//------------------------------//
// The Past Revealed 
// Story: A Mourning Heart 
// by Professor Tacitus 
//------------------------------//

	The stars filled the sky, and a crescent moon hung over the town of Ponyville. No clouds were present in the sky, allowing the beacon of light known as the moon to shine unhindered over the land. The light of the moon and stars shone on the home of Tacitus, which was unusually full of guests this night.
In the living room, the fireplace roaring with a warm fire, sat ten ponies, a baby dragon, and a draconequus. 
Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash sat with their respective sisters on one sofa, still holding them close after their traumatic experience. Spike, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie sat on the other sofa. Discord had conjured a giant marshmallow for his chair, and was tearing off small pieces and putting them on a stick to roast over the fire. Pinkie had managed to sneak a few bites of the sugary seat without Discord noticing.
Tacitus opted to sit in the reclining chair that he had become quite accustomed to. As they had walked into his home, Tacitus saw the shattered remains of the framed picture that he had tossed violently at the wall the other day. He picked the photograph out of the broken glass with his magic, and it was now resting in his lap. Earlier that day, he considered throwing it away. Burning it even. But ultimately, he decided to ignore it for the moment. In a way, the picture was like his memories: still there even though he did his best to pretend it wasn’t. 
Tacitus had also used his magic to bring down the photo that he had placed so lovingly on the nightstand next to his bed, and it now also rested in his lap, though his hoof was grasping it tightly. 
Tacitus struggled to get his thoughts straight and pondered how he should begin. The assembled company waited patiently for him to collect his thoughts. He looked at them with the depressed look they had grown so familiar with and spoke.
“Before I start, can I just ask a favor? What I’m about to tell you all is extremely hard for me. I’ve been trying so hard to forget about it, and saying it out loud, reliving what I went through…it’s just not easy and I want to get it over with as quickly as possible. So please, while I’m talking, don’t interrupt and don’t ask questions. Just let me speak and listen quietly.”
All of them nodded soberly, except for Discord, who pulled out a box of popcorn and began shoveling it into his mouth.
“Oh, this is going to be good.” The smirk on his face quickly dissipated after Fluttershy shot him a glare. He remained quiet after that.
Tacitus sighed, discomfort evident in his wistful eyes. “I guess I should start at the beginning. As a colt, I was very bookish and introverted.” He chuckled dryly. “I guess I still kinda am. I had such a single-minded focus on my studies of history, that I never really made time for friends.” Twilight gave him a sympathetic look, knowing exactly where he was coming from. “But I didn’t really care. I enjoyed my own company…and my parents’” 
He held up the still-framed photograph for them all to see. It showed three ponies standing close together with big smiles on their faces. One was obviously Tacitus as a young colt, although the girls hardly recognized him with that smile and the fact that his hat and scarf were missing. 
The other two ponies were a unicorn stallion and an earth pony mare. The unicorn had the same chocolate-brown coat as Tacitus, but he had a silvery-gray mane and pale blue eyes, which were covered by large, round glasses. His cutie mark was a syringe and a thermometer overlapping to form a cross. He wore a wool cap that looked exactly like Tacitus’s. The mare had a tan coat and a jet black mane tied up in a ponytail. She had the same green eyes as Tacitus and her cutie mark was a teddy bear holding a baby bottle. She wore the same green and black scarf that Tacitus now wore.
“These were my parents. My father, Hippocrates, was a doctor at Canterlot General Hospital. Everypony called him Dr. Hipp. They loved coming to see him because he always treated his patients so kindly and he loved to make them laugh; he would make them laugh so hard, they’d sometimes forget they were sick. He used to put thermometers in his ears, and then he’d cross his eyes and let his tongue hang out; that’d get even the sickest pony giggling. And he’d tell terrible jokes that were so bad, you couldn’t help but laugh. He was a regular goofball.” 
Although he spoke with fondness, his face still remained downcast and miserable. He touched a hoof to the brim of his hat. 
“This was his hat. The only time he ever took it off was when he put it on me, and then laugh when it covered my whole face. Then I’d pretend I was blind and run around the house knocking into things. It was a good thing he was a doctor, ‘cause I’m sure I gave myself a few concussions because of that.”
A ghost of a smile appeared on his face, but it disappeared quickly as the memories kept flooding in. 
“My mother, Minerva, ran a daycare center. She’d take care of foals ranging from infants to about their age.” He pointed to the Cutie Mark Crusaders as he said this. “She loved foals, and when I got older, I loved helping her with them.She ran the center by herself, so she needed all the help she could get. She just had a way with kids. Whenever they were crying or upset, all she had to do was hold them, and they’d calm down. She used to sing to them too. She had a beautiful voice, like an angel’s. But as much as she loved other pony’s foals, she loved me more. I couldn’t have asked for a more caring or loving mother.”
He placed a hoof on the scarf around his neck, and held it lovingly to his cheek.
“This was her scarf. My father gave it to her when they first met, and she hardly took it off since. I remember, on cold nights when I was a foal, I’d lie down next to her and she’d wrap the scarf around my neck and hers so that we were sharing it. She’d wrap her hooves around me, and I’d fall asleep right there in her arms.”
Tears began to well up in his eyes at the memories, but he quickly wiped them away before they could fall.
“I loved my parents with all my heart, and they loved me even more so. So, I didn’t really need friends. I didn’t need anypony else…until I met Cassy.”
He held up the other picture, the one that had had its frame smashed against the wall. This picture showed an older Tacitus, still with a smile on his face and still without his hat and scarf, and an unknown earth pony mare, who the group assumed must be Cassy. She had a dark blue coat with a curly purple mane and bright blue eyes. Her cutie mark was two stars; a small star that seemed to be basking in the glow of a larger star. The Tacitus in the photo had his hoof wrapped around her shoulder.
“I met her over three years ago.” 

