A purple glow surrounds a fresh set of quills lying next to a trio of apples on the floor of the Golden Oak Library, Twilight enclosing the quills in a protective wooden case before slipping them into her bulging left saddlebag, "Extra quills… "

"Check," Spike replies.

Twilight levitates the apples into her equally stuffed right saddlebag, each fruit adding an additional bulge to the already strained fabric, "And a snack for the flight."

Spike looks up from the bottom of a list several times longer than he is tall, his own quill hovering just over the parchment, "Three apples?"

"Mm-hm," Twilight answers, closing both bags and buckling them shut – the effort drawing a stray spark from her horn.

Spike marks off the final box with a flourish, "Aaand… that's everything!"

Twilight scans the library's now empty floor, mentally rechecking every single item she had packed with their previous location, "You're sure?"

Spike glances at the scroll containing the completed checklist lying piled in front of him, then back to Twilight, "Yep, pretty sure."

"Maybe I should unpack, and we can go through everything again," Twilight wonders aloud, eying her overpacked saddlebags. "Just in case we missed something."

Spike gives her a flat look, "Twilight, unless you made a whole new list in the last few minutes while I wasn't looking, we definitely covered everything you put on this list. That's the whole reason for putting a checkbox on each line, right? And we already quadruple checked to make sure this list wasn't missing anything."

Twilight takes a deep breath, levitating her packed bags onto her back and turning to face the library's front door, "Right… you're right, Spike, I'm just-"

"Nervous about being involved in writing a letter that could decide the fate of both Equestria as well as all the changeling hives, especially given how they might react after what the Royal Guard did?" Spike queries.

Twilight's stomach lurches at the sound of a hoof knocking impatiently on her front door, but she manages a weak smile, "Y-Yeah, that sounds about right."

Spike shrugs, walking over to the door, "Then you've got absolutely nothing to worry about! Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have negotiated tons of treaties; they probably just want you there so you can watch and learn how they do it."

Twilight quirks an eyebrow, "Gee, thanks, Spike."

"Any time," Spike replies, pulling the door open. "Now come on, they're waiting for you."

Shadow Strike moves aside as Twilight pauses in her doorway, a frown creasing her brow. A Royal Guard chariot rests on the grass no more than 20 feet in front of her – its normally golden color hastily painted over by a dark bluish grey while Hidden Glow and Night Glider stand strapped into its two harnesses rather than the usual pegasi guards. Her friends turn from the commandeered chariot; Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Applejack standing in front of it while Luna and Fluttershy the pegasus sit within.

Luna grins at Twilight's appearance, waving a silver-shoed hoof from her place in the chariot, "Good lunar morning, Twilight Sparkle!"

Twilight pauses, her own hoof half-raised, "Good morn – er, night, I mean – uh… hello, everypony."

A collective giggle follows her stammering reply, Fluttershy waving from her seat beside Luna, "Hi, Twilight."

Luna glances to Twilight's saddlebags, "We take it you are ready to depart for Canterlot?"

Twilight nods, "I am."

Applejack takes a half step towards her, "And yer sure ya don't want the rest of us ta come along?"

Twilight shakes her head, "I'm sure. Given everything that's happened, I'd much rather have all of you here in Ponyville to help keep an eye on things; and Spike so that if something does happen, you can get a letter to the other princesses and I about it quickly."

Pinkie hops excitedly, nearly clearing the top of the chariot, "You can count on us, Twilight."

"Indeed," Rarity agrees.

Spike gives a quick salute, "Definitely."

Rainbow Dash flaps her wings to hover a few inches off the ground, crossing her forelegs, "Yeah, we're not gonna sit back and let any more jerks like them cause trouble in Ponyville!"

"Alright," Applejack says, frowning. "If that's what you think is best."

Twilight sighs, sending Applejack a smile, "Thanks. There really wouldn't be much for anybody to do even if you did come – I'll only be gone a few days at most, and it's just going to be me, Luna, Cadence, Celestia, and my brother sitting in a room writing a letter."

"That reminds me," Luna interjects, looking up at the roof of a neighboring house, "Lunar Trail!"

Lunar Trail trots to the edge of the roof, a bandage covering his nose, "Yes, Princess Luna?"

"As the pony I am leaving in charge of Ponyville's guards, including those remaining from the Royal Guard, this responsibility falls especially on your shoulders," Luna says, giving the four ponies standing between her chariot and Twilight a nod. "Should anything at all happen, we expect to be informed about it promptly."

Lunar salutes, "I understand, princess."

Suddenly, Discord's head sprouts from the ground directly in front of Twilight, stray leaves growing from his horns and ears, "Oh good, you're all still here."

His lion paw breaks through the soil as well, with a snap of his claws Twilight replacing Fluttershy in the chariot and winged pigs replacing the Lunar Guards pulling it – Hidden Glow and Night Glider reappearing a foot in front of their previous position while Discord and Fluttershy pop into existence atop the pigs.

A whip appears in his claws, and he cracks it in the air above the pigs, "Away! To Canterlooooot!"

Lunar Trail watches Discord and the princesses fly into the night sky towards Canterlot's general location, Hidden Glow, Night Glider, and Shadow Strike quickly catching up to take a triangle formation surrounding them. His shoulder tingles a few moments later, a touch like a feather drawing his attention.

Midnight meets his eyes, raising an eyebrow as she surveys his face, "So, it sounds like you're staying."

Lunar nods, "Yup, sounds that way."

"How long?" Midnight asks.

Lunar shrugs, "Princess Luna didn't say."

"Mmm… " Midnight murmurs, sniffing his nose. "You did understand that you were supposed to touch your nose, not punch yourself in the face, right?"

"Y-Yeah, well, uh… " Lunar clears his throat, his face and ears burning, "What matters is that I succeeded."

Midnight gives him a predatory grin, her eyes flickering faintly, "Then, you're ready for lesson two?"

"Bring it on," Lunar answers without missing a beat. "Just… uh… maybe later? Princess Luna put me in charge of all of Ponyville's guards, and there's some stuff related to that which I really need to get out of the way first."

Midnight considers him, settling herself on the roof after a few seconds and disappearing from sight – her voice muffled as if speaking from the other side of a thick cloth, "Fine. I'll be here when you're done."

Wind streams across Twilight's face and through her mane as she glances towards the fast approaching landing area, her lip receiving a nervous nibble before she returns her attention to the travel chess board hovering in front of her, Luna's magic keeping it aloft. After a few more moments, she groans and lowers her head in defeat, a purple glow engulfing a carved, wooden, stylized, and pure white figurine of Celestia to tip it over, "You win."

Luna smiles from behind a similarly carved, dark blue figurine of herself, the magnetized bottoms of the few remaining chess pieces along with her magic keeping them attached as the chariot touches down with a bump and rolls to a stop, "Well played, Twilight Sparkle. Though you may have lost all three in the end, the amount of time and number of rounds you forced each game to take is quite an accomplishment against somepony of my experience."

