Author's Notes:

EDIT: I've been told I should put a warning here that this chapter has some dark themes. Read if you dare! OooOooh... please read it.

Hey y'all! Sorry about the wait, but it's finally here! *Confetti*

Just so you know, the smexy times I promised will be in the next chapter, because the page count was just ballooning out of control and I needed to trim the chapter down and release what I had, rather than making you wait another five months. But the good news is chapter 4 is already a third of the way done! Yay! *Confetti*

But today, we delve into Celestia's backstory, and let's see if you all can spot the World War II reference in this chapter. Backstory and WWII Yay! *Confetti followed by dead clown*

... Oh, that's where that went...

When Twilight dashed into the bathroom, she came face to flank with Celestia’s curvaceous rear, as the elder alicorn was currently bent over drawing the two of them a bath. Stopping dead in her tracks, Twilight’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. Although she had done far, far more than just stare last night, she still hadn’t grown accustomed to being able to openly admire Celestia’s figure. And her figure was definitely worthy of plenty of admiration. Finally taking notice of her bathroom guest after making sure the warm water was on its way to filling the tub, Celestia casually looked over her shoulder at Twilight.

“See something you like?” Twilight was about to respond, when Celestia casually flicked her tail back and forth, intentionally giving Twilight quite the view. Her face growing heated, Twilight frantically looked away, and had to stifle a moan when she felt a small amount of pre-cum be forced out of her rock hard cock to splat wetly on the floor. Celestia giggled at the sight and sound, then stepped into the stone tub and began to make herself comfortable as the water steadily rose.

It was at this time that Twilight managed to rip her eyes away from the avatar of perfect feminine beauty before her and got a look at Celestia’s private bathroom. The room was quite large, with a magnificently-crafted sink and washbasin with an accompanying toilet that, to Twilight’s disappointment, was not actually made of solid gold, but what dominated the room was a giant stone ‘bathtub,” and that word could only be applied loosely. More akin to a small pool, the tub could easily fit five or six ponies of normal size comfortably. The water was poured in from a series of openings along the comfortable-looking ledge that was obviously meant to be sat on, while directly above the tub was a stone faucet amazingly carved to resemble a stylized sun. Finally finding something to distract herself from her raging hard-on, Twilight knelt down to examine the exquisite stonework.

“Wow,” she breathed, “Now this is what I call a bathtub. But… the stonework doesn’t look pony, or even gryphon, and it definitely can’t be the Old Equestrian style brought from the Ancient Fatherland during the Great Exodus. The castle’s way too new for that.”

“You definitely have the scholar’s eye, my love,” Celestia responded with a smile, and Twilight blushed from the use of that unexpected nomenclature. “You’re correct in your assumptions, as no race you just mentioned could possibly match this level of stonework, nor could anyone still alive today probably.” Twilight waited patiently for Celestia to elaborate further, the ways of the faithful student still rather strong in her. “As I’m sure you know, this particular castle was commissioned in the year 7 AB, and this, along with the castle dungeons, were crafted by the finest stonemasons of the race most talented in that field in all of Equis, though it was rather hard for them to craft something intended for such ‘shortlings.’” Celestia chuckled the last part.

“Soooo… who was it?” Twilight’s rather expansive mind was drawing a blank.

“Oh come now, Twilight. You don’t think I’ll give you all the answers, do you?”

“W-wait… is this a pop quiz on ancient stone masonry?” Twilight could feel a creeping sense of dread in her stomach.

Celestia just gave her a flat look…

“O-oh, right” Twilight chuckled nervously.

“Just think about it, it’ll come to you,” Celestia said reassuringly. Twilight bent her considerable mental prowess towards this one goal, and looked like she was thinking so hard Celestia was afraid smoke would start shooting out of her ears. Suddenly it hit her…

‘Scholar’s eye…’

‘Alive today…’

‘Shortlings’

“Cyclopean!” Twilight shouted after a moment, with such fervour she nearly startled her lover, “It’s cyclopean!… R-right?” she added nervously.

“Oh, Twilight,” Celestia chuckled, “Still so desperate for my approval. Yes, it’s cyclopean,” Celestia then became a bit more somber, breaking eye contact and losing her earlier mirth. After a moment of silence, she added “… I had some friends in Ghol-Gan, you know… before the Time of Troubles. They were a proud, noble people once: a race of builders, craftsmen, warriors, and scholars. But now all that is gone, subsumed beneath the rage, the hunger…”

Twilight didn’t really know what to say to that. She hated seeing Celestia sad, but what could she say to someone who had seen the rise and fall of empires, the births and subsequent deaths of millions? But it was hard to concentrate on all that when her cock was throbbing painfully with need. Somehow she didn’t think saying ‘sorry to hear that, but I bet sucking some dick will make you feel better!’ would go over very well. Then again, Celestia had been throwing her some curve balls lately, so who knows? Maybe—

Twilight stopped short of actually slapping herself. She could never say that! Let alone to the Princess! She had to do something to get her mind off her dick. Something, anything—

“Are you going to join me? Or do you find staring at your penis to be amazingly conducive to the hygiene process?” Celestia chuckled out loud, even more so when Twilight nearly blanched in horror at those words. Then, with her own blush, she added “… Though I must admit, it is rather nice to stare at…”

“R-right, bath… That is why we’re in here, right?” Twilight tried chuckling, but it came out a bit too forcefully.

