The Warden: Part 3, Dream of the Warden

Luna fell onto her flanks as the sheer weight of what she had just seen came to bear. Tears streamed freely down her face, and her breathing came in short, sharp, quivering gasps and sobs as her composure finally broke.

Although the sequence had ended, the images of what had happened were forever etched into her memory.

The sight of Casemate, Edelweiss, and Barbette all clinging to each other as Nightmare Moon cornered them… The image of the family being torn away from each other, the pure fear and heartrending realization in their expressions as they were separated forever… And the last scene, when Casemate, the courageous, loving, and protective stallion, was reduced to curling up on the ground as his heart broke…

These images replayed over and over in her mind, her heart breaking a little more each time for the undeserving ponies that she had wronged.

She shook her head, closing her eyes as she felt a raw mixture of anger and sadness toss around her soul.

“Why…?” She asked herself, her voice cracking and squeaking as she cried. “Why did I let her out?”

In one moment of weakness, having been put down by Celestia’s pride for the umpteenth time, Luna allowed Nightmare Moon to become dominant, believing her promises of justice and fairness like a fool.

Luna didn’t want anypony to die. She just wanted Celestia to be taught a lesson for mistreating her, and Nightmare offered a way to do so. But when Nightmare took the helm, Luna realized that her darker self was not all she seemed.

She shut Luna in, clouded her consciousness, and began to lash out with impunity against anypony who even looked at her sideways…

Luna remembered the hopelessness when she realized that she could not control Nightmare or her actions until it was far, far too late, and all she could do was watch through the haze as Nightmare wrought the terrible acts of that night.

Luna was always wracked with guilt over what had happened that night, and it got so bad, she was willing to just allow Casemate to kill her at Canterlot.

But now, having rewatched the moment of Casemate’s loss without the haze thrown up by Nightmare, her anguish had been doubled.

She knew that Nightmare had done away with them before, but the new knowledge of the love that she had severed, the childhood she had ended, and the fact that she had backstabbed Casemate despite him electing not to destroy her right away, was just too much for her to handle.

It didn’t matter if she wasn’t the one who committed the acts. She let it happen.

She felt like a monster. An irredeemable murderer. An idiot. A heartless, cruel, and unfeeling wretch; The opposite of what she was meant to be.

With every fiber of her being, she wished that she could save them, that she could have prevented herself from allowing all this horror and tragedy to occur.

And so, Luna remained. Crying and sobbing harder than she ever had before, crushed by the weight of her mistake. Tears steadily streamed down her cheeks, one after another, sparkling and shimmering with deep, genuine, burning remorse.

But then she heard a sniff from the Warden.

She looked up, seeing him standing a few paces off, facing away towards the darkness.

He had not made a single sound besides his breathing since the last sequence, yet another testament to his stoicism.

But as always, Luna could feel what lay underneath.

Fighting through her own mire of remorse and grief, she closed her eyes, causing a few more sparkling teardrops to fall, leaving moist streaks as they trailed downwards. She inhaled as steadily as she could, struggling to regulate her breathing in an immense effort to compose herself enough to properly gauge his emotions.

However, when she was finally able to do so, his own emotions crashed through, too much to withstand.

Her throat tightened, her eyes watered, and her emotions gushed out as she broke down once again, his own silent anguish fuelling her own, as gasoline does a fire.

The degree of grief and heartbreak that he was experiencing was among the most intense of any pony whom she had ever visited in the dream realm.

Luna had been to the dreams of foals who had lost their parents, parents who had lost their foals, and ponies who had lost the love of their life.

She knew what anguish and grief felt like, having sensed it from others far more times than she would have liked.

But the Warden’s heartbreak…?

It hit much deeper than she had ever known.

His heart was broken. Sadness and grief dominated his soul, and Luna was helpless to stop it.

This tore her apart. Deep down, her driving purpose was to help others understand their own feelings and desires, and help counsel them when they needed comfort or support.