* * *

In his mind, Tacitus could see it clearly like he was there in Canterlot again. It was a bright and sunny day just outside of the campus of Equestria University. A large group of ponies was headed towards the school. Many other ponies were waiting for them and tacking pictures of the approaching group.
“I had only a few more months of school before I graduated, and I had just come back with the rest of my class from Trottingham. We had gone there to study and excavate some of the ruins and artifacts that were believed to belong to the legendary Knights of the Round Stable.” 
A younger Tacitus was seen amongst the group, his saddlebag bursting with notes and new artifacts to study at the school and then donate to the museum. The news ponies that were assembled there quickly focused their cameras and their questions on him.
“By that time, I had become pretty popular in Canterlot. I was the youngest student ever accepted into EU, and I was about to be its youngest graduate and teacher. I’d also managed to make quite a few discoveries during my time at the university. Lost tombs, temples, palaces, and countless artifacts ranging from weapons to journals had made me a bit of a celebrity in the historical community.
I won’t lie, it was pretty nice being called a prodigy in the field I loved so much. It felt good to be recognized for my discoveries, and to be so good at a job I enjoyed doing.”
As the ponies continued to take pictures of Tacitus, his eyes widened when he spotted a mare that was standing among them. She had no camera or notepad with her; she just looked at him with a beautiful smile.
“I’d never seen her at the school before, and I had no idea who she was. When I saw her, I thought she was the most beautiful mare in the world.”
Tacitus walked up to the mare, his mouth agape and the photographers forgotten. He was so nervous he began to sweat. He mumbled a few times before he finally spoke.
‘H-Hello. I-I’m Tacitoo…uh…Tacitus.’
She fluttered her eyelashes and gave him a coy look.
‘Oh, I know who you are. My name’s Cassy. How’d you like to go out for dinner tonight and tell me a little more about yourself? I’d love to get to know somepony as special as you.’
‘D-Dinner sounds great.’ He looked at her like a love-sick puppy. ‘Meet me here around five?’
‘It’s a date,’ she said with a wink. She blew a kiss at him before walking off, leaving him practically floating off the ground.
“I’d never in my life met a mare as beautiful and as amazing as she seemed to be. When I was with her, I felt like I could just let go and be myself. She was the only thing I thought about more than my studies. She was always so kind and friendly, and she was always with me wherever I went. She hardly ever left my side. My parents liked her, and she and I even moved in together. For more than three years, I spent all the time I could with her.  I was in love. Then, everything fell apart.”
His memory flashes forward so that he now pictured the interior of Equestria University. A large ballroom was filled with the faculty and staff of the university, and the stage had an orchestra playing.
“It was a few months ago. The university was holding a celebration for the faculty and staff. Princess Celestia and Luna, the whole royal family in fact, was in attendance.”
Tacitus is dancing with Cassy, when something catches her eye. She quickly leaves Tacitus and heads over to a very handsome white unicorn with a long amber mane and a blue bow tie. 
“All of a sudden, she just starts ignoring me and hanging out with some pony I’ve never seen before. I tried to talk to her, but she just kept walking away with him and acted like she’d never seen me before. I kept trying all night, but all I could find out was that his name was Blueblood and that he was distantly related to the princesses.”
Cassy spends the entire event in the company of Blueblood, who does not behave at all like a gentlecolt. The entire time she was with him, he made Cassy do things like feed him, refill his drink, open the door for him, and clean his tie when punch got it. She did these things gladly and with the same smile that she had first given Tacitus on her face. Tacitus was watching and trying to get her attention the entire time.
As the event draws to a close, Cassy whispers something into Blueblood’s ear. She then finally rejoins Tacitus as they leave together.
“I asked her what happened, but she didn’t say anything. The only thing she said to me that night was ‘don’t worry about it.’ I should have kept pushing her to tell me what the deal was, but I trusted her. I let it drop and we went back home. The next morning, she was packing her things and leaving.”
Tacitus now saw himself in the home that he and Cassy shared. Cassy is packing away her things into suitcases, while Tacitus stares desperately at her and asks why she’s leaving.
‘Cassy, please, just talk to me,’ he begged. ‘I don’t understand why you’re leaving or where you’re going.’
‘I’m going to live with Blueblood. I don’t need you anymore.’ She didn’t even look at him as she spoke.
‘Don’t need me anym… What are you talking about?’
She sighed before she finally turned around to look at him. ‘Look Tacitus, the only reason I was friends with you was because you were the most famous pony I could get my hooves on. Now that I’ve met Blueblood, you don’t matter anymore.’
‘I-I still don’t understand. I thought…’
She scoffed at him. ‘Come on Tacitus, think. I thought you were smart. When I met you, you were practically a celebrity. Being with you meant I got to enjoy the perks of fame without working for it. But a famous historian is nothing compared to a prince. You were the best I could do at the time, but you finally managed to get me close enough to royalty to where I could move up.’
‘B-But…three years…didn’t that…didn’t I mean anything to you?’
‘You were just a means to an end Tacitus. Just accept that and move on with your life.’
She had finished packing and began to walk out the door. Tacitus called out to her one more time.
‘Cassy, I love you!’
She didn’t respond. She didn’t even look at him. She just kept walking out the door and slammed it behind her.
“I was heartbroken. I felt used and betrayed. The one pony outside my family that I’d called friend had just abandoned me when she didn’t need me anymore. I had no idea that things were about to get much worse.
A few days later, I decided to visit my parents. I hadn’t told them about what Cassy did yet, and I really needed them and their advice on what I should do.”
Tacitus pictures himself walking towards the home of his parents. His face was crestfallen and his strides were slow and somber. He opened the door to the home, but gasped in horror at what he saw.
“When I opened the door, I saw my parents collapsed on the floor. Their breathing was shallow and haggard, and no matter how much I called out to them, they couldn’t answer me.
I was terrified. I quickly rushed them to the hospital, but nopony could figure out what was wrong with them. It was like their life was just slowly draining away.
I never left their side. I hardly ate, hardly slept. The doctors said there was nothing they could do, that they’d never seen an illness like this. They lasted about a month before they…passed on. 
I was devastated. It felt like my entire world just fell apart, like I had lost everything. Any happiness that was left in me died with my parents. At their funeral, all I heard was ponies half-heartedly telling me that everything would be okay, but I didn’t believe them. After that, they just seemed to forget about me. None of my colleagues or students ever checked on me or tried to comfort me. They just abandoned me, gave up on me. I was miserable and alone and nopony seemed to care. There was nopony left to care. 
I couldn’t stay in Canterlot anymore. I resigned my position at the university, sold off my house and almost everything else I owned, and left. Then I moved here. The rest, as they say, is history.”