“Twilight, please relax. It’s okay, it really is… though if… if you’d rather do it alone, then—”

“NO!” Something about the sadness in Celestia’s voice snapped Twilight out of her daze. Remembering the calming technique Cadence taught her, she breathed in and brought her hand to her chest, before breathing out and pushing her hand away. Feeling the anxiety melt out of her body, Twilight smiled at Celestia and took a seat in the tub opposite her. They were close enough for it to be intimate, yet far enough away to be comfortable and not squashed in. The water level steadily rose until it was at around Twilight’s shoulders, while for Celestia it was just enough to cover her nipples. Then, when Twilight thought the tub would overflow, the water flow immediately ceased, somehow sensing that it was full, as if by magic, which it probably was. The water was at that perfect level of warmth that it seemed to ease every part of her body, soothing her surprisingly sore muscles as what was left of her anxiety simply flowed out of her along with the tension.

Apparently, the ancient Cyclopses really knew their indoor plumbing.

“See? Doesn’t it feel lovely?” Celestia said, relaxing in the water with a particularly sensual moan, causing Twilight to blush slightly.

“Y-yeah… it really is…” Twilight’s stutter was not, in this case, caused by anxiety, as per the usual, but instead by the fact that she was so completely relaxed that her brain was having trouble forming coherent sentences. The complete and total relaxation of every muscle in her body was not actually that complete and total, though, as her dick was still as hard as the stone she sat on. Thankfully, she was so comfortable that she was able to forget, if even for a moment, how much she wanted to plow her teacher right then.

After the novelty of watery bliss slowly began to recede, Twilight’s brain was again able to gain a firm grasp of the Equestrian language, and thought of a rather pertinent question to pose to her bathmate. “So, um… now what?”

“Now, my dear,” Celestia began whilst closing her eyes and resting her arms on the edge of the tub, “we simply relax until a point at which we deem suitable to begin actual bathing.”

“B-but we don’t want to be late, or Luna might—”

“Twilight,” she said, both reassuringly but with a hint of sternness, “Everything will be fine. The world won’t implode if we’re a few minutes late to breakfast.” Twilight gave her a look that seemed to say ‘are you sure?’ but thought better than to say anything.

“So, um…” Twilight began, attempting to make small talk and distract herself from the ever-present erection bobbing in the water before her, “I was trying to, you know, not listen to your conversation with Luna, but I still caught snippets, which I totally didn’t mean to! But… I heard something about your father. What was that about?”

“Well” Celestia said somewhat reluctantly, sensing where the conversation was going and definitely not liking said direction, “I was just making Luna swear to not tell anypony about our… relationship.” Celestia said the word ‘relationship’ with a certain air about it, which was intentional, as she hoped she could distract Twilight from her current conversational path by bringing up their forbidden affair and all that.

“Sooo…” Twilight started, about to ask a question that had been gnawing at her since foalhood, “If you don’t mind me asking, what were your parents like? You never talk about them. I mean, you didn’t just pop out of the ground!” she chuckled goodnaturedly. “… um, did you?”

Much to Celestia’s chagrin, Twilight proved to be an intellectual bloodhound, and had completely disregarded her vocal ploy. It seemed she had caught the scent of a potential mystery, and would hound Celestia until she got a satisfying resolution. Of course she should’ve known how relentlessly inquisitive Twilight could be; it was one of the things she loved about her. She contemplated saying she did mind, but when she imagined the look of hurt on Twilight’s face, it felt like a dagger to the heart. With a sigh, Celestia resolved to tell her new lover a secret that had been kept hidden since the dawn of their nation.

“Twilight, do you know the story Children of the Sun and Moon?”

“Of course I know that story!” Twilight chuckled. “It was my favourite growing up. I used to have my mom read it to me every night.”

“Why… Why don’t you tell me about it?” Celestia said, her voice sounding detached and wistful, while her expression was somber.

“Seriously? Don’t you, like, know it by heart by now?”

“Just humour me, Twilight,” Celestia said again in that somber tone.

