//------------------------------//
// Trotsylvania 
// Story: Guarded Emotions: Burying the Past 
// by Alabenson 
//------------------------------//

            “Trotsylvania, next stop,” the train conductor’s voice called out about the rhythmic sounds of the train as it rushed along the track. For Twilight, it was a welcome break from the monotony of the trip so far. True, Twilight hadn’t expected that Moonwhisper would be particularly cheerful considering their destination, but ever since they had set hoof aboard the train he had been even quieter than usual. At first Twilight had tried to distract herself by watching the scenery outside the window rush by, but as they drew closer to Trotsylvania the view became increasingly bleak. There were no towns to speak of, only the occasional farm and most of those appeared to be abandoned. Even the sky itself was depressing, a uniform slate-gray expanse of clouds that left Princess Celestia’s sun hidden from view.


            “I’ll say this for the Crystal Empire, at least it had the decency to be pleasant to look at,” Moonwhisper quipped, breaking the silence. “For what it’s worth, I want to thank you again for agreeing to accompany me on this trip. I realize this wasn’t exactly how you were planning to spend the next few days.”


            Twilight, still slightly shocked to hear Moonwhisper say anything, let alone make an attempt at humor, wordlessly leaned over and pressed herself against him. “You know, you don’t seem nearly as tense as you were when we went to the Crystal Empire,” Twilight said encouragingly after a minute or so.


            “Well, you know the old phrase ‘nothing is more frightening than the unknown’,” Moonwhisper replied. “When we visited the Crystal Empire I had no way of knowing how things were going to turn out. The logical part of my mind knew what the most likely scenario was, of course, but it was easy for my imagination to focus on the worst case scenario.” Moonwhisper’s face darkened as anger started to creep into his voice. “Here, on the other hoof, I know almost exactly how things are going to play out. I don’t anticipate it’s going to be an especially pleasant experience for me, but at least it’s a known quantity.”


            Twilight pondered the best way to respond to this, but before she could think of anything the air was filled with the loud screeching of the train’s brakes, announcing their arrival. Both ponies promptly rose from their seats to gather their belongings, though Twilight did notice that Moonwhisper was moving at an uncharacteristically unhurried pace. As the pair exited the train, Twilight was treated to her first up close look at Trotsylvania. “Wow, it’s so…um…”


            “Downtrodden? Miserable? Depressing?” Moonwhisper said bitterly. “Personally I’d be inclined to go with all of the above.”


            Looking around, it was hard for Twilight to completely disagree with Moonwhisper’s assessment. The town that surrounded the Trotsylvanian station was a village roughly the same size as Ponyville. But, while Ponyville would have been bustling with activity as friendly townsponies went about their business here the streets seemed practically deserted. The small hooffull of ponies that Twilight did see wore haggard expressions as the trudged through the muddy streets, their heads hung low. Even the buildings themselves looked depressing, at least half of them having been boarded up and abandoned. After a few moments, Twilight was struck by how similar the village was to the alternate version of Ponyville she had seen where Equestria was at war with the forces under King Sombra’s control.


            “Our first order of business should probably be to locate a wagon to take the rest of the way to the castle,” Moonwhisper said as they surveyed the scene.


            “Is it really that far away?” Twilight asked.


            “We certainly could get there by hoof if we absolutely had to, but give that doing so would likely take us until nightfall I’d rather avoid having to do so if possible.”


            Twilight nodded in agreement. “Well, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a porter,” Twilight said optimistically as she trotted over to nearest pony she could see. “Pardon me, but my friend and I were wondering if you knew where we could find somepony to take us to Castle Umbra.”


            At first the townspony perked up upon being addressed by Twilight, his eyes widening a little upon noticing her wings. The moment Twilight mentioned her intended destination, however, the pony quickly excused himself while mumbling excuses. “That’s probably going to be the most common reaction, I’m afraid,” Moonwhisper said bitterly. “The von Umbra family has a rather…unpleasant reputation in this part of Equestria.”


“I can understand why your father would have that sort of reputation, but isn’t a little excessive to be afraid of the castle itself?” Twilight asked.


“As delighted as I’d be to place all of the blame for the von Umbra family’s reputation on Penumbral Dusk, the fact of the matter is the family has cultivated a long history of unpleasantness and petty vindictiveness.” Moonwhisper let out a sigh of resignation before continuing. “If I’m not mistaken there should be an inn fairly close to the center of town. That’s probably where we’d have the best luck finding somepony willing to take us.”


Twilight pondered her options for a moment before allowing Moonwhisper to lead the way. Granted, she could have likely flown to the castle on her own, but that would have necessitated leaving Moonwhisper to get there on his own. Teleportation was quickly ruled out as well since Twilight didn’t want to risk trying to teleport someplace that she had never been before. That left Twilight with little alternative to trotting through the town beside Moonwhisper while the townsponies cowered in fear. “I wonder if this what it was like for Zecora at first,” Twilight mused as the turned down another empty street. Seeing Moonwhisper giving her a quizzical look Twilight elaborated. “When I first came to Ponyville Zecora, the zebra who lives in the Everfree Forrest, she was treated like an outcast by pretty much everypony in town. Including me, at one point,” Twilight added ashamedly. “I was just thinking this must be what it was like for her back then; everypony hiding away for no good reason.”


            “In all fairness, Twilight, these ponies do have an understandable reason for their behavior. Between your wings and my cutie mark we represent authority and in Trotsylvania authority is synonymous with petty cruelty at best and outright danger at worst. That being said, the local ponies would likely be more welcoming if I weren’t present, but…” Moonwhisper closed his eyes unconsciously picked up his pace. “As things stand it would be best if I keep things professional with the local citizens.”


            Twilight wanted to argue with Moonwhisper over this statement, wanted to lecture him on the importance of friendship and how pushing ponies away wasn’t the answer. Twilight wanted to do all that, but she quickly realized that here, unlike in Ponyville the danger that Moonwhisper was trying to stave off by keeping everypony at hooves length was quite real. Both the reactions of the townsponies and the stories that Twilight had heard from Conscious Mind were proof of threat that Penumbral Dusk posed to everypony around him. As such, as much as it pained Twilight to admit it Moonwhisper’s cutting himself off was justified. “I wonder why the map never sent any of us here,” Twilight grumbled to herself under her breath.


