Price of Power

The massive doors opened and two guards walked with her to the room. She looked at the snow-white figure with colorful hair sitting on a throne on top of the stairs. The figure nodded to guards as a sign to leave them alone and when they left she began to walk towards her. They weren’t taking their eyes off each other. Finally, the Sister stood in front of her.

"Lariska, yes?" She started harshly, but then her voice became softer. "Let’s take a walk."

They were walking along the long corridor with the high vault, the red carpet was drowning out their steps and the morning sun was shining through the stained glass. The ubiquitous peace was taking a toll on both of them, it seemed to be nearly unnatural due to the last events. Lariska looked around, when she was being escorted to the throne room there were a lot of guards in the castle, like the first time she was within these walls. But then, it was empty, only two of them.

"I didn’t think you would respond, and with such calmness, you probably have various reasons to hate me." Celestia began.

"Despite what I think Caduka somehow had a reason to trust you and apparently, you her."

"So this ultimately convinced you?"

"Yes, did she come back?"

"No, she has not given any sign of life since yesterday, I am starting to getting worried."

Lariska lowered her sight, she immediately noticed that.

"You seem to feel guilty because of that, has something happened?"

Despite that just one day has passed, she was holding it in her long enough. She stopped and lowered her head to gather courage to whisper these words:

"So I have killed her."

Celestia turned, she wasn’t angry, only shocked. After a moment she asked her calmly:

"Can you tell me what has happened back then?" Lariska tried to find words, but she couldn’t say anything. "I understand that she has found you, what was next?"

"She wanted… she wanted to convince me to not kill you, but I didn’t listen. Desperate, she grabbed my musket and started to beg me. We began to fight and ...I stabbed her. I do not know, I wasn’t even thinking about that. Then she snatched my musket out and hit my head doing so. When I got off the floor I saw her looking at me with tears, she grabbed her wound and ...teleported away."

"Do you have this on your head because of that hit?"

"No, someone else did it."She responded indifferently.

"Can I for a moment?"

Even though she asked, she immediately using the spells pulled off the dressing as gently as she could. After that, the wound slightly glowed yellow and began to heal. Lariska touched that place, the skin was smooth, no trace after the wound has remained.

"Are you not angry?"

"No, if she had strength to teleport, from where certainty that she’s dead?"

"I do not feel anything, I cannot find…" She couldn’t finish.

"You were connected? I heard of this spell, really there is nothing?"

Lariska tried one more time to calm down and get to that part but in vain. She has shaken her head slightly, Celestia knew what that meant as well.

"And then? When she was gone?"

"Nothing, I was furious."

"And how do you feel now?"

"I have no idea." She did a pause to find words. "For many years I was angry because she left me, but I could not tell her how glad I really was when she came back."

"Many often regret that they could do something, but their hesitation stole their chance. But I have to tell, you remind me of her when I first saw her, lost, with busted head."

"How long ago it was?"

"Two years ago, early fall."

"So also it was me who got rid of her eye?" She asked rhetorically.

"What do you mean?"

"Just a few hours ago I got to know that yesterday it was not the first time I was trying to kill her."

She pulled out the crumpled paper, Celestia took it and started to read.

"It is before the day they have found her." She said once she read it. "I wanted to see her when I have heard about this. When I was asking for the details they said to me that she has been found on the floor writhing in pain, all covered in her own blood from the eye socket. Her neighbors didn’t know about her existence, but the sound of broken glass and her screams drew their attention. When I finally managed to see with her I saw that not only her body was devastated. She was looking like she was nothing but waiting for death because she couldn’t take her life herself."

"And despite that, she took care of me." She said to herself.

"Do you think that she knew?"

"Sooner or later she had to realize that."

They looked each other in the eyes, then she resumed her step and when she passed Celestia she responded:

"She never said a bad word about you."

"And this is supposed to cheer me up?" Lariska stopped and returned to her harsh tone.

"I just want to tell," She walked to her. "that even if she knew she wasn’t bearing a grudge, she never said a bad word about you."

"You knew each other so well, yet you could not repair her eye." She snorted.

"I only helped your wound to heal up, but no magic will bring back lost organs."

Lariska didn’t respond anything, she felt like she had no right.

"Come, I have to tell you about something." Celestia said.

They went to the next part of the castle. The carpet was gone and it has been replaced by sheets on the ceiling that were connecting in the middle where the golden chandelier was hanging. When the doors behind them closed Celestia started:

"I tell you about this because I prefer you to know about this from me and even though it is difficult for me to find proper words I ask you to listen to me. Namely, yesterday I went to close your district and I plan to do the same with the others. However, in terms of possibilities, peacefully."

"Like peacefully you raided the warehouse in Manehattan?"

