The library inside the Crystal Kingdom was massive, it put Twilight in awe every time she stepped foot in the well of knowledge. Shelves made of crystal rose high into the ceiling, holding millions of books.
She been here only twice before, once to find information on the Crystal Heart then again on how to fix it. She paced the halls up and down, and still only saw a fraction of what it had to offer. However, each trip was one of search for a certain knowledge, this time she came of curiosity and leisure.
She knew little of the ancient kingdom’s past, politics, or traditions. She had come to the kingdom to visit her brother and sister-in-law, but with them being busy with their own duties, she has all the time in the world to do her own research.
To start off, she decided to look into the royal timeline. She knew that Cadance was a descendant of the Princess that ruled over the kingdom before Sombra, her children having escaped when the siege began. But aside from that, she wasn’t told much else about the former princess or her history.
She scanned the long shelves, her hooves clacking loudly against the crystal as she searched for a book that could give her what she wanted. After years of scanning the library in Canterlot as well as running the one in Ponyville, she found the book fairly quick after she figured out how the library was divided up.
She was unable to find anything that highlighted the royal chain, partially because the kingdom was over a century behind. The closest she found was a rather thin book that detailed the creation of the kingdom as a world power. With a sigh, she pulled it out in hopes of it detailing the princess.
After finding a good spot to read, she opened the book, a layer of dust greeting her as she did. She grimaced but skimmed through it’s pages. It didn’t take long until she found a page about it’s creation.
“The Crystal Kingdom,” mummered Twilight to herself. “Was discovered by a group of ponies as a village of ponies made from crystal. Princess Twilight Armour was sent to create relations, eventually agreeing to their wishes of becoming their independent city, helping the village grow into a bustling kingdom over the next three years.”
Twilight turned the page. She froze, her brain turning widely as she looked at the illustration on the page. It seemed impossible to be true, but unlikely to be a coincidence. The book was ancient, accurate enough having came from when the princess was still alive.
Twilight looked down at what was an almost perfect, the only difference was the streak in her hair. Cutie mark was the same, eyes, everything! She set down the book backing away slowly, yelping as she felt another body press against hers.
“Is everything alright, Twilight?” The young alicorn turned around to see Princess Celestia smiling down at her. She didn’t hear her enter, nor did she know she was even in the Crystal Kingdom.
“I-I was just…” she stopped as Celestia walked past her, looking at the book she left on the table. She was quiet for awhile, her face unreadable. Suddenly she giggled, closing the book.
“Oh that is a funny coincidence.” she rubbed a wing over Twilight as she walked by. “I wouldn’t let the past bother you my dear Twilight. It’s nothing to proceed after. You won’t find anything of use in here, we need to go through and update this library anyways.” With that, the alicorn left, making Twilight wonder what she meant. She frowned, she wanted to know more about this Princess, she will just have to look in Canterlot.
The oak double doors of the Canterlot Library stood in front of her, inviting memories of long nights ready through it’s pages for answers to questions that a filly her age would not have been able to understand.
She let out a sigh as she began towards the doors. Before she reached the handle, the guards on either side lowered their spears, blocking her path. She blinked, backing away as she looked over at the guards.
“I’m sorry, Princess. Princess Celestia ordered that you are to be kept out of the library. She fears you are digging into things not meant for you.” said the guard, looking past her.
“This is absurd!” growled Twilight. She huffed, lighting her horn as she prepared a teleportation spell. She disappeared, only to appear two feet away as she ran into a barrier, throwing her back. She groaned, realising how stupid it was to think the princess wouldn’t have figured her to use magic.
“I’ll have to ask someone who knew her then.” said the alicorn with a sigh. With a flap of her wings, she propelled herself shakily into the air. After a moment, she was able to stable herself, flying in the direction of the tallest tower of the castle.
She circled around until she found the room she was looking for, landing softly on it. Well, softly as in almost running head first into the floor before she corrected herself and landed sprawled on the balcony.
Letting out a sigh, she pushed open the glass door, blinking as her eyes tried to adjust to the dimness of the room. In the middle of the floor laid Princess Luna, the midnight alicorn held a GameColt, chips laying all over the floor and on her chest. The alicorn glanced in her direction before focusing on her game again.