Twilight steps off of the chariot, letting out a contented sigh as she stretches, "Thanks… aaah, Luna."

Luna glances to Shadow Strike, meeting his eyes, "You are dismissed."

Shadow Strike, Night Glider, and Hidden Glow salute, the sound of approaching hoofsteps drawing the attention of all but Fluttershy as the trio of guards take to the air.

"I assume you all had an enjoyable ride here?" Celestia asks, stopping in front of Twilight to run her eyes over both the remains of their final game as well as the flying pigs pulling their chariot.

"Indeed," Luna answers. "Your former student is quite skilled. Another few centuries of practice, and she will be a truly formidable opponent."

Discord scoops a still waking Fluttershy up in one arm, dismissing his flying pigs with a wave of the other, "Fluttershy and I also enjoyed our own little game of Checkers: Chaos Edition. A much more interesting game with far more depth than mere chess, in my humble opinion."

Luna and Twilight groan in unison, "We know."

Fluttershy yawns, blinking away her tiredness, "Um… Discord?"

"Yes, Fluttershy?" Discord queries.

"Could you put me down, please?" Fluttershy requests.

Discord strokes his goatee, "Hmm… "

Celestia tilts her head towards another pony standing in the entrance to a hallway aways off to her right, "Discord."

Following her gesture, Discord's eyes fall on a glasses-less Photo Finish – the chill in her stare enough to freeze lesser beings in place, "Ah. Well, I suppose I should at least try not to anger mama bug."

Placing Fluttershy on the ground, he pats her on the head, "Alright, off you go then."

Fluttershy offers him a thankful smile before trotting over to her mother – the mare giving Celestia a nod and shooting Discord one last sour look. Turning on her heel, she walks deeper into the castle, Fluttershy following her out of sight.

Celestia takes a step after the disguised changelings, "Shall we head inside?"

Discord taps his chin, tilting his head until he's examining Celestia upside down, "You seem different."

Celestia raises an eyebrow in reply, waiting for him to speak.

He snaps his claws, "You went to the spa, didn't you? I love what they did with your mane."

"In fact I did, under Luna's advisement, actually," Celestia says, giggling. "I don't think I've felt so relaxed in centuries."

Discord folds his arms, his head still upside down, "I've been telling you the same thing for months, but you didn't listen to me."

Celestia laughs, "And my answer is still the same. As pleasant or enjoyable as your ideas may be, relaxing they are not."

Discord harumphs, a jetpack folding out from his back, "Well, you princesses do whatever princess things you need to do before tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm going to get a snack."

With a roar, his jetpack's engines engage, Discord pulling a pair of goggles over his eyes at the last second before spiraling away into the night sky.

"So then I asked him why he thought he didn't have to follow the same rules as everypony else," Celestia says as the trio make their way down one of the castle's many hallways, grinning broadly, "and he goes into the usual 'I am of a noble house, why should I have to follow the rules made for common ponies' rambling, which wouldn't be so funny, except I think he actually believed it, instead of using it as a last ditch effort to get out of trouble like most do."

Luna inhales deeply, looking out over the hallway. Baskets of lavender flowers hang from the top of the arch of each window lining the corridor, the air suffuse with their calming scent. The moon's position in the sky leaves the windows darkened however – the hallway's light instead emanating from spherical crystals hovering above the flower baskets, each like a tiny version of Luna's celestial body, bathing the area around them in a gentle, white luminescence.

"Truly, time changes many things," she observes stoically, a smile nevertheless slowly spreading across her face, "but the attitude of nobles may never be one of them."

Celestia exhales sharply, "Anyway, that was the highlight of my day yesterday. As far as later today goes, Cadence responded, and she should be here by the evening so we should be able to work on the letter, as long as you and Twilight can wake up a couple hours before dusk." She glances at Twilight, "Your brother is, of course, coming as well, though a little bit later. Something about the Crystal Guard going on a literal witch hunt."

Twilight blinks, looking up at Celestia, "Hm? Oh. Okay, I'll… yeah, it'll be good to see him again, definitely."

Celestia pauses, examining her former student more closely, "Is something wrong, Twilight? I thought you'd be happier about seeing your brother again so soon."

Twilight shakes her head, "No, I am, I was just… remembering something Discord said last night. To ask you and Luna, actually."

The royal trio turn a corner, a thestral stallion hovering on the other side of the hall tending a flower basket along with a mare examining the faintly flickering crystal floating above it both offering a hasty mid-air bow as they pass – Luna giving them a smile and nod of acknowledgment.

"What did he tell you to ask us?" Celestia queries.

"Well, when I went to check on Fluttershy last night, because of the whole Royal Guard… incident that happened, he was there too," Twilight explains, "and we got into an argument."

"Surprising nopony," Luna snickers.

"I guess," Twilight admits. "Anyway, it ended up with him saying that the Elements of Harmony actually promote order, and when I said I didn't believe him, he said to ask you about the last time you tried to 'push too much order onto the world'."

Celestia and Luna come to an abrupt halt, Luna giving Twilight a strange look, "…Did he now?"

Celestia groans, "And of course he'd bring that up now of all times… getting a snack my flank."

Twilight opens her mouth to speak, however, Celestia's horn glows before a single word passes her lips – the three of them reappearing in a pitch black room. A fireplace roars to life an instant later, several yellow-orange crystals embedded in small alcoves spread across the room's white marble walls also glowing at their presence to drive away the darkness. Scrolls, books, and pillows of various sizes lay scattered at random throughout, Celestia levitating a few pieces of reading material from a large pillow near the fireplace to drop them beside an old pot of tea on a nearby table before laying on it. Luna follows suit, though she keeps her pillow further from the fire.

Twilight mimics their actions in a daze, letting her saddlebags fall to the floor before claiming her own pillow roughly between them while far enough away to be able to see them both, "…Celestia? Luna?"

Twilight shivers as Celestia meets her gaze, the solar alicorn's expression solemn, and her normally kind eyes now exuding the weight of the many years of her life.

"We had not planned on telling you this for some time," Celestia says after a moment. "Ideally, we would have preferred for you to have been able to live out a full lifetime with your friends and family before needing to consider or know about some of these aspects of Equestria's history as well as your own ascension to alicornhood."

"But," Luna continues, "being the type of pony you are, now that you have been told, it is unlikely that you will simply forget about this and let it go, even if we were to tell you to. And Discord, being the insufferable irritation that he is, will almost certainly find ways to keep bringing it up."

"I don't understand," Twilight replies, glancing between them. "Was Discord telling the truth?"

Luna shakes her head, "To put it shortly, no, he was only explaining the Elements as he himself sees them. And, given his bias against those artifacts which have twice defeated and imprisoned him, he happens to see them wrongly."

