I FOUND YOU, FAKER!
It was a pleasant afternoon, the walls were of polished marble along with the floor and pillars, a carpet that covered the underneath of a small wooden table counter for both of us, it was Tea Friday, Princess Celestia and I had this sort of consistent schedule when we both could fit it in, well mostly the princess but overall has been great to talk and get to know what's been going on with Luna and Cadence although something has been bugging me.
A tea cup was infront of me ontop of the said for mentioned counter, of course with a cover underneath, while Princess Celestia was pouring out her cup I couldn't quite swat at this nagging feeling that something was wrong.
The princess was sipping at her tea and relishing every moment before putting it back on the counter with magic, a warm smile without the jewelry and gold hooves, just her majesty basking in the small break time she has before delegating over political figures and charity events.
She frowned, "Is something the issue, Twilight?"
I felt embarrassed for lingering on the sight, and moved away my head before speaking, "N-no, well yes, I mean.. your highness-"
"Breathe, Twilight, all titles or nobility is gone as soon as we enter this room, remember?"
"Of course," I closed my eyes and breathed in the moment for a second before exhaling all the stress I had, I opened my eyes and look to her eyes.
She began to levitate the drink once more to drink and once slowly moved away from her muzzle she smiled so radiantly, "Better?"
Her smile was infectious since I responded ten fold with mine, "Better"
"Good" she spoke while putting down her tea cup then began to recompose herself. "Now what may be troubling you?"
I started to feel a little silly for even questioning or asking this in my own head let alone asking Celestia, "Well," I still felt silly even thinking of speaking about it, I mean obviously she'd know when.
"Tsk tsk," she clicked her tongue, moved her hoof to the right and to the left, "have you learned nothing from your adventures Twilight?" She smiled once more and looked into my eyes with such kindess and purity, "Know that I'm here for you, that's part of the journey, to gain help and move further."
"I-i know, it's just, well," I began to fiddle with my hooves, I didn't know how to say this and during the time of thinking I just clapped my hooves together.
She raised one of her eyebrows, "Yes?"
I kept getting caught with the method so I just let it slip, "When will I learn how to actually work the castle, how to rule, what treaties we have, etc."
"In time, my star pupil" she spoke in return and began to levitate the tea pot to pour more of the liquid onto her cup.
"Yeah but, it's been three weeks since you held my coronation, and we've just been talking, which I don't mind at all! Just, well.. am I supposed to learn something during these meetings? Even remotely?"
She actually looked a bit nervous, "Well of course," she squirmed a bit in her seat "but being a princess takes time, to be properly primed for the role is to set yourself to your life" she seemed to move the cup with her hooves this time and sipped quickly.
That didn't satisfy me, I prodded further, "Well of course I understand that but, wouldn't we have started by our first meeting then?"
She actually slipped the tea cup from her hooves and catched it with her magic before it fell, "W-well yes but," she looked away and bit her bottom lip looking in a focus of concentration, "many need the time and preparation to undertake such heavy responsibilities, as such I want to take extra care for you to really understand the teaching."
"That.. makes sense" surprisingly did, even I'm not blind to my own obsession sometimes, no matter how embarrassing they may be.
"Glad you understand" she began to sip her tea again but something was off.
"Celestia?" I spoke out with a raised eyebrow.
She slowly put away her cup from her mouth and cleared her throat, "yes?"
I deadpanned "...your cup is empty"
"Is it? How strange"
"Princess?"
"Hm?"
"There's something you're not telling me is there?"
She quickly began to sweat, the silence was deafening and gave me the answer so clearly, but I kept my eyes on her, waiting for her to answer, it didn't come so I fished it out.
"Princess."
"Oh colt, look at the time! I have to attend a charity fund, see you next friday Twilight!" She began to open the double doors with her magic but I quickly closed it and put a lock spell on it.
"Sit" she quickly obliged, I put out a disguise scanning spell incase she was a changeling or some mage trying to pass on Celestia, but it all came out negative. But 'Celestia' was quickly beginning to sweat even more due to the tension.
"Please Twilight, I have a very-"
"'Princess', what have you done with the real Celestia?" While the spells came out negative that didn't eliminate the potential of a new way to circumvent them.
She looked hurt a bit, "Twilight how could you-" before she could finish I shut her mouth with my magic, something like this would need extensive searching.
"Your 'charity fund' can wait imposter, what did you do with the real Celestia!?"
She actually looked surprised and slightly scared but I wasn't going to buy into it.