“Well,” Twilight began, remembering the tale well, “It’s about where you and Luna supposedly came from. About how a simple earth pony couple, who could not sire children no matter how hard they tried, prayed to the Old Gods for a miracle. The Old Gods listened to their plea, and took pity on the humble lovers. Yog-Sronok, God of Time and Space, gathered up stardust and sunbeams from the cosmos, and took them to Azrinoth, the Blind Smith-God, who forged the ephemeral mists into the shapes of two little foals. Shub-Noggra, Goddess of Birth, breathed life into the foal-shapes, while Nyarlatopa, God of Knowledge, wrote down the secrets of love and happiness onto scrolls made of rainbows, and placed them inside the hearts of the foals, so that they would always know the magic of friendship and harmony. And so the Old Gods gifted these two foals, who bore both horns and wings, to the earth pony lovers, not as just a gift to them, but to all the world, to spread love and joy forever…”

Twilight finished her recitation with a dreamy look, before coughing and realizing where she was. “As I said, I really liked it. Of course, now that I’m older, I can see that it’s heavily allegorical. Though, you know, a lot of ponies said the story of Nightmare Moon was just an old mare’s tale, and look what happened to that. Although I guess you’re going to tell me if it’s true or not.”

Celestia’s smile was a genuine one when she responded, though tinged with something Twilight couldn’t quite put her finger on. “I’m impressed that you remembered all the names. Most ponies these days don’t even know who the Old Gods were, and when told, they often find the names dreadfully silly. But that was what we believed in back then…” Celestia trailed off, looking wistful again. “Oh, but anyways, I’m glad you liked it. I was always concerned that my older literary works couldn’t stand up to modern scrutiny.”

“Wait… What?” Twilight was momentarily confused, but slowly began to put two and two together.

“Oh, yeah, it’s total bunk. I made it up! Never happened.”

Twilight was flabbergasted. “W-why?!”

“Well, Twilight, a famous pony once said ‘A lie told often enough becomes the truth,’ and a heartening lie about love and joy was far more preferable to the twisted reality that was the actual truth. I decided to start circulating that particular tale about a century after Luna was born, and I had assumed the throne. A new generation of ponies was taking shape, and I wanted to… erase the stain of where Luna and I really came from.”

“Stain? What do you mean stain?” Twilight was even more confused. How could anything that could give rise to the most beautiful and perfect pony in existence possibly be referred to as a ‘stain’?”

“Twilight, what do you know of Equestrian history after the Unification Treaty, but before the beginning of my reign?”

“Well, that’s easy, I…” Twilight’s voice died in her throat when she made the cold realization that she didn’t know anything about that period of history. She tried to think of any textbook or historical record that even mentioned anything in passing, yet she drew a complete blank. Sure, she knew a lot about the discovery of the Equestrian continent: how the pegasi flew across the Sea of Ghosts, how the earth ponies followed in primitive sailing ships, and even how the unicorns traveled across the polar ice-caps to reach their new home. She knew about the ensuing war that followed, about the end of the war and the Unification Treaty. She knew about the reorganization of the Tribes’ territory into the Thanelands, and even the modification of ancient tribal custom that would become the basis of the modern Equestrian legal system. She knew everything up until about two centuries after the founding of Equestria, but then, it seemed like nothing of importance had happened at all for the next four hundred years, which was blatantly impossible.

And the worst part was, she had never even noticed before…

Celestia gave that same oddly warm smile at her lover’s utter confusion, as Twilight tried to work her brain into coming up with an answer, only to just keep opening and closing her mouth like a fish. “Can’t think of anything, can you?”

“But… I… H-how?” she finally managed to croak out.

Celestia stared into the swirling water in front of her, her expression unreadable. “The hard part wasn’t getting ponies to forget. It was making sure they couldn’t remember.”

“B-but… What… What does that—”

“Magic can do a lot, Twilight.” Celestia cut her off. “I’m sure you know that more than any other pony. You’ve seen magic banish kingdoms, petrify gods, you’ve even seen with your own eyes how it can warp the very flow of time itself.”

“A-are you saying… that y-you erased that period from history?” was Twilight’s fearful response. For a moment she felt like nothing more than a foal, staring up at a godlike colossus whose breath could wipe away cities and whose hands could carve mountains.

When Celestia heard her, she laughed. A genuine, mirth-filled laugh, that both comforted Twilight in its familiarity, yet disturbed her with how completely out of place it was.

