Twilight blinked once. She couldn't believe what was seeing. The Star Swirl the Bearded wing was a library of spells. How could be that possible?

“¿Poetry?” The purple unicorn sighed. “I hate poetry. And why is it even here? It doesn't belong to this place!”

Three months had passed since the problem with the “Twilight from the future”, and certainly there had been a lot of trouble after that, like the wedding of her brother or that time Pinkie Pie decided to become a sea pony after reading about them in the Ponyville Library. But now, finally, Twilight had found time to travel and explore the new Canterlot’s Castle area that she had just discovered without fearing any unexpectable catastrophe.

And one thing was sure: Star Swirl the Bearded was a bucking genius (and, in Twilight's opinion, his faithful student Clover the Clever too). Not only time, but weather, nature and existence itself were controlled by the incredibly powerful spells that the bearded unicorn had written in his long life.

The amniomorphic spell was a thing, sure, but those scrolls… those information… Twilight was simply amazed. An entire wing full of high-level spells, and she was allowed to enter there any time she wanted. Sure, living in the castle all those years without even knowing the existence of that library had been a shame.

But only after a few hours (or maybe a lot. Who knows, the scrolls were incredibly interesting) of reading in peace she had discovered a strange scroll partially hided in one of the shelves. And when she opened it…

Poetry. There was no doubt: no spells or useful notes, only poetry. But Star Swirl hated poetry – everypony knew that. In fact, Twilight hated poetry because she knew that her bearded idol did it. And Clover the Clever too, of course. Nopony else had written anything of that wing (the name was “Star Swirl the Bearded wing” for one reason), so…

“It must be an error” said Twilight. “Perhaps a clueless student had forgotten this on here?" she looked closely to the parchment without reading it. "Oh, the scroll can’t have more than five years, judging by its aspect… meh, that’s not interesting. Back to the good scrolls!”

With a huge smile, the unicorn laid aside the poetic scroll and opened another more promising…

And suddenly, she stopped.

“Wait a minute”. Twilight looked again the strange scroll. “I think I’ve seen something like this before…”

Carefully, the purple pony opened again the poetic scroll. Frowning, she paid special attention to the letters and, even though she hated poetry, started to read.

Twilight blinked again.

A poem about the alicorns, wrote by the point of view of an alicorn. Strange. But there was something weirder…

‘Kings nor queens’. ‘Gods’… The poem was written like… like if it were more alicorns that the Princesses. Male alicorns. But that was not possible, right? There were only they...

The unicorn sighed. Everypony knew the Princesses were mysterious, and that poem had brought back some questions.
How old were the Princesses? Had they any father, or mother? Were they really immortal? Nopony had questioned that to the Princesses, because… well, because they were the Princesses, and there is some etiquette that must be respected in Her presence.

“And all that other stuff… A secret? Something that had to be forgiven? And forgotten? I don’t understand anything. Besides, is not even finished…”

And then, the unicorn blinked again.

There was something more. Something important.

The writing… the mouthwriting seemed very clean. It was magicwriting, perharps? And…

“It’s the writing of Princess Celestia. The words are very similar… no, they’re exactly equal.”

The Princess Celestia herself had written that scroll. A poem talking about the alicorns –her own race.

“So, it’s serious?” asked the unicorn. As she was alone, nopony answered. “Really? This thing is… is real? There are a secret, male alicorns and…?”

And something bad in the past, something that must be forgiven and forgotten.

Twilight closed her eyes. That feeling… shivers down her spine. “It feels like something serious is about to happen”. Maybe it was her ‘Twilight Sense’?. Nah. It was sort of a joke, of course –she was not Pinkie Pie –but… the shivers persisted.

“I think this is more important than I thought…”

And, another thing. That last line… the one that was not finished…

“'The powerful something'… Something that rhymes with ‘destroy’, maybe? What can possibly…?”
And then, she opened her eyes.

“Buck. No, not him again”.

There was only one name she knew that rhymed with ‘destroy’. And, ironically, it was the name of the one who nearly destroyed everything she knew.

“Discord”.

