Guarded Emotions: Burying the Past

Chapters

Moving Day
Rodeo Reconciliation
To the Crystal Empire
A Family Meeting
Schedule Conflicts
Trotsylvania
An Unwelcome Arrival
Get Out!

Moving Day

Stay silent. Keep your eyes on the ground. Don’t let you expression show any emotion, no matter how angry or miserable you really are. These were the rules that Moonwhisper had lived his life by, each learned through painful experience at the hooves of his father, Penumbral Dusk. As long as Moonwhisper followed the rules, the young colt would be mostly safe from Penumbral Dusk’s wrath, aside from the torturous daily ‘training’ sessions he was forced to endure, of course. Unfortunately, the operative word when it came to Moonwhisper’s efforts to protect himself was ‘mostly’.

There was no way to really be certain what had provoked Penumbral Dusk’s latest assault. Moonwhisper had seen Penumbral Dusk stomping down the hall and had promptly moved to the side to let him pass, his head turned down as he stayed perfectly still. Despite Moonwhisper’s best efforts, however, something still incited Penumbral Dusk to violence. The older stallion swatted Moonwhisper across the face with his crutch with enough force to almost knock the adolescent colt off his hooves. Despite this, Moonwhisper quickly steadied himself and resumed his stance without uttering so much as a whimper. Evidently satisfied that whatever slight he had perceived had been answered, Penumbral Dusk turned and continued back down the hall without a word. Truthfully, Moonwhisper wasn’t particularly bothered by the blow itself. Years of magical torture inflicted under the guise of training had left Moonwhisper almost completely inured to the concept of physical pain. It wasn’t that Moonwhisper didn’t feel the ugly bruise the blow had left across his face or the deep cut on the inside of his cheek. Rather, Moonwhisper was simply so accustomed to far worse that pain in general had been reduced to a general awareness of injury and nothing more.

Once Penumbral Dusk was a safe distance down the hall Moonwhisper began casting a spell to repair the physical damage left by the blow, clearing up the bruise and knitting the flesh on the inside of cheek back together. Almost as soon as Moonwhisper finished, his attention was seized by the sound of a cry of alarm coming from down the hall. Even as he turned to look, Moonwhisper already knew what had happened. Moonwhisper’s mother had encountered Penumbral Dusk in the hall as well, and it seemed that in her case his anger wasn’t going to be sated by a single blow across the face. Moonwhisper’s mother had already been knocked to the floor with one of her eyes swollen shut while Penumbral Dusk stood over her, readying another blow. Moonwhisper watched the scene unfold, his eyes filled with barely contained rage, until he was stuck with a sudden realization. Looking down at himself, Moonwhisper say that he wasn’t some helpless foal, but rather a full-grown stallion, one with the power to put an end to Penumbral Dusk’s cruelty. Not even bothering to try to suppress the manic grin spreading across his face, Moonwhisper rapidly closed the distance between him and Penumbral Dusk. Without even breaking stride Moonwhisper enveloped Penumbral Dusk’s crutch in a dark blue magical aura as the older stallion was poised to strike Moonwhisper’s mother yet again. In a flash Moonwhisper violently jerked the crutch back and used the momentum to slam Penumbral Dusk into the wall. Before Penumbral Dusk had a chance to recover Moonwhisper twisted the crutch away from him and, with a guttural scream, began viciously beating him with it. Years of repressed hatred and rage were unleashed in a torrent of violence as Moonwhisper brought the crutch down on Penumbral Dusk’s prone form over and over again. There was no telling how long Moonwhisper might have kept going had the sound of a sob not caused him to freeze. As Moonwhisper looked down, he saw to his horror that the pony at his hooves wasn’t his hated father, but rather Twilight Sparkle. The alicorn princess was sobbing softly as she curled into a ball on the ground, her body covered in bruises and lacerations from Moonwhisper’s assault. Moonwhisper rapidly backed away from the prone figure, his mind reeling at the sight, until finally he lost his footing and found himself falling backwards into an endless abyss of darkness.

*********

Moonwhisper awoke with a start, having rolled out of his bed and landed in a tangle of sheets on the floor. After taking a brief moment to reorient himself Moonwhisper extricated himself from the sheets and bolted out of his bedroom, stumbling into the bathroom across the hall. Once there, Moonwhisper proceeded to void the contents of his stomach into the toilet until his insides stopped churning from his revulsion at the contents of his nightmare.

Several moons had passed since Moonwhisper had first come to Ponyville to serve as Princess Twilight Sparkle’s bodyguard, and Moonwhisper had spent past two and a half as Twilight’s paramour as well. In truth, the past few moons had been the happiest time of Moonwhisper’s life. Not only was Twilight the most incredible mare that Moonwhisper had ever met, but her stubborn insistence that Moonwhisper seek professional help for his past traumas was slowly yielding results. Unfortunately, while Moonwhisper’s life in the waking world may have become idyllic, his dreams were another matter entirely. While Moonwhisper had suffered from nightmares all his life recently his night terrors had grown increasingly worse, both in content and frequency. In fact, it seemed to Moonwhisper that the better things were between himself and Twilight the worse his nightmares became. Reflecting on it, Moonwhisper realized that recently things had been progressing especially quickly between the two. Scarcely a week ago Twilight had suggested that Moonwhisper move from the room he was renting from Bulk Biceps into her castle. At first Moonwhisper had been somewhat hesitant out of fear of causing a scandal, but Twilight had already prepared an official proposal citing the security benefits of having him move in with her. Now, after a week of preparations Moonwhisper would be making the move the next day.

“That’s probably what triggered my nightmare,” Moonwhisper thought to himself as he moved to the bathroom sink. “I’m just nervous about the move tomorrow and my subconscious is seizing on that. The best thing I can do right now is not let myself worry about it and try to get back to sleep.” As Moonwhisper gargled some water to wash the taste of stomach acid from his mouth he made a mental note to also discuss his latest nightmare with his therapist during his next session. Personally Moonwhisper saw little benefit to his weekly sessions with Conscious Mind, the psychologist that Twilight insisted he see regularly, but as far as Moonwhisper was concerned Twilight’s peace of mind was well worth the inconvenience.

Once Moonwhisper was satisfied that his stomach was fully settled he crept back to his bedroom as quietly as he could in the hopes that he could avoid waking his landlord. As he returned to his bed, Moonwhisper silently beseeched his subconscious to permit him a peaceful night’s sleep, knowing he would need it for the day ahead.

*********

When Moonwhisper awoke the next morning he felt substantially better than he had the night before. Putting the previous night’s unpleasantness behind him, Moonwhisper began going through his typical morning routine starting with a cold shower. As he headed into the bathroom Moonwhisper could hear the sounds of grunting and barbells being lifted signaling that Bulk Biceps was getting an early start to his morning workout. Overall, Moonwhisper considered Bulk Biceps to be an excellent housemate. The massive pegasus was remarkably tidy, usually refrained from prying into Moonwhisper’s personal life and shared Moonwhisper’s interest in physical fitness. The only real downside to the whole arrangement from Moonwhisper’s perspective was Bulk Biceps’ propensity for punctuating whatever he was doing with screams of—

“YEAH!”

Moonwhisper winced as Bulk Biceps’ shout seemed to shake the entire house. Regardless of any reservations Moonwhisper may have had about moving in with Twilight, part of Moonwhisper would definitely be thankful to live somewhere a little quieter. After finishing his morning grooming Moonwhisper went downstairs, where he was greeted by the sight of Bulk Biceps guzzling down a trio of raw eggs.

“Hey! Good morning roomie!” Bulk Biceps said cheerily as he greeted Moonwhisper. “I was just getting a head start on my morning workout. Y’know, getting myself PUMPED for the rest of the day! If you’ve got time why don’t you join me for a few reps, really get your blood pumping?”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to decline you’re offer. I was actually planning to head out early so that I’d have enough time to review the progress being made on the construction of Fort Everfree’s construction before going to the castle.”

“Oh, alright then,” Bulk Biceps replied, sounding a little disappointed, “can I at least make a you a smoothie before you go? You’re big on spinach-beetroot ones, right?”

“I will say that does sound nice,” Moonwhisper admitted, “but I wouldn’t want you to go to any trouble on my account.”

“Its fine, I was gonna make one for myself anyway,” Bulk Biceps said as he tossed a few vegetables into his blender. “By the way, are you feelin’ all right? I heard you up last night and it sounded pretty bad.”

“Last night?” Moonwhisper asked, a hint of alarm flashing across his features for a moment. “While I appreciate your concern, last night was nothing to worry about. I was just feeling a little nauseous, likely a result of something I ate. In any event I apologize for waking you up.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” An awkward silence fell on the pair as Bulk Biceps continued making the smoothies, until Bulk Biceps finally spoke up again. “So, you’re really going through with it, huh?” Y’know, the whole moving in with Princess Twilight thing, I mean.” That’s a pretty big step for the two of you.”

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re implying,” Moonwhisper sputtered as his face stated to turn red. “Princess Twilight’s proposal on the subject was purely concerned with the very real security concerns brought on by the current status quo. As things are now it would be extremely difficult for me to effectively respond to a threat at the castle. Assigning any other ulterior motives to Princess Twilight regarding this decision would be pure baseless speculation.” Inwardly Moonwhisper wondered if Bulk Biceps, or anypony else for that matter, would actually believe a word of what he had just said. Everypony in Ponyville was already well aware that he and Princess Twilight were in a relationship and Twilight herself had made little effort to conceal the fact from Moonwhisper that in her eyes this move was about progressing their relationship first and security a distant second.

Bulk Biceps seemed to pick up on Moonwhisper’s anxiousness. “Hey, don’t look so worried. Princess Twilight wouldn’t have asked you to move in with her if she wasn’t seriously into you.” Grinning broadly, Bulk passed Moonwhisper a red-brown smoothie.

Moonwhisper thanked Bulk Biceps as he accepted the smoothie. While Bulk Biceps may have completely misunderstood the reason that Moonwhisper was uneasy his advice was ultimately still quite sound. Worrying about other ponies possibly judging him, or worse judging Twilight, over the situation was a pointless waste of energy. After all, if Twilight herself wasn’t concerned about any possibly fallout then clearly everything was going to be just fine.

*********

“Twilight, I don’t get how can you be so sure that everything’s going to turn out alright?” Starlight Glimmer asked as she helped Twilight levitate the last of a series of boxes out of one of the castle’s storerooms. “I mean, I get that things are going well between you and Moonwhisper, and I’m happy for both of you, but isn’t having him move in kind of a big step?”

Twilight let out an exasperated sigh as she set down one of the boxes. “For the last time, Moonwhisper isn’t just my coltfriend, he’s also supposed to be my bodyguard. It only makes sense for him to live here so he can be close by in case I need him. Besides, it’s not as though space is an issue or anything, the castle has tons of rooms available.”

“Uh huh,” Starlight said, clearly not convinced Twilight was being entirely forthcoming about her reasoning. “And it definitely doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that you want your coltfriend nice and close by, does it?”

“I…um…I mean maybe it…” Twilight stammered as she quickly turned away, her face starting to turn red. “You know what, we’ve been so focused on talking about Moonwhisper and I that I haven’t even really asked how you feel about Moonwhisper moving in,” Twilight finally said in a rather transparent attempt to change the subject. “I mean, if I remember correctly it was a pretty big shock for you when you found out Moonwhisper and I had started dating.”

“Yeah, well that had been kind of a strange day for me even before I learned about you and Moonwhisper.” Starlight admitted. Silently, Starlight wondered if her mentor knew just how strange that particular day had been for her. After all, even a night of truly excessive drinking usually didn’t result in one waking up the next morning in a strange hotel wearing a policemare’s uniform while you best friend lies asleep in a the bathtub which has somehow been filled with cake batter.

Thankfully, before Twilight could start asking questions that Starlight Glimmer really did not want to try to answer a commotion coming from upstairs grabbed their attention. “Aw yeah, we’re back with another map mission taken down!” Even in the castle’s lower levels Rainbow Dash’s load self-congratulations were clearly audible. Privately, Twilight wondered whether her ability to hear her friend was a result of some trick of her castle’s acoustics or just a result of Rainbow Dash’s natural volume. Setting that question aside for the moment, Twilight began making her way up to the castle’s map room with Starlight Glimmer following close behind. When the pair reached their destination they found Rainbow Dash and Rarity already seated at the table waiting for them.

“So, I take it everything went alright in Baltimare?” Twilight asked as she trotted in.

“I daresay, everything went much better than just ‘alright’,” Rarity said. “In fact, I would say that everything went absolutely splendidly. I might even go so far as to say that that was the least complicated mission the map has ever sent me on.”

“Yeah, seriously, it’s kind of nice for everything to go like we planned for once,” Rainbow Dash added. “I mean, it’d get boing if things went like that all the time, but it’s nice to be able to take thing easy once in a while.” Letting out a self-satisfied sigh Rainbow Dash leaned back in her seat. “So, what’re you guys doing today?”

“Well, Starlight was helping me reorganize some of the castle’s storerooms and later I was going to see if Moonwhisper needs any help moving his things over from Bulk Biceps’. He’ll probably insist on doing everything himself, but I’d like to at least keep him company.”

Rarity exchanged a quick glance with Rainbow Dash before responding. “I take it to mean you really are intent on having Moonwhisper move into the castle with you?”

“Oh for Celestia’s sake,” Twilight irritably snapped, “yes, for the hundredth time, I’m sure that I want Moonwhisper to move in here with me. No, I really don’t think it’s as big a deal as everypony is making it out to be. It’s not as though Moonwhisper and I are going to be sleeping together or anything; he’ll be staying in his own room a few doors down from mine.” As Twilight finished her outburst she was left breathing heavily as she slowly calmed herself down. “I’m sorry for yelling, it’s just that I’ve had almost everypony I know ask me that like I’m some kind of silly, love-struck filly who’s rushing off to get married.”

“I do apologize if I offended you, darling,” Rarity said, “we’re just concerned that you may be rushing things with Moonwhisper a bit.”

“Yeah, I mean, you haven’t even been dating the guy for three months and he’s already moving in with you?” Rainbow Dash added. “Don’t you think that’s moving things kinda quickly?”

Twilight pawed at the floor in silence for a moment before responding, her voice much more subdued. “Actually, to be honest I’m kind of hoping that having Moonwhisper move in with me will help our relationship progress a little quicker.” Seeing her friends’ puzzled expressions Twilight elaborated. “The thing is, things between Moonwhisper and me have been going…really slow. And I understand why; with everything Moonwhisper has been through it makes sense that he’d have some issues with intimacy. I’m just hoping that having Moonwhisper live her with me in the castle will help him feel more comfortable with…well, you know…”

“Hold on,” Rainbow Dash said, “didn’t you and Moonwhisper have that whole romantic weekend together a few weeks ago? That’s not exactly the sort of thing that says ‘afraid of intimacy’ to me.”

A blush crept into Twilight’s cheeks as she recalled the long weekend in question. “That was different, we actually spent most of the weekend organizing incident reports from Moonwhisper’s old posting.” A smile slowly spread across Twilight’s face as she continued. “A whole weekend, just the two of us sorting files by candlelight…the look in his eyes as we put together a new cross-indexing system…the way our hooves touched as we reached for the same folder…” Twilight let out a dreamy sigh as she lost herself in her reminiscing.

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was less than impressed with Twilight’s idea of a romantic weekend. In fact, the only thing that prevented Rainbow Dash from making gagging gestures was the glare she received from Rarity. “Seriously, organizing a bunch of folders? That’s what she calls a romantic weekend?” Rainbow Dash whispered incredulously.

“Well, admittedly it wouldn’t have been the sort of weekend I would have enjoyed either, but this is Twilight we’re talking about,” Rarity whispered back as she maintained her smile.

Before Rainbow Dash could think of a reply, however, Pinkie Pie suddenly burst into the room. “Twilight!” Pinkie Pie yelled as she quickly zeroed in on her friend. “You need to come to Sugar Cube Corner right! It’s a baking emergency!”

“A baking emergency?” Twilight asked as she shook herself out of her blissful daze. “What in Equestria do you mean by a baking emergency?” Almost as soon as Twilight asked her question a low, gargling howl could be heard echoing from the direction of the town proper. Her question apparently answered Twilight immediately burst into action. “Alright, Rainbow Dash, you’re the fastest one here so I need you to find Moonwhisper and let him know we need him in town right away. Once you’ve found him head back to town and meet up with us. Rarity, Starlight, you two come with me and Pinkie Pie-“ another bellowing roar thundered through the air, “-to see what we can do about whatever that is.”

*********

Elsewhere in Ponyville, while Twilight and Starlight Glimmer had been busy reorganizing the castle storerooms another pair were looking over the ongoing construction of the nascent Fort Everfree.

“-so then I tossed this huge rock at the giant timberwolf! Then, before it recovered I freed Applejack from the rocks and carried her to safety.”

“Dang, Spike, that’s a pretty good story.” Silver Streak said as she trotted around the edges of the construction site. “I’d say it’s almost as impressive as the time I got jumped by a pair of harpies while flying recon,” she added with a sly grin.

Spike, who was riding along on Silver Streak’s back, gave a friendly scoff at her assertion. “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say Silver Streak.” Over all, Spike had found that the changes that had occurred to his social circle over the past few months had worked out rather well for him. True, Twilight hadn’t been able to spend as much time with him since she started dating Moonwhisper, but Spike wasn’t especially bothered by that. It had helped immensely that Spike had gotten along with Moonwhisper even before he had become Twilight’s coltfriend, and Spike was eager for the chance to get to know Moonwhisper better. Not all of Spike’s efforts to that end had been successful, however, and Moonwhisper remained stubbornly noncommittal to Spike’s invitation to guy’s night. That said, Moonwhisper had been willing to let Spike assist with some the tasks involved in ensuring Ponyville’s safety. Hence why Spike was currently riding on Silver Streak’s back, taking notes while she inspected the construction site. Thus far, the construction hadn’t progressed much further than the excavation for the foundation, however, so Spike and Silver Streak were passing the time by regaling each other with (often exaggerated) tales of their past exploits. “Hey, Silver Streak, have I told you about the time I rescued Rarity from the Diamond Dogs yet?”

“Only about three or four times so far,” Silver Streak replied with a grin, “but if you want to tell it to me again go right ahead. The number of diamond dogs you took on goes up every time, so it’s not like the story really gets old,” Silver Streak added. As Spike let out an embarrassed laugh at the observation Silver Streak continued. “Don’t worry too much about it, pretty much everypony exaggerates stories like that. Hay, if Sharpshooter didn’t have me around to keep him honest he’d probably be trying to convince ponies he nearly took down Tirek.” A minute of relative silence passed between the pair before Silver Streak spoke up again. “So, I’m guessing there’s a particular reason that diamond dog story is one of your favorites.”

“What do you mean by that?” Spike asked nervously.

“Well, you really seem into the whole ‘brave knight rescuing the fair maiden’ bit, for one thing. And I kinda get the feeling that who you were running off to save was half the appeal,” Silver Streak added with a sidelong glance towards Spike.

Spike embarrassedly sputtered for a bit before taking a deep breath to compose himself. “Look, yeah, you got me, I’ve got a huge crush on Rarity. But you can’t tell anypony about it, alright?”

“Relax, Spike, I’ll keep your secret,” Silver Streak said before letting out a small sigh. “To be honest I can understand how you feel. You know, with what it’s like having a crush on somepony, I mean.”

“Really,” Spike exclaimed, “who is it? You can tell me, I won’t tell anypony. I bet it’s Sharpshooter, you two are always hanging out together. Am I right?”

Silver Streak practically gagged in disgust at Spike’s insinuation. “Oh dear Celestia, not a chance! I mean, don’t get me wrong, Sharpshooter’s a nice enough guy to hang out with but he’s not exactly special somepony material.” Silver Streak shuddered a little at the thought before continuing. “No, the stallion I had a crush on was…well, it was the Captain.”

“Holy guacamole, you have a crush on Moonwhisper?” Spike yelped. “Does he know about how you fell about him? Does Twilight know?”

“Relax, Spike, I said I ‘had; a crush on the Captain, as in past-tense. I told the Captain how I felt about him years ago and he turned me down like he did with every other mare until the princess finally figured him out. I made peace with the whole deal and moved on, and honestly I’m just glad the Captain finally found somepony to be happy with. My point was, though, I get what it’s like to be completely head over hoofs for somepony else, so if you ever need somepony to talk about-“ Before Silver Streak could finish, a low gurgling roar bellowed out from the direction of Ponyville interrupting her. “What the hay was that?” Silver Streak asked, already breaking into a gallop towards the town.

“I have no idea, I’ve never heard anything like that before,” Spike wailed as he clung to Silver Streak’s armor in a desperate attempt to keep from being thrown off. “What if it’s some sort of monster from the Everfree Forrest?”

“Could be, but frankly I doubt it. The most direct path to Ponyville from the Everfree Forrest would go right past Fort Everfree, so if whatever that thing is came from the Everfree it would have had to walk right past us. Hold on tight, I’m going to try to see if I can get better look at this ting from the sky.” With that, Silver Streak launched herself into the air, rocketing upwards until she was high enough to have a clear view of the whole of Ponyville. Once Silver Streak reached her desired altitude it didn’t take long to pinpoint the source of the noise she and Spike had heard.

“Sweet Celestia, what the hay is that thing?” Spike yelled as he pointed down towards the town. Silver Streak didn’t need to see where Spike was pointing to know what had grabbed his attention. A massive quadrupedal monster was stomping around the town center, sending the townsponies fleeing in blind terror. The creature was easily the size of a house and looked vaguely like a hairless dog comprised of beige muck. “Are you actually gonna try to fight that thing?” Spike asked as Silver Streak considered her options.

“Not much choice; that thing’s attacking civilians so it’s my duty to try and stop it,” Silver Streak replied. After taking a moment to survey the scene below Silver Streak swooped down and landed near the town hall. “Alright Spike, hop off. You should be safe enough from whatever the hay that thing is inside.”

“Aw, come on Silver Streak, I wanna help,” Spike whined as he clung to Silver Streak’s back. “Just give me a chance, you know I’d be able to-“

“Sorry Spike, but I can’t do that. We don’t know what that thing is or what it can do, and I can’t take the risk of you getting hurt.” Before Spike could try and argue the point further Silver Streak shrugged the small dragon off of her and rocked back into the air. Now that she was no longer being weighed down by a passenger Silver Streak felt confident enough to fly in closer to the monstrosity to get a better idea of what she was dealing with. It quickly became apparent to Silver Streak that her initial caution might not have been necessary. While the creature was clearly aggressive, snapping and slobbering at anypony not quick enough to get out of sight it was also rather sluggish. Consequently, Silver Streak was easily able to get quite close to the creature with little danger of it managing to catch her. Up close, Silver Streak found herself nearly overwhelmed by the creature’s powerful odor. Strangely, though, the creature didn’t smell especially bad. In fact, it actually smelled remarkable sweet, as though it were composed entirely of—

“Cake batter?” A familiar voice incredulously shouted from higher up in the air. Silver Streak abruptly banked away from the creature as she looked up to see Princess Twilight flying overhead, her friend Pinkie Pie floating nearby under a canopy of balloons. Pinkie Pie appeared to say something to Twilight in response, and while Silver Streak was too far away to make out what she said the expression on Twilight’s face as she fired off a beam of magenta energy at the creature spoke volumes. Curious to hear an explanation for what was going on, Silver Streak turned into a steep ascent until she was almost level with Twilight and Pinkie Pie.

“Your highness,” Silver Streak called out once she got within speaking distance, “do you have any idea what we’re dealing with here? I’ve never even heard of a creature like this before.” Glancing down at the creature Silver Streak could see that Twilight’s attack hadn’t had any appreciable effect.

“It’s a golem,” Twilight replied flatly, her voice struggling to contain her exasperation, “more specifically it’s a cake golem. It’s a magical construct comprised of cake batter that somepony managed to set loose on the town.” Twilight placed a particular emphasis on the word somepony as she looked back at Pinkie Pie

Pinkie Pie wince a little as Twilight spoke, but before she could respond a dark blue blur shot for the outskirts of town right into the golem, blasting right through one of the creature’s front legs. As it came to a stop Silver Streak could see that the blur was in fact Moonwhisper, completely encased in his conjured armor. Moonwhisper appeared to sniff at some of the muck that had spattered on him when he impacted with the golem before looking upwards towards Silver Streak. “Lieutenant, I need you and Miss Dash to start gathering rainclouds over the town, as many as possible!”

*********

Dinner that night at Twilight’s castle was something of a subdued affair as everypony tried to absorb the day’s rather hectic events. “What I still can’t understand,” Moonwhisper finally said, “is how in Equestria did Miss Pie manage to construct a cake golem of that size in a single morning. I realize that she has something of a knack for defying logic but even so…”

“Pinkie told me what happened while you were organizing cleanup crews for the town. It turns out she borrowed a book from the library of the Castle of the Two Sisters. She actually thought it was some sort of cookbook,” Twilight added sourly. “The two of us had a long talk about asking from now on before using any of the books from there from now on.”

“I’m just glad you were able to stop that thing before it managed to hurt somepony,” Starlight Glimmer said. “Magical constructs like that those are really hard to stop with spells alone.”

“Is that why you ran off with Rarity to help get the townsponies out of the way instead of helping me try to stop it?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

Luckily for Starlight, Moonwhisper interjected before she had to answer. “To tell the truth, there likely wasn’t much danger that the golem was going to seriously harm anypony, at least intentionally. Food-based golems are typically fairly docile, and even when frenzied they’re animating spells subconsciously prevent them from deliberately inflicting lethal injuries. The greater danger it posed was that it might have caused seriously property damage, especially given its size there was a very real risk that it may have collapsed a building on somepony.”

As Moonwhisper droned on about how he had known that soaking the golem with rainwater would stop it, Twilight paid close attention to the tone of his voice. Twilight had known Moonwhisper long enough to learn that he typically adopted that flat, matter-of-fact tone whenever he was upset about something. According to Moonwhisper’s therapist, Conscious Mind, this was likely a subconscious attempt on Moonwhisper’s part to avoid having to deal with whatever was upsetting him. Twilight knew Moonwhisper wouldn’t be open to discussing whatever had him on edge in front of Spike and Starlight Glimmer, so she kept her observation to herself initially. After dinner concluded, however, Twilight followed Moonwhisper back to his room. “Moonwhisper,” Twilight began as they reached the hallway where there rooms were located, “would you mind if I came into your room for a bit? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”

“There is? Very well then,” Moonwhisper replied, sounding a bit startled. As Twilight entered Moonwhisper’s room she briefly glanced around. For the most part it strongly resembled the room Moonwhisper had rented from Bulk Biceps, the furnishing consisting of his bed, armor stand, a desk and a bookshelf. The only significant change had been the addition of a few photos of Moonwhisper and other ponies, most prominently Twilight herself. Turning back to Moonwhisper himself, Twilight could see that he was clearly nervous, uneasily shifting around on his hooves.

“Moonwhisper, is there something wrong? It seems like something’s bothering you.” Twilight asked, not bothering to try and ease into the subject. “I’ve been watching you all night and it definitely seems like something has you on edge. If something’s wrong you know you can tell me, right?” As Twilight spoke she inched closer to Moonwhisper, brushing one of her front hooves against his.

Moonwhisper, however, looked away from Twilight in an attempt to avoid looking her in the eye. “I can assure you, Twilight, you’re quite mistaken. I’m not really bothered by anything at the moment. Granted, the progress on Fort Everfree’s construction isn’t progressing as quickly as I’d prefer, but—“

“Moonwhisper!” Twilight snapped, using the same tone of voice she typically employed when she needed to keep Spike from gorging himself on ice cream. “Do you remember what almost every relationship book we’ve read said? The most important part of any relationship is communication. Now, if there’s something wrong then I’m here for you, but I can’t help you if you won’t let me.”

For a moment it appeared that Moonwhisper was going to try and argue, but instead he simply closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You’re absolutely right. The truth is, since we started…well, since we became romantically involved, I’ve been having nightmares almost every night.”

“Nightmares?” Twilight asked, somewhat confused. “I mean, that’s not good, but you’ve always had issues with nightmares, haven’t you? What makes these nightmares so different?”

“The nightmares I’ve been having recently have been far more…vivid than what I’ve dealt with in the past,” Moonwhisper replied, still averting his eyes away from Twilight. “I didn’t want to worry you about it, which is why I hadn’t mentioned anything about it earlier.”

Twilight paused for a moment before responding. It was painfully obvious that there was something Moonwhisper still wasn’t telling her, but Twilight doubted that pressuring him further would help matters. “You know, if you’re really having this much trouble with nightmares I’m a little surprised that Princess Luna hasn’t visited you. I mean, it’s not like it’d be the first time she entered your dreams.”

“And I’m certain that Princess Luna told you how well that last visit went,” Moonwhisper retorted. While Twilight had never actually told Moonwhisper that she had been invisibly present during Princess Luna’s visit to his dreams, he still knew that she had been the one who had arranged it. “Even under the best of circumstances my subconscious isn’t the most pleasant…would you really call the subconscious a ‘place’, per se?” Moonwhisper asked, his expression suddenly turning thoughtful. “I mean, it isn’t a physical location so much as it’s a psychological construct, but it functions as a physical location within the realm of dreams, so—“

“Moonwhisper,” Twilight yelled, “I think you’re getting a little off topic.” Inwardly, Twilight wanted to argue that a subconscious could probably be considered a place in the context of dreams, but now was not the time for that discussion. “Anyway, I’m certain Princess Luna would still be willing to help you if you asked. In any case, you should really talk to somepony if your nightmares are getting that bad.”

“I know,” Moonwhisper replied, “and I promise you I am talking to Conscious Mind about this. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about anything this earlier, I truly didn’t want you to worry about me.”

Twilight gave Moonwhisper a reassuring nuzzle as she mentally went over her options. It was extremely obvious that there was something about Moonwhisper’s nightmares that he didn’t want her to know about, but Twilight knew Moonwhisper well enough to know that pressing him further would be pointless. As such, even as Twilight reassured Moonwhisper that she would be there for him if he needed her she was already silently making plans to speak with Moonwhisper’s therapist. If Moonwhisper couldn’t bring himself to tell Twilight what was really bothering him, then perhaps his therapist could shine some light on the subject.

Rodeo Reconciliation

“You do understand that it’s extremely unorthodox for us to have these little meetings, don’t you?” Conscious Mind glared wearily at Princess Twilight Sparkle as she sat across the table. The teal-coated earth pony psychologist knew full well that the young alicorn wasn’t concerned in the slightest about orthodoxy when it came to her patient, but pointing it out at least made her feel a little better about the situation. “I know you’re technically allowed to ask questions about Moonwhisper’s progress thanks to some guard regulation, but there’s a huge difference between that and asking me about the specifics of what Moonwhisper and I discuss during his sessions.”

“But hasn’t Moonwhisper given you permission to talk about those things with me?” Twilight asked as she poured Conscious Mind a cup of tea. “I remember Moonwhisper telling me he had even given you the permission in writing.”

“And in triplicate, no less,” Conscious Mind added. “I’m just saying that this isn’t a situation I’m totally used to yet. Building trust with my patients is essential for what I do and confidentiality is a key part of that.”

“I guess I can understand why talking to me about Moonwhisper might make you a little uncomfortable,” Twilight conceded, “but Moonwhisper and I both think that this is the best way to help him.” The truth of the matter was it had actually been Moonwhisper’s idea for Twilight to keep tabs on his progress with his therapy. Granted, Moonwhisper’s reasoning had probably been that Twilight was likely to try and ferret out that information regardless, but Twilight still felt it was a nice gesture of trust on his part. “You have to admit,” Twilight added, “Moonwhisper has been improving since the two of us started dating.”

“I have to admit Moonwhisper has been considerably more talkative lately,” Conscious Mind admitted as she took a sip of her tea. “We’re still working through some of his trust issues, but at least we’ve finally reached a point where we can make actual progress. So what exactly did you invite me here to talk about?”

“Well,” Twilight began, “Moonwhisper told me that he’s been having really severe nightmares recently, and I was wondering if he’s been talking to you about them.”

“And let me guess, you’re hoping that I’ll be able to tell you what exactly Moonwhisper’s been dreaming about,” Conscious Mind sourly interrupted. “The subject has come up a few times during our sessions, and Moonwhisper has already asked that I not divulge the specifics about their contents, even to you, your highness.” Seeing Twilight’s expression at this revelation, Conscious Mind softened her tone. “What I can do, if you’d like, is tell you what I think is causing these nightmares in the first place.”

“Really, that’d be perfect!” Twilight exclaimed happily. “But, didn’t you just say that Moonwhisper didn’t want you to talk about his nightmares to me?”

“What Moonwhisper wants to keep private is the specific imagery of his dreams,” Conscious Mind replied with an air of authority, “and frankly I don’t blame him. Most of it is very personal and really rather disturbing. But, so far almost every dream that Moonwhisper has told me about seems to originate from the same set of anxieties.” Conscious Mind paused for dramatic effect and took a sip of her tea before continuing. “Specifically, Moonwhisper seems to be have issues with his fear of hurting those he cares about, yourself in particular.”

“He’s afraid of what?” Twilight asked incredulously. “Moonwhisper would never hurt me. Ever.”

“Well, I didn’t say it was an entirely rational fear,” Conscious Mind interjected, completely unfazed by Twilight’s outburst. “Really his fears of hurting you tie into his issues surrounding his father. Moonwhisper is terrified of the idea that he could, for the lack of a better term, become his father or follow him in his hoofsteps. And when you consider the years of abuse he witnessed…” Conscious Mind’s voice trailed off for a moment before she continued. “You know, before you sent Moonwhisper to me I had never really dealt with anything even remotely as serious as what he’s been through. Mostly it was mild anxiety disorders, maybe the odd existential crisis every now and then. But Moonwhisper…he’s just a giant knot of fears and unresolved traumas that feed off one another, and every time I think I have a handle on it I learn about some new horror from his past.” Conscious Mind let out a long sigh before continuing before Twilight had a chance to respond. “Mostly, though, everything eventually leads back to the unresolved issues Moonwhisper has with his father. For instance, from what Moonwhisper has told me his father has an unhealthy obsession with the idea of family.”

“Wait, you’re trying to tell me that the stallion who regularly beat his wife, and magically tortured his son, was somepony who thought family was important?” Twilight asked incredulously.

