“You have to be joking, that can’t seriously be what they called the base you were in change of before Tirek attacked,” Twilight said in a bemused tone.
“Well, that wasn’t its official name of course. The official name on record was Secure Containment Facility Alpha, but anypony remotely familiar with it referred to it as the Toybox. And before you ask,” Moonwhisper added, “I’m not entirely sure how the nickname got started. It was already firmly established long before I was stationed there.”
Twilight chuckled to herself as she leaned back in her seat and looked out the train window. Leaving Trotsylvania had brought about a remarkable improvement in Moonwhisper’s demeanor. Just boarding the train back to Ponyville had caused Moonwhisper’s mood to brighten considerably and the further from Trotsylvania the got the better Moonwhisper seemed. Moreover, it appeared to Twilight that Moonwhisper’s newfound happiness was more than simply his being glad to have left dreary former home. It was as though Moonwhisper had left some of his emotional baggage behind and was now reveling in its disposal. One symptom of this, as it turned out, was that Moonwhisper seemed far more willing to talk about his prior career with the guard before coming to Ponyville. “I just think it’s a little silly to call a high-security guard base something like the Toybox,” Twilight said, still perplexed as to how this nickname came to be.
“I imagine it was originally meant to be a joke of some kind, most of the guards that I’ve known do tend to have a rather morbid sense of humor. And, I will admit that the nickname did fit, at least on a certain level, given the nature of the objects that were being stored there,” Moonwhisper said.
“What sort of things did you store there?” Twilight asked. There was something about the idea of a warehouse filled with mysterious artifacts that appealed to her inner Daring Do fan.
“Well, our mandate was to establish safe containment of cursed and/or otherwise potentially dangerous objects, which turned out to encompass a fairly wide variety of items. One of the facility’s first commanders, for example, had apparently gone through Dire Straits’ Guide to Cursed Artifacts and Items of Mystery as though it were a checklist. At the time I took command I’d estimate about three quarters of the objects in that book had been taken into custody,” Moonwhisper said.
“You’re kidding, right? Dire Straits was a complete fraud,” Twilight said incredulously. “Most of his so-called ‘guide’ consisted of repackaged old mare’s tales, for pony’s sake!”
“As I recall, until a few years ago Nightmare Moon was considered to be an ‘old mare’s tale’ as well,” Moonwhisper noted wryly. “But, the majority of the items listed in that guide did turn out to be turn out to be either actually harmless or outright non-anomalous, so your point is a valid one. Getting back to your original question, most of the objects we held were either likely the result of somepony playing with chaos magic or so old that there weren’t any reliable records as to how the worked. Take the alicorn amulet, for example. We have a fairly solid idea as to what it does, but very little information as to how it works.”
“You had the alicorn amulet?” Twilight gasped in alarm. “I thought Zecora was going to keep that thing hidden away someplace safe.”
Moonwhisper nodded. “I can’t say I really had anything directly to do with the acquisition process, but somepony must have paid Zecora a visit after the incident with Starlight’s friend. Now that I think about it, that must have been sometime between that and your coronation because I distinctly remember having to update the amulet’s security protocols for to account for their being a fourth alicorn,” Moonwhisper added. “Nothing against you personally, but our research was inconclusive at best as to whether the amulet’s effects were additive or multiplicative. If we assume the latter and consider the magnitude of the effect observed when Trixie wore the amulet, then the possibilities of what would happen if an alicorn were to put the amulet on…well, to quote one report it would ‘make Nightmare Moon look like a foal’s temper tantrum’.”
Twilight shuddered as she imagined what Cadence or herself could do with that kind of power. “I guess I can understand why you’d want to keep alicorns away from the amulet,” Twilight admitted as she turned back to the train compartment window where she could see the spires of Canterlot coming into view. “One thing I don’t get, though, why would you choose to be stationed at someplace like that anyway? From what Silver Streak had told me after you were promoted to captain you could have picked do be put in charge of anywhere in Equestria. It just doesn’t seem like you to choose to be put in charge of a…of a glorified warehouse.”