            “That’s likely because there wouldn’t be all that much you or your friends could realistically do to fix the source of the problem,” Moonwhisper said. “Penumbral Dusk isn’t somepony who can be reasoned with, and he has just enough resources at his disposal to make the lives of everypony in the village miserable if they were to show a united front against him. Granted he’d be liable to bankrupt himself in the process, but I doubt that would stop him. I’ve fantasized about solving that particular friendship problem myself quite a few times, but I imagine you probably wouldn’t approve of my methods.”


            “I’m starting to think I might be flexible about that,” Twilight muttered as she watched a mare grab her foal and rush inside her home. By the time the gain made it to the town’s inn Twilight’s mood had soured to the extent she was half seriously considering having a talk with Discord about finding some way to ‘solve’ the village’s Penumbral Dusk issue. The inn itself was nothing particularly special, a half-timber building roughly the same size as Sugar Cube Corner, though not nearly as lovingly cared for. As she followed Moonwhisper inside, Twilight was nearly overpowered by the combined reek of body odor and rotten fruit. Twilight quickly recovered, however, and looked up to see a small group of ponies seated around the inn’s common room, all of whom cautiously eyeing her and Moonwhisper.


            “We’re looking to hire somepony to take Princess Twilight Sparkle and myself to Castle Umbra,” Moonwhisper called out once he had everypony’s attention. The assembled townsponies muttered amongst themselves for several minutes before one of them finally trotted forward.


            “My name is Cheese Pierogi. I’ll be willing to take you as far as the edge of the estate,” he offered in a gruff of voice. “But I won’t go one step further.”


            “That will be…acceptable,” Moonwhisper said, casting a sideward glance at Twilight. “How soon can you be ready to leave?”


            “Just give me a minute to get my wagon hitched, I’ll be around to meet you out front.” As the stallion left to ready his wagon he cast a backwards glance at Moonwhisper before shaking his head sadly.


            “What was that all about?” Twilight whispered to Moonwhisper as they exited the inn.


            “You mean the refusal to set hoof on the von Umbra property itself? Honestly I’m not really sure. It could just be superstition, or its possible Penumbral Dusk has taken to accusing any non-unicorns who approach the castle of trespassing.” Moonwhisper punctuated his last bit of speculation with a snort of disgust.


            “Actually, I was wondering about the look Cheese Pierogi gave you right before he left,” Twilight said. “Do you think he might know you from somewhere?”


            Moonwhisper merely shrugged in response. “It’s certainly possible. I never really left the castle grounds as a foal, but most of the castle servants would have been hired from this village. That being said, I can’t say I ever had much of a chance to get to know any of them. Setting aside Penumbral Dusk’s paranoia that I might actually befriend one of my ‘lessers’,” Moonwhisper practically snarled the last word through tightly clenched teeth. “Very few members of the castle staff actually remained there for very long, if for no other reason than the fact that Penumbral Dusk is only a marginally better employer than he was a parent.”


            Any further discussion of the issue was quickly put on hold as Cheese Pierogi came rushing around the corner pulling a large wagon behind him. Moonwhisper wordlessly levitated their luggage into the wagon before helping Twilight climb in herself. Once both had entered the wagon the stallion took off like a rocket, sending Twilight and Moonwhisper tumbling down to the wagon’s bed. The trip took the better part of the next hour, the wagon bouncing violently along the muddy roads. The few times Twilight managed to steady herself enough to look over the edge of the wagon she found the scenery to be much the same as what she had seen on the train, nothing but dark, wild forests and abandoned farms. “I don’t understand,” Twilight said as she slumped back into the wagon. “Why in Equestria are all of these farms abandoned?”


            “You can thank Count von Umbra for that,” Cheese Pierogi answered without breaking stride. “Every so often he’ll decide that some earth pony family has insulted him somehow and he’ll do everything he can to chase them off. Then again, the ground here isn’t all that good for farming anyway, so plenty of other families just decided to leave rather than deal with his stupidity. Nowadays the only earth ponies left in Trotsylvania are the ones who are too stubborn to leave, like me!” Cheese Pierogi let out a deep laugh as he careened around a turn in the road with such force that Twilight could feel two of the wheels lift off the ground for a moment.


            Eventually Cheese Pierogi finally brought the wagon to a stop alongside a crumbling stone wall. An imposing set of wrought iron gates formed the only visible entranceway past the wall, leading to long road that stretched into the distance. “Is this…?” Twilight asked as she took in the rather unwelcoming sight.


            “Home sweet home,” Moonwhisper snorted as he climbed down out of the wagon and began counting out several bits. “I can understand why you’d rather not go any further-“


            “I’ve got my own reasons for not wanting to set hoof on von Umbra land, and it’s got nothing to do with my being scared of Penumbral Dusk!” Cheese Pierogi snapped as he snatched at the bits. As he looked at Moonwhisper’s expression, however, Cheese Pierogi closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “You’re his son, aren’t you? My wife, Potato Dumpling, used to work in the castle’s kitchens. That was years ago, so I don’t blame you if you don’t remember her, but she used to tell stories about the things that went on up there…” Cheese Pierogi let his voice trail off for a moment before he continued. “When you’re don with whatever business brought you to this Celestia-forsaken place send me a message and I’ll pick your and the princess up and take you back to town.” With that, Cheese Pierogi glanced back at the wagon to ensure it was empty before galloping off, his wagon thundering along behind him.


            Twilight and Moonwhisper watched the wagon disappear into the distance until it was completely out of sight. Once it was gone, Moonwhisper realized he no longer had any excuse to postpone what was to come and so he enveloped the gates with his magic and threw them open. “Well, let’s get this over with,” he muttered as he levitated their bags and led the way through the gate. The pathway beyond the gate twisted through what at one point had likely once been a beautifully landscaped slice of the countryside. Now, however, years or possibly even decades of neglect had left the grounds looking what Twilight could only describe as feral. As they continued on, Twilight noticed that the trees lining the path seemed increasingly to be of the same species.


            “Are those…apple trees?” Twilight asked.


            “Mmhmm. The family orchard, supposedly one of the oldest in Equestria. Even if they were in season I wouldn’t recommend eating any of them, though, the apples that grow here tend to be much too bitter and sour.” Moonwhisper seemed to barely glance at the sides of the road as he spoke, his eyes instead fixed straight ahead. Realizing that Moonwhisper wasn’t likely to say much else Twilight turned her attention back to the apple trees that now crowded both sides of the road. Unlike the neat, well-maintained trees of Sweet Apple Acres these apple trees looked as feral as the rest of the grounds, their gnarled branches twisting around each other as they fought for access to the sun.


            As the pair went around a particularly sharp turn Twilight saw Moonwhisper suddenly cringe and violently shudder before immediately resuming his previous pace. “Moonwhisper, is there something wrong?” Twilight called out as she hurried her pace to catch up.


