"And?" Twilight asked staring up at her mentor.
Princess Celestia could not help but smile at her. "And that's it, Twilight. I cannot force the pegasi of Cloudsdale to change their laws without having their own courts alter their own laws to allow me to do so. It was part of an ancient treaty that both Luna and I are bound to. Part of the agreement was that we cannot interfere with the lives of mortals directly without expressed permission of all the councils. At first only the earth ponies and their oracles gave us the right to govern them. The unicorns and their magi took many decades before allowing us to govern them as well. The pegasi and their Gerousia have never forgiven us for the little we did to change their ways. We must abide by their laws insomuch as they must abide by ours otherwise the consequences could be extremely dire."
"But... you're the ruler of our kingdom!"
"I know, Twilight, but that's the way it has been since the unification of our kind." Princess Celestia sighed and lowered her head. "I had hoped that after all this time the pegasi would give up their abhorrent ways, but it seems that I have been mistaken."
"You mean you didn't know?"
"I am not omnipotent, Twilight. Even I have limits to what I can and cannot do, otherwise do you think that I would ask you do put your life and those of your friends in danger if I were? I may be strong with magic and can do a great many things, but there are limits to my power. I knew that this used to happen, but I cannot see under every cloud. It pains me to know that this has not ceased in this day and age, but as I cannot cure every sick pony in a hospital, I cannot know the plight of every foal that is cast from Cloudsdale. I am so overjoyed that this Cupcake has taken it upon herself to care for the plight of these foals and I will do what I can. Now that I know I can do something so long as it does not go against the law."
"What do you mean?"
"I can finance this operation. Ensure that Cupcake gets a stipend to help support her family."
"But that doesn't address the root of the problem, Your Highness."
Celestia flinched a little at that. Twilight only used her honorific if she was angry at her mentor.
"I know. Really, I do. However, I cannot go against the law even if I believed it to be right. It's not my place to decide. The freedom to choose is something that I cannot and must not interfere with." Princess Celestia turned away from her student. "Is it not unfair that the actions of one can influence so many? With that in mind would it be right for me to wield such absolute power as well? Yes, I could force the pegasi to obey me. I have enough strength alone to take Cloudsdale by force if I wanted to!" and as if to emphasize the point she stood up and her horn glowed fiercely. For a moment it felt like the entire throne room was bathed in a bright, white flame, but the moment past by almost as quickly and Twilight stood there stunned at the display of such power. "One battalion of my Royal Guard could take Cloudsdale without any trouble, but would that be right?"
Twilight understood. Those with power sometimes had to be answerable somehow. It was only through her kindness and love that she resisted. The same kindness and love a mother would have for her children.
"Sometimes I feel that I am powerless, and I can't decide whether that's a good thing or not."
Luna placed a hoof on her sister's shoulder. Celestia smiled at her.
"The burden thou hast forced us recall comes from before the reformation of our kingdom, a time when our history was written with the blood and tears of those that were unfortunate enough to live through it. Our gift of long life is also our curse for we have seen much and have learned unforgettable lessons through many hardships.
"It was the battle against Discord that had forced our hooves. Him and his minions hath threatened to ruin our world beyond repair. We did not possess the strength, experience nor the wisdom we possess now, and even then the harbinger of chaos was more powerful than when thou hast faced him last."
"He was unstoppable," Celestia whispered staring up at the ceiling.
"True. We had little choice but to form an alliance and had little choice but to accept the conditions returned to us as dictated in the treaties. Despite our noblest efforts we could only do so much. Time was not on our side, had it have been then perhaps the fate of many would have changed, including your own, Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps Canterlot would have been a city in the clouds instead of here on this mountainside."
"So... that was how the treaty was signed? Out of desperation?"
"We would like to say it was more to do with necessity rather than desperation that made us agree. Without that treaty we might have lost the war, and it is because of said treat that we never had any say of what could and could not be done in Cloudsdale. Although I do agree that desperate times hath demanded desperate measures, ergo it was necessary for us to agree with the conditions of those in power at that period. The unity of our kind did not come as easily as history makes it sound. Before the truce there was much bloodshed and bitterness between the races, mostly towards the pegasi for their cruel methods and maintaining control of the local populace."
"I know. I've heard."
