High Moon Ch. 52:

Pride & Sacrifice part one; Discovering the Truth

Later that night, everyone decided to retreat to their beds to be ready for the next morning. Quill sat in bed with Frost, softly stroking her lover’s blue and purple striped mane as the mare considered the plan that Quill had just told her about. Quill still wasn’t sure about bringing Frost, but the scorpio mare was the only one that could give her and Spike the leverage they needed against Celestia.

The request was intensely dangerous for Frost, however. If caught, Frost, Quill, and Spike would be looking at a serious change of plans. But if not, Quill and Spike would have the answers that they had been denied all their lives, and it would finally be the truth.

“Quill,” Frost finally spoke after a few minutes of thought, moving up from the comfort of Quill’s lap to look her lover in her beautiful purple eyes. Frost could easily see the worry in them, along with the sadness she was trying to hide. Placing a hand on the inside of Quill’s thighs, Frost moved closer towards Quill’s face to rub her cheek against Quill’s. “I’ll do it. You two have been through too much on your own; no more.”

Quill moved her hands to Frost’s lower back as the mare began rubbing the inside of her legs and moved her fangs over Quill’s neck. Frost straddled Quill’s lap, sliding her hands up in Quill’s black tank-top to rub her hands against Quill’s toned abdomen.

Quill sighed from Frost toying with her neck using her fangs, enjoying the feel of Frost’s breath on her neck. She tilted her head up and to the side to give Frost more access to her neck. After a moment of enjoying her lover’s delicious fangs, Quill moved her head back down, softly whispering, “Are you sure, Frost? This could be really dangerous for you. I understand if you don’t want to come with.”

Frost moved her hands up to Quill’s shoulders, pushing Quill down to her back. She gazed into Quill’s worry filled eyes before leaning down to take a small nibble of her neck. “I don’t care Quill, my love.” Frost began rubbing her hands along the sides of Quill’s body as she continued place small bites on Quill’s neck. Frost kept this up until she couldn’t feel any more of Quill’s worry. She then moved to Quill’s ear-frill to flick it with her tongue. “You would do anything for me, and I would do anything for you, Quill. I know there’s a risk involved, but I won’t let you and Spike face this alone. I love you Quill, and I want to help you.”

“Thanks Frost.” Quill smiled up at Frost as she moved her hands up Frost’s back. “It means a lot to me to hear that from you.” Frost returned Quill’s smile as she leaned in for a kiss, trailing her hand up to cup one of Quill’s breasts while she slid her other hand down to Quill’s hip. Quill answered Frost’s affectionate touches by moving her hands down to the mare’s firm flanks, giving them a quick squeeze.

Frost moaned into the kiss as Quill’s claws dug into her shorts, causing her to push herself further against Quill. As the kiss deepened, the two lovers twisting their serpent tongues together, their breasts rubbing against each other, forcing moans out of the both of them.

Soon Frost pulled back from Quill’s soft lips with a lustful gasp as Quill’s hands firmly gripped her flanks. Loud moans began leaving her lips due to Quill continuing to toy with her flanks, and from the loving emotions her dragoness was feeding her. Biting down on her lip, Frost sparked her horn to use the soundproof barrier spell that Blaze had instructed her on a few days ago.

Once she was sure that the spell was complete, Frost let the gasping moans flow out from her lips, quickly reaching for the hem of her shirt to toss it over to the other side of the room. Frost began cupping her own breasts, pinching and pulling her own nipples with her nails to tease Quill with the sight.

“Mm, sweetie, your wings must be so sore after that wonderful performance today. Why don’t you turn around and let me treat that for you?” Frost cooed, batting her eyelashes at Quill, a trick she’d learned from watching how Blaze acted around Wolf when the mare was feeling playful. The trick had its intended effect as Quill slowly nodded her head, almost seeming like she was in a trance from Frost’s shining blue eyes.

Frost got off of Quill’s slender hips to let Quill turn over to her stomach before moving back on top of the smaller dragoness the moment she laid down. Frost’s hands moved down Quill’s toned back, briefly passing over the tender muscles of her wing-base, eliciting a moan from her. Closing her eyes, she laid down on Quill’s back, biting down on Quill’s neck and enjoying the sweet warmth of her loving emotions.

Quill let out more moans from having Frost’s fangs on her neck and her mare’s soft breasts in the space between her wings. “F-Frost, quit toying with me already,” Quill sighed softly as her wings flexed out to make more room for Frost’s gorgeous breasts, quickly becoming impatient with her lover’s slow touch.

A hum came from Frost as she took a bite of Quill’s neck and moved her hands to Quill’s small breasts, groping the small, smooth scales. Quill’s wings shot out to their full spread from Frost’s teasing, her marefriend stoking the fire that had been building inside her body.

Quill’s arms soon gave out under Frost’s loving assault, that burning sensation growing inside certain points of her body. Her mind quickly started to cloud over from a heavy feeling of lust from the toxins lacing Frost’s fangs. A brief flash of intimate moments Quill had spent with Frost flashed through her mind, making a wide, pleased smile form on Quill’s lips.

“You’ve overworked your wings again, and now it’s finally catching up with you,” Frost breathed in Quill’s ear before taking a small bite of the green ear-frill. “But don’t worry love, I’ll take care of you tonight. You won’t have to worry about a thing.” Frost moved down from Quill’s neck, sitting up on her knees and lifted Quill’s black tank-top to just over her wings. She sparked her horn in its blue light, channeling it to her fingertips. Once her hands were fully enveloped in the blue light, she moved them down to the base of Quill’s wings.

Quill let out a throaty moan from the tingling running through her spine. After hearing Frost’s giggles, a blush came onto the dragoness’ face as she bit down on her bottom lip.

Frost leaned down to Quill’s ear as she slipped one of her hands around Quill’s waist. She reached down to her lover’s nethers, slipping her hand into Quill’s green and black shorts. She blew softly on one of Quill’s ear-frills as she began teasing the outer walls of her quivering slit.

Quill could no longer hold back her moans from the feeling of Frost’s magic stimulating her flower. From the familiar feeling, Quill guessed that Frost was using the shaft-growth spell, and she let out out a moan of approval for Frost to continue.

“M-more Frost…” Quill moaned, gripping at the bed covers as her body was quickly being overcome with a needy feeling in her body. Frost pulled another moan from her lover as she pushed her two middle fingers inside Quill’s moistened slit.