“Well, maybe family wouldn’t be the best word for it, at least as we might use the term. The concept that Penumbral Dusk was fixated on was maybe more along the lines of his legacy or his bloodline. To him, any suffering he inflicted on Moonwhisper or his mother was perfectly fine as long as it served his ultimate goal of furthering the interests of the ‘family’. Penumbral Dusk’s efforts to drill this ‘family over all’ mentality into Moonwhisper is ultimately the source of Moonwhisper’s current anxieties regarding turning out like his father. Essentially, Moonwhisper has been conditioned to be unable to mentally separate himself from his family’s ‘legacy’, which to him represents a major source of a guilt and shame.”

“That…explains a lot, actually,” Twilight said sadly. Silently, Twilight recalled the time she had spied on one of Moonwhisper’s nightmares and had seen him tormented by reflections showing the visage of King Sombra.

“And of course then you also have the fact that Penumbral Dusk made a habit of tormenting anypony who Moonwhisper was even remotely close to,” Conscious Mind continued. “Moonwhisper’s mother bore the brunt of it, of course, but apparently Penumbral Dusk had a habit of making life miserable for just about anypony Moonwhisper became close to. For example, when Moonwhisper was little, his father hired a family of migrant earth pony farmers to tend the von Umbra family’s holdings. This particular family of earth ponies happened to have a colt roughly Moonwhisper’s age…”

*********

Moonwhisper had always loved exploring the ancient apple orchard that sprawled out to the south of his family’s castle. Trotting underneath the tangled canopies made Moonwhisper feel as though he were in an adventure novel, far away from his father. Today, the young unicorn colt was climbing around on a rock formation near a stream that ran through the orchard, envisioning himself as a brave explorer traversing a mountain range.

“Well howdy!” A cheerful, unfamiliar voice called out to Moonwhisper as he hopped from rock to rock, startling him out of fantasy. Luckily for Moonwhisper, he was able to recover his footing almost immediately, and once he was no longer in danger of crashing to the ground he looked towards the voice’s source. Standing on the other side of the stream was an earth pony colt with a yellow coat and light brown mane who looked to be about the same age as Moonwhisper himself. “Golly, are y’ alright? Ah didn’t mean to startle y’”

“It’s alright,” Moonwhisper said as he tried to salvage some of his dignity. His father had always stressed that it was crucial to maintain one’s dignity when dealing with other ponies, especially one’s lessers. Moonwhisper wasn’t entirely certain what being a lesser entailed, but from the way his father talked about earth ponies in general seemed to fit the definition. “What are you doing here, anyway? I didn’t think there were any other foals living around here.”

“Mah family and me just moved out here, we’re supposed to be helpin’ take care of the plants ‘n stuff. Say, y’ wanna play with me?”

“Yeah! I mean,” Moonwhisper paused to clear his throat so he could respond in a more distinguished manner (Moonwhisper wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but he was fairly sure it involved a lot of throat clearing), “that sounds like an excellent idea.” With that, the colts ran laughing off into the forest to seek out imaginary adventures together. For the next several weeks Moonwhisper made an effort to sneak away from the castle whenever possible so he could play with his new friend. Moonwhisper privately suspected that his father wouldn’t approve of his new friendship, but personally Moonwhisper didn’t see any harm with it. One day, however, Moonwhisper’s friend failed to show up at their usual meeting spot. Moonwhisper waited for as long as he dared before finally giving up and returning to the castle. At first, Moonwhisper didn’t think too much of his friend’s absences; he was a farmpony, after all, so perhaps he simply was busy helping his family. It wasn’t until Moonwhisper returned home and saw his father waiting for him and glaring angrily that Moonwhisper started to worry. Initially Moonwhisper tried to simply slink by with his head held low in the hope that his father was just angry in general as opposed to being angry about something specific. These hopes were quickly dashed, however, as his father swiped Moonwhisper’s legs out from under him as he passed by.

“You miserable, lazy little parasite!” Penumbral Dusk snarled as he loomed over the terrified colt. “It’s bad enough that you’re always wasting time tramping about the woods, but now I find out you’re gallivanting about with some worthless mudhoof?” Penumbral Dusk practically spat the slur out as he brought his crutch down across Moonwhisper’s withers, eliciting a cry of pain from the colt. “You’re a damned von Umbra, I expect you to act like one, and that means you don’t go running around with some filthy degenerate.”

“B-but,” Moonwhisper stammered, despite knowing that he was risking his father’s further wrath by doing so, “he’s my friend!”

Penumbral Dusk let out a disgusted snort in response. “Well, you won’t be embarrassing me by scampering about with you little mudhoof ‘friend’ anymore. I’ve already had the brat and his whole disgusting family evicted off our land.” Penumbral Dusk paused for a moment as though to savor the look of despair that crossed Moonwhisper’s features before continuing. “And that isn’t all, I’ve prepared a little something extra just to make sure you remember your place from now on. Come on!” With that, Penumbral Dusk roughly levitated Moonwhisper up into the air and stormed off out of the castle pulling the terrified cold behind him. It didn’t take long for the pair to reach their apparent destination, a small cottage on the outskirts of the castle’s orchard. The cottage appeared in disarray, as though its occupants had left in a huge hurry all of a sudden, and Moonwhisper realized right away that this must have been where his friend had been living. Standing nearby was the von Umbra family butler, Quiet Custom. Moonwhisper had never liked the gaunt, dun-coated unicorn, who always seemed to be lurking at the edges of any room he was in, watching and ready to report back to Penumbral Dusk with what he saw. “You see that?” Penumbra Dusk asked as he tossed Moonwhisper to the ground, snapping the young colt’s focus back to the situation at hoof. “That hovel is where your filthy mudhoof friend used to live. And now I’m going to see to it that he never, ever comes back. Quiet, are you ready?”

“I’ve made the preparations as you requested, sir,” Quiet Custom rasped. “Shall I proceed as we discussed?”

“Do it.” Penumbral Dusk snapped in response. With that, Quiet Custom levitated a torch into the air and ignited it with a flash of magic from his horn. Quiet Custom then lobbed the burning torch through the cottage’s open door, which quickly began disgorging thick, black smoke. “Now,” Penumbral Dusk said as he looked down at Moonwhisper, “you’re going to watch as that rubbish heap burns to the ground, and I want you to think about how none of this would have happened if you hadn’t lowered yourself to associating with lower-class filth. Then, since you apparently have so much free time on your hooves, we’re going to go back to the castle for a training session.”

*********

Twilight felt sick to her stomach as Conscious Mind finished the story. Granted, everything Twilight had just heard sounded entirely consistent with what she already knew about Penumbral Dusk, but it was still difficult for Twilight to comprehend how anypony could be so vile. “All that, just because Moonwhisper was making friends with an earth pony…” Twilight said as she tried to make sense of it all.

“I understand it can be hard to take in, and that was hardly an isolated incident. Penumbral Dusk seemed to practically make a hobby out of traumatizing his son,” Conscious Mind said sadly.

The two mares sat in silence for several minutes before Twilight finally spoke up. ”Well, if you come up with anything that could help you’ll let me know, right?”

“Frankly, your highness, my best advice right now would be to just keep doing what you’ve been doing. Moonwhisper’s progress may seem slow, but I’ve definitely seen a change in him for the better since the two of you have started dating.” Conscious Mind tapped her front hoof on the table for a moment before she went on. “It probably wouldn’t hurt if you could nudge Moonwhisper into being a little bit more social, though. For instance, isn’t the Ponyville Rodeo supposed to be coming up fairly soon?”

*********

The Ponyville Rodeo was in fact approaching very soon, and as usual Applejack had placed herself in charge of the preparations. Applejack had always taken a certain amount of pride of insuring that her hometown rodeo was a well-managed as any big city event, and this year it was especially important to her that everything go perfectly. Unfortunately for Applejack, ‘perfect’ was easier said than done. “Dagnabbit, Carmel, watch what y’all are doin’ before y’ wind up hurtin’ somepony!” Applejack shouted as she saw Carmel stumbling across the field while carrying a large bundle of wooden boards. It quickly became apparent to Applejack that her warning was too little too late, however, as Carmel rapidly lost his footing and crashed into a pile of barrels sending them careening down the field. The barrels looked like they were going to crash into a group of other ponies at first, but before Applejack even needed to call out a warning a pale green aura enveloped the barrels and neatly righted them.

“Whew, that was a close one! Y’all alright there?” Lieutenant Sharpshooter asked as he trotted over. The one-eyed union had volunteered to help with the preparations for the rodeo and at the moment Applejack was thankful he had. As Applejack galloped over to make sure everypony was alright Sharpshooter went over to Carmel and helped the unfortunate stallion to his hooves. “Y’ might wanna rethink tryin’ t’ carry so much of this staff at once, a stallion’s gotta know his limitations, y’ know?” Sharpshooter gently admonished. “Now, why don’t y’ get yerself dusted off an’ go see if they need an extra set of hooves settin’ up fer the hay bale stack.” Carmel nodded and scurried off, the sight of an irritated and rapidly approaching Applejack all the encouragement he needed to make himself scarce.

“Don’tcha think y’all went a little too easy on him there?” Applejack asked. “If y’all hadn’t been here to stop those barrels-“

“Point is, though, Ah was here t’ stop ‘em,” Sharpshooter quickly countered, “so in the end there weren’t no real harm done. That colt was jus’ tryin’ t’ be helpful, and assumin’ he learnt his lesson ‘bout bitin’ off more ‘n he can chew Ah don’t really see the point in haranguin’ ‘im anymore.”

Applejack grumbled a little, but chose not to argue the point. There was a certain logic to Sharpshooter’s handling of the situation, but that didn’t mean Applejack had to like it. Truthfully, Applejack still wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the one-eyed unicorn guard. When Applejack had first met Sharpshooter she had assumed that the two of them would have no issues getting along given his accent and profession. The more Applejack got to know Sharpshooter, however, the more she found herself irritated by his perpetually laid back demeanor. Still, Applejack did have to admit that Sharpshooter, whatever his faults, did have a knack for getting things done effectively. “So,” Applejack began in an effort towards general friendliness, “why exactly were y’all so interested in helpin’ out with the rodeo. Not that Ah’m not grateful or nothin’, but most of the unicorns Ah’ve met ain’t exactly the outside sports types. No offense.”

“None taken,” Sharpshooter replied with a laugh, “’specially seein’ how most of the unicorns y’ve probably met have been the highfalutin Canterlot types. Now me, Ah actually grew up in the rodeo circuit, travelin’ all over Equestria. ‘Course, we spent most of the year ‘round Gallopin’ Gorge durin’ the offseason.”

“Gallopin’ Gorge, huh? Ah thought Ah recognized that accent of yers,” Applejack said. “So, how the hay did a rodeo pony wind up joinin’ the Royal Guard?”

“Now, that’s a bit of a story. Y’ see, Ah was part of a family of performers, trick shootin’ ‘n storytellin’ ‘n the like. It weren’t exactly what y’ might call a traditional upbringin’, but it suited me just fine. At least, it did at first. Now, don’t get me wrong, Ah loved performin’ an’ whatnot, still do as a matter of fact, but as time went on Ah started t’ want t’ try an’ do somethin’, Ah don’t know, bigger. More meaningful, Ah mean, somethin’ that could really make a difference. An’ the more Ah thought about it, the more signin’ up with the guard seemed lit it’d fit the bill. Mah family weren’t exactly thrilled about it, mostly ‘cause it’d mean Ah was leavin’ the performin’ life, but they came ‘round eventually. So, the next time the rodeo came t’ Canterlot Ah headed over t’ the nearest recruitment office an’ the rest is history.”

“Well, Ah can’t really say Ah’d have taken y’all fer the performin’ type,” Applejack replied after a brief pause to take everything in. “Ah remember seein’ a few trick shooters at the Canterlot Rodeo and they pulled off some pretty fancy stunts, blastin’ targets out of the sky and all. Are y’all sayin’ y’ can pull off stuff like that?”

Sharpshooter scoffed at Applejack’s remark. “Please, just shootin’ targets outta the air’s amateur stuff. Y’ wanna see real talent, then take a look at this.” With that, Sharpshooter walked over to a nearby table that had been set for lunch and plucked an apple off of it. With an elaborate flourish, Sharpshooter proceeded to toss the apple into the air. Then, after pausing for a moment to gauge its trajectory, Sharpshooter fired off a barrage of magical blasts at the flying fruit with dizzying speed. Sharpshooter then neatly caught the apple in his magical aura as it fell to the ground and presented it to Applejack. To Applejack’s amazement, the apple’s core and peel had been neatly blasted away, leaving only the flesh of the fruit behind.

“Well, Ah have to admit that was definitely some might fancy shootin’ there,” Applejack said, honestly impressed in spite of herself. “Ah don’t suppose Ah could talk y’all into performin’ durin’ the rodeo?”

Sharpshooter let out a nervous chuckle as he considered Applejack’s request. “Ah suppose it would be nice t’ get out in front of a crowd again. ‘Course, Ah’d have t’ get the Cap’n t’ sign off on it first. Maybe Ah could pitch it t’ him as a sort of public relations move, demonstratin’ the talents of the guard or some such. Ah’ll talk t’ him about it in any case.”

“If it comes to it Ah’ll ask Twilight about it too. If she asks Moonwhisper there ain’t no way he’d say so.” Applejack grinned as she considered the added spectacle that Sharpshooter’s performance would add to the Ponyville rodeo. “Woo wee, Ah can’t wait for Braeburn to finally get here so he can eat his durn words.” As Sharpshooter looked at her in confusion Applejack elaborated. “Mah loudmouth of a cousin has been yappin’ about how someplace like Ponyville could never put on a rodeo that could match up with the one they have in Appleloosa and Ah aim to prove him dead wrong.”

“Y’ know,” Sharpshooter said after thinking about it for a moment, “if y’ really want t’ show up that cousin of yours, maybe y’ should try seein’ if y’ could talk the princess int’ openin’ everythin’ up. Ain’t like Appleloosa’s got any royalty to kick things off.”

*********

“As Princess of Friendship, I, Twilight Sparkle, hereby declare the Ponyville Rodeo to have officially begin!” The crowds seated in the stands that had been erected for the rodeo roared their approval as Twilight finished. As several ponies began setting out barrels for the opening barrel weave Twilight flew up into the stands to take her set among the rest of her friends, or at least those in attendance. “It’s a pity Rarity couldn’t make it because of the emergency at her Manehatten store,” Twilight remarked as she settled into her seat, “I think she would have actually enjoyed this.”

“If you say so,” Moonwhisper said, sounding rather unconvinced, “frankly your friend Rarity has never struck me as the sort of pony who had all that much interest in this sort of thing.”

“Rarity might not be interested in actually competing, but she’d never pass up a chance to cheer on her friends,” Twilight countered with a note of defiance, as if she were defending her friend from some horrible slight.

Moonwhisper thought for a moment before simply shrugging in response. “That’s a fair point, I suppose. I will say, though, that I’m a little surprised you’re not competing, Miss Dash.”

Rainbow Dash, who was seated nearby along with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, gave a nonchalant chuckle. “Nah, rodeos are really more AJ’s thing, I’m more into stuff where I don’t have to keep my hooves on the ground. Besides, I’m heading up to Wonderbolt HQ in a few days for training and I really wanna take it easy while I can. What about you?” Rainbow Dash asked suddenly. “I mean, you’re the big ultimate guard super-solider, right? Shouldn’t you be competing to show everypony how awesome the guard is or something?”

“I had initially considered involving myself in the rodeo early on for that precise reason,” Moonwhisper admitted almost guiltily, “but then Lieutenant Sharpshooter offered to perform a demonstration of his abilities. And to be honest I’d much rather let him handle it.” After a slight pause Moonwhisper allowed himself a slight grin. “Also, I do have to admit I am looking forward to watching the Lieutenant’s performance. Lieutenant Sharpshooter is one if the top beam-specialists in the guard and—“

“Hey, did we miss anything?” Moonwhisper found himself cut-off as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy arrived, the former carrying a truly prodigious amount of food. “I brought snacks for everypony!” Pinkie Pie declared as she expertly bucked the food she was carrying into the air, causing the various treats to land neatly amongst her friends. “We didn’t miss Applejack, did we?”

“Nope, looks like she’s comin’ up next!” Apple Bloom excitedly replied as she tried stretching herself as tall as she could to get a better view of her older sister.

*********

“Woo wee! Ah gotta hand it to ya cuz, that was some fancy hoofwork out there,” Braeburn exclaimed as he trotted alongside Applejack.

“Aw shucks, Braeburn, Ah didn’t do anythin’ special, leastways nothin’ Ah haven’t done plenty of times before.” Applejack replied with an air of false modesty that would have done Rainbow Dash proud. “So, do y’all still think Ponyville can’t put on a decent rodeo?”

“Well, Ah’ll admit y’ got me there, this here’s a pretty dang nice setup. If nothin’ else we sure don’t have a princess to kick things off fer us back in Appleloosa. That actually reminds me, Ah was wonderin’ who that fella sittin’ next to her? Y’ know the big grumpy lookin’ unicorn in the little hat?”

“Sounds like y’all are talkin’ about Moonwhisper, Twilight’s coltfriend.” Applejack replied. “Ah must’ve told y’all about him before, he’s the guard who got picked to be Twilight’s bodyguard and one thing pretty much just led to another.”

“And by ‘one thing led to another’ y’ mean he graduated from bein’ the princess’ bodyguard to bein’ her special somepony,” Braeburn chuckled. “Sound like a pretty good deal if y’ ask me.”

“Look, Ah know how it sounds, but Moonwhisper didn’t come in tryin’ to seduce Twilight or anythin’. Things just sorta happened and that’s just how everythin’ shook out in the end.” Applejack thought for a moment before continuing. “If y’all want Ah could introduce the two of ya.”

As Braeburn nodded in affirmation, Applejack began leading him through the throngs of ponies milling about own to the stands where Twilight and the rest of her friends were sitting. Most of the crowd was currently engrossed in watching the antics of the rodeo clowns, particularly the now famous Troubleshoes, who was clumsily galumphing around the arena with a barrel over his head. Approaching the stands, Applejack could see Twilight, Fluttershy, Moonwhisper and Rainbow Dash chatting and watching the performance. Pinkie Pie and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, however, were nowhere to be seen. “Oh, hey Applejack,” Rainbow Dash said as she noticed her friend trotting up, “congrats on the blue-ribbon - pft, hahaha, oh geez, look at that guy go!” A brief glance back town’s the arena revealed that Troubleshoes had crashed into another group of clowns who were now clinging to the massive stallion for dear life. Given what she had been told by Apple Bloom, Applejack had to wonder if any of what she was seeing was actually part of the show. “Anyway,” Rainbow Dash continued as she managed to stop snickering, “Pinkie Pie really wanted to meet this Troubleshoes guy, so Apple Bloom and her friends took her down to see him once the act’s over. So, shouldn’t you be getting ready for the hay bale toss or something?”

“Nah, Ah’ve still got plenty of time before that. After their done with their clownin’ Sharpshooter’s supposed to put on his big show, and the hay bale toss isn’t ‘til after he’s done with that. Anyway, Ah thought Ah’d take the chance to introduce Moonwhisper to mah cousin. Moonwhisper,” Applejack said as she gestured towards Braeburn, “this here’s mah cousin Braeburn from Appleloosa. Braeburn, this here’s Captain Moonwhisper.”

“Well howdy!” Braeburn said as he climbed up to where Moonwhisper was sitting and extended a hoof in greeting. “Ah’ve heard quite a few tales about y’ from mah cousin, and Ah have to admit Ah had a hard time believin’ all of them. Is it really true y’ fought off a full grown wyvern to save mah little cousin Apple Bloom?”

Moonwhisper let out a small sigh of resignation before shaking Braeburn’s hoof. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, mister Braeburn. I can verify that I did in fact fend off a wyvern that was in the process of attack miss Apple Bloom, but other ponies seem to ascribe considerably more significance to that encounter than is really necessary.”

“Ah don’t know about that, fightin’ off a wyvern and savin’ a little filly sounds pretty durn significant to me!” Braeburn let out a good-natured chuckle. “Ah’m guessin’ yer not much of the braggin’ type, are ya?”

“He sure as a sugar ain’t,” Applejack declared before Moonwhisper had a chance to respond. “Moonwhisper’s durn near the humblest pony yer ever likely to meet.” Applejack’s praise left Moonwhisper looking rather embarrassed and he found himself unable to do much more than clear his throat continually and mumble a few half-hearted dismissals. With the introductions out of the way the assembled ponies began chatting amicably while they watched the performance of the rodeo clowns. While at first glance everypony seemed to be having a fine time, Twilight couldn’t help noticing that Moonwhisper seemed to be continually glancing over towards Braeburn with an oddly confused look on his face.

“Um, Moonwhisper, is there something the matter?” Twilight asked softly as she nudged Moonwhisper to get his attention.

“What? Oh, no nothing’s the matter, really,” Moonwhisper absentmindedly replied, “it’s just that there’s something about Applejack’s cousin that feels oddly familiar somehow. I know it sounds farfetched, but I swear to Celestia I’ve met him somewhere before.” Moonwhisper let out a snort of frustration. “The problem is I can’t for the life of me think of where I might have met him previously.” Moonwhisper continued to stew in frustration as he tried to recall where he may have encountered Braeburn in the past while Twilight looked on. A nagging thought in the back of Twilight’s mind told her that she might have an answer to Moonwhisper’s question, but Twilight wanted to confer with Applejack before she said anything.

Meanwhile, the rodeo clowns’ act had ended in predictable chaos and the floor staff were busily setting up for Lieutenant Sharpshooter’s performance. As soon as everything was ready, the Lieutenant strode out onto the field in full armor, cheerfully waving to the crowds. “How’re y’all doin’ this fine day?” Sharpshooter called out. “Now, more’n a fair bit of y’all know me from ‘round Ponyville, and once or twice Ah’ve been asked ‘bout this here eye patch of mine. And Ah figure fer every pony who asks there’s probably quite a bit more who want to, so if y’all don’t mind Ah’m gonna take th’ opportunity to set th’ record straight.” Sharpshooter subsequently proceeded to launch into a rather embellished retelling of his part during the gargoyle migration. While telling the story, however, he would frequently perform all manner of tricks with his magical blasts, casually demonstrating an incredible degree of skill and precision.

“Sweet Celestia, that stallion’s almost as good as Calamity Mane!” Braeburn exclaimed as Sharpshooter tossed a hoof mirror into the air and expertly blasted three targets by bouncing beams off of it before catching it again as it fell. “Do y’ really think he fought off a half-dozen gargoyles by himself like that?”

“Personally it sounds like a tall tale to me,” Applejack replied, “but if y’all really want to know how it went y’ should try asking Moonwhisper over there. He’s supposed to be the big hero of that whole mess, so Ah’d bet he could tell y’all what really happened.”

“Yeah,” Braeburn said nervously as she glanced back towards Moonwhisper, “Ah’m not so sure Ah’d want to bother him about somethin’ like that.”

“There somethin’ wrong, Braeburn?” Applejack asked, sensing something off about her cousin’s tone. “Y’all seem a little tense there.”

“Well, Ah can’t quite put mah hoof on it, but there’s somethin’ about Moonwhisper that just seems…Ah’m not even sure Ah know how to put it. Ah kinda feel like Ah know him from somewhere, but fer the life of me Ah can’t think where Ah would’ve met him before. He doesn’t exactly strike me as the sort of pony Ah’d be liable to forget about.”

“Huh,” Applejack replied simply as she turned back to the show. Applejack honestly wasn’t entirely sure how to react to Braeburn’s statement. From what little Applejack know about Moonwhisper’s past she though it unlikely that her cousin would have crossed paths with Moonwhisper before. On the other hoof, however, Applejack couldn’t honestly say she was an expert on either Moonwhisper’s or Braeburn’s pasts, so it was entirely possible that the two really had met under circumstances she wasn’t aware of. As Applejack sat and watched Sharpshooter finish his exhibition she made a mental note to speak with Twilight about the issue. If there was anypony Applejack knew could answer questions about Moonwhisper’s past it would be Twilight.

*********

“So Braeburn had the same feeling that Moonwhisper did,” Twilight said as she and Applejack made their way back from the rodeo. “This can’t just be a coincidence, I’m sure those two must have known each other in the past. The only question is where? I know Moonwhisper was stationed all over Equestria before coming to Ponyville, and before that…could Braeburn have ever lived in Trotsylvania by any chance?”

“Ah can’t say Ah know fer sure, to be honest,” Applejack said as she tried to recall what she knew about her cousin’s past. “It’s possible Braeburn might have lived in Trotsylvania at one point, but that would have had to have been back when he was a real young’un. Ah remember hearin’ that Braeburn’s parents fell on some hard times when he was real little and they spent a few years workin’ as migrants. They wound up travelin’ all over Equestria, goin’ from orchard to orchard lookin’ fer work, so Ah reckon it’s as likely they spent time in Trotsylvania as anyplace else. Do y’all really think that Moonwhisper and Braeburn could have met way back when they were foals, though? From what y’all’ve told me, Moonwhisper’s Pa doesn’t seem like the type who’d take kindly to his son makin’ friends with an earth pony.”

“He didn’t,” Twilight said grimly, recalling the conversation she had had with Conscious Mind. Seeing Applejack’s quizzical expression Twilight quickly elaborated. “When Moonwhisper was little his father hired some earth ponies to work the orchards on their land. The family he hired had a colt about Moonwhisper’s age who made friends with Moonwhisper, but when Moonwhisper’s father found out he had the whole family evicted.” Twilight paused for a moment as she willed herself to finish the story. “And then he had the home the family had been staying in burned down while he made Moonwhisper watch.”

Applejack folded her ears back and let out a snort of disgust. “Y’ know, the more Ah hear about Moonwhisper’s pa the more Ah think it was a durn miracle Moonwhisper turned out as well as he did. “Applejack thought for a moment before she continued. “Do y’all really think that the colt Moonwhisper knew back then was really Braeburn, though? That’d be one hay of a big coincidence.”

“As big a coincidence as you and I and the rest of our friends all getting our cutie marks after seeing Rainbow Dash’s sonic rainboom?” Twilight said with a sly grin.

“All right, Ah’ll admit y’all’ve got me there.”

“My point is we can’t really discount the possibility, at least until we talk to Braeburn to make sure.” A look of excitement crossed Twilight’s face as she considered the potential implications. “You know, if it turns out that Braeburn really is Moonwhisper’s long-lost friend then this could be an excellent opportunity for Moonwhisper to learn a friendship lesson.” Twilight practically sang the last part as she changed direction and picked up her pace. “Do you mind if we make a quick stop at any castle before we track down Braeburn and Moonwhisper? I want to pick up the copy I made of the checklist I gave Starlight Glimmer when she reunited with Sunburst.”

“That’s fine with me,” Applejack said as she hurried to keep up with her suddenly energized friend, “but Ah just have one question. Do y’all happen to have any idea where Braeburn got off to after the rodeo? Ah lost track of him after he went off with Big Macintosh.”

*********

Ponyville had always had a rather limited number of options available if one really wanted to ‘cut lose’ or ‘go wild’. This wasn’t to say there weren’t any options whatsoever, however, and the Brinery was chief among them. Tucked away within a nondescript alleyway, the Brinery was Ponyville’s sole bar, an acceptably disreputable hangout for the town’s assorted ne’er-do-wells, ruffians and Berry Punch. Of course, given that this was Ponyville the ‘ne’er-do-wells’ and ‘ruffians’ tended to consist of regular mares and stallions who just needed an opportunity to let off some steam for an evening. Still, the Brinery was certainly rougher than any other of the town’s establishments, and a placard in its front window even boasted that none other than Discord himself had deemed it the rowdiest establishment in Ponyville. That evening the Brinery was unusually crowded, many of its patrons being ponies from out of town who had come to Ponyville for the town’s rodeo. Every available table was occupied by ponies in various states of inebriation, all of them drinking, laughing and generally having a fun time.

“-but right then we all hear Pinkie Pie out in front of town and she’s out there dancin’ and singin’ that same corny song!” Braeburn burst out laughing at the memory. “Well, them buffalo just went wild at that point and we had one hay of a fight on our hooves, leastways ‘til everypony finally figured out a way to compromise.”

The conclusion to Braeburn’s story elicited a round of laughter from the other stallions at the table. To Braeburn’s left Sharpshooter was guffawing hysterically as he banged one of his hooves on the table. Across form Sharpshooter, Big Macintosh was in the middle of an uncontrollable sniggering fit, though that was likely as much a product of the alcohol as it was Braeburn’s story. Moonwhisper, sitting directly across from Braeburn, simply watched his companions for the evening with a faint smile on his face. “Y’ know,” Sharpshooter managed to gasp between peals of laughter, “if that story had been about any other pony Ah’d never have believed a word of it, but dang it if that don’t sound exactly like th’ sort of thing Pinkie Pie’d do!”

“Eeyup!” Big Macintosh wholeheartedly agreed.

“By the way, Sharpshooter,” Braeburn asked, “Ah was wonderin’, where the hay did y’ learn to shoot like that? Ah’ve known plenty of rodeo ponies and Ah’ve never met any who could do half the tricks y’ were doin’ back at the rodeo. Did they teach y’ how to do all that in the Royal Guard?”

Sharpshooter paused for a moment upon hearing Braeburn’s question before collapsing in uncontrollable laughter. “Are y’ seriously tellin’ me y’ think th’ Royal Guard could teach somepony t’ shoot like that? Dang, most of our instructors wish they could train ponies half as good as me.” After gradually getting his laughter under control, Sharpshooter continued. “Now, Ah don’t usually brag about this sort of thing, but…aw what the hay. Thing is, Ah learned everythin’ Ah know about trick shootin’ from the best there is, Calamity Mane herself.”

“All right, now Ah know yer pullin’ mah leg,” Braeburn said incredulously, “Calamity Mane’s one of the most famous rodeo ponies in Equestria, how the hay did y’ manage to wrangle shootin’ lessons outta her?”

“It likely helped that Lieutenant Sharpshooter happens to be Calamity Mane’s so,” Moonwhisper said with a wry grin.

“Now Ah know y’all are kiddin’ me,” Braeburn said with a chuckle, “y’all can’t honestly expect me to believe that Sharpshooter here is Calamity Mane’s son. Hay, if nothin’ else Calamity Mane’s too young to have a son Sharpshooter’s age, right?”

“Ma was pretty young when she foaled me,” Sharpshooter replied a little apprehensively, “but, yep, Ah’m Calamity Mane’s son all right. Ah don’t bring it up if Ah can avoid it fer mah own reasons, but that’s the truth of the matter.” After a brief pause, Sharpshooter’s face suddenly brightened. “All this jawin’s made me thirsty. Come on, Mac, y’ can help me carry mah order back to the table.” Without waiting for Big Macintosh to respond, Sharpshooter levitated Big Macintosh out of his chair and carried the flailing stallion over to the bar.

Braeburn watched the pair disappear into the crowd before turning back to Moonwhisper. “The hay was that all about?” Braeburn asked, “Ah didn’t mean to upset him or nothin’.”

“The Lieutenant has always been somewhat…uncomfortable when it comes to the subject of his mother,” Moonwhisper replied. “It’s not a subject I’m inclined to pry into, but from what I’ve gathered there was some friction between the two of them over his decision to join the guard.” Moonwhisper took a sip of the drink he had been nursing. “Frankly I can sympathize with his discomfort.”

Braeburn regarded Moonwhisper for a moment before speaking up. “Hey listen, Ah didn’t really wanna make a fuss about this in front of everypony else, but it’s been buggin’ me all night. Do Ah know y’ from someplace? Ah’ve had this weird feelin’ that Ah’ve met y’ before, but fer the life of me Ah can’t figure out where.”

Moonwhisper seemed to visibly relax as he listened to Braeburn’s question. “To tell the truth I’ve been wanting to ask you the very same thing. And, given that we’re both having the same reaction I’d say it’s quite likely we actually have met previously. The only question is, where?”

“Well, Ah’m guessin’ it weren’t too recent,” Braeburn replied, “least not unless y’ve had a chance to visit Appleloosa. Ah haven’t had much of a chance to go anyplace else since we founded the town. Managin’ the orchards fer the town’s a big responsibility an’ all.” Braeburn added with a note of pride.

“To be frank, I suspect we could safely eliminate the last several years as realistic possibilities. Prior to Tirek’s rampage I was stationed in a remote facility in northern Equestria, so if we’ve met previously it would have to have been before then.” Moonwhisper rubbed his chin with a forehoof as he pondered where the two may have met. “Let’s see, have you ever lived in the Fillydelphia area? Perhaps in one of the towns nearby to the south such as Hoofington?”

“Well, Ah did spend a few months livin’ in a Hoofington, but it weren’t anywhere near Fillydelphia,” Braeburn responded.

“That was probably West Hoofington, then,” Moonwhisper said with a snort.

“So Ah’m guessin’ the place yer talkin’ about was East Hoofington then.”

“Precisely, though frankly I’ve never understood why they couldn’t have named one of those towns something else. I don’t suppose you’ve ever lived in Manehatten?”

“Ah’ve got some family who live there, but Ah don’t really see ‘em outside of the family reunion at Sweet Apple Acres.”

Moonwhisper closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. “I’m starting to run out of ideas. I’m guessing you were never enlisted in the guard, so unless you spent time in Trotsylvania as a foal I can’t imagine where we might have met.”

At Moonwhisper’s mention of Trotsylvania, however, Braeburn’s eyes lit up in recognition. “Actually, Ah think Ah just might have spent some time in Trotsylvania back when Ah was a young’un. Mah family wasn’t there fer very long, and to tell the truth Ah didn’t even remember it ‘til y’ mentioned it. Say, are y’ alright? Y’ look a might pale all of a sudden.”

“What? No, I – I’m fine, really.” Despite his assurances, Moonwhisper appeared to have broken out in a cold sweat. “So, you say your family lived in Trotsylvania when you were younger?”

“Sure did. That was back before mah family had land of our own, so we’d travel from place to place workin’ fer other ponies who had more land than they could tend to on their own.” Braeburn paused as he tried to recall what he could about that particular time of his life. “Best Ah can remember, mah family didn’t really stick around in Trotsylvania all that long. A reckon Ah was too young fer anypony to care to tell me why we had to move all of a sudden, but fer some reason Ah remember bein’ real upset by it.”

