//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Life Goes On // Story: The Secret Heir // by RuinQueenofOblivion //------------------------------// Celestia's POV. I sighed as I lowered the sun beneath the horizon to end another day, it had just been another long and boring day in the Day Court. It had been 8 years to the day since I had sent Orange Swirl, Sunbeam, and Rainbow Dash to Ponyville, and right now I just wanted to be able to lay in bed and sleep for a week. "Are you okay, Celestia?" Luna asked as she finished raising the moon and came up to me. "Something seems to be bothering you today." I paused, I admitted that I wasn't sure what I should tell Luna, maybe I should tell her the truth. "I'll tell you in private," I said as I walked towards my quarters and Luna followed close behind. I took a deep breath, I had to hope that she'd understand, telling her wasn't going to be easy, telling anypony would really. I just had to hope that Luna would be more understanding than anypony else would be. "Okay Celestia, tell me what's bothering you," Luna said as I closed and locked the door. "The nobles said you've been acting distracted all day." "Luna, what I have to tell you needs to stay between us," I said and Luna nodded in agreement, that was enough for me. "8 years ago, I had a daughter named Sunbeam." "You have a daughter?" Luna asked, looking at me shocked. "Yes, her father was a noblestallion who I allowed to get close to me," I said shaking my head. "When she was born though, I started to get wind of an element within the nobility and the guard that was starting to believe that I shouldn't rule. I didn't want her to get caught up in it, so I sent her away, to Ponyville along with a mare I could trust and a guard to keep her safe." Luna paused at that for a moment, I don't think that's what she expected me to say, she stood there for a long moment before responding. "I have a niece? Why didn't you tell me?" She asked finally. "I didn't want word to get out, I'm sorry Luna," I said. "This is one of the most closely guarded secrets in Equestria, I didn't even tell Twilight." "I see," Luna said. "I will keep your secret sister, but I have to know, do you know who she is in Ponyville?" "Yes, she's somepony you know," I said, ruffling my wings nervously as I started to tell her who she was. I knew that the truth would come as a shock to my sister. 00000 Rainbow Dash's POV. I landed outside of my Cloud Mansion, I couldn't believe that it had been 8 years since I had come to Ponyville already. I had to admit that I had made a lot of friends, more than I had really expected, heck I had an honorary little sister in Scootaloo, it had been a good 8 years for me. I hadn't really expected it to be the most thrilling job, but I had my share of excitement when I became the bearer of the Element of Loyalty. But still, I had done my job keeping the kid safe, after all that's what Celestia had tasked me with. "Hey Rainbow Dash, I've got a letter for you," Derpy says, taking out an envelope. "Looks really official too." "Thanks Derpy," I said with a nod as I took it and headed inside, it had a seal on it that looked official alright, I didn't recognize it, but it looked like it might have been from one of the noble families back in Canterlot. It was of an outline of a bird with its wings outstretched. I opened it carefully and took out the letter inside. We know you're in Ponyville to protect the Princess' dirty little secret, if you don't want to put the child's life at risk, I suggest that you convince her majesty to come clean within a week. This will be your only warning, Private Rainbow Dash. "What the heck? Who in Celestia's name sent this?" I wondered out loud as I looked at the seal again, it wasn't something that I recognized, but I knew a pony that would recognize it. I took off and headed towards the Castle with the envelope in my bag. 00000 "You're saying you got this in the mail?" Twilight asked as she examined the envelope. "That's right," I said nervously, I didn't want to show her the letter, but I felt that if anypony knew who might have sent it it was her. "Do you recognize the seal?" "Honestly, no, it doesn't look like anything I've seen before," Twilight said regretfully. "I'm sorry Rainbow." I sighed, I knew it was a long shot, but I had hoped that Twilight would at least know something. She's still looking at it carefully, like she's trying to figure something out. "What was in the envelope?" She asked, looking at me. "That could be a clue as to who sent it." "It was nothing, just a, uh..." I said, trying to come up with a plausible lie. "About the Wonderbolts, you know how it is, always getting fan mail and stuff." "I see," Twilight said, she looked at me strangely, like she wasn't sure whether or not to believe me. "Is there anything else I can help you with Rainbow Dash?" "Can I have Spike send a message to Celestia for me?" I asked, that got another look from the lavender Alicorn. "Its, private." "Uh sure, he's in the kitchen now, I think," she said, nodding down the long hallways. "Thanks Twi, I owe you one," I said and headed towards the kitchen. If this letter was telling the truth, then Celestia was going to have to be informed, we couldn't put the Princess' life at risk. Even if it meant that we'd have to tell everypony the truth. 00000 Twilight Sparkle's POV. "So what did Rainbow Dash want?" Starlight asked as she came into the castle, she had been out visiting with Trixie who was visiting in town. "Strangest thing, she wanted me to look at an envelope," I said, I was still confused why she had been asking me about it. "It had some sort of seal on it, like a bird of some sort with its wings outstretched, does that mean anything to you?" "Not really," Starlight said with a shrug. "Me neither, its weird though, whatever it was seemed to shake her, and I tried to ask what was in the envelope, and she said it was fan mail." While fan mail itself wasn't weird, why would she want to keep it secret? Rainbow Dash wasn't exactly humble, she'd honestly be more likely to try and show it off, so she was probably lying to me when she said that. So now the question was, why did she lie and what did the letter really say? Spike came in a minute later looking confused. "Hey, uh, Twilight, I just sent a message for Rainbow Dash to Celestia, she then flew off after getting an answer, do you know what that was about?" "Honestly, I don't know, did you see what she wrote?" I asked, Spike shook his head. "Great..." "I'm sorry Twilight," Spike said. "Its okay, we'll figure this out," I said, and went to the library, maybe I could find some answers in a book. 00000 Rainbow Dash's POV. I knocked on the door to Dizzy Twister's house, looking around nervously for a moment before the other Pegasus mare answered. "Oh hey Rainbow Dash, I'm sorry I just put..." Dizzy started to say. "I'm not here about that, I need to talk to you," I said, getting a look from Dizzy, I leaned in and whispered a word in her ear. "Eclipse." "Come inside, quickly," Dizzy said and ushered me inside, she knew the code word well enough. She shut the door and locked it quickly before turning to talk to me again. "Are you sure?" "Its from Celestia herself," I said. Eclipse was the code word for a breach of security in the operation, even though the note didn't seem to indicate that they knew the Princess' identity. "What are her orders?" Dizzy asked. "She's going to tell a few select Ponies, starting with Twilight," I said. "And she's going to be coming tomorrow, to help us tell Sunbeam." "But, we weren't supposed to tell her until she reached maturity," Dizzy said confused. "Why the change?" I had a hard time understanding the sudden change too, I had given Celestia all the information that I knew, and I just had to hope that she knew what she was doing. I had dedicated the last 8 years of my life to keeping that filly safe, and I wasn't about to change that. "We don't have a choice, if Celestia has to go public with this, she'll find out," I said and shook my head. "Dizzy... we knew we'd have to tell her eventually..." "I know, but, I just always hoped it would be later," Dizzy said, I knew how she felt, we'd both come to care for the filly, this was more than just an assignment now. "Rainbow, what are we going to do?" "The only thing we can do," I said. "We're going to tell her the truth and hope that she can handle it." This was going to be one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, and then I'd have to tell my friends the truth too. I just had to hope that they'd understand.