//------------------------------// // Schedule Conflicts // Story: Guarded Emotions: Burying the Past // by Alabenson //------------------------------// “So what the hay did yer brother do when he saw the two of y’all in bed together?” Applejack asked in between snickering fits of laughter. “Well,” Twilight responded, “after he realized that I wasn’t actually missing, he just backed out of the room. Moonwhisper and I chased after him to try and explain, of course, but by the time we managed to get untangled from the sheets –“ Any further efforts Twilight made to recount the events of that morning were drowned out as Rainbow Dash collapsed onto the table laughing hysterically. “It’s not that funny,” Twilight muttered to herself as she glanced around the table at her other friends. I t had been inevitable, of course, that everypony had wanted to hear how the trip to the Crystal Empire had went, especially once it got out that Twilight had finally told Cadance and Shining Armor about her relationship with Moonwhisper. As such, Starlight Glimmer and Pinkie Pie ‘helpfully’ arranged a brunch for Twilight and her friends at the castle so she could tell them all about how it went. Unfortunately this had resulted in Twilight having to divulge certain scandalous details about how the trip had played out. Looking around the table, Twilight could see Rainbow Dash and Applejack were desperately trying to suppress their laughter (and in Rainbow Dash’s case failing miserably). Fluttershy, meanwhile, was blushing furiously while unable to look Twilight in the eye. Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Starlight Glimmer, on the other hoof, were all leaning forward over the table, eager to hear more of the salacious details. “And you said were worried your relationship with Moonwhisper wasn’t moving along as quickly as you wanted,” Rarity teased. “I’m almost afraid to ask what going sufficiently quickly would have looked like.” “You and Shining Armor both!” Rainbow Dash quipped before bursting out in further laughter. “Well it…I mean…this was an unusual circumstance,” Twilight sputtered. “Moonwhisper had been really stressed over coming to the Crystal Empire and I wanted to do something that would help him…relax.” Twilight buried her face in her hooves as Rainbow Dash started laughing so hard she fell off her chair. “Oh dear Celestia that doesn’t make it sound any better, does it?” “Calm down, Twilight, it’s not like you and Moonwhisper are actually sleeping together on a regular basis,” Starlight reassured her. “Ah get the feelin’ Ah’m gonna regret askin’ this, but how the hay would y’all know if they were?” Applejack asked. “Um, I live here, remember? I’m pretty sure I’d notice if Twilight were routinely sneaking into Moonwhisper’s bedroom,” Starlight retorted. “Not if she teleported in there,” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully. “Twilight could just be all ‘foosh’ right into Moonwhisper’s room and then they could be like –“ Pinkie Pie produced a pair of Twilight and Moonwhisper hoof puppets and proceeded to mash them together while making kissing noises. “That’s actually a good point,” Starlight admitted. “Between teleportation and the bubble of silence spell, I guess Twilight really could sneak into Moonwhisper’s room without me having any way of knowing.” “Princess of Friendship with Benefits,” Rainbow Dash gasped out before collapsing back onto the floor. “If y’ ask me,” Applejack began, ignoring Rainbow Dash’s attempts at humor, “the pony Ah fell sorry fer in all this is Shinin’ Armor.” Seeing her statement elicit an annoyed glare from Twilight Applejack quickly continued. “Ah’m not sayin’ it weren’t more than a mite embarrassin’ fer y’all, Twi, but walkin’ in on yer siblin’ in bed with somepony ain’t exactly somethin’ Ah’d wish on anypony. Ah mean, Fluttershy, how would y’all react if y’ walked in on Zephyr Breeze lockin’ lips with somepony?” While Fluttershy didn’t respond at first, her expression slowly morphed into one of utter horror and disgust as she violently shuddered at the thought. “I…I really did not need to imagine that,” Fluttershy whimpered as she shook her head as if trying to shake the mental images loose. Twilight was about to protest Applejack’s example, but thankfully she was provided with an opportunity to end the conversation entirely, courtesy of her number-one assistant. “Hey, Twilight, the mail’s here!” Spike called out as he entered the dining room. “So, what’re you guys talking about?” “Nothing important,” Twilight quickly said as she snatched the letters out of Spike’s claws with her magic. Grateful to have a respite from the conversation, Twilight busied herself with inspecting the day’s mail. Most of the letters were junk, advertisements and the like, but one letter in particular caught her eye. “Huh, it looks like this one came all the way from Buckvaria. I wonder what Grandma Starry Night could want?” Twilight said to herself