A sequel of sorts to device heretic's Just Words, because I was dissatisfied with the ending, even if it was sort of poetic justice.
To Summarize:
Twilight finds out that she's adopted, from her brother, while he's drunk. Hurt, she goes to her parents; when they admit the truth of the matter she runs off to see Celestia. After a long talk, Celestia emphasizes the value of one's chosen family (or those that chose to be their family), placing that head of the value of biological relations.
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A week later, Celestia struggles with herself; For the first time in years, she really wants to tell Twilight and thinks she deserves to know. Nevertheless, the situation weighs heavily on her. Her past, the possibility of political fallout and disgrace, and Twilight's potential reaction to her callous dismissal of the value of biological relations weigh heavily on her. Still, if Twilight dies, never having known, it would be a crushing blow and an undeserved slight to her former lover.
I'm glad somebody else was unsatisfied with that ending. Looking forward to seeing what you do with this.
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I've got some ideas for the next part, but if I don't encounter at least one case of writer's block on the way to the end (wherever it may be) I'll be fairly surprised. In truth, I don't have a particular ending point in mind yet. It will probably take between 3-5 more chapters at least. Hopefully I can move more towards a 1500 word mark for chapters. If you've got any ideas for what should happen next feel free to send me a PM or just leave a comment about where you think this should go.
Nice to know that someone else is interested.
Umm...... this is amazing.
nuf said.
This is Amazing
, but will you be incorporating the Alicorn ascension into the story?
Like that Celestia awoke the Alicorn part of Twilight she had from birth or that she just removed the (making this up) 'Anatomy Suppressing Seal' she placed at birth?
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I'm certainly glad you think so. I'm not a hundred percent certain, but I wasn't planning on including it. Given that I haven't seen that episode yet, I still personally feel that there wasn't a very good reason for Twilight to just up and become an alicorn. There is a slight possibility, though, as I haven't completely ironed out how/where this could fit in the canon timeline. That said, it could occur later, although I think it'd be a shock to Celestia (in this story) more than an intentional effect (it being a very rare thing, only Celestia and Luna being true alicorns, not sure about my view of Cadence in that regard). I'm hoping for a near term revelation of Twilight's real parentage since I don't want to drag this out indefinitely and my ability to write long running dialogue and have it remain sensible would be under considerable strain.
It'd be funny if she got wings/alicornness before she found out, as if it wouldn't be a dead giveaway.
That's definitely not the plan at this point (for serious). In any case, it wouldn't be anatomy suppression so much as a supressing alicornhood since there isn't alicorn part (not the way I see it) so much as the state of being an alicorn. As I see it alicorn is a different species and so to become one from any kind of pony would be a true transformation. If it did happen, it'd probably involve significant magic use, and maybe some artifacts (*hint, hint*).
2324025 Oh OK you really need to watch the end of season 3, also about Cadence she isn't a true (immortal) Alicorn like Celestia or Luna. The canon tags her as a royal Mortal Alicorn (saying she is 8-10 years older than Twilight), in saying that it's easy to say she like Twilight ascended (though at a very young age or forced to ascend).
Also here's and idea to the near end of the story, simply put the 'Time Travel' cast by Celestia and Twilight in or from the astral plain (with should amp the spell 100 fold making their time in the past unstable and in a ghostly form but longer), it's just an idea
Celestia should have known that this would come back to bite her
Now comes the choice, 1. Tell the whole truth to Twilight and Equestria(Oh heavens help her) or 2. Lie(mostly), saying it was to make her see the high and the low in society and be seen as normal so they themselves will act normal, being raised in really high society can make corrupt early on(eg. blueblood= pompous twat) and she didn't want that.
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That's likely to be chapter 5 at the earliest, if you're wondering. I'm tempted to write both stories and see which result I like better. Nevertheless, I need to finish chapter 4 first for sure.