“Oh Twilight, don’t be silly!” she laughed. “I would never do anything so drastic. I’m not even sure that is entirely possible! No, I did something much more… quiet, more subtle. Other than the magical effort involved in simultaneously destroying every written record of four centuries worth of history and weaving an incredibly powerful perception filtering enchantment that could last a dozen millennia, it was rather easy. In an age without a standardized education system, it’s rather simple to make sure no accounts of what happened pass between generations, especially when the events of those same four centuries particularly thinned Equestria’s population. Add to that that those who did know also wanted to forget themselves, many jumped at the chance when I offered them a respite from those troubling memories. Those that refused, well, they were already at death’s door, being so old, I didn’t have to wait long until any record of the darkest days in Equestrian history simply faded from living memory. The only record that still remains lives on only through me, and what I’ve told Luna… and I suppose, you. I hope you understand that anything I tell you can’t leave this room, and the amount of trust and respect I have for you in that I’m telling you any of this at all.”

“What… What happened?” Twilight was starting to think that she didn’t want to know the answer to that question. ‘Darkest days in Equestrian history’ didn’t exactly make for a relaxing bath. But… a part of her needed to know. To know what could have possibly caused a pony who had always championed the cause of knowledge and learning to intentionally erase almost a dozen generations worth of history. And most of all, she needed to know how Celestia fit into this. From what ‘stain’ had she and Luna originated from?

“Well, my faithful student, it is a long and complicated story,” Celestia began, settling in for a long discussion. “You must remember that even after the treaty that ended the conflict between the Three Tribes and founded a united nation, the land was still quite fractious and disorganized. Though Equestria existed on paper, and was partially administered through the Landsmeet, the closest thing to a modern parliament we had, in practice, the ruling of the land still fell to the various Thanes of the Three Tribes. Each Thane was mostly free to rule his Steading as he saw fit, but they also gravitated towards each other to form power blocs so as to better influence the decisions of the Landsmeet. Each power bloc was always made up of the same species of pony, as inter-tribal tensions were still high. Basically, though Equestria was a single nation, in truth it was made up of three separate unions: in essence, the Three Tribes of Old, just no longer in direct conflict with each other.” Suddenly, Celestia’s expression morphed from one of gentle lecturing to that of disgust. “That was of course until she showed up.”

“W-Who?” Twilight was rather disturbed by her alabaster lover’s sudden change in tone. Celestia stared directly into Twilight’s eyes as she answered, her expression both eerily calm yet filled with thinly veiled hatred, not at Twilight, but at whomever she was cryptically referring to.

“My mother, Azrah.”

“Azrah? That’s—”

“A strange name?” Celestia accurately guessed. “You have to remember, Twilight, that pony names two thousand years ago were quite different than they are now. Even the names of our nation’s founders: Platinum, Hurricane, and Pudding-head, were all modern inventions given to them to make the characters more relatable to modern audiences. Rather than names like ‘Steel Wing,’ ‘Red Rose,’ or ‘Dusk Shine,’ names like ‘Olfrid,’ ‘Brunnar,’ ‘Golamet,’ or ‘Bannthor’ were more common. Sure they sound strange and even silly to modern ears, but many things change with the times. Back then, ‘Twilight Sparkle’ would have sounded beyond silly. You might as well have been named ‘Chair’ or ‘Butter Knife’!” Celestia actually giggled at that, injecting some levity into what up until then had been a particularly somber and even disturbing conversation.

Twilight herself smiled and giggled at the image, glad at the change in mood. In a mock tone of seriousness, she said “Greetings be to you, my name is Sir Toaster of Clan Dining Table. From whence you hail, stranger?” Celestia burst out laughing at this, and responded with her own impressions.

“What do you mean it’s a strange name? No stranger than my uncle Foot Stool and his wife Lady Hat!” At this they both laughed, and it took a good moment for their humour to die down. Celestia sighed, and once again her expression became somber and even a tad mournful. “Do we really need to continue talking about my mother?” she asked, not even making eye contact with Twilight.

“Well, um, it’d be nice…” Twilight said slowly with a sheepish smile, hoping not to offend her lover. Celestia sighed again and continued her tale.

“To this day I still have no idea where she came from. She just sort of appeared as a minor courtier amidst the court of Thane Brylig of Thogistok, which at the time was the most prosperous of the unicorn steadings, inhabiting the land that is now the Canterlot valley, Ponyville included. There were no records of her birth or a granting of noble title. According to what I’ve read, one day she was simply there, when the day before she was not. But just because she had not been there long did not mean her rise to power was anything short of meteoric. Through a campaign of bribery, blackmail, and plenty of ‘accidental deaths,’ Azrah rose to the position of Brylig’s most trusted advisor in only a few short months. She fed Brylig’s paranoia through blaming his other advisors for her own treachery, her words like poison in his ear. It was not long before most of them met the headsman’s axe.” Twilight winced at that last part, but let Celestia continue.

“Only six months after her arrival, Azrah had convinced Brylig that his wife was plotting with the Thane of a nearby steading to assassinate him. Well, it’s kind of obvious where that went, but even more sickening was that Azrah managed to whip him into such a frenzy that, at her request, he ordered the execution of his own children as well.” Celestia paused for a moment, and her look grew distant. “They were only five and six years old.”

