Twilight Sparkle spent most of her evening engrossed in studies on unicorn behavior, an area of study she was admittedly a bit rusty on. She read books about childhood trauma, reactive vs. controlled thought, anger, sadness, and many other emotional states that produced a physical reaction in unicorns. She didn't have much to go on. Flushing and butterflies weren't mentioned in any books on the subject, and confusion could have been a symptom of anything from sleep deprivation to a potential stroke. Frustrated, she did her best to attempt sequestering the part of her that was having these feelings behind a mental barrier. This was part of what made her such an excellent magic user, her ability to handle multiple problems at once, simply by choosing whether or not to ignore them. Such a talent came in handy now, and Twilight was confident in her ability to put the problem aside for now.
Thus prepared, she took a look at the returns bin, matching the contents against her ledger. Though the library was closed, she had installed a returns slot a while back that ensured that even if the door was locked, ponies would be able to return their books on time. Idly occupying herself, Twilight checked her ledger. Cookbooks and almanacs seemed to be the most popular books in her library still, though there was the odd novel reader such as Rainbow Dash, or amateur scholar like the students over at the high school. She noticed that the Crusaders had returned one of their older books. It was the old tome, "Documentation of Talent Marks in the Major Equestrian Houses". A note had been tucked into the front. In Sweetie Belle's flowing script, it read "Twilight- cracked this one open and found out it wasn't what we were really looking for. Thought you might find it interesting though, we found out a lot of things about the ponies in town using it, even if there wasn't any real talk about Cutie Marks. Highly recommended! Sincerely, Sweetie Belle."
Though Twilight had vowed to figure out more about why she reacted the way she did about Morning Star, the note had piqued her interest. Not terribly eager to get back to her original problem, she finished off the stack, sending all of the books back to their respective places with the exception of Sweetie's book. Settling down by the fire, she began to read. "Amoung the Major Houses of the Canterlot Nobility, I have noticed the Emergence of Hereditary Talent Marks, indicative of a Strong Family Line, and the clear Dominance of certain Bloodlines Amoung their Lower Counterparts. This is a Compendium of those Marks and their Houses, from earliest Recorded Memory to the Present Day, in the year of Celestia 787 AN. The Genealogies of The Houses have been Ordered in Accordance with the Power they Currently Wield. I have Endeavored to make Certain Individuals of Note available in the Glossary."
The book itself was written by somepony with the name of Golden Radiance, who had apparently included her own House near the middle of the book, indicating her family as one of importance, but no particular notoriety. Intrigued, Twilight began to read.
The Crusaders were right, there was nothing here on how the Marks appeared, merely a name, a sketch of their mark in miniature, and the dates of birth and death. Nonetheless, Twilight was surprised to see how family trees grew, shrank, and were absorbed into others. Names changed and mutated, one family name changing from Brandyvine to Brandywine to Goldwine as time went by. Twilight got sense of a real struggle taking place, as Houses vied for land and importance. Weaker families were annihilated by the strong, new challengers vied for position among the ranks of the nobility, some succeeding, others failing. Occasionally, Twilight read of a particularly advantageous marriage that cemented two middling houses together, creating one powerful House ready to take on all comers. And she saw political splits, family feuds bordering on outright war, and a few Houses vanishing within the space of a generation or two.
Golden Radiance's house may have been of middling importance at the time, but Twilight was surprised to find that it was also one of the oldest, stretching back at least six hundred years prior to the writing of the book. It had risen from an obscure tribe of unicorns, who had remained loyal to a fault during the rise and fall of Nightmare Moon. In reward, they had been given land on the river near Canterlot, and soon had battled their way to the top. A conflict with Diamond Dogs had thinned their numbers four hundred years before Golden Radiance had been born, sending them into obscurity as they desperately battled to stay alive. Surprisingly, due to the powerful spellcasters the house had produced as well as their prestige, they had begun the long, arduous trek back to the top, stopping their march only because Golden Radiance had reached her present day.
Amazed, Twilight turned the page to see if there was more. She was met with a vaguely familiar name. An earth pony house by the name of Orchard. The Orchards were a House of gentleman farmers, several families who had combined their fields and families together as a business venture, realizing that they worked far better together than as competitors. Soon, marriage began at a rapid rate, as the Orchards struggled for financial solvency. As they grew, they insisted on keeping their new family name, meant to represent the fact that even though their crops were different, they all remained farmers. At about two hundred years to the writing, however, a change in crops had prompted them to adopt a new name. The loose conglomeration of nearly fifty farms had found an extremely lucrative new crop that was very popular among their customers. The newly named Apple House was the second largest official House in Equestria by the time Golden Radiance had noted them.
Twilight grinned. Wait until Applejack heard that she was descended from documented royalty! Twilight imagined that Applebloom had already told her older sister, so she probably wouldn't have to wait too long to bring it up. Twilight looked at the dusty book in front of her with new respect. Even with the Canterlot Archives, it would have been a life's work to compile this. She wasn't just holding a book, she was holding somepony's legacy. Slightly in awe of the author, she continued to read.
Unfortunately, none of her other friends appeared to be descended from a House, but Twilight thought she saw potential for that Pegasus named Cloudkicker, as there was a whole line of Cloudkickers that were Pegasi, and seemed to have a fondness for the name. Cloudkicker XIII, Cloudkicker XIV, et cetera. Twilight grinned. This was fun! She noted, much to her chagrin, that the insufferable unicorn Rarity had met all those years ago, Prince Blueblood, did appear to have descended from a very prestigious house, one extremely favored by Celestia. The house was officially named Bluehide in the book, but their Cutie Marks all matched up with what she remembered. Compasses, constellations, and such, all the way back. A House of seafaring unicorns, they were a very rich merchant house. Unfortunate, that. Twilight had hoped he was just a petty pretender.