2404157 Personally i think Celestia should ask the Sparkle family if telling Twilight is a good idea (bringing up Shining's Drunk Talk), then telling her anyway (but only her) and 1. Begging pure forgiveness 2. asking if she wants to tell everyone 3. what happens next.
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. I'm thinking more along the lines that Twinkle (Twilight's mother) is simply going to snub Celestia indefinitely, though. That is to say that she simply isn't going to tell and that if Celestia showed up she would get argued down and tossed out of the house as quickly as possible. Like that wouldn't be suspicious, right?
Hmm... Well. That's not really how the story is going so far. *insert chin scratching* I am actually working on chapter 4, occasionally...
As to telling Twilight, I'm definitely in on only telling Twilight at first. This kind of stuff probably shouldn't become public knowledge. It would create quite a bit of trouble... (at least it would spur on the writing). On the other hand, it would be more difficult and yet more appropriate for Celestia to let everyone in on it. She owes it to Twilight if Twilight insisted. I mean, the whole truth is probably the best cure to the problem, although it could bring a host of new problems with it. In my story whether Shining knows the whole truth of the matter isn't clear yet. So, at some level, he probably ought to be told too, if only to shake him up a little. Kinda awkward/weird to realize that your little sister is Celestia's daughter by your late uncle ( so more like you're niece) and you really ruined her life just now. Not only that, but Celestia is your boss...
I have a feeling I'm going to be having fun times trying to reconcile this up to S3 canon when I finish it, if I even bother at all.
Some authors say that Luna's return marked a new era: "Anno Harmonia" = year of harmony
The previous ages being:
Anno Odio = year of hate (the age of the 3 tribes)
Anno Concordia = year of concord (after the first Hearth's Warming Eve)
Anno Discordia = year of Discord (Discord's first attack)
Anno Ordo = year of order (Celestia and Luna defeat Discord)
Anno Sucubbus = year of the nightmare (1000 years of Luna's banishment) and
Anno Harmonia = year of harmony
Wooo! An update
So now the mental/mystery duel begins: 1 Celestia (the one who's hiding the truth), 2 Twinkle (the one who will never speak the truth) and 3 Twilight (the one who stops at nothing to find the truth). Eeyup(
) this is going to get fun
I thought her mothers name was Twilight Velvet? They call her that in da app.
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Interesting. I'm personally rather fond of ANM (After Nightmare Moon), but that suggests her not being treated so much as the mythical old mare's tale premise might suggest. More recent dates by that notion might be LR (Luna's Return). I may yet change that up.
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Seems kinda one sided to me at the moment, since Twilight could conceivably just look it up. Her existence is probably the most mysterious in some ways. After all everypony has to have *a* mother, right? It'd certainly take a leap of intuition to look up her parents right? If I had a better idea of who the parents of the mane six were or if there were more definite ages I'd have included them above in the records. 
At some level there is the question of whether Celestia can be convinced to cave before Twilight works her way to the truth, well probably a partial truth.
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Hmm... I'll have to look into that.
I like this story, please continue ^_^
2510728
Google seems to suggest neither is canon. Oh well, it's not used in the story itself (as far as I can tell), so I guess I won't worry about it too much.
EDIT:
A comment to a comment, Twilight Twinkle is the name given to Twilight's mother in Just Words... So, yeah, a perfectly rational and suitable reason for that.
You might want to remove that editor text about adding a chart there in the middle of your story.
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It was an idle thought anyway.
Yeah, thanks.
As someone who has also read Just Words and found the lack of resolution supremely unsatisfying, I thank you for taking the time and effort to deliver this little quasi-sequel. I hope the project is still ongoing and hasn't died down completely *pokes with stick to see if it's moving*
As for the story itself ... ouch, I'm feeling more and more sorry for Twilight and losing respect for everyone else (except Luna). Now that Twilight actually knows she is adopted, and also realizes that her 'family' knows about her actual parents, it's about time they manned up and told her the truth. The cat is effectively out of the bag, and them refusing her information at this point simply shows lack of respect for Twi and her feelings on the subject. She is the most affected party, and whether she wants to know or not - that's her bloody choice to make. To deliberately withhold the information at this point is simply low on Velvet's part who should just choke on her stubborn pride, and her 'father' is apparently a spineless wimp. No respect for either of her "parents" and dropping steadily.
