//------------------------------//
// 167. Burn by Knight of Lyceaus 
// Story: The Sun and the Stars: A Twilestia Prompt Collab 
// by Fuzzyfurvert 
//------------------------------//


by Knight of Lyceaus


***



Ash, fine grey ash covered the floor. Most of the ashes had scattered across the room during one wild magical surge or another. Ash, the fine remains of fire. Fire was powerful, destructive, consuming. The largest mound of ash was the one that lay just in front of the sleeping mare. The lavender alicorn had drained her vast magical reserves in a series of wild surge as her magic grabbed at anything that remind Twilight of it. Him or her, it mattered little at this time, all that matter was purging all she could.

The other mare in the room has entered in quietly during one of the final burning rages. She had witnessed the destructive power of fire tearing through everything it latched onto but she saw the great control that Twilight possessed to not reduce everything to ashes even as her magic raged. Celestia knew what her friend was going through, the betrayal and the hurt from a spurned love. She too had felt that feeling over the centuries. She remembered her first in vague details but remember her last in vivid imagery that still lingered at the edge of her mind. Her last lover had been little more than a century ago, he was smart, powerful, strong, dedicated all desirable traits but he was also cruel, manipulative, merciless. In the end his final act was to destroy everything he could about Celestia, he was a gentle love that masked the merciless tyrant who only sought the crown for his own gains.

His final actions had destroyed much and it had take a long time for Equestria to recover and even longer for Celestia to do the same. In fact this male, his love and his powerful betrayal was the last she could take. Losing her sister so long ago was difficult but then to be backstabbed by one of the few she thought she could trust, well with that she never wanted to lay bare her heart to another again, his actions so powerful that she built walls and closed herself keeping everything bottled. None who worked for her, tended her, served her, guarded her ever came close to open her heart again not even her own chosen students were able to help her. She maintained a pleasant demeanour on the outside, a mask for the lingering hurt she still felt. Only in the last few decades did the efforts to open her heart again bear some fruit. Sunset Shimmer and Blueblood before their arrogance got the better of them had eased her heart open a little; Cadence with her personality and presence likewise helped her to open up again. But none would accomplish what Twilight did, the wondrous mare that now lay asleep pushed past everything, she pushed further than any had in years. She got Celestia to open her heart up again, to find and enjoy the close companionship she had been lacking.

Now Celestia was prepared to do the same. The wonderful mare had been burned by one she had thought loved her. Celestia knew there was more to fire than destruction, fire was life, energy, passion. Things she hoped to impart to Twilight while she helped heal her heart much like Twilight had done for her.