“This is what I get for opening my mouth,” Moonwhisper thought to himself as he sat and looked out at the scenery rushing by the train window. “Of course it figures that the first thing that Twilight would have me do would be to come with her the Crystal Empire to visit her brother.” As irritating as Moonwhisper found Shining Armor, however, he considered the destination itself to be far more distressing than who he’d be visiting. With the sole possible exception of his foalhood home in Trotsylvania there was nowhere in Equestria that represented the blight that was Moonwhisper’s family more to him than the Crystal Empire. While other ponies might have seen a beautiful city filled with light and love, to Moonwhisper the Crystal Empire was just a massive collection of his ancestor’s victims, and a testament to the evil that he was descended from.
As the train pulled into the Crystal Empire’s station, Moonwhisper quickly saw that the visit was going to be trouble right from the start. Waiting on the station platform were Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, the latter of whom had an idiotic smile plastered across his features. Moonwhisper turned to ask Twilight whether she was absolutely certain that this visit was really a good idea, only to see that she had already left her seat and was already headed out to greet her brother and sister-in-law. Allowing himself a short sigh of resignation, Moonwhisper quickly hopped up and followed Twilight off the train. By the time Moonwhisper stepped off the train and onto the glistening crystal platform Twilight was already chatting happily with Cadance and Shining Armor. While Moonwhisper paid little attention to what the three ponies were saying, the sight of Twilight smiling and happy momentarily softened Moonwhisper’s attitude towards the trip. As Moonwhisper stood off to the side and waited for Twilight to finish her conversation he began absentmindedly scanning the crowds, more out of habit then any belief that some sinister figure might be lurking amongst the crystal ponies. It wasn’t long, however, before Moonwhisper could feel his anxieties start to creep up on him. At first it wasn’t anything particularly obvious; a crystal pony would meet Moonwhisper’s gaze for a split second longer than normal, or he would catch somepony giving him a dirty look out of the corner of his eye. Little reminders that the Crystal Empire might not be especially welcoming to somepony with his ancestry. Before Moonwhisper had a chance to dwell on this situation, however, he heard Twilight call out to him, having apparently finished her conversation. Quickly shaking himself out of his penitent stupor, Moonwhisper trotted over to Twilight’s side. Strangely, Moonwhisper found he couldn’t quite make out what Twilight was saying to him, but he attributed that to his being distracted along with the ambient noise of the train station.
As Moonwhisper followed Twilight and the others through the city the gnawing sense that he was unwelcome returned in full force. More and more crystal ponies seemed to stop and stare at him as he passed before scurrying away, cold hatred increasingly visible in their eyes. Soon it appeared that a crowd of glowering crystal ponies had formed, partially encircling Moonwhisper and the others who seemed oddly oblivious to this development. It wasn’t until one of the assembled crystal ponies spoke that Twilight and the others finally seemed to notice what was going on.
“Monster!” A sky blue crystal mare called out accusingly. When Moonwhisper failed to respond the crystal mare continued to harangue him. “What’s the matter, afraid to look me in the eye? We know who you are, you’re the descendent of the monster who enslaved us!” Angry mummers from the crowd quickly swelled into frenzied yelling as several other ponies began screaming curses and accusations as well.
“Sombra tortured my entire family!”
“That monster’s blood runs through your veins as well!”
“How dare somepony like you come here!”
The crowds continued to yell as they closed in on Moonwhisper, cutting him off from the rest of the group. Shining Armor and Princess Cadance simply watched what was happening with horrified looks upon their faces, though Moonwhisper wasn’t sure if they were horrified at the mob’s actions or what had been revealed about his ancestry. Twilight, meanwhile, looked like she was trying to say something, but her voice was drowned out by the screaming of the mob. As the throng of enraged crystal ponies closed in and engulfed Moonwhisper, the last thing he saw was Twilight’s mournful expression before darkness swallowed his vision completely.
*********
Moonwhisper awoke in a cold sweat, back safely in his bedroom in Twilight’s castle. As he began taking deep breaths to calm himself down Moonwhisper reflected on his current situation. The trip that Twilight had planned for the two of them to go to the Crystal Empire was scheduled for the coming morning, but Moonwhisper’s anxieties clearly weren’t going to wait for the trip itself. In truth, Moonwhisper had been dreading the day that he would be obligated to accompany Twilight to the Crystal Empire from the very moment he had been assigned to be her bodyguard. Moonwhisper’s original plan had been to deliberately break one of his legs to give himself an excuse not to go, trusting in his ability to simply repair the physical damage using his magic once the threat of having to go to the Crystal Empire had passed. Unfortunately for Moonwhisper by this point Twilight knew enough about his medical spell expertise and unnatural pain threshold to realize that a broken leg held as much meaning to him as a stubbed hoof would to most anypony else. More importantly, even if Moonwhisper could actually fool Twilight, he doubted very much that he would be able to bring himself to actually lie to her. As such, there was little Moonwhisper could do besides brace himself for the coming confrontation with his family’s legacy.
