Twilight had been crowned sovereign of Equestria and, shortly before Celestia and Luna's departure for Silver Shoals, the white alicorn had given the violet one a melancholy packet, of a battered gray that had once been white.
"What is that?" she asked curiously.
Celestia's pink eyes had become sad, Twilight almost seemed to see tears form, she who had never seen signs of yielding in her mentor.
"A compass. Place it on top of the Crystal Mirror. You see…"
There was something she still didn't know about Celestia and Luna, something dark, hidden from everyone's sight and memory, something that couldn't be even remotely imagined.
"... Our mother comes from another dimension, which is not the one you visited. She fell into a portal over a thousand years ago and landed in our world. She fell in love with our father and had three daughters with him, but she was never really happy... After a few years she wanted to go home through the portal and brought our younger sister, Morning Glory, with her..."
There was a pause, with the intent of Celestia slowly taking shape in Twilight's mind.
"I know that most likely there will be no trace of them, too many centuries have passed... But I would like you to visit the place where our mother was born and raised, in Dimension One... Cascade's Waterfall... I think it was called this way."
Celestia spent more minutes describing her parent and lost sister, with the wind blowing her fur and making her tears fly away.
"Our mother's name was Majesty, she was a snow-white unicorn, with a long, light blue and silver-striped mane... She was beautiful, it was like looking at a blue sky with the midnight glow... Her tail touched the ground, it was a train regal... Her eyes were purple."
Her gaze became sad as she remembered her sister:
"Morning was born long after me and Luna... she never put up with us. She was light turquoise, with bright yellow hair and mom's eyes. She was a pegasus, unlike me and Luna that were born alicorns. From the union between our mother, a unicorn, and our father Hodie, a pegasus, two alicorns were born and she felt like the Cinderella of the family. She left our house when she was ten and told us that she was glad not to see us anymore, because we had fun making her feel inferior."
Twilight gasped; Celestia had suffered greatly because of her younger sisters, who had been so envious of her that they became enemies. If she had recovered the relationship with Luna, it was unlikely that the same could happen with Morning, because too much time had passed and the risk of not finding even her bone dust was very high.
Twilight greeted the two former rulers with this weird promise, not quite convinced of where to go.
That same evening, she positioned herself in front of the Mirror, her chin supported by her hoof.
"Twilight, what are you going to do?" Spike asked.
"Good question. On one hoof I would like to honor the request of the two sisters, on the other I myself am dying of curiosity, on the other again I think it is all an enormous madness... What do you think?"
Her little brother smiled sweetly and sat down next to her.
"Well... Madness was also turning us into human and dog to visit the Parallel Dimension, so what can be different this time?"
Twilight returned his smile.
"You're right... but in this case I'm afraid we won't be able to visit Dimension One at the same time..."
Spike bared his teeth.
"And who tells you? We don't rule alone, remember? In turn, we will be replaced by the girls of the Council. What do you say?"
"I say you're priceless, Spike."
"Yes, I know..." he said smugly.
The two siblings decided to try to visit Dimension One in a week, to give Applejack time to prepare and organize herself better.
When the lilac alicorn and the purple dragon arrived in the predetermined place, they found themselves in a wonderful meadow, traversed by a warm Sun despite being full December... or at least, it was in their world.
In the distance, a pink castle with blue spiers could be seen.
"Twilight... Do you think this is the place where Celestia's mother was born?"
"I don't know, but there are high odds..."
All around, several ponies chased each other laughing, others sunbathed, others strolled quietly.
"Now I understand why Majesty no longer wanted to stay in Canterlot..."
"Well, the place is beautiful, but so is our home..."
Walking along the path that led to the castle, the two felt the gaze of others on them.
"What are they looking at?"
"I think they all know each other around here, we are strangers..."
"You are different from usual, you are slightly taller and... chubby."
Twilight snorted, while her brother made the gesture of the round with his paws.
"We are in another dimension, Spike, it is normal that our body has changed... You also seem taller and hunkier than normal."
"You say?" the latter gloated, and Twilight rolled her eyes.
There was a thud, while the ruler of Equestria was busy paying attention to Spike, and then a blow to the shoulder.
The blue-haired pony became dizzy for a few moments and no longer understood where she was. Only when the blue sky became clear again she remembered the castle and Majesty.
"What happened?" muttered Spike, who had some big apples on him.
"Oh, sorry. Really…"
In front of them was a light pink unicorn. Her short, albino hair was streaked with purple and her eyes were the same color.
Twilight, when she focused on her, almost fainted.
The one in front of her was like her missing twin. Or her mother's.
They were IDENTICAL.
Her Cutie Mark was made up of nine sparkling and violet stars.
Even the stranger must have thought the same thing, because she stopped with her mouth half open.
"Hello."
"Hello…"
"We look a lot alike, huh?"
"Of course…"
"My name is Twilight Sparkle and you?"
"Twilight only..."
Even in different universes, coincidence could exist.
"Listen, we came here to look for two ponies... One is called Majesty and the other Morning Glory... Do you know anything?"
The unicorn shook her head.
"Too bad... Could you then show us the way to Cascade's Waterfall?"
"Straight ahead. The castle is where Dream royalties live. This is the name of this land."
"I come from a place called Equestria."
"Never heard."
Twilight, who was studying at Dream University to become a researcher, took her new friends to the charming town of Cascade's Waterfall, famous for its green hillocks, its mild climate, waterfalls and frequent rainbows.
"If you want to look for someone, you should go to the Town Hall."
Twilight and the two aliens parted ways and the two began to walk in the direction indicated by the unicorn.
In no time they arrived at the Town Hall, where they found a bored rabbit sitting besides the counter.
"Er... hello."
The leporid looked up from his newspaper.
"Do you need something?"
"I'd like to know more about the ponies Morning Glory and Majesty."
Who knows why, the clerk stopped to stare into Twilight's eyes as if they were bottomless pits.
"You're kidding, aren't you?"
It certainly wasn't the answer that Twilight had come up with first.
"No, why?"
"Where do you come from? Is it possible that you don't know?"
"Well, we're not the only ones, we've met another pony who doesn't know anything about them..." Spike pointed out.
The dark eyes of Habbit, so the rabbit was called, became dull.
"You really don't know anything..."
A violent sense of danger enveloped Twilight's mind.
"Could you please tell us?"
Habbit looked around, it was afternoon and the Town Hall was deserted, so he felt safer in telling a story of betrayals and sorrows. A forbidden story.
"Majesty raised her daughter like a princess, spoiling her and making her study magic despite being a pegasus. I don't know exactly how she did it, but Morning Glory is still alive now, despite being born a thousand of years ago, only that she was stuck in amber. She's in stasis."
"And Majesty?" Twilight whispered, remembering the petrification of Tirek, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis.
"She lived one hundred and fifty years, then died. Her name survived the wear and tear of time because her daughter tyrannized these lands until fifty years ago, before being fought by the heroic Moon Shadow, our liberator."
Twilight gasped. It wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear.
"Thanks for the informations." she said, and then left the town hall.