“I suppose it did end up being something of a glorified warehouse by the time I was finished there,” Moonwhisper mused almost wistfully. “There are aspects of the facility that I can’t really talk about, but I can assure you that there were…things contained there that were unimaginably dangerous. That’s what drew me to the posing in the first place, I wanted to put myself in the most danger possible. Of course, once I arrived there I learned that a fair bit of the danger was actually the result of incredibly poorly thought out or implemented security measures. After I revised most of the protocols and instituted some basic discipline the incident rate dropped precipitously. It was still fairly hazardous, admittedly, but nowhere near what it was like at first.” Moonwhisper let out a snort before continuing. “And then Tirek came and ripped the magic out of the worst of what we were guarding and after that there was no real need to keep a full garrison there so I was moved back to Canterlot on a temporary basis, and I suppose you know the rest.”
Twilight nodded as she leaned against Moonwhisper. “You know, I think this is the most you’ve actually talked about yourself since I’ve known you,” Twilight said as their train pulled into the Canterlot Station. “Usually it’s like pulling teeth trying to get you to open up about your past.”
“In my defense, most stories about my past tend to either comprise horrifically traumatic experiences or heavily involve the phrase ‘and then I kicked it in the head’,” Moonwhisper said wryly.
“Fair enough, but it’s still nice to see you finally come out of your shell. You know what I think we should do once we get settled in back at the castle?” Twilight asked, dropping her voice into a low, sultry purr. “We should find some excuse to get Spike and Starlight out of the castle, lock ourselves in the library and sort through the shelves to clear some space for the books we’re bringing back.”
Moonwhisper was about to respond when somepony began knocking insistently on their compartment door. “Oh for the love of Celestia,” Moonwhisper grumbled as he regretfully pulled away from Twilight to answer the door. “I could have sworn I asked the conductor that we not be disturbed until we reached Ponyville. Is there something I can help you with?” Moonwhisper asked testily as he opened the door.
“Well, it’s a little too early for me to start badgering you about great-grandfoals, so I suppose I’ll settle for asking you to step aside so I can come in,” the elderly unicorn mare on the other side of the door answered.
“Grandma Starry!” Twilight exclaimed happily as she hopped out of her seat. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d still be at your council meeting.”
“Feh, this year’s meeting was even more of a waste of time than usual,” Starry Night said as she pushed her way past Moonwhisper and embraced her granddaughter. “I can’t even remember the last time we has so many absentees, in fact I think Penumbral Dusk and I were the only ponies to show up who didn’t already live in Canterlot. Even the von Sol brat barely paid any attention to what we were talking about and typically he takes the council meetings almost as seriously as Penumbral Dusk.”
“I take it by ‘von Sol brat’ you’re referring to Prince Blueblood?” Moonwhisper asked as he recovered from the surprise of Starry Night’s arrival.
“That’s the one. I swear I’ll never understand why Princess Celestia tolerates his behavior. And speaking of poorly behaved colts,” Starry Night said, turning to Moonwhisper, “you’re father seems to be up to something.”
Moonwhisper let out an exasperated sigh at this bit of news. “For the love of Celestia, what stupidity is he involved with this time?”
“Well, first of all he managed to have Shining Armor knocked off the list of potential candidates for our family’s seat on the council,” Starry Night said, much to Twilight’s shock. Moonwhisper, on the other hoof, seemed rather unsurprised by this bit of information.
“So, the foreign royalty clause was finally brought up then,” Moonwhisper said with a sigh. “Well, it was bound to happen sometime and I doubt Shining Armor will be all that upset about it.”
“Wait, so you knew about this?” Twilight demanded. “And what the hay is the ‘foreign royalty clause’?”