The dragoness’ moans started to fill the room as Frost began pumping her fingers inside Quill in a slow and rhythmic movement. She slid down from Quill’s neck to the bases of her wings and began taking small bites out of the both of them. Quill bit down on her lower lip to focus on fighting back the pressure that was quickly building inside her loins. However, this task was beginning to prove difficult because of the half-breed’s sense-enhancing toxins running through her veins, and the mare’s fangs at the bases of her wings.

“Ease yourself love. Let it come forth,” Frost murmured, grazing her tongue over the space between Quill’s wings, and slowing the pace of her fingers inside of Quill. “Don’t hold yourself back.”

Quill took Frost’s advice and began easing her body up to let Frost do as she pleased, savoring every small motion more than the last. As Quill began to ease herself, Frost went back to using her spell. Frost increased the movement of her fingers and the intensity of the spell to get it completed faster, causing Quill’s sighs and moans to increase in volume.

Until eventually...

“Hugh, Frost!” Quill’s wings flexed outward from the surge of bliss as her walls clamped down around Frost’s fingers, before a rapidly growing shaft forced them out. She slumped down against the bed, a sweaty mess breathing raggedly.

Frost released Quill’s wings from her fangs before sitting up from Quill’s back. She turned the panting dragoness over, removing her shirt and green shorts to gaze at the thick shaft throbbing against Quill’s toned green underbelly. Just like Frost had theorized, the spell changed shape depending on the intensity of the spell and its user’s desires. And right now, Quill’s shaft was long, hard, and covered in smooth barbs; just perfect for what Frost had planned.

“Ok sweetie, sit up for me? Pretty please?” Frost asked, still borrowing Blaze’s speaking patterns for the night just to see how they would work. Yet again, Quill slowly nodded her head as she sat up on the bed, resting her head against the wall.

Frost giggled for a bit before climbing her way into Quill’s lap, placing her hands on Quill’s shoulders. Frost began grinding her outer walls against Quill’s already-coated shaft to tease the both of them while Quill recovered from her first climax. Frost bit down on her lip from the feeling of the barbed shaft rubbing against her, and from the surge of lust and love she felt from Quill.

“Mm, Quilly~ you performed so wonderfully today,” Frost said as she moved her hands to the back of Quill’s head to tilt it up so she could see into Quill’s eyes. Unable to resist, Frost moved in for a kiss on Quill’s lips, darting her tongue into Quill’s mouth. Both Frost and Quill moaned into the kiss, Frost still grinding against Quill’s purple shaft, leaking her sweet nectar on it.

Quill slowly began moving her hands from her sides, onto Frost’s thighs as she regained her senses. Leaving one hand on Frost’s succulent thighs, Quill moved one of her hands up her mare’s body to her blue mane, locking her fingers in it.

As Quill began taking control back over the kiss, Frost thought back to a tip that Blaze told her and Cyclone a few days ago. “Remember girls, I know you two are young, but this is a very important lesson. Your mates, the twins, as dominant as they come off, will love it when you two take control. All mates do, from time to time. Just like my Wolf...”

Blushing as she remembered the rest of the mare’s words, Frost fought against Quill’s hand in her hair, pulling back from the kiss before Quill could fully take control. Frost giggled at the adorable, needy look on Quill’s face as she had her tongue hanging out. “You’ve done so much for everyone here, Quill,” Frost started as she moved a finger around from the back of Quill’s head and down her body.

Quill let out a soft sigh at Frost dragging a claw down her body, teasing the soft scales on Quill’s hardened nipples. Quill sat back against the stone wall, watching Frost drag her finger all the way down to her throbbing shaft.

Frost licked her lips as she moved her finger all the way up to Quill’s tip, coating it in a clear dripple of Quill’s pre-cum. Quill moaned again as Frost brought her finger to her lips and sucked the pre off, murmuring, “Delicious…” She moved her hand back to Quill’s shaft and started to fondle it, causing Quill to throw her head back and let out a noise that was halfway between and growl and a groan. “What you did deserves something special,” Frost said as she aimed Quill’s tip at her marehood. “I do hope you enjoy it, my love.”

Slowly, Frost began sliding down the barbed shaft, moaning from the smooth barbs pressing tightly against her marehood. She gave a start when Quill suddenly gripped Frost’s thighs, shoving the mare down the rest of the way. Frost’s head shot up, letting out a loud moan from the sudden intrusion.

Quill didn’t waste a moment before she moved her hands around to Frost’s flanks, taking hold of the round, firm, ass cheeks and using them to start lifting the mare up and down her shaft. Frost’s wings were spread outwards from the jolts of pleasure running up her spine as Quill began slamming her down Quill’s towering shaft.

Frost cried out in joyful pain as Quill’s claws began sinking into the soft flesh of her flanks, and the fast pace Quill used to lift her up and down her meaty pole. However, her cries of of delight were muffled when she took hold of Quill’s cheeks to pull her dragoness in a kiss. A soft, blue glow began to show on Frost’s smooth, curved, horn as she started to grind her hips into Quill each time she was forced down.

Both lovers moaned deeply into the kiss as they both fought for dominance over the other. Frost moved one of her hands to Quill’s shoulders to gain some control of their lovemaking while Quill’s tongue intertwined with hers. Frost began spraying out her juices onto Quill’s toned stomach and waist with every heavy drop she was forced, yet more than happy, to take.

Quill grunted in pleasure as she attempted to hold off her climax a little while longer. Lewd, wet sounds came from the two lovers as Quill’s lower regions quickly became covered with her mare’s sweet juices, while Frost’s walls were slowly becoming filled with the dragoness’ pre-cum. Quill’s shaft pushed all the way into Frost’s depths, reaching far back to the half-breed’s cervix, which twitched in both pain and joy.

A deep, heavy, throb came from Quill’s shaft each time she pushed into Frost’s hot walls. Small sparks began going off around Frost’s horn as her body tried to absorb the massive amounts of love Quill had for her. Frost quickly pulled back from the kiss, throwing her head upward as she increased the force behind her drops. Frost’s tight slit clenched down around Quill’s shaft, squeezing and preparing for every drop Quill’s thick, throbbing, shaft was good for.

“O-oh Quill...I-I love you so m-much!” Frost shouted while Quill started to move her tongue over Frost’s neck, getting another shudder out of Frost.

Quill began taking small bites on Frost’s collarbone and neck, sliding one of her hands up to the base of Frost’s wings to press down on the muscle with her two middle fingers. Quill was loving Frost’s cries of passion as she began massaging Frost’s flank with one hand while the other one did its best to find the sweet spot on Frost’s wing-base.