“Well, given how long ago that must have been it’s certainly understandable if you can’t remember the details –“

“Actually, now that Ah think about it it’s startin’ to come back to me,” Braeburn assured Moonwhisper. “The reason Ah was upset that we moved away was Ah actually had just managed to make a friend with a colt mah age.” Braeburn suddenly looked up at Moonwhisper as a sudden realization dawned on him. “Sweet Celestia, that must be it! Y’ must’ve been that colt! Ah just can’t believe the two of us wound up runnin’ into each other like this.” Braeburn let out a laugh of delight at having finally solved the mystery of where they met. “So, y’ wound up joinin’ the guard and made Captain, Ah guess things worked out pretty well fer – are y’ alright?”

Moonwhisper had lowered his gaze to the table and was visibly trembling at Braeburn’s realization. “Braeburn, there’s something that I need to tell you, it’s about the reason your family was suddenly forced to move.”

“Yeah, what about it?” Braeburn asked cautiously.

For a brief moment Moonwhisper hesitated to reply as if doing would be physically painful. “It was my fault!” Moonwhisper finally managed to blurt. “My father found out that we were playing together and he had your family evicted in order to put a stop to it.”

“Yer pa had mah family kicked out ‘cause we were playin’ together?” Braeburn asked in shock.

“My father…has rather severe prejudices against non-unicorns, earth ponies in particular. He couldn’t stand the idea of a member of his family associating with an earth pony, so he…” Moonwhisper found himself unable to continue.

“Well, that’s…honestly Ah don’t even know what to say to that,” Braeburn replied. “But, y’ can’t really blame yerself fer all that, can y’? Ah mean, y’ were just a foal makin’ a friend, there’s nothin’ wrong with that.” Braeburn let out a sad sigh. “Leastways there shouldn’t be. Your pa really had us kicked off his land just to keep y’ from makin’ friends with an earth pony.” Moonwhisper silently nodded his head in affirmation. “If it makes y’ fell any better,” Braeburn said, “gettin’ forced off probably wound up bein’ the best thing that could have happened to us.” Seeing Moonwhisper’s puzzled expression Braeburn elaborated. “Y’ see, after we left Trotsylvania we lucked into a plot of land where we were able to settle down for the next few years and really get back on our hooves. Celestia only knows how long it would have taken to find a place of our own if we had stayed in Trotsylvania.”

Hearing Braeburn’s assessment left Moonwhisper looking visibly relieved. “You can’t imagine how happy it makes me to hear you say that.”

“Ah just can’t believe y’d actually think Ah’d blame y’ fer what happened,” Braeburn replied. “So, now Ah’ve gotta ask, just how much of what that Sharpshooter was spoutin’ actually happened?”

The two stallions spent the next several minutes laughing and sharing stories about where their respective lives had taken them until now. As they talked Moonwhisper found himself increasingly at ease as he finally let go of a painful part of his past. Moonwhisper was so engrossed in his conversation with Braeburn that he didn’t notice Twilight and Applejack enter the tavern until they made their way to the table.

“Moonwhisper! I’m glad I found you, I think I may have some really exciting new about – Braeburn!” Twilight exclaimed as she finally noticed who Moonwhisper was seated across from. “I didn’t notice you there.”

“Well howdy, your highness!” Braeburn cheerfully greeted Twilight. “Yer not gonna believe this, but it turns out me and Moonwhisper here know each other from way back when we were foals. Now don’t that just beat all?”

Twilight started to open her mouth to respond, but before she could she found herself cut off by angry yelling coming from the bar. “WHAT IN TARNATION DO Y’ALL THINK YER DOIN’?” The sounds of Applejack’s outrage were quickly followed by a series of yelps and crashes, as though several ponies had just collapsed to the floor. Moonwhisper, Braeburn and Twilight swiftly made their way towards the source of the commotion, Moonwhisper muttering under his breath that this was all likely Sharpshooter’s fault. Upon reaching the bar the three found a crowd of ponies surrounding a rather dazed Big Macintosh lying flat out on his stomach with a pair of unfamiliar mares collapsed on either side. Standing over the three ponies was a thoroughly scandalized Applejack, who was too busy glowering at her older brother to notice she had attracted an audience.

As soon as he and the others reached the scene of the commotion, Moonwhisper quickly scanned the crowd until he picked out Sharpshooter. Moonwhisper immediately surged forward towards the one-eyed unicorn, who appeared to almost instantly sober up at the sight of his commanding officer. “Lieutenant Sharpshooter. Explain,” Moonwhisper demanded with a jerk of his head back towards the Apple siblings.

“Sir, well y’ see Ah thought it looked like y’ needed some time t’ sort things out Macintosh’s cousin, so Ah decided t’ take Macintosh and mahself and make ourselves scarce fer a spell. Anyhow, while we were waitin’ at the bar Big Macintosh and Ah got t’ talkin’, and the next thing y’ know the big guy’s showin’ off his strength by doin’ one-hoofed pushups with a few mares sittin’ on his back.”

Moonwhisper took a deep breath. “I’m guessing alcohol played a not inconsiderable role that decision.” Moonwhisper glanced back at Applejack and Big Macintosh before turning back to Sharpshooter. “We’ll discuss this further tomorrow. For now, I would advise you to make yourself scarce before Miss Applejack notices you.” Sharpshooter shot a quick glance over towards Applejack, who was still lambasting her brother over his behavior, before nodding and scuttling out the door. With that taken care of, Moonwhisper turned his attention back towards Applejack and Big Macintosh.

“And what the hay would y’all do if Apple Bloom catches wind of how y’all were carryin’ on?” Applejack said as she herded her brother towards the exit. “Y’all just better hope Granny Smith doesn’t hear about this, ‘cause be both know the sort of earful she’ll give y’all if she does.”

As the two siblings disappeared from view, Moonwhisper turned back to Twilight. “Well, that was…certainly a thing that happened. So, what precisely was it that came here to tell me about, anyway?”

*********

“Anyway, Braeburn and I have agreed to keep in touch by writing one another,” Moonwhisper said as he and Twilight finished their dinner back at the castle. “I have to admit I’m glad that I’ve been given the opportunity to reconnect with him.”

“This is so great!” Twilight replied. “Reconnecting with an old friend is an excellent start to your friendship lessons. It’s too bad I didn’t get to use my friendship rekindling checklist, but the important part is that you were able to find a friend of your own.”

“Wait, what exactly do you mean by ‘starting my friendship lessons’?” Moonwhisper asked with a mixture of bemusement and trepidation.

“Well, as the Princess of Friendship it’s my duty to help spread the magic friendship whenever the need presents itself, and you need help with friendship even more than most ponies. Besides,” Twilight added a little sheepishly, “now that Starlight Glimmer has graduated from needing my lessons I’ve had a lot more time on my hooves.”

Moonwhisper raised an eyebrow at Twilight’s remark. “Does this mean I should start submitting briefings regarding my personal findings on the subject of friendship?”

“What? No,” Twilight sputtered in surprise, “I mean, you could if you wanted to, but I wasn’t suggesting that you had to…” Twilight’s voice trailed off as she looked at Moonwhisper, who was struggling to keep from bursting out laughing. “Alright, you got me, very funny. I’m serious about the friendship lessons, though, I really do think you’ll be happier the more you open yourself up to having friends.”

Moonwhisper thought for a moment before responding. “You know, Twilight, I think, as usual, you’re absolutely right. Reconnecting with Braeburn made me feel…I’m not sure how to put it exactly but I suppose relieved would come closest. And, if you really think more ‘friendship lessons’ would help me further then who am I to argue with the Princess of Friendship.”

Twilight’s wings flared out in delight upon hearing Moonwhisper’s acquiescence. “You’re really going to let me teach you about friendship? This is incredible, I can’t wait to get started!” As she spoke, Twilight practically flew out of her seat in unrestrained glee. “I’ll have to go through all of the friendship lessons I had planned for Starlight to see which ones would be applicable; maybe I’ll start by sorting them from the most basic to the most advanced.” As Twilight giddily went over her plans for her new student, Moonwhisper quietly backed out of the room. As odd as it was to see Twilight so overjoyed, Moonwhisper had to wonder what he had just gotten himself into. Little did Moonwhisper realize, however, Twilight was already planning his first lesson. “If Moonwhisper’s finally ready to put his past behind him then maybe it’s time we paid a visit to Cadance and Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire.”

To the Crystal Empire

“This is what I get for opening my mouth,” Moonwhisper thought to himself as he sat and looked out at the scenery rushing by the train window. “Of course it figures that the first thing that Twilight would have me do would be to come with her the Crystal Empire to visit her brother.” As irritating as Moonwhisper found Shining Armor, however, he considered the destination itself to be far more distressing than who he’d be visiting. With the sole possible exception of his foalhood home in Trotsylvania there was nowhere in Equestria that represented the blight that was Moonwhisper’s family more to him than the Crystal Empire. While other ponies might have seen a beautiful city filled with light and love, to Moonwhisper the Crystal Empire was just a massive collection of his ancestor’s victims, and a testament to the evil that he was descended from.

As the train pulled into the Crystal Empire’s station, Moonwhisper quickly saw that the visit was going to be trouble right from the start. Waiting on the station platform were Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, the latter of whom had an idiotic smile plastered across his features. Moonwhisper turned to ask Twilight whether she was absolutely certain that this visit was really a good idea, only to see that she had already left her seat and was already headed out to greet her brother and sister-in-law. Allowing himself a short sigh of resignation, Moonwhisper quickly hopped up and followed Twilight off the train. By the time Moonwhisper stepped off the train and onto the glistening crystal platform Twilight was already chatting happily with Cadance and Shining Armor. While Moonwhisper paid little attention to what the three ponies were saying, the sight of Twilight smiling and happy momentarily softened Moonwhisper’s attitude towards the trip. As Moonwhisper stood off to the side and waited for Twilight to finish her conversation he began absentmindedly scanning the crowds, more out of habit then any belief that some sinister figure might be lurking amongst the crystal ponies. It wasn’t long, however, before Moonwhisper could feel his anxieties start to creep up on him. At first it wasn’t anything particularly obvious; a crystal pony would meet Moonwhisper’s gaze for a split second longer than normal, or he would catch somepony giving him a dirty look out of the corner of his eye. Little reminders that the Crystal Empire might not be especially welcoming to somepony with his ancestry. Before Moonwhisper had a chance to dwell on this situation, however, he heard Twilight call out to him, having apparently finished her conversation. Quickly shaking himself out of his penitent stupor, Moonwhisper trotted over to Twilight’s side. Strangely, Moonwhisper found he couldn’t quite make out what Twilight was saying to him, but he attributed that to his being distracted along with the ambient noise of the train station.

As Moonwhisper followed Twilight and the others through the city the gnawing sense that he was unwelcome returned in full force. More and more crystal ponies seemed to stop and stare at him as he passed before scurrying away, cold hatred increasingly visible in their eyes. Soon it appeared that a crowd of glowering crystal ponies had formed, partially encircling Moonwhisper and the others who seemed oddly oblivious to this development. It wasn’t until one of the assembled crystal ponies spoke that Twilight and the others finally seemed to notice what was going on.

“Monster!” A sky blue crystal mare called out accusingly. When Moonwhisper failed to respond the crystal mare continued to harangue him. “What’s the matter, afraid to look me in the eye? We know who you are, you’re the descendent of the monster who enslaved us!” Angry mummers from the crowd quickly swelled into frenzied yelling as several other ponies began screaming curses and accusations as well.

“Sombra tortured my entire family!”

“That monster’s blood runs through your veins as well!”

“How dare somepony like you come here!”

The crowds continued to yell as they closed in on Moonwhisper, cutting him off from the rest of the group. Shining Armor and Princess Cadance simply watched what was happening with horrified looks upon their faces, though Moonwhisper wasn’t sure if they were horrified at the mob’s actions or what had been revealed about his ancestry. Twilight, meanwhile, looked like she was trying to say something, but her voice was drowned out by the screaming of the mob. As the throng of enraged crystal ponies closed in and engulfed Moonwhisper, the last thing he saw was Twilight’s mournful expression before darkness swallowed his vision completely.

*********

Moonwhisper awoke in a cold sweat, back safely in his bedroom in Twilight’s castle. As he began taking deep breaths to calm himself down Moonwhisper reflected on his current situation. The trip that Twilight had planned for the two of them to go to the Crystal Empire was scheduled for the coming morning, but Moonwhisper’s anxieties clearly weren’t going to wait for the trip itself. In truth, Moonwhisper had been dreading the day that he would be obligated to accompany Twilight to the Crystal Empire from the very moment he had been assigned to be her bodyguard. Moonwhisper’s original plan had been to deliberately break one of his legs to give himself an excuse not to go, trusting in his ability to simply repair the physical damage using his magic once the threat of having to go to the Crystal Empire had passed. Unfortunately for Moonwhisper by this point Twilight knew enough about his medical spell expertise and unnatural pain threshold to realize that a broken leg held as much meaning to him as a stubbed hoof would to most anypony else. More importantly, even if Moonwhisper could actually fool Twilight, he doubted very much that he would be able to bring himself to actually lie to her. As such, there was little Moonwhisper could do besides brace himself for the coming confrontation with his family’s legacy.

In the meantime, however, Moonwhisper faced the more immediate question of whether or not he wanted to chance returning to sleep. Moonwhisper’s latest nightmare might not have been the worst he had ever experienced, but he still wasn’t eager to try sleeping right away. After taking another minute to ponder his options, Moonwhisper groggily rolled himself out of bed and stumbled his way out of his room into the hallway. Moonwhisper then began making his way to the bathroom to get a glass of water, more the sake of simply giving himself something to do rather than out of actual thirst. As he was heading back to his room, however, Moonwhisper suddenly froze as he heard the sound of clattering pans coming from the castle kitchen. Instantly slipping into his role as Twilight’s guardian, Moonwhisper swiftly changed course and began heading towards the source of the sounds. Silently moving through the darkened halls like a malignant shadow Moonwhisper made his way to the kitchen and threw open the doors…to find none other than Starlight Glimmer in the midst of stirring together baking ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Starlight let out a startled yelp as she tumbled backwards, tossing the mixing bowl into the air in the process. Luckily, Moonwhisper caught the bowl and its contents in his magical aura and neatly returned them to the counter before they spilled all over Starlight. “I guess that’s one way to mix everything together,” Starlight nervously quipped as she picked herself up off the floor. “What in Equestria are you doing up in the middle of the night, anyway? I thought you and Twilight were leaving first thing in the morning to go to the Crystal Empire.”

“We are, I just couldn’t sleep,” Moonwhisper replied as he quickly racked his brain for a good way to change the subject. “Actually, I could ask you the same question. Isn’t this an odd hour to be baking?”

Starlight looked at the ingredients she had spread out and let out a sigh. “Ok, I’ll admit you’ve got me there. I was actually taking another shot at trying Pinkie’s teacake recipe and I was kind of hoping to have them done before Trixie gets here tomorrow,” Starlight admitted a little guiltily. “They were supposed to be a surprise for you and Twilight, but…”

“If it makes you feel any better I’ll promise not to say anything about this to Twilight,” Moonwhisper said as he turned around to leave the kitchen.

“Thanks. So, do you always wander around the castle halls at night, or is tonight just special?”

Moonwhisper froze in his tracks, inwardly launching into a stream of profanity as he considered his options as to how to respond. His first instinct was to simply ignore the question and leave the room before Starlight had a change to probe any further, but Moonwhisper dismissed that thought almost as soon as it crossed his mind. As much as Moonwhisper disliked the idea of opening up about himself to other ponies, he recognized that he couldn’t keep running from his issues forever. Besides, if anypony could understand what it was like to have a past they’d rather leave buried it was Starlight Glimmer. “To tell the truth, Miss Glimmer, I’m honestly a little worried about tomorrow’s trip to the Crystal Empire.”

“Really, that’s what’s got you up in the middle of the night?” Starlight replied sounding thoroughly bemused. “I mean, I guess I can understand why you’d be nervous since I’m pretty sure this is the first time Twilight’s taken you to meet any of her family since you two started dating. But don't you and Shining Armor know each other already? I thought he was the one who talked Twilight into picking you as her bodyguard since you were his friend or something.”

“First of all, I don’t think I would refer to Shining Armor as a ‘friend’. He’s a fellow member of the guard whose life I happened to save years ago, an occurrence he has been irritatingly fixated on ever since.” There was a great deal else Moonwhisper might have liked to say about Shining Armor, mostly along the lines of referring to him as a gibbering idiot, however ever since he had started dating Twilight Moonwhisper had trained himself to hold his tongue on that subject. Up until that moment Moonwhisper had been so focused on his anxieties concerning where he was going to be visiting that he really hadn’t thought much about who he going to be visiting. “My personal feelings about Twilight’s older brother aren’t really the issue, I’m afraid,”

“Well, if you’re not worried about what Shining Armor and Princess Cadance are going to think about you dating Twilight then what’s the problem?” Starlight asked as she started carefully measuring out some vanilla extract.

“Miss Glimmer, do you remember how you felt when the ponies from your old village invited you to their Sunset Celebration?” Moonwhisper asked after a moment’s hesitation.

“Yeah, I do,” Starlight answered as she turned her full attention away from her baking to their conversation. “I was terrified that the villagers would still hate me for what I had done to them. But I don’t see what that has to do with your trip to the Crystal Empire. I mean, it’s not like you’ve ever done some horrible thing to the crystal ponies, right?”

“Not personally, no, I’ve never even set hoof in the Crystal Empire,” Moonwhisper said. “But the same can’t be said for the rest of my family. One member in particular was…there’s no point in dancing around it; the truth is I’m directly descended from Sombra.”

Starlight’s eyes bulged a little at Moonwhisper’s revelation. “Wait, you’re related to Sombra, as in King Sombra, the evil unicorn who took over and enslaved the entire Crystal Empire? Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said your family had done some horrible things to the crystal ponies!” Starlight said before noticing the stricken expression on Moonwhisper’s face. “And that’s the problem, isn’t it? Sorry, I’m not really used to being on this side of the whole ‘horrible thing you’re ashamed of’ conversation.”

“The Crystal Empire is an entire city full of Sombra’s victims. I don’t know how I could face them knowing what that monster put them through.” Moonwhisper let out a sad sigh. “If this trip wasn’t so important to Twilight…” Moonwhisper left the thought hanging in the air for a moment before continuing, “but it is and there’s no getting out of it.”

“Well, maybe that’s not such a bad thing,” Starlight suggested, “it kind of sounds like you’re blaming yourself for what King Sombra did. It might help to go to the Crystal Empire and see that nopony blames you for what happened. I mean, pretty much everything that King Sombra did happened about a thousand years before you were even born; nopony’s going to hold any of that against you.”

“Are you certain about that?” Moonwhisper said sadly. “After what Sombra put the crystal ponies through I wouldn’t blame them if they wanted to use me as a scapegoat.”

“Look, sure King Sombra broke the spirits of everypony in the Crystal Empire before stripping them of their free will so he could use them to conquer the rest of Equestria…that’s not helping, is it?”

“No, not particularly.”

“Sorry. I’m going to have to apologize to Trixie the next time I see her, it’s a lot harder to keep from doing that than I thought it was,” Starlight muttered to herself. “Anyway, even if some of the crystal ponies are completely irrational and somehow justify blaming you for something that totally wasn’t your fault, how would they even know that you’re descended from King Sombra in the first place? It’s not like you were going to walk around the Crystal Empire with a sign around your neck saying ‘King Sombra was my ancestor’ or anything.”

“That’s actually a good point,” Moonwhisper admitted, “there aren’t many ponies who would even be aware of the fact that Sombra had a family to begin with, much less one that I’m descended from.”

“There you go!” Starlight said encouragingly. “And if you’re still worried about it tomorrow just remember you’ll have Twilight there with you.” Feeling much calmer, Moonwhisper thanked Starlight and slipped out of the kitchen while Starlight continued to talk to herself. “I mean, what are the odds that Twilight will be too busy with her family to notice if you’re…uh oh. Eh,” Starlight said as she looked up to see that Moonwhisper had already left, “I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

*********

“So, you’re seriously telling me you and the Captain have been dating for months now, and you still haven’t told your older brother about it yet?” Silver Streak asked in surprise. The pegasi guardsmare had arrived at the castle that morning to go over some last minute briefings with Moonwhisper before he left and Twilight had invited her to share a pot of tea before she left.

“It just really hasn’t come up in conversation,” Twilight said as she poured herself some tea. “Every time I’ve seen Cadance and Shining Armor since Moonwhisper and I became a couple I’ve just had other things on my mind. First there was Starlight Glimmer’s graduation, then there was the time they needed me to babysit Flurry Heart and don’t even get me started on what happened the Tuesday after when I visited them for dinner.”

“Yeah, I heard about that. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a yeti mating season. Even so, forgive me if I’m out of line here, your highness, but you don’t really seem like the kind of pony to let something like that just slip through the cracks.” Silver Streak gave Twilight a look of concern as she paused and tried to think of the best way to phrase what she was going to say next. “With all due respect, your highness, are you sure there isn’t a specific reason that you’re avoiding telling your brother that you’ve found a special somepony?”

Twilight winced at the directness of Silver Streak’s question before responding. “Well, admittedly I might still be a little annoyed with Shining Armor for not telling me about him and Cadance until they sent out their wedding invitations. I know I’m being a little petty, but it just makes me so…so peeved that Shining Armor couldn’t have ever been bothered to tell me that he and my favorite foalsitter were special someponies!”

Silver Streak raised an eyebrow at Twilight’s outburst. “Huh, well, I guess I can understand why you’d be a little annoyed at him for not telling you anything until the wedding,” Silver Streak said diplomatically, deciding to avoid mentioning the fact that Shining Armor’s relationship with Princess Cadance had been one of the most widely known bits of gossip in Canterlot. “To be honest, I just figured you were worried about how Captain Shining Armor will react to the news that you and the Captain are special someponies.”

“Why in Equestria would that be an issue?” Twilight asked. “Shining Armor was the one who convinced me to pick Moonwhisper to be my bodyguard in the first place. You should have heard him gush about how amazing Moonwhisper is.”

“Yeah, about how amazing Moonwhisper would be as a bodyguard. Keep in mind, your highness, the Captain had a pretty well established reputation for avoiding anything that even looked like romance back then, so I’m willing to bet that Captain Shining Armor wasn’t really expecting you to make the Captain your special somepony. Especially given, you know, how protective of you he is.”

“Wait, what?” Twilight responded with a mixture of surprise and bemusement.

“Now, to be fair I’ve only heard about any of this secondhoof, but from what I’ve heard there’ve been a lot of stallions that have been, well, interested in you. Captain Shining Armor, however, has been warning off anypony he doesn’t approve of, which is pretty much everypony. I’ve actually heard a few rumors that some of the guards eventually started calling him Captain Shining ‘touch my sister and they’ll never find your body’ Armor. Well, behind his back anyway,” Silver Streak added.

“Oh for Celestia’s stake,” Twilight groaned as she buried her face in her hooves. “I can’t believe Shining Armor would…no, I can absolutely believe he’d do something like that.” Twilight let out a groan of frustration. “Moonwhisper’s already freaking out about the trip as it is, the last thing he needs to deal with is an overprotective sibling and oh dear Celestia this must be how Shining Armor felt when I accused Cadance of being evil. I was right, of course, since that wasn’t really Cadance, but…” Twilight slumped over the table as she stewed in her own self-awareness. “I’m starting to think I’d like something a little stronger than tea. Maybe I’ll ask Moonwhisper to make us some coffee before we leave,” Twilight muttered, more to herself than anypony else.’

“Well, if it helps, Captain Moonwhisper is pretty much the one stallion in Equestria that Captain Shining Armor doesn’t really have any way of intimidating,” Silver Streak mentioned helpfully, “so I wouldn’t worry too much about the Captain himself, at least on that front. Also, you can actually drink what the Captain calls coffee?” Silver Streak asked incredulously. “That stuff’s strong enough to give a dragon heartburn! Um, no offense, Spike,” Silver Streak quickly added as she noticed Twilight’s assistant enter the room.

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Spike said, “I’ve actually tasted that stuff and you’re not joking about how strong it is. It’s almost as bad as the stuff Twilight used to make when she had to study for a big test.”

“Hey, my emergency study coffee helped me ace any number of important tests,” Twilight said defensively.

“Twilight, I’m not sure that stuff could even really be called coffee. Normal coffee doesn’t dissolve paper cups,” Spike retorted. “I don’t even know how you could drink that stuff and not get sick or something. Just thinking about it gives me a stomachache.” Spike turned to Silver Streak. “She’d make an extra-strong put of coffee use that instead of water to brew another pot of coffee, and then she’d use that to brew another pot of coffee.”

“That sounds a great deal like the swill Shining Armor used to prepare for himself whenever exam week rolled around back at the academy,” Moonwhisper said as he trotted in. “Personally I never really thought it did him all that much good, especially after the time he claimed that the paper he was writing had been dictated to him by an ancient monkey god.” Moonwhisper turned to Twilight. “On a completely different note, I was just taking a look at the luggage you had set out for our trip. Are you certain that you’re going to need all that? This is only supposed to be an overnight visit after all.”

“Actually, most of those are presents for Flurry Heart,” Twilight admitted. “I mean, I guess I could save a few of those to give to her for Hearth’s Warming, it’s just I love seeing the look on her little face when she opens them.”

“Ah, I see. Best aunt ever, then?” Moonwhisper said with a knowing smile.

“Best Aunt EVER!” Twilight exclaimed happily in response. “So, are you all set for our trip to visit Shining Armor and Cadance?”

For several seconds Moonwhisper hesitated to respond as he thought back to the previous night, both the nightmare that had shocked him awake and the subsequent conversation that he had had with Starlight Glimmer. Then Moonwhisper looked at Twilight and saw the hopeful look glistening in her eyes. “I think I’ll be just fine.”

*********

“’I’ll be just fine’, what in the blasted pits of Tartarus was I thinking?” Moonwhisper thought to himself as he looked out the train window. The trip to the Crystal Empire was scarcely ten minutes underway and Moonwhisper could already feel his insides tying themselves into knots out of panic. Furthermore, despite the fact that the train car’s temperature was pleasantly cool Moonwhisper could feel beads of sweat forming along his brow. In spite of his previous night’s conversation with Starlight, in spite of knowing that his fears were largely without any sort of logical basis, Moonwhisper was still terrified of what awaited him at his destination. Closing his eyes, Moonwhisper felt he could almost hear the pounding of his heart over the sounds of the train as hit brought him ever closer to a reckoning with his family’s past.

Before Moonwhisper completely lost his composure, however, he felt Twilight wrap her wing around him and press herself against him. “Are you going to be alright?” Twilight asked quietly. “I don’t think I’ve seen you this nervous since the night I made you tell me how you felt about me.”

“No, I’d say this is much worse,” Moonwhisper grumbled to himself, “but this is a fear that I was going to have to face sooner or later anyway, so I may as well get it over with.” Even as Moonwhisper spoke, however, he could feel at least some of his tension ease. There was something about the sensation of feeling Twilight hold herself against him that seemed to banish Moonwhisper’s feelings of impending doom. “You know, Twilight, as long as you’re by my side I think I might really be able to do this,” Moonwhisper said, actually feeling truly optimistic about the trip for the first time.

“Um, actually, about that…” Twilight said, chuckling nervously. “I haven’t actually told my brother or Cadance about, you know, us yet.”

“I see,” Moonwhisper said, his tone not betraying a hint of emotion. “Are you planning to tell them when we arrive, or do you want to keep things secret a bit longer?”

“Honestly, I’m not even entirely sure. I think at least I’d like to wait until we make it back to the castle. I’m really sorry about this, I just didn’t really think it was going to be a big deal. But then Silver Streak told me about how overprotective Shining Armor apparently is of me and…”

“You know, I had almost forgotten about that particular aspect of his character,” Moonwhisper mused as he allowed himself a small smile. To Moonwhisper, the prospect of watching Shining Armor’s hero-worship of him collide head-on with his overprotectiveness of Twilight was almost entertaining enough to make the entire trip worthwhile. “You know Princess Cadance and your brother better than I do, so I’ll leave the decision on how to handle this up to you. Just let me know if there’s anything you’ll need from me.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said as she wriggled herself a little to get more comfortable. “And for what it’s worth, I’m really glad you agreed to go through with all this. I know you’re worried about coming to the Crystal Empire, but once we’re there I think you’ll see there’s nothing to worry about.” Despite her assurances, Twilight silently wondered if taking Moonwhisper to the Crystal Empire really had been such a wise idea. It was too late to do much of anything about it now, however, so all Twilight could do was try and help Moonwhisper deal with the situation as it unfolded.

Twilight and Moonwhisper spent most of the remainder of the trip in relative silence, broken only by the occasional attempt at small talk. What’s more, as the towers of the Crystal Empire came into view Twilight could feel Moonwhisper tense up again. As the train pulled into the Crystal Empire station Twilight could see Shining Armor and Cadance on the platform waiting for her, along with a stroller containing a visibly excited Flurry Heart peeking out over the edge. “Why don’t you head out and say hello,” Moonwhisper said, “I’ll be right behind once I’ve gotten the luggage.”

Giving Moonwhisper a quick nod followed by a brief nuzzle of affection, Twilight trotted out to greet her family.

“Twily!” Shining Armor shouted happily as soon as he say Twilight step out onto the platform. “It’s great to see you again, Flurry’s been really excited.” As if on cue, Flurry Heart flew out of her stroller and glomped onto Twilight, giggling happily. “So, the letter you sent said you were also bringing Moonwhisper along with you…”

“Moonwhisper’s just grabbing our luggage, so he should be out in a bit,” Twilight said as she cooed over niece.

“I’m just a little surprised you felt the need to bring your bodyguard with you on a casual visit like this,” Cadance said. “I know things tend to get a little crazy whenever we all get together, but isn’t that a bit much?” Something about the tone in Cadance’s voice made Twilight suspect that her sister-in-law already had developed a theory as to why she really had brought Moonwhisper along. Shining Armor, on the other hoof, seemed completely oblivious to his wife’s suspicions.

“Come on, Cadance, you make it sound like Twily brought a whole regiment or something. Moonwhisper’s just one stallion, and besides I bet a lot of the palace guards are going to be interested in talking with him. Moonwhisper is something of a celebrity within the Royal Guard, after all. The only I don’t really get,” Shining Armor went on as he turned back to Twilight, “is how you convinced Moonwhisper to come to her in the first place. Moonwhisper’s always had this weird thing against the Crystal Empire ever since it came back.”

Twilight let out a nervous chuckle. “It’s not like I forced Moonwhisper to come or anything. I just thought that coming here would be good for him.”

“’Good for him’?” Cadance asked with a raised eyebrow. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

“What I presume Princess Twilight means is that she wished for me to accompany her on this trip as part of a friendship lesson,” Moonwhisper said as he stepped out of the train, depositing the luggage that Twilight had brought in a neat pile beside him. “With Miss Starlight’s graduation from her position as Princess Twilight’s student, I’ve agreed to accept lessons in friendship in her place. At least pending her highness finding a more suitable student, anyway.”

“Wait, Twily’s seriously giving you friendship lessons?” Shining Armor asked with a massive grin. “Whoa, I mean I know Twily’s the Princess of Friendship, but I didn’t really think she’d actually manage to get you into the whole ‘friendship lesson’ thing.”

Moonwhisper’s eye twitched for a moment before he abruptly broke into a wicked grin. “You know, Captain Shining Armor, I just recalled that one of the methods that Princess Twilight prescribed to rekindle a friendship would be to recall a mutually embarrassing event. Tell me, are the princesses familiar with how you acquired the nickname you had at the Officer’s Academy?”

As Moonwhisper spoke, the grin slowly faded from Shining Armor’s face, vanishing completely at the mention of his nickname. “You know what, why don’t we start heading back to the castle?” Shining Armor said hastily as he glanced back towards Cadance and Twilight. “After all, we don’t want to crowd this platform all day long!” Without waiting for anypony to respond, Shining Armor promptly began trotting back towards the castle.

“Alright then…” Cadance said as she watched her husband flee before turning back to Moonwhisper. “You can leave your bags here, our hoofponies will handle getting them back to the castle,” Cadance said she levitated Flurry Heart back to her stroller. As Cadance moved to follow her husband, Twilight fell in beside her, eager to hear how her little niece had been doing. Twilight quickly found herself so engrossed in her conversation that she didn’t notice that Moonwhisper wasn’t trotting next to her, but rather was keeping a step to the left and two steps behind.

If nothing else, Moonwhisper was at least glad that Twilight was happy, if her peals of laughter at Cadance descriptions of Flurry Heart’s antics were anything to go by. For his part, any pleasure Moonwhisper may have taken in reminding Shining Armor that he still recalled the events that had earned Shining Armor the nickname ‘codpiece’ quickly vanished once the group began moving into the Crystal Empire itself. The dark sense of impending doom that Moonwhisper had felt earlier on the train had returned in full force, leaving his innards feeling as though they were tying themselves in knots. What’s more, it seemed to Moonwhisper that nearly everypony he passed took a moment to pause whatever they were doing and stare in his direction, often whispering amongst themselves as well. The logical part of Moonwhisper’s mind reminded him that he was trotting directly behind no fewer than three alicorn princesses, so it was not real surprise that their passing by would attract some attention. Knowing this, however, did Moonwhisper little good, and by the time he reached the city proper it took every ounce of self-control Moonwhisper had to keep himself from turning around and fleeing in the opposite direction.

Just as Moonwhisper started to feel his composure slip away entirely he suddenly hit upon a potential solution. Closing his eyes, Moonwhisper sent a small surge of magic through his horn, scarcely enough to cause it to glow. Instantly, Moonwhisper’s mid was filled with a precise picture of the outlines of the world around him. This was courtesy of a sort of magical sonar known as the ‘horn’s eye’, which Moonwhisper had learned during his study of one of the few martial art styles to have originated among unicorns. By relying on the technique instead of his own eyes Moonwhisper was able to watch over Twilight while simultaneously convincing himself that the featureless outlines they passed were simply regular earth ponies. It was admittedly a painfully transparent bit of self-deception, but Moonwhisper was desperate for any manner of possible relief. By some miracle, Moonwhisper’s ill-conceived solution actually managed to work, at least at first. While Moonwhisper could trick himself into forgetting for a moment that he was surrounded by crystal ponies, the illusion that he was anywhere other than the Crystal Empire itself was another matter. Any hope Moonwhisper had of avoiding facing the reality of his location fell apart when the group reached the Crystal Castle itself. No amount of wiping away color and detail could enable Moonwhisper to convince himself he was anywhere by the Crystal Empire at that point. Grimacing internally, Moonwhisper opened his eyes and beheld the majesty of the Crystal Castle, a sight that was completely lost on him as he promptly felt as though the ground had dropped out from underneath his hooves.