Author's note: Well, thank you if you have read the full prologue. If you have not, then... hey, how are you reading this? You have cheated or something?
Well, that doesn't matter. This isn't my first fanfic... but it sure is my first English fanfic. I'm from Spain (as you could say from my username, if you knew it before reading it now) and my English is not so bad... but sometimes, I make mistakes. Hell, I'm human too (well, sort of... huh... let's not speak about this), and this isn't my "mother tongue". So, this chapter is a little short for me. I usually make things with 3,000 words or more. But since I'm having troubles with the language, then... well. I'll be careful. I can't use here the Cervantes's tongue. If you had found any mistake (and I'm sure you have), then I'll be really grateful if you say it. You know, so I can learn anything and do it better.
And, hey, if you also like the story (something crazy, huh?) you can say it too. And if you don't like it, then please, say why. A sincere review is something priceless.
Así pues, hasta la próxima. Y espero sinceramente que esto os haya gustado... o que al menos no os haya aburrido demasiado. Y si odiáis la poesía, ¡eh, sois como Star Swirl! ¡Felicidades!

The purple unicorn stayed there, completely immobile. The shivers persisted as the worry advanced into her heart.

“Discord”, repeated Twilight. “This… this poem is talking about Discord? Could it be? No, no… calm down…”

Well, she had no clue about that. Yes, ‘Discord’ and ‘destroy’ rhymed, but maybe it wasn’t enough to worry. Twilight didn’t know absolutely anything about poetry. Maybe she was missing something.

And the alicorns… the poem talked about the alicorns, there was no doubt. The ‘immortal gods’, who raise the Sun and the Moon…

The shivers. Twilight felt like it was the coldest day of winter, even though the heat that was coming from the opened window. Shivering, the purple unicorn frowned again.

“What’s the point with this?”. Okay, she could understand the existence of the Pinkie Sense. She could also accept the fact that she had some kind of ‘intuition’, like every living being. But those shivers weren’t normal. “I’m ill or something?”

And, suddenly, it stopped. Without any warning, the shivers disappeared in less than a second, leaving only a strange feeling in Twilight’s back. The mare smiled, relieved. And then she frowned again.

She was known for her unique mind. Everypony who know Twilight Sparkle knew one thing: she was not stupid. She was very, very clever. And all the things she had lived since the day she had moved to Ponyville had given the unicorn enough experience to not ignore something that seemed unimportant for a normal pony.

“Those shivers weren’t normal, I’m sure” muttered. “There must be something that has caused them. Like a suddenly illness, or something wrong with my body. Or magic”.

And magic was the most probable answer, judging by the nature of the shivers.

“I hate poetry” thought Twilight, “but that’s not an excuse. I must give this scroll to somepony who could understand it better than me… and maybe I can investigate the shivers too.”

If the shivers had been caused by the scroll, then it was not a waste of time. If it weren’t, then… well, the poem was mysterious. And she didn’t like mysteries.

“I’m sure the Princess Celestia will answer any question I have” muttered again the unicorn. She opened her bag and pulled inside the poetic scroll. “And then we could talk about a lot more of things, like the origin of the alicorns. I wonder why I hadn’t questioned that until now…”

***

The day was bright and beautiful. Twilight preferred the always-blue sky of Ponyville, where the pegasus were a minority. On the other hand, Canterlot’s sky was always full of winged ponies: messengers, citizens, workers, kids… there were so many ponies living in Canterlot that only the pegasus doubled the number of Ponyville’s population. The shadows in the sky were a regular problem for the city, but even with that, that day was really pretty. The purple unicorn felt her mouth opening in a smile.

The castle was almost empty. There were no guards around, so everything was quiet and calm. As Twilight exited the Star Swirl the Bearded wing and entered the garden she closed her eyes and enjoyed the peace. Princess Celestia was going to be in the Throne Room, as always, but the purple unicorn thought that a little walk could calm her a little and make her forget the bad memories about Discord that the scroll had brought back…

And then, she felt something hitting her head.

“Ouch!” muttered the unicorn. “Ow, sorry, I wasn’t paying attention…”

“Well, be more careful then!” replied a male voice. “You could have hurt me!”

Twilight blinked. “Err… sorry again, it wasn’t my intent… Ah! Prince Blueblood!”

