I stepped off the train and looked at the city in front of me. It had been a while since I was in Canterlot. I had decided upon the trip soon after my discovery. I needed to see Celestia. She needed to know about this. And she needed to be the first to know. I hadn't spoken a word to anypony.

As I walked towards the castle, I felt a sharp pain in my head. These headaches would be the death of me if they didn't stop soon. Ever since that night I'd been having constant pain. I began to walk up the steps to the entrance, but was brought to a halt by two guards. "What business do you have here?" I looked between the two of them. "I'm here to see Princess Celestia. It's urgent. Just tell her Speedy's here." One of the guards walked away and I sat down to wait. It wasn't long before I was invited inside.

The throne room was empty. I guess Celestia was going to meet me here. I approached the throne and sat in front of it.

"Speedy?"

I turned to find myself face to face with...

"Luna. It's good to see you again."

The lunar princess stayed where she was. "What are you doing here?" I nodded to the throne. " I've come to see Celestia. Do you know where she is?" She shook her head. "I don't keep track of my sister. She's busy enough without a shadow following her." I nodded. Luna began to walk away. I stood up and trotted after her. "Luna. Wait." She paused at the end of the room and glanced at me. "I have other business to tend to just as you have your business with my sister. Two separate agendas." I stopped. "If you don't want to talk to me, then say so." She turned to me. "I must go." I ran in front of her.

Luna tried to step around  me, but I mirrored her movements. Her frustration showed. "Get out of my way." I shook my head. "Not until we talk." She shook her head in return. "No."  She spread her wings, jumped up, and flew out of the room.

"She needs time still."

I turned to find Celestia standing next to her throne. I sighed and walked towards her. "Alicorns have a different meaning when it comes to time. You probably mean she'll come to terms after I'm long gone." Celestia smiled. "I'm sure it will be sooner than you think. Now may I ask why you came to Canterlot?" I sat down in front of the throne. "Something has happened. Something...impossible." The concern began to show in her eyes. "What's happened Speedy?" I looked to the stand next to the throne. There was a quill and some parchment sitting on top. I nodded to the quill and a soft green aura illuminated it. It levitated into the air and in front of Celestia. She stared at the quill in awe, and then looked at me. "How?" I shook my head. "I don't know. I just don't know."

Celestia had me try a few simple spells. I did them all with a smal degree of success. She began to pace around the throne room. I walked alongside her. We didn't say anything. Eventually she walked out of the room and I followed her. I didn't ask where we were going. She led us out of the palace and towards a large building located just outside the courtyard wall. As we got closer I saw the words engraved on the front of the building. Equestrian Historical Records. We walked inside to a lobby.

There was a mare sitting behind a desk. She looked up as the door closed behind us. Her eyes widened as she stared at the princess. Celestia smiled. "Could you direct us to the genealogical records?" The mare jumped up and led us to a room off of the lobby. All that was in the room were shelves and shelves of scrolls. The shelves must have been over fifty feet high. Celestia thanked the mare and she began looking around the shelves.

I waited quietly as Celestia walked up and down the rows of shelves. After a while she returned with a scroll and laid it out on a table in the center of the room. She motioned for me to join her. "This is your family Speedy. All the way back to the early days of Equestria." I looked down at the scroll. Sure enough there were hundreds of names all connected. Celestia placed a hoof below my name. "We'll start from you and your parents. Did you know your mother was adopted?" I nodded. "Yeah. She never met her real parents though." Celestia sighed. "She couldn't even if she had wanted to." I looked up at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" Her horn glowed and another scroll appeared from the packed shelves. It landed on the table and unrolled. In large letters at the top of the scroll it read:

The Unicorn Family of Hoofguard

Celestia pointed to a spot on the scroll. I looked at the spot to find it blank. I looked to her for clarity. She sighed again. "I'm one of the few who knows your mother's origins. The Hoofguards are an old line of unicorns. Nearly as old as I am." I shook my head. "But my mother's not a unicorn." Celestia nodded. "Which is why her parents gave her up. The Hoofguards have been considered the finest unicorn family for many ages. When your mother was born, her parents were more concerned with keeping that line pure rather than their newborn daughter." I looked down at the blank spot again. "They gave her away and disowned her." Celestia put a hoof on my shoulder. "She learned the truth some time ago. When she found out, she vowed to never reveal her ancestry. I suppose that protective feeling for family is heretic. She never approached her parents and they've never done the same."

I stepped away from the table and began to pace. "This is intriguing and all, but what does it have to do with me?" Celestia seemed surprised. "Speedy, you come from a family of unicorns." I shook my head. "So?" She stood up and walked over to me. "I believe that you may be a unicorn too." I couldn't help but laugh. It was ridiculous! "Me? A unicorn? Right." Celestia closed her eyes and her horn lit up. I stood still and watched her. What was she doing? It only lasted a few moments and then her eyes were open again. "You have a reserve of magic within you. Not as much as a normal unicorn, but magic none the less." I stood frozen in place. How could it be possible? Celestia continued. "I think that your mother must have had a dormant reserve that passed onto you. Your dealings with the dragon and with Discord must have awoken it."