“The foreign royalty clause is an obscure rule involving a pony’s eligibility to sit on the Council of Stars. Essentially it states that if a pony is an actively sitting rule of an outside kingdom than they are considered disqualified to be part of the council. The only reason I’m familiar with it because Shining Armor asked me to look into the rules around the time he married Princess Celestia. For what it’s worth, when I first informed Shining Armor about the issue he seemed less upset than the time he learned that his preferred potato chip flavor was being discontinued,” Moonwhisper added.
“But Shining Armor isn’t the ruler of anyplace!” Twilight half-heartedly protested. Twilight didn’t doubt that Shining Armor would be completely uninterested in sitting on the Council of Stars, but it was the principle of the issue she found galling.
“In case you’ve forgotten, liebchen, your brother is the prince of the Crystal Empire,” Starry Night pointed out.
“Prince consort, technically,” Moonwhisper said reflexively. “The point is, the Crystal Empire is considered to be an autonomous city state, which means that Shining Armor’s royal title there technically triggers the royalty clause, barring Princess Cadance’s rewriting the empire’s constitution.” Moonwhisper let out a snort before continuing. “Personally I think the entire situation is patently ridiculous, especially since the Crystal Empire’s autonomy is really in name only at this point, but that’s neither here nor there.”
“To be honest, liebchen, this royalty clause business wasn’t even much of a surprise. It had been talked about in meetings prior, but nopony cared enough for anything to come of it since your father is the next in line for the family seat. For some reason, however, this year Penumbral Dusk was insistent that we settle the matter. Normally I’d just assume the wretch was being his usual disagreeable self, but something about the way was acting seemed odd. The whole time he had this disgustingly smug look on his face as though he were getting away with something.”
Upon hearing this Moonwhisper sat in silence for several moments before suddenly shaking his head. “You know what? I don’t even care what Penumbral Dusk is up to this time. If he wants to indulge in one of his spiteful ‘plans’ than that’s his business, and as long as he doesn’t actually manage to hurt anypony then I’m not going to let myself be bothered by it. I’ve spent too many years blaming myself for his behavior as it is,” Moonwhisper added. “Now, why don’t we change the subject to something a bit more pleasant, such as how in Equestria did you know which train Twilight and I would be on?”
*********
“It sounds as though your trip to Trotsylvania accomplished a world of good,” Starry Night said as Twilight finished relating what had happened while they were there. Moonwhisper, meanwhile, was currently engaged in a chess match with Hans.
“I think you’re right,” Twilight replied as she glanced over towards Moonwhisper. “It’s hard to really put into words, but Moonwhisper seems much more…I guess I’d call it relaxed. Moonwhisper’s finally started to let go of all the negative emotions that he’s been holding onto for all these years.” Before Starry Night could respond a voice called out from the aisle outside the compartment door.
“Ponyville station next stop!” The train conductor called out as he trotted down the length of the train car.
“I have to say, it’s going to be nice to be back in Ponyville,” Moonwhisper said as he levitated a chess piece into position. “Checkmate, by the way.”
“From what Twilight has told me about your trip that doesn’t really surprise me. Although, perhaps next time should consider taking my granddaughter someplace a bit more romantic. I hear Puerto Cabello is lovely this time of year.” Starry Night added.
“I’ll take that under advisement,” Moonwhisper replied while glancing over towards Twilight with a slight blush. Much to Twilight’s relief, however, any further conversation was cut short as the squeals of the train’s breaks announced their arrival in Ponyville. Wordlessly, Moonwhisper and Hans began gathering up the group’s luggage as Twilight and Starry Night exited the compartment.
“Try not to tease Moonwhisper too much,” Twilight entreated Starry Night as the pair made their way to exit the train. “I know he seems alright now, but going back to Trotsylvania was really hard on him.”
“You truly do care for him, don’t you? Well, I supposed I can take it easy on him for your sake, but a stallion like that does need a bit of a nudge from time to time, if you know what I mean,” Starry Night replied.
“Oh believe me, when I need Moonwhisper to be nudged I can definitely give him a nudge,” Twilight replied with a grin.