The mare shouted in surprise. In front of her, staring her with an angry look in his eyes, was a tall, white and blonde unicorn. The Prince Blueblood, the nephew of Princess Celestia herself, one of the most important ponies in the city, one of the most beloved personalities in the court (mostly by single mares) and, in words of Rarity, the Most Insufferable Jerk of the Existence.

“Yes, the Prince Blueblood” said the white stallion. “You know, the one who is more important that you will never be! So watch carefully your way, because that hit hurts and I don’t like…!”

“Excuse me” interrupted Twilight. “I said I’m really sorry, and I will repeat it if you want. But, after that… may I ask you a question?”

Blueblood blinked. “Excuse me? Do you really think that saying those kind of things are polite? You’re talking to the Prince Blueblood! And I’m sure you’re not some kind of noblemare, because I had never seen you before! So, know where you belong and talk with a little more respect!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. Had Blueblood behaved like that during the Grand Galloping Gala? She didn’t think so. Maybe not being dressed in a fancy way made her less respectable for the prince. “I’ve said I’m sorry. And I apologize again if I have offended your highness in any way, it wasn’t my intention. The only thing I want is ask a question, and then I’ll leave. If your highness doesn’t like that, then I will leave immediately and leave the Prince alone.”

“Well, that’s better”. Blueblood smiled with sufficiency. “But don’t be so familiar with me. Who are you, anyway? The daughter of one of our guards or something like that?”

“Not exactly”. The purple unicorn swelled her chest with pride and smiled. “I’m Twilight Sparkle. You and I had never met before, but I’m sure you will recognize…”

“Sorry, I’ve never heard that name” said the stallion. “And I’m not asking that, I’m asking your social status. I’m afraid you haven’t understood the question correctly”.

“What? No, I’m sure you know me. I’m the personal student of Princess Celestia…”

“My aunt has hundreds of students at the School for Gifted Unicorns”. Blueblood raised an eyebrow. “That’s all?”

“I’ve said personal student. I’m her personal protégé, the most faithful…”

“Naaah”. Blueblood rolled his eyes. He seemed everything but a prince. “I’m sure that sort of thing doesn’t count in the court. So, you’re just a commoner? Then, How can you enter at the castle?”

Twilight sighed. “I’ve said personal… Never mind. I’m the owner of the Element of Magic, maybe that…”

“The what?”

“The Element of Magic!” Twilight couldn’t believe the situation. She knew Blueblood wasn’t too smart, but that level of stupidity… “You know, the ancient mystic powerful crown that…”

“Never heard about that”.

“I’ve saved the whole Equestria with the Element!”

“Really?”

“TWICE!!”

“Well, I didn´t notice it. Are you sure you’re not imagining things?”

“For the love of… Aaargh! Do you remember Discord? Nightmare Moon? The two most dangerous crisis Equestria has ever passed?!”

Blueblood frowned, concentrating. “Eh…Yes… yes, I think I remember that. The everlasting night, the chaos upon the world and all that stuff…”

Was the stallion talking about those things like that? Really? And that… that ‘prince’ was the nephew of the wisest from the wises? Twilight couldn’t believe that. “Eh… yes, that… that ‘stuff’. Well, I was the one who solved that kind of problems, with the help of the other Elements…”

“So, you’re a hero. Then, why is your name so…?” Blueblood raised an eyebrow again “…not-famous?”

“The Princess Celestia made a party in my honor after the defeat of Discord. You were on that party”.

“I’m in a lot of parties every year. How can I remember all of them?”. The white stallion shook his head. “Did you talk to me that night or something?”

“No, not really”. Twilight faked a smile. Of course she hadn’t talked to the white stallion. Following Rarity’s advice, she and all her friends had avoid Blueblood all the night. “Then, you don’t remember anything? Did you ever wonder who defeated Discord or Nightmare Moon?”

“I simply guessed my aunt did it” said Blueblood. “So the answer is no. Then, you are not a commoner?”

“I’m afraid not”. The purple mare sighed. “I have a very close relationship with the Princess Celestia, and even Princess Luna knows me very well.”

“Then I think you`re important enough to ask me a question, I don’t mind” said the white unicorn. “Be grateful, it’s a very unique honor for a simple commoner”.

