//------------------------------// // 35 Seven Deadly Sins: Greed by Kean // Story: Full Moon Fever: A MoonLight Prompt Collab // by TheLastBrunnenG //------------------------------// Seven Deadly Sins: Greed by Kean I have, for as long as memory serves – since before I was even given a name – known greed. The act of taking anything and everything for one’s self. One such as myself – desire given material form – was often equated with avarice. To say this to be untrue would be folly; to say it was accurate, just as much so. For even though I am desire, I had none of my own. Wealth? What need does one such as I have for money? Power? I am immortal; infinite. I have no need for power. Fame? Even without name I was on the tongues of many. Companionship? Well… There was always someone with desire and the will to obtain what they wanted. I had companions – perhaps more than you can count. And I know you can count to some high numbers. These desires I would fulfill. Never did I give them what they wanted. No, I but gave them the means to achieve their goals. A stallion wanted wealth; I burned ideas into his mind. A mare wanted fame; I shunted her into the eyes of all. A pony wanted power; I gave of myself what wouldn’t kill them outright. What they did past that influence were their own actions. Always, though, they would want more: Money turned to land, to life, to kingdoms. Fame turned to love, to followers, to control. Power turned to conflict, to destruction, to war. Far and few between would be satisfied with my first gift, but I gave to each readily, for that was my role in this world. For as long as I remember, I gave freely and asked nothing. I watched peasants, soldiers, and kings and queens alike succumb to their avarice. Pony, griffin, deer, dragon, gods and goddesses, all had desire for more, and all paid for their greed. In the end, they always did. My cycle would not be broken for millennia. Why am I telling you this? Perhaps I am frightened or perhaps so you may understand my hesitance. I do not know. I broke my rule of not giving what was desired for a single mare. She, too, gave everything she could and received just as much as I. Her desires were genuine, at the time: She wanted a companion – no, she had a companion. She wanted a friend: Someone to appreciate her; one who asked and expected nothing of her. Was I foolish for believing that we shared a kinship? That she would never ask anything of me? Perhaps. Of course, knowing they always wanted more did nothing to remove my blinders. Was it foolish to attempt to help her obtain the love of the ponies by giving her a form matching her companion’s? Even after she had, perhaps unknowingly, betrayed my trust? Was it foolish to bind myself to her when she desired power? Was it foolish for me to allow the blame to fall upon my name instead of hers? No. How can I say that so surely? I have had nothing but time to think, recently. I had never known what it was to want. Before her I never knew what it was like to have, for I had nothing. Yet, through both our mistakes, I had, for the first time, gained something: A name. Something so small, so mundane, that it is taken for granted by most. But it is mine. The one thing that I can say is mine that I cannot – will not – give. That was enough, for a time. But I soon found myself wanting more: Revenge, a proper place in the world, and, what I then felt I was owed for what I had given: everything. I certainly had the will, and when we returned, the means to do so. It seems giving a being such as myself something they desired – even as small as it was – only made them more aware of what they didn’t have – and what they wanted. I knew what would happen – I’d seen it happen enough, of course. But I was blinded by my own greed. I started with her, the one who had given me my name. When we returned, her body became mine. I bound the one being still alive that could stop me and then went for her subjects. Whether they accepted it or not, they were mine. The city, the castle, the ponies, the kingdom, the world: I would have it all and share it with none. Again, I knew what would happen, yet I still fought it. Imagine if you had nothing and suddenly you had the power to gain everything. What would you not do in order to keep that power? Though, I believe that question should remain rhetorical. You have shown, relatively speaking, what you would – or rather, would not – do. Imagine the surprise when I saw the desires of the one who would defeat me before she did so: She did it not for fame, not to advance her status, not to take my place, but for others – one more so than the rest, but for all of them none the less. And what did she ask in return? Nothing. She channeled the magic of the world and wielded it against me for the sole purpose of protecting the world she lived in. And so she could continue to read. That