//------------------------------// // Chapter Nineteen: Family Matters // Story: Princess of Shadows, Darkness, and Light // by jwizard //------------------------------// Equestria, Canterlot Castle, 06-15-05 A.N.M., 3:26 PM (After Nightmare Moon) Peals of laughter rang out as the group of ponies made their way to where they were told to wait for their daughters. Both Prismia and Velvet giggled at the scene that greeted them. An orange filly with a fuchsia mane was getting a tickle attack from not one, but two adult mares. Rainbow Blitz blinked as he recognized one of them. “Aria?” he asked in slight shock. Silent Aria looked up at that. Her face lit up. “Papa! Mama!” she shouted, launching herself at her parents. Both ponies hugged their eldest. Tears were in Blitz’s eyes; he never expected any of his daughters to be so quick to forgive him. Velvet and Night Light smiled at the happy reunion. Night Light’s expression changed to a frown as he got a good look at the other mare; that expression quickly morphed to one of shock. “Sunset, is that you?” Velvet turned to see that it was indeed Sunset Shimmer. Sunset blushed a bit, wiggling her wings. “Hello Sir Armor, Lady Sparkle,” she said shyly. “I’m pretty sure you weren’t expecting me.” She gave Scootaloo another noogie before approaching the pair. “We didn’t part on the best of terms all those years ago, but I never forgot what you taught me.” She turned her head in shame. “And I know it might take you awhile before either of you are willing to forgive me.” “None of that now, Sunset; it’s all in the past, and any foal can see that you regret it,” Night Light said, giving the repentant alicorn a hug. Velvet soon joined in. After they broke off the hug, Night Light leaned back to examine Sunset. “Well, you’ve certainly improved beyond what I could have hoped for. When your mother told me what had happened after your fight with the Princess, I never dreamed that you would return to us. And as an alicorn princess no less.” Sunset shook her head at that. “I’m an alicorn, but not a princess; I’ve told that to my mentor repeatedly already,” Sunset replied, wrinkling her snout. This caused  the others to laugh, as she looked just like an orange-furred Twilight. Night Light chuckled. “I imagine so.” He looked at the filly next to them. “Who is this? A kid sister?” Sunset shook her head at that. “Just somepony who idolizes Princess Rainbow Dash, that’s all,” Sunset replied, causing the filly to blush. “Her filly friends are with their folks at the moment.” Sunset Shimmer focused briefly, causing a scroll to appear before her. “I’ve been asked to make you all aware of a very important matter. Princess Rainbow Dash and Princess Twilight Sparkle are currently meeting with the other Elements of Harmony to discuss their and their family’s security.” Sunset cleared her throat. “I have here a list of names of members of the Royal Guard that will be assigned as plain-hooves security for you all. The reason for this is because we’ve recently received information regarding plans to have you all held as ransom to get the new Regents of Equestria to step down.” She gazed sternly at all of the ponies present. “We hope that this will be temporary; however, you will all have to spend the few days here until those responsible are dealt with.” “I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to tarry for too long, Miss Shimmer,” Blitz said sternly. “I have a demesne that I need to oversee. All I really came here for was to see my daughter.” Sunset sighed at that. “I get that this is disruptive milord, and I do apologize. However, until the conspirators are dealt with, stepping one hoof on the Gallopagos Islands would not be a good idea for you or your family. If they cannot capture you, they have orders to end you. You especially, Duke Blitz, as we’ve confirmed that your now Exiled father ordered your death.” Blitz scowled at that. “Sawed off--” he broke off just as he realized that there was a foal present. He controlled his anger with difficulty before nodding. Seeing the frightened look that Scootaloo was trying to hide, he made to hug the little filly. Velvet had a frown on her muzzle. “This sort of thing isn’t something a foal needs to hear,” she said, a snap in her tone. She leveled her glare at Sunset. Sunset glared back. “And how do you expect us to hide something like this from her or her friends? Anypony in Ponyville will tell you that they get up to all sorts of mischief; I’d rather they know the danger they’re in right now, rather than hide it and have them get hurt or foal-napped when they perform their usual shenanigans.” Sunset stomped a hoof. “Besides, I haven’t forgotten my foal-hood; nothing is more insulting to a foal Scootaloo’s age to be treated like a kid. This way, she at least knows that we trust her to act maturely.” Night Light did his best to try and diffuse the situation. “This sort of thing is scary Sunset; is it wrong to wish to spare the foals the nightmares this sort of thing can cause?” Sunset turned her glare