The Worth of Wordsby StormyVentureChaptersChapter 1 - FrustrationChapter 2 - RevelationChapter 3 - The Truth of the MatterChapter 4 - ResearchChapter 5 - More ResearchChapter 6 - Useful InformationChapter 1 - FrustrationMorning Celestia sat in front of her papers. The events of a week past brought to mind by a passing glimpse in the street and an offical visit to one of Canterlot's many orphanages that morning. Trying to dodge the paperwork had only gotten her fixated on her response to Twilight's need to regain her composure after the shocking revelation that she was adopted and her off the handle reaction to it. “Just words.” Was that all it really was? It was and it wasn't. She knew that, literally speaking, it was true at some level, but deep inside it didn't sit well. Avoiding the real truth forever might save her some face and a measure of order, but knowing that Twilight didn't know hurt deeply. This was one of those secrets that didn't want to be kept, even if it made logical sense at the time. There was also the slight chance that Twilight might figure it out on her own, some day. Still, what would Twilight think if she knew? How much would it hurt to know that her mother was one and the same with her teacher, the solar diarch of Equestria? It was bad enough to be adopted, such a thing couldn't be undone. To be adopted generally meant that you had been abandoned. Such a thing was not well received. Most ponies felt that it was only tolerable when nothing else could be done. Among the lower classes, those without the idiocy nobles seemed with their birthright, it was up there with the worst things imaginable a mare or stallion could do to their child short of infanticide and neglect and a few others. Ten years of working with your teacher and never knowing she was your mother, never knowing why you of all ponies might receive better treatment than most even from a kind and benevolent leader. Celestia sat there for several hours considering what she should do, besides what she had done in the past. She wanted to tell Twilight, but aside from the immediate consequences there were so many ways harm could be caused. She didn't want to drive any kind of wedge between Twilight and her parents, nor drive Twilight away from her by cause of hurt and betrayal of a sort. On the other hand, she knew that if she never told her, it would hurt forever not to have ever had that chance, the very one she'd suffered so much for. To have a child of her own, and not be the source of more royal disputes. Resolving to speak with her sister, Luna, later. She forced herself back to work with the practiced ease of a ruler with more than a thousand years under their belt, shoving her thoughts and distress into a distant corner of her mind. Evening “Gah!, why hast thou let in the light?!”, gasped Luna, tugging the sheets further over her head when the light awoke her. The pegasus mare adjusting the curtains freaked out and slammed into the wall behind her. Once she had regained her footing and her composure, she stood stiffly. “Will your majesty be leaving bed today?”, she inquired, hesitantly. Poking her muzzle out from under the covers, Luna yawned. “Is it time already?”, she demanded, squinting at the mare. “Indeed, err, yes, your highness.”, squeaked the mare whose nerves were almost completely shot from the sudden shock a moment ago. Grumbling, the princess of the night slid out from between the sheets and onto the floor. She levitated her tiara and shoes over with her magic and slid them on with a combination of practiced ease and the constant reminder of a thousand years without the burden of them. With a sigh, she trotted to her personal bathroom. She scowled at the mirror, which reflected her disheveled look and uncombed coat, a frustration, despite the near perfect state of her part-ethereal mane (which resisted ordinary bed-head). "Ugh,.. why must the night be so short.", she muttered to herself. She lifted her brush and straightened out the worst, removing the knots. "Can't have all those servants crowding around me, complaining about the way I look...". Then she trotted out the door and down the stairs. Celestia sat on a plush cushion, absentmindedly chewing on her salad, reading the news, and pining for a slice of cake. When Luna arrived, she looked up from the salad long enough to greet her, the stresses of the day just barely evident. "Good Evening, Luna." Luna yawned, for the second or third time that evening. "Good Evening, sister, though I wish it were dark already." Celestia sighed. She knew her sister well. About halfway through their meal, Celestia was reminded of an occasion a good many years ago when Twilight had arrived for their lessons half asleep. This broke her concentration and brought on a mournful sigh. From the other end of the table, Luna heard it, and wondered. She cocked an eyebrow with a confused expression on her face. Ever since her return, her sister's disposition hadn't been anything less than sunny. She had suspected that Celestia was putting on a good face; after all Luna knew a little of what politics could be like and that in retrospect the last thousand years had been hard on her sister. This look was a new one, though, at least since her return. "Sister?" Celestia, distracted from her internal contemplations, directed her gaze towards her sister. "Yes, Luna?" For a moment, Luna grappled silently with her words, considering them. Finding it too hard, she reverted to using words she was more familiar with. "Why art thou upset? Has something happened?" Celestia burst into tears for a moment, then fled the dining hall with as much dignity as possible, teleporting away in a flash of light once around the corner. The princess of the night sat with her mouth wide open, utterly confused at the reaction. Several minutes later, having recovered, she closed her mouth, hoping nobody had seen her behavior. Being the impulsive sort, she went off to seek her sister, but with much less haste. She walked quietly and quickly through the halls to her sister's chambers. On her arrival, the guards gave her an uneasy look, but let her approach. Obviously they knew something was up, or at least they had an inkling. Chapter 2 - RevelationLuna stood for a moment, hesitantly, then steeled herself and knocked on the great oaken door. Hearing nothing in response and only the faintest sound of crying from within, she knocked a second time, somewhat harder. The only response to this was the illumination of the door with a magical aura and the door opening just barely wide enough to admit her. Frowning at the indignity of squeezing through the door, the princess of the night nevertheless folded her wings completely and squeezed through the space. A moment later the door closed behind her and the aura faded away. The guards outside behaved as usual, but favored each with the slightest hint of hope. Hope that the Princess would return, it was never a good day when she barricaded herself within her rooms. Celestia's moods, and now Luna's since her return, often set the castle staff on edge and their very presence or absence plus their attitude on a given day tended to comfort or stress out the staff with some regularity. Celestia lay on her bed, curled up beneath her wings, hiding from the world. She avoided even the faintest glimpse of the sun. Between sobs, she silently cursed herself for every little detail of this whole circumstance since that fateful day 15 years past. Why had she broken one ancient promise, kept for years? What good could it do, and to make matters worse it had ultimately been for her, and benefited her lover little. If that wasn't bad enough, she had made her daughter her student and passed on many difficult things to her, knowing that failure to complete the task Celestia set would alone have been crushing. All issues aside, she could have kept Twilight at her side had she suffered the difficulties of her existence. Perhaps it was for the better, since she would have few friends at court, but still she could not benefit from the position that ought rightfully to have been hers. In the midst of all this, she cursed even at the intrusion of her Sister into the matter. The only pony in the last five centuries or even the last millennium who could crack her outer layer of composure just by being herself. She could keep up this mask forever, in some sense, in front of ponies whose comparatively short lives left them blind to some of the greater sorrows and frustrations of the exceptionally long lived. On the other hand, against her own mind and Luna, she had little defense. Things cracked and broke inwardly and Luna was the last straw for the outside, at least for a little while. Oblivious to the world, she wept for her folly, and her indifference, crying over the sorrows of being a pony and the inability to wholly resist emotions indefinitely. From the corner of the room, Luna watched on - profound curiosity mixed with concern. Ever since her return, her Sister had proven to be very much a distant pony, excepting occasional moments of affection. A thousand years of separation had changed her, perhaps not entirely for the best. She had not, though, expected anything like this. For several moments, she looked on, hoping for some further acknowledgment of her presence. At last, convinced of the need to act directly, she moved slowly and deliberately to Celestia's side. She glanced back for a moment, assuring herself that the door was locked. Privacy assured, she prodded the nearest of Celestia's wings gently. Encouraged by the slightest upward movement, she crawled onto the bed next to Celestia, and sat on the bed beside her, under the raised wing. Luna's presence brought Celestia back to reality, comforting though it was. "Sister,.. I..", Celestia, the almighty, broke down into a brief shower of tears. "Yes, Celly?", Luna prompted, tilting her ears and looking her Sister in the face. "I have a dilemma... and I know what I ought to do, but I fear it will not end well..." The princess of the night wondered silently what manner of dilemma this might be. Surely it could not be that dire or so simple as a conflict, or it would have been dealt with swiftly. What could be causing Celestia so much distress? "If you cannot tell me what pains you so, how could I possibly help you?" Celestia sighed deeply, a look of deep sorrow etched onto her face. "You know that you are Cadence's great, great, however many times grandmare, yes?" Luna tapped her chin thoughtfully, recalling what she had learned since her return and trying to make it mesh with the events of a thousand years past. "I suppose, but I shall have to bear with you on this one as well. After all, I was not here for her birth or that of most of her ancestors." Celestia sighed again, how often she wished she had not lost Luna to the Nightmare, it was hard to have that brought to mind every time the slightest of modern things required an explanation. "Well, you see, Luna, the squabbles among the ponies who could claim descent from use came to head two centuries after you left. After having to explain to yet another generation of over entitled ponies that their ancestry did not make them my heirs I resolved to end their disputing... I vowed never to have any kind of personal relationship extending beyond friendship that I might never again have descendants related closely enough to have any kind of better claim than a connection twenty or thirty generations past." This information caught Luna by surprise, though it surprised her less than the things of modernity. "Of all ponies, I would not have thought you could manage that.", Luna remarked, suppressing, with some difficulty, a fit of giggles. Celestia grimaced, her Sister had not had to deal with the impudent and occasionally violent uprisings from several quarters that had attempted to