as she opened the letter. “I didn’t know you had family out in Buckvaria,” Starlight said. “She’s my father’s mother,” Twilight explained as she continued to read the letter. Suddenly, Twilight’s face brightened as a smile spread across her features. “And it says here that she wants to visit next week. Apparently Grandma Starry’s going to be visiting Canterlot on family business, so it’s the perfect time for her to visit. It’ll be really nice to see again, the last time Grandma Starry came up here from Buckvaria was for Shining Armor’s wedding and I really didn’t get much chance to see her.” “We were kinda busy saving Canterlot from being invaded by Queen Chrysalis,” Rainbow Dash said. “So, what’s your grandma like, anyway?” “She’s incredible!” Twilight gushed. “Before I was accepted into Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns Grandma Starry Night was one of my biggest influences. She was always bringing me new books on history and magic and she really encouraged me to keep pushing myself further.” “Your grandmother sounds like a lovely mare, darling,” Rarity said. “I’m just curious, though, what exactly is this ‘family business’ that she’s coming to Canterlot for?” Twilight’s ears folded back at Rarity’s question and her eyes began darting around the room as she responded. “Oh, you know, it’s just a family…thing. I mean, it has to do with our family…and other families.” Twilight let out a nervous chuckle as she rubbed her forehooves together. “Um, Twilight, are you alright?” Starlight Glimmer asked. Twilight looked around the table at her friends’ confused faces before letting out a groan. “Sorry, it’s just…the Council of Stars. The ‘family business’ my grandmother has in Canterlot is the gathering of the Council of Stars.” Most of Twilight’s friends simply looked at each other in confusion over this apparent admission, none of them having any clue what the ‘Council of Stars’ even was. Rarity, however, looked absolutely stunned as she stared at Twilight in shock. “Y-You…your grandmother’s on the…but that…YOU’RE A VON?” Rarity practically shrieked as she pointed a hoof at Twilight. “But we’ve known each other for years, why in Equestria did you never tell us?” “Uh, Ah feel like Ah’m missin’ part of this conversation here,” Applejack interjected. “Just who the hay are the ‘Council of Stars’ anyway, and what in tarnation is a ‘von’?” “The Council of Stars is one of the oldest institutions of unicorn nobility in Equestria,” Rarity declared with an air of authority. “In fact, the council dates back to before Equestria was even established. The original council was founded by Princess Platinum’s father, King Bahamut, along with representatives from each of the major unicorn noble houses.” “Wow, Rarity, you sound like you know an awful lot about this,” Fluttershy said. “I didn’t even know you were that interested in history.” “Well, I’m not really interested in history per se,” Rarity admitted. “But the Council of Stars is one of the most prestigious social institutions in Equestria.” “No, it really, really isn’t,” an exasperated Twilight said as she buried her face in her front hooves. “The Council of Stars is an archaic relic of Equestria’s past that stopped having any remote significance since Princess Celestia first arrived. In fact, for the last thousand years the only thing the Council of Stars has done is argue about who gets to join the council.” Twilight took a moment to compose herself before continuing. “The reason I don’t tell anypony that I’m a von is that I don’t want anypony to treat me differently over something that doesn’t matter.” “Alright, but that still doesn’t explain what the hay a ‘von’ anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked impatiently. “The term ‘von’ refers to how you’d say the full name of a member of one of the families that make up the council,” Twilight replied wearily. “My full name would be Twilight Sparkle von Nocturne.” “Now there’s a mouthful,” Applejack quipped. “Ah guess Ah can understand why y’all never used yer full name before.” “That, and it’s really not something worth bragging about. I wasn’t kidding when I said the council was ridiculously out of date. Some of their bylaws are outright tribalist; they won’t even consider letting you sit on the council if even one of your grandparents was a pegasus or an earth pony.” “To be fair, you can largely thank Penumbral Dusk for that rule still being in effect,” Moonwhisper said as his trotted into the room. “I apologize if I’m interrupting, but I couldn’t help overhearing your discussion. In any event, changing the requirements to sit on the council would require a unanimous vote and Penumbral Dusk, being the tribalist –“ Moonwhisper paused and considered his audience before continuing, “- being the unpleasant pony that he is has blocked any effort to allow anypony with non-unicorn ancestry from sitting on the council.” “Yeah, no offense Twilight, but it’s starting