“Ha, that’s my granddaughter! Now, why don’t we head over to your castle and settle in? Hans, schnell!” Starry Night called back to her valet. Moments later Moonwhisper and a grumbling Hans emerged from the train onto the station platform. “Good boy, Hans. Once we get settled at the castle I’ll get you a treat, what do you say to that?” Hans for his part said nothing, but obediently trundled forward and took his place behind Starry Night. The group quickly made their way into the town itself, forming a rather odd procession as they went. “You know, liebchen, the ponies in this town must be either the politest or the most jaded in Equestria.”
“What makes you say that?” Twilight asked somewhat puzzled.
“Well, here you are, an alicorn princess walking down the street with a guard captain carrying your luggage, not to mention Hans carrying mine, and nopony even seems to bat an eye! I’d just thing that somepony would at least be a little curious about us.”
“Good afternoon, princess. These friends of yours?” Granny Smith asked as she passed by, as if on cue.
“Oh, hello Granny Smith. This is my grandmother Starry Night, and over there is her valet Hans,” Twilight cheerfully answered back.
“Guten Tag,” Hans added in his low rumbling voice.
“Grandma,” Twilight continued, “this is Granny Smith, my friend Applejack’s grandmother.”
“Granny Smith, eh? You wouldn’t happen to be Apple Strudel’s sister by any chance, would you?” Starry Night asked as she leaned closer to Granny Smith.
“Yeah, that’s me alright, but how d’ya know mah little brother,” Granny Smith replied before a look of realization crossed her face. “Hold on a second, y’all aren’t the same Starry Night from Apple Strudel’s yodelin’ group, are y’?”
“So I take it my reputation has preceded me, then?” Starry Night asked with a grin, eliciting a bout of cackling laughter from Granny Smith.
“Y’all could say that. ‘Course I had y’all figured fer a mare half mah age based on the stories Ah’ve heard. Did y’all really do that thing with the potato salad?”
This time it was Starry Night’s turn to break into a fit of snickering. “To be fair, that tuba player had it coming. Anyway, it was pleasure meeting you, Frau Smith, but we should…” Starry Night paused mid-sentence as an idea seemed to suddenly strike her. “…get some lunch. Yes, I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast and I’m positively famished. Twilight, why don’t you and Moonwhisper go ahead to the castle, I’ll meet up with you later.”
Before Twilight had a chance to raise any objections Starry Night and Granny Smith were already walking away together, Hans faithfully following behind. “Givin’ yer granddaughter a chance t’ spend some alone time with her stallion Ah take it?” Granny Smith asked with a knowing grin once they were out of earshot.
“I thought they could use some time to settle in together after their trip without my getting underhoof,” Starry Night replied.
“Ah gotcha. Mah grandson’s finally found himself a mare, real sweet thing too, so whenever she’s in town Ah try an’ give him a break from his usual chores. With a little bit of luck Ah might get to meet mah great grandfoals,” Granny Smith added with a chuckle.
“I don’t think my liebchen is quite there yet, but I think a little rest will be good for both of them.”
*********
“I think the first we should do is go through the books in the library to see if we have any that we can move into storage,” Twilight said as she and Moonwhisper finally reached the castle. “I’m probably going to need to cycle out most of my history books dealing with the pre-classical era anyway so that should be a good place to start. After that I’m going to find someplace safe to store, well, ‘the folio’, while I brush up on my ancient Sumareian.”
“To be honest, I’m a little surprised that would be an issue for you,” Moonwhisper remarked as he followed Twilight inside. “After all, you’re practically fluent in Old Ponish, and – do you hear that?”
Twilight quietly nodded her head as she allowed Moonwhisper to move ahead of her. Muffled sounds of ponies arguing could be heard coming from deeper in the castle, though Twilight couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. “I think it’s coming from the map room,” Twilight said after listening for a moment. “We should probably go check to see what’s going on.”
As Moonwhisper nodded in agreement the pair quickly made their way to castle map room, Twilight following as Moonwhisper took the lead. The closer they came to the room the clearer the voices became and by the time they reached the doors of the room they could clearly make out what was being said.