depose her. Those had been terrible times for her ponies, and left her frustrated and wracked with grief at having occasionally had to put member of her family, distantly related to be sure, to death for treason. She could not be impartial, intentionally causing bodily harm and killing ponies to get to her could not go unpunished. Truthfully, it had not been easy restraining herself in such a fashion. "A century earlier I might not have, " she began, "but the hurt I suffered and the injury and death of ponies near and dear to me made it clear that it could not be. However, I fear it may yet be again..." Celestia leaned into her sister and nuzzled her, then she spoke. "About fifteen years ago, after seven and a half centuries, the latter two or three mostly peaceful, I caved. A certain pony had convinced me of his love, and I liked him as well. Nevertheless, it was a star-crossed thing. I knew it the moment it began, but I had hoped it would not end as it did." Chapter 3 - The Truth of the MatterCelestia stared out the window, another teardrop inching it's way down her face like so many before. "It might not have exactly been the romance of a millennia, but it hurt, Luna. Of all ponies, I think you know best what I mean. If nothing had come of it that might have been for the best and I would not be in this state, nor suffering from this dilemma..." Her voice tapered off, her consciousness wandering the distant reaches of her mind and memory, eyes open, but not looking. At her side, Luna looked on. The princess of the night suspected she knew where this was going. If only life could be simple, she thought, there would be much less suffering. All that remained was for her Sister to spit it out, the truthful reality of the matter. Intuition and familiarity was wonderful, but if this was indeed such a difficult problem for Celestia, then it called for as much honesty as possible. "I thought...", Celestia began, "I thought I would have the time with him to smooth all this over, but as I have said, it was not so. I cannot recall whether I ever told him, but I wanted something of him. Oh,.. I got it... I did, but he never got to see her." "Who?" Luna asked, though it was something of a rhetorical question. She could well guess where this was going, but she would wait and see what her sister had to say. "Her." That was all Celestia said, though her tone of voice contained a depth of mournful sadness. For a few moments, the silence enveloped the room, the sound of the air moving amplified by the emptiness. "My daughter... Our daughter...", she quickly corrected herself as though that fact was of great meaning. A few tears coursed down her face and dripped onto the bed, adding to the dampness of the darkened half circle of bed coverings below her. At this, Luna's demeanor changed, she looked on incredulously. Her sister had a foal? It seemed that she had guessed correctly. At last she could see what the great problem was. There had to be more to it, though, for clearly it was not common knowledge. If it had been, surely she would have heard and indeed the guards would certainly have been less nervous. The princess of the night had not seen another Alicorn, nor did she know the mare Celestia referred to. She had not seen anypony that might fit that description either. Such ancestry would not have gone unnoticed before her banishment. Luna grimaced, Celestia must have covered up this detail. For all her Sister's integrity, she often took great pains to hide her mistakes and problems either for her own benefit or that of others. The statue garden for instance. Though she loved her Sister greatly, these attempts sometimes ended poorly, sometimes worse than if the truth and/or the reality of things had simply been let be. "She deserves to know, though it will hurt her greatly and yet she does not deserve the pain that this knowledge will bring." Celestia hung her head in anguish, "I abandoned her, forced her into the arms of my lover's family. All this I did to save myself the suffering and spare her unwanted attention. Now I am torn between hiding it so long as I may, forever if I dare and fate wills, and revealing it whatever the cost." Back and forth across the floor she paced nervously. "Now, I find myself regretting the cost, to myself, but mostly to her and those who I ought rightly be able to be close with." "What do I do, Luna?" Celestia gazed at Luna with a pleading look in her eyes. "It is being stuck between a rock and a hard place. "I will have to think on this, sister, but when I return I would like you to tell me who she is. Are you willing to tell me?" Celestia swallowed, and then nodded hesitantly. Hours later, after the closing of the Night Court, Luna sat, on a cushion, observing her beautiful night sky. What was she supposed to say she wondered, Celestia had always been the decisive one driven by cold logic and reason. Now, it seemed, the tables had been turned. The dreamer and the emotional asked to be the voice of logic and reason, but then perhaps that was not the problem. She had considered the issue at some length... Personally, she was strongly in favor of informing the pony in question, it wasn't right that they shouldn't know their biological mother—especially if she happened to still be alive. Besides, the thought of family was pleasant to Luna, her sister was one of the few ponies in existence that she was comfortable being herself around and not hiding her moods and emotions. The ways Luna's mood swung would deeply unnerve the nobles, and her emotional responses might concern others much about her fitness to rule. As if they knew anything, she had more experience than they before she was banished and had probably forgotten more than they remembered. As she sat there pondering how to present her reply, the dawn broke before her eyes and the first rays of the sun peeked over the landscape. She might as well get this over with. The princess of the night gently lifted herself off the pillow, the warm pillow she thought as the slight chill in the air cooled her previously insulated belly. She stretched out and her hooves for a moment and then rose to her full stature and left the room, glancing one last time out the window. A glorious sunrise indeed, though it brought uncertainty with it. For better or worse, she would press her view of the matter. Some distance away, Celestia stood outside on a balcony, watching the sun rise. Normally this would have been a calming sight and a very relaxing moment. This morning however, she was nervous. "I hope Luna has her answer and she isn't going to take this opportunity to prank me.' she muttered darkly. She shouldn't think ill of her sister, but she had pulled a good one on her the other day and the princess of the night still had a thousand years of missed pranking to catch up on. If there was a quintessential prankster, it could be Luna, although Discord had her beat, but then Discord could be downright malicious. At that very moment her thoughts were interrupted by the gentle clicking of metal shod hooves on the floor. Judging by the hour of morning, the privacy of the spot, and her standing orders to the guards to stay at their posts and keep anypony from bothering her, surely it must be her sister. With some apprehension and trepidation she turned around to meet her sister. "Good morning, Luna." Luna frowned for a moment, "The sun rises anew, and night sleeps." This caught Celestia by surprise, that was truly an old saying, though she regained her composure quickly. "You surprise me every day sister. Have you come to a decision?" The princess of the night considered her words as though much weighed on them, then she replied. "I have. Are you prepared to tell me who this pony is, then?" For a moment, Celestia hesitated, was she going to renege? Then she sighed deeply. "Very well, her name is Twilight Sparkle." Luna's jaw dropped, if it had fallen further it might have hit the floor. As it was, she was floored by this new information. Her mind churned, the metaphorical waves frothing and bubbling away. At last, this detail and it's implications sunk in. "Oh.., no...", Luna breathed deeply, "Sister... you mean to tell me that you of all ponies, abandoned Twilight Sparkle?! Then you make her your student, and all this time you've never told her?" Luna sighed. "This is going to be very rough on her.", she said, a look of sadness crossing her face. A couple of tears leaked out from behind Celestia's mask of composure. Speaking carefully, so as to stifle her emotions, she spoke. "I know." Her voice trailed off into silence. For a moment, you could have heard a pin drop, then Luna began to speak. "Sister,... I do believe thou hast been quite cruel to thy faithful student. Nevertheless, We must consider the consequences and possibilities. No doubt, should this come out it will cause a stir. With luck, by now the populace will be less likely to accuse you of nepotism regarding your choice of student. Still, it will not help your reputation among our subjects to find that you abandoned your child.." The princess paused to take a breath. "'Tia, I know it may hurt to remind yourself, but you need to tell me the rest of the story. Yes, I had guessed you were leaving things out... We may need to act quickly or make some decisions soon. Twilight Sparkle is a very curious pony and she may be seeking the truth at this very moment. To make attempts to hide this further may jeopardize it's secrecy." Chapter 4 - ResearchElsewhere in Canterlot Twilight Sparkle trudged slowly along the road. The whole day's turmoil had left her very, very tired. As it was, she felt only a little better. She owed her parents an apology for her sudden departure, but she didn't really want to face her brother right now. He had stolen a happy life from her in a moment of drunken stupor and she found it hard to forgive him for that. It really was adding insult to injury to mess with a person like that, and not even when you were in a right state of mind. After what seemed an eternity, she reached her parent's home, though they weren't really her parents, she reminded herself, just her family – maybe. Pushing on the door and finding it open and unlocked, she snuck in quietly and dragged herself to her room, locking and magically sealing the door behind her. Unbeknownst to her, her arrival had not gone unnoticed. From the kitchen came the sound of two let out sighs. Night Light looked at his wife, pleadingly. "She's going to have to find out one of these days, dear.", he said softly. Twinkle looked at him with resentment. "Not from me, Night Light. Don't you even think about it either. Our daughter deserves an answer, yes, but not from us." She grimaced."She'll just have to find out the hard way, unless a certain someone decides to tell her first." Night Light sighed, he could see the anger and resentment that still seethed under his wife's skin. Despite her love for Twilight, her grudge against the Princess hadn't grown any colder over the years. If only things hadn't happened as they had, the world would be a better place. He wished she would just let it go, it wasn't helping her or Twilight and it wouldn't help Celestia, though perhaps she alone deserved the pain most. It still wasn't fair to treat a pony that way, even an immortal Alicorn. That night Twilight slept fitfully and dreamed strange dreams, she imagined all kinds of different parents for herself: pegasi, unicorns, earth ponies, even the princesses respectively, though she dismissed those as utter fantasy and unbelievably impossible. It was hard to imagine that her real parents could have loved her so little to have abandoned her or what other circumstance could have driven them to do so. In the morning, Twilight woke up, the sun already high in the sky. For a moment she was somewhat happy, until she remembered the day