//------------------------------// // Chapter LXXVIII – Flight and Fall // Story: Journey with a Batpony // by Gulheru //------------------------------// Twilight hadn’t found any rest that day. And now she doubted that she would find it in the coming days as well. It would surely put her whole further quest into jeopardy, of that she was certain, but… she wondered if her lack of respite would be the greatest of threats to her mission that she would have to face after the recent revelations. She had been left with too many worries, too many question. A few, possible answers had been knocking about her head, and had been enough to turn her day into a nightmarish time of tossing and turning. Now, she felt just... terrible. Her bed was a mess and she surely looked even worse than that. The most she could do was to try and hide that with a quick bath to refresh herself, but the time spent in it only caused more and more thoughts to manifest in her, already overburdened, mind. Dusk Tarn’s hatred of Midnight. Her beloved’s foal that perished alongside his wife. And finally, Rowan Berry’s sudden... familiarity with Midnight? Because what else could that have been? Her stance, her gaze, that part about ‘never’ telling him, it all pointed towards something that was hard for Twilight to fathom and name... And she couldn’t even decide which part of the last morning had been more traumatizing for her poor brain. Of course, she had been granted no response from Rowan Berry on the way back to the palace. There had been just a lot of silence and shame, and Twilight hadn’t felt the urge to repeat her question, to be honest. The lack of a clear answer had already been a strong reply, strong enough to chill the blood in one’s veins. Even the hot bath couldn’t help with that one. Twilight no sooner dried herself properly than the local courtiers brought her the first meal, alongside a message from Lord Dusk Harvest. As per the agreement which had been made in the Sanctuary and to satisfy Count Ebony Crescent’s request, Twilight would be travelling to the Mountain of Crescent. The departure would happen later in the night, as the clouds had to clear first for a safe flight. Twilight expressed her readiness, even while wondering whether the haspadr would see her off from his Iug, or had she managed to effectively make him her enemy from that fateful night onward? To think that she simply wanted to help in his and his wife’s tense situation, nothing more. It looked like helping out ponies carried with itself the threat of being burned in the process. Twilight chuckled to herself as she munched on the fruit, not really appreciating their freshness that time around. Her whole being felt scalded, and what fire could be worse than the one lit by those closest… Before she could ponder on that even more, or even properly finish her meal, a knock on the door resounded once more. She got up and opened them without hesitation, finding none other than Midnight standing outside. “I… I am back, as I promised,” he uttered, with a tired voice, but Twilight didn’t care. She pretty much yanked him inside, though it would have been much harder to do so without him allowing it, then locked the door firmly. Without more words, she embraced him tightly and held onto him. Despite everything, despite the concerns mounting inside of her, she felt a rush of relief that he kept his word, and that he was safely back. It couldn’t have been an easy thing to do, especially considering his state. “I’m so glad you’re here, Midnight…” she whispered into his neck, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. “Where... did you stay for the day?” It was the right question to ask, as the batpony’s condition was close to lamentable. His eyes were reddened from the exposure to scorching daylight and most likely a sleepless day he had suffered as well. His bandages were darkened by sweat and soil, in dire need of a change. And his mane, having been already treated with the waterfall’s vapor, was glued together into messy, tangled strands. But he was back, and that was all that mattered for Twilight. Still she welcomed his explanation. “I stumbled about most of the time, trying to... you know, just understand it all. Took a short nap in some Bogine-forsaken passageway,” he revealed, nuzzling her just a little. “I was being most cautious. The last thing anypony wants to see is a Nocferratan looking like a vagrant. I have some shards of dignity to uphold...” “I’m certain you were careful enough…” Twilight whispered back, breathing heavily into his coat, letting out the surplus of emotions and nerves. “I’m… I’m glad you’ve returned,” she repeated herself, trying to work through this fleeing anxiety. “I promised, iau lumn…” he replied, his voice shaking just a little, both from tiredness and the gravity of his words. “I promised and I wanted to keep that promise. I don’t think I have been nearly as faithful when it comes to that in the past… And I need to be a better pony, so that one night I might actually be worthy of you.” Twilight wanted to respond to that, but he didn’t let her, hugging her a bit stronger. “Thank you that you came for me. Neskaza Lunee… be praised as well, Her hoof was in it as well, I believe… but to you I can express my thanks more directly. If you hadn’t been present, I don’t know how my confrontation with Dusk Tarn would have gone.” Something about Midnight’s tone was deathly serious, causing Twilight to shiver. “You… think he would have done something unreasonable without me about?” “I think I would have,” Midnight admitted, shaking his head and sighing. “It was your presence that granted me the impulse to… to apologize to him. I should have done that ages ago, but those were your goodness and heart that helped me, my light. It was all you.” He paused, sighing again, which expression turned into a little hiss. “It is you who gives me the strength to do things that I have no drive to do. I hope I can continue that. You deserve my best, and I am not giving it yet, out of… out of…” “Stop,” Twilight told him, cuddling into the crook of his neck. “There will be time for that, and soon,” she declared, having in mind all of the worries still writhing inside her. “For now, let me just be happy that you are back. What you have heard it… it must have been a terrible blow. Leaving you to fend on your own, that felt like such a wrong choice, Midnight…” “You were afraid I wouldn’t manage to… to accept it all.” It wasn’t a question, for Midnight knew that to be the case. So Twilight just stayed near him, giving him the answer he already was aware of by her sheer presence. He hissed again, emotions escaping right through his teeth. “There were nights when I was praying for the Bogine to give me a reason not to seek solace in Her sacred realm. It is a false calling, against Her designs, but one sometimes finds themselves in the dark, seemingly without Her blessed light. When that comes, one’s heart wails and withers, trying to find any solution to feel again, to see again, to believe that this life is not only darkness…” he explained, in sentences that were engraving themselves into Twilight’s mind. “I don’t want such a darkness in my life again, and now, I do have a light. My light, one I am holding it in my very embrace.” Twilight was holding back tears. “I… I love you too, Midnight,” she told him, as that had been a most beautiful way of expressing it. “I still think you could find more important reasons and yet greater lights than me, to live your life fully.” “Right now, I have you. That’s already too good for my terrible self,” he claimed, kissing the top of her head. He actually chuckled under his breath, however sad it sounded. “I can tell you’ve bathed, and here I am, ruining all of your hard work.” “You think I care?” she told him with a small laugh of her own. “I think you do. And I think I do, too.” He stepped back from her, but gently enough not to abruptly break their tender connection. “I will get myself presentable, and will change my bandages.” “You could have—” Twilight wanted to suggest what seemed so very obvious with a healer nearby, but then remembered that last morning had happened after all and hadn’t been just a terrible, nightmarish vision. Midnight could recall that without a fault, himself. “No, I won’t,” he declared, in a dark tone which he had dispelled only for Twilight’s sake. “I saw courtiers leaving your quarters, are we forced to travel?” “Not forced, no, but we are flying out after midnight,” she explained. Midnight expressed his readiness and then left Twilight’s room. And left her to ponder for a while on her own. She knew that their travel to the Mountain of Crescent was a chance to share a conversation in relative privacy. She just