//------------------------------// // Princess vs Princess // Story: The Everfree Guide's Daughter // by xXSheltieXx //------------------------------// Princess Luna sat outside of Steam Snowflake's asylum doors, tears streaking her face. A taller Alicorn with a pink tinted coat walked in, frowning. "Luna, I... I didn't-" "Just stop." Luna growled. "Sister?" Celestia frowned, stepping back. Luna flared her wings and faced her sister, her eyes red with puffiness. "What gave you the right to do this to my student?! What gave you the right to sit idly by whilst I battled to save her?! What gave you the right to let the Miasma out?! What gave you the right to do any of this?!" Luna growled, stepping closer, Celestia stepping back. "Answer me! What... gave you the right, Celestia?!" "Luna... I had no idea this would happen. I'm sorry fo-" Luna laughed bitterly. "Sorry? Sorry?! That's how you'll fix this and make everything better?! By saying you're sorry?!" "Luna!" Princess Celestia stamped her hoof. Tears streamed down both of the Princess' faces. "I know you're upset but blaming any pony for it won't bring her back! You know it and I know it! Sorry is the best I can do right now. True, the blame falls upon me, I know it does, and I accept it. But you must understand... Steam Snowflake may never return. And that's okay." Luna looked as if some pony had just insulted her with the rudest and most disgusting gestures. "OKAY?!" Her voice boomed. "Celestia." She spat, stepping closer. "Have you any idea what I felt whilst I was trapped?!" "No, but-" "It felt so cold. It felt like I was frozen in the coldest ice ever created. It felt like I was dead. I even prayed and hoped that I'd die, just so I could feel warmth again!" Luna screeched. "Sister, I-" "Let me finish! Seeing all of our subjects loving your light and shunning my darkness... I loathed you for so long, and I wished you would stop shining so brightly. I let the Miasma take me because it promised me glory and love, but it lied. It was cold. So cold, Celestia. It felt like I'd be there forever, just because of my own envy." Luna ground her teeth. "And then I became Nightmare Moon. And when I came back, ponies forgot me, Celestia! I forgot me!" "Luna... what are you saying?" Princess Celestia asked quietly. "I'm saying that Steam Snowflake is stuck in the deepest hole in hell until we find a way to bring her back! And you know something? It's cold. Ice cold. Like you're frozen in water but you can move slightly. You can't see anything. You can't smell, taste, touch, or feel anything. All you can do is listen. Listen as a voice rings in your mind, saying, "No pony loves you. Your glorious night is shunned. Your own sister hates you. She banished you to the moon, didn't she? How could some pony do that and claim to love you? It's your own fault. You're the problem. The mistake. If you hadn't been born, none of this would've happened, and every ponies lives would be so much better without you here." That's what echoes in your ears when you are controlled by the Miasma." Luna narrowed her eyes. "Luna... This is all my fault...." Celestia whispered, dropping silent tears. "Yes sister, it is." Luna snapped, slapping her sister's face. "You should've known better. I trusted you. And you took the trust I gave and broke it into millions upon millions of pieces." "Luna, how could you-?!" "Celestia!" Luna stamped her hooves. "Steam is in there because we couldn't do anything to stop it. You let the Miasma out, and I didn't notice. We're both at fault but you had to go and give a 'lesson' by letting the worst creature in existence out!" Luna was crying, sobbing. The two sisters held the other for hours, the other Alicorn simply staring at the wall, her memories long forgotten, but her consciousness telling her that she was a mistake. Mistake.