“I’ve said I’m not a commoner, or at least not a ‘simple commoner’” muttered Twilight, angrily. “Well, then… there’s a thing I’ve found on the Star Swirl the Bearded wing, a scroll I want to show to the Princess. After reading the scroll, I’ve remembered there are a lot of things that I don’t know and, I don’t know why, I’ve never asked. And you can answer some of the questions”.

“Huh.” Blueblood nodded. “Okay, I think I know what you’re wondering. You want to know how old am I, or if I have any fiancée. Well, luckily for a pretty commoner like you…”

“Why aren’t you an alicorn?”

Suddenly, the silence returned. And this time, there wasn’t a peaceful silence, or a relaxing one. There was a tense, uncomfortable silence. Twilight waited patiently for an answer.

Blueblood was horrified, or at least that was the expression in her face. His eyes were extremely opened, his mouth was twisted into a grimace and his right hoof was raised in an offended way. The whole body of the prince showed to the world how extremely insulted he was feeling at that moment.

But Twilight didn’t apologize for anything. After all, she had suffered a conversation so frustrating that seeing the look of Blueblood was some kind of relaxing.

“Well? Can you answer, please? If you’re the Princess Celestia’s nephew, why aren’t you an alicorn? And, who is your father? Or your mother? Are you Princess Luna’s son?”

Blueblood didn’t say a word.

“Excuse me? Prince Blueblood?”

“How…?” The white stallion whispered quietly. “How…? How you dare?! You are just a commoner, how can you ask something like that?!! I’m one of the members of the Royal Family, show a little more respect!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, just like Blueblood had done before. “Sorry, but it’s just a question. And not even a weird question. I mean, yes, it should be biologically plausible that you were the son of an alicorn, because the pony species can interbreed, but then who are your parents? Has the Princess Celestia another sibling like Luna?”

“I’m not answering such an impolite question, young lady! And you’re lucky that I don’t know your name…!”

“I’ve said it just a few moments ago…”

“…and that there are no guards around here, because be sure that, if they were here, I’ll order them to arrest you!”
Twilight frowned. She knew virtually all the guards in Canterlot, so she wasn’t very afraid for the menace. “I’m sorry if I had offended you, but…”

“Nopony has ever asked me that!”

“Really? Well, that’s just weird…” Twilight blinked. “But… wait a moment, I’ve never asked that neither. I wonder why nopony is curious about it…”

“Because the other ponies are polite! Not like you!”

And without saying anything more than insults and very originally curses, Blueblood raised his head and left, without looking the purple mare again.

Twilight stayed there a while. That was a strange thing.

Sure, Blueblood was an insufferable jerk, just like Rarity had said, but… why was him so insulted by the question? And, if he was saying the truth, why anypony had questioned that before?

The unicorn looked at her bag, inside of which was the poetic scrolls that, apparently, had bring her shivers at the Star Swirl the Bearded wing. The poem and its mention of the alicorns had brought back those things at her mind, and also had made her wonder why she hadn’t asked anything like that before. She could understand the taboo of talking about those things at the Princesses, but, Blueblood? He hadn’t very much respect, or at least not like the Princesses. Somepony close to him –like, a friend –should have asked something…

And also, who were Blueblood’s parents? The stallion was the nephew of the Princess Celestia, but the Princess Luna had been stuck on the Moon for a thousand years. And Blueblood couldn’t be that old.

“It just doesn’t make sense”. Twilight raised her sight to the Sun. “Nopony has asked that ever, and even I, the personal student of the Princess, don’t know anything. It’s like if all around the alicorns was a mystery, and anypony could see it… But me”.

That was right, now Twilight wondered a lot of things that, a few hours before, had took for granted. What were the alicorns exactly? How old were the Princesses? Had they any family? Where had Blueblood come from?

And why ask that questions then and not before? What had changed?

The purple unicorn blinked as she turned back and took a look into her bag.

Suddenly, the poetic scroll seemed a lot heavier.

Author's note: Phew, I love Blueblood. I mean, yes, he's an insufferable jerk, but... Well, I love his personality. Really. It's a shame he doesn't talk in the show.
Like always, if you find any error, please say it. You know, so I can improve my English writing...
Y por supuesto, se aceptan todo tipo de críticas y comentarios.