had no idea how it would look, how to conduct it in the right way. A shudder passed through her a moment later. It was as if she could feel a tremor in the world around her. As if by instinct she realized that it must have been Midnight entering the chamber next to hers and meeting Rowan Berry again. It was a situation as grim as it had been last night, without a doubt. Twilight was tempted to actually peer through the stone wall with a spell, to witness what was happening, but that felt like an unthinkable breach of privacy there and then. Midnight… Midnight had already faced enough lately. Besides, Twilight doubted that she wouldn’t be able to spot the result of what was occurring right nearby, whether a tense, uncomfortable and poignant silence, or a volatile argument. The fact that said argument would come to pass, and likely have many layers, was another one of her worries, actually. Ponies that had met only when they both, consequently, became a part of the retinue wouldn’t have so much to argue about, no? Wouldn’t have used the word ‘never’. Twilight felt that she was gritting her teeth at the very though, but held it together. She would have her explanations from both of them soon enough. Regardless of her plan and conviction in it, she was still going to have to travel that night, so packing seemed like the right thing to do. Not that she emptied the contents of her luggage to that extent, so there was only so much time she could occupy herself with her belongings, finding herself right back among her worries when she secured everything, leaving outside only the dress she wanted to use. Truth be told, even the thought of dressing the part felt somewhat overbearing to her with everything going on, but her arrival at the Mountain of Crescent was going to happen regardless of her feelings on the matter. Unless something terrible happened on the way, but one tragedy to occupy oneself with was already enough. Especially after the discovery of an additional casualty of that fateful avalanche. That all seemed enough when it came to disasters. Twilight sat on her bed at some point, again deep in thought. A disaster, that had been exactly that, a great tragedy that Midnight was reliving with yet greater shame now. Yet the source of it, lying in an argument with his late wife, was becoming even more concerning for Twilight, too. Yes, her beloved had explained that there had been clashes with Dusk Stream, and yet something about it still felt incomplete. After all, Dusk Tarn had his reasons for animosity, and said fury at Midnight seemed a little bit more searing than one would expect from just an unfortunate exchange leading to a mistimed travel. Twilight needed answers. She was going to get them, even if it were to hurt. She hoped it would only hurt her, for she hated others suffering regardless of the cause, but one couldn’t really be sure what would happen. What was unavoidable, however, did eventually come to pass. After a couple more hours of anxiously trotting about her room and hoping for the thoughts in her head to organize themselves somewhat, Twilight was notified that her transport was ready. Local servants took care of her luggage, while a polite requested was made for her to proceed to the landing cavern following one of the Dusks’ officers. No mentions of Lord Dusk Harvest waiting to see her of was already a glaring issue. Twilight felt the same amount of concern about her entourage. Midnight, while having cleaned himself up and presenting himself accordingly, was not even acknowledging that Rowan Berry was right next to him, as if she was an empty space. Yes, they greeted her as was expected in a public space, but it was as if ponies in two, different places were accidentally copying the same action. Twilight didn’t feel like addressing that matter on the way through the Mountain. Such a situation couldn’t remain, but discussing it had to be left for the travel itself. The landing cavern of the Iug was as busy as one would expect from a place closest to the main supply of food for the whole country, though Twilight imagined that it was used for but a portion of the overall amount of transports, perhaps those going in only one or two particular directions. Also, the place was possibly the only heavily worked space in the Mountain of Dusk, since carriages required their proper space and an abundance of stalactites would be a definite flight risk. The traditional architecture of the Family had to give way to expediency almost entirely, though Twilight imagined that nopony was objecting to the fact. The amount of workers and cargo sent through the place made her feel a little insignificant among the daily duties of the Mountain’s denizens. Of course, some attention was paid to her presence, not that she was searching for it. She was mostly just focusing on observing the cavern’s workings, trying to distract herself and simultaneously prepare for the travel ahead, one which could turn out to be pretty challenging, especially through difficult conversations. And yet, just before reaching the designated carriages, it turned out that she was going to have a pony seeing her off after all. In the hustle and bustle of the place, an aura of calmness and dignity was visibly repelling all of the nearby workers. The sheer awe of Lord Consort Dusk Flight’s presence was making everypony give her a wide berth, and Twilight was hoping that to be the only case for the visible deference. The haspadr’s wife was patiently standing next to the prepared transports, sending calming, regal glances about and getting an abundance in return. Even when battling her galloping thoughts, Twilight couldn’t help to be momentarily mesmerized by the mare’s presence, no less than when Dusk Flight had arrived at her doorstep that one time. Learning of the plights of the Lord Consort had made Twilight definitely more sympathetic to the mare, and perhaps even more receptive to her enthralling, solemn and enticing presence. Though the attendance of the noblemare almost certainly meant that Lord Dusk Harvest himself wouldn’t be present, for better and for worse. “Hwalba knaze, Neskaza Lunee... welae tueu noc illum,” the Lord Consort began, giving Twilight a customary bow which felt utterly undeserved, coming from a beautiful pony like her. “I welae Neskaza Lunee... illum tueu noc tez, Lord Consort. It is a pleasure to meet you again.” “Likewise, Honored Princess,” Dusk Flight told her in a most sincere tone, even if an official one. “In the name of hwalbu haspadr Zniw u Rodine Waesper, my Lord and husband, I want to convey our wishes for your safe travels and a healthy return to our Iug.” Twilight had to constantly fight the alluring timbre of the mare’s voice and her incredible stare, but found enough focus in herself to respond, in a clear, regal tone. “Thank you, Honored Lord Consort. I do hope I can visit the Mountain of Dusk again soon and learn yet more of your Family’s duties and traditions.” Dusk Flight gentle smile grew, the expression making Twilight’s heart skip a beat regardless of the turmoil inside of her. “We will both be happy to host you once again, Honored Princess...” Spotting, or perhaps feeling that Twilight wasn’t keen on quickly replying to that, the Lord Consort leaned in just a little. Her closeness was causing a warmth to gather behind Twilight’s cheeks. “Please, do not take my husband’s absence as a sign of disrespect, Honored Princess. I am aware that you shared a conversation with him which ended in some form of a disagreement...” Twilight stopped herself from grimacing at the memory, and the realization that the gossip had once more traveled at breakneck speed. It was a shame it had reached the Lord Consort again, as they had already shared a conversation which involved a certain grapevine after Dusk Harvest’s unfortunate slip right into the canal. Dusk Flight continued, nonetheless, her voice most graceful. “I trust it was something minor. I believe you to be a tactful pony, not keen on causing any discomfort to my husband.” There was care in the mare’s sentences, but also that underlying, ever so subtle threat towards anypony foolish enough to bother her beloved spouse. It all made Twilight think, because a pony guilty of all of those transgressions that the rumors suggested wouldn’t carry with themselves so much consideration. The Lord Consort continued, her tone losing none of its abundant sincerity. “But your last talk is not why he is not here, Honored Princess, that I can promise you. My Lord and husband very much wanted to see you off, to show that there is no ‘bad blood’, as I believe is said in your tongue.” “Oh. That is very kind and lenient of the Honored Lord,” Twilight told the mare back, wanting to be equally