onto Night Light, causing him to wilt a little under her gaze. “Can the ‘little filly’ speak up here?” Scootaloo asked, her voice thick with sarcasm. “I may only be twelve, but I’m not stupid. I already saved Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom when we were at the park earlier today; a bunch of bad ponies disguised as courtiers tried to foal-nap us. If Sunny hadn’t convinced Rainbow Dash that I needed to know, I wouldn’t have known enough to spot the danger.” “Scoots and her friends aren’t like other foals Sir Armor,” Aria said, with a smile for the filly. “They routinely tested their parents- and every other adult pony -with all the stunts they used to pull. Besides, you should have seen them chase that little demon; she’s almost faster than Rainbow was at her age.” “It was at the suggestion of both Princess Rainbow Dash and Princess Twilight Sparkle that we were to inform those in danger. Yes, your daughter convinced me to tell even the foals, Velvet. She remembers- with considerable anger -how it was for her growing up when she found out the things that were hid from her. I was also convinced to do so by Princess Celestia, just before she left with Luna for Neighico. Her words were to me, and I quote, ‘They have a right to know because they are close to our Regents. We don’t need to repeat the same mistakes that have already been made, am I correct?’” Sunset snorted. “And what happened earlier today bore out that wisdom, as the adults who were supposed to watch them weren’t able to spot what a little filly did. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle aren’t like Canterlot foals; for one thing, they’ve never been pampered. They’re also smarter; smart enough to speak up when they see something wrong. Canterlot foals have been sat on so much that they seldom know their plots from their elbows.” “I raised my two children in this city Sunset Shimmer!” Velvet snapped. “They turned out perfectly well! Don’t compare everypony else’s style of raising to the way that your miserable excuse for parents did!” “Your daughter was just as teased as I was while in the local Magic Kindergarden, and it was worse when the Canterlot brats found out that she was a noble’s daughter! And if you think it stopped after she became Celestia’s student, well, think again; it was worse! Why do you think Twilight was such a shut it?! Why do you think she had few friends?! She may have always said that she didn’t need many because she had Shining, Spike, and Cadance, but I know differently.” “If my own daughter had been going through those sorts of things, she would have told me,” Velvet snapped as she finally lost her temper. “Alicorn or not, Sunset Shimmer, you do not have the right to make up lies about my daughter!” “They’re not lies Mother,” said Twilight from where she had been standing in the open doorway behind Sunset. Twilight Velvet paled at the basilisk gaze her daughter gave her, her anger disappearing in place of her fear. “I told you the first time I was being teased; your words to me were to just ‘ignore them, and they will stop.’ So that’s what I did. I ignored them when they put dung beetles in my soup, and urine in my apple juice. I ignored them when they threw my bags- full of library books that I got punished by you for ruining -into the pond at school. Most of all, I ignored them up to the time when my brother defended me from a group of colts and fillies that decided that ‘the teacher’s pet’ didn’t need her horn any more. I found out that you knew all of this was going on; indeed, it was you who pushed Papa into enrolling me into that school. A school that Celestia recently closed down, as they were able to prove that the Dean was paid by rich nobles to hide evidence of torture.” Twilight stalked over to where her parents were standing. “When I found out yesterday that Celestia had called you all in, I was mad. I had just found out the truth; that the retainers you set on me when I was a foal had told you everything, and you did nothing! You ignored it because of the belief that ‘foals will be foals’! I’m here now because my own brother found out by one of them- the one you later fired -that I was in danger! I’m not one to hold either a grudge or keep anger inside, but I’m finding it incredibly difficult to find any kind of forgiveness towards you, Mother. I may do so at some point, but right now is not that point.” Twilight then stalked off. Night Light forcefully turned his wife’s head so that she was unable to break his gaze. “Is any of what she said true, Velvet?” Tears in her eyes, Velvet nodded. Night Light frowned sadly. “Then I guess this is goodbye; we’ll discuss parental rights for the twins when they’re born, as I’m not sure that I can remain your husband after all of this.” He then followed his daughter. All the other ponies soon left as well, leaving Velvet alone to think about where she had gone so wrong. The sunset was beautiful, but the very sad mare sitting in one of Canterlot Castle’s many gardens hardly noticed it. Velvet had been