For the next two weeks I continued finding every bit of information I could. I’d found every last book, scroll, and paper within the castle. I’d exhausted the library once and was in the process of doing it again. I liked being thorough. Celestia has even granted me access to the restricted section of the library! There was some amazing stuff stored in there.
After a two weeks of research I was well versed in most magical theory, caught up on current events, and even had put a pretty good dent into the fiction section for fun. Though I took my time with those ones. It would be more fun that way.
Butter Whisk had made it his personal mission to fatten me up. I always went to the kitchen for lunch. And every time there would be a three course meal ready for me. I had tried so many new dishes! I was currently eating a grilled cheese with onion rings and a slice of triple chocolate cake for dessert. Delicious!
Butter Whisk was starting to prepare dinner when Luna walked in. The chef seemed pretty surprised by her presence.

“Princess Luna! It’s not often you come down here. What can I do for you?”

“Actually it’s Shade that I’m looking for.”

She locked eyes with me and I could tell something was up. I swallowed the bite in my mouth and stood up. I glanced longingly at the slice of cake and whispered.

“I’ll be back for you.”

I turned and followed Luna. We walked through several corridors in silence. At last we came to a set of doors. Luna opened one of them and I stepped inside. Celestia was sitting at a desk, reading some scrolls. She looked up as we entered.

“Good. You found him. Was I right?”

“The kitchen.”

“You owe me a bit.”

I smiled at their banter. It was always between the two of them that I saw their true selves. Not the princesses of Equestria, but two loving sisters. I sat down at the desk.

“So what’s going on?”

Celestia turned to me and smiled.

“Luna and I have been discussing it, and we feel we’re ready to tell you more about ourselves.”

“Really? I was expecting to be waiting for months, years even.”

“That would be true if this were any regular pony. But you’re special Shade. You have a quality that is rare in most ponies.

“And what’s that?”

“Candid honesty. You've never held anything back from either of us. And you’re always careful when you speak. You have the ability to be frank, yet caring. And you keep secrets well.”

“You only started telling me secrets two weeks ago. Not very long to keep them.”

“Do you plan on revealing anything?”

“No! Of course not!”

“And I believe you. You’re an honest pony. And what’s better is that you treat us as friends, not royalty.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve meant no disrespect.”

Luna stepped forward.

“On the contrary. We’ve enjoyed having somepony who treats us normally. Even Twilight and Cadance still have trouble relaxing around us at times.”

“Really?”

Celestia nodded.

“That’s never been a problem for you though. Perhaps it’s due to our shared past, or perhaps it’s because we never ruled over you until six years ago. Whatever the reason, we’re thankful to have somepony around here that treats the two of us like friends.”

“Well..you’re welcome.”

“And as our friend, we would like to share more with you.”

“I would be honored.”

“Then that settles it. Luna has set aside some time tonight for us all to dream together. The dreamworld should give us whatever privacy we need.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

__________________________

I finished off my day rereading my notes on the early days of Equestria. I wanted to have some reference to compare with tonight.
The clock struck ten and I yawned. It was time to turn in. I had been afraid I’d be too excited to sleep, but all the reading had sapped my energy quick enough. I retired to my bed and pulled the blankets up against me, letting their warmth envelop me. I let out a content sigh as I drifted off.

“Welcome back.”

I opened my eyes to find myself in Luna’s field again. This time it was her and Celestia standing in front of me. I stood up and smiled.

“Thank you for bringing me here.”

“Are you ready?”

“I think so.”

They began to walk away. I followed after them and the field began to disappear. A white landscape took over, no defining features. It was like a blank canvas. Luna looked over her shoulder at me.

“This is unused space within my part of the dreamworld. I have it on hoof in case I need it. Like tonight.”

Her horn lit up. Then Celestia’s too. The white landscape faded as a forest overtook it. Trees grew instantly from the ground. Grass began to cover everything. Not far off from us, buildings began to sprout up. A house popped up within ten feet of us. As the scene solidified, outlines of ponies appeared. They slowly filled in until there were ponies throughout the village in the distance and two young unicorns were playing in front of us. I had to stare at the two for a second before I realized I was looking at Celestia and Luna. The two young ponies were running around the trees nearby.

“You can’t catch me Lily!”

“Misty! I can’t run as fast as you! Your legs are longer than mine!”

I couldn’t believe it. There they were.

“Fine. If you don’t want to play tag, then we can play war! I’ll be the unicorn and you can be the earth pony.”

“I’m always the earth pony!”

I turned to Celestia.

“Kind of bossy.”

Luna smiled.

“She still is.”

“Cloud Mist! You know I don’t like you two playing that game.”

I looked to where the voice was coming from. A mare was standing in the doorway of the nearby house. My eyes bugged out a bit. White, tall, replace the flowing rainbow mane with a pink one.

“She looks like Celestia!”

Celestia nodded. Tears were forming in her eyes.

“Our mother.”

Luna reached over and put a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder.

“I always forget how much you look like her. She was beautiful.”

I nod.

“Yes she was.”

Cloud Mist and Dusk Lily approached their mother, their ears drooping.

“Sorry mother.”

“Sorry.”

“There’s already enough talk of fighting in the world. I don’t need you two joining in.”

I looked at the princesses.

“Fighting?”

Celestia sighed.

“Equestria had been organized about twenty years earlier, but the three pony races were still separated. Relations had improved, but by this time they were getting worse again.”

Luna nodded.

“We didn’t realize just how close we were to a war.”