“Dearest Sparkle, what brings you into our quarters.” said the princess, swearing as she died. She set down the game, sitting up against the bed. “We thought you were in the Crystal Kingdom with your brother and sister?”
“I was, but I wanted to know a few things about the crystal kingdom. Nothing in their library was useful and Celestia won’t let me into the one here.” Luna raised her eyebrow, turning to face her.
“Do tell, Sparkle, what do you want to know?” the lavender alicorn scratched behind her head, slightly hesitant. “Come now, Twilight. What is it?”
“What was Princess Twilight Amour like?” Almost immediately, Twilight could feel the air in the room get heavier. Luna looked at her blankly, her gaze far away. Finally she let out a sigh, looking away from her.
“Why do you want to know about her?” said the princess, her voice sad and quiet.
“I, uh, read a bit about her in the Crystal Kingdom. I saw a picture of her.” This got Luna’s attention. The Princess looked at her long and hard before standing up.
“Princess Amour...was special to me and my sister. That is all I will say.” She sighed. “Twilight, let this go. Do not investigate further. Some things are better left unknown, for your sake.”
“But why do I look like her?! Why was I never told about the resemblance?”
“Twilight!” Luna’s voice shook the room, causing the younger alicorn to shrink back. “Leave this. I beg of you. Forget you saw her, forget all you know. Understand?” Twilight nodded meekly, afraid of setting the alicorn off again. “Good, now leave us.”
Slowly, Twilight stood, making her way out of the room. She sighed as she leaned against balcony, mulling over what she just heard. She wasn’t expecting Luna to lash out, which did nothing to calm the questions that raced through her mind.
She prepared to take off, but before she did something caught her eye. Looking over at the parallel balcony, she saw Celestia staring back at her. Her face was emotionless. She turned, leaving the door open as she entered her room.
Curious, Twilight hovered over to the balcony, landing as soft as she could. Inside, she could see celestia with her back to her. She sat on one of her pillows, sipping a cup of tea. In front of her was another pillow and a cup.
Slowly, she entered. She watched the princess carefully as she circled over to the pillow. She sat down, looking down at the cup of tea between them. Celestia had her eyes closed, seeming to be savoring the taste of the tea. Hesitantly, Twilight took a sip of her own, not removing her eyes from the princess. After ten minutes, she let out a sigh.
“I tried to stop you from delving deeper, Twilight.” she said, keeping her eyes closed as she took another sip. “I told you it was something that concerned you, nothing you had to worry about, I asked you to stop. However, you still searched for answers.”
“Luna said she was close to you.” said Twilight. Celestia nodded solemnly, opening her eyes. She looked over the Alicorn carefully. “Do you honestly want to know the truth, Twilight?”
“I do.” said Twilight, straightening up. Celestia sighed, standing up and walking over to the balcony. She stood there for awhile, the silence between them grew unbearable. Before it became too much, Celestia spoke.
“Princess Twilight Amour. To me and Luna, she was a gift we would love dearly. I even swore to protect her against anyone to try to harm her.” She let out a soft sigh. “She was born a hundred years before the Nightmare Moon incident. A love child born of magic between my sister and I.”
Sweat soaked Celestia’s sheets, her pink mane sticking to her forehead after hours of labor. Beside her, Luna stroked her cheek. The alicorn was barely visible, the torches casting her in a dark shadow.
A small mass of purple laid curled up in Celestia’s hooves. Her wings wrapped around her small body, a small nub that was her horn poked out between her mane of a dark indigo. She had finally calmed down, but she spent her first hour in this world crying. It was a relief for Celestia that it was calm again.
“The nobles won’t like this.” said Luna with a chuckle. Celestia rolled her eyes with a sigh.
“They don’t like anything that wasn’t planned or in their control. They still think that father is a stallion.” She ran a hoof against the filly’s cheek, getting a soft coo in response. “No matter what they say, it won’t stop us from raising her into a fine princess.”
“And how will we explain this?” asked Luna, raising an eyebrow. “We could have avoided questions for your pregnancy, but now we can’t run from questions now that she is born.” Celestia let out a sigh, leaning her head back.
“We’ll say the father left after learning of my pregnancy. Dishonor to a fake stallion for a child that isn’t his.” She shook her head. “It will be in our best interests to keep the truth of her conception to ourselves.”