But here, when she was the one who helped this thing happen… She could feel each and every ounce of his silent suffering, and she was the cause.

“I-I’m so sorry…” She cried, shaking her head once more as she looked away. “Casemate… I… I’m so sorry I let this happen…”

Casemate did not make any effort to respond. He simply stood there, gazing out into the void.

Luna continued to cry in the darkness, the images of the family flashing in her mind again and again, the guilt piling up higher and higher.

…

But as the minutes passed, her gushing emotions finally began to taper. She was still crying, but her previously uncontrolled sobs had mostly given away to sharp, forced breaths and some softened sniffling.

As horrible as she felt about what she did, Luna’s rationality began to speak in the back of her mind.

She couldn’t sit here and mourn forever. She had a purpose behind her being here that was yet to be fulfilled. It was the very reason why she had subjected herself to all this in the first place.

But did she dare ask?

Could she even bring herself to ask?

She did not deserve his forgiveness. After what she did, she deserved nothing but his scorn and anger.

…

But she did make it through.

Despite her fear, guilt, shame, and Nightmare Moon trying her hardest to manipulate her into giving up, Luna had made it. She had done what he had asked of her.

If there was a time to ask the question that she had been simultaneously wanting and dreading, it was now.

Luna gave a wet sounding sniff as she exhaled nervously.

She had no idea what he would say. He had every reason to refuse forgiveness, and if he did, she would hold absolutely nothing against him.

But there was still a chance that he would defy her expectations. Luna did just show him several instances where the subject of forgiveness and compassion were taught to him by his loved ones.

If he found it in his heart to forgive her for enabling Nightmare Moon to take away his wife and daughter, Luna knew that there was a good chance that maybe, just maybe, she could forgive herself. If she were to forgive herself, then there was little doubt that she could vanquish Nightmare Moon right then and there, and keep everypony safe from her.

…

But after all she had done, did she deserve to ask?

She certainly didn’t feel that way.

As her thoughts dwelled upon the subject of forgiveness, she recalled something; Something that Twilight Sparkle once said. It was in the aftermath of the Warden’s attack on Canterlot, when Twilight was explaining to her why she decided to forgive Celestia for hiding her past.

…

“She didn't deserve to be forgiven, but isn't that why true forgiveness is so powerful? It's as she told me: When given unconditionally, there is really nothing more potent at healing great wrongs.”

…

Luna sighed deeply as she reflected on her young friend’s profound words. Like a great many things Twilight has said, it was very true.

No matter what Luna could do or say, she could never earn forgiveness. She could never undo what had already been done.

It was up to Casemate to decide whether or not to give it to her, which meant that the only thing Luna could do was ask.

If she didn't, her efforts would have been for nothing, and even worse, Casemate's trauma would have been reawakened for no purpose.

There was also the matter of Nightmare Moon to address. If Luna didn’t at least try to push back, there was a possibility that Nightmare would have another uncontested win, something that Luna had sworn not to allow again.

She had to ask, no matter the outcome.

With a quavering exhalation from her mouth, Luna raised her head, overcoming the immense weight of her fear and sadness. She put everything into steeling her nerves, collecting her scattered emotions and thoughts. But most of all, despite the odds being stacked against her, she clung on to the one thing that had sustained her all this time.

Hope…

She opened her shimmering, soft eyes, gazing upon Casemate.

Then, in full defiance of her shame and fear, she spoke.

“Casemate…?” She asked softly, her voice sounding somewhat hoarse from her previous crying. “I-”

Casemate sharply raised a hoof, still facing away. He inhaled sharply, and Luna sensed a surge of heat within his soul. She fell silent, her words coming to an abrupt halt.

Luna wanted to ask the question, badly. But this gesture from Casemate conveyed a signal that he wanted to say something. Her words died in her mouth as a new sense of dread arose.

Casemate exhaled slowly, a slight tremble audible in the sound. His body relaxed and slumped, and he gradually put his hoof back down.