honest, but not really knowing whether she could summon such amounts of transparency. “I know that disagreements can happen even in normal relations, but I would like to avoid letting them persist and fester, Honored Lord Consort.” “I swear to you, Honored Princess, nothing like that will be the case,” Dusk Flight promised her, sounding both official and most understanding. Sadness also made its way into her beautiful voice, tugging at Twilight’s core. “My Lord and husband is a caring stallion, having everypony in mind at all times. Which is exactly why he cannot be here. A sudden situation required his immediate attention.” “Is it something serious?” Twilight’s curiosity got the best of her. “I’m afraid so, though it is not my right to speak of it,” the Lord Consort let her know and, despite being unwilling to share information, provided back enough clarity to make a safe bet that Dusk Harvest’s absence wasn’t necessarily just a political move. One could only hope that the ‘sudden situation’ wasn’t, by itself, connected to Twilight and her stay in Noctraliya, especially considering the unseen alliance between the Lord of Dusk Family and Count Mistlock. Twilight gently bowed her head. “Then I thank you, Lord Consort, for your presence in the Honored Lord’s stead. I hope to still speak with him as I shall be returning to the Sanctuary through your lands. I hope we can reach more common ground yet, even if there are topics about which we find ourselves in dispute. I still want to genuinely help him in matters that we have already touched upon, plaguing his mind.” For the moment, the briefest one, Twilight was certain that Dusk Flight discerned her. That the most alluring mare somehow connected all the dots, grasped what was the nature of Twilight’s last conversation with the haspadr. How, it was hard to tell, unless of course too much had been said in this shortest of explanations. Was it the words used, or a note emerging from deep within? Enough said that the Lord Consort’s eyes, those marvelous eyes of many hues and unthinkable depth, narrowed ever so slightly, before returning to their hypnotizing normal. “I’m sure that my Lord and husband shall be more than glad to offer you his time when you shall visit us again. For now, I hope your travel is safe and your stay in the Mountain of Crescent is fruitful. And serene.” The way that the Lord Consort said that made Twilight think that she was somewhat concerned for her, not that one could exactly tell what she had in mind. Though, considering the overall stereotype of the Crescent Family, there could be a glaring difference between the lifestyles of the two bloodlines, which perhaps was bothering the Lord Consort to some degree. Or perhaps she knew something more, after all? “Thank you, Honored Lord Consort,” Twilight finally replied, hoping her thoughts didn’t distract her for longer than necessary and made the response awkwardly delayed. “I hope to meet you soon, too,” she expressed her hope, finding Dusk Flight’s smile to be its own reward, considering the warm feeling it granted to her heart. It wasn’t going to be a lasting sensation, however. Firstly, because the Lord Consort left, taking with herself the aura of allure and dignity which was shielding everypony from the rush of the cavern around them. And secondly, because Twilight didn’t expect herself to feel all comfortable and fuzzy through the flight. When she was pointed to her carriage by the local servants, she turned to her companions. They had given her and the Lord Consort privacy even in the middle of the busy cavern, but they were now ready to follow her again. “I do not feel like spending the flight on my own. I will have both of you accompany me in the same transport.” Even that official request, prudent of her as Princess of Equestria and said in nothing but a royal tone, caused the two ponies to exchange a glance. Midnight’s gaze hardened to moment it landed on Rowan Berry. Things were bad, and could only turn worse for a while, Twilight felt. The provided carriage was sturdy and elegant, keeping in line with the other vehicles she had the pleasure of enjoying. She took her assigned place with grace and focus, with Midnight and Rowan Berry sitting opposite of her, though they occupied the furthest parts of the seating. Twilight could have sworn that, given the chance, her beloved would have chosen to be in another carriage altogether, or even drag the current one despite his damaged wing, if only he wouldn’t have to share the space with the lupule. Silence reigned in the transport for a good while. Twilight found herself focusing as the flight began, glancing outside when the carriage left the dark tunnels of the Mountain to give her another, wondrous sight of the Valleys below. The gardens and orchards were as abundant and verdant as ever, and this time she could enjoy them without her eyes being pricked by thousands of needles made out of sunlight, just like in the morning. The memory... It began gathering inside of her. The further they were from the Mountain of Dusk, the more moved by it Twilight felt. There was an unease inside of her which only began gaining in strength. She tried taking a deep breath, as the tension in the carriage was slowly rising and rising, at least from her perspective. The silence was demanding and the longer it lasted, the more it grated against Twilight’s mind for some reason. It would be most convenient to focus only on the wondrous sights of Noctraliya’s breadbasket, but nothing good or productive would come out of it. Something was itching in the middle of Twilight’s head as she glanced once more over the fruit-bearing thickets beneath. It was as if... as if she was trying to pierce through the leaves of the orchards and spot something lurking inside of them. The stress and worry inside were a burden, an affliction, she could feel that, and for all her self-control, she was beginning to crack. Like lips, yes, like a mouth stretching out into a smile. Broader and broader, luring one in with that terrifying grin of perverse happiness, reaching towards one’s core to unlock something primal, something smothered underneath false civility... Twilight shook her head. The unwanted memory invaded her thought process, fresh as it always was, leaving her upset more than she had been already. She took a deep breath, turning away from the window and towards her companions. Simultaneously focusing on both of them was hard, considering where they were sitting, but this was a conversation to be shared between them all. There was no other way. “I’d like to talk with both of you,” Twilight began. Both of the batponies were expecting it. It had been obvious from the moment they gathered outside of Twilight’s chambers. Midnight turned to her with a cold, focused gaze of a warrior. Rowan Berry straightened up, prim and proper in her healer’s gown. She did not dare to look Twilight in the eye, who was left unsure as to which reaction was more troubling. Still, since the silence had been breached and tossed aside, there was no going back now. The flight to the Mountain of Crescent was going to harbor a talk, a much needed and a very concerning one. Twilight gathered her focus, organized her thoughts as much as she could, then continued. “What happened last morning was... singular, I have to say. For many reasons. I don’t have to explain that to you, I’m sure. It was unforeseen for us all, I believe—” “That is not true,” Midnight almost immediately interrupted her, his voice sharp and antagonistic. “Somepony here knew something, apparently. Knew and said nothing.” It didn’t take a genius to understand what Midnight meant, but Rowan Berry remained silent, so Twilight decided it was the right thing to do to address the matter in her stead. “Midnight Wind,” she spoke, and the mention of her beloved’s full name caused the stallion to stare at her in readiness. Yes, it sounded official and even like a warning, but Twilight wanted to make everypony perfectly aware that she was being serious. She also wanted to avoid taking clear sides, not yet anyway, placing herself between her feelings for the stallion and her budding respect for the healer. “I take it that you knew not that you were going to be a father. Your reaction told me everything about it.” Her beloved’s jaw immediately clenched as he tried to stop an outburst until he could speak in a normal tone, or at least one as close to calm as possible. “No, never,” he admitted, sadness clear in his voice. “Of course, I was married. That should lead to that outcome, as you are aware, but... Dusk Stream didn’t mention it to me,” he revealed, his eyes keeping on Twilight, though something about them was betraying their desire to escape. “I... I thought