At Twilight’s look of utter horror, Celestia said somewhat sarcastically. “If you haven’t realized yet, my mother was an absolute monster.”

“Y-yeah I-I kinda guessed…”

“Oh, it gets better. Only a few weeks after that, Brylig died from an apparent poisoning. His body was barely even cold when Azrah produced a legal document apparently signed by Brylig himself that named her the new Thane. The fact that nopony seemed to even question either the document’s legitimacy or even that it was painfully obvious that Azrah was behind all of it is just, well, mindboggling. I can only assume she had used her quite considerable magical prowess to charm the rest of the court into believing she could do no wrong. As soon as she took power, she swiftly crushed any and all dissent within Thogistok. Even if a pony had yet to even think anything negative about Azrah, she had them killed if she thought they could pose a threat, whether then or in the future. After that, it was only a matter of time before she turned her eyes outwards.

“Only three months after she became Thane, Azrah commanded the clan-warriors of Thogistok to invade the nearby steading of Olpand, even though such an act violated the Treaty of Verxis. But of course the clan elders, just like almost all the ponies within Azrah’s grasp, were putty in her hands at that point. It was a slaughter. Olpand fell in a month and five days, with horrendous casualties for the Olpanders. Thus began a string of increasingly bloody conquests against the other unicorn steadings, which were as brutal as they were short-lived. Each steading was bowled over in mere weeks, whatever resistance they put up was no match for Azrah’s magically augmented legions. The pegasus and earth pony Thanes saw no reason to interfere though, for a spat amongst unicorns was no business of there’s, and they foolishly believed it would sort itself out, which basically meant they didn’t care. It didn’t matter to them that unicorns were dying in the thousands, after all, that just meant less of the ‘horn-heads’ to deal with. It was only after the last of the unicorn steadings fell to Azrah’s forces that they finally took the blinders off and realized that it wasn’t likely that Azrah would stop with just ruling the unicorns. Needless to say, they were right.

“Astonishingly, Azrah’s war with the other tribes lasted even less time than her conquest of the unicorns. She was an extremely powerful sorceress, probably the most powerful unicorn mage to ever live.” Celestia blushed for a moment and corrected herself. “Well, other than you of course, Twilight. But my point is that it wasn’t until she turned her eyes towards the other tribes that Azrah’s true mastery of magic began to show. The pegasi and earth ponies raised a great army to combat Azrah’s growing empire, and foolishly they thought that combined her unicorn magic was no match for pegasus arrows or earth pony steel. This grand army marched all the way to the edge of unicorn land, but never made it any further. When they camped at the border, a great storm of thunder, lightening, and fire rained from the sky, annihilating the pegasus and earth pony forces entirely. The next day, Azrah delivered an ultimatum to all the other Thanes not already under her command: capitulate, or face complete destruction. To ensure they knew she wasn’t bluffing, she commanded a great miasma of toxic, life-draining fog to envelop the city of Ranicross, slaying every living thing inside the city walls in a single night. In a remarkable display of ‘courage,’ the remaining Thanes’ next move was to soil themselves, regroup, and come up with a new plan, that plan being made up principally of ‘doing whatever the fuck Azrah tells us too.’” Just as she finished that particularly spite-filled sentence, Celestia noticed the odd way Twilight was looking at her. “What?”

“Nothing, just… I don’t think I’ve ever heard you swear before.” Twilight said sheepishly. “It just somehow sounds wrong, coming from you. Your voice is far too… perfect to… to be sullied like that.” She finished with her cheeks stained a deep crimson.

Celestia, for her part, blushed as well, as compliments from her lavender beloved tended to make her do. “You… like my voice?” Somehow a part of her was still surprised that Twilight liked anything about her at all. “I-I’ll try to refrain from talking dirty around you in the future, Twilight.”

“W-Well you can still, you know, talk dirty when… when we’re, u-umm… in bed,” Twilight said the last two words barely more than a whisper. The relative volume level, however, didn’t matter for Celestia’s supernaturally keen alicorn senses, and upon hearing that she turned a rather un-princessly shade of embarrassed red. But then she smiled upon realizing this could work in her favour.

“I’ll remember that the next time I’m screaming your name.” Celestia said with a sultry smile and a wink, causing Twilight to blush so hard that Celestia thought her nose might start bleeding. Upon noticing her reaction, Celestia backtracked a bit and quickly said “S-Sorry if I’m going a bit fast, I’ve just… I’ve just wanted this to happen for so long now.”

“Which one, the retelling your origin thing or the sex?”

… All Twilight received in response to that was an arched brow and a look that screamed of ‘seriously?’.

