//------------------------------//
// Scenes of the Past 
// Story: Guarded Emotions 
// by Alabenson 
//------------------------------//

Being home to the Apple family, Sweet Apple Acres was almost always a lively place. Rarely, however, was it quite as lively as today, as this happened to be Applejack’s birthday. As such, the interior of the Apple family barn along with a sizable portion of the farm itself had been thoroughly festooned with every manner of party decoration conceivable. All of this, of course, was courtesy of the premier part pony of Ponyville, Pinkie Pie. 
“Wow, it looks like Pinkie Pie really went all out this year.” Twilight exclaimed as she admired the apple-shaped balloon sculptures lining the path to the barn.
“I will admit, these decorations are very impressive, but as far as I’ve been able to tell ‘all out’ seems to be par for the course for Miss Pie.” Moonwhisper replied dryly. The large stallion trotted just behind Twilight, partly out of deference and partly because he was carrying the presents that he and Twilight were giving to Applejack.
“I can’t really argue with you there.” Twilight said, chuckling a bit at Moonwhisper’s assessment of her friend. Since her trip to Canterlot, Twilight had grown increasingly confident in her ability to draw Moonwhisper out his shell. While things still weren’t progressing quite as quickly as Twilight would have preferred, it at least no longer seemed like a completely hopeless endeavor. Moonwhisper had gradually begun allowing himself to interact with Twilight and her friends on a more casual level. That said, no matter how comfortable Moonwhisper seemed to become he still seemed reluctant to talk about himself. “You know, I’m actually a little surprised that you agreed to come to Applejack’s birthday party. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m glad you did,” Twilight hastily added, “I just thought you didn’t really like parties all that much.”
“Whether I particularly care for them or not is largely irrelevant. The fact of the matter is you do enjoy attending parties, and moreover given your official title one could make a reasonable argument that you have something of an obligation to enjoy them. Therefore, as I am your bodyguard, it is in my best interest to learn to enjoy them as well given that I will need to attend them regardless as to how I personally feel about the situation.” Moonwhisper paused for second before continuing. “That being said, I admit it will be a pleasant change of pace to attend a part where I’m not the center of attention.”
Twilight briefly considered responding to Moonwhisper’s statement before deciding to simply let it pass. Hearing that Moonwhisper considered attending parties to be something he had to do out of duty just wasn’t all that shocking to her anymore. Besides, it seemed as though Moonwhisper was at least trying to enjoy the situation, which to Twilight was a victory in and of itself. As the pair approached the Apple family barn they could hear that the party was already in full swing. Sounds of music and laughter filled the air as Twilight knocked on the barn doors, which promptly swung open to reveal Pinkie Pie.
“Twilight, you finally made it!” Pinkie Pie cried out happily as she gave her friend a huge hug. “And look, you brought a date with you,” she added with a sly grin as she eyed Moonwhisper.
“What! Moonwhisper isn’t my…I mean it’s not like…we aren’t…” Twilight sputtered as her face turned bright red.
Pinkie Pie giggled helplessly at her friend’s obvious embarrassment. “Calm down, Twilight, I was only kidding. Why don’t the two of you come on in?”
Her face still burning with embarrassment, Twilight quickly trotted past Pinkie Pie into the barn. As Twilight did so she briefly glanced back towards her bodyguard. Moonwhisper was deliberately avoiding her gaze and it seemed to Twilight that Moonwhisper looked as though her were blushing furiously. There wasn’t much time to dwell on that, however, as Twilight was greeted by the rest of her friends the moment she set hoof in the barn.
“Howdy, Twilight!” Applejack exclaimed as she saw her friend. “Ah was startin’ to get worried y’all weren’t gonna make it?” Applejack glanced past Twilight at Moonwhisper. “And Ah see y’all managed to convince Moonwhisper to come along too.”
“Happy birthday, Miss Applejack.” Moonwhisper said as he trotted into the barn. “Is there somewhere particular where you would like me to put these?” As he spoke, Moonwhisper levitated the presents he had been carrying out in front of him.
“Y’all can put those over there with the others.” Applejack replied, gesturing towards a pile of gifts in the back of the barn. As Moonwhisper headed off to deposit the gifts, Applejack turned back towards Twilight. “So, what exactly took y’all so long? Spike and Starlight mentioned somethin’ about how y’all have been workin’ on a new spell, but Ah didn’t catch the details.”
“Well, do you remember when we helped Princess Luna defeat the Tantabus? She told us that she was the only pony who could use magic to enter the dreams of other ponies.”
“Are y’all sayin’ that this spell that yer workin’ on would let y’all go inside other ponies’ dreams like Princess Luna?” Applejack asked incredulously.