before. In a moment all the unhappiness and frustration returned. Sighing, she tried to shove it into the back of her mind. Leaving her room, unsealing the door in the progress, she took the stairs at a very sedate pace. Stepping into the kitchen she found her father, well, adoptive father, making breakfast. Hay sweetened with a little sugar. "Good morning, dad." Dad... It just sort of hung forlornly on the end of the sentence. The thing was it felt all wrong, now that she had some idea of the truth. "Good morning, dear." The words were no different than they had ever been, not really, but now there was a tension present that had not been evident before. After they had finished eating breakfast, Twilight brought up the big question. "I'm sorry, Dad, about yesterday, that is." "You don't have to be sorry Twilight. I don't know how we expected you to handle that news. Shining really shouldn't have said what he did." "So, who are my real parents, Dad." Night Light's smile dimmed considerably. "I wish I could tell you Twilight. Your mom doesn't want to tell you. Please be careful, Twilight, this is a very sensitive issue for her. I'm afraid you'll have to figure it out yourself, you may not like the truth very much." Twilight frowned. What could be the matter, clearly something was up. Her mother had always seemed to be a bright, upbeat pony. Now she wasn't certain, was it a mask, what was her mother hiding? What could there possibly be to do with Twilight's parentage that prompted that kind of reaction to it. Did something happen to her mom? She sighed resignedly. "Ok, dad." The word still felt strange to her, in light of her new found knowledge. "When I discover the truth, I want to hear the whole story. Please?" Night Light's brow creased in concern. "I don't know, Twilight, I just don't know." Twilight resolved to do some research. Where would she even begin though? The Canterlot Archives! Every pony’s birth and death ever recorded had to be marked down there somewhere. The rest of the day was spent by writing checklists and reading books concerning family and researching your background. Genealogy. The next morning she awoke, made breakfast quietly, and gathered her things. An hour and a half of fast walking later, she reached the Canterlot Archives. For a few moments she stood very still, short of breath, and admired the architecture. Clearly it had been inspired by the castle and later derivations of the style. In front of her an arch ten ponies high soared above the ground and to either side the building stretched several hundred feet and stood 5 stories high. Arched windows lined the sides and the corners were capped with towers. In the middle a cluster of linked towers were connected with white bridges spanning the distance between them. Collecting her thoughts, she trotted in through the doors and up to the main desk, but not before gasping at the shelves in the distance. This place dwarfed the palace library, but contained mostly records. Impressive, yes, boring, most definitely. Except perhaps if it contained the answers she sought... Twilight spoke up, "Excuse me." The mare at the desk looked up, "Can I help you, miss?" "Yes. I'm looking for birth and adoption records. I'm curious how common adoption is in Canterlot." The mare behind the desk scrutinized her for a second, "I bet it's pretty low, given the stigma associated with it. If you go left here, and take the back stairs up to the fifth floor, you should find what you're looking for." Stigma? Twilight didn't know there was anything particular anyone had against it, but then she should have guessed—there were a lot of snobby, uptight ponies in Canterlot. Walking away, Twilight wondered what she'd find. She hoped her birth parents weren't earth ponies. It was rare but possible and in that case she wouldn't be surprised at all that they abandoned her. That seemed extremely unlikely given her magical ability. Pegasi were slightly more plausible, but still far out. No, her parents were most likely unicorns. What kind of unicorn would abandon their child to be raised by another. Most nobility, even the lesser would keep their foal that was a unicorn, no matter how infirm, over any kind of non-unicorn foal if only to avoid societal embarrassment and being shunned. Up she climbed, the broad wide steps proceeding upwards in a wide spiral. There were a lot of steps because of the high ceilings, around 16 feet or so, and when she got there she was breathing heavily. Whew, that was a lot of exercise Twilight thought. At least I can scratch daily exercise off for today. Her heavier than usual breathing echoed a little in the vast empty space. There wasn't as much dust in here as in the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the palace library, but it was still pretty thick, even if it was thicker on the books than on the floor. Twilight walked some ways until she found an area with somewhat less dust. It was still dusty, but had evidently been visited in recent memory. The shelf was labeled 'Births' in neat and concise lettering, evidently the work of a unicorn. This shelf and the ones near it were filled with bound volumes, with think cloth grips, tooth marks evident, carefully marked by city and the year. Records – Canterlot AS 850, Records – Canterlot AS 865, Records – Canterlot AS 890 Records – Canterlot AS 915, Records – Canterlot AS 934, Records – Canterlot AS 957, Records – Canterlot AS 972, Records – Canterlot AS 987 There it was, an average year by comparison to it's varied neighbors, but it was the year of her birth nevertheless. Enveloping the book in her magic she tugged gently until the book slid off the shelf. Hefting the tome, for a tome it was despite it's relatively small size in comparison to some of it's immediate neighbors, she walked quietly to a table. Whisking the dust off both the table and the book with a simple cleaning spell, she put down the book. For several long moments she looked at it. It wasn't anything complicated, but she hoped it would bring some resolution to this matter. You could always find the answer to your questions in a book she thought, well, almost. Flipping through the book, she stopped briefly each time she found a pony she knew. Eventually she came to S. Sparkle, Twilight b. 2:15p may 17th, 987 RS. d. There she was. So, that was it, then. She glanced back at the book, and what she saw almost made her cry. father - Sparkle, Dusk Flame; Unicorn b. 951 RS d. 986 RS mother - not known, not known b. not known d Twilight's stomach felt queasy. She had been so cruel to her parents. Declaring how awful they were and how they weren't even her family. To find that she was actually related to them, somehow, left her feeling uncomfortable. Still, surely something was known about this mysterious member of the Sparkle clan. She couldn't ask around here. Her birth father hadn't even lived to see her, to know that she even existed. This thought left her numb. On the other hand, it seemed highly unusual for nothing about her mother to be recorded. Obviously something unusual was up. Perhaps it had been a momentary thing, but if her father never met her or knew of her, from where did they get the information? She knew her parents must be hiding something, but what were they hiding and why? There would be no answer from that quarter it seemed. Author's Note * AS -- Aetas Solis, Age of the Sun (seems contrived, but I needed a reckoning to use. I also just selected some general dates. A little tweaking of that may occur in the future. Chapter 5 - More ResearchShining Armor trotted to Princess Celestia's study with all due haste. His presence had been requested at an inconvenient time, so he had been dashing around all morning. It was now mid afternoon and he was hurrying, hoping that he'd make it on time. Rounding the final corner, he came to an abrupt stop, head sagging and breathing heavily. He nodded mutely, still breathing heavily, to the guards a moment later. They opened the door for him and motioned him. "The Princess is ready to see you, Captain." Shining walked obediently into the study, as the doors shut behind him. "Ah, finally, so good to see you Captain!" The Princess seemed awfully tense behind her usual mask of patient benevolence. She motioned to him. "Do take a seat." Relaxing, Shining Armor sat, heavily, on the indicated cushion. I hear you caused your sister significant distress, Captain, you should be more careful." Shining shrank a little. Great, he should have known this would come back to bite him. Work and personal life were never truly separate when you were married to one Princess and brother to another Princess' personal student... "I'm sure Cadence had a chat with you, Shining, but since I had to deal with a very distraught unicorn I thought we might talk." Shining Armor nodded hesitantly. "Between the two of us, Shining, your sister can get a little emotionally worked up, and finding out that you're adopted is very hard on a pony in our society, especially Canterlot." She looked at him rather pointedly. "I know, Princess, and I ought to apologize, but I didn't want to bring it up again..." Celestia seemed to think about this for a moment. "Sooner might be better than later, it's not good to let this kind of thing go. Cadence will probably bug you until you deal with it anyway." "Heh, yeah, probably.", Shining said, glancing around to see whether his wife might have somehow entered unheard. Comforted, strangely, by the absence of a certain pink Alicorn, he relaxed in his seat. Noticing how tense Celestia seemed, it only seemed fit to inquire. "Are you okay, Princess? You seem a little tense." Celestia jerked, startled out of her thoughts. "I'm fine, just a little tired. Everypony seems to forget that alicorns aren't utterly perfect in every way." She shouldn't lie, she thought, but then that was only a half-truth. She was a bit tired, but it didn't have much to do with sleeping – unless, of course, you counted not sleeping very well these past several days. As it was, her mind seemed determined to play out all possible scenarios where Twilight never found out who her real mother was. It shouldn't bother her so much, she tried to convince herself, but then how many of her children had been part of her regular life, much less been her personal student and that was long ago. Sweeping away the thoughts, she returned her focus to the present. "Captain, you are dismissed. That is, unless you need something?" Celestia tried to give the vague impression that if he wanted to avoid Cadence, who often stopped in to see Celestia, when he didn't have anywhere else to be, that he might want to get going. It was disingenuous of her, but it served her purposes. "Yes, your majesty. Or rather, no, nothing else I need." Shining Armor snapped a salute and with the gesture returned left in a dignified haste. Earlier that day Twilight eyed her room critically. What a mess. She really should clean up, she missed having Spike around to keep things tidy. I ought to put that on that on the checklist, she thought, grabbing a sheet and a quill from desk with a quick telekinesis spell. She jotted the thought down and then folded the sheet and tucked it into her packed bags, then settled them on her flank. Whistling softly, she climbed down the stairs. Another day of research, what fun! If only it were a less depressing and disheartening topic she thought to herself. "See you later, Twilight" Night Lighted called from the kitchen. "Yep. See you later too,.. Dad." Still not over that, she thought sadly, detecting the slight drag in calling him Dad. It still didn't feel quite right, maybe okay, but not right. A long walk later, Twilight arrived at the archives. This time, her destination certain, she didn't stop to talk to the receptionist, but headed straight to the third floor. In the absence of a better place