“Are you alright, Captain?” Cadance asked as they approached the small plaza that housed the Crystal Heart. “You’ve been awfully quiet since we left the train station.”

“Moonwhisper’s probably just focusing on being my bodyguard,” Twilight quickly interjected, followed by a nervous laugh. “You know, keeping an eye out for anypony who might try and jump out at me or something. He just can’t let his guard down for a second.”

Cadance silently regarded Twilight for a moment, one eyebrow raised in an expression of clear disbelief. “Mmhm, well if that’s the case I’m sure he’ll be glad that we’ve made it to the castle.” Cadance glanced back over her withers to address Moonwhisper himself. “Our royal guards can take over from here, so you can relax now. Shining Armor made sure that we had a room prepared for you, so if you’d like I can have one of the guards escort you there.”

Upon hearing this, Twilight quickly looked back towards Moonwhisper in alarm. Moonwhisper himself, however, seemed unfazed by at this and gave Twilight a nod to let her know that everything was going to be fine. “I appreciate the offer, your highness, and I’m certain Princess Twilight will be in excellent hooves.” Moonwhisper said, his voice having recovered the frostily polite tone he had used when he first came to Ponyville. Inwardly, Moonwhisper was already looking forward to an opportunity to lock himself in a private room, bury his head in a pillow and scream until he passed out. In fact, Moonwhisper was so engrossed in his thoughts that he failed to notice the pair of crystal pony guards approaching him until they were standing right in front of him.

“Pardon me, sir, but we’re here to escort you to your quarters,” one of the guards said, snapping Moonwhisper back to reality.

“What? Oh right, of course,” Moonwhisper mumbled as he beat back a sudden surge of panic. Frantically, Moonwhisper reminded himself that his ancestry was a closely guarded secret, so as far as any of the guards would be concerned he was just a visiting officer who had arrived with Princess Twilight, nothing more.

Moonwhisper’s effort’s to calm himself nearly fell to pieces mere minutes into his escort as one of the guards took a closer look at him. “Captain Moonwhisper…wait a minute, I know who you are.” In a split second nearly a dozen responses flashed through Moonwhisper’s mind, ranging from feigning ignorance as to whatever the guard was about to say to bucking said guard in the face and running away. “You’re the stallion who saved Prince Shining Armor’s life during the gargoyle migration, aren’t you? Sir, it is an honor to actually meet you!”

“Err, thank you?” Moonwhisper said as the guard enthusiastically shook his hoof. Of all the possibilities that Moonwhisper had been steeling himself for, the idea that the crystal guards would turn out to be fans of his hadn’t ever occurred to him. Although, Moonwhisper mused, given that Shining Armor was both the Crystal Empire’s prince and military commander perhaps this turn of events was one he should have seen coming. Unfortunately for Moonwhisper, before he could extricate himself from his new predicament the commotion attracted over several additional guards. Soon, Moonwhisper found himself surrounded by crystal guards, all eager to meet the stallion their prince had spoken of so highly. “Is it true that you once fought off a hydra single-hoofedly?” asked one guard.

“I heard it was a full grown dragon!” gushed another.

“Nah, you’re thinking of the monster that was attacking Ponyville. Speaking of that, what’s it like living with Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious?” asked a third.

“Spike the wha - ?” Moonwhisper sputtered before recalling that Spike had previously mentioned that he was something of an icon in the Crystal Empire. Taking a moment to take a deep breath and center himself, Moonwhisper proceeded to answer the questions of his sudden fan club. “Yes, I did once a fight a grown hydra by myself. No, I’ve never had to fight a dragon before; the creature that I fought over Ponyville was in fact a wyvern. As for Spike, I find him to be agreeable for the most part. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

“Ah, of course sir,” the guard who initially identified Moonwhisper said as he motioned for the others to make way. “While we’re headed to your room, though do you think you could tell us what it was like facing down an entire flock of gargoyles?”

*********

“You know, I just can’t get over the fact that you actually managed to get Moonwhisper to agree to friendship lessons,” Shining Armor said as he levitated a spoonful of mashed peas towards Flurry Heart. Parenthood, Twilight observed, had made dinner with the royal family a much less formal affair. “To be honest, I had figured that when I came to friendship you and Moonwhisper would basically be the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object.”

“Moonwhisper…he had his reasons for being the way he was,” Twilight said as she squirmed in her seat. Twilight wasn’t entirely sure how much Shining Armor and Cadance knew about Moonwhisper’s past and she didn’t feel comfortable talking about the subject behind his back.

“I’m not saying he didn’t, Twily. All I’m saying is that Moonwhisper always seemed to be the sort of pony that saw friendship as a complete waste of time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you were somehow able to get through to him; I’m just a little surprised you were able to pull it off.” As Shining Armor spoke he deftly levitated a small wastebasket to intercept a wad of mashed peas launched by Flurry Heart. “You know, I’m getting pretty good at that, maybe I should try out for the guards’ buckball team. What do you think, hon?”

“Hm? Oh, yes, absolutely,” Cadance said absentmindedly as she carefully regarded Twilight. “I was just wondering, what sort of friendship lesson exactly did you bring Moonwhisper here to learn? I was just curious because, as far as I’m aware, the only pony that Moonwhisper really knows in the Crystal Empire is Shining Armor.”

“Twily’s probably trying to help Moonwhisper get over the weird thing he has against the Crystal Empire,” Shining Armor said before Twilight had a chance to reply. “For some reason, ever since the Crystal Empire returned Moonwhisper has been dead set against every setting hoof here. He’s never really said why, either, but up until now he’s been absolutely adamant about it. I mean, when we held the annual meeting of the guard’s captains here Moonwhisper even snapped his own leg so he’d have an excuse not to come.”

“Wait, Moonwhisper did what?” Twilight cried out in shock, the sudden noise eliciting a whimper from Flurry Heart.

“There there, sweetheart, Auntie Twilight didn’t mean to scare you,” Cadance said as she comforted her daughter. “She was just surprised by what she heard, that’s all. I have to admit, I was a little surprised myself when I first heard that Moonwhisper would actually break his own leg like that.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty easy to forget how durable Moonwhisper is,” Shining Armor added. “Broken leg, cracked ribs, whatever happens to him Moonwhisper can just put himself back together and keep going like nothing’s happened.”

Twilight bit her lip as she held back her response. The truth was Moonwhisper might have looked as though he didn’t feel anything, but Twilight knew better. Moonwhisper felt every bit of pain he experienced, even if he had become so used to the sensations that nothing but the most extreme stimulus could provoke a reaction. What’s more, it suddenly struck Twilight just how much Moonwhisper must have dreaded the prospect of coming to the Crystal Empire. Twilight proceeded to spend the rest of the meal in relative silence as she pondered what she should do next.

*********

“Shining, dear, have you noticed anything unusual about the way Twilight has been acting since she arrived?” Cadance asked as she trotted back into her bedroom, having finally gotten Flurry Heart to go to sleep.

“No, not really. Why do you ask?”

Cadance thought for a moment, trying to decide how best to phrase what she needed to say. “Well, it’s just that Twilight seemed…how should I put this? Do you think that it could be possible that Twilight and Moonwhisper might be, you know, a couple?”

“Pfft, what? Cadance, don’t be ridiculous, there’s no way Moonwhisper would have gotten himself involved with Twily,” Shining Armor scoffed. “Seriously, part of the reason I wanted Moonwhisper to be Twily’s bodyguard in the first place was because there’d be no way he’d try to romance her like that. Moonwhisper has this whole thing about not dating anypony who could be seen as part of his chain of command.”

“I’m pretty sure those rules apply to everypony in the guard, dear,” Cadance replied.

“That’s true, but Moonwhisper’s always taken it a lot more strictly than he needed to. What makes you think Twily and Moonwhisper are in a relationship, anyway?”

“It’s mostly been little things, like the way Twilight seemed so protective of him. I just got the feeling that Twilight really cares for him.”

“Well, yeah, Twily somehow managed to make friends with him,” Shining Armor retorted. “Look, I know finding love between different ponies is your thing and everything, but I promise you there’s no way there’s anything going on between my sister and Moonwhisper.”

*********

“Thank Celestia that’s finally over,” Moonwhisper said as he stormed into the bedroom that had been set aside for him and slammed the door behind him. The palace guards had scarcely given Moonwhisper a moment’s peace all night, continually badgering him with questions about his history with the guard. The sole upside to the situation was the fact that Moonwhisper had been so preoccupied with answering the endless barrage of questions that he hadn’t had time to dwell on the fact that he was surrounded by crystal ponies. Now that Moonwhisper was alone in his room, however, there was nothing to distract him from the fact that he was standing in the very same castle that a thousand years ago had been the seat of King Sombra’s reign of terror. Shuddering, Moonwhisper climbed into his bed and silently begged Princess Luna that his sleep be peaceful for at least one night. After an hour of lying in bed, however, it became clear to Moonwhisper that sleep of any kind, peaceful or otherwise, was going to be elusive. Moonwhisper was debating with himself as to whether or not his insomnia was an improvement over his nightmares when he heard a sound at the side of his bed. Instinctively, Moonwhisper sent a small surge of magic through his horn, activating his horn’s eye spell. In moments, Moonwhisper could see that a pony had teleported into his room, one whose profile he knew intimately. “Twilight? What in Equestria do you think you’re doing?” Moonwhisper asked incredulously, struggling to keep his voice at a whisper.

“I’m spending tonight with you,” Twilight replied softly as she climbed into the bed. “Don’t try to argue with me about this, you’ve spent all night being mobbed by crystal ponies, and it’s partly my fault.”

“Twilight, you have nothing to blame yourself for. You were right about my needing to come to the Crystal Empire. I don’t know if I’d call this visit ‘relaxing’ exactly, but –“

“But today would have been a lot easier on you if I had told Shining Armor and Cadance about us earlier.” As Twilight spoke she slipped under the covers and snuggled up to Moonwhisper. “I promise, I’ll tell them everything before we come back here again. So, for now,” Twilight gave Moonwhisper a kiss behind the ear, “just relax and try and get some sleep.”

As Moonwhisper felt Twilight hug herself to his back, he felt the tension that had been building since he set hoof in the Crystal Empire start to melt away. Clearly, Moonwhisper thought to himself, he had been asking the wrong princess for assistance in finding a peaceful night’s sleep.

A Family Meeting

“Good morning.” The first thing Moonwhisper heard as he awoke was Twilight’s soft, sultry greeting being whispered into his ear. It took a few moments for Moonwhisper to process what was going on, an effort not helped by the sensation of Twilight cuddling up against his back.

“Er…good morning to you too, Twilight,” Moonwhisper finally managed as he finally managed to recall the events of the previous night. “Not that I’m complaining about the current situation, but what are we going to do if somepony walks in and sees us like this?”

“Oh, I’m not too worried about that, I’ll teleport back into my room in a little bit before anypony realizes that I’m not there. But first,” with a wicked grin, Twilight rolled over and climbed on top of Moonwhisper, straddling him so he couldn’t get away. “I think we should talk about how we want to handle the rest of today.” Twilight let out a sigh before continuing. “More precisely, about how we should let Shining Armor and Cadance know about, well, us.” Twilight blushed as she darted her head down to nuzzle Moonwhisper.

“As I’ve said before, they’re your family so I think you know how best to handle them,” Moonwhisper said. “Although, I do think it would be for the best if you talk with them sooner rather than later.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. “My plan is to send Cadance a letter explaining everything once we get back to Ponyville.” While Moonwhisper didn’t say anything, the look he gave to Twilight spoke volumes about what he thought of her plan. “I know, I’m just not sure I’m ready to talk to Shining Armor directly about us just quite yet. Cadance understands this sort of thing and she knows Shining Armor better than just about anypony, so she’ll be able to handle however he’ll react.” Twilight let out a small chuckle as a thought suddenly occurred to her. “It’s funny, after all my pushing you to face your worries about coming to the Crystal Empire it turns out I’m the one who’s avoiding facing something.”

“The difference is you actually have a plan to deal with your issue, whereas I don’t think I was quite ready for any of this,” Moonwhisper said ashamedly.

“Moonwhisper, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. You came to the Crystal Empire despite you fears, and you should be proud of yourself for facing them.” Twilight gave Moonwhisper a warm smile before leaning down and giving him another nuzzle. “Although, admittedly it might have been a little premature to come here. But you’ll get over all of this someday, I just know you will.”

“Thank you, Twilight,” Moonwhisper replied, his eyes filled with gratitude.

“I should probably go in a minute,” Twilight said, “but before I go there’s just one more thing I want to do.” With that, Twilight leaned down and pressed her lips to Moonwhisper’s in a deep, loving kiss.

Just at that moment the door to Moonwhisper’s room burst open as Shining Armor rushed in. “Moonwhisper!” Shining Armor frantically shouted, “Twily’s gone missing! She’s not in her room, in fact it doesn’t even…look like her…bed was…slept…in…” Shining Armor’s voice trailed off as he saw Twilight in bed with Moonwhisper. “Oh. Twily, you’re…right here. Well, that’s good, I guess. I think I’m going to be leaving now, to do…stuff.” With that, Shining Armor slowly backed out of the room, levitating the door closed behind him.

It took several seconds before Twilight and Moonwhisper were able to fully process what had just happened. As soon as they did, however, both ponies tumbled out of the bed in a tangle of sheets. “Wait!” Twilight desperately called out as she struggled to her hooves. “This isn’t what it looks like!”

“Well, to be honest it would be more accurate to say that it wasn’t entirely what it looks like,” Moonwhisper mused out loud. “I suppose it would be more accurate to say that this was approximately half of what it looked like; two-thirds of what it looked like at most.” Twilight shot Moonwhisper an annoyed glance as she finally got herself free of the sheets.

“It still wasn’t entirely what it looked like!” Twilight yelled, accepting the fact that there wasn’t much she could say to argue Moonwhisper’s point. Setting that aside, Twilight threw the door open and rushed into to the hall, but Shining Armor was nowhere to be seen. As she stood in the empty hallway Twilight closed her eyes and let out a long sigh of frustration. “Well, it looks like we’re going to have to speak with Cadance and my brother while we’re here after all,” Twilight said with a tired air of resignation. “Let’s start by finding Cadance and explain the situation before any weird rumors start spreading.”

It didn’t take long for Twilight and Moonwhisper to track down Princess Cadance, in no small part because Cadance was already looking for them. “Twilight, do you think you could explain to me why my husband has locked himself in our bathroom and sounds like he’s trying to scrub his eyes?”

Twilight awkwardly shuffled her hooves as she withered under Cadance’s knowing glare before responding. “I think that the reason might be because Shining Armor kind of saw me and Moonwhisper in bed together. It’s not what it sounds like, though,” Twilight quickly added, “we were just sleeping together. No, wait, that came out wrong, Moonwhisper and I weren’t…I mean we didn’t…well, you know…” Twilight could feel her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

Cadance stared at Twilight for a moment before smacking herself in the forehead. “You and Moonwhisper…I’m guessing that means that Moonwhisper’s your special somepony then?” As Twilight managed a brief nod Cadance let out what sounded like a hybrid of a sigh and groan. “So, how long have you two…no, hold on, first we need to drag Shining Armor out of the bathroom. Then, we’re all going to sit down and talk about this.”

*********

“So, Twily and Moonwhisper weren’t…oh thank Celestia,” Shining Armor slumped to the table in relief.

“No, for the last time, Moonwhisper and I haven’t ever gone that for yet period,” Twilight replied, embarrassment finally giving way to exasperation. Even after Cadance finally convinced Shining Armor to join the rest of them he seemed unable to get past seeing Twilight and Moonwhisper in bed together.

“How long have the two of been involved, anyway?” Cadance asked, hoping to keep the conversation moving. “I have to think you must have gotten together fairly soon after Moonwhisper went to Ponyville.”

“Twilight and I have been a couple for several moons now,” Moonwhisper replied.

“Initially I was just trying to make friends with Moonwhisper, but the more I got to know him the more I found myself, well, attracted to him.” As Twilight spoke she gently touched one of her forehooves to Moonwhisper’s. “And once I realized how I felt about him things just sort of went from there.”

“You’ve been involved with each other for several moons, then,” Cadance said. “So, when were you planning to tell us about your relationship?”

Twilight visibly winced at Cadance’s question. “I was going to tell you both eventually…” Twilight offered unconvincingly. “I just could never really find the right time to bring it up. It always felt like there was something more important to deal with, so telling you two about me and Moonwhisper just kept getting pushed back.”

“If you don’t mind my mentioning it, Twilight wasn’t there another motivation for your keeping silent on the issue?” Moonwhisper suggested.

“Well,” Twilight began hesitantly, “I may have still been a little annoyed at the fact that the two of you didn’t bother telling me about you relationship until I got the wedding invitation.”

“Really, you’re still upset about that?” Shining Armor exclaimed. “I thought we settled that back before the wedding; I couldn’t tell you about the wedding before sending out the invitations because I was too busy handling Canterlot’s security. I’m pretty sure we went over all that when you first arrived for the wedding.”

“You know, that explanation has never really made sense to me,” Moonwhisper said. “If nothing else, the sheer logistics involved in handling an event like a royal wedding would require months of preparation. Even if Twilight and her friends were able to finalize everything over the course of a day or two, bring together all the supplies and materials needed would have had to have been a weeks-long process. And before you say anything,” Moonwhisper added, cutting Shining Armor off before he could respond, “I know when the threat against Canterlot was received and based on that you’d have had plenty of time to contact Twilight. Not to mention I know for a fact that you and Princess Cadance were romantically involved for years prior to the wedding.” Moonwhisper wrinkled his snout in disgust. “I’ve listened to you compose enough terrible love poetry dedicated to her during our time at the academy to grasp that much.”

While Shining Armor slumped back in his seat, his face rapidly turning a deep read, Cadance turned to Twilight. “You really had no idea that Shining Armor and I were seeing each other? I had always just assumed Shining had told you about us.”

“I always kept meaning to tell her,” Shining Armor half-heartedly protested, “but things always kept coming up.” Shining Armor glanced around at the withering looks he was receiving from the rest of the table before turning to Twilight. “I guess we both kind of messed up the same way, huh? Why don’t we just say we’re even and move on?”

“Yeah, that sounds good to me too,” Twilight replied with a smile.

“So,” Shining Armor said, “now that that’s settled, I’ve gotta ask, how the hay did you finally convince Moonwhisper to ease off the whole ‘no fraternization’ thing?”

“To be honest, all I needed to do was to research some of the legal precedents surrounding the guard’s regulations. It turns out none of the rule specifying members of the same chain of command apply to princesses.” Twilight allowed herself a smug grin as she continued. “It was actually quite easy to figure everything out as far as the regulations went, just a quick cross-reference of key terms in the regulations in question with existing legal precedents. The tricky part was actually getting Moonwhisper to admit how he felt about me once I proved to him that there weren’t any rules keeping us from being a couple.”

Shining Armor chucked to himself. “Let me guess, you and your friends put together some nutty scheme to trick him into admitting how he felt about you without knowing you were listening, right?”

“Actually, after Twilight showed me her discovery regarding the legal precedents in question she gave me a direct order to admit how I felt about her,” Moonwhisper said.

“Wait a minute, let me get this straight, Twily tells you that she wants you to be her special somepony, and the she pulls out some loophole in the regulations letting you be her special somepony, and she still has to order you to tell her how you feel about her? You know, I really don’t get you sometimes, it’s like you actually enjoy being miserable or something.”

“Speaking of things that don’t make sense,” Cadance added, “there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. From what I understand you seem to have something against the Crystal Empire, and I was just wondering why that was.”

“I’m not quite certain what you’re talking about, your highness,” Moonwhisper quickly replied. “I certainly don’t hold any specific antipathy towards the Crystal Empire or its citizens.”

“Really? Because from what Shining Armor has told me you’ve always made it clear you never wanted to set hoof here.”

“That doesn’t mean Moonwhisper has anything against the Crystal Empire,” Twilight objected, “he just isn’t entirely…comfortable here.”

“Alright then,” Cadance replied as she fixed her gaze on Moonwhisper, “what is it about the Crystal Empire that makes you so uncomfortable that you’d break your own leg to avoid coming here? That sounds like something that goes quite a bit past simply making him uncomfortable.”

“It’s not a subject that I particularly care to discuss,” Moonwhisper admitted. “Let it suffice to say that the reasons for my discomfort are related to my family.”

“Your family?” Shining Armor asked. “That really doesn’t make any sense; as far as I know your father’s never been anywhere near the empire and I’m pretty sure he’s the only living family you have. So, unless you’re actually obsessing over things your family did a thousand years ago I don’t see what the connection could be.” The silence that descended on the table following Shining Armor’s diatribe was deafening. “Oh for the love of Celestia, that’s it, isn’t it? Some ancestor of yours did something nasty and now a thousand years later you’re still beating yourself up over it. Geez, I just don’t get you, what’s the point in blaming yourself for something somepony else did a millennia ago?”

“Hey!” Twilight yelled as she propped herself up on the table with her front hooves, wings flaring out to her sides. “Leave Moonwhisper alone! If you knew the whole story then you’d understand why this isn’t something that he can just get over.”

“But that’s the point, Twilight. Neither of you will tell us the whole story,” Cadance countered “so we really can’t understand what exactly is going on.”

Twilight was about to argue the issue further when Moonwhisper touched her forehoof with his to calm her down. “Twilight, perhaps we should tell them everything. Keeping this hidden…it’s not going to work anymore. It’s time I accepted that this is something that I need to actually face head on.”

“Are you sure about this?” Twilight asked. As Moonwhisper silently nodded his head in affirmation, Twilight turned back to Shining Armor and Cadance. “You have to promise to keep what you’re about to hear an absolute secret.”

“Don’t worry, Twily, we’ll keep quiet about whatever it is Moonwhisper’s so ashamed of,” Shining Armor assured his younger sister.

“I promise I’ll keep your secret as well, whatever it is,” Cadance added.

For the next several seconds Moonwhisper simply glanced back and forth between Shining Armor and Cadance in complete silence. Eventually, Moonwhisper closed his eyes and drew a deep breath before proceeding. “As you both may or may not be aware, I was born into the von Umbra family from Trotsylvania. Furthermore, you may also be familiar with the fact that the von Umbra family has a rather…unpleasant reputation –“

“Yeah, because your dad’s a tribalist psychopath,” Shining Armor snapped irritably. “What? It’s not like Moonwhisper’s going to argue with me about that, Twily,” Shining Armor continued before his sister could object.

“Actually if anything I think you’re being overly generous,” Moonwhisper added calmly.

“My point is, Moonwhisper, you’re not telling us anything we don’t already. You’re stalling, and only that but you don’t even care enough to try to hide the fact that you’re doing it.”

“You’re partly correct,” Moonwhisper replied. “I will admit that I’m perhaps not being as direct as I could be. That being said, Penumbral Dusk isn’t the cause of the von Umbra family’s reputation; he’s more of a…symptom of the underlying disease. The fact of the matter is that the von Umbra family’s reputation was essentially established approximately a thousand years ago,” Moonwhisper paused for several seconds, screwing his eyes tight and clenching his jaw before continuing. “When the then patriarch of the family attacked and conquered the Crystal Empire.”

An uncomfortable silence descended on the room as Shining Armor and Cadance processed the significance of what Moonwhisper had just revealed to them. “Oh,” Cadance finally said, “I see. So that would mean that you’re –“

“His direct descendant, yes,” Moonwhisper replied solemnly.

“I hate to ask, but how can you be really sure about that?” Shining Armor asked. “There aren’t exactly a whole lot of records that go that far back after all.”

“As much as I’d like to pretend that this was all just some sort of conceited delusional developed by Penumbral Dusk, but I’m afraid that isn’t the case. The von Umbra family has maintained rather thorough genealogical records which confirm everything.” Moonwhisper folded his ears back and gritted his teeth. “After the first time I successfully performed the armored augmentation spell Penumbral Dusk showed me the records and walked me through everything. That was his idea of a reward for a good behavior; showing me proof that I’m descended from a monster.”

“To be honest, I’m a little surprised to learn that King Sombra even had any descendants to begin with,” Cadance said. “I can’t really say Sombra ever struck me as being the type to start a family.”

Moonwhisper simply shrugged. “One doesn’t necessarily have to be a good candidate to be a parent to produce offspring. Conceivably Sombra might have been more interested in securing a familial legacy than actually raising a family. He certainly wouldn’t have been the only von Umbra to focus on that,” Moonwhisper added bitterly.

“At least now I understand why you’re so twitchy when it comes to the Crystal Empire,” Shining Armor said. “I mean…actually I don’t even know what to say about all this.”

“We should probably start by not saying anything,” Cadance suggested. “I can understand why you sere so reluctant to talk about this with anypony else. I’d like to imagine that the crystal ponies would be above holding your ancestry against you, but after everything that King Sombra did to them…” Cadance sighed, “It’s just hard for me to predict how they might react to the news that King Sombra left descendants, even they wound up being somepony like you.”

“I suspected as much. In any event I appreciate your discretion regarding this,” Moonwhisper said.

“Of course,” Cadance said as she got up from her seat. “Oh, Twilight, before you leave I’d like to get your opinions on a few books I’ve been considering as bedtime stories for Flurry Heart. If you could just come with me, this should only take a minute or two.”

Twilight’s face brightened considerably upon hearing her niece’s name and books being mentioned in the same sentence. “Of course, I’d be glad to help. I can’t wait to see what you’ve picked out so far; I already have a few ideas of my own of course. So, what kind of stories does Flurry Heart seem to enjoy?” As Twilight followed Cadance out of the room she continued asking a steady stream of questions, scarcely seeming to ever pause for breath.

Once the two mares left, Shining Armor slowly turned to regard Moonwhisper. “So, you and Twily, huh?” Shining Armor finally said after a few moments had passed. “This is really going to be a thing from now on, isn’t it?”

“That is the general hope when one enters a serious romantic relationship,” Moonwhisper said, his expression completely serious.

“Sorry, I’m just having trouble processing the whole ‘my baby sister’s old enough to start dating’ thing, and the fact that she’s dating you of all ponies isn’t making things any easier.”

“Really?” Moonwhisper asked as he tilted his head in confusion. “How so?”

“Well you’re…you! You’ve always been this weird mix of a pony I looked up to and some little brother who was even more of a mess socially than Twily was at her worst. And now you’re making out with my little sister, it’s just…weird. I really don’t know how to feel about this.”

“And I’m guessing the fact that your preferred method of handling stallions with romantic interest in Twilight isn’t applicable in my case doesn’t help matters,” Moonwhisper said.

“Did you…did you just tell a joke?” Shining Armor asked.

“Partly, yes,” Moonwhisper admitted, “I’ve been trying to use humor to help with my general socialization efforts. Admittedly, it is something of a work in progress. That being said, I believe that we can both agree that attempting a violent solution to this scenario would end poorly, particularly for yourself.”

“No kidding,” Shining Armor said. “Cadance would kill me if I tried fighting you, Twilight would kill me if I tried fighting you, and you’d definitely kill me if I actually tried fighting you.”

“On the contrary, as Twilight would likely be exceedingly upset if I were to seriously injure you I would take great care to avoid inflicting any injuries more serious than a simple bone fracture.”

Shining Armor stared at Moonwhisper for a nearly a full minute as he tried to work out whether Moonwhisper was serious or making another attempt at humor. Eventually, Shining Armor simply gave up and decided to change the subject. “At least tell me this much, how serious are things between you and Twily, really? I mean, how do you honestly feel about her?”

Moonwhisper closed his eyes and took a deep breath before answering Shining Armor. “I’d be lying if I told you I fully understand all of the emotions I have surrounding Twilight,” Moonwhisper said solemnly. “I’ve never felt like this about anypony before, and it’s exhilarating and terrifying and wonderful and confusing all at the same time. I only recently really began to understand basic friendship and what I feel for Twilight is…more than that. What I can tell you with absolute certainty, however, is this; right now, ensuring Twilight’s happiness is the highest priority I have, with the sole possible exception being her safety.”

“Well, I guess that’s about all I could ask of you,” Shining Armor replied before letting out a brief chuckle. “You know, it’s funny now that I think about it, but you might be exactly the sort of stallion I’d want Twily to get involved with.”

“And look on the bright side,” Moonwhisper added, “learning to deal with the emotions that you’re running into now will likely help you cope once Flurry Heart is old enough to start dating herself. Pardon me, Shining Armor, but are you alright?” Shining Armor was unable to answer, however, as the mention of Flurry Heart and dating had left him unable to vocalize much more than a few strangled noises.

“Grk. Ur hrst,” Shining Armor managed while visibly shaking.

“Hold on, I’ll get you a glass of water…and perhaps a physician as well,” Moonwhisper said as he backed away, taking the gurgling his Shining Armor produced as an affirmation.

*********

“Twilight, would you mind if I asked you a personal question? About you and Moonwhisper, I mean,” Cadance asked as she watched Twilight sort a stack of picture books into neat piles.

“Uh huh, sure, ask away,” Twilight replied absentmindedly, his mind preoccupied with establishing a system of ranking books based on their message, story and illustration quality.

“It’s just…are you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into with Moonwhisper. I mean, I can understand the appeal of dating a ‘badcolt’, but –“

Cadance found herself cut off as Twilight broke out into a fit of laughter. “Moonwhisper? A ‘badcolt’? Are we even talking about the same stallion?” Twilight took a moment to let her laughter subside before continuing. “Yeah, Moonwhisper might be a grumpy, by-the-book soldier on the outside, but deep down he’s one of the sweetest ponies I know.”

“I’m just worried you’re rushing into a relationship with him without thinking things through,” Cadance said. “It’s noble of you to want to help somepony like Moonwhisper, but his problems aren’t the sort that you can just fix by jumping into a relationship with him. I understand better than almost anypony how powerful love and friendship can be, but they can’t replace professional help.”

“Which is why I’m making sure Moonwhisper sees a therapist every week,” Twilight replied. “Geez, Cadance, did you honestly think I just rushed into a relationship because I wanted to ‘fix’ Moonwhisper or something? Sure, I want to help him to get through his issues, but I wanted to do that long before I, you know, fell for him.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Cadance said.

“And I appreciate that,” Twilight replied before Cadance could finish, “but I know what I’m doing. Moonwhisper isn’t perfect, and I understand that there are parts of him that I’m never going to be able to change no matter how much I wish I could. But isn’t that how relationship are supposed to work, accepting your special somepony’s faults along with everything else?”

At first it looked as though Cadance was about to say something in response to Twilight’s declaration, but instead she simply closed her mouth and smiled. “Alright, Twilight,” Cadence finally said, “you win. It sounds like you’ve put a lot more thought into this than I gave you credit for. I was just worried that you were rushing into a relationship blindly without considering what the consequences could be.”

Cadance’s statement elicited a groan from Twilight. “Why is it that everypony keeps acting like I’m some clueless schoolfilly giggling over her first crush? I’m a grown mare who’s fully capable of making her own decisions.”

Cadance calmly put her hoof around Twilight’s withers and pulled her sister-in-law into a hug. “It’s not that we don’t trust you, Twilight, we just don’t want to see somepony we care about get hurt. But I do trust you to make your own decisions, and if this is really what you want then I’ll support you however I can.” Still smiling, Cadance levitated several of the picture books Twilight had been sorting. “Speaking of decisions, I’d still love to hear what your thoughts are on some of these.”

*********

“That was certainly an eventful visit,” Princess Cadance said to her husband as they watched Twilight and Moonwhisper’s train pull out of the station. Flurry Heart gurgled in general agreement as she stood up in her stroller, energetically waving goodbye to her aunt with both of her front hooves.

“I’ll say, honestly I’m still a little weirded out by the whole deal. I mean I just can’t quite wrap my head around the idea that Twily’s got herself a special somepony,” Shining Armor said.

“Really?” Cadance said as she gave Shining Armor a look of utter disbelief. “After everything we learned today it’s the fact that Twilight’s dating somepony that you find hard to swallow? You do realize that Twilight’s a bit older than we were when we started courting, right? In fact, I’d say Twilight’s about the same age I was the first time we –“

“Cadance, honey, I’m begging you, please don’t finish that sentence,” Shining Armor pleaded. “It’s bad enough that I walked in on the two of them here, I really don’t want to think about what those two might get up to when they’re all alone back in Ponyville.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing Spike and Starlight Glimmer live with them, then,” Cadance reminded Shining Armor with a grin. “All in all, though, they do seem happy together, and that’s the important thing. Who knows,” Cadance added as she leaned down to nuzzle her daughter, “maybe Moonwhisper is going to wind up becoming your uncle someday.” As Shining Armor let out a whimper at this possibility, Cadance idly wondered if she should to talk to Twilight’s friend Rarity. There was definitely something to be said for having a spell to summon a fainting couch, especially when married to somepony like Shining Armor.

Schedule Conflicts

“So what the hay did yer brother do when he saw the two of y’all in bed together?” Applejack asked in between snickering fits of laughter.

“Well,” Twilight responded, “after he realized that I wasn’t actually missing, he just backed out of the room. Moonwhisper and I chased after him to try and explain, of course, but by the time we managed to get untangled from the sheets –“ Any further efforts Twilight made to recount the events of that morning were drowned out as Rainbow Dash collapsed onto the table laughing hysterically. “It’s not that funny,” Twilight muttered to herself as she glanced around the table at her other friends. I t had been inevitable, of course, that everypony had wanted to hear how the trip to the Crystal Empire had went, especially once it got out that Twilight had finally told Cadance and Shining Armor about her relationship with Moonwhisper. As such, Starlight Glimmer and Pinkie Pie ‘helpfully’ arranged a brunch for Twilight and her friends at the castle so she could tell them all about how it went. Unfortunately this had resulted in Twilight having to divulge certain scandalous details about how the trip had played out.