“Maybe eventually,” Twilight admitted, “but for right now I’m still trying to perfect the ability to just be able to look into other ponies dreams. Even doing that’s turned out to be really complicated, so I’m nowhere near actually achieving actual interaction yet.”
“Well, if anypony can figure out how to pull somethin’ like that off, it’d have to be you, Twilight.” Applejack said. “’Sides, it looks to me like y’all’ve pulled one miracle off already.”
“Are you talking about Moonwhisper?” Twilight asked hesitantly. Looking over to her bodyguard Twilight could see Moonwhisper surrounded by several of her friends as he received a lesson on the finer points of pin-the-tail-on-the-pony courtesy of Rainbow Dash.
“’Course that’s who Ah’m talkin’ about. When Moonwhisper first came to Ponyville he must’ve been one of the most standoffish ponies Ah’d ever met. Now…well Ah’ll admit he still ain’t exactly the cheerful sort, but at least it seems like he’s makin’ an effort.”
“I’m not so sure,” Twilight replied, keeping her voice low, “I sometimes get the impression that Moonwhisper’s just...I don’t know how to put it, going through the motions so we won’t bother him.”
“Ah wouldn’t fret too much about it, Twilight. From what y’all told us it sounds like Moonwhisper ain’t ever really had many friends to begin with, so he probably just needs some more time to get used to it.”
Twilight merely smiled at Applejack as she trotted over to join the festivities. She didn’t particularly feel like arguing with her friend further, especially not on her friend’s birthday. Moreover, Twilight earnestly hoped that Applejack’s instincts would prove to be correct.
As the party went on, Twilight began to think that Applejack may had been right about Moonwhisper after all. Despite his stone-faced demeanor Moonwhisper seemed to actually enjoy himself reasonably well. In fact, by the time Applejack was ready to open her gifts Twilight had put her worries about Moonwhisper completely out of her head.
“Thank y’kindly fer these here cider mugs RD.” Applejack said as she lifted a set of pewter mugs out of a mound of crumpled wrapping paper.
“Those aren’t just any cider mugs,” Rainbow Dash said with a grin, “they’re limited edition engraved commemorative Wonderbolts mugs. They’re usually really hard to get ahold of, but, since I am a Wonderbolt and all…” Rainbow Dash casually buffed a hoof on her chest with an air of false modesty.
Applejack, however, had known Rainbow Dash long enough that she was accustomed to her friend’s frequent bouts of unrestrained ego. As such, Applejack merely rolled her eyes at her friend as she moved on to her next gift. “Let’s see now…says here this one’s from Moonwhisper.” Applejack said as she inspected the tag. Curious to see what was inside, Applejack quickly tore open the wrapping paper to reveal a set of four well-worn pie tins. “What in tarnation…”
“I had spoken to Miss Rarity about what you might have wanted, and she mentioned an interest you had in a specific variety of vintage pie tins. So, I managed to track down a set of tins with the discontinued alloy.”
“Golly, thank y’, Moonwhisper.” Applejack said as she gave Twilight a look that practically screamed ‘Ah told y’all so’. “Ah just wanna say how glad Ah am that y’all decided to come.” Apple added, eliciting murmurs of agreement from the rest of her friends.
“I just can’t wait until it’s time for your birthday!” Pinkie Pie explained with a massive grin. “I’m going to throw you the best birthday party you’ve ever had. By the way, when exactly is your birthday, anyway? That file on you that Twilight had only had the year.”
“Well, if you’re really interested my birthday was about five days ago.” Moonwhisper stated casually.
Moonwhisper’s revelation regarding his birthday was met with stunned silence by the assembled ponies. “Moonwhisper,” Twilight finally said, “why didn’t you tell anypony it was your birthday?”
“Well, to be perfectly honest I didn’t really feel that it was important enough to warrant mentioning. I’ve never really celebrated my birthday before and it just seemed to me that it would be silly to start now.”
While everypony present seemed taken aback by how casually Moonwhisper dismissed his own birthday as unimportant, Pinkie Pie seemed particularly affected. The pink pony’s eyes were visibly twitching as she turned to face Moonwhisper. “You didn’t think mentioning your own birthday was important? You thought celebrating your birthday would be silly?” Pinkie Pie demanded in a tone that was equal parts incredulousness and anger.
“I’ve just never seen my birthday as something particularly worth celebrating. It didn’t occur to me that anypony else would have had any interest in celebrating it.”
“Not worth…GAH!” This last statement by Moonwhisper left Pinkie Pie visibly shaking and unable to speak. All Pinkie Pie could do was unleash an anguished scream of exasperation.
Seeing how upset Pinkie Pie was, Moonwhisper began rapidly backing away. “Twilight, I believe that under the circumstances it would be best if I headed back to the castle. Miss Applejack, it was a pleasure to see you.” With that, Moonwhisper quickly dashed out of the barn before anypony could say another word.
