The castle was truly a piece of art, there was no debating that fact. However, if everything Twilight had seen thus far was part of an art gallery, she'd just found the piece de la resistance. Rather than the standard walls defining this room, they appeared to be replaced by space itself. She hesitantly took a small step inside, the light from the miniature stars illuminating the room. Fully inside, the door closed, thrusting her further into darkness.

Twilight took note that the various constellations and celestial bodies were accurately portrayed, all centered in the middle of the room where an unblemished grey orb hung, Luna aside it. Twilight recalled all of her star charts from memory and began to walk around, picking an area and closely observing it. "This is... amazing doesn't even begin to touch it, Luna..." She breathlessly spoke, eyes tracing another section of space from memory. Her nose bumped against a hard surface, abruptly halting her.

Luna let out a small giggle as Twilight collided with the wall, the sound creating an odd echo that seemed to amplify on each rebound. "Yes, this is my masterpiece. It took me a hundred years to create the spells for just this chamber. It is an accurate snapshot of space, always current. For example, there will be a shooting star," She pointed a hoof towards a distant point in the room, "there, in three, two, one. Now." A small white streak began moving, rapidly picking up speed as Twilight struggled to follow it.

Walking over to Luna, Twilight closely examined the sun, moon, and planet. "Why is the moon so large? I was always under the impression that Equus is larger than it." Twilight asked, noticing that the large orb dominated the room, while the planet and sun were mere fractions of its size.

"When seen from the Moon, of course, everything else would be much smaller." Luna replied, a smug grin on her face as walked to where Equus was portrayed. "Now, I would love to spend the night simply exploring the night sky, however..." Equus shifted to the center of the room, everything shrinking as the planet expanded to dominate the room. "This is what I want to show you to start my story."

Twilight walked around the planet as it finished expanding, taking in the details. "Oh, look! Is this Canterlot?" she cheerily asked, pointing a hoof towards a lone mountain peak that had a glimmer of light reflecting on its side.

"Yes, it is. We see it as such a large place when on the ground, however, from here, it is simply a speck. Even Equestria is a rather small place." She traced an outline of the country, taking only a small portion of the globe's surface. Moving her hoof around, she began to point out some of the other kingdoms. "The Gryphonius Empire. The Zerbrican Plains. The Dragon Valley. All large countries, with numerous subjects, yet they still pale in comparison to the rest of the world."

The image slowly rotated, coming to a half turn before stopping. "What is that?!" Twilight breathlessly asked, the image in front of her defying all logic. The center of the area which held her attention captive was a lake, iridescent in color. Radiating outwards from the body of water was a hodgepodge of numerous terrains. Twilight could discern no logical pattern to it. Valleys filled with snow gave way to mountains made of sand which bordered with lush jungles on floating islands. Everything that she saw defied everything she had grown up knowing. Not only does it defy everything, the sheer size of it... It makes Equestria look like a speck!"

"This," Luna began, her tone dark, adding to the ominous vibes that Twilight felt "is the result of events that led to a promise. One that I intend to break sometime in the future... for you."

Twilight gasped loudly but wasn't given a chance to speak her mind before Luna continued. "I am telling you this now so that such an event can be avoided in the future, My Star... This was an unintended consequence, stemming from a single event that occurred nearly three hundred years prior to this destruction." She paused briefly, letting the planet shrink in size, the moon zooming back to take its rightful place in the center of the room. "It all began a long time ago, with a young filly..."

The flawless orb became hazy, colors flooding across the surface, revealing a courtyard of a castle. Within it, two fillies pranced about, playing games that only young fillies could. "Luna, is that... you?" Twilight asked, looking at the first filly. She was dark blue, her mane nearly the same shade as her coat. Her flank was blank, and her aquamarine eyes were locked on those belonging to the second pony, a young earth pony. She was similarly without a cutie mark, with a coat so white Twilight had to squint to look at her. Her pale pink hair added a sharp contrast to her color. The two foals took off running about once more.