“Look, for the last time you need to leave, now! Princess Twilight isn’t here, in fact she isn’t even in Ponyville and we don’t have any idea when she’ll be back. And to be honest, even if Princess Twilight were here I’m pretty sure you’re not somepony she’d even want to talk to anyway,” Starlight Glimmer could be heard saying from behind the door, clearly irritated.
“I’d say the decision as to whom Princess Twilight would be willing to see would be up to the princess herself and not some jumped-up charity case of a student,” a rough-voiced stallion growled back. Something about the stallion’s voice seemed uncomfortably familiar to Twilight, but before she could recall where she had heard it before Moonwhisper backed straight into her.
“Moonwhisper!” Twilight hissed, trying to keep her voice low to avoid being overheard by the ponies in the other room. “Watch where you’re –“ Twilight stopped mid-sentence as she looked at Moonwhisper’s face. Fear, rage and confusion seemed to be warring across Moonwhisper’s features as he fixed his gaze on the doors.
“It can’t be…he can’t be here…what in Equestria would he even be doing here?” Moonwhisper muttered out loud. Watching Moonwhisper’s reaction, Twilight felt a cold lump form in the pit of her stomach as she realized where she had heard the voice behind the door before.
Steeling herself, Twilight marched up to the doors of the castle’s map room and threw them open, revealing Starlight Glimmer and Silver Streak arguing with an ash-grey, white-maned unicorn stallion. The stallion in question had visibly aged since Twilight had seen him in a vision of Moonwhisper’s past, but she could still recognize him as Moonwhisper’s father, Penumbral Dusk. “Princess Twilight!” Penumbral Dusk said with a smile that made Twilight’s skin crawl as he turned to see who had entered. “You can’t imagine how happy I am to see you here. In Ponyville,” Penumbral Dusk with a smirk as he glanced back towards Starlight. “I had been told you had left Ponyville on royal business, but clearly –“
“What are you doing here?” Twilight demanded, cutting Penumbral Dusk off mid-sentence.
“Ah, yes, of course. Forgive me, your highness,” Penumbral Dusk said, his voice dripping with insincere deference. “Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Count Penumbral Dusk von Umbra, and I –“
“I know exactly who you are,” Twilight snapped, the rage that had been steadily building up inside her ever since she had arrived in Trotsylvania clearly audible in her voice. “What I want to know is what you’re doing. In. My. Castle?”
“Why, I’m merely here to visit my son, along with the lovely princess who’s rumored to have captured his heart. You see, your highness, when I was in Canterlot during the recent meeting of the Council of the Stars I heard all sorts of gossip about how my beloved son and the Princess of Friendship had begun a romance. After hearing something like that I just had to learn if such a wondrous development was true. Now the, where is my darling Moonwhisper?” As Penumbral Dusk paced about the room Twilight found herself continually repositioning herself so that she stood in between Penumbral Dusk and the doors leading out into the hall. Before Twilight could demand that Penumbral Dusk leave, however, Moonwhisper entered the room.
“You’ll forgive us if we find your motives somewhat suspect, Count von Umbra,” Moonwhisper said in the same icily polite tone that he had often used when he had first come to Ponyville. “For one thing, I can’t actually recall you ever showing any particular interest in watching me before.”
For a brief moment as Moonwhisper started to talk Twilight saw a look of complete anger cross Penumbral Dusk’s features. Penumbral Dusk regained his composure almost immediately, however, and in the blink of an eye he returned to his cloyingly friendly demeanor. “Oh come now, you’re a grown stallion and I wanted to give you your space. After all, you wouldn’t want me continually hovering around, would you?” As Penumbral Dusk spoke he couldn’t seem to help letting a menacing edge creep into a voice.