In the meantime, however, Moonwhisper faced the more immediate question of whether or not he wanted to chance returning to sleep. Moonwhisper’s latest nightmare might not have been the worst he had ever experienced, but he still wasn’t eager to try sleeping right away. After taking another minute to ponder his options, Moonwhisper groggily rolled himself out of bed and stumbled his way out of his room into the hallway. Moonwhisper then began making his way to the bathroom to get a glass of water, more the sake of simply giving himself something to do rather than out of actual thirst. As he was heading back to his room, however, Moonwhisper suddenly froze as he heard the sound of clattering pans coming from the castle kitchen. Instantly slipping into his role as Twilight’s guardian, Moonwhisper swiftly changed course and began heading towards the source of the sounds. Silently moving through the darkened halls like a malignant shadow Moonwhisper made his way to the kitchen and threw open the doors…to find none other than Starlight Glimmer in the midst of stirring together baking ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Starlight let out a startled yelp as she tumbled backwards, tossing the mixing bowl into the air in the process. Luckily, Moonwhisper caught the bowl and its contents in his magical aura and neatly returned them to the counter before they spilled all over Starlight. “I guess that’s one way to mix everything together,” Starlight nervously quipped as she picked herself up off the floor. “What in Equestria are you doing up in the middle of the night, anyway? I thought you and Twilight were leaving first thing in the morning to go to the Crystal Empire.”
“We are, I just couldn’t sleep,” Moonwhisper replied as he quickly racked his brain for a good way to change the subject. “Actually, I could ask you the same question. Isn’t this an odd hour to be baking?”
Starlight looked at the ingredients she had spread out and let out a sigh. “Ok, I’ll admit you’ve got me there. I was actually taking another shot at trying Pinkie’s teacake recipe and I was kind of hoping to have them done before Trixie gets here tomorrow,” Starlight admitted a little guiltily. “They were supposed to be a surprise for you and Twilight, but…”
“If it makes you feel any better I’ll promise not to say anything about this to Twilight,” Moonwhisper said as he turned around to leave the kitchen.
“Thanks. So, do you always wander around the castle halls at night, or is tonight just special?”
Moonwhisper froze in his tracks, inwardly launching into a stream of profanity as he considered his options as to how to respond. His first instinct was to simply ignore the question and leave the room before Starlight had a change to probe any further, but Moonwhisper dismissed that thought almost as soon as it crossed his mind. As much as Moonwhisper disliked the idea of opening up about himself to other ponies, he recognized that he couldn’t keep running from his issues forever. Besides, if anypony could understand what it was like to have a past they’d rather leave buried it was Starlight Glimmer. “To tell the truth, Miss Glimmer, I’m honestly a little worried about tomorrow’s trip to the Crystal Empire.”
“Really, that’s what’s got you up in the middle of the night?” Starlight replied sounding thoroughly bemused. “I mean, I guess I can understand why you’d be nervous since I’m pretty sure this is the first time Twilight’s taken you to meet any of her family since you two started dating. But don't you and Shining Armor know each other already? I thought he was the one who talked Twilight into picking you as her bodyguard since you were his friend or something.”
“First of all, I don’t think I would refer to Shining Armor as a ‘friend’. He’s a fellow member of the guard whose life I happened to save years ago, an occurrence he has been irritatingly fixated on ever since.” There was a great deal else Moonwhisper might have liked to say about Shining Armor, mostly along the lines of referring to him as a gibbering idiot, however ever since he had started dating Twilight Moonwhisper had trained himself to hold his tongue on that subject. Up until that moment Moonwhisper had been so focused on his anxieties concerning where he was going to be visiting that he really hadn’t thought much about who he going to be visiting. “My personal feelings about Twilight’s older brother aren’t really the issue, I’m afraid,”
“Well, if you’re not worried about what Shining Armor and Princess Cadance are going to think about you dating Twilight then what’s the problem?” Starlight asked as she started carefully measuring out some vanilla extract.
“Miss Glimmer, do you remember how you felt when the ponies from your old village invited you to their Sunset Celebration?” Moonwhisper asked after a moment’s hesitation.
“Yeah, I do,” Starlight answered as she turned her full attention away from her baking to their conversation. “I was terrified that the villagers would still hate me for what I had done to them. But I don’t see what that has to do with your trip to the Crystal Empire. I mean, it’s not like you’ve ever done some horrible thing to the crystal ponies, right?”
“Not personally, no, I’ve never even set hoof in the Crystal Empire,” Moonwhisper said. “But the same can’t be said for the rest of my family. One member in particular was…there’s no point in dancing around it; the truth is I’m directly descended from Sombra.”