Twilight read on until the sun was completely down, the sliver of a moon giving off a pale glow that was hardly brighter than the starlight. Soon enough she was reading the weaker Houses, and then she had reached the end of the book. Staring, she tried to process the information she had read. Sweetie Belle had been right, she was strangely, utterly fascinated with this genealogy. There was definitely some backing to the theory of bloodlines helping to determine Cutie Marks. She decided to revisit some of her favorites, just to take it in again. She flipped to the page containing Golden Radiance’s House. House Radiant was remarkably old. It hadn't changed its name much, going only from the more archaic Luminous to the House's current name in approximately 240 AN. It had a very distinct Talent Mark, a five-pointed star circled in fire. There were variations, of course, but their line was extremely pure, powerful spellcasters and paladins all. They warded the river, guarding the border with the Wastelands nearby, and were a proud, efficient, and prestigious House of warriors.
Twilight ran her eyes down the list of Talent Marks again. Star in fire. Star in fire, laurels around it. Star in fire, crossed swords behind. Star in fire, halved by a quill. Twilight frowned. Quill? She flicked to the back, and found it. A very old House, House Meritorious. Talent Mark quill. Claimed to have descended from famed Pre-Classical wizard Starswirl the Bearded. Powerful spellcasters and alchemists. Date of extinction around 400 AN. So why was Twilight seeing that on a Talent Mark in another house, one they had sent a unicorn mare by the name of Soaring to in 250 AN? And why was that the only time it had shown up, next to a mare named Moonlight in the year 652 AN, over 250 years later? She looked further. Star in fire, dragon claw bisecting vertically. Dragon claw belonged to House Ferrous, extinct year 330 AN. Married a son to a House Radiant in the year 325, the hereditary claw never once showing up until two hundred years later, in 568. A stallion by the name of Noontime. This didn't make sense. All the Talent Mark variations apparently belonged to unicorn Houses that had went extinct long ago, but were common in that they had strong or talented warriors and spellcasters. It didn't look intentional. Plenty of unicorns from House Radiant had married into other Houses. A few earth ponies, some Pegasi, even Houses with mixed bloodlines. But only powerful unicorns were able to alter the basic hereditary Mark Radiant enjoyed. Even at their lowest point, not a mark had changed unless another unicorn was assimilated into the family.
What did this mean? Twilight didn't know, but something now struck her as slightly sinister about the book. Turning, she magically pulled another book off of her shelves. A Compendium of Head Archivists in Canterlot, was the title. Meaningless bureaucracy for the most part, but it was the only hook Twilight had that might have an account of Golden Radiance. Feeling paranoid, she picked up her heavy volumes and descended the staircase, past Spike's den and into the sub-basement, sealing the door behind her. Picking up the book, she began to flick through it rapidly. There. In the year of Celestia, 790 AN, the previous Head Archivist had stepped down from her position, promoting the unicorn Golden Radiance in her stead. Twilight looked over the book of Talent Marks. She had started writing in 787 AN. She had finished and published her work in the year of 803 AN. Sixteen years of work. Twilight turned back to the Compendium.
The unicorn had been an exemplary Archivist throughout her career, starting in the year 785 at sixteen, the appropriate age to begin an apprenticeship. Five years later she had distinguished herself enough to get promoted to the Head Archivist. What had followed was an age of controversy. She had been censured several times by the Academy for Conduct Unbecoming of an Archivist. Her book was published in 803, amid mild scandal when she revealed several recent trysts between prominent members of several powerful Houses. She had led the Archivists for fifteen years, until her untimely death in 805 AN, in a terrible fire that had destroyed her, her husband and little colt, her home...and all of her notes and research on the subject of the Houses. An investigation into the cause of the fire was inconclusive, and the whole thing was considered a tragic end to an admirable Archivist's life.
Twilight was seriously freaked out. She couldn't be sure, but from what she had read, it sounded like Golden Radiance had made some powerful enemies in Canterlot, and she was silenced after she had published her book. The unicorn filly frowned. It was getting late, and she needed to be up early to help plan that expedition. She kept the books down in the basement, laying a spell of concealment over them, to stop any wandering eyes. Suddenly tired, the mare trotted upstairs to her bed, almost instantly falling into a deep sleep.
In Canterlot, two sisters were arguing.
"Twilight Sparkle may suspect something if we push ahead, 'Tia. T'would be a foolish risk to move forward now. Have your expedition. Pull your Candidate out. Send him in when her suspicions are less!"
"No. We have put this off for too long already. We are committed, so we push ahead. I promise, things will turn out for the better, but we can't let up now."
"Very well, I wouldst still advise thee to take caution. But the plan is thine, my place not to question it. What of the Catalysts?"
With this, the taller of the two sisters rose from her haunches. Her ivory horn gleaming with Solar magics, she reached out to her Catalysts. Soon, unseen and undetected, the magic from them began to pulse and increase in strength.
"There, Luna. It is done. Let us retire, and plan for tomorrow."
With this, the two sisters departed from their tower, the highest in Canterlot. And in the darkened town of Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle smiled and rolled over in her sleep, her subconscious obeying the instructions she could not hear.
"Be at peace. Find love. Be at peace. Morning Star. Be at peace. Obey. Be at peace. Submit. Be at peace. Do not resist. Be at peace."
The unicorn mare spoke five words, very quietly. "I love you, Morning Star..."