The drum that stopped beating...
"So as you can see, Queen Storm Runner, this new trade deal you and Queen Majesty have agreed to will be of benefit to both kingdoms!" Twilight whinnied.
"That is indeed correct, my good Twilight!" Storm Runner replied, smiling. "These new trade regulations will be of mutual benefit to both Stormhold and Dream Valley. But I believe it was your remarkable negotiating skills that brought this partnership about."
Twilight was on a diplomatic visit to Stormhold, a peninsular kingdom in Ponyland's southern regions. Too far out of the way to be much notice to any of Ponyland's monster populations, Stormhold enjoyed relative peace in comparison to it's northern neighbors.
Queen Storm Runner, herself, was quite a sight to behold. A brown and white Pegasus mare with a brown and blonde striped mane, the gentle ruler's benign temperament was quite a contrast to her raging thunderstorm cutie mark.
At the moment, the two mares were Trotting through the palace gardens, discussing the final points of the treaty. Behind them trotted Galaxy and Archer, two of the queen's ever loyal bodyguards.
"I must say, I was rather surprised to hear that you were the one conducting the negotiations, Lady Shine." Storm Runner shook her mane. "It is usually your husband Tornado who conducts business with my court."
"Tornado is away on business at Misty Mountain, his home fortress." Twilight replied with a laugh. "You know how stubbornit's ruler can be, being the daughter of Princess Cadence and all."
"Yes... she is the last, after all." Storm Runner replied with a nervous laugh, which her walking companion failed to notice.
The two mares continued to chat, when a nearby stallion guard beat on his drum for the changing of the guard. Twilight Shine seemed to stop in her tracks at the sound.
"Why Twilight!" The queen asked, a look of confusion on her face. "Whatever is the matter?"
"That drum beat..." The pink unicorn whinnied, her eyes slowly tearing up. "He always played his drum like that..."
"T-twilight?" Storm Runner asked, bewildered. "Are you all right?"
"Today was his birthday..." Twilight realized, staring off into space. "I cannot believe I had forgotten..."
"Momma Momma! Look! Daddy got me a drum for my birthday!"
"Well, let's here you play it, little one!"
"Aunt Medley says I'm really good, Some day momma, I'll be the bestest drummer in all of Dream Valley!"
"Twilight, out with it!" Storm Runner. "What in the name of the horsemaster is wrong?"
"Rupa-tum-tum... on his little drum..." Twilight bit her lip, as the tears streamed down her face. The distraught mare galloped away, crying a trail of tears as she went.
"Twilight, wait!" Storm Runner chased after her, silently grumbling about queen majesty sending a poor, overworked mare to conduct a difficult diplomatic meeting.
"Now would you mind telling me what that was all about?"
It wasn't very long before Storm Runner had caught up with the sobbing Twilight, and convinced her to come back and talk about what had been bothering her. They were now in Storm Runner's private quarters, and the queen had dismissed Archer and Galaxy, and the two mares were alone to talk.
"I-I'm sorry about that, your highness, I just let my emotions get the better of me." The pink mare kneeling before the monarch. "It won't happen again."
"There was a reason you were so distraught, my good Twilight." Storm Runner insisted. "Now, from one mare to another... out with it!"
"It- it's my son's birthday." The mare finally replied sadly. "The guard's drumming reminded me of him."
"Your son?" Storm Runner asked in surprise. "You have another child besides Ember?"
Twilight nodded sadly. "His name was Drummer... h-he was born barely a year after Tornado and I wed. I remember, he was so little..."
"Whoa there, little guy! Stop pounding on everything!"
"Tornado, he's just a baby! He's only playing!"
"Well, he doesn't need to pound on my notebooks! I'll have to get him a toy drum, when he gets old enough!"
"Guess his special talent is already starting to show!"
"He was born an earth pony, probably inherited it from my grandmother." Twilight whinnied sadly. "But we didn't care... we loved him for the precious gift he was."
"Oh Twilight, I'm so sorry..." Storm Runner Trotted up to hug her, trying to comfort the Dream Valley mare. "I had no idea!"