spending the last several hours going over everything that had happened hours earlier. Instead of there being a happy reunion of sorts, she was now forced to relive some very dreadful mistakes that she had made in regards to Twilight. She had been completely aware that Twilight had suffered a great deal of bullying growing up; however, that was no more what any other foal had to go through. She herself had dealt with it, after all. “I know I made some mistakes, but Twilight must have learned at least something from it,” she mumbled, not aware that she was no longer alone. “I mean, she’s an alicorn princess now; Nighty and I must have done something right.” “Actually, the fact that she was able to make any friends at all is thanks to her large heart; no thanks to the way she was treated,” said a voice to Velvet’s side. Velvet turned to see that Rainbow Dash was standing with an impassive expression. “It took a lot of pleading from us girls to get her to open up about it after Trixie showed up the first time. You’re right in that she did learn from it though.” Rainbow’s expression remained impassive as she ticked off the points she wanted drive home. “She learned how to bury things; how to hide how she really felt. She learned that having friends was more trouble than anything else. She also became neurotically obsessed with her grades in an effort to impress; I used to think that that was because of Princess Celestia, but that’s simply transference.” “Don’t misunderstand me Miss Velvet; I know that you love Twilight. You wanted her to learn a hard lesson, but the way you went about it was wrong. You’re lucky in that Shining was able to defend his sister, and that CYS hadn’t gotten word. Had they got involved, you would likely still be in prison with several limiters strapped to your horn. My aunt had the same thing happen to her, and she followed the exact same pattern that you did.” Velvet scowled. “The government doesn’t get to tell us how we can or cannot raise our children Rainbow Dash. Nor do you get to criticize me for what I did or did not do while raising her. I freely accept that she has chosen you as a life partner, but I most certainly know the heart of my own daughter better than you do.” Rainbow stalked forward; her presence as Alicorn of Light pressed down hard on Velvet, causing the other mare to flinch. “Actually, where abuse and neglect are concerned, the government has all the right it needs. A certain stallion in Ponyville has learned that lesson the hard way, as he’s lost custody of his daughter because he and his wife raised her to be a brat. As far as the law is concerned, the only reason you’re not under arrest for your actions is because the statute of limitations ran up when Twilight turned sixteen. Had she been injured though, you would still be in jail now.” Velvet found it hard to breathe as Rainbow Dash continued. “The only thing that makes me at all on your side is that I know you meant well. I also know that you didn’t want your daughter to get hurt, and didn’t find out until much later that she almost did.” Rainbow Dash’s impassive expression turned into a deep scowl. “And yet, because you wanted to protect her innocence, you kept all of it from her. Had you sat her down and explained things, she wouldn’t be as angry as she is now.” Rainbow Dash’s snout got right in front of Velvet’s as she continued. “I came here, hoping against hope that I’d be able to get you to see how much you defending your past actions is hurting Twilight, and you toss out the ‘I know my daughter’s heart better than you’ line. Twilight and I are soul bound Twilight Velvet; that means that we know each other’s hearts and minds often better than we know our own. I was surprised and pleased when she opened up her painful past to somepony else that had gone through the same thing. If you want any chance to salvage both your marriage and your relationship with your daughter, then you’re going to have to take a long hard look at how badly you were raised.” Rainbow Dash turned away. As she did so, she gave a parting shot. “By  the way, that method of parental abuse carries with it a caveat; now that it’s known you’re carrying again, you’re going to be watched very carefully. If CYS gets even an inkling that you’re doing the same, you’ll lose those kids. So do everypony a favor, and disregard how your own miserable excuse for a mother raised you.” There was a flare of light as Rainbow Dash teleported away. Velvet was finally unable to deny what she had done wrong, and broke down in tears. Equestria, Canterlot Castle, 06-15-05 A.N.M., 6:54 PM (After Nightmare Moon) A very subdued gathering of ponies sat around the table in one of Canterlot Castle’s less-used conference rooms. Normally, a gathering that included Pinkie Pie would be both loud and boisterous, especially where her friends were concerned. However, even Pinkie Pie was unable to break the mood of the purple pony not currently present. Rarity gazed sadly at the foot of the table where a morose Pinkie was sitting. The