Guarded Emotions: Mission Somnambula
“Ok, no major weather work scheduled…Wonderbolt training doesn’t pick up again until next week…Pinkie Pie's too busy with planning for Maud’s birthday to burst in with any surprise baked goods…perfect! Everything’s set for a whole weekend reading the latest Daring Do adventure!” Rainbow Dash crowed happily as she flopped down onto her bed. As much as Rainbow Dash loved excitement and adventure it sometimes seemed as though the world was continually conspiring to keep her from having a quiet weekend to herself. “There’s always some Wonderbolts emergency, or one of my friends has some problem they need help with, or –“ Rainbow Dash stopped mid-tirade as she felt an all too familiar tingle along her flanks. “Or the map needs me for some friendship mission. Ugh, well, duty calls.” With that, Rainbow Dash set her book down on her bed and rocketed out of her cloud home heading straight for the castle of her friend Twilight Sparkle.
In truth, as far as interruptions went being summoned by the castle map for a mission didn’t bother Rainbow Dash all that much. It was always a little exciting for Rainbow Dash to see where in Equestria she was going to be sent. Moreover, while the missions themselves were invariably nowhere near as dangerous as Rainbow Dash would have liked it still felt good to help those who needed a little of her awesomeness. Arriving at the castle, Rainbow Dash landed at the front door and knocked once, her hoof scarcely touching the door before it flew open to reveal a gleefully grinning Twilight. “Rainbow Dash, oh good, you’re here,” Twilight said, trotting in place a little as though she could hardly contain her excitement.
“Yeah, I came right over when I got the call,” Rainbow Dash said as she followed her friend inside. “So, where’s the map sending us this time?”
“As far as I can tell you’ll be headed to a spot in the desert just outside of Somnambula. The town, not the pony, I mean. But that’s not the exciting part; you’re never going to guess who the map is sending with you.” Twilight let out a high-pitched squeal of delight as she led Rainbow Dash to the map room.
“Really? Who is it? Spike? Flash Magnus?” Rainbow Dash gasped as another possibility suddenly came to her. “Wait, is it Daring Do? Please tell me it’s Daring Do.”
“Nope,” Twilight said simply as she pushed the doors to the map room open. Sitting next to the magical map of Equestria was Moonwhisper, Twilight’s bodyguard-slash-coltfriend, who was staring in complete shock as his and Rainbow Dash’s cutie marks orbited over a remote spot on the map.
“This has to be some kind of mistake,” Moonwhisper muttered, as much to himself as anypony else. “Why in Equestria would the map send me on a friendship mission?”
“Yeah, no offense, but I’m kinda with Moonwhisper on this one,” Rainbow Dash said as she eyed the two spinning cutie marks uneasily. “Moonwhisper’s a great stallion and all, but he’s not really…how should I put this…”
“Remotely qualified to teach anypony a lesson in friendship?” Moonwhisper suggested sardonically.
“Maybe that might have been the case when you first arrived in Ponyville, but you’ve changed a lot since then. More than you might even realize,” Twilight added as she trotted over to Moonwhisper. “I know it can be seem hard to understand why the map chooses who it does sometimes (or who it doesn’t choose), but it wouldn’t have picked you to go on this mission if there wasn’t something about you that made you the best pony for it.”
Moonwhisper remained silent for a moment before letting out a sigh of resignation. “I can’t say I completely trust the judgment of a table, but I do trust yours. If you think that I’m the best pony for whatever this mission is then I’ll do my best to live up to your expectations.”
Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, rolled her eyes as she watched the exchange between Twilight and Moonwhisper. “Great, so I get to spend my weekend with Moonwhisper of all ponies,” Rainbow Dash sarcastically grumbled to herself under her breath. “What the hay is the map even thinking sending him?”
*********
“I know Twilight trusts the map implicitly, but I still can’t fathom why the map would choose to send me on a mission like this,” Moonwhisper said to Rainbow Dash as their train sped onwards to its destination.
“I dunno, maybe we need to fight some horrible monster,” Rainbow Dash replied half-jokingly as she slumped back in her seat.
“Hmm, that would be an ideal scenario, but unfortunately I don’t think the map typically concerns itself with those sorts of situations.”
“Yeah, I know, but – wait, did you just say you’d actually want to fight some horrible monster?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in shock.
Moonwhisper nodded his head in response. “My personal skill set tends to lend itself towards dealing with problems that can be kicked into submission. Dealing with a renegade monster would be much more in line with my expertise than the issues the map usually dispatches you to solve.”