Frost gasped at the feeling of Quill’s claws prodding the base of her wings, causing them to stiffen more than they already had. Her body spasmed uncontrollably the moment Quill’s fingers reached the very middle of Frost’s two bat-wings, pushing her over the edge.

As the mare’s walls clenched tightly around Quill, Frost’s shaking climax forced her to fall backwards, pulling Quill with her as she continued to let loose a small torrent of her feminine juices all over Quill’s lower stomach.

Quill’s head became buried in between Frost’s soft, round breasts while her lover took in deep, gasping breaths. “K-keep going Quill…” Frost breathed out as she moved her hands around the back of Quill’s head and neck to hold her where she was.

Quill didn’t need any more motivation than that, taking hold of Frost’s slender, powerful, hips as she began to resume her fast pace inside Frost, knocking the air out of the mare. When Frost finally stopped shuddering breathlessly, she let out a series of delighted squeals from Quill ramming her shaft deep inside Frost’s drooling marehood.

Each forceful thrust inside the mare caused her full breasts to jiggle up and down in Quill’s face. The mesmerizing mounds soon prompted Quill to latch her teeth around one of Frost’s sensitive nipples, causing her mare under her to scream in joy. Quill gently pulled at the hard nub with her teeth, getting Frost to wince slightly as small tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

Quill’s rough thrusting pushed all the way into Frost’s deepest parts, the flaring head brushing against the high wall of Frost’s cervix. Quill pulled up off of the mare’s breasts as she began focusing on reaching into Frost’s womb. Her mission was aided by Frost’s back arching up from the pleasure of Quill slamming her shaft into Frost.

Drool began forming at the corners of Frost’s mouth as her tongue lolled around. All the mare could do was lay her arms down on the bed while Quill happily had her way with her. Through her foggy mind, Frost was able to feel herself getting closer to the edge again as her marehood started to clamp down on Quill’s round barbed shaft.

“Q-Quill...I-I’m-” Frost was cut off by Quill suddenly thrusting upwards all the way into Frost, holding onto Frost’s thighs as she tried to force every single inch of the twitching shaft inside Frost’s clenching marehood. Frost screamed as a torrent of Quill’s hot seed fired straight into her core, causing Frost’s blue eyes to roll into the back of her head from sheer pleasure, and making her reach her own peak.

Frost released a flood of her juices onto Quill’s already-wet lower stomach again, soaking both her and Quill’s lower bodies in her feminine cum. Quill, driven mad by lust, lifted Frost all the way up to the very tip of her shaft, only to slam her back down before she let out the largest of her streams, forcing both her and Frost to cry out together in bliss.

Quill soon slumped after her waves of release ended, falling on top of Frost’s soft mounds with a small huff while the mare was heavily panting to catch her breath. Moments later, Frost embraced her lover in her arms, slipping her left hand down Quill’s back to toy with her wing-base. Quill let out a small hum from Frost playing with her tired wings as she moved her hands up to Frost’s sides, pushing herself up to rest her head in the crook of Frost’s neck.

The two silently basked in the afterglow of their rather rough lovemaking, tenderly holding each other before Frost nuzzled against Quill. “Mm, Quill...we should be more careful,” she giggled, moving her arms around Quill’s neck as she took a quick nibble on Quill’s ear. “If we keep this up, I may be giving you a child soon.”

Quill started laughing, thinking that Frost was telling a joke. “Yeah, but you wanna know something? I wouldn’t mind having a kid with you Frost,” Quill said with a bright smile and an honest tone in her voice. Her emotions mirrored her words, causing Frost to tighten her grip around Quill a bit. “I already want to spend my life with you, so having a kid of our own would be great.”

“You really mean that, don’t you Quill?” Frost asked in a rhetorical manner, since she could already tell that Quill was being completely honest with her words. “Okay then love, let’s have a child, but we have to wait until after we do a few things before then. Would that be alright with you?”

Quill laughed again at her marefriend, beginning to suspect that Frost wasn’t joking, but waving that off as her reading too much into the mare’s words. “That’s fine Frost,” Quill said as she closed her eyes to finally rest up for the day they had planned for tomorrow, murmuring, “For you I would wait an eternity.”

“And for you my love, I would wait by your side for an eternity as well,” Frost said before she slowly began to fall asleep in Quill’s arms.

It had been hours since lights-out had been called for the new recruits of the Solar Guard. And it had only been a few moments since the change to the night shift, yet two soldiers not of the night shift were still up, testing a theory of theirs. Obsidian and Gizmo were taking their only free time to get back to work on a secret project that been taking up much of their time.

Repurposing the spell-gun. The spell-gun had been made primarily for unicorn magic; the least volatile of the different types of magic. However, now the two engineers were trying to strengthen the magical compressor that gave the weapon its long range and power that it was known for. Naturally, this wasn't an issue for Gizmo, since she was a unicorn, but they were trying to get it to where Obsidian could use the weapon with the dragon’s soul pulsing inside him.

The trouble was that Obsidian didn’t have much control over his dragon magic, and the gun itself couldn’t hold and compress the magic into a single shot small enough to come out of the barrel of the gun.

Over the last two weeks or so, Obsidian had been doing whatever he could to control the magic within him with great difficulty. He had even made the choice to tell both Wave and Verdite about the dragon markings on his hands and the story behind it. The two of them were shocked by the information, not for the markings on Obsidian’s arms, but that a Fallen Saint would join the guard.

It was after that that Verdite started helping Obsidian with the dragon magic inside of him, at least to the point where he could summon the magic. The rest she left him to discover on his own. Obsidian couldn’t complain much about the half-breed’s teaching methods, especially since they weren’t stationed in Equestria for that.

The only real trouble with it was, each time Obsidian tried to use a spell-gun, it would either break apart from the magic, or the crystal inside would fractured from the intensity of it. However, the two engineers had been getting closer.

“Okay boss-dog,” Gizmo sighed, dressed in her street clothing, which consisted of a black tank top that had a symbol of a green bolt of lighting going across from the right side and denim pants. She walked over towards Obsidian to hand the dog another blank-white crystal that served as the magical compressor for all spell-guns. “We’re down to our last dozen that we were able to get for this ‘experiment,’ so use them wisely, bud.”