The Throne Room was always opened. Since the Canterlot’s castle was not a public place, only the ponies who had special permission from the Princesses or a rendezvous with somepony else in the castle could enter. As a result, the entrance to the castle was closed to the commoners, but every door of the castle itself was opened, with a few exceptions. Twilight, being the personal student of Princess Celestia, was able to pass trough practically every door without any permission, but maybe the Princesses’ Rooms.

Canterlot was a really huge place. The city was carved into the side of a mountain, so there weren’t any natural obstacles. No rivers, no forests, no hills. When Equestria was discovered, the two royal alicorns made the hole and created the valley where the rest was constructed using the normal, earth pony way. To protect the ponies who lived there from the horribly long fall that meant the mountain, the castle was constructed on the very edge, acting like a giant wall. Technically, more than a castle, it was a compilation of different buildings

Because of that, all the areas of the castle had very beautiful sights… and were dangerous. If you peeked from any window, you could see the entire Equestria. And, probably, feel a lot of vertigo. Of course, that also meant that every building that formed the castle was connected to the others by bridges or corridors, because there wasn’t any ground under them. If a pony wanted to go from one side to another, he had to cross a lot of different towers, rooms and dungeons. Only a few buildings, like the Magic Tower, the Party Hall and the Greenhouse were completely separated from the others. And that meant another thing: if a pony wanted to cross the entire castle, then he would see a lot of doors.

That was the reason why the doors were always opened. There were a lot of ways to go from one point to another, and there were a lot of ponies in the castle, like the guards, some students, businessponies, ponies who wanted to ask something to the Princesses, servants, visitors... If the doors were always closed, then it would be too difficult to move without crashing into somepony. And usually, the ponies in the castle were too important –and sadly, self-centered –to suffer a crash without making trouble. Nopony wanted to deal with the consequences of hitting by error any noblepony like Prince Blueblood.

The castle itself was like another town, slightly different from the real Canterlot. Twilight knew the castle like she knew her own hoof, so she founded without trouble the quickest way to go to the Throne Room. If she was lucky, then the Princess Celestia would be free to talk to her…

As she walked down the stairs that preceded the Throne Room, she came across a group of three griffons guided by an old unicorn butler with a wine bottle as cutie mark, who Twilight recognized instantly. The butler did recognize Twilight, too, judging by the look on his face.

“Miss Twilight!” said with a huge smile. “What an honor! Sir Hawking, you’ve been fortunate today. I’m pleased to introduce you to Miss Twilight Sparkle, the…”

“The one we’ve been talking about”, interrupted one of the three griffons. “I see… what a coincidence, right?”

Twilight looked at the griffons trying not to seem impolite. Even though that wasn’t the first time she saw one of these strange, half-lion half-eagle creatures, certainly she had never seen a male griffon before. Sir Hawking and his two companions were taller and sturdier than Gilda, and their feathers were much less brighter: the white on their neck was almost grey. They didn’t look hostile, but their claws were sharp… and their eyes were cold.

One of the most interesting things about the griffons was the fact that they had claws, thought Twilight. Other creatures, like the minotaurs or the dragons, had hands too… but they were very scarce and hadn’t got any truly civilization. The griffons, on the other hand, were the only creatures that, like the ponies, had something that could be named an empire. They didn’t have any magic, but all of them were winged and had fingers, something that was out of the limits of anypony. Form a certain point of view, a griffon was like an earth pony, an unicorn and a pegasus in the same body. They were strong, winged and could manipulate small things easily. Certainly, a very interesting creatures.

“I’m glad to see you too, Claret”, said then the mare, smiling at the butler. The white stallion was one of the older servants in the castle, and he had took care of Twilight all the years that she had been studying there. He knew her since the time she was a filly. “It has been a long time. May I ask who are exactly Sir Hawking and his companions? I’m sorry I’ve never heard about them…”

“Oh, of course not”. Sir Hawking was taller than the other two, and his wings were paler, but he was flatter, too. His eyes were yellow, the same color than Gilda’s. “I’m afraid the ponies know absolutely anything about our kingdom. Of course, the griffons also don’t know too much about Equestria. In my opinion, it’s a big shame”.