“Dagnabbit.” Applejack said with a sigh of resignation. “And everythin’ was goin’ so well too.” Letting out an irritated growl Applejack then turned to Pinkie Pie. “Now, why the hay did y’all have to go and make a fuss like that?”
“I’m sorry, Applejack,” Pinkie Pie apologized, looking completely crestfallen, “it’s just that…birthdays are supposed to be a chance for everypony to show how happy they are that you were born. Why would somepony think that their own birthday wasn’t worth celebrating?”
“Hmmm, why indeed?” An uncomfortably familiar voice postulated, seemingly coming out of the air itself. Moments later, the voice’s patchwork owner appeared above the assembled friends in a flash of light. 
“Discord! What the hay are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked angrily as she flew up to look the draconequus in the eye.
“Who, me?” I was only dropping by to wish my dear friend Applejack a happy birthday,” as he spoke, Discord snapped his claws causing a present to materialize in front of Applejack, “when I just happened to overhear the commotion Twilight’s bodyguard caused. It really is a pity about the dear Captain, such a sad story.”
“Oh for Pete’s sake, don’t tell me you know Moonwhisper too?” Rainbow Dash cried out in annoyance.
“Why of course I do, my prismatic friend. After all, before the…incident with Tirek, Captain Moonwhisper was in charge of warehousing some of the persistent remnants for my less morally upright past.” For a brief moment after Discord mentioned Tirek, a look of what appeared to be genuine contrition flashed across Discord’s face. The moment quickly passed, however, as Discord dropped down to look Twilight in the eye with a smug grin. “But that’s enough reminiscing about the past, there’s something much more interesting to talk about. I have to say, I’m a little surprised that the ‘Princess of Friendship’ has been having so much trouble coaxing Moonwhisper out of his shell.”
Twilight glared at Discord for several seconds before replying. “You know something about why Moonwhisper is so closed off, don’t you?” Twilight finally said in a flat, measured tone, her irritation with the spirit of chaos boiling just below the surface.
“Who, me?” Discord asked innocently as he fluttered his eyelashes, a golden halo manifesting over his head. “Well, of course I know how he turned into the grim grumpy stallion he is today. And I suppose you want me to tell you the whole story, don’t you?” In a flash of light, Twilight found herself tucked into a bed with Discord leering over her holding a storybook. “On the other hoof, though,” Discord added, snapping the book shut, “what kind of friend would I be if I denied you a valuable learning experience by just telling you the answer?” As Discord spoke, the bed Twilight was in and the book Discord was holding vanished as suddenly as they had appeared. “Although,” Discord added with a smirk before Twilight could respond, “I suppose I could be convinced to show you the answer.”
“Show me? What are you-“ Before Twilight could finish her sentence Discord dramatically waved his paw to reveal an ornate beaker containing a pure white liquid. “The alicorn elixir!” Twilight cried out. She vividly remembered how the mysterious potion had shown her visions of the past previously when she had faced her first crisis as a princess.
As Twilight levitated the beaker towards herself, however, Applejack spoke up. “Are y’all sure drinkin’ that stuff is such a good idea? Last time y’all drank that some of the thing’s it showed y’all didn’t sound all that pleasant.”
“Um, I get the feeling that I’m missing an important part of this conversation.” Starlight Glimmer interjected as she cautiously eyed Discord and the elixir. “What exactly is that stuff?”
“It’s a potion called the alicorn elixir,” Twilight began as she eyed the mysterious potion, “and drinking it shows you scenes from the past, the only catch is that it requires the magic of an alicorn in order to work. The first time I used it, it showed me when Princess Luna transformed into Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia banished her to the moon.” Twilight cringed as she recalled how hard it had been witnessing her mentor being forced to battle and subsequently banish her younger sister before turning back to Applejack. “Believe me Applejack, I remember how hard it was to watch what the elixir had to show me last time, and I seriously doubt that Moonwhisper’s past is going to be any nicer. But nopony seems to know what happened to make Moonwhisper the way he is, and he certainly isn’t going to tell me himself. This might be the only chance that I’ll ever have to actually get some real answers.” With that, Twilight closed her eyes and took a sip of the elixir.