about this. I now understand certain things that she had said before she went on her fateful trip, but... that’s now. Thought I’m not sure my mind is willing to grasp it all still.” Twilight nodded, accepting the point and Midnight’s feelings on the matter, but then immediately switched to Rowan Berry. “You knew about it.” With those few words the atmosphere instantly became much more tense. That was a statement and not a question, one that made the healer look up. Her coral gaze found Twilight’s, reluctant, but... sincere and concerned. “Yes, hwalba knaze,” she replied, in a tone of answering to a superior. “How come?” Twilight pressed on, and to the lupule’s credit, she didn’t try to look away, despite the discomfort that the question was causing her. “I was made aware of it due to me being an occultane,” Rowan Berry admitted, trying to sound calm despite the fact that shudders were passing through her again and again. “I cannot say more as to ‘why’ exactly.” “I’m not asking you to break confidentiality,” came the assurance from Twilight, though she was not going to let that become an escape route for the healer. “I want to get to the bottom of what happened yesterday, that’s all.” “Why would you?” Rowan Berry’s question didn’t catch Twilight by surprise. The way it was worded, the way it was asked, it was almost cautionary. As if Twilight had no idea what she was in for. She definitely took a moment to consider a response. Not because she was going to heed the advice, oh no. If anything, it only added to her conviction, fueled her irritation. No, Twilight needed to make her words have the right gravity, if her attempt at uncovering what was really going on was to count. Warning her not to do it? Oh, whatever the reason for that was, it only made some scenarios she had thought about through more probable and the anger in her more justified. “I don’t enjoy being kept in the dark. Yes, I am a naïve soleerane, I have recently heard that I am unprepared, woefully, for all the things lurking among Noctraliya’s peaks. Perhaps I am simply unused to how things work around here. For every breath preparing a lie, every thought turning devious, and hooves ready to make what’s clandestine happen. Woe is me,” Twilight claimed, filling her tone with her irritation, deliberately. “But I am not stupid, and anypony thinking that is gravely mistaken. I’m open, sincere, maybe trusting, because I want to see only what is the best in ponies, but I am not a silly filly. I’ve been treated like that, deliberately, by the most powerful ponies in the land. As if everypony conveniently forgot that I am an alicorn, a pony of ‘Divine Aspect’. Truthfully, I tend to forget about it,” she admitted, with a bitter smile, “because that trait does not make me who I am. Because things like generosity and honesty are shared by ponies regardless of race or capability. Yet I am now placed in a situation where I have to accept certain facts as they are. Without constantly explaining to myself, due to the goodness of my heart, that things surely are fine and nopony close to me wishes me ill.” Her strong words did cause a powerful shift in the carriage. Nopony said anything, and the batponies finally looked at each other again, however reluctantly. That only flared Twilight’s emotions. “How many times have I seen this?” She pointed at both of them in accusation. “Of course, I considered that it might have been simply the fact that both of you are in my entourage, that you are feeling a certain solidarity and want to present a common ground, as noctrali. Fine, yes, of course! Sometimes I just wrote it off, as a natural effect of me losing my temper or patience with everything happening around. Not the simplest thing to do, dealing with an upset alicorn, a foreign Princess and envoy.” She paused, looking at both of them with clear intent. “And I did let you know of my displeasure many times, this journey being quite draining on me. Perhaps the abundance of things to consider made me distracted from those constant glances, but things are starting to make a painful sense to me, and I need them explained. Now.” Twilight felt that the surge of feelings within her had reached a certain level that she wasn’t anticipating, which resulted in all of that, but... after all the brainstorming she had been going through, with the sleepless day and what she had witnessed prior, there was nothing else to do but get some answers. However reluctantly they would be provided. Neither of the batponies said anything at first. Midnight’s jaw was clenched, his front hooves digging into his seat a little bit, while Rowan Berry fiddled with her own, looking away slightly. Neither knew what to say. Twilight decided to give them a minute before continuing, especially since the carriage entered a tunnel, likely leading away from the dales and through the mountain range leading to the Crescent Family territories. In the darkness, Twilight could still see the saffron eyes of her beloved betraying mounting concern and Rowan Berry’s telling of her discomfort and shame. The view on the other side of the tunnel wasn’t going to make Twilight feel much better, but she was ready to focus on it anyway. Perhaps somepony would have enough courage and integrity after all to explain matters to her out of their own volition. Midnight seemed destined to do so, much to her satisfaction. At least, until he began actually speaking up. “Twilight, things got complicated, yes. Are complicated, even. I’ve tried acting reasonably, with Dusk Tarn too, but you know what happened. I want matters to be explained reasonably here, and—” She knew that tone. He had used it before, and she had long ago decided that she hated it. “I am...!” she interrupted, looking straight into his eyes. Those keen eyes that suddenly felt so distant, so hidden from her. “Unfortunately, I am ready to accept that ‘reasonable’ is not ‘truthful’ in Noctraliya, not fully. So I will make things much simpler – what did you mean? ‘You never told me.’ Explain it.” Midnight tried to say another word, but found himself dumbstruck after all. His eyes were trying to break the connection with Twilight’s stare, which prompted her to continue, as she knew the direction they were venturing in. “Oh, has Rowan Berry told you that I understand enough Noctraliyar now and I caught onto that sentence? Were you perhaps, I don’t know, both trying to make up a way of explaining that nuanced question before our departure? And had your most justifiable, I will give you that, anger about Rowan Berry withholding the information of your unborn foal stopped your attempts?” Twilight knew her tone was biting, but she couldn’t care. She had lost a day of sleep, but also way more than that, she felt. She had lost her sense of security, and as much as she was relieved to see Midnight back, she couldn’t just forget her worries. And, of course, she could ‘contain’ herself. Stop herself from asking, pretend she wasn’t seeing certain things, but that only meant remaining in the dark, and that wasn’t going to be the case for her. Not after all of those terrible scenarios which had manifested in her head recently, due to that faithful encounter, ones that she had to either banish and forget about, or be thoroughly clarified for her. “So, will I hear a real explanation?” she asked once more, realizing that she sounded much like Princess Celestia whenever her mentor had to give a stern reprimand. It was Rowan Berry who decided to open up first, answering the regal tone with docility. “I’ve told Maednoc Wentr of your question, yes, Honored Princess. And he didn’t want to listen, being angry at me for keeping Waesper Strumienea pregnancy a secret...” There was a brief pause which was quickly filled with Midnight’ hiss, but the mare continued. “I believe my silence was also justified to some extent, though I also didn’t have a choice in the matter in the first place.” Twilight spotted that Midnight wanted desperately to say something, but she switched her attention while lifting her hoof, wanting to hear none of it from him right there and then. “What can you share about that? You weren’t allowed to reveal that fact?” “Yes, hwalba knaze,” the healer told her, sincerely. “By whom?” “By a pony that could have ordered me to stay silent, while also having Midnight Wind in mind.” Now that was at least a little curious for Twilight, not that her curiosity would stand in the way of her desire to uncover the truth. Still, it felt right to ask further. “How would stopping Midnight Wind from knowing benefit him?” Rowan Berry waited a second, as Midnight’s own gaze found her as well, but the lupule wasn’t going to crack under pressure. Her voice, however, was doing so. “Maednoc Wentr took the death of