Nodding, Obsidian raised the black, heavy-metal spell-gun pistol he had been using for this experiment to pull back on the top part of the gun, called the slider, revealing a chamber with a small, damaged, ash colored crystal. Obsidian carefully used his claw tips to pick the crystal out of the chamber, holding it up until Gizmo took it in her magical grip.

“Well, at least the damage to the crystal is diminishing each time we do this, boss-dog,” Gizmo noted as she sparked her horn in a green light to lift the used crystal out of Obsidian’s claws, examining the small cracks on the crystal. Still too damaged to be used with other spell-guns, at least until she could get them repaired. “That has to be a step in the right direction.”

“It is,” Obsidian said as he took the new crystal from Gizmo’s hand with his index and thumb claws, placing the fresh crystal into the gun chamber before pushing the slider back into its neutral position. “It’s less work on the crystal-smith, and it means we’re getting somewhere with this. Just wish we’d figure this out already.”

“Don’t worry boss, we’re getting there. You know what they say, ‘innovations weren’t done in two weeks,’” Gizmo joked as she turned to take the used crystal back over to the others while Obsidian took aim with the single pistol.

It was easy for him to line the sights straight down range to the target that was set up exactly twenty meters away from him. This was thanks to a variety of things: heightened evolutionary eyesight and denser bone structure to fight back recoil, two weeks of getting used to the gun, years of being a Fallen Saint, and even more years of being a blacksmith. Obsidian was now able to line his sights almost perfectly with each attempt he took to fire the gun. The trouble began when it came with his magic.

Closing his eyes, Obsidian began focusing his will on the dragon’s soul that was infused in him. Slowly, the black markings on his hands began coiling up to Obsidian’s shoulders, stopping just at the sides of his chest. Along with the markings growing, engravings on Obsidian’s spell-gun began shining in a sliver light, signifying that the crystal was beginning to integrate with Obsidian’s dragon magic.

The light show was a sign that the first step was done, and that the crystal was now able to convert the magic into a single compressed burst shot. Now came the part where Obsidian tried to fire the gun. Usually this ended up with the gun breaking apart.

‘Okay, let’s do this. Come on Obsidian, remember what Gargoyle always said before using a spell.’ Steadily, Obsidian opened his silver eyes, which were shining with an unearthly glow. He quickly took aim at the target down range. Filled with the memories of his fallen friend, Obsidian opened his mouth to whisper, “Ignis.”

A brief, bright red light gathered at the muzzle of the gun, growing brighter before a sudden a concentrated burst of fire shot out of the burrel. The next second, the thick oak target down range, which had suffered through countless other magical shots, suddenly combusted into bright crimson and silver flames.

Both soldiers were startled by the sudden combustion, neither one thinking that Obsidian would finally get a shot out without the gun jamming on him. “Dude, Sergeant, you did it! You actually did it!”

“Yeah I know Gizmo, but let’s put out that fire first,” Obsidian quickly said, still trying to understand how he did it in the first place, though he was more worried about waking the entire castle from an experiment, like he and Gizmo used to do when they first started out as soldiers.

Gizmo nodded her head as she sparked her horn to summon a fire-extinguisher, quickly floating it over towards the flaming target and putting it out with a cloud of cooling chemical agents. Once the fire was out, Gizmo placed the red fire-extinguisher back in its place on the wall behind them.

Not wasting a moment, Obsidian moved the slider of the gun forward so he could see the condition of crystal compressor. Upon first glance, the crystal seemed to have not suffered any sort of damage or fractures. Instead, it had fused with the gun’s chamber; which was what it was designed to do.

“Heh, this whole time all it needed was a low level fire-spell. Who would've figured?” Obsidian laughed as he marveled at the now sliver crystal that filled the chamber walls. “Well it’s official, the experiment was a success. Hand me the other one. I want to finish this before you leave for home in the morning.”

Gizmo nodded her head before she hurried over to the table where they had set up a second silver tinted pistol of the same ore as the black one. She loaded it up with another blank compression crystal before taking it and the leather belt holster Obsidian had fashioned to hold two spell-gun pistols over to the dog.

Obsidian took the belt holster away from Gizmo, fixing it around his waist with the gun slots on either side of his dagger behind his waist. “You know, I got a good feeling about tomorrow, Gizmo,” Obsidian said after placing the black pistol in the right gun slot. He then took the silver gun away from Gizmo and took aim at the slightly charged target dummy with a smirk.

“Ignis.”

“Blueblood, are you sure about this matter?” Deep within the ruined structure of the Followers of the Fallen Star, four of its nine members gathered to discuss the futility of their mission and what they should do about it. All were starting to agree that finding the filly was becoming too much of a problem, and with the guard increasing their size, it would soon be impossible.

Each of the four now agreed that the filly would be a dire waste of time, and that by now she most likely would’ve died of starvation or some other cause. If that wasn’t the case, the filly had to be able to move about Equestria at will, for they had not been able to track her down in any of the various towns or cities they had looked in. Already, each of these four had experienced some kind of resistance or another, Saint more than the others due to that unexpected half-breed from Ponyville.

Nonetheless, each had some struggle keeping their secret. Whether it was Blueblood being questioned by Celestia regarding his constant disappearances, Saint being pestered by his shareholders from his family’s company, Angel Wing, a soft pink unicorn mare supermodel, under the watchful civilian eye of the kingdom, or even Silversteel, whose company was responsible for the vast amount of resources Equestria used.

Each of the nine unicorns had some noble or royal connection through the Equestrian crown. Being this close to the crown, it was simple enough to convince any that they were not the true evil that lurked in the shadow.

Regardless, their current endeavor was turning out to be a failed wildgoose chase. With the royal crown looking for any leads on their organization, the only ray of luck the nine could have had was finding the filly before Celestia did. Fortunately, the fact that their magic was nearly untraceable by any conventional methods meant they could still operate and plan from the shadow.

However, the time for planning had come to an end.

The master was far too stubborn with his plans to overthrow Celestia with the power trapped inside the filly, and the other members were either too loyal to the cause, or nowhere to be found. To add to the failure of the original plan, the undeniable truth of the filly being dead constantly plagued the conscience of the nine occult members’ minds, at least what was left of it.

So now these four had gathered to forge a new plan of their own, without their master’s knowledge. A task that was proving to be more difficult than they had originally thought.

“Do you realize how foolish this plan of yours sounds?” Angel Wing questioned, gracing the other three with the a beauty that was hard to match. Her face had a severe loveliness to it, and her radiant sky-blue and white mane had a small flash of purple dashed through the left side. “This plan of yours is more foolish than the master’s vanity. May I remind you that something like this will most definitely get us killed?”

