The Steadfast Sky

by Greytercakes

LVI : A Canterlot Princess

The Steadfast Sky : A Canterlot Princess
The Grey Potter
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/11495/The-Steadfast-Sky
http://cosmicponyfiction.tumblr.com

~Celestia~

“Oh Blueblood, you dog!” I giggle cutely as I savor a glass of wine. “You mad romantic! How many other mares have you whisked away?”

Blueblood smiles over his own hovering glass, fork twirling majestically in midair. He sits across from me in a partitioned, private dining room. One in his own suites of his own mansion in the city he’s inherited to rule, oh!

“Privately?” he says, “That’s a trade secret, my Princess.”

I giggle far more furiously. “What trade is this?! The trade of young hearts?! Ooh, there you have me, Blueblood!” I bat my eyelashes, “Perhaps then, I will suppose that I am a very special girl!”

He chuckles, “I do not consort with just anybody, no…”

“Aha! The truth is uncovered!” I wave a scolding fork at him, nearly tipping over in my tizzy. “You’re a ladies’ man! Mares are always chasing after your tail!” And, with the hint of a wry playfulness, “I watch them follow behind you, the silly old harpies!”

Oh, Blueblood! He has such a wonderful smile, all calm, slight and collected. With the ease and grace of a true gentleman, he scoops up a little more of his pasta, twirling it wound the fork with refinement and, and grace.

“I am certainly a very eligible bachelor to some,” he says, “Many have only dreamed to court me.”

“I dreamed of the day we… whoops!” I retreat from my plate, sleeves covered in red sauce. With a hiccup, I shimmy around the table, shuffling to a closer pillow. My drink hovers after me, stem bouncing off my ear. “I suppose it’s out there now! You’re just so fanciable, Blueblood!”

He nods smoothly, raising his glass to me, “I could say the same about you, my Princess.”

“I knew it,” I breathe, “You couldn’t resist me.”

“Well now, let’s not go and put words in my mouth!” He laughs gently. “Shall I be honest for you? While others might have clumsily grabbed for your power, my Princess, it was out of respect that I kept my distance. You’re a bit young, so I thought you—“

I loudly declare, “I am not that young!”

“Of course I was later convinced of your maturity, my Princess.” A sympathetic hoof reaches across the table, his beautiful eyes twinkling. “It’s clear now, is it not? Why you’re here, by my side?”

I blush. My hoof is touching his. And though I’m still in my shoes, our ankles tap together, and I realize he’s so soft …

“Yes,” I hiccup, “It’s very clear, isn’t it?”

“My Princess.”

Blueblood smiles warmly, that wonderful smile. He moves closer, sitting so very near to me now. His hoof tucks gently under my own. He raised the glass foreshoe to his lips, pecking my fetlock, and his eyes gently catch my own, soft and unthreatening.

“I’ve loved you for a long time,” I breathe, soaking in the moment, “Was I, for you… forbidden fruit? Too young, but in such love—”

Blueblood’s shoulders curl, his head lowers, and he laughs. Just laughs at me, hoof still held in hoof. It wasn’t cruelty, it was not mocking. He just started chuckling away, like it was some kind of private joke.

“Oh, to be young and in love!” His hoof pulls away, yet he’s still pressing closer to me than ever. “No, no, I don’t mean to offend! I just remember those days, and… Well, am simply so jaded by loves come and gone. Your innocence is adorable, my Princess.”

“A-adorable,” my smile wavers. “Yes…”

With a smile, Blueblood presses closer. His foreleg curls around mine. His nose nuzzles into my mane, warm breath washing down my neck. I am stone, a statue, taking it as his leg intertwines with mine.

How I had dreamed.

We were perfect for each other. A Prince of the old line, a Princess of the new. The most eligible in all of Canterlot…

He kisses my ear. He kisses my throat. I stare ahead. Stare at the half-eaten plates on the table. The two wine glasses. Stared at the wall, for the little private suite was simply so small.