normally boisterous mare’s mane lay flat, a sure sign that Pinkie was not feeling like herself. “Are you certain she actually said that, Pinkie? That doesn’t sound like Twilight at all, darling.” Pinkie shook her head. “I know she’s sad, but this time’s one where a party isn’t going to help. She just wants to be left alone. It just hurts, that’s all.” Her other friends nodded at that, though the idea that Pinkie of all ponies was able to see that this really wasn’t the time for a party was more than a bit shocking. “I should have stayed out of it, or let it go at least. It really wasn’t any of my business. I just couldn’t help myself.” Sunset looked down. “I’ve been on both ends of the bullying spectrum, and it hurt me as much as it did Twilight that her mother knew but did nothing.” “It wasn’t like she wanted to hurt her Sunset,” Rarity said. “She was right though; fighting back would have only made things worse.” “And that’s the same pile of horseshit that ended up with our sisters getting bullied into that gossip column, Rarity,” Applejack snapped. “Bullying is wrong, plain and simple. I lit into Apple Bloom when she finally let on that she and the other Crusaders were being blackmailed by that no-account Diamond Tiara into printing those stories. Stories you were more than happy to spread around.” Rarity sniffed, turning her nose up at that reminder. “One can stand up to a bully without getting physical Applejack. Twilight Velvet was only trying to look out for her daughter. I do admit that she should have done something more than what she did, but it seems more of Twilight’s blowing things out of proportion.” “First day of school, three fillies pulled her hair. Second day of school, her apple juice was replaced with donkey piss. Third day of school, she had her book bag full of school library books thrown into a pond.” Rarity turned to see a dragonling glaring at her as he continued. “Magic Kindergarten was Tartarus for her, Rarity. It only got worse when she went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. They called her all sorts of names; book-nerd, useless egg-head, Teacher’s Pet, Know-It-All; the list goes on. I wasn’t around when she was in kindergarten, but I remember seeing her cry a lot when she first became Celestia’s student. I’ve always thought of Twilight as much my mother as my sister; I’ve never felt that way about Twilight Velvet.” “And while we’re on the subject of bullies, maybe we should consider how stupid it is to say that we should ‘just ignore them.’” Spike snorted. “By that way of thinking, we should have just left the Crystal Empire alone; Sombra was a bully. Or we should have ignored it when Tirek was prancing around with everypony’s magic. Hay, we should have just let Discord have his fun, and we should have just accepted Nightmare Moon’s Eternal Night.” “Spike’s right; the only time a bully should be tolerated is when it involves name-calling.” Sunset gave Rarity a very piercing gaze as she continued. “Do you know what Princess Celestia’s response was when she found out that that sort of abuse was not only being covered up, but actively encouraged? She closed it down and jailed every one of the teachers. I’ve heard how irrational Twilight gets at times, and the fact that getting sent back to Magic Kindergarten was a big fear of hers strikes me as a pathological fear. Probably because one of my adopted grandmother’s famous threats was that she was going to send me back there, with my mother agreeing because she had no backbone to speak of. I only said that I should have kept my mouth shut because it wasn’t my place to say anything.” Rarity scowled. “None of what Spikey just said is the same thing at all. There are ways to deal with bullies without being so uncouth about it. But you were right about one thing, Sunset Shimmer; you should have stayed out of it. Our sisters did not need to know what’s going on, whether or not you were convinced by Twilight that they should be told.” “They already knew anyway Rarity,” Fluttershy said softly. “Scootaloo was telling me the other day that she saw a suspicious pony that had been following her get accosted by a pair of pegasi she’d seen previously in Dusk Guard purple. And what Twilight Velvet did was wrong; that same attitude almost cost me everything.” Her expression turned harsh. “Do you all know what it was like for me in Flight School? It was harsh; so harsh that if I hadn’t had Derpy, Raindrops, and Rainbow Dash, I’d have taken a canary dive. I was scared of falling because I already fell once before, and my miserable excuse for a father had the exact same attitude so many parents seem to have. ‘Foals will be foals’ is a lame excuse because nopony really wants to remember what it was like to be bullied. We’re just lucky that Twilight was able to get past all of that. She’ll come around, but it won’t be anypony here that’s going to help her.” The others at the table- with the exception of Rarity -all blinked. That was the longest speech the shy pegasus had ever made, especially in mixed