As I returned from visiting Griffin, my mind was swimming with questions. How could anyone do such terrible things? It was as Griffin himself said, when he was backed into a corner, everything he stood for, everything he prided himself on, disappeared. Eating someone to survive... well, he is omnivorous, and they might have been dead first. Making a bloody show of his enemies, everybody knew before now that he was violent and he was fighting for his life. Being especially gruesome, while disturbing and disrespectful of the dead, I suppose the fear could possibly prevent more casualties... I mean, maybe? I guess I could see his reasoning... I suppose... What got me was when he said he caused a small scale disaster that claimed innocents. I just couldn't see the purpose behind it. Surely there would have been a better option.

Given my new alicorn abilities it did not take long for me to return home to the library. A series of teleportations to locations I had memorized on the way there meant I arrived in short order and began searching through my home for the books he requested. Finding anatomical compendiums and biological encyclopedias was simple enough. Then I tried finding books on the crystal empire. If he'd asked for that a few years ago I'd have nothing. Given it's return, centuries of history were compiled into several books which I drew from the shelves. I also made him a library card and filled out the information on the requires information on the requesition form so he'd just have to sign it. And then I searched for books on alicorns.

And I found very little. Foal's books retelling the story of Nightmare Moon, and how Celestia raises the sun, and alicorns live forever, all common knowledge. Nothing specific or useful. So, I tried looking for books regarding specific alicorns. For Cadence and Luna, there was nothing. It's as if they didn't even exist according to the history books. Then I came to Celestia and what I found was not what I expected.

While I was searching for the nature of alicorns, what I found instead was an old history book regarding the fall of the Old Griffin Dominion. Specifically one passage held my attention.

Due to pressure from the various clans of Diamond Dogs, Igor Redwing, king of the Dominion at the time, turned his warriors towards Equestria, seeking to regain the resources they lost to their canine enemies from a different source. Thinking Equestria to be weak, they demanded a portion of land, interspersed throughout Equestria, though equal in total to one quarter of it's total landmass, as well as significant resources consisting of food, precious metals, gemstones, and timber. At the time, Equestria did not have the resources to meet their demands. After numerous attempts to diplomatically dissuade the aggression, Princess Celestia herself traveled to the palace of Igor Redwing where the Dominion hierarchy were lodged and defeated them, bringing an end to the 'Old Dominion' and securing peace for Equestria for centuries to come.

All of this I had read before. I knew about that particular event in history which gave rise to a great deal of animosity and suspicion towards griffin refugees who fled after the collapse of their empire. Many believed them to be spies or the beginnings of an army, and in many cases ponykind drove them away, despite them having nowhere to go. It was one of the darker times in Equestrian history, where the kindness and harmony we value so much was withheld simply because of racial differences, something that hadn't been an issue since before Equestria's formation, namely the hatred between the three tribes.

What struck me as odd was the statement 'Princess Celestia traveled to the palace and defeated the griffin hierarchy.' Defeated. So, that suggests she beat them in combat... and then what? It doesn't say what happened to them after. Where did they go? Were they banished? Were they imprisoned? Were they stripped of their titles and forced to live as common folk? What happened? I knew that the only way I could get answers was to go to the source itself. I know I'd been having difficulty adjusting to the fact that I was a princess as well, but I was one, and that meant I could ask my mentor these kinds of questions. So, I went to Canterlot to speak with Princess Celestia.

"Twilight. How nice of you to drop by? Should I put on a pot of tea?" The princess offered on my arrival.

"Actually Princess..."

"Please Twilight, just 'Celestia' now."

"Right... Celestia. Actually, I have a question."

"Very well, feel free to ask."

"What happened nine hundred years ago? Specifically with Igor Redwing and the Old Dominion."

"I see. Might I ask why the sudden curiosity?"

"I was reading through some history books and I discovered a significant lack of accuracy on the subject." I brought out the book in question and opened it to the bookmarked page. As her eyes glanced over the texts, for a moment they shrank to pinpricks before returning to their natural, soft gaze.

"I don't see any inaccuracy." Her reaction tells me differently. "Events occurred exactly as they're written here. The Dominion opened hostilities with Equestria so to prevent a war I defeated their leadership."

"Yes, but that's the part that's unclear. How? What happened to them after that? Where did they go? Who lead the Dominion after it's leaders were beaten?"

