Blood Ties

by bestponydash


A Story to be Told

Twilight looked back and forth to the different beds her friends occupied. She listened for their snores and deep breaths. She looked down and could just make out Spike's small bed next to her, he was sound asleep. The princess of friendship slowly removed her covers and sat up, still listening for any movement however dim. She lifted herself up, carefully stepping over Spike, and placed one hoof after the other onto the ground; holding her breath all the while. It took several minutes but at last the final of her hooves warmed the frigid crystal floors. Twilight took a deep breath and set her sights on the door. She creeped onward until she could feel the large doorknob in her grasp. The door swung open with no more than a faint squeal and Twilight placed her first hoof outside.

"[yyyyaaaawwwn]" Twilight whirled her head back and peered into the darkness. Her heart pounded in her chest with every breath and her eyes widened. There was a rough waving of covers and then the room returned to silence. Twilight's breathing slowed and she continued out the door until she could safely close it behind her.

"[Phew]" She wiped her brow and glanced around; the hall was clear and calm.

The way down to the dungeons was still fresh in Twilight's mind and she made her way to the rock walls with little effort. She silently trotted along until the dated stair case was at her hooves. She made a reassuring nod and traversed down. Unfortunately, as she made her way down, there was a light, a torch, perched on the wall next to the large wooden door. Two castle guards stood watch for any intruders. Twilight cursed under her breath and turned back.

"Who goes there?" one of the guards demanded. Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed. She made her way down the stairs and into the guards' view. "Princess Twilight? What are you doing down here?"

Twilight's eyes dashed back and forth, she had to think of something. "P-Princess Celestia sent me down here to check on the two of you and the prisoner."

The two looked at one another, "The princess sent you to check on us? She has never done that before."

"Well...this is....a special case. The princess is extremely cautious of THAT prisoner and I must be sure he has no chance of escape. Now please let me pass."

The guards scratched their heads and thought, but eventually shrugged and stepped aside. Twilight entered the dungeon and closed the door behind her. She lit up her horn and produced a ball of light much like Celestia's. The room was damp, dripping from the ceiling. Corrosion ate away at the walls and the cells themselves. The many doors at each side of the hall were dark and in disrepair. Twilight walked on, feeling the slick, oily ground under her hooves. Finally, she stopped at the last door to the right.

Before opening it she hesitantly placed her ear to the wood and listened. Inside there was a faint breathing, "I know you're there," a voice said. Twilight jumped back and gulped. The door opened and twilight stepped inside, her light illuminated the shackled pony's scarred face. He looked at the princess and smirked. "I hadn't expected to see you so soon," his voice was rugged and coarse.

"But you expected me."

"Heh, you couldn't have thought Celestia was powerful enough to actually harm me; or even anypony for that matter. You on the other hoof..." he rubbed his shoulder where Twilight's blast had made contact earlier.

Twilight once again felt her heart pound and she could feel her hind leg edging towards the door, "Y-You were awake the whole time?"

"I had to have time to come up with a way to escape. I hadn't accounted for the possibility of another princess being coronated. How many are there now?"

"Four."

"Has so much truly happened?" he asked himself, looking to the ground, "I had forgotten just how long I've been away."

"Over one thousand years." Lennox sighed and his ears lowered in grief. Twilight felt her heart slow and her legs remained firm. "How did you know I would come?"

His glowing yellow orbs looked passed twilight's own eyes and into her being, "I could always see curiosity in a pony, it is plain as day. You are wondering just who I am exactly and what I did."

She moved a bit closer, "Yes."

"It is a long story, but I will shorten it as best I can.... How well do you know Celestia and Luna?"

"Celestia has been my teacher since I was a filly. As for Luna, my friends and I....helped her....and taught her how to fit in with the ponies of Equestria; we're close."

"After so long, Luna still had not learned to live among the ponies she helped rule?" Lennox spoke to himself and twilight suddenly realized he had no knowledge of Nightmare Moon; how could he, Luna had been banished to the moon after he had been to Tartarus. Lennox shook his head and stood up; he approached Twilight, her eyes widened as she heard the rattle of the shackles attached to his hooves. "Do not be fooled by Celestia's words or false emotions of friendship, she has performed terrible acts..... That dragon you travel with...."

"Yes, I saw Luna look at him after her and Celestia whispered something."

"He does not know who his parents are or where he comes from, yes?"

"Yes...but what does that have to do with the princesses?"