"I-it's all right. Really it is!" Twilight told her. "Tornado and I don't... discuss it much..."
"Tell me, Twi" The Pegasus queen asked her. "What was he like?"
"He was the most precious little angel..." Twilight started, as the two mares sat down to talk...
"One thing I can tell you, is Tornado misses him just as much as I do..."
"Thane Firehooves..." Dr. Medicin scowled at him. "Would you please calm yourself down? We'll let you know when something happens!"
Tornado paced back and forth in the waiting room, nervous as a cat. How long was this going to take? It had been a mere nine months ago that Twilight had given him the happy news- she was with foal... and he was going to be a father!
The ten months that followed, had left him with so many questions. Was it going to be a boy or a girl? What kind of father would he be? Doubts and fears mixed with anticipation and excitement, as he bartered for a crib and baby clothes for their new arrival.
Now here he was, pacing back and forth, waiting for some piece of news on what was going on in there. He could feel his Twilight's pain and discomfort over the lifebond, and so wished she didn't have to go through this kind of suffering to bring a life into the world.
"NEEEEIIIIIIIIGGHHHHHHH!" An ear splitting whinny of pain tore through the castle's medical wing, and Tornado almost fell over from the sheer burst of intense pain he felt come over the lifebond. The next sound the stallion heard, was the soft cry of a new life coming into the world.
"Congratulations, Thane Firehooves! You're a father!" Nurse Sweetheart trotted out and told him, smiling. "It's a boy! You can go in and see them now."
His heart racing, Tornado slowly trotted into the delivery room, where an exhausted twilight was holding the newborn foal in her hooves.
"Tornado, look..." Twilight rasped out, exhausted. "He's beautiful, h-he's perfect..."
"You both are, my love." Tornado replied, smiling down at his small family. "You both are."
"It must have been an extremely emotional time for you." Storm Runner Commented. "After you got the baby home."
"I was able to recover quickly, and that's when the chaotic routines started." Twilight said with a laugh. "It's funny to look back on it now, but at the time, we were both ready to tear our manes out!"
"WWWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
The sound of a three month old colt tore through the Dream Castle tower room at 3 a.m..
"Tornado, you handle it this time!" Twilight groaned, rolling over, and pulling the covers over her head. "I handled it the last two!"
"But what if he's hungry?" Tornado groaned, throwing the sheets off. "That's your department, not mine!"
The pink mare rolled over again, and stared daggers at her husband. "That's what a bottle is for, you goofball!" She hissed out.
Grumbling to himself, Tornado rolled out of bed, and trotted over to the baby's crib. Carrying him out to the kitchen, he examined the little colt.
"Let's see here... nothing in your diaper." He picked Drummer up, held him over his shoulder, and patted him on the back with his hoof. "And you don't need burped." He held the little foal up, looking at him in confusion. "Then what-?
"Bllleeeuggaaahh!" Tornado was covered in green liquid.
"Lovely." The stallion grumbled to himself, as Drummer started crying again. "Just...lovely."
"Oh, that poor stallion!" Storm Runner stifled a giggle. "He must've been at his hooves end!"
"Oh, I think he looks back on those times with fondness." Twilight replied, trying to keep herself from crying again. "I know I will never forget those sleepless nights..."
"It wasn't long though, before infancy gave way to foalhood." Twilight said with a sigh. "Our little baby grew up so fast... you never cherish those times when they're here, and this you miss them when they pass you by..."
"So he grew up rapidly, and was soon saying his first words?" Storm Runner asked, trying to lighten Twilight's mood again.
"Yep, and once he started, we couldn't shut him up!" Twilight said with a sad laugh.
Twilight and Glory were trotting together, inside the castle's giant domed gardens and park. Baby Glory and Drummer were walking along beside thier mothers, on wobbly legs they had barely learned to use.
"Can you believe that outfit Truly was wearing today?" Glory asked with a laugh.
"Yeah!" Twilight giggled back. "It was way too tight!"
"And it looked funny!" Glory whinnied humorously.
The two mares were laughing so hard, that they failed to notice the aforementioned mare trotting up behind them.