Starlight’s eyes bulged a little at Moonwhisper’s revelation. “Wait, you’re related to Sombra, as in King Sombra, the evil unicorn who took over and enslaved the entire Crystal Empire? Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said your family had done some horrible things to the crystal ponies!” Starlight said before noticing the stricken expression on Moonwhisper’s face. “And that’s the problem, isn’t it? Sorry, I’m not really used to being on this side of the whole ‘horrible thing you’re ashamed of’ conversation.”
“The Crystal Empire is an entire city full of Sombra’s victims. I don’t know how I could face them knowing what that monster put them through.” Moonwhisper let out a sad sigh. “If this trip wasn’t so important to Twilight…” Moonwhisper left the thought hanging in the air for a moment before continuing, “but it is and there’s no getting out of it.”
“Well, maybe that’s not such a bad thing,” Starlight suggested, “it kind of sounds like you’re blaming yourself for what King Sombra did. It might help to go to the Crystal Empire and see that nopony blames you for what happened. I mean, pretty much everything that King Sombra did happened about a thousand years before you were even born; nopony’s going to hold any of that against you.”
“Are you certain about that?” Moonwhisper said sadly. “After what Sombra put the crystal ponies through I wouldn’t blame them if they wanted to use me as a scapegoat.”
“Look, sure King Sombra broke the spirits of everypony in the Crystal Empire before stripping them of their free will so he could use them to conquer the rest of Equestria…that’s not helping, is it?”
“No, not particularly.”
“Sorry. I’m going to have to apologize to Trixie the next time I see her, it’s a lot harder to keep from doing that than I thought it was,” Starlight muttered to herself. “Anyway, even if some of the crystal ponies are completely irrational and somehow justify blaming you for something that totally wasn’t your fault, how would they even know that you’re descended from King Sombra in the first place? It’s not like you were going to walk around the Crystal Empire with a sign around your neck saying ‘King Sombra was my ancestor’ or anything.”
“That’s actually a good point,” Moonwhisper admitted, “there aren’t many ponies who would even be aware of the fact that Sombra had a family to begin with, much less one that I’m descended from.”
“There you go!” Starlight said encouragingly. “And if you’re still worried about it tomorrow just remember you’ll have Twilight there with you.” Feeling much calmer, Moonwhisper thanked Starlight and slipped out of the kitchen while Starlight continued to talk to herself. “I mean, what are the odds that Twilight will be too busy with her family to notice if you’re…uh oh. Eh,” Starlight said as she looked up to see that Moonwhisper had already left, “I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
*********
“So, you’re seriously telling me you and the Captain have been dating for months now, and you still haven’t told your older brother about it yet?” Silver Streak asked in surprise. The pegasi guardsmare had arrived at the castle that morning to go over some last minute briefings with Moonwhisper before he left and Twilight had invited her to share a pot of tea before she left.
“It just really hasn’t come up in conversation,” Twilight said as she poured herself some tea. “Every time I’ve seen Cadance and Shining Armor since Moonwhisper and I became a couple I’ve just had other things on my mind. First there was Starlight Glimmer’s graduation, then there was the time they needed me to babysit Flurry Heart and don’t even get me started on what happened the Tuesday after when I visited them for dinner.”
“Yeah, I heard about that. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a yeti mating season. Even so, forgive me if I’m out of line here, your highness, but you don’t really seem like the kind of pony to let something like that just slip through the cracks.” Silver Streak gave Twilight a look of concern as she paused and tried to think of the best way to phrase what she was going to say next. “With all due respect, your highness, are you sure there isn’t a specific reason that you’re avoiding telling your brother that you’ve found a special somepony?”
Twilight winced at the directness of Silver Streak’s question before responding. “Well, admittedly I might still be a little annoyed with Shining Armor for not telling me about him and Cadance until they sent out their wedding invitations. I know I’m being a little petty, but it just makes me so…so peeved that Shining Armor couldn’t have ever been bothered to tell me that he and my favorite foalsitter were special someponies!”
Silver Streak raised an eyebrow at Twilight’s outburst. “Huh, well, I guess I can understand why you’d be a little annoyed at him for not telling you anything until the wedding,” Silver Streak said diplomatically, deciding to avoid mentioning the fact that Shining Armor’s relationship with Princess Cadance had been one of the most widely known bits of gossip in Canterlot. “To be honest, I just figured you were worried about how Captain Shining Armor will react to the news that you and the Captain are special someponies.”
“Why in Equestria would that be an issue?” Twilight asked. “Shining Armor was the one who convinced me to pick Moonwhisper to be my bodyguard in the first place. You should have heard him gush about how amazing Moonwhisper is.”
