//------------------------------//
// Hidden Truths 
// Story: True Love Never Dies (Cancelled) 
// by ocalhoun 
//------------------------------//

“Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight curled up tighter. The wound in her soul screamed at her.
“Twilight Sparkle, can you hear me?”
She could feel something powerful piercing through her barrier. That feeling was all too familiar now.
A hoof nudged her chin up, and she found herself staring into a familiar midnight blue face. “Twilight Sparkle, what happened? Are you injured?”
Twilight slowly rose to a seated position, staring at Princess Luna the whole time. She remained silent. No words came.
“Good, so you are unharmed.”
Twilight didn't feel unharmed.
“Where is my sister? She still has not been found. Where did you last see her?”
The breath left Twilight's lungs, and she collapsed back down to the floor of her barrier spell. She covered her face with her hooves.
“Twilight?”
Twilight looked up at Luna. Her eyes burned, but no tears came. She had none left. “She...” Twilight dropped her head back onto her hooves. She couldn't say it.
“Oh.” Luna collapsed in front of her. “I see. So the rumors are true.” She exhaled and stared down at the ground, a grimace growing on her face. “I should have been there for her.”
“Luna.” Twilight glanced up at the stricken alicorn in front of her. “Luna, I'm so sorry. I just couldn't–”
“Don't.” Princess Luna stood up, staring straight ahead with a face of stone. “Don't apologize, Twilight Sparkle. I have heard the rumors of what happened, and it was not your fault.”	
Twilight looked away, glancing down and to the side. “That's not the only thing, though. At the theater, I–”
“Twilight Sparkle, I have been searching for you and my sister for ten hours now, asking every pony I saw about you.” Luna laid a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. “I heard about that as well.”
“Ten hours? That can't be right, it was just a couple of min–”
“Canterlot Mountain erupted twelve hours ago, Twilight.”
“But I was just–” How long had she been curled up inside her barrier spell? It hadn't felt like hours. Twilight sighed.
“Yes, twelve hours.” Luna's head drooped, but she picked it up again, staring directly at Twilight. “Now, we must go. Our ponies need us, now more than ever.” Luna turned and stepped towards the barrier.
“I can't!”
Luna stopped.
“Luna, how can I be a princess with ponies' blood on my hooves? I can't do this!”
“Blood on your hooves? You do realize who you are talking to, right?” Luna turned her head towards Twilight. “You did what you had to do, Twilight Sparkle. Just as my sister did what she had to do.” She turned her head away, and her body visibly sagged. “We all have choices we regret, myself more than most, and you are not the only princess here with innocent blood on her hooves. But our ponies need us. Now we must do what we need to do. We must rebuild, and we must give comfort to this city. And...” Luna visibly braced herself. “And I must raise the sun.”
Luna was right, of course. There was no time for wallowing in grief – ponies needed help, and her duty was to the ponies of Equestria. Twilight stood up, groaning from the complaints of cramped muscles.
“Are you ready to come out?”
Twilight canceled her spell, letting her barrier fall. 
She stood in the shallow, round depression caused by her barrier spell hitting the ground. One of the grand plazas of Canterlot's air harbor district surrounded her. She had been here before, many times. Normally, this place would be blazing with light and activity, even at this time of night. Not tonight. This night, the exotic market stalls all stood empty, covered in gray ash. The streetlights faltered, only two or three of them retaining a weak remnant of their magical light. A few smoldering glows from the skyline hinted at fires still burning.
“Come, Twilight Sparkle, we have much to do... and much to discuss.” Luna's voice broke the unnatural silence of the night. 
“What about my friends? Are they okay?”
Luna smiled. “Yes. They have been assisting me in my search.” She began walking East, towards the palace.
Twilight's heart lifted a little, and she followed Luna, wading through the soft volcanic dust as soon as she left the protection of her circle. “Much to discuss? Are you talking about–”
A hard crack against Twilight's hoof stopped her in her tracks. She jumped back, holding her hoof, and biting back a cry. She used her magic to dig out the offending object, ready to hurl it aside, out of the path.