company. Rarity was too busy scowling at Fluttershy’s apparent defense of the criticism of Twilight’s mother. Unfortunately for Rarity, she still suffered something of a shallow view of things. She’d been brought up with the belief that you simply did not speak ill of certain families no matter the provocation. It was an unfortunate side-effect of being partially raised by her glory grabbing aunt, who was Pony-non-Grata as far as the rest of House Belle was concerned. However, Rarity’s generous nature was such that she always listened to what those closest to her were saying. Fluttershy’s own experiences with bullying made her realize that her aunt’s attitudes about how foals should be raised were not only antiquated, but hurtful. Rarity lost the scowl as what her friends were trying to say sunk in. “Oh dear, I’m starting to sound like Gleaming Petal,” she said with chagrin. “My mother got into an argument with her when Grandfather Belle passed on. Mother wanted us to know, but my aunt said that we were too little. I was the age Sweetie Belle is now. It would have hurt worse if I found out that Mother kept it from me.” She turned to Sunset. “I apologize Sunset; my words to you were unbecoming of me.” Sunset smiled sadly. “You were right though; I should have held my tongue. I’m not even certain why I snapped as I did. I guess I just couldn’t let it go.” Her smile suddenly became brighter at the same time that Pinkie Pie’s mane poofed out. All the others blinked. “You felt that too, Pinkie Pie?” The pink party pony bounced in place with a big smile on her face. “We need to get everything read girls! Twilight, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash are gonna join us, and Twilight’s gonna want a party!” This surprised laughter out of all the others present; just another example of the enigma that is Pinkie Pie. Twilight Velvet was still in the garden crying when a pair of gentle wings folded themselves around her. She looked up to see that her daughter was looking at her with a face full of regret. It was plain that Twilight had been crying for awhile as well. Velvet wrapped her hooves around her daughter as she sobbed into her soft shoulder. As it always seemed to, providing comfort was more of a balm on her own hurts; Twilight was finding it easier and easier to forgive her mother for something that had happened a lot time ago. “I’m so, so sorry Little Sparkle,” the mare sobbed. “Had I known, truly known, what was going on, I would have stopped it. I was only trying to protect you.” She was unable to say more after that. Twilight just continued to stroke her mother’s back. After a few minutes, Velvet’s sobs died down. “I know that Mama. But, don’t you think I would have been able to handle it? I was a smart girl; that’s why I let them do all of that.” She smirked at the look of surprise that Velvet gave her. “It was only when those colts wanted to beat me up that I was outmatched; the first time the donkey piss routine was used was the only time they were ever able to do that on me. Why do you think I got so good at swiping cookies? I practiced switching my cup out whenever I ate lunch. After the fifth time, they tried something else instead.” Twilight’s muzzle had a faint frown. “Why did you fire Misty Heart though? Before Cadance started sitting me, she was the first friend I really remember.” Velvet scowled at the reminder. “I did not fire that poor girl; your grandmother did. I lit up one side and down the other of her when she did. That’s one of the reasons why we no longer have anything to do with her Punkin. Yes, I know; ‘Honor Thy Father and Mother’ and all that. Well, I do still honor and love her, but she doesn’t run my life any more.” Velvet sniffed. “I just never realized that there was still some of my own terrible upbringing that was influencing how I raised you. I handled Shiny much differently.” Twilight sighed in frustration. “What is it with the older nobles? Are they so stuck up on tradition that they can’t tell their plots from their elbows?” Velvet snorted as her daughter sounded just like Sunset had earlier. “Who knows dear.” Velvet then broke off the hug. I need to go find your father. I really put my hoof in it this time; your father’s experience with bullies was far worse than your own.” Twilight winced at that. “Yeah, Uncle Aegis told me about that. I’ve never seen a pony regard a member of his own family with that much rage and hatred before.” Twilight looked at her mother sternly. “Once you get Papa to thaw, you’re to join the rest of us at Pinkie’s ‘Congratulations On Regency’ party. I want to see that you have put all of this where it needed to stay; in the past. I’ve forgiven you Mama, so don’t forget to forgive yourself.” Velvet nodded, chuckling at the stern manner her daughter was using. The two then parted ways for a short time. A stallion with his back to the door is the sight that greeted Twilight Velvet when she made her way to the shared quarters in Canterlot Castle that they never used. She slowly walked up to him and