“Yeah, about how amazing Moonwhisper would be as a bodyguard. Keep in mind, your highness, the Captain had a pretty well established reputation for avoiding anything that even looked like romance back then, so I’m willing to bet that Captain Shining Armor wasn’t really expecting you to make the Captain your special somepony. Especially given, you know, how protective of you he is.”
“Wait, what?” Twilight responded with a mixture of surprise and bemusement.
“Now, to be fair I’ve only heard about any of this secondhoof, but from what I’ve heard there’ve been a lot of stallions that have been, well, interested in you. Captain Shining Armor, however, has been warning off anypony he doesn’t approve of, which is pretty much everypony. I’ve actually heard a few rumors that some of the guards eventually started calling him Captain Shining ‘touch my sister and they’ll never find your body’ Armor. Well, behind his back anyway,” Silver Streak added.
“Oh for Celestia’s stake,” Twilight groaned as she buried her face in her hooves. “I can’t believe Shining Armor would…no, I can absolutely believe he’d do something like that.” Twilight let out a groan of frustration. “Moonwhisper’s already freaking out about the trip as it is, the last thing he needs to deal with is an overprotective sibling and oh dear Celestia this must be how Shining Armor felt when I accused Cadance of being evil. I was right, of course, since that wasn’t really Cadance, but…” Twilight slumped over the table as she stewed in her own self-awareness. “I’m starting to think I’d like something a little stronger than tea. Maybe I’ll ask Moonwhisper to make us some coffee before we leave,” Twilight muttered, more to herself than anypony else.’
“Well, if it helps, Captain Moonwhisper is pretty much the one stallion in Equestria that Captain Shining Armor doesn’t really have any way of intimidating,” Silver Streak mentioned helpfully, “so I wouldn’t worry too much about the Captain himself, at least on that front. Also, you can actually drink what the Captain calls coffee?” Silver Streak asked incredulously. “That stuff’s strong enough to give a dragon heartburn! Um, no offense, Spike,” Silver Streak quickly added as she noticed Twilight’s assistant enter the room.
“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Spike said, “I’ve actually tasted that stuff and you’re not joking about how strong it is. It’s almost as bad as the stuff Twilight used to make when she had to study for a big test.”
“Hey, my emergency study coffee helped me ace any number of important tests,” Twilight said defensively.
“Twilight, I’m not sure that stuff could even really be called coffee. Normal coffee doesn’t dissolve paper cups,” Spike retorted. “I don’t even know how you could drink that stuff and not get sick or something. Just thinking about it gives me a stomachache.” Spike turned to Silver Streak. “She’d make an extra-strong put of coffee use that instead of water to brew another pot of coffee, and then she’d use that to brew another pot of coffee.”
“That sounds a great deal like the swill Shining Armor used to prepare for himself whenever exam week rolled around back at the academy,” Moonwhisper said as he trotted in. “Personally I never really thought it did him all that much good, especially after the time he claimed that the paper he was writing had been dictated to him by an ancient monkey god.” Moonwhisper turned to Twilight. “On a completely different note, I was just taking a look at the luggage you had set out for our trip. Are you certain that you’re going to need all that? This is only supposed to be an overnight visit after all.”
“Actually, most of those are presents for Flurry Heart,” Twilight admitted. “I mean, I guess I could save a few of those to give to her for Hearth’s Warming, it’s just I love seeing the look on her little face when she opens them.”
“Ah, I see. Best aunt ever, then?” Moonwhisper said with a knowing smile.
“Best Aunt EVER!” Twilight exclaimed happily in response. “So, are you all set for our trip to visit Shining Armor and Cadance?”
For several seconds Moonwhisper hesitated to respond as he thought back to the previous night, both the nightmare that had shocked him awake and the subsequent conversation that he had had with Starlight Glimmer. Then Moonwhisper looked at Twilight and saw the hopeful look glistening in her eyes. “I think I’ll be just fine.”
*********
“’I’ll be just fine’, what in the blasted pits of Tartarus was I thinking?” Moonwhisper thought to himself as he looked out the train window. The trip to the Crystal Empire was scarcely ten minutes underway and Moonwhisper could already feel his insides tying themselves into knots out of panic. Furthermore, despite the fact that the train car’s temperature was pleasantly cool Moonwhisper could feel beads of sweat forming along his brow. In spite of his previous night’s conversation with Starlight, in spite of knowing that his fears were largely without any sort of logical basis, Moonwhisper was still terrified of what awaited him at his destination. Closing his eyes, Moonwhisper felt he could almost hear the pounding of his heart over the sounds of the train as hit brought him ever closer to a reckoning with his family’s past.
Before Moonwhisper completely lost his composure, however, he felt Twilight wrap her wing around him and press herself against him. “Are you going to be alright?” Twilight asked quietly. “I don’t think I’ve seen you this nervous since the night I made you tell me how you felt about me.”