Celestia sighs, a soft smile replacing her solemnity, "However, we know very well that your curiousity will not be satisfied by such a short, simple statement. So to truly provide a proper context and answer to what Discord told you to ask of us, we must start at the beginning – the very beginning – before either Luna or I had ever stepped hoof on Equus."

Twilight stares wide-eyed from one fellow princess to the other, her breath catching in her throat, "Oh my gosh… you're aliens?!" She glances at herself, "Wait – does that mean – am I-?"

Celestia and Luna stare dumbly at Twilight, Luna eventually turning her gaze to Celestia, "You really could have worded that better, sister."

Celestia chuckles, "Perhaps. But putting that aside, this is why subjects such as this need to be fully explained before anypony starts jumping to conclusions." She clears her throat, "Regardless, neither of us were born on Equus' surface, though we do not consider ourselves to be 'aliens' either. And in fact, neither of us were born at all, in the normal sense."

Twilight's brow knits, her mental struggles making themselves known on her face, "You weren't… then how… ?"

"We simply… came to be," Luna replies, answering Twilight's half-asked question. "One moment we did not exist, and the next, we 'woke up' upon the solid surface of our respective celestial body – our own newly formed bodies saturated in their arcane energies. As a result, neither of us know who came into existence first – or who came to Equus first for that matter."

Celestia nods, "Truth be told, we did not know the other's celestial body even existed until we were on Equus, as previously we had always remained on opposite sides of the planet. Even all these years later, I can still remember how terrifying it was to experience my first night."

Luna smiles, "And I how painful it was to look upon the sun for the first time. Still, no matter who came to Equus before the other, it was Celestia who eventually became curious about the giant green and blue ball she was orbiting and decided she wanted to visit it. I was less interested, and quite happy to remain where I was, however one… I suppose it would have technically been 'night', my dreams were visited by another." She glances at Celestia, "Her name was Selena, and it was through her that I came to know both of my talent with dream magic, as well as the existence of ponies below. She was also the one who suggested to me my name, Luna, as that was what the thestrals had already taken to calling my moon. Looking back, it was not the most imaginative way to choose a name, but I liked it at the time, and still do. In any case, it was she who guided me to the thestrals after I landed, though… 'landed' is perhaps too graceful a term to be accurate."

Celestia lets out a bark of laughter, "Yes, I do recall leaving something of a crater behind."

Twilight frowns, "Wait, so… you didn't have names?"

Celestia shakes her head, still smiling broadly, "We hadn't even thought of the concept of names, until then. We were alone, so there was us; there was that on which we walked, which was somehow related to us; and then there was everything else our eyes could see, all of which was quite far away."

"So then, where did you get your name, Celestia?" Twilight queries.

"I did not have the benefit of a dream to guide me, so for a short while I wandered, until one day I stumbled into a clan of unicorns," Celestia replies. "Their elder had apparently seen my descent and put two and two together, so they decided to call me 'Celestia', as I had come from the heavens. I had no objections and did now need a name, so it has been what I have gone by ever since. It was also from these unicorns that I learned of earth ponies and pegasi, all of whom united beneath me, the Goddess of the Sun, as their leader."

Luna nods, "Likewise, the thestral clans decided to unite under me as their leader, many worshiping me as the Goddess of the Moon. It is what happened between our introduction to other ponies and becoming their de facto leaders that truly earned us those titles, however. You see, after a time, the ponies we had joined realized that the cycles of the sun and moon were changing – in general speeding up and passing more quickly, but also becoming more unstable and erratic, with both the sun and moon growing larger in the sky. It would frequently happen that both would be in the sky at the same time, then later, neither would be. Tia, at the unicorns' suggestion, attempted to push her sun farther out to put it back to its proper orbit," she glares at Celestia, "and nearly rammed it into my moon instead."

Celestia groans, "Oh for – let it go, Luna. That happened literally ages ago, and I have already apologized for it many times over."

Luna snorts, "Fortunately, I had been watching my moon at the time, and in a panic managed to move it out of the way before they collided."

"And that is how we first realized the other existed," Celestia finishes. "Not that I knew any more than 'somepony else out there is controlling the moon', or that Luna knew more than there was somepony else moving the sun."

Luna takes a deep breath, her gaze relaxing as she returns her attention to Twilight, "To make a much longer story short, we soon realized that neither of us was yet skilled enough to actually move the other's orbiting body – though we could sense when the other tried. Fortunately, despite what had happened and not being able to speak to each other, we were able to eventually settle on a stable and equitable day-night cycle, which we have maintained ever since."

Celestia nods, "Also fortunately, the ensuing centuries were far calmer than that near disaster. We were, of course, curious about whoever was controlling the other object in the sky, but the world was still a wild, uncharted place, and we had no way to find each other. That detail aside, it was in the aftermath of us taking control of the sun and moon, and returning day and night to their rightful lengths, that the unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi united under me, and the thestrals under Luna, to form our first nations."

"Though," Luna adds, "they were quite primitive, compared to most nations today. In modern terms, they were really closer to a united group of a few city-states."

"Hold on," Twilight objects, pointing a hoof at Luna. "Couldn't you have contacted Celestia through her dreams?"

Luna shakes her head, "No. Even today, with the spread of civilization and the whole world now being more or less explored, trying to find a specific pony when all I know of them is that they exist would be immensely difficult. Back then, it would have been impossible – we simply did not have the knowledge or skill to accomplish such a task, not to mention that the dream realm itself was fragmented due to neither us nor our ponies having so much as seen each other."

Celestia lifts her pillow with her magic, inching herself closer to the fireplace while rotating so as to face Twilight rather than the fire, "In the mean time, we both sent out explorers in all directions to see what they could find, each of our fledgling nations growing and expanding in their wake. Existing holdouts were brought into the fold, brand new settlements were founded, maps were made, and eventually we did come into contact with one another, though again not under particularly ideal circumstances. In this case, it was a pegasus explorer who stumbled upon a shrine the thestrals had built to Luna. But, being a pegasus, he did so during the day, when it was empty. And, since it was empty, and since he was an explorer, he allowed his wandering hooves to lay claim to a few of the 'abandoned' shrine's 'artifacts'."

Luna rolls her eyes, "Needless to say, my thestrals did not take kindly to his intrusion when they awoke, and he was treated rather more roughly than I would have liked. Ultimately though, he was brought before me to decide what his fate would be, as no thestral had ever seen a pony like him. It was here that he, as the first one to have ever lain eyes on both Celestia and myself, realized that I must be the one who controlled the moon. After telling us of Celestia's existence and location, he was released – sent straight back to Celestia to inform her of what, and whom, he had found, along with an amulet we had enchanted with our magic as proof."

"His return was a watershed moment," Celestia states, levitating a fresh log onto the merrily crackling fire. "He brought word not only of a new type of pony, and a nocturnal one at that, but also of another alicorn – who by her control of the moon could be said to be my equal. That bit of logic ruffled quite a few feathers to say the least, but nevertheless, a delegation was sent out as quickly as possible to arrange a meeting between us and our ponies."