“Cease your complaining at once, you harlot!” Blueblood shouted at the mare, his horn and eyes glowing a bright silver, both reacting to his anger. “I will NOT be questioned by the likes of you. You are to do as I say, understand me, mare?”

Angel snapped her jaw at Blueblood, not bothering to calm the stallion down. The past two weeks, he had been showing signs of a rapidly deteriorating mental state. Not only him, but Saint as well had been slowly losing his mind ever since he was forced to run away after his fight with the half-blood.

“You self-centered...Fine!” Angel shouted at the white stallion, hopping down from the stone wall she was sitting on to stand in the stallion’s face. “Please tell us, what is this glorious plan of yours supposed to achieve? Because it sounds to me like you are doing nothing but attempting to put yourself in the spotlight.”

“Wretch...you should be happy that I’m even allowing you to aid me in my plan,” Blueblood spat out at the pink mare with his haughty attitude, too angry with the mare to care what he was saying. “Just follow your part and I’ll see if I can fit you in my majestic rise to power. That’s if I am feeling magnanimous towards you, mare.”

“That is it! I have had it with your narcissistic, vain, self-absorbed…”

While the two unicorns continued to squabble with each other, the other two of their inner alliance stood against a broken stone wall, just listening into Blueblood and Angel’s horn lock.

Silversteel, who was skeptical of the sanity of all of the members of the cult, including his own, looked over towards the two quarrelling unicorns with slight disdain. He knew he couldn’t back out of what he had gotten into, he had never thought about it seriously. However, it didn’t help that Angel and Blueblood were a serious liability due to how they acted around each other.

Saint was no better given his state of mind. Even his physical state was starting to deteriorate. Whatever that half-breed had done to him left a mark in Saint’s magical nerve system, and it seemed unfixable by any methods they had tried; almost like a curse.

Periodic muscle spasms, violent twitches, and even periods where his magic would shut off completely for hours on end. Saint may have gotten away from being killed that day, but the damage he sustained was far more costly. Now he was a ball and chain that seemed to be weighing the others down.

“Would you look at those two?” Saint mocked as Angel and Blueblood continued their argument over nothing of any real importance - themselves. “If they’re not careful, someone might mistake them for a married couple.”

Silversteel didn’t return Saint’s laughter, as he was far too preoccupied with thoughts of how much of a failure this plan that Blueblood had was. It was obvious their master didn’t have intentions of truly sharing the fabled power of the Fallen Star with any of the others. So, it would be more beneficial to consider all contingencies.

“That’s enough, you two,” Silversteel commanded in a deep voice that carried over the two bickering unicorns, thankfully stopping them from using their magic, and avoiding future headaches. “Angel, until you have a plan of your own, I suggest that you cease your arguing. There might be a small chance that it actually could serve us some good, regardless of how far-fetched it is.”

“What did you say, you brute?!”

“Far-fetched?!”

“I said ENOUGH!” Silversteel shouted at the two, incidentally causing his own horn to shine a bright silver from the frustration that he was feeling. These two petty unicorns were too blinded by their own selfish intentions to see what they all were trying to achieve. “Will you two shut your mouths for five minutes, and think before you speak?! Now,” Silversteel paused, calming himself down to speak in a more controlled tone. “Blueblood, are you sure you this plan of yours will work? Because if it doesn’t…”

Blueblood’s eyes widened at the larger tan unicorn stallion, in pure disbelief that someone of his upbringing would even think to question, much less order, one such as himself. “You dare threaten me?” Blueblood asked, shoving Angel aside as he step in front of Silversteel. The younger stallion tried to stare down the older, taller, and more physically fit stallion with little success. “Listen here, you land laborer, I am r-”

“You will be nothing if you don’t answer my question, you impotent colt!” Silversteel shouted at the stallion, grabbing his black robes by the collar, and lifting him off the ground with one hand. Blueblood tried to struggle against the stronger stallion, but a life of not having to lift a single finger couldn’t compare to the hard labor Silversteel had put himself through.

“You, of everyone here, are the last one that deserves to call themselves a noble, much less royalty. Just because you were born into it does not mean that you have the honor or pride to call yourself as such. Now don’t ever let me hear you trying to call yourself that. You understand me, brat?”

All Blueblood could do was grip at the metal gauntlet that Silversteel was wearing on his arm, but he was unable to stop being choked by the stallion. “F-fine, just release m-me already,” Blueblood ordered in a shaky voice as he had given up on squirming his way out of the powerful grip.

“Answer my question first, colt,” Silversteel demanded before he violently shook Blueblood once to shake the stallion’s hands off of Silversteel’s steel-clad arm. “Will this plan work or not? And if it does not…”

“It will, just you watch. I am not a failure or weakling like some of these foals,” Blueblood said pridefully, stoking Angel’s anger and even dragging Saint into it. The only thing that was stopping the two from doing anything about the stallion was the even larger and more dangerous stallion holding the ‘prince’ by the collar. “Is that not what you wanted to hear? My plan will work, all you three need to do is follow your roles.”

Silversteel stared deeply into Blueblood’s golden eyes for a moment, seeing pure conviction in the stallion’s eyes. “Very well,” Silversteel finally said, dropping Blueblood back to his feet, and moving his hand back into his robe while the white stallion attempted to regain his composure. “If this plan of yours truly will help with our cause, I am willing to follow your lead.”

“Well, it’s good to hear that some of you-”

“However, Blueblood,” Silversteel cut in, glaring down towards Blueblood with a menacing leer that shook the prince to his very core. “If by chance your plan should in fact fail...I will make sure that you fall with it using every drop of power and influence I have. You are at full responsibility here Prince, mess this up and you will be the only one to fall. Not me.”

Blueblood watched in shock as Silversteel turned away to leave, not giving Blueblood the time to think of something in retort to the elder stallion. While the stallion was in shock, Saint mockingly laughed at Blueblood before he faded away into a cloud of black smoke.

“What’re you gonna do now, Prince Blueblood?” Angel mocked as she walked past Blueblood, shoving her shoulder into the prince’s back as she did so. “It’s funny, isn’t it? Even when you think you have control of something, you’re still nothing but a lonesome puppet for others to use.” Angel began laughing at the growing look of shock and anger on Blueblood’s face, sadistically enjoying it.