"Indeed, that is me, as a child, all those years ago. I had a best friend growing up, the daughter of an earth pony and unicorn union. She would come and visit me every weekend without fail. It was my motivation to listen to my tutors during the week." Luna paused and chuckled softly. "We enjoyed each other's company immensely, and my parents were overjoyed that I did not suffer the disconnect of 'noble and commoner' that occurred with other family members."

Twilight sat patiently, listening and watching the orb as it continued to show the two fillies playing with each other. "Sadly though, it came to an abrupt stop at the end of one of her visits..." The image shattered, the various pieces falling to the bottom of the moon, to be replaced with a dark pathway, the young earth pony accompanied by her parents. Four stallions, all unicorns, stepped out and surrounded the three ponies. "During this time, the tribes were still divided, and tensions constantly ran high. While they were technically all under the purview of my parents... situations still occurred..."

"No..." Twilight muttered under her breath, coming to the only logical explanation. The four unicorns caught the trio off-guard, magically immobilizing their victims.

"Sadly, it is true..." The scene paused, and Luna stroked the image of the young filly’s cheek. "I will spare you watching the next part, but you must know." She let her hoof drop back to the ground. "Hate crimes. These four were supremacists, of the belief that all other races should bow down to the beck and call of unicorns, and unicorns alone. Sadly, they viewed unicorns that married outside their species as the worst ponies in their sick, twisted views."

Luna paused, collecting herself, as Twilight moved to her side and nuzzled her neck. "I... have an idea of what happens next, Luna... Sometimes, when I ran out of reading materials, I would get ahold of some history texts. I managed to find one that detailed some of the issues that arose from the separation of the tribes, at least until Celestia found me reading it and took the book from me. I'm guessing... all three were killed?" Twilight eked out, her voice a near whisper at the end.

Luna leaned into Twilight's caress and let out a small sigh. "Not quite, although at the time what they did was possibly worse as far as everypony was concerned. Tell me, Twilight... what do you know of magical anchors?"

Twilight looked at Luna and gulped, taking a moment to collect herself before she said anything. "Everypony has a 'anchor point,' where their magic pools and is most concentrated. Unicorns typically have theirs centered at the base of their horns, Pegasi in their wings, and Earth Ponies in their hooves. While it can vary between individuals, it is fairly consistent. The anchors help regulate the magic within the body, aiding in keeping the pony healthy and able to reach their magic."

"Hmm, yes. I suppose Tia would've left out that bit of information in my absence... She always was of the mindset that some things didn't need to be made public for the 'better good'." Luna muttered to herself, then gently shook her head. "It is possible to attack a pony through their anchors. Thankfully, that black art has been lost in the sands of time, though even then it was rarely practiced. By doing so, however, the inner magic of a pony bleeds, and most of the time whatever magic is bled is unable to be recovered through any means. This almost always guaranteed that the victim would either be crippled for life or die."

Luna felt Twilight shivering into her side, and she draped a wing over Twilight. "By the time a guard patrol stumbled upon them, it was too late for her parents. The perpetrators had bled their magic out and had started on the filly. The patrol slew all four on the spot, and a unicorn guard attempted to stabilize her before a pegasus winged her back to the castle. They had only been gone for ten minutes before being attacked...

"The ruckus caused by her arrival got my attention, and I was devastated when my parents told me what had happened.” A few tears fell from Luna’s eyes, splattering on Twilight’s head. “My friend lay, mere inches from death, physically beaten, nearly bled of all her magic, and in a coma. I did the only thing I could... I begged my parents to 'make it right'."

Luna paused in her oration, still crying, to take comfort in the warmth at her side. "My parents did what any good ones would do... They did whatever it took to keep me happy. While I sat at her side in the infirmary as she clung to the last vestiges of life, they tirelessly researched, spending nearly every waking moment desperate to find a solution. I actually have a love of all medical knowledge, and I did the best I could to assist them when I wasn't by her side. Within a week, they had managed to find a possible solution, although the risk was high.