to sound like this council-thing is mostly just a bunchy of jerks,” Rainbow Dash huffed. “Hey, my grandmother’s not a jerk!” Twilight snapped back. “She doesn’t even like going to these council meetings, it’s just a –“ “Familial obligation?” Moonwhisper offered. “Yes, exactly! It’s something she thinks she has to do, whether she likes the other ponies involved or not.” Twilight let out a snort as she finished, practically daring anypony to challenge her assertion. “In all fairness, from what I’ve gathered most of the members of the council see it as more of an obligatory tradition than anything else; ponies like Penumbral Dusk are just a loud, obnoxious and deluded minority,” Moonwhisper was in an effort to placate Twilight. “On a completely different note, the reason I came in here in the first place was that I needed to speak with you about a minor administrative issue.” “Oh, alright,” Twilight said, honestly grateful to Moonwhisper for changing the subject. “What exactly did you need to ask me?” “I’d like you to sign something for me, actually,” Moonwhisper said as he levitated a small scroll. “Specifically a request for a few days of leave time. I have some personal business that I need to take care of and it’s going to necessitate my traveling away from Ponyville for a few days.” “Ok,” Twilight said as she took the scroll into her own magical aura and unfurled it, “let me just…oh.” Twilight paused as she took a closer look at Moonwhisper’s request. “Is there something the matter?” Moonwhisper asked. “Well, it’s just that you’re asking for leave on the same days that my grandmother is going to be visiting,” Twilight replied. “Couldn’t you possibly wait to take care of whatever this personal business is until after her visit?” “I’m afraid it’s really something of a time-sensitive issue,” Moonwhisper said uneasily, “I’ll really only have a window of a few days to take care of everything I need to and I expect the time I’m going to spend traveling will take up a fair bit of that as it is.” “Y’know, would y’ look at the time, Ah gotta get home so Ah can help Apple Bloom with her…somethin’.” Applejack said as she got out of her seat and began making a beeline for the exit. “Oh my, I just remembered that I also have…something that I need to attend to as well,” Rarity said. “Spike, would you be a dear and come with me.” Before Spike could answer, Rarity enveloped him in her magical aura and levitated him out the door with her. “You know what,” Starlight said as she levitated Pinkie Pie into the air, “I just remembered; Pinkie Pie, you were going to show me your recipe for those rock cakes that Maud likes so much.” “Hmm, I don’t remember saying that, but that does sound like something I’d say. Okie-dokie-loki, onward to Sugar Cube Corner!” With that, Pinkie Pie struck a flying pose as Starlight swiftly carried her out the door. “By the way, Fluttershy and I have a thing too. Bye!” Rainbow Dash shot out of her seat and rocketed out the door, grabbing Fluttershy as she went by, who was barely able to let out a squeak of protest. Twilight, however, had more pressing matters on her mind than her friend’s mass retreat from the room. “I don’t suppose you’d mind actually telling me what this ‘personal business’ of yours is exactly? I thought we had agreed that we were going to be completely open with each other.” “It isn’t that I’m trying to hide anything from you,” Moonwhisper replied. “But this isn’t a topic I’d rather talk about with your friends present.” “Well they’re not here now!” Twilight snapped back. “So what in Equestria is so important that –“ “Trotsylvania.” Moonwhisper said solemnly. “I’m planning on making a trip to Trotsylvania.” “I see,” Twilight said quietly. Simply hearing Moonwhisper mention the name of his foalhood home left Twilight feeling as though she had a lead weight in her stomach. “But, why? I thought Trotsylvania was the absolute last place you ever wanted to go. And why is it so important that you make the trip next week of all times?” “This is actually something that Conscious Mind has suggested that I do on several occasions. She feels that by returning to Trotsylvania I might be able to find…I believe the term she used was closure. Until recently I’ve been quite opposed to the idea, however…” Moonwhisper let out a long sigh. “But then I had something of an epiphany during our trip to the Crystal Empire. If I’m ever going to make real progress I’m going to make real progress I’m going to need to stop running away from my past. And part of accomplishing that will be facing my former home and coming to terms with what happened there.” “Are you sure you’re ready for that, though?” Twilight replied. “I mean, visiting the Crystal Empire by itself seemed like it was almost more than you could handle. Going to Trotsylvania and confronting your father –“ “Who said anything about confronting Penumbral Dusk?” Moonwhisper asked. “I have absolutely no intention of