//------------------------------// // The Lugubrious Delusion // Story: Softening the Stone // by TheMyth //------------------------------// “Are you serious about this, Blueblood?” Sitting amidst the fireplace that lit and warmed his chambers, Blueblood and Proud Lining sat facing each other as they were enjoying a glass of wine. The subject of their conversation was something Proud Lining did not anticipate. “Yes I am…” Blueblood replied dryly as he drank his wine slowly, staring into the fire in deep thought. His light brilliant arctic blue eyes reflected the embers that danced before him as he continued to look on. The flames began to display images to him, images of his past where he was only a foal. A mere colt in bliss with the company of Celestia. The fire continued to burn brightly, as picture upon picture was shown to him in. Blueblood’s face contorted into a scowl as the flame started showing Celestia again, with other ponies and him not with her. “Blue?” Snapping out of his trance, Blueblood immediately threw his glass into the fireplace, causing the fire to strengthen due to the wine’s presence. The white stallion grunted as he glared at Proud Lining, baring his teeth at him in rage. “Never call me that,” he spoke softly, eerily calm as he got up from his chair. “Do you hear me!?” Proud Lining could only nod slowly as he collected himself from the outburst of a pony he called friend. “My apologies…” he said in response to Blueblood’s words. “Back to the topic at hoof, are you really sure you want to go through with this?” “Absolutely,” Blueblood replied as he calmed himself down, sinking back into his chair and levitating another wine class towards him. He grabbed the bottle and poured the contents in, roughly placing the bottle back on the stand where it stood. “This needs to be done, for things to change.” An audible gulp escaped Proud’s mouth as he stared bewildered at Blueblood. “This is just…” Proud Lining trailed off as he tried to form his words. “Radical.” “Every change in history has been erratic, Proud Lining.” Blueblood quipped as he drank from his glass and looked back at the flame. “And this change must begin, if Equestria should have a future and not be stagnated in eternal limbo.” Proud Lining narrowed his eyes as he registered the words Blueblood spoke. “Very well…” he trailed off as he leaned forward to rest his head upon his forehooves. “Who else is in on this?” Blueblood brushed a hoof through his mane as he sighed, looking back at Proud Lining. “I have a few other resources I can call upon for this, added with yours and this will succeed.” Blueblood said as he got up from his chair again, making his way to a table where a number of letters were located. “Do you trust your resources enough for this?” Proud Lining asked curiously as he looked to Blueblood’s back facing him. A deafening silence surrounded the room the two stallions were situated in. Blueblood started to breath heavily before bringing his hoof to his face, with a few sniffs escaping him as he stood still. “Blueblood?” Suddenly, Blueblood jerked his head backwards as he erupted in laughter. When the laughter died down, a silence soon followed before Blueblood sighed deeply and turned to Proud Lining smiling broadly as he sauntered towards him. “One thing I have learned the hard way, is to never trust anypony at all…” Blueblood spoke softly, albeit wickedly as he leaned in forward to Proud’s face. “Because once you begin to trust somepony, you only open yourself to be hurt by them in the most agonizing ways imaginable.” Proud Lining only gulped audibly as he was forced to look his friend in the eye, seeing them becoming more crazed by the minute. “What are you saying?” An idiot like him must be spoon fed every word… Blueblood rolled his eyes and pushed himself from Proud Lining. “Have I ever told you about my family?” “Well I know Celestia is your—” “Not that family!” Blueblood retorted loudly, glaring at Proud Lining with venomous eyes. Blueblood shook his head calmly as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before speaking again. “Let me tell you a little tale, about a young colt…” Blueblood started to speak as he drank more wine. “A little colt was living happily with his family, right here in Canterlot in the Noble Court, until a great tragedy occurred leaving the little colt all alone in the world.” Blueblood eyes looked upwards as they became moist. “Until somepony took him in under her angelic wings, promising that he will never be alone again as long as she lives…” Could it be… Proud Lining leaned forward as he listened intently to Blueblood’s story. “What happened to the colt afterwards?” Blueblood simply ignored his words and began to pace around the room. “Now this little colt was still very very upset over the loss of his parents, so much so that he could not sleep at night without having nightmares of that dreadful day.” Blueblood stopped for a moment as he lowered his head and breathed. “And wouldn’t you know it, the one who took him in saw his pain and cradled him to ease his suffering. She also acted as a shoulder to cry upon for the poor little colt.” He giggled mirthlessly at the comment. “Blueblood, where are you going with—” “And the little colt did something that even she could not anticipate,” Blueblood exclaimed loudly as he looked up to the roof smiling thinly. “He asked her if he can call her his mother… to which she actually said yes.” Blueblood chuckled again