“R-Right” Twilight coughed a bit, but then smiled herself when it was her turn to realize that two could play at this game. “Well you’re not the one who’s been jerking off to thoughts of me for nearly a decade. Remember that one summer when you came with my family to our beach house and you wore that skimpy yellow two-piece? I nearly rubbed myself raw after that and none of that sounded how I wanted it to, did it?” Twilight said after realizing mid-sentence that the title of Master Masterbater wasn’t usually something to brag about. “A-Anyways, umm, story?” She asked, hoping to dissuade any more conversation about her uncontested championship in the singles division of the Sexlympics, if such a thing were to exist in the first place.

“Oh, right.” Celestia sounded rather disappointed. Were the memories of her mother that painful for her? ‘Well the murdering children thing was kind of a red flag,’ Twilight thought, ‘but it’s not like she actually abused her or something like that, right?’ Little did Twilight know how prophetic those thoughts would be…

“Well, once the other Thanes bent their knees to Azrah, a dark shadow enveloped Equestria. Under her rule, taxes were quadrupled, public displays of painful execution and even torture became commonplace, and disease and deprivation stalked the land like twin beasts of destruction. During her conquests, she made great use of conjured fiends and several cohorts of dark fey from the Everfree, and once her rule was uncontested she let them roam the land, raping, killing, and sowing unholy havoc as they saw fit. She brutally enslaved three tribes of cyclopses living in the Crystal Mountains and ordered them to build her a grand castle atop the tallest peak of the Unicorn Range, but not before putting out their eyes so they would be no threat to her. This great palace of slavery and the city around it she called Thronestep, and it was a grim monument to callous decadence and intolerable cruelty. She would send her demonic allies to round up peasants by the hundreds, for use in her unholy experiments and for her perverse desires. The streets of Thronestep would run red with the blood of innocents on a regular basis. Her dark reputation was so feared that none opposed her, and for nearly three centuries she ruled uncontested, having used dark magics to extend her life and youthfulness. If you thought Sombra was bad, Azrah made him look like Fluttershy.”

“Wow.” was Twilight’s response. ‘That’s saying something’.

“Yeah. Azrah was the very definition of the megalomaniacal tyrant; all that mattered was her, everyone and everything else were just playthings for her amusement, tools to be used and then discarded when their usefulness ended.” Celestia spat the words filled with hatred and bile, the intensity of the emotions and the quickness that she shifted from teasing her lover to reviling her own parent was somewhat shocking to Twilight. But then Celestia broke eye contact and looked away, her expression one of sorrow. “… In— Including me…” she said barely above a whisper.

“Were… Were you an accident?” Twilight guessed, full of trepidation. Twilight thought for a moment that the mask of Celestia of the Iron Sun had slipped for but a moment, revealing a scared and hurt little filly. That only made her want to rush over to and comfort her love, but she knew that the best course of action was to pretend she hadn’t seen anything at all.

At this Celestia snorted, the mask of hatred once more in place, as if it had never slipped in the first place. “If that were the case, Azrah would have smothered me at birth. No, if I was anything at all it was planned. Azrah decided that using conjured fiends or other monsters to do her dirty work wasn’t nearly as ‘efficient’ as she wanted it to be; demons and fey were too unpredictable, devils and undead too rigid and inflexible. So instead, she decided to create the perfect weapon, the perfect symbol of fear to cow her pitiful subjects into line. And what better way to prove your own deification then to create life itself? She devised a ritual, to turn an unborn foal into a soulless, nigh-unkillable monster. She would use her own body as the incubator for this ungodly horror, and—”

“Wait wait wait!” Twilight interrupted. “Are you telling me that you, Princess Celestia of Equestria, the closest thing to a living divine being in the world, the pinnacle of love and beauty in existence, started life as a magically bio-engineered assassin?!”

“Well, when you put it that way… Yes. Though I wouldn’t say ‘assassin,’ that implies a sense of training and respect. No, Azrah wanted me to be a sort of enforcer, a symbol of her rule and power, even a kind of boogeyman. ‘Don’t cross her ladyship, child, or she’ll send the Alicorn after you!’ and that sort of thing. Though of course, I didn’t turn out to be any of those things,” Celestia said once more with that sort of detached sorrow that, along with seething hatred, had typified this whole conversation.

“What were you then?” Twilight asked, and Celestia looked straight into her eyes.

“A disappointment. The ritual required a vast amount of magical energy. Azrah expended a literal fortune in reagents, from rare subterranean mana-crystals to the actual intact heart of an ancient dragon. But she also needed the literal essence of over a dozen pony slaves. That’s why I didn’t mention my father, Twilight, because I don’t know who he was. It could have been any one of the many nameless candidates, all of whom gave their lives during the ritual.”

“Wait, but Luna said ‘our father.’ Doesn’t that apply to both of you?”

