Twilight just sat there. She just sat there. There was literally nothing else she could do as her brain processed the information. Processed that she was adopted.

"WHAT THE BUCK!?

Twenty-six years ago

It was a sunny day in Canerlot, and Twilight Velvet and her husband, Night Light, a light blue unicorn stallion with a teal mane and tail, with two crescent moons, one inside the other, were out on a stroll. Their son, Shining Armor, was at school, and wouldn't be out for a few more hours. "Such a beautiful day," Night Light said.

"Yes it is," Twilight said, nuzzling her husband, though it was only done half-heartedly.

"What's wrong, Twilight," Night Light asked.

"I-well, it's just that Shining looks a little upset most of the time. One time, I caught him trying to draw something, but before I could get a better look at it, he crumpled it up and threw it away."

"Why?"

"I don't know," the mare said. "But I did hear him mumble something about a sibling when sibling day came around last month. Maybe he wants a younger sibling to play with."

"Twilight, as much as I'd like to have another child, especially if it would make you and Shining happy, we can't. We got lucky with Shining, and the doctor said it wouldn't happen again," Night Light said, putting his foreleg around his wife's shoulder.

It had been an unspoken thing on Twilight's side of the family that there was a rare genetic disease, a 1 in 1,000,000 chance of getting it, really, that the a mare wouldn't be able to get pregnant, and, because of this, Night Light and Twilight had been devastated when they heard this. It didn't stop them from trying, and just three years after their marriage, Twilight had given birth to a healthy stallion named Shining Armor. The doctor, the same who had told them about their chances, had said that they were among the very lucky couples, as most mares that did get pregnant either had a miscarriage, or a stillbirth. It's been nine years since then, and they had made peace with this, but Shining, as intelligent as he was, hadn't been told yet.

"We could adopt," Twilight said.

"How? We both know no noble, sane or not, would give up a child. Disown them, yes, but they'd give them to other nobles, and no noble aside from Pockets knows us on a personal level for that," Night Light said.

"We could always try other towns."

"I know, Twilight, I know," Night light said, slight sadness in his voice. "We can talk about this tomorrow, and we will, I swear it. Right now, let's go back home."

"Alright," Twilight said in a resigned tone.

The couple then made their way back home in silence. The only thing they had to look forward to, really, was learning about what Shining did in school that day, so imagine their surprise when the two found an old cardboard box on the steps of their house.

They walked up to it carefully, which was when they heard crying in it. The two looked at each other, Night Light saying, "You don't think?

Twilight only looked at him with a shocked expression on her face, much like he was doing to her. They looked back at the box as they heard more crying from it. What they saw inside was a small unicorn filly with a lavender coat, a darker shade of purple for her mane and tail, both with streaks of pink. In the box beside her was a single note.

Please take care of her.

Along with that was a small, grayish rag doll with black string foe it's mane and tail, as well as mismatched red and blue eyes, which the filly held onto like a life line.

Night Light picked her up in his magic, and brought her out of the box. "I know I said we'd talk about this later," he said, "but I think it's obvious we're meant to take care of her."

"Then what should we call her?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know, Twilight."

Tw-Tw-Twilight," the filly said in an adorable voice.

"I think she likes that name," Twilight said, "but we need to give her another part to her name."

"Well, how about 'Sparkle,' seeing as how her eyes sparkled when I picked her up?"

"I think that'll work," Velvet said, looking at her new daughter. "Welcome to the family, Twilight Sparkle," she said, hugging the filly.

Present day

"And that, Empress, is how me and Night Light found you," Velvet said to her adoptive daughter.

"You had a genetic disorder?" was the first thing that came to Twilight's mind.

"Yes. Neither your Father, nor I, though it important enough to tell either you or our son unless one or both of you wished for younger siblings."

"Who else knows of this?"

"Only Deep Pockets and Princess Celestia can I be certain of. If they told others, I am not certain. As much as I hate to say this, as it sounds like an order I am unworthy of giving, if you wish to know if anypony else knows, you would have to ask them."

Nodding, Twilight told her mother, "Thank you, Velvet."

Bowing again, the unicorn mare said, "It is my honor, Mistress."

"Don't refer to me by that name," Twilight said. "It makes me sound like a domo or something. Only 'Empress', is that understood?"

"Yes, my Empress," Velvet said as the two mares heard the door open.

"Velvet, I'm home!" they heard Night Light say from the main hall.

Velvet looked to Twilight with a blank stare. twilight nodded, and Velvet said, "I'm in the living room, honey, and you'll never guess who's here!"