ever being in the same town as that pony if I can possibly avoid it. Which is why this trip is going to be so time sensitive. The gathering of the Council of Stars is one of the only events that can reliably coax Penumbral Dusk out of Trotsylvania, so my intent was to schedule my trip during the meeting to avoid him entirely.” “What happened to your needing to stop running away from your past?” Twilight asked half-jokingly. “I should be perfectly able to come to terms with the events of my foalhood without having to interact with that pony,” Moonwhisper practically snarled as he folded his ears back in irritation. After a few moments, however, Moonwhisper appeared to regain his composure. “Going back to Trotsylvania is going to be a sufficiently unpleasant experience as it stands without having to deal with Penumbral Dusk on top of everything else.” “Moonwhisper, I know what you went through when you were younger –“ Before Twilight could continue Moonwhisper cut her off with a mirthless chuckle. “Twilight, you’ve barely seen glimpses of what my life was like growing up. Until I finally jointed the Royal Guard my life was such a constant waking nightmare that the only parts that really stand out are the times Penumbral Dusk got particularly ambitious or creative.” For a moment it looked as though Moonwhisper was going to continue his rant, but as he looked at Twilight he abruptly calmed. “I know you want to help me through all this, Twilight, and I can’t possibly tell you how grateful I am to have somepony like you in my life who wants to try. But there’s simply too much in my past for anypony else to fully grasp.” For the next several seconds Twilight simply let Moonwhisper calm himself. “Are you glad you got all that off your chest?” Twilight finally said, breaking the silence. Moonwhisper started to say something in response, but Twilight raised her hoof to his lips before he could speak. “Now, what I was going to say was that, considering what you went through when you were young I understand you’re not wanting to deal with your father when you go on this trip. But I’m still worried about whether you’re ready for this; you were practically having panic attacks on the way to the Crystal Empire and I have to imagine that going to Trotsylvania will be even worse for you.” “Well, I’d be lying if I said this was something that I was particularly looking forward to,” Moonwhisper began, “but as I said it is something that I feel I need to do. That being said, though, there will be other council meetings and I know how important family is to you. So, if you’d prefer, I could always postpone my trip for another time so that I could be here for your grandmother’s visit.” “Oh no, absolutely not!” Twilight said as she stomped one of her front hooves. “If you really think you’re ready for this than this trip is too important for you to put off. Sure I’m a little disappointed I’ll miss the chance to introduce you to Grandma Starry, but there’ll be other chances to do that and you’re wellbeing comes first.” “Are you sure, Twilight, because –“ “Not another word,” Twilight warned. “I’m not going to let you talk yourself out of talking this trip now that you actually think you’re ready for it.” “Thank you, Twilight, and I promise I’ll find a way to make it up to you when I get…actually, wait a minute, when exactly is your grandmother planning on arriving?” “Um, according to her letter she’s planning on arriving this coming Monday,” Twilight replied. “Why do you want to know?” Moonwhisper, however, didn’t answer her right away as he appeared to be working something out in his head. “Let’s see…allowing for the travel times involved, and given how long council gatherings tend to last…it would be cutting things a little closer than I’d prefer, but…” “Cutting things closer? What in Equestria are you talking about?” “I should be able to delay leaving for Trotsylvania until next Tuesday without seriously compromising my schedule. Admittedly I wouldn’t be present for your grandmother’s entire visit, but this would at least give you a chance to introduce us.” “That’s great!” Twilight exclaimed as she leapt up to give Moonwhisper a hug. “I can’t wait to introduce the two of you, I’m sure she’ll love you. I mean, I love you so of course she will. Oh, I better start getting a guest bedroom ready for her.” Twilight rapidly trotted out of the dining room, happily thinking out loud as she planned the upcoming visit. ********* “-and after lunch I thought we could take Grandma Starry on a tour of Ponyville,” Twilight said as she stood on the Ponyville Station platform, Spike and Moonwhisper standing to either side of her. “And after the tour we all head back to the castle so you can show her around before an early dinner,” Spike said in a bored tone. “Come on Twilight, we’ve been over this a dozen times already. Seriously, it’s just a casual visit from Granny Starry, not a visit from Princess Celestia.” “Well, Lady