//------------------------------// // Fire // Story: The Virtues of Vice // by RoyalPonySisters //------------------------------// The stairwell was dark and musty, as if nopony had entered in years. Celestia could feel her pupils dilating in response to the lack of light. She wrinkled her muzzle at the smell. Last chance to stop this. “Luna, I don’t think we should go here,” she called out. “I have a bad feeling about this place.” Luna laughed. “That much is obvious. I mean, look around. This is clearly where your subconscious is trying to bury things.” “Maybe we shouldn’t go there, then?” Celestia asked hopefully. “But this is most vital. After all, we still have not addressed your original nightmare. As the pony with dominion over the dream realm, it would be remiss of me not to help you work through this.” “You already have helped me, Luna,” Celestia said. “When you accepted me as your sister. That was what my dream was about, nothing more.” “Perhaps.” Luna said noncommittally. If she doesn’t like what she finds here, it will be her own damn fault. She can’t say you didn’t try to stop her. Celestia was surprised at the harshness of the thought. Of course she wanted to protect Luna! But she was starting to feel a tingling irritation inside her chest. This whole place just... upset her in a strange way. She suddenly became aware that it was very, very hot. In the small, enclosed environment of the underground stairwell, the heat was so thick it was quite discomforting, even for the Guardian of the Sun herself, who had quite a high tolerance for it. The heat robbed her of her energy and made her feel tired and irritable. Lifting her head up and sniffing, she could distinctly make out the scent of smoke mixed in with the ancient musk. “Luna!” she said, her eyes widening in alarm, “There’s a fire!” Her sister tilted her head up and inhaled. “There is indeed.” “Luna, I think we should leave,” Celestia said in a slightly panicky voice. “This is dangerous.” Luna sighed. “There is still much about you I would like to explore. And I still yearn to know what has caused you to change from the days of yore. But if you insist....” She turned around reluctantly and then stopped. There was no stairwell behind them. Instead, there was a tunnel identical to the one that faced them in front. It was completely darkened, with no indication that it led to above ground for miles. “... I do not think we can leave, Celestia. At least not the way we came. We can turn around if you like. Which way do you want to go?” Just like Luna, get us into a problem and leave you to clean up the mess. “I don’t know, why don’t you decide, after all, you’re the one who wanted to come here,” Celestia sniped. Luna stared. “Well, alright then, let us keep going ahead,” she ruled. They kept going, and the tunnel widened yet remained dark. Celestia had the discrete impression that some creature or... thing was rushing around in the darkness. The scorching heat remained, taunting her like a persistent fly. She was already feeling miserable, but she began to feel a strong sense of foreboding that something bad was going to happen. Her chest tightened, and her heart jumped involuntarily at every shadow. The tunnel widened further, and all of a sudden they were in the huge halls of a decaying castle. Celestia recognized this place. It was- “The Castle of the Two Sisters,” Luna breathed. “Now why would we be here?” Something bad is coming, something bad is coming, it’s coming, it’s coming- Celestia jumped back. “Look!” she yelled. It was Nightmare Moon. The black Alicorn snarled, baring her fangs. Her sparkling blue mane swirled around her. “The night... shall last... FOREVER!” she cackled. Celestia felt her knees go weak- with relief. That’s all? She had been expecting something far worse, but it seemed she had been too worried. Nightmare Moon had appeared in her dreams more times than she could count, and she no longer inspired the same fears she once did. On the topic of banishment alone, Celestia had faced much worse nightmares. Now Luna was the one who looked uncomfortable. “You are NOT real!” she yelled at her alter ego, her calm demeanor slightly broken. She stared at it in defiance. Nice of her to have to have a taste of what I’ve had to deal with for a thousand years, Celestia thought idly. She chuckled at the thought. Luna looked at her in surprise. “Celestia, what-“ “Nothing, nothing,” she trilled, putting her “frightened but brave” face back on. Poor little Luna, so afraid of her own creation. Maybe she should have thought twice before she tried to create eternal night. She didn’t allow herself to smile, but instead stared ahead of her at the confrontation, making no effort to intervene. She felt oddly... calm? But not really, because although she didn’t feel afraid, that strange tingling in her chest had returned, even stronger, putting her on edge. And