As for Celestia herself ... whoo boy. Let's just say it's about time she stopped thinking of her political convenience and actually started thinking like a mother, if she actually wants to convenience me that she respects and cares for Twilight's opinions on the matter above her own feelings of guilt and the feeble political excuses she hides behind to postpone the confrontation.
Fact of the matter is, Twilight is already the one and only student of Princess Celestia, the Element of Magic (a rather unique and arguably irreplaceable position that has been vital to Equestria's survival) and savior of the realm several times over, is the sister of a Prince (and thus effectively part of the royal family) and on friendly and close terms with Princess Cadence. And by "friendly and close" I mean "devolving in to giggling schoolfillies and engaging in silly dances" friendly.
In other words, she is already a priority one target for anyone who would want to strike out against Equestria OR the royal family. Amusingly enough, her being revealed to be Celestia's daughter doesn't change a whole lot about her desirability as a target for assassinations or similar radical actions - she is already at the very top of the list for a number of reasons, a cherry on top at this point changes little. For the same reasons, she is likely long since used to politicians seeking to exploit her importance in Equestria's hierarchy and the games they play. While I imagine this would lengthen the line of noble suitors seeking to get under her tail (ones that Shining has probably been chasing off, seeing we haven't seen any - ever) as this would only add to her already supreme eligibility as a mare to wed for anyone seeking to exploit her closeness to the crowns, overall on this front it also adds little in terms of what already wasn't there.
What ticked me off even more was Celestia pondering whether she should go public with this or not in the first place - sorry, but I don't feel that's your decision to make at this point, Princess, but Twilight's. You tossed that connection to the winds when you left Twilight with foster parents for your perceived convenience when you couldn't pony up and raise and look after your own daughter, so you better stop thinking about yourself and actually ask Twilight whether she wants this to be public knowledge ... whether Twi actually wants to be associated with Celestia in this manner after the reveal in the first place.
Most of all though, she (or someone) should just man up and tell Twilight about it before she finds out on her own - because that would be by far the worst way for her to come to the knowledge. As it is, those closest to her are already effectively lying through omission and purposefully keeping her in the dark. If Celestia comes clean on her own, it at least shows she respects Twilight's right to know and is actually willing to at least try and atone for her past actions, by throwing herself at Twilight's mercy. That gesture alone as a starting point could go a long way towards fixing things between them.
If Twilight finds out on her own though ... well then, that sends a completely opposite message - that her family (adopted or otherwise) didn't respect her right to know, were conspiring to keep the truth from her for their own benefit and had no intention of telling her. And attempted to placate her at that point by "we would have told you eventually" would be exactly that - empty platitudes that can't be trusted, nay, that she would be smart not to trust, given the past clearly shows Celestia The Politician willing to manipulate the truth concerning the matter.
And at that point it would be much harder for Twi to forgive and to ever trust those involved, and one can't say if the bond could ever be truly repaired. Now that she knows as much as she does ... it's about time she were let in on the rest, lest she stumble on it on her own and draws her own bitter conclusions from it. Which way it will go ... well, I hope this story is still alive so we can find out.
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To answer some of your questions, I hope, it's not dead. The writing just got delayed a lot. Might be spoilers, but in my mind, only Twilight's mother and father and maybe one or two other unknown ponies know the whole truth of the matter. That's if we exclude Celestia and Luna.
Wow, what a long comment. Just want to say I appreciate the thought you put into that.
I don't really see it as pride, but Twilight Velvet (I think what's I settled on for a name...
