//------------------------------// // Moving Day // Story: Guarded Emotions: Burying the Past // by Alabenson //------------------------------// Stay silent. Keep your eyes on the ground. Don’t let you expression show any emotion, no matter how angry or miserable you really are. These were the rules that Moonwhisper had lived his life by, each learned through painful experience at the hooves of his father, Penumbral Dusk. As long as Moonwhisper followed the rules, the young colt would be mostly safe from Penumbral Dusk’s wrath, aside from the torturous daily ‘training’ sessions he was forced to endure, of course. Unfortunately, the operative word when it came to Moonwhisper’s efforts to protect himself was ‘mostly’. There was no way to really be certain what had provoked Penumbral Dusk’s latest assault. Moonwhisper had seen Penumbral Dusk stomping down the hall and had promptly moved to the side to let him pass, his head turned down as he stayed perfectly still. Despite Moonwhisper’s best efforts, however, something still incited Penumbral Dusk to violence. The older stallion swatted Moonwhisper across the face with his crutch with enough force to almost knock the adolescent colt off his hooves. Despite this, Moonwhisper quickly steadied himself and resumed his stance without uttering so much as a whimper. Evidently satisfied that whatever slight he had perceived had been answered, Penumbral Dusk turned and continued back down the hall without a word. Truthfully, Moonwhisper wasn’t particularly bothered by the blow itself. Years of magical torture inflicted under the guise of training had left Moonwhisper almost completely inured to the concept of physical pain. It wasn’t that Moonwhisper didn’t feel the ugly bruise the blow had left across his face or the deep cut on the inside of his cheek. Rather, Moonwhisper was simply so accustomed to far worse that pain in general had been reduced to a general awareness of injury and nothing more. Once Penumbral Dusk was a safe distance down the hall Moonwhisper began casting a spell to repair the physical damage left by the blow, clearing up the bruise and knitting the flesh on the inside of cheek back together. Almost as soon as Moonwhisper finished, his attention was seized by the sound of a cry of alarm coming from down the hall. Even as he turned to look, Moonwhisper already knew what had happened. Moonwhisper’s mother had encountered Penumbral Dusk in the hall as well, and it seemed that in her case his anger wasn’t going to be sated by a single blow across the face. Moonwhisper’s mother had already been knocked to the floor with one of her eyes swollen shut while Penumbral Dusk stood over her, readying another blow. Moonwhisper watched the scene unfold, his eyes filled with barely contained rage, until he was stuck with a sudden realization. Looking down at himself, Moonwhisper say that he wasn’t some helpless foal, but rather a full-grown stallion, one with the power to put an end to Penumbral Dusk’s cruelty. Not even bothering to try to suppress the manic grin spreading across his face, Moonwhisper rapidly closed the distance between him and Penumbral Dusk. Without even breaking stride Moonwhisper enveloped Penumbral Dusk’s crutch in a dark blue magical aura as the older stallion was poised to strike Moonwhisper’s mother yet again. In a flash Moonwhisper violently jerked the crutch back and used the momentum to slam Penumbral Dusk into the wall. Before Penumbral Dusk had a chance to recover Moonwhisper twisted the crutch away from him and, with a guttural scream, began viciously beating him with it. Years of repressed hatred and rage were unleashed in a torrent of violence as Moonwhisper brought the crutch down on Penumbral Dusk’s prone form over and over again. There was no telling how long Moonwhisper might have kept going had the sound of a sob not caused him to freeze. As Moonwhisper looked down, he saw to his horror that the pony at his hooves wasn’t his hated father, but rather Twilight Sparkle. The alicorn princess was sobbing softly as she curled into a ball on the ground, her body covered in bruises and lacerations from Moonwhisper’s assault. Moonwhisper rapidly backed away from the prone figure, his mind reeling at the sight, until finally he lost his footing and found himself falling backwards into an endless abyss of darkness. ********* Moonwhisper awoke with a start, having rolled out of his bed and landed in a tangle of sheets on the floor. After taking a brief moment