"You may have heard, but we hath seen the massacres with our very eyes. The way they made sport of those that lived under them all because they claimed to be superior because of their position in the clouds. That they were above those that dwelt on the ground." Luna closed her eyes and shook her head. "Earth ponies are stronger, hardier and are able to work the lands better, without them the pegasi could not survive. Yet the Cloudsdale pegasi were not content with just control, they were also jealous. Earth ponies are stronger and possess stamina that is enviable even to us alicorns. Despite these traits, however, the earth ponies were gentle. Always preferring peace over open conflict. But every creature, no matter how patient, has a breaking point. So how does a small population of ponies control a bigger one so that any hint of revolt is quashed even before the seed even get planted?"
"Sister, I don't think Twilight needs to know that-"
"Tia, please. If Twilight is going to help change the very foundations of Cloudsdale then she will need to know what kind of ponies they are. Twilight, you may know of how the government works, their method of legislation, how to speak their official tongue, but you know nothing of what makes the Cloudsdale pegasi do what they do. Why they prune the weak as foals and why their entire society is built on the principal that their city is all that matters, that it is more important than their lives. They are trained as fighters almost as soon as they are able to walk. Trained to fly hard, to compete, to do what is necessary to benefit the city. Even if it meant culling those they deemed dangerous."
"C-culling?" Twilight gulped.
"That was one thing that my sister and I demanded to cease," Celestia cut in. "You have to understand, Twilight, this was a very long time ago and-"
"And the mentality exists to this day, sister. Just because they do not actively seek out and exterminate those beneath them today does not mean that their way of thinking has changed. Cloudsdale pegasi think they are superior to all others. Those that divert from this school of thought are exiled, the ones that demand change are more likely maimed, or killed."
Twilight immediately thought of Squall and his destroyed wings.
"The closed, inbred community is the main disease that plagues that great city. Only those that leave can see their ignorance and allow themselves to learn what family truly means. That is the reason why we have always failed when we have tried appealing to the Apella. The pegasi believe that they are right. It is this misguided misconception that must be abolished."
"But... h-how could they do that? All those innocent lives..." Twilight tried to wrap her head around this new information. She just could not. Pegasi killing others off to maintain control? "Who would do such a thing?"
"Crypteia." Celestia said the word as if it were the foulest one in her vocabulary.
Luna's demeanor also soured at the mere mention of that name.
"W-what's the Crypteia?" Twilight asked.
"The name of a highly selective and prestigious group within the ancient pegasi military. Their job was to find and dispose of potential threats to their beloved city by slaying those deemed dangerous to Cloudsdale and its assets. Only the best and most prestigious of pegasi qualified to join their ranks. The best, fastest, strongest fliers. Sound familiar?" Luna let the weight of it sink in.
"N-no. Y-you can't mean..."
"Yes, but of course they no longer purge the populace below them. That would give us an ample excuse to take Cloudsdale with the full force of the Royal Guard. Even the Ephors are not as empty headed as to tempt fate by challenging us in such a manner." Luna sighed and closed her eyes. She disliked remembering things like this.
"I can't believe that the origin of the Wonderbolts was so... dark!" Twilight was glad that she had asked Rainbow to stay outside while she talked with the princesses first. A part of her did wonder how she would have taken to this new information, but she had other things on her mind.
Celestia nodded at Twilight's comment. "Oh yes, it was most certainly atrocious. The battle against Discord might've been very different if it hadn't been for the pegasi, and also for the Crypteia. Cloudsdale was by far the most effective fighting force out there, holding off Discord's minions with so few in number while we battled Discord himself. If it had not been for the militaristic nature upbringing of the pegasi then we don't know how things would've turned out. Without them everything would've changed. It is because of them we have this utopian society today."
"Thou should have heard my words sister."
"I know, Lulu. I know."
"Allowing them to govern themselves is one of many things I regret to this day."
Twilight stared at her mentor. "I know a way! A way we can change everything."
At that the two princesses exchanged looks, but it was Luna who spoke. "How?"
"We get one of the royal family to speak directly to the Gerousia, and convince the Ephors to change the law."
"That is a dream we hath disowned many moons ago, Twilight. If what you speak is truth, then you would have accomplished what my sister and I have failed to do so our entire lifetimes," Luna replied. "Tell us how have you managed to convince one of those stubborn royal family members to stand up against their own household?"
At that Twilight turned around and shouted as loud as she could. "Rainbow, can you come here please?"
The two princesses stood there a moment wondering what Twilight meant, but as Rainbow walked inside the two instantly understood. How had they missed it before?
"The youngest daughter of the Iridum Household! How is it we missed that, Tia?"
"We were never looking, Lulu. We had given up so long ago. We stopped believing that there was another way."
"She really is the Element of Magic," Luna whispered as she looked at Twilight.
In that moment the two sisters understood that great things were in store for the lavender unicorn.