“No, she meant her father. You know how she talks sometimes. She still hasn’t quite grasped the fact that we no longer use the royal ‘we.’ She actually knew her father, but I’ll get to that in a minute—”

“Wait just a sec,” Twilight interrupted once again. “Wouldn’t that make you and Luna only half-sisters?”

“That’s right, Twilight. And it would also technically make me a bastard, and before you can make any smart comments, I mean the fatherless kind,” Celestia huffed.

“And you said your father was one of the slaves who gave their lives during the ritual. Does that mean she…” Twilight intentionally trailed off, not wanting to have to finish that thought or she might die from a combination of shock and embarrassment. Celestia, it seemed, had no such compunction.

“She literally fucked them to death, yes. I am not exaggerating that even in the slightest.” She said matter-of-factly. Twilight for her part was starting to feel a strange and disturbing combination of disgust, arousal, and shame. “And after the expenditure of all that energy and resources,” Celestia continued, “as well as carrying me for six gruelling months, a fact that she never let me forget, mind you, I came out… wrong.”

Twilight cocked her head to the side in confusion. “How so?”

“I had a soul.”

“What do you mean by—”

“Remember when I said ‘soulless monster?’ I wasn’t exaggerating there either. The original ritual was intended to create what essentially amounted to an ‘empty vessel,’ a living construct which would be an extension of Azrah’s will. Well to be honest, I have been described before as both ‘empty’ and ‘living,’ but never ‘vessel’ or ‘construct.’”

“Wait, somepony called you ‘empty’ before?”

“It’s a long and complicated story. I’ll tell you later when I’m not already in the middle of another long and complicated story,” Celestia huffed bitterly. Twilight wilted at her tone, and Celestia quickly realized it wasn’t Twilight’s fault. “I’m… I’m sorry, Twilight. I shouldn’t take out my bitterness on you.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t realize how…” Twilight paused, searching for the right word, “painful your foalhood was. I guess I kind of just assumed it was all ‘sunshine and rainbows.’” Twilight chuckled. “But we can drop the subject if you want.”

“No no, I’ve already started.” Celestia said, both resigned but also reassured. “You deserve to hear the rest. And besides, I’m actually surprised at how… cathartic this has been so far. I’ve never really talked about it with anypony before, only Luna and…” Celestia caught herself before saying the rest, before sighing and looking away.

“Well, after I was born, I… Well, I’d like to point out even if my mother hadn’t been a megalomaniacal wizard-tyrant from the darkest pits of Tartarus, I still wouldn’t have had a normal foalhood.”

“Because you were born an alicorn?” Twilight ventured.

“Because I didn’t have one.”

Twilight blinked a few times. “You lost me.”

“Twilight, I…” Celestia sighed again. “It’s… complicated. I should have told you this when you first ascended, and I am sorry I didn’t. Alicorns are… artificial creatures. Sure we are intrinsically tied to particular aspects of the natural world: the sun, the moon, love, magic, but at the same time, it is a union that was forced. In essence, we are not born, we are created. You of course, were born a normal pony, and then ascended through your own power, and maybe…” Celestia coughed, “a little help from me. Luna and Cadence were born in I’d suppose you’d say a ‘normal’ fashion; they were conceived, carried, born, and raised like any normal foal, just with a bit of magical, um, ‘tampering’ during the conception process. I was… different. As the first alicorn there were certain factors that were not present in later ‘incarnations.’ I told you multiple stallions were involved in my own conception, that I gestated for only six months compared to twelve, but the most important part would be I guess…” Celestia seemed a bit nervous, as if what she was about to say would somehow change Twilight’s opinion of her. “I… I grew to maturity in four months.”

Twilight blinked.

Celestia chewed her lip.

Twilight blinked again.

Finally when the silence became unbearable, Twilight finally said something.

“Um… come again?”

“You heard me Twilight. Only four months after I was born I had grown to the point that I possessed the body and mind of a mare in her late teens. I said I didn’t have a foalhood because I had never really been a foal. Call it a peculiar side-effect of the Alicorn ritual, but that was the way it was.” Celestia paused for a moment, thinking of what to say next. “Does that… Does that make me some kind of freak?”

“Celestia,” Twilight said with a flat look, but her voice was filled with humour. “If I’m not a freak for having a giant dick, then you’re definitely not a freak for… well, that. And besides, if we are freaks, we can be freakish together!” Twilight finished with that sort of infectious cheer that always made Celestia smile, and this occasion was no different.

“Oh Twilight,” Celestia shook her head. “You always know what to say to cheer me up.”

“Huh, I guess Pinkie Pie’s rubbing off on me. If I ever start breaking the fourth wall, tell me and I’ll stop.” Twilight chuckled, and they both shared a good laugh. Then Celestia gave a sort of start.