Looking around the table, Twilight could see Rainbow Dash and Applejack were desperately trying to suppress their laughter (and in Rainbow Dash’s case failing miserably). Fluttershy, meanwhile, was blushing furiously while unable to look Twilight in the eye. Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Starlight Glimmer, on the other hoof, were all leaning forward over the table, eager to hear more of the salacious details. “And you said were worried your relationship with Moonwhisper wasn’t moving along as quickly as you wanted,” Rarity teased. “I’m almost afraid to ask what going sufficiently quickly would have looked like.”

“You and Shining Armor both!” Rainbow Dash quipped before bursting out in further laughter.

“Well it…I mean…this was an unusual circumstance,” Twilight sputtered. “Moonwhisper had been really stressed over coming to the Crystal Empire and I wanted to do something that would help him…relax.” Twilight buried her face in her hooves as Rainbow Dash started laughing so hard she fell off her chair. “Oh dear Celestia that doesn’t make it sound any better, does it?”

“Calm down, Twilight, it’s not like you and Moonwhisper are actually sleeping together on a regular basis,” Starlight reassured her.

“Ah get the feelin’ Ah’m gonna regret askin’ this, but how the hay would y’all know if they were?” Applejack asked.

“Um, I live here, remember? I’m pretty sure I’d notice if Twilight were routinely sneaking into Moonwhisper’s bedroom,” Starlight retorted.

“Not if she teleported in there,” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully. “Twilight could just be all ‘foosh’ right into Moonwhisper’s room and then they could be like –“ Pinkie Pie produced a pair of Twilight and Moonwhisper hoof puppets and proceeded to mash them together while making kissing noises.

“That’s actually a good point,” Starlight admitted. “Between teleportation and the bubble of silence spell, I guess Twilight really could sneak into Moonwhisper’s room without me having any way of knowing.”

“Princess of Friendship with Benefits,” Rainbow Dash gasped out before collapsing back onto the floor.

“If y’ ask me,” Applejack began, ignoring Rainbow Dash’s attempts at humor, “the pony Ah fell sorry fer in all this is Shinin’ Armor.” Seeing her statement elicit an annoyed glare from Twilight Applejack quickly continued. “Ah’m not sayin’ it weren’t more than a mite embarrassin’ fer y’all, Twi, but walkin’ in on yer siblin’ in bed with somepony ain’t exactly somethin’ Ah’d wish on anypony. Ah mean, Fluttershy, how would y’all react if y’ walked in on Zephyr Breeze lockin’ lips with somepony?”

While Fluttershy didn’t respond at first, her expression slowly morphed into one of utter horror and disgust as she violently shuddered at the thought. “I…I really did not need to imagine that,” Fluttershy whimpered as she shook her head as if trying to shake the mental images loose.

Twilight was about to protest Applejack’s example, but thankfully she was provided with an opportunity to end the conversation entirely, courtesy of her number-one assistant. “Hey, Twilight, the mail’s here!” Spike called out as he entered the dining room. “So, what’re you guys talking about?”

“Nothing important,” Twilight quickly said as she snatched the letters out of Spike’s claws with her magic. Grateful to have a respite from the conversation, Twilight busied herself with inspecting the day’s mail. Most of the letters were junk, advertisements and the like, but one letter in particular caught her eye. “Huh, it looks like this one came all the way from Buckvaria. I wonder what Grandma Starry Night could want?” Twilight said to herself as she opened the letter.

“I didn’t know you had family out in Buckvaria,” Starlight said.

“She’s my father’s mother,” Twilight explained as she continued to read the letter. Suddenly, Twilight’s face brightened as a smile spread across her features. “And it says here that she wants to visit next week. Apparently Grandma Starry’s going to be visiting Canterlot on family business, so it’s the perfect time for her to visit. It’ll be really nice to see again, the last time Grandma Starry came up here from Buckvaria was for Shining Armor’s wedding and I really didn’t get much chance to see her.”

“We were kinda busy saving Canterlot from being invaded by Queen Chrysalis,” Rainbow Dash said. “So, what’s your grandma like, anyway?”

“She’s incredible!” Twilight gushed. “Before I was accepted into Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns Grandma Starry Night was one of my biggest influences. She was always bringing me new books on history and magic and she really encouraged me to keep pushing myself further.”

“Your grandmother sounds like a lovely mare, darling,” Rarity said. “I’m just curious, though, what exactly is this ‘family business’ that she’s coming to Canterlot for?”

Twilight’s ears folded back at Rarity’s question and her eyes began darting around the room as she responded. “Oh, you know, it’s just a family…thing. I mean, it has to do with our family…and other families.” Twilight let out a nervous chuckle as she rubbed her forehooves together.

“Um, Twilight, are you alright?” Starlight Glimmer asked.

Twilight looked around the table at her friends’ confused faces before letting out a groan. “Sorry, it’s just…the Council of Stars. The ‘family business’ my grandmother has in Canterlot is the gathering of the Council of Stars.”

Most of Twilight’s friends simply looked at each other in confusion over this apparent admission, none of them having any clue what the ‘Council of Stars’ even was. Rarity, however, looked absolutely stunned as she stared at Twilight in shock. “Y-You…your grandmother’s on the…but that…YOU’RE A VON?” Rarity practically shrieked as she pointed a hoof at Twilight. “But we’ve known each other for years, why in Equestria did you never tell us?”

“Uh, Ah feel like Ah’m missin’ part of this conversation here,” Applejack interjected. “Just who the hay are the ‘Council of Stars’ anyway, and what in tarnation is a ‘von’?”

“The Council of Stars is one of the oldest institutions of unicorn nobility in Equestria,” Rarity declared with an air of authority. “In fact, the council dates back to before Equestria was even established. The original council was founded by Princess Platinum’s father, King Bahamut, along with representatives from each of the major unicorn noble houses.”

“Wow, Rarity, you sound like you know an awful lot about this,” Fluttershy said. “I didn’t even know you were that interested in history.”

“Well, I’m not really interested in history per se,” Rarity admitted. “But the Council of Stars is one of the most prestigious social institutions in Equestria.”

“No, it really, really isn’t,” an exasperated Twilight said as she buried her face in her front hooves. “The Council of Stars is an archaic relic of Equestria’s past that stopped having any remote significance since Princess Celestia first arrived. In fact, for the last thousand years the only thing the Council of Stars has done is argue about who gets to join the council.” Twilight took a moment to compose herself before continuing. “The reason I don’t tell anypony that I’m a von is that I don’t want anypony to treat me differently over something that doesn’t matter.”

“Alright, but that still doesn’t explain what the hay a ‘von’ anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked impatiently.

“The term ‘von’ refers to how you’d say the full name of a member of one of the families that make up the council,” Twilight replied wearily. “My full name would be Twilight Sparkle von Nocturne.”

“Now there’s a mouthful,” Applejack quipped. “Ah guess Ah can understand why y’all never used yer full name before.”

“That, and it’s really not something worth bragging about. I wasn’t kidding when I said the council was ridiculously out of date. Some of their bylaws are outright tribalist; they won’t even consider letting you sit on the council if even one of your grandparents was a pegasus or an earth pony.”

“To be fair, you can largely thank Penumbral Dusk for that rule still being in effect,” Moonwhisper said as his trotted into the room. “I apologize if I’m interrupting, but I couldn’t help overhearing your discussion. In any event, changing the requirements to sit on the council would require a unanimous vote and Penumbral Dusk, being the tribalist –“ Moonwhisper paused and considered his audience before continuing, “- being the unpleasant pony that he is has blocked any effort to allow anypony with non-unicorn ancestry from sitting on the council.”

“Yeah, no offense Twilight, but it’s starting to sound like this council-thing is mostly just a bunchy of jerks,” Rainbow Dash huffed.

“Hey, my grandmother’s not a jerk!” Twilight snapped back. “She doesn’t even like going to these council meetings, it’s just a –“

“Familial obligation?” Moonwhisper offered.

“Yes, exactly! It’s something she thinks she has to do, whether she likes the other ponies involved or not.” Twilight let out a snort as she finished, practically daring anypony to challenge her assertion.

“In all fairness, from what I’ve gathered most of the members of the council see it as more of an obligatory tradition than anything else; ponies like Penumbral Dusk are just a loud, obnoxious and deluded minority,” Moonwhisper was in an effort to placate Twilight. “On a completely different note, the reason I came in here in the first place was that I needed to speak with you about a minor administrative issue.”

“Oh, alright,” Twilight said, honestly grateful to Moonwhisper for changing the subject. “What exactly did you need to ask me?”

“I’d like you to sign something for me, actually,” Moonwhisper said as he levitated a small scroll. “Specifically a request for a few days of leave time. I have some personal business that I need to take care of and it’s going to necessitate my traveling away from Ponyville for a few days.”

“Ok,” Twilight said as she took the scroll into her own magical aura and unfurled it, “let me just…oh.” Twilight paused as she took a closer look at Moonwhisper’s request.

“Is there something the matter?” Moonwhisper asked.

“Well, it’s just that you’re asking for leave on the same days that my grandmother is going to be visiting,” Twilight replied. “Couldn’t you possibly wait to take care of whatever this personal business is until after her visit?”

“I’m afraid it’s really something of a time-sensitive issue,” Moonwhisper said uneasily, “I’ll really only have a window of a few days to take care of everything I need to and I expect the time I’m going to spend traveling will take up a fair bit of that as it is.”

“Y’know, would y’ look at the time, Ah gotta get home so Ah can help Apple Bloom with her…somethin’.” Applejack said as she got out of her seat and began making a beeline for the exit.

“Oh my, I just remembered that I also have…something that I need to attend to as well,” Rarity said. “Spike, would you be a dear and come with me.” Before Spike could answer, Rarity enveloped him in her magical aura and levitated him out the door with her.

“You know what,” Starlight said as she levitated Pinkie Pie into the air, “I just remembered; Pinkie Pie, you were going to show me your recipe for those rock cakes that Maud likes so much.”

“Hmm, I don’t remember saying that, but that does sound like something I’d say. Okie-dokie-loki, onward to Sugar Cube Corner!” With that, Pinkie Pie struck a flying pose as Starlight swiftly carried her out the door.

“By the way, Fluttershy and I have a thing too. Bye!” Rainbow Dash shot out of her seat and rocketed out the door, grabbing Fluttershy as she went by, who was barely able to let out a squeak of protest.

Twilight, however, had more pressing matters on her mind than her friend’s mass retreat from the room. “I don’t suppose you’d mind actually telling me what this ‘personal business’ of yours is exactly? I thought we had agreed that we were going to be completely open with each other.”

“It isn’t that I’m trying to hide anything from you,” Moonwhisper replied. “But this isn’t a topic I’d rather talk about with your friends present.”

“Well they’re not here now!” Twilight snapped back. “So what in Equestria is so important that –“

“Trotsylvania.” Moonwhisper said solemnly. “I’m planning on making a trip to Trotsylvania.”

“I see,” Twilight said quietly. Simply hearing Moonwhisper mention the name of his foalhood home left Twilight feeling as though she had a lead weight in her stomach. “But, why? I thought Trotsylvania was the absolute last place you ever wanted to go. And why is it so important that you make the trip next week of all times?”

“This is actually something that Conscious Mind has suggested that I do on several occasions. She feels that by returning to Trotsylvania I might be able to find…I believe the term she used was closure. Until recently I’ve been quite opposed to the idea, however…” Moonwhisper let out a long sigh. “But then I had something of an epiphany during our trip to the Crystal Empire. If I’m ever going to make real progress I’m going to make real progress I’m going to need to stop running away from my past. And part of accomplishing that will be facing my former home and coming to terms with what happened there.”

“Are you sure you’re ready for that, though?” Twilight replied. “I mean, visiting the Crystal Empire by itself seemed like it was almost more than you could handle. Going to Trotsylvania and confronting your father –“

“Who said anything about confronting Penumbral Dusk?” Moonwhisper asked. “I have absolutely no intention of ever being in the same town as that pony if I can possibly avoid it. Which is why this trip is going to be so time sensitive. The gathering of the Council of Stars is one of the only events that can reliably coax Penumbral Dusk out of Trotsylvania, so my intent was to schedule my trip during the meeting to avoid him entirely.”

“What happened to your needing to stop running away from your past?” Twilight asked half-jokingly.

“I should be perfectly able to come to terms with the events of my foalhood without having to interact with that pony,” Moonwhisper practically snarled as he folded his ears back in irritation. After a few moments, however, Moonwhisper appeared to regain his composure. “Going back to Trotsylvania is going to be a sufficiently unpleasant experience as it stands without having to deal with Penumbral Dusk on top of everything else.”

“Moonwhisper, I know what you went through when you were younger –“

Before Twilight could continue Moonwhisper cut her off with a mirthless chuckle. “Twilight, you’ve barely seen glimpses of what my life was like growing up. Until I finally jointed the Royal Guard my life was such a constant waking nightmare that the only parts that really stand out are the times Penumbral Dusk got particularly ambitious or creative.” For a moment it looked as though Moonwhisper was going to continue his rant, but as he looked at Twilight he abruptly calmed. “I know you want to help me through all this, Twilight, and I can’t possibly tell you how grateful I am to have somepony like you in my life who wants to try. But there’s simply too much in my past for anypony else to fully grasp.”

For the next several seconds Twilight simply let Moonwhisper calm himself. “Are you glad you got all that off your chest?” Twilight finally said, breaking the silence. Moonwhisper started to say something in response, but Twilight raised her hoof to his lips before he could speak. “Now, what I was going to say was that, considering what you went through when you were young I understand you’re not wanting to deal with your father when you go on this trip. But I’m still worried about whether you’re ready for this; you were practically having panic attacks on the way to the Crystal Empire and I have to imagine that going to Trotsylvania will be even worse for you.”

“Well, I’d be lying if I said this was something that I was particularly looking forward to,” Moonwhisper began, “but as I said it is something that I feel I need to do. That being said, though, there will be other council meetings and I know how important family is to you. So, if you’d prefer, I could always postpone my trip for another time so that I could be here for your grandmother’s visit.”

“Oh no, absolutely not!” Twilight said as she stomped one of her front hooves. “If you really think you’re ready for this than this trip is too important for you to put off. Sure I’m a little disappointed I’ll miss the chance to introduce you to Grandma Starry, but there’ll be other chances to do that and you’re wellbeing comes first.”

“Are you sure, Twilight, because –“

“Not another word,” Twilight warned. “I’m not going to let you talk yourself out of talking this trip now that you actually think you’re ready for it.”

“Thank you, Twilight, and I promise I’ll find a way to make it up to you when I get…actually, wait a minute, when exactly is your grandmother planning on arriving?”

“Um, according to her letter she’s planning on arriving this coming Monday,” Twilight replied. “Why do you want to know?”

Moonwhisper, however, didn’t answer her right away as he appeared to be working something out in his head. “Let’s see…allowing for the travel times involved, and given how long council gatherings tend to last…it would be cutting things a little closer than I’d prefer, but…”

“Cutting things closer? What in Equestria are you talking about?”

“I should be able to delay leaving for Trotsylvania until next Tuesday without seriously compromising my schedule. Admittedly I wouldn’t be present for your grandmother’s entire visit, but this would at least give you a chance to introduce us.”

“That’s great!” Twilight exclaimed as she leapt up to give Moonwhisper a hug. “I can’t wait to introduce the two of you, I’m sure she’ll love you. I mean, I love you so of course she will. Oh, I better start getting a guest bedroom ready for her.” Twilight rapidly trotted out of the dining room, happily thinking out loud as she planned the upcoming visit.

*********

“-and after lunch I thought we could take Grandma Starry on a tour of Ponyville,” Twilight said as she stood on the Ponyville Station platform, Spike and Moonwhisper standing to either side of her.

“And after the tour we all head back to the castle so you can show her around before an early dinner,” Spike said in a bored tone. “Come on Twilight, we’ve been over this a dozen times already. Seriously, it’s just a casual visit from Granny Starry, not a visit from Princess Celestia.”

“Well, Lady Starry Night may not be royalty precisely, but she is a member of unicorn nobility. Specifically a countess, if I’m not mistaken,” Moonwhisper added.

“Moonwhisper, please, please, please don’t make a big deal out of Grandma Starry’s title,” Twilight pleaded.

“I wasn’t planning to. I was just pointing out that, on a poorly technical level this is a visit from a member of the nobility so a certain level of, for lack of a better term, over planning is appropriate.” Moonwhisper cleared his throat before continuing. “In any event if I was going to make a ‘big deal’ out of this visit I’d be wearing my dress uniform.”

“Would you both just relax,” Spike interrupted before Twilight could reply. “Nothing’s going to go horribly wrong, everypony’s going to get along and everything is going to be fine. Sheesh, it was bad enough when I just had to worry about Twilight freaking out over this sort of stuff.”

Twilight and Moonwhisper exchanged sheepish glances as they realized that Spike was absolutely right. Before either pony could say anything further the sound of a train whistle cut through the air. “That must be her train,” Twilight said as she turned her head to look at the approaching locomotive. As the train squealed into the station Twilight immediately began scanning the train car doors for signs of her grandmother.

“You know,” Moonwhisper said as he watched the train’s passengers start to disembark, “I don’t think you ever told me what your grandmother actually looks like.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, slightly embarrassed that she’d make an oversight like that. “Well, Grandma Starry’s a – there she is!” Twilight suddenly cried out as she pointed towards the far end of the station platform. Standing there was an elderly unicorn mare with a fading blue coat and a steel-gray mane done up in a tight bun. The mare was dressed in a plain black gown and wore a pair of thick horn-rimmed glasses that obscured a fair portion of her face. “Grandma Starry!” Twilight called out as she happily galloped over.

“Liebchen! It is so good to see you again!” The elderly mare exclaimed as soon as she heard Twilight. “Come here, give your grandmother a hug.”

“I’m so glad you were able to visit! This is going to be great, I already have your whole visit planned out.” Twilight said as she hugged her grandmother.

“That doesn’t surprise me in the slightest,” Starry Night said with a grin, “and look at you! You’ve grown into such a lovely young mare and an alicorn princess, no less,” Starry Night added.

“I generally try not to make too big deal about that part,” Twilight said blushing slightly.

“It’s good that you don’t,” Starry Night affirmed. “Humility is a valuable trait. Besides, bragging about your accomplishments is my job.” Starry Night let out a raucous laugh. “Between you and your older brother I now win every ‘whose grandfoal is more accomplished’ contest. Oh, your granddaughter is a doctor? Well mine’s a princess!”

“Hey, Granny Night, how was the trip?” Spike asked as he jogged over to the join them, Moonwhisper following closely behind.

“Ah there’s the little dragon,” Starry Night said as she reached over to ruffle Spike’s spines affectionately. “You’ve been taking good care of my liebchen, I hope.” Starry Night’s gaze then traveled up towards Moonwhisper. “And who is the stallion? Has my little liebchen finally found herself a special somepony, perhaps?”

“Well, actually, yeah,” Twilight said. “Grandma, this is Moonwhisper, and he’s my coltfriend.” As Twilight spoke she move to Moonwhisper’s side and gently leaned against him.

Starry Night slowly approached Moonwhisper as she carefully looked him over from head to hoof. “It would appear my granddaughter has excellent taste in stallions,” Starry Night finally concluded. “Although, there’s something about your name that sounds familiar. Wait…you wouldn’t be Penumbral Dusk’s son, would you?”

Moonwhisper winced at the mention of his father’s name. “Of course, you would know Penumbral Dusk from the council. You have my condolences.”

“Your condolences? That’s an odd thing to say to somepony who just told you they know your father,” Starry Night said with a raised eyebrow.

“Under normal circumstances, perhaps, but given the nature of the pony in question I’d say it’s the appropriate response,” Moonwhisper countered.

Several agonizing seconds ticked by as Starry Night simply stared at Moonwhisper, until Starry Night finally burst out into peals of laughter. “Pahaha, liebchen really does have good taste in stallions. Now why don’t we head over to this new castle of yours so I can drop off my bags?”

“Sure,” Twilight said, glad that the tension over Moonwhisper’s family had been mercifully brief. “Moonwhisper, could you give her a hoof with her things?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Starry Night quickly said. “Hans! My bags!” No sooner did Starry bark out her orders than a large diamond dog lumbered into view clutching a suitcase in either hand. “This is Hans, my valet. He doesn’t talk much, but he is very handy to have around. Come, Hans,” Starry Night said as she gestured for Twilight to lead on.

“Ja, Frau Nacht,” Hans replied in a low, rumbling voice. The hulking canine hefted the luggage as if they were completely weightless and quietly took his place behind Starry Night.

“Moonwhisper, would you lead the way, please? I’d like to have a talk with my granddaughter,” Starry Night said. Moonwhisper responded with a shrug and moved to take point, levitating Spike onto his back as he did so. As the group made their way into Ponyville proper Twilight eagerly discussed her plans with her grandmother while pointing out various points of interest as they went by.

“And over there Sugar Cube Corner, I thought we’d stop by there after lunch. Pinkie Pie’s been working on her recipe for Prinzregententorte all week and she’s really excited to hear what you think of it. I may have mentioned to her that it’s one of your favorite desserts.”

Starry Night nodded absentmindedly as she listened to Twilight’s plans. “Yes, it certainly is,” she replied as she stared straight ahead.

“Are you even listening to me?” As Twilight asked she followed her grandmother’s gaze, which to her dismay seemed to be focused on Moonwhisper’s posterior. “Are…are you staring at –“ Twilight paused before lowering her voice to a loud whisper. “Are you staring at my coltfriend’s rump?”

“He does have a magnificent set of hindquarters,” Starry Night said as she strained to maintain a straight face.

“Well, I’ll admit Moonwhisper really – that’s not the point!” Twilight snapped incredulously, which only served to elicit cackling laugh from her grandmother.

“I’m sorry for teasing, liebchen, I couldn’t help it. Honestly though, it is good so to see that you’ve found somepony for yourself, and if what I’ve heard is true then he’s a fine stallion.”

Starry Night’s statement hung in the air for a several moments before Twilight responded. “But…?” Twilight asked hesitantly. “If this is about whether or not I know what I’m getting myself into –“

“Bah! You’re a smart mare, you’ll be fine. Besides, I’m sure you know more about the truth about his past than anypony else at this point.” Starry Night’s darkened. “I’ve heard some very ugly rumors about what went on in Trotsylvania when your Moonwhisper was growing up and knowing Penumbral Dusk…” Starry Night shook her head sadly. “There really isn’t much I would put past that wretch. Did you know your great uncle once actually tossed him out of window?”

“Uncle Noble Deed did what?” Twilight yelled out in shock.

“What’s that about Noble Deed?” Moonwhisper asked as he dropped back to join Twilight and Starry Night, their conversation having finally grabbed his attention.

“I was just telling Twilight about the time my older brother threw your father out of a second story window,” Starry Night said as if that was a perfectly normal topic of conversation.

Moonwhisper, however, seemed wholly unbothered by this revelation. “I think I remember hearing about that encounter,” Moonwhisper said as he snickered to himself. “As I recall, that was the first and only time Noble Deed ever attended a meeting of the Council of Stars. To be honest, I always wished I could have thanked Noble Deed for doing that, but I never really had the chance. I had considered sending him a gift basket, but that just always seemed to…impersonal.”

Twilight trudged along as Moonwhisper and Starry Night laughed about the event, Twilight trying to make sense of things in her mind. To Twilight, her great uncle Noble Deed had always been the first pony to come to mind whenever she thought of what the Royal Guard represented, even ahead of her own brother. Even as an elderly unicorn long past his prime Noble Deed had always seemed to radiate an aura of chivalrous honor, which was further enhanced by the tales he used to tell of his days as Captain of the Canterlot Guard. The notion that that same pony had thrown somepony else through a window, even somepony as vile as Penumbral Dusk, was as unbelievable as the notion that Princess Celestia would be capable of being petty or self-centered.

“Geez, what the hay did Penumbral Dusk do to get Noble Deed to toss him out a window anyway?” Spike asked.

“To tell the truth I’m not really sure,” Starry Night admitted. “My brother never said anything about it, aside from telling me that he never wanted to be in the same room as Penumbral Dusk every again. I’ve tried to ask the other ponies who were there about it, but nopony who was there was ever willing to talk about it. If I had to guess, though I’d say Penumbral Dusk probably made some tasteless remark about my brother’s late wife and son.”

“What?” Twilight exclaimed in a horrified tone. “That…actually that sounds exactly like something Penumbral Dusk would do.” Twilight admitted before letting out a sigh. “And that also would explain why Uncle Noble Deed would have done something as extreme as toss him out of a window.”

“I’m a little afraid to ask,” Moonwhisper said, cringing slightly as he spoke, “but what’s this about a late wife and foal? Shining Armor used to talk about his great uncle almost as much as Twilight or Princess Cadance, but I can’t recall him ever mentioning that he had a family.”

“That’s probably because they died before our parents were even old enough to have their cutie marks,” Twilight replied sadly.

“It was a horrible tragedy,” Starry Night added, “my brother had taken his family out on a small sailboat on the Rein when they were struck by a feral storm that came from over the Dark Forrest. Noble Deed was able to swim to shore after their boat was capsized, but his wife and son…” Starry Night paused, needing a moment to compose herself. “After that the Royal Guard became my brother’s whole life, at least until he had to retire, anyway.” For the next several moments the group trudged along in somber silence, until Starry Night finally spoke up again. “Bah, that’s enough dwelling on the past for one day. Moping about isn’t going to change what happened and the last thing my brother would have wanted would be for us to waste a beautiful day feeling sorry for him.” Starry Night’s proclamation had an almost immediate effect on the group’s mood, and by the time they reached Twilight’s Castle their collective mood had returned to its previous sunny state.

Once they reached the castle, Spike offered to lead Hans to the room Twilight had set aside for Starry Night while the three ponies headed to the library to continue talking. “It’s a pity Starlight Glimmer isn’t here today,” Twilight said as they sat down. “I was looking forward to introducing the two of you, but she’s out visiting her friend Maud. Something about wanting her to try some rock cakes she made.”

“Starlight Glimmer…isn’t she the one who saved Equestria recently? Honestly, it seems like we’re all in peril so often it’s getting hard to keep track nowadays.” Starry Night said. “Ah well, I’m sure I’ll have a chance to meet her before I return to Buckvaria. Speaking of your friends, you mentioned that you were friends with one of the local apple farmers, didn’t you?”

“You mean Applejack? Of course, I was actually planning on taking you by Sweet Apple Acres when I took you on a tour of Ponyville.”

As Twilight spoke, Moonwhisper rose from his seat. “Twilight, if you wouldn’t mind I’m going to head out. There are still a few details that I’d like to see to before I leave for my trip tomorrow. Ms. Night, it’s been a pleasure to meet you.” With that, Moonwhisper strode out of the room.

“Liebchen,” Starry Night said after Moonwhisper left in a tone that said Twilight had some explaining to do, “what exactly is this trip your special somepony is taking?”

“Moonwhisper’s going to Trotsylvania for a few days,” Twilight replied. “He’s planning on dealing with some personal business at his old home and –“

“And he has to take care of this ‘personal business’ now, while his father is certain to be elsewhere,” Starry Night concluded before closing her eyes and letting out a sigh. “I take it this trip has something to do with whatever Moonwhisper went through as a foal then?”

“Moonwhisper…he’s looking for closure,” Twilight affirmed. “He’s hoping that by doing this he’ll be able to move past…” Twilight closed her eyes and shuddered, the memory of the time she had looked into Moonwhisper’s past flashing through her mind.

For several moments, which to Twilight seemed like an eternity, the two mares sat in silence. Eventually, however, Starry Night spoke up. “Twilight, I won’t ask you to tell me what really went on in Trotsylvania, but I gather that it was horrific.” Twilight silently nodded her head in response. “Twilight, go with him to Trotsylvania.”

“But what about –“

“We can reschedule my visit for after you get back from Trotsylvania,” Starry Night said. “I’m an old mare, after all, what else do you think I have to do with my time? Trust me, liebchen, your stallion needs you right now and a good romance will always be worth a little rescheduling.”

Upon hearing this, Twilight wordlessly rose up from her seat and threw her forelegs around her grandmother. “Thank you, grandma,” Twilight said softly.

“Of course, liebchen, I was young once as well,” Starry Night said as she returned the hug. “The stories I could tell you about when your grandfather and I were courting, but I suppose that we’ll have to wait for another day.”

“That’s right! I’m going to need to pack and then I need to let Moonwhisper know I’m coming with him. Oh, and I need to let Spike know I’ll be gone too. Spike!” Twilight called out to her assistant as she practically galloped out of the room, already composing a mental checklist of what else she needed to do before she left.

Starry Night, meanwhile, smiled to herself as she idly perused the library and wondered how long it would be before she had another great-grandfoal to coo over.

Trotsylvania

“Trotsylvania, next stop,” the train conductor’s voice called out about the rhythmic sounds of the train as it rushed along the track. For Twilight, it was a welcome break from the monotony of the trip so far. True, Twilight hadn’t expected that Moonwhisper would be particularly cheerful considering their destination, but ever since they had set hoof aboard the train he had been even quieter than usual. At first Twilight had tried to distract herself by watching the scenery outside the window rush by, but as they drew closer to Trotsylvania the view became increasingly bleak. There were no towns to speak of, only the occasional farm and most of those appeared to be abandoned. Even the sky itself was depressing, a uniform slate-gray expanse of clouds that left Princess Celestia’s sun hidden from view.

“I’ll say this for the Crystal Empire, at least it had the decency to be pleasant to look at,” Moonwhisper quipped, breaking the silence. “For what it’s worth, I want to thank you again for agreeing to accompany me on this trip. I realize this wasn’t exactly how you were planning to spend the next few days.”

Twilight, still slightly shocked to hear Moonwhisper say anything, let alone make an attempt at humor, wordlessly leaned over and pressed herself against him. “You know, you don’t seem nearly as tense as you were when we went to the Crystal Empire,” Twilight said encouragingly after a minute or so.

“Well, you know the old phrase ‘nothing is more frightening than the unknown’,” Moonwhisper replied. “When we visited the Crystal Empire I had no way of knowing how things were going to turn out. The logical part of my mind knew what the most likely scenario was, of course, but it was easy for my imagination to focus on the worst case scenario.” Moonwhisper’s face darkened as anger started to creep into his voice. “Here, on the other hoof, I know almost exactly how things are going to play out. I don’t anticipate it’s going to be an especially pleasant experience for me, but at least it’s a known quantity.”

Twilight pondered the best way to respond to this, but before she could think of anything the air was filled with the loud screeching of the train’s brakes, announcing their arrival. Both ponies promptly rose from their seats to gather their belongings, though Twilight did notice that Moonwhisper was moving at an uncharacteristically unhurried pace. As the pair exited the train, Twilight was treated to her first up close look at Trotsylvania. “Wow, it’s so…um…”

“Downtrodden? Miserable? Depressing?” Moonwhisper said bitterly. “Personally I’d be inclined to go with all of the above.”

Looking around, it was hard for Twilight to completely disagree with Moonwhisper’s assessment. The town that surrounded the Trotsylvanian station was a village roughly the same size as Ponyville. But, while Ponyville would have been bustling with activity as friendly townsponies went about their business here the streets seemed practically deserted. The small hooffull of ponies that Twilight did see wore haggard expressions as the trudged through the muddy streets, their heads hung low. Even the buildings themselves looked depressing, at least half of them having been boarded up and abandoned. After a few moments, Twilight was struck by how similar the village was to the alternate version of Ponyville she had seen where Equestria was at war with the forces under King Sombra’s control.

“Our first order of business should probably be to locate a wagon to take the rest of the way to the castle,” Moonwhisper said as they surveyed the scene.

“Is it really that far away?” Twilight asked.

“We certainly could get there by hoof if we absolutely had to, but give that doing so would likely take us until nightfall I’d rather avoid having to do so if possible.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. “Well, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a porter,” Twilight said optimistically as she trotted over to nearest pony she could see. “Pardon me, but my friend and I were wondering if you knew where we could find somepony to take us to Castle Umbra.”

At first the townspony perked up upon being addressed by Twilight, his eyes widening a little upon noticing her wings. The moment Twilight mentioned her intended destination, however, the pony quickly excused himself while mumbling excuses. “That’s probably going to be the most common reaction, I’m afraid,” Moonwhisper said bitterly. “The von Umbra family has a rather…unpleasant reputation in this part of Equestria.”

“I can understand why your father would have that sort of reputation, but isn’t a little excessive to be afraid of the castle itself?” Twilight asked.

“As delighted as I’d be to place all of the blame for the von Umbra family’s reputation on Penumbral Dusk, the fact of the matter is the family has cultivated a long history of unpleasantness and petty vindictiveness.” Moonwhisper let out a sigh of resignation before continuing. “If I’m not mistaken there should be an inn fairly close to the center of town. That’s probably where we’d have the best luck finding somepony willing to take us.”

Twilight pondered her options for a moment before allowing Moonwhisper to lead the way. Granted, she could have likely flown to the castle on her own, but that would have necessitated leaving Moonwhisper to get there on his own. Teleportation was quickly ruled out as well since Twilight didn’t want to risk trying to teleport someplace that she had never been before. That left Twilight with little alternative to trotting through the town beside Moonwhisper while the townsponies cowered in fear. “I wonder if this what it was like for Zecora at first,” Twilight mused as the turned down another empty street. Seeing Moonwhisper giving her a quizzical look Twilight elaborated. “When I first came to Ponyville Zecora, the zebra who lives in the Everfree Forrest, she was treated like an outcast by pretty much everypony in town. Including me, at one point,” Twilight added ashamedly. “I was just thinking this must be what it was like for her back then; everypony hiding away for no good reason.”

“In all fairness, Twilight, these ponies do have an understandable reason for their behavior. Between your wings and my cutie mark we represent authority and in Trotsylvania authority is synonymous with petty cruelty at best and outright danger at worst. That being said, the local ponies would likely be more welcoming if I weren’t present, but…” Moonwhisper closed his eyes unconsciously picked up his pace. “As things stand it would be best if I keep things professional with the local citizens.”

