The following evening found Sunset once again back in Ancient Scroll's study.
After giving herself a couple of days to wind down, she had finally mustered up the nerve to recount the full story to the old stallion. Surprisingly, she found it easier to talk about than before - most likely due to the fact that she had taken some more time to reflect on the event when she wasn't studying.
That didn't mean she wasn't nervous about Ancient Scroll's reaction.
So it was on that late night that she sat in front of Scroll's desk, the stallion himself leaning forward - hooves steepled and eyes closed in contemplation. Sunset shifted uncomfortably as she waited for Ancient Scroll to respond.
For a long time Ancient Scroll sat there, mulling over everything he had heard. Sunset couldn't take the tension and opened her mouth to speak when Scroll suddenly spoke first.
"You know," he began, "you weren't the first filly that I took into my care, Sunset."
Sunset slowly closed her mouth and blinked.
"I wasn't?"
Ancient Scroll shook his head and rose from his chair.
"It was about... oh, I'd say about seventeen years ago now," he trotted over to one of his shelves and idly scanned through each of the books as he spoke, "found her wandering the road just outside the Equestrian border - poor thing was darn near starving to death."
He seemed to find what he was looking for and lit up his horn. The glow of his bright green aura wrapped itself around a thin, tattered looking journal. He floated it over to Sunset who took in her own red aura and inspected it curiously.
It was indeed an old and worn dark brown journal of some sort. By the look of the scuff marks and dog eared pages, Sunset could tell the thing had seen some extensive use. She narrowed her eyes in concentration as she tried to read the name on the cover. It was extremely faded, but she could just make it out.
"Frigid... Gale?"
Sunset looked at Ancient Scroll in confusion as he himself sat back down at his desk.
"Filly was a lot like you - or rather you were a lot like she was," he chuckled wryly, "I'd imagine she isn't much of a filly anymore," he shook his head, "anyway, Frigid Gale was very similar to how you used to be when you first showed up - almost eerily so, actually."
"Really?" Sunset asked with an intrigued raise of her brow. Ancient Scroll nodded with a wistful smile.
"Indeed, little filly. When I found her, she had the same look in her eyes that you did," he looked off into a random direction behind Sunset and frowned, as though recalling a particularly bad memory, "angry, bitter, hurt... betrayed."
Sunset turned a contemplative gaze back to the tattered journal as Ancient Scroll continued.
"The biggest difference between the two of you - besides your tribe I mean - was that you eventually learned to cool your head and open up," his wistful gaze turned somewhat forlorn, "she started to do the same... but never quite made it that far."
"What happened?" Sunset asked curiously, "why didn't she change?"
The old stallion didn't answer for a second, but then gave a heavy sigh and turned to Sunset, the guilt and regret on his wrinkled face making him looks years older than he already was.
"I thought three years ought to be enough time for her to open up to me," he shook his head sadly, "not only was I wrong, I was a complete and utter idiot about the whole thing."
"What do you mean?" Sunset asked worriedly as she trotted a bit closer to the desk, "what did you do?"
Before Sunset had a chance to really peruse the pages inside the journal, Ancient Scroll took it within his own magic and flipped it open to a specific page. He levitated the book to Sunset's eye level and the orange filly could see a few hastly scribbled lines and what she might've guessed were tear stains dotting the page.
I told him.
I finally broke down and told him.
And just like everyone else, he didn't believe me. I promised I wouldn't try to tell anypony anymore. I swore I wouldn't. But I thought he was different - I thought he'd be more understanding.
He wasn't.
None of them ever are.
I'm leaving.
I'll find a way to change things on my own, through my own power.
And if you ever read this gramps, I want you to know that her time is coming. I don't know when and I don't know how, but I do know that it'll be within my lifetime and that it'll be by my own hooves.
I swear it.
Goodbye, gramps.
And I'm sorry.
Sunset finished reading and looked back to Ancient Scroll.
"Would you believe she wrote that when she was ten?" he asked with a rueful chuckle, "she was always such a dramatic little filly..."
Sunset didn't reply,
She wasn't sure what to think.