“No, no I suppose I wouldn’t,” Moonwhisper replied coldly. Twilight, meanwhile, had slowly withdrawn so she was no longer standing between the two and was cautiously watching the confrontation play out. It took every ounce of restraint Twilight had to keep from ordering Penumbral Dusk to leave her castle and never return. What was stopping her, at least for the moment, was the possibility that this encounter could actually be helpful for Moonwhisper. After all, if returning to his foalhood home had been as beneficial to Moonwhisper as it appeared to have been than Celestia only knew how much Moonwhisper could benefit from finally facing his father.
For his part, Penumbral Dusk seemed to have completely regained his composure and in fact had added a layer of smugness. “Really, though, you can’t possibly imagine how delighted I was to hear about your new relationship. To be honest, I’d always worried that you’d wind up marrying far below your station, what with all the commoners your position necessitates you interact with and all.” Twilight could feel her eye start to twitch as she heard the disgust in Penumbral Dusk’s voice as he spoke the word ‘commoner’. “In fact, I had even considered looking into hiring a matchmaker to find some social climbing, noveau riche tramp for you so wouldn’t do something to embarrass the family.”
“And by family you mean ‘yourself’, don’t you?” Twilight snapped accusingly.
“Well of course I’d have been the primary one to one to suffer if Moonwhisper had disgraced himself like that,” Penumbral Dusk retorted. “I am the only other living member of the family after all. But, more than that, Moonwhisper would also be disgracing the von Umbras of the past. Why, just imagine what Moonwhisper’s poor departed mother would say –“
“Don’t you dare try and drag her into this!” Moonwhisper snarled.
Twilight quickly moved to Moonwhisper’s side before things could go any further. “Penumbral Dusk,” Twilight said authoritatively, “I’m going to have to ask you to leave. You’re not welcome in my castle and quite frankly after everything you did to Moonwhisper and his mother you were never really welcome here to begin with.”
“I beg your pardon,” Penumbral Dusk objected. “What exactly are you accusing me of having done?” The veneer of painfully artificial friendliness Penumbral Dusk had put up earlier had now been cast aside leaving a menacing look on his features.
“You want me to spell it out for you? Fine!” Twilight yelled, her own anger overriding any concerns she may have held about interfering with the confrontation. “Why don’t we start with how you tortured Moonwhisper when he was little? Or how about the fact that you repeatedly beat and terrorized his mother?”
“I’d be careful about spouting slanderous nonsense like that if I were you,” Penumbral Dusk growled. For a brief moment it looked like he was going to follow up his statement with a threat of some kind, but after a glance towards Moonwhisper Penumbral Dusk seemed to hastily decide on a different approach. “Setting aside your baseless accusations regarding my treatment of my late wife, you clearly have some misconceptions about my son’s upbringing. As you no doubt are aware my son possess a singular set of magical abilities, which he has used in order to save countless ponies. However, in order for Moonwhisper to attain those abilities I had to be rather rough with him. It broke my heart to be forced to do such things to my dear son, of course, but it was for the greater good. In fact,” Penumbral Dusk said, his smug grin returning, “you of all ponies should really be thanking me for my actions.”
“What did you just say?” Twilight demanded through tightly clenched teeth.
“Your older brother is Prince Shining Armor, if I’m not mistaken.” As Twilight nodded in affirmation Penumbral Dusk’s grin widened. “Well, you’ve undoubtedly heard how Moonwhisper once saved your brother’s life. But, do you honestly believe that Moonwhisper would have been able to save your brother and all those other ponies if I hadn’t put him through all that training when he was younger? Frankly, under the circumstances I think you owe me an apology.”
“An apology?” Twilight practically shrieked. “You actually want me to apologize to you after everything you’ve done? And to try and excuse everything by saying that it was for the greater good, that ponies actually benefited from what you did…Do you honestly expect anypony to believe that?’
“Twilight…” Moonwhisper said ruefully. “Twilight…what he’s saying…the thing is, he’s right.”
“’He’s right’? Moonwhisper, what in Equestria are you saying?” Twilight asked, not quite sure she could believe what she was hearing.