) is certainly supremely stubborn and I suppose there is a sense of pride there. I wasn't trying to make her father seem overly spineless, simply to convey the sense that he doesn't want to be at odds with his wife. He'd probably get a real chewing out from her if he let on. I'm probably not good at this, but things would get pretty torn up at home if I was bolder or better writer. A shouting match would be interesting, but i'd probably run out of stuff for them to say.
I see Celestia as, theoretically at least, being worried about the political fallout on Twilight's behalf. The political convenience for her is more of a hidden motive, one that she may pretend to herself doesn't exist. Nevertheless, it does play a big role, I think.. Technically, if she never confirmed it, then there might be no way to prove it in this case. I'm assuming ponies don't have DNA testing tech, the best case would be that Twilight is awfully powerful for a unicorn and that's flimsy proof at best.
In my mind, Twilight's pretty sheltered in Ponyville, and she's too common/low in the nobility in this era to be considered by most suitors. To be legitimized as the daughter of Celestia would bring a lot more external attention to bear. Blueblood is only her nephew, being her son-in-law would be a lot closer. Not sure if I'm prepared to explore that rabbit-hole, with suitors and whatnot.
I agree, it would be best if Celestia would tell her, the sooner the better. The longer Celestia waits, the worse it reflects on her and the more Twilight learns on her own becomes frustrated/angry. In my planning, the reason for her parents not telling her isn't about her right to know, it's more about Twilight's mother's relationship/feelings with/about Celestia...
I'm sorry for taking a long time. I've hit a snag in the story on naming her grandparents, among other things, maybe I'll go borrow some from Pen Stroke... he seems to have handled that well. I'm still working out how this all pans out. Part of it is that the first chapter occurs after the present story. So, in theory, Celestia's been twiddling her hooves all this time while Twilight is out having a go at figuring it out herself. Especially since she wants to know, and Celestia doesn't seem to think it's important... We know how our dear Princess' estimation errs strongly at times... Nightmare Moon, anyone?
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Hey, I generally figure that if people take the time and effort to write all the interesting fictions around this site, the least I can do is leave behind a decent comment on the ones I read :P
And aye, I realize that Night Light would probably get in a shouting match with Velvet if he told Twilight the truth (assuming Twi didn't shout her down in to the ground first, heh), and he is trying to avoid that, but this is actually why I hold both of them in so low a regard - Twilight just got her life upended on her and is scrambling in the dark now (growing ever more desperate and hurt over it, as you said), but he cares more about avoiding a heated discussion with Velvet than about Twilight's emotional well-being and her right to know! From there, it's easy to ask the question of how much he cares about Twilight at all (and I'm sure she is asking), if he'd rather shrug at the ordeal instead of braving his wife.
Same for Velvet - if her pride and stubbornness takes precedence over Twilight in this situation ... well then, there are few kind things I have to say about her. Priorities, people!
Regarding Celestia supposedly sheltering Twi from political fallout, like I said - it might not seem like it at first glance (and Twi herself would never make a big deal out of it), but Twilight is actually pretty close to the top of Equestria's ruling hierarchy - nod directly involved of course, but Princess Cadence (Crystal Empress?) is her sister-in-law and childhood foalsitter. Prince Shining Armor is her brother. She is Celestia's student, meaning she is closer to the sun princess than just about anyone else save Luna and perhaps Cadence/Shining.
Twilight, effectively, has the ear of Equestria's ruling monarchy 24/7, should she wish for it. Parts of said monarchy are her direct family. Even if she herself doesn't have any direct role in Equestria's government, she has such close and personal ties to the upper echelons that nobles would normally be drooling at the prospect of getting her favor and using her for their own ends - because having the ear and attention of Twilight essentially means you have the ear of the rulers of the kingdom.