Celestia's face, etched in stone, stared back at her. Of course. There was a statue of Celestia in this plaza. Twilight glanced around, finding a lump in the grey snow nearby. Or, at least there used to be.
She stared into those stone eyes. If only she had a little more time with her. If only she could have gone with her to fight the volcano. If only she hadn't–
“Twilight?”
Twilight jumped back, dropping the broken statue's head back into the dust. It vanished with a soft puff.
“Twilight, are you coming? There is no time to waste.”
“Oh, yeah. Of course.” Twilight rushed to catch up with Princess Luna. Once she did, though, she glanced back at the hole in the ash where the stone head had dropped.
“I know this loss is hard for you, Twilight Sparkle. Celestia meant much to you – you were very close. She meant much to me as well.”
Twilight shook her head, coming up alongside Luna. “You don't know the half of it.”
Luna's eyebrow rose. “Oh?”
“Well, earlier today...” Twilight stopped for a moment. Should she tell anypony about that? It was private, but Luna, at least, should know. “Earlier today, she kissed me... uh, well, we kissed.”
“I see. So my sister finally told you?”
“I told her, actually.”
“Good.” A smile blossomed on Luna's face, but it quickly faded. “I am sorry for you, Twilight. Your loss comes ill-timed.”
Twilight walked along in silence for a moment longer. She sighed. “Tell me about it. Just when I finally find what I've always wanted, it gets taken away forever.”
The two of them stepped onto the long, curving stair that would lead to the entrance to Canterlot Castle. Only a few ponies walked by, all of them very quiet, all of them unwilling to make eye contact.
“Perhaps not forever.”
Twilight gave a low growl. “Ugh. Are you going to tell me I'll see her again in the Holy Pastures of the Invisible Pink Unicorn?” She stared Luna down out of the corner of her eye. “You know I'm a rational pony. I don't believe in that stuff.”
“Nor do I, Twilight, but that is not what I am speaking of.”
“Huh? Then what are you talking about?”
“As I said, we have much to discuss, and since I am now the oldest of the alicorns, it is my duty to explain.”
Twilight shook her head again. “I know how much you like to be mysterious, Luna, but really, what in pony's name are you talking about?”
Luna chuckled. The sound vanished without a trace in the dusty air. “How old are you, Twilight Sparkle?”
“Huh?” What kind of question was that? “I'm twenty-two.”
“Two thousand seven hundred and three, actually. The same age as all of us.”
“No.” Twilight couldn't help letting a patronizing tone slip into her voice. “I have my birth certificate and everything, and I've seen my baby pictures. I was born twenty-two years ago.”
“That was your most recent birth, yes.” Luna gave one of her famously mysterious smiles. “But your first birth was nearly three thousand years ago.”
Twilight still wasn't buying it. She stomped a hoof down, halting her progress up the stairs. “What?”
“Twilight, all alicorns are truly immortal, though sometimes it may not seem that way. We live indefinitely, but we can be killed. If one of us is killed though, we will be reincarnated, born again in a different body, an ordinary pony body without our memories. The horn, the wings, and the memories will come back when the young alicorn reaches his or her full potential. Even then, it usually takes decades, unless another alicorn acts as a catalyst.”
“But then, why don't I remember anything?”
Luna turned around, towering over Twilight on the higher steps. She hung her head low. “I never fully agreed with this, but when my sister accelerated your growth, she unlocked only your physical attributes, leaving your memories untouched.”
“What?” Twilight closed the distance between them, rushing up to Luna. “Why would she do that?”
“The previous alicorn of friendship, Dusk Shine, was Celestia's lover. My sister longed for the day she could get him back, but she dared not to coerce you into it. She felt that for the love to be real, you must choose it for yourself. This is why you were never told of your heritage, and it is why your memories were left untouched.”
“Well, that's... um...” A crack appeared in Twilight's vision of the flawless sun princess.
“Even without being unlocked, though, the memories would come back with time. They usually take the form of dreams.” Luna turned and resumed walking up the dusty stairs.