it was still as hot as ever. After staring for a while, she began to feel bored. “Let’s go,” she snapped, grabbing Luna with her horn and dragging her out of the castle. Nightmare Moon made no attempt to follow. Where they ended up made her regret leaving the the comparative comfort of Nightmare Moon. Luna looked around in confusion. “What is this?” “The Summer Sun Celebration.” No no no, not this. Celestia hated the Summer Sun Celebration with a passion rivaled by few things. It was always a miserable affair where her entire focus was on just keeping it together long enough for it to be over, return to her room, lock the door, and perhaps have a good cry. Now she found herself standing on the stage in front of a crowd of thousands of excited ponies. An announcer’s voice rang out, “And now, watch as Princess Celestia raises the Summer Sun to mark the start of the new season!” Swallowing, she reminded herself that this was just a dream as the crowd stared at her expectantly. She steeled herself for the inevitable rush of guilt and misery that was about to hit her. To Celestia’s shock, none came. Instead, she felt her chest tingle even more, and she began to feel angry. Why in Equestria did you do this for a thousand years? A celebration of YOU, and everypony is happy except you. It’s never about you, even when it is. Startled, she shook her head. I did it for my subjects, she reminded herself. They needed me to project strength. They didn’t know how I felt about it. The tingling burned harder. Yes, because they never do. Do they even know you have feelings? Or care? Celestia took a deep breath. They accepted Luna back, she told herself strongly. Even after all she did, they accepted her back. And they did that because they trust me. Because I’ve always been there for them. The voice was not so easily convinced. Wow, love and forgiveness in Equestria, led by the great Princess Celestia herself. How absolutely predictable. She shook her head. Love and forgiveness are good. It’s how I got Luna back. The words didn’t calm her as much as they should have. Celestia felt herself getting onto an uncomfortable train of thought, one that she had been avoiding thus far. But now it was screaming in her head loudly. If the ponies of Equestria imagined Princess Celestia to have feelings- which, to be clear, they didn’t- the Summer Sun Celebration proved that- then surely they would imagine her as the kind of pony who would bear no hate for her disgraced sister, only guilt and regret over what she had been forced to do. Of course Princess Celestia would receive her sister, the sister who had betrayed Equestria over pettiness and almost destroyed it, who had tried to destroy her own sister as well, who had struck Celestia as she fled and laughed when she screamed in terror, who had seethed in hatred for a thousand years only to return to try and do it all over again- of course Princess Celestia would graciously invite her back, and generously give her back her full position, and forgive her completely. And she had done that, hadn’t she? Because she was Princess Celestia. And the Princess was gracious, the Princess was generous, the Princess was forgiving. She shoved the thoughts to the back of her head where they belonged. The solution to all this was to just leave now. “Luna, we’re going,” she said firmly. Jumping off the stage, she levitated her sister alongside her, and began to gallop. She didn’t know how long they were going, but somehow they were in the tunnels again. That was good, wasn’t it? Because the tunnels were how they got here, so that was how they could leave. “Celestia!” Luna yelled. Celestia turned and saw her sister glowering at her from within a golden aura. Apparently, Celestia had never put her down. Without responding, she released Luna from her magical grasp suddenly. Startled, Luna dropped to the ground with a THUD. “Ow,” Luna mumbled. “Oops,” Celestia muttered remorselessly. She continued galloping. She could see the light at the end of the tunnel. It looked familiar, somehow. And it was very, very hot. If it had been uncomfortable before, now it was practically unbearable. The smell of smoke was overpowering, and the light she had seen was the dance of flames. Her heart beat faster as she trotted into... her own bedroom. Her comfy fireplace was blazing with a fire so hot and huge it shouldn’t be able to fit. An overwhelming feeling she couldn’t identify came over her, but it made her chest throb and her heart quicken further. All she could tell was, this room was bad. “Celestia?” She heard a voice behind her. She ignored it. “Is this... your bedchambers?” Confusion lined Luna’s voice. “What is the meaning of this, Sister?” “It doesn’t mean anything,” she hissed. “Just help me get out of here.” Luna shook her head. “I told you before, there is no easy way out. The dream realm is complicated. One cannot simply