Twilight wanted to argue with Moonwhisper over this statement, wanted to lecture him on the importance of friendship and how pushing ponies away wasn’t the answer. Twilight wanted to do all that, but she quickly realized that here, unlike in Ponyville the danger that Moonwhisper was trying to stave off by keeping everypony at hooves length was quite real. Both the reactions of the townsponies and the stories that Twilight had heard from Conscious Mind were proof of threat that Penumbral Dusk posed to everypony around him. As such, as much as it pained Twilight to admit it Moonwhisper’s cutting himself off was justified. “I wonder why the map never sent any of us here,” Twilight grumbled to herself under her breath.

“That’s likely because there wouldn’t be all that much you or your friends could realistically do to fix the source of the problem,” Moonwhisper said. “Penumbral Dusk isn’t somepony who can be reasoned with, and he has just enough resources at his disposal to make the lives of everypony in the village miserable if they were to show a united front against him. Granted he’d be liable to bankrupt himself in the process, but I doubt that would stop him. I’ve fantasized about solving that particular friendship problem myself quite a few times, but I imagine you probably wouldn’t approve of my methods.”

“I’m starting to think I might be flexible about that,” Twilight muttered as she watched a mare grab her foal and rush inside her home. By the time the gain made it to the town’s inn Twilight’s mood had soured to the extent she was half seriously considering having a talk with Discord about finding some way to ‘solve’ the village’s Penumbral Dusk issue. The inn itself was nothing particularly special, a half-timber building roughly the same size as Sugar Cube Corner, though not nearly as lovingly cared for. As she followed Moonwhisper inside, Twilight was nearly overpowered by the combined reek of body odor and rotten fruit. Twilight quickly recovered, however, and looked up to see a small group of ponies seated around the inn’s common room, all of whom cautiously eyeing her and Moonwhisper.

“We’re looking to hire somepony to take Princess Twilight Sparkle and myself to Castle Umbra,” Moonwhisper called out once he had everypony’s attention. The assembled townsponies muttered amongst themselves for several minutes before one of them finally trotted forward.

“My name is Cheese Pierogi. I’ll be willing to take you as far as the edge of the estate,” he offered in a gruff of voice. “But I won’t go one step further.”

“That will be…acceptable,” Moonwhisper said, casting a sideward glance at Twilight. “How soon can you be ready to leave?”

“Just give me a minute to get my wagon hitched, I’ll be around to meet you out front.” As the stallion left to ready his wagon he cast a backwards glance at Moonwhisper before shaking his head sadly.

“What was that all about?” Twilight whispered to Moonwhisper as they exited the inn.

“You mean the refusal to set hoof on the von Umbra property itself? Honestly I’m not really sure. It could just be superstition, or its possible Penumbral Dusk has taken to accusing any non-unicorns who approach the castle of trespassing.” Moonwhisper punctuated his last bit of speculation with a snort of disgust.

“Actually, I was wondering about the look Cheese Pierogi gave you right before he left,” Twilight said. “Do you think he might know you from somewhere?”

Moonwhisper merely shrugged in response. “It’s certainly possible. I never really left the castle grounds as a foal, but most of the castle servants would have been hired from this village. That being said, I can’t say I ever had much of a chance to get to know any of them. Setting aside Penumbral Dusk’s paranoia that I might actually befriend one of my ‘lessers’,” Moonwhisper practically snarled the last word through tightly clenched teeth. “Very few members of the castle staff actually remained there for very long, if for no other reason than the fact that Penumbral Dusk is only a marginally better employer than he was a parent.”

Any further discussion of the issue was quickly put on hold as Cheese Pierogi came rushing around the corner pulling a large wagon behind him. Moonwhisper wordlessly levitated their luggage into the wagon before helping Twilight climb in herself. Once both had entered the wagon the stallion took off like a rocket, sending Twilight and Moonwhisper tumbling down to the wagon’s bed. The trip took the better part of the next hour, the wagon bouncing violently along the muddy roads. The few times Twilight managed to steady herself enough to look over the edge of the wagon she found the scenery to be much the same as what she had seen on the train, nothing but dark, wild forests and abandoned farms. “I don’t understand,” Twilight said as she slumped back into the wagon. “Why in Equestria are all of these farms abandoned?”

“You can thank Count von Umbra for that,” Cheese Pierogi answered without breaking stride. “Every so often he’ll decide that some earth pony family has insulted him somehow and he’ll do everything he can to chase them off. Then again, the ground here isn’t all that good for farming anyway, so plenty of other families just decided to leave rather than deal with his stupidity. Nowadays the only earth ponies left in Trotsylvania are the ones who are too stubborn to leave, like me!” Cheese Pierogi let out a deep laugh as he careened around a turn in the road with such force that Twilight could feel two of the wheels lift off the ground for a moment.

Eventually Cheese Pierogi finally brought the wagon to a stop alongside a crumbling stone wall. An imposing set of wrought iron gates formed the only visible entranceway past the wall, leading to long road that stretched into the distance. “Is this…?” Twilight asked as she took in the rather unwelcoming sight.

“Home sweet home,” Moonwhisper snorted as he climbed down out of the wagon and began counting out several bits. “I can understand why you’d rather not go any further-“

“I’ve got my own reasons for not wanting to set hoof on von Umbra land, and it’s got nothing to do with my being scared of Penumbral Dusk!” Cheese Pierogi snapped as he snatched at the bits. As he looked at Moonwhisper’s expression, however, Cheese Pierogi closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “You’re his son, aren’t you? My wife, Potato Dumpling, used to work in the castle’s kitchens. That was years ago, so I don’t blame you if you don’t remember her, but she used to tell stories about the things that went on up there…” Cheese Pierogi let his voice trail off for a moment before he continued. “When you’re don with whatever business brought you to this Celestia-forsaken place send me a message and I’ll pick your and the princess up and take you back to town.” With that, Cheese Pierogi glanced back at the wagon to ensure it was empty before galloping off, his wagon thundering along behind him.

Twilight and Moonwhisper watched the wagon disappear into the distance until it was completely out of sight. Once it was gone, Moonwhisper realized he no longer had any excuse to postpone what was to come and so he enveloped the gates with his magic and threw them open. “Well, let’s get this over with,” he muttered as he levitated their bags and led the way through the gate. The pathway beyond the gate twisted through what at one point had likely once been a beautifully landscaped slice of the countryside. Now, however, years or possibly even decades of neglect had left the grounds looking what Twilight could only describe as feral. As they continued on, Twilight noticed that the trees lining the path seemed increasingly to be of the same species.

“Are those…apple trees?” Twilight asked.

“Mmhmm. The family orchard, supposedly one of the oldest in Equestria. Even if they were in season I wouldn’t recommend eating any of them, though, the apples that grow here tend to be much too bitter and sour.” Moonwhisper seemed to barely glance at the sides of the road as he spoke, his eyes instead fixed straight ahead. Realizing that Moonwhisper wasn’t likely to say much else Twilight turned her attention back to the apple trees that now crowded both sides of the road. Unlike the neat, well-maintained trees of Sweet Apple Acres these apple trees looked as feral as the rest of the grounds, their gnarled branches twisting around each other as they fought for access to the sun.

As the pair went around a particularly sharp turn Twilight saw Moonwhisper suddenly cringe and violently shudder before immediately resuming his previous pace. “Moonwhisper, is there something wrong?” Twilight called out as she hurried her pace to catch up.

“It’s nothing, Twilight, there’s no need to worry about me,” Moonwhisper replied, though the obvious stress creeping into his voice strongly argued otherwise.

“That looked like it was a lot more than nothing, Moonwhisper, now tell me what’s-oh.” As Twilight rounded the turn she found herself staring at the long abandoned ruin of a small cottage at the side of the road. “Is that…?”

“The former home of Braeburn and his family,” Moonwhisper answered. “Come on, we’re close to the castle now, we should be able to see it once we clear the orchard up ahead.” Listening to Moonwhisper, Twilight noticed something off about his voice. It wasn’t something that Twilight could put her hoof on exactly, but it sounded to Twilight as though Moonwhisper’s voice was tinged with a mixture of irritation and fear. “I’m going to be fine,” Moonwhisper suddenly said, apparently noting Twilight concern. “It’s just that this is only going to be the first of many unpleasant reminders of my past I deal with today. I’ve at least had a chance to put the incident with that cottage behind me, but I can’t say I’m particularly looking forward to dealing with memories where that isn’t the case.”

“You’ll get through this,” Twilight said as she caught up to Moonwhisper’s side. “I know it must seem overwhelming right now, but just think of how well things turned out between you and Braeburn. Once you get through this I’m certain you’ll feel much better.”

“I hope you’re right,” Moonwhisper muttered, as much to himself as to Twilight. As they trotted out from under the orchard’s canopy, Twilight finally got her first look at the castle itself. In ages past the massive Baroque structure would have been a majestic sight. Years of neglect, however, had left it a dingy, crumbling ruin. Windows had been shattered and boarded up, decorative stonework was broken or missing altogether and even the paint on the main doors was faded and peeling. “Impressive, isn’t it?” Moonwhisper said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Personally I think it’s a near-perfect physical representation of the von Umbra family itself.”

“I don’t understand, based on everything I’ve heard about Penumbral Dusk I’d think he’d take better care of his family castle.” Twilight said. “And if Penumbral Dusk has enough bits to get away with terrorizing everypony around him then I’d have to think he could afford basic maintenance.”

“You’re assuming that Penumbral Dusk could actually find somepony to do the work,” Moonwhisper snorted. “Every so often Penumbral Dusk will try to hire a contractor willing to do the necessary work, but inevitably he can’t keep himself from spewing tribalist bile long enough to actually convince anypony to work for him. And, in the interest of fairness, I have to admit the castle’s issues concerning a lack of proper maintenance predate Penumbral Dusk and his inability to act civilized long enough to hire anypony. My grandfather, Silent Shade, spent as much time as he could traveling all over Equestria and beyond, really anywhere that took him far away from here. Not that I can really blame him,” Moonwhisper added. “As such he left the castle’s upkeep in the hooves of my grandmother, Aloof Airs. Unfortunately, by all accounts she was a miser who refused to spend bits on anything that didn’t directly impact her reputation back in Canterlot.” With a final snort of disgust, Moonwhisper began striding towards the castle’s main doors,

For her part, Twilight followed behind somewhat hesitantly as she cautiously eyed the structures before her. The more Twilight looked at it the more she thought it looked like the setting in a clichéd horror novel. “All it needs now is a nighttime thunderstorm,” Twilight though to herself as she watched Moonwhisper hammer his front hoof on the front door, triggering a shower of paint chips. A full minute passed before the doors creaked open, revealing an ancient, emaciated unicorn stallion.

“May I help you?” the stallion rasped in a tone that somehow managed to be simultaneously servile and haughty. The moment the stallion saw who was standing in front of him, however, any traces of arrogance vanished from his face immediately. “Master Moonwhisper! It’s such a pleasure to see you here.”

“Quiet Custom,” Moonwhisper growled, not bothering to conceal the seething hatred in his voice. “Princess Twilight and I will be staying here for the next two nights. I assume you’ll be able to accommodate us?”

Quiet Custom’s eyes bulged slightly as Moonwhisper mentioned Twilight’s name and promptly bowed as he saw her standing on the castle steps. “Your highness, you honor us with your presence,” Quiet Custom said, his voice practically dripping with obsequiousness. “I’ll see to it that guest rooms are prepared for both of you at once. Please, do come in.” While Twilight couldn’t put her hoof on exactly why, she found herself taking an almost immediate dislike to Quiet Custom. There was something oily in his demeanor that made Twilight’s skin crawl, and she was thankful when Moonwhisper interposed himself between the two of them as she entered the castle.

“For what it’s worth, you should be aware that part of the reason we’ve come here is to carry out the confiscation of any and all documents relating to Sombra’s magical research. I’ve taken the liberty of bringing a copy of the paperwork Penumbral Dusk signed agreeing to the project, and he’s welcome to review the original copy in the Canterlot archives.” As Moonwhisper spoke he produced a scroll bearing the royal seal and levitated it to Quiet Custom.

“I…see,” Quiet Custom said as he unfurled the scroll and carefully looked it over, abandoning any pretenses of servility towards Moonwhisper. “I’m sure your father will be relieved that this issue has been finally resolved. Will you or the princess require any assistance with anything else?”

“No, that will be all,” Moonwhisper coldly replied. For the next several seconds Moonwhisper and Quiet Custom exchanged icy stares until Quiet Custom finally turned his head and slunk away.

“What in Equestria that all about?” Twilight asked once she was reasonably certain they were alone. “And what was all that about confiscating King Sombra’s magical research?”

“I apologize for not discussing that with you earlier,” Moonwhisper said, noticeably more relaxed now that Quiet Custom was no longer present. “It’s actually part of something that I’ve been discussing with Conscious Mind for some time now. As one of my major sources of anxiety is my…particular ancestry, Conscious Mind has suggested that I take steps to redefine what that means to me. You see,” Moonwhisper continued as he noticed Twilight’s baffled expression, “while Sombra may have been a twisted, sadistic monster he was also an admittedly brilliant sorcerer. Most of the magical research Sombra performed was left in a hidden vault here in the castle, and my intent is to see if I can’t find some way of putting it to good use somehow. If I can manage to find some way to squeeze some tiny modicum of good out of Sombra’s existence…” Moonwhisper let the idea hang in the air for a moment before continuing. “In any event, Princess Celestia has been aware of the vault’s existence ever since Sombra’s...well, ever since his time. Until a few years ago, however, Princess Celestia was unaware of its location here in the castle. That was when Penumbral Dusk revealed to her that the vault was located inside the castle and offered to turn over its contents in a bid to weasel his way into her good graces. It didn’t work, in no small part due to the fact that it quickly became apparent that Penumbral Dusk didn’t actually know how to get into the vault, or even where its entrance is precisely.”

“But you do?” Twilight asked skeptically.

Moonwhisper nodded in response. “I found the entrance when I was younger. To be honest I’ve wanted to force Penumbral Dusk to live up to that confiscation order for years, but every time I always managed to find a reason to put it off for a while longer.”

“Up until now, that is,” Twilight said. “So, where exactly is this secret vault anyway?”

“The entrance to the vault is located in the castle’s auxiliary wine cellar which is under the west wing of the castle. It’s a rather awkward location given that the banquet hall is located in the east wing. If it weren’t’ for the fact that the castle predates Sombra by several centuries I’d assume the cellar’s location was a deliberate choice on his part, but as it is I imagine I simply had an alcoholic or two in my family tree. Celestia knows I’d probably take up drinking if I actually had to live here again.” Moonwhisper added. With that Moonwhisper began heading towards a door on the left side of the entrance hall before pausing and turning back to Twilight. “Are you coming?”

“What? Oh, right, sorry, I’m right behind you,” Twilight said as she tore her attention away from examining the castle décor. The inside of Castle Umbra was every bit as unpleasant as the outside, though admittedly slight better cared for. Twilight’s hoofsteps echoed as she trotted across the tiled floors, the sound bouncing off the grotesque statues and carvings that seemed to cover the walls. “No offense, but I think somepony in your family must have had really creepy taste.”

“I suppose you’re referring to the carvings along the walls,” Moonwhisper said as they passed through a doorway carved to resemble a pair of coiled serpentine dragons. “Honestly I’m not sure who was responsible for all that. I don’t think they were installed by the castle’s original builders, that sort of thing wasn’t really done until long after the castle was first built. If I had to guess, most of these decorations would have been added around Shadowed Heart’s time.”

“Wait, Shadowed Heart? As in Princess Celestia’s student from the fifth century Shadowed Heart?” Twilight asked excitedly. “I didn’t even know you were related to her. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“I suppose it makes sense that you’d have heard of her,” Moonwhisper sighed. “Shadowed Heart was my indeterminate number of greats aunt. As for why I never mentioned her before, it simply never seemed particularly important. Besides, given Shadowed Heart’s particular magical specialty I’ve never been all that inclined to broadcast our relationship.”

“Shadowed Heart’s…ooh,” Twilight said as she realized what Moonwhisper meant. Shadowed Heart had the distinction of being the only of Princess Celestia’s numerous students to have focused on the magical field known as necromancy. “Alright, I’ll admit necromancy isn’t exactly the sort of magic that most ponies would want to be associated with, but Shadowed Heart was still one of Princess Celestia’s personal students. I’m sure the princess wouldn’t have let her student research anything too bad.”

“True, Shadowed Heart’s research was fairly benign, mostly spirit summoning and such.” As Moonwhisper spoke he turned to Twilight with a raised eyebrow. “It doesn’t sound as though you’re especially familiar with the specifics of her work, however.”

“Well, it’s not really an area that Princess Celestia thought I needed to study,” Twilight admitted. “It’s the same reason I don’t actually know all that much about combat magic aside from what I learned by watching Shining Armor practice.”

“I suppose I’m just a little surprised. I had always assumed you’d have made a point to study the research of all of your predecessors. Then again, now that I think about it Princess Celestia likely keeps Shadowed Heart’s research away from the general public. The last thing I imagine the princess would want to deal with would be somepony conjuring the ghost Commander Hurricane and having her fly off to try and seize control of Cloudsdale.”

Twilight stifled a giggle at the absurdity of the thought. “So, what makes you think that Shadowed Heart was responsible for the castle’s…décor?”

“To start with, that sort of excessive ornamentation, I’m sure there’s a name for it, was particularly popular around Shadow Heart’s time so it would stand to reason that that’s when it would have been installed. Then, of course, you have the fact that Shadowed Heart something of a reputation for having somewhat morbid tastes, which would account for the unconventional subject matter of the decorations. Speaking of Shadowed Heart, there’s a rather impressive portrait of her in the drawing room up ahead. We’ll need to pass through there anyway to get to the vault, so I thought I’d point it out.”

The pair continued trotting down the dimly lit hall for another several yards more before Moonwhisper abruptly stopped and opened a door on their left. Following him, Twilight found herself standing in a parlor that clearly hadn’t seen any use in quite some time. Sheets had been thrown over all of the furniture and the large picture window that took up most of its outer wall had been broken and boarded up. The focal point of the room was a massive fireplace on the far wall, over which hung a sizable portrait of a dour-looking unicorn mare with an ash gray coat and a pale blue mane. “So, that’s Shadowed Heart,” Twilight said as she made her way into the room. “Princess Celestia doesn’t really talk about any of her former students all that much, but I remember asking her about Shadowed Heart once, I think it was around Nightmare Night. Princess Celestia didn’t really answer my questions, but I remember thinking she seemed…sad, I guess.”

“I can’t really say I know any of the details myself, but I did a little digging into Shadowed Heart’s history while I was between assignments in Canterlot. As far as I could tell, Shadowed Heart and Princess Celestia had some sort of falling out, after which Shadowed Heart moved back to Trotsylvania,” Moonwhisper said matter-of-factly.

“I wonder what caused it?” Twilight said, as much to herself as to Moonwhisper.

“Well, I can’t really say for certain, but if I had to guess I’d say it probably involved Shadowed Heart’s chafing at the restrictions Princess Celestia put on her research.” Moonwhisper gave Shadowed Heart’s portrait a glance before shrugging and moving over to a small door nestled in the corner of the room. “From here, the fastest way to the vault will be to take the servant’s passages,” Moonwhisper said as he opened the door to reveal a spiral staircase.

“Servant’s passages?” Twilight asked hesitantly.

Moonwhisper nodded. “There’s a maze of hallways and supply closets beneath the first floor of the castle. The idea is to allow the maids and whatnot easy access to anywhere in the castle that they would need to go.” Moonwhisper let out a sigh of resignation before continuing. “Or, more realistically knowing the attitudes of the von Umbras, to help ensure that the master of the castle doesn’t have to interact with the ‘help’ more than absolutely necessary.” Before Twilight could think of a reply Moonwhisper descended down the stairs, rapidly disappearing from view.

Twilight rushed to catch up, not wanting to be left alone in the room with the portrait. Twilight would never have admitted it to anypony else, but there was something about Shadowed Heart’s baleful gaze that sent shivers down Twilight’s spine. The staircase led down to a surprisingly wide stone hallway which was completely barren save for a series of lights set in sconces along the walls at regular intervals.

“I wouldn’t advise wandering off down here,” Moonwhisper said as Twilight caught up to him. “All of the passageways down here look essentially the same, so it’s extremely easy to get lost.”

A few minutes of trotting through the passageways later and Twilight understood why Moonwhisper had felt the need to provide a warning against trying to explore on her own. The hallway seemed to stretch on endlessly, the monotony broken only by the occasional unmarked wooden door or intersecting passage. “How in Equestria can anypony find their way around down here without getting lost?” Twilight finally exclaimed.

“A large part of it comes from learning to read the markings,” Moonwhisper replied cryptically. “You might not have noticed them, but there are small symbols drawn on the walls near the floor at every intersection, like street signs essentially. It isn’t an intuitive system by any means, but it works well enough if you’re familiar with the castle’s floor plan.”

“That’s actually really clever,” Twilight admitted. As they approached the next intersection Twilight glanced down towards the bottom edge of the walls. Sure enough, etched into the stone was a picture of an apple. “I wonder why they choose to use pictures instead of something more – Oof!” Twilight grunted as she collided into Moonwhisper, who had come to a complete stop. “Sorry, I guess I wasn’t watching where I was…Moonwhisper? Are you alright?” Even as she asked the question, however, Twilight could tell that something was very wrong. Though Twilight couldn’t see Moonwhisper’s face she could see that his ears were folded back and he was breathing heavily. What’s more, Moonwhisper’s entire body was visibly trembling. “Moonwhisper, what’s wrong? Moonwhisper? MOONWHISPER!” Twilight finally shouted.

“What? Oh, Twilight. I’m sorry, I didn’t…I didn’t hear you,” Moonwhisper said weakly. “It’s…we’re close now, we should keep moving.” As Moonwhisper spoke, Twilight noticed that his eyes continually darted over to a door on their left. There was nothing particularly notable about the door itself, at least as far as Twilight could tell. It looked like a normal wooden door, just like any number of doors that they had walked by already.

“What in Equestria has you so worked up?” Twilight asked as she approached the door. Moonwhisper didn’t answer, but as Twilight moved closer to the door he steadily backed away until he was pressing himself against the opposite wall. Keeping a watchful eye on Moonwhisper, Twilight pushed the door open and peered inside. As Twilight’s eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw that the door led to a set of stone stairs which descended to an empty cellar. “I don’t get it, there’s nothing in here,” Twilight said. Even as the words were leaving her mouth, however, Twilight felt a sickening sense of recognition as she realized she had seen the windowless chamber once before. “Oh, dear Celestia,” Twilight gasped out as she rapidly backed away from the room, slamming the door shut with her magic. “That room, that’s where Penumbral Dusk –“

“That was where Penumbral Dusk conducted the bulk of my early ‘training’,” Moonwhisper said. “I’m sorry about this, I should have remembered that this path would –“ Before Moonwhisper could say anymore he found himself interrupted as Twilight threw her forehooves around him in a tight embrace. For the next several minutes the pair sat together in silence, Twilight refusing to relinquish her hold until Moonwhisper finally stopped shaking.

“Feeling better?” Twilight asked as she gave Moonwhisper a gentle nuzzle. In truth, Twilight’s question was directed at herself as much as it was towards Moonwhisper. The realization that Twilight had been at the threshold of the room where she had watched Moonwhisper’s father magically torturing him had left her reeling.

“I’ll be…I’ll be fine,” Moonwhisper assured Twilight as he pulled himself to his hooves. “That being said, I think it would be best if we take an alternate route back.”

Twilight let out a small chuckle, relieved that Moonwhisper felt well enough to make even a weak attempt at humor. “That’s probably a good idea. So, how much further is it to this wine cellar anyway?”

“We’re almost there, it’s just a few more doors further,” Moonwhisper replied, having resumed trotting down the hall. Sure enough, after less than a minute later Moonwhisper finally came to a stop at a wooden door on their right. “Well, here we are, the castle’s auxiliary wine cellar.” With that Moonwhisper pushed the door open, its rusty hinges squealing in protest, revealing a set of stairs leading into a cavernous, pitch-black chamber. As Moonwhisper descended into the room he cast a spell to conjure a bright light from his horn, Twilight quickly following suit.

“And you said all this was just the castle’s spare wine cellar?” Twilight asked incredulously as she marveled at the rows upon rows of empty wooden shelves that filled the room.

“It is the lager of the two rooms by a fair margin. The most likely explanation was that the main cellar was meant for bottles that were going to be consumed in the near future, while this room was intended for more long-term storage. Or the vault itself might have been originally meant as a panic room of sorts and the size of this room was just a side-effect of disguising the entrance. After all, you’d need a rather exceptionally large cellar to justify the presence of a tun.”

“A tun?” Twilight asked as she followed Moonwhisper down one of the aisles. “Isn’t that a type of barrel? What would something like that have to do with – whoa!” Coming out the other end of the aisle, Twilight found herself staring at the single largest barrel she had ever seen. Lying on its side, the massive container easily stood two or three pony lengths tall, its top pressing against the ceiling. “Who in Equestria would need a barrel that huge?”

“Breweries, wineries, that sort of thing mostly,” Moonwhisper nonchalantly replied as he crawled underneath the massive barrel’s rim. “There’s a brand over the spigot on the barrel, it’s admittedly rather hard to see in this light, that denotes the winery where the tun originated from. I actually looked it up out of curiosity once; the winery in question is still in operation, or at least it was when I investigated it.”

“That’s all very interesting, but why in Equestria are you crawling around down there?”

“I’m looking for – aha! Found it!” Twilight heard a sudden click echo out from the part of the tun Moonwhisper had been fiddling with, followed be a loud grinding sound from the tun itself as Moonwhisper rolled out from under the rim. As Moonwhisper pulled himself to his hooves he took the spigot in his magical field and pulled the handle, causing a door-sized portion of the tun’s front to swing open. “I really have to give the craftsponies responsible for building this credit,” Moonwhisper said. “The door itself is fitted into the rest of the barrel so perfectly you can’t even see the seams until the primary lock is disengaged. Shall we?”

Twilight, however, hesitated as she eyed the newly revealed doorway with trepidation. “Are you absolutely sure it’s safe to go in there? It’s just, I remember what it was like trying to recover the Crystal Heart, and if this was really King Sombra’s secret lair…”

“I can understand you concerns, but there’s nothing to worry about,” Moonwhisper assured Twilight as he began climbing into the tun. “Remember, I blundered my way into the vault when I was just a foal and nothing happened to me…” As Moonwhisper spoke, however, he abruptly froze in place as a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Gah! I’m such an idiot!” Moonwhisper struck himself in the forehead with enough force that Twilight could clearly hear the impact. “Nothing ever happened to me, but I’m Sombra’s direct descendant. If Sombra keyed the defenses in the vault to ignore members of his own bloodline then I could have waltzed through them without even realizing it.” Moonwhisper turned back towards Twilight with a distraught look in his eyes. “Maybe it would be best if you stayed back here while I go on ahead,” Moonwhisper suggested.

“Not a chance! There’s no way I’ve come this far just to have you leave me behind at the last second,” Twilight declared, her irritation at the idea of being left behind momentarily overwhelming her trepidation.

“Very well then, if that’s how you feel then I won’t try to stop you,” Moonwhisper said. Regardless of his concerns Moonwhisper knew Twilight well enough by now to know when not to try arguing with her. “Just…please stay alert. If there are any magical traps present that are keyed to Sombra’s bloodline than my presence may be sufficient to disarm them.” As Twilight nodded in agreement the pair climbed through the hidden doorway into the pitch black darkness beyond.

“Huh, I didn’t think it would be cramped in here,” Twilight said as she clambered inside. Despite the massive size of the tun, the doorway opened into a windowless hallway so narrow Twilight didn’t have room to spread her wings. “What’s the point of having such a tiny hallway like this anyway?”

“Obfuscation,” Moonwhisper replied simply. “At one point in the distant past this tun would have been completely filled with wine to help conceal the existence of the passage. There was even a mechanism connecting the spigot to the rest of the barrel. The tubing has mostly rotted away at this point, but you’ll be able to see what I mean on our way out.” Under different circumstances Twilight would have found all of this quite fascinating, but the claustrophobic nature of the passageway had made her quite tense. Consequently, Twilight breathed an audible sights of relief once they exited out the far end.

“Oh thank Celestia, I don’t know how much longer I could take in there,” Twilight said as she stretched out her wings. “So, how much further is it before we make it to the vault itself?”

“Actually,” Moonwhisper replied, his horn flaring with magic, “we’re already here.” As Moonwhisper completed the spell a series of torches began igniting along the walls of the chamber they stood in.

“Sombra’s secret vault,” Twilight marveled as she took in the contents of the circular room. “It’s…it’s…it’s a library!” Twilight’s fears, born of her previous encounter with King Sombra’s magic were washed away as she flew into the air to inspect the bookshelves that lined the room’s walls. “I haven’t seen so many rare books in one place since a found the library in the Castle of the Two Sisters!” Twilight cooed as she began perusing the titles.

“Feel free to help yourself,” Moonwhisper said as he quickly scanned the area around Twilight for any signs of awakening magical defenses. “I was planning on giving most of these to you anyway so if you find something that catches your attention then consider it yours.” Once Moonwhisper was satisfied that Twilight hadn’t set off any long dormant traps he turned his attention towards gathering the volumes he himself had come to collect.

“Let’s see, I’ve read this one already…haven’t read this one yet…or this one…I’ve never even heard of this one…I have read this on – Oh, but this is a first edition!” Twilight continued talking to herself as she slowly worked her way through the shelves, steadily amassing a pile of books as she went. It wasn’t until Twilight heard a loud crash from Moonwhisper’s side of the room that she was able to tear her attention away from her task. Letting out a yelp of surprise, Twilight spun around to see Moonwhisper standing amid the wreckage of what had formerly been a wooden cabinet. “Moonwhisper! What in Equestria…?”

“The lock on the door was jammed,” Moonwhisper said matter-of-factly, as if that explained everything.

“And so you ripped the entire cabinet apart?”

“It was the only way to get at this,” Moonwhisper replied as he levitated a dark wooden box out of the cabinet’s remains. “Here,” he said as he passed the box over to Twilight. “You should probably take a look at this.” There was something odd about Moonwhisper’s tone that caught Twilight’s attention immediately, an odd hesitancy. It was almost as though Moonwhisper was having second thoughts about showing her the box’s contents even as he gave it to her.

“What is it?” Twilight asked as she removed the lid and gently levitated out the box’s contents, a rectangular object wrapped in linen. “Is it another book?”

“Yes, undoubtedly the rarest one in Sombra’s collection,” Moonwhisper said solemnly. “It’s also…that particular book is dangerous, Twilight, or the knowledge inside it is at any rate. You’re the only pony I can think of that I’d trust it with, and if you decide we should burn it…well, I’d understand.”

“Burn it?” Twilight gasped. “I would never burn a book. I can’t believe you’d even suggest that.” Still fuming, Twilight carefully freed the book from its linen wrappings. Once the book’s cover came into view, however, annoyance swiftly gave way to horror. “Dear Celestia, it’s…it’s bound in leather!” Twilight gulped as she let the book’s box clatter to the ground.

“And the pages are vellum and I think the ink might have used blood as a base,” Moonwhisper added, sounding more bored than anything else.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Twilight groaned. It was only a deeply ingrained love and respect for the written word that kept Twilight from tossing the tome away from her. “What kind of monster would –“

“Grogar,” Moonwhisper said simply.

“Grogar? As in the dread ruler of Tambelon, Grogar?” Twilight asked with mounting horror.

Moonwhisper nodded in affirmation. “Also known as Grogar the Cruel, Grogar the Torturer, Grogar the Despised and Grogar the Unholy. I believe he was also known as Grogar of the Bells, if I’m not mistaken,” Moonwhisper added after a moment’s pause. “I never really understood that last title myself. Anyway, that book is one of the few complete copies of Grogar’s magical research.”

Twilight swallowed as she regarded the tome floating in her levitation field as though it were a venomous snake. She had heard of Grogar’s infamous folio, of course, nearly every serious student of magic had. Supposedly Grogar’s writings formed the basis for almost every bit of dark magic in recorded pony history and even those who could study the writings without being corrupted by them were said to be forever changed by the experience. Even Star Swirl himself had allegedly abandoned his efforts to study the tome halfway through, burning his copy and all of his notes soon after. “Why in Equestria would you want me to have something like this?”

“Know thy enemy,” Moonwhisper replied. “That little phrase is one of the cornerstones of tactical thinking. Given the sorts of threats you habitually face, those writings could prove relevant. Although, if you feel it’s not worth the potential risk and decide to use the book as kindling, well, you’re better equipped than I am to make that decision.”

Twilight silently stared at the book for a full minute as she struggled internally over what to do with it. Even the construction of the book had involved robbing Celestia only knew how many ponies of their lives and the actual contents of the pages would be exponentially worse. “On the other hoof,” Twilight muttered to herself, “this book represents some of the oldest magical research in existence. I can’t really just throw it all away, can I?” Another minute or so silence followed until Twilight finally re-wrapped the tome and returned it to its box.

“So you’ve decided to keep the book, then?” Moonwhisper asked.

“For the time being, at least,” Twilight answered, still staring at the books box. Finally, Twilight managed to tear her gaze away from it, vigorously shaking her head as she did so. “I don’t know if I’m going to actually try reading any of it, but I’m not ready to destroy it quite yet, and I definitely don’t want to leave it here. Speaking of things I don’t want to leave behind,” Twilight added, her face brightening, “how are we going to get all these books back to Ponyville?”

*********

Twilight and Moonwhisper spend nearly half an hour gathering and sorting the remaining contents of King Sombra’s lair and another to take them out to the ground floor of the castle. “So what do we do now?” Twilight asked as circled the large pile of books they had assembled in what at one point had probably been a study.

“For now we can probably leave the books here. I doubt any of the castle staff will bother them and Quiet Custom wouldn’t dare interfere with a royal order signed by Penumbral Dusk.” There was a sudden viciousness in Moonwhisper’s voice as he mentioned the von Umbra family butler that caught Twilight’s attention.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, why do you seem so upset with Quiet Custom? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you act like that before.”