“No, I’d say this is much worse,” Moonwhisper grumbled to himself, “but this is a fear that I was going to have to face sooner or later anyway, so I may as well get it over with.” Even as Moonwhisper spoke, however, he could feel at least some of his tension ease. There was something about the sensation of feeling Twilight hold herself against him that seemed to banish Moonwhisper’s feelings of impending doom. “You know, Twilight, as long as you’re by my side I think I might really be able to do this,” Moonwhisper said, actually feeling truly optimistic about the trip for the first time.
“Um, actually, about that…” Twilight said, chuckling nervously. “I haven’t actually told my brother or Cadance about, you know, us yet.”
“I see,” Moonwhisper said, his tone not betraying a hint of emotion. “Are you planning to tell them when we arrive, or do you want to keep things secret a bit longer?”
“Honestly, I’m not even entirely sure. I think at least I’d like to wait until we make it back to the castle. I’m really sorry about this, I just didn’t really think it was going to be a big deal. But then Silver Streak told me about how overprotective Shining Armor apparently is of me and…”
“You know, I had almost forgotten about that particular aspect of his character,” Moonwhisper mused as he allowed himself a small smile. To Moonwhisper, the prospect of watching Shining Armor’s hero-worship of him collide head-on with his overprotectiveness of Twilight was almost entertaining enough to make the entire trip worthwhile. “You know Princess Cadance and your brother better than I do, so I’ll leave the decision on how to handle this up to you. Just let me know if there’s anything you’ll need from me.”
“Thank you,” Twilight said as she wriggled herself a little to get more comfortable. “And for what it’s worth, I’m really glad you agreed to go through with all this. I know you’re worried about coming to the Crystal Empire, but once we’re there I think you’ll see there’s nothing to worry about.” Despite her assurances, Twilight silently wondered if taking Moonwhisper to the Crystal Empire really had been such a wise idea. It was too late to do much of anything about it now, however, so all Twilight could do was try and help Moonwhisper deal with the situation as it unfolded.
Twilight and Moonwhisper spent most of the remainder of the trip in relative silence, broken only by the occasional attempt at small talk. What’s more, as the towers of the Crystal Empire came into view Twilight could feel Moonwhisper tense up again. As the train pulled into the Crystal Empire station Twilight could see Shining Armor and Cadance on the platform waiting for her, along with a stroller containing a visibly excited Flurry Heart peeking out over the edge. “Why don’t you head out and say hello,” Moonwhisper said, “I’ll be right behind once I’ve gotten the luggage.”
Giving Moonwhisper a quick nod followed by a brief nuzzle of affection, Twilight trotted out to greet her family.
“Twily!” Shining Armor shouted happily as soon as he say Twilight step out onto the platform. “It’s great to see you again, Flurry’s been really excited.” As if on cue, Flurry Heart flew out of her stroller and glomped onto Twilight, giggling happily. “So, the letter you sent said you were also bringing Moonwhisper along with you…”
“Moonwhisper’s just grabbing our luggage, so he should be out in a bit,” Twilight said as she cooed over niece.
“I’m just a little surprised you felt the need to bring your bodyguard with you on a casual visit like this,” Cadance said. “I know things tend to get a little crazy whenever we all get together, but isn’t that a bit much?” Something about the tone in Cadance’s voice made Twilight suspect that her sister-in-law already had developed a theory as to why she really had brought Moonwhisper along. Shining Armor, on the other hoof, seemed completely oblivious to his wife’s suspicions.
“Come on, Cadance, you make it sound like Twily brought a whole regiment or something. Moonwhisper’s just one stallion, and besides I bet a lot of the palace guards are going to be interested in talking with him. Moonwhisper is something of a celebrity within the Royal Guard, after all. The only I don’t really get,” Shining Armor went on as he turned back to Twilight, “is how you convinced Moonwhisper to come to her in the first place. Moonwhisper’s always had this weird thing against the Crystal Empire ever since it came back.”
Twilight let out a nervous chuckle. “It’s not like I forced Moonwhisper to come or anything. I just thought that coming here would be good for him.”
“’Good for him’?” Cadance asked with a raised eyebrow. “What exactly do you mean by that?”
“What I presume Princess Twilight means is that she wished for me to accompany her on this trip as part of a friendship lesson,” Moonwhisper said as he stepped out of the train, depositing the luggage that Twilight had brought in a neat pile beside him. “With Miss Starlight’s graduation from her position as Princess Twilight’s student, I’ve agreed to accept lessons in friendship in her place. At least pending her highness finding a more suitable student, anyway.”