Starry Night may not be royalty precisely, but she is a member of unicorn nobility. Specifically a countess, if I’m not mistaken,” Moonwhisper added. “Moonwhisper, please, please, please don’t make a big deal out of Grandma Starry’s title,” Twilight pleaded. “I wasn’t planning to. I was just pointing out that, on a poorly technical level this is a visit from a member of the nobility so a certain level of, for lack of a better term, over planning is appropriate.” Moonwhisper cleared his throat before continuing. “In any event if I was going to make a ‘big deal’ out of this visit I’d be wearing my dress uniform.” “Would you both just relax,” Spike interrupted before Twilight could reply. “Nothing’s going to go horribly wrong, everypony’s going to get along and everything is going to be fine. Sheesh, it was bad enough when I just had to worry about Twilight freaking out over this sort of stuff.” Twilight and Moonwhisper exchanged sheepish glances as they realized that Spike was absolutely right. Before either pony could say anything further the sound of a train whistle cut through the air. “That must be her train,” Twilight said as she turned her head to look at the approaching locomotive. As the train squealed into the station Twilight immediately began scanning the train car doors for signs of her grandmother. “You know,” Moonwhisper said as he watched the train’s passengers start to disembark, “I don’t think you ever told me what your grandmother actually looks like.” “Really?” Twilight asked, slightly embarrassed that she’d make an oversight like that. “Well, Grandma Starry’s a – there she is!” Twilight suddenly cried out as she pointed towards the far end of the station platform. Standing there was an elderly unicorn mare with a fading blue coat and a steel-gray mane done up in a tight bun. The mare was dressed in a plain black gown and wore a pair of thick horn-rimmed glasses that obscured a fair portion of her face. “Grandma Starry!” Twilight called out as she happily galloped over. “Liebchen! It is so good to see you again!” The elderly mare exclaimed as soon as she heard Twilight. “Come here, give your grandmother a hug.” “I’m so glad you were able to visit! This is going to be great, I already have your whole visit planned out.” Twilight said as she hugged her grandmother. “That doesn’t surprise me in the slightest,” Starry Night said with a grin, “and look at you! You’ve grown into such a lovely young mare and an alicorn princess, no less,” Starry Night added. “I generally try not to make too big deal about that part,” Twilight said blushing slightly. “It’s good that you don’t,” Starry Night affirmed. “Humility is a valuable trait. Besides, bragging about your accomplishments is my job.” Starry Night let out a raucous laugh. “Between you and your older brother I now win every ‘whose grandfoal is more accomplished’ contest. Oh, your granddaughter is a doctor? Well mine’s a princess!” “Hey, Granny Night, how was the trip?” Spike asked as he jogged over to the join them, Moonwhisper following closely behind. “Ah there’s the little dragon,” Starry Night said as she reached over to ruffle Spike’s spines affectionately. “You’ve been taking good care of my liebchen, I hope.” Starry Night’s gaze then traveled up towards Moonwhisper. “And who is the stallion? Has my little liebchen finally found herself a special somepony, perhaps?” “Well, actually, yeah,” Twilight said. “Grandma, this is Moonwhisper, and he’s my coltfriend.” As Twilight spoke she move to Moonwhisper’s side and gently leaned against him. Starry Night slowly approached Moonwhisper as she carefully looked him over from head to hoof. “It would appear my granddaughter has excellent taste in stallions,” Starry Night finally concluded. “Although, there’s something about your name that sounds familiar. Wait…you wouldn’t be Penumbral Dusk’s son, would you?”             Moonwhisper winced at the mention of his father’s name. “Of course, you would know Penumbral Dusk from the council. You have my condolences.” “Your condolences? That’s an odd thing to say to somepony who just told you they know your father,” Starry Night said with a raised eyebrow. “Under normal circumstances, perhaps, but given the nature of the pony in question I’d say it’s the appropriate response,” Moonwhisper countered. Several agonizing seconds ticked by as Starry Night simply stared at Moonwhisper, until Starry Night finally burst out into peals of laughter. “Pahaha, liebchen really does have good taste in stallions. Now why don’t we head over to this new castle of yours so I can drop off my bags?” “Sure,” Twilight said, glad that the tension over Moonwhisper’s family had been mercifully brief. “Moonwhisper, could you give her a hoof with her things?” “That won’t be necessary,” Starry Night quickly said. “Hans! My bags!” No sooner did Starry bark out her orders than a large diamond dog lumbered into view clutching a suitcase in either hand. “This