*********

Opening her eyes, Twilight Sparkle found herself in what looked to be a primordial forest in the dead of night. As Twilight acclimated herself to her surroundings, the first thing that struck her was the noise. The sounds of ponies yelling echoed faintly through the air, just loud enough to constantly be at the edge of Twilight’s consciousness. The yells seemed to come from every direction, most likely an acoustical trick played by the trees. Furthermore, every so often the noise would be punctuated by a loud thump, as though something large was crashing into a wall. One particularly loud crash was accompanied by a flash of magenta light coming from above the treetops. Reflexively looking up in response to see if she could determine the source of the noise, Twilight felt the blood freeze in her veins as she saw what was causing the racket. A magical barrier had been erected over the forest canopy, and perched on the other side of that barrier was a hideous monster. At first glance Twilight thought that it was a young dragon of some kind, given that it was a winged reptilian creature of approximately the right size and body shape. However, the creature’s head, illuminated by the light of the magical shield, was unlike anything Twilight had ever seen before. The top of the creature’s head was crowned by a pair of backwards curling, ran-like horns, which sprouted from its bulging forehead. The monster had no nose to speak of, just a pair of ragged slits at the end of its short muzzle. The muzzle itself wouldn’t have been particularly remarkable were it not for the fact that it was filled with far too many jagged teeth that appeared far too large for the creature’s mouth. Its eyes, however, were the feature that disturbed Twilight the most. They were pure black orbs of darkness, completely and utterly devoid of any comprehensible thought or emotion. As Twilight stood transfixed with fear looking up at the creature it seemingly met her gaze. Then, without warning the creature reared back and slammed its head into the barrier. It repeated this action several more times until a magenta beam of magical energy struck the barrier, startling the creature and causing it to ply off in a panic.
The sight of the creature flying away snapped Twilight out of her daze, and she quickly looked around for the beam’s source. Twilight didn’t have to look for long, as moments later none other than her older brother Shining Armor came crashing out of the underbrush. She as immediately struck by how terrible Shining Armor looked; his sky blue armor was absolutely filthy, his mane matted and tangled, his ears were twitching spasmodically and his eyes were so bloodshot they looked completely red. Twilight watched as her older brother paused for a moment to steady himself before firing off several more blasts of magic into the barrier. As Shining Armor went about reinforcing the magical shield, Twilight suddenly realized where and, more importantly, when the elixir had taken her; the near-disastrous mission Moonwhisper and Shining Armor had taken part of to intercept a horde of gargoyles. Before Twilight could process the implications of this, her attention was seized by a horrendous crashing sound. A gargoyle, perhaps the same one that Shining Armor had chased off, had partially smashed through Shining Armor’s barrier. The monster was now stuck halfway through the barrier and was frantically trying to pull itself completely through. Shining Armor immediately leapt into action, launching several bolts of energy at the breach in a desperate effort to seal it, but it was too late. With a roar, the gargoyle pulled itself through the hole and launched itself at Shining Armor like a rocket. Exhausted as he was, however, Shining Armor wasn’t about to go down without a fight, firing off one last powerful blast of magical energy right before the gargoyle collided with him. Unfortunately, the gargoyle’s momentum was too great to overcome and it slammed into Shining Armor, sending him sprawling onto the forest floor. The gargoyle itself tumbled along the ground before coming to a stop several feet away. It then lay on the ground completely motionless, and as Twilight cautiously approached it she could see thin tendrils of smoke right up from a gaping hole in its chest.
Hesitantly, Twilight then turned back to check on her brother, who was still lying prone on the ground. Twilight could still remember the look in Shining Armor’s eyes when he had told her that Moonwhisper had saved his life, not to mention the way Sharpshooter had described how the events took place. Nothing, however, could have adequately prepared Twilight for the grisly scene laid out before her. Shining Armor lay on his side, his armor torn away by the force of the gargoyle’s impact. A hideous gash running from the top of his withers all the way to the edge of his cutie mark had been torn into his flesh, so deep that Twilight could see glimpses of her brother’s ribcage. Blood was flowing freely from the wound, forming a pool that was steadily spreading outward from Shining Armor’s still form. As Twilight looked down at her older brother’s mutilated body she felt as though time was slowing down to a crawl. The sounds of the forest seemed to fade away into nothing and it took Twilight several moments to realize that she was screaming in horror.
Twilight’s attention was so completely absorbed by the sight of her brother that she didn’t hear a second stallion galloping out of the forest until he came to a stop right in front of Shining Armor. Still slightly dazed, it took Twilight a second to register that this new stallion was Moonwhisper, encased in his luminous blue armor. Laying across Moonwhisper’s back was another stallion, who Twilight quickly recognized as Sharpshooter. As Sharpshooter turned to get a look at Shining Armor, Twilight could see that the left side of Sharpshooter’s face had been completely torn to bloody shreds.
“Sweet Celestia, is that th’ First Lieutenant?” Sharpshooter exclaimed, his voice remarkably intelligible despite his injuries.
