The minutes ticked by as Vinyl Scratch waited in the most luxurious tea room she’d ever seen. An enormous wall of windows faced the dip between the majestic mountains, between where the sun and moon set every day. Spread just outside was the familiar Canterlot Royal Gardens, blooming with exotic plants and filled with wildlife from across Equestria. In the distance, the cascading rainbows of Cloudsdale burned warmly in the waning light of dusk.
The view she could see from her seat was almost transcendental. It was a carefully crafted artistic expression, cultivated over centuries with the sheer beauty of Equestria by the one who built the place. So perfect was its design, Vinyl couldn’t help but wonder what came first, the garden or the castle.
The jostle of the door turned her attention away from the setting sun. A golden aura of magic gently opened it, revealing the former princess herself, Celestia, trudging through while her guards positioned themselves on either side of the door. Her eyes were closed, weighed down with a crippling exhaustion after yet another day of questioning from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Without opening her eyes, the princess whisked a cushion and collapsed into it across the table from Vinyl. Her magic immediately set to the task of preparing her tea, her cup, teapot, sugar bowl, and spoons all working in perfect harmony. Only after taking her first sip and sighing did she bother to open her eyes, her gaze already focusing on her guest. Celestia drew a breath to speak, but it hitched as her eyes fluttered widely on seeing her.
“Adept Scratch?” she finally said as she quickly applied a mask. “How unexpected.” The alicorn looked around the table and saw only two teacups. “You are here alone.”
“Yes, I am. Good evening, madam chancellor,” Vinyl said with a bow.
“There is no need for that, Adept. My chancellorship exists solely so those that are uncomfortable calling me Celestia may have a title to include.” Celestia laughed to herself. “And even that is becoming tenuous with each and every day. I suppose you were not in attendance at today’s hearing?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Then that explains why you’re still here. After what I admitted to today, nopony will likely want to be anywhere near me again.” Celestia took a sip of tea before returning with a pacifying smile that rang with forced tranquility. “I will spare you the grim details of that day four hundred years ago. It goes against my rule of bringing problems within this space.”
The alicorn’s admission to such a thing while wearing her placid smile unsettled Vinyl to her core. She had no clue what to say. “I’m sorry.”
Celestia shook her head. “Do not apologize on my behalf. It was a heinous act I perpetrated out of fear and hatred. I believe the name they will likely settle on is the ‘Tartaran Massacre.’ Just another on the list of confessions for the record.” She stirred her tea as reflected on the days, weeks, and months she’d been telling her secrets under oath. “It’s an infinitesimal punishment for my wrongdoings, wholly inadequate to serve any sense of justice. I wonder, can it even be considered a punishment if it requires my consent? The forces in this world that could deliver the judgment I truly deserve only exist with my permission.”
For not allowing problems in the tea room, Celestia sure was unloading them by the barrel. After hearing what she’d done to Chrysalis, Vinyl could only imagine what the alicorn could’ve done back then. It was almost worse not knowing, but she guessed that was part of the point. Vinyl knew that she didn’t want to talk about any massacres, and likewise Celestia likely didn’t want to talk about anything at all.
The former princess waited for another moment before pouring a second cup of tea and setting it in front of her guest. “So, what brings you to my sunroom at high tea, Adept? I don’t mind Luna and Fancy inviting a guest, given your relationship, but seeing as neither of them are here, I am frankly puzzled.” The alicorn’s passive gaze sharpened to a bladed edge. “I most certainly didn’t invite you.”
Every bone in Vinyl’s body was screaming for her to run out the door. She almost apologized again on instinct, but she swallowed her words as she reached for her saddle bag. “I was hoping I could talk to you.”
“The commission hearings are public events that are open to questions and comments within a week’s notice,” Celestia rattled off before retreating to her cup.
“N-no! it’s not about that stuff, I swear!” Vinyl assured while trying to calm the self-proclaimed demi-goddess down.
“Then I humbly request you state your business and leave me to my tea in peace, Adept.”
“I-I could come back another day.”
Celestia drew a sharp breath and closed her eyes. “I am sorry. You deserve more respect than what I am capable of offering. Today was very trying. Please, just tell me what you want and I will consider it. I promise to at least write to you if not.”
“Okay.” Shuffling through her bag, Vinyl finally found her notebook and the book she’d brought with her.
Her curiosity piqued, Celestia begrudgingly glanced over at what the young mare was preparing. Before Vinyl even opened her mouth, Celestia teleported the book over to her, her eyes flashing at the mare on its cover. “Long Live the Queen of Disco: The Definitive Guide to Sauna Summers?”
“Yeah. That awful waste of ink is the only thing I have to work from. Everything else is back at the mansion.”
“Fancy told me you were archiving the collection,” the alicorn recalled as she turned her attention back to Vinyl.