An immense sense of bleakness and sorrow loomed large within him, growing as his body language reflected the sadness coming up to the surface.

Luna felt her faint optimism falter as these feelings amplified.

Then, quietly, he spoke.

“You gave me everything good in my life.” He said, his tone unusually soft. “You know that? Your kindness, your desire to care, your love… It changed my destiny in ways that I never could have imagined.”

Luna's ears perked up as she listened, having not expected this from him. Was he speaking of her in a positive light?

“That dream…” He continued. “If you hadn't come to me in that dream, back when I was a colt, what would have become of me?”

He gave a gentle scoff, shaking his head.

“I would not have known happiness and love. I would have remained an abused, broken colt who would have become a needlessly violent warrior, like my father.”

He raised his head, still facing off into the darkness.

“But it was your guidance that showed me the way. You gave me the hope and motivation to escape and overcome my circumstances…”

Luna's heart began to beat a bit faster as these truths began to hit her ears. He wasn't responding with anger or hate, unlike when she first arrived.

But something about how he was saying all this kept her hope from burning any brighter. There was a lot of hurt and sadness in his voice, along with a hint of hopelessness that was all too noticeable to her.

“Do you know what else, princess?” He asked, continuing. “You enabled me to go to Halterburg. You enabled me to find a family that loved me, something that I needed desperately. I owe all the love and nurturing that Aunt Parapet gave me to you.”

His tone shifted, revealing a hint of warmth amid his sorrow.

“I also met my precious mountain flower because of you. Edelweiss would have never come into my life. She would have never become the light I needed, nor would she have shown me how to have grace and compassion.” He said, shaking his head.

He lifted a foreleg off the ground, and brought it to his chest, directly over his heart. He drew in a trembling breath, sighing as he visibly struggled to keep his emotions from gushing forth.

“She…was everything to me. She meant the world to me. I would have dropped everything for her; My life, my purpose… My duty as a Warden… Everything. And she would have gladly done the same.”

Luna’s heart twisted as she heard him speak of his wife. He was actually opening up to her, reminding her of what he once had, thanks to her intervention in his life.

He turned his head to look back at her from the side of his eye, and in the darkness she could see a small, shimmering streak trailing down his face.

“What she and I had was unmistakable.” He continued, looking Luna in the eye. “We were more than lovers. We were soulmates. We completed each other, we fixed what was broken, we filled in the holes in our hearts, to the point where I am convinced that I can never love another that way again.”

He gave another quavering sigh, and his head hung lower yet again as he looked away.

“Then there was Barb…” He murmured, giving a small, sad laugh under his breath. “She turned my world upside down in all the best ways. So full of spirit and determination, but so loving as well… She was an extension of myself, except she had an environment where she could flourish, grow happily, and be loved… She wanted to be the next Warden, and I was hoping that she would be better than I ever was…”

He fell silent, and Luna felt an immense cloud of sadness shroud him, causing a lump to return to her throat. The sequences involving his kind, loving wife and his admiring, driven daughter came to her mind, evoking a mixture of emotions within. Happiness for what he once had, admiration for their characters, and bit of love for them as well…

“I-” Casemate said weakly, his voice briefly choking out. “I love them. Even after all these years.”

Luna could not suppress a quiet, tearful shudder. She didn’t have to sense how he felt any more. He was being vulnerable and open, letting her know from his own heart just how badly he missed them.

But then, Luna sensed something change within him. A growing heat, smoldering, simmering below the surface.

“You gave them to me.” Casemate said, his tone and demeanor beginning to shift along with his emotions, gradually losing the softness he previously had. “You allowed me to have everything I needed and loved.”

Luna blinked away her tears, the ominous heat within him continuing to build. Her heart thudded within her chest as the feeling grew, and her anxiety began to flare up.

He paused for a few seconds, and she watched as Casemate’s ear became rigid, flattening against his head. His posture stiffened, and his breathing lost the shaken trembling that it once had, replaced with a steady, intensifying rhythm.