Luna raises an eyebrow, "Yes, which, as we recall, proved to be quite a learning experience for us both."

"Very true," Celestia laughs. "For you see, Twilight, neither of us had previously encountered such a different type of pony from ourselves, nor had we yet come into contact with the griffons or the minotaurs or any of the other intelligent races. We had negotiated amongst ourselves to a degree, but this level of diplomacy was something entirely new to us, and so it ended up taking years of back and forth before we came to an agreement on such things as location, time, meeting duration, food, guards, and all manner of other details – many of which we were so accustomed to not needing to consider that we found our assumptions to be false only at random, often as the result of an offhoof comment or remark. Thestrals' exclusively liquid diet, for example."

Luna snickers, "Explaining that thestrals slept hanging upside down likewise took some time to get across. We actually had to bypass the official intermediary and go to her assistant, as she was entirely unable to wrap her head around the concept."

Celestia nods, "But, eventually, we were able to get everything we could possibly think of sorted out. The meeting thus began… and was a complete and utter disaster. No ostensibly diplomatic meeting has gone so poorly with the exception of, perhaps, the lone time the dragons and the yaks met. Suspicion was rampant outside of the relative few who had already spent those years negotiating the meeting's details – among my ponies, rumors had grown of what horrific things had supposedly been done to the explorer who had stumbled upon the thestrals, while many thestrals came neither knowing much more, nor particularly caring, about what had happened other than a pegasus of mine had been caught stealing from a shrine to Luna. Tensions were high, and rising, before either Luna or myself had even arrived."

"Not that our arrival helped matters," Luna comments.

Celestia sighs, "No, and in fact we made things much worse. You see, although we were both beyond excited at the prospect of meeting another like ourselves, we were still very naive. Neither did it help that Luna came bearing a grudge and seeking an apology for my causing the near miss between the sun and the moon. She and her thestrals also had no love for the sun itself – they found it to be a glaring nuisance compared to Luna's moon, its light piercing, painful, and the cause of many headaches for those who were not used to its brightness."

Luna matches her sister's sigh with one of her own, "Celestia, for her part, came to the meeting with an admittedly more open mind. However that changed very quickly after I demonstrated my dream walking talent to her, and she became fearful of our ability to enter into the minds of the sleeping at will. After that, tension gave way to harsh words and accusations, tempers flared, and by the second dawn a battle had broken out. Neither of us won so easily, obviously, both of us instead retreating to recover and plan how we wished to execute the next phase of our conflict. For me and my thestrals, that often meant I would use my dream magic to inflict nightmares on Celestia's warriors either in the lead up to a night raid, or defensively when they approached a town. For Celestia and her ponies, it generally meant marching straight at a town during broad daylight."

"And it… it was… " Celestia takes a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. "And it was a 'conflict', rather than a 'war', at least in comparison to what a war would look like today, were we to need to defend ourselves against another nation rather than a lone villain or surprise attack. Nor was it anything compared to the assault Sombra's monsters unleashed when we first defeated him, for that matter. Today it would probably be likened to merely a series of minor armed skirmishes. Our nations were smaller, our numbers fewer, and our technology simpler. The bow and arrow was considered to be advanced weaponry at the time, though the earth ponies did manage to invent the first catapult a few years after the conflict ended. Our knowledge of magic was also much more primitive, with most unicorns scarcely able to perform any spell not related to their special talent, which left nearly all unable to cast any sort of specifically offensive spell."

"In any case," Luna says, sending Celestia a sorrowful smile, "despite the relative size of our conflict, leading our ponies into battle and experiencing the aftermath was easily the worst thing either of us had ever gone through. It also did not help that we ourselves were the cause of the majority of the casualties on both sides, as while we were far more powerful than any other pony, our knowledge of such magic was hardly more advanced, and it came down to us effectively lobbing massive amounts of magical energy at each other's general location. As a result, although we both hated the other's existence with a passion, after several such battles we were more than willing to agree to a truce and to leave a healthy distance between each other and our nations."

A heavy silence hangs over the room following Luna's words save for the crackling of the fire, Twilight staring wide eyed at her until Celestia eventually clears her throat, "Following that, we then proceeded to not so much as speak to each other for over 800 years, during which time we did our best to pretend that the other did not exist at all. It is, perhaps, somewhat ironic then that it was a griffon who was the first to be able to get us into a room together. Not that he actually told us we would be in a room together or had any interest in healing our longstanding feud; he was far more concerned with trying to establish a trade route that would be allowed to pass straight through both our countries without either my ponies or Luna's thestrals tearing it apart searching for contraband. But, an offhoof comment about his rather repugnant behavior led to more words spoken between us, and then, begrudgingly, to a full blown conversation. It was at this point we realized that we did not find each other's company quite as repulsive as we once had."

"Indeed," Luna agrees, her smile's edge of sadness melting away. "In fact we found it to be quite refreshing to speak to the sole being on the planet who was most like myself. The only one who seemed to be equally long lived, as well. We discovered that we had quite a few things in common with one another, many of which could never truly be shared with anybody else simply because, at the end of the night or day, there were certain ways in which we were different from everybody else we had ever come across."

"The trade route talks eventually fell through," Celestia continues, "though not because of either of us – that griffon was easily one of the dirtiest, greediest, most conniving members of his species I've ever had the displeasure of speaking to. Luna and I, however, decided to meet again, just the two of us, and… talk about anything we happened to feel like talking about. It also helped that she had long since accepted the necessity of my sun, as plants would not be able to grow by the light of her moon alone. And for my part, I was interested to learn that she was able to protect her thestrals from naturally occurring nightmare creatures, which despite my best efforts creating primitive dreamcatchers and the like, had become something of an endemic problem – complete with the occasional disease-like outbreaks."

Luna nods, "So, we decided to keep meeting with each other, still without any of our ponies around. Which, to be blunt, was in large part due to the fact that it was one of them who had ignited our conflict, though for fairly obvious reasons we were never able to obtain an unbiased account of who, or even who's side, struck the first blow. Regardless, we continued to speak with each other, to learn more about each other, until eventually I showed Celestia how I moved the moon, and she the sun to me. It was at that point we came to the realization that we had become friends. It was quite a shock to us both, truth be told."

Celestia exhales sharply, "The understatement of an era right there."

"Indeed," Luna laughs. "But, friends we were, and we decided it was therefore time to try to get those who followed us on speaking terms as well. It did, admittedly, take a few generations before any real progress was made on that front, despite our generally still being revered as goddesses. Though honestly this was still far faster than either of us had expected, given that for the previous eight centuries we had been promoting the opposite view. We persevered however, despite the negative reaction it initially created amongst both our subjects, and once we each managed to get a trickle of our ponies who were willing to travel to and visit the neighboring pony nation on their own, it quickly grew into river driven by untapped trade opportunities as well as newfound curiosity. With that established, our ponies were, for the most part, able to leave behind their distrust and distaste for each other, and in a mere 200 years it was as if Celestia and I had not attempted to murder each other on more than one occasion."