"Hello gals!" Truly greeted them, causing the two to spin around. "What're ya'll laughin' about?"
"Ummm, just a joke Surprise told earlier!" Twilight replied with a nervous laugh.
"Yeah, you would've had to have been there to have gotten it." Glory nervously scratched the back of her neck with her hoof.
"Well, that's nawt impohtant raight naow!" Truly whinnied in her Southern belle accent. "What do y'all think of my latest outfit?"
She streched out her leg and hoof, showing off the red ruffled dress and matching sun hat she had ordered from Bright Valley.
"Well, what do y'all think?" She asked impatiently. "It's just the sweetest thang, ain't it?"
"Ummm..." Twilight replied.
"Wellllll..." Glory stuttered.
"Truly outfit way too tight!" Baby Drummer giggled.
"And it look funny!" Glory laughed.
The two mothers turned beet red from embarrassment.
"WHAT?" An angry Truly stared at the two kids incredulously.
"Wow... foals say the darndest things, huh Truly?" An embarrassed Twilight finally replied.
"I bet Truly sent that outfit back for a refund!" Storm Runner replied, trying her hardest not to laugh hysterically.
"That, and she went on a six-month crash diet." Twilight snickered. "And switched to stripes when Heart Thob told her they made her look thin!"
"So I' guessing it wasn't long before he reached school age?"
"Yep! He hadn't gotten his cutie mark by then, but he earned it is first day of class." Twilight replied, looking away and lost in her memories. "He was almost too much for poor Sundance to handle..."
"Now, class!" Sundance, the Dream Valley teacher addressed all of the foals in the classroom. "I would all like you to welcome Drummer, the newest student in our Kindergarten age group!"
Twilight gently nudged the foal into the classroom, and Drummer nervously trotted up beside the teacher's desk.
"H-hi, I'm Drummer..." He spat out nervously. "And it's nice to meet you all..."
"Can't you say anything, ya little blank flank?" Baby Lickety Split called out. "Or the gloom witches got your tounge?"
Everybody in the class burst out laughing at Drummer, and Lickety Split just sneered at him, eating her double raspberry and peanut butter ice cream cone she had brought to class. But instead of being humiliated and crying, the little colt had other ideas.
"I as just gonna say I love playin the drums!" he rushed up, and slammed his drumsticks on Lickety's split's desk. "Ponies seem to get a BANG out of my playing!"
The startled filly threw her hooves into the air, and sent her ice cream sailing. It landed on the top of her head with a cold, creamy SPLAT!
"Waaaaahhhhh!" The filly cried out, as she galloped away in shame. The rest of the class burst out laughing again, as an annoyed Sundance groaned.
"Well, that went well." Drummer said, tapping out a beat on Lickety's desk. It was then a drum appeared on his flank.
"Well. at lest he earned his cutie mark!" Twilight replied sheepishly, as Sundance stared at her angrily.
"Well, that's one heck of a way to earn a cutie mark." Storm Runner giggled again.
"Yes, it's another moment I'll never forget." Twilight said, as her expression turned sad again. "It was the events that followed, that I wish I could erase..."
Storm Runner looked up at the mare in front of her solemnly. "Twilight... how did he die?"
The pink mare squeezed her eyes shut, trying to deal with the painful memory. "...I-it was an early spring morning, after his eighth birthday..."
"Mommy, can I go out and play with Baby Glory an' Lickety Split?"
"Of course you can dear. But it looks like the sky is really cloudy up there! Come back in here the first sign of rain, you hear?"
"Yes, momma." The little colt rolled his eyes, and galloped out the door.
It had been early in the afternoon, and Twilight had been in her chambers, going over various old spell books. She would look out the tower window from time to time, and check on Drummer playing out on the meadow near the castle.
It was some time later that Twilight went to take a book back to the castle library, and when she had returned, she noticed it had started raining. The pink mare also noticed that there was no sign of the foals that had been playing outside.
"Huh, they must have come inside to play." Twilight said with a shrug, turning back to her work.
