I guess you already know the rest, Discord took control of all Equestria, it barely took five minutes, and isolated it from any outside help. Star Swirl came to the castle and began to raise what he thought were the chosen ones of the gods to defeat this 'spirit of chaos'. If it weren't that the draconequus had left the cauldron for me to observe as much as I wanted, it would be two candles away, at least until he came to visit. It hurt me horrors to see the little ones, previously full of joy, now with loneliness in their eyes, but I couldn't do anything, it was too late.
For ten years I saw them accumulating hatred for his brother, and the day that Star Swirl considered them ready, they went to face him, once or twice, being defeated at all times. I have to admit that Discord was a great actor, even if he hated playing the villain and fighting his little sisters. After the third consecutive defeat, the Lord of Chaos led them by dreams to the elements, so they marched into the final battle. And just as the draconequs had foreseen, he was turned to stone, even striking a pose.
As predicted, the ponies saw the alicorns as their saviors, naming them supreme princesses of Equestria. Everything returned to normal, and the castle, previously only inhabited by three ponies and a draconequus, was now filled with countless servants, guards and others, not to mention the small village that was built nearby. I made up my mind to wait, as Discord was supposed to break free from his stone prison soon and come see the progress with me. But a day, two, three, two full weeks went by and he didn't show up and I knew, deep in my heart, that something had gone wrong. But I refuse to believe it, it could be his joke, that he is waiting for me to see his statue and then he would come up saying something like "I should have used another pose, this one does not suit me", although I knew it was unlikely, he never made a joke in such bad taste.
One day, I decided to go to the castle on my own, signaling to the timberwolves not to follow me so closely, as the other ponies would get scared. I knew that the named princesses accepted any pony on their staff if they had no other job. So there you see me, asking for an audience with the alicorns that I came to consider my daughters, although this time, they would not recognize me. When I enter the throne room, after waiting my turn for almost two hours, I almost had a heart attack right there.
There they were, exactly the same as the last time I saw them by the cauldron, Celestia much taller than when I was taking care of her, with her long pink hair combed and with a large crown on her head, and Luna was not far behind, which she was lacking in height, she made up for it in elegance, and they both looked at me with kindness, but without showing any hint that they remembered me. On one side was Star Swirl, who now acted as her personal advisor, at least when he was not on a mission with the Pillars somewhere remote in Equestria or anywhere else in the world.
"Good morning, dear pony, tell me what worries you" Celestia said gently.
"Good morning, Cele ... Your Highnesses" I said while bowing, mentally scolding myself for that slip "I need a job, because since they defeated the lord of chaos I have seen myself ... lack of money ..."
"Haven't you heard that they're offering jobs across the country with no qualifications other than the cutie mark?" Luna said with a raised eyebrow, to which I swallowed, praying my next excuse was credible.
"Yes, Lu ... Your Highness, but I wanted to offer my services to those who saved us" once again, I mentally kicked myself, for many years that had passed, I could not stop seeing them as my daughters.
Looking at each other, both princesses agreed, drawing a sigh of relief, calling for one of their service ponies to guide me and show me exactly what my job would be. It took me a short time to get used to it, and when I had the opportunity, I discovered where they had the statue of Discord, in the garden. One night, I was in it, with the forest animals distracting the guards. I watched the draconequus turned to stone for a long time, and confirming for myself that it would not get out of there, I allowed myself to collapse and cry. It wasn't until an hour later that I decided to get out of there, being lifted into the air by a cloud of parasipes that carried me safely to my home.
The following days were very monotonous, as well as tortuous, as the princesses passed by the servants almost without looking at us, beyond a greeting here or there. And that broke my heart, but I knew it was for the best, because after several days there, I saw the hatred of all the ponies for Discord, and I knew that trying to restore their memory would only bring them misfortune, because the trust gained by their subjects, it could be lost very, very easily.
So I kept quiet, keeping for myself the secret of the true origin of the Lord of Chaos. I took the custom of, in my spare time and days off, going to the garden to clean my friend's statue, because even if I had given up telling the truth, that did not prevent me from cleaning it, and many times, I would talk to him in a low voice, like if he could hear me ... sometimes I wonder if he really hears me or just wasting my words with the stone. One day, I was cleaning Discord's chest with the help of a ladder that I took from the shed, this time, I decided not to talk to him, dedicating myself to humming softly.
"What are you doing?" Said a voice behind me, and when I turned around, I saw my little Luna watching me with a raised eyebrow.
"I ... I'm just cleaning it up, Your Highness" I said as I bowed my head respectfully from the top of the stairs.