Celestia sighs, smiling widely, "Truly, there is nothing quite like remembering how things once were in the past, then looking out at the world in front of you and being able to so clearly see how peace and understanding have taken hold to give rise to prosperity. And in the ensuing few centuries, our nations continued to grow closer still – as did we. We began to see each other as more than friends, recognizing each other as a sort of kindred spirit, and perhaps the closest thing to family that we may ever have."

"Though we did eventually discover that we were, in fact, capable of bearing children," Luna interjects. "With a little bit of magical assistance."

Twilight's ears perk at this, "…Wait, you can-? You have? Even though you're not – I mean you are, but I thought – assumed, that is, since… uh… " She closes her eyes, taking a slow, steadying breath before reopening them, "So Prince Blueblood, does that mean he's actually… ?"

"Related to one of us?" Luna queries amusedly.

Twilight's eyes dart to the floor, "Yes?"

"He is a descendant of mine," Celestia answers, sighing heavily. "For better or worse. As is Cadence, though that has definitely been for the better. But we still have much to cover, and that is a topic for another time."

Luna meets Celestia's eyes, both pausing as a wordless understanding passes between them.

Luna clears her throat an instant later, bobbing her head ever so slightly before offering Twilight a smile, "And should you have any questions regarding that which we do speak of now, we will of course be happy to discuss them in more depth at a later date as well."

Celestia nods, "So, as I was saying, we began to see each other as possibly the closest thing to family either of us would ever have. During this same period of time, our ponies and nations continued to grow closer together, to the point that at towns along the border it was becoming more and more difficult to tell where one ended and the other began. This continued until, eventually, we decided we should officially unite ourselves and our nations, both as a symbolic gesture and as a practical one. To that end, we 'adopted' each other as sisters, as well as declared ourselves to now be co-rulers of the united pony tribes and a single nation called Equestria."

Twilight frowns, sitting up on her pillow, "Hold on-"

"We can assure you," Luna interrupts, "that much planning went into this decision. We did not simply announce this out of the blue one evening."

Twilight shakes her head, "No, not that. I meant the country – Equestria? I thought Equestria was founded in the aftermath of the windigos."

"Ah," Luna replies. "No, that was, or I suppose is, the second iteration of Equestria. This was the first time Equestria was established as a nation, which did fall apart rather quickly before being much more successfully re-established."

Twilight gapes at Luna, "Fell apart-"

"We are getting ahead of ourselves," Celestia states calmly, speaking over her former student. "I assure you, it will make sense once we get there."

Twilight hesitates, after a moment settling back onto her pillow, "Right, sorry."

"It is also worth mentioning," Celestia continues, "that this first instance of Equestria was nowhere near as large as modern day Equestria. Luna and the thestrals' homeland, Ælün, extended from the western land bridge to approximately where the Smokey Mountains and Whitetail Woods are today. The nation of me and my ponies, previously known as Solara, then extended from there to border on the San Palomino Desert to what is now Appleloosa in the south, the Everfree in the east, and the southern edge of the Unicorn Mountain Range in the north. The lands directly to the south, meanwhile, were controlled by dragons at the time; the southeast was occupied primarily by Diamond Dogs, who had come from even farther south; and to the north, as well as to the east beyond the Everfree, were griffons, who had crossed what would eventually come to be called the Celestial Sea-"

Luna smirks, "She was jealous that I had two oceans named after me."

Celestia glares at her sister, "-and had effectively colonized everything east and north of this first incarnation of Equestria, from approximately Baltimare to the Everfree, and then everything north of our borders, all the way up to the Crystal Mountains. There was a not insignificant amount of time during which one could trot from the Celestial Sea all the way across the continent to the North Luna Ocean without once leaving griffon controlled territory. Not that they were at all unified, of course – there were dozens of small nations, city states, and even individual clans constantly squabbling amongst themselves, to the point that it was many ponies' full time job just to at least attempt to keep track of their endlessly changing borders, alliances, and conflicts. The diamond dogs, on the other hoof, mostly kept to themselves, preferring to mine their precious gems and occasionally use their hoards to ally with the dragons when the need arose."

Luna nods, "Solara and Ælün, and then Equestria even moreso, were large enough compared to any… territorial unit, let us call them, that the griffons were ever able to form that they were rarely foolish enough to actually attack us, though the mere memories of the hoops we needed to jump through to keep ourselves extricated from their endless backstabbing and infighting are still enough to give us headaches. But regardless, ancient regional politics aside, it is what happened after this point that Discord was referring to when he mentioned we 'pushed order too far', which I assume is what you are particularly interested in."

Twilight's ears perk at this, and she adjusts her position on her pillow, "I was, well, I am, but honestly it's hard to say I'm particularly interested in just that anymore since this has all been pretty mind blowing so far."

Luna laughs, "'Tis a fair sentiment."

Celestia smiles, "In any case, with ourselves and our ponies now officially united and our knowledge of magic having advanced by leaps and bounds since we first met, we decided the time was ripe for a show of unity to dispel any remaining objections held by those who still clung to the wish of our two nations remaining separate. The target of this campaign, who's removal we believed would benefit everypony greatly, was the entirety of the Everfree Forest."

Twilight coughs, sputtering, "Remove the – but you can't – that's not-"

Luna releases a deep sigh, "And therein lies the catch. Were it only a question of clearing out all of the Everfree's particularly aggressive flora and fauna, it would absolutely be possible. Costly, difficult, and time consuming, but possible. That is, after all, in part why we chose it as the first task of any real significance for us to accomplish together – a sort of national team building exercise, if you will. The Everfree was also far more dangerous then, and its location on our eastern border something of a perpetual headache due to the frequent incursions of its wildlife… not to mention the rather tantalizing thought of what we would be able to do with such a massive amount of essentially brand new territory under our control, all without having to declare war on any of our griffon neighbors. What we did not know, and what we failed to realize, is that there is far more behind the Everfree's existence and the seemingly warped nature of its inhabitants than a mere quirk of nature combined with the random chance that such a forest happened to be located next to us."

"You see, Twilight," Celestia continues, "there is an overarching balance to the world between ambient magic that is by nature orderly, and magic that is naturally wild and chaotic. Today, as it has been for a long time now with only a few notable exceptions, the strength of this magical field is mostly uniform throughout Equestria. And, as we now know in this day and age, the strength or weakness of this field can have a profound effect on the stability of casting any particular spell. Further, Luna and I, as stewards of the constant cycle of the sun and moon as well as due to our direct access to the massive amounts of magic they contain, are effectively minor wells of power for this orderly form of magic."

Twilight's brow creases, Celestia and Luna sharing a glance while they wait for the inevitable question.