“Whatever happens, we shall protect her.” said Luna, nuzzling her sister and lover.
Paperwork was piled up on Celestia’s desk, giant piles of parchment detailing some form of pointless bill. Across from the room, Luna read a book, light from the candle next to her causing shadows to dance across her face. She smiled as she went back to her work.
“Where is our daughter, Luna?” asked Celestia, putting her stamp on the bottom on a bill before putting it to the side. The Moon Goddess looked up from her book, looking around.
“I’m not sure, I believe I saw her in the library when I grabbed my own book.” The two giggled. Their daughter found a fascination of books and magic. Every chance she would get she would read a book on the subject, trying her best to learn a new spell. Celestia has offered to help her learn, but Twilight would decline, wanting to teach herself.
Of course, this led to a few accidents. Her most famous was when she turned her salad into a walking lettuce plant that took Celestia and Luna the greater half of the night trying to defeat it and turn it back to normal.
The door opened, a filly of only eight rushing in with a book hovering above her head. Celestia picked up the bouncing child with a giggle, setting her down next to her. “What is it, my child?”
“Mommy, Momma!, I got my cutie mark.” Twilight proudly spun around, showing off a five pointed star adorning her flank. With a giggle, Celestia picked up the filly and brought her into a hug.
“That is wonderful, dear. I think it suits you perfectly.” She gave the filly a boop on the nose, causing her to giggle. “Now how about we go get some cake as a treat?”
“You know,” said Luna from her spot on the floor. “If you keep eating cake like that you will find it very difficult to fit through the doors.” Celestia turned crimson as she huffed, taking Twilight out of the room as her sister cackled madly.
Celestia tapped her hoof impatiently as the chariot flew towards the new colony. Luna looked her over with a raised eyebrow. She scooted over next to her, giving her a nudge on the shoulder. Celestia gave a start, calming down as Luna wrapped a wing around her.
“Nervous?” asked the younger alicorn. Celestia nodded, watching the tower ahead of them get closer as they went forward.
“We left her on her own for the past few years, barely getting any letters. I am just nervous on how well she is doing by herself.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Celly, we both taught her everything she knows. I think she is more than ready to rule a kingdom by herself.” By now, they could see buildings centered around the crystal tower in the center. There was still construction going on that they could see, but it grew compared to the small village that was discovered close to a decade ago.
The two of them sat in silence, watching the city get closer. Most of the buildings were built of crystal that they mined from caves nearby. They have been there only a few times since its discovery, a few just to visit Twilight. Last time they were here, they just started the castle that towered over the city.
They landed in the courtyard in the center of the city, just outside the tower. Immediately, a heart made of pure crystal caught their heart. It floated in the center of the town, shaded by the castle.
“It keeps the kingdom safe.” They turned around to find Twilight walking towards them. She was as tall as Celestia by now, adorned in gold attire. “The area has harsh winters and windigos. The crystal heart uses friendship as a power source, creating a force field around the kingdom and part of the surrounding fields.”
“It is remarkable.” said Celestia, circling around the artifact. “You were able to find a material that can contain a large amount of focused magic, using it to create a spell that can drive off negative forces. I have never seen a feat in my life… “
“It took the better part of three years.” said Twilight with a sigh. “Finding the crystal was difficult enough, making it so it can collect positive energy and turn it into a spell was the worst part.”
“Have you had any other troubles?” asked Luna, raising her eyebrow. Twilight shook her head.
“There is a small village a few miles north of here. A villager claimed we were stealing land with our expansion, but they are far enough away that we shouldn’t in any means.”
“He make any threats?” asked Celestia, curious. Twilight just chuckled.
“A few, but he is a low ranking mage. Our army has expanded greatly and should do nicely against intruders. I don’t need to worry about him trying to overthrow the throne anything, I don’t think.”
“Watch yourself, Twilight.” said Luna in a low voice. “The most dangerous enemy is the last one you expect. Take great care with any threat.”
“Yes, mother.” said Twilight, bowing slightly. “But I am confident that no matter what, the crystal empire is mine.”
