Celestia XVII: The Broken Princess

by brokenimage321

12: "One Hundred Years of Solitude"

“Alone, abandoned by his premonitions, fleeing the chill that was to accompany him until death, he sought a last refuge in Macondo in the warmth of his oldest memories.”

The train had barely rolled to a stop before the door to one of the compartments burst open. Five or six refugees spilled onto the platform, each in different states of panic and despair, but the first to hit the ground was Prince Blueblood. He stumbled a few steps, then looked up, his mane wild and his eyes crazed.

“Rares!” he cried, whipping his gaze across the huddled masses waiting at the edge of the platform. “Rarity! Where are you?”

“She’s gone,” came a voice. “But, even if she were here, you’d still be wasting your breath.”

Blueblood turned and stared at the direction the voice had come from. He swallowed hard, and some of the blind panic drained from his eyes, replaced, instead, by a gnawing, nameless fear. He crept towards the pony who had spoken, who sat, tucked behind a pile of luggage, under the eaves of the ticket office.

“Cece?” he asked, breathlessly. “What are you doing over here?”

I tried to curl into an even tighter ball. “Trying to figure out how to un-screw us all…” I said.

Blueblood glanced nervously over his shoulder. Even from this distance, the clouds swirling over Canterlot were still visible. As we watched, an arc of lightning forked down towards the Palace, making Blueblood flinch.

“That… wasn’t you, was it?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yeah,” I admitted. Blueblood looked at me in alarm, and I squirmed deeper into my seat. “Kinda.”

Blueblood turned and watched me for a moment. I could see the gears turning behind those eyes of his, chewing at a problem that had been bothering him. Then, his eyes widened, and he blinked.

“Cece,” he said suddenly. “Celestia—you’re a Princess.”

I looked up at him. “Huh?”

He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, like trying to shake off a heavy fog. “You’re—you’re my sister. My only sister. And I’m a Prince. That means that you have to be a Princess. Have to be.” He grimaced, then shook his head again, more fiercely this time. “Why can’t I remember…?” he hissed to himself.

I shook my head, my eyes wide. “He said you wouldn’t,” I breathed. “He said no one would…”

Blueblood looked up at me. “He?” he repeated. “He who?”

I grimaced, then looked away. For a moment, Blueblood said nothing.

“If you’re a Princess,” he said, “and you have to be… where are your wings?” he asked.

I reached back and touched the thick, fleshy scars where my wings had once been.They didn’t hurt, not physically, but they still made my insides twist painfully.

“They’re gone,” I said simply

I closed my eyes and sniffled. Blueblood watched for a moment, then sat down, right there on the platform, and took my hoof.

“Cece,” he said gently, “look at me. Please?”

I swallowed, then slowly turned and met my brother’s eyes. They stared back into mine, deep pools of aqua blue.

“What happened?” he asked.

Tears started to prick at the corners of my eyes. I squeezed them shut and shook my head.

“If you tell me, I can help,” he said gently.

I opened my eyes and looked at him again—and suddenly, everything I had said, everything I had felt, everything I had done, just welled up inside me. I let out a ragged sob, and big, fat tears started to roll down my cheeks. Blueblood’s eyes widened, but he grabbed me and pulled me in tight.

“It was Twilight,” I blubbered. “She’s been mad, and I tried to fix it, but then he took the Sun Stone, and then—”

“Shh, shh,” he murmured, rubbing my back. “It’s going to be okay…”

I shook my head. “No it’s not,” I blubbered. “I ruined everything…”

“I know,” he murmured, patting me on the back. “I know… But now I’m here. And I’ll help you figure it out.” He squeezed me a little tighter. “I’m your brother. That’s my job, isn’t it?”

* * *

I swallowed the last of the doughnuts, then smacked my lips. They were those little cheap ones that you only found in vending machines, the sort that taste like plastic and leave your mouth all greasy. But Blueblood had found them for me, somehow, and I needed them more than I could even say. I washed them down with the last mouthful of chocolate milk from the carton Blue found, too, then set it down beside me.

Blueblood himself watched me silently, his eyes wide. “So…” he began slowly, “that… monster has the Sun Stone.”

I nodded. “And the Elements of Harmony.”

Blueblood returned the nod. “And Rarity is… possessed by him, too?”

I hesitated. “Not… possessed,” I said carefully. “More, like… twisted...” I tapped my hoof on the table, trying to put the feeling into words. “More like… like all those parts of you that you hate about yourself… every bad habit and ugly thought that you’ve ever had… that becomes you.” I snuck him a frightened glance. “Her,” I corrected. “That becomes her.”

I hadn’t told him that Discord had done the same thing to me. Hadn’t told him how terrifying it was to realize I’d become my own worst enemy—become the pony I’d always tried to keep myself from becoming.

Or, as Twilight had just told me, the pony I’d secretly been all along.

Told you, said that dark voice inside me. Told you all you were doing was dragging everyone down…

I squeezed my eyes shut and bit the inside of my cheek--bit down until I trembled. When I opened my eyes again, Blueblood was watching me, concern on his face. But whatever he was thinking, he didn’t say it. Instead, he swallowed.