“Wait, Twily’s seriously giving you friendship lessons?” Shining Armor asked with a massive grin. “Whoa, I mean I know Twily’s the Princess of Friendship, but I didn’t really think she’d actually manage to get you into the whole ‘friendship lesson’ thing.”
Moonwhisper’s eye twitched for a moment before he abruptly broke into a wicked grin. “You know, Captain Shining Armor, I just recalled that one of the methods that Princess Twilight prescribed to rekindle a friendship would be to recall a mutually embarrassing event. Tell me, are the princesses familiar with how you acquired the nickname you had at the Officer’s Academy?”
As Moonwhisper spoke, the grin slowly faded from Shining Armor’s face, vanishing completely at the mention of his nickname. “You know what, why don’t we start heading back to the castle?” Shining Armor said hastily as he glanced back towards Cadance and Twilight. “After all, we don’t want to crowd this platform all day long!” Without waiting for anypony to respond, Shining Armor promptly began trotting back towards the castle.
“Alright then…” Cadance said as she watched her husband flee before turning back to Moonwhisper. “You can leave your bags here, our hoofponies will handle getting them back to the castle,” Cadance said she levitated Flurry Heart back to her stroller. As Cadance moved to follow her husband, Twilight fell in beside her, eager to hear how her little niece had been doing. Twilight quickly found herself so engrossed in her conversation that she didn’t notice that Moonwhisper wasn’t trotting next to her, but rather was keeping a step to the left and two steps behind.
If nothing else, Moonwhisper was at least glad that Twilight was happy, if her peals of laughter at Cadance descriptions of Flurry Heart’s antics were anything to go by. For his part, any pleasure Moonwhisper may have taken in reminding Shining Armor that he still recalled the events that had earned Shining Armor the nickname ‘codpiece’ quickly vanished once the group began moving into the Crystal Empire itself. The dark sense of impending doom that Moonwhisper had felt earlier on the train had returned in full force, leaving his innards feeling as though they were tying themselves in knots. What’s more, it seemed to Moonwhisper that nearly everypony he passed took a moment to pause whatever they were doing and stare in his direction, often whispering amongst themselves as well. The logical part of Moonwhisper’s mind reminded him that he was trotting directly behind no fewer than three alicorn princesses, so it was not real surprise that their passing by would attract some attention. Knowing this, however, did Moonwhisper little good, and by the time he reached the city proper it took every ounce of self-control Moonwhisper had to keep himself from turning around and fleeing in the opposite direction.
Just as Moonwhisper started to feel his composure slip away entirely he suddenly hit upon a potential solution. Closing his eyes, Moonwhisper sent a small surge of magic through his horn, scarcely enough to cause it to glow. Instantly, Moonwhisper’s mid was filled with a precise picture of the outlines of the world around him. This was courtesy of a sort of magical sonar known as the ‘horn’s eye’, which Moonwhisper had learned during his study of one of the few martial art styles to have originated among unicorns. By relying on the technique instead of his own eyes Moonwhisper was able to watch over Twilight while simultaneously convincing himself that the featureless outlines they passed were simply regular earth ponies. It was admittedly a painfully transparent bit of self-deception, but Moonwhisper was desperate for any manner of possible relief. By some miracle, Moonwhisper’s ill-conceived solution actually managed to work, at least at first. While Moonwhisper could trick himself into forgetting for a moment that he was surrounded by crystal ponies, the illusion that he was anywhere other than the Crystal Empire itself was another matter. Any hope Moonwhisper had of avoiding facing the reality of his location fell apart when the group reached the Crystal Castle itself. No amount of wiping away color and detail could enable Moonwhisper to convince himself he was anywhere by the Crystal Empire at that point. Grimacing internally, Moonwhisper opened his eyes and beheld the majesty of the Crystal Castle, a sight that was completely lost on him as he promptly felt as though the ground had dropped out from underneath his hooves.
“Are you alright, Captain?” Cadance asked as they approached the small plaza that housed the Crystal Heart. “You’ve been awfully quiet since we left the train station.”
“Moonwhisper’s probably just focusing on being my bodyguard,” Twilight quickly interjected, followed by a nervous laugh. “You know, keeping an eye out for anypony who might try and jump out at me or something. He just can’t let his guard down for a second.”
Cadance silently regarded Twilight for a moment, one eyebrow raised in an expression of clear disbelief. “Mmhm, well if that’s the case I’m sure he’ll be glad that we’ve made it to the castle.” Cadance glanced back over her withers to address Moonwhisper himself. “Our royal guards can take over from here, so you can relax now. Shining Armor made sure that we had a room prepared for you, so if you’d like I can have one of the guards escort you there.”