to start, she had decided to work on a bit of a family tree. She'd have to work on this blind, because she assumed her parents might not be forthcoming. Setting her saddlebags on the table, she walked over to the shelves. Scanning the shelves, she selected six separate books based on what she could remember of her "parents" and "grandparents" birthdays. Much later that afternoon, Twilight Sparkle sat in front of a drawn out tree connecting her known "family". The days effort only left her with her parents and their parents birthdays and relations. and her brother. On the left side a name was written, "Dusk Flame Sparkle", circled in red with a question mark beside it. The most interesting information she'd gained was that her mother might have had a sibling, or maybe the mark out was a spelling mistake. It wasn't really possible to tell and her mother likely wouldn't confirm or deny anything. Twilight and her mother could be notoriously stubborn at times. She sighed. The day hadn't been entirely worthless, she had consulted the adoption records, in between fruitless work, and found that fifteen percent or more of foals in Canterlot were adopted, mostly from within the city proper though and only rarely by those of noble birth. She hadn't found any proof of her being adopted though, merely a statement of a transfer of legal guardianship. It wasn't particularly clear *from* whom said guardianship might have been transferred. It couldn't have been her father, since he had died before she was born. It could have been her mother, but if so, why didn't the records indicate who she was? The seal of the crown was irrelevant and useless, since the monarchy effectively confirmed all legal matters indirectly. Dissatisfied with her results, and resolving to dig deeper, Twilight tidied up her paper and quills, placing them in her saddlebags. Satisfied that everything was in order, she lifted her saddlebags onto her flanks magically, securing them in the process. With some effort, she collected all the books from the table and systematically shelved them, before heading down the stairs. She slipped out the front doors of the archives, into the rain. "Ugh.", she muttered to herself, magicking her saddlebags so they would stay dry. Then she hurried home through the rain. She arrived at home, tired and wet. Twilight pushed open the door, waved hello to her parents and went upstairs, dripping water droplets all the way. "Twilight! Could you please not drip all over the house?", said Twilight Velvet from the kitchen. Twilight sighed. "Yes, -mom-". In her frustration, she put extra emphasis on the mom. There was silence from the kitchen. She sighed, then quietly headed upstairs to the bathroom after using her magic to dry up the wet spots. Early Evening *knock, knock* Yes...? Twilight walked over to the door, opening it halfway. When she saw who it was, her pupils shrank in size. "What do you want now? Any new stunning revelations?" She put her hoof up to her mouth with a slightly shocked look. Yeah, she was mad, but clearly she wasn't as over that as she thought. Twilight stood there half-way between apologizing for her words and just shutting the door and crying. Shining Armor cringed at her words, and the tone of voice. He'd been afraid this might happen, it was why he'd been so reluctant to even go see her. If it hadn't been for Cadence, his discomfort might have gotten the better of him. "I just wanted to say that I’m sorry, Twilight...", he said, stopping when he saw that she was a bit out of it. So he waited for her to recover. "Where were we?", Twilight muttered, still looking very strained. "I was saying that I was sorry for my words the other day." "I see. Well it'd be really great if you could NEVER do that again! You have no idea what it's like to find out that your parents aren't your parents and you were told this, not politely, but by your drunken brother!" "I'm really sorry, Twiley... I just don't want it to be like this between us forever." Twilight sighed. " Fine. I forgive you. Is there anything else you'd like to share?" Shining Armor relaxed a bit, and sat down in the doorway. "No, not really. Although while we're talking about family, did mom and dad ever tell you about my uncle?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Nope, never heard of him." "Well, he was a unicorn too, duh right? He was in the royal guard and I really found him inspiring and that's the other reason I wanted to be in the guard. He died when I was five years old. Mom and Dad adopted you right around then, and well I was really happy to have a little sister." Author's Note Sorry for the clipped conversation at the end, that scene is not quite ended in this chapter. Maybe I'll edit the chapter and add the rest in when I write it? :) Also, I spell checked this chapter, but I haven't done any proofreading or editing yet. If something sounds grammatically strange or poorly arranged that's probably why. Chapter 6 - Useful Information"Shining?" "Yes, Twilight?" "Do you remember anything from when I was adopted?" Shining scratched his chin with his hoof, staring out into empty space. Several minutes later he put his hoof back on the floor. "Yeah, I do, actually. Mom and Princess Celestia used to be pretty good friends, until they were having a conversation one day. They seemed to be arguing about something and Mom sent me to my room." He paused for a moment. "She stopped visiting after that, the Princess that is. I asked Mom what happened to Auntie 'lestia. Mom told me to never mention that name again. I guess she was pretty angry. I never could figure that out. From that day on we never stuck around if Celestia showed up where we were. Dad and I were always frustrated about it and we missed some fun stuff because of it." Shining frowned. Twilight sat thoughtfully and attentively. "Mom almost never came to visit me when I was at the royal guard academy either, except to take me home and drop me off again. Sometimes we had to leave in a hurry, because the Princess was there. She came to graduation, but she seemed awful tense and she and dad left as soon as they could." "I wonder why that was, she didn't seem to be acting strangely when Celestia announced the ponies accepted into her school, me included.", said Twilight Shining raised an eyebrow, then thought about that for a second. "No, she didn't, did she. That does seem odd." "When did your uncle die?", asked Twilight. "I'm not really sure exactly. Mom told me that he had died one day when I asked when he was coming to visit again." Shining wiped a glistening tear from his eye. "I think maybe it was around the time of the Princess' last visit. I think maybe she came to talk to Mom about it." "Do you know what his name was?" Twilight asked. "Well, duh." said Shining belligerently. "Well, at least Mom called him Dusk. I seem to recall calling him uncle D." Shining shuddered. "I'm sure I was a cute colt, but ugh. You'd think I could have managed to say his name." Twilight considered this detail. What were the odds. The pieces seemed to point to the possibility that her father and Shining's uncle may have been the same pony. He had the same name as Shining's uncle and the death of Shining's uncle coincided with his death, both prior to her adoption. Perhaps the obscured information in the record wasn't an accident, but why would anyone do that? She didn't want to bring it up with her mother. It would likely pain her, and there was no knowing how she'd react if Twilight pressed this issue. Her dad had been pretty clear that it was a sensitive issue. Maybe she could visit her grandmother and find out more about her mother and shining's uncle? "Hmm.. Well, don't let me keep you, Shining, I'm sure you have other things to do. Shining sighed and said good-bye. He hoped Cadence wasn't right outside. Twilight thought about when was the best time to visit. It was already late in the evening, so today was probably out. Maybe tomorrow? No, she was doing stuff with family tomorrow. The day after next then. Grabbing a quill in her magic she dipped it in a inkwell, then grabbed a sheet of paper. Time to make a checklist. * spend tomorrow with family * go see grandmother day after tomorrow * ask about Shining's uncle She sighed, hopefully she'd get some answers soon. She still didn't have a clue who her mother was. With luck, perhaps she could perhaps figure out what happened to Shining's uncle from her "grandparents". The thought stung a little. They'd always treated her well, but it hurt to think that she probably wasn't related in the way she'd used to think. Maybe she'd go to the castle later and see whether anyone there knew anything. Surely, if he'd had a special somepony, someone would remember seeing them together? If nothing else, perhaps she could disprove her theory. It would probably hurt, but she'd need to make some progress if she wanted to get closer to the answers. Twilight frowned, sinking a bit further into her cushion. If only someone could just tell her. It wasn't like it could hurt much more at this point, right? And what exactly was going on with her mother? Sure, according to Shining, she'd been this way for a long time, but how could she not have noticed? There had to be a reason. Setting aside that thought, Twilight pulled another sheet of paper to her, then dipped her quill in the ink again. She began writing a letter to Spike. Dear Spike, I probably won't be back for a few more days. I've recently learned some distressing things. Please don't read this aloud and don't tell anyone! Turns out I was adopted, my stupid brother just had to tell me while he was drunk... Still wondering why Mom and Dad never told me. Anyway, sorry you're stuck there. Well, less sorry than I should be. Anyway, hope you're okay. Don't forget to keep the books shelved. P.S. I miss you. Twilight After signing her name, she folded the sheet and then held a candle over the paper until a puddle of wax formed. Levitating a stamp, she stamped the wax. The stamp was of a stylized T, it had been a birthday present from Spike last year. Twilight lifted the folded letter, then floated it onto a flat crystal. It had been a present from Princess Celestia a couple years ago. The crystal sat in a wooden holder and had a teleportation matrix carved into it and inlaid with gold. Twilight didn't want to think about what it had probably cost. It was a very nice gift. With it and it's counterpart, it had been a two piece set, she was able to teleport letters and small stuff back and forth from her home in Ponyville. The arcane device was quite useful for sending letters, considering how rarely Twilight left home and that she mostly sent letters to the princess, and then by dragonflame courtesy of Spike. Then there was the Equestrian Postal Service, which wasn't always a hundred percent reliable. Derpy, Ponyville's mailmare, was pretty reliable, but things had to get to Ponyville first. It wasn't really that far away by pegasus or train, but with the exception of major shipments, anything else might wait for a week in Canterlot before getting sent on. Especially considering that letters had to be handled by employees of the EPS, whereas they generally contracted out to third parties to handle deliveries of large packages to the receiving post office. It was a cost cutting measure of sorts which illustrated how well private shipping companies had been doing in recent years. Twilight pushed the letter onto the crystal, and then, her horn alight, activated it. The letter vanished in a purple star-shaped burst of magic. She sighed. Poor Spike. It wasn't very nice to leave him like this, but then she'd originally been planning on returning home sooner. Author's Note Well, that was shorter than I was going for, as I'm working on the transition to the next bit. My brain keeps wanting me to like end and close days with getting up and going to sleep. Mundane activities are usually unimportant, stupid brain.