"So… " Twilight says slowly, "that means then, that ponies' magic will be more powerful whenever you or Luna are nearby?"

Celestia smiles, "To a degree, yes, though not to the extent that it is immediately or obviously noticeable."

"It is a few percentage points, at most," Luna chimes in. "We expect that you and Cadence will also begin to exhibit this latent ability, as you grow both older and as alicorns."

Celestia nods, "Prior to the spread of civilization, these two fundamental fields of magic were intermixed mostly evenly across the entire world. However, as cities arose and nations formed, as the untamed wilds were claimed and brought under control, this balance was broken. Orderly magic flourished, while chaotic magic was suppressed. In Equestria in particular, a land led by Luna and I, and in which our ponies take an active hoof in managing and controlling all manner of natural forces, creatures, and events, very nearly all of the chaotic magic was removed." She sighs, "Removed, but far from gone."

"Rather," Luna continues, "it was 'pushed out', and as we and the other races the world over took control of more and more land, this displaced chaos magic became more and more focused – eventually forming into multiple massive, incredibly dense clumps of chaotic magic, one of which is centered in what came to be known as the Everfree Forest. Unfortunately, we knew none of this at the time. We naively assumed the forest was only there by happenstance, and if we gave it a good, persistent effort, we could remove it from the map entirely, thereby claiming it for Equestria."

Celestia grimaces, "The forest was calm for the first tens of miles we advanced, but beyond that point, it was as if the Everfree itself had noticed our intrusion and was actively fighting our presence. Wildlife attacks increased manyfold, trees we had felled and plants we had cleared over the course of weeks would regrow behind us seemingly whenever nopony was looking, and even Luna's and my own magic began to weaken amidst the constant struggle. We were forced to construct what amounted to makeshift fortifications as we moved farther in, while also laying down a thicket of sealing wards in our wake to ensure our progress was kept."

Luna's expression darkens, a chill spreading through the air around her, "Knowing what we do now, and given the benefit of hindsight, after these first tens of miles was where we should have stopped. Retreated and waited, until we knew more. Instead, we decided we'd committed too many resources to this effort to so easily back down. So we called in some researchers to study this strange phenomenon, while in the mean time we continued our purge of the Everfree."

"Indeed," Celestia agrees. "And as a result of that choice, what we had initially thought would be a difficult few years at most turned into a grinding, back and forth battle of attrition lasting more than two decades. The griffons barely even factored into our problems, outside of a few snide comments during the rare occasion we were required to meet with them concerning other matters. But despite everything, we did manage to continue making slow progress, doggedly clearing mile after mile of forest and sealing it behind us as we went while also eventually managing to completely encircle all that remained of the Everfree. However, the more we cleared, the more dangerous it became. Predators grew larger and plants that were once relatively benign began to inflict all manner of strange and never before seen maladies and illnesses, not to mention what happened to those that were poisonous to begin with."

She turns to stare into the fire, her eyes distant, "Towards the final days, when we had reduced the entirety of the Everfree to less than a hundred square miles, it was as if the forest itself had gained a level of intelligence. Squads of massive timberwolves would appear out of nowhere, charging us in formation, and other such anomalies. By now, of course, we had a fair idea of what was causing these things to happen, and again, was a point at which we should have realized how foolish our pursuit was. Yet still, we pressed on, convinced that after all we had gone through and after how far we had come, we would be able to persevere through anything the Everfree could throw at us. It was then, just before we were about to begin our final push, that it spawned… Discord."

Twilight blinks, "…Wait, what?"

Discord appears in a burst of confetti, "Tadaaa!"

A golden aura surrounds him, lifting the draconequus and slamming him face first into the wall beside the fireplace with enough force to create a spiderweb of cracks in the white marble.

"With a wave of his claws," Celestia continues, her eyes never straying from the fire, "he punched a hole straight through all the wards and fortifications we had built to keep the Everfree in check as we advanced. Within minutes of his appearance, the forest had re-expanded miles in every direction – nearly all of even our magic outright nullified in the outpouring vortices of chaos, our wards overwhelmed, and any structures we had built torn to shreds and completely destroyed. Thousands of our soldiers, and many more civilians who had been supporting the effort, were engulfed by the forest, almost all of whom were never seen or heard from again."

Luna casts a sidelong look at the draconequus pinned to the wall, "Discord then went on a rampage across the entirety of the continent, though to our knowledge he rarely went farther south than the Badlands. And as he was far more powerful than any other being we had ever encountered – ourselves included – we were unable to stop him, or even do much to slow him down. Within a matter of weeks, the more than 20 years of sweat, blood, and magic that we had spent to remove the Everfree Forest was lost. Equestria and the rest of the continent under his 'rule', if it can truly be called such, became a random, dangerous, and utterly chaotic place. We did what we could, of course, to help our ponies maintain some semblance of stability, but… it was a losing battle."

Celestia closes her eyes and lowers her head, after a few seconds returning her attention to Twilight, "It was also during this time that all the other races fled. The griffons returned across the sea to their homeland, though such a massive influx of refugees ended up causing them almost as many problems as Discord would have; the diamond dogs, as well as some of the dragons, retreated far enough to the south that Discord did not frequently bother them; while the rest of the dragons went further, flying away to eventually settle in what is now the Dragon Lands. All brought stories of Discord's power and random destructiveness which, along with his occasional appearance in their respective homelands, kept everyone except the most adventurous from attempting to return and effectively stopped anybody from traveling to our part of the continent. We, on the other hoof, had nowhere we could so easily flee to."

Luna meets Celestia's eyes, offering her a weak smile, "After we had endured a few decades of his mad reign however, Discord's games, and out of control use of his own magic, finally pushed the balance of things too far in chaos' favor. And so, within the Everfree itself, the Tree of Harmony began to grow, shrinking the forest while also drawing in much of the rogue chaotic magic that Discord had unleashed. Then, once the Elements of Harmony were complete within its branches, it appeared to me in a dream vision."

Celestia sighs, "We were both skeptical of such an easy solution falling into our hooves like this, I much more than Luna since I had not had this vision – to me it seemed far more likely that Discord had somehow found a way into the dreamscape, and this vision was merely another trick of his. Still, we had long since run out of other options, and we certainly had nothing left to lose, so we followed the images and hints Luna recalled from her dream. The vision, it turned out, was real, as was the Tree and its Elements. The Elements of Magic, Kindness, and Generosity bound themselves to me, while the Elements of Loyalty, Honesty, and Laughter bound themselves to Luna, and with them we were finally able to put a stop to Discord. Then once he was imprisoned in stone, the Tree continued shrinking the Everfree until it was more or less the same size as it had been before our misguided attempt to remove it, and to this day acts as a soft counter to prevent the worst of the Everfree's magics from escaping its borders."

Luna shoots a glare at the back of Discord's head, "As well as keeping a lid on any remnants of Discord's magic from that era, it would seem."