I mumble, “We were such wonderful rivals…”

“Is that what you desire, my Princess?” I swallow heavily as he leans into me, side warm on my side, cutiemarks pressing together. I turn as his hoof caresses my face, to watch the curtains enveloping the window frame. “Shall I say you caught me?”

His lips press to mine. His breathing was in my ears, booming. Wet, an intruding tongue flicking at my stiff lips. I purse my lips tighter, biting my cheeks, staring over the crest of his mane.

I couldn’t move. I refused to. I just waited for him to pause, until Blueblood had to retreat from me, his smile mischievous. I look away, at the floor, memorizing every fiber of the carpet.

The words are out before I even realize I’m talking, “I have never kissed a colt before.”

I hear him sigh. Not mad, understanding. He’s probably smiling. I don’t know.

“Shall I have to teach you everything, Princess?” he says. “I thought it was you who desired to lead.”

“I just—“

“Don’t pucker your lips. Just relax.”

Again, his eyes gently closed and his mouth placed itself upon mine. Again, his breath pounded in my ears, spit smacking and popping as his mouth opened and closed on mine. His body pressed against mine, foreleg snaking over my back, a hot, throbbing blanket. Or was the pounding my own body, longing for—

I don’t know what longing feels like. I don’t.

His head pulls back, but not far enough. A throbbing furnace.

“Don’t worry,” he cooed, “You’ll learn. We all have to learn sometime. Don’t be ashamed of your naiveté. I’m a patient stallion, I’ll teach you well.” He peels away, turns back to the table with just his foreleg still around me. But the heat never ceased. It was warm in this room. Muggy. Boiling.

He asks of me, “More wine?”

His horn lights up, and with an elegant grace, he pours us another two glasses of red wine. I have never been so fascinated by the flow of a liquid. I watch how it pours, how it burbles and sloshes around the glass. How the red is refracted by his icy blue aura. And how it changes as my own golden yellow light swallows it up.

I stare at it. I barely know what to do with it. With no thought, I down the red liquid in one gulp, feeling the fumes clog my nose, my lungs, swilling rudely in my stomach. Blueblood sips his own wine, eyes twinkling with laughter.

“Do you not appreciate it’s flavor, my Princess?” he chides, “It is well aged. Hundreds of years old.”

Dully, I say, “I enjoy wine.”

“Well it would be prudent to enjoy it slowly. Guzzling something like this… Tis a crime. Here.” My glass refills, red refracted by blue. “Another glass. Relax. Take it slowly this time.”

Red refracted by yellow. I stare at tiny dark ocean. It wobbles slightly, red bubbling and slopping as if it was boiling. I didn’t even think I could manage a sip. The glass jammed at my lips, liquid splashing on my snout.

I snort the fumes. Choke as the burning liquid shot down my lungs. I had enough sense to drop the glass on the table before I began hacking up that red. Face burning. Overheating. He took it as an excuse to press close again, soft hoof patting at my back.

“My Princess,” he cooed. “Are you alright?”

“Just… went down the wrong way.” I snort, eyes watering. “I’m sorry for wasting the glass… It’s good wine…”

He quietly shushes me. “Don’t worry about that.” My coughing slows, but his hoof continues to move. It strokes up and down my back, a pendulum with a mind of its own. “I’m just glad you’re alright.”

It was silent for so long. The only sound was mine or his heartbeat pounding in my ears. I was limp, boiling in Blueblood’s open legs as he stroked me up and down. My back started to go numb from the motion. Started to feel like it was bruising. The glass is broken, but I can still see the room though it’s angles.

He kisses my neck again as I glance away.

“My Princess,” he says. “You were so chatty during our luncheon. Why have you grown so quiet?”

“This is what we wanted,” I croak, throat dry.

“It is what’s best for us.”

“I’ve always dreamed…” My throat seizes up. I could go on no longer.