Chapter 1 - FrustrationMorning Celestia sat in front of her papers. The events of a week past brought to mind by a passing glimpse in the street and an offical visit to one of Canterlot's many orphanages that morning. Trying to dodge the paperwork had only gotten her fixated on her response to Twilight's need to regain her composure after the shocking revelation that she was adopted and her off the handle reaction to it. “Just words.” Was that all it really was? It was and it wasn't. She knew that, literally speaking, it was true at some level, but deep inside it didn't sit well. Avoiding the real truth forever might save her some face and a measure of order, but knowing that Twilight didn't know hurt deeply. This was one of those secrets that didn't want to be kept, even if it made logical sense at the time. There was also the slight chance that Twilight might figure it out on her own, some day. Still, what would Twilight think if she knew? How much would it hurt to know that her mother was one and the same with her teacher, the solar diarch of Equestria? It was bad enough to be adopted, such a thing couldn't be undone. To be adopted generally meant that you had been abandoned. Such a thing was not well received. Most ponies felt that it was only tolerable when nothing else could be done. Among the lower classes, those without the idiocy nobles seemed with their birthright, it was up there with the worst things imaginable a mare or stallion could do to their child short of infanticide and neglect and a few others. Ten years of working with your teacher and never knowing she was your mother, never knowing why you of all ponies might receive better treatment than most even from a kind and benevolent leader. Celestia sat there for several hours considering what she should do, besides what she had done in the past. She wanted to tell Twilight, but aside from the immediate consequences there were so many ways harm could be caused. She didn't want to drive any kind of wedge between Twilight and her parents, nor drive Twilight away from her by cause of hurt and betrayal of a sort. On the other hand, she knew that if she never told her, it would hurt forever not to have ever had that chance, the very one she'd suffered so much for. To have a child of her own, and not be the source of more royal disputes. Resolving to speak with her sister, Luna, later. She forced herself back to work with the practiced ease of a ruler with more than a thousand years under their belt, shoving her thoughts and distress into a distant corner of her mind. Evening “Gah!, why hast thou let in the light?!”, gasped Luna, tugging the sheets further over her head when the light awoke her. The pegasus mare adjusting the curtains freaked out and slammed into the wall behind her. Once she had regained her footing and her composure, she stood stiffly. “Will your majesty be leaving bed today?”, she inquired, hesitantly. Poking her muzzle out from under the covers, Luna yawned. “Is it time already?”, she demanded, squinting at the mare. “Indeed, err, yes, your highness.”, squeaked the mare whose nerves were almost completely shot from the sudden shock a moment ago. Grumbling, the princess of the night slid out from between the sheets and onto the floor. She levitated her tiara and shoes over with her magic and slid them on with a combination of practiced ease and the constant reminder of a thousand years without the burden of them. With a sigh, she trotted to her personal bathroom. She scowled at the mirror, which reflected her disheveled look and uncombed coat, a frustration, despite the near perfect state of her part-ethereal mane (which resisted ordinary bed-head). "Ugh,.. why must the night be so short.", she muttered to herself. She lifted her brush and straightened out the worst, removing the knots. "Can't have all those servants crowding around me, complaining about the way I look...". Then she trotted out the door and down the stairs. Celestia sat on a plush cushion, absentmindedly chewing on her salad, reading the news, and pining for a slice of cake. When Luna arrived, she looked up from the salad long enough to greet her, the stresses of the day just barely evident. "Good Evening, Luna." Luna yawned, for the second or third time that evening. "Good Evening, sister, though I wish it were dark already." Celestia sighed. She knew her sister well. About halfway through their meal, Celestia was reminded of an occasion a good many years ago when Twilight had arrived for their lessons half asleep. This broke her concentration and brought on a mournful sigh. From the other end of the table, Luna heard it, and wondered. She cocked an eyebrow with a confused expression on her face. Ever since her return, her sister's disposition hadn't been anything less than sunny. She had suspected that Celestia was putting on a good face; after all Luna knew a little of what politics could be like and that in retrospect the last thousand years had been hard on her sister. This look was a new one, though, at least since her return. "Sister?" Celestia, distracted from her internal contemplations, directed her gaze towards her sister. "Yes, Luna?" For a moment, Luna grappled silently with her words, considering them. Finding it too hard, she reverted to using words she was more familiar with. "Why art thou upset? Has something happened?" Celestia burst into tears for a moment, then fled the dining hall with as much dignity as possible, teleporting away in a flash of light once around the corner. The princess of the night sat with her mouth wide open, utterly confused at the reaction. Several minutes later, having recovered, she closed her mouth, hoping nobody had seen her behavior. Being the impulsive sort, she went off to seek her sister, but with much less haste. She walked quietly and quickly through the halls to her sister's chambers. On her arrival, the guards gave her an uneasy look, but let her approach. Obviously they knew something was up, or at least they had an inkling.
Chapter 2 - RevelationLuna stood for a moment, hesitantly, then steeled herself and knocked on the great oaken door. Hearing nothing in response and only the faintest sound of crying from within, she knocked a second time, somewhat harder. The only response to this was the illumination of the door with a magical aura and the door opening just barely wide enough to admit her. Frowning at the indignity of squeezing through the door, the princess of the night nevertheless folded her wings completely and squeezed through the space. A moment later the door closed behind her and the aura faded away. The guards outside behaved as usual, but favored each with the slightest hint of hope. Hope that the Princess would return, it was never a good day when she barricaded herself within her rooms. Celestia's moods, and now Luna's since her return, often set the castle staff on edge and their very presence or absence plus their attitude on a given day tended to comfort or stress out the staff with some regularity. Celestia lay on her bed, curled up beneath her wings, hiding from the world. She avoided even the faintest glimpse of the sun. Between sobs, she silently cursed herself for every little detail of this whole circumstance since that fateful day 15 years past. Why had she broken one ancient promise, kept for years? What good could it do, and to make matters worse it had ultimately been for her, and benefited her lover little. If that wasn't bad enough, she had made her daughter her student and passed on many difficult things to her, knowing that failure to complete the task Celestia set would alone have been crushing. All issues aside, she could have kept Twilight at her side had she suffered the difficulties of her existence. Perhaps it was for the better, since she would have few friends at court, but still she could not benefit from the position that ought rightfully to have been hers. In the midst of all this, she cursed even at the intrusion of her Sister into the matter. The only pony in the last five centuries or even the last millennium who could crack her outer layer of composure just by being herself. She could keep up this mask forever, in some sense, in front of ponies whose comparatively short lives left them blind to some of the greater sorrows and frustrations of the exceptionally long lived. On the other hand, against her own mind and Luna, she had little defense. Things cracked and broke inwardly and Luna was the last straw for the outside, at least for a little while. Oblivious to the world, she wept for her folly, and her indifference, crying over the sorrows of being a pony and the inability to wholly resist emotions indefinitely. From the corner of the room, Luna watched on - profound curiosity mixed with concern. Ever since her return, her Sister had proven to be very much a distant pony, excepting occasional moments of affection. A thousand years of separation had changed her, perhaps not entirely for the best. She had not, though, expected anything like this. For several moments, she looked on, hoping for some further acknowledgment of her presence. At last, convinced of the need to act directly, she moved slowly and deliberately to Celestia's side. She glanced back for a moment, assuring herself that the door was locked. Privacy assured, she prodded the nearest of Celestia's wings gently. Encouraged by the slightest upward movement, she crawled onto the bed next to Celestia, and sat on the bed beside her, under the raised wing. Luna's presence brought Celestia back to reality, comforting though it was. "Sister,.. I..", Celestia, the almighty, broke down into a brief shower of tears. "Yes, Celly?", Luna prompted, tilting her ears and looking her Sister in the face. "I have a dilemma... and I know what I ought to do, but I fear it will not end well..." The princess of the night wondered silently what manner of dilemma this might be. Surely it could not be that dire or so simple as a conflict, or it would have been dealt with swiftly. What could be causing Celestia so much distress? "If you cannot tell me what pains you so, how could I possibly help you?" Celestia sighed deeply, a look of deep sorrow etched onto her face. "You know that you are Cadence's great, great, however many times grandmare, yes?" Luna tapped her chin thoughtfully, recalling what she had learned since her return and trying to make it mesh with the events of a thousand years past. "I suppose, but I shall have to bear with you on this one as well. After all, I was not here for her birth or that of most of her ancestors." Celestia sighed again, how often she wished she had not lost Luna to the Nightmare, it was hard to have that brought to mind every time the slightest of modern things required an explanation. "Well, you see, Luna, the squabbles among the ponies who could claim descent from use came to head two centuries after you left. After having to explain to yet another generation of over entitled ponies that their ancestry did not make them my heirs I resolved to end their disputing... I vowed never to have any kind of personal relationship extending beyond friendship that I might never again have descendants related closely enough to have any kind of better claim than a connection twenty or thirty generations past." This information caught Luna by surprise, though it surprised her less than the things of modernity. "Of all ponies, I would not have thought you could manage that.", Luna remarked, suppressing, with some difficulty, a fit of giggles. Celestia grimaced, her Sister had not had to deal with the impudent and occasionally violent uprisings from several quarters that had attempted to depose her. Those had been terrible times for her ponies, and left her frustrated and wracked with grief at having occasionally had to put member of her family, distantly related to be sure, to death for treason. She could not be impartial, intentionally causing bodily harm and killing ponies to get to her could not go unpunished. Truthfully, it had not been easy restraining herself in such a fashion. "A century earlier I might not have, " she began, "but the hurt I suffered and the injury and death of ponies near and dear to me made it clear that it could not be. However, I fear it may yet be again..." Celestia leaned into her sister and nuzzled her, then she spoke. "About fifteen years ago, after seven and a half centuries, the latter two or three mostly peaceful, I caved. A certain pony had convinced me of his love, and I liked him as well. Nevertheless, it was a star-crossed thing. I knew it the moment it began, but I had hoped it would not end as it did."