saunter around the mind at one’s pleasure.” “You seem to have no problem doing just that,” Celestia replied coldly. “Anyways, this is your domain, is it not? Or can you not even effectively govern the imaginary?” Luna flinched but didn’t respond for a second. After an agonizing silence, she stared at Celestia, her eyes flashing. “Do not test me, Sister.” Maybe I should apologize.... The flames of the fireplace crackled further. The strange throbbing in her chest grew stronger. “And why not, Sister?” she asked quietly. “After all, have you not been testing me this whole time, to see if I am worthy of your love? It is only fair that I do the same for you?” “I asked to ‘test’ you, and you agreed,” Luna said slowly. “I asked this because you changed while I was gone. Because you went from being emotional and flawed to being distant and perfect.” “But you didn’t change,” Celestia said. It was a statement, not a question. “I do not believe I did, no,” Luna agreed. “Unless you would like to differ?” A threatening note entered her voice. “Yes, well, you didn’t have a chance to change, did you?” Celestia said. “All those years plotting revenge on the moon doesn’t really lend itself much to character development.” She laughed unkindly. A low growl was emerging from Luna’s throat. “Celestia, stop,” she said authoritatively. It was the wrong thing to say. Anger blossomed in Celestia’s heart at the command. The flames of the fireplace burned hotter. “I should stop? Because you say so?” The strange feeling in her chest was growing and burning and hurting. “Yes, Luna I did change. I changed because of you. So it’s strange you should complain about it. You betrayed Equestria, and left me alone. So I had to change. I had to fight the monsters alone, without the Elements of Harmony. I had to rule by myself. I couldn’t be an ‘emotional’ mare, as you put it. If I had, Equestria would not have survived. As it was, there was already one Princess who had acted quite ‘emotional’ and that quite harmed the land... I ruled all alone for a thousand years, and YOU get to order ME to STOP?” Luna was now staring at her, her eyes wide in shock. But years of rage she didn’t even know she had kept inside her were being released from the Solar Princess. That was this throbbing, tingling feeling in her, rage, yes, rage and hate and vice and what else she didn’t even know, she didn’t know it was still there. She should stop now, but she couldn’t, even if she desired to. And she didn’t want to. The hate exploded in her chest, and all of a sudden the flames in the fireplace surged and the whole room, the room that had already been unbearably hot, was engulfed in fire. A cry from behind her. Luna. She turned. The flames were licking Luna, and she cried out in pain. Celestia didn’t go to help her. She hated Luna. She hated how she had betrayed her, how she had left her alone, how Luna tried to kill her even as she cried... a thousand years of pain all caused by Luna’s selfishness... a thousand Summer Solstices.... Celestia trotted out of the room towards her balcony, leaving Luna behind to burn. She looked out to her beautiful city and gasped. Canterlot was on fire. The majestic marble buildings blazed, gold spires collapsed, and ponies screamed. They screamed for her, for their Princess to save them. Rage filled her. She hated her little ponies. She hated all her subjects. They had never cared for her, just the Princess who served them. She watched the city burn until she realized she was on fire. The rage burned in her chest and throughout her, her mane was a burning fire, she was clad not in that cursed crown but in bronze armor, and she heard a strange sound. With a shock, she realized it was her own laughter. It was high and cruel and cold and was the laugh of a pony who was not at all well. Yet she laughed on in hate. She hated them all. She hated Equestria. She hated her subjects. She hated the crown. She hated Luna. She hated herself, who she had become. She was the loyal wife to Equestria, the husband who had never loved her, and her subjects were all children of this horrific marriage, tying her down and reminding her of her mistakes. Her crown was the ring that had consecrated this awful union. And Luna... she had escaped it, only to leave Celestia to shoulder more of the burden. Canterlot burned, and she laughed. She laughed on, and suddenly she was lying on the balcony, and she held the Unicorn Shooting Star in her forelegs, his black hide against her white, his dappled fetlocks against her solid ones, and her rage burned on, her hate mixed with desire, and she laughed, because Equestria might be her husband but today she would be commit infidelity, today she would finally be satisfied. And she laughed as she pressed him towards her, his muzzle in her muzzle, his flesh in her flesh, as Desire bloomed in her. And Canterlot burned, and she did not care.