“Tell me your dreams,” he coos, “Let me fulfill them.”

“The, the noble game. That was my dream. To be a baroness. To be a Princess. To be clever enough to play…” The thoughts tumble through my head as I say them, trying to swim to the surface. I can hardly recognize them.

“Yes. It’s won, is it not?”

His hooves gently push at me, so gentle and so reassuring I couldn’t help but move along with them. I rest on my stomach, face burning on the plush pillow. I stare at my forefeet. At my glassy shoes. The first gift Blueblood ever gave me. There is blue light behind me.

I feel the strings of my bodice loosen. Why does this seem so different then I pictured?

He says, “And this is my… our prize.”

“You don’t love me,” I whisper.

I hear him inhale, spit popping.

“Love,” he breathes, “Has nothing to do with this.”

I slammed my eyes shut. Something inside me shattered. My entire body froze.

And I screamed, inside and out.

“I don’t want this!”

My horn pulsed with magic. Light blasted from it, brighter and hotter than the sun itself. Blueblood cried out. I opened my eyes. I reached for the edge of the partition. I couldn’t move. He was so big. Pinning the skirt of my dress as he slumped in slow motion. I squealed. I cried. I wriggled out of my clothes, and was running naked. Running right out of my shoes. Running right out of the room. Running out of the mansion. Running naked in the streets, sobbing and blubbering my eyes out because oh my goodness I have never been so terrified in my life.

I have fallen off a wall a hundred thousand feet tall. I have been chased by a black demon of unholy shadows. I have nearly drowned, been chased for weeks, nearly had my limbs taken from me, seen the color of my friend and sister’s blood.

But I could have…

What could have happened…

I didn’t dare say it. I didn’t dare think it. That was the game, wasn’t it? That was the NOBLE GAME. Everybody was playing. I was playing. I thought I was playing. Or… or… what I really playing… or was I just…

“I was supposed to play the game!” I wailed, “I’m not a piece! Not a prize! Not a body to be won! I’m not!”

Ponies stared at me on the streets, several trying to stop me, reaching out. Young lady? Mistress? Are you alright? Are you hurt? But I just screamed at them, ran on, making a fuss when everybody else would rather everything be nice and quiet. Without my Element, without my crown or fancy clothes, I was no longer a Princess. I was less than a pony. I was a nuisance.

If I wasn’t a Princess, then I was less than nothing.

I don’t even know how I managed it, but I ran all the way to my room. I thought to just throw myself on the bed and cry myself to sleep, but I couldn’t stand to. Sobbing and running circles around it. Everything there, it was all for THE PRINCESS. And I was not the Princess! Not anymore! I’m just a fat, sobbing foal who can’t even… who can’t even…

I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t stand it! There were just so many things wrong now!

I found myself curled on the rug, surrounded by objects I dearly wanted to smash, but didn’t have the courage to break. I was shaking, heaving uncontrollably, face turned to mush and body numbing from lying on the floor too long. I hurt all over. My legs. My body. My brain.

I thought then, for the first time since my parents vanished, that maybe this is it. Curtains. I can’t go back to that life anymore. I’ve always wanted to be a Princess. Who doesn’t want to be a Princess? But nobody wants me in it now. I’m dirty. I’m unloyal. I’m without power, and useless for it. I’m a million more insults, half of which don’t make sense, but all of which are true.

I hate this place. More, I hate myself. Hate, hate, hate...

I hiccupped loudly, and rolled over. A golden object lay within my vision, tilted on its side. A little golden lamp with a turnkey knob. I heaved dryly. Dragon’s Breath. Apple’s first gift to me, the first gift given to the Princess.

I sniffed loudly.

Barely thinking, I rolled and grabbed for what I needed, head aching as my aura struggled to keep up with me. Pen, paper, inkwell rolled over to me, jerky movements a reflection of my awful mood. I could barely hold the quill steady as I scrawling Apple a note, scribbling the first hateful thing to come to mind.