            “It’s nothing, Twilight, there’s no need to worry about me,” Moonwhisper replied, though the obvious stress creeping into his voice strongly argued otherwise.


            “That looked like it was a lot more than nothing, Moonwhisper, now tell me what’s-oh.” As Twilight rounded the turn she found herself staring at the long abandoned ruin of a small cottage at the side of the road. “Is that…?”


            “The former home of Braeburn and his family,” Moonwhisper answered. “Come on, we’re close to the castle now, we should be able to see it once we clear the orchard up ahead.” Listening to Moonwhisper, Twilight noticed something off about his voice. It wasn’t something that Twilight could put her hoof on exactly, but it sounded to Twilight as though Moonwhisper’s voice was tinged with a mixture of irritation and fear. “I’m going to be fine,” Moonwhisper suddenly said, apparently noting Twilight concern. “It’s just that this is only going to be the first of many unpleasant reminders of my past I deal with today. I’ve at least had a chance to put the incident with that cottage behind me, but I can’t say I’m particularly looking forward to dealing with memories where that isn’t the case.”


            “You’ll get through this,” Twilight said as she caught up to Moonwhisper’s side. “I know it must seem overwhelming right now, but just think of how well things turned out between you and Braeburn. Once you get through this I’m certain you’ll feel much better.”


            “I hope you’re right,” Moonwhisper muttered, as much to himself as to Twilight. As they trotted out from under the orchard’s canopy, Twilight finally got her first look at the castle itself. In ages past the massive Baroque structure would have been a majestic sight. Years of neglect, however, had left it a dingy, crumbling ruin. Windows had been shattered and boarded up, decorative stonework was broken or missing altogether and even the paint on the main doors was faded and peeling. “Impressive, isn’t it?” Moonwhisper said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Personally I think it’s a near-perfect physical representation of the von Umbra family itself.”


            “I don’t understand, based on everything I’ve heard about Penumbral Dusk I’d think he’d take better care of his family castle.” Twilight said. “And if Penumbral Dusk has enough bits to get away with terrorizing everypony around him then I’d have to think he could afford basic maintenance.”


            “You’re assuming that Penumbral Dusk could actually find somepony to do the work,” Moonwhisper snorted. “Every so often Penumbral Dusk will try to hire a contractor willing to do the necessary work, but inevitably he can’t keep himself from spewing tribalist bile long enough to actually convince anypony to work for him. And, in the interest of fairness, I have to admit the castle’s issues concerning a lack of proper maintenance predate Penumbral Dusk and his inability to act civilized long enough to hire anypony. My grandfather, Silent Shade, spent as much time as he could traveling all over Equestria and beyond, really anywhere that took him far away from here. Not that I can really blame him,” Moonwhisper added. “As such he left the castle’s upkeep in the hooves of my grandmother, Aloof Airs. Unfortunately, by all accounts she was a miser who refused to spend bits on anything that didn’t directly impact her reputation back in Canterlot.” With a final snort of disgust, Moonwhisper began striding towards the castle’s main doors,


            For her part, Twilight followed behind somewhat hesitantly as she cautiously eyed the structures before her. The more Twilight looked at it the more she thought it looked like the setting in a clichéd horror novel. “All it needs now is a nighttime thunderstorm,” Twilight though to herself as she watched Moonwhisper hammer his front hoof on the front door, triggering a shower of paint chips. A full minute passed before the doors creaked open, revealing an ancient, emaciated unicorn stallion.


            “May I help you?” the stallion rasped in a tone that somehow managed to be simultaneously servile and haughty. The moment the stallion saw who was standing in front of him, however, any traces of arrogance vanished from his face immediately. “Master Moonwhisper! It’s such a pleasure to see you here.”


            “Quiet Custom,” Moonwhisper growled, not bothering to conceal the seething hatred in his voice. “Princess Twilight and I will be staying here for the next two nights. I assume you’ll be able to accommodate us?”


            Quiet Custom’s eyes bulged slightly as Moonwhisper mentioned Twilight’s name and promptly bowed as he saw her standing on the castle steps. “Your highness, you honor us with your presence,” Quiet Custom said, his voice practically dripping with obsequiousness. “I’ll see to it that guest rooms are prepared for both of you at once. Please, do come in.” While Twilight couldn’t put her hoof on exactly why, she found herself taking an almost immediate dislike to Quiet Custom. There was something oily in his demeanor that made Twilight’s skin crawl, and she was thankful when Moonwhisper interposed himself between the two of them as she entered the castle.


            “For what it’s worth, you should be aware that part of the reason we’ve come here is to carry out the confiscation of any and all documents relating to Sombra’s magical research. I’ve taken the liberty of bringing a copy of the paperwork Penumbral Dusk signed agreeing to the project, and he’s welcome to review the original copy in the Canterlot archives.” As Moonwhisper spoke he produced a scroll bearing the royal seal and levitated it to Quiet Custom.


            “I…see,” Quiet Custom said as he unfurled the scroll and carefully looked it over, abandoning any pretenses of servility towards Moonwhisper. “I’m sure your father will be relieved that this issue has been finally resolved. Will you or the princess require any assistance with anything else?”


            “No, that will be all,” Moonwhisper coldly replied. For the next several seconds Moonwhisper and Quiet Custom exchanged icy stares until Quiet Custom finally turned his head and slunk away.


            “What in Equestria that all about?” Twilight asked once she was reasonably certain they were alone. “And what was all that about confiscating King Sombra’s magical research?”


            “I apologize for not discussing that with you earlier,” Moonwhisper said, noticeably more relaxed now that Quiet Custom was no longer present. “It’s actually part of something that I’ve been discussing with Conscious Mind for some time now. As one of my major sources of anxiety is my…particular ancestry, Conscious Mind has suggested that I take steps to redefine what that means to me. You see,” Moonwhisper continued as he noticed Twilight’s baffled expression, “while Sombra may have been a twisted, sadistic monster he was also an admittedly brilliant sorcerer. Most of the magical research Sombra performed was left in a hidden vault here in the castle, and my intent is to see if I can’t find some way of putting it to good use somehow. If I can manage to find some way to squeeze some tiny modicum of good out of Sombra’s existence…” Moonwhisper let the idea hang in the air for a moment before continuing. “In any event, Princess Celestia has been aware of the vault’s existence ever since Sombra’s...well, ever since his time. Until a few years ago, however, Princess Celestia was unaware of its location here in the castle. That was when Penumbral Dusk revealed to her that the vault was located inside the castle and offered to turn over its contents in a bid to weasel his way into her good graces. It didn’t work, in no small part due to the fact that it quickly became apparent that Penumbral Dusk didn’t actually know how to get into the vault, or even where its entrance is precisely.”