"The next morning, we all visited her once more, my parents with the spell in hoof. They had devised a method to draw from the latent magic in the air and force it to help regrow the lost magic within her. They both charged the spell in tandem, and we all prayed that it would work."

The image showed a bright light surrounding the filly in a bed, and it grew brighter. It became painful to look at before pulsing once and spluttering out. The three ponies surrounding the filly all looked on in awe at the now-healthy pony. Her coat was unblemished once more, her eyes full of color and life. Her pink mane was long and lustrous once more. The spell hadn’t stopped there, however. Now, a long pearl horn parted her bangs, and a pair of small, underdeveloped wings lay at her side.

"The spell worked. It also had an unintended side effect. It drew magic from the air, however the casters had all three anchors. The spell latched onto this, and made a similar copy. My friend, who had laid near death just moments before, was now an alicorn, like myself." Luna paused, taking in a deep breath. "Her name was Celes."

Twilight simply laid there, nestled into Luna's side as the gears within her head turned furiously. How has nopony heard of this... A spell that infuses the different pony magics to... ascend...? transform...? a pony into an alicorn. And her friend, Celes, why hasn't anypony ever heard of her? Twilight's jaw dropped as her eyes shot open. No, that's... impossible, right? Celes is- "Celestia?!"

Luna chuckled. "Yes, my dear 'sister' is actually adopted, as she was left orphaned and without anypony else to take her in... I'm fairly certain my parents enjoyed the chance to raise another foal, as alicorn fertility rates were rather low then. It brought them double the joy, all at once." Her tears dried up, and she smiled warmly at Twilight.

"I wonder why she never mentions that at all... Growing up under her, I thought that I got to know her pretty well." Twilight mused to herself, catching Luna's gaze with one of her own. "So, how did this lead to that blight on the planet? It sounds like everything worked out for the better."

Luna tittered, the melodic sound bouncing around the room. "To answer your first question, she most likely suppressed the memories so deep that nothing could bring them back to the surface. She is pretty good with memory magic too... Anyways, for a while, things were indeed good. Celestia and I grew up together as sisters, growing even closer than before. One twilight, we got our cutie marks at the same time as we connected with our celestial bodies, moving them for the first time.

"We grew up under our parent's ever-watchful eyes, learning the ins and outs of how to properly rule a country, while also remaining connected with the subjects. Our parents emphasized that last part constantly. About a hundred years after Tia's ascent, rumors started to come out of the darker corners of the kingdom, however. There were whispers in the dark of a way to 'ascend' beyond the normal limitations of ponykind and join the 'elite' ranks of the alicorns."

Twilight looked on wide-eyed as Luna narrated the next segment of history, taking mental notes and doing her best to remember every word. "Were other ways actually discovered? I haven’t heard of any."

Luna shuddered, once more looking Twilight in the eyes. "Some approaches were taken, however none proved successful. Once the rumors became action, my parents became concerned. Outright denial of such a thing did nothing to stop the madness that gripped some of the more... eccentric individuals, who quickly threw all morals to the wind. It eventually came to a head. In a six month period, there were two major incidents, both related to pursuit of 'ascension’.

"The first was an earth pony, unhappy with his 'limitations' compared to the other two races. He killed seven ponies, unicorn and pegasus, and drained their magic, attempting to forcibly inject it into himself. He went mad and killed himself before he was apprehended. The second incident was even worse. Our uncle loved to travel to the different tribes in an attempt to keep goodwill between them all. He was lured out by a family of unicorns on the edge of the country and given a strong poison. Although alicorns are extremely hard to kill, it can still happen. While he was paralyzed, they removed his horn and wings in an attempt to graft the parts onto one of their own."

Twilight pushed away from Luna, turning her head away and threw up her dinner. Luna rubbed Twilight’s back. After she finished retching, she turned towards Luna and asked weakly, "What would make a pony do something so... terrible?"