I sat down. Me? Magic? Then I remembered one thing. I glanced up. "What about a horn? I can't be a unicorn if I don't have a horn." Celesta nodded. "That occurred to me as well. Both of your parents are earth ponies, but again, your mother came from an old magical family. Somewhere in her is magic, but she's never known about it. You discovered your magic by accident, and now it's alive within you." I stared at the princess for a few seconds. "So you're saying that I'm a unicorn...without a horn?" She nodded. "That's the best way I can put it for now. It will take time to fully understand, but perhaps someday we'll know the whole story. For now though I would like to have you do something." I eyed her warily. "What?" She smiled. "I would like you to study some magic. It will help you control your power and may help us know what your capable of."

We returned to the palace and were headed towards the library. Luckily I wasn't going to magic kindergarten. I had heard Twilight freak out about going back there too many times. Instead Celestia had opted for a homeschooling route. All I needed were some books and I would be set.

We walked into the library and discovered Luna sitting at a desk with several books. She  stood up as we entered. "Ah. I'll leave you two alone." Celestia shook her head. "No need sister. We're just picking up some books before Speedy heads for home." Luna slowly sat down again and returned to her books. I waited while Celestia selected my curriculum. She set the books in a saddlebag and levitated them towards me. I glanced back at Luna. She didn't look up. Celestia paused, looking between me and her sister. I looked to her and she nodded. "I'll be right outside." She walked away and out of the library.

I stood for a moment not knowing what to say. I slowly approached Luna. She still didn't look up, but I knew her attention was on me and not her reading. I stopped at the table and cleared my throat. "It's been a while. I haven't seen you since..." I couldn't bring myself to mention it. "How...how have you been?" No response. "Luna?" Nothing. I sighed. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. I began to walk away.

No...

I turned back to her. "You think that we can just ignore each other forever? We have to talk!" She didn't move. That was it. I stormed over to the table and grabbed the book she was reading. Her eyes met mine.

"GIVE THAT BACK!"

I hadn't been prepared for the Canterlot voice. I fell backwards, but I refused to be intimidated. "Not until we talk!"

"THERE IS NOTHING TO SAY!! NOW LEAVE ME!!!"

I stood up. "Feel better? Does yelling help? Or perhaps you would prefer landing a hoof or two to my head?" She glared at me. "Don't tempt me." Okay....now I was getting worried. She was whispering now. I hope she didn't actually take my suggestion to heart. I did my best to stay calm. "Luna, we have to get this sorted out. Something happened between us and I intend to fix it." She turned away from me. I walked around until I was in front of her again. "Neither one of us was ourself. We both were giving into our darker halves. It's not anypony's fault." She didn't meet my gaze. I sighed and sat down. "You're one of the only ponies that really understands what I've been through. For that I count you as a close friend."

"You were my friend too."

It was barely audible. I watched as her head tilted up and her eyes met mine. I stared back at her.  "Then why the cold shoulder?" I saw a single tear roll down her cheek. She closed her eyes. "I didn't want to believe that my feelings were brought on by the Nightmare. Or yours by Discord. When you left, I still thought that. You were able to go home to friends and a mare who loves you. Me....I had nopony. I felt betrayed. It's taken me all this time to come to terms with the fact that we were both not acting of our own accord." I reached out and wiped her tear away. She opened her eyes and I smiled. "Luna, I will always count you as a close friend no matter what. I want us to be able to talk. I want to able to walk into the same room as you without an awkward silence following me." She smiled at that last comment.

I stepped forward and gave her a hug. She didn't respond at first, but I felt her arms slowly raise and return the embrace. I pulled away and saw more tears coming to her eyes. She turned away and rubbed her eyes. "This is most unbecoming of a princess. Crying in front of a pony." I began to walk towards the door.

"Speedy?"

I looked over my shoulder. Luna was smiling. "I'm sorry." I shook my head. "There's nothing to be sorry for." With that I left the library. Celestia was sitting outside the door. I looked at her and she smiled. "You are a remarkable stallion Speedy. You have a special magic that few possess. The power to heal a heart." I smiled. "Thank you." She smiled back."no. Thank you."

I stood on the platform as the train was preparing for departure. I had my saddlebag on and was ready to go. Celestia had said she needed to go take care of something and had sent word ahead to Twilight of my arrival. She had decided that Twilight would be my teacher. "I can think of no pony better for the task."

I stepped onto the train and sat down for the journey home. Celestia and I had both agreed that the only ponies that need know about the whole affair should be my friends. Equestria didn't need to know about a hornless unicorn just yet. I leaned back in my seat and let out a sigh. My life had just gotten a whole lot more complicated and yet....I was excited for the challenge. Next Chapter: It All Starts And Ends With Magic Estimated time remaining: 15 Minutes