his... his wife very hard. So much so that there was a fear that, if he were to know the... the full extent of what happened, he would not be able to handle it and would...” The healer didn’t need to finish for Twilight to understand. A shiver rattled her spine, for even in her frustration she couldn’t deny that Midnight’s plight was hurting her. Having in mind what his mother, Garnet Hoof, had told her about worrying for the stallion, for him never getting up from the tragedy, she could still emphasize with his anguish. “Yazembe Acine...” Midnight spoke up, using Twilight’s silence. She allowed it to happen that time, even if his tone was cold and biting. “... even if that was the motivation, I had every right to learn of it all. Yes, my sorrow was great, but I could have held it together—” “Could you now? Don’t you think I know what you’ve been talking about with antase Midnight Psalm?” Rowan Berry replied as if in accusation. “Nye, before you hiss at me again, I wasn’t eavesdropping on her, ever. The antase conveyed to the right ponies that you needed great help, even before your Waesper Strumiene—” “Don’t you say her name like that,” Midnight warned the healer, but she didn’t pay him any heed. “Listen, I learnt about the fact she was pregnant, that’s the point. First through one of the konzyili that had to examine your wife’s remains, she’s a friend of mine, and then through the channels.” Twilight interjected, hearing a quite painful hiss from Midnight. “And you were ordered to withhold that information by somepony appropriate to issue such a command?” “Tac. And I wasn’t the only one sworn to silence,” Rowan Berry revealed, causing a yet louder expression of displeasure from the stallion. “Kirwe,” he swore under his breath. “Who else?” “Nadvidan Okolnu,” the healer told him, sounding at least a little annoyed now, as opposed to forlorn. “He was told for obvious reasons.” Midnight had further expletives to toss around, apparently, but Twilight had her own opinion on all of it. “Being kept in the dark is frustrating, even if it is there to serve a purpose,” she told them both, causing her beloved to look at her as if she had just slapped him across the face. It hurt her too, but this was the price to be paid. “That is why you were trying to stop the Overseer General, isn’t it, Rowan Berry? He was not to tell.” “No, but his emotions got the best of him,” she admitted. “I think that, seeing Midnight Wind pulling himself together and apologizing made him think that he can handle the truth thrown at him.” “To try and ‘rightly’ hurt him. That was the only reason he said that, I’m sure you are both aware,” Twilight judged, utterly convinced in her stance. “The Overseer General’s hatred runs deep. It’s not only due to his daughter being dead.” That statement caused Midnight to look at Twilight with a plea in his eyes. It was a difficult topic for him, without a doubt, but there was more to that stare. It nearly caused her to relent, so keen it was, but things went too far already. Twilight would say that they had gone too far much, much earlier, she just hadn’t spotted that. “So, Rowan Berry, would you know anything about that, perhaps? I take it that you have been told more when you were assigned to my entourage.” The pause served the next sentence’s strength. “Perhaps you could also explain to me why that fateful ‘never’ happened?” The healer didn’t reply, at least not at first. Mostly because Midnight’s words came before she had a chance to. “Twilight. Iau lumn, please...” The stallion’s expression was filled with shame, fear, sadness. Mostly shame, which prompted Twilight to address it. Especially since he was suddenly very open about speaking to her as his beloved. “ ‘Please’ what, Midnight Wind?” she asked, with that one, brazen note of a taunt added to the chord of her voice. “You’ve had ample opportunities to be open and honest. Yes, I grasp it, it’s hard for you. You’ve went through many plights and I understand your difficulties, actually, I’ve been nothing but understanding this whole time. But now? I am only left with more questions and I am thoroughly sick of it.” The stallion said nothing. His expression was pained, but she wasn’t sure whether the ache was due to remorse, turmoil... or having to admit to something? The fact that she was even considering that lattermost possibility was rending her heart. Rowan Berry, sitting motionlessly in her spot, bit her lower lip. She looked at Midnight with a wordless question, apparently causing a true battle to manifest in him. She was fighting one herself, and the longer it lasted, the more anxious was Twilight becoming, racking her brain for anything that could have made all of this make sense. Midnight finally spoke, his voice weak, almost pathetic. “My light, I... I never wanted any of this. I just...” “You just what?” Twilight asked, feeling the pangs of pain right in her heart. “I love you.” Such an open declaration, especially in front of Rowan Berry, felt... sour. It was honest, Twilight could feel it resonate with her own heart, which held great and undeniable affection for the stallion, and yet invoking their love in these circumstances seemed like an act of desperation and nothing more. More so since even Rowan Berry’s expression changed dramatically, falling deeper into ache. It was like invoking the fact was only solidifying... the feeling of loss in the mare. Dejection, which went far, far deeper than but a passing crush on a member of an elite unit. It wasn’t coincidental. It wasn’t random. It wasn’t passing or fleeting, or anything else. Nothing of this had ever been. Twilight felt the cold sweat running down her back, as she looked between the healer and the warrior. She felt uncertain, shaken, distraught, and yet she was becoming perfectly aware of something that was right in plain sight. What had been hidden from her gaze so, so easily, due to her own kindness and focus on what was good about others, rather than seeing the glaring holes, the omitted words and strange expressions. When the carriage took a turn, Twilight was fully prepared to find herself slipping from her seat and onto the floor, finding her body almost limp. Her mind was, after all, too busy with the realization which hit her like an unsuspecting strike, and hurt quite as badly. “You two... You two know each other,” she croaked, barely recognizing her own voice. “You two know each other. That is why that ‘never’ happened, you know… each other…” Rowan Berry looked hopeless and lost, yes, but also immediately focused on what was happening. In those coral eyes Twilight could see professional worry, hiding right behind her own reflection, pale and sweaty, betraying a truly terrible condition. But the healer wasn’t the one that Twilight was concerned with the most in return. Her beloved, her Midnight, her stallion, support, succor, he looked like a completely alien pony to her there and then. Mostly because he didn’t even have it in himself to admit to that fact, for Twilight had no doubts that it was the truth. “You two… This was all an act,” she continued, surprised that she was even talking when her mind was wrought with shock. She looked at Rowan Berry, eyes wide and panicky. “You ‘never‘ told him… because you had many chances before that morning. Because you’ve met before!” The other mare looked thoroughly ashamed of herself, not that it was making Twilight feel any better. But the healer had enough courage in her to actually speak, as opposed to the warrior in the carriage. “Yes, hwalba knaze…” she admitted. Reluctantly, of course, but that was a praiseworthy stance even in the midst of this nightmarish scenario. “I’ve known Maednoc Wentr for a long time now.” The other batpony shot daggers at the operative, but she didn’t seem to care at this point, especially when she turned to him. “I’m tired of lying. There’s no point anymore, it will only be denying the obvious. Things have gotten out of hoof, you know it.” Midnight didn’t reply, his lips a thin line hiding… something. Anger, discouragement, panic. Maybe none, maybe all of those. Twilight could tell, for she didn’t have it in herself to even look at the stallion for the moment, focused instead on the healer. If her feverish mind could be considered capable of focus in the first place. “You… you two know each other, and you pretended to be unfamiliar…?” she managed to ask after all. “Why? Why that deception?” She wasn’t expecting Rowan Berry to be perfectly open, but the mare seemed strangely keen on revealing the truth. “Old wounds, hwalba knaze, and a new situation,” the healer claimed, looking at Twilight intently, observing her reactions and her state with the patience of her profession and talent. “It wouldn’t have helped anypony, even