Not bothering to respond, Moonwhisper fired a coruscating beam of dark blue magical energy into Shining Armor. Almost immediately, Shining Armor’s wounds began to knit together right before Twilight’s eyes. Soon, nothing was left of the hideous wound across Shining Armor’s barrel beyond a deep purple scar. The process seemed to take its toll on Shining Armor, however, as he let out weak cries of agony throughout the process. Moreover, even after the wound had been closed Shining Armor still appeared awful. His breathing was shallow and labored, and it looked as though he could pass out completely at any moment. 
“Lieutenant Shining Armor I need you to listen to me.” Moonwhisper barked, “You have lost a tremendous amount of blood, and as this will prevent you from carrying out your duties as commanding officer I am hereby relieving you as acting commander effective immediately. Furthermore, as my first command I am ordering you to STAY AWAKE!” Moonwhisper roared, bringing his face mere inches away from Shining Armor’s. “If you lose consciousness you will in all likelihood die, therefore you are to focus on remaining conscious. I am not giving you permission to die, and I swear to Princess Celestia if you do die I will personally see to it that you are brought up on charges for dereliction of duty!”
The sheer audacity of Moonwhisper’s threat actually manage to elicit a weak laugh from Shining Armor. “You…you really would do something like that, wouldn’t you?” Shining Armor wheezed as Moonwhisper levitated him into the air.
“You know well enough that I never make threats I’m not prepared to carry out, lieutenant.” Moonwhisper sternly replied. “Now, keep quiet and save your strength.” Without another word, Moonwhisper exploded into a mad gallop, kicking up a massive spray of dirt and pine needles as he rocketed out of sight with his injured compatriots in tow. Reflexively, Twilight threw up her foreleg to shield her face from the debris. 

*********

As Twilight lowered her hooves, she once again found herself in Applejack’s barn. Her friends had surrounded her in a rough semi-circle, each with a look of concern on their faces.
“Sweet Celestia, what the hay did y’all see?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah, you were yelling worse than that time I tricked Rarity into thinking plaid was going to be the next big fashion thing.” Rainbow Dash added.
Twilight took a deep breath to steady her nerves before responding. “The elixir took me back to when Moonwhisper saved my brother’s life. It-“ Twilight paused as she tried to force the image of her brother lying on the ground, body horribly torn open, out of her mind. “It wasn’t a pleasant sight,” Twilight’s face darkened, “and I didn’t even learn a single thing about Moonwhisper that I didn’t know already!” As Twilight spoke, she levitated the elixir’s beaker and gave it a look of disdain. “I’m just going to have to try this again.”
“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Fluttershy asked.
“I really do have to agree with Fluttershy, darling,” Rarity added, “it seems as though every time you drink that elixir it shows you something horrible.”
“I’ve already made up my mind,” Twilight replied, “I knew going in that looking into Moonwhisper’s part probably wasn’t going to be enjoyable, but I have to know.” Before anypony else could voice their objections, Twilight took another sip of the elixir. 

*********

Shaking off the initial wave of disorientation brought on the elixir, Twilight found herself in what looked to be small dormitory bedroom. On either side of her was a small desk that had a bed suspended above it. One of the desks had a number of photographs taped on the walls around it, including, much to Twilight’s shock, a number of a younger Princess Cadence. Seated at the other desk, poring diligently over a large book, was Moonwhisper. It was immediately apparent, however, that the elixir had taken Twilight much further back this time. The Moonwhisper seated at the desk still had the lanky build of an adolescent and Twilight found herself glancing down at his cutie mark to confirm that it was really him.
As Twilight started to wonder why the elixir had brought her to this place, the door to the room burst open. Standing in the doorway was none other than Shining Armor, grinning broadly with a lei around his neck. “Hey, roomie! What’re you doing still cooped up in here? There’s a party going on outside; music, dancing,” Shining Armor nudged Moonwhisper and waggled his eyebrows, “a bunch of female cadets in cute grass skirts.”
Moonwhisper let out a snort of annoyance. “That’s funny, I was under the impression that you were still infatuated with Princess Cadence.”
“Hey! Cadence is still the only mare for me, but just because I’m spoken for doesn’t mean I can’t still enjoy the view. Besides,” Shining Armor added with a sly grin, “from what I’ve heard at least half of the mares at the academy are more interested in somepony a little younger, if you know what I mean.”
As Shining Armor mentioned the academy, it suddenly occurred to Twilight that the elixir must have taken her to the time Moonwhisper and Shining Armor attended the Royal Guard Officer’s Academy. Twilight could remember that Sharpshooter had mentioned that her brother and Moonwhisper had attended the academy together, but she hadn’t realized that they had been roommates. Glancing back at what she assumed was Shining Armor’s desk, Twilight reflected on the fact that she also hadn’t realized quite how long Shining Armor and Cadence had been romantically involved. Mentally, Twilight made a note to have a ‘talk’ with her brother about what else he might have neglected to tell her.