"I don't know why, he's a monster that doesn't deserve any compassion" she said with hatred in his voice, my little Luna, if you only knew.
"I know, Your Highness, but I still think he doesn't deserve to be buried in dirt."
"As you like, it's just adding more work," Luna commented as she shrugged and continued on.
I watched Luna go, and when she disappeared from my sight, I turned to see Discord's face, frozen in an eternal laugh.
"I hope you're happy with the result ... because I'm not" I said with a sigh before continuing with my work.
And so I lived the following years, suffering in silence, although not everything was so bad. I fell in love with one of the cooks of the castle, I had a beautiful son and my love believed me ... after being surrounded by a herd of timberwolves who obeyed me in everything, I still remember his face laughing. But anyway, my story ends here, and it's up to you to do your part, deliver this to the princesses. As I said at the beginning, I cannot, not only because they would not allow me to approach, even if I have become the head of all the staff, but because I swore to myself that I would not tell them until I was sure that the knowledge of this will not bring their problems. And ... well ... I'm getting older and things don't seem to be getting any better.
So, dear reader, if you are somepony who has access to princesses, I entrust you with the task of giving them this book ... as long as you believe that it is the right time, if it is not the case, I hope you keep this book safe and its secrets until the indicated moment is some type of family tradition, if that is the case, a greeting to the new ones who read this. To finish, a message for my little alicorns, I love you very much, all the years that have passed have not erased my affection or what I feel for you, my first daughters, not with blood ... but with my heart. I hope that you can understand why we did what we did and that you can have room in your hearts to forgive us both. I love you.
"Signed, Cake ..."
Twilight closed the book, weighing in everything she read, and staring at the black cover for a long time. She had been around for almost a week since she found it, and her friends had noticed her much more distracted than usual. After finishing her work on the two sisters' castle, she would go straight home, not bothering with anything else. If what the book said was true, all Equestria owed its existence to Discord, but that was not important in his opinion, no, what was important is that even after "reforming", he had said absolutely nothing about his past.
And he had even betrayed the princesses by joining Tirek, someone he supposedly feared would kill his sisters with, so ... why join him? There was a little voice that told her that this was a lie, some ancient work of fiction, but then she remembered how Discord highlighted the fragments of the diary that she shared with her friends in which the events that led them to obtain the keys were narrated, and. .. Wasn't it thanks to his betrayal that they got the last key? Was it not thanks to that betrayal that the castle in which she now lived arose? Wasn't it thanks to him that Twilight knew what her role was as a princess? And if she was being honest, it was too easy to reform the lord of chaos, it almost seemed as if she had done it on purpose. Determined, she left her room with the book on her magic and went to the kitchen, where Spike was making himself something to eat.
"Spike, take note, we must deliver a letter to the princesses."
The little dragon looked at her, and when he saw the book, he knew immediately the importance of that letter.
Celestia opened her eyes just after hiding the sun and turned her head to see her sister lift the moon. It was something they did since the younger of the two discovered her cutie mark, at least until her exile. The day Twilight and her friends released her from the essence of Nightmare Moon, they had reverted to that custom. Often Celestia looked back sadly at the lonely years in that ancient castle, now ruined, wondering, not for the first time, if her parents could not have been more present. They had not visited them in a long time, specifically since Discord's defeat, so many centuries ago, and she was afraid that they had been forgotten, but the princess of the sun knew those thoughts in the depths of her mind as soon as they arrived. When the moon shone with all its splendor, Luna smiled at her older sister and entered her room, always facing the sunset.
"A tea before going to sleep, Tia?" Luna said as she sat next to a tea table that she had in her room, already prepared with a kettle and two cups.
"I'd love to" Celestia answered smiling.
The moment she Luna served her a cup, a green fire appeared before the solar princess, revealing a letter and a black book, which she grasped in magic from her as soon as she appeared. Celestia raised a curious eyebrow, glancing at the ancient tome, wondering that she would hide the pages from her, as she set the cup on the table. Deciding that the answer would be in the letter sent, she opened it and prepared to read while her sister waited patiently, taking a sip of her drink.
Dear Princess Celestia,
What I have sent you in a ... story of great interest to both you and Princess Luna. Spike found it in the first review of the books in the library of the Castle of the Two Sisters. It would be best if you read it together, and I suspect that you will want to suspend any meeting you have until it is finished.
With love,
Twilight Sparkle
Celestia raised an eyebrow with curiosity, looking at the aforementioned book, what information would she have so that her former star student recommended her to cancel all her assignments?