            “But you do?” Twilight asked skeptically.


            Moonwhisper nodded in response. “I found the entrance when I was younger. To be honest I’ve wanted to force Penumbral Dusk to live up to that confiscation order for years, but every time I always managed to find a reason to put it off for a while longer.”


            “Up until now, that is,” Twilight said. “So, where exactly is this secret vault anyway?”


            “The entrance to the vault is located in the castle’s auxiliary wine cellar which is under the west wing of the castle. It’s a rather awkward location given that the banquet hall is located in the east wing. If it weren’t’ for the fact that the castle predates Sombra by several centuries I’d assume the cellar’s location was a deliberate choice on his part, but as it is I imagine I simply had an alcoholic or two in my family tree. Celestia knows I’d probably take up drinking if I actually had to live here again.” Moonwhisper added. With that Moonwhisper began heading towards a door on the left side of the entrance hall before pausing and turning back to Twilight. “Are you coming?”


            “What? Oh, right, sorry, I’m right behind you,” Twilight said as she tore her attention away from examining the castle décor. The inside of Castle Umbra was every bit as unpleasant as the outside, though admittedly slight better cared for. Twilight’s hoofsteps echoed as she trotted across the tiled floors, the sound bouncing off the grotesque statues and carvings that seemed to cover the walls. “No offense, but I think somepony in your family must have had really creepy taste.”


            “I suppose you’re referring to the carvings along the walls,” Moonwhisper said as they passed through a doorway carved to resemble a pair of coiled serpentine dragons. “Honestly I’m not sure who was responsible for all that. I don’t think they were installed by the castle’s original builders, that sort of thing wasn’t really done until long after the castle was first built. If I had to guess, most of these decorations would have been added around Shadowed Heart’s time.”


            “Wait, Shadowed Heart? As in Princess Celestia’s student from the fifth century Shadowed Heart?” Twilight asked excitedly. “I didn’t even know you were related to her. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”


            “I suppose it makes sense that you’d have heard of her,” Moonwhisper sighed. “Shadowed Heart was my indeterminate number of greats aunt. As for why I never mentioned her before, it simply never seemed particularly important. Besides, given Shadowed Heart’s particular magical specialty I’ve never been all that inclined to broadcast our relationship.”


            “Shadowed Heart’s…ooh,” Twilight said as she realized what Moonwhisper meant. Shadowed Heart had the distinction of being the only of Princess Celestia’s numerous students to have focused on the magical field known as necromancy. “Alright, I’ll admit necromancy isn’t exactly the sort of magic that most ponies would want to be associated with, but Shadowed Heart was still one of Princess Celestia’s personal students. I’m sure the princess wouldn’t have let her student research anything too bad.”


            “True, Shadowed Heart’s research was fairly benign, mostly spirit summoning and such.” As Moonwhisper spoke he turned to Twilight with a raised eyebrow. “It doesn’t sound as though you’re especially familiar with the specifics of her work, however.”


            “Well, it’s not really an area that Princess Celestia thought I needed to study,” Twilight admitted. “It’s the same reason I don’t actually know all that much about combat magic aside from what I learned by watching Shining Armor practice.”


            “I suppose I’m just a little surprised. I had always assumed you’d have made a point to study the research of all of your predecessors. Then again, now that I think about it Princess Celestia likely keeps Shadowed Heart’s research away from the general public. The last thing I imagine the princess would want to deal with would be somepony conjuring the ghost Commander Hurricane and having her fly off to try and seize control of Cloudsdale.”


            Twilight stifled a giggle at the absurdity of the thought. “So, what makes you think that Shadowed Heart was responsible for the castle’s…décor?”


            “To start with, that sort of excessive ornamentation, I’m sure there’s a name for it, was particularly popular around Shadow Heart’s time so it would stand to reason that that’s when it would have been installed. Then, of course, you have the fact that Shadowed Heart something of a reputation for having somewhat morbid tastes, which would account for the unconventional subject matter of the decorations. Speaking of Shadowed Heart, there’s a rather impressive portrait of her in the drawing room up ahead. We’ll need to pass through there anyway to get to the vault, so I thought I’d point it out.”


            The pair continued trotting down the dimly lit hall for another several yards more before Moonwhisper abruptly stopped and opened a door on their left. Following him, Twilight found herself standing in a parlor that clearly hadn’t seen any use in quite some time. Sheets had been thrown over all of the furniture and the large picture window that took up most of its outer wall had been broken and boarded up. The focal point of the room was a massive fireplace on the far wall, over which hung a sizable portrait of a dour-looking unicorn mare with an ash gray coat and a pale blue mane. “So, that’s Shadowed Heart,” Twilight said as she made her way into the room. “Princess Celestia doesn’t really talk about any of her former students all that much, but I remember asking her about Shadowed Heart once, I think it was around Nightmare Night. Princess Celestia didn’t really answer my questions, but I remember thinking she seemed…sad, I guess.”


            “I can’t really say I know any of the details myself, but I did a little digging into Shadowed Heart’s history while I was between assignments in Canterlot. As far as I could tell, Shadowed Heart and Princess Celestia had some sort of falling out, after which Shadowed Heart moved back to Trotsylvania,” Moonwhisper said matter-of-factly.


            “I wonder what caused it?” Twilight said, as much to herself as to Moonwhisper.


            “Well, I can’t really say for certain, but if I had to guess I’d say it probably involved Shadowed Heart’s chafing at the restrictions Princess Celestia put on her research.” Moonwhisper gave Shadowed Heart’s portrait a glance before shrugging and moving over to a small door nestled in the corner of the room. “From here, the fastest way to the vault will be to take the servant’s passages,” Moonwhisper said as he opened the door to reveal a spiral staircase.


            “Servant’s passages?” Twilight asked hesitantly.


            Moonwhisper nodded. “There’s a maze of hallways and supply closets beneath the first floor of the castle. The idea is to allow the maids and whatnot easy access to anywhere in the castle that they would need to go.” Moonwhisper let out a sigh of resignation before continuing. “Or, more realistically knowing the attitudes of the von Umbras, to help ensure that the master of the castle doesn’t have to interact with the ‘help’ more than absolutely necessary.” Before Twilight could think of a reply Moonwhisper descended down the stairs, rapidly disappearing from view.