“Quiet Custom happens to be one of the two ponies I absolutely despise, the other being Penumbral Dusk himself. That decrepit vulture always did everything in his power to enable Penumbral Dusk’s sadism, always spying on us and dutifully reporting everything he saw.” As Moonwhisper spoke he closed his eyes and began grinding his front right hoof into the floor. “My mother wanted to run away from here, did you know that? I sometimes heard her working out the logistics of simply taking me and fleeing Trotsylvania altogether. Quiet Custom overheard what she was planning as well, though, and he made sure that she knew that he knew. More importantly, the wretch made certain my mother knew what Penumbral Dusk would be liable to do if he caught her trying to run away from him.” An audible crack rang out as the floor tile beneath Moonwhisper’s hoof shattered under the pressure he was putting on it.

“Moonwhisper, I didn’t realize,” Twilight said as she racked her brains for something else to say. “If you need a minute, I’ll understand.”

“Twilight, I’m…” Moonwhisper lifted his hoof and looked down at the cracked tile underneath before taking a deep breath. “Well, I will be fine once we get back to Ponyville,” Moonwhisper said. “For now, why don’t we head outside? We should be fairly close to what’s left of the conservatory, so we can make our way outside through there.”

“What do you mean by ‘what’s left of the conservatory’?” Twilight asked hesitantly.

“You’ll see.” Leaving the books where they lay, Moonwhisper led Twilight back into the hall. After a short walk later they turned a corner to find themselves in a hallway with a line of intact, albeit filthy, windows stretching down the length of one of its walls. A glance through the windows revealed the remains of a massive greenhouse. At one point in the past it might have been lovely, but now the glass panes had been shattered and the plots were filled with a mixture of dead plants and weeds. “A hailstorm smashed all of the windows when I was younger. Ever since then Penumbral Dusk just left it to rot, though he did at least have the broken glass cleaned up. The outer exit leads to a path that can take us directly to the family cemetery.”

“Wait, the cemetery? Why would we…oh, right.” Midway through her question Twilight recalled the main reason Moonwhisper had returned to his foalhood home in the first place. “Are you sure you want to do this right now? We could always wait until you’ve had a chance to get some rest. Maybe after a good night’s rest -”

“While I appreciate your concern, I seriously doubt I can expect a ‘good night’s rest’ in this…place. My plan is to take care of everything today and then leave tomorrow once we’ve made arrangements to ship the contents of Sombra’s vault back to Ponyville. As far as I’m concerned the sooner I get this over with the better.”

Twilight didn’t say anything in response, but instead put a wing around Moonwhisper and held him lose for several seconds until she felt some of his tension ease. Once he had calmed, Moonwhisper quietly opened the door leading into the conservatory and held it open for Twilight. As she entered the remains of the conservatory, Twilight was struck by how oddly peaceful it was. Even in its state of utter ruin and neglect Twilight could tell the indoor garden had once been beautiful.

“My mother used to love spending time in here,” Moonwhisper said as they made their way through the weed-choked paths. “Even after the hailstorm smashed it apart she would try and find time to tend to the plants whenever she could. After she passed…I never really had time to take care of it between my training and studies and nopony else cared.” The mood was somber as they exited the conservatory into the rear of the castle’s grounds. From here, Moonwhisper led Twilight up a path that meandered towards a hill crowned by a low wall, which Twilight presumed to be their destination.

Twilight and Moonwhisper followed the pathway in silence until they reached about halfway up the hill, at which point Moonwhisper suddenly veered off the path in a burst of speed. “Where are you going?” Twilight called out as she struggled to keep up. “I thought we were going to your family’s cemetery.”

“We will, it’s just…there’s something I need to see. I want to see if it’s still there.” Moonwhisper galloped across the hill as though he were being called by some voice only he could hear. Twilight, finding that keeping up with Moonwhisper on hoof wasn’t feasible, took to the air and followed Moonwhisper by wing until he came to an abrupt stop in front of a dead tree standing by a frighteningly steep precipice.

“What in Equestria has gotten into you?” Twilight asked she landed next to Moonwhisper. Moonwhisper, however, didn’t respond to Twilight’s question. In fact, it didn’t even appear as though Moonwhisper had heard Twilight. “Are you even listening to me?” Twilight demanded with a mix of mounting confusion and irritation.

“This is where I came the closest to ever actually taking my own life,” Moonwhisper said softly, still gazing at the sky. “It was the day of my mother’s funeral. She had been bedridden for weeks and then she was just…gone.”

*********

It had been only a few days since Forlorn Melody had passed, but Penumbral Dusk hadn’t been interested in delaying the funeral any longer. “The sooner that weak, mewling invalid is put in the ground the sooner I can put all this stupidity behind me.” Thus Forlorn Melody’s funeral was held on a gray, dreary morning, her husband and son the only two ponies in attendance aside from the workers hired to bury her. Nopony spoke as Forlorn Melody’s coffin was lowered into the ground, but as it disappeared from view Moonwhisper suddenly turned and bolted out of cemetery.

Tears streamed unbidden from the adolescent Moonwhisper’s eyes as he fled down the hill away from the funeral. Part of Moonwhisper wanted to just keep running until he had escaped all the misery of his life, but the knowledge that he had nowhere to run to quickly wore him down. Moonwhisper finally came to a stop in front of an old half-dead tree next to a cliff on the north side of the hill and broke down sobbing. Forlorn Melody, his mother, the only pony who actually cared about him was now gone forever and with her it seemed to Moonwhisper that he had lost any hope for the future. Minutes ticked by as Moonwhisper lay on the ground, quietly crying as he tried to put his thoughts in order. No matter what, however, Moonwhisper’s mind continually drifted back to his helplessness in the face of his apparently hopeless future.

Eventually Moonwhisper’s sobs gave way to the occasional whimper and he pulled himself back to his hooves. As he stood, Moonwhisper glanced back at his flank with hate-filled eyes. His cutie mark was a disgusting lie, a symbol of how utterly miserable he was doomed to be. Supposedly it meant that his special talent was protecting others, but what good was a talent like that when he was too weak to protect the one pony he cared about more than anything else. Moreover, even if Moonwhisper did think he had the strength to fulfill the destiny his cutie mark laid out for him he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Being a shield meant forever being the one who would be hurt so others could remain safe, Moonwhisper had had enough of being hurt.

Slowly, Moonwhisper trotted over to the nearly precipice and looked over the edge. The drop must have been nearly a hundred feet onto a field of jagged rock. There was no possibility that a fall like that would fail to be anything other than instantly fatal. The notion had an immediate appeal to Moonwhisper; a brief sensation of flying followed by a permanent end to the pain.

Slowly, Moonwhisper backed up, readying himself to take a running leap over the edge. As Moonwhisper looked up at the sky for what he thought would be the last time, however, he beheld a sight that froze him in his tracks. A massive rainbow was slowly arcing its way across the sky, sweeping away the clouds and leaving a crystal blue sky in its wake. Moonwhisper was struck dumb by the sight, a single moment of incredible beauty that shone all the brighter amid the misery surrounding it. More importantly, for a brief moment Moonwhisper felt a tiny spark of joy deep inside of himself. Even as the initial shock faded and Moonwhisper recalled the state his life was in he found himself unable to go through with his plan to throw himself over the cliff’s edge. Instead, Moonwhisper simply plopped down on his hindquarters and stared at the sky in silence.

*********

“And then what happened?” Twilight asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Eventually Penumbral Dusk came and dragged me off for more training. Actual training, to be fair, not magical torture in the guise of training. I had already reached the point where I could actually use the augmentation spell by then, but only for a very short period.”

It was painfully obvious that Moonwhisper was changing the subject deliberately, but Twilight didn’t particularly mind. “That rainbow he saw, could it have been…” Twilight thought to herself. The notion that Moonwhisper had come so close to taking his own life was upsetting, but not especially surprising, Twilight could still vividly recall listening to Moonwhisper beg Princess Luna to give him permission to end his own life when they had visited his dreams. The possibility that Moonwhisper might have been prevented from killing himself by the same sonic rainboom that helped Twilight and her friends discover their cutie marks, however, was something else entirely.

“I’m sorry to spring all this on you without any warning,” Moonwhisper said, forcing Twilight to postpone her speculation for the time being. “Honestly I didn’t even remember that particular incident until we reached the hill and then the memories just came all at once.” Turning his back on the cliff, Moonwhisper let out a sigh which sounded somehow relieved before continuing. “For what little its worth, I think talking about it has helped a little. I’m…I think I’m ready to get this over with. Shall we?”

“Let’s,” Twilight quickly replied with a nod, making a mental note to look into the timing of Moonwhisper’s mother’s death when she returned to Ponyville. It didn’t take Moonwhisper and Twilight long to reach the cemetery, which like everything else in the estate was clearly old and in a state of shocking neglect. Overgrown grass and weeds practically swallowed the crumbling tombstones that were scattered throughout. Twilight found she had to move carefully to avoid stepping on broken pieces of statuary and other bits of detritus hidden by the grass and more than once she found herself rapidly backpedaling when she realized she was standing on somepony’s grave. Moonwhisper, by contrast, stomped through in a nearly straight line without an apparent care for whose graves he might have been tromping over. Eventually Moonwhisper came to a stop at the base of a large maple tree whose branches shaded a small lonely plot tucked away from the rest of the graves.

“Look at this mess, it’s disgraceful,” Moonwhisper snorted as he looked over the grave. “It figures Penumbral Dusk couldn’t even be bothered to keep her grave properly maintained.”

“Not that I’m defending him or anything, but it doesn’t look like Penumbral Dusk has done anything to maintain any of these graves,” Twilight said as she weaved through he tall grass to Moonwhisper’s side.

Moonwhisper grumbled a bit conceding Twilight’s points as he busied himself with tidying up the grave. Several minutes of leaf clearing, weed pulling and even grass trimming followed until the grave was completely cleared. Moonwhisper stood in front of the grave for some time once he was finished, awkwardly shifting his weight from hoof to hoof. “Um…hello, mother. I suppose it’s been quite some time since I visited, but I can’t imagine you’d be all that bothered by that. I’ve been doing well…I actually found a special somepony. I…I think you’d have…you would have liked her…” As Moonwhisper spoke, Twilight could see tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks. “I just…what I really wanted to say…” Moonwhisper screwed his eyes shut as his tears continued to flow, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry.”

“Moonwhisper, you know what happened to her wasn’t your fault,” Twilight said gently.

“Dammit I don’t care! I don’t care what anypony says, I should have protected her! I was there when Penumbral Dusk beat her senseless. I was the one whose special talent, whose destiny was to protect others and I didn’t do a damn thing to stop it! I…” Moonwhisper let out a choked sob. “I should have saved her…” Unable to bring himself to speak any further Moonwhisper collapsed next to the grave sobbing while Twilight stood next to him.

An Unwelcome Arrival

Rolling Stock, Ponyville’s station master, looked over Ponyville’s humble train station and puffed out his chest in pride as the Canterlot-Ponyville expressed pulled in. Just a few short years ago Ponyville was considered so unimportant that they didn’t even have regular service to Equestria’s nearby capital, just an occasional stopover once a day if they were lucky. Now, however, passenger trains from Canterlot stopped at Ponyville several times a day ferrying the well-to-do of Canterlot back and forth. Today, the disembarking passengers appeared to be mostly the usual mix of tourists coming to try and catch a glimpse of the Princess of Friendship, along with a smattering of high society mares who had decided that they absolutely had to purchase their next dress directly from Rarity’s original boutique.

“Stop blocking the door! Move it!” A gruff voice snarled out from one of the passenger cars, grabbing Rolling Stock’s attention. Glancing towards the source of the commotion, Rolling Stock saw that the voice belonged to an aging, ash-grey unicorn stallion with a bone-white mane. “Bunch of lazy, useless – get out of my way!”

“Alright now, what seems to be the problem?” Rolling Stock said as he quickly moved to try and defuse the situation.

The stallion let out a snort of irritation. “The only problem is ponies won’t stop blocking my path,” he irritably snapped as he pushed pass Rolling Stock and hobbled his way across the platform. Noticing the crutch encasing the stallion’s front right leg, Rolling Stock felt a small twinge of pity.

“I suppose if I had to move around on only three legs like that I’d be pretty grumpy too,” Rolling Stock thought to himself. “Well, with any luck he’ll meet somepony who can cheer him up. They don’t call Ponyville the friendliest town in Equestria for nothing, after all.”

*********

“Stinking, peasant-infested backwater,” the stallion muttered darkly to himself as he made his way through Ponyville. Occasionally a townspony would offer him a smile or a friendly wave, but invariably the stallion would either ignore them or respond with an angry glare. The townsponies soon all decided to give the stranger a wide berth, which suited the unfriendly unicorn just fine. Of course, there are certain downsides to being universally shunned, as the stallion discovered when his crutch caught in a small hole in the ground, tripping him and sending him crashing to the ground in an undignified heap. Nopony moved to try help as the unicorn tried to pull himself back to his hooves however, not wanting to get too close to the foul-tempered stranger. Nopony, that is, with one notable exception.

“Omygosh, are you alright?” Pinkie Pie asked as she rushed to pull the stallion to his hooves. “You must be new in town because I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before and I know everypony in Ponyville! My name’s Pinkie-“

“Don’t touch me, you filthy mudhoof!” the stallion hissed at Pinkie Pie as he pulled away from her. “I don’t need any help from your kind,” he added as he quickly hobbled away, leaving Pinkie Pie sitting by the side of the street.

“That wasn’t very nice,” Pinkie Pie said to herself. “He didn’t even give me a chance to sing my ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ song. Well, if he’s going to be a big meanie mean-pants than maybe he doesn’t deserve to hear my welcome song! No, no,” Pinkie quickly admonished herself, “don’t you be a judgy judgmental-pants now. Maybe he’s just grumpy from having a bad day. I wonder why he said I had muddy hooves though?” Pinkie Pie sat on her rump and proceeded to examine her front hooves. “They don’t look all that dirty, but maybe I’d better wash them before I meet the girls for lunch just in case.” With that, Pinkie Pie bounded off towards Sugar Cube Corner, putting her encounter with the stallion largely out of her mind.

*********

“So, how much longer is Twilight gonna be gone?” Rainbow Dash asked as she slumped in her chair. “I mean, it’s been three days already, how long is this trip she’s taking supposed to be?” A thought suddenly crossed Rainbow Dash’s mind as she leaned back over the table with a wicked grin. “Hey, do you guys think Twilight’s, y’know, going the extra mile to comfort Moonwhisper?”

“Rainbow Dash!” a thoroughly scandalized Rarity exclaimed.

“Dang it, RD, would y’all drop that already? It weren’t that funny the first time and it sure ain’t funny now.” Applejack added. Fluttershy, meanwhile, simply stared down at her coffee cup while allowing her bangs to fall over her face to hide the fact that she was blushing furiously.

Looking around the table and seeing she didn’t have any support, Rainbow Dash let out a sigh of resignation. “Alright, fine, I’ll stop making jokes about Twilight and Moonwhisper doing it.”

“Thank Celestia for that,” Applejack said. “Call me old fashioned-“

“Sure thing, Old Fashioned,” Rainbow Dash quipped without missing a beat.

“Really, RD?” Applejack said as she gave Rainbow Dash a look of disgust.

“Come on, you left yourself wide open for that one and somepony had to say it since Pinkie Pie isn’t here yet,” Rainbow Dash replied with a grin.

Before Applejack had a chance to comment as to the wisdom of basing one’s actions on what Pinkie Pie would do, Rarity spoke up. “Speaking of Pinkie Pie, where in Equestria is she? It’s not like her at all to be late for one of these get-togethers.”

“Pinkie Pie? I just saw her heading this way from Sugar Cube Corner,” Silver Streak said as she landed next to the four friend’s table. “You guys mind if I sit down and join you for a bit? I just got finished with my morning patrols and I could use a break.”

“Sure thing,” Rainbow Dash said as she motioned for Silver Streak to sit next to her. “I’m a little surprised you’d get tired out after a patrol, though. Aren’t you supposed to be one of the top fliers in the guard or something?”

“Watch it, Cloudsdale,” Silver Streak fired back, “I’ve been in the air since before sunrise today, and unlike you Wonderbolts I do my flying in full armor.”

While Rainbow Dash fell back chuckling Applejack gave the two pegasi an odd look. “Cloudsdale, huh? Well, Ah guess as nicknames go Ah’ve heard worse, ‘specially seein’ how Rainbow’s from there originally.”

“Well, that and she’s a flying Cloudsdale stereotype,” Silver Streak added, much to the confusion of the rest of the table.

“What d’ya mean I’m a stereotype?” Rainbow Dash demanded angrily as she slammed both front hooves onto the table.

“Loud, hypercompetitive, kind of full of yourself,” Silver Streak responded calmly. Upon hearing thus Rainbow Dash spent a few seconds opening and closing her mouth before slumping back into her chair.

“Ok, yeah, that does kinda sound like me,” Rainbow Dash admitted.

“Only ‘kinda’?” Applejack teased. “Funny, though, Ah can’t say Ah’ve ever really heard of that ‘Cloudsdale ponies bein’ fulla themselves’ thing before.”

“Well, I think it might be more of a thing among pegasi from outside of Cloudsdale,” Silver Streak replied. “And anyway, as far as stereotypes go Cloudsdale doesn’t even have it all that bad. Sure as hay beats the stereotype my hometown gets.”

“Now that y’all mention it, Ah don’t think y’ve ever mentioned where yer from,” Applejack mused.

“Las Pegasus, where depending on who you ask we’re all either money grubbing, two-faced cheats or insane party animals. Sometimes both at once,” Silver Streak added. “And hay, speaking of party animals…”

At that moment Pinkie Pie came hoping up to her assembled friends. “Hi girls! Oh, and hi Silver Streak!” Pinkie Pie added as she seated herself. “Sorry I’m a little late.”

“Yeah, what kept you?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I have to admit I’m a touch curious about that myself,” Rarity added. “Usually you’re one of the first to arrive at these little get togethers.”

Pinkie Pie glanced around the table and looked at the curious faces of her friends before taking a deep breath and rapidly describing her mourning. “Well, I was on my way here when I saw this pony I had never seen before trip and fall so I decided to help him up because that’s the nice thing to do and then I could make friends with him but it turned out he was really grumpy and kind of mean and he said my hooves were muddy but they looked clean enough to me but it did rain last night so I went back to Sugar Cube Corner to wash up again before I came here. And that’s why I was a little late,” Pinkie Pie concluded as she picked up a menu. “Ooh, does anypony want to split an order of jalapeno poppers?” When nopony answered Pinkie Pie looked up to see her friends all staring at her with a mix of shock and concern. “Wait, did Applejack’s family have a huge feud with a family of jalapeno farmers and now she gets upset whenever she sees a jalapeno? Applejack, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know!”

“Pinkie,” Applejack began, cutting Pinkie Pie off before she could continue. “Ah need y’all to be absolutely clear about this. What exactly did this pony say to y’all?”

“You mean when I went to help him up? I think it was something like ‘don’t touch me you filthy mudhoof’?” Pinkie said, lowering her voice into a rumbling growl in a rough impersonation of the unpleasant stallion. “Like I said, though, I’m pretty sure my hooves weren’t all that – Applejack, are you ok?”

Applejack, whose face had turned almost as scarlet as the apples of her cutie mark, exploded out of her chair. “YER SAYIN’ SOME ROTTEN SON OF A TIMBERWOLF ACTUALLY CALLED Y’ALL A MUDHOOF?” Applejack roared, her face contorted in fury.

“It’s really not that big of a deal, Applejack,” Pinkie Pie whimpered. “I mean, maybe my hooves were a little dirty.”

“That guy wasn’t talking about her hooves, Pinkie,” Silver Streak said as Rarity and Rainbow Dash tried to calm Applejack down. “Mud – that thing he called you is a really nasty slur against earth ponies.”

“I just cannot believe somepony would actually use such a horrid term,” Rarity added. “And to encounter somepony like that in Ponyville no less.”

“Honestly I’m kind of shocked myself. I mean, I’ve met my fair share of tribalist jerks, but most of them are at least smart enough to keep it to themselves in public.” Silver Streak paused and glanced over to Applejack, who had finally calmed down enough to return to her seat. “So, Pinkie, you’re sure you’ve never seen this mystery jerk around Ponyville before? What did he look like?”

“Well, he looked kind of old, but not really Granny Smith old, more like my dad old. He had a white mane, a greyish coat…Oh! And his front right leg –“

“Had a big crutch strapped to it?” Silver Streak asked.

“Yeah! Wait, how did you know that? Were you following me around earlier today?”

Silver Streak, however, didn’t answer. Instead, Silver Streak started to twitch in her seat as a look of utter rage and horror descended over her features. “Rut! Of all the rutting – that rutting rut – RUT!” Silver Streak continued to sputter profanities for a full minute as the rest of the table (and the ponies at several neighboring ones) looked on in confusion.

“Lieutenant Silver Streak,” Rarity gasped. “I understand that this situation is upsetting but there’s no need for that sort of language.”

Applejack, however, waved Rarity off. “Just hold on there, Rarity, it sounds to me that Silver Streak might know who this mystery stallion –“

“Penumbral Dusk,” Silver Streak said before muttering a few more choice profanities under her breath.

“Whoa, hold on, you mean Penumbral Dusk, as in Moonwhisper’s dad Penumbral Dusk?” Rainbow Dash asked incredulously. “The same twisted jerk who tortured Moonwhisper and beat his wife?”

“The very same. What I don’t get is what the hay that scumbag is doing in Ponyville? From what I know about Penumbral Dusk, he can’t stand interacting with non-wealthy ponies, rural ponies, earth ponies, or any combination of the three. And honestly, that pretty much describes almost the entirety of Ponyville’s population,” Silver Streak said, having evidently exhausted her vocabulary of expletives.

“Well, I realize that Penumbral Dusk is a really, really, really not-nice pony, but Moonwhisper is still his son, so maybe he came to visit Moonwhisper,” Fluttershy suggested.

“That’s not particularly likely; the Captain’s never made any secret of the fact that he hates his father’s guts and as far as I know Penumbral Dusk has never really cared. I mean, Penumbral Dusk never tried to visit the Captain while we were still stationed in Canterlot, and Penumbral Dusk actually likes that place.”

“That may be true, but Moonwhisper wasn’t romantically involved with a princess in those days,” Rarity said. “Everypony in Canterlot has been gossiping about Twilight and Moonwhisper’s relationship for weeks now, so I have to imagine Penumbral Dusk must have at least heard rumors about it.”

“Oh rut me, news like that would definitely grab his attention,” Silver Streak groaned. “Alright, if that’s the case Penumbral Dusk is probably going to head straight for the castle. I’m going to try intercepting him before he gets there, with any luck I can discourage Penumbral Dusk from trying whatever the Tartarus he thinks he’s going to do. In the meantime, somepony should probably head to the castle to give Starlight and Spike a heads up as to what’s going on.”

“Are y’all sure y’ don’t want any help with the discouraging’?” Applejack growled.

“As much as I’d probably enjoy watching you ‘discourage’ the tar out of Penumbral Dusk I’m going to have to decline. It’s my job to uphold the law regardless of my personal feeling and while being a raging plothole isn’t technically illegal beating the hay out of one is. Right now my main concern is keeping Princess Twilight from coming home to find Equestria’s worst houseguest waiting for her.”

“But what if he’s already made it to the castle?” Fluttershy asked.

“That I’m not too worried about,” Silver Streak said as she rose out of her seat. “Penumbral Dusk can’t exactly move terribly fast with that gimped leg of his and given his attitude towards earth ponies he’ll probably try to circle around the town center to avoid the crowds. Combine that with the fact that Penumbral Dusk won’t be familiar with the town’s layout and I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet that he won’t be able to find his way to the castle for some time. At least not without somepony guiding him, anyway,” Silver Streak added.

“Yeah I don’t really see too many ponies being interested in helping that jerk,” Rainbow Dash snorted.

“Probably not, Silver Streak admitted, “at least not any earth ponies or pegasi. Supposedly Penumbral Dusk is actually capable of being pleasant when he’s dealing with other unicorns, but I can’t even imagine the sort of narcissistic moron you’d have to be to not see right through him.”

*********

“- and that is how the Great and Powerful Trixie rescued the captured princesses from the clutches of Queen Chrysalis!”

“Bravo! Miss Trixie, I must say that I’m humbled to be in the presence of an accomplished unicorn such as yourself,” Penumbral Dusk practically gushed as the two made their way through the streets of Ponyville towards Twilight’s castle.

“You’re too kind, Count von Umbra,” Trixie replied with a blush. “Trixie does have to admit that she couldn’t have managed such a daring feat without the help of her friends Starlight Glimmer and Thorax.”

“Powerful and modest,” Penumbral Dusk cooed. “For the life of me I can’t understand why you weren’t one of the Elements of Harmony instead of one of those…lesser ponies.”

“Well, being an ‘Element of Harmony’ doesn’t really mean what it used to and between you and me Trixie has never been all that fond of Princess Twilight,” Trixie added in a conspiratorial whisper. As far as Trixie was concerned today was turning out rather well. True, Trixie seemed to be receiving more disapproving stares from the local townsponies than usual, but she wasn’t going to let a little thing like that ruin her day. Especially when she had had the good luck to encounter a high-society unicorn stallion who actually appreciated real talent when he saw it. Granted Penumbral Dusk was a bit too old for her, but it never hurt to have friends in high places. “So, if you don’t mind my asking, why are you so interested in visiting Princess Twilight’s castle anyway?”

“I’ve come here to visit my son, who happens to be the captain of the local guard. I’ve heard some rumors floating around in Canterlot about the nature of his relationship with Princess Twilight and I intend to learn the truth of the matter,” Penumbral Dusk said, a smug grin hovering over his lips.

“Oh, if you’re asking about whether Twilight Sparkle and Moonwhisper are dating each other I can tell you they definitely are. For the first few weeks after they started it was all anypony around here would talk about. According to my friend Starlight Glimmer, Princess Twilight’s personal protégé, those two are completely head over hooves for each other. I don’t really get the attraction, but I guess being an alicorn princess counts for something at least.”

If Penumbral Dusk heard Trixie’s final comment, however, he didn’t show it. “So, the little bastard finally managed to do something right,” Penumbral Dusk muttered to himself.

“What was that?” Trixie asked.

“Oh, nothing, I was just saying to myself how happy I am that my son finally found a special somepony,” Penumbral Dusk replied with a warm smile. “So, about how much further is it to the castle?”

“I think we’re almost there.” As Trixie spoke the pair emerged from a side street onto Ponyville’s main thoroughfare near the edge of the town proper. Twilight’s castle could be seen rising up over the rest of the town only a few dozen yards away, sparkling in the midday sun. “Well, let’s see if Princess Twilight is home,” Trixie said as she led the way to the castle.

“What do you mean? Why the Tartarus wouldn’t the princess be home at the castle?”

“Well, she might be out on some sort of friendship mission or something like that. You know, doing the whole ‘official Princess of Friendship’ thing. But, if she isn’t here than my best friend Starlight Glimmer will definitely know where she’s gone,” Trixie added. Penumbral Dusk let out a harrumph by way of acknowledgement as he followed along. Pushing the castle doors open Trixie confidently trotted inside. “Hello?” Trixie called out. “Twilight? You have a visitor.” When nopony answered, Trixie apologetically turned back to Penumbral Dusk. “Twilight might be in the library or someplace and can’t hear me, this place is huge after all. Ooh, you can wait for her in the map room.”

“The map room?” Penumbral Dusk repeated skeptically.

“Yeah, it’s where Princess Twilight prepares for her…friendship missions and stuff,” Trixie replied as she tried to recall what it was exactly that Twilight Sparkle did, besides unjustly hog the public’s adoration.

“Very well then, show me to this map room,” Penumbral Dusk said somewhat haughtily. Thankfully, Trixie had become sufficiently familiar with the layout of Twilight’s castle that she had no difficulty leading Penumbral Dusk there. To Trixie’s relief Penumbral Dusk seemed impressed with the room, completely circling the map table once before seating himself in the chair bearing Rarity’s cutie mark. Once Penumbral Dusk was situated Trixie darted out of the room and began rapidly searching the castle for anypony who might be there.

After several minutes of looking, Trixie finally found Starlight Glimmer and Spike in the castle kitchens hard at work chopping, seasoning and roasting a truly prodigious amount of cauliflower. “Starlight, thank Celestia I managed to find you!” Trixie exclaimed as she looked around the room. “Wait, what are you two doing in here?”

“Right now I’m helping Spike test some of his revised cauliflower bite recipes,” Starlight said as she popped one of the aforementioned snacks into her mouth. “Mmm, Spike, I think this latest batch is the best one yet!”

“Awesome! I knew that smoked paprika would do the trick, these are gonna blow Twilight’s sweet potato muffins out of the water!” Spike gleefully exclaimed.

“Ooh, so these are going to help you show up Twilight?” Trixie asked, suddenly interested before quickly shaking her head. “Maybe later. Right now, I need to know where Twilight is.”

“Twilight? She’s still in Trotsylvania with Moonwhisper,” Spike said as he resumed whisking together a bowl of seasonings.

“Moonwhisper wanted to revisit his old home where he grew up, something about dealing with his past, and Twilight decided to go along with him as moral support,” Starlight added. “I think they should probably be back some time later today. But why in Equestria are you looking for Twilight, anyway?”

“Well, I ran into this older stallion who was trying to get to the castle to meet Princess Twilight and it turns out he’s Moonwhisper’s father…what?” Much to Trixie’s confusion Starlight and Spike had both gone completely silent and were now staring at her in abject horror.

“Trixie, are you seriously telling me that Moonwhisper’s father is here in Ponyville? Right now?” Starlight asked.

“Um, actually he’s waiting in the map table room,” Trixie replied hesitantly.

“You let him into the castle? Trixie, do you have any idea what kind of pony that stallion is?” Starlight demanded.

“Well, he seemed nice to me,” Trixie replied defensively. “And I mean, really, how bad could he possibly –“

“He beat his wife and literally tortured Moonwhisper when he was just a foal.”

“He did what? How the hay was I supposed to know that, it’s not like anypony ever told me that. All I really even know about Moonwhisper is that he’s Twilight’s grumpy looking coltfriend.”

“Alright, look we’re not going to get anywhere by arguing with each other. Right now we need to figure out a way to get rid of that…pony before anypony else finds out he’s here,” Starlight said as she paced around the kitchen.

“Find out who’s here?” Pinkie Pie asked as she popped a cauliflower bite into her mouth.

“Penumbral Dusk, obviously,” Starlight replied irritably before performing an abrupt double take. “Gah! Pinkie, when did you get in here?”

“I came in through the other door while you and Trixie were arguing about Moonwhisper’s dad being in the castle,” Pinkie said as she ate another cauliflower bit. “Mmm, Spike these are really good. Anyway, we all came to the castle to warn you and Spike that Moonwhisper’s dad was in Ponyville and was probably headed here, but I guess you already know that by now, am I right?”

“Wait, what do you mean be ‘we all’?” Starlight asked with a sinking feeling in her chest.

“She probably meant all of us, sugar cube,” a familiar voice answered. Starlight spun around to see Applejack, Silver Streak and the rest of Twilight’s friends crowding the doorway into the kitchen. “Like Pinkie said, we were hopin’ to get here ahead of Penumbral Dusk and give y’all a heads up, but Ah guess it’s a bit late fer that now.”

“How the hay was I supposed to know who he was?” Trixie continued to protest.

“Nopony’s blaming you for the situation, miss,” Silver Streak said authoritatively.

“I kinda am,” countered Rainbow Dash, eliciting glares from the rest of her friends. “What? She is the one who led the guy here.”

“Pointing hooves isn’t going to solve anything right now,” Silver Streak countered. “Our top priority at the moment should be trying to figure out a way to get Penumbral Dusk out of the castle, and ideally out of Ponyville entirely.”

“Ah’ve got a few thoughts on how to do just that mahself,” Applejack said menacingly.

“Applejack, for the last time I can’t let you beat the hay out of Penumbral Dusk. First of all, there's the fact that as a member of the guard I’d be obligated to defend him and I would really appreciate if you didn’t make me protect that creep. And besides, Penumbral Dusk is infamous for being the sort of spiteful, petty bastard who will throw huge sums of money around trying to get back at anypony who’s slighted him. The last thing the Captain needs to deal with when he gets back to Ponyville is finding out that his father is trying to put Sweet Apple Acres out of business. Or, that he’s planning to start pressuring the Wonderbolts to have you tossed off the team,” Silver Streak added as she turned to Rainbow Dash.

“You really think Penumbral Dusk could actually pull something like that off?” Rainbow Dash asked skeptically.

“Do I think he’d succeed? Probably not,” Silver Streak admitted. “But he’d absolutely try and I can pretty much guarantee he’d cause a ton of collateral damage in the process.”

“And I’m guessing somepony like that wouldn’t be the sort to just leave if we asked nicely,” Starlight said.

Silver Streak opened her mouth to respond, but closed it without a word as she was struck by a sudden thought. “Normally, no, Penumbral Dusk would probably refuse to budge unless Princess Twilight herself told him to get lost. But you’re the princess’s apprentice or something, right? If you ordered him to leave there’s at least a chance he might listen.”

“And if he doesn’t you can blast him with that mind control spell you used on us that one time,” Rainbow Dash quipped before noticing the rest of the room glaring at her yet again. “Oh come on, I was joking! Well, mostly anyway. Besides, Penumbral Dusk is a jerk, so he’d deserve to be brainwashed.”

“Actually, we might want to keep that in mind as our plan B…or maybe plan C,” Silver Streak said thoughtfully. “I could probably pass it off as an approved security measure. Something along the lines of ‘application of nonlethal magical force to secure the castle premises’. It’s technically within my power to authorize something like that and the Captain would probably think it was hilarious. Although, that being said I think there is something the rest of you could do that would really help as another backup plan.”

“Of course, darling, what is it that you need us to do?” Rarity said.

“Well, while Starlight Glimmer and I try to evict Penumbral Dusk from the castle I’d like the rest of you to see if you can track down Lieutenant Sharpshooter. With the Captain gone, Lieutenant Sharpshooter is the highest ranking unicorn guard in Ponyville, so there’s a decent chance that even if Penumbral Dusk won’t listen to us he might listen to him. And if he doesn’t, the fact that we went to the trouble of having both local lieutenants and Princess Twilight’s student tell him to get lost means he won’t have a leg to stand on if he tries getting vindictive later.”

“Ah don’t mind doin’ this if it means gettin’ rid of that lousy varmint, but Ah just gotta say it doesn’t feel right that we gotta jump through all these hoops to get him to someplace where he ain’t welcome to begin with.”