to reorient himself Moonwhisper extricated himself from the sheets and bolted out of his bedroom, stumbling into the bathroom across the hall. Once there, Moonwhisper proceeded to void the contents of his stomach into the toilet until his insides stopped churning from his revulsion at the contents of his nightmare. Several moons had passed since Moonwhisper had first come to Ponyville to serve as Princess Twilight Sparkle’s bodyguard, and Moonwhisper had spent past two and a half as Twilight’s paramour as well. In truth, the past few moons had been the happiest time of Moonwhisper’s life. Not only was Twilight the most incredible mare that Moonwhisper had ever met, but her stubborn insistence that Moonwhisper seek professional help for his past traumas was slowly yielding results. Unfortunately, while Moonwhisper’s life in the waking world may have become idyllic, his dreams were another matter entirely. While Moonwhisper had suffered from nightmares all his life recently his night terrors had grown increasingly worse, both in content and frequency. In fact, it seemed to Moonwhisper that the better things were between himself and Twilight the worse his nightmares became. Reflecting on it, Moonwhisper realized that recently things had been progressing especially quickly between the two. Scarcely a week ago Twilight had suggested that Moonwhisper move from the room he was renting from Bulk Biceps into her castle. At first Moonwhisper had been somewhat hesitant out of fear of causing a scandal, but Twilight had already prepared an official proposal citing the security benefits of having him move in with her. Now, after a week of preparations Moonwhisper would be making the move the next day. “That’s probably what triggered my nightmare,” Moonwhisper thought to himself as he moved to the bathroom sink. “I’m just nervous about the move tomorrow and my subconscious is seizing on that. The best thing I can do right now is not let myself worry about it and try to get back to sleep.” As Moonwhisper gargled some water to wash the taste of stomach acid from his mouth he made a mental note to also discuss his latest nightmare with his therapist during his next session. Personally Moonwhisper saw little benefit to his weekly sessions with Conscious Mind, the psychologist that Twilight insisted he see regularly, but as far as Moonwhisper was concerned Twilight’s peace of mind was well worth the inconvenience. Once Moonwhisper was satisfied that his stomach was fully settled he crept back to his bedroom as quietly as he could in the hopes that he could avoid waking his landlord. As he returned to his bed, Moonwhisper silently beseeched his subconscious to permit him a peaceful night’s sleep, knowing he would need it for the day ahead. ********* When Moonwhisper awoke the next morning he felt substantially better than he had the night before. Putting the previous night’s unpleasantness behind him, Moonwhisper began going through his typical morning routine starting with a cold shower. As he headed into the bathroom Moonwhisper could hear the sounds of grunting and barbells being lifted signaling that Bulk Biceps was getting an early start to his morning workout. Overall, Moonwhisper considered Bulk Biceps to be an excellent housemate. The massive pegasus was remarkably tidy, usually refrained from prying into Moonwhisper’s personal life and shared Moonwhisper’s interest in physical fitness. The only real downside to the whole arrangement from Moonwhisper’s perspective was Bulk Biceps’ propensity for punctuating whatever he was doing with screams of— “YEAH!” Moonwhisper winced as Bulk Biceps’ shout seemed to shake the entire house. Regardless of any reservations Moonwhisper may have had about moving in with Twilight, part of Moonwhisper would definitely be thankful to live somewhere a little quieter. After finishing his morning grooming Moonwhisper went downstairs, where he was greeted by the sight of Bulk Biceps guzzling down a trio of raw eggs. “Hey! Good morning roomie!” Bulk Biceps said cheerily as he greeted Moonwhisper. “I was just getting a head start on my morning workout. Y’know, getting myself PUMPED for the rest of the day! If you’ve got time why don’t you join me for a few reps, really get your blood pumping?” “I’m afraid I’ll have to decline you’re offer. I was actually planning to head out early so that I’d have enough time to review the progress being made on the construction of Fort Everfree’s construction before going to the