Then, with a stiff, strained tone, he spoke.

“And you took them away.”

He whipped around, facing her for the first time since the sequence with Celestia. His gaze was fixed on her, his eyes widened and glaring with rage boiling underneath.

Luna flinched, feeling her heart skipping a beat and her spirit faltering.

He was angry, and contrary to her hopes, it was all directed at her.

“You…” He uttered through clenched teeth, raising a foreleg and pointing it at her. “You let this happen! You failed me! You failedTHEM!”

It felt like a spear had been thrown through Luna’s hopes. This was not going the way she wanted it to. He was relapsing into his anger and bitterness, just as Nightmare Moon predicted!

Luna sat there, trying to think as she watched and listened.

She couldn’t let Nightmare be right!

“No!” Luna interjected, her desperation leading her to speak without truly thinking. “That was Nightmare Moon, not me! If I knew-”

“Again with the excuses!” Casemate barked back, taking a few steps forward. “You may not have been the one in control, but I doubt Nightmare just took control on her own that night! No, she needed help, she needed you to give up, and you did!”

Luna’s heart lurched as she frantically closed her mouth, keeping herself from speaking on impulse any further. Casemate's approach also compelled her to swiftly stand up and start backing away as he continued.

“Like it or not, you failed that night!” He shouted, his tone and expression dripping with rage. “Your failure undid every good thing that came from your guidance to me!”

He continued to step forwards, his pace and presence growing more oppressive and frightening for Luna as she continued to back away. Each of his words fell upon her heart like a sledgehammer, each hard truth landing with devastating effect. She opened her mouth again in an effort to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, all she could do was shake her head and listen as Casemate continued to give her the condemnation she knew she deserved.

“You can't just pin the blame on Nightmare! Not when you just- Just… Let it happen!” He exclaimed, halting his advance.

He lowered his head, and his emotions began to climax. An intense mixture of anguish and bitterness swirled within him, and he looked up at Luna with a glare of unmatched resentment.

Then, he spoke again, his voice lowered as he delivered his verdict.

“Although you didn’t do it intentionally, you are still to blame for leaving me broken after building me up. That was bad enough, but casting away my wife and my daughter? Condemning the two ponies whom I loved more than anything to an unknown fate?”

He paused to draw in a short breath, closing his eyes.

“I will not forgive you.”

…

With those five words, Luna’s hopes were utterly dashed.

That was his choice.

After being subjected to all these sequences, to all the trauma that had been reawakened, putting in so much willpower to rebuke Nightmare Moon, and allowing herself to be carried by the slim hope that maybe she could be forgiven…

He said no.

…

At first, Luna simply blinked. Her ears twitched, her tail swished, and she looked blankly at Casemate.

There was a lengthy silence, and a look of disbelief gradually spread across her features.

She couldn’t figure out how to react.

She was struggling to accept this.

…

But as the seconds passed, reality and awareness set in.

With a sudden wave of despair, Luna realized her hopes had become obliterated.

Why was she so surprised? She should have seen it coming. The odds were always stacked against her, and she knew it. From the beginning of the dream, she saw and felt Casemate’s grief and anger directed at her. To forgive her would have taken a supernatural degree of compassion, something that very few, if any, possessed.

Nightmare Moon, in spite of all her manipulations and lies, had told some truths. Even though she was trying to convince Luna to give up, her remarks about how Casemate would never forgive her were spoken truthfully.

Was Nightmare’s musings about Luna not deserving to be forgiven correct as well?

It was.

There was no room for debate. No amount of posturing or clinging onto a delusion of hope would change her conclusion.

Luna knew that this was what she deserved.

Although she desperately wanted to believe otherwise, she felt as if unforgiveness was what she had coming.

She had built Casemate up, only to allow him to be torn down…

She had enabled him to find love and start a family he loved, only to let them be ripped away…

And she indirectly allowed the sweet and loving Edelweiss to be cast out into the unknown, along with the spirited and courageous Barbette.