“Believe me, Applejack, I get where you’re coming from,” Silver Streak assured here. “Think of it like dealing with a dangerous wild animal. It’s not that we’re accommodating him because we like him, it’s that we respect the amount of damage he’s capable of.” Silver Streak’s rationale seemed to satisfy everypony present, though Applejack and Rainbow Dash continued to mutter under their breath as they left to search for Lieutenant Sharpshooter.

*********

“I still say Silver Streak should have let us toss the jerk out on his rump,” Rainbow Dash groused as she scanned the Ponyville crowds.

“Ah know what y’all mean, RD, but Silver Streak knows what she’s doin’. Besides, Silver Streak had a good point when she talked about not wantin’ to give Penumbral Dusk any excuses to come after us,” Applejack said as she trotted through the crowds trying to keep pace with her friend.

“Come on, Applejack, don’t tell me you’re actually scared of that guy.”

“Ah wouldn’t say Ah’m afraid of him,” Applejack protested. “But…well, y’all’ve heard what he’s capable of and there ain’t all that much Ah’d put past somepony like that.” Applejack let out a sigh of resignation. “And to be honest, as much as Ah’d like to buck that filthy varmint’s teeth in Ah don’t think Ah’d want to risk Sweet Apple Acres over it.”

Rainbow Dash grumbled but appeared to concede the point as they continued their search. “Gah, this is so stupid!” Rainbow Dash complained after several more minutes of searching fruitlessly passed. “What do you wanna bet Pinkie Pie has already found Sharpshooter and we’re just wasting our time wandering around?”

“Y’all might have a point there,” Applejack admitted. “Let’s try searchin’ fer a few more minutes just to be on the safe side and then we’ll head back to the castle to see if the others have had more luck.”

“Come on, Applejack, let’s just head back now. It’s not like we’re just going to run into anything important,” Rainbow Dash protested. Even as the words were leaving her mouth, however, she and Applejack heard a familiar voice coming from a nearby café.

“-and that’s when Ah realized Ah didn’t even know how to teach a pig how to do the backstroke!” The air was quickly filled with the sounds of laughter as Granny Smith finished her anecdote.

“Hahaha, Frau Smith, you’re too much! It’s a shame we never had a chance to meet before.”

“Y’ ain’t so bad yerself. So, how long do y’ recon y’ll be stayin’ here in Ponyville anyway?”

“That mostly depends on how long it takes my liebchen to get tired of me. But in all seriousness, I’m sure Twilight wouldn’t mind if I decide to extend my visit a few days. She’s the Princess of Friendship after all, I’m pretty sure she’s required to be understanding about that sort of thing.” Upon hearing Granny Smith’s companion mention Twilight’s name both Applejack and Rainbow Dash came to a screeching halt. Rushing over, the two found Granny Smith seated at a café table having tea with an equally elderly unicorn mare, while a large diamond dog sat patiently nearby.

“Granny? What the hay are y’all doin’ here?” Applejack asked.

“Ah’m havin’ tea with mah new friend Starry Night, what’s it look like?” Granny Smith replied.

“I take it this is your granddaughter Applejack then?” Starry Night said. “Allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Starry Night, and from what I understand you’re good friends with my granddaughter Twilight Sparkle.”

“Yes ma’am,” Applejack affirmed. “Actually, if y’all wouldn’t mind, there’s somethin’ of an issue up at Twilight’s castle that we could really use yer help with.”

“Really? I can’t imagine what liebchen would need my help with.”

“Well, y’ see, we were kinda hopin’ to get this particular problem settled before Twilight and Moonwhisper get back from Trotsylvania,” Applejack said somewhat hesitantly.

“That…may be something of a problem. You see, Twilight and her stallion arrived in Ponyville on the same train I did. By now they’re almost certainly at the castle already.”

Get Out!

“You have to be joking, that can’t seriously be what they called the base you were in change of before Tirek attacked,” Twilight said in a bemused tone.

“Well, that wasn’t its official name of course. The official name on record was Secure Containment Facility Alpha, but anypony remotely familiar with it referred to it as the Toybox. And before you ask,” Moonwhisper added, “I’m not entirely sure how the nickname got started. It was already firmly established long before I was stationed there.”

Twilight chuckled to herself as she leaned back in her seat and looked out the train window. Leaving Trotsylvania had brought about a remarkable improvement in Moonwhisper’s demeanor. Just boarding the train back to Ponyville had caused Moonwhisper’s mood to brighten considerably and the further from Trotsylvania the got the better Moonwhisper seemed. Moreover, it appeared to Twilight that Moonwhisper’s newfound happiness was more than simply his being glad to have left dreary former home. It was as though Moonwhisper had left some of his emotional baggage behind and was now reveling in its disposal. One symptom of this, as it turned out, was that Moonwhisper seemed far more willing to talk about his prior career with the guard before coming to Ponyville. “I just think it’s a little silly to call a high-security guard base something like the Toybox,” Twilight said, still perplexed as to how this nickname came to be.

“I imagine it was originally meant to be a joke of some kind, most of the guards that I’ve known do tend to have a rather morbid sense of humor. And, I will admit that the nickname did fit, at least on a certain level, given the nature of the objects that were being stored there,” Moonwhisper said.

“What sort of things did you store there?” Twilight asked. There was something about the idea of a warehouse filled with mysterious artifacts that appealed to her inner Daring Do fan.

“Well, our mandate was to establish safe containment of cursed and/or otherwise potentially dangerous objects, which turned out to encompass a fairly wide variety of items. One of the facility’s first commanders, for example, had apparently gone through Dire Straits’ Guide to Cursed Artifacts and Items of Mystery as though it were a checklist. At the time I took command I’d estimate about three quarters of the objects in that book had been taken into custody,” Moonwhisper said.

“You’re kidding, right? Dire Straits was a complete fraud,” Twilight said incredulously. “Most of his so-called ‘guide’ consisted of repackaged old mare’s tales, for pony’s sake!”

“As I recall, until a few years ago Nightmare Moon was considered to be an ‘old mare’s tale’ as well,” Moonwhisper noted wryly. “But, the majority of the items listed in that guide did turn out to be turn out to be either actually harmless or outright non-anomalous, so your point is a valid one. Getting back to your original question, most of the objects we held were either likely the result of somepony playing with chaos magic or so old that there weren’t any reliable records as to how the worked. Take the alicorn amulet, for example. We have a fairly solid idea as to what it does, but very little information as to how it works.”

“You had the alicorn amulet?” Twilight gasped in alarm. “I thought Zecora was going to keep that thing hidden away someplace safe.”

Moonwhisper nodded. “I can’t say I really had anything directly to do with the acquisition process, but somepony must have paid Zecora a visit after the incident with Starlight’s friend. Now that I think about it, that must have been sometime between that and your coronation because I distinctly remember having to update the amulet’s security protocols for to account for their being a fourth alicorn,” Moonwhisper added. “Nothing against you personally, but our research was inconclusive at best as to whether the amulet’s effects were additive or multiplicative. If we assume the latter and consider the magnitude of the effect observed when Trixie wore the amulet, then the possibilities of what would happen if an alicorn were to put the amulet on…well, to quote one report it would ‘make Nightmare Moon look like a foal’s temper tantrum’.”

Twilight shuddered as she imagined what Cadence or herself could do with that kind of power. “I guess I can understand why you’d want to keep alicorns away from the amulet,” Twilight admitted as she turned back to the train compartment window where she could see the spires of Canterlot coming into view. “One thing I don’t get, though, why would you choose to be stationed at someplace like that anyway? From what Silver Streak had told me after you were promoted to captain you could have picked do be put in charge of anywhere in Equestria. It just doesn’t seem like you to choose to be put in charge of a…of a glorified warehouse.”

“I suppose it did end up being something of a glorified warehouse by the time I was finished there,” Moonwhisper mused almost wistfully. “There are aspects of the facility that I can’t really talk about, but I can assure you that there were…things contained there that were unimaginably dangerous. That’s what drew me to the posing in the first place, I wanted to put myself in the most danger possible. Of course, once I arrived there I learned that a fair bit of the danger was actually the result of incredibly poorly thought out or implemented security measures. After I revised most of the protocols and instituted some basic discipline the incident rate dropped precipitously. It was still fairly hazardous, admittedly, but nowhere near what it was like at first.” Moonwhisper let out a snort before continuing. “And then Tirek came and ripped the magic out of the worst of what we were guarding and after that there was no real need to keep a full garrison there so I was moved back to Canterlot on a temporary basis, and I suppose you know the rest.”

Twilight nodded as she leaned against Moonwhisper. “You know, I think this is the most you’ve actually talked about yourself since I’ve known you,” Twilight said as their train pulled into the Canterlot Station. “Usually it’s like pulling teeth trying to get you to open up about your past.”

“In my defense, most stories about my past tend to either comprise horrifically traumatic experiences or heavily involve the phrase ‘and then I kicked it in the head’,” Moonwhisper said wryly.

“Fair enough, but it’s still nice to see you finally come out of your shell. You know what I think we should do once we get settled in back at the castle?” Twilight asked, dropping her voice into a low, sultry purr. “We should find some excuse to get Spike and Starlight out of the castle, lock ourselves in the library and sort through the shelves to clear some space for the books we’re bringing back.”

Moonwhisper was about to respond when somepony began knocking insistently on their compartment door. “Oh for the love of Celestia,” Moonwhisper grumbled as he regretfully pulled away from Twilight to answer the door. “I could have sworn I asked the conductor that we not be disturbed until we reached Ponyville. Is there something I can help you with?” Moonwhisper asked testily as he opened the door.

“Well, it’s a little too early for me to start badgering you about great-grandfoals, so I suppose I’ll settle for asking you to step aside so I can come in,” the elderly unicorn mare on the other side of the door answered.

“Grandma Starry!” Twilight exclaimed happily as she hopped out of her seat. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d still be at your council meeting.”

“Feh, this year’s meeting was even more of a waste of time than usual,” Starry Night said as she pushed her way past Moonwhisper and embraced her granddaughter. “I can’t even remember the last time we has so many absentees, in fact I think Penumbral Dusk and I were the only ponies to show up who didn’t already live in Canterlot. Even the von Sol brat barely paid any attention to what we were talking about and typically he takes the council meetings almost as seriously as Penumbral Dusk.”

“I take it by ‘von Sol brat’ you’re referring to Prince Blueblood?” Moonwhisper asked as he recovered from the surprise of Starry Night’s arrival.

“That’s the one. I swear I’ll never understand why Princess Celestia tolerates his behavior. And speaking of poorly behaved colts,” Starry Night said, turning to Moonwhisper, “you’re father seems to be up to something.”

Moonwhisper let out an exasperated sigh at this bit of news. “For the love of Celestia, what stupidity is he involved with this time?”

“Well, first of all he managed to have Shining Armor knocked off the list of potential candidates for our family’s seat on the council,” Starry Night said, much to Twilight’s shock. Moonwhisper, on the other hoof, seemed rather unsurprised by this bit of information.

“So, the foreign royalty clause was finally brought up then,” Moonwhisper said with a sigh. “Well, it was bound to happen sometime and I doubt Shining Armor will be all that upset about it.”

“Wait, so you knew about this?” Twilight demanded. “And what the hay is the ‘foreign royalty clause’?”

“The foreign royalty clause is an obscure rule involving a pony’s eligibility to sit on the Council of Stars. Essentially it states that if a pony is an actively sitting rule of an outside kingdom than they are considered disqualified to be part of the council. The only reason I’m familiar with it because Shining Armor asked me to look into the rules around the time he married Princess Celestia. For what it’s worth, when I first informed Shining Armor about the issue he seemed less upset than the time he learned that his preferred potato chip flavor was being discontinued,” Moonwhisper added.

“But Shining Armor isn’t the ruler of anyplace!” Twilight half-heartedly protested. Twilight didn’t doubt that Shining Armor would be completely uninterested in sitting on the Council of Stars, but it was the principle of the issue she found galling.

“In case you’ve forgotten, liebchen, your brother is the prince of the Crystal Empire,” Starry Night pointed out.

“Prince consort, technically,” Moonwhisper said reflexively. “The point is, the Crystal Empire is considered to be an autonomous city state, which means that Shining Armor’s royal title there technically triggers the royalty clause, barring Princess Cadance’s rewriting the empire’s constitution.” Moonwhisper let out a snort before continuing. “Personally I think the entire situation is patently ridiculous, especially since the Crystal Empire’s autonomy is really in name only at this point, but that’s neither here nor there.”

“To be honest, liebchen, this royalty clause business wasn’t even much of a surprise. It had been talked about in meetings prior, but nopony cared enough for anything to come of it since your father is the next in line for the family seat. For some reason, however, this year Penumbral Dusk was insistent that we settle the matter. Normally I’d just assume the wretch was being his usual disagreeable self, but something about the way was acting seemed odd. The whole time he had this disgustingly smug look on his face as though he were getting away with something.”

Upon hearing this Moonwhisper sat in silence for several moments before suddenly shaking his head. “You know what? I don’t even care what Penumbral Dusk is up to this time. If he wants to indulge in one of his spiteful ‘plans’ than that’s his business, and as long as he doesn’t actually manage to hurt anypony then I’m not going to let myself be bothered by it. I’ve spent too many years blaming myself for his behavior as it is,” Moonwhisper added. “Now, why don’t we change the subject to something a bit more pleasant, such as how in Equestria did you know which train Twilight and I would be on?”

*********

“It sounds as though your trip to Trotsylvania accomplished a world of good,” Starry Night said as Twilight finished relating what had happened while they were there. Moonwhisper, meanwhile, was currently engaged in a chess match with Hans.

“I think you’re right,” Twilight replied as she glanced over towards Moonwhisper. “It’s hard to really put into words, but Moonwhisper seems much more…I guess I’d call it relaxed. Moonwhisper’s finally started to let go of all the negative emotions that he’s been holding onto for all these years.” Before Starry Night could respond a voice called out from the aisle outside the compartment door.

“Ponyville station next stop!” The train conductor called out as he trotted down the length of the train car.

“I have to say, it’s going to be nice to be back in Ponyville,” Moonwhisper said as he levitated a chess piece into position. “Checkmate, by the way.”

“From what Twilight has told me about your trip that doesn’t really surprise me. Although, perhaps next time should consider taking my granddaughter someplace a bit more romantic. I hear Puerto Cabello is lovely this time of year.” Starry Night added.

“I’ll take that under advisement,” Moonwhisper replied while glancing over towards Twilight with a slight blush. Much to Twilight’s relief, however, any further conversation was cut short as the squeals of the train’s breaks announced their arrival in Ponyville. Wordlessly, Moonwhisper and Hans began gathering up the group’s luggage as Twilight and Starry Night exited the compartment.

“Try not to tease Moonwhisper too much,” Twilight entreated Starry Night as the pair made their way to exit the train. “I know he seems alright now, but going back to Trotsylvania was really hard on him.”

“You truly do care for him, don’t you? Well, I supposed I can take it easy on him for your sake, but a stallion like that does need a bit of a nudge from time to time, if you know what I mean,” Starry Night replied.

“Oh believe me, when I need Moonwhisper to be nudged I can definitely give him a nudge,” Twilight replied with a grin.

“Ha, that’s my granddaughter! Now, why don’t we head over to your castle and settle in? Hans, schnell!” Starry Night called back to her valet. Moments later Moonwhisper and a grumbling Hans emerged from the train onto the station platform. “Good boy, Hans. Once we get settled at the castle I’ll get you a treat, what do you say to that?” Hans for his part said nothing, but obediently trundled forward and took his place behind Starry Night. The group quickly made their way into the town itself, forming a rather odd procession as they went. “You know, liebchen, the ponies in this town must be either the politest or the most jaded in Equestria.”

“What makes you say that?” Twilight asked somewhat puzzled.

“Well, here you are, an alicorn princess walking down the street with a guard captain carrying your luggage, not to mention Hans carrying mine, and nopony even seems to bat an eye! I’d just thing that somepony would at least be a little curious about us.”

“Good afternoon, princess. These friends of yours?” Granny Smith asked as she passed by, as if on cue.

“Oh, hello Granny Smith. This is my grandmother Starry Night, and over there is her valet Hans,” Twilight cheerfully answered back.

“Guten Tag,” Hans added in his low rumbling voice.

“Grandma,” Twilight continued, “this is Granny Smith, my friend Applejack’s grandmother.”

“Granny Smith, eh? You wouldn’t happen to be Apple Strudel’s sister by any chance, would you?” Starry Night asked as she leaned closer to Granny Smith.

“Yeah, that’s me alright, but how d’ya know mah little brother,” Granny Smith replied before a look of realization crossed her face. “Hold on a second, y’all aren’t the same Starry Night from Apple Strudel’s yodelin’ group, are y’?”

“So I take it my reputation has preceded me, then?” Starry Night asked with a grin, eliciting a bout of cackling laughter from Granny Smith.

“Y’all could say that. ‘Course I had y’all figured fer a mare half mah age based on the stories Ah’ve heard. Did y’all really do that thing with the potato salad?”

This time it was Starry Night’s turn to break into a fit of snickering. “To be fair, that tuba player had it coming. Anyway, it was pleasure meeting you, Frau Smith, but we should…” Starry Night paused mid-sentence as an idea seemed to suddenly strike her. “…get some lunch. Yes, I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast and I’m positively famished. Twilight, why don’t you and Moonwhisper go ahead to the castle, I’ll meet up with you later.”

Before Twilight had a chance to raise any objections Starry Night and Granny Smith were already walking away together, Hans faithfully following behind. “Givin’ yer granddaughter a chance t’ spend some alone time with her stallion Ah take it?” Granny Smith asked with a knowing grin once they were out of earshot.

“I thought they could use some time to settle in together after their trip without my getting underhoof,” Starry Night replied.

“Ah gotcha. Mah grandson’s finally found himself a mare, real sweet thing too, so whenever she’s in town Ah try an’ give him a break from his usual chores. With a little bit of luck Ah might get to meet mah great grandfoals,” Granny Smith added with a chuckle.

“I don’t think my liebchen is quite there yet, but I think a little rest will be good for both of them.”

*********

“I think the first we should do is go through the books in the library to see if we have any that we can move into storage,” Twilight said as she and Moonwhisper finally reached the castle. “I’m probably going to need to cycle out most of my history books dealing with the pre-classical era anyway so that should be a good place to start. After that I’m going to find someplace safe to store, well, ‘the folio’, while I brush up on my ancient Sumareian.”

“To be honest, I’m a little surprised that would be an issue for you,” Moonwhisper remarked as he followed Twilight inside. “After all, you’re practically fluent in Old Ponish, and – do you hear that?”

Twilight quietly nodded her head as she allowed Moonwhisper to move ahead of her. Muffled sounds of ponies arguing could be heard coming from deeper in the castle, though Twilight couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. “I think it’s coming from the map room,” Twilight said after listening for a moment. “We should probably go check to see what’s going on.”

As Moonwhisper nodded in agreement the pair quickly made their way to castle map room, Twilight following as Moonwhisper took the lead. The closer they came to the room the clearer the voices became and by the time they reached the doors of the room they could clearly make out what was being said.

“Look, for the last time you need to leave, now! Princess Twilight isn’t here, in fact she isn’t even in Ponyville and we don’t have any idea when she’ll be back. And to be honest, even if Princess Twilight were here I’m pretty sure you’re not somepony she’d even want to talk to anyway,” Starlight Glimmer could be heard saying from behind the door, clearly irritated.

“I’d say the decision as to whom Princess Twilight would be willing to see would be up to the princess herself and not some jumped-up charity case of a student,” a rough-voiced stallion growled back. Something about the stallion’s voice seemed uncomfortably familiar to Twilight, but before she could recall where she had heard it before Moonwhisper backed straight into her.

“Moonwhisper!” Twilight hissed, trying to keep her voice low to avoid being overheard by the ponies in the other room. “Watch where you’re –“ Twilight stopped mid-sentence as she looked at Moonwhisper’s face. Fear, rage and confusion seemed to be warring across Moonwhisper’s features as he fixed his gaze on the doors.

“It can’t be…he can’t be here…what in Equestria would he even be doing here?” Moonwhisper muttered out loud. Watching Moonwhisper’s reaction, Twilight felt a cold lump form in the pit of her stomach as she realized where she had heard the voice behind the door before.

Steeling herself, Twilight marched up to the doors of the castle’s map room and threw them open, revealing Starlight Glimmer and Silver Streak arguing with an ash-grey, white-maned unicorn stallion. The stallion in question had visibly aged since Twilight had seen him in a vision of Moonwhisper’s past, but she could still recognize him as Moonwhisper’s father, Penumbral Dusk. “Princess Twilight!” Penumbral Dusk said with a smile that made Twilight’s skin crawl as he turned to see who had entered. “You can’t imagine how happy I am to see you here. In Ponyville,” Penumbral Dusk with a smirk as he glanced back towards Starlight. “I had been told you had left Ponyville on royal business, but clearly –“

“What are you doing here?” Twilight demanded, cutting Penumbral Dusk off mid-sentence.

“Ah, yes, of course. Forgive me, your highness,” Penumbral Dusk said, his voice dripping with insincere deference. “Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Count Penumbral Dusk von Umbra, and I –“

“I know exactly who you are,” Twilight snapped, the rage that had been steadily building up inside her ever since she had arrived in Trotsylvania clearly audible in her voice. “What I want to know is what you’re doing. In. My. Castle?”

“Why, I’m merely here to visit my son, along with the lovely princess who’s rumored to have captured his heart. You see, your highness, when I was in Canterlot during the recent meeting of the Council of the Stars I heard all sorts of gossip about how my beloved son and the Princess of Friendship had begun a romance. After hearing something like that I just had to learn if such a wondrous development was true. Now the, where is my darling Moonwhisper?” As Penumbral Dusk paced about the room Twilight found herself continually repositioning herself so that she stood in between Penumbral Dusk and the doors leading out into the hall. Before Twilight could demand that Penumbral Dusk leave, however, Moonwhisper entered the room.

“You’ll forgive us if we find your motives somewhat suspect, Count von Umbra,” Moonwhisper said in the same icily polite tone that he had often used when he had first come to Ponyville. “For one thing, I can’t actually recall you ever showing any particular interest in watching me before.”

For a brief moment as Moonwhisper started to talk Twilight saw a look of complete anger cross Penumbral Dusk’s features. Penumbral Dusk regained his composure almost immediately, however, and in the blink of an eye he returned to his cloyingly friendly demeanor. “Oh come now, you’re a grown stallion and I wanted to give you your space. After all, you wouldn’t want me continually hovering around, would you?” As Penumbral Dusk spoke he couldn’t seem to help letting a menacing edge creep into a voice.

“No, no I suppose I wouldn’t,” Moonwhisper replied coldly. Twilight, meanwhile, had slowly withdrawn so she was no longer standing between the two and was cautiously watching the confrontation play out. It took every ounce of restraint Twilight had to keep from ordering Penumbral Dusk to leave her castle and never return. What was stopping her, at least for the moment, was the possibility that this encounter could actually be helpful for Moonwhisper. After all, if returning to his foalhood home had been as beneficial to Moonwhisper as it appeared to have been than Celestia only knew how much Moonwhisper could benefit from finally facing his father.

For his part, Penumbral Dusk seemed to have completely regained his composure and in fact had added a layer of smugness. “Really, though, you can’t possibly imagine how delighted I was to hear about your new relationship. To be honest, I’d always worried that you’d wind up marrying far below your station, what with all the commoners your position necessitates you interact with and all.” Twilight could feel her eye start to twitch as she heard the disgust in Penumbral Dusk’s voice as he spoke the word ‘commoner’. “In fact, I had even considered looking into hiring a matchmaker to find some social climbing, noveau riche tramp for you so wouldn’t do something to embarrass the family.”

“And by family you mean ‘yourself’, don’t you?” Twilight snapped accusingly.

“Well of course I’d have been the primary one to one to suffer if Moonwhisper had disgraced himself like that,” Penumbral Dusk retorted. “I am the only other living member of the family after all. But, more than that, Moonwhisper would also be disgracing the von Umbras of the past. Why, just imagine what Moonwhisper’s poor departed mother would say –“

“Don’t you dare try and drag her into this!” Moonwhisper snarled.

Twilight quickly moved to Moonwhisper’s side before things could go any further. “Penumbral Dusk,” Twilight said authoritatively, “I’m going to have to ask you to leave. You’re not welcome in my castle and quite frankly after everything you did to Moonwhisper and his mother you were never really welcome here to begin with.”

“I beg your pardon,” Penumbral Dusk objected. “What exactly are you accusing me of having done?” The veneer of painfully artificial friendliness Penumbral Dusk had put up earlier had now been cast aside leaving a menacing look on his features.

“You want me to spell it out for you? Fine!” Twilight yelled, her own anger overriding any concerns she may have held about interfering with the confrontation. “Why don’t we start with how you tortured Moonwhisper when he was little? Or how about the fact that you repeatedly beat and terrorized his mother?”

“I’d be careful about spouting slanderous nonsense like that if I were you,” Penumbral Dusk growled. For a brief moment it looked like he was going to follow up his statement with a threat of some kind, but after a glance towards Moonwhisper Penumbral Dusk seemed to hastily decide on a different approach. “Setting aside your baseless accusations regarding my treatment of my late wife, you clearly have some misconceptions about my son’s upbringing. As you no doubt are aware my son possess a singular set of magical abilities, which he has used in order to save countless ponies. However, in order for Moonwhisper to attain those abilities I had to be rather rough with him. It broke my heart to be forced to do such things to my dear son, of course, but it was for the greater good. In fact,” Penumbral Dusk said, his smug grin returning, “you of all ponies should really be thanking me for my actions.”

“What did you just say?” Twilight demanded through tightly clenched teeth.

“Your older brother is Prince Shining Armor, if I’m not mistaken.” As Twilight nodded in affirmation Penumbral Dusk’s grin widened. “Well, you’ve undoubtedly heard how Moonwhisper once saved your brother’s life. But, do you honestly believe that Moonwhisper would have been able to save your brother and all those other ponies if I hadn’t put him through all that training when he was younger? Frankly, under the circumstances I think you owe me an apology.”

“An apology?” Twilight practically shrieked. “You actually want me to apologize to you after everything you’ve done? And to try and excuse everything by saying that it was for the greater good, that ponies actually benefited from what you did…Do you honestly expect anypony to believe that?’

“Twilight…” Moonwhisper said ruefully. “Twilight…what he’s saying…the thing is, he’s right.”

“’He’s right’? Moonwhisper, what in Equestria are you saying?” Twilight asked, not quite sure she could believe what she was hearing.

“Regardless of whatever effects it had on me, I can’t deny the fact that enduring what Penumbral Dusk put me through gave me the power to save countless ponies, including Shining Armor. If Penumbral Dusk hadn’t inflicted that on me than in all likelihood most of those ponies would now be dead.” There was a horrible note of resignation in Moonwhisper’s voice as he spoke, which was only made worse by the smug expression spread across Penumbral Dusk’s face.

“You see, your highness, even my son understands how important his training was. Surely you can appreciate what I was trying to accomplish, given the results it produced.”

Twilight looked back towards Moonwhisper, whose face had become a mask of shame and regret. Turning back to Penumbral Dusk, Twilight could see that he had a stomach-churning look of triumph on his face as though all his monstrous actions had been validated. As she looked back and forth between the two stallions Twilight recalled everything that she had heard about Penumbral Dusk’s past actions and the effects of his cruelty that she had witnessed first hoof. With every second that passed the frustration and rage Twilight had felt over what Penumbral Dusk and had done and how she had been unable to do anything about it boiled inside of her until she couldn’t take it anyone.

When her friends would later ask about what happened next, Twilight would say that it had felt as though something inside her had snapped, after which all she could see was red. Blinded with anger, Twilight enveloped Penumbral Dusk in her magic and tossed him out of the map room as though he were nothing more than a rag doll. “GET OUT!” Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs as Penumbral Dusk sailed through the air past her. As Penumbral Dusk skidded to a stop on the castle floor Twilight charged out after him, her eyes and horn glowing with magical power. “I said. Get. OUT!” A second burst of magical energy followed, hurtling Penumbral Dusk into the castle foyer. Twilight took to the air as she followed him, hovering a few feet off the ground as she descended the stairway into the foyer herself. Glaring angrily down at Penumbral Dusk, Twilight magically ripped her castle doors wide open with such force that they were nearly torn completely off their hinges.

Whether out of bravery or stupidity, however, Penumbral Dusk refused to allow himself to be cowed by Twilight’s display of power. Pulling himself to his hooves, Penumbral Dusk met her gaze with a look of pure indignation. “You can’t –“

“OUT!” Twilight cut off Penumbral Dusk’s protest with a single word as she violently tossed him straight out the castle doors with a final burst of magical force, sending him to land in an undignified heap outside. “And don’t ever even think of trying to set hoof in her again!” Twilight yelled after him before slamming the castle doors shut.

Penumbral Dusk lay in the dirt for the next minute or so stewing in his own indignation. “Miserable little jumped-up…I should have expected as much from some von Nocturne savage. She’s no different from her great-uncle, the whole family is no better than a flock of cloud eaters. I’ll have the last laugh, though,” Penumbral Dusk said to himself as he unsteadily rose to his hooves. “I don’t care if she a princess, there are consequences for assaulting a noble and I’m going to enjoy teaching the rotten little bitch what they are.”

“I wouldn’t be so hasty if I were you,” a familiar voice came from behind. Spinning around, Penumbral Dusk found himself face to face with Starry Night. Glancing past her, Penumbral Dusk could see her diamond dog valet restraining an enraged Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

“If you’re planning on sweet-talking me into letting your granddaughter off the hook for her actions then you’re wasting your breath,” Penumbral Dusk snarled. “She assaulted me, literally threw me out her castle doors –“

“After you were no doubt asked to leave by the acting commander of the Ponyville Guard and my granddaughter’s student,” Starry Night interjected. “Which would mean that you were trespassing on royal property, and if I’m not mistaken that’s an arrestable offense, isn’t it?”

For a brief moment Penumbral Dusk looked like he had just been slapped in the face. “Don’t try to muddy the issue, I was still attacked by the princess. Besides, the penalty for trespass is just a slap on the hoof at most, so if you think you can threaten me with that then think again.” Despite his best efforts to maintain his bravado, however, the tone of Penumbral Dusk’s voice betrayed that his confidence was failing.

“True, trespassing on royal property isn’t a particularly serious crime,” Starry Night calmly admitted. “In all likelihood you’d only be looking at a modest fine, maybe a few days of incarceration at most…of course you’d also lose your seat on the Council of Stars and might even end up stripped of your family name, but those are just silly little formalities, aren’t they?” A look of dawning horror slowly spread across Penumbral Dusk’s face as Starry note spoke. “Ah, I see you remember what the consequences can be for a council member who commits a crime against an alicorn princess. I know you’re familiar with the rules since they’re the same ones you threatened to invoke against my older brother when those rumors about him and Princess Celestia started surfacing. Only, in this case there was an actual crime and not just some ill-defined scandal.” Starry Night leaned in closer to Penumbral Dusk, who flinched away as she continued her tirade in a low hiss. “Now, you’re going to scurry back to the rock you crawled out from under like the spiteful little bug you are, and you’re going to forget any plans you might have about taking revenge on my granddaughter or the ponies around her. Because, if I even suspect that you’re engaging in some half-baked scheme against them I’ll make certain my granddaughter knows how to strip you of the only thing your black hear cares about.”

By the time Starry Night was finished Penumbral Dusk was left literally shaking in terror. When Starry Night remained silent Penumbral Dusk took it as his cue to leave, galloping away without another word. Once he was completely out of sight Starry Night burst into peals of laughter. “Oh dear Celestia I enjoyed that! Did you see the look on his face when I pointed out he could lose his seat on the Council over this stupidity?” Starry Night continued to chuckle as she wiped a tear away from her eye.

“Not that Ah minded seein’ that sick jerk get put in his place like that but Ah just can’t feelin’ he’s gettin’ off a bit too easy,” Applejack said as Hans finally let her go.

“It helps if you understand just what a pompous idiot Penumbral Dusk really is,” Starry Night replied. “Whatever Penumbral Dusk thought he was going to accomplish by coming here has blown up in face rather spectacularly and that blow to his ego probably hurts more than anything liebchen might have done to him. Add to that the fact that he knows he can’t risk trying any sort of retaliation and today is a day he’s going to be stewing over for years.”

Apparently satisfied with Starry Night’s assessment Applejack looked over to the doors of Twilight’s castle. “Y’all reckon we should go in and check on her?” Applejack asked.

“Maybe not quite yet, let’s give liebchen a chance to calm down before bothering her.”

*********

By the time Twilight made her way back to the castle map room the adrenal rush brought on by her anger had worn off, leaving her somewhat apprehensive. “I can’t believe I just did that,” Twilight thought to herself. “I literally just threw Moonwhisper’s dad out of the castle right in front of him. What in Equestria was I thinking?”

Upon reentering the map room, however, it quickly became apparent that any concerns Twilight might have had about Moonwhisper being upset were wholly unfounded. “Twilight, are you alright?” Moonwhisper asked as soon as she trotted into the room. “That was…well, from my perspective I’d have to say that was extremely cathartic, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that upset before.”

“I kinda have,” Starlight Glimmer interjected. “Admittedly at the time Twilight was trying to stop me from accidently destroying Equestria, but…you know what, I think I’m just going to stop talking now,” Starlight said upon realizing that everything was staring at her.

“When I saw what the things he was saying were doing to you…I don’t know, everything just went red. I’m the Princess of Friendship for pony’s sake, I’m not supposed to lose control like that!” Twilight exclaimed, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Wordlessly, Moonwhisper pulled Twilight into a tight embrace before she could work herself up any further, holding her tight until she started to calm down. “Twilight, you lost control because you care about me and I can’t even begin to express how much that fact means to me. You have nothing to be ashamed of, and I’ll have words with anypony who says otherwise,” Moonwhisper added firmly.

As a grateful Twilight returned Moonwhisper’s embrace, Silver Streak and Starlight Glimmer quietly excused themselves. “I get the distinct impression we should give the Captain and her highness some alone time,” Silver Streak said, to which Starlight nodded in agreement as the pair exited the room.