“So… does Rarity remember her… friends?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so,” I said. “When I went to talk to her, she barely recognized me. And, when she did, she tried to shake me down for loose change.”

His eyes widened. “What about the others?” he asked.

I shrugged with one shoulder. “All the same,” I said. “Fluttershy insulted me, Pinkie screamed that I was bothering her, and I couldn’t even find Rainbow. And Applejack… Applejack tried to blame the whole thing on me… and she… and she…”

I sniffled, and a tear rolled down my cheek.

“Stop that,” Blueblood said sharply.

I shook my head. I would have told him No, but I didn’t trust myself to speak.

“It’s not your fault,” he said sternly. “Discord tricked you. Yeah, maybe you shouldn’t have fallen into his trap in the first place, but you can’t blame yourself for trying to do the right thing.”

I bit my lip. I wished I could believe him. But he didn’t know what it was like, having Discord in my head. He wasn’t some Power Ponies villain, who had flipped my personality upside down just because he could; he had dug everything I hated about myself out of the dark core of my soul and brought it to the fore. That meant that, even though I had been under some sort of magical curse, I was still me. Every nasty, awful, evil thing I’d done, some part of me had wanted to do it. And I couldn’t deny it, no matter how much I wanted to.

Discord hadn’t tricked me into giving him the Sun Stone—he’d just shown me how badly I wanted to do it in the first place.

“Cece, listen,” he barked. I jumped; he hadn’t yelled, but his voice was hard and powerful. He hadn’t asked, he had commanded. I looked up at him, the faintest twinge of fear in my eyes.

He sighed, then ran a hoof through his mane.

“Listen,” he repeated. “You can’t dwell on the past. Sometimes it can help, but other times… it’s just holding you back. Beating yourself up for something you can’t change isn’t going to help anyone. All you can do is move forward and try to do better.”

I sniffled, and started to smile—but then, his words triggered something in my brain. My eyes widened.

I turned to Blue—and was somewhat surprised to find that he was still talking.

“What did you say?” I interrupted.

“Huh?” he asked, looking at me, surprised.

“What did you say?” I repeated.

“What,” he said, confused, “the thing about the goose?”

“What—?” I began, then stopped myself. “No, no,” I said, gesturing, “before that,”

“Uh…” he cleared his throat. “Don’t blame yourself?”

“Yeah,” I said, “That. Where’d you hear that?”

He frowned in return. “Does it matter?” he replied.

“Now it does,” I snapped. “Luna told you that, didn’t she?” I insisted.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “But I still think it’s a good idea…”

“Shshsh,” I said, waving at him to be quiet. He looked at me, perplexed—but it didn’t matter. My mind was suddenly racing with possibilities.

Suddenly, I stood. “When’s the next train to Canterlot?” I asked, urgently.

He looked at me, mouth hanging open. “Cece,” he said slowly, “what are you doing…?”

“If I told you, you’d try and stop me. When’s the next train?” I asked.

Blueblood chuckled darkly. “With all this mess going on?” he asked. “Probably never.”

“Well then,” I said, “I think this means I’ll have to find my own way back.” I leaned in and gave Blueblood a hug. “Thanks,” I said, “For everything.”

He hugged me back—then frowned and pulled away. “Waitasecond,” he blurted, “where are you going?”

“Home,” I said.

He looked at me sharply. “Home?” he repeated. “Why? Everyone’s trying to get as far away from there as possible right now, and you—?”

“Trust me, Blue,” I said. “I have an idea.” I gave him a quavering smile, then leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll be okay. But, y’know...” I swallowed, my guts suddenly twisting. “I-if I don’t make it back…”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, grinning wryly. “I’ll make sure they bury you with your trumpet.”

I smiled, despite myself. “Bye, Bloob,” I murmured, then turned and trotted toward the train platform.

Blueblood watched me go with a placid little smile—which suddenly turned into a panicked grimace. “Wait!” he cried out. “What about Rarity?”

“Check her old shop,” I called back over my shoulder. “That’s where I found her.”

“And what am I supposed to do then?” he called after me, almost pleading.

“I dunno,” I said, looking over my shoulder at him. “Maybe try True Love?” I added with a grin. “Pinkie always says that works.”

Blueblood looked at me in disbelief. I laughed.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “You’ll figure it out. You always do.”

Blue gave the faint hint of a smile.

“That’s my big bro,” I said. “Now, I’m off to save the world.” I winked. “Don’t wait up.”

Comments

[Comickook]

LOVED the chat between Blue and Celly as she admitted (MOST of) what happened. Glad to see Blue being supportive of his sister and trying to get her to think rationally about how to stop Discord.

At any rate, the exchange, characterizations and future chapter set-up are well done in all the right places.

On to the next chapter.

[Lurks-no-More]

I really like this Blueblood. Especially in moments like this where the Prince part of him shows through.

[Midknight Defender]

“What,” he said, confused, “the thing about the goose?”

I think you cut whatever that was referring to, because he hasn't mentioned a goose this chapter...

[brokenimage321]

9935674
Cece zones out for a few seconds before this sentence, but Blueblood keeps talking. She missed the thing about the goose the first time around. Does that make sense?