"How was I supposed to know that they had gotten themselves into trouble?" Twilight started to cry again, her eyes tearing up. "I thought one of the other mares was watching them! How could I-"
"Twilight, it's not your fault!" Storm Runner exclaimed. "There was no way you could have known!"
"I know, and I keep telling myself that..." The pink mare sniffled, and went on. "I didn't know it at the time, but his friends had goaded my son into doing something incredibly stupid... namely, wading out into the middle of the river, and standing against the full force of the current..."
"Miss Twilight! Miss Twilight!" Tic Tac Toe came running up. "We have big problem! Drummer in big trouble!"
"But how can that be?" Twilight asked, puzzled. "Didn't you all come back inside to play when then rain started?"
"Nu uh, we stay out and play in rain!" The first Tooth pony whinnied. "Drummer fell into the river! He get washed away!"
"WHAT?" Twilight shrieked in terror, her whole body tensing up as she ran down the hallway, screaming.
"Toorrnnnaaaadooooooo!"
The two ponies galloped outside, and ran down towards the end of the River. Following a shortcut, Tornado and Twilight reached the far end of the river that poured over into Celestia falls. The two ponies looked around in a panic, until they saw the screaming little colt, rushing swiftly towards the waterfall.
"Mommy... Daddy... ahhhhhhhhhh!" Drummer Whinnied in terror, as he was swiftly swept towards the falls.
"DRUMMER!" Tornado roared, diving into save his only son. Either one of them could have cast some kind of spell (even though their magic was weak), but they were terror stricken- Twilight frozen on the shore, and Tornado desperately swimming towards the foal.
"Hang on, Drummer, I'm coming!"
Tornado finally caught up with him at the edge of the falls. Reaching out with his teeth, Tornado barely caught the foal by the scruff of the neck, right before he went over the falls.
"Gotcha!" Tornado whinnied, dragging Drummer back to shore. Tornado collapsed on the riverbank, coughing and sputtering, but all right.
"Drummer, are you all right?" Twilight asked, rushing up to his side.
The little colt barely open his eyes. "Momma? I'm cold... why's it so cold?" He whimpered out, before closing his eyes again.
"Drummer?" Twilight whimpered, as the young colt's chest slowly stopped rising and falling, and he fell silent. "Drummer? Drummer?" Twilight's eyes began to tear up. "No...NO! DRUMMER! NO!"
The grief-stricken, pink mare shrieked and wailed hysterically, as an uncaring rain fell upon them all...
"It must have been like a knife wound, the months and days that followed." Storm Runner said sadly.
"Yes." Twilight replied sadly. "But there was something that happened, that made it even worse..."
The funeral was a solemn affair, attended by most of Dream Valley's most prominent ponies. Several little colts and fillies were there, too- saying goodbye to their friend... the first brush with death they would have in their young lives.
"Twilight, I'm so sorry!" Glory nuzzled her. "This is absolutely terrible!"
"He was a fine lad, Tornado!" Barnacle declared, hugging the distraught stallion. "Twas a truly tragic event fer ye!"
"You have both lost the greatest light you your lives today, my honorable and loyal subjects." Majesty declared, trying to hold her tears back. "I grieve with you both for your loss!"
"Bye Bye, Drummer!" A sobbing Lickety Split whinnied. "I's sorry I called you a blank flank!"
Tornado and Twilight were struck dumb by their loss, in total shock over the most important thing in their lives being taken away from them. They could only stare at the little blue colt lying peacefully in the casket, and Twilight had to be held back by Firefly and Applejack when they lowered him into the cold, cold ground.
The months that followed were hard for the couple, as they both adjusted to the cold silence of their apartment, that they had not known these past seven years of their marriage. It was hard on them both, as the grief and pain of their loss was as fresh every morning as it has been the night before.
The only sound they swore they could hear, was the soft rat-tat-tating of the now-ownerless toy drum, that sat by the fireplace. It would start up in the middle of the night, when they were asleep, but fall silent whenever one of them would go to check on it, only to start up again whenever they went back to bed.
"By the horsemaster..." Storm Runner said in shock. "He must not realize he's..."