Upon hearing this, Twilight quickly looked back towards Moonwhisper in alarm. Moonwhisper himself, however, seemed unfazed by at this and gave Twilight a nod to let her know that everything was going to be fine. “I appreciate the offer, your highness, and I’m certain Princess Twilight will be in excellent hooves.” Moonwhisper said, his voice having recovered the frostily polite tone he had used when he first came to Ponyville. Inwardly, Moonwhisper was already looking forward to an opportunity to lock himself in a private room, bury his head in a pillow and scream until he passed out. In fact, Moonwhisper was so engrossed in his thoughts that he failed to notice the pair of crystal pony guards approaching him until they were standing right in front of him.
“Pardon me, sir, but we’re here to escort you to your quarters,” one of the guards said, snapping Moonwhisper back to reality.
“What? Oh right, of course,” Moonwhisper mumbled as he beat back a sudden surge of panic. Frantically, Moonwhisper reminded himself that his ancestry was a closely guarded secret, so as far as any of the guards would be concerned he was just a visiting officer who had arrived with Princess Twilight, nothing more.
Moonwhisper’s effort’s to calm himself nearly fell to pieces mere minutes into his escort as one of the guards took a closer look at him. “Captain Moonwhisper…wait a minute, I know who you are.” In a split second nearly a dozen responses flashed through Moonwhisper’s mind, ranging from feigning ignorance as to whatever the guard was about to say to bucking said guard in the face and running away. “You’re the stallion who saved Prince Shining Armor’s life during the gargoyle migration, aren’t you? Sir, it is an honor to actually meet you!”
“Err, thank you?” Moonwhisper said as the guard enthusiastically shook his hoof. Of all the possibilities that Moonwhisper had been steeling himself for, the idea that the crystal guards would turn out to be fans of his hadn’t ever occurred to him. Although, Moonwhisper mused, given that Shining Armor was both the Crystal Empire’s prince and military commander perhaps this turn of events was one he should have seen coming. Unfortunately for Moonwhisper, before he could extricate himself from his new predicament the commotion attracted over several additional guards. Soon, Moonwhisper found himself surrounded by crystal guards, all eager to meet the stallion their prince had spoken of so highly. “Is it true that you once fought off a hydra single-hoofedly?” asked one guard.
“I heard it was a full grown dragon!” gushed another.
“Nah, you’re thinking of the monster that was attacking Ponyville. Speaking of that, what’s it like living with Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious?” asked a third.
“Spike the wha - ?” Moonwhisper sputtered before recalling that Spike had previously mentioned that he was something of an icon in the Crystal Empire. Taking a moment to take a deep breath and center himself, Moonwhisper proceeded to answer the questions of his sudden fan club. “Yes, I did once a fight a grown hydra by myself. No, I’ve never had to fight a dragon before; the creature that I fought over Ponyville was in fact a wyvern. As for Spike, I find him to be agreeable for the most part. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
“Ah, of course sir,” the guard who initially identified Moonwhisper said as he motioned for the others to make way. “While we’re headed to your room, though do you think you could tell us what it was like facing down an entire flock of gargoyles?”
*********
“You know, I just can’t get over the fact that you actually managed to get Moonwhisper to agree to friendship lessons,” Shining Armor said as he levitated a spoonful of mashed peas towards Flurry Heart. Parenthood, Twilight observed, had made dinner with the royal family a much less formal affair. “To be honest, I had figured that when I came to friendship you and Moonwhisper would basically be the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object.”
“Moonwhisper…he had his reasons for being the way he was,” Twilight said as she squirmed in her seat. Twilight wasn’t entirely sure how much Shining Armor and Cadance knew about Moonwhisper’s past and she didn’t feel comfortable talking about the subject behind his back.
“I’m not saying he didn’t, Twily. All I’m saying is that Moonwhisper always seemed to be the sort of pony that saw friendship as a complete waste of time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you were somehow able to get through to him; I’m just a little surprised you were able to pull it off.” As Shining Armor spoke he deftly levitated a small wastebasket to intercept a wad of mashed peas launched by Flurry Heart. “You know, I’m getting pretty good at that, maybe I should try out for the guards’ buckball team. What do you think, hon?”
“Hm? Oh, yes, absolutely,” Cadance said absentmindedly as she carefully regarded Twilight. “I was just wondering, what sort of friendship lesson exactly did you bring Moonwhisper here to learn? I was just curious because, as far as I’m aware, the only pony that Moonwhisper really knows in the Crystal Empire is Shining Armor.”
“Twily’s probably trying to help Moonwhisper get over the weird thing he has against the Crystal Empire,” Shining Armor said before Twilight had a chance to reply. “For some reason, ever since the Crystal Empire returned Moonwhisper has been dead set against every setting hoof here. He’s never really said why, either, but up until now he’s been absolutely adamant about it. I mean, when we held the annual meeting of the guard’s captains here Moonwhisper even snapped his own leg so he’d have an excuse not to come.”