“WHY DID YOU SET ME UP WITH BLUEBLOOD???”

I flicked open the Dragon’s Breath and tossed the note into the open flame. There. He better have the most damned good response to that, or I will personally… personally…

His reply came spinning back in a swirl of smoke and sparks. The page drifted to the floor, and I ripped it open.

“Ho, ho, ho, caught on have you? Or did he tell you himself?

I knew you had eyes for the lad, so I may have encouraged Blueblood the Jr. that courting you was indeed a very relevant option. I mean, does it not make sense? The Princess of Canterlot, and a unicorn of the old country’s Princely line. He claimed you were a bit young, but I assure you, he was plainly convinced otherwise. It’s already been ordained by his father as well, so don’t you worry about that little speedbump.

Enjoy yourself, my Princess! Blueblood the Jr. is quite a nice catch!”

I stared at the letter, and scribbled another note, wishing more than anything else that I could shove it down Apple’s stupid, barking throat!

“I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU”

And the reply came spinning back, his writing sloppier and hastier.

“My Princess, what’s wrong? Don’t tell me the boy has treated you poorly. Please, tell me!”

“HE DOESNT EVEN CARE WHO I AM IM JUST A BODY TO HIM—“ A number of different euphemisms spilled out of my pen, scribbling all over each other, wasting paper space. I threw it into the open flame, burrowing once more into my ink-covered legs. I didn’t even see the return message, just heard the flame puff up, felt the page drifting over my ears.

“My Princess, please, calm yourself. Normal, healthy adult relationships involve several levels of mental and physical intimacy, so my Princess, when—“

I tore up the letter, unable to read another word. My pen slammed down so hard, my quill’s brass tip snapped off.

“MY NAME IS CELESTIA.” Hot tears splattered the paper. “NOT ONE PONY HAS CALLED ME CELESTIA SINce ive arrived in canterlot” I choked, rubbing ink over my eyes, “not once. He didn’t even call me celestia. Im just his princess. im just everybody’s princess.

I’m everybody’s little prize to chase after”

I waited for his reply, waited and waited and prayed to the sun itself that he better goddamn reply and it had better be the most weepy, begging for forgiveness letter ever. But nothing came. Nothing did for so long, as I sat, smoldering in the wreckage of my room. I didn’t dare move. No, I didn’t even think to move. I was focused entirely on the thought. This had better be good. This had better be the proper response...

I grabbed the letter in my aura before it had even finished forming. It was just a single scrap, and it only had seven words upon it.

“Maybe you were too young for him.”

I screamed. I upturned my inkwell on my rug, splattering those words from existence. But they were burned in my skull, those stupid words! Yes! That clearly sums up the problem. I’M JUST TOO YOUNG, HAHA, YES, THAT’S ALL THAT’S WRONG!

“Oh, there you are!”

I whipped around. Luna and Discord stepped out of the shadows on my wall, smiling and happy. My sister started trotting around the bed, grinning and skipping like a little moonbeam.

She said, “Man, we’ve been looking everywhere for you! How did you—?”

“GET OUT!” I screamed.

My sister and Discord froze, staring at me.

“GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!!!” Spit flew from my mouth as I heaved. “I HATE YOU!”

“Celestia!” my sister snapped, “What happened?! What’s wrong?”

I flung my inkwell at them. It shattered on the wall, its few remaining drops of black splattering every which way. They both ducked. Discord vanished. My sister stepped closer.

“Celestia! Are you—?!”

“I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!”

“Celestia, if you want to stay so badly—!”

“I don’t wanna stay here!” I sobbed. A fancy perfume was flung across the room, rolling away. “I wanna leave! I hate it here! I hate it!”

From my bed, Discord cried, “Then why are you—?”

“NOT WITH YOU!” I screeched. “GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!”

“Celestia!”