castle.” “Oh, alright then,” Bulk Biceps replied, sounding a little disappointed, “can I at least make a you a smoothie before you go? You’re big on spinach-beetroot ones, right?” “I will say that does sound nice,” Moonwhisper admitted, “but I wouldn’t want you to go to any trouble on my account.” “Its fine, I was gonna make one for myself anyway,” Bulk Biceps said as he tossed a few vegetables into his blender. “By the way, are you feelin’ all right? I heard you up last night and it sounded pretty bad.” “Last night?” Moonwhisper asked, a hint of alarm flashing across his features for a moment. “While I appreciate your concern, last night was nothing to worry about. I was just feeling a little nauseous, likely a result of something I ate. In any event I apologize for waking you up.” “Nah, don’t worry about it.” An awkward silence fell on the pair as Bulk Biceps continued making the smoothies, until Bulk Biceps finally spoke up again. “So, you’re really going through with it, huh?” Y’know, the whole moving in with Princess Twilight thing, I mean.” That’s a pretty big step for the two of you.” “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re implying,” Moonwhisper sputtered as his face stated to turn red. “Princess Twilight’s proposal on the subject was purely concerned with the very real security concerns brought on by the current status quo. As things are now it would be extremely difficult for me to effectively respond to a threat at the castle. Assigning any other ulterior motives to Princess Twilight regarding this decision would be pure baseless speculation.” Inwardly Moonwhisper wondered if Bulk Biceps, or anypony else for that matter, would actually believe a word of what he had just said. Everypony in Ponyville was already well aware that he and Princess Twilight were in a relationship and Twilight herself had made little effort to conceal the fact from Moonwhisper that in her eyes this move was about progressing their relationship first and security a distant second. Bulk Biceps seemed to pick up on Moonwhisper’s anxiousness. “Hey, don’t look so worried. Princess Twilight wouldn’t have asked you to move in with her if she wasn’t seriously into you.” Grinning broadly, Bulk passed Moonwhisper a red-brown smoothie. Moonwhisper thanked Bulk Biceps as he accepted the smoothie. While Bulk Biceps may have completely misunderstood the reason that Moonwhisper was uneasy his advice was ultimately still quite sound. Worrying about other ponies possibly judging him, or worse judging Twilight, over the situation was a pointless waste of energy. After all, if Twilight herself wasn’t concerned about any possibly fallout then clearly everything was going to be just fine. ********* “Twilight, I don’t get how can you be so sure that everything’s going to turn out alright?” Starlight Glimmer asked as she helped Twilight levitate the last of a series of boxes out of one of the castle’s storerooms. “I mean, I get that things are going well between you and Moonwhisper, and I’m happy for both of you, but isn’t having him move in kind of a big step?” Twilight let out an exasperated sigh as she set down one of the boxes. “For the last time, Moonwhisper isn’t just my coltfriend, he’s also supposed to be my bodyguard. It only makes sense for him to live here so he can be close by in case I need him. Besides, it’s not as though space is an issue or anything, the castle has tons of rooms available.” “Uh huh,” Starlight said, clearly not convinced Twilight was being entirely forthcoming about her reasoning. “And it definitely doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that you want your coltfriend nice and close by, does it?” “I…um…I mean maybe it…” Twilight stammered as she quickly turned away, her face starting to turn red. “You know what, we’ve been so focused on talking about Moonwhisper and I that I haven’t even really asked how you feel about Moonwhisper moving in,” Twilight finally said in a rather transparent attempt to change the subject. “I mean, if I remember correctly it was a pretty big shock for you when you found out Moonwhisper and I had started dating.” “Yeah, well that had been kind of a strange day for me even before I learned about you and Moonwhisper.” Starlight admitted. Silently, Starlight wondered if her mentor knew just how strange that particular day had been for her. After all, even a night of truly excessive drinking usually didn’t result in one waking up the next morning in a strange hotel wearing a