you, Honored Princess, to have us start with admitting that we are familiar with each other. You would have had questions, and we would have an even harder time pretending that everything was alright between us. Certain issues would have come out of the inquiry, without a doubt.” Twilight listened to Rowan Berry as if hypnotized, transfixed by this new insight she was receiving from the mare opposite. Still, she finally managed to rip her gaze away from the healer and find Midnight with it. The stallion was saying nothing, his whole body rigid from intensity and self-control, or maybe disappointment. It was hard to tell, especially for Twilight, as she was looking at a pony she knew nothing about, as it turned out. “Why… why would you?” she asked of him, though another, better question manifested right afterwards. “How could you? You’ve been lying to me all this time?” “Iau lumn, I—” “None of that,” she interrupted him strongly, more strongly than she thought possible. “I’m not your light, nor your beloved, nor anypony like that, until you explain to me why.” That sentence hurt Midnight visibly, but the batpony’s surprise about the fact was peculiar to Twilight. It wasn’t like she didn’t feel painfully struck by what she was hearing. “Ia…” he tried again, his lips quivering. “I tried to tell you, I really did, many times. I attempted to, to… to convey it all to you it. It was just…” “It was what?” “It was… I mean…” Midnight couldn’t find the right words, which was even more agonizing for Twilight. It was harrowing that, while called out on his insincerity, he still couldn’t bring himself to just open up. “No, I don’t know what you mean. I don’t know what any of this means!” she shouted, suddenly bolting up and sitting perfectly straight, hearing her frantic heartbeat in her ears. “Why is a spy giving me more than my stallion?! Why is she tired of lying to me, a foreign dignitary, and you persist when talking to your love?!” “Because, kirwe, it’s not so simple!” he shouted back, which was the wrong thing to do. “Oh, is it not now?!” she met his challenge, feeling like she was a step away from flaring her horn and doing… something. She didn’t know what, which was the more troubling. “It’s simple from where I am sitting! My love has been lying to me for all this time, for whatever reason! Because no reason is good enough here!” “Honored Princess,” Rowan Berry’s voice somehow got Twilight’s attention. The healer swiftly recognized that it wasn’t a fortunate circumstance for her, but pressed on nonetheless. “I am not going to stop your anger, I just wouldn’t want to see you damage your health due to it…” “Don’t you think that has already happened?” Twilight told her in return, not trying to sound nice and kind, quite the opposite. “Perhaps one of your potions could put me out of my misery now!” The healer nodded, as if accepting the proposition, but Twilight realized that it was aimed at calming her down at least a little. Which, against all odds, did work, for getting furious wasn’t going to yield any answers. Especially from Midnight, whose anger at the situation wasn’t done simmering, his keen eyes burning with shame and fervor alike. Twilight took a deep breath, shuffling about in her seat. This wasn’t over, nowhere close to that, but the situation demanded a cooler head, even when everything inside her was screaming. She placed her forehooves against her temples, trying to hold it all together, feeling that a migraine was going to be the least of her problems. “So… you two are familiar with each other,” she concluded that part of this ‘conversation’. She wasn’t coming to terms with the fact, but at least somehow grasping its sheer existence. “You’ve been pretending the whole time, and you…” She couldn’t believe she could refer to Midnight with so much exasperation, but it clearly manifested in her voice. “What were you trying to accomplish? You were, what, feeding me information that I absolutely needed to know? You were manipulating me?” Midnight’s upper lip quivered. “I never wanted to m—” “Don’t you tell me what you wanted to do or not. Tell me what you were doing,” she told him, firmly. “I don’t really care about your intentions right now.” “You should,” he replied with no less strength. “There’s intrigue all around you. Some among us would say that it is for better or worse. You’re a smart mare, Twilight, you’re the smartest mare I have met in my life, you just… you don’t think like we think. Don’t see opportunities like we do,” he was explaining, at least trying to. Twilight wasn’t sure she was buying a word, but she forced herself to at least listen. “We can be cunning by nature, crafty and strategic in all of our actions, in ways you cannot yet perceive. Do you even remember the map?” She did. She remembered that Midnight had been told to stay silent, and he had done so, much to her hurt. It wasn’t a good move by him to remind her, she thought, even to make a point. “I can recall that you were ord—” “It was revealed at Kezpont, and Yazembe Acine wasn’t there, so perhaps saying nothing more is the right thing to do?” Midnight reminded her, making her brow furrow even further, despite him correctly reminding her of an oath she had taken. “This is what I am talking about. We have ways, our ways, our order of things in life. Bogine, you aren’t brought up in the idea of absolute loyalty like we are, so I was trying to ease you into—” “I don’t know loyalty, Midnight Wind?” Twilight protested, her stare piercing the stallion’s own, in this terrifying clash between them. “Should I remind you of who I am? Perhaps you have forgotten behind all that ‘light’ you love to call me. I am the Princess of Friendship. Friendship, you know? Me and my friends, who rescued the Immaculate Moon...?” Even in the middle of her intense monologue did Twilight find herself bowing her head. “Kindness. Generosity. Laughter. Loyalty.” She paused for a breath. “I’ll remind you of one more – Honesty. It is there, also, as important as every other Element. And I have never seen a good reason why any of them would need to clash with each other. But I suppose you are wiser than me on the matter, then.” The stallion was withstanding her chastisement, though it was costing him dearly. He must have really been convinced of his stance, not that Twilight was amazed by that, quite the opposite. His voice was grating to her ears, for it was filled with this unacceptable conviction. “I wanted to be fair to you and to who I am. Doing my best, tearing myself apart piece by piece, only to take good care of you and not feel like I am a traitor to my homeland, to my principles,” he tried to explain. “I wanted you to figure things out on your own, at a safe pace for—” “Safe for whom?” Twilight asked him, as she couldn’t contain herself. “For you?” She didn’t let him answer, turning to Rowan Berry instead. “He knew you were an occultane from the start, no?” The healer opened her mouth, then hesitated for a breath. She dared not to look at Midnight at that time, deliberating on the answer for a moment. Twilight wasn’t missing that, but understood that the mare didn’t want to add fuel to the fire raging inside the carriage. “I... haven’t been an occultane all my life, hwalba knaze. It is you who reminded me lately that I was a lupule first,” she finally said, gazing down for a moment longer. “But the fact that I was placed by your side wasn’t a coincidence, no.” She met Twilight’s gaze, those coral eyes filled with confidence, yes, but one not as irritating as Midnight’s. If anything, one aimed at explaining and diffusing the situation somewhat. “Deep Mist’s blunder had to be... ‘salvaged’, though I don’t know if that is a right word here. I was sent because I knew Midnight Wind, I was to keep an eye on you both. Considering what Altu Opar had shared with hwalba haspadre Blenkyita Opare, I was picked due to familiarity and experience. Midnight Wind’s loyalty was at stake.” “I’m not sure my understanding of the word is the same as yours,” Twilight bitterly commented, but the healer didn’t seem offended. If anything, she seemed much more keen on defending Midnight instead. She even gave him a glance, despite the look of grim anger he was sending her way. “Please, understand where Maednoc Wentr was coming from in his actions, hwalba knaze. To expose an occultan is not done, for we serve the security of our nation, we are the loyal servants of our haspadri. Our tasks are terrible and we are rightfully feared, but our secrecy is important. One shouldn’t even cast suspicion, and to reveal an operative? Perhaps a deliberate plot would have to be put in place.” She took a deep breath, shaking her head, looking away from the stallion and right into Twilight’s eyes. Her gaze