"No, I found about it not so long ago, someone impersonating me sent them false orders. Yet right, you quickly taught us to not underestimate you. However, yesterday I was surprised, I can even say pleasantly surprised. Your director went out to see me, he wanted to take all the guilt on himself, but his friends showed up to stand with him. There was also a young girl with them, she had on herself blue colors and light hair. She was asking for you like I was supposed to know where you were, she looked very worried."

"Laurie." She almost whispered.

"I said that I don’t know, honestly, I expected you to be with them. I let her and the others go to anywhere they would consider appropriate, I gave them time to take their personal stuff. They even weren’t trying to smuggle anything 'unsuitable'."

"I am more interested in how do you even know the district’s location."

"I get to know its location a long time ago, but until now, I had no reason to intervene. But you began to go too far, these few days with Caduka could show you that. I appreciate what you two were trying to accomplish, I really do, but I think it is time for me to do it myself."

"None of that would have place if you would just let them do their thing. Why you will not let your kingdom develop?"

"That I could never forbid, but I think that contact of your father’s family for generations with this technology can be the cause of your ailment. Anyway, the magic itself has in it many characteristics, like a person. It affects emotions and emotions can affect it, it can even possess. Machine powered by it could develop its own consciousness and it would be nothing but an unholy imitation of life."

"What if a machine like that would exist?"

They stopped and Celestia looked through the huge window reaching up to the vault.

"I think that such machine in time would evolve and strive for self-improvement. Sooner or later it would turn against its makers and living through the ages in its immortal shell would descend into madness."

Lariska was for a moment analyzing her words.

"In that case, what is protecting you from madness?"

"Purpose, my love for my subjects and hope that I will see my sister again."

"Are you not the one who banished her?"

"No, it wasn’t my sister anymore, no words could reach her. She became the victim of her own hatred. It consumed her, but I would lie if I would say that it happened not because of me."

"But if she has to come back how do you know that time will be different?"

"I know that it will be different, but how it will end…"

Celestia interrupted lowering her sight. Seeing that Lariska noticed it she quickly pulled herself together.

"Sorry." She said abashed.

"What was her name?"

"Luna. You know, despite that she was always trying to keep it professional she was a little rascal. It was her who made sure that our first castle was full of traps."

A small smile played on her lips. Lariska then herself looked from above on a landscape of the city swimming in rays of the morning sun shining through the clouds. She never thought that it could be so beautiful out there.

"With someone to keep company the eternity does not seem so bad." She said.

"Not necessarily eternity, someday even my time will reach the end and somebody else will take care over the citizens of Equestria. But yes, it might be the reason why fate has chosen us."

"Were you ever regretting this?"

"No" She responded with a smile.

Lariska finally had the courage to relax, but despite that she managed to clear her mind for a moment, after a while she again felt bitterness in her heart. There was cold in the room and even though the warm of the day was inviting itself through the window Lariska was feeling one more source of it, from Celestia. She glanced at her, Sister knew exactly who she was and that she could try to kill her. The question if Celestia was either trusting her this much or was so confident was coming itself.

"So what do you want from me?" She asked calmly.

"Nothing, you came to me, opened up, I think I couldn’t ask for more. If you want you can go unless you would like to talk to me about something more."

"You are saying this like I have somewhere to go." She sneered.

Celestia looked at her with eyes full of compassion.

"I am so sorry."

"No, even if you would not close the district I do not know if I could go back there, I can only blame myself."

"You knew that it will be like this, yet you followed Caduka."

"I had my duty, what else can I say?"

Celestia didn’t want her to trouble her any more, yet she had to ask one more question although she knew the answer for it perfectly.

"And if Caduka wouldn’t take your weapon, would you kill me?"

They looked at each other, Lariska first turned back her sight.

"Back then, yes."

"Back then." She repeated to herself. "I don’t want to insist, but since you say that you have nowhere to go I would like to offer you a room, here in the castle."

"What would you expect in return?"

"Nothing, I just want to compensate you for all you had to go through. You will be able to go away anytime, I will also understand if you just refuse."

"You offer me help after I confessed that if I could I would kill you?"

"You would kill me that day, but to this time something has changed. I want to give you some time to figure things out."

Lariska turned and walked away, 'changed'? She didn’t know if for better or worse, she didn’t even have an idea how. Yet Celestia was right about one, if she would now stand at that window with her musket she wouldn’t have shot. But the thought that she was just trying to trick her or lie to her wasn’t giving her a break. She didn’t have any interest to be nice to her, quite opposite, she wanted to get rid of ones like her. Then through her head went words that stopped the racing thoughts: 'She does not lie'.

"Fine, so be it." She said not believing that she just agreed.

"If so… then let me show you the way, before it will come to your head that it might be dungeon to which I want to put you in." She joked, walked to the doors and opened them waiting for Lariska. She smiled back for a moment, but only for a moment and followed after Celestia.