Blueblood’s body started to violently shake from the mare’s laughter and mocking, blood boiling from the lack of respect the other unicorns had for him. A thick vein soon made itself known on the sides of Blueblood’s head, causing Angel to continue to laugh at the pathetic prince. “Oh, poor, sad Blueblood. It’s pathetic.” Angel turned her head away, lighting her horn in a faded pink light, constructing two pure snow-white wings on her lower back, and using them to take flight.

As the mare quickly became a small speck in the sky, Blueblood let out a bloody scream of hate and anger, pure magic arcing from his horn. The shout was that of a stallion finally crossing over the threshold of sanity; the most dangerous form a stallion could take.

“Rah! I am the Prince of this kingdom, the rightful ruler! No one speaks to me like that. You should all be bowing to ME, you should be fearing ME! I am the Prince, I do not fear anyone, I do not take orders from low-life heathens like as you!”

Still continuing his self-centered rage, Blueblood failed to notice one of the hooded occult members that had been watching him and the others since the moment they began to form their plan. However, luckily for those four, this member of the occult also had different plans from the master’s, and she was going to use Blueblood’s foolhardy plan to ensure her own.

‘Oh Blueblood, you truly are pathetic and desperate. Your own self-directed pride will be your end.’

Bright and early the morning, the pack of High Moon was up to take a quick dip in the Cerberus Falls. They all hoped it was going to be another easy-going day for the pack, since they didn’t have much planned. With the greenhouse done, and the seeds planted and growing at a rapid rate, food wasn’t going to be an issue. And since the twins were going to be gone for a few hours, if not the whole day, there wasn’t much to do.

After Lily had returned from her week-long absence, she declared there was something Wolf had to look into since it would affect High Moon as a whole. After being informed that Lily would teleport him to their destination when he was ready, Wolf agreed to see what the flutterpony had been up to.

This, naturally, would leave Blaze in charge of High Moon during Wolf’s absence. And seeing how it could benefit the pack, Blaze told Veil and Cyclone that they would be learning how to make medical potions just in case some unexpected emergency occurred. Since neither of them could find a reason not to, and they enjoyed the mare’s company, Veil and Cyclone agreed to the lesson from Blaze.

But before anyone could leave, Blaze wanted to spend some time bathing with the other female members of the pack. So, after journeying to the falls, all the females took to the second level pool while the two males took their spots at the bottom one. It was there that Quill expressed why winning the competition was so important that she forced herself to overcome her fear of drowning. Her and Spike wanted the answer to where they had came from. Who their parents were. Why Celestia had their egg. Why they’d never known about any of their relatives, if they had any.

“Dang Quill, that sounds really important. Like, really, really important,” Veil said, hanging off to the side of the pool’s bay with Cyclone. The white dragoness was still wearing a shirt she had borrowed from Spike. She had claimed she was too embarrassed to be fully undressed in front of others, which had Quill raising an eyebrow, and wondering why that would embarrass the dragoness. Quill hadn’t questioned the dragoness the last time they’d all bathed together, as she’d been too busy nursing her sore wings.

“Come on, Cyclone, it’s not like you don’t have anything we haven’t seen,” Quill pressed on, figuring that Cyclone was just embarrassed. “Besides, what about when you and Spike-”

“Quill!” Cyclone interrupted her, blushing hotly. “That’s… well… your growth-spurts haven’t even-” she snapped her jaw shut, her blush redoubling.

Quill raised an eyebrow. “What do our growth-spurts have to do with anything?”

Cyclone tried to look anywhere but at Quill, before finally stammering out, “W-well, in dragon c-clans it’s considered… n-normal to wait until both mates have hit their growth-spurts before…” she trailed off.

Quill cocked her head, interested in learning more about traditional dragons, but not wanting to let that derail her from her original thought. She shook herself, saying, “Well still, that doesn’t explain why you’re nervous about being naked.” Quill took a few steps towards Cyclone, hand outstretched. “Now come on, let’s see what you’re so scared of.”

Veil, after seeing Cyclone trying to hide behind her, barked at Quill to stop. Quill realized that it was a touchy thing for the two, and she dropped it, backing off back to her spot near Frost. She apologized, saying that she didn’t realize it was so sensitive a subject for the two. She just hoped they could all get back to the calm peacefulness that came with bathing.

Cyclone took a deep breath. In spite of knowing that Quill would hurt her as soon as Spike would, she was still a little afraid of the Queen dragoness. She knew she had nothing to fear from Quill, but she was still one of the royal breed. “Sooo, how are you guys even gonna get Celestia to tell you the truth?” Cyclone asked, wanting to change the subject. She held the hem of Spike’s gray shirt down to keep it from floating up. She made a mental note to learn how to instantly dry herself off like Spike or Frost did. She’d have to remember ask Spike when he got back from Canterlot.

“That’s the easy part, kinda. Me and Spike have already heard every story she has to offer.” Quill sighed as she leaned her head back to look at the clear skies above their heads, recalling a few of Celestia’s stories. “Found our egg floating in a stream. Humph, yeah right. Anyways,” she paused, turning her head back at Veil and Cyclone. “We already know every inch of the castle. So finding a place where Celestia would be inclined to tell us the truth should be easy.”

“Okay, but how are you going to know what she says isn’t another lie?” Cyclone asked again, worried for the twins even more now that she knew a little more about how they had been treated when they lived with the ponies. “I mean, there’s no real way of knowing.”

Blaze quickly looked at Frost, guessing, “Unless…”

Slowly, the females’ collective attention was drawn to the changeling mare resting beside Quill. “Yes, I will be accompanying the twins to Canterlot,” Frost acknowledged the stares after sensing a collective worry from everyone, including Quill. “As dangerous as it may be, I refuse to allow Quill and Spike to be lied to again. So I’ll be going with them in disguise. Hopefully nothing will go awry.”

“Frost, are you sure?” Isis inquired, having viewed the entirety of the Canterlot invasion, and the tragedies that were committed by both both sides. “I can’t fully agree going with your dragoness disguise would be effective. That would most definitely draw attention towards you, more than there already will be. I can go in your place if you would rather play it safe.”

“No,” Frost shook her head. While she was grateful for the sphinx’s offer and concern, Frost had already made up her mind. She was willing to risk herself for Quill. “My mind is already made up. I will be the one to assist the twins.”

As reluctant as everyone was to admit it, Frost going with the twins would be better for them. Out of everyone, only Frost would be able to accurately detect emotions, and would know when to call a lie out. Isis could go, yet there was a sense of detachment from her and Celestia. Besides, though it had taken her quite some time to do so to do so, the mare had learned how to build a mask over her outer appearance.