“Sir Hawking is one of the most important knights of the Kingdom of Falconia. He and his two companions –Sir Keenbeak and Sir Dusk –are here in quality of ambassadors of their land”, said Claret. “Now, I was leading them to their rooms, since they had been flying all day…”

“Well, I’m pleased to meet you all”, replied Twilight. “I’ve never been in Falconia, but I’ve always wanted, Sir Hawking. I’m sure it will be very interesting”.

“Indeed”. The griffon nodded. “I would be honored if we could share a talk, Miss Twilight Sparkle, as my kingdom is very interested in the Elements of Harmony. But, sadly, me and my accompanying need some rest”.

Twilight smiled. “Of course, I’ll be honored too…”

“The Princess had said…” one of the two remaining griffons, the one who had been named Sir Keenbeak by Claret, entered the conversation, “…that nowadays you’re not living in Canterlot, so it will be difficult for us to make any contact with you. Is it true?”

“I’m afraid it is”, said Twilight. “At the present time I’m living at Ponyville, a little town…”

“The place where the other owners of the Elements of Harmony live”, interrupted Sir Hawking. “Well, then we’ll send you and your friends an invitation before living Equestria. We have some questions to ask you”.

The purple unicorn nodded. “I’m sure my friends will be happy to go”.

“Ok then”. The one who hadn’t talked until that moment, Sir Dusk, opened her beak for the first time. “Now, if you excuse us, we leave now”. The griffon looked at Claret. “Excuse me…”

“Claret, Sir”, said the butler. “My name is Claret.”

“Thanks. Then, Claret, we’d better keep going”.

“Of course. If you follow me…”

Muttering a simple ‘Goodbye’, the three griffons walked away, leaded by Claret. Twilight looked at them until they leave, muttering to herself.

“Griffons…” she started to walk again. “Falconia has never had any relationship with Equestria. I wonder why they are here…”

***

Big Macintosh looked at the sky, his face completely unexpressive. He had been asked earlier that day if he could be at the Carrousel Boutique at that hour, and, even though he had some apples to buck at Sweet Apple Acres, he had accepted the invitation, because those things only happened once a month. But now, there was nopony there.

The sky was blue, like always. Being a farmer, Big Macintosh had in his house the calendar with the plans of all the climatic changes that the weather patrol had for the month. Rainbow Dash was a lazy pony, but one thing was sure: she had never failed as a captain, and Ponyville’s sky had never had something wrong in it. Now, the thing that Big Macintosh was looking for wasn’t any cloud. No, he was looking for a pegasus, but the sky was empty.

The red stallion sighed. His friend was being late…

Then, he heard a voice right behind him. The earth pony turned around, surprised.

“Hey, Big Mac! Sorry I’m late, but I couldn’t do it better, the training was harder than usual today…”

Big Macintosh blinked and shook his head. “Ah thought you’ll come here flyin’ ”.

In front of him there was a blue pegasus with a blue mane. The eyes of the stallion were hidden by a pair of black sunglasses. “Well, I’ve come here flying, or at least most of the way from Canterlot. But I don’t want to attract any attention, so I thought that walking the last miles wasn’t so bad…”

“Ok, ok. Y’wanted to talk ‘bout something? In the letter y’said that was something important…”

“Yeah, but not here”. The pegasus shook his head. “We’ll talk while playing. It’s something serious, so I want to do it in a more… private place, if you understand me. Actually, you shouldn’t know anything, but… I think that it’s better this way. I’m disobeying important orders doing that, so I want to be sure that nopony can hear us”.

”Ok, Ah understand”. The red stallion frowned, but decided to wait before talking about that again. “Well, Blue, we’d better keep going”

“Yeah!”

Big Macintosh started to walk, and the blue stallion followed him. “Y’know, nopony is going to recognize you without your uniform. Ah don’t like those sunglasses”.

“Believe me: It’s better this way. I don’t like any fans today, and sadly, your little town is full with them”.

“You’re sad for that?”

“Well, of course not…” the pegasus sighed. “But, somedays, I simply don’t want to be famous. It’s too exhausting. When I come here to play, I only want to play”.