Twilight ran after her. “So, wait. Those dreams – they weren't from me at all?”
“Yes and no, Twilight Sparkle. They were from you, but from a different you than you are accustomed to.”
Catching up with Luna, Twilight gave the alicorn an askance look. “Do you have to keep the 'dark and mysterious' thing going all the time?”
Luna just smiled slightly in return.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “And you seriously expect me to believe all this?”
“As I said, we have much to discuss, and indeed, we are not yet done.” Luna glanced up at the night sky. “But if we are to raise the sun on time, we must make haste.” Her wings flared out.
“Wait, what do you mean, 'we'?”
“I have never done this before.” Luna's wings drooped. “I will need the assistance of another alicorn until I become proficient.”
“But Princess Celestia raised the moon without any trouble when you were–”
Luna winced.
“... um, when you were away.” Twilight bit her lip and glanced to the side. “I'm sure you can handle the sun.”
Luna slowly shook her head. “Yes, my sister raised the moon without me easily enough. She did rather poorly with the stars at first, however. It is thanks to her struggles with the stars that such things as ursa majors and scorpios roam the ground, rather than night sky where they belong.”
Twilight's eyes widened. To hear of incompetence, of all things, from Celestia was something new. Her idea of the infallible sun princess cracked once more.
Luna glanced at her. “I assume that is yet another thing my sister never mentioned?” She gave another slight smile. “Perhaps I am not the mysterious one after all.”
Oh, she was still plenty mysterious. Twilight shook her head and spread her own wings. “Come on, let's go.”
The two alicorns took flight, sending clouds of volcanic dust flying away down the stairs in their backwash.


* * *


Twilight touched down on Celestia's private balcony just after Luna. She took a moment to look out over the city.
Canterlot now boasted only one color. Everything suffocated in a uniformly pale gray blanket of dust. An occasional pony wandered the streets, but an eerie still calm still smothered the city. Most ponies must have been hiding in their homes... or buried in the dust.
“This is my sister's private balcony. The lines etched into the floor help channel magic, making it easier to raise the sun.” Luna already stood in the exact center of the balcony.
“I know. She brought me here, once, so I could watch her raise the sun.” Twilight smiled. That day was still one of her fondest memories.
“Are you prepared?”
Twilight winced and stared at the intricate carvings on the floor. “Um... no.”
“All I ask is that you make your power available to me.” Luna lifted Twilight's chin up. “You're the finest magic user the kingdom has seen in hundreds of years. You can do that, right?”
Twilight's grimace faded into something almost resembling a smile. “Hm, yeah. I guess.”
“Good, then let us begin. Sunrise is slightly late already.” Luna returned to the center of the floor's carvings. “Now, Twilight Sparkle, you must stand in one of the–”
Twilight stepped into one of the sub-vortex amplification rings around the perimeter of the carving's design.
“Yes, exactly.”
Twilight let a smug grin show. She did know her magic, after all.
“Very well. Open up a channel, and let us begin.” Luna's horn lit up, spreading a dark blue glow that reflected and pooled in the floor's designs.
Twilight knew those reflections were more than just a trick of the light. She opened up her own magical reserves, letting some of the lines soak in her own violet aura.
Luna's whole body began to glow, and she rose up above the floor without using her wings.
On the Eastern horizon, a dull red glow began to filter through the lingering dust in the air.
Twilight felt the power drain out of her as the sun thrust up over the horizon, setting into its course. It could only be seen as a pale circle of light through the lingering clouds, but it was back. She shook her head, clearing away the slight haziness that always came after using high-level magic.
Luna floated back down to the balcony on her wings, looking over her shoulder at her work. She sighed. “It is not as bright as I had hoped.”
“We'll get better at it.” Twilight sat in place, still within the diagram on the floor. “Now, about what you were saying earlier... those dreams about Celestia and me, those weren't dreams?”