"Who could it be, Velvet," Night Light said, walking onto the room, "I haven't heard of any-" He saw Twilight looking at him with a glare, which had a hint of anger in it, her horn lit. "Twilight?"

"That's 'Empress to you," Twilight said as she fired off her magic.

Now, it's not a well known fact, but Night Light was once a part of the Royal Guard, and every day since he left Twenty-four years ago, he had trained to keep his kill razor sharp. As such, he was able to dodge Twilight's shot, and fire off some of his own, which Twilight blocked with an absorption shield, which prevented collateral damage, as well as got stronger the more shots hit it. "Twilight, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Simply making sure I'm not lied to again," the alicorn said casually before firing off another shot, this one being a stun spell, which also missed.

"You know?" he said firing off more shots as he took cover in the hall, Twilight following at a walk.

"What?" she asked, as if she didn't really know. "That you and Velvet adopted me." She let out an actual, genuine tear. "Did you not think I could handle that when I was older?"

"We didn't want you to become unsettled," Night Light yelled, knowing it was terrible justification, but the best he could come up with on a dime.

"I think you failed in that regard," Twilight said again in a casual tone, firing off another stun spell at Night Light's cover, a turned over table.

"I'm sorry, and so is your mother!"

"Do you really think a pitiful sorry will save you now," she continued to say in a casual tone. "I'm not Celestia, Night Light. It takes more than a 'sorry' to stop me from getting justice," she said, firing off a shot that hit Night Light's cover, hitting him, causing him to nearly yell in pain. "I know you were once a guard, but that training is useless against an alicorn, especially if said alicorn is the Element of Magic.

Night Light's wound was bleeding, not fatally, but enough to make him a little light headed. Damn it, must have been a bleeding spell that hit me. He heard a small pop from behind him, but didn't dare look. Once five minutes had passed, he looked around the cover, thinking it a wonder he was still conscious. What he saw as he looked around his cover was his wife standing in front of Twilight, her face blank, while Twilight's had a winning smirk on her face.

"Oh, is some pony gwumpy," she said in a babyish voice, even with a lip quiver at the end, seeing Night Light's angered expression.

"Let her go," Night Light growled.

"Why?" he heard a voice whisper in an almost seductive way behind him. He turned, and was met with the face of Twilight, a grin n her face, her horn lit. He backed away from her, but was unable to dodge the beam of magic, nor was he able to teleport out of the way. The spell hit him in the head, just at the base of his horn. It also healed his wound. "Now, bow to your Empress," she said.

"Yes, my Empress," Velvet and Night Light said in a blank tone in unison as they bowed. "We are ready to serve."

"Good. Tomorrow at noon, you are to bring how ever many nobles you can here, including Deep Pocket, Fancy Pants, and Fleur De Lis. Am I clear on that order?"

"Yes, Empress."

"Good. Until I say other wise, you are to do you current objective, acting as normally as possible, understood?"

"Yes, Empress,"

Twilight smiled. "Good. Now rise, and carry out your assignment," she said as he made her way to the door.

Canterlot Castle- a few minutes later

As Twilight approached the gates, she saw Nightmare, in her Luna guise, coming towards her.

"Hello, Twilight. How was the visit with your parents?"

"Well, Nightmare, as it turns out, I'm adopted, and they didn't think to tell me until I put them under the spell."

"Really?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I gave them the assignment of getting as many nobles as possible at their house tomorrow so I can put them under it."

"A smart plan, Twilight," Nightmare said as they passed the gates. "Such terrible security," she commented. "Anypony could walk in with a concealed weapon or vial of poison, and the guards wouldn't know until it's too late."

"Something to address once we take over," Twilight said. "And just how is our next potential ally?"

Right now, she's in the dining room, as is Celestia. Why?"

"I was thinking we do something similar to what we did with Rarity to recruit Cadence."

"That might work," Nightmare said. "Tonight, then?"

"Yep. Now, can you distract Celestia so I can get into her personal library?"

"I can try. It should be somewhere in her room."

"Right. Thanks, Nightmare."

"It is of no problem, Twilight. Any thing that could lead to Celestia's downfall," Nightmare said as they entered the castle proper and she made her way to the dining room, while Twilight made her way to Celestia's room. Before they went their separate ways, though, Twilight cast a spell that allowed for them to communicate mentally.