"Sadly, when rumors fly around for long enough and you have ponies who aren't happy with their lot in life, they try desperate things in a vain hope that the rumors are true. what happened to our uncle made our parents take what was going on seriously. They focused all of their attention on the tribes, forcing them to come together or be banished from the country. Plus, in an effort to prevent ponies from continuing their experiments, they let the truth come out. They announced that there was indeed a spell, but it was only castable by an alicorn. It was supposed to stop all the violence...

"The tribes slowly came together. The promise our parents made helped... persuade even the most hesitant ponies. However, when it was called for my parents to share the spell and transform others, they declined, stating that no matter what, there existed no viable method that would satisfy everyone and not disrupt the balance of power in the world. The notes for the spell were locked up deep within the castle, alongside other dangerous artifacts."

Luna fell silent, conjuring up some glasses of water, the two of them drinking while Twilight took another chance to look around the room. "This room the spell is locked in, does it still exist? And if so” — she looked around furtively, like she was afraid of what she was about to say — “are there any books in there that I might be able to get my hooves on?"

Luna set her glass down. "While I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of such a room, if one did exist, you wouldn't be allowed to see anything contained within without permission from Tia as well." Moving the glasses to the side, she continued. "Things were mostly fine, for a time. When all three tribes finally began to cooperate, we entered a golden age, and the spell was forgotten for some time.

"About a hundred years later, somepony managed to sneak into the castle and copy the notes behind the spell. They only managed to copy a fragment, but the damage was done. Even with my parents, Celestia and myself keeping an eye out, the spell was finished, although nowhere near as potent as the one they had cast on Celestia all those years ago. My parents were undecided as to what course of action to take at first, but my father's hoof was forced a few months later..."

Luna began crying once more, and the moon darkened with her concentration shattered. Twilight moved closer into her side. At a loss for words, she simply hugged Luna and waited for her to resume the story.

"I'm sorry, Twilight... It has been a long time since I last talked about this, and sadly being nigh immortal means our memories remain as fresh as ever..." Luna muttered, her face buried in Twilight's mane.

"Our mother was kidnapped one eve, while we were all away. When father showed up, she had already been killed. Father's attunement was with nature, so what he did next was unique. He sent Tia and me to the castle, his last words were ‘I love you both dearly. Go now. You will be fine, my daughters.’ Through his connection with nature, he summoned every 'false alicorn,' as they were called, as well as the others, for a confrontation.

"It is unclear as to what happened next. Celestia and I were huddled in the castle with some of the staff, wondering what was going on. We knew our father's words sounded like a goodbye, but we held out hope that he would return." Luna sighed, a frown etched on her face. "However, we felt a massive blast wave of magic, so much of it that the air itself was discolored. When my sister and I came to, we were greeted with a most unsightly creature... Discord."

Author's Notes:

Author’s Notes - And here we have some... world building. Quite a bit of it crammed into such few words. I thank you all for your patience, I was suddenly struck with an idea that needed to be started right then and there as I was writing the previous chapter, it could very well be what pulled me out of my funk. Work on the next chapter shall begin soon, and the mood will be swinging back to a much lighter tone. The ‘darker’ stuff is now behind us.

And, as always, a hearty thanks to the following people! q97randomguy, as always, for being an awesome editor. Cvbrony gets a shoutout this chapter, as he helped me refine and tweak quite a few ideas for the history / lore I wanted to include, mostly cleaning up skeleton concepts.

Shameless plug for my new story! Following In A Knight's Steps is an HiE story centered on combining aspects of King Arthurian lore, and then mingling it with the past of Equestria. Throw in a present day human, and voila! Story idea! First chapter is up, expect another two within the next day or two as well, they’re currently being edited. Pst... Contains TwiLuna too!

Editor’s Notes - And here we have world building! I think you might remember how much I like that, no?

On to fun with Discord.