“What is this ‘fourth wall?’ And why would you be breaking it?” Twilight gave her own start at this.

“You know…. I have absolutely no idea. It’s just something Pinkie says from time to time. But I learned a while ago to just not question things she does, or I might go mad just thinking about it.”

“Ah yes, the ‘Pinkie Sense’ incident,” Celestia said with a knowing smirk.

“Why must everything involving me always have to be called ‘an incident?’” Twilight said with the most adorable pout Celestia had ever seen.

“Because you’re a very interesting pony, Twilight, and the most interesting events are always ‘incidents.’” Celestia chuckled.

“I just wish they were more often less painful than that one. Good thing I was still under the royal health care plan. I don’t think Equestria Health would’ve covered all those broken bones.” Twilight half-shuddered/half-laughed at the memory of all the injuries she suffered when trying to apply logic to the innately illogical. Celestia though, only gave a token chuckle. Looking over at her lover, Twilight noticed a sort of pained and withdrawn look on Celestia’s face, as if she was remembering her own memory of discomfort or pain. “What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice laced with concern.

Startled from her unpleasant reverie, Celestia looked at Twilight with that mask of calm already in place. Unfortunately, Twilight had already learned to see through it. “Oh nothing… Nothing, Twilight. Just mentioning your injuries brought up some unpleasant correlations with what we were discussing prior to that. Nothing important, just some… less than wonderful memories.” Celestia looked away, but jumped slightly when she felt Twilight’s foot lovingly caress her calf through the water, as a sign of support.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Twilight said softly, trying to express her love, comfort, and concern for her mentor through her gaze and touch. Twilight had read enough novels and seen enough TV shows involving abusive family members to recognize the signs. She just never in a million years thought she’d be applying that logic to the mare in front of her.

Celestia swallowed uncomfortably, searching for the right words. After a lengthy pause, she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “She, Azrah, I-I mean… She… did things to me, Twilight. Terrible, terrible things. To her, I was not her daughter. I was a slave, no, less than a slave. To her, I was a tool, something to be used. Something to play with, a toy to be abused and then discarded when it was no longer amusing. If my mother was anything beyond a tyrant, a wizard, or a sociopath, she was a sadist. She thoroughly enjoyed taking the knife to my flesh, in dipping my horn in molten iron, in whipping me till my wings were pulped and my back naught but raw, bleeding muscle. The only reason these innumerable torments did not mar my flesh beyond recognition is because of an alicorn’s natural regenerative abilities. She could rip my still beating heart from my chest, and in only a few moments a new one would grow to take its place, something I know from experience. It m-made me the perfect outlet for her cruelty, something which she had p-plenty to give.” Celestia stuttered involuntarily, her voice wavering and weak.

Celestia was not used to such an outpouring of raw, painful emotion. No, hers was a life of masks and composure, dancing behind veils and hidden meanings, never revealing one’s true self. The fact that that was exactly what she was now doing shocked her somewhat. She had never revealed the cruelties Azrah had inflicted upon her to anyone before, save for two very special individuals: one who sat upon the throne of Equestria beside her, the other nearly fourteen centuries dead. But Twilight was… Twilight. The most special pony in the world, at least according to Celestia. She could tell her, couldn’t she?

Celestia waited for a response from Twilight, anything at all, but all she got was a look of shock. Celestia opened her mouth to say something, but before she could utter a single syllable, Twilight suddenly disappeared in a shower of magenta sparks. Just as suddenly she felt the rush of displaced water and the tingling of residual magic as she found a warm, impossibly soft body pressed up against her side, arms encircling her waist and a wing wrapping around her shoulders. Twilight nuzzled Celestia’s neck gently, before looking up at her with eyes filled with such love and acceptance that Celestia felt her own eyes begin to water.

“You know you’re my hero, right? Now more than ever.”

“Bu—” Celestia started but was silenced by a finger gently placed against her lips.

“Shush you. Let me finish.” Twilight smiled lovingly. “I’ve always looked up to you, but now…” Twilight sighed as she placed her hand on Celestia’s cheek, her thumb stroking it gently. “Not only did you have the courage to tell me something so incredibly personal, but you didn’t let all those things she did to you weigh you down. Abuse begets abuse, but instead of becoming an abuser yourself you turned away from it. You became the most compassionate, loving, downright wonderful ruler this country, no, this world has ever seen. It was you who inspired me to be everything I am now, as I’m sure you’ve done for countless ponies before me. History may not remember Azrah, but it sure as heck will always remember you.”

Celestia was speechless. A single tear rolled down her cheek, and Twilight wiped it away. “Twilight, I…” Instead of continuing, Celestia wrapped her arms around her lover and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. Twilight returned it, and for a moment they just sat there in the slowly cooling water, enjoying each other’s embrace.