Blood Ties

by bestponydash

The Journal

Twilight ran from Luna's chambers and back toward her and her friends' room. She did not bother to tell them what she'd discovered nor did she even wake them up. She sprinted passed the door completely and did not stop until she was out the castle gate. She finally halted in her tracks on the steps outside, the castle entrance wide open behind her. Twilight stood there, huffing and puffing hoof-fuls of air into and out of her lungs. She took a second to calm herself and wiped her face and eyes. "Okay...okay, fine. But there has got to be a reason. I've known Celestia most of my life; I know she would never do something so horrible without a justifiable reason. The journals.... Luna said to search the journals. There has to be something written on those pages that explains all of this, there has to be." So, Twilight focused on uncovering the truth and lit up her horn with the castle of the two sisters in mind. She had decided to stop acting like an emotional filly and start behaving like her true, rational, methodical, and level-headed self.

Her body suddenly poofed away in a flash of magic and reappeared in the Everfree Forest. When she had completely materialized, Twilight zoomed around and scanned her surroundings with a wide gaze. Her eyes motioned to her tail, "That was weird, could have sworn something touched me." She looked around for another good minute or so but eventually turned her attention back to the task at hoof. With a creased brow and an increasing heart rate she trotted inside the decaying castle.

It had been quite a while since the princess had been in this place, so it took her some time to get her bearings. After five wrong turns, three trap doors, one rotating wall, and much ruble, she finally found her way to the tower she had found with Spike some time ago. She entered the small room and memories of sitting with dozens of ancient books surrounding her while her friends panicked and ran about downstairs filled her mind. But now was not the time to reminisce. Twilight quickly started sifting through her fellow princesses' records and personal items long forgotten. She had read Luna and Celestia's personal journal before, but it did not mention anything of the matter in question. Luna must be referring to another kind of journal, one which would have been hidden so the random pony could not ever find it. So, Twilight search even more vigorously than before; turning over tables, curtains, beds, and of course, dozens of bookshelves. She had been looking for what seemed hours when she had finished checking every book in the room. Her composure was beginning to break once again as she threw the last book in her hooves against the wall in frustration. As the tattered parchment made contact with a far wall, Twilight heard a scuffling behind her.

She rushed her head around, "Who's there?" She asked, irritated and startled. But only silence ensued. She glanced around for a few seconds before turning back and beginning to attempt to search one more time. But just as she was starting to turn, Twilight noticed something that had not been there before. A misplaced stone in the floor which looked to have been disturbed recently. Twilight tilted her head and approached cautiously. When she got close, Twilight could see something beneath the stone, but she could not speak as to what it was exactly; so, she reached with her hoof. But when she made contact with the stone, a great burst of magic shot forth and burned her foreleg. Twilight screeched and jumped back, but she felt no anger or irritation, for she knew she had found what she had been looking for.

She approached the stone once more, but this time she stepped with her head down as to be prepared to block the magical blast. But the stone did not shock her this time around. Instead, when she was just a few inches away, a magical beam flew up from the ground and covered Twilight's horn. She panicked and struggled to get free, but nothing worked. She attempted to blast the grip of the stone away. So, she lit her horn up with a deadly glow. As soon as she did so however, the magic of the stone absorbed Twilight's power and changed to a bright white color. The ground shook beneath her as Twilight's horn began to heat up. Suddenly the magic of the stone receded and released Twilight and one quick motion; Twilight was sent flying back, landing on her back among a pile of discarded books.

She quickly rose and gazed into the now calm hole in the floor where the stone had once stood in her way. Twilight rushed to the formerly protected compartment and looked inside where she saw two old leather-bound books each with an impressive lock across the cover. She slowly removed the books one at a time due to the possibility of more protective measures. When she was sure it was safe to proceed, Twilight examined the two fruits of her effort. One book was Labeled "Celestia" and the other "Luna." Beneath the label, each book featured a riddle: "This ledger may only be opened by the owner's stem of knowledge." The words echoed in Twilight's head for several minutes but she could not make sense of it. She repeated them over and over, "The owner's stem of knowledge? Must be a metaphor, but what is it referring to?"

As she was thinking, Twilight rose and began to walk to the door. As she exited the room she heard a loud impact behind her. She was so focused on the books, as she turned to investigate the noise, Twilight slammed the side of her head into the doorway. She dropped to the ground rubbing her head and face. She looked up to see a table had been knocked over and was now on its side. twilight was getting more and more sure that some pony else was here and watching her. She began to sweat and stood up once more, still rubbing her head. When the pain had subsided, she took a glance at her hoof. Twilight's eyes suddenly grew twice as large as before and she gasped, "Of course!"

And with that, Twilight lit up her horn with the books in her grasp and poofed away back to Canterlot castle. When she reappeared, Twilight had once again felt something grab her tail, but she was too focused to notice enough to react. She simply ran through the castle gates; she knew what she needed.

Author's Note:

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