“Huh,” Rainbow Dash said as she evaluated her traveling companion. In truth, Rainbow Dash didn’t particularly dislike Moonwhisper, at least not anymore. When Moonwhisper had first arrived in Ponyville Rainbow Dash had taken offense at his casual dismissal of her friends’ efforts to welcome him. Not helping the situation had been the way everypony seemed to focus on Moonwhisper and in many cases sing his praises. Eventually, however, as Moonwhisper made apologies for his abrasiveness and Rainbow Dash learned more about his past her resentment of him gradually gave way to acceptance. That being said, Rainbow Dash had still never really considered Moonwhisper to be an actual friend of hers like she did, say, Spike. Rather, to Rainbow Dash Moonwhisper was simply her close friend’s special somepony; somepony who was closely connected to her social circle, but not really a part of it.
“So,” Moonwhisper said after a few minutes of silence passed. “What do you think we should do once we arrive at our destination? The map didn’t really provide much in the way of instructions.”
“Usually we just sort of wander around until we run into whatever it is the map wants us to deal with. It’s generally pretty obvious if you know what to look for.”
“I see. In that case I believe I’ll simply follow you’re lead regarding the mission until we have a clear objective,” Moonwhisper said calmly. “You do have superior expensive when it comes to these missions, after all.” Rainbow Dash said nothing in response, but grinned broadly at Moonwhisper’s recognition of her experience.
Eventually the train finally reached its destination, a lonely station seemingly in the middle of essentially nowhere. “Ok, so I remember Somnambula being over that way,” Rainbow Dash began as the pair exited the train, gesturing with her hoof in the general direction of the town. “So, I’m pretty sure that the map wants us to head over…that way!”
Moonwhisper nodded as he fell into line behind Rainbow Dash. “You say you remember the town being in that direction, have you been here before?”
“Yeah, once. Pinkie and I were helping Daring Do clear her name from a bunch of lies that a jerk named Caballeron was spreading about her. We proved that she’s still the awesomest adventurer in Equestria and ran that jerk Caballeron outta town,” Rainbow Dash added with a self-satisfied grin.
“I see, just one question though. Who exactly is Daring Do?” Moonwhisper asked.
Rainbow Dash came to an abrupt halt midair before turning back towards Moonwhisper in shock. “You don’t know who Daring Do is? She’s only one of the greatest most awesome ponies in Equestria! Geez, you’ve been dating Twilight for how long and you still have no idea who Daring Do is?”
A look of utter bafflement slowly crossed over Moonwhisper’s features. “Wait, are you referring to the protagonist of that series of adventure novels Twilight’s fond of? So, are you saying you were featured in one of the novels set in this area, or…?”
“Well, I was in Daring Do and the Golden Rings Rainbow Dash bragged. “But that’s not really what I was talking about. You see, and this is kinda a secret so you can’t tell anypony, but A.K. Yearling is actually Daring Do! Everything she writes in her books are her actual adventures!”
Moonwhisper blinked a few times as he processed what Rainbow Dash had just said. Eventually, he managed a single, monotone word in response. “What?”
“It’s true, we found out when we visited her home after she announced one of her books was being delayed and saw her being attacked by Caballeron and his goons,” Rainbow Dash replied.
“Setting aside the idea that character in an adventure novel series is apparently real, that’s the second time you’ve mentioned somepony named ‘Caballeron’. Given the context I take it he’s a villain from the novels?” Moonwhisper asked.
“Yeah, he’s kind of an adventurer like Daring, but he’s all about stealing artifacts to sell rather than giving them to museums,” Rainbow Dash replied. Rainbow Dash continued to gleefully tell Moonwhisper about the various adventures of Daring Do as they made their way to the spot the map had pointed them to. For his part, Moonwhisper simply listened and nodded politely.
Eventually, Rainbow Dash and Moonwhisper climbed to the top of a sand dune overlooking their destination, which was revealed to be a sizeable archeological dig. The walls of long-buried buildings that had been unearthed from the desert sand stretched out over an area about the size of a small village. Numerous ponies were carefully pouring over every inch of the site, sifting through the sand in a meticulous grid pattern. “I wonder if this is one of the excavation sites that started after the pillars returned,” Moonwhisper mused out loud. “I heard that a large number of ruins have recently been uncovered after the pillars provided their locations.”