Chapter 3 - The Truth of the MatterCelestia stared out the window, another teardrop inching it's way down her face like so many before. "It might not have exactly been the romance of a millennia, but it hurt, Luna. Of all ponies, I think you know best what I mean. If nothing had come of it that might have been for the best and I would not be in this state, nor suffering from this dilemma..." Her voice tapered off, her consciousness wandering the distant reaches of her mind and memory, eyes open, but not looking. At her side, Luna looked on. The princess of the night suspected she knew where this was going. If only life could be simple, she thought, there would be much less suffering. All that remained was for her Sister to spit it out, the truthful reality of the matter. Intuition and familiarity was wonderful, but if this was indeed such a difficult problem for Celestia, then it called for as much honesty as possible. "I thought...", Celestia began, "I thought I would have the time with him to smooth all this over, but as I have said, it was not so. I cannot recall whether I ever told him, but I wanted something of him. Oh,.. I got it... I did, but he never got to see her." "Who?" Luna asked, though it was something of a rhetorical question. She could well guess where this was going, but she would wait and see what her sister had to say. "Her." That was all Celestia said, though her tone of voice contained a depth of mournful sadness. For a few moments, the silence enveloped the room, the sound of the air moving amplified by the emptiness. "My daughter... Our daughter...", she quickly corrected herself as though that fact was of great meaning. A few tears coursed down her face and dripped onto the bed, adding to the dampness of the darkened half circle of bed coverings below her. At this, Luna's demeanor changed, she looked on incredulously. Her sister had a foal? It seemed that she had guessed correctly. At last she could see what the great problem was. There had to be more to it, though, for clearly it was not common knowledge. If it had been, surely she would have heard and indeed the guards would certainly have been less nervous. The princess of the night had not seen another Alicorn, nor did she know the mare Celestia referred to. She had not seen anypony that might fit that description either. Such ancestry would not have gone unnoticed before her banishment. Luna grimaced, Celestia must have covered up this detail. For all her Sister's integrity, she often took great pains to hide her mistakes and problems either for her own benefit or that of others. The statue garden for instance. Though she loved her Sister greatly, these attempts sometimes ended poorly, sometimes worse than if the truth and/or the reality of things had simply been let be. "She deserves to know, though it will hurt her greatly and yet she does not deserve the pain that this knowledge will bring." Celestia hung her head in anguish, "I abandoned her, forced her into the arms of my lover's family. All this I did to save myself the suffering and spare her unwanted attention. Now I am torn between hiding it so long as I may, forever if I dare and fate wills, and revealing it whatever the cost." Back and forth across the floor she paced nervously. "Now, I find myself regretting the cost, to myself, but mostly to her and those who I ought rightly be able to be close with." "What do I do, Luna?" Celestia gazed at Luna with a pleading look in her eyes. "It is being stuck between a rock and a hard place. "I will have to think on this, sister, but when I return I would like you to tell me who she is. Are you willing to tell me?" Celestia swallowed, and then nodded hesitantly. Hours later, after the closing of the Night Court, Luna sat, on a cushion, observing her beautiful night sky. What was she supposed to say she wondered, Celestia had always been the decisive one driven by cold logic and reason. Now, it seemed, the tables had been turned. The dreamer and the emotional asked to be the voice of logic and reason, but then perhaps that was not the problem. She had considered the issue at some length... Personally, she was strongly in favor of informing the pony in question, it wasn't right that they shouldn't know their biological mother—especially if she happened to still be alive. Besides, the thought of family was pleasant to Luna, her sister was one of the few ponies in existence that she was comfortable being herself around and not hiding her moods and emotions. The ways Luna's mood swung would deeply unnerve the nobles, and her emotional responses might concern others much about her fitness to rule. As if they knew anything, she had more experience than they before she was banished and had probably forgotten more than they remembered. As she sat there pondering how to present her reply, the dawn broke before her eyes and the first rays of the sun peeked over the landscape. She might as well get this over with. The princess of the night gently lifted herself off the pillow, the warm pillow she thought as the slight chill in the air cooled her previously insulated belly. She stretched out and her hooves for a moment and then rose to her full stature and left the room, glancing one last time out the window. A glorious sunrise indeed, though it brought uncertainty with it. For better or worse, she would press her view of the matter. Some distance away, Celestia stood outside on a balcony, watching the sun rise. Normally this would have been a calming sight and a very relaxing moment. This morning however, she was nervous. "I hope Luna has her answer and she isn't going to take this opportunity to prank me.' she muttered darkly. She shouldn't think ill of her sister, but she had pulled a good one on her the other day and the princess of the night still had a thousand years of missed pranking to catch up on. If there was a quintessential prankster, it could be Luna, although Discord had her beat, but then Discord could be downright malicious. At that very moment her thoughts were interrupted by the gentle clicking of metal shod hooves on the floor. Judging by the hour of morning, the privacy of the spot, and her standing orders to the guards to stay at their posts and keep anypony from bothering her, surely it must be her sister. With some apprehension and trepidation she turned around to meet her sister. "Good morning, Luna." Luna frowned for a moment, "The sun rises anew, and night sleeps." This caught Celestia by surprise, that was truly an old saying, though she regained her composure quickly. "You surprise me every day sister. Have you come to a decision?" The princess of the night considered her words as though much weighed on them, then she replied. "I have. Are you prepared to tell me who this pony is, then?" For a moment, Celestia hesitated, was she going to renege? Then she sighed deeply. "Very well, her name is Twilight Sparkle." Luna's jaw dropped, if it had fallen further it might have hit the floor. As it was, she was floored by this new information. Her mind churned, the metaphorical waves frothing and bubbling away. At last, this detail and it's implications sunk in. "Oh.., no...", Luna breathed deeply, "Sister... you mean to tell me that you of all ponies, abandoned Twilight Sparkle?! Then you make her your student, and all this time you've never told her?" Luna sighed. "This is going to be very rough on her.", she said, a look of sadness crossing her face. A couple of tears leaked out from behind Celestia's mask of composure. Speaking carefully, so as to stifle her emotions, she spoke. "I know." Her voice trailed off into silence. For a moment, you could have heard a pin drop, then Luna began to speak. "Sister,... I do believe thou hast been quite cruel to thy faithful student. Nevertheless, We must consider the consequences and possibilities. No doubt, should this come out it will cause a stir. With luck, by now the populace will be less likely to accuse you of nepotism regarding your choice of student. Still, it will not help your reputation among our subjects to find that you abandoned your child.." The princess paused to take a breath. "'Tia, I know it may hurt to remind yourself, but you need to tell me the rest of the story. Yes, I had guessed you were leaving things out... We may need to act quickly or make some decisions soon. Twilight Sparkle is a very curious pony and she may be seeking the truth at this very moment. To make attempts to hide this further may jeopardize it's secrecy."
Chapter 4 - ResearchElsewhere in Canterlot Twilight Sparkle trudged slowly along the road. The whole day's turmoil had left her very, very tired. As it was, she felt only a little better. She owed her parents an apology for her sudden departure, but she didn't really want to face her brother right now. He had stolen a happy life from her in a moment of drunken stupor and she found it hard to forgive him for that. It really was adding insult to injury to mess with a person like that, and not even when you were in a right state of mind. After what seemed an eternity, she reached her parent's home, though they weren't really her parents, she reminded herself, just her family – maybe. Pushing on the door and finding it open and unlocked, she snuck in quietly and dragged herself to her room, locking and magically sealing the door behind her. Unbeknownst to her, her arrival had not gone unnoticed. From the kitchen came the sound of two let out sighs. Night Light looked at his wife, pleadingly. "She's going to have to find out one of these days, dear.", he said softly. Twinkle looked at him with resentment. "Not from me, Night Light. Don't you even think about it either. Our daughter deserves an answer, yes, but not from us." She grimaced."She'll just have to find out the hard way, unless a certain someone decides to tell her first." Night Light sighed, he could see the anger and resentment that still seethed under his wife's skin. Despite her love for Twilight, her grudge against the Princess hadn't grown any colder over the years. If only things hadn't happened as they had, the world would be a better place. He wished she would just let it go, it wasn't helping her or Twilight and it wouldn't help Celestia, though perhaps she alone deserved the pain most. It still wasn't fair to treat a pony that way, even an immortal Alicorn. That night Twilight slept fitfully and dreamed strange dreams, she imagined all kinds of different parents for herself: pegasi, unicorns, earth ponies, even the princesses respectively, though she dismissed those as utter fantasy and unbelievably impossible. It was hard to imagine that her real parents could have loved her so little to have abandoned her or what other circumstance could have driven them to do so. In the morning, Twilight woke up, the sun already high in the sky. For a moment she was somewhat happy, until she remembered the day before. In a moment all the unhappiness and frustration returned. Sighing, she tried to shove it into