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.