Meanwhile, Shining Armor’s last statement finally got Moonwhisper to look up from the book he had been studying, his face a mask of complete irritation. “Tell me, Shining Armor, have you lost the inert mass that passed for your mind? You do realize that we have an exam on the history of the guard in a few days, right? What in the name of Princess Celestia makes you think that I have time to take off from studying? For that matter, why in Equestria aren’t you studying for the upcoming exam?”
“Come on, Moonwhisper, it’s just one history test.” As Shining Armor spoke Twilight could her eye start to twitch at the sound of the words ‘just’ and ‘test’ being used in the same sentence. “Besides,” Shining Armor continued, oblivious to the death glare Twilight was giving him, “the history exam is just some easy pass/fail deal. I could get through it in my sleep.”
Twilight could practically feel her blood boiling as she listened to her brother casually dismiss his need to study for an exam. The only thing that was preventing Twilight from loudly expressing her displeasure with her brother was the knowledge in the back of her head that it would have been an utterly empty gesture.
If it was any small consolation to Twilight, Moonwhisper appeared to be almost as angered by Shining Armor’s attitude as she was. “Tell me, you gibbering idiot, has it ever occurred to you that if you ever actually expect to advance to the rank of captain you should start taking things seriously? ‘Good enough’ might be sufficient for you but I have no intention of settling for anything less than perfection.” Moonwhisper dismissively waved a hoof at Shining Armor. “If you want to waste your time partying that’s your business, but I have more important things to do.”
Shining Armor slowly started to turn around before suddenly pausing. “You know, Moonwhisper, you remind me a lot of my little sister sometimes.”
“Would this be the same younger sister who was accepted to Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, as the princess’ protégé, no less? Frankly I’d the comparison as a compliment.”
“Well, I didn’t mean it as an insult,” Shining Armor countered, raising his voice a bit, “the two of you are probably the two smartest ponies I know. It’s just…Twilight spends all of her time studying, so she doesn’t really have many friends. To be honest, I worry about both of you.”
“Bah!” Moonwhisper snarled as he buried his face back in his book. “Save your big brother instinct for your actual younger sibling and leave me alone.”
Twilight watched as her brother dejectedly turned and left the room. She had never really thought about how the ponies closest to her had felt about her previous anti-social behavior. It was odd for her to hear how she had affected her older brother. As Twilight reflected on this, she heard what sounded like Moonwhisper muttering to himself. Leaning in closer, Twilight could almost immediately tell there was something wrong. Both of Moonwhisper’s ears were folded back, his eyes were wide in panic and his whole body was quivering slight as though all his muscles had tensed up. What truly concerned Twilight, however, was what she could hear Moonwhisper saying.
“It’s for the best, really, I should be alone, I need to be alone. It wouldn’t matter anyway; I’m always going to be alone. I deserve to be alone. Everypony will be better off if I’m alone.” Moonwhisper continuously muttered to himself, ceaselessly repeating iterations of the same though like some sort of twisted mantra. 
Twilight quickly backed away, recoiling in shock. This was a side of Moonwhisper that she had never even imagined existed. Not watching where she was going, Twilight tripped over her own hooves and landed on the ground with a thud.

*********

As Twilight picked herself up, she once again found herself in Applejack’s barn, surrounded by her friends.
“So, you find anything out that time?” Rainbow Dash asked impatiently.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Twilight admitted. “I think I’m getting closer, though. One more dose should take me back far enough.”
Before Twilight could take another sip of the elixir, however, Discord snatched it out of her hooves. “Are you absolutely sure you want to do that, Twilight? That last sip only gave you the tiniest peek behind Moonwhisper’s mask; do you really think you’re ready to pull back the curtain completely?”
“What in Celestia’s name are y’all gabbin’ about now?” Applejack demanded. Realizing, perhaps, that trying to get a straight answer out of Discord would be an exercise in futility, Applejack turned to Twilight herself. “Twi, what in the hay is this ‘peek’ nonsense he’s talkin’ about?”
“The elixir showed me a conversation Moonwhisper had with my brother back when they were still in the officer’s academy. Shining Armor was trying to convince Moonwhisper into coming to a party instead of studying for a test.”
“And let me guess, Moonwhisper told him he didn’t want to be bothered.” Rainbow Dash said with a snort.
“Well, pretty much, Twilight admitted, “but there was something else. After Shining Armor left, Moonwhisper started muttering something to himself about how it was better that he was alone.”
“He really thinks that he’s better off without any friends?” Pinkie Pie asked with concern.
“No…I mean, maybe? I’m not really sure. It sounded more like he was scared of having friends, or that he didn’t deserve to have any. To be honest I’m not entirely sure what he meant by it, which is why I need to try another dose of the elixir.” Twilight added pointedly.