Now, it was going to take much more than subtle twitches or flinches from the mare for someone to be able to call her out on a lie. Quill turned to her marefriend. “Frost, you don’t have to go, it’s-”

“No, Quill,” Frost interrupted, catching Quill off guard by wrapping her arm around Quill’s neck, pulling Quill closer to Frost so the mare could place a kiss Quill’s cheek. “I’m not abandoning you two, we already talked about this last night. Remember?”

Quill’s cheeks flushed a bright red at her mare’s actions, and the memory of what happened late last night. But soon Quill began to smile softly at the mare, nodding her head before returning the affectionate kiss on the cheek. “Thanks Frost, this means a lot. I promise if shit hits the fan, I’ll make sure nothing bad happens.”

“I know you will Quill, but it’s fine. Promise.”

While the females continued to bond, the two males down at the bottom pool sat in the water in almost complete silence. Ever since Spike had woken up with Cyclone in his arms again this morning, Spike’s mind been stuck on how he and Quill were going to confront Celestia about how she had came across their egg. With Frost coming, half of his worries were put to rest, yet more came up just from that very same fact.

‘What if something happens? What if a unicorn is able to see through her disguise? What if Obsidian isn’t as different as Quill believes he is?’ These thoughts and more were going through Spike’s head. He knew Quill was a bit more worried than he was about the whole thing, given her bond with Frost.

There was no telling what could happen in Canterlot today, and Spike couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something bad. “Hey Wolf, can I ask you a question?” Spike asked, breaking the silence of the bottom pool.

Wolf turned around to face the drake, who had had a worried look all morning. Today was a big day for the twins, that much Wolf knew. What puzzled him was why they were worried about it. “Yeah Spike, what is it? Are you worried something is going to happen in Canterlot?”

“Yeah…” Spike sighed as he should’ve known Wolf would have been able to tell what was on his mind. “Wolf, what if something does go wrong? I’ve got this bad feeling that today is going to end very badly, and it’s messing with me.”

“Well that’s what you’ve been training for, Spike,” Wolf replied after a moment, turning around to face the drake on the other side of the pool. As he rested his elbows on the edge of the bay, Wolf looked up towards the clear sky, and started to get a small sense of what Spike was talking about. “We trained you so you would be ready to fight and defend yourself, or others, when necessary. I know the feeling you’re having Spike, and it’s not an easy one to deal with. But you have to do it.”

“I know, but still...I just can’t shake this feeling,” Spike sighed, unable to understand this feeling, but knowing that whatever would happen, he and Quill were ready. “It might just be my nerves getting at me though. I mean, we’re gonna be confronting Princess Celestia. An immortal. The sun goddess. Last thing I want to do is provoke her.”

Wolf nodded his head, completely understanding why Spike would feel so nervous. “I understand Spike, but you can’t let your worries stop you from getting what you want. I don’t know what lies you and Quill have been told, but I do know you need to hear the truth. Even if it’s not something you’ll like hearing.”

“Yeah, you’re right Wolf. Just wish I knew what this feeling was, though.” Spike rubbed the side of his neck with a groan of discomfort that all this worrying had brought him. To think, this all could be over in mere hours. He and Quill would have their answers, it would be over.

Yet there was something still banging at Spike’s head, screaming that today was going to end badly.

Minutes later, after everyone was fully dressed, the pack gathered outside the temple to say goodbye to the twins and Frost. Blaze gave all three hugs goodbye, wishing them luck and telling them to come home safe. Cyclone too gave Spike a tight hug and kiss on the cheek. She pulled him close, nuzzling against his neck. “I love you, Spikey,” she whispered before squeezing him tightly and letting him go. She wished him and Quill luck on their quest to get their answers.

Once the goodbyes were said, Wolf and Lily both took their leave as well so Wolf could see what the flutterpony had been up to. As they left, Quill decided now was the best time to leave as well, taking flight to the skies with Frost while Spike ran underneath them.

Quickly cutting through the Everfree, all three were at the bottom of the mountain leading to Canterlot in no time. Even before they fully made it out of forest, Quill spotted the telltale signs of a storm brewing at the top of the mountain. As much as she didn’t want to think about it, Quill had a feeling that they might get caught in it before they could leave Canterlot. However, before they could began to ascend the mountain, the sight of a chariot gave them reason to believe that Celestia was expecting them.

After boarding the chariot, Quill and Spike started to go over a plan to get Celestia to confess the truth to them. They knew it wasn’t going to be easy, especially with Celestia’s way of avoiding questions, but Quill said that she had a plan that had a small chance of working. They already knew that Celestia wasn’t going to tell them the truth with others in the room, especially guards. So their only option was to find a way to get in a room alone with the mare, and the only way to do that was to push Celestia into a corner.

When the other two asked just how they were going to do that, Quill simply said that they were going to have to follow her lead. Spike wished he could get more out of Quill, but with Canterlot coming into sight, there wasn’t much time to further question the dragoness.

After the chariot came to a full stop outside of the castle doors, the three exited the chariot, greeted by two dark-gray unicorn guards, dressed in their full golden armor with their swords at their sides, who were apparently assigned to escort them into the castle.

“Well, if it isn’t the Dragul twins,” one of the guards mused with a deep chuckle as he and his partner led the twins and Frost into the castle. He took a moment to note how much the twins had grown in these short two and a half months, chuckling in humor. “Look at you two, you’re actually starting to look your ages.”

Both guards began laughing. There was a joke around the Guard about how the twins looked younger than they really were. “Heh, yeah, you sure can say that again,” the other guard said, walking to the right of the first. “And who is your friend here? She’s quite the looker, for a dragoness.”

“Frost, just Frost thank you,” Frost answered for herself, mostly at ease after having not sensed a shred of suspicion or malice from the two unicorns. If the rest of the guard was like this, then Frost wouldn’t have much to worry about, and it would answer why her sister had been able to invade so easily. “So I take it that you two know the twins from their time living here, in this grand castle?”

Frost looked around the hall that they were walking in. Golden engravings, marble floors, and opalescent pillars... it was truly something out of fairytale, but nothing was usually perfect without having faults. “That we do, Frost,” one of the unicorns said, breaking Frost out of her entrancement. “You wouldn’t believe the kind of trouble these two can cause together.”