"Is something wrong, Tia?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Twilight has asked me to read this book," Celestia said as she handed the letter to her sister, who read it with a frown.
"Cancel our tasks? It must be importante" she commented before putting the letter on the table and focusing her attention on the strange book.
"Twilight wouldn't tell us that if she didn't think so" Celestia grabbed the book and opened it to the first page before looking at her Sister. "Do you want me to read?"
"As in the old days" replied the moon princess with a small laugh before nodding and taking a sip of tea.
What could be considered as the prologue of the book if that was strange, and more because of the almost pleading request of the author that the book be delivered to them. But her strangeness turned to confusion when they read that this pony named Cake served Discord before the princesses. With that revelation, they deduced that this book was written centuries before Luna was banished to the moon, so they found it amazing that it had remained hidden in the library for so long.
As soon as Celestia read the creation of the universe aloud, they looked at each other in surprise. That was the exact story that their parents had told them when they were little, and it was something that absolutely no other pony knew, how is it possible that this Cake knew about this? The only thing it differed in was the chaos lord's supposed role in it. Even so, they could consider it possible, because there could be no harmony without chaos, and it was known that this force of nature was the one that formed the changes and thus created new things, even so, it seemed strange to them that their parents had not mentioned it, and besides ... why was she treating Discord like their firstborn?
The most logical thing they could think of was that it was a little lie that the lord of chaos would tell the author, although it still seemed strange to them. The fact that Discord was directly responsible for creating the galaxies, the first planet or even being the one that would start the birth of a new god was totally different from what they remembered from the history that their parents told them, in fact, never they had heard of this Ares god. Also, seeing Discord so happy with the prevailing harmony was very confusing. If this was true, why would he begin to yearn for all of Equestria to be in chaos?
Upon arriving at the creation of the world, they found again that the narrative was practically the same as what their parents told them, with some details that either Discord made up, or their parents omitted. For example, the creation of thinking beings, true, they already knew that their brothers Harmony and Crono had created their own species, but according to this book, the lord of chaos was the creator of changelings, and gave them a form, apparently, more peaceful. Before reading on and trying to find the answer to why there were so many discrepancies between what their parents said and what this book said, Celestia looked at the time on the big clock in her sister's room. Noticing that it was already quite late, both sisters decided to continue reading over breakfast the next day, before going back to their tasks as rulers.
However, their royal duties did not allow them to do that, and although the reading was intriguing, they did not consider it to be as crucial as Twilight had let it be, and knowing what the mare was like with new knowledge, they suspected that was the way it was for her. It wasn't until their lunch arrived that they were finally able to have a little break, and after eating, they continued their reading in Celestia's room, at least until they had to return to their duties as rulers.
The next thing in the narrative was the birth of their sister Gea, something that was practically the same as what they already knew, and how their brothers, parents and Discord adopted their current forms. From here, everything was just as their parents narrated, without any other alteration, something that continued to affirm that the author was telling the truth, after all, no one knew exactly how it was that Grogar was defeated, and at the same time, it had a lot of things that didn't fit with what they knew, and it was all about Discord.
They went through the punishment that their parents meted out to the ponies, something that always seemed a bit cruel to them. They smiled at the mention of Celestia's birth, but frowned at a new discrepancy with what they knew, why did the autira insist that Discord was their brother? Or why did she say that he was present for most of their childhood? The supposed fact that he was dedicated to raising them was something that made the back of their mind churn, as if something was struggling to get out. They should have returned to their royal duties a long time ago, they had a meeting to go to, but something in the back of their minds was preventing them from leaving the book, so they announced that they would cancel all their meetings that day.
They quickly passed the creation of the Everfree, a story that was totally different from what they believed their creation to be, and they finally came to the narrative from Cake's point of view, and by reading the description that that mare gave of herself, they had a strong feeling that they should know her. Reading her first encounter with her own eyes, Celestia fell completely silent as a cascade of memories came to light, as if they had been shot out of a trunk that had been snapped open after opening it with a key.
"Tia ... what's wrong?" Luna asked worried when she saw her sister's expression.
"Cake ..." Celestia whispered with tears beginning to emerge. "How could I forget her?"
"Tia? Did you meet Cake?" Luna asked with concern and curiosity.
Her older sister looked at her for a long time while silent tears broke her face, always calm. She saw no reason to try to remind Luna of all that was forgotten, for she knew very well the type of memory spell they had been subjected to by their brother. A pang of pain went through her as she remembered that, yes, Discord was their brother, and they not only forgot him, but hated him, turned him to stone, and considered him the most despicable and vile being they had ever known, and even after to reform him, they preferred not to have much contact with it.