as he closed his eyes, though Proud Lining could swear he saw a build up of tears in the edges of his lids. “And that was the fatal mistake that poor little colt made… for he was not a son to her,” Blueblood turned sharply to Proud Lining as he opened his eyes to reveal moistness. “He was only a doll to her boredom.” “What are you—” Blueblood sighed and poured all the wine in the glass down his throat before speaking again. “And the little colt was so happy, but even happiness has an expiry date.” Blueblood throw the glass one side idly, shattering it in pieces before reaches for the wine bottle and drinking from it. “Not long afterwards, she got herself another doll of humble origins who had many perks thanks to mastering one spell.” Blueblood grumbled as he drank more wine. “Apparently, she could no longer live with her family anymore and thus started living here for growing a horn.” Blueblood sighed as he shook his head. “And that little filly was good company, no doubts there… but when that filly was around, she simply ignored him for the filly and her gifts that spread love like a perfume.” His voice became softer, but it was dripping in anger as he snarled at the words. “Then came a filly from the stars, who became the personal student with her pet lizard.” Blueblood mumbled as he finished the wine bottle, but kept it levitating in the air. “And no matter what the little colt did, he was always ignored and shunned because he was no longer the latest toy for her malicious desires!” He smashed the bottle in the fire, causing it to erupt violently to the presence of glass. Blueblood’s back was turned to Proud Lining as he breathed erratically before turning back to him. “Abandoned again, there was nowhere else to go but to the court. The ponies there took the little colt in, welcoming him like the family he once had. That was until he discovered that they just wanted to use him to get at to the one who left him.” Blueblood sneered as he narrowed his eyes off into the distance, the fire reflecting in his eyes. “When he refused, they oust him just as she did. He soon found the truth… the cold truth. That they were all snakes hiding behind pretentions of civility. They manipulated, used, betrayed, and hurt each other. From them, the little colt learned to be calculating and cold. Nopony ever liked him, but they didn't need to; that little colt just needed them to fear him enough to make them willingly go along with him. As prince, he had a leg up in playing the game, and sure enough, the little colt climbed his way to the top, doing whatever he had to even if it were against his principles." He paused for a moment, before rushing towards Proud Lining with his hoof risen. He stopped midway from hitting Proud across the face, and rested his hoof on his cheek. “Now you know the story… and I’m certain you know why you can never trust a pony at all? It’s because to the ponies at the top, you’re only a doll to their whims.” Blueblood pressed his hooves on Proud Lining’s shoulders. “And that must change, for everypony to be happy. Do you understand?” Blueblood tilted his head, cocking his brow as he curled a smile to one side of his face. Proud Lining could only nod at Blueblood’s words, speechless at what he had just heard. “Good!” Blueblood pulled Proud Lining from his chair and pushed him out the door. “Now go and prepare your end… my end is nearing completion.” With that, Blueblood slammed the door shut, alone in his room. He sighed and rested his back against the door, landing on his haunches as he rested his head against his hooves. “Never trust anypony, and never cry before others…” Blueblood raised his head from his hooves, revealing a river of tears streaming from his eyes. “Isn’t that right, mother?” “Luna! Please stop this!” Flying above the recently destroyed courtroom of their castle, Princess Celestia and her beloved little sister Princess Luna were engaged in a gruelling duel. Only Luna did not resemble the little sister Celestia cherished so much. Her coat was pure black, with her armour resembling that of the silver moonlight and her eyes becoming that of a dragon’s. Celestia kept her distance from Luna who was constantly firing magical beams at her. What made this difficult for Celestia was the fact that she was carrying six artifacts in her magic. The Elements of Harmony. “Luna!” Fangs projected from her mouth as she was cackling at Celestia. “Luna? No, my name is Nightmare Moon!” she barked out to Celestia, firing another attack that barely missed her. “You’re so focused on not bringing harm to her, and that will be your death!” she sneered at Celestia, charging towards her with her horn shining brightly. Celestia’s eyes started to tear up as she focused all her magic into the Elements, praying they would work. When the magic was released, the Elements shined before linking together and emitting a powerful ray of light to Luna. Celestia’s eyes were blinded as the magic intensified as they were cleansing Luna’s body. Celestia fell to the ground of the throne room, with the Elements dropping alongside her. When she finally came to her senses, Celestia looked up and scanned the interior of the room for her sister. “Luna?” Celestia called out to her sister, but she only heard silence. A dreadful silence. “Luna?!” Celestia again shouted out, this time flying out of the castle thanks to the new opening made by their battle. Her breathing started to become erratic as she saw no sign