Lueur de la Lune

Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you are willing to sacrifice everything else for it.

- James M. Barrie

Despite the celebration after the wedding being long over, Twilight and her friends decided to spend the next few days touring Canterlot. They considered it a well-earned reward after everything they had been through.

However, instead of browsing the latest clothing stores with Rarity or celebrating with Pinkie Pie for the umpteenth time, she chose to visit the palace for the first time in two days.

She needed to speak with Princess Celestia. The question that had been bugging her for the past few days that she hadn’t bothered to bring up was finally starting to itch, she couldn’t avoid it any longer.

Why was Princess Luna not at her brother’s wedding? She didn’t take offense to it, mind you. But being able to sleep through an entire invasion? She would have had to specifically tell every guard not to disturb her that day, otherwise one of them would have woke her at the drop of a hat. So that begs the question once more, why did she sleep in on her brother’s wedding day?

Unable to shake the thought, Twilight quickly sped off towards Canterlot Palace, admiring the scenery and acknowledging any greetings ponies may have given her. It was an absolutely stunning morning, Twilight had to admit.

The guards at the front entrance spotted her before she arrived at the front gate, and made no attempt to stop her as she ran past them. She may not have been royalty, but almost everypony in Equestria knew her name.

Princess Celestia was holding court at the time of Twilight’s arrival, so Twilight made no effort to disturb her at the time. While she revered Princess Celestia for her uncanny magical power and her concise ability to run a kingdom, Twilight never felt like she would suit the role of an alicorn very well. Too many responsibilities, Twilight once noted as she looked over Princess Celestia's schedule.

It gave her a laugh at least.

Waiting for the court session to be over, Twilight quickly thought back to what Luna had said. “Hello everypony! Did I miss anything?”

She smirked. Besides her brother being married and an army of parasitic Doppelgängers invading? Not much.

Still though, it bothered Twilight greatly how nonchalant she was after she told her. Sure she had apologized with sincerity for nearly missing the downfall of Equestria, but she wasn’t surprised in the least that it had happened.

Twilight shuddered at the thought of the number of villains that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had fought in the past.

It was later in the afternoon when court had finally ended. It hadn’t bothered Twilight much, considering the fact that she had full access to the Royal Archives for an indefinite amount of time. With the wide plethora of knowledge all within hoof’s reach, Twilight had made herself busy for the past few hours.

Much to her embarrassment, she was so engrossed in a research paper involving magical medical sciences, that it was actually Princess Celestia that interrupted her reading.

“Good afternoon Twilight! I’m surprised to see you made another visit back to the castle.”

Twilight looked up from her book to see the alabaster mare before her. She blushed and shot up at once, “O-Oh! Good afternoon Princess!”

Princess Celestia merely giggled in response.

Twilight had remembered why she had come here. Her embarrassment quickly changed into curiosity, “Princess Celestia, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Why did Princess Luna sleep in during Shining Armor’s wedding?”

Princess Celestia’s breathing slowed, a bit of concern showing on her face, just enough for Twilight to see. “Well, she had a rough evening the night before. She asked not to be disturbed the day after.”

Twilight was becoming slightly annoyed, but she tried not to show it. “I understand that, but the entire nation was under attack Princess.”

Princess Celestia gulped.

Twilight sat back down in one of the library chairs. “Princess Celestia, are you lying to me?” Twilight asked, a mixture of betrayal and hurt fused into her voice.

Princess Celestia chose to sit across from her, her voice turning mellow as she spoke. “No, Twilight, I’m not lying to you. But I’m not being entirely truthful either. It is true that she asked not to be disturbed the day of the wedding, but it was I that told everypony not to disturb her under any circumstances whatsoever.”

Twilight gasped, “But why?! Why couldn’t attend the wedding?”

Princess Celestia closed her eyes, “She hasn’t attended a wedding since her own.”

Twilight could only gape at her. There was absolutely nothing regarding either Princess being married ever. As a matter of fact, all forms of written history were destroyed before their origins.

Twilight closed her mouth before prodding further, “Princess, have you always been an alicorn?”

It was so quiet, a pin dropping could echo within the room.

Celestia’s horn lit up. Twilight heard the doors to the archives lock.

“No.”

Twilight almost fainted, “What?”

“While Luna and I are the first of our kinds. We were both unicorns at one time and nothing more.”

Twilight fainted.

When Twilight had finally awoken, she felt a silky pillow pressed against the back of her head.

“I see you are finally awake Twilight. I decided it would be best if we talked about this further in my room. It wouldn’t be right to seal off the archives just so we could have a chat, right?”

Twilight sat up, hope and excitement in her voice. “You’d be willing to talk about it?”

Celestia pulled up a chair next to Twilight, as if she was reading a bedtime story to her daughter.

Her gaze was stern, “Twilight I’m giving you information that hasn’t been known for the past millennia and a half because I trust you and I know that you’ll never rest easy until you understand. Can I trust that you won’t disclose this to anypony else, including your friends?”

Twilight gave her a determined look, “You can count on me Princess!”

Celestia smiled before continuing. “Well then, I suppose I should start from the beginning.”