betraying hurt, both old and recent. “And... and he loves you. It pains me still to say it like this, but that is the truth. He wanted to warn you, in the only way he could, so that you would connect the dots instead of being told in treacherous words. We are taught that sometimes speaking plainly is treason. Smart hints, gentle allusions, those are a mark of a clever mind, and are not frowned upon that much.” The mare finally looked at Midnight once more, in a momentary connection that Twilight would find hard to discern. “Besides, first Altu Opar, then me… We made mistakes. Maednoc Wentr kept his eyes on you and us, trying to act like a protector for you, in the best way it could have been performed. He is doing so to this moment, fulfilling that role, even if you find him lacking somehow.” Those praises were doing precious little when it came to Twilight actually believing in Midnight’s pure intentions, at least when it came to him trying to properly protect her by these ‘games’ of half-truths. The intensity of Rowan Berry’s words, however, spawned Twilight’s attention. “You were defending him before the Overseer General, now you defend him before me. Why is that?” The healer didn’t respond, looking away again, having spent her courage at the moment. So Twilight glanced at Midnight, but the stallion had his gaze locked on Rowan Berry himself, these keen, sharp eyes of his harboring both frustration and a little bit of… recognition? Twilight wasn’t sure at this point if she was making the right observations, her logic and perception wracked by the feelings of disappointment and betrayal. It was right then, as she named those sensations, that something else in her mind clicked. She was looking at her beloved, and the fact that she was still using that title in her thoughts strangely solidified a certain idea. “When did you two meet for the first time?” she suddenly asked, prompting the healer to look up again, though she didn’t seem keen on answering. Still, Twilight pressed the topic. “You’re defending him and you,” she paused to look back at the stallion, “once decided to tell me that Rowan Berry tried to flirt with you, which attempt you have turned down.” “I did,” Midnight said, sharply and strongly. So strongly that hurt suddenly manifested in his tone, and not one directed at Twilight. That one time she was actually willing to believe his reply, for it pushed further the realization crystallizing right before her eyes from the most recent memories. “Right before...” she began saying, the images flashing before her eyes. “Rowan Berry, when we were at that cavern, when I suddenly became catatonic. The Overseer General, wasn’t he...? He was asking how come he thought you familiar...” The healer wanted to reply, but Twilight just waved her hoof, not wanting any interruptions. “And he later said that despite what happened, your wife...” She paused, again watching Midnight’ reactions. “... wanted to come back to you, because she was pregnant. And that things would then again work...” The stallion said nothing, his eyes reflecting remorse and worry. Twilight wasn’t perhaps well-versed in the matters of marital problems and relationships in general, seemingly even less than she had thought, now that she realized that her beloved had been withholding information from her, but she wasn’t utterly naïve... right? Dusk Tarn’s hatred, Dusk Stream’s hope, despite the circumstances in which she had ventured back to her Mountain, those all had a perfectly good, perfectly bad reason. “Midnight Wind,” Twilight spoke, astonished that she could remain so calm while doing so, “you told me that things had been said the last time you had argued with your late wife. Things, also, hadn’t been said. She didn’t tell you of her state, even though every mare would happily share such news with her husband...” Midnight was ready to say something, but Twilight’s thought process didn’t stop. Her mind made her visualize the last pony who she associated with being a spouse. With that and with pregnancy or, rather, lack thereof. The topic, in return, made her think of Lord Dusk Harvest and his outburst, when he had told her that the same thing Lord Consort Dusk Flight was allegedly guilty of was the reason that— Twilight gasped, loudly, before covering her muzzle with both front hooves. It all made sense. It all made such dreadful, horrifying sense, she couldn’t in any way contain her reaction. And Midnight had told her, he had told her that he hadn’t always been perfect. He simply, of course, hadn’t made it all clear what he meant, what sort of ‘imperfection’ was weighing on him in regards to his tragic past. Twilight didn’t even raise her voice. “You scoundrel. You cheated on your wife.” Her eyes ventured to Rowan Berry. “With you.” The silence which happened afterwards was the most ghastly, calamitous moment that Twilight experienced on her travel, and possibly in her life. This flight was meant to clear matters up, instead it sent her spirit crashing down as if the carriage itself plummeted into the valleys below. She laughed. Twilight laughed a laugh most terrible, filled to the brim with sorrow, disappointment and despair. “Of course. It is all so simple,” she commented afterwards, since neither of the batponies responded to her jubilant expression of utter discouragement. “You not only know each other, you are lovers. You’ve been for quite some time, too. I am but a stupid, naïve soleerane, aren’t I?” “We’re not lovers.” Twilight wasn’t sure if she wanted to know who said that, and whether she would believe anypony. She shook her head, feeling her lips curl into a smile, against her will. It was as if she was suddenly overtaken by a malicious forest spirit, indeed, with the grimace feeling like it was splitting the corners of her mouth. “All this time, right under my nose. All the staring, all the explaining, all the promises and all the lies. I commend you both, I was blind, utterly,” Twilight continued, not paying any attention to her companions, hoping they could hear her and hear her clearly. She could only trust that she was actually saying those things and this wasn’t some form of madness which was making her hear her terrible thoughts so vividly in her ears. “Bravo. I suppose I have nothing to seek here after all, if even the ponies travelling right with me, one of which I love…” she found herself accentuating, surprised that fateful word didn’t happen in past tense. “… can just hide such a small, insignificant detail of a romance from me. Actually, will it be a terrible breach of etiquette if I just open the carriage’s door and get off here and now?” she asked in a cruel joke, feeling that she was still smiling painfully, even with the tears in her eyes. “I’m sure that nopony will truly care.” “Twilight...” Somepony wanted to protest, but she wasn’t really interested. “Or, better yet, how about I just, I don’t know, teleport back home? I think I could do it, would make the whole thing rather easy. I might even be able to grab my luggage on the way. And it’s not like I will feel any worse, abusing the Lost Gift like so. Abuse is quite the right word here.” “Honored Princess, please...” There was another attempt, quite inefficient, at calming her down. “Or, I don’t know, I’ll do something, I’ll do anything!” Twilight continued, feeling tears falling down her face freely. “Anything not to be stuck in a carriage with two ponies that had been so, so kind and generous to me, and so sincere...! While, all the time they…! Right under my nose, they…!” Twilight didn’t care to finish. She didn’t want to, sorrow was already constricting her throat to the point of suffocating her. She didn’t care who began speaking, even if the remnants of her sane mind were telling her that it was Rowan Berry who wished to ‘clarify’ some things, even if doing so would only be more tormenting for Twilight. “Hwalba knaze… We are not lovers. We haven’t really been those since that tragic time,” she began, with a note of regret, one that was drilling into Twilight’s mind, but also one that wasn’t taking away from the mare’s sincerity. “I was studying in the Iug u Maednoc at that fateful time, using the knowledge stored in the Maednoca Tabulre with proper permissions, to deepen my understanding of potions and remedies… It is where I met Midnight Wind, and I was infatuated with him quite immediately.” Rowan Berry paused briefly, though Twilight didn’t care whether it was to see what damage she was causing or to express some strange regret. “We did flirt. I initiated it, though I knew that he was married. It was wrong, I won’t even for a moment try to justify it. But the feeling in me made it irresistible. We were meeting in secret, and finally crossed that line… but we weren’t