is Hans, my valet. He doesn’t talk much, but he is very handy to have around. Come, Hans,” Starry Night said as she gestured for Twilight to lead on. “Ja, Frau Nacht,” Hans replied in a low, rumbling voice. The hulking canine hefted the luggage as if they were completely weightless and quietly took his place behind Starry Night. “Moonwhisper, would you lead the way, please? I’d like to have a talk with my granddaughter,” Starry Night said. Moonwhisper responded with a shrug and moved to take point, levitating Spike onto his back as he did so. As the group made their way into Ponyville proper Twilight eagerly discussed her plans with her grandmother while pointing out various points of interest as they went by. “And over there Sugar Cube Corner, I thought we’d stop by there after lunch. Pinkie Pie’s been working on her recipe for Prinzregententorte all week and she’s really excited to hear what you think of it. I may have mentioned to her that it’s one of your favorite desserts.” Starry Night nodded absentmindedly as she listened to Twilight’s plans. “Yes, it certainly is,” she replied as she stared straight ahead. “Are you even listening to me?” As Twilight asked she followed her grandmother’s gaze, which to her dismay seemed to be focused on Moonwhisper’s posterior. “Are…are you staring at –“ Twilight paused before lowering her voice to a loud whisper. “Are you staring at my coltfriend’s rump?” “He does have a magnificent set of hindquarters,” Starry Night said as she strained to maintain a straight face. “Well, I’ll admit Moonwhisper really – that’s not the point!” Twilight snapped incredulously, which only served to elicit cackling laugh from her grandmother. “I’m sorry for teasing, liebchen, I couldn’t help it. Honestly though, it is good so to see that you’ve found somepony for yourself, and if what I’ve heard is true then he’s a fine stallion.” Starry Night’s statement hung in the air for a several moments before Twilight responded. “But…?” Twilight asked hesitantly. “If this is about whether or not I know what I’m getting myself into –“ “Bah! You’re a smart mare, you’ll be fine. Besides, I’m sure you know more about the truth about his past than anypony else at this point.” Starry Night’s darkened. “I’ve heard some very ugly rumors about what went on in Trotsylvania when your Moonwhisper was growing up and knowing Penumbral Dusk…” Starry Night shook her head sadly. “There really isn’t much I would put past that wretch. Did you know your great uncle once actually tossed him out of window?” “Uncle Noble Deed did what?” Twilight yelled out in shock. “What’s that about Noble Deed?” Moonwhisper asked as he dropped back to join Twilight and Starry Night, their conversation having finally grabbed his attention. “I was just telling Twilight about the time my older brother threw your father out of a second story window,” Starry Night said as if that was a perfectly normal topic of conversation. Moonwhisper, however, seemed wholly unbothered by this revelation. “I think I remember hearing about that encounter,” Moonwhisper said as he snickered to himself. “As I recall, that was the first and only time Noble Deed ever attended a meeting of the Council of Stars. To be honest, I always wished I could have thanked Noble Deed for doing that, but I never really had the chance. I had considered sending him a gift basket, but that just always seemed to…impersonal.” Twilight trudged along as Moonwhisper and Starry Night laughed about the event, Twilight trying to make sense of things in her mind. To Twilight, her great uncle Noble Deed had always been the first pony to come to mind whenever she thought of what the Royal Guard represented, even ahead of her own brother. Even as an elderly unicorn long past his prime Noble Deed had always seemed to radiate an aura of chivalrous honor, which was further enhanced by the tales he used to tell of his days as Captain of the Canterlot Guard. The notion that that same pony had thrown somepony else through a window, even somepony as vile as Penumbral Dusk, was as unbelievable as the notion that Princess Celestia would be capable of being petty or self-centered. “Geez, what the hay did Penumbral Dusk do to get Noble Deed to toss him out a window anyway?” Spike asked. “To tell the truth I’m not really sure,” Starry Night admitted. “My brother never said anything about it, aside from telling me that he never wanted to be in the same room as Penumbral Dusk every again. I’ve tried to ask the other ponies who were there about it, but nopony who was there was ever willing to talk about it. If I had to guess, though I’d say Penumbral Dusk probably made some tasteless remark about my brother’s late wife and son.” “What?” Twilight exclaimed in a horrified tone. “That…actually that sounds exactly like something Penumbral Dusk would do.” Twilight admitted before letting out a sigh. “And that also would explain why Uncle Noble Deed would have done something as