Quills and Sofas Warehouse Sale

by Zontan

The Fall

Author's Note:

Another panic fiction.

Tags: Celestia, Star Swirl, Drama

Light flooded the room, and Celestia hissed and covered her eyes.

Star Swirl stepped carefully through the doorway, weaving his way through piles of trash and discarded bottles. The room stank of alcohol and unwashed pony, and dust puffed into the air with every hoofstep.

The light of his horn fell on the alicorn huddled in the corner of the room, her coat a grimy off-white. Her wings covered her face, and a half-full bottle of wine lay on the ground next to her, leaning precariously against the wall.

“You didn’t make it easy to find you,” Star Swirl began.

“Close the door,” Celestia muttered, her voice raspy. “Turn down the light.”

Star Swirl considered, and then did as she asked. When he turned back from the door, the wine bottle was in Celestia’s magic again, and he pulled it away from her. “I think that’s quite enough of that.”

“Hey!” Celestia protested, but she didn’t take the bottle back. Perhaps she couldn’t, in her state. “That’s mine. Give it back.”

Star Swirl stepped forward, pulling Celestia up and letting her stand on unsteady hooves. “No. I will not sit by and watch you do this to yourself. There is a new castle for you in Canterlot, and it is high time you took your rightful place there.”

Celestia scowled, and looked away. “I do not want it. I do not deserve it. Equestria will do fine without me.”

“You made a mistake. That is no reason for you to abandon your duties—”

“A mistake?” Celestia cut him off, and the harshness in her voice made Star Swirl take a step back. “This was no simple mistake. I failed the pony who needed me most. How could I possibly lead my ponies, when I could not see the needs of the one closest to me? I am a fraud, and a fool. You think too highly of me.”

Star Swirl paused, and then sighed. “You are right,” he said softly. “You failed.” Celestia jerked back, as if he had struck her, and then her whole body sagged. “You could have stopped Luna’s descent into madness and you did not. But that failure does not define you.” He stepped forward cautiously, looking the taller pony in the eye. “You are better than this. Let this failure be a lesson to you, and you can learn from it, and lead your people out of the darkness. Or you can continue to let it define you, and watch as your nobility squabbles and your kingdom crumbles, and let it be written into the history books that your sister’s fall was both your fault and your undoing.”

Celestia shrank away from his gaze. “I thought you were here to help me,” she said quietly. “Not to confirm all of my faults.”

Star Swirl hmphed. “I am here to do both. You cannot continue like this, and your kingdom cannot continue without you.” He paused, and then his expression softened. “I can help you recover, help guide your way. But the first step must be yours.”

Slowly, Celestia raised her head, looking around the squalid building. Then, wordlessly, she lit her horn, gritting her teeth as her magic flowed through her. When she finished, her coat was clean and white once more, and her eyes considerably less bloodshot. “Very well,” she said quietly. “I will try. For her.”