It took her about ten minutes to make her way to Celestia's room. The sad part, or, rather, parts? There were no guards, and the door was unlocked. (read that last sentence in a deadpan tone if you didn't to start for the tone.) She opened the door and entered her former mentors room, as Nightmare had been in conversation with Celestia and Cadence for the past three minutes, and no warning had been given.

She cast a very high order detection spell, and it revealed to her a secret passage in the bookshelves. Talk about cliched, Twilight thought as she used another spell to open it. The passage was well lit, and led further into the castle. She entered it, and the bookshelf closed behind her. "Well, let's hope I can teleport myself out of here," she said to herself as she followed the passage.

She walked for another ten minutes before she saw a wall of light. "Finally," she said, and ran to the wall. When she met it, she stepped through it, and was met with the sight of the largest library she had ever seen. One thing stood out, though, and that was two leather bound journals, one with Celestia's cutie mark on it, while the other had Luna's.

Don't you dare read that one, Nightmare said. I may not be Luna, but not even I would break her privacy. I can't, as she's still in my mind!

Wait, what?

Oh. I forgot to say that, didn't I?

Yes, yes you did. Twilight sighed. How long?

Two days.

You didn't want to say anything why?

Because it's not an issue.

I'll see what I can do later. Twilight sighed again, and went to the journal with Celestia's cutie mark on it. Amazingly, there were no protection spells on it, so she just grabbed it in her magic, laid down, and began to read.

I fear I have made a grave mistake. Today, I had accidentally allowed a noble access to the entire royal treasury. Fortunately, it was stopped before any thing major could occur. I must be more careful about the nobles, or they'll ruin us. Needless to say, this one was interesting, and only reinforced Twilight to want to remove all of the snooty, non-loyal nobles, and give their wealth to ponies that actually deserved it. She flipped a few pages ahead and read some more.

Today is the five-hundredth anniversary of my sisters defeat, and still, ponies don't know the truth, regardless of the amount of times I've tried to tell them the truth, they don't seem to listen. Skip ahead a few pages. Now that I look back on it, nearly six hundred years later, I can now see why my little ponies see my victory as a victory. I, singlehoofedly, prevented a monster from destroying Equestria, a feat none have done before.

"That answers the question where she started to see it as a victory," Twilight mumbled. She continued to read, not finding anything useful. That is, not until the second to last and last page.

Second to last: Today is a glorious day for Equestria, as it now has a new princess. I can only hope that Cadence is up for it, as she didn't seem interested in it, nor was she good, but that's somepony just starting out. One thing has me worried, and that's her lineage, and what might happen if she discovers the truth. Before her ascension, she was a pegasus with the ability to somewhat control love, much like the changelings. I decided to research her background, both with legal means and gray area magical means, and, to my horror, discovered that she is half changeling, having gained part of a changelings ability to control love, and, if what her caretakers said are true, an appetite for meat. Should she find out, I fear for my subjects. Twilight's jaw dropped, and she could sense Nightmare mentally doing the same, and another presence that must have been Luna do so as well. Well. That's intriguing, Nightmare said. Care to make a comment, Luna?

Is anypony just as surprised as I am? was all Luna, and the fact she still existed in some capacity amazed Twilight, could say. That was nothing compared to the last page.

Last page: As I said earlier, my sisters daughter, Galaxy Star, was one of her most loyal supporters during her uprising. One thing I forgot to write down, though, is that, instead of killing or banishing her, I used my magic to convert her into a magical essence, one not awake, but still has it's powers and memories. In order to contain it, I had to put it inside the body and mind of many a foal and filly over the past near millennium in order to ensure she did not awaken and cause another revolution. If anypony else is reading this, then you're most likely wondering why I write this. Put simply, it's because I have encountered the latest filly I put my niece's essence into, and it is one close to my heart. I knew I shouldn't have, but, at the time, she was the only one who could survive holding Galaxy. This filly was my daughter, who is a secret only I know of. I put her on the doorsteps of a random family, and had hoped I wouldn't see her again, for fear Galaxy would awaken. I have met my daughter again today. It's funny, really. I was taking my daily walk around the castle grounds and the school when I saw a dragon head crash through a ceiling. I went to see what was going on, and what I saw both warmed my heart and froze it with fear. I calmed the filly down, even pointed out her cutie mark, the same as the third symbol on the Tree of Harmony. I asked her what her name was an hour later , after she had become my official, personal Student. Her name was Twilight Sparkle. The power she had then was her tapping into Galaxy's power. I fear what will happen should she awaken. The physical jaw of Twilight, as well as the mental jaws of Nightmare and Luna, all dropped.