“Well, if you insist.” Discord replied with a shrug as he placed the beaker atop Twilight’s head. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.” With that, Discord vanished into thin air.
Not about to let Discord dissuade her, Twilight closed her eyes and took a third sip of the elixir. 

*********

At first, when Twilight opened her eyes she thought that the elixir had made some sort of mistake. She found herself standing in what appeared to be a pitch dark cellar, or possibly even a dungeon of some sort. All Twilight could tell for certain was that it was an empty, windowless stone room of some kind. Twilight had little time to ponder her situation, however, before her attention was seized by the sounds of muffled cries coming from above. The cries steadily grew louder, until finally Twilight heard the sounds of a door being thrown open. Turning towards the source of the noise, Twilight could see light streaming down from a doorway at the top of a staircase at the far edge of the room. Moments later a figure appeared in the doorway, throwing a shadow into the darkened room. With a grunt, the dark figure sent out a wave of magic, igniting a series of torches set along the chambers walls, illuminating the entire room. In the flickering light Twilight could see that the figure was a middle-aged unicorn stallion with an ash-gray coat and a long, bone-white mane. He was dressed in a dark suit that even Twilight could tell was decades out of style and his right foreleg was twisted and stunted, necessitating his use of a crutch. His face, however, was what seized Twilight’s attention. Cruelty seemed to be engraved on every inch of the stallion’s features, from the hate-filled eyes to the way his mouth was twisted into an angry scowl. The stallion started to trot down the steps before pausing and violently jerking his head to one side, his horn flaring with magic as he did so. A clearly terrified unicorn colt was then levitated into view, his legs failing in a desperate attempt to break out of the older stallions levitation spell.
“Oh stop your whining, you worthless little gelding.” The older stallion snarled as he dragged the colt through the doorway and unceremoniously tossed him down the stairs. The colt bounced off several of the steps before landing at the bottom. He quickly picked himself off the floor and proceeded to scuttle backwards into the chamber, never taking his eyes off of the older stallion. As the colt dashed past her, Twilight was able to get a better look at him without the older stallion’s magic aura obstructing her view. The colt appeared to be a year or so younger than the Cutie Mark Crusaders, his flank the same jet black as the rest of his coat. Like the older stallion the colt’s mane was a bone-white, though the colt’s mane had been haphazardly cropped short. It was with a churning sensation in the pit of her stomach that Twilight realized that the colt was in fact a very young Moonwhisper. Which in turn meant that the older stallion was almost certainly his hated father, Penumbral Dusk.
“Moonwhisper! Center of the room NOW!” Penumbral Dusk barked as he descended the stairs, both confirming his identity and snapping Twilight back to the events unfolding before her. Slowly, Moonwhisper complied with his father’s order, and as he stepped into the center of the room Twilight could see him quivering in terror. Penumbral Dusk paid no attention to his son’s obvious fear beyond muttering curses under his breath. As Twilight watched, Penumbral Dusk’s horn glowed with magical power and several concentric circles of runes formed under Moonwhisper’s hooves. Twilight recognized the runes as a form of magical seal, a particularly old form of magic that she admittedly had little direct experience with. There was little time for Twilight to ponder where Penumbral Dusk may have learned such a spell, however, as the runes quickly flared with power, sending arcs of crackling magical energy shooting into Moonwhisper from all sides.
At first Moonwhisper scarcely made a sound even as his face contorted in anguish. He even went so far as to bite his lower lip until blood trickled down his chin in rivulets in a desperate effort to hold back the pain. Eventually it was too much for the small colt, however, and an unbearable scream of agony ripped itself from his throat. The sight of the young colt practically convulsing with pain, coupled his tormented wails proved too much for Twilight to take. The Princess of Friendship fell to the cold stone floor, her eyes screwed shut and her front hooves covering her ears as she silently begged for the horrible scene to end.
Finally, after what seemed to Twilight like an eternity Moonwhisper’s screaming ceased. Cautiously opening her eyes, Twilight could see that the reason for her respite was that Moonwhisper had collapsed and was lying motionless on the ground. Penumbral Dusk was clearly infuriated by this turn of events, snarling with rage as he dismissed the magic seal before approaching his pone son.