            Twilight rushed to catch up, not wanting to be left alone in the room with the portrait. Twilight would never have admitted it to anypony else, but there was something about Shadowed Heart’s baleful gaze that sent shivers down Twilight’s spine. The staircase led down to a surprisingly wide stone hallway which was completely barren save for a series of lights set in sconces along the walls at regular intervals.


            “I wouldn’t advise wandering off down here,” Moonwhisper said as Twilight caught up to him. “All of the passageways down here look essentially the same, so it’s extremely easy to get lost.”


            A few minutes of trotting through the passageways later and Twilight understood why Moonwhisper had felt the need to provide a warning against trying to explore on her own. The hallway seemed to stretch on endlessly, the monotony broken only by the occasional unmarked wooden door or intersecting passage. “How in Equestria can anypony find their way around down here without getting lost?” Twilight finally exclaimed.


            “A large part of it comes from learning to read the markings,” Moonwhisper replied cryptically. “You might not have noticed them, but there are small symbols drawn on the walls near the floor at every intersection, like street signs essentially. It isn’t an intuitive system by any means, but it works well enough if you’re familiar with the castle’s floor plan.”


            “That’s actually really clever,” Twilight admitted. As they approached the next intersection Twilight glanced down towards the bottom edge of the walls. Sure enough, etched into the stone was a picture of an apple. “I wonder why they choose to use pictures instead of something more – Oof!” Twilight grunted as she collided into Moonwhisper, who had come to a complete stop. “Sorry, I guess I wasn’t watching where I was…Moonwhisper? Are you alright?” Even as she asked the question, however, Twilight could tell that something was very wrong. Though Twilight couldn’t see Moonwhisper’s face she could see that his ears were folded back and he was breathing heavily. What’s more, Moonwhisper’s entire body was visibly trembling. “Moonwhisper, what’s wrong? Moonwhisper? MOONWHISPER!” Twilight finally shouted.


            “What? Oh, Twilight. I’m sorry, I didn’t…I didn’t hear you,” Moonwhisper said weakly. “It’s…we’re close now, we should keep moving.” As Moonwhisper spoke, Twilight noticed that his eyes continually darted over to a door on their left. There was nothing particularly notable about the door itself, at least as far as Twilight could tell. It looked like a normal wooden door, just like any number of doors that they had walked by already.


            “What in Equestria has you so worked up?” Twilight asked as she approached the door. Moonwhisper didn’t answer, but as Twilight moved closer to the door he steadily backed away until he was pressing himself against the opposite wall. Keeping a watchful eye on Moonwhisper, Twilight pushed the door open and peered inside. As Twilight’s eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw that the door led to a set of stone stairs which descended to an empty cellar. “I don’t get it, there’s nothing in here,” Twilight said. Even as the words were leaving her mouth, however, Twilight felt a sickening sense of recognition as she realized she had seen the windowless chamber once before. “Oh, dear Celestia,” Twilight gasped out as she rapidly backed away from the room, slamming the door shut with her magic. “That room, that’s where Penumbral Dusk –“


            “That was where Penumbral Dusk conducted the bulk of my early ‘training’,” Moonwhisper said. “I’m sorry about this, I should have remembered that this path would –“ Before Moonwhisper could say anymore he found himself interrupted as Twilight threw her forehooves around him in a tight embrace. For the next several minutes the pair sat together in silence, Twilight refusing to relinquish her hold until Moonwhisper finally stopped shaking.


            “Feeling better?” Twilight asked as she gave Moonwhisper a gentle nuzzle. In truth, Twilight’s question was directed at herself as much as it was towards Moonwhisper. The realization that Twilight had been at the threshold of the room where she had watched Moonwhisper’s father magically torturing him had left her reeling.


            “I’ll be…I’ll be fine,” Moonwhisper assured Twilight as he pulled himself to his hooves. “That being said, I think it would be best if we take an alternate route back.”


            Twilight let out a small chuckle, relieved that Moonwhisper felt well enough to make even a weak attempt at humor. “That’s probably a good idea. So, how much further is it to this wine cellar anyway?”


            “We’re almost there, it’s just a few more doors further,” Moonwhisper replied, having resumed trotting down the hall. Sure enough, after less than a minute later Moonwhisper finally came to a stop at a wooden door on their right. “Well, here we are, the castle’s auxiliary wine cellar.” With that Moonwhisper pushed the door open, its rusty hinges squealing in protest, revealing a set of stairs leading into a cavernous, pitch-black chamber. As Moonwhisper descended into the room he cast a spell to conjure a bright light from his horn, Twilight quickly following suit.


            “And you said all this was just the castle’s spare wine cellar?” Twilight asked incredulously as she marveled at the rows upon rows of empty wooden shelves that filled the room.


            “It is the lager of the two rooms by a fair margin. The most likely explanation was that the main cellar was meant for bottles that were going to be consumed in the near future, while this room was intended for more long-term storage. Or the vault itself might have been originally meant as a panic room of sorts and the size of this room was just a side-effect of disguising the entrance. After all, you’d need a rather exceptionally large cellar to justify the presence of a tun.”


            “A tun?” Twilight asked as she followed Moonwhisper down one of the aisles. “Isn’t that a type of barrel? What would something like that have to do with – whoa!” Coming out the other end of the aisle, Twilight found herself staring at the single largest barrel she had ever seen. Lying on its side, the massive container easily stood two or three pony lengths tall, its top pressing against the ceiling. “Who in Equestria would need a barrel that huge?”


            “Breweries, wineries, that sort of thing mostly,” Moonwhisper nonchalantly replied as he crawled underneath the massive barrel’s rim. “There’s a brand over the spigot on the barrel, it’s admittedly rather hard to see in this light, that denotes the winery where the tun originated from. I actually looked it up out of curiosity once; the winery in question is still in operation, or at least it was when I investigated it.”


            “That’s all very interesting, but why in Equestria are you crawling around down there?”


            “I’m looking for – aha! Found it!” Twilight heard a sudden click echo out from the part of the tun Moonwhisper had been fiddling with, followed be a loud grinding sound from the tun itself as Moonwhisper rolled out from under the rim. As Moonwhisper pulled himself to his hooves he took the spigot in his magical field and pulled the handle, causing a door-sized portion of the tun’s front to swing open. “I really have to give the craftsponies responsible for building this credit,” Moonwhisper said. “The door itself is fitted into the rest of the barrel so perfectly you can’t even see the seams until the primary lock is disengaged. Shall we?”