Acknowledging that after all she had allowed to happen, she knew that his anger was justified all along.

Silently, Luna began to berate herself.

Why did she grasp that fragile hope like an idiot, when everything indicated that hope was nothing more than a mirage?

She had deliberately tunneled in on her faint, fickle hopes that maybe, just maybe, Casemate would forgive her for doing the unforgivable. It was the only way that she was able to persist through all these sequences, to fulfill Casemate’s request.

However, by electing to not ultimately focus on the most likely outcome, she made the inevitable, painful fall back to reality far worse for herself.

In her desperation to prove Nightmare wrong, had she only just made things worse for herself, instead of just accepting that he would never forgive her?

Luna sat back down upon her flanks, her tears finally returning from the shock. Deep within her sunken soul, a new bleakness began to creep up, taking the place of the lost hope: The realization that there was a very real chance that Nightmare Moon was not lying after all…

She was unforgivable.

And so Luna remained for a minute or two, crying softly while she sat, finally coming to accept that Casemate had made his choice.

Luna felt a new surge of sadness and a deep sense of remorse…

But it was not hers.

…

She paused, her ears raising slightly.

That was Casemate.

She lifted her eyes to look at him, and he was facing away once again, his ear drooping, as opposed to being pinned.

He was trying to hide his face, but he couldn't hide his heart from her.

All night, Luna had been sensing anger, resentment, grief, and sadness from him. But one of the more noticable emotions he felt less often was just as significant.

Regret.

Did he… Regret not forgiving her?

Come to think of it, why did he put her through all of this?

He did say that he ‘needed’ her to replay those moments from his life, presumably to find clarity for his choice.

That would suggest that throughout the course of the dream, he was not sure whether or not he should forgive her, for some reason or another.

This caused the need for an answer to buzz in her mind.

If she was going to accept this turn of events, she needed to know why he had made a genuine effort to make a choice, and why he decided to not forgive if he had been open to the possibility before.

Luna felt fear twist her heart, attempting to force her tongue to be still as she recalled how speaking rashly had only inflamed the situation.

But if there was one thing Luna had no lack of, it was courage. She summoned all her remaining willpower, and spoke up.

“Why?”

Her question hung in the air for a moment, and Luna saw Casemate’s ear swivel towards her. Within him, she felt a sense of unease, like he did not want to answer.

But like her, he found the will to speak anyway.

“I thought there was a chance.” He murmured, his voice having become somewhat hoarse and significantly quieter.

Luna sat upright, her ears rising erect. Did she hear him right?

“...What?”

“I thought that there was a chance that I could forgive you, alright?!” He barked back. Although he was raising his voice again, anger was no longer exclusively the driving force. Rather, there was a sense of regret mixed in. “If I knew from the start that I could not forgive, then I would not have led you through all these past memories just to make you suffer! I’m- I’m…”

He exhaled in an exasperated manner, shaking his head.

“I’m angry, but not cruel. I wouldn’t have strung you along just to play with you, okay?”

This rang true in Luna’s mind, despite her emotionally charged state. If all the sequences had shown anything, it was that Casemate was not sadistic, nor did he draw pleasure from seeing others suffer. Yes, he did try to kill her and Celestia back at Canterlot, but he himself admitted that he knew he was wrong to do that.

Yet, Luna felt a heart wrenching sense of sadness upon hearing this from him.

It would have been bad enough if he was simply toying with her hopes just to torment her from the very beginning.

But to see him willingly make a choice that she knew that deep down he did not want to make? To see him withhold forgiveness, even though he only stood to suffer more as a result?

It was nothing less than tragic.

Luna drew in a shuddering breath, trying to understand.

Why did he not forgive when he had the opportunity to let go and suffer less?

After a few moments, she realized that she needed a little more context in order to fully understand.