“Wait, Moonwhisper did what?” Twilight cried out in shock, the sudden noise eliciting a whimper from Flurry Heart.
“There there, sweetheart, Auntie Twilight didn’t mean to scare you,” Cadance said as she comforted her daughter. “She was just surprised by what she heard, that’s all. I have to admit, I was a little surprised myself when I first heard that Moonwhisper would actually break his own leg like that.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty easy to forget how durable Moonwhisper is,” Shining Armor added. “Broken leg, cracked ribs, whatever happens to him Moonwhisper can just put himself back together and keep going like nothing’s happened.”
Twilight bit her lip as she held back her response. The truth was Moonwhisper might have looked as though he didn’t feel anything, but Twilight knew better. Moonwhisper felt every bit of pain he experienced, even if he had become so used to the sensations that nothing but the most extreme stimulus could provoke a reaction. What’s more, it suddenly struck Twilight just how much Moonwhisper must have dreaded the prospect of coming to the Crystal Empire. Twilight proceeded to spend the rest of the meal in relative silence as she pondered what she should do next.
*********
“Shining, dear, have you noticed anything unusual about the way Twilight has been acting since she arrived?” Cadance asked as she trotted back into her bedroom, having finally gotten Flurry Heart to go to sleep.
“No, not really. Why do you ask?”
Cadance thought for a moment, trying to decide how best to phrase what she needed to say. “Well, it’s just that Twilight seemed…how should I put this? Do you think that it could be possible that Twilight and Moonwhisper might be, you know, a couple?”
“Pfft, what? Cadance, don’t be ridiculous, there’s no way Moonwhisper would have gotten himself involved with Twily,” Shining Armor scoffed. “Seriously, part of the reason I wanted Moonwhisper to be Twily’s bodyguard in the first place was because there’d be no way he’d try to romance her like that. Moonwhisper has this whole thing about not dating anypony who could be seen as part of his chain of command.”
“I’m pretty sure those rules apply to everypony in the guard, dear,” Cadance replied.
“That’s true, but Moonwhisper’s always taken it a lot more strictly than he needed to. What makes you think Twily and Moonwhisper are in a relationship, anyway?”
“It’s mostly been little things, like the way Twilight seemed so protective of him. I just got the feeling that Twilight really cares for him.”
“Well, yeah, Twily somehow managed to make friends with him,” Shining Armor retorted. “Look, I know finding love between different ponies is your thing and everything, but I promise you there’s no way there’s anything going on between my sister and Moonwhisper.”
*********
“Thank Celestia that’s finally over,” Moonwhisper said as he stormed into the bedroom that had been set aside for him and slammed the door behind him. The palace guards had scarcely given Moonwhisper a moment’s peace all night, continually badgering him with questions about his history with the guard. The sole upside to the situation was the fact that Moonwhisper had been so preoccupied with answering the endless barrage of questions that he hadn’t had time to dwell on the fact that he was surrounded by crystal ponies. Now that Moonwhisper was alone in his room, however, there was nothing to distract him from the fact that he was standing in the very same castle that a thousand years ago had been the seat of King Sombra’s reign of terror. Shuddering, Moonwhisper climbed into his bed and silently begged Princess Luna that his sleep be peaceful for at least one night. After an hour of lying in bed, however, it became clear to Moonwhisper that sleep of any kind, peaceful or otherwise, was going to be elusive. Moonwhisper was debating with himself as to whether or not his insomnia was an improvement over his nightmares when he heard a sound at the side of his bed. Instinctively, Moonwhisper sent a small surge of magic through his horn, activating his horn’s eye spell. In moments, Moonwhisper could see that a pony had teleported into his room, one whose profile he knew intimately. “Twilight? What in Equestria do you think you’re doing?” Moonwhisper asked incredulously, struggling to keep his voice at a whisper.
“I’m spending tonight with you,” Twilight replied softly as she climbed into the bed. “Don’t try to argue with me about this, you’ve spent all night being mobbed by crystal ponies, and it’s partly my fault.”
“Twilight, you have nothing to blame yourself for. You were right about my needing to come to the Crystal Empire. I don’t know if I’d call this visit ‘relaxing’ exactly, but –“
“But today would have been a lot easier on you if I had told Shining Armor and Cadance about us earlier.” As Twilight spoke she slipped under the covers and snuggled up to Moonwhisper. “I promise, I’ll tell them everything before we come back here again. So, for now,” Twilight gave Moonwhisper a kiss behind the ear, “just relax and try and get some sleep.”
As Moonwhisper felt Twilight hug herself to his back, he felt the tension that had been building since he set hoof in the Crystal Empire start to melt away. Clearly, Moonwhisper thought to himself, he had been asking the wrong princess for assistance in finding a peaceful night’s sleep.