of her darling sister, with her eyes becoming misty with each second. When she turned to the moon, a look of horror was present on her face as her jaw dropped and her pupils became the size of pins. A silhouette of a mare was now present on the moon. The mare being her sister. “Oh no!” Celestia panicked, rushing back to the Elements to use their magic again to reverse what she had done. When she finally got to them, Celestia found them to be mere stone orbs now. “No no!” Celestia exclaimed, using her magic to have them function again. Nothing worked for her. Celestia’s lips quivered as her legs buckled under her weight, with her body falling to the ground as despair became prominent in her body. A light shined from one of the Elements, giving Celestia a moment of reprieve. Instead of turning back to its original form, the stone orb displayed Luna’s sadden face as it was looking at Celestia with tearful eyes. “Why sister?” “No!” Celestia’s head jerked upwards as she started panting, feeling sweat ebbing from the pores of her face. Once her breathing became stable, Celestia quickly wiped the sweat from her forehead but found her vision to be blurred by an excess of tears in her eyes. She quickly rid herself of the tears, sniffing in the process as her brain was still processing what she went through now. That nightmare again… Luna! Celestia quickly got up from her bed and tipped hoofed over to her door, opening it gently to not emit a creak from the hinges. When it was opened enough to give her a wide berth, she carefully made her to Luna’s room opposite her. Poking her head inside, she saw her sister sound asleep in her own bed. Thank goodness… Celestia sighed inwardly, a small smile creeping on her muzzle. She felt the need to go over to her sister and make sure she was okay, but decided against that when she saw her sister’s body about to turn in her sleep. Gasping a little, Celestia quickly departed her head from the room and stood alone in the corridor. Celestia carefully trotted towards another door, leading outside to the balcony of the library. Once she opened it, a gentle gust of wind greeted her as she beheld the evening’s skies. When she looked upwards, she was greeted to the stars and moon shining brightly to illuminate the night. The silhouette of her sister was now erased from the moon’s surface, showing the true beauty of the moon. Luna’s moon. Scrunching her lips as she felt a pang in her gut, Celestia looked away from the moon and the stars. Even though she had to raise the moon and lower it in Luna’s absence for life to flourish, a part of Celestia felt it was a perversion on her part for doing so. It was Luna’s duty, her role as the co-ruler of Equestria and maintain harmony. Now the moon was a blight on Luna’s wellbeing, due to what Celestia had done. As she made her way back to her room carefully, Celestia could hear the soft snoring of Spike coming from Twilight’s room. Celestia walked past her door and sneaked a peek into Twilight’s room, seeing her faithful student sound asleep with a gentle smile on her face. My faithful student… Before she knew it, Celestia was inside Twilight’s room and right next to her student’s bed. A small smile slowly edged onto Celestia’s muzzle, as she looked down on Twilight. Her ears perked to Spike’s snoring, and she looked down to see the baby dragon in a basket with a blanket over him. Oh Spike, I think we’re going to need to put you in a proper bed soon… Celestia leaned down and nuzzled him, luckily not waking him up at this hour. When she finally stepped away, her hind hoof felt the touch of something fluffy. Looking behind, she saw a pony doll lying on the ground. Ms. Smarty Pants? Celestia used her magic to levitate the doll to face her, where she saw it still wore the same polka dot pants it did when she had given it to Twilight. What Twilight didn’t know was that the doll used to be hers and Luna’s back when they were fillies. Celestia returned to her room, still carrying Ms. Smarty Pants in her hold. When she sat down on her bed, she held the doll up and looked at her. “I didn’t know Twilight brought you here… How time flies…” Celestia whispered to the doll, as though it were alive. "Things were so different when Twilight first began playing with you as a filly and Luna was still…” Celestia could not finished the sentence, as she felt a choke in her throat with her eyes becoming moist. Oh Luna… Celestia brought Smarty Pants to get her chest, holding the doll close to her as though she were foal embracing it during a sleepless night. She lay on her bed, curled up in a fetal position as she continued to cry into the doll. Her ears perked to the sounds of hoofsteps from outside, but Celestia paid it no heed as she tried to stop the tears by thinking of certain things. Once we’re back in Canterlot, I’m going to give Luna the biggest room just for her… Celestia nodded to her own words as she smiled down upon the doll. Then plan the greatest celebration Equestria would ever know, which will become annual and dwarf the Summer Sun Celebration… She sniffed again, but maintained her smile even with the build up of tears. I’m sure she will be surprised by Blueblood, learning that she’s an aunt to another pony… Celestia giggled softly, imagining the look on Luna’s face when she introduces Blueblood. And everything will be fine, all will be well… Then everything would be okay. It had to be okay. She didn't know what she'd do if it didn't work.