Discord phases into wall, leaving behind a draconequus shaped outline in Celestia's telekinetic aura and reappearing fused to the ceiling above the three alicorns, "And there you have it, Twilight, straight from the Royal Sisters themselves! The Elements were used against me, and the Tree against the Everfree, to bring chaos under control and order to an entire continent."

"And, as per usual," Luna replies, rolling her eyes, "you misunderstand their purpose. It is not that they, in and of themselves, spread order. It is that they are the final counterbalance against otherwise overwhelming forces of chaos and disorder. They bring order to chaos only so much as they return things to their previous state of being, so as to maintain the overall balance."

"Yes," Celestia agrees. "You were a somewhat special case since, until you understood the value of friendship, your actions were so utterly chaotic that turning you to stone was the only option. My banishing Luna to the moon is also not an ideal example, since I was forced to use half of the Elements while they were still bound to her, and I was not able to exercise any particular degree of finesse or control while doing so. A thousand years later however, Twilight and her friends' true embodiment of each of the Elements' virtues was what allowed them to be used to return Luna to her previous self. The Elements also played a role in Twilight's ascension – which happened very soon after you had been freed. It was also the Elements themselves that freed you the second time, I might add."

Luna nods, "Additionally, in the human world, Twilight reported that the Element of Magic was used to transform both another of my sister's pupils as well as a couple other humans into 'demons', and then to change them back when they went out of control. Your plundervines as well – they were spreading chaos across much of Equestria, and the Elements, or rather, the Tree, purged them to return all affected parts of Equestria mostly back to how they were prior to the vines' invasion."

"And while that is an impressive list of examples," Discord replies, examining his claws, "all I'm hearing are more reasons that I'm right. Returning something to the way it was before chaos started affecting it is quite an orderly thing to do."

"Again, no," Celestia states. "They are used in the face of overwhelming chaos to bring balance and harmony. Were their purpose solely to promote order, the Tree of Harmony would have done far more to the Everfree than merely return it to the same state it was in before we invaded it."

Twilight glances between the arguing deities, "So… it sounds like nobody really understands for sure how the Elements or the Tree work."

"I do," Celestia and Discord reply simultaneously, both blinking in surprise, then narrowing their eyes at each other.

Luna raises her hoof, "We vote in favor of Celestia's interpretation."

Discord folds his arms, sending Luna a flat look, "You do realize this isn't a democracy, right?"

Luna blows him a raspberry in response.

Celestia smirks, victory gleaming in her eyes, "Discord, if the Elements are truly only for enforcing 'order', then explain how Pinkie Pie is a bearer."

"I knew you were going to bring her up," Discord grumbles.

"Hold on, why Pinkie?" Twilight asks, "Rather than any of my other friends, I mean."

Celestia's smile softens, "Your friend Pinkie has a natural affinity for chaos magic – in fact, most 'party ponies' have some level of natural ability using Discord's form of magic. It is the source of the various and sundry abilities you have described her as having in many of your letters, and which she has demonstrated with ease on the occasion she and I have been in the same room." She shoots Discord another victorious smirk, "Which would also preclude her from bearing an Element, were your interpretation correct."

Twilight stares blankly at her former mentor, "Pinkie can use-"

"Well of course," Discord replies, waving a claw. "You didn't seriously think 'because she’s Pinkie Pie' was really the entire explanation, did you?" He sends Celestia a sidelong look, "And no, I don't know how she's able to be a Bearer, but that doesn't change what the Elements have actually been used for or what the Tree has actually done."

"But-but… " Twilight stammers, "but how can she be using it? I've been trying to study chaos magic for weeks – it was what I was doing the night that Midnight was found and brought to Ponyville's hospital – and I've made literally no progress on using it or understanding it or anything at all!"

Discord sighs, "Twilight, what allows unicorns to cast spells?"

"Our horns," Twilight answers automatically, "it-"

Discord holds up a claw, interrupting her, "Their horns, my young alicorn. It is what allows the unicorn tribe to control their magical abilities to such an extent, compared to the other, hornless tribes. Now, tell me, what do you think happens to chaos magic when you try to tightly control it?"

Twilight glances at the floor, her eyes darting back and forth, "I don't know, I never got it to work. I guess it would probably… unless… " Her head jerks up, eyes wide, "It wouldn't be chaos magic anymore! So that would mean… unicorns can't use chaos magic? At all?"

"Correct!" Discord says, waving a pair of sparklers from which confetti showers onto Twilight, "Alicorns either, for that matter. And probably changelings too, now that I think about it."

Twilight frowns, "But if you don't control it, how do you make it do what you want?"

Discord raises an eyebrow, "You seem to be under the mistaken impression that I actually know precisely what will happen when I use my magic, or how the end result will be accomplished."

"No matter how Discord's magic works," Celestia interjects, "we are getting off topic, and there are still a few remaining points regarding Equestria's history I would like to cover."

"…Alright," Twilight acquiesces, glancing between the solar alicorn beside her and the draconequus still stuck part way in the ceiling. "But I have a lot of questions."

Luna giggles, "We are not sure we would have believed you, had you told us otherwise. Regardless, after we turned Discord to stone, we continued to rule over Equestria for a time. We even managed to reclaim our castle, which we had built within the Everfree's original borders in an attempt to boost morale, but we dared not push our luck, or the Everfree Forest, any further. After all, who knew what manner of monstrosity it might spawn next?"

Discord folds his arms, "I'm right here, you know."

"However," Luna continues unperturbed, "guilt followed us for our actions – for our ignorance that led us to believe we should pursue such a goal in the first place, as well as for our bullheaded arrogance and stubbornness that led us to refuse to back down even once it became beyond obvious that leaving the Everfree be was the correct course of action. As such, we oversaw the creation of a fully unified government consisting of ponies from our four tribes. Then, after teaching the unicorns a group spell to enable them to move the sun and moon in our stead, making sure that the necessary protections against nightmare creature incursions were widespread, and appointing a governing council to rule in our place, we stepped down to let our ponies lead themselves."

"Of course, we did not leave entirely," Celestia adds. "We were simply very difficult to get ahold of, instead using our time to gain a better understanding of ourselves and of our world."

Luna snorts, "Not that this decision turned out any better. In fact, it was a terrible idea. In well under a century, the earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi had reached such an impasse that they split into their own tribes, sectioning Equestria off into their own smaller nations. Our thestrals, meanwhile, withdrew to Ælün, having absolutely no interest in individually dealing with each of the feuding day pony tribes, especially now that I was no longer around the push the issue. So, they closed their borders, and for the most part ignored what was going on in the rest of former Equestria."

"It was also this infighting that eventually drew the Windigos," Celestia explains, "and those events are, for the most part, accurately portrayed by the Hearth's Warming play. The earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi left their old homes, migrated to another location, drew the Windigos there as well, but were ultimately able to unite to drive them off. It was at this point that Luna and I returned to lead the newly reformed Equestria, at their request."