“Oh trust me when I say I’d believe it,” Frost said, taking hold of Quill’s hand, their tails intertwining with each other. Quill blushed at her marefriend’s sudden move, but certainly didn’t object.

For a moment, both guards’ eyebrows rose at the sight, before one of the guards simply smirked as he shook his head. “Well I’ll be… Quill, you sure know how to pick ’em,” the guard said with a laugh, his companion joining him.

“Heh, you guys don’t know the half of it,” Quill giggled when Frost gave her cheek a nuzzle, telling Quill that they weren’t in any kind of danger just yet. “So where is Celestia? I figured that she’d be the one to greet us at the doors.”

“Well, yes, but Princess Celestia was a little busy with something this morning. So she said that we were to lead you to her personal study before going anywhere else. In fact, she seemed, well… relieved that you won, Quill,” the guard on the right informed the young dragoness, thinking back to this morning when Celestia had relieved him and the other stallion of their duties out of the blue. “It was certainly an unorthodox thing, usually the Princess gives us a day of advance in notice, but this was completely out of the blue.”

The other guard quickly started to nod his head. It was unexpected of Celestia to do something like that, but he wasn’t going to complain. Escort duty beat portal duty anyday. “Yeah, at first I thought that she was just thrilled to spend a day with you two again. But…”

“But if that was the case, Celestia would’ve made sure there wasn’t anything going on today. Is that it?” Spike questioned, knowing how Celestia worked from the years spent living around her. Spike’s assumptions were only confirmed when the two guards again nodded their heads. “That is odd of her, every time Twi comes around to Canterlot, Celestia makes sure to have her day clear.”

“You guys know what’s this business is?” Quill asked, having a feeling that it had to be something important. But it wasn’t just that, though. If Celestia knew they would be coming through the Everfree, and had a chariot waiting for them, along with two guards to escort them to her, then the mare had to have been planning something. And that worried her.

Quill’s worry only grew when the two guards shrugged their shoulders. “No, she just told us to escort you three to her private study. I wouldn’t worry though, she misses you two, so I’m sure that she’ll be happy to see you guys again,” the guard on the left told Quill, only adding to Quill and Spike’s suspicions.

Frost immediately sensed the twins’ worry and suspicion, causing herself to become curious about the matter. “Speaking of which, you two have really grown a lot,” the guard continued, noticing the faint hints of muscle growth underneath Spike’s gray shirt, and the size of Quill’s wings. “I’m sure that Celestia will be happy to see how much you two have grown.”

“Yeah, I’m sure she will be,” Quill said, mostly to herself. As they continued down the hall, Quill took a quick glance down another hall to her right, seeing Dusk, Wave, and a third half-breed that seemed older than the other two. Quill shook herself and and brought her mind back to what was happening. Right now, her and Spike didn’t need a distraction.

It wasn’t much longer before they finally reached the end of the hall, where two more guards were standing on either side of a large, off-white door with the symbol of an orange and yellow sun with a metallic golden finish in the center.

The two escorts quickly saluted the two door guards before stepping out of the way for the twins and Frost to enter. “Alright you three, try not to do anything too crazy in there,” one of the escort guards joked with a laugh, while a door guard opened the door for the three. “Be seeing ya around, you guys.”

Both Quill and Spike nodded their heads before they entered the darkened room, the door closing quickly behind them. All three took a quick glance back to the shut door for a moment before looking ahead of them to see the very one they came to see; Princess Celestia, standing tall and proud in her white dress, adorned with golden embers that faded at the bottom. The princess was staring out the massive window behind her desk, looking over her city.

Frost still couldn’t get over the massive gap between Celestia’s power and virtually everyone else she had ever met. It was a power that only Isis could possibly hope to match, as far as she knew. Yet, somehow, Chrysalis had been able to overpower this mare. Was Celestia’s massive power for show, or had the mare been holding back when Chrysalis attacked? There was no telling, but she knew that Celestia wasn’t one to trifle with.

“Spike, Quill,” Celestia finally spoke in a faint whisper, still staring out the one-way tinted window, after a tense moment of deadening silence in the black and empty room. Two chairs, a desk, and two shelves of books flush against the wall were the only thing that took up space in the room. And for some unknown reason, it only made the meeting that much more tense. “It’s such a pleasure to see that you two are doing so well. And you brought a friend, Frost, wasn’t it?”

“Why yes it is, I’m honored that you remembered me, Princess,” Frost said with the highest level of respect she could manage. She wanted to keep the attention off of her as much as she could by acting like any other normal citizen would.

“Think nothing of it, my dear,” Celestia angelically said, turning around to face her guests, waving her hand over the chairs to invite the three to sit down. “Please sit,” Celestia said, taking her own seat in a much larger and more comfortable chair on her side of the desk. “You’ve been gone for two months. I would love to hear about what you two have been up to.”

Spike glanced over towards Quill to see what she thought about the invitation, only getting Quill to nod her head back at Celestia. Sighing, Spike took the seat on the left while Quill pulled the seat out for Frost to sit down, choosing to stand by her marefriend.

“So how are things in the Everfree Forest? The winter is coming, and the weather out there can be very dangerous for you three,” Celestia said, obviously trying to make conversation with the three, acting as though she didn’t know the true reason for the twins being there. “But I’m sure you’ve all planned for that, haven’t you?”

Quill looked over at Spike again, as he did the same, catching the knowing look in his eyes. Slowly, at the same time, both twins turned their heads back to the smile on Celestia’s face before speaking one after the other. “Celestia, we want the truth, and nothing else,” Spike opened up only for Quill to follow.

“We know you’ve been lying to us our entire lives, and it’s time we hear the truth from you, Celestia.” The smile on Celestia’s face quickly dropped at the twins being very direct with their real intentions. She had already figured they would want something when they came here, and after having seen Isis yesterday, Celestia feared that the twins had unearthed the truth about her past.

“We want the truth, Celestia. How did you find our egg?” both twins questioned at the same time, both glaring at Celestia, who had remained silent.

Celestia turned her chair around to look out the window, watching the dark-gray storm clouds hanging above her city. With all the thoughts that were going through her head, the only thing that Celestia could do was sigh as she closed her eyes and remembered the day she found the twins’ egg.

“Very well, however, I had wished this talk would happen when you were older. But I suppose that you two are mature enough to understand what happened by now,” Celestia said as she looked up at the gray blanket over Canterlot, the imperfect setting that she had always imagined this day would be. “I can only hope that you two can forgive the grave mistake I made. That you can understand the hard choice I had to make. All those years ago…”