To say that Celestia’s gaze was fixed on the doors would be an understatement. The closest one could get to explain it would be to say the princess had suddenly formed an extremely advanced interest for the stone passageway that marked the entrance to the room. Her eyes seemed to be afraid to blink, as if that inconceivably small flicker of darkness would cause her to miss the moment she was waiting for.

She wasn’t awaiting the pony who was to arrive in a few moments as much as she was waiting for the answers he would bring with him. For though the curiosity that surrounded the stallion was intriguing to say the least, the solar princess was far more worried for those he had ties to. Her sister, primarily, but also the various ponies he had come to be friends with throughout the town.

Shining Armor, Cadence, Vinyl Scratch, Moon Light, and many others, each and every one of them as unaware of the stallion’s secrets as the princess herself. Someone who kept themselves so far away from their friends could seldom be trusted, and ones who didn’t want to acknowledge their pasts at all, even more so. After the events of the day prior, Celestia had been informed of just how far the depths of his secrets went, and now endeavored to keep an eye on their bearer.

The only problem was that Celestia had no idea as to the location of Hendrick. When she had searched the housing records of the past month, she found no evidence of the stallion ever buying a house. When she had asked Luna about it, the response was that Hendrick probably wouldn’t like the location of his house shared with ponies and left it at that, an almost unnoticeable touch of pity in her voice. As an alternative, the elder sister had asked if Luna herself could deliver the message, to which she had happily accepted.

She had taken the request seriously and had done her work immediately when she found herself free, returning to inform Celestia he would be visiting her that afternoon. The suddenness of that had taken the princess by surprise. After managing her schedule for the day to allow room for the visit, the princess had gone about the events she had planned. Talks with her advisors, updates on the state of Equestria, and a quick visit with her doctor to ensure her physical aptitude hadn’t suffered a decline were among the events she had seen to before she returning to the throne room and awaiting the arrival of Hendrick.

It all lead to this moment, this tense moment where the princess waited for the doors to open and the mysterious stallion to enter. She doubted getting the answers from him would be easy, especially after all the trouble he had gone through to hide them from the ponies he obviously cared for, but she still awaited it eagerly. There was little in the world stronger than the sisters’ lust for truth, as it was the one thing they could lean upon when the very cornerstones of the world seemed to shudder. The one thing that had lived as long as they.

Yet, Celestia reminded herself, she owed him. Since his arrival, he had managed to engage her sister in the political world once again, bringing her closer to her subjects as a result. Then, he had proceeded to reform one of the greatest news reporters into a new pony, one who cared much more about her work. Then, just to finish up, he had managed to save her student from the brink of death.

The proof as to the last claim was still missing, but the fact that she had suddenly started to recover upon his entry into the room was obviously far more than a coincidence. So she owed him, for helping her sister, for helping save Twilight, and for no selfish reason she could tell. So she would respect his decision to visit, in good will, and she would respect his privacy should he choose to assert it.

With that decision made, the princess’s body calmed and her mind moved into less important musings to keep her time, until, at last, the door opened after a lifetime of silence. Her attention was back on the door immediately, all peace and relaxation she had let seep into her cast out in a moment of excitation. So it was with some disappointment when she discovered it was merely the delivery mare, arriving with a package.

The mare placed the package on the ground in front of her, sweeping into a bow in one swift motion. A smile graced the princess’s face as she looked at the grey pegasus, then she started the talk that they shared each time she delivered to her. “Hello, Ms. Turner. Thank you for delivering my mail to me today.”

“It was no problem, Your Highness,” the mare responded, standing from her bow. “If you could just sign this paper to confirm that I delivered it, please.”

“Of course.” Celestia levitated the indicated sheet and a pen with which to sign it. The scratching of pen on paper filled the air, alone, for a moment, before the alicorn’s voice joined in. “And how is your family doing? Well, I hope,” she asked with genuine care. It was painful everytime someone that she knew died, but time had dulled the pain.

“Oh yes, Timey is doing just fine and my daughters are being their usual wonderful selves. Thank you for asking.” The paper was finished and passed back to the pegasus. “Well, I have a few more deliveries for today. If you’ll excuse me.” She executed a much shorter bow and then, she was off, flying out the door and heading for the exit.

With her gone, the princess closed the doors and glanced toward the package, debating whether to open it or hold her vigil on the unmoving entranceway. It held her attention for a moment longer before she lifted it from its prone position with her magic and turned it over and over to look at it.