policemare’s uniform while you best friend lies asleep in a the bathtub which has somehow been filled with cake batter. Thankfully, before Twilight could start asking questions that Starlight Glimmer really did not want to try to answer a commotion coming from upstairs grabbed their attention. “Aw yeah, we’re back with another map mission taken down!” Even in the castle’s lower levels Rainbow Dash’s load self-congratulations were clearly audible. Privately, Twilight wondered whether her ability to hear her friend was a result of some trick of her castle’s acoustics or just a result of Rainbow Dash’s natural volume. Setting that question aside for the moment, Twilight began making her way up to the castle’s map room with Starlight Glimmer following close behind. When the pair reached their destination they found Rainbow Dash and Rarity already seated at the table waiting for them. “So, I take it everything went alright in Baltimare?” Twilight asked as she trotted in. “I daresay, everything went much better than just ‘alright’,” Rarity said. “In fact, I would say that everything went absolutely splendidly. I might even go so far as to say that that was the least complicated mission the map has ever sent me on.” “Yeah, seriously, it’s kind of nice for everything to go like we planned for once,” Rainbow Dash added. “I mean, it’d get boing if things went like that all the time, but it’s nice to be able to take thing easy once in a while.” Letting out a self-satisfied sigh Rainbow Dash leaned back in her seat. “So, what’re you guys doing today?” “Well, Starlight was helping me reorganize some of the castle’s storerooms and later I was going to see if Moonwhisper needs any help moving his things over from Bulk Biceps’. He’ll probably insist on doing everything himself, but I’d like to at least keep him company.” Rarity exchanged a quick glance with Rainbow Dash before responding. “I take it to mean you really are intent on having Moonwhisper move into the castle with you?” “Oh for Celestia’s sake,” Twilight irritably snapped, “yes, for the hundredth time, I’m sure that I want Moonwhisper to move in here with me. No, I really don’t think it’s as big a deal as everypony is making it out to be. It’s not as though Moonwhisper and I are going to be sleeping together or anything; he’ll be staying in his own room a few doors down from mine.” As Twilight finished her outburst she was left breathing heavily as she slowly calmed herself down. “I’m sorry for yelling, it’s just that I’ve had almost everypony I know ask me that like I’m some kind of silly, love-struck filly who’s rushing off to get married.” “I do apologize if I offended you, darling,” Rarity said, “we’re just concerned that you may be rushing things with Moonwhisper a bit.” “Yeah, I mean, you haven’t even been dating the guy for three months and he’s already moving in with you?” Rainbow Dash added. “Don’t you think that’s moving things kinda quickly?” Twilight pawed at the floor in silence for a moment before responding, her voice much more subdued. “Actually, to be honest I’m kind of hoping that having Moonwhisper move in with me will help our relationship progress a little quicker.” Seeing her friends’ puzzled expressions Twilight elaborated. “The thing is, things between Moonwhisper and me have been going…really slow. And I understand why; with everything Moonwhisper has been through it makes sense that he’d have some issues with intimacy. I’m just hoping that having Moonwhisper live her with me in the castle will help him feel more comfortable with…well, you know…” “Hold on,” Rainbow Dash said, “didn’t you and Moonwhisper have that whole romantic weekend together a few weeks ago? That’s not exactly the sort of thing that says ‘afraid of intimacy’ to me.” A blush crept into Twilight’s cheeks as she recalled the long weekend in question. “That was different, we actually spent most of the weekend organizing incident reports from Moonwhisper’s old posting.” A smile slowly spread across Twilight’s face as she continued. “A whole weekend, just the two of us sorting files by candlelight…the look in his eyes as we put together a new cross-indexing system…the way our hooves touched as we reached for the same folder…” Twilight let out a dreamy sigh as she lost herself in her reminiscing. