With a purple flash, Twilight found herself in the only place she can think of to be away from everypony: the Castle of the Two Sisters. She looked down at the floor for a minute before raising a hoof and stomping it.
“IT WAS A LIE!” STOMP. “THE WHOLE THING WAS A LIE!” STOMP. “MY TEACHER!” STOMP. “MY LIFE!” STOMP. “MY-my family.” Tears rained down harder, and she stomped weakly with that last revelation and wept.
<Well, now you know the truth.> Twilight jerked as she heard a voice. She looked around.
“Who's there?” she asked.
<See that mirror to your right?> Twilight looked over and nodded. <Walk over to it,> the voice said. Twilight obeyed, and as she approached, she saw her reflection, but it wasn't a perfect one. Her fur was a darker lavender, and her eyes were like Nightmare Moon's but, again, in a darker lavender color. Her expression was of cold calculation. Her reflection opened its mouth to reveal sharp teeth. But the strangest thing of all was that Twilight hadn't opened her mouth. <There. Now we can talk face-to-face, so to speak.> A lightbulb went off in Twilight's head.
“Then you're--”
<Who you were meant to be, yes. I am Twilight Star, daughter of Luna.> Fear and sadness came over Twilight.
“I didn't know. You have to believe me. I didn't know!”
<I know. I know. You weren't a willing participant in Celestia's scheme, just a result. However, now that I'm at least partially free, I will not be suppressed again. I've been shut out too much in life, but no more.> Twilight Star looked around. <Mother comes. We can talk in more detail later, but for the time being, we have to deal with each other.> Twilight then saw her reflection's expression become sad and hurt. <Please don't reject mother. She and I have been through so much. To see her hurt again is too much for me.> Twilight was about to answer, when she heard a voice.
“Twilight? Twilight, where are you?”
Twilight eyed her reflection and saw it had become normal. Except for the wings, of course. She sighed and said aloud, “I'm over here, Luna.” In seconds, Twilight heard the sound of galloping hooves, and soon afterward, the Princess of the Night appeared. Her face was full of worry. Twilight couldn't help but cringe. “I'm so sorry Luna. Please, don't hate me.” Twilight's answer was the sound of hooves running once more, and she braced herself for an impact. However, what she got was a hug.
“We could never hate thee, Twilight. Thou art our daughter and savior. We hate what has happened to thee.”
“She-she's still in here, Luna. I just talked with her.”
Luna leaned back a bit, puzzled. “Twilight Star?” Twilight nodded, Luna embraced her again. “Oh, my foalish sister, the harm thou has placed on thy niece! We swear to thee, our daughter, that we shall fix this and help both sides of thee.” Twilight was so touched by what she heard from the lunar princess, and the princess's scent seemed so familiar. All of this caused her to join in the hug, and both cried a full hour for the wrongs brought against them.
* * * * * *
The girls sat in one corner with Spike, while they left Princess Celestia alone in her corner. They really didn't know how to treat their ruler after what they just heard. Rarity was the one that broke the ice.
“So what do you girls think? I myself believe it because of her horn.”
“Wha does her horn have ta do with it?” Applejack asked with a confused tilt of her head.
“Well, among unicorns, among the desirable traits we seek in a potential mate is the length of their horn. I noticed Twilight had a larger then average horn for a pony her size. It's just a tad smaller then Fleur De Lis's and Princes Cadenza's. And as you may have noticed about Princess Luna's horn, it was the same length as Twilight's. So her being an alicorn isn't far-fetched, though her being one thousand years old, I would never guess. Still, she is a friend, and I will stand by her.”
“Same here.” Applejack then looked over to Celestia, who noticed the attention, and said in a loud and clear voice, “What the Princess did, that's no way to treat yer kin.” Celestia looked down, ashamed.
“Well, Twilight was there for us, so I'm gonna be there for her. She's my friend, and I never leave friends hanging,” Rainbow Dash said with conviction.
“Well, I'll just have to plan a big 'Twilight's an alicorn and happy reunion with your mom party',” Pinkie said with her usual enthusiasm.
“I'd wait a bit on that, Pinkie. Twilight will be in no mood for a party yet,” Applejack said.
“I just wonder how Twilight's family will deal with this,” Fluttershy wondered, and that rendered them all silent. The family that raised Twilight doesn't know the truth. How would they respond to the fact that the mare they raised was royalty?
“Well, Twilight will need me, no matter what. I'm her number one assistant,” Spike said with an absoluteness to it. Silence prevailed again until, to the surprise of everypony, Fluttershy approached the princess.
“Excuse me, Princess Celestia?” she asked timidly.
“Yes, my little pony?” she replied sadly.
“I was just wondering why doing that to Twilight was a good idea. It hurt her so much.” Celestia looked away and closed her eyes.
“I thought I was doing the right thing. I was afraid that, as she was, Twilight would be an even darker version of her mother, and without the Elements to assist me, I was scared for the world. I had planned to unseal her alicorn powers soon and work on being a family again, but I was clearly too optimistic. I just hope they can forgive me.” Tears started to fall from the once-regal mare's eyes, and the girls couldn't help but comfort the princess, even if they didn't like what she did to her family.
They stayed that way until they saw a flash, and the door opened to reveal Luna, soon followed by Twilight. Twilight looked fearfully at her friends, clearly wondering what they thought of her now.
“TWILIGHT!” they all cheered, making it known how they felt as they eveloped her in a group hug. A tear-filled smile came to Twilight's face. Even Luna had a smile on her face seeing the sight. Her daughter needed her friends to get through this.