“That is correct, Twilight Sparkle. Those were memories from your past lives, filtering in now that you are again an alicorn.” Luna's shoulders slumped. “There is much you still do not know. I wish my sister had not seen the need to be so secretive.”
“Well, tell me!”
Luna walked away, back toward the royal chambers of the palace. “Come, let us discuss it over breakfast. This night was long, and I am wearied.”
Twilight fell into step next to her. “My past lives? How many have I had, then?”
Luna paused her step. “Hm, I am not certain.” She stood there a moment, tapping her chin with a hoof. “At least eight,” she said, resuming her walk into the hallway.
Before Twilight could ply any more questions, two ponies scrambled up to Luna and her, bowing low. One was a unicorn royal guard, in full gear, sans helmet, and the other was one of the palace servants. Twilight recognized the white coat and wavy brown mane, but she couldn't quite remember the pegasus mare's name.
Luna nodded her head, acknowledging them. “Stalwart, Feather Bed, what news do you bring?”
The guard spoke up first. “The search for survivors is ongoing. The upper levels have been almost entirely cleared, and we've been making a lot of progress in the lower levels.”
“And the tally thus far?”
The guard winced at Luna's question. “Five hundred nineteen dead, about two thousand one hundred injured. That's... that's still preliminary, though.”
She nodded and turned her head toward the pegasus.
“Well, Plumb Line made a survey of–”
“Excuse me, Stalwart?” Everypony turned to Twilight as she interrupted.
“Yes, princess?”
“Have you searched the rubble of the Candyhooves Theater yet?”
The stallion glanced away, rubbing the back of his neck. “Hm, lower level, in the theater district, right? I don't think any of our teams have gotten that far yet.”
“Please send someone there to search for survivors.”
“Of course, Princess.”
Luna raised an eyebrow at Twilight's command, but she didn't intervene.
Twilight did her best to maintain a suitably regal posture under the older princess's scrutiny. “I apologize, Feather Bed, please continue.”
“It's no problem at all, Princess. As I was saying, Plumb Line has finished his survey of the palace. He said that except for the university section, it should be stable enough to be safely occupied, as long as there aren't any aftershocks.”
“There won't be. My sister saw to that.” Luna's frown deepened.
“So, are the rumors about Princess Celestia true? I heard–”
Luna's expression was not to be trifled with. “We will not discuss it at this time. Please wait for our formal announcement.”
“Of course, Princess. I'm sorry if I spoke out of turn.”
“Do not trouble yourself. Has Princess Cadance been contacted?” 
The pain vanished from Feather Bed's face. “The fastest pegasus messenger we could find was sent out within an hour of your request. She should reach the Crystal Empire any moment now.”
Luna glanced left and right before whispering, “Has there been any sign of Discord?”
Stalwart shrugged.
Feather bed shook her head. “He hasn't been seen since the earthquakes started.”
“Very well.” Luna pointed a hoof at the guard. “Stalwart, continue your efforts, and bring me another report at nightfall.” She turned to Feather Bed. “Please send a request to Tea Kettle. We will need a simple breakfast for two sent to my private chambers. You two are dismissed.”
The unicorn guard made a short bow, and both ponies ran off down the hallway, soon disappearing around a corner.
Luna resumed walking herself, and Twilight followed suit.
Twilight bit her lip. “Um, Luna, about that theater thing, I was just–”
“Do not trouble yourself. I know what it is like to have lives on one's conscience, and I understand why you needed to do that.”
“Oh... um... thank you.” Twilight walked along with her in silence for a moment. “So, is Cadance like this, too? How come I never remember her as a unicorn?”
“She never was a unicorn. She was born a pegasus. She reached her full potential startlingly fast, though, and she was discovered by my sister. She was awakened to full alicorn stature before you were even born, which is why you never remember seeing her as anything else.”
“Are there more of us?”
Luna turned left down another hallway before answering. “There have always been six alicorns, ever since we were created.”
“Six? But then, who are the other two?”
Luna stopped in front of a pair of dark blue, ornately carved doors. “Please, come in and make yourself comfortable, and I shall tell you the tale of how we came to be.”