cautious enough. Hard to tell who managed to learn of us, but news reached Midnight Wind’s wife… Which is why she took that trip to Iug u Waesper. Nopony could have predicted what would happen, however…” Twilight laughed once more, the sound coming out of her mouth marred by hurt. “How interesting, it looks like operatives getting caught is quite common around here,” she commented, not even caring that her words carried venom with themselves. “I suppose the whole situation is a cautionary tale, isn’t it? I’m so glad to be learning about it finally, thank you so much, Rowan Berry.” The healer looked away, her muzzle red and her eyes filled with sadness and guilt. Twilight felt proud to cause such a reaction, gone so far in her momentary madness. It was… safer to remain in it, it was so much better to sit where she was, motionless, transfixed, staring into the space before her. That was what she thought for a brief moment, but realizing her state did wonders to actually awaken her from this bout of anguish. Yet was she ready to actually try and return to reality? Anything seemed better than recognizing where she actually was and who she was sharing the flight with. Did Twilight even know these ponies? Were those the same that she had tried to befriend? Was that the same stallion who she loved…? And yet, for all the pain, she had to. Twilight had to come to her senses, even if only to scold and reprove more, for things had gone far too far, and if she would not be the pony to point it out, then who would in this distant, vicious land. Twilight managed to gather enough strength to look at Midnight Wind again, which wasn’t a small feat. Not to even mention that his presence, his being, it was all distant to her. She was looking at a… She didn’t know if she had the word for it. She didn’t know if she wanted to use any of the epithets coming to her mind. “Why is she telling me all of this?” she asked of the pony before her, hoping that, perhaps, Midnight was still somewhere there, that he hadn’t been just an illusion she had fallen for. “You claim that you love me. You had the guts and the daring to cheat on your own wife, but not to tell me the truth when things started to get ‘complicated’? Instead feeding me snippets of truth wrapped in convenient lies that could ‘explain’ everything?” she assaulted him with questions, trying to bore into his core somehow. “Why is a spy more courageous than you, ‘vampire’?” Midnight’s brow furrowed. Perhaps it was a sign of wounded pride, but Twilight was alright with that. Maybe she could actually reach him, in ways previously impossible, in ways blocked by all his deceptions and half-truths. She was even going to give him the courtesy of listening to him, as he finally inhaled. “What I’ve done all that time ago is unforgivable. Dusk Stream… Dusk Stream didn’t deserve this, and I didn’t deserve her,” he claimed, though Twilight wasn’t sure if she was trusting the remorse in his voice. “My life was tossed into Peraure with her death. I clung to my duties, hoping to one night find my reason again. Then I was made to meet you. You, of all ponies. A knaze. A soleerane. Even I wouldn’t think that something could happen, I certainly couldn’t have planned that, in the midst of everything, I would fall in love,” he continued to explain, his voice strong and filled with conviction, though Twilight couldn’t tell if any of it was real. “But nothing about you mattered to me, not your role, not your race, not your Bozanu Gledis, what mattered was you and the kindness you have shown me, the understanding, the… the chance. You became my light, after my time of darkness, after my own Atrlunee…” “And yet that didn’t stop you from lying to me,” Twilight retorted, not letting any of his words manipulate her emotions. “I mean so much to you, but I was not worthy of truth?” “You were worthy of my best,” Midnight claimed. He shifted a little closer, sitting on the very edge of the seat, but Twilight instinctively moved back. It struck him deeply, but didn’t stop him from continuing, as he pressed on in desperation. “I wanted to give you my best self. And my best self couldn’t have been a cheater, a failure, a…” He paused, shaking his head. “I was afraid, afraid of you, just like I’ve told you lately. You are an extraordinary pony, not because of your position or power. You bring joy to everypony, you wield understanding, you show compassion, you… You are of the Sewira Solee, but Neskaza Lunee… you also represent.” Twilight sighed, glancing at Rowan Berry in the meantime. The healer wasn’t even looking Midnight’s way. She was agreeing, maybe, but listening to the stallion praising another mare surely wasn’t an easy thing for her. Not that Twilight was somehow placated by those words, especially when Midnight made his alleged point. “If I were to show all about me, you… you would have hated me, and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you. I tried, Bogine, I tried many times, but that fear, that horror of you abandoning me, I… I couldn’t bare it.” She looked at him again. She felt the tears in her eyes, even though she wasn’t crying anymore. She just chose to accept this terrible situation and that had to manifest somehow. “And for all of what you have just said, all those… those eulogies you have just now fed me, praising me for being understanding and kind to others, all the others, you still hesitated? You? Who shared with me his pain, who taught me of his kind, who stood against his own traditions out of love? Was that love? Or was that just your ego that allowed you to do all of that, but still show such… cowardice, when it didn’t serve you to be brave?” she called the stallion out, looking at him with sadness. “Who are you, Midnight Wind? Are you the pony I was glad to see back this evening? Are you really a warrior, my protector, the stallion I love? Or somepony else entirely, somepony who deceived me, who hid his real self away? “Who are you, noctral?” That one question broke something in Midnight. The batpony’s eyes were filled with sadness, filled with shame, but now they darkened, hid away for a moment, only to erupt in anger. He was trying to contain himself, but Twilight managed to coax his feelings out after all, simply by looking at him longer and longer. Whatever darkness the stallion was wrestling with finally found an outlet, offended that she was just staring at it, with a genuine question and an aching heart. “So… you think it all so easy? You think it so simple? Really?!” The batpony shouted, baring his fangs, hissing through clenched teeth. His expression was so fierce that even Rowan Berry shifted in her spot, ready to interfere, though Twilight doubted this outburst would end in anything more than just itself. It was the thrashing of a wounded pride, one that kept the rest of the pony in its clutches. “What did you want me to do, then?! What was I supposed to say?!” Midnight screamed, though hopefully the wind outside and the carriage’s sturdy build could muffle the outburst. “Was I supposed to stand before you, look you in the eye and tell you that your beloved, your Midnight, broke the sacred bonds of marriage, out of lust?! That he cheated on his wife, that he regrets it ever since, but can do little to undo the damage?! That he is keeping it from you because he doesn’t want to be alone again in his life, because his soul screams in pain at the thought that who he is, really is, will stop you from loving him?! And that he… that I am ashamed of myself, of who I am, but I cannot bring myself to say it all, because I don’t want to be alone in my life anymore?! Was that what I was supposed to say?!” “Yes.” That one, final word, replying to all of those pained questions, was all it took. Twilight knew that she didn’t have to add anything else, but decided to anyway, with her eyes filled with tears and her muzzle smiling in both despair and understanding. “Yes, that was what you were supposed to do. Just like you have just done,” she told Midnight, who was gasping and wheezing as if he just finished a mortal duel. In some sense, that was exactly what had happened. “That is all it would have taken, a little bit more honesty, a little bit more humility. Nothing more.” The stallion had no response to that, staying where he was, his lips shuddering, his body shaking, and his eyes filling slowly with tears, as he must have realized the terrible simplicity of his failure. Twilight couldn’t call what had just happened progress, or a win, or anything else. Nopony was coming out of this victorious. Not paying attention to anypony else, she shifted closer to the window, and began just… just looking outside. As if she was on her very own in the carriage. In some sense, yes… She was now all alone.