Discord shot forward. His talons slapped around my horn, and my magic boiled away, transforming into water that ran down my snout and neck.

He cried, “Here, we can help you!”

“GET OFF OF ME!” I screamed, “DON’T TOUCH ME!”

I wrestled my horn away, flailing with my forelegs and only hitting air.

“Luna, we need to, uh,” Discord flailed on my bed, nose crinkled. “Hug her, or something!”

“Big sis, sh. Shhhh,” Luna inched towards me, head low, Element glowing.

“NO!” I shouted, eyes locked on her necklace, “I don’t… I don’t belong anymore…” I stumbled back, hoof splashing in the puddle of ink.

“That’s not true.” Luna smiled sympathetically. “You’re still my sister, aren’t you?” She stepped a little closer. I retreated a little further.

Discord added, almost offhandedly, “And you’re still the Princess of Loyalty.”

I froze, words hitting me like icy spells. No. No I’m not… I’m not. I’m denied that privilege...

Luna kept advancing. She said, “And you’re still—“

“Leave me ALONE!”

I barreled past her. She may have gotten bigger, but I was bigger still. I sent her spinning, bouncing off the bedpost. Discord let out a little roar, but I was long gone. I charged through the corridors, half blind and aching, but unable to stop. I don’t belong here. I don’t belong here… Not a Princess. Not an Element. Not a friend…

If being worth something only leads to... then I’d rather not be worth anything at all.

I charged down the mountain road, rocks kicking up my legs, black wall of clouds rising to welcome me back.

Comments

[Greytercakes]

2351089
Yyyeeeaaaah, that's something I catch and change at some point Continuity errors!

[-Mosaic-]

Woah. Celestia flipped out. I hope she can prove herself worthy of the Element of Loyalty again! They still haven't found the other elements yet, are they going to turn up? Lovely story.

[Kim Kimera Kimes]

Nice, Celestia has finally been de-snobbed. Now to get her back to being an element again.

[FinalFan]

I hope they find Apple's letters. Might help them be less mad. At least, at Celestia. Probably more mad overall.

[LeroyHughes]

"Featured on EqD since January 09, 2012"

How is that when the first chapter was posted on 24th Feb 2012

[Greytercakes]

2351487
Was exclusively in google docs before I put the archive up on Fimfiction. Same with Sunset Looms. That's only dated for February, but the timestamp on EqD is mid-December.

[Heart of Blades]

*Mouth drops* Well that could of gone better! Talk about an emotional rollercoaster for Celestia. Though I'm a bit confused as to how Celestia was even with Blueblood; last we saw her I thought she had been locked in her room. No matter, still a great chapter and will no doubt cause several consequences in the future.

I'm glad it's out now that Apple isn't exactly the kind 'helping' stallion he acts like. In his defense, Celestia was acting like she got and wanted to play the game of nobles. I had hoped a health does of reality would get her back on path, unfortunately it seems to have had the opposite effect and she's gone a bit crazy.

[captainlink]

Well, it seems Celestia has developed "Lesson Zero" Syndrome. From here, she will slowly lose her mind. Whelp! Good luck Tia!

[LeroyHughes]

2351731

Oh ok, thanks for telling me!

[Thegodhand]

Kind of hoping this part wraps up soon. I'm tired of Celestia being a stupid B!^ch

[Sixpack]

2351765

This.

[revilO]

Well... At least she's getting out of there, bad news: she is batshit crazy and sad

[Greytercakes]

2384404
i.imgur.com/0BLxeR5.gif
I will not tolerate that kind of talk about Celestia in this situation. Go to your room and think about what you've just said.

[DrOblivian]

ahhh and the hard steel tipped boot or reality FINALLY gives her a good swift kick in the flank. bout damn tim! XD

[drake geargrinder]

TheGreyPotter! Well done well done! Although I'm not normally into this sort of thing I love your Sh*t X Fan ship you've got going on!