“Uh huh. Anyway, we should probably head down there and talk to whoever’s in charge,” Rainbow Dash said as she began descending down the side of the dune. Moonwhisper nodding in acknowledgement and quickly followed suit. Once they reached the floor of the valley, the pair headed over to a collection of tents on the edge of the site. In particular, they were drawn over to a particularly large tent next to what looked like a train car. Entering the tent, they found a yellow-coated unicorn mare with an orange mane busily cataloging a table covered in shards of pottery.
“Let’s see, these were all found in building G, which indicates it was probably used as storage given the size and lack of decoration. That would be consistent with the general layout Miss Somnambula provided, and that would mean – Oh! Can I help you?” The mare asked as she finally noticed she had company.
“Hi, my name’s Rainbow Dash and this is Moonwhisper –“
“Captain Moonwhisper,” Moonwhisper corrected reflexively.
Rainbow Dash let out an irritated sigh. “Fine, this is Captain Moonwhisper. Anyway, we’re here on official friendship business. So, are y other one in charge here?”
“Well, technically Doctor Shifting Sands is the pony heading the excavation, but he’s in Canterlot right now to present an update on our findings at the Royal Canterlot University. So, until he gets back I’m pretty much running things. My name’s Sunshine Song, by the way,” Sunshine said as she extended a hoof out towards Rainbow Dash. “So, what do you mean by official friendship business? You don’t work with Princess Twilight Sparkle, do you?”
“Yep, I’m one of Twilight’s best friends and believe it or not this guy’s her special somepony.” Moonwhisper let out a startled snort at Rainbow Dash’s last statement as he started to blush. “Anyway, have you seen any friendship problems around here that we can help with?”
“Hmm, nothing I can really think of off the top of my head. For the most part everypony here gets along pretty well. Although…I guess if I had to point a hoof at somepony who’d have problems with friendship it’d be Lost Relic. He’s a great researcher, but he really doesn’t seem all that interested in socializing with anypony else.”
“Don’t worry, whatever this Lost Relic guy’s deal is we’ll get to the bottom of it!” Rainbow Dash declared confidently. Rainbow Dash turned to exit the tent, only to pause halfway to the exit. “Uh, where exactly would this Lost Relic guy be, anyway?”
“My advice would be to start checking the remains in the western part of the excavation,” Sunshine Song replied. “Lost Relic theorized that that’s where the owner of this trading post would have had his residence and he’s been looking for proof of that. Of course, we already pretty much know he’s right since Somnambula pretty much told us as much.”
“Right, thanks. Alright, Moonwhisper, lets solve us a friendship problem.” With that said, Rainbow Dash blasted out of the tent, Moonwhisper calmly trotting after her. Wasting no time, the two ponies made their way to the section of the excavation Sunshine Song had pointed them towards. There, they found several ponies pouring over the crumbling walls of what must have been a sizable building in the distant past. “Hey!” Rainbow Dash called out as she hovered over the assembled archeologists. “Which one of you guys is Lost Relic?”
“Lost Relic? He’s been working in the kitchen area by himself over that way,” a teal pegasus said as she carefully blew sand away from the walls. “What the hay are you looking for him for, anyway?”
“We’re here to solve a friendship problem and we heard that Lost Relic would be a good place to start,” Rainbow Dash replied.
“A friendship problem, huh? Yeah, I guess Lost Relic would be where you’d want to start looking for one of those around here,” the pegasus said sadly. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s not that he’s a bad guy or anything. He just keeps to himself a lot, you know?”
“Yeah, I think I know the type,” Rainbow Dash said as she glanced over towards Moonwhisper. Following the pegasus’ direction, Rainbow Dash and Moonwhisper found who the presumed to be Lost Relic, a light brown earth pony with a charcoal mane. Lost Relic was busy carefully brushing sand away from a large chunk of pottery. “Are you Lost Relic?” Rainbow Dash asked as they approached.
“Yes, that’s me,” Lost Relic replied absentmindedly as he gingerly lifted the piece of broken pottery out of the sand and placed it on a nearby cloth. “Well, the subject doesn’t really tell us much, looks to be a typical depiction of Somnambula and the sphinx. Still, a decorated piece like this would indicate that the owner of this building was fairly well off…which matches the information Lady Somnambula provided about this site.” Lost Relic let out a small sigh. “You know, this job has lost a lot of its mystery now that we can just talk to ponies from a thousand years ago. So, setting that aside, how can I help the two of you?”
“We’ve been sent here to solve a friendship problem,” Rainbow Dash began. “So…you been having any problems with friendship you wanna talk about?”
