Twilight Sparkle, the purple prodigy, trotted into the Family Archives of the Royal Canterlot Library. She wanted to read up on her entire family lineage, in order to discover exactly why she happened to be the most magical pony in Equestria, other than the Princesses of course.
The Sun filtered through the window, casting the gigantic archive of information in a seemingly mystical glow. The books- even the ones that had collected dust and grime over the years- seemed to shimmer in the warm light of Celestia's Sun. Life couldn't have been better for the unicorn mare.
She found her family's book easily. It was listed under 'S' for Sparkle. The unicorn marveled at how these books were organized. The books were enchanted to be listed under the most recent generation's last name. It was so cool! She brought her book to a table by one of the bigger windows and began to read. Flipping through the pages, she found that there was an extremely detailed record of her entire family line. Almost everypony was well documented, down to the color of their eyes. But something was nagging at her as she read.
That's strange. She thought. Most of the ponies in my family are Earth Ponies. Unicorns don't come along until very recently. And most of those Unicorns aren't very magical either. She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "Oh well." She said aloud. "I guess that I'll have to dig deeper." In all honesty, Twilight was actually thrilled that she would have to continue her research.
She smiled as she turned each individual page, reading off the names of long-since-dead relatives. "Cream Cake, Iron Bind, Caretaker. How can I be a Unicorn with so many Earth Ponies in my family?" She flipped further in the dusty old tome. "Blood Arbiter? Wasn't he a war criminal?" She wondered aloud to herself. So many strange ponies, but none that could even come close to the power that she possessed.
The sun had set long ago, and the Moon's mystical light now shone through the windows. Twilight was about to put the book back up on the shelf, having given up on trying to discover the source of her power, when an envelope fell to the floor from the book. What's this? She thought, lifting the paper with her magic. She read the front of the envelope out loud. "Final Page: Do Not Open Under Any Circumstances!" Twilight sighed. She wasn't one to break the rules, even if she so desperately wanted to know who these ponies were. They were the first ponies ever in her bloodline. I'll just... take the book with me. She told herself. To give a more in-depth study later on. That's the only reason that I am taking this book. She nodded resolutely to herself as she slid the book into her saddlebag. She, then, ran out of the library and out of the castle, determined to get home before being discovered with the book.
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Princess Celestia chuckled to herself as she wandered into the Royal Canterlot Library. Twilight must have found a very interesting read. With the way she was blushing, I suspect that she has been browsing the romance novels.
The Princess found herself in the Family Archives. I might as well look up this 'Mister Spanky' that Pinkie Pie told me about in her last letter. He's supposed to be the greatest slapstick comedian in all of Equestrian history.
As she browsed the books, however, something horrendous came to her attention. Right next to Spanky's book was an empty spot, a spot that was supposed to hold Twilight Sparkle's family tree. "No!" Celestia cried. "She must not find out!" She took off like a bullet, practically flying out of the library and down the hall to catch up with her Faithful Student, catching the attention of one of the Royal Guards.
"Is something wrong Princess?" He asked, breaking into a gallop to keep pace with her. As they exited the castle, Celestia turned and nodded to him.
"My student, Twilight Sparkle, has found the book." The guard gasped. "I want you to inform all of the other Royal Guards, Shining Armor included. We must stop her from finding out the truth." The guard nodded and raced in the other direction to inform all the others. Luna help me. I need strength, dear sister, If I am to stop this. The Princess unfurled her wings and took off to the skies. Surely, she could catch up to twilight faster this way. As she did so, she noticed a rumbling coming from the castle, and not ten seconds later, every last guard had poured out of the doors and was following in her wake. Sweet mother of Faust, I know this is an emergency, but they didn't have to bring the whole freaking cavalry!
Well, you did inform that one guard to alert all the others sister. Celestia turned to see Luna by her side. The Night Princess chuckled. Honestly, what else did you expect? Celestia shook her head and flew faster. She desperately had to catch up with her Faithful Student and stop her from reading the last page.
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Twilight crashed through the door of her home and dashed up to the comfort and safe confines of her own room and bed. She quickly worked her way under her soft covers, maneuvering into a comfortable position, and took the book out of her saddlebag. With only the slightest trepidation, she peeled open the cover once more and began to read, searching for those details that she may have missed.
About half-way through the book, however, she threw it across the room with a grunt of frustration. That was when Twilight noticed the single, forbidden envelope slip out of in between the pages. The envelope she wasn't supposed to open under any circumstances. The envelope that, no matter how wrong and forbidden it was, was too tempting not to open.
Like a crazed, starving, wild animal, the unicorn pounced at the envelope as though it were prey, and tore it open, freeing the page and leaving the envelope husk on the floor. The crazed joy, however, soon left her upon seeing the page, and was quickly being replaced by a sense of dread and pure terror. Her eyes scanned the page again to make sure that she hadn't read it wrong. Once the accuracy and legitimacy of the page had been confirmed, Twilight fell back on her haunches, dropped the paper, and let loose a throat-ripping screech.
Somewhere in the distance, a crack formed on the base of a statue.
When the Princesses- as well as all of the guards following them- heard the scream, they kicked it into overdrive. It was too late to stop Twilight from finding out, but maybe they could still console her and help her come to grips with the truth. Celestia cursed herself for leaving such a damning piece of paper in a library- no, in a book that Twilight was sure to read eventually. She may be a 'rule-follower', but her curiosity concerning facts would always win out in a battle with morals.
