The Hidden Prince

by Rakoon1

Forget to Protect

Twilight and Blue were at the throne room, with the former sitting on his throne and the latter by her side. They were alone and now having some tranquility.

“Finally this was solved” Twilight said. “I can finally take a deep breath.”

“Twily, you do know we can’t keep this a secret for too long” Blue said. “It’s cruel to keep Dusk away from Star and the twins.”

“I know that, but we don’t any other choice” she replied. “Until we find a way to undo that curse, we need to keep Star and Dusk apart.”

“And that includes lying to me and the twins about everything?” a voice asked.

The two parents got caught by surprise when they heard Star’s voice, turning and seeing him entering in the throne room and approaching.

“Star…” Twilight said, trying to appear herself as if the conversation between her and Blue didn’t happen. “We didn’t know you were there. But what are you saying?”

“Mom, you don’t have to pretend anymore” Star said. “I know about Dusk. I know that he is my brother. I also know about the curse and that’s why we’re not together.”

That revelation shocked both parents.

“What are you saying, Star?” Blue asked.

“I’m saying that I know the truth” Star replied. “Don’t try to deny it.”

“But we don’t know…” Twilight started, before Blue putting his hoof on her shoulder.

“Twily, no…” he said, while shaking his head.

Realizing they couldn’t deceive Star any longer, Twilight sighed and then asked:

“Who told you? Heartbeat? Golden?”

“Actually, I heard you talking with Dusk earlier” Star replied. “I’m not gonna lie… I got pretty upset. But then Kurama showed me why you did it.”

“Wait, Kurama showed you?” Blue asked.

“But… that’s not possible” Twilight said.

“Why not? He is inside of me. Although I don’t know why I don’t remember Dusk. When my heart was cursed I was four, so I should remember him.”

“That’s the reason why Kurama shouldn’t remember” Twilight said. “We made sure you wouldn’t find out about Dusk, even more than with you being a jinchuriki.”

“How so?” Star asked.

“I guess that… we should show him” Blue said to Twilight.

She nodded in agreement and then got up, approaching his son with her husband and starting to charge her horn.

“I hope you don’t come to hate us for this, Star” she said. “We just did… what we thought it was right for you two.”

Using her magic the room around them to change. The throne room was now like it was years ago. There, another Twilight was passing around, with Blue observing her, worried. Golden Paladin, Heartbeat and Mirror Coat were also there.

“Is this…” Star started.

“Yes, it’s what happened after your heart was cursed” Twilight said.

As she was passing, past Twilight kept saying:

“We have to do something. We can’t just let Star being cursed for the rest of his life. He already has a terrible burden for having Nine-Tails inside him. Star and Dusk are brothers who love each other. Keeping them apart is going to be so cruel. What are we going to do?! What are we going to do?!”

“I know I shouldn’t say this, but I find rather entertaining seeing Twilight twilighting” Heartbeat said to his two brothers.

“You made the princess a verb?” Golden Paladin asked her.

“As if I would do something like that” Heartbeat replied. “I have limits. Pinkie Pie was the one to come up with that.”

“And she holds the record for creating new words” Mirror Coat added, while paying attention to Twilight.

“Twilight, you need to calm down” past Blue said to past Twilight, approaching her and holding her hoof. “Come on, breath with me.”

With Blue’s help, Twilight was able to calm down.

“Okay, I’m calm now” she said, turning then to her Generals. “Do any of you know how to handle this? How can we break this curse?”

“I think I already told you this curse can’t be broken in the traditional way” Heartbeat said.

“But there’s always a way to break a curse” Twilight said. “You three are the ones who may know how to solve this. I beg you, there has to be a way.”

“Well… the most obvious way is to get a heart to replace the cursed one” Mirror Coat said. “But of course for that we need to sacrifice some one.”

“Well, maybe we can get someone that is willing to…” Twilight started saying, but then stopped what she was saying. “What am I saying? I couldn’t ask anypony to sacrifice themselves… or even take a heart.”

“That’s good, Twily” Blue said, holding his wife. “It only means your heart is good.”