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was less than impressed with Twilight’s idea of a romantic weekend. In fact, the only thing that prevented Rainbow Dash from making gagging gestures was the glare she received from Rarity. “Seriously, organizing a bunch of folders? That’s what she calls a romantic weekend?” Rainbow Dash whispered incredulously. “Well, admittedly it wouldn’t have been the sort of weekend I would have enjoyed either, but this is Twilight we’re talking about,” Rarity whispered back as she maintained her smile. Before Rainbow Dash could think of a reply, however, Pinkie Pie suddenly burst into the room. “Twilight!” Pinkie Pie yelled as she quickly zeroed in on her friend. “You need to come to Sugar Cube Corner right! It’s a baking emergency!” “A baking emergency?” Twilight asked as she shook herself out of her blissful daze. “What in Equestria do you mean by a baking emergency?” Almost as soon as Twilight asked her question a low, gargling howl could be heard echoing from the direction of the town proper. Her question apparently answered Twilight immediately burst into action. “Alright, Rainbow Dash, you’re the fastest one here so I need you to find Moonwhisper and let him know we need him in town right away. Once you’ve found him head back to town and meet up with us. Rarity, Starlight, you two come with me and Pinkie Pie-“ another bellowing roar thundered through the air, “-to see what we can do about whatever that is.” ********* Elsewhere in Ponyville, while Twilight and Starlight Glimmer had been busy reorganizing the castle storerooms another pair were looking over the ongoing construction of the nascent Fort Everfree. “-so then I tossed this huge rock at the giant timberwolf! Then, before it recovered I freed Applejack from the rocks and carried her to safety.” “Dang, Spike, that’s a pretty good story.” Silver Streak said as she trotted around the edges of the construction site. “I’d say it’s almost as impressive as the time I got jumped by a pair of harpies while flying recon,” she added with a sly grin. Spike, who was riding along on Silver Streak’s back, gave a friendly scoff at her assertion. “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say Silver Streak.” Over all, Spike had found that the changes that had occurred to his social circle over the past few months had worked out rather well for him. True, Twilight hadn’t been able to spend as much time with him since she started dating Moonwhisper, but Spike wasn’t especially bothered by that. It had helped immensely that Spike had gotten along with Moonwhisper even before he had become Twilight’s coltfriend, and Spike was eager for the chance to get to know Moonwhisper better. Not all of Spike’s efforts to that end had been successful, however, and Moonwhisper remained stubbornly noncommittal to Spike’s invitation to guy’s night. That said, Moonwhisper had been willing to let Spike assist with some the tasks involved in ensuring Ponyville’s safety. Hence why Spike was currently riding on Silver Streak’s back, taking notes while she inspected the construction site. Thus far, the construction hadn’t progressed much further than the excavation for the foundation, however, so Spike and Silver Streak were passing the time by regaling each other with (often exaggerated) tales of their past exploits. “Hey, Silver Streak, have I told you about the time I rescued Rarity from the Diamond Dogs yet?” “Only about three or four times so far,” Silver Streak replied with a grin, “but if you want to tell it to me again go right ahead. The number of diamond dogs you took on goes up every time, so it’s not like the story really gets old,” Silver Streak added. As Spike let out an embarrassed laugh at the observation Silver Streak continued. “Don’t worry too much about it, pretty much everypony exaggerates stories like that. Hay, if Sharpshooter didn’t have me around to keep him honest he’d probably be trying to convince ponies he nearly took down Tirek.” A minute of relative silence passed between the pair before Silver Streak spoke up again. “So, I’m guessing there’s a particular reason that diamond dog story is one of your favorites.” “What do you mean by that?” Spike asked nervously. “Well, you really seem into the whole ‘brave knight rescuing the fair maiden’ bit, for one thing. And I kinda get the feeling that who you were running off to save was half the appeal,” Silver Streak added with a sidelong glance towards Spike. Spike embarrassedly sputtered for a bit before taking a deep breath to compose himself. “Look, yeah, you got me, I’ve got a huge crush on Rarity. But you can’t tell anypony about it, alright?” “Relax, Spike, I’ll keep your