//------------------------------//
// A Brief Lesson in History 
// Story: Shadow Flame 
// by Shadow Flame 
//------------------------------//

	"How...?! What...?! Why...?!" A confused Twilight Sparkle stuttered. "How can there be a male alicorn?! That isn't even possible!"
"I assume that you were given a book about the different kinds of ponies with an extra-long section on alicorns?" Shadow Flame asked.
"Yes." Twilight said. "But I thought that it was mostly speculation by the author outside of the basic biological information that everypony knows."
"You were the one pony who was convinced that Nightmare Moon was coming back 1,000 years after Luna was banished to the moon, and was the only one who was certain that there was something amiss with Cadance when Chrysalis was masquerading as her, yet you think that I'm impossible. Really?"
"Well, maybe you're a changeling." Twilight pointed out.
"Changelings can only take the form of someone that they've seen before." Shadow Flame responded. "Since this is the first time I've revealed my form to someone in years, and everyone that is living in Equestria who has seen me had the image of my form faded into their most inaccessible memory banks, I doubt that any changeling could mimic my form."
"That doesn't even make sense!" Twilight retorted.
"Oh, what fun is there in making sense." Shadow Flame responded in a tone mocking Discord. "Seriously, though. I exist. I'm not a changeling, I'm not any kind of shape-shifter. I am a tried-and-true, 100% genuine Equestrian Alicorn, male version 1.5."
"And how do we know you aren't Discord playing a prank on us?" Spike said in a nervous tone.
"Yeah." Twilight said. "How can we be sure you aren't Discord."
"Well, that's simple." Shadow Flame said. "Why don't you ask..."
"Why don't you just ask the one and only Discord." Discord said, appearing in the place of one of the trees to the left of Twilight. "Shadow Flame, long time no see."
"Alright, Shadow Flame. If that is your real name," Twilight said, flaring up her horn in preparation for a spell. "Explain yourself. Who are you? How are you an alicorn? And why haven't you been seen in years?"
"I suppose I owe you an explanation." Shadow Flame said. "But I think it should be told to your friends and fellow Elements of Harmony too. And I have no intention of repeating this tale. I'll meet you at your castle, the one you got from the Tree of Harmony in an hour." Shadow Flame finished starting to his home.
"Wait! Look out for that... " Twilight said as Shadow Flame started to walk into a pond, only to notice him walking on top of it. "How is that possible?"
"One of your friends has chaotic magic," Shadow Flame said over his shoulder. "This should be common for you to see."
"I've never thought to do that." Discord said. "I've got to try that sometime."
"Anyway, one hour. Oh, and don't worry about me being unable to find it. I know the way."
"Well, alright." Twilight said. "See you in an hour."

***

"Alright." Twilight said once everyone was seated. "Talk. Answer the questions I asked you earlier."
"Who am I? As I said earlier, I am Shadow Flame. An alicorn." Shadow Flame started. "I am oftentimes referred to as the first on account of my age. I am the oldest known alicorn yes, but I can't claim the title of the first alicorn in existence."
"Then who is?" Princess Celestia asked.
"The information is what one might call a shocker." Shadow Flame said. "But I will explain. Back in the early years of our world, back even before Discord was born, I was a young colt in my 20's. My transformation had just started about a few years prior, yet I hadn't fully become an alicorn. I had the magic, yes, but not quite the form.
"I was one of the few lucky survivors of a war the likes of which the world hadn't seen before or, thankfully, since. I assumed that my transformation had something to do with it."
"Yes," Twilight said. "But how did you become an alicorn?"
"I believe that an enchanted gem I found a few years before that war, along with a certain phrase I'll keep to myself, caused it." Shadow Flame said. "This answers the question of how I became an alicorn. As for the identity of the first alicorn. Truth is, even I can't say how she was born. All I know is that after the war I found her and her mom. Unfortunately, her mom had passed. It was too late even for magic to help her.
"But I vowed to the heavens that I would make sure that she was cared for." Shadow Flame continued his narrative. "And for the next few decades, that's what I did. My powers grew, and I taught her everything I knew and created. Eventually, my transformation had finished and I was an alicorn in full. We lived in the most remote of places in the place now called the Everfree forest."
"What was her name?" Princess Celestia asked.
"And where is she now?" Princess Luna added.
"I decided to name her Hope." Shadow Flame answered. "As for where she is? I would guess that she is out looking for some new dress in Manehattan."
"When will she be back?" Twilight asked.
"She left about an hour before I met you, Twilight." Shadow Flame said. "Probably tomorrow morning."
"Will you let us know when she returns?" Princess Cadence asked.
"Yes." Shadow Flame said, nodding his head. "I'll send Joey to Princess Twilight as soon as Hope returns."