“Edelweiss and Barbette…” Luna murmured softly, barely audible. “They are the reason why you gave me that chance, are they not?”

This was met with an audible sigh from Casemate, whose head lowered in sorrow. He didn’t respond verbally, but a surge of deep regret inside his heart told Luna all she needed to know.

Her thoughts wandered to the previous sequences, the one where he chose not to forgive his father in particular. She remembered vividly how disappointed Edelweiss was with him, and how his past self distinctly regretted letting her down.

After all that she had done for him, and all her efforts to try and allow him to see how unforgiveness only begets further misery and anger, he still went against what she stood for and lived by, and in doing so, he hurt the one whom he loved so dearly.

And just one sequence ago, before Nightmare Moon revealed herself, Casemate expressed his regret to his wife.

…

“I don’t want to disappoint you again, Edel.”

…

Casemate’s regret was also not limited to disappointing his love, but his daughter as well. In Luna’s mind, the sequence that came a bit earlier than the last one came up, the one where he taught Barbette to use that fighting technique.

…

“I’m not going to lie, I still feel anger towards him. If Princess Luna hadn’t come to me in my time of need, I would have ended up just like him.”

“By being angry? But… If you didn’t want to be angry like him, why did you decide to be angry at him? What’s the difference?”

“I… I don’t know if there is any difference between him and me in that regard, Barb. I was so angry at how badly he treated me… I couldn’t bring myself to fully forgive him when I had the chance.”

“Dad, if you had the chance now, would you have forgiven him?”

“I don’t know. But there have been many times when I feel like I should have done so. But I cannot change the past. The hard truth is that I made a choice, and now I have to live with the fact that I cannot be the perfect role model that I want to be for you… Barb? I… I want to make something clear to you… I like to think that I am a good example for you to follow, and I know you think highly of me. But I have made mistakes that I really don't want you to make. Just… Please promise to learn from my mistakes too, in addition to your own. Don't take the same path I did, okay?”

…

He wanted to be the best that he could be for his beloved wife and his daughter. He failed when he didn’t forgive his father, and it stuck with him, even years afterward.

He knew, deep down, that forgiveness would have been the best choice. Otherwise, he would not have expressed remorse to them.

If it pained him that much to acknowledge his failure to them then, how much more remorse did he feel now that he had denied forgiveness again?

Luna knew. She sensed it.

She could feel it tearing him apart. Beneath the stubborn layer of stoicism that he was trying so hard to maintain, his heartache had only amplified.

Gradually, her concern and subdued desperation shifted. For most of the night, her main focus was combating Nightmare Moon, and trying to find a way to forgive herself.

But now?

She could accept not being forgiven for her own sake, but she couldn’t bear to see him so mired in misery and sadness. Her purpose was to help and guide others, and her heart no longer cried out for her own well being and the defeat of Nightmare.

Now she just wanted for him to be less broken.

“Casemate?” She asked softly, sniffling and breaking the silence. “Would they have wanted you to hold on to your suffering?”

Casemate inhaled deeply when he heard her. He turned around to face her yet again, and he looked deeply conflicted.

His eyes revealed a soul that was torn between anger, sadness, and helplessness. He didn’t quite seem to know what to think or say. Her question had penetrated deep, as she had intended.

Finally, after a period of silence, Casemate found an answer.

“No.”

Luna’s throat tightened.

So, he also knew. He understood that holding on was hurting himself just as much as it was hurting her.

The princess knew better than to ask him to reconsider for her sake, but she had to make an effort to help him for his own. After how she had betrayed him, she had to do something, or at least try to ease his internal suffering.

“Then if you will, please tell me this…” She asked in a slightly trembling voice. “It is not my intention to question your choice, it would be far out of my place if I did. But if you know that your loved ones only wanted for you to live a life free of anger and bitterness, why did you decide to not forgive again, even if that is against what they stood for?”

There was a period of silence as Casemate pondered her question. Luna’s heart pounded deep in her chest, and she anxiously awaited his reply.