the back of her mind. Leaving her room, unsealing the door in the progress, she took the stairs at a very sedate pace. Stepping into the kitchen she found her father, well, adoptive father, making breakfast. Hay sweetened with a little sugar. "Good morning, dad." Dad... It just sort of hung forlornly on the end of the sentence. The thing was it felt all wrong, now that she had some idea of the truth. "Good morning, dear." The words were no different than they had ever been, not really, but now there was a tension present that had not been evident before. After they had finished eating breakfast, Twilight brought up the big question. "I'm sorry, Dad, about yesterday, that is." "You don't have to be sorry Twilight. I don't know how we expected you to handle that news. Shining really shouldn't have said what he did." "So, who are my real parents, Dad." Night Light's smile dimmed considerably. "I wish I could tell you Twilight. Your mom doesn't want to tell you. Please be careful, Twilight, this is a very sensitive issue for her. I'm afraid you'll have to figure it out yourself, you may not like the truth very much." Twilight frowned. What could be the matter, clearly something was up. Her mother had always seemed to be a bright, upbeat pony. Now she wasn't certain, was it a mask, what was her mother hiding? What could there possibly be to do with Twilight's parentage that prompted that kind of reaction to it. Did something happen to her mom? She sighed resignedly. "Ok, dad." The word still felt strange to her, in light of her new found knowledge. "When I discover the truth, I want to hear the whole story. Please?" Night Light's brow creased in concern. "I don't know, Twilight, I just don't know." Twilight resolved to do some research. Where would she even begin though? The Canterlot Archives! Every pony’s birth and death ever recorded had to be marked down there somewhere. The rest of the day was spent by writing checklists and reading books concerning family and researching your background. Genealogy. The next morning she awoke, made breakfast quietly, and gathered her things. An hour and a half of fast walking later, she reached the Canterlot Archives. For a few moments she stood very still, short of breath, and admired the architecture. Clearly it had been inspired by the castle and later derivations of the style. In front of her an arch ten ponies high soared above the ground and to either side the building stretched several hundred feet and stood 5 stories high. Arched windows lined the sides and the corners were capped with towers. In the middle a cluster of linked towers were connected with white bridges spanning the distance between them. Collecting her thoughts, she trotted in through the doors and up to the main desk, but not before gasping at the shelves in the distance. This place dwarfed the palace library, but contained mostly records. Impressive, yes, boring, most definitely. Except perhaps if it contained the answers she sought... Twilight spoke up, "Excuse me." The mare at the desk looked up, "Can I help you, miss?" "Yes. I'm looking for birth and adoption records. I'm curious how common adoption is in Canterlot." The mare behind the desk scrutinized her for a second, "I bet it's pretty low, given the stigma associated with it. If you go left here, and take the back stairs up to the fifth floor, you should find what you're looking for." Stigma? Twilight didn't know there was anything particular anyone had against it, but then she should have guessed—there were a lot of snobby, uptight ponies in Canterlot. Walking away, Twilight wondered what she'd find. She hoped her birth parents weren't earth ponies. It was rare but possible and in that case she wouldn't be surprised at all that they abandoned her. That seemed extremely unlikely given her magical ability. Pegasi were slightly more plausible, but still far out. No, her parents were most likely unicorns. What kind of unicorn would abandon their child to be raised by another. Most nobility, even the lesser would keep their foal that was a unicorn, no matter how infirm, over any kind of non-unicorn foal if only to avoid societal embarrassment and being shunned. Up she climbed, the broad wide steps proceeding upwards in a wide spiral. There were a lot of steps because of the high ceilings, around 16 feet or so, and when she got there she was breathing heavily. Whew, that was a lot of exercise Twilight thought. At least I can scratch daily exercise off for today. Her heavier than usual breathing echoed a little in the vast empty space. There wasn't as much dust in here as in the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the palace library, but it was still pretty thick, even if it was thicker on the books than on the floor. Twilight walked some ways until she found an area with somewhat less dust. It was still dusty, but had evidently been visited in recent memory. The shelf was labeled 'Births' in neat and concise lettering, evidently the work of a unicorn. This shelf and the ones near it were filled with bound volumes, with think cloth grips, tooth marks evident, carefully marked by city and the year. Records – Canterlot AS 850, Records – Canterlot AS 865, Records – Canterlot AS 890 Records – Canterlot AS 915, Records – Canterlot AS 934, Records – Canterlot AS 957, Records – Canterlot AS 972, Records – Canterlot AS 987 There it was, an average year by comparison to it's varied neighbors, but it was the year of her birth nevertheless. Enveloping the book in her magic she tugged gently until the book slid off the shelf. Hefting the tome, for a tome it was despite it's relatively small size in comparison to some of it's immediate neighbors, she walked quietly to a table. Whisking the dust off both the table and the book with a simple cleaning spell, she put down the book. For several long moments she looked at it. It wasn't anything complicated, but she hoped it would bring some resolution to this matter. You could always find the answer to your questions in a book she thought, well, almost. Flipping through the book, she stopped briefly each time she found a pony she knew. Eventually she came to S. Sparkle, Twilight b. 2:15p may 17th, 987 RS. d. There she was. So, that was it, then. She glanced back at the book, and what she saw almost made her cry. father - Sparkle, Dusk Flame; Unicorn b. 951 RS d. 986 RS mother - not known, not known b. not known d Twilight's stomach felt queasy. She had been so cruel to her parents. Declaring how awful they were and how they weren't even her family. To find that she was actually related to them, somehow, left her feeling uncomfortable. Still, surely something was known about this mysterious member of the Sparkle clan. She couldn't ask around here. Her birth father hadn't even lived to see her, to know that she even existed. This thought left her numb. On the other hand, it seemed highly unusual for nothing about her mother to be recorded. Obviously something unusual was up. Perhaps it had been a momentary thing, but if her father never met her or knew of her, from where did they get the information? She knew her parents must be hiding something, but what were they hiding and why? There would be no answer from that quarter it seemed. Author's Note * AS -- Aetas Solis, Age of the Sun (seems contrived, but I needed a reckoning to use. I also just selected some general dates. A little tweaking of that may occur in the future.
Chapter 5 - More ResearchShining Armor trotted to Princess Celestia's study with all due haste. His presence had been requested at an inconvenient time, so he had been dashing around all morning. It was now mid afternoon and he was hurrying, hoping that he'd make it on time. Rounding the final corner, he came to an abrupt stop, head sagging and breathing heavily. He nodded mutely, still breathing heavily, to the guards a moment later. They opened the door for him and motioned him. "The Princess is ready to see you, Captain." Shining walked obediently into the study, as the doors shut behind him. "Ah, finally, so good to see you Captain!" The Princess seemed awfully tense behind her usual mask of patient benevolence. She motioned to him. "Do take a seat." Relaxing, Shining Armor sat, heavily, on the indicated cushion. I hear you caused your sister significant distress, Captain, you should be more careful." Shining shrank a little. Great, he should have known this would come back to bite him. Work and personal life were never truly separate when you were married to one Princess and brother to another Princess' personal student... "I'm sure Cadence had a chat with you, Shining, but since I had to deal with a very distraught unicorn I thought we might talk." Shining Armor nodded hesitantly. "Between the two of us, Shining, your sister can get a little emotionally worked up, and finding out that you're adopted is very hard on a pony in our society, especially Canterlot." She looked at him rather pointedly. "I know, Princess, and I ought to apologize, but I didn't want to bring it up again..." Celestia seemed to think about this for a moment. "Sooner might be better than later, it's not good to let this kind of thing go. Cadence will probably bug you until you deal with it anyway." "Heh, yeah, probably.", Shining said, glancing around to see whether his wife might have somehow entered unheard. Comforted, strangely, by the absence of a certain pink Alicorn, he relaxed in his seat. Noticing how tense Celestia seemed, it only seemed fit to inquire. "Are you okay, Princess? You seem a little tense." Celestia jerked, startled out of her thoughts. "I'm fine, just a little tired. Everypony seems to forget that alicorns aren't utterly perfect in every way." She shouldn't lie, she thought, but then that was only a half-truth. She was a bit tired, but it didn't have much to do with sleeping – unless, of course, you counted not sleeping very well these past several days. As it was, her mind seemed determined to play out all possible scenarios where Twilight never found out who her real mother was. It shouldn't bother her so much, she tried to convince herself, but then how many of her children had been part of her regular life, much less been her personal student and that was long ago. Sweeping away the thoughts, she returned her focus to the present. "Captain, you are dismissed. That is, unless you need something?" Celestia tried to give the vague impression that if he wanted to avoid Cadence, who often stopped in to see Celestia, when he didn't have anywhere else to be, that he might want to get going. It was disingenuous of her, but it served her purposes. "Yes, your majesty. Or rather, no, nothing else I need." Shining Armor snapped a salute and with the gesture returned left in a dignified haste. Earlier that day Twilight eyed her room critically. What a mess. She really should clean up, she missed having Spike around to keep things tidy. I ought to put that on that on the checklist, she thought, grabbing a sheet and a quill from desk with a quick telekinesis spell. She jotted the thought down and then folded the sheet and tucked it into her packed bags, then settled them on her flank. Whistling softly, she climbed down the stairs. Another day of research, what fun! If only it were a less depressing and disheartening topic she thought to herself. "See you later, Twilight" Night Lighted called from the kitchen. "Yep. See you later too,.. Dad." Still not over that, she thought sadly, detecting the slight drag in calling him Dad. It still didn't feel quite right, maybe okay, but not right. A long walk later, Twilight arrived at the archives. This time, her destination certain, she didn't stop to talk to the receptionist, but headed straight to the third floor. In the absence of a better place to start, she had decided to work on a bit of a family tree. She'd have to work on this blind, because