It was a simple question, and an innocent one. Twilight was a filly who loved to study, loved to know everything she could. She was the type of pony who spent long hours reading a book, notes were taken on anything that was nonfiction, and then a test was taken to make sure that she understood the materials. There wasn’t a single time when this was the case, but it was something that she did every time regardless. This time, she had closed the book on the mighty Kingdom of the Griffins, and simply looked up at the ceiling.
It had given her so much information, but she wasn’t going to give herself a test yet.There was something that she needed to do before she was able to properly test herself. She needed to get the rest of the information, the things the author had obviously forgotten. Twilight had gotten plenty of books from this very author, given to her by Princess Celestia herself, and this was the first time she had needed to go to the source she was going to right now.
If anypony knew anything about history, she knew it would have been her mentor.
~~~~
When Twilight finally found her teacher, as she hadn’t been in the throne room, she was just getting done raising the moon. The young filly looked out at the sky for a moment, her thoughts on the very fact that Celestia moved both the sun and the moon. That was the subject of another book she had read, actually, but it wasn’t the subject that she had come to talk to her mentor about. The thing she did need to talk to her mentor about was something that was easily asked, and she knew it was just as easy to answer.
“Princess Celestia.” Twilight said to get her mentor’s attention. The regal white Alicorn looked down at her, a smile on her face. “I was wondering if you could help me out with something. I’ve been studying, but I just can’t figure something out.”
“Anything for you, Twilight.” Celestia started.
“What happened to the Griffin Kingdom?” That question seemed to do something to Princess Celestia, if only for a moment. Her smile disappeared for that slight moment, only to come back. Twilight didn’t know what to say about that. She wasn’t even sure she had seen it right. There was much more of a chance that she hadn’t. There wasn’t anything about this question that was bad, she just knew it.
“What have you read so far?”
“Well, according to Rising Star … they were a Kingdom that the ponies ran into when they first unified as the Kingdom of Equestria. There were some initial encounters, and then they just disappeared.” Twilight smiled at herself, proud of her own ability to remember those facts.
“I was hoping that it would be enough to stop anypony from digging further.” Celestia initially responded. “Nopony had ever asked about them. My book didn’t leave much information, but my others had been so thorough that ponies just assume there’s no information.” As she finished, she saw that her student looked perplexed. “You didn’t know what I wrote under the name Rising Star?”
“Well, no.” Twilight blushed as she admitted it. “There’s something I have to ask, though. What do you mean ‘I was hoping it would have been enough to stop anypony from digging further’?” That didn’t make much sense for her. There wasn’t a single subject that her mentor had kept from her, or anypony else, as far as she knew.
“This is a subject that I don’t like to remember.” Celestia stated. “I especially don’t think it’s something a little filly would want to know anything about.” The smile seemed like it was being held there through sheer force. Even Twilight was able to tell that her mentor didn’t really want to deal with the subject. A large part of her mind told her that it wasn’t worth pushing forward.
A larger part wanted the information, though.
“You always told me that knowledge is for sharing, Princess.” It almost hurt a little to say that. Twilight felt something, guilt she assumed it was, as she used her mentor’s wisdom against her. She barely knew why she was doing it herself, really. There was just an urge to know this, and she was going to get the information in the only way that she had available to her.
A few minutes passed as Celestia turned to stare at the moon. It was as if she was trying to think of what to say. Twilight noticed that she looked conflicted, which was definitely good if she wanted to get the information. The fact her mentor was conflicted, though, made the young filly feel bad about what she had done. The part that had thought better of asking seemed to grow, if only because this was obviously a subject her mentor didn’t want to remember.
“You’re right, Twilight. You deserve to know the truth.” Celestia turned her head to look again at Twilight, a neutral expression on her face. “To tell you what happened to the griffins, I need to ask you what you know about the founding of Equestria. Everything started there, and so I need to know where I should fill in the gaps as I go along.”
“The Kingdom of Equestria was founded by the three tribes: Pegasi, Unicorn and Earth Ponies. They were led to this land, through various means by their rulers and second-in-commands.” Twilight had closed her eyes by this point as she tried to remember the details. “Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy were leading the Pegasi. Chancellor Puddinghead and Smart Cookie led the Earth Ponies. And the Unicorn were led by Princess Platinum and Clover the Clever, the later of which was mentored by Starswirl the Bearded.” This were the leaders, and then came the reason. “The reason they came over was because their land was turned to ice by the Windigo.”
“Yes, and what happened when they came over to this land?” Celestia led her student, hoping she didn’t have to give details.