"Many years ago, the ponies of Equestria and the dragons of the land beyond found one another. Each side attempted to use the other's land for their own purposes. Naturally the dragons became enraged and began attacking the ponies; the ponies, in turn, retaliated. After many years of fighting, it was declared that the dragons had cut their losses and gave up, we had won. At least, that was the story that Celestia fooled the populous into believing."

Twilight shook her head, "I've never heard this before."

Lennox grinned, "It is not surprising that she would eventually let this story die....for that was entirely different than what truly happened."

"What did happen?"

"I was an adviser to the two princesses, a type of....foreign diplomat if you will. The truth is that Equestria's royalty had known about the dragon's homeland far before the general public did. I was tasked to travel there and become the pony representative. There was relative peace; as you can imagine, dragons are not the most manageable of creatures. But I did my best to keep the peace. Until one day..."

"Yes?"

"One of the dragon families, a poor laborer and his wife, sought audience with the dragon lord. They told of a small hooded creature sneaking into their home and stealing their new egg. They said that the creature was in the shape of a pony. Naturally I told his majesty that no pony alive would ever do something so unprecedented. But they did not believe me, and thus after a few heated arguments and exaggerations about what this one act could mean about all pony kind, the fighting began."

Twilight sat down and rubbed her head in disbelief, "That's impossible! None of us would steal a baby!"

"I felt as you did, so I fled the dragon's land and pleaded with the princess for help. Unfortunately, war was inevitable, the dragon lord could not forgive the ponies for stealing one of his own kind. We fought and the ponies of Equestria suffered greatly. I was desperately trying to talk to the dragon monarch, but it was no use. So, I tried to get Celestia to stop this war, show them that we are a peaceful race and we couldn't possibly do something so horrible. Luna joined me in the endeavor, but even the two us together could do nothing to sway the oppressive voice of Celestia."

Twilight began to put the pieces together: Luna's behavior, Celestia's reluctance to talk. The only thing still a mystery was....,"No i-it couldn't possibly be..."

"One day," Lennox continued, "I figured I would make one last try with Celestia, so I entered her room, but it was empty. As I turned to walk out I heard a strange noise. I couldn't describe it, but it peaked my curiosity, so I investigated. I searched her room until I came across a small wooden case, the inscriptions told me that a powerful magic effected whatever was inside. Against my better judgement I opened it and what I saw stopped my heart."

"No."

"Yes."

"No, she wouldn't. Celestia would never take a-"

"Dragon's egg."

Twilight stood up and faced the door, "You're lying! Celestia is my teacher and my friend, she would never steal a baby!"

"I saw it with my own eyes! I, too, didn't want to believe it. I ran from Celestia's room and consulted her sister; I showed her as well. She assumed that this was all some plot by the dragons to frame Celestia, I believed that....until Celestia arrived and caught the two of us standing over the case. When we confronted her, she replied with 'It is to secure our future.' "

"Stop, I'll not have you lie to my face about my own mentor!" Twilight stomped towards Lennox and lit up her horn.

"When you saw his egg, was it green and purple?" Twilight stopped in her tracks and stared at him.

"........"

"I thought so."

"It....can't be.... Spike was abandoned and Celestia took him in as an egg," she spoke more to herself than to Lennox.

"When I first showed Luna the egg, she identified the inscriptions as those which can alter time. The egg was frozen in its current state until Celestia saw fit to hatch it."

Her horn dimed and the magic vanished from its tip. She sat down; her mind was in frantic chaos: her exam to get into Celestia's school, had Celestia known she would be the element of magic all along? Did Spike's egg still have the time magic then? So many questions, so many unbelievable details. It couldn't be true; Celestia wouldn't lie to her throughout her entire life, she's a good pony, a good princess who taught her everything she knows.

"I know what you're trying to do. You won't turn me against the other princesses. I won't allow it!" Twilight jumped up and ran through the cell door. She grabbed it with her magic and shut it tight. However, just before the door shut completely, Twilight could make out Lennox's final words:

"Visit Luna, she will tell you the rest of this tale. Maybe then you will accept the truth."

The door was closed and Twilight collapsed on the ground half way through the hall. She breathed harder than she ever had before and her hoof rubbed her head raw in an attempt to banish her dizziness. Her mind raced with hundreds of emotions and thoughts.

It took several minutes for her to calm down. But once this was done, she stood up; her eyes were fixed on the door leading out of the dungeons. Soon enough she was out and heading up to Luna's room with fire in her eyes.