“Regardless of whatever effects it had on me, I can’t deny the fact that enduring what Penumbral Dusk put me through gave me the power to save countless ponies, including Shining Armor. If Penumbral Dusk hadn’t inflicted that on me than in all likelihood most of those ponies would now be dead.” There was a horrible note of resignation in Moonwhisper’s voice as he spoke, which was only made worse by the smug expression spread across Penumbral Dusk’s face.
“You see, your highness, even my son understands how important his training was. Surely you can appreciate what I was trying to accomplish, given the results it produced.”
Twilight looked back towards Moonwhisper, whose face had become a mask of shame and regret. Turning back to Penumbral Dusk, Twilight could see that he had a stomach-churning look of triumph on his face as though all his monstrous actions had been validated. As she looked back and forth between the two stallions Twilight recalled everything that she had heard about Penumbral Dusk’s past actions and the effects of his cruelty that she had witnessed first hoof. With every second that passed the frustration and rage Twilight had felt over what Penumbral Dusk and had done and how she had been unable to do anything about it boiled inside of her until she couldn’t take it anyone.
When her friends would later ask about what happened next, Twilight would say that it had felt as though something inside her had snapped, after which all she could see was red. Blinded with anger, Twilight enveloped Penumbral Dusk in her magic and tossed him out of the map room as though he were nothing more than a rag doll. “GET OUT!” Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs as Penumbral Dusk sailed through the air past her. As Penumbral Dusk skidded to a stop on the castle floor Twilight charged out after him, her eyes and horn glowing with magical power. “I said. Get. OUT!” A second burst of magical energy followed, hurtling Penumbral Dusk into the castle foyer. Twilight took to the air as she followed him, hovering a few feet off the ground as she descended the stairway into the foyer herself. Glaring angrily down at Penumbral Dusk, Twilight magically ripped her castle doors wide open with such force that they were nearly torn completely off their hinges.
Whether out of bravery or stupidity, however, Penumbral Dusk refused to allow himself to be cowed by Twilight’s display of power. Pulling himself to his hooves, Penumbral Dusk met her gaze with a look of pure indignation. “You can’t –“
“OUT!” Twilight cut off Penumbral Dusk’s protest with a single word as she violently tossed him straight out the castle doors with a final burst of magical force, sending him to land in an undignified heap outside. “And don’t ever even think of trying to set hoof in her again!” Twilight yelled after him before slamming the castle doors shut.
Penumbral Dusk lay in the dirt for the next minute or so stewing in his own indignation. “Miserable little jumped-up…I should have expected as much from some von Nocturne savage. She’s no different from her great-uncle, the whole family is no better than a flock of cloud eaters. I’ll have the last laugh, though,” Penumbral Dusk said to himself as he unsteadily rose to his hooves. “I don’t care if she a princess, there are consequences for assaulting a noble and I’m going to enjoy teaching the rotten little bitch what they are.”
“I wouldn’t be so hasty if I were you,” a familiar voice came from behind. Spinning around, Penumbral Dusk found himself face to face with Starry Night. Glancing past her, Penumbral Dusk could see her diamond dog valet restraining an enraged Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
“If you’re planning on sweet-talking me into letting your granddaughter off the hook for her actions then you’re wasting your breath,” Penumbral Dusk snarled. “She assaulted me, literally threw me out her castle doors –“
“After you were no doubt asked to leave by the acting commander of the Ponyville Guard and my granddaughter’s student,” Starry Night interjected. “Which would mean that you were trespassing on royal property, and if I’m not mistaken that’s an arrestable offense, isn’t it?”
For a brief moment Penumbral Dusk looked like he had just been slapped in the face. “Don’t try to muddy the issue, I was still attacked by the princess. Besides, the penalty for trespass is just a slap on the hoof at most, so if you think you can threaten me with that then think again.” Despite his best efforts to maintain his bravado, however, the tone of Penumbral Dusk’s voice betrayed that his confidence was failing.