she assumed her parents might not be forthcoming. Setting her saddlebags on the table, she walked over to the shelves. Scanning the shelves, she selected six separate books based on what she could remember of her "parents" and "grandparents" birthdays. Much later that afternoon, Twilight Sparkle sat in front of a drawn out tree connecting her known "family". The days effort only left her with her parents and their parents birthdays and relations. and her brother. On the left side a name was written, "Dusk Flame Sparkle", circled in red with a question mark beside it. The most interesting information she'd gained was that her mother might have had a sibling, or maybe the mark out was a spelling mistake. It wasn't really possible to tell and her mother likely wouldn't confirm or deny anything. Twilight and her mother could be notoriously stubborn at times. She sighed. The day hadn't been entirely worthless, she had consulted the adoption records, in between fruitless work, and found that fifteen percent or more of foals in Canterlot were adopted, mostly from within the city proper though and only rarely by those of noble birth. She hadn't found any proof of her being adopted though, merely a statement of a transfer of legal guardianship. It wasn't particularly clear *from* whom said guardianship might have been transferred. It couldn't have been her father, since he had died before she was born. It could have been her mother, but if so, why didn't the records indicate who she was? The seal of the crown was irrelevant and useless, since the monarchy effectively confirmed all legal matters indirectly. Dissatisfied with her results, and resolving to dig deeper, Twilight tidied up her paper and quills, placing them in her saddlebags. Satisfied that everything was in order, she lifted her saddlebags onto her flanks magically, securing them in the process. With some effort, she collected all the books from the table and systematically shelved them, before heading down the stairs. She slipped out the front doors of the archives, into the rain. "Ugh.", she muttered to herself, magicking her saddlebags so they would stay dry. Then she hurried home through the rain. She arrived at home, tired and wet. Twilight pushed open the door, waved hello to her parents and went upstairs, dripping water droplets all the way. "Twilight! Could you please not drip all over the house?", said Twilight Velvet from the kitchen. Twilight sighed. "Yes, -mom-". In her frustration, she put extra emphasis on the mom. There was silence from the kitchen. She sighed, then quietly headed upstairs to the bathroom after using her magic to dry up the wet spots. Early Evening *knock, knock* Yes...? Twilight walked over to the door, opening it halfway. When she saw who it was, her pupils shrank in size. "What do you want now? Any new stunning revelations?" She put her hoof up to her mouth with a slightly shocked look. Yeah, she was mad, but clearly she wasn't as over that as she thought. Twilight stood there half-way between apologizing for her words and just shutting the door and crying. Shining Armor cringed at her words, and the tone of voice. He'd been afraid this might happen, it was why he'd been so reluctant to even go see her. If it hadn't been for Cadence, his discomfort might have gotten the better of him. "I just wanted to say that I’m sorry, Twilight...", he said, stopping when he saw that she was a bit out of it. So he waited for her to recover. "Where were we?", Twilight muttered, still looking very strained. "I was saying that I was sorry for my words the other day." "I see. Well it'd be really great if you could NEVER do that again! You have no idea what it's like to find out that your parents aren't your parents and you were told this, not politely, but by your drunken brother!" "I'm really sorry, Twiley... I just don't want it to be like this between us forever." Twilight sighed. " Fine. I forgive you. Is there anything else you'd like to share?" Shining Armor relaxed a bit, and sat down in the doorway. "No, not really. Although while we're talking about family, did mom and dad ever tell you about my uncle?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Nope, never heard of him." "Well, he was a unicorn too, duh right? He was in the royal guard and I really found him inspiring and that's the other reason I wanted to be in the guard. He died when I was five years old. Mom and Dad adopted you right around then, and well I was really happy to have a little sister." Author's Note Sorry for the clipped conversation at the end, that scene is not quite ended in this chapter. Maybe I'll edit the chapter and add the rest in when I write it? :) Also, I spell checked this chapter, but I haven't done any proofreading or editing yet. If something sounds grammatically strange or poorly arranged that's probably why.
Chapter 6 - Useful Information"Shining?" "Yes, Twilight?" "Do you remember anything from when I was adopted?" Shining scratched his chin with his hoof, staring out into empty space. Several minutes later he put his hoof back on the floor. "Yeah, I do, actually. Mom and Princess Celestia used to be pretty good friends, until they were having a conversation one day. They seemed to be arguing about something and Mom sent me to my room." He paused for a moment. "She stopped visiting after that, the Princess that is. I asked Mom what happened to Auntie 'lestia. Mom told me to never mention that name again. I guess she was pretty angry. I never could figure that out. From that day on we never stuck around if Celestia showed up where we were. Dad and I were always frustrated about it and we missed some fun stuff because of it." Shining frowned. Twilight sat thoughtfully and attentively. "Mom almost never came to visit me when I was at the royal guard academy either, except to take me home and drop me off again. Sometimes we had to leave in a hurry, because the Princess was there. She came to graduation, but she seemed awful tense and she and dad left as soon as they could." "I wonder why that was, she didn't seem to be acting strangely when Celestia announced the ponies accepted into her school, me included.", said Twilight Shining raised an eyebrow, then thought about that for a second. "No, she didn't, did she. That does seem odd." "When did your uncle die?", asked Twilight. "I'm not really sure exactly. Mom told me that he had died one day when I asked when he was coming to visit again." Shining wiped a glistening tear from his eye. "I think maybe it was around the time of the Princess' last visit. I think maybe she came to talk to Mom about it." "Do you know what his name was?" Twilight asked. "Well, duh." said Shining belligerently. "Well, at least Mom called him Dusk. I seem to recall calling him uncle D." Shining shuddered. "I'm sure I was a cute colt, but ugh. You'd think I could have managed to say his name." Twilight considered this detail. What were the odds. The pieces seemed to point to the possibility that her father and Shining's uncle may have been the same pony. He had the same name as Shining's uncle and the death of Shining's uncle coincided with his death, both prior to her adoption. Perhaps the obscured information in the record wasn't an accident, but why would anyone do that? She didn't want to bring it up with her mother. It would likely pain her, and there was no knowing how she'd react if Twilight pressed this issue. Her dad had been pretty clear that it was a sensitive issue. Maybe she could visit her grandmother and find out more about her mother and shining's uncle? "Hmm.. Well, don't let me keep you, Shining, I'm sure you have other things to do. Shining sighed and said good-bye. He hoped Cadence wasn't right outside. Twilight thought about when was the best time to visit. It was already late in the evening, so today was probably out. Maybe tomorrow? No, she was doing stuff with family tomorrow. The day after next then. Grabbing a quill in her magic she dipped it in a inkwell, then grabbed a sheet of paper. Time to make a checklist. * spend tomorrow with family * go see grandmother day after tomorrow * ask about Shining's uncle She sighed, hopefully she'd get some answers soon. She still didn't have a clue who her mother was. With luck, perhaps she could perhaps figure out what happened to Shining's uncle from her "grandparents". The thought stung a little. They'd always treated her well, but it hurt to think that she probably wasn't related in the way she'd used to think. Maybe she'd go to the castle later and see whether anyone there knew anything. Surely, if he'd had a special somepony, someone would remember seeing them together? If nothing else, perhaps she could disprove her theory. It would probably hurt, but she'd need to make some progress if she wanted to get closer to the answers. Twilight frowned, sinking a bit further into her cushion. If only someone could just tell her. It wasn't like it could hurt much more at this point, right? And what exactly was going on with her mother? Sure, according to Shining, she'd been this way for a long time, but how could she not have noticed? There had to be a reason. Setting aside that thought, Twilight pulled another sheet of paper to her, then dipped her quill in the ink again. She began writing a letter to Spike. Dear Spike, I probably won't be back for a few more days. I've recently learned some distressing things. Please don't read this aloud and don't tell anyone! Turns out I was adopted, my stupid brother just had to tell me while he was drunk... Still wondering why Mom and Dad never told me. Anyway, sorry you're stuck there. Well, less sorry than I should be. Anyway, hope you're okay. Don't forget to keep the books shelved. P.S. I miss you. Twilight After signing her name, she folded the sheet and then held a candle over the paper until a puddle of wax formed. Levitating a stamp, she stamped the wax. The stamp was of a stylized T, it had been a birthday present from Spike last year. Twilight lifted the folded letter, then floated it onto a flat crystal. It had been a present from Princess Celestia a couple years ago. The crystal sat in a wooden holder and had a teleportation matrix carved into it and inlaid with gold. Twilight didn't want to think about what it had probably cost. It was a very nice gift. With it and it's counterpart, it had been a two piece set, she was able to teleport letters and small stuff back and forth from her home in Ponyville. The arcane device was quite useful for sending letters, considering how rarely Twilight left home and that she mostly sent letters to the princess, and then by dragonflame courtesy of Spike. Then there was the Equestrian Postal Service, which wasn't always a hundred percent reliable. Derpy, Ponyville's mailmare, was pretty reliable, but things had to get to Ponyville first. It wasn't really that far away by pegasus or train, but with the exception of major shipments, anything else might wait for a week in Canterlot before getting sent on. Especially considering that letters had to be handled by employees of the EPS, whereas they generally contracted out to third parties to handle deliveries of large packages to the receiving post office. It was a cost cutting measure of sorts which illustrated how well private shipping companies had been doing in recent years. Twilight pushed the letter onto the crystal, and then, her horn alight, activated it. The letter vanished in a purple star-shaped burst of magic. She sighed. Poor Spike. It wasn't very nice to leave him like this, but then she'd originally been planning on returning home sooner. Author's Note Well, that was shorter than I was going for, as I'm working on the transition to the next bit. My brain keeps wanting me to like end and close days with getting up and going to sleep. Mundane activities are usually unimportant, stupid brain.