She was almost certain the filly - Frigid Gale - was referring to Celestia based on what was written and her own experiences with the Solar Monarch, and from the sound of it, she had also bore witness to Celestia's true nature.
Ancient Scroll nodded solemnly at the unsure expression on Sunset's face.
"Like you, I had urged her to tell me more about what had happened to her before I came along," he looked down at his desk for a moment before looking back to Sunset, "out of respect for the filly, I won't go into details... but she was hurt and betrayed by the Princess, much like you were - or so she finally told me."
He laughed mirthlessly.
"She poured her heart out to me, and like the wretched fool I was, I didn't believe a word of it. Told her she was just blaming the Princess for all her misfortune - asked her to tell me what the real problem was. And what does she do?"
He snapped the journal shut and floated it over to his desk. He stared at it for a good minute before continuing in a quieter and slightly choked voice.
"The blasted filly decides to gallop off on some ill-conceived quest for revenge against the Princess."
"What!?" Sunset cried incredulously, "that... that's crazy!"
Ancient Scroll nodded sadly in response.
"I imagine she wasn't in a right state of mind when she left, and it was all because of me - because I wouldn't listen to her."
Sunset slowly shook her head, still stunned at the revelation. From the passage she read in the journal, she could tell Frigid Gale had been distraught and angry over Ancient Scroll's words. She probably saw his outright denial of Celestia's involvement as another betrayal.
But revenge?
Sunset herself had never even thought about revenge, only getting as far away from the alicorn as possible. It was insane to think a ten year old filly could take on an eternal alicorn princess with the power to move the Sun and Moon.
"Do you... did you ever find out what happened to her after she left?"
"No, little filly," he said with a shake of his head, "I tried searching for her for years, but I never found her," he gave the journal one last weary look before levitating it back onto the bookshelf, "if she's still alive out there, I have no idea where she is now."
He focused his attention back to Sunset as he spoke and Sunset could hear the immense sorrow in his voice.
"What happened with Frigid Gale was my fault, and I made the same mistake again when I tried to ask you about your past before you were ready to tell me," he hung his head, guilt and regret once again making their way onto his features, "I very nearly lost you and the other two fillies because of that."
Sunset shook her head in denial and took a step forward,
"Uncle Scroll, I told you, that wasn't-"
"I remember what you said, Sunset," Ancient Scroll interrupted, "but the fact remains that none of that business would've happened if I'd kept my trap shut," he gave Sunset a resolute frown, "whose fault it was is neither here nor there.
"My point is, I'm not letting what happened with Frigid Gale happen with you - or either of the other fillies for that matter," he stood up from his chair and trotted over to Sunset, "if you say Celestia hurt you, then I'll take your word for it."
Sunset looked up at Ancient Scroll as he placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.
"So... you believe me about what happened with Celestia?"
"Well, I just said as much, didn't I?" he said with a kind, grandfatherly smile, "and besides, this is too big a coincidence for me to dismiss both yours and Gale's claims," he suddenly frowned and looked away, "this does raise quite a few questions, though."
"About what?" Sunset asked with a confused tilt of her head. Ancient Scroll hesitated before shaking his head and giving Sunset another gentle smile.
"Don't you worry about it for now, little filly," he nodded his head towards the door, "now, go on, Sunset. The other two are probably already asleep by now and you should be getting to bed too."
Now that Ancient Scroll had mentioned it, Sunset realized she was tired - extremely so actually. She gave a lazy nod of agreement and turned to leave.
"Good night, Uncle Scroll," she said with a small wave. She stopped briefly and looked over her shoulder at the old stallion with a tired but grateful smile, "and thanks... for listening to me."
"Anytime, little filly," he replied with a small wave of his own, "you and the others can come talk to me whenever you need."
Sunset nodded and trotted the rest of the way out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind her.
The smile fell from Ancient Scroll's face once Sunset had gone and he gave a heavy sigh. He opened a drawer beneath his desk and pulled out an old photo of a somewhat younger beige unicorn stallion playfully ruffling the teal mane of an embarrassed looking thestral filly. He smiled at the picture for a moment before letting out another wistful sigh.
"What happened to you, Gale?"