"I am Celestia!" She exclaimed to make sure I heard her but I still didn't buy it.
"Oh yeah? Then why the little information of 'becoming a princess' huh?!"
She started sweating profusely, "Well-"
"Why the sudden switching topics so much?"
"I have a very good reaso-"
"Why did you keep trying to avoid the subject entirely?"
"It's because-"
"Tell me where Celestia is!"
"I AM CELESTIA FOR FAUST'S SAKE!"
I actually stumbled back but kept my persistence, "Then what did you give me on my 13th birthday?"
"A dragon stuffed toy because you used to be jealous of spike that he had fire breath and because you wanted to claws for-" before she could finish the sentence I covered her mouth with my hoof.
"SHHHHHH OKAY okay, I get it" I was flushed with red on my cheeks, only the real Celestia would know that.
I slowly went back to my seat while unbinding her from my spell, "So, why withhold the information for being a princess?" When I looked at her she looked away of embarrassment and seemed to be the one with red cheeks.
"I-" she mumbled something but I couldn't hear
"What?"
"I said, I actually don't" she kept mumbling.
"What?
"I said I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MYSELF, OKAY?!" She yelled just for me to hear but I don't think I quite understood it.
"I- whau?"
She looked away in embarrassment, "You heard me"
"Wait wait, you mean, you don't know how to be a princess? THE TITLE YOU HAVE?"
"YES" she yelled
"HOW?" I responded with the same amount of volume.
"It's uh- quite a long and embarrassing story" she actually looked away with a shy look.
"I- explain now" I needed answers, how could the PRINCESS OF EQUESTRIA NOT KNOW HOW TO RULE.
She began to recount the story, "Well, it started a long time ago when Luna and I started working under Starswirl, we both were students of his well many others but they didn't really stay in for much long, Luna and I were his two last students, one experiment gone wrong and we both got our cutie marks, the rest of our village saw us as goddesses and we soon sort of stumblee upon spawns of Tartarus but there would usually be some hero wanting glory but eventually dies in the process, a common place back then. And thus my sister and me usually got the credit for the kill, that happens a couple of times and tales of fights come from distant lands and as it grew more and more outrageous the monsters stopped showing up and soon ponies wanted us to take a throne as their saviors. Luna and I have been mostly winging it and due to raven and other previous assistants we both got some pony to schedule out things like formal events and such."
"Wha- what about being an alicorn! Surely you gone through some test of ascension to become as powerful!"
"Nope, was also part of the experiment gone wrong, truthfully alicorns are actually a genetic mutation that, we have wings but in turn we lose a substantial of years in our life, you thought there was only ever two alicorns before Cadence?"
"Bu- but alicorns are supposed to be immortal!" I threw my hooves at logic, this whole time I was lead to believed being an alicorn was important!
"A lie we fed to the masses to cover up that Luna and me actually were stuck in a time loop once upon a moon, for a quite many years, somehow the castle was able to disguise ponies as us for the time being as to not let morale go low."
I was completely flabbergasted, "...wait, what about nightmare moon?"
"Completely fake"
"Bu- but we fought her and everything!"
"Remember the disguise spell I spoke of earlier?"
"For what?!" I practically screamed at her.
"Well, we can't exactly have some ponies know we faked a whole history event" she said with a matter of fact tone.
"Then what was the real Luna doing!"
"Good question," she tapped her hoof on her chin, "i believe she was over at Baltimare"
"So, let me get this straight, you faked an entire history of events or were exaggerated or fabricated all together from third parties and you kept this lie going on for how long?"
"A millenia"
"I- wait then how was the sun and moon moved during that period"
"Well how do you think it was moved before?"
"I- I can't believe this, so wait how is cadence?"
"Again the result of an alicorn is a mutation really and transferable if exposed to the right elements, hence why I gave you that liquid back when the weeds were attacking Ponyville."
"You- you gave a mutation to keep the look of alicorns being royalty?"
"More of a ascension to look wiser but yes"
I face hoofed, today was enough of a tea Friday
"Wait, is this why we never see you deal with a threat?"
"Now you're catching on"
I could not take any more for the day and just rubbed my aching head with my hoof, "I think I'm done for the day."
"Same time Friday?"
"I hate you"
I was over for today, I unlocked the double doors and began to move along the halls to the exit, today was exhausting and typically having your reality and knowledge shattered was enough to make me want to sleep in today, I may never recover from this but atleast I have some answers to questions I had in the back of my mind. Now, how do I explain this all to my friends.