"I..." Princess Celestia let out a sigh. "I see. The reason the history book is lacking in those details is because I didn't tell the author. It's something I would rather not speak of."

"I did terrible things, for what seemed like a good reason at the time. I just couldn't think of any other options."
"Like... what?"
"I don't want to talk about it."

"That's an odd coincidence." I replied.

"What is?" The princess asked.

"Griffin said the same thing when I asked him about Ancientwell." As soon as I mentioned Griffin and Ancientwell, Celestia cringed and closed her eyes, looking to be in some kind of emotional pain. "Eventually he broke down and told me."

"What did he say?" She asked.

"That's something private between him and I. If he wants to tell you himself, then that's his decision." She was trying to diffuse the subject by moving it in a different direction. "I'm asking you now. What happened to Igor Redwing?"

Princess Celestia sighed before she began.

"Twilight, you have to understand. The Griffin Nobility at the time were warriors. They understood and respected strength. That's all. They wanted to attack Equestria because they thought we were weak. I had to prove we were strong. If it wasn't them, then sooner or later someone else would come along and attack for the same purpose. They wouldn't listen to reason. They could not be negotiated with." She didn't actually come out and say it, but given her attempts to defend her position it became obvious.

"You killed them."

"Luna had been banished to the moon, I didn't have the elements of harmony so I couldn't turn them to stone or send them away. And they were powerful in their own right. I didn't have any other options."

"I was starving and I couldn't find any other options. And then I caused a flood knowing full well that it'd kill people who weren't even involved, but I did it anyway because I was desperate, and then I made a bloody show of slaughtering my opposition to inspire fear. The things I did were not the actions of a feeling person. They were the actions of a tactician. A cold, heartless strategist. I caused so much pain that I'll never see because they hurt me."

"You... do realize that without their leadership, the griffins had no one to organize them and lost the war, becoming slaves? As of the last New Dominion census, there's eight thousand griffins, with an uncertain estimate of two-to-four thousand living in the wilds."

"I know this very well. Because of my actions, griffins are currently on the endangered species list, but I had to protect Equestria." Celestia shook her head, a single tear running down her cheek. "I'm sorry Twilight, I don't wish to speak of this any longer."

I felt sick. I looked at my mentor with a queasy feeling in my stomach. Is violence sometimes the only answer? Is there truly no other option? I became who I am today because I believe in the power of friendship and teamwork. Look at Discord? Even HE could be reformed... more or less. Griffin, I half expected this from, but Princess Celestia! My own mentor! It was a complete shock, and I was left feeling as though everything I knew about her was only skin deep. Was this why, when I first became a princess, she bowed and said she would be learning from me? Was that her way of privately admitting her own failures? What's more, she was willing to condemn an entire race to poverty and slavery in order to protect her own. I mean, it wasn't guaranteed that would happen, but it was the most likely scenario. What of Ancientwell? After Griffin was through with them, they'd be easy pickings for another clan, or a hungry dragon. Thankfully, Aoi got there first, but did Griffin know? I was left with even more questions, ones that I'd probably never find an answer to.

"Thank you for your time..." And then I left.

Finding no other entries regarding alicorns, I decided that as a unicorn who became one, I would have the most insight on such a topic.

Author's Notes:

Celestia has always had this... persona about her that makes her feel as though she's trying to be overly nice, like she's hiding something. The way ponies around her freak out, thinking they'll be imprisoned in the place their banished to, even ones who know her well, thinking they'll be sent back to magic kindergarten for a slight error, or spazzing out when they spill her tea. Everypony treats her like she's some merciless dictator, like Azura from Avatar: TLA when she became fire lord, just outright banishing people for not picking ALL the cherry pits out of her cherries, and that's considered 'merciful'. The thing is, nobody is THAT bad a judge of character. For people to react like that, there'd have to be a reason, like some subconscious feeling that knows the pristine princess is not as kind as she appears. Lets not forget the whole 'neglect my sister to the point that she gets possessed by dark magic'. That shit doesn't happen over a day or so. It takes like, years, or at least many months, of neglect to reach the breaking point, during which time Celestia did nothing about it until she actually turned into a problem. The whole thing could have been prevented by spending some time with her sister and trying to make her more well known.

Basically, for me, Celestia paints the picture of a benevolent ruler who wants the best for her people, but only because she's been doing it for a long time and has made a great many mistakes, often doing terrible and downright cruel things after a situation got out of hand due to her lack of foresight.

That's my head canon anyway.