“They founded a kingdom? They stopped fighting?” Twilight asked each time. She wasn’t sure what her mentor wanted her to say. She had read that there had been some conflicts between the Griffin Kingdom and the newly formed Equestria, but she inferred that there had been some sort of treaty. “And while there were initial conflicts with the native beings, we eventually ended up being able to form a peace treaty with all of them.”
“That’s mostly true.” Celestia stated. “We were able to form a peace treaty with every nation. The deer, the zebra, the minotaur, and even the mighty dragons agreed to peace.” Those were subjects she didn’t want to talk about either, though for different reasons. These were also subjects that she knew she wouldn't have to. Something just told her that Twilight wasn’t going to ask about them.
Maybe it was just a hope.
“The Griffin Kingdom, however, saw the Equestrians as threats.” Celestia let out a sigh as she continued. “But before I continue, I have to ask where you think we were at the time? Not the Unicorn, or the Pegasi, or the Earth Ponies, but the Alicorn.” It had slipped her mind when she had said it, but she had been talking about herself and her sister. It was almost good luck that Cadance was also an Alicorn, or that would have likely been another question.
“I … I have no idea.” Twilight quickly answered. “Not a single book says anything about when you showed up, or even if you two were there all along. I know Cadance tells me she was hidden for a long time, but that doesn’t tell me anything.” Twilight thought about it for a few minutes. “If you can move the sun, maybe you were there all along. Even if they could move the sun, that doesn’t mean you weren’t there helping or something. And Cadance might have been there as well. “
“Actually, they never moved the sun in the first place.” Celestia gave a wink. “But let’s not tell anyone otherwise.” She let out a cough, and just barely stopped a grin from appearing. “You are right, by the way, we were always there.” She didn’t have to let her student know that Cadance wasn’t amongst the Alicorn until a century after Equestria was formed. The white mare’s sister had been there all along, though. “I was there with them. I actually knew Smart Cookie rather … intimately, let’s say.”
Whenever she remember the time she spent with her love, it was always bittersweet.
“When the Equestrians ran into the Griffin Kingdom, we wanted nothing more than peace.” That wasn’t completely true, but it was better for Celestia to paint a better picture. It wasn’t as if there was anyone alive who knew otherwise. “When our civilians were killed, we sent diplomats. When our diplomats were killed, we sent more. And when they were killed, we tried to just defend ourselves.” Celestia closed her eyes, the picture of the battlefields still in her mind. “We held them off for the longest time, and eventually it looked as though we were going to push them back.”
Celestia opened her eyes, and looked down at her attentive student.
“They discovered our strength, though, why we were able to win against all odds.” Celestia started to choke up as she remembered a certain day. “Smart Cookie should have been better protected. She, along with Private Pansy, were coming up with strategies that made the numbers mean less. Somehow, the griffins got to them both, only pieces of them were found.” Tears started to well up, barely able to be kept back. “The love of my life was dead, brutally killed, and the Griffin Kingdom was about to renew their assault and wipe Equestria off the map. I knew that couldn’t be allowed to happen.”
This was the part she didn’t want to say from the start.
“I have complete control of the sun, Twilight. It is a giant ball of fire, as hot as anything.” Celestia started, just as Twilight started to look a little frightened. “I even have the ability to focus its strength, its heat. That takes more effort than I’m normally able to put out. It also has … well, I’ll continue and you’ll know.” By this time, the Solar Princess was crying. “I was able to use it to end the war completely. I brought the sun closer to the Griffin Kingdom, and everything burned. Every griffin burned as well.”
If Twilight didn’t know any better, there might have been a small amount of pride when she had started to talk again. But with the tears, there wouldn't have been any pride. Twilight knew her mentor wouldn’t have been proud about any of it.
“That’s actually why we have such a large desert on our border.” Celestia was almost finished. “I ended the war, and with it I ended the Griffin Kingdom.” She continued. “It was the only way. I tried to do anything else, everything else. There was no other way to make sure that the Griffin Kingdom didn’t do it again, didn’t kill another pony.” The regal mare looked down at her student, who simply looked at her in shock.
“I knew I shouldn't have told you.” Celestia said as she bent down. Her horn touched Twilight’s head, and soon the young filly was asleep. “Admitting such things to a twelve year old wasn’t the best idea. I wonder how she would have responded if I had actually told her what I saw, the deaths of so many griffins that were too close to the sun. I doubt I’ll ever be able to forget it, really. Charred griffin is not something you forget.”
She continued to carry Twilight to her bed.
“I had warned them, though. They were going to stop the war or I was.” Celestia continued, lost in her own thoughts. As she left the room, one final thought came. “It’s for the best anyway. Eventually, Equestria would have needed those lands. I just removed the reason why we couldn’t take them.”
It was best her student didn’t know that part of her reasoning.