            Twilight, however, hesitated as she eyed the newly revealed doorway with trepidation. “Are you absolutely sure it’s safe to go in there? It’s just, I remember what it was like trying to recover the Crystal Heart, and if this was really King Sombra’s secret lair…”


            “I can understand you concerns, but there’s nothing to worry about,” Moonwhisper assured Twilight as he began climbing into the tun. “Remember, I blundered my way into the vault when I was just a foal and nothing happened to me…” As Moonwhisper spoke, however, he abruptly froze in place as a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Gah! I’m such an idiot!” Moonwhisper struck himself in the forehead with enough force that Twilight could clearly hear the impact. “Nothing ever happened to me, but I’m Sombra’s direct descendant. If Sombra keyed the defenses in the vault to ignore members of his own bloodline then I could have waltzed through them without even realizing it.” Moonwhisper turned back towards Twilight with a distraught look in his eyes. “Maybe it would be best if you stayed back here while I go on ahead,” Moonwhisper suggested.


            “Not a chance! There’s no way I’ve come this far just to have you leave me behind at the last second,” Twilight declared, her irritation at the idea of being left behind momentarily overwhelming her trepidation.


            “Very well then, if that’s how you feel then I won’t try to stop you,” Moonwhisper said. Regardless of his concerns Moonwhisper knew Twilight well enough by now to know when not to try arguing with her. “Just…please stay alert. If there are any magical traps present that are keyed to Sombra’s bloodline than my presence may be sufficient to disarm them.” As Twilight nodded in agreement the pair climbed through the hidden doorway into the pitch black darkness beyond.


            “Huh, I didn’t think it would be cramped in here,” Twilight said as she clambered inside. Despite the massive size of the tun, the doorway opened into a windowless hallway so narrow Twilight didn’t have room to spread her wings. “What’s the point of having such a tiny hallway like this anyway?”


            “Obfuscation,” Moonwhisper replied simply. “At one point in the distant past this tun would have been completely filled with wine to help conceal the existence of the passage. There was even a mechanism connecting the spigot to the rest of the barrel. The tubing has mostly rotted away at this point, but you’ll be able to see what I mean on our way out.” Under different circumstances Twilight would have found all of this quite fascinating, but the claustrophobic nature of the passageway had made her quite tense. Consequently, Twilight breathed an audible sights of relief once they exited out the far end.


            “Oh thank Celestia, I don’t know how much longer I could take in there,” Twilight said as she stretched out her wings. “So, how much further is it before we make it to the vault itself?”


            “Actually,” Moonwhisper replied, his horn flaring with magic, “we’re already here.” As Moonwhisper completed the spell a series of torches began igniting along the walls of the chamber they stood in.


            “Sombra’s secret vault,” Twilight marveled as she took in the contents of the circular room. “It’s…it’s…it’s a library!” Twilight’s fears, born of her previous encounter with King Sombra’s magic were washed away as she flew into the air to inspect the bookshelves that lined the room’s walls. “I haven’t seen so many rare books in one place since a found the library in the Castle of the Two Sisters!” Twilight cooed as she began perusing the titles.


            “Feel free to help yourself,” Moonwhisper said as he quickly scanned the area around Twilight for any signs of awakening magical defenses. “I was planning on giving most of these to you anyway so if you find something that catches your attention then consider it yours.” Once Moonwhisper was satisfied that Twilight hadn’t set off any long dormant traps he turned his attention towards gathering the volumes he himself had come to collect.


            “Let’s see, I’ve read this one already…haven’t read this one yet…or this one…I’ve never even heard of this one…I have read this on – Oh, but this is a first edition!” Twilight continued talking to herself as she slowly worked her way through the shelves, steadily amassing a pile of books as she went. It wasn’t until Twilight heard a loud crash from Moonwhisper’s side of the room that she was able to tear her attention away from her task. Letting out a yelp of surprise, Twilight spun around to see Moonwhisper standing amid the wreckage of what had formerly been a wooden cabinet. “Moonwhisper! What in Equestria…?”


            “The lock on the door was jammed,” Moonwhisper said matter-of-factly, as if that explained everything.


            “And so you ripped the entire cabinet apart?”


            “It was the only way to get at this,” Moonwhisper replied as he levitated a dark wooden box out of the cabinet’s remains. “Here,” he said as he passed the box over to Twilight. “You should probably take a look at this.” There was something odd about Moonwhisper’s tone that caught Twilight’s attention immediately, an odd hesitancy. It was almost as though Moonwhisper was having second thoughts about showing her the box’s contents even as he gave it to her.


            “What is it?” Twilight asked as she removed the lid and gently levitated out the box’s contents, a rectangular object wrapped in linen. “Is it another book?”


            “Yes, undoubtedly the rarest one in Sombra’s collection,” Moonwhisper said solemnly. “It’s also…that particular book is dangerous, Twilight, or the knowledge inside it is at any rate. You’re the only pony I can think of that I’d trust it with, and if you decide we should burn it…well, I’d understand.”


            “Burn it?” Twilight gasped. “I would never burn a book. I can’t believe you’d even suggest that.” Still fuming, Twilight carefully freed the book from its linen wrappings. Once the book’s cover came into view, however, annoyance swiftly gave way to horror. “Dear Celestia, it’s…it’s bound in leather!” Twilight gulped as she let the book’s box clatter to the ground.


            “And the pages are vellum and I think the ink might have used blood as a base,” Moonwhisper added, sounding more bored than anything else.


            “I think I’m going to be sick,” Twilight groaned. It was only a deeply ingrained love and respect for the written word that kept Twilight from tossing the tome away from her. “What kind of monster would –“


            “Grogar,” Moonwhisper said simply.


            “Grogar? As in the dread ruler of Tambelon, Grogar?” Twilight asked with mounting horror.


            Moonwhisper nodded in affirmation. “Also known as Grogar the Cruel, Grogar the Torturer, Grogar the Despised and Grogar the Unholy. I believe he was also known as Grogar of the Bells, if I’m not mistaken,” Moonwhisper added after a moment’s pause. “I never really understood that last title myself. Anyway, that book is one of the few complete copies of Grogar’s magical research.”


            Twilight swallowed as she regarded the tome floating in her levitation field as though it were a venomous snake. She had heard of Grogar’s infamous folio, of course, nearly every serious student of magic had. Supposedly Grogar’s writings formed the basis for almost every bit of dark magic in recorded pony history and even those who could study the writings without being corrupted by them were said to be forever changed by the experience. Even Star Swirl himself had allegedly abandoned his efforts to study the tome halfway through, burning his copy and all of his notes soon after. “Why in Equestria would you want me to have something like this?”