“So, the sunglasses…”

“I’ll take off the glasses at Sweet Apple Acres. Until then, nothing”.

“As you say”. Big Macintosh looked at the sky once more and smiled. Canterlot was very far away from Ponyville, and usually, anypony who wanted to travel between the two towns have to take a train. The thing that the blue pegasus had done –fly from one point to another in least than two hours –was something unbelievable. But, of course, he didn’t say anything. His friend didn’t want to talk about his amazing abilities. “Y’know, mah sister is at home today, so she can play with us”.

“Oh, Applejack is here?” The pegasus smiled. “That’s great! Poker is better with more than two people”.

“There could be more people if you let us…”

The blue stallion smiled. “The answer is no, Big Mac”.

“Only one pegasus. I’m sure she will be very happy, and you had met her before…”

“You’re talking about that filly, Rainbow Dash, right?” the blue stallion shook his head. “Sorry, but no. She wants to be a Wonderbolt and has a lot of potential, but I’ve already said that I don’t want any fans today. And, even though she’s an interesting pony, the answer is still the same”.

“Ok, ok”. Big Macintosh closed his eyes. “You win, Ah don’t wanna fight. But Ah feel sad for her, Soarin… Ah’m sure she would be angry if she knew…”

“Hey!” The pegasus frowned. “Don’t say my name out loud!”

“Sorry. Like Ah was saying, Blue, Rainbow would be angry if she knew…”

“Well, then make sure she doesn’t know anything. Hey, you think your sister or your grandma could bake an apple pie? I love your family’s cooking!”

***

The Throne Room was not empty, as Twilight had suspected since the meeting with Claret and the griffons. The Princess Celestia was busy talking to a group of nobleponies, and the guards on the door were very clear.

“The Princess will be busy for an hour, if not more”, had said. “So, if you want to meet with her highness, you’ll have to wait”.

The purple unicorn couldn’t do anything but wait, so she decided to go to take a walk and try to relax. The bag with the poetic scroll felt more heavy than normal, but maybe it was only her imagination. She hoped so.

Twilight started to walk, without any clear route. Just walking and thinking, that was the plan.

The griffons were something interesting, but now, without these creatures near, the mind of the mare turned back to the alicorns and Blueblood. She was still surprised by the prince’s reaction to her question. Maybe she hadn’t been very polite, but she was right in one thing –she had no idea of who was exactly Blueblood. The “Princess Celestia nephew”. That didn’t make any sense.

And, in general, the alicorns themselves… the two Princesses were extremely powerful and extremely wise, but sometimes, they seemed… lost. When Discord appeared, Princess Celestia was sure that the only way to defeat him was using the Elements of Harmony. She hadn’t done anything, nor her sister Luna. Why didn’t they…?

And then, Twilight felt another hit in her head and fell to the ground. “Ouch!” shouted. “Ouch… sorry, I was lost in my thoughts…”

“Twilight Sparkle”. A deep voice said her name with a strange tone. “There has been a long time”.

“Oh, Princess Luna!” The purple unicorn smiled at the sight of the dark blue alicorn, The Princess was in front of her, looking at her closely. “I’m really glad to see you!”

“We are too, Twilight”. Luna frowned. “But I’m afraid today is not the best day for you to come here. If we had know that you’ll come…”

“Eh?” Twilight opened her eyes with surprise. “Is there something wrong?”

“Not exactly”. The alicorn smiled. “But… Have you met a group of three griffons, for some reason? Here, in the castle?”

The purple mare blinked. “Sir Hawking and his companions? Yes, I’ve met them. I was going to the Throne Room, and Claret…”

“Those are bad news”. The Princess shook her head. “We think that the luck is not in our side. The griffons… No, let’s take a walk. It’s better to walk while you’re talking about something important. Unless you have something to do, of course”.

Twilight smiled. Even though Luna still used the royal ‘we’, her Equestrian Voice had disappeared. “Oh, of course I have nothing to do! In fact, I was waiting to talk to your sister or you, Princess, so the plan sounds perfect for me”.

“Then, we have nothing else to say”. The Princess Luna started to walk in the same direction than Twilight had gone a few minutes ago. There was nopony in the corridor, so they could talk without interruptions. “Now our sister is busy with her royal duties, but we have nothing to do. It seems that our citizens are still afraid of us, since everypony prefers to talk to Celestia”.