“Yeah. I was doing that, but after listening to the rest of it, I sent most of it to the ESPA for them to deal with. I kept the ones that were more… personal.”
Celestia’s mask fell from her face and she bowed her head in relief. “Thank you.” She recollected herself and straightened back up with a small smile. “So, what is it that you need from me?”
“Well, if you don’t mind, I was hoping I could get your help for a book I’m writing.”
Celestia tilted her head. “A book?”
“Yeah. That so-called definitive guide doesn’t tell anypony anything about who Summers was, so I want to correct the record and write my own biography of her, with a little help from Steeplechase. I know you were her best friend, so I was hoping you could tell me about your time together.”
“I…” For once, the alicorn was tongue-tied, wrestling with what she wanted to say. Finally, she shook her head. “It was fake, Vinyl. If you truly listened to the entire collection, then you’re one of the very few who knows that for a fact. I will agree to answer any questions you may have, but you’re better off leaving my part of the story out of it.”
“I don’t think I can. I’m still going through her memory diaries, but Sunny Skies was one of the most important ponies in her life. She loved you so much, and I know you loved her back.”
“But it was built on a lie!” the shattered sun cried. “I manipulated the world around her for my own gain, set her up with her husband, and when her part was finally over, I ran away!” The day’s exhaustion caught up with her as the invincible alicorn struggled to lift her cup to her thirsty mouth for a reprieve, only to find it dry. The hollowed mare set it down on her saucer as she stared at the empty vessel. “I am a monster with an unpayable debt. Those who I’ve wronged the most are long dead and forgotten. Please. I beg of you, do not let my presence taint what little good is left.”
The former princess didn’t bother refilling her cup. She stood up from her sanctuary and headed for the door. Instead of asking Vinyl to leave, she stepped out to leave herself, to the surprise of the guards standing outside. They were about to fall in behind her until Vinyl rose out of her seat.
“I don’t think you’re a monster, Celestia.”
The mare stopped in her tracks. “Then you do not know enough about me.”
“No, but I do know a real monster. She’s done terrible things like you—”
“You speak from utter ignorance!” The dethroned princess did an about-face in the doorway and stood tall, regal, and indomitable above the little mortal beneath her. “Upper Crust has done nothing close to the atrocities I’ve committed! Tartarus lies in ruins because of me! It is nothing but a gravel pit, a quarry of broken marble. The very air snows with dust eroded from the petrified remains of prisoners crushed by my hooves!”
Despite the rage spilling out the alicorn’s mouth, Vinyl wasn’t scared. She didn’t even flinch. “But you regret what you did, right?”
The alicorn took a step back. “What?”
“Upper Crust never would. She’s never regretted anything she’s done to anypony. What she did to me.” Vinyl sucked in her lips as she pushed through the memories. “She never admits when she’s wrong or that she ever hurt me. She will never say she was sorry because she believes she has nothing to apologize for. That’s a real monster.”
“I was like that until I was caught.” Celestia’s face fell under the weight of her shame until she could no longer bear it and looked away. “I would still be doing so for my sister’s sake if I wasn’t.”
“Yeah. But at least you’re trying to make up for it now. I’ll…” She fiddled with her hooves as her mind went back to her session. “I’ll never get anything like that from Upper Crust or Jet Set for as long as I live. That makes you better than them, at least to me. I think that’s worth something.
“Please, Celestia. Even after everything you’ve done, I don’t think Summers would want you to be miserable.”
After a moment, Celestia walked back into the room, quietly closing the door behind her. She gently sat back down on her cushion as tears filled her eyes. She looked up and took a deep breath through her nose, trying to rein it all back in, but it was too much for her to bear as they rolled down the side of her face and down her neck.
“You’re right.” She choked back a sob as she laughed. “You’re absolutely right. She never wanted anypony to be sad if she could help it. Even in the dead of winter, she’d fill any room she walked into with her summery warmth. It was one of the things I loved most about her.”
“I think so too. Even in the recordings, she always tried to make as many ponies as possible happy. I wish I could’ve met her.”
Celestia nodded. “The world is a much dimmer place without her.”
“And that’s why I want to share her story. She inspired me to be a better pony just from what she wrote down and recorded. Everypony deserves to know who she was. Not this ‘Queen of Disco’ stuff, but the real Sauna Summers.”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea, Vinyl Scratch.”
For the first time in Vinyl’s life, despite the former princess’ diminished state—her broken wing resting within its dirty sling, her short, pink mane a mere shell of its former aetherial glory, and her creamy white fur matted with fresh tears—Celestia’s smile shined brighter and more brilliantly than the sun setting over her shoulder. The sunny mare’s eyes shimmered with a long, forgotten hope as she opened her mouth to speak.
“So, what would you like to know?”