            “Know thy enemy,” Moonwhisper replied. “That little phrase is one of the cornerstones of tactical thinking. Given the sorts of threats you habitually face, those writings could prove relevant. Although, if you feel it’s not worth the potential risk and decide to use the book as kindling, well, you’re better equipped than I am to make that decision.”


            Twilight silently stared at the book for a full minute as she struggled internally over what to do with it. Even the construction of the book had involved robbing Celestia only knew how many ponies of their lives and the actual contents of the pages would be exponentially worse. “On the other hoof,” Twilight muttered to herself, “this book represents some of the oldest magical research in existence. I can’t really just throw it all away, can I?” Another minute or so silence followed until Twilight finally re-wrapped the tome and returned it to its box.


            “So you’ve decided to keep the book, then?” Moonwhisper asked.


            “For the time being, at least,” Twilight answered, still staring at the books box. Finally, Twilight managed to tear her gaze away from it, vigorously shaking her head as she did so. “I don’t know if I’m going to actually try reading any of it, but I’m not ready to destroy it quite yet, and I definitely don’t want to leave it here. Speaking of things I don’t want to leave behind,” Twilight added, her face brightening, “how are we going to get all these books back to Ponyville?”




*********




            Twilight and Moonwhisper spend nearly half an hour gathering and sorting the remaining contents of King Sombra’s lair and another to take them out to the ground floor of the castle. “So what do we do now?” Twilight asked as circled the large pile of books they had assembled in what at one point had probably been a study.


            “For now we can probably leave the books here. I doubt any of the castle staff will bother them and Quiet Custom wouldn’t dare interfere with a royal order signed by Penumbral Dusk.” There was a sudden viciousness in Moonwhisper’s voice as he mentioned the von Umbra family butler that caught Twilight’s attention.


            “I’ve been meaning to ask, why do you seem so upset with Quiet Custom? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you act like that before.”


            “Quiet Custom happens to be one of the two ponies I absolutely despise, the other being Penumbral Dusk himself. That decrepit vulture always did everything in his power to enable Penumbral Dusk’s sadism, always spying on us and dutifully reporting everything he saw.” As Moonwhisper spoke he closed his eyes and began grinding his front right hoof into the floor. “My mother wanted to run away from here, did you know that? I sometimes heard her working out the logistics of simply taking me and fleeing Trotsylvania altogether. Quiet Custom overheard what she was planning as well, though, and he made sure that she knew that he knew. More importantly, the wretch made certain my mother knew what Penumbral Dusk would be liable to do if he caught her trying to run away from him.” An audible crack rang out as the floor tile beneath Moonwhisper’s hoof shattered under the pressure he was putting on it.


            “Moonwhisper, I didn’t realize,” Twilight said as she racked her brains for something else to say. “If you need a minute, I’ll understand.”


            “Twilight, I’m…” Moonwhisper lifted his hoof and looked down at the cracked tile underneath before taking a deep breath. “Well, I will be fine once we get back to Ponyville,” Moonwhisper said. “For now, why don’t we head outside? We should be fairly close to what’s left of the conservatory, so we can make our way outside through there.”


            “What do you mean by ‘what’s left of the conservatory’?” Twilight asked hesitantly.


            “You’ll see.” Leaving the books where they lay, Moonwhisper led Twilight back into the hall. After a short walk later they turned a corner to find themselves in a hallway with a line of intact, albeit filthy, windows stretching down the length of one of its walls. A glance through the windows revealed the remains of a massive greenhouse. At one point in the past it might have been lovely, but now the glass panes had been shattered and the plots were filled with a mixture of dead plants and weeds. “A hailstorm smashed all of the windows when I was younger. Ever since then Penumbral Dusk just left it to rot, though he did at least have the broken glass cleaned up. The outer exit leads to a path that can take us directly to the family cemetery.”


            “Wait, the cemetery? Why would we…oh, right.” Midway through her question Twilight recalled the main reason Moonwhisper had returned to his foalhood home in the first place. “Are you sure you want to do this right now? We could always wait until you’ve had a chance to get some rest. Maybe after a good night’s rest -”


            “While I appreciate your concern, I seriously doubt I can expect a ‘good night’s rest’ in this…place. My plan is to take care of everything today and then leave tomorrow once we’ve made arrangements to ship the contents of Sombra’s vault back to Ponyville. As far as I’m concerned the sooner I get this over with the better.”


            Twilight didn’t say anything in response, but instead put a wing around Moonwhisper and held him lose for several seconds until she felt some of his tension ease. Once he had calmed, Moonwhisper quietly opened the door leading into the conservatory and held it open for Twilight. As she entered the remains of the conservatory, Twilight was struck by how oddly peaceful it was. Even in its state of utter ruin and neglect Twilight could tell the indoor garden had once been beautiful.


            “My mother used to love spending time in here,” Moonwhisper said as they made their way through the weed-choked paths. “Even after the hailstorm smashed it apart she would try and find time to tend to the plants whenever she could. After she passed…I never really had time to take care of it between my training and studies and nopony else cared.” The mood was somber as they exited the conservatory into the rear of the castle’s grounds. From here, Moonwhisper led Twilight up a path that meandered towards a hill crowned by a low wall, which Twilight presumed to be their destination.


            Twilight and Moonwhisper followed the pathway in silence until they reached about halfway up the hill, at which point Moonwhisper suddenly veered off the path in a burst of speed. “Where are you going?” Twilight called out as she struggled to keep up. “I thought we were going to your family’s cemetery.”


            “We will, it’s just…there’s something I need to see. I want to see if it’s still there.” Moonwhisper galloped across the hill as though he were being called by some voice only he could hear. Twilight, finding that keeping up with Moonwhisper on hoof wasn’t feasible, took to the air and followed Moonwhisper by wing until he came to an abrupt stop in front of a dead tree standing by a frighteningly steep precipice.


            “What in Equestria has gotten into you?” Twilight asked she landed next to Moonwhisper. Moonwhisper, however, didn’t respond to Twilight’s question. In fact, it didn’t even appear as though Moonwhisper had heard Twilight. “Are you even listening to me?” Twilight demanded with a mix of mounting confusion and irritation.


            “This is where I came the closest to ever actually taking my own life,” Moonwhisper said softly, still gazing at the sky. “It was the day of my mother’s funeral. She had been bedridden for weeks and then she was just…gone.”