After a few seconds, Twilight had an idea and she asked to Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat and Heartbeat:

“What about a seal? Like the one Heartbeat used.”

“Well, don’t look at me” Heartbeat replied. “That was the only one I knew it would work.”

“My seal can seal anything” Golden Paladin told. “It can even seal curses… in a much more efficient way than Heartbeat’s.”

The General of Affection seemed a little offended by that statement and said to Golden:

“Your seal maybe be better in efficiency, but mine is better in longevity.”

“Golden, that’s the best thing you could have tell me” Twilight said. “Please, you have to do it.”

“Sorry, Your Highness, but I can’t” Golden replied. “In order for me to do it, I would need to open the seal so that I could close it again with the curse on the other side. And we all know what would happen if I did that.”

“Nine-Tails would immediately take over Star and get free” Blue said.

Golden Paladin nodded, what caused even more desperation to Twilight.

“Even if I could do it, it wouldn’t be a permanent solution” Golden Paladin said. “Like Heartbeat said, my seals don’t last, unlike hers.”

“I can’t believe this!” she exclaimed. “There’s no solution to this…”

“Princess, I know how this looks like” Golden Paladin said. “I know this may look as there’s no exit to this nightmare. But I can guarantee that for every problem there’s a solution. We will find a way to end this. But until then, we just have to handle the situation the best way we can and I know… we all know you’ll take the best decision.”

Heartbeat and Mirror Coat nodded, agreeing with Golden Paladin’s words. Even Blue nodded to Twilight, showing her the faith he had on her. That gave Twilight the courage she needed to think on the best solution.

“Thank you all” Twilight said. “That really meant a lot.”

“So, Twily, what are we going to do?” Blue asked.

The Princess of the Light Kingdom thought about that carefully. Now that her mind was calm, she could think clearly of what she needed to do. After much consideration, she came up with only one solution.

“We need to take Dusk to another place” she said. “We need to take him out of the citadel.”

“What?” Blue asked. “You want to send our son away?”

“Star can’t be near Dusk, Blue” Twilight said. “If we have them here, together, they would eventually come in contact, even if by accident. We can’t let that happen… for the sake of both.”

“Ok, I understand that” Blue said. “But those two have a close bond. It will be difficult to keep them apart, especially Star.”

“I’ve thought of that and I got a solution” Twilight said. “It’s not ideal and it can be very cruel… but it’s our only solution. And Mirror Coat is the one who is going to put it in practice.”

“I am?” he asked.

“Yes, you are” Twilight told. “I need the seal that you use to seal information at your library. It also works with memories, right?”

Hearing her asking that, Blue realized what she was asking.

“You want to seal Star’s memories of Dusk, right?”

“Not just Star” she replied. “Everyone’s. We can’t take any risk. We need to hide Dusk completely. Only a few will know about this, only us and the other Generals. Once everything is solved, we undo the seal.”

“Twily…” Blue started.

“I know what you’re going to say, Blue, but this is the only option I see we have” Twilight replied. “You may not agree, but…”

“Twily, I was going to say that I’m with you” Blue told, holding her. “I may not agree entirely with this plan of yours, but I trust you. I know you want the best for our sons, so it will be as you want.”

Hearing her husband saying those words made Twilight feel her love for him to grow even more. She then kissed him, as a way to transmit all that love.

“Aww, that’s so cute” Heartbeat said, who was able to sense all the feelings involved in that kiss, but adding a few seconds later. “Okay, guys, now it’s just awkward. Remember you’re not alone here.”

Twilight and Blue stopped the kiss and the former said:

“Thank you for your support, Blue. It really means a lot to me.”

“We’re in this together, Twily” Blue replied. “Never forget that. We’re a team and we have the same goal: to give Star and Dusk their best chance… even if that involves keeping them apart until we find a way to cure Star.”

After sharing another passionate look and smile with Blue, Twilight turned to Mirror Coat and said:

“You can do it, Mirror Coat.”

“Very well” he said. “I just need the signature energy of the ones who won’t be affected by the seal and I can do it right away.”

After that, the projected memory ended…