secret,” Silver Streak said before letting out a small sigh. “To be honest I can understand how you feel. You know, with what it’s like having a crush on somepony, I mean.” “Really,” Spike exclaimed, “who is it? You can tell me, I won’t tell anypony. I bet it’s Sharpshooter, you two are always hanging out together. Am I right?” Silver Streak practically gagged in disgust at Spike’s insinuation. “Oh dear Celestia, not a chance! I mean, don’t get me wrong, Sharpshooter’s a nice enough guy to hang out with but he’s not exactly special somepony material.” Silver Streak shuddered a little at the thought before continuing. “No, the stallion I had a crush on was…well, it was the Captain.” “Holy guacamole, you have a crush on Moonwhisper?” Spike yelped. “Does he know about how you fell about him? Does Twilight know?” “Relax, Spike, I said I ‘had; a crush on the Captain, as in past-tense. I told the Captain how I felt about him years ago and he turned me down like he did with every other mare until the princess finally figured him out. I made peace with the whole deal and moved on, and honestly I’m just glad the Captain finally found somepony to be happy with. My point was, though, I get what it’s like to be completely head over hoofs for somepony else, so if you ever need somepony to talk about-“ Before Silver Streak could finish, a low gurgling roar bellowed out from the direction of Ponyville interrupting her. “What the hay was that?” Silver Streak asked, already breaking into a gallop towards the town. “I have no idea, I’ve never heard anything like that before,” Spike wailed as he clung to Silver Streak’s armor in a desperate attempt to keep from being thrown off. “What if it’s some sort of monster from the Everfree Forrest?” “Could be, but frankly I doubt it. The most direct path to Ponyville from the Everfree Forrest would go right past Fort Everfree, so if whatever that thing is came from the Everfree it would have had to walk right past us. Hold on tight, I’m going to try to see if I can get better look at this ting from the sky.” With that, Silver Streak launched herself into the air, rocketing upwards until she was high enough to have a clear view of the whole of Ponyville. Once Silver Streak reached her desired altitude it didn’t take long to pinpoint the source of the noise she and Spike had heard. “Sweet Celestia, what the hay is that thing?” Spike yelled as he pointed down towards the town. Silver Streak didn’t need to see where Spike was pointing to know what had grabbed his attention. A massive quadrupedal monster was stomping around the town center, sending the townsponies fleeing in blind terror. The creature was easily the size of a house and looked vaguely like a hairless dog comprised of beige muck. “Are you actually gonna try to fight that thing?” Spike asked as Silver Streak considered her options. “Not much choice; that thing’s attacking civilians so it’s my duty to try and stop it,” Silver Streak replied. After taking a moment to survey the scene below Silver Streak swooped down and landed near the town hall. “Alright Spike, hop off. You should be safe enough from whatever the hay that thing is inside.” “Aw, come on Silver Streak, I wanna help,” Spike whined as he clung to Silver Streak’s back. “Just give me a chance, you know I’d be able to-“ “Sorry Spike, but I can’t do that. We don’t know what that thing is or what it can do, and I can’t take the risk of you getting hurt.” Before Spike could try and argue the point further Silver Streak shrugged the small dragon off of her and rocked back into the air. Now that she was no longer being weighed down by a passenger Silver Streak felt confident enough to fly in closer to the monstrosity to get a better idea of what she was dealing with. It quickly became apparent to Silver Streak that her initial caution might not have been necessary. While the creature was clearly aggressive, snapping and slobbering at anypony not quick enough to get out of sight it was also rather sluggish. Consequently, Silver Streak was easily able to get quite close to the creature with little danger of it managing to catch her. Up close, Silver Streak found herself nearly overwhelmed by the creature’s powerful odor. Strangely, though, the creature didn’t smell especially bad. In fact, it actually smelled remarkable sweet, as though it were composed entirely of— “Cake batter?” A familiar voice incredulously shouted from higher up in the air. Silver Streak abruptly banked away from the creature as