“No, not particularly. Sunshine Song didn’t put you up to this, did she? I realize that I’m not the most social pony, but just because I’d prefer to focus on my research doesn’t mean I need some sort of friendship intervention!” Lost Relic’s voice steadily rose as he spoke until at the end he was outright shouting in frustration. “I’m sorry, it’s just frustrating to continuously have to defend my decision to focus on my research.”
“Speaking of you research, what exactly was this place?” Moonwhisper quickly asked in an effort to redirect the conversation. “Given this location’s proximity to Somnambula I’m a little surprised that it fell into ruin like this.”
“An excellent observation, mister…?”
“Captain Moonwhisper.”
“Moonwhisper, yes. Anyway, the ruins that comprise this excavation site are the remains of what was originally a trading post on the old Saddle Road, the trading route to Saddle Arabia. When it was first built the buildings surrounded an oasis, but something happened which caused it to dry up. We’re actually hoping to have a geology expert come out here at some point to investigate what might have caused that. Anyway, after that this place was abandoned and swallowed up by the desert, at least until now that is,” Lost Relic added with a chuckle. “To be honest this site’s history has been a major boon to our research. Most of the Saddle Row trading posts were part of larger settlements, so it’s really rare to have one where we have an unobstructed view of the original building layout. Not to mention the fact that since it was abandoned like it was the entire site has been essentially ignored by treasure hunters.”
Despite the mounting enthusiasm Lost Relic displayed as he spoke about the excavation, however Rainbow Dash remained unimpressed. “So, basically you’re kinda like an egghead version of Daring Do, huh?”
The moment Rainbow Dash mentioned Daring Do, however, Lost Relic violently started as though he had just been stung by a wasp. “Daring Do? Please, don’t even mention that name in my presence. That book series has been the bane of my existence for years!”
“Hey! What do you have against Daring Do?” Rainbow Dash angrily demanded, instinctively coming to the defense of her idol.
“I…she’s…” Lost Relic stammered before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to steady himself. “Daring Do is an insult to the entire archeology profession. It would be bad enough if the novels were just a series of mindless action scenes strung together with the barest excuse of a plot. But, the so-called hero of those stories is nothing more than a glorified tomb-robber, constantly plundering intrinsically valuable artifacts while destroying irreplaceable ruins in her wake!”
“You take that back!” Rainbow Dash snarled as she lunged towards Lost Relic, only to be enveloped in Moonwhisper’s dark blue magical aura and yanked back.
“I believe it would be best if we were to leave to your work,” Moonwhisper said calmly. “We will be remaining in the area until we’re able to resolve the issue we were sent here to deal with. So, if you do encounter any friendship problems please let us know.” With that said Moonwhisper turned and trotted off, levitating a scowling Rainbow Dash behind him.
*********
“Just who the hay does that jerk think he is?” Rainbow Dash fumed as she and Moonwhisper sat a table in the common room of the Get On Inn where they were spending the night. “I mean, he was basically calling Daring Do, one of the awesomest ponies ever, a…a criminal!”
“I can certainly understand why you’d be upset, Miss Dash, but try and remember why we’re here in the first place,” Moonwhisper replied. “Our objective at the moment is to locate and rectify a friendship problem, and as far as I can tell Lost Relic’s insularity is the only notable problem we’ve encountered thus far.”
“So? Maybe we just need to look harder,” Rainbow Dash countered half-heartedly. The pair had tried asking around the rest of the excavation site looking for a friendship problem, but hadn’t had any success. The only pony anypony seemed to think of who would need their help was in fact Lost Relic. “There has got to be somepony else around here who needs our help. Besides, it’s not like Lost Relic even has that big of a problem anyway. Unless…do you think somepony not liking Daring Do ‘cause they think she’s a their or something would count?”
“I sincerely doubt that the map would consider that a sufficient issue to warrant intervention,” Moonwhisper said in a tone that left Rainbow Dash unable to tell if he was joking or not. “Also, Lost Relic’s disdain for Daring Do’s approach to archeology isn’t the main reason he dislikes her.”
“Uh, I’m pretty sure that’s what Lost Relic-“
“I’m not saying that isn’t the reason that Lost Relic supplied as to why he dislike’s Daring Do, but rather it wasn’t his actual reason. When you first mentioned Daring Do, Lost Relic’s reflexive reaction wasn’t anger or disapproval, but rather fear. That would generally indicate to me that there’s something else to Lost Relic’s antipathy to Daring Do that he didn’t want to reveal.”
