…Twilight's ears sprang up and her eyes bugged out. Now it was her turn to be as shocked as the guard at the door was. She nearly leapt out of the throne. Daughter?! But, I have parents! I know them! She protested internally. Externally she said, "I'm your d-d-daughter?" She nearly fainted at those words. She couldn't believe that this was happening.

"Yes, Twilight, you are my daughter," Celestia said, "I had you out of…hoof lock and you were adopted."

"Hoof lock? As in 'pregnant without being married,' hoof lock?"

"Yes, dear. That's what out of hoof lock means."

Twilight gave her mentor, and now apparently mother, a stunned look. She didn't know what to do. Some part of her felt like laughing for joy, because she had always wondered why Celestia had taken such an interest in her. Now she knew. But then another part felt like crying. Here was Celestia, her mentor, one of the biggest parts of her life…lying to her. Wait…lying? But Celestia would never lie! She's a good pony! No, not just a good pony, THE good pony!

"I bet you're wondering why I've kept this from you," Celestia said softly, "but I, like you, am a mortal pony. I make mistakes…and I've made the biggest mistake of my life in keeping this a secret."

"Forgive me…mother," Twilight winced a bit as she called Celestia that for the first time, "but…I don't understand. What happened?"

Celestia got up from her throne and moved to a window across the room. There, she looked down upon Canterlot. The ponies who lived there went about their daily business, completely oblivious to the emotional scene now taking place in the throne room. With a wave of her hoof, Celestia dismissed the guards from the room and turned to face her daughter.

Memories of watching Twilight grow up from afar washed over the princess. She remembered the day she had given birth to this special young unicorn. However, with horror came the memory of the battle that had accompanied the birth. Now was the time for Twilight to be let in on the secret. Now, more than ever, mother and daughter needed to remain locked by both hooves and hearts.

Celestia sighed and began to spill her heart out to her shocked daughter, whose eyes grew wider and wider at the thought of her mother doing some of these things. "His name was Dorian, an earth pony," her mother began, "and he was the most handsome and intelligent stallion I had ever met. In all my years of ruling Equestria, I had never, ever fallen in love. But with him, it was love at first sight. Soon after meeting, we became inseparable and our love only grew. What we didn't realize was that our innocent love would soon turn into illicit lust. One night, we had been for a walk in the palace garden. He returned me to my quarters and turned to go to his when…I asked him to come inside. He looked nervous, but he did as I asked and went in. Before I knew it, I was asking him to mate with me."

She turned and looked at Twilight. Her eyes were as round as apples and her mouth had completely fallen open. The silence lasted for a minute or so as tension built between the two. Twilight felt completely betrayed. She felt as though she could never trust Celestia again! But she dared not raise her voice in the presence of the ruler of Equestria.

"That's why I asked you never to read that book," the princess went on, "The Movement, or The Movement to Defeat Celestia, Luna, and Twilight, took all of the royal family's most well kept secrets and wrote them down. I personally stopped them from publishing it en masse."

"Wait," Twilight said, "so…you stopped them from publishing it en masse in order to keep your secret about having me?"

"That wasn't all that was in there," Celestia said, "it also held a dark passage about your very future."

By this point, Twilight's brain was doing flips. She had no idea what to think! Here was Celestia, kind, good hearted, "always does the right thing," Celestia admitting she had made a mistake. What's worse, that mistake turned out to be Twilight herself! So…does she think I'm…a mistake? Twilight thought as tears brimmed her eyes. She tried to wipe them away before the princess could see them, but to no avail.

"Don't cry, my Twilight," Celestia said soothingly, "I know you're probably thinking that I think you're a mistake. I want to assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. Mating with Dorian was a mistake. But having you was the best thing that could have ever happened to me."

Twilight looked up and once again her mouth fell open. Though this time, it wasn't in shock, it was in delight. Celestia had said that she was the best thing that ever happened to her! She felt like doing a dance then and there, but she forced herself to keep her hooves still. That didn't stop her from looking into her mother's eyes and smiling.

Celestia walked over, smiled back and, for the first time in their lives, they embraced as mother and daughter. Twilight felt that this hug was different from all the other times she had embraced Celestia as only her teacher. But then, all of a sudden, her mind went to a very dark place. What about the dark passage? What did that mean for her? What did it mean for her friends?

"Prin-er-mother," Twilight said, "what about this passage?"

Celestia's smile turned grim very quickly. Her mind raced. She knew she would have to tell Twilight eventually. She just wished it didn't have to be that moment. Of all the moments to reveal complete death and devastation to her own daughter, it had to be this one. Fate really was a cruel, cruel thing.

"Come and sit next to me, my love," Celestia said. So Twilight got off the throne and followed her mother back to the window. "You see, Twilight, throughout your life, I have always tried to get you to champion love and friendship and banish fear and evil. However, this will not always be so." With that, Celestia broke down and began sobbing loudly.

Now Twilight was scared. What could possibly happen? What could this be? What could possibly be so devastating that it would cause her mother, the noble and regal ruler of the land, to turn to such hysterics? Celestia turned and cast tear-filled eyes down at her daughter. Oh, why?! Why does fate force my hoof? Why here? Why now? Oh, my precious Twilight… Out loud, she said, "Twilight…you will become very sick…and die…"