sat down. Night Light sad nothing for a few minutes, just staring at an old journal. Velvet recognized it; it was one of Twilight’s when she was still in school. Night Light looked up; his eyes were red, so Velvet knew he’d been crying. “It’s all there, every bit of it. I’ve read this journal maybe a hundred times; I was the one that convinced her to keep it. I never expected that she would hide her real words using one of the script keys we came up with as a game so long ago.” He turned his sad, angry gaze towards his wife. “What’s the worst is that she was able to recall everything. She was even able to recall seeing your family retainers on the periphery.” “It’s exactly the same as what I went through; down to the last detail. A kind of instruction that our two Houses have never used. A way of brainwashing your children into a form you find most pleasing. A way that caused me to try and kill myself when I was just a little younger than our Little Sparkle is now. A way that caused my uncle to buck his brother out a plate window, and blast my grandsire with a kinetic blast designed to cause as much pain as equinely possible without doing damage.”  Night Light ran a hoof through his mane before continuing. “My uncle told my father and grandfather that day that if he ever found out that Valiant Armor was raising his children in that manner, he would kill his brother and cast Exila Equis on his father before surrendering to Celestia’s Justice. With the full knowledge that she would have done nothing to him; the last noble to have been confirmed as using that method suffered the exact same fate. Celestia herself has made it plain; the method you let that whorse of a mother use on our daughter is considered a form of slavery.” “Twilight Velvet Sparkle, you are truly fortunate that it was discovered that you had no hoof in any of  this. It’s also fortunate in that it wasn’t successful, had it been, you would have joined your dam in Exile.” Night Light smiled a grim smile. “I’ve sent word to my brother; it seems as though she hasn’t learned her lesson. Our daughter will be forced to render Equestrian Justice on a member of her own family.” “The only question I have for you is why.” Velvet sighed. “Fear, Night Light. Fear that Mother would use her not inconsiderable influence to make our life hard. Loss of mine and your jobs, bans on my novels, blocks on our accounts. If I even breathed a word of this to anypony, we’d suffer. And you know she’d do it, and can still do so.” Night Light chuckled humorlessly at that. “Pretty much what I thought. Well, she’s going to find out that she’ll be able to do horseshit; all of her contacts were through channels connected to House Lemyre, and Blueblood has told EIS everything he’s found out.” He pulled a letter from under the book. “I found this waiting for me when I entered. The spells on these chambers were cast by Celestia herself, and have been reinforced by Luna, so there’s no way she knows.” A swirl of smoke heralded the arrival of another scroll. Night Light grabbed it in his magic, reading quickly. He then set it down with a grunt of satisfaction. “EIS has confirmed it; your mother is guilty of Clan crimes. That goes straight to the top, and because Twilight is involved personally, she will be expected to be the one to deliver Justice.” Velvet shuddered at that; it had been centuries since anypony had been found guilty of Clan crimes. Clan crimes referred to a set of practices that went back to the Founding of Utopia. Basically, it boiled down to a way of instruction that was equal parts torture, in order to mold one’s clan or family into warriors. Elements of it were still involved in noble unicorn Houses, and few of those. Velvet sighed. “Mother is not of House Sparkle; not even of a distaff House. Now I know why we seldom married anypony but those of the Sparkle, Armor, Lulamoon, or Belle Houses; none of those allow Clan methods or teaching. In fact, Beatrix Lulamoon’s own grandmother was Exiled from her House for doing so. I should have just done what was right.” Night Light shook his head at that. “It would have gone very badly for us, and would have likely ended with the one or both of us in prison. There was a few times that we were sitting on very sketchy forts as it is with how close Twilight is to Celestia. But now I understand why you trusted her so; Celestia’s insistence on the Magic of Harmony is antithetical to the Clan method.” Night Light drew his wife in for a hug. “I wasn’t angry at you once I realized what had happened for your involvement. I just wished that you had told me.” Velvet leaned into her husband. “I wish I had as well. At least our two unborn foals won’t have to worry about herbucking up their lives.” She then moved her snout up to kiss her stallion. Far beneath Equus, a scream of pain rang out as a multitude of twisted, formless creatures were destroyed by bands of Harmonic light. The Heart of Harmony was awake, waiting for that moment when one of the Bound One’s would destroy that which tormented them.