“Ok, I’ll admit that’s kinda weird. Why the hay would he be scared of Daring Do or all ponies?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Frankly I haven’t the foggiest,” Moonwhisper admitted. As he spoke, however, Moonwhisper’s eyes darted past Rainbow Dash to the ponies seated in the room behind her. “Miss Dash, don’t look now, but I believe I may see something that could be related to why we were sent here. Lost Relic has been eating his dinner, alone I might add, at a table on the other side of the room. It’s why I insisted on sitting at this particular table since it provided me with a clear line of sight to him in case something happened that could have explained why we were sent here.”
“So you’ve been watching that guy all night? Yeah, that’s not creepy,” Rainbow Dash snorted.
“It appears I’m not the only one watching him, though,” Moonwhisper said, ignoring Rainbow Dash’s remark. “There’s a table near Lost Relic’s with three stallions at it. They’ve been watching Lost Relic since he sat down and they haven’t been doing a very good job at being subtle about it. If you have to see for yourself then take a look. Try not to obvious about it but they’ll be at your five o’clock.”
Turning her head, Rainbow Dash quickly picked out the table that Moonwhisper had spotted. Sure enough, seated at the table were a trio of rough looking earth ponies that Rainbow Dash had a nagging suspicion she had seen somewhere before. “Yeah, I see them. So, why do you think they’re so interested in him?”
“I’m not certain, however…” as Moonwhisper spoke, Lost Relic rose from his seat and trotted out of the inn, the three stallions who had been watching him rising in unison to follow. “It would appear we’ll need to follow them in order to find out.”
“Aw yea, now this is starting to seem like my kind of friendship mission,” Rainbow Dash said in a loud whisper. Doing their best to remain inconspicuous, Moonwhisper and Rainbow Dash got up and proceeded to follow the stallions out the door.
For the next several minutes Lost Relic led his pursuers on a meandering route into the lush jungle behind the inn. Several times, Rainbow Dash lost sight of both Lost Relic and the stallion’s following him in the dark underbrush, but Moonwhisper seemed to have no trouble tracking them. Eventually, Lost Relic seemed to decide that he had reached a sufficiently secluded clearing and calmly turned around. “I know you’ve been following me, so why don’t you just come out and tell me what you want?” Moonwhisper and Rainbow Dash quickly concealed themselves behind a cluster of palm trees and watched as the three stallions who had been following Lost Relic trotted out of the shadows. “I’m going to guess the three of you aren’t students from the university. So, what in Celestia’s name do you want with me?”
“Ah, dear Lost Relic, in all these years you still have not changed,” an oily voice called out from the forest. Moments later, a brown earth pony with a charcoal mane streaked with grey emerged from the shadows.
“Caballeron!” Rainbow Dash hissed angrily. “What in Equestria is he doing here?”
“So, that’s the thief you were talking about earlier?” Moonwhisper asked. “It would appear he and Lost Relic know each other.”
“What do you want, Caballeron? Shouldn’t you be off desecrating a cemetery somewhere or something?” Lost Relic snarled.
“You wound me, and after I came all the way here to see my darling little brother.” Caballeron smiled with all the warmth of a serpent sizing up a mouse. “Tell me, how has the business of pulling pieces of centuries-old trash out of the desert sand been treating you?”
“I’m helping expand ponykind’s understanding of our past. You, on the other hoof, are nothing but a common thief who doesn’t care about anything but how many bits you can sell the artifacts you pilfer for. At least when Daring Do is done destroying priceless archeological sites she has the decency to donate what’s left to a museum so the loss isn’t total,” Lost Relic snapped.
“Don’t you dare bring up the meddling –“ Caballeron paused and took a deep breath to calm himself. “This arguing isn’t getting us anywhere. I did not go to all the trouble of tracking you down so we could debate our respective careers.”
“I’d hardly call being a wanted criminal a ‘career’, but setting that aside why in Celestia’s name did you come here?” Lost Relic demanded. “I thought I made it fairly clear the last time we spoke that I wanted nothing to do with you and your schemes.”
“That may be, but circumstances have arisen that make your assistance necessary. You see, you and your band of academics have recently uncovered an item which holds a great deal of interest for me. Specifically an iron tablet covered in hieroglyphics.”