“Get up you lazy little good-for-nothing!” Penumbral Dusk shouted. When Moonwhisper failed to respond, Penumbral Dusk flew into a rage and began raining down blows with his crutch onto the unmoving foal. The savage beating failed to elicit a response from Moonwhisper, however, his blank expression giving no indication that he even felt the assault. “I said GET UP!” Penumbral Dusk roared as he slammed the end of his crutch into one of Moonwhisper’s forelimbs and proceeded to grind it into the floor. When even this failed to produce so much as a whimper from Moonwhisper Penumbral Dusk finally relented, fuming as he stepped away from his son. “Little brat’s tougher than I thought” Penumbral Dusk muttered with an odd mix of irritation and pride. “I guess I’ll just have to find some other way of motivating him.” Leaving Moonwhisper where he lay Penumbral Dusk turned and disappeared up the stairs. As he left, Twilight silently prayed that the vision would end before he returned, unsure of how much more cruelty she could stand to witness. Unfortunately the elixir seemed to have other plans as minutes later the sounds of Penumbral Dusk’s shouting could be heard coming from above. Mixed in were the sounds of a terrified mare begging and pleading for mercy.
“Oh dear Celestia, please no.” Twilight whimpered. As horrible as the things she was witnessing were, they were made infinitely worse by the feeling of complete helplessness that came with them. There was nothing Twilight could do to stop what was coming or to change the outcome. For all her magical power Twilight was, at that moment, utterly powerless.
When Penumbral Dusk returned he was magically dragging a slender, dark-coated unicorn mare behind him, looking completely terrified. She appeared to be several years younger than Penumbral Dusk, with a cerulean mane and a jet black coat. As Penumbral Dusk pulled the mare down the stairs, she started to plead with him to let her go. “Penumbral, please, whatever I did I’m sorry, you don’t have to do this.”
“Shut up!” Penumbral Dusk snapped as he tossed her down the last several steps. “Half the reason the brat is such a lazy piece of garbage is because you’re always coddling him!”
At the mention of Moonwhisper the mare immediately looked up towards the prone foal in the center of the room. A single glance at the mournful expression on her face confirmed to Twilight that she was looking at Moonwhisper’s mother.
It looked as though Moonwhisper’s mother was about to say something, but before she could Penumbral Dusk struck her across the face with a vicious swipe of his crutch. “I said shut up.” Penumbral Dusk snarled down at her before turning to Moonwhisper. “Are you watching this, colt? You may be able to take a beating, but how much do you think your worthless mother can handle?” To illustrate his point, Penumbral Dusk brought his crutch down across Moonwhisper’s mother’s withers, causing her to cry out in pain. “You want to stop this? Then get back on your hooves.” As Penumbral Dusk continued, he began raining down blows, punctuating each word with a strike across his wife’s helpless form. “I. Told. You. To. Get. Up. Now!”
For Twilight, this was more than she could possibly take. She simply couldn’t stomach another moment of the naked malice, the sheer sadism on display. Picking herself up off the floor, Twilight drew in her breath to scream at the top of her lungs-
“Stop it!” Twilight turned and saw that Moonwhisper had pulled himself to his hooves, tears streaming down his face. “I’ll do whatever you want, just leave her alone!” As Moonwhisper spoke, a flash of light shimmered along his flank. It took Twilight a few seconds to process the fact that evidently, this horrific scene was how Moonwhisper had earned his cutie mark.
For his part, Penumbral Dusk seemed rather pleased with this turn of events. “Well, maybe you’re not completely worthless after all,” he sneered, leaving Moonwhisper’s mother curled up and quietly sobbing on the floor as he trotted over to his son. As Penumbral Dusk drew closer, he began roughly prodding Moonwhisper with his crutch trying to get a better view of his cutie mark. “The family crest,” Penumbral Dusk finally said approvingly, “at least there’s something about you that isn’t a disappointment. Now, for your sake and hers you had better last at least a full ten minutes this time.”
As Twilight watched Penumbral Dusk ready himself to cast another runic circle, she felt her stomach churn with utter disgust. The expression of smug satisfaction that was plastered across his features after he had tortured his son, beaten his wife will forcing his son to watch and finally prepared to torture his son yet again was too much. As the runes began forming underneath Moonwhisper once again Twilight’s vision went red with anger. Her blood boiling with rage at the realization that Penumbral Dusk had actually enjoyed every twisted moment of what she had witnessed, Twilight leapt towards the stallion, her horn flaring with power.

*********

Mid-pounce, however, Twilight found herself frozen in the air. As her eyesight cleared, Twilight realized that she was back in Applejack’s barn and had quite nearly tackled Pinkie Pie. Thankfully, Starlight Glimmer had been quick enough to immobilize Twilight before any damage had been done.
“Geez, Twilight, are you alright?” Rainbow Dash asked as she cautiously approached her friend. “It looked like you were seriously freaking out there.” Seeing the distraught look on Twilight’s face, Rainbow Dash motioned for Starlight to lower their friend to the ground. 
Twilight stumbled as Starlight released the spell holding her, as though the weight of what she witnessed was still pressing down on her. Seeing her in such a state, Twilight’s friends clustered protectively around her, a single question on everypony’s lips; what did she see?