Hearts of Fire

Lucifer stared at his daughter. Somewhat remorseful that suck a weak, spineless worm had come from his loins. He sighed through his nostrils and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“My dearest, this isn’t such a bad thing-“

“YES IT IS!” She barked, throwing his hand off of her. Her white eyes fell dark with anger, tears still welling in them.

“Cerburus…”  the devil spoke, kneeling down and taking her tiny plum hands in his. “Do you know the reason I fell from heaven? The real reason?”

Although angry at her father, the little alicorn couldn’t find it in her heart to lie. She shook her head from left to right, sniffing and wiping her eyes.

“It’s because I loved god too much.” He simply stated.

Moonstone’s eyebrows furrowed, her head tilting with curiosity.

“when Father created the heavens and the earth, he saw that it was good…” Lucifer quoted from the bible. “He then created animals, plants, the sky and the sea.”

He paused and sighed again, his face turned sour and distraught.

“And then, he created mortals. Equines, griffons, mules, you name it. Anything that isn’t like us… and, God said, ‘Bow yourselves to these, my incredible creation.’ “- Lucifer looked into his daughter’s eyes, filled with wonder and innocence.

“But, I couldn’t… I said, ‘Father, these creatures are flawed… murderous! These are mistakes!’ and you know what he did to me?”

“What?”

“He had Michael, my big brother, cast me out. And a few other angels that felt I was right, they fell too.”

Moonstone stared at her father as he stood up. He was a good 8 feet taller than her, so she nearly fell backward trying to keep eye-contact. She had no idea that’s what really went down… or was it?

“How can I believe you daddy?” She asked bluntly.

Lucifer smiled and took his daughter’s hand, starting to walk. “You’re smart to question that, and I will give you an answer: I would never lie to you. You are my daughter, and you deserve to know the truth. It might be sad, or scary, or mean, but it’s true.”

Moonstone was silent for a moment. She pondered on the information just received. She lightly squeezed her father’s hand and sighed loudly.

“I’m sorry dadd- Lucifer.” She said reluctantly.

Her father only smiled and returned the gentle squeeze. “It’s quite alright dear.”

The two walked on, soon reaching what looked like some sort of throne room. Inside the room were six other creatures. A few ponies, a few griffons, a big, snake-like thing, and a fox-like one with at least 8 tails. All stood and stared upon her entry with her father. Lucifer held up his daughter’s right hand and smirked.

“This is what we’ve waited so long for brothers. This is our savior! Our messiah! This is Cerburus Moonstone.” He spoke loudly, the others in the room remaining silent. Finally, a tall, slender mare walked up to her, kneeling down in front of her.

“This is our savoir? A little filly? You must be joking Luci…” She taunted flirtatiously.

Lucifer scowled at the mare and waved his hand dismissively at her. The mare rolled her lime-green eyes and pinched her lips shut. She then turned her attention back towards Moonstone.

“Hi sweetie. I’m your auntie Lilith… My, you look like such a little sweetheart… good enough to eat…” She teased, her slit pupils becoming more thin and elongated.

Moonstone blinked and backed away from the mare behind her father. She grabbed the ends of his long, black trench coat and swallowed hard upon that comment.

“Oh, COME ON?!? You expect this little monster to hold up to her father’s rep if she can’t even stare me down?” Lilith scoffed.

Lucifer swatted her away dismissively and sneered.

“Cerburus, these are the Cardinal Vices. I’m sure you’ve heard of them?”

Moonstone thought for a moment. “Wrath, pride, gluttony, sloth, greed, lust, and envy.” She listed at last.

Lucifer hummed in content and pet her head. “Very good…”

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Lucifer had shown his daughter the ins and outs of his, most frightening of realms.  All this time, Lucifer had hoped that she wouldn’t be phased by all this, but in all reality, she was terrified. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with this place. She wanted so badly to just cry, but she felt crying in front of her father would get her in some serious trouble. Not the “time out” kind of trouble either.

The two had made it back to the Devil’s magnificent palace after a few long hours of terror and gore. He finally knelt down to her and brushed her mane out of her white eyes.

“So, what do you think? Of all this? Of your future; all of our futures…” He asked. His tone was more eager and gentle than before.

Moonstone looked at her black rubber boots, trying as hard as she could to avert her father’s eyes. She didn’t want to be here. She wanted to go home. She wanted to see her mommy again. She wanted her friend, and her school, and her room and her mommy…

“Daddy, I wanna go home…” She whispered.

She looked up into her father’s ruby red eyes and froze, paralyzed by fear. Both were silent for the longest time. Moonstone could see, however, his face darken with an untold rage.

“Is he angry with me? Will he hurt me?” she thought.

She fumbled with her dark blue dress, toying with the pockets of the apron overtop and went on to rub her nose.

“Ummm, daddy?” She shuddered, wishing to break the silence between them.

He sighed heavily and turned his back to her. “I’m, so sorry Cerburus…” He started, waving his hand over the ground. “I didn’t want to have to do this…”

With a few short strokes of his hand, a seal glowed below Moony’s feet, a portal opening. The second it opened, a white-hot pain surged through the little filly’s body, making her shriek with pain.

“Feed her to the souls…” Lucifer growled, almost to himself as flaming hot skeletal hands grabbed and tugged at Moonstone’s dress.

The little alicorn screamed and cried in pain and fear. “DADDY! PLAESE HELP MEE!!”

Alas, he did nothing. She cried as she felt herself being locked away in a plain of fire. Near the end of her attack, she was aware of heat, but not pain. Remembering how those souls of the damned had tried to tear her apart. One thing stood out though: one monster killing his way through to get to her. But she didn’t see him. She had blacked out from fear. All of that, even for just the shortest amount of time, is just too much for a little filly. Too much to handle.

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