three-headed black dog sitting in front of them. “I missed Cerberus.” “You always did have a way with animals,” Celestia admitted. “But Luna, it is not good for a pony to spend so much time near Tartarus. The ancient dark magic that emanates from here- it is dangerous. If you desire companionship, there are plenty of ponies who would like to get to know you.” Like me. Luna shrugged. “Equestria has changed in my absence, Princess. I am an anachronism. Nothing is the same, and I do not belong. We are no longer a young nation constantly on the brink of war- we are a mature country which has enjoyed a long era of peace. You have done an excellent job, to be sure. Nevertheless,” she continued, “I come here because it is one of the few things that has remained the same from my era. Cerberus, of course. But also Tartarus itself. The dank smell of ancient, evil magic. The despair emanating from this pit. It has not changed. In a way, this comforts me, as everything else I have known is gone.” “I’m still here,” Celestia said, in the same calm tone as before, ignoring the momentary pang in her chest. “You are still here, yes,” Luna admitted. “But you have changed, Princess. A thousand years of solo rule have taken their toll on you. You are older, wiser, more patient and kind than you once were. I can easily see the difference.” “I’m still me, though,” Celestia answered. “I may not be as foolish as I once was, but who I am hasn’t fundamentally changed.” “Has it?” Luna asked seriously. She finally tore herself away from the dog and turned to her sister. “Princess, I know you are happy to have your sister back. I know it pains you that I do not wish to spend time with you, and instead travel here. But you must understand... to me, you are not my sister.” “Whatever do you mean, Luna?” Celestia tried to keep her voice steady, but her heart was beating rapidly and she feared the worst. “My sister,” Luna began, “was a wonderful pony. She had flaws, to be sure, but she was wonderful. Everypony thought so too, and they used to sing hymns about her, and she loved it.” “Luna...” Celestia interrupted with a tone of warning in her voice. Luna ignored her sister’s agitation. “My sister used to don armor- like this-“ she gestured at her helmet- “and she had wrath. When the enemies of Equestria attacked, she was angry. She wanted revenge on them, to destroy the monsters.” “My sister used to grow annoyed at the nobles who pestered her over silly things. She had no patience for their nonsense and she let them know it. She lost her temper sometimes.” “When our teacher, Star Swirl, or later, somepony else that my sister respected, rebuked her, my sister’s cheeks burned with shame. She would hang her head and trot away.” “She used to stride in to the town square to cavort with the common pony, and she enjoyed it, for everypony was her friend. She laughed and played with them. When any of her friends passed on, she would cry in her room, and when she caught stallions staring at her beauty, she used to flick her tail at them, for secretly she enjoyed their attention.” “Everypony loved my sister, and I- I was jealous. I saw the way they loved her, and I- wanted that. I believed blindly that I could be like her, that it was possible for me to have the charm she had, and then they would worship me the same way. Obviously I was sorely mistaken.” Luna finished darkly. “Luna,” Celestia shifted on her haunches uncomfortably, “What is the meaning of this story? We both know what happened in the past. Do you- do you still feel the old jealousy?” she asked nervously. “Nay, Princess,” Luna answered. “For as I said, you are not my sister. You may share her visage and name, but the similarities end there. My sister was prideful. You are a paragon of humility. My sister was wrathful and demanded justice, while you are merciful. My sister felt shame, laughed, shed tears, experienced lust. You do not. My sister had vice, while you-“ she turned to the Ruler of Equestria- “have only virtue. You are gracious, and generous, and forgiving. I could never be jealous of you, because I could never imagine myself to be perfect. My sister is gone,” Luna said bitterly, “leaving only a ghost in her place, a caricature of Good who is not even a real pony. I miss my sister, but you are not her, Princess.” Struggling to respond, Celestia could only muster, “Sister, I am not flawless. That is simply not true. If I was truly without vice I could’ve saved you- and myself- from a thousand years of suffering.” “Princess, we both know what happened to me was unavoidable, and you acted righteously to save your subjects from a monstrous terror, but even if I accept your thinking, my argument still stands. After all, if your only mistake took place a thousand years ago, surely today you can be considered perfect.” The me of today could have stopped that night from happening, Celestia thought. The old me was impossibly flawed, and it led to tragedy. She cannot return. She did not convey these thoughts. Instead, she decided to play along with Luna’s line of reasoning. “Sister, you claim I am flawless, but you view this as a negative. If I am flawless, as you suppose, then isn’t my lack of flaws a flaw itself? Your logic is contradictory.” “You are flawless,” Luna amended. “But I view this negatively, because I desire my sister, Celestia, and not this strange Princess who occupies her form.” She paused. “Perhaps there is a way for you to prove yourself to me.” Celestia looked at her quizzically and raised an eyebrow. Luna looked at her sister for a long time. “Allow me to enter your dreamscape, Princess. I taught you the blocking spell centuries ago as you requested, and I have not attempted to enter since. But allow me to plumb the depths of your subconscious. If you do have vice, if the ‘true’ you is still alive in some way, surely that is where I can find her?” This idea made Celestia quite unhappy, and she said: “Luna, that is quite a brazen request.” “And yet I do not detect even a hint of righteous anger in your voice.” Luna noted. “I can’t do anything right for you, then, Sister?” Celestia asked bitterly. “Au contraire, Princess, you can do no wrong,” Luna corrected her. “Which to you is the same thing,” Celestia pointed out. “True.” Luna conceded. She continued, “Well? Will you grant my request?” “I- Luna-“ Celestia struggled, “That is a very unfair demand. Nopony should be forced to reveal their innermost thoughts to another as a precondition for friendship.” “What are you afraid of, Princess? That I shall discover nothing offensive? That you truly are flawless? Or that I will, perhaps, find something, something that you believe is worse than being thought of as depressingly perfect?” Celestia stared at her sister for a long time. “Luna- I will allow this, although I am not happy about it,” she finally said, “but for now, we must go back. The Castle awaits my- our- return.” “Very well, then,” Luna agreed, and the two of them took off, flapping their huge wings in the cold night, all the way back to Canterlot.