was, admittedly, odd. I wanted, since that day, to speak with her, to know her properly. Of course, that was the problem: I wanted. I had thought – maybe even hoped – that whatever was done to unbind myself enough for Luna to regain control would perhaps return me to normal. Remove my desires. I suppose I did not deserve that, after all I had done. And so I lived in fear of giving even the slightest thought to them. I suppressed my own ability to see other’s desires because it made me think of my own. I all but blocked myself from the outside world, still inside her body. Then she came here. Spoke with you, to you. That destroyed any barrier I had made for myself surer than if a negation ring were put on my horn. I did not need to reach out to know Luna’s desires: Forgiveness, acceptance. I found myself looking at yours. Hoping beyond all that I was not wrong once again. Though, I will admit, part of me wanted to be wrong. Were my- Equestria’s savior the same as the rest, I could at least find someon- something else to focus on. You wanted to help. Not because she was the Princess, not because it would make you look good to others, not because it would give you power. You wanted – or perhaps hoped – for something in return, but I could not fault you for seeking her friendship. I will admit, I was surprised – elated, but surprised when you agreed to speak with me, after I had talked with her, at length, about, well, many things: Apologies, my fears, my, ah, interest in you. I was not surprised to receive your forgiveness and offer of friendship. Again, elated, but not surprised. Again, that was enough. And again, I began to want more. So, again, I barricaded myself away. I would not allow my avarice to control me again. But she forced me out of my self-imposed prison, forced me to explain why I would shut myself away. Then she gave me an ultimatum: Be locked away in the recesses of her mind forever – she has both her power and my own; I didn’t doubt she could accomplish that – or attempt to assuage my fears and speak with you. -------------------------------------------------------- “So that is why I am here today,” Nightmare finished. Her eyes were locked on the lavender alicorn seated on the throne in front of her, ignoring the few ponies still in the room. Most had fled the moment Luna’s coat begun to shift to black. Twilight simply stared for a moment, her jaw slightly slack. It was all she could do, really. Even her brain needed time to process everything Nightmare had said. Slowly, as if it were an unconscious timer, her mouth closed. She had kept her eyes on the black alicorn the entire time and only now did she notice that there were still a few ponies in her throne room. She felt the urge to smile at how much easier that could make everything, but hid it behind an impassive stare. A question was asked, if not directly, but an answer would not come without more information. “Nightmare, that is… a lot to take in. Honestly, I am still processing some of it, but there is one thing I need to ask: If my answer to your unasked question were to be ‘no’, what would you do?” “How do you mean?” “Would you attempt to force it to change through any means? Be they threat, physical, mental, emotional-“ The glare Nightmare Moon gave her was almost enough for the smile to shatter her indifferent mask. “I would leave you be and hope that what I have said here did not destroy one of the few friendships I have.” When she turned to leave, Twilight did smile. “And yet, you were afraid. Afraid that you would do whatever it took to get what you wanted. It’s good that you’d be willing to walk away, because I’m sure you’ll be hearing ‘no’ a bit more often.” Stifling the giggle when Nightmare stopped mid-step was hard, but Twilight managed as she stepped down to stand in front of Nightmare. The giggle did escape at the perplexed look on the dark mare’s face. “You’re afraid your greed will once again control your actions, yet you’re so easily going to give up on your prize? To answer your question properly…“ Twilight placed a soft kiss against Nightmare’s lips. Trying, and failing, to hide her grin at the feeling of the larger alicorn tensing up. Oh sure, her own reactions to her own actions would follow, as soon as her brain caught up with current events. But for now she was content to watch Nightmare’s mouth attempt to form words. At least, until she heard the throne room doors open and close, along with the hooves galloping against the crystal floor. See? Much easier than telling everypony themselves. The sound seemed to snap Nightmare out of her stupor and she looked at her with a small smile that slowly morphed into a grin she knew well enough from both Luna and Pinkie. “No. Whatever it is: no.” “But if we are to be together, then surely the Castle is mine as well?” “No.” “A wing?” “No.” “A floor?” “No.” “A tower?” “No!”