I shivered. All out war among the ponies. But wait..

“So that means Starswirl is about to find you!”

And sure enough, as I spoke, Starswirl appeared from the forest.

“Good day!”

“Oh my! You’re- You're Starswirl!”

“Indeed I am.”

“What brings you to our humble home? Honey! Come quickly!”

A stallion appeared from the house. I could see where Luna got her color from.

“By the sun! Starswirl!”

Starswirl sighed.

“Yes. It’s me. I was wondering if you happened to have two daughters. Without cutie marks?”

Cloud Mist and Dusk Lily appeared from behind their parents. I hadn’t noticed before. They didn’t have cutie marks at all! I turned to Celestia.

“Blank flanks? How old were you?”

“Thirteen and ten.”

“You hadn’t discovered a talent yet?”

Luna shook her head.

“We hadn’t tried anything. Our parents taught us everything we knew at the time. Sure we could do some things, but we weren’t brilliant at them.”

I returned my gaze to Starswirl. He was looking at the sisters intently, as if he were studying them.

“Yes I believe you two are the ones I’ve been looking for.”

Cloud Mist and Dusk Lily looked at each other in confusion. Their parents were in the same state. The mother was first to speak.

“You’ve been...looking for our daughters?”

“Yes. I’ve been searching for over a year now. Your daughters are to play an important role in Equestria’s future. I’m sure you’ve heard about the rising tensions between the kingdoms?”

They nodded.

“Well I believe Cloud Mist and Dusk Lily are the key to bringing unity and peace to Equestria.”

Cloud Mist spoke up at that statement.

“Us?”

“Yes my dear. You and your sister could be the answer to everypony’s prayers.”

“Are you sure it’s them?”

Starswirl looked up at the father.

“There’s no question. I’ve met many ponies these last few months, and none have them have had the right qualities about them.”

Cloud Mist and Dusk Lily were beginning to look excited. Their mother on the other hand, was concerned.

“So what happens now?”

“I would take them with me to become my pupils. There is much they need to learn if they’re going to prevent a war.”

The fillies turned to their mother.

“Can we?”

“Yes please! Can we?”

I smiled at the enthusiasm of these two. I turned to look at the grown princesses and found them both tearing up.

“What’s wrong?”

Celestia wipes her eyes.

“We were so foolish.”

“What do you mean?”

Luna took a deep breath, doing her best to keep her composure.

“Starswirl didn’t tell us until three days into our journey that we’d more than likely never see our parents again.”

“What?!”

Celestia nodded.

“It’s true. After that day we were too busy bringing Equestria together. And trying to figure out how to rule a kingdom.”

“Don’t forget the sun and the moon.”

I looked back at the scene. The fillies has run to grab their belongings. Starswirl stood there, waiting with the parents.

“Have they ever been outside the village? Met anypony important?”

The father shook his head.

“No. The village is all they’ve ever known. And you’re the first important pony that’s ever visited.”

“Good.”

What was that about? I looked up at Celestia and she sighed.

“He had to make sure that nopony would recognize us. There couldn’t be even the smallest chance that a pony would realize that we were once unicorns.”

“So you played along with his plan?”

“Eventually.”

Luna was shaking her head.

“When he told us we wouldn’t see them again, we started running back.”

“You ran away?”

“For about four hours. We were still young. We didn’t make it very far.”

“What made you decide to stay besides exhaustion?”

Luna lit up her horn again and the scene melted away. Another took its place. Starswirl and the fillies were sitting around a fire in the middle of nowhere.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you little ones. But you couldn’t stay.”

Dusk Lily was quietly crying. Cloud Mist wiped her eyes and spoke, though her voice trembled.

“W-Why not?”

“Because you two are the key to everything. I’m going to shape you into the leaders that Equestria so desperately needs.”

“Why us?”

“Honestly? Because of your blank flanks. You have unlimited potential because of them. A clean slate if you will. And I would like to help you become the most powerful and respected ponies in Equestria. We need strong ponies if we are to avoid a war.”

Dusk Liky finally spoke up.

“Will we have to fight?”

Starswirl shook his head.

“If you come with me, we can stop the fighting before it even starts.”

Cloud Mist seemed unconvinced.

“What are you going to teach us?”

“A great many things child! But it’s not what I can teach you that’s most important. It’s what I can make you.”

“Make us?”

“Have you ever heard...of an alicorn?”

The scene disappeared and we were back in the white abyss. I turned to the princesses, their expressions blank. I closed my eyes and sighed.

“I’m sorry I asked for this. I can’t imagine how hard it was to relive that.”

“We chose to show you Shade. You hold no blame.”

I opened my eyes and looked between the two of them.

“You sacrificed everything to save Equestria. And then you saved it time and time again after that. But you had to give up your old lives..”

Luna put a hoof under my chin and smiled.

“We hadn’t lived yet Shade. We were young. Starswirl knew we were needed and helped us realize our destiny.”

Celestia still looked grim. I asked myself why she would be so sad at what Luna had said. And after a moment, it hit me. Luna and Starswirl said it was destiny.

But Celestia knew better.

He had picked them for their lack of cutie marks. Which meant he could have picked others if he hadn’t come to them first.
It hadn’t been destiny that brought the sisters to power. It had been luck. Starswirl had lied about them being special. The truth of the matter was that he hadn’t cared who he picked. And Celestia knew it. She knew that they could have grown up with their family and seen Equestria ruined or saved. They could have had a normal life. They could have fallen in love, had children, and grown old. And Starswirl had robbed them of that.

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