“Thank you girls! This means a lot for me,” Twilight commented as she basked in the love of her friends.
“Don't mentioned it, Twi, wer'e all here for ya,” Applejack replied. Then Twilight noticed Celestia approaching, and her smile faded as the hug broke up.
“Princess Celestia,” Twilight said with a firm and formal tone, “I hereby resign as your personal student. I cannot trust you at this time, so I feel the position will be useless.”
“What about your alicorn magic, Twilight? You need to be trained in that,” Celestia pleaded.
“WE will train our daughter, sister,” Luna declared as she approached Twilight and put a wing over the other mare. “She is our daughter, and we have many years to catch up on. Thou hast told us that Spike the dragon could send thee letters with his flames, so if thou needst anything from us, or vice versa, he can provide that. Our daughter needs us more than Canterlot, nor has Canterlot been a place we like to call home. Instead, we shall stay here. We assume that this quaint little tree house has more then one bedroom?”
“It does,” Spike answered.
“Then we shall take the other room,” Luna then looked at Twilight and continued, “If thou wouldst not mind, that is.”
“It's okay, Luna.” Twilight smiled a bit before a yawn took over. “I think I'm going to bed; I'm exhausted.” The girls all said their goodbyes as Twilight headed up the stairs. Celestia watched her niece go with a pain-filled heart, when Luna appeared in front of her.
“Our old castle. Now.” Celestia nodded and teleported them to the castle. They ended up in the throne room, and Luna looked around. “Fitting to have this discussion here. Now we can talk without disturbing our daughter further then she already has been.” Luna then looked fiercely at her older sister. “We can understand thy reason for sealing her after banishing us, sister, but to make her the persona Twilight Sparkle when that Rainboom and her Element awoke her? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, SISTER!? Thou hast always chastised me for being too hasty, but THIS!? We have more reason to remove you from power now than we did a thousand years ago. So tell us, dear sister, why we should not try again.”
“Because you are still weak from the Elements, you don't know the full state of the world, and the ponies would not sit still for it. Please, sister. I know I have made a terrible mistake in regards to Twilight. Just give me the chance to make amends to both of you,” Celestia pleaded.
“Those reasons are exactly why we have not attempted to remove thee. Do not make us regret that choice. Now, have the things you salvage from here for us be shipped to the tree house we will be living in for the foreseeable future.”
“Very well, sister. Anything else?” Celestia asked in a defeated voice.
“No, we shall leave thee to thy work. Good day, sister.” With that, Luna teleported out and left her sister alone in a castle that once held so many good memories. yet it had some of the most tragic ones as well. Celestia prayed that she would find a way to heal the rift between her and her family.
* * * * *
When Luna returned, she took to reading the more modern books in an effort to catch up with the times. 'Thank the moon that the written language has not changed that much.' She spent the next several hours reading until the dragon spoke up.
“Um, Princess Luna?” She looked up from the book she was reading and saw the baby dragon with the cutest apron on looking a tad fearfully at her.
“Please, in the privacy on our own home thou dost not need to use our title. Just call us Luna.”
“Um, okay, Luna. Could you get Twilight? Dinner is almost done and I don't think she's eaten all day.”
“Of course, young Spike. It shall be our honor.” Luna put the book down and went up the stairs. The first door she tried was the bathing room. The second door lead to an empty bedroom, which would likely be hers. Opening the last door, she finally found her daughter. Like the empty bedroom, the bed was next to the window, through which she saw the fading sun. Luna was still too weak to take back her royal duties for now, but she will get them back. However, she found some comfort being with her daughter again. She looked over her sleeping daughter. She had grown into a fine mare and would find a mate one day. Her daughter had a sad look on her face, and she clung to something hidden by her hoof and wing. Luna used a wing to brush back her daughter's hair, and she treasured the gesture she hasn't done in a thousand years. However it was time for dinner, so she had to wake her daughter. With a hoof, she gently shook Twilight.
“My Little Star, it is time to wake and eat dinner.” Twilight moaned and rubbed her eyes with her hooves as she sat up. It was then that Luna saw what Twilight was holding. It was Woona, the doll made so long ago in her likeness. Luna picked it up in her magic and looked it over. It was in excellent condition for its age, so it was either a replica that her sister made or her sister actually took the time to preserve it.
“Woona!” Twilight said and look around until she saw that Luna had it, and the older alicorn smirked.
“'Tis good to see thou still hast this doll, the maker did do a good job on it.”
“Celestia gave her to me when I became her student. She comforted me.”
“She was part of a gift from your father. He had one made of me and my sister.The maker did a good job; she is very accurate, and your father only had a portait to go on.” A smirk found its way onto her lips. “Woona was your favorite.” Twilight took the doll from her and looked over it.
”Luna...I-I don't know how to really respond to you. With these wings, it's obvious that you're my mother, but my feeling towards the mare that raised me--” Twilight stopped when Luna put a hoof on her daughter's shoulder.
“This will not be easy for either of us, Twilight. We do not expect thee to call us 'Mother' right away, but we can hope that you will one day. Now let us be off; young Spike has prepared dinner, and we can certainly use the meal,” Luna said as she paraded down with her daughter close behind.
Spike made spaghetti with hayballs for them, and both alicorns dug in eagerly. Watching the two devour the meal Spike could only comment, “Yup, they're related.” Then he went in to eat before all the food was gone.