"Most parents who lose a child are haunted by the memories." Twilight finally broke down, and started crying. "But my baby's there... and some nights I can hear him crying... and I can't even reach out and hug him..."
"Mommy, Daddy... where are you? I'm cold, and it's lonely! Mommy?..."
Storm Runner hugged the grieving mare, holding her for several minutes. Twilight finally regained her composure, and resumed speaking.
"The river. It was the river that took his life. He had already been swept along in the cold water for over a half an hour, and his heart and body have always had problems." Twilight whinnied sadly. "Tornado has always believed that there was another cause- some pony villain out for revenge who had cast a spell to weaken our baby's immune system. But I always knew it was just a cruel trick of nature and fate."
"You poor mare." Storm runner Silently nuzzled her. "You've been through so much grief, yet you keep on a happy face, and keep going."
"T-thank you, your highness." Twilight whinnied, drying her eyes with her hoof.
"But tell me, how did you come to adopt Ember?" Storm Runner asked.
Twilight gave a small smile. "That's when things started to look up again..."
For several weeks now, a young filly, barely out of foalhood, had been crying herself to sleep on the cold stone floor. Few ponies had noticed her, as the child had managed to stay out of sight. But it was on the fifth night that Twilight heard the sobs coming from behind Queen Majesty's throne.
"Momma, Poppa, why you leave me alone?" The pink filly sobbed.
"Who's there?" Twilight asked, as she looked behind the throne.
"I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to make so much noise..." The little filly tied to hold back her tears. "I'll be quieter, I promise!"
Twilight recognized the child as Ember, the little filly whose parents had been lost in a Troll attack this week past. Twilight had assumed the little filly had been taken in by relatives, but to have a Dream Valley child end uo like this...
The pink mare hesitated for a moment, thinking of her own precious baby she had lost. Ember had just gone though the same pain that she and Tornado had, but was suffering through the pain alone.
"Come little one." Twilight replied softly, nuzzling the small, sobbing form. ""Let's get you someplace warm, and get you some food."
Surprised, the little filly nodded, and trotted after the unicorn mare.
"So that's how Ember came to you." Storm Runner Whinnied. "But what about the ghost that was troubling you so?"
"I went to see Gypsy about Drummer." Twilight said sadly. "And she gave me some surprising information..."
"Jes, Tvilight, jes!" Gypsy chanted, gazing into her crystal ball. "I can zee zhat little Drummer's zpirit iz with you, darlink!"
"I knew it!" Twilight replied sadly. "Gypsy, what can I do to halp my son? How can I end his sorrow?"
"Pain?" He iz not in pain, darlink." The unicorn with the tambourine replied. "He iz jupming and laughing at your hooves, darlink! Zere is no suffering vith his spirit!"
"But-but the drum... the voices at night..." Twilight muttered. "We here him crying out..."
"Zhat is not the sad cry of a little colt's spirit, darlink." The Dream Castle mystic replied. "It is zee grief of a mother who cannot move on, subconsciously manifesting her pain through her unicorn magic!"
"So that's why you were haunted!" Storm Runner replied knowingly.
Twilight nodded. "Gypsy was right. I needed to find closure, and let go..."
…
"Nights like this still remind you of him, don't they?" Storm Runner asked, as Twilight stared out the window into space.
"And every time, the memories hurt like a stab in the heart." Twilight replied sadly, shaking her mane. "But I can at least find peace now. Once I found the strength to let go, the disturbances ceased."
"But he is still with you Twilight, both you and Tornado." Storm Runner replied. "And he always will be."
Twilight nodded, and slowly smiled at the Pegasus's words. "Thank you, Storm Runner. You truly are a good friend."
The two mares embraced, sharing the pain and joy of the grief Twilight Shine had shared with her newfound friend.
The next few days, Twilight finished up her work at Storm Runner's kingdom, before preparing to return to Dream Valley.
"Thank You, Storm Runner! I'll never forget my visit here!" She hugged the Princess goodbye.
"Farewell, Lady Shine." Storm Runner replied, smiling. "Please feel free to come back and visit anytime!"
The two new friends parted ways... as an unseen little blue colt looked on, smiling.