She may not be of noble birth (as far as anyone knows, obviously), but with Shining Armor marrying Cadence, by association Twilight's social standing is above just about anyone save perhaps Blueblood - that would be a huge prize for any noble house to snatch. Obviously Twi is content to live her life in Ponyville and not worry about it, but politically savvy and grabby nobles would very much have her on the radar - as would those looking for a proxy through which they could hurt the thrones. Those are already part of her life, subdued as the factors might appear.
But even then, that's almost besides the point, and Celestia should feel ashamed for not considering this - whatever additional attention being her daughter would place on Twilight should this go public, that should be Twilight's decision to make. Maybe Twi would find the truth the best thing ever and prance down the street while singing about it, rest be damned, happy to stand at her mother's side and proud of the fact.
Maybe she would be disgusted and feel betrayed beyond belief, cutting all her ties with Celestia and pretending the truth never came out, not wanting to be associated with the Princess in any personal capacity and letting Celestia sit on her precious secret. Maybe something in-between. But that should be her decision to make ... and I can't believe Celestia hasn't considered that, which is why I accused her of using this all as one big excuse to postpone the confrontation over her feelings of guilt. She made a poor decision all those years back and doesn't want to man up and simply face the consequences.
And like you said - all this is happening while Twilight is running around and trying to dig out the truth on her own. She is explicitly showing that she wants to know the truth - while everyone involved (be it Celestia or her 'parents') seem more concerned with sitting on their backsides and avoiding to take responsibility, rather than doing what should be done and then letting Twi decide what she wants to do with the information and facing the consequences of their actions (or inactions, as the case might be). It's well past the point where they can pretend nothing is wrong.
Bah, Luna should just throw a wrench in the works and dissolve the situation herself or something :P (Or maybe not, finding out from an uninvolved party would be akin to finding out for herself, aka the Worst Case Scenario. Hmm ... then again, Luna is effectively Twilight's aunt. Not exactly an unconcerned party either, and at least Twi would know that one member of the family cares.)
3038285 Maybe you should be the one writing. :P Why haven't you got anything on here?
As for Luna being Twilight's aunt, she wouldn't be biologically speaking., going by the details of Just Words. Not that I am entirely against deviating from that, but it does give me a framework to work from. I've got Luna sort of pressuring Celestia here, maybe not as much as she could though. In my headcanon, the two sisters are both reasonably experienced in many things (even considering 1000 year gaps), with the possible exceptions of personal, intimate relationships which they would likely avoid for several reasons. Immortality, or really long life for one, but also having to deal with the repercussions of their actions later. Maybe they haven't always, but it's easy to imagine the circumstances of NMM and the last thousand years might have been different than before.
Well Shining Armor just gave Twilight a big clue on where to look for more details about her father. I imagine, given who she is and that she is family, that having his military records pulled wouldn't be too much of an issue. If that will get her any closer to figuring out who her mother is, is another matter. One thing bugs me: a few chapters back, why did Luna imediately assume that Celestia's foal would have been an Alicorn?
I am really looking forward to seeing how this plays out.
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That is a good question. Unfortunately I don't have a good answer. Oversight on my part, I guess.Of course, you assume that all ponies with both wings and a horn are alicorns.
I haven't really decided for myself whether or not there are more alicorns or even if immortality is an alicorn thing. Personally I'm inclined to think, at least perhaps for this story that there could be other alicorns or winged unicorns. Perhaps only Luna and Celestia are immortal and not because they are alicorns, but instead for some other reason. On the other hand, if there were winged ponies with horns that weren't alicorns, an alicorn parent would be an obvious possibility. Especially since if you occasionally get winged unicorns then a parent or ancestor with both wings and a horn would be more likely to have descendants with both.
I guess I just wanted to say that that could be a possibility and would be an obvious first thing to look for. Barring that conclusive proof seems like it would be hard to find.
Funny thing there Twilight, your relationship with you mom's parents is the same.