Lost Relic raised an eyebrow. “I know the piece your referring to, but what the hay would you want wit that thing? It was an interesting find, certainly, but I can’t imagine it would be particularly valuable. It’s not as though it’s really unique, we’ve found similar pieces in a number of other sites.”
“Oh, the tablet itself is not what I’m truly after, but rather the Tomb of Hisan! Based on my research that tablet should hold the key to the tomb’s location. And, with Daring Do busy thwarting Ahuizotl’s latest plot there would be nopony to interfere with my seizing the treasures hidden within! Of course, I’ll be happy to give you a cut of the proceeds once we’ve sold the contents. All I will need you to do is ensure that the door to the storage unit the tablet is being held in is unlocked tomorrow night. Nopony will suspect a thing, and even if they do you could always claim it was an accident.”
“And then you’ll be free to plunder what potentially could be one of the most important archeological finds of our generation,” Lost Relic replied, his voice dripping with disgust. “What could possibly make you think that I would willingly violate every principle I stand for as an archeologist so you can stuff your pockets with ill-gotten bits? Has the fact that I’ve spent most of my adult life hiding the fact that we’re even related not clued you in to the fact that want nothing to do with you?”
“Ah well, I was afraid you’d say something like that,” Caballeron said with mock sadness. “Although, your talk about hiding our relation does bring up an interesting point. What do you think your precious colleagues would say if they were to learn you were the younger brother of, how did you put it? A common thief? That would be the end of your precious academic career, wouldn’t it? Nopony would be willing to trust you with anything remotely valuable for fear that you could turn out to be just like me. Now,” Caballeron continued, his voice hardening, “tomorrow night you will ensure that the storage unit is unlocked, or the next morning our secret relationship will no longer be such a secret.” With that, Caballeron turned and left, his three nameless goons following closely behind.
“Well, that certainly explains a great deal,” Moonwhisper said to himself as he watched Caballeron march out of sight. “I’d be willing to be that we’ve just found our mission objective. What do you think, Miss Dash? Miss Dash?” Moonwhisper repeated as he turned around only to realize that Rainbow Dash was no longer sitting next to him. “Where could she have – oh no.” Inwardly groaning, Moonwhisper looked back to the clearing to see Rainbow Dash aggressively confronting Lost Relic.
“You’ve gotta warn everypony about what Caballeron is planning!” Rainbow Dash demanded.
“What? Where did you -? How much of that did you overhear?” Lost Relic stammered as he backed away from Rainbow Dash.
“We heard everything, Mister Relic,” Moonwhisper said as he emerged from his hiding spot. “And I believe I have to concur with Miss Dash. The other members of your excavation team need to be made aware of what Caballeron is planning.”
“I…I…I can’t!” Lost Relic stammered, his voice barely above a whisper as he hung his head in shame.
“Why the hay not? For all the stuff you said about Daring Do Caballeron is like, a bajillion times worse! I mean, you pretty much said so yourself,” Rainbow Dash yelled with mounting frustration. “Besides, if you help Caballeron do this then you’d basically be helping him steal from the other ponies you’re working with. I mean, its one thing to not want to make friends with them but don’t you care about how this would hurt them?”
“Of course I care about that! The idea that I might have to help my thug of a brother do something like this makes me physically ill,” an anguished Lost Relic cried out.
“Well then what the hay’s the problem? Just tell them Caballeron’s coming to steal this iron tablet-thing” Rainbow Dash said.
“You don’t understand, what Caballeron said about what would happen if ponies were to find out we’re related…he’s right,” Lost Relic replied sadly. “If it became public knowledge that Caballeron was brother then my academic career would be essentially over. At best I’d be pariah, with ponies talking behind my back for the rest of my career. Of course, that’s assuming that the university doesn’t simply ‘encourage me to resign and spare it the embarrassment of being associated with the brother of a wanted criminal.” Tears started to well up in Lost Relic’s eyes as he continued. “Do you think I kept isolating myself from everypony because I want to be alone? I did it because I couldn’t take the risk of somepony finding out my secret. Neither of you could possibly understand what that’s like.”
“Actually, I know exactly how you fell,” Moonwhisper said solemnly.
“Horse apples,” Lost Relic snapped. “How bad could your family –“
“I’m directly descended from King Sombra. I presume I don’t need to elaborate as to why that would offer me some insight as to how you feel.”
Moonwhisper’s declaration left both Lost Relic and Rainbow Dash in stunned silence. Lost Relic could only nod his head as he processed what Moonwhisper had revealed. Rainbow Dash recovered a bit quicker, but wasn’t much more coherent. “Y - whuh - Huh?” Rainbow Dash managed to sputter.