When they came into view of Twilight's home, Celestia silently commanded her guards to wait around the perimeter. She turned to Luna and Shining Armor and sighed. "Has Luna filled you in, Shining?" The stallion nodded, looking a little startled at the news, but taking it very well otherwise. "Good." Celestia said. "Then you understand the gravity of the situation on our hooves?" He gave a wry grin.
"Twili has always been a little melodramatic. I know what to expect." Luna raised an eyebrow at the Captain of the Royal Guard. "My sister accidentally burned one of our mother's favorite books when she was a filly." Shining explained. "She acted as though she had killed one of her classmates."
Celestia tried to stifle a chuckle. She turned to the door of the giant tree and tentatively placed a hoof in the center. As she pushed the door open, she peered inside. Finding no trace of the distraught unicorn in the room before her, she slowly trotted inside, followed by Luna and Shining. When the three ponies discovered that the ground floor held no ponies whatsoever- save themselves- they brought their search upstairs. They found Twilight in her room, her mane unkempt and her eyes bloodshot. She was curled in the fetal position, stroking her tail for comfort. They heard her mumbling inaudibly over and over. Shining pushed past the princesses and trotted over to his semi-catatonic sister.
"It's not true... Not true... No... No..." She violently shook her head. "Not true... Can't be true... Not possible..." Armor winced at the sight of Twilight. He reached out to put a comforting hoof on her back, but she scrambled away, shrieking at him.
"Twili!" He cried. He looked to the princesses for support, but they just stood there, dumbfounded. Luna's mouth stood agape as she tried to comprehend the situation before them. Twilight had begun to mumble again.
"It isn't true... You can't prove it... It's not true... No... Can't make me believe it..." Suddenly, she started screaming at them. "I don't care what the book says! It isn't true! It- It can't be true!" Celestia moved to Twilight's side. The crazed mare looked up at her teacher. Her voice became barely more that a whisper, and tears filled her eyes. "Is it true?"
Celestia nodded. "You are a direct descendant of the Draconequus Discord."
Twilight sniffled. "Am I- Am I evil?" She whimpered. Luna chuckled and came closer to Twilight.
"Dearest Twilight, you are incapable of choosing your own family." The Night Princess said. "Just because there is evil in your family's blood doesn't mean that you have to be evil." Shining looked down at his sister and smiled. She wiped the tears out of her eyes and stood on shaky legs.
"But how-" She paused, trying to form the question in her mind before continuing, which was proving to be an extremely difficult task. "How was a Draconequus able to-" Celestia sighed.
"The Draconeuuines, when they were plentiful, usually only had children within the species. But toward the end of their days, it was discovered that they were compatible with virtually every species in Equestria. In one year, Draconequus hybrids as common as the normal offspring."
"But then how are there so few unicorns in my family?" She asked.
"That's just the workings of Discord for you." She said. Twilight nodded. She reached out with her magic and levitated the page in front of them.
"It doesn't say who his mate was." She told them. "All that it says is 'Nondescript Alicorn'." Twilight paused. She looked from the page to Celestia and back to the page. Something clicked in her brain. "Celestia?" She whispered. "Did you and Discord ever-"
"What?" Celestia cut her off. "No! Never! Not even once! And even if I wanted to, which I don't, he is way too old for me." Luna giggled.
"Yes. You just keep telling yourself that, Sister." Celestia shot a nasty glare at Luna. If looks could kill. Twilight thought.
Shining spoke up. "Well then, who could it be?" He said. This was becoming very puzzling. The princesses shrugged.
"We have no clue as to who Discord's first wife may have been. It's actually pretty surprising that anypony was able to tie him down in the first place." Celestia said. Twilight reached up and tapped Celestia's shoulder. "What is it, my Faithful Student?"
Twilight gulped down the fear that was building inside of her. "Can I- Can I see him?" She asked. Celestia looked as though she was going to say no, but thought better of it.
"Of course you can Twilight. I suspect that you have a lot of questions, and even though he can't answer them, I'm sure that at least getting them off of your chest will help you come to terms with your lineage." The three of them helped Twilight down the stairs and out the front door. Once there, Celestia stopped, puzzled by another thing. "Twilight? Where is Spike?"
"Oh!" The unicorn giggled. "He's spending the night with the Cutie Mark Crusaders at Rarity's house." She said. Celestia nodded. As they trotted out, Twilight noticed all of the Royal Guards surrounding her building. "Um... Princess? Why are they all here?" Celestia blushed slightly.
"N- necessary precautions." The Sun Princess stammered. She couldn't help it. Twilight fell to the ground, laughing her flank off. The laughter was infectious. Within seconds, all four of them were rolling on the ground, giggling, laughing, chuckling, or chortling. Soon, the Royal Guards began to feel the effects of the laughter as well. An entire group of about seventy-eight ponies were all laughing, waking a nearby neighbor.
"Quiet!" The disgruntled mare screamed, which only elicited more laughter from the ponies.
As she regained her composure, Luna turned to Twilight. "Would you like to fly to Canterlot, or shall we take the magical route?" She asked. Twilight smiled.
"Let's fly." She said.