“Of course, history proves that isn’t what happened.” said Celestia. The sun had already set by now, a set of candles on the bedside the only light in the room. Celestia had her back to Twilight, staring out into the starry night. “When we heard of the attack on the Crystal Kingdom, my sister and I flew as fast as we could, only to watch our daughter fall from the top of her tower in defeat.”
“Is that why Luna didn’t want to talk about her?’ asked Twilight, she was absorbing in all this information, leaning at the end of her pillow. Celestia shook her head.
“That isn’t the only reason. I later found out that she was the tipping point for Nightmare Moon, since she transformed only weeks after Twilight’s death in the Kingdom. I was left as a widow mourning her lover and daughter.” She laughed, looking at the ceiling. “That drove me to do what I did for the next nine hundred years.”
“This looks a lot like make believe, Quill.” said Celestia. She sat upon her throne, looking over a parchment given to her by her personal mage. The small blue mare shifted awkwardly. “Bonding a spirit into a body, practically bringing someone back to life.” She sighed. “Where did you find this?”
“It was in one of the tomes in the library, your highness.” said the mage, bowing so far down her muzzle almost touched the ground. She stood up. “I, uh, searched for it to help alleviate your pain. I noticed you have not been like yourself, so I hoped this would help.” Celestia looked over the parchment again.
“You want me to revive my daughter.” muttered Celestia. Quill nodded.
“Yes, but it will take a lot of prep, and, um, a sample of two relatives. Parents work best.” There was the catch, thought Celestia. She sighed, standing up.
“I can prepare all I want, but I would need Luna’s DNA for this to be able to work properly.”
“Yes, your highness. It is possible to try the prince, being your grandson, but it is possible it won’t work properly since there is a third person in the mix, which can mean that she won’t be the same pony when she is reborn. That’s another thing, she will be born as a foal, needing to grow up again.”
“I see.” Celestia paced around the throne room. “Have for Princess Twilight Amore’s remains to be brought to the castle and encased in a magical field. I need to wait until I can even attempt to get a sample from Luna.”
“Yes, ma’am.” the mage bowed and ducked away, running off to do her orders.”
“It took me years to figure out how to get a sample. Eventually, I got the idea to go back to the castle and search for some sort of artifact, even if it was nine hundred years old.” Celestia sighed. “Once it was finished, I picked the wife one of my scholars to carry my child, raise her until I felt it was time.”
As she finished her story, Celestia did not turn around. She closed her eyes, letting Twilight digest what she just heard. Some time during the story, Luna entered the room, leaning against Celestia for comfort. After a few minutes, Twilight was able to find her voice.
“You...you mean… I AM Twilight Amore” Her voice was shaky, it sounded like sometime during it she had started crying. “Wh-why was I never told?”
“We didn’t know how you would react.” said Luna, she nuzzled further into Celestia. “Celestia kept it from you so you could have a normal childhood, then after my return...we tried to tell you so many times but could never bring ourselves to do it. Myself for what became of me after your death.” Celestia sighed as she turned around. Twilight had tear stains down her cheeks, she stood glaring at the two of them.
“We have tried multiple occasions. Originally, we were going to give you the Crystal Kingdom and tell you then, but…” Celestia trialed off, but Luna let out a frustrated huff.
“Your stubborn granddaughter already claimed it before we could announce it as yours. So it defeated the whole purpose. You were even supposed to be the one to defeat Sombra, but Spike beat you to that as well.” Celestia chuckled.
“We were never the best parents, but we always prided ourselves in knowing we taught you well. Especially in your second life.” The three of them lapsed into silence, Twilight calming down as she thought everything over.
“So… now what?” asked Twilight, her voice sounding tired. Celestia chuckled.
“We can be a family again. Let those who you think are worthy of knowing the truth. Cadance has rooted herself in the Crystal Kingdom, so you have to look for a new village to turn into a kingdom.” The three of them chuckled. After they lapsed into another silence, Celestia rolled her eyes as she lit her horn.
Twilight let out a yelp as she was surrounded in a golden glow. Soon, she found herself in an embrace, Celestia and Luna both hugging her tightly. Twilight sat there a moment before giving in, with a small smile she returned the hug.
The guards found them the next morning cuddled on the floor. They still didn’t know what to think, but some rumors were spread. The only thing Twilight worried about since then was how she was supposed to tell Shining and Cadence she was actually their grandmother...