"Can you continue, please?" She said calmly, trying to wipe away her tears.
Still worried, Luna listened to her sister, grabbing the book and preparing to read. A frown appeared on her face when she saw Discord's attitude, still convinced that there was a mistake. Was it a fictional story? If so, how did she know the details of the creation of the world? However, as she read her first play session with Cake, as with her sister, a torrent of images and forgotten memories came to her, causing her to drop the book from the print as she began to mourn. Celestia, knowing what she was going through, approached her and hugged her tightly with her left wing.
"Why?" Said Luna in a low voice. "Why did she do it?"
"I don't know Luna, but Cake left us the answers, as always ..."
After almost an hour in which they were crying, they felt ready to continue reading. As they went, they smiled at the displays of affection from Cake and Discord himself, and like her older sister, Luna felt like the worst sister in the world. When they read the visit and the talk between Discord and Harmony, Celestia was extremely surprised to learn the name of the husband of the goddess of harmony, it was the last name of her star student. She was already suspicious of her lineage, after all, the day that Twilight got her cutie mark, she felt the essence of a god inside her, it was for that and for her potential that she decided to make her her student and prepare her to be promoted, just like like she did with Cadence.
The death of her sister brought them a deep sadness, more Celestia, who remembered that day perfectly, even when the memories of her had been erased and modified, the feeling that her death produced was impossible to forget. But when they saw where their brother buried her, they looked at each other confused, wasn't it the same place where the Tree of Harmony rested?
Luna smiled and puffed out her chest proudly when she saw the day she got her cutie mark, while Celestia felt ashamed of her attitude as a filly, sometimes she was surprised at how much she had changed in all those years, not even the memory spell made her forget how she was in her childhood. However, their happiness turned to horror when they saw that it was their brother who created the Windigos, with Cake with whom she gave the indirect idea. Still, they reluctantly agreed that it was the best course of action, who knows what would have happened had it not been for the Windigos, although they hoped that something so drastic would not have to be done again.
Celestia felt immensely guilty again seeing that argument in which she yelled at her adoptive mother, but that disappeared when they read Discord's plan. They read silently how he rejected three villains before deciding to be the one who would face them, as he would be the only one who would not want to kill them. And so they knew why it would erase their memory. They were not astonished when they read the creation of the Tree of Harmony, since they had already suspected it since their brother buried Harmony there. And they couldn't help crying bitterly as he decided that it was best to make them forget him forever and that Cake would join in just to keep him from losing his mind if he was left alone. And their sadness increased from them seeing that his plan to escape from his stone prison ended in great failure, they could hardly continue to see how they treated Cake as if they had never met her.
Despite everything, they smiled when they saw that her adoptive mother got love and had a colt, and their heart warmed when they saw her message of love for them. When Celestia closed the book, she looked out the window, seeing the golden color of the sunset, and then she noticed the clock and both princesses knew that they were three minutes late for sunset and moon rise. Speeding out of the older sister's room, they went to Luna's, ignoring the guards who looked at them strangely. Once in place, they calmed down and led to the night. Once their work was done, Celestia smiled as she remembered.
"Is something wrong, Tia?" Luna said curiously, making Celestia look at her with a small smile and the loose tears that escaped her eyes.
"Cake would punish us for being late" she said before starting to laugh slightly, being followed by Luna, who looked at her with a mischievous smile.
"I would scold you, I would say that you are a bad influence. Admit it, I was her favorite."
"Whatever you say, nerd."
"Lazy."
Both sisters continued with their retaliation of nicknames as they walked to the elder's room, as they preferred to sleep together that night, and in order to avoid going to Luna's room, they decided to stay in Celestia's. Some of the guards looked at each other in surprise, as they had never seen the ruling princesses speak to each other like this before, but they breathed easy when they saw them laugh. The two alicorns reached the sunroom and lay down on the bed, with the book closed on the nightstand, and fell into a deep sleep.
Right after the sun rose, Celestia walked over to her desk, closely followed by her sister. She grabbed a scroll and quill and started to write.
"Are you going to call Discord?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, I think it is time to make up for lost time, and the ponies no longer hate he as much as before."
"Speak for you, I don't know if I'll be able to contain myself when I see it" Luna said angrily, ready to show her brother her opinion on erasing her memory.
On her side, Celestia, although she also wanted to teach her lost brother a lesson from hers, set out to calm her temper and remain calm, as she had always done since Luna's exile. After finishing the letter, she lit up her horn and it disappeared in golden fire. Once done, they both left, ready to hold that meeting that they canceled the day before.