“It doesn’t sound like your friend was aware of your heritage,” Lost Relic remarked as he recovered from the surprise. “Isn’t it a bit hypocritical for you to be judging me then?”
Moonwhisper shook his head. “I’m not judging you for not advertising your relationship with Caballeron. That said, there’s a difference between keeping your relationship private and being so afraid of those around you finding out that you’re willing to allow ponies to be hurt so you can keep your secret. Believe me when I tell you that you can’t let yourself be so paralyzed with fear that you let yourself become closed off completely.”
“And what happens when I open myself up and I lose everything?” Lost Relic countered. “Sure, I regret having to pass up on having any kind of personal relationships, but when the alternative would be to lose the trust I’ve built up –“
“As opposed to how you’ll lose that trust when you go through with Caballeron’s plan?” Moonwhisper asked, cowing Lost Relic into silence. “What it comes down to, Mister Relic, is you have a choice. You can choose to trust your companions with your secret and have faith that they’ll still see you as the pony you are and not judge you for who you’re related to. Or, on the other hoof, you can keep silent, go along with Caballeron’s plot and prove that everypony who would scorn you for your familial connections would be completely right to do so.”
“Hey, isn’t that a little harsh?” Rainbow Dash interjected.
“Is it? Lost Relic is afraid that he’d be seen as an untrustworthy criminal if the truth about Caballeron were widely known. But, if he were to go through with Caballeron’s plan he would prove fairly conclusively that he really couldn’t be trusted.”
“That’s…actually you kinda have a point,” Rainbow Dash conceded. “I mean, if you helped Caballeron you really wouldn’t be all that different from one of his goons.”
Desperately, Lost Relic looked from Moonwhisper to Rainbow Dash and back again before hanging his head in despair. “You’re right, I can’t let Caballeron get away with what he’s planning. But, even if I don’t help him that won’t stop Caballeron from robbing us. In fact, knowing my brother he’d probably do even more damage than he would otherwise just to spite me,” Lost Relic said glumly.
“So stop him!” Rainbow Dash retorted. “Warn everypony at your dig that he’s coming. I mean, you’ve got a ton of ponies there, you could totally stop Caballeron if you all worked together.”
“Are you sure about that?” Lost Relic asked pointedly. “Sure, we may outnumber them, but most of the ponies here are researchers, academics. I’m not so sure we’d be able to take on the sort of thugs my brother would have with him.”
“Actually,” Moonwhisper said as he shared a knowing grin with Rainbow Dash. “I believe that Miss Dash and I should be more than capable of assisting you with that particular issue.”
*********
The following evening, Caballeron and four of his hired goons crept into the excavation site. “Ya really think your brother will have unlocked the shed like you told him too?” one of the goons asked.
“I have no doubt that Lost Relic will do exactly as I have instructed,” Caballeron said confidently. “My younger brother cares far too much for his academic career to dare risk running his reputation. And if he does decide to suddenly grow a backbone…well, we’ll see what those pompous idiots at the Royal Canterlot University have to say about our relationship!” Caballeron added before chuckling evilly. “I might even suggest that he had alerted me to the tablet’s existence in the first place, just to ensure his complete ruination.”
Caballeron and his goons burst into laughter at this last threat, confident that there was nopony to hear them. Their laughter quickly died, however, when they reached their destination. Standing defiantly between them and their goal was Lost Relic, a look of grim determination stamped onto his features. “I’m not letting you in, Caballeron, so just do yourself a favor and turn around and walk away.”
“My dear brother, what do you think you’re doing?” Caballeron asked as he fought to contain his rising anger. “Perhaps you have forgotten the price you risk paying for your stubbornness. It would truly be a shame if somepony were forced to alert your university about your…unsavory familial ties.”
“It’s a little late to threaten him with that, you jerk!” a voice called out from one of the surrounding tents. Sunshine Song promptly emerged from the largest of the tents, followed by a dozen or so other ponies. “Lost Relic already told us everything about you, so don’t think you’re going to be able to blackmail him into anything!”
Backing away from the mob of angry archeologists slowly encircling him, Caballeron turned back to Lost Relic to find him flanked by Rainbow Dash and Moonwhisper. “Hello, Caballeron, remember me?” Rainbow Dash sneered with a wicked grin.