extreme as toss him out of a window.” “I’m a little afraid to ask,” Moonwhisper said, cringing slightly as he spoke, “but what’s this about a late wife and foal? Shining Armor used to talk about his great uncle almost as much as Twilight or Princess Cadance, but I can’t recall him ever mentioning that he had a family.” “That’s probably because they died before our parents were even old enough to have their cutie marks,” Twilight replied sadly. “It was a horrible tragedy,” Starry Night added, “my brother had taken his family out on a small sailboat on the Rein when they were struck by a feral storm that came from over the Dark Forrest. Noble Deed was able to swim to shore after their boat was capsized, but his wife and son…” Starry Night paused, needing a moment to compose herself. “After that the Royal Guard became my brother’s whole life, at least until he had to retire, anyway.” For the next several moments the group trudged along in somber silence, until Starry Night finally spoke up again. “Bah, that’s enough dwelling on the past for one day. Moping about isn’t going to change what happened and the last thing my brother would have wanted would be for us to waste a beautiful day feeling sorry for him.” Starry Night’s proclamation had an almost immediate effect on the group’s mood, and by the time they reached Twilight’s Castle their collective mood had returned to its previous sunny state. Once they reached the castle, Spike offered to lead Hans to the room Twilight had set aside for Starry Night while the three ponies headed to the library to continue talking. “It’s a pity Starlight Glimmer isn’t here today,” Twilight said as they sat down. “I was looking forward to introducing the two of you, but she’s out visiting her friend Maud. Something about wanting her to try some rock cakes she made.” “Starlight Glimmer…isn’t she the one who saved Equestria recently? Honestly, it seems like we’re all in peril so often it’s getting hard to keep track nowadays.” Starry Night said. “Ah well, I’m sure I’ll have a chance to meet her before I return to Buckvaria. Speaking of your friends, you mentioned that you were friends with one of the local apple farmers, didn’t you?” “You mean Applejack? Of course, I was actually planning on taking you by Sweet Apple Acres when I took you on a tour of Ponyville.” As Twilight spoke, Moonwhisper rose from his seat. “Twilight, if you wouldn’t mind I’m going to head out. There are still a few details that I’d like to see to before I leave for my trip tomorrow. Ms. Night, it’s been a pleasure to meet you.” With that, Moonwhisper strode out of the room. “Liebchen,” Starry Night said after Moonwhisper left in a tone that said Twilight had some explaining to do, “what exactly is this trip your special somepony is taking?” “Moonwhisper’s going to Trotsylvania for a few days,” Twilight replied. “He’s planning on dealing with some personal business at his old home and –“ “And he has to take care of this ‘personal business’ now, while his father is certain to be elsewhere,” Starry Night concluded before closing her eyes and letting out a sigh. “I take it this trip has something to do with whatever Moonwhisper went through as a foal then?” “Moonwhisper…he’s looking for closure,” Twilight affirmed. “He’s hoping that by doing this he’ll be able to move past…” Twilight closed her eyes and shuddered, the memory of the time she had looked into Moonwhisper’s past flashing through her mind. For several moments, which to Twilight seemed like an eternity, the two mares sat in silence. Eventually, however, Starry Night spoke up. “Twilight, I won’t ask you to tell me what really went on in Trotsylvania, but I gather that it was horrific.” Twilight silently nodded her head in response. “Twilight, go with him to Trotsylvania.” “But what about –“ “We can reschedule my visit for after you get back from Trotsylvania,” Starry Night said. “I’m an old mare, after all, what else do you think I have to do with my time? Trust me, liebchen, your stallion needs you right now and a good romance will always be worth a little rescheduling.” Upon hearing this, Twilight wordlessly rose up from her seat and threw her forelegs around her grandmother. “Thank you, grandma,” Twilight said softly. “Of course, liebchen, I was young once as well,” Starry Night said as she returned the hug. “The stories I could tell you about when your grandfather and I were courting, but I suppose that we’ll have to wait for another day.” “That’s right! I’m going to need to pack and then I need to let Moonwhisper know I’m coming with him. Oh, and I need to let Spike know I’ll be gone too. Spike!” Twilight called out to her assistant as she practically galloped out of the room, already composing a mental checklist of what else she needed to do before she left. Starry Night, meanwhile, smiled to herself as she idly perused the library and wondered how long it would be before she had another great-grandfoal to coo over.