“True, trespassing on royal property isn’t a particularly serious crime,” Starry Night calmly admitted. “In all likelihood you’d only be looking at a modest fine, maybe a few days of incarceration at most…of course you’d also lose your seat on the Council of Stars and might even end up stripped of your family name, but those are just silly little formalities, aren’t they?” A look of dawning horror slowly spread across Penumbral Dusk’s face as Starry note spoke. “Ah, I see you remember what the consequences can be for a council member who commits a crime against an alicorn princess. I know you’re familiar with the rules since they’re the same ones you threatened to invoke against my older brother when those rumors about him and Princess Celestia started surfacing. Only, in this case there was an actual crime and not just some ill-defined scandal.” Starry Night leaned in closer to Penumbral Dusk, who flinched away as she continued her tirade in a low hiss. “Now, you’re going to scurry back to the rock you crawled out from under like the spiteful little bug you are, and you’re going to forget any plans you might have about taking revenge on my granddaughter or the ponies around her. Because, if I even suspect that you’re engaging in some half-baked scheme against them I’ll make certain my granddaughter knows how to strip you of the only thing your black hear cares about.”
By the time Starry Night was finished Penumbral Dusk was left literally shaking in terror. When Starry Night remained silent Penumbral Dusk took it as his cue to leave, galloping away without another word. Once he was completely out of sight Starry Night burst into peals of laughter. “Oh dear Celestia I enjoyed that! Did you see the look on his face when I pointed out he could lose his seat on the Council over this stupidity?” Starry Night continued to chuckle as she wiped a tear away from her eye.
“Not that Ah minded seein’ that sick jerk get put in his place like that but Ah just can’t feelin’ he’s gettin’ off a bit too easy,” Applejack said as Hans finally let her go.
“It helps if you understand just what a pompous idiot Penumbral Dusk really is,” Starry Night replied. “Whatever Penumbral Dusk thought he was going to accomplish by coming here has blown up in face rather spectacularly and that blow to his ego probably hurts more than anything liebchen might have done to him. Add to that the fact that he knows he can’t risk trying any sort of retaliation and today is a day he’s going to be stewing over for years.”
Apparently satisfied with Starry Night’s assessment Applejack looked over to the doors of Twilight’s castle. “Y’all reckon we should go in and check on her?” Applejack asked.
“Maybe not quite yet, let’s give liebchen a chance to calm down before bothering her.”
*********
By the time Twilight made her way back to the castle map room the adrenal rush brought on by her anger had worn off, leaving her somewhat apprehensive. “I can’t believe I just did that,” Twilight thought to herself. “I literally just threw Moonwhisper’s dad out of the castle right in front of him. What in Equestria was I thinking?”
Upon reentering the map room, however, it quickly became apparent that any concerns Twilight might have had about Moonwhisper being upset were wholly unfounded. “Twilight, are you alright?” Moonwhisper asked as soon as she trotted into the room. “That was…well, from my perspective I’d have to say that was extremely cathartic, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that upset before.”
“I kinda have,” Starlight Glimmer interjected. “Admittedly at the time Twilight was trying to stop me from accidently destroying Equestria, but…you know what, I think I’m just going to stop talking now,” Starlight said upon realizing that everything was staring at her.
“When I saw what the things he was saying were doing to you…I don’t know, everything just went red. I’m the Princess of Friendship for pony’s sake, I’m not supposed to lose control like that!” Twilight exclaimed, tears starting to form in her eyes.
Wordlessly, Moonwhisper pulled Twilight into a tight embrace before she could work herself up any further, holding her tight until she started to calm down. “Twilight, you lost control because you care about me and I can’t even begin to express how much that fact means to me. You have nothing to be ashamed of, and I’ll have words with anypony who says otherwise,” Moonwhisper added firmly.
As a grateful Twilight returned Moonwhisper’s embrace, Silver Streak and Starlight Glimmer quietly excused themselves. “I get the distinct impression we should give the Captain and her highness some alone time,” Silver Streak said, to which Starlight nodded in agreement as the pair exited the room.