Luna snickers, "By which my sister means we returned to the lands of the original Equestria only to find it to be a frozen wasteland, as well as our castle in the Everfree abandoned and overgrown, though Discord thankfully still imprisoned. Our thestrals were able to direct us towards the general location the other tribes had traveled to, and when we arrived at their newly founded Equestria, in former Diamond Dog territory I might add, they quite literally begged us to reassume control of the sun and moon as well as to rule as princesses once again. Though exactly how each of the three tribes managed to both migrate from their frozen homes and then lay claim to the exact same location at almost the exact same time without once running into one of the other two tribes along the way remains a mystery to this day – for the pegasi in particular. Disregarding that particular oddity, it was with our return that I was also able to convince the thestrals to rejoin our newly reformed Equestria, but not to resettle to where the day ponies had moved – not that I really tried to convince them of the latter."

"We then continued to rule together," Celestia says, sending her sister a disapproving look, "and with us ponies now the only remaining intelligent inhabitants of the entire continent ranging from the Macintosh Hills in the south to the Crystal Mountains in the north, and with the tribes now united under the banner of peace, friendship, and unity in a way that they had never been before, Equestria entered something of a golden age. We expanded rapidly into the surrounding lands, Equestria's borders very quickly growing to reclaim all of our old territory – reconnecting our borders to those of the thestrals' in the process – and further laying claim to all of what could now be recognized as the borders of modern Equestria."

Luna grins widely, "The griffons, of course, were quite upset to learn that we had taken over all of 'their' lands, once they finally worked up the courage to return after a few centuries. We, however, refused to give up anything to them, and they were not in a position to be able to force the issue. Though, we would also be lying if we said we hadn't been hurrying to claim as much of their former territory as we could in their absence. The diamond dogs and dragons have never since returned in any numbers worth mentioning on the other hoof, and our thestrals' stubborn refusal to move from Ælün has for the most part kept any races from that side of the world, such as the minotaurs, from coming over and trying to claim anything. It was also during this period of time that we first discovered the Crystal Empire, after the aurora of the Crystal Heart was first seen in the sky emanating from the far north beyond even the Crystal Mountains, but for the longest time they refused to have any diplomatic contact whatsoever. We also, again, reclaimed our castle in the Everfree during this era of expansion."

Celestia nods, "That is, until Sombra came to power, in the eventual aftermath of which I was forced to use the Elements to banish Luna for a thousand years – though in my defense, the length of the banishment was not intentional, nor did I even mean to banish her at all. The thestrals did not believe me when I said as much, suffice it to say, and they withdrew from nearly all contact with Equestria only a few months after she was banished. Many refused to even acknowledge my existence after what had happened, much less my right to rule, both out of anger at what I had done as well as their own shame at having abandoned Luna when she needed them most. It was during this time, with the country in shambles and Luna gone, that I allowed the Everfree to once again reclaim that castle, instead constructing a new one here on the Canterhorn Mountain, beneath which Sombra is now imprisoned."

"And now that Luna is back," Twilight finishes, "the thestrals are returning as well."

"Well, somewhat returning," Luna corrects. "They have spent a thousand years largely separate from Equestria, and many still refuse to acknowledge Celestia as a princess in the now long held belief that trying to be loyal to both of us is what caused their ancestors to forsake me in my time of need. Progress is being made, of course, but… "

Celestia shrugs, "It is not really that important, in the grand scheme of things. We have gone through this situation before, and one of the great benefits of being as long lived as we are is that we can much more easily plan for things that will take decades or centuries to fully accomplish. But in any case, with that, then, we arrive at the present day. We did skip significant amounts of time between Equestria's expansion, the discovery of the Crystal Empire, and Sombra's first attack, but to be blunt nothing of any comparative importance happened during those periods – some wars, a lot of treaties and negotiations, et cetera, et cetera."

Twilight stretches on her pillow, taking a deep breath and smiling wearily, "Wow, that's… a lot. I'd never even thought… or imagined… well, most of it. Hmm… "

She glances from one royal sister to the other, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly, "How come so much of this also isn't in any history books I've read? Sombra I can understand, sort of, but I'd only heard bits and pieces of everything that happened before the windigos."

Celestia laughs, "I can assure you, Twilight, there was no such intent to rewrite history involved in this case. In fact, much of what we have told you here tonight along with many many more additional details was compiled and written into a book by Luna and I at one point. However, at that time, books were still a somewhat new invention – most writing that was done still being on scrolls – nor was the creation of books yet automated, nor were there anywhere near as many ponies who were literate then as there are now. So, in this case, the cause is simply that very few copies were ever made, all of which were eventually lost to time, theft, Nightmare Moon, and you."

Twilight stares blankly at Celestia, "M-Me?"

Celestia nods sagely, "Indeed. The final remaining copy that I was aware of was destroyed in that library fire you started when you were nine. And, given that this is the case, Luna and I will, of course, answer any questions you may have. After all, I may not have intended," she glares at Discord, "to drop all of this on you at this time, but it is still something you would have needed to know eventually, and some parts do directly affect you. For now though, you should rest. I am sure you'll find all of this to be much more manageable to think about once you have slept on it, and regardless, we do still need to write what amounts to a 'first contact' letter for the changeling queens tomorrow evening."

"O-Oh," Twilight stammers. "I-I… I guess… I'll do that, then. Um… good… morning? Or something?"

Standing awkwardly, she turns to the room's door, her gait stiff and mechanical as she disappears into the hallway, staring a thousand yards into the distance.

Luna looks to Celestia once the sound of hoofsteps fade to nothing, "Did Twilight Sparkle truly destroy the last of our tomes on Equestria's ancient history? We rather clearly recall having placed several protective spells on it."

Celestia sighs, "She did, unfortunately. Our spells did not age as well as I had expected, combined with her accidentally using fire shards as lighting crystals inside 'Fort Book: Volume 12'… well, you can imagine how that turned out."

Luna winces, "I see. Our apologies. We can only imagine how distraught she must have been, even without realizing she had destroyed something of such value."

"This is also something I had intended to ask you about, actually," Celestia says. "The thestrals have always taken great care to preserve anything which you personally had a hoof in, even more so while you were banished. Would, perhaps, the Ælün archives still have a copy? If so, it is long past time that we had more created."

Luna bobs her head once, "I will send an inquiry to see if one can be located."

"Thank you," Celestia replies, smiling knowingly. "Though, keep in mind that we have said we will answer all of her questions, and seeing as you've apparently managed to turn Twilight nocturnal in the just over a week since this all began… "

Luna's eyes widen and she leaps to her hooves, "We will send our missive at once!"

Celestia watches her sister gallop from the room, after another moment turning her attention to the draconequus quietly watching from above, "And don't you go giving her any more 'answers' in the mean time either."

"My lips are sealed," Discord replies, falling from the ceiling to land face first on a magically summoned seal plushie.