And soon, he did.

“...Because without them, there’s no point.” He murmured.

Luna’s hurt for him surged when she heard that.

“Wh- Casemate… What about you?” She objected, her tone betraying how saddened she was to hear this from him. “They would have been heartbroken to see you like this… Why not let go for your own sake? For their memory?”

“Because Edelweiss and Barbette were my motivation to be better!” Casemate responded bitterly, his anger beginning to boil again. “They were my purpose. They were the better parts of me that I wanted to see surpass me in every possible way. They were my anchor keeping me from drifting. They were the reason I needed to rise above the snare that my father got caught in.”

He paused, his green eyes burning with resentment and pain as he glared at Luna. Then, striding closer to her, he hissed.

“But they’re gone now, and you let them be taken.”

Luna felt his soul feel as if it was being torn asunder as he made this admission, only amplifying her own heartbreak as she began to break down again. She collapsed onto her haunches, and she looked up at Casemate as he drew closer. He came up to about a foot from her, looming above her as tears fell from her shimmering eyes.

Just like at Canterlot.

“Now I no longer have anypony who depends on me.” He continued. “I no longer have anypony to protect. I no longer have anypony who shares my heart. I no longer have anypony to love. I no longer have anypony to be better nor anchored for…”

His tone lowered, and his moistening eyes glared.

“And as you witnessed here tonight, my purpose was not only to protect Equestria. I was also meant to protect and nurture those I loved. My fulfillment didn’t just come with my cutie mark or with the title of Warden. It came with Edel and Barb.”

He faltered, closing his eyes tightly as he briefly grimaced, taking in a sharp, shaking breath through his teeth, his deepest emotions fully surfacing.

“They…were a part of me, in body and in soul. When I lost them, a big part of me was lost forever. That didn’t just include my heart, but a part of my purpose as well.”

He opened his eyes, and it was as if a veil had been fully lifted. Though her own vision was blurred by tears, Luna realized that she could clearly and unmistakably see into his soul.

For a moment, there was no anger. Only heartbreak.

“With nopony to love and protect, what am I?” He asked. “I’m just a Warden with no other purpose than to be a warrior, with no need for compassion. Just like my father.”

Luna felt her heart drop.

She didn’t want to believe it. Casemate was so… So courageous, selfless, loving, and caring beneath his exterior! All of the past sequences showed it! He was a proper hero, unlike Bastion! It was inconceivable that he could ever be like his father!

Yet, at the back of her mind, she couldn’t shake the truth.

Like his father, he had lost his loved ones. Like his father, he was angry and bitter. Like his father, he took out his deep resentment and anger on others.

But worst of all, like his father before him, he was broken, and he knew it.

Casemate sighed deeply.

“So, I ask you this, princess: Without a family, without a single pony who looks up to me and depends on me, why should I forgive? Why should I let go, when it will have no effect on what little meaning I have left without them?”

He shook his head, while Luna continued to feel her heart sink to new depths upon seeing the full extent of his brokenness.

“I will tell you once more.” He continued. “No matter what they told me, no matter how much my heart wants to move on… I just can’t find a reason without the piece of me that you took along with them.”

Luna’s mouth contorted as she struggled to keep from utterly falling apart. Her lips quivered, she looked away and inhaled sharply, having finally been shown just how badly she had torn him apart.

Although she wasn’t directly responsible, by letting Nightmare have her way, Luna had enabled her to tear apart a family, doom a mare and her filly to a fate unknown, take away the ponies Casemate loved and needed, break his heart, undo his very purpose, steal his fulfillment, squash his will, and in doing so…

Luna broke him.

He yearned for comfort and healing, with the innermost reaches of his being. But he couldn’t bring himself to let go. His anger, resentment, grief and guilt all kept him mired…

In many ways, Luna could see herself in him.

But unlike her, he didn’t have a sister who loved him and wanted to make amends. He didn’t have a circle of dedicated friends to hold him accountable and remind him that he was forgiven.