The basic brown paper that had common usage in the postage system covered the parcel, strings wrapped around the sides of the box-like shape to allow easy lifting by earth ponies and pegasi. Under one of the cross-sections was a small note held in place by the taut strings, having been on the opposite side of where the package had been lifted at. After removing the small paper from its bindings, Celestia set the package on the arm of her chair, wanting to avoid damaging whatever may be underneath the wrappings while she took a few moments to look at the white sheet that now levitated in front of her.

‘I realize you wanted to hear the answers straight from my lips, Celestia, but I am not one for answering things face to face, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Within this wrapping is my autobiography. I began writing it shortly after I discovered my cutie mark. It was such a marvelous place compared to where I came from that I couldn’t help but write down my experiences.

‘It doesn’t delve into my past prior to coming to Canterlot, as I don’t pride myself on a multitude of choices I made before arriving here. And while I do wish that I could just reveal everything to you here and now about what I did, I know that not only would you not believe me, not matter how much you wanted to, but you would probably think me insane.

‘The reason I know you wouldn’t understand is simple: the very thing that makes this world so wonderful and great would also prevent you from understanding the reasons I had for my actions. I just don’t think you could understand the level of hate and rage that had consumed my home and led me to do the things that I did.

'So, even though you won’t receive any answers to my mysterious past in this book, I hope that any questions you have concerning my actions upon my arrival in this city will be explained.

'-Hendrick.’

The alicorn nodded to herself. She always figured it may have been a possibility, given how anti-social he had been around her. She just hoped he was doing okay with all the pressure. Having both rulers of a country seeking you out couldn’t be good for a pony’s nerves. And it didn’t seem like Hendrick had many nerves left, given his jittery self. A small nagging feeling of guilt built in Celestia’s gut for a moment; no matter what he had been before, he was a pony now, one of her ponies. She had to remember that as she continued interacting with the odd stallion.

Now knowing the package was from the pony she had asked to talk to, and knowing that he was no longer going to show up in person, Celestia carefully opened the package to reveal a small tome within. The title of the book, Redemption, was in simple block lettering and black ink, and the binding was extremely basic. Levitating a pair of enchanted glasses from a nearby table onto her muzzle, the princess opened the book to the first page. After all, there’s no time like the present.

“...I was a coward; I couldn’t bring myself to tell him my firsthoof account...”

Flip.

“...I only wanted to save her...”

Flip. Flip.

“... Please, don’t make me a hero...”

Flip.

“...Sometimes, my mouth motors off without my brain...”

No, no, no. Where was it? Luna flipped hurriedly through the chapters of the book in front of her. Her eyes reading small passages as quickly as she could, trying to find a specific line he had written. She had found something before and now she couldn’t even find the chapter it had been in.

“... So I tried to cover it up, with more words...”

“... Cutie Mark ...”

She was getting closer, but it still seemed to be evading her. She couldn’t remember exactly what he had said, merely that it referred to his past. Wait, there it was. The pages stopped their flipping and the princess’s gaze locked on the words in front of her.

“... Sometimes, I miss what my home used to be ...”

With a sigh, the princess closed the book. She had been hoping for something a bit more detailed. That was the only hint the tricky stallion had placed in the whole book with any amount of information regarding his past.

But why? Why had the stallion gone through such pains to ensure his past never met the light of day. What did he have to hide? With another sigh, she fell onto her bed, her head turning to the side as it collided with the soft bounce of the mattress. The note that had come with the book rested only a short distance away, teasing her with its surprisingly short message.

‘No matter what happens, Luna, I just want you to know... I’m sorry.’

He was doing it again! Like it was his job to be unnecessarily cryptic. What was he sorry for? What was he afraid was going to happen? Why couldn’t he just tell her? Exasperated, the lunar princess moved the book to settle next to the note. Fretting over something wasn’t going to help her, and Hendrick hadn’t been ‘home’ when she went to ask him about it.

So she went back to bed, deciding on some sleep before she had to raise the moon. Nothing would get accomplished that night if she wasn’t in a rested state, and she still needed to prove she could handle the new responsibilities her sister had given her. So, with some degree of regret at the idea that she was giving up, the princess let her mind drop into the waters of a dream-like state, devoid of the puzzles and riddles that had started to increase in occurrence in her waking life. “Just a few hours and I’ll be fine,” she said, yawning for a moment before she settled.

Little did she know the events of the next day; she might have slept longer just to try and avoid them.