3042927 It could be that Celestia and Luna's children are mortal Alicorns with each successive generation being more likely to be only one of the three. In Twilight's case, Celestia could have just done something to conceal or remove Twilight's wings. Or it could be that any of their descendents can be born an Alicorn or one of the three. Really there are endless possible explanations.
3043143
I suppose, I prefer to stick to the canon as much as possible. Personally, I think that most, if not all, of Celestia's children (I have implied some past descendants) were "ordinary" unicorns, pegasi, or earth ponies insofar as they gained nothing exceptionally special. However I would think that they were probably above average in the exercise of the general skills of those races. I.e. better flyers, stronger magic-users, better farmers. I'm in the camp that thinks that two parents of say, exceptional magical ability, are more likely to pass that on to their descendants than one or two rather ordinary magic-users.
I'd also be generally inclined to think that were Alicorns a separate race, they might enjoy a longer span of years, perhaps living for 3-5 centuries or more owing to belonging to all three races in a sense.
Useful Information indeed, it looks like Twilight might be on to something big here - her grandparents likely can tell her a good deal about her father (and they might know about his relationship with Celestia - if Velvet knew, surely they did as well), and accessing military records, now that she knows he was a Royal Guard, shouldn't be any issue for her - Shining can give her full access to those, assuming she doesn't have free roam of the palace archives already. Perhaps some of the older military personnel around castle could tell her some things as well, someone old enough who would still remember the stallion.
Regarding Twi being an unicorn instead of an Alicorn ... one can come up with any number of explanations indeed, though for the purposes of this story, I would go with Celestia having done something to conceal Twilight's wings - would certainly fit the story's theme of her trying to hide the fact that Twilight is related to her. And we already know that Luna's/Celestia's descendants can come out as Alicorns (In Just Words, Cadence is mentioned as being Luna's great-great-great-etc granddaughter ... and if Cadence can come out as an Alicorn after a dozen-ish generations, then I would be rather surprised if a direct descendant wasn't one).
Whether that would make them immortal (or at least ageless) like Luna/Celestia appear to be ... that is hard to speculate, as it could go either way according to your wishes (though I imagine a very long life to be likely at the very least). On one hand, Cadence seems to lack the billowy ethereal mane of Celestia/Luna - so one could argue that the Alicorn gene, while present, has been diminished over the generations (Not necessarily applying to potential Alicorn Twi though, seeing she popped out of Celestia herself, heh). On the other hand, Luna didn't have it either after being blasted by the Elements and only gained it after regaining her adult form, so it might well be possible that Cadence has yet to grow in to her full power, being young and all.
So ... yeah, I imagine the question of Twilicorn could go either way, but as far as my personal opinion goes, Celestia having taken some means to conceal Twilight's true nature fits almost too well with the overall theme not to be used. And adds another thing for Twi to feel angry about when the truth finally comes out and that delicious confrontation between mother and daughter finally comes to pass.
i really enjoy this story hope to read more soon
i know i commented on this chapter before and i am sorry to bug you i was just wondering if by any chance you know when you might post next chapter
i understand that life can get in the way and i don't want to rash you or anything i just asking if you don't know that is okay and take your time on making a grate chapter
sorry for bugging you again but I was just wondering when you will be updating this story
sorry for bugging you but I was wondering when you'll be updating this story I really like it and it has been so long since you last updated
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I honestly don't know. I keep thinking I'll do some more and then I don't. Only time will tell, I expect. It comes of going down a road with no particular destination in mind.
6452300 okay thank you for letting me know
6452300 hey how have you been
Very interesting story! It is rather simple in terms of language, but it flows very well, it can easily strike a few heartstrings and Twilight’s investigation is really intriguing to watch. I’ll keep hoping there might be a new chapter coming out someday
Two smaller recurring issues I noticed:
First, if something belongs to it, the correct spelling is its. Second problem is direct speech, notably the excess comma between the speech itself and the dialogue tag. For more thorough explanation, I’ll redirect you HERE.
Is this story canceled?