“Velvet! I’m bored! I wanna go do something!”
 
”But Firefly,” Velvet Shade put down his writing quill and looked towards his little cousin. “Mom says I have studying to do. And Mister Cobalt Gust will tell her if I leave. Can’t you play with somepony else?”
 
”But Phil doesn’t wanna play! He never does. Mother and Aunt Tia are busy doing boring princess stuff. And Mommy said she was gonna go look for food or something. I want someone to play with me!” Firefly tugged on Velvet’s hoof, begging him to come with her.
 
”But Mister Cobalt-“
 
”That old sleeper won’t even know we’re gone!” The changeling filly yanked Velvet out of his seat. “Come on, I wanna show you something!”
 
Velvet reluctantly followed her down the castle halls, trying to stay discreet even as she trotted about carelessly. As Firefly led him further up hallways, through doors, and down flights of stairs, Velvet somehow found himself unable to recognize his surroundings. This must have been the castle basement or something. And, if nopony had told him about it, it was probably forbidden.
 
”Where are we going? I don’t think we should be here…”
 
Firefly led Velvet down another dark, gloomy hallway. He wasn’t even sure if they were in the castle anymore; this was more like a cave. Turning a corner, the two foals arrived at a large, ornate door, unlike any they had seen before.
 
“Restricted Access Wing: No Admittance,” Velvet read from the sign. “Firefly, I think we should go back. I don’t think we’re supposed to be here.”
 
”Are you kidding?” The filly cackled. “Think of all the cool stuff we could find in here! Why else would Mother and Aunt Tia hide this from us?”
 
“Well, they probably have good reasons, like…” Velvet’s words fell on deaf ears as Firefly started to pound on the doors. With one big shove, one of them opened. And just like that, she zipped in and out of sight.
 
”Firefly! Wait!” Velvet galloped in after Firefly. But it was too late; she was already gone. He could hear her giggles in the distance, so at least he could have faith that she wasn’t hurt as he looked for her. Glancing around, Velvet beheld rows of bookshelves filled with books, scrolls, and other ancient-looking trinkets. It must have been some kind of library. While still wary, he found himself growing more and more curious of everything around him. Maybe Firefly had a point about this place.
 
Turning another corner, Velvet continued to take in his surroundings. There was so much hidden knowledge inside these pages, he could just feel it. So much that was undiscovered about Equestria, maybe even about his mother and aunt. But he didn’t dare touch it; it wasn’t his place, anyway. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of something.
 
It was his mother. Or at least, a picture of her. She appeared as regal as ever, but…different. She looked younger and happier than how Velvet knew her. He had always wondered why Celestia was so solemn around him, and perhaps this library would give him a clue. But dare he pry, especially in such a forbidden place?
 
Velvet was about to move on and continue looking for Firefly when, near the end of the aisle, he found something even more interesting. It was another photograph, this time of a stallion he had never seen before. And…his mother? What was the meaning of this? Surrounding the photo were books, boxes, scrolls and more photos, almost like a shrine. This stallion must have been really important to Celestia.
 
It was at this point that Velvet could no longer contain his curiosity. This seemingly important part of his mother’s life was too big to ignore. Who knows, it could even help him learn more about his origins, a topic which Celestia had always avoided.
 
Opening up the largest box, Velvet sneezed at the dust that clouded up again. And then he saw him again: the mysterious stallion. Tucked into the corner of the picture frame was an old, yellowed slip of paper with one word on it: “Always”. Also in the box were countless other scrolls and papers, possibly letters. The colt caught a glimpse of one, which had “my dear, sweet Celestia” written at the head.
 
Dear, sweet Celestia? Now Velvet’s interest was especially piqued. Unrolling the parchment, he read over the letter. It was a love letter, addressed to his mother! And by King Sombra? Velvet thought he was evil. The stallion in the pictures looked nothing like how his mother described the tyrant. Velvet had so many questions, and the only thing he could do was to keep reading and hope that he would find answers.
 
Each answer only only seemed to bring on more questions. King Sombra was indeed in love with Celestia, and, judging from the letters, she was in love with him too. They kept mentioning “your Equestria”, “my Equestria”, and even some talk about “dimensional rifts”. He must have been a different King Sombra, a good version from another world. But why hadn’t Velvet ever met him, or heard of this other universe? Why didn’t he at least visit if he was so in love with Celestia? At the bottom of the box was one last note…
 
”My dear Celestia, we do not have much time left together. Our relationship is putting both of our worlds in danger. We cannot continue like this or the rift will only deepen. My love, whatever becomes of us, I trust that you will be safe as long as your friends and subjects remain by your side. I leave you with this gift, that will help you produce what we both wanted very much: a foal of our own. Take care of them, Celestia, for us and them.”
 
Velvet stopped reading. It was all coming together…the lost love, his unknown origins, the final gift…could it be? No, it couldn’t. His mother would never keep such a secret from him. Or would she? Velvet didn’t know anymore. But one look into the stallion’s eyes…his familiar eyes…and he couldn’t deny it. There was too much evidence for it not to be true.
 
”Velvet! Firefly!” Velvet turned at the sound of the voice. His mother.
 
Celestia turned the corner with a worried, desperate look in her eyes. It soon turned to relief as she met eyes with her son. “Oh, Velvet, there you are! I followed your hoofprints here. How did you find this place-“
 
Velvet turned towards his mother, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. That’s when Celestia knew—he had seen it all.
 
”Velvet, I didn’t want you to find this-“
 
”Who is this!?” Velvet cried. “Why didn’t you tell me about him? I-I thought you trusted me…”
 
Celestia looked as if she had been slapped, even more evidence that there was something more going on. She lowered her head, appearing to be deep in thought, before motioning towards her son.
 
”Velvet, come with me. I believe now is the time I should tell you about your father.”