“Oh, Princess…” Twilight looked at the alicorn with worry in her eyes. “I’m so sorry…”

“You have nothing to apologize, my little pony. Luckily, our situation has some advantages… like be able to talk with you any time we want, for example”.

Twilight blushed. “Eh… well, thanks. I’m happy to be able to talk to you too, Princess”.

Luna nodded. The two mares crossed an empty hall. “But now it’s not the time to talk about this, Twilight Sparkle. You’ve said that you want to talk with us?”

“Um… yes, I wanted to ask you something”, said the purple unicorn. “But I think it’s not really important. Is something wrong with the griffons?”

The alicorn sighed. “Maybe. It’s not a secret, but it’s better not to talk about it without Celestia. She’s your teacher, and is her duty to tell those things to you. And of course, your friends must hear about it too, so I’m afraid you’ll have to wait for the information, Twilight”.

“Oh…” Twilight blinked. “As you say, Princess. Then, can I ask you something different?”

“Of course”. Luna smiled at the purple mare. “Some distraction will be good for us. What do you want to know?”

“Eh…” the unicorn laughed nervously. “Well… I feel a little stupid saying those things, because after all, I have been the Princess Luna protégé for years, but only two hours ago I’ve realized… Who exactly is the Prince Blueblood?”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Blueblood is our nephew and Celestia’s too”.

“No, no… I mean, who are his parents? If he’s your nephew, then, you have another sibling? And, why Blueblood is not an alicorn? And, also, You and your sister are more than a thousand years old, but your nephew can’t be older than… I don’t know, twenty five years. How is that possible? And there’s more…”

Then, suddenly, Twilight stopped. Luna was looking at her with a weird face. Her pupils were tiny points, her eyes were almost entirely white. The mane of the alicorn was dark, her forehead was covered by sweat.

The Princess was terrified.

“Y-you….” muttered Luna.“You… are asking…”

“Princess? I-is something wrong?” Twilight chewed bitted her lip with worry. “Have I offended you?”

“N-no… No, you haven’t”. The Princess smiled, but that wasn’t a sincere smile. “We think that we know what are you wondering, but, before answering anything… would you tell us the entire story? Why are you asking those things? Do you have any other question?”

“Eh…” Twilight gulped. “Well… I was reading at the Star Swirl the Bearded wing on the Magic Tower when I discovered something… strange. Did you know that Star Swirl hated poetry?”

“Everypony knows that”.

“Right? But, I’ve founded a scroll with a poem in that wing! That’s not possible, right?”

“Certainly, it’s strange. Continue, please”.

Twilight nodded. “The scroll had a poem in it, and I thought that something so strange must be investigated, so I read the scroll. And, the poem was really weird… It talked about Discord, and the alicorns, and… and a secret, and something that must be forgotten and forgiven…”

“And then…” The Princess talked very slowly. “And then, you started wondering things. Like who exactly are the relatives of Blueblood”.

“Yes… and more. Like, Are there more alicorns than you and the Princess Celestia? How old are you? And exactly, what are exactly? Are you just like an unicorn and a pegasus in one body, or are you more than just that? Are you really immortal? How powerful you are? Where did you come from? And…”

“Twilight Sparkle”. Luna interrupted the unicorn with an authoritarian tone. “You started wondering all those things after reading the scroll, right?”

“Eh… yes, I…”

“You had never asked something like that before. Never. Right?”

“Yes…”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! And it’s something very weird, because I’ve been living here with the Princess for years, and never…”

“Twilight Sparkle”. Luna interrupted again with the same voice. “We are really, really sorry about this. I want you to know that we don’t like those methods, but the situation is certainly desperate. We beg you not to hate us for this”.

Twilight blinked twice. What was the Princess Luna talking about? What methods? She opened her mouth, ready to say something…

And then, she saw Luna’s horn. It was shining with a dark light. The Princess seemed very, very sad.

Twilight couldn’t say anything. Her body felt strange, like if she was falling asleep… her legs did not move even though she wanted them to… her head felt heavy…

And suddenly, everything turned black.