*********




            It had been only a few days since Forlorn Melody had passed, but Penumbral Dusk hadn’t been interested in delaying the funeral any longer. “The sooner that weak, mewling invalid is put in the ground the sooner I can put all this stupidity behind me.” Thus Forlorn Melody’s funeral was held on a gray, dreary morning, her husband and son the only two ponies in attendance aside from the workers hired to bury her. Nopony spoke as Forlorn Melody’s coffin was lowered into the ground, but as it disappeared from view Moonwhisper suddenly turned and bolted out of cemetery.


            Tears streamed unbidden from the adolescent Moonwhisper’s eyes as he fled down the hill away from the funeral. Part of Moonwhisper wanted to just keep running until he had escaped all the misery of his life, but the knowledge that he had nowhere to run to quickly wore him down. Moonwhisper finally came to a stop in front of an old half-dead tree next to a cliff on the north side of the hill and broke down sobbing. Forlorn Melody, his mother, the only pony who actually cared about him was now gone forever and with her it seemed to Moonwhisper that he had lost any hope for the future. Minutes ticked by as Moonwhisper lay on the ground, quietly crying as he tried to put his thoughts in order. No matter what, however, Moonwhisper’s mind continually drifted back to his helplessness in the face of his apparently hopeless future.


            Eventually Moonwhisper’s sobs gave way to the occasional whimper and he pulled himself back to his hooves. As he stood, Moonwhisper glanced back at his flank with hate-filled eyes. His cutie mark was a disgusting lie, a symbol of how utterly miserable he was doomed to be. Supposedly it meant that his special talent was protecting others, but what good was a talent like that when he was too weak to protect the one pony he cared about more than anything else. Moreover, even if Moonwhisper did think he had the strength to fulfill the destiny his cutie mark laid out for him he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Being a shield meant forever being the one who would be hurt so others could remain safe, Moonwhisper had had enough of being hurt.


            Slowly, Moonwhisper trotted over to the nearly precipice and looked over the edge. The drop must have been nearly a hundred feet onto a field of jagged rock. There was no possibility that a fall like that would fail to be anything other than instantly fatal. The notion had an immediate appeal to Moonwhisper; a brief sensation of flying followed by a permanent end to the pain.


            Slowly, Moonwhisper backed up, readying himself to take a running leap over the edge. As Moonwhisper looked up at the sky for what he thought would be the last time, however, he beheld a sight that froze him in his tracks. A massive rainbow was slowly arcing its way across the sky, sweeping away the clouds and leaving a crystal blue sky in its wake. Moonwhisper was struck dumb by the sight, a single moment of incredible beauty that shone all the brighter amid the misery surrounding it. More importantly, for a brief moment Moonwhisper felt a tiny spark of joy deep inside of himself. Even as the initial shock faded and Moonwhisper recalled the state his life was in he found himself unable to go through with his plan to throw himself over the cliff’s edge. Instead, Moonwhisper simply plopped down on his hindquarters and stared at the sky in silence.




*********




            “And then what happened?” Twilight asked, her voice barely above a whisper.


            “Eventually Penumbral Dusk came and dragged me off for more training. Actual training, to be fair, not magical torture in the guise of training. I had already reached the point where I could actually use the augmentation spell by then, but only for a very short period.”


            It was painfully obvious that Moonwhisper was changing the subject deliberately, but Twilight didn’t particularly mind. “That rainbow he saw, could it have been…” Twilight thought to herself. The notion that Moonwhisper had come so close to taking his own life was upsetting, but not especially surprising, Twilight could still vividly recall listening to Moonwhisper beg Princess Luna to give him permission to end his own life when they had visited his dreams. The possibility that Moonwhisper might have been prevented from killing himself by the same sonic rainboom that helped Twilight and her friends discover their cutie marks, however, was something else entirely.


            “I’m sorry to spring all this on you without any warning,” Moonwhisper said, forcing Twilight to postpone her speculation for the time being. “Honestly I didn’t even remember that particular incident until we reached the hill and then the memories just came all at once.” Turning his back on the cliff, Moonwhisper let out a sigh which sounded somehow relieved before continuing. “For what little its worth, I think talking about it has helped a little. I’m…I think I’m ready to get this over with. Shall we?”


            “Let’s,” Twilight quickly replied with a nod, making a mental note to look into the timing of Moonwhisper’s mother’s death when she returned to Ponyville. It didn’t take Moonwhisper and Twilight long to reach the cemetery, which like everything else in the estate was clearly old and in a state of shocking neglect. Overgrown grass and weeds practically swallowed the crumbling tombstones that were scattered throughout. Twilight found she had to move carefully to avoid stepping on broken pieces of statuary and other bits of detritus hidden by the grass and more than once she found herself rapidly backpedaling when she realized she was standing on somepony’s grave. Moonwhisper, by contrast, stomped through in a nearly straight line without an apparent care for whose graves he might have been tromping over. Eventually Moonwhisper came to a stop at the base of a large maple tree whose branches shaded a small lonely plot tucked away from the rest of the graves.


            “Look at this mess, it’s disgraceful,” Moonwhisper snorted as he looked over the grave. “It figures Penumbral Dusk couldn’t even be bothered to keep her grave properly maintained.”


            “Not that I’m defending him or anything, but it doesn’t look like Penumbral Dusk has done anything to maintain any of these graves,” Twilight said as she weaved through he tall grass to Moonwhisper’s side.


            Moonwhisper grumbled a bit conceding Twilight’s points as he busied himself with tidying up the grave. Several minutes of leaf clearing, weed pulling and even grass trimming followed until the grave was completely cleared. Moonwhisper stood in front of the grave for some time once he was finished, awkwardly shifting his weight from hoof to hoof. “Um…hello, mother. I suppose it’s been quite some time since I visited, but I can’t imagine you’d be all that bothered by that. I’ve been doing well…I actually found a special somepony. I…I think you’d have…you would have liked her…” As Moonwhisper spoke, Twilight could see tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks. “I just…what I really wanted to say…” Moonwhisper screwed his eyes shut as his tears continued to flow, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry.”


            “Moonwhisper, you know what happened to her wasn’t your fault,” Twilight said gently.


            “Dammit I don’t care! I don’t care what anypony says, I should have protected her! I was there when Penumbral Dusk beat her senseless. I was the one whose special talent, whose destiny was to protect others and I didn’t do a damn thing to stop it! I…” Moonwhisper let out a choked sob. “I should have saved her…” Unable to bring himself to speak any further Moonwhisper collapsed next to the grave sobbing while Twilight stood next to him.