And Luna knew that he resented her far too much to accept any further help.

He was alone, and without a pony to help him, he would live a life marked with nothing but anger, sadness, remorse, and suffering, although deep in his heart, he knew things didn’t have to be so bleak…

That was the tragedy that Luna had brought upon him.

Luna shuddered as she began to cry yet again. Her heart was utterly shattered. Not for herself, but for him.

“I’m- So sorry…” She said between sobs, shaking her head. “F-For this… For doing…this to you, and them… Even if you don’t forgive me, I still wish that none of this had ever happened…”

As Luna finally poured out the full extent of her sorrow, she did something that she had never done for anypony other than her sister…

The princess of the night splayed herself onto the ground before him, laying down in full vulnerability and humility, crying and shaking.

“Casemate… I-If I knew Nightmare would do those things… I-I would have just remained content under Celestia’s treatment of me! None of you deserved any of this!”

As her thoughts centered around his wife and child, and how happy he was with them, she began to sob even harder, trembling on the floor as she squeaked out a final attempt to get him to let go for his own sake.

“Please, Casemate! If you won’t forgive for my sake, then forgive for yourself and the m-memory of them! Please… Don’t let my mistake ruin you forever!”

She shook her head, her crying softening and her despair fully setting in.

“Please… I know you want to let go… Just… Please…”

Luna exhaled shakily, closing her eyes and remaining prostrate on the ground.

That was all she had left. Her last ditch effort at trying to fix anything she could for him. Her hopes were gone, but she still genuinely wanted for him to undo at least a little bit of the damage she had caused.

But Casemate just shook his head as he looked down at her, and gave a crushed murmur.

“Just leave. I’m sorry I even tried.”

With that, Luna just trembled as her sadness fully engulfed her soul.

That was it.

There was nothing else to say. Nothing to hope for. Nothing to do, but accept that he was a heartbroken stallion who could not bring himself to forgive.

The worst part for Luna was not that she would have to contend with Nightmare now that Casemate had denied her the forgiveness she needed to combat her darker self. Rather, it was knowing that in her own weakness, she was the one who broke him.

This was her own doing. In a poetic manner, it all came back to haunt her, as she felt she deserved.

Gradually, Luna picked herself back up, wiping her nose and sniffling. Bit by bit, acceptance was beginning to dampen her emotions.

Soon, she came to the conclusion that there was indeed no point in staying any longer.

She had found her answer.

She turned to face away, and her horn began to glow, opening a doorway into the dream realm.

And yet, something tugged at her heart.

She paused, and looked at Casemate standing alone in the darkness from the side of her glistening, tearful eye.

He looked so… Hopeless… Bleak…

It crushed Luna to leave him like this. But there was nothing more she could do. He wasn’t going to forgive her, nor could she give him what he so desperately needed in his life…

…

But there was one who could.

…

Luna’s heart jumped just a little bit as she suddenly remembered somepony.

Despite her despair, a little flicker arose inside her.

She was wrong. There was one last thing she could do.

…

“Edelweiss and Barbette may be gone, Casemate…” Luna murmured softly. “But there is a pony out there who thinks the world of you. Do not make the mistake of forgetting her.”

Casemate exhaled audibly, but otherwise remained silent.

But Luna could sense that her plea had hit home.

He knew.

…

Amid the darkness swirling within her, Luna felt the faintest twinge of relief.

She did all she possibly could. Even if she did not find the forgiveness she needed, at least she was able to remind Casemate that he was not without purpose.

He needed a pony to be better for, a pony to help protect and grow.

And there was one such pony.

…

That moment of brief, fleeting relief was soon over, as Luna looked back through the doorway leading into the dream realm.

It was time to go back, and face the daunting reality of being unforgiven.

Her heart panged one more time, and she let off a saddened sigh. Then, with a few steps, she crossed the threshold leading out of the dream, and closed it behind her.