Caballeron’s eyes widened in recognition. “You! Did Daring Do put you up to this? It isn’t bad enough that I have to guard against her interference, but now she’s sending her sidekick to thwart me as well?” Caballeron turned to Moonwhisper. “And as for you, I…I…actually, I don’t recall every meeting you before. Are you another of my rival’s detestable fans?”
“Not particularly,” Moonwhisper said before turning to Rainbow Dash. “I’d say it would be somewhat premature to refer to myself as a fan before I’ve read any of her novels.” Seeing Rainbow Dash shrug in response, Moonwhisper turned back to Caballeron. “As for who I am, my name is Captain Moonwhisper of the Equestrian Royal Guard. I was originally sent here to resolve a friendship problem on behalf of Princess Twilight. However, of more immediate concern to yourself would be the fact that I have been made aware of the fact that the municipality of Somnambula has an outstanding warrant issued for your arrest for grand larceny. As such, under my authority as a member of the Equestrian Guard I am hereby placing you under arrest.”
Caballeron quickly began backing away from Moonwhisper, only to realize that Lost Relic’s follow archeologists had cut off his escape. “I, well, you see, this is really all just a misunder – GET THEM!” Caballeron suddenly shouted at his goons. Obediently, the four stallions simultaneously launched themselves at Moonwhisper, likely hoping to quickly subdue him through a combination of surprise and numbers.
It would be perhaps overly generous to refer to what followed as a fight. The instant Caballeron’s goons came within reach Moonwhisper launched into a blur of action. In the blink of an eye the four stallions were sent sprawling back onto the ground barely conscious. “It would appear that I’ll need to add resisting arrest to the list of charges,” Moonwhisper said mildly.
“Eh, you’ve got the whole fighting thing down, but you’ll need to work on your one-liners if you want to be as awesome as Daring Do,” Rainbow Dash said. “Personally, I’d give it a…let’s say seven out of ten altogether.”
“I didn’t intend my statement to be a one-liner,” Moonwhisper protested. “I’m quite serious about recommending charges for resisting arrest be added to – and he’s getting away.” Sure enough, the sight of Moonwhisper effortlessly dispatching his minions had convinced Caballeron that it was in his best interest to retreat. As such, Caballeron had shoved his way past the assembled archeologists and was now galloping away into the desert. “Hmm, Miss Dash, would you mind intercepting the fugitive?”
“On it!” Rainbow Dash said as she exploded into the air. Moments later a multicolored blur crashed down from the sky smashing Caballeron into the ground.
“I never dreamed I’d actually say this,” Caballeron groaned as he lay at the bottom of the crater Rainbow Dash’s landing had created. “But I think I actually miss having to deal with Daring Do.”
*********
“I want to thank you both again for all you’ve done for me,” Lost Relic said to Rainbow Dash and Moonwhisper. “I’ll finally be able to stop living in fear over the idea that somepony might find out about my brother.”
“Yeah, and Sunshine Song said she and the rest of your team will have your back if anypony at your university tries anything,” Rainbow Dash said encouragingly.
“Also, I had a chat with Caballeron before the authorities collected him. Let it suffice to say I feel confident that he won’t make any attempts at retribution against you,” Moonwhisper added. Rainbow Dash recalled the look of terror that Caballeron had had after Moonwhisper’s ‘chat’ with him and privately suspected it was best that she didn’t know the specifics of what he had said.
“Anyway, I need to get back to the excavation. Sunshine wants to talk with me about a theory she has regarding the significance of the site’s layout. Thank you again!” With that, Lost Relic dashed off back towards the site, pausing only to turn and wave goodbye one last time. As Lost Relic disappeared from view, both ponies felt a tingling along their flanks as their cutie marks signaled their mission was a success.
“Nice! Another map mission taken care of,” Rainbow Dash declared happily. “What do you say we start heading back to Ponyville?”
“That sounds acceptable to me. No doubt Twilight is going to want to debrief me regarding how this mission went.”
“Not to mention there’s something else she’s gonna need to talk to you about,” Rainbow Dash added with a grin.
“Oh, and what would that be?” Moonwhisper asked.
“Getting you to start reading Daring Do, of course! You’re definitely going to want to read the first three books at least. Personally, I think the books just keep getting better after that, but my friend Quibble Pants thinks…”
Rainbow Dash continued to excitedly talk about Moonwhisper’s impending indoctrination into the world of Daring Do as Moonwhisper simply rolled his eyes. “Well,” Moonwhisper thought to himself, “I suppose this is preferable to having to talk about my own family history.”