she looked up to see Princess Twilight flying overhead, her friend Pinkie Pie floating nearby under a canopy of balloons. Pinkie Pie appeared to say something to Twilight in response, and while Silver Streak was too far away to make out what she said the expression on Twilight’s face as she fired off a beam of magenta energy at the creature spoke volumes. Curious to hear an explanation for what was going on, Silver Streak turned into a steep ascent until she was almost level with Twilight and Pinkie Pie. “Your highness,” Silver Streak called out once she got within speaking distance, “do you have any idea what we’re dealing with here? I’ve never even heard of a creature like this before.” Glancing down at the creature Silver Streak could see that Twilight’s attack hadn’t had any appreciable effect. “It’s a golem,” Twilight replied flatly, her voice struggling to contain her exasperation, “more specifically it’s a cake golem. It’s a magical construct comprised of cake batter that somepony managed to set loose on the town.” Twilight placed a particular emphasis on the word somepony as she looked back at Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie wince a little as Twilight spoke, but before she could respond a dark blue blur shot for the outskirts of town right into the golem, blasting right through one of the creature’s front legs. As it came to a stop Silver Streak could see that the blur was in fact Moonwhisper, completely encased in his conjured armor. Moonwhisper appeared to sniff at some of the muck that had spattered on him when he impacted with the golem before looking upwards towards Silver Streak. “Lieutenant, I need you and Miss Dash to start gathering rainclouds over the town, as many as possible!” ********* Dinner that night at Twilight’s castle was something of a subdued affair as everypony tried to absorb the day’s rather hectic events. “What I still can’t understand,” Moonwhisper finally said, “is how in Equestria did Miss Pie manage to construct a cake golem of that size in a single morning. I realize that she has something of a knack for defying logic but even so…” “Pinkie told me what happened while you were organizing cleanup crews for the town. It turns out she borrowed a book from the library of the Castle of the Two Sisters. She actually thought it was some sort of cookbook,” Twilight added sourly. “The two of us had a long talk about asking from now on before using any of the books from there from now on.” “I’m just glad you were able to stop that thing before it managed to hurt somepony,” Starlight Glimmer said. “Magical constructs like that those are really hard to stop with spells alone.” “Is that why you ran off with Rarity to help get the townsponies out of the way instead of helping me try to stop it?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. Luckily for Starlight, Moonwhisper interjected before she had to answer. “To tell the truth, there likely wasn’t much danger that the golem was going to seriously harm anypony, at least intentionally. Food-based golems are typically fairly docile, and even when frenzied they’re animating spells subconsciously prevent them from deliberately inflicting lethal injuries. The greater danger it posed was that it might have caused seriously property damage, especially given its size there was a very real risk that it may have collapsed a building on somepony.” As Moonwhisper droned on about how he had known that soaking the golem with rainwater would stop it, Twilight paid close attention to the tone of his voice. Twilight had known Moonwhisper long enough to learn that he typically adopted that flat, matter-of-fact tone whenever he was upset about something. According to Moonwhisper’s therapist, Conscious Mind, this was likely a subconscious attempt on Moonwhisper’s part to avoid having to deal with whatever was upsetting him. Twilight knew Moonwhisper wouldn’t be open to discussing whatever had him on edge in front of Spike and Starlight Glimmer, so she kept her observation to herself initially. After dinner concluded, however, Twilight followed Moonwhisper back to his room. “Moonwhisper,” Twilight began as they reached the hallway where there rooms were located, “would you mind if I came into your room for a bit? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.” “There is? Very well then,” Moonwhisper replied, sounding a bit startled. As Twilight entered Moonwhisper’s room she briefly glanced around. For the most part it strongly resembled the room Moonwhisper had rented from Bulk Biceps, the furnishing consisting of his bed, armor stand, a desk and a bookshelf. The only significant change had been the addition of a few photos of Moonwhisper and other ponies, most prominently Twilight herself. Turning back to Moonwhisper himself, Twilight could see that he was clearly nervous, uneasily shifting around on his hooves. “Moonwhisper, is there something wrong? It seems like something’s bothering you.” Twilight asked, not bothering to try and ease into the subject. “I’ve been watching you all night and it definitely seems like something has you on edge. If something’s wrong you know you can tell me, right?” As Twilight spoke she inched closer to Moonwhisper, brushing one of her front hooves against his. Moonwhisper, however, looked away from Twilight in an attempt to avoid looking her in the eye. “I can assure you, Twilight, you’re quite mistaken. I’m not really bothered by anything at the moment. Granted, the progress on Fort Everfree’s construction isn’t progressing as quickly as I’d prefer, but—“ “Moonwhisper!” Twilight snapped, using the same tone of voice she typically employed when she needed to keep Spike from gorging himself on ice cream. “Do you remember what almost every relationship book we’ve read said? The most important part of any relationship is communication. Now, if there’s something wrong then I’m here for you, but I can’t help you if you won’t let me.” For a moment it appeared that Moonwhisper was going to try and argue, but instead he simply closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You’re absolutely right. The truth is, since we started…well, since we became romantically involved, I’ve been having nightmares almost every night.” “Nightmares?” Twilight asked, somewhat confused. “I mean, that’s not good, but you’ve always had issues with nightmares, haven’t you? What makes these nightmares so different?” “The nightmares I’ve been having recently have been far more…vivid than what I’ve dealt with in the past,” Moonwhisper replied, still averting his eyes away from Twilight. “I didn’t want to worry you about it, which is why I hadn’t mentioned anything about it earlier.” Twilight paused for a moment before responding. It was painfully obvious that there was something Moonwhisper still wasn’t telling her, but Twilight doubted that pressuring him further would help matters. “You know, if you’re really having this much trouble with nightmares I’m a little surprised that Princess Luna hasn’t visited you. I mean, it’s not like it’d be the first time she entered your dreams.” “And I’m certain that Princess Luna told you how well that last visit went,” Moonwhisper retorted. While Twilight had never actually told Moonwhisper that she had been invisibly present during Princess Luna’s visit to his dreams, he still knew that she had been the one who had arranged it. “Even under the best of circumstances my subconscious isn’t the most pleasant…would you really call the subconscious a ‘place’, per se?” Moonwhisper asked, his expression suddenly turning thoughtful. “I mean, it isn’t a physical location so much as it’s a psychological construct, but it functions as a physical location within the realm of dreams, so—“ “Moonwhisper,” Twilight yelled, “I think you’re getting a little off topic.” Inwardly, Twilight wanted to argue that a subconscious could probably be considered a place in the context of dreams, but now was not the time for that discussion. “Anyway, I’m certain Princess Luna would still be willing to help you if you asked. In any case, you should really talk to somepony if your nightmares are getting that bad.” “I know,” Moonwhisper replied, “and I promise you I am talking to Conscious Mind about this. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about anything this earlier, I truly didn’t want you to worry about me.” Twilight gave Moonwhisper a reassuring nuzzle as she mentally went over her options. It was extremely obvious that there was something about Moonwhisper’s nightmares that he didn’t want her to know about, but Twilight knew Moonwhisper well enough to know that pressing him further would be pointless. As such, even as Twilight reassured Moonwhisper that she would be there for him if he needed her she was already silently making plans to speak with Moonwhisper’s therapist. If Moonwhisper couldn’t bring himself to tell Twilight what was really bothering him, then perhaps his therapist could shine some light on the subject.