* * *

As his memory ended, Tacitus once more found himself in his living room with his guests. All those present had tears in their eyes. Discord had changed into a black mourning dress with a veil and was blowing his nose with a cloth. Tacitus continued to speak as the salty liquid stung his eyes, which were staring at the floor.
“I moved to Ponyville because it seemed like such an out-of-the-way town. It was likely that no one here would know who I am and so wouldn’t try to use me like Cassy did.”
He looked back up at the assembled crowd.
“You need to understand: everypony that I’ve ever cared about, everypony that I’ve ever called a friend has just caused me pain in the end. I loved Cassy, but she just used me and abandoned me. I loved my parents, but they were taken from me, and left me with a hole in my chest. I learned that caring, that friendship, only leads to suffering. One way or another, it only brings hurt. That’s why I want to be alone; because then there’s nothing left for me to lose. If I’m alone, I don’t have to worry about being hurt again.”
Tacitus looked back down at the ground. Although he couldn’t see them, he could hear the sniffles and sobs emanating from his guests. His own choking sobs joined them. He’d managed to keep relatively calm while telling his tale, but now that it was over and he’d had to relive the experience, he began to break down.
He bawled for a few moments before he regained control of himself.
“There, now you know. *Sniff* Now please, could you just leave-“ 
He couldn’t finish his sentence. He was suddenly being held in a tight embrace by all those present, excluding Discord who was blowing his nose in the corner. All those that were part of the group hug were crying and looking at him with sympathetic eyes.
“We’re so sorry darling,” said Rarity. “We’re so sorry that you had to go through something as awful as all that.”
Pinkie Pie spoke next. “That Cassy was a big meanie. You don’t deserve to be treated like that. We’d never treat you like that.”
Fluttershy spoke up. “You poor thing. All you needed was somepony to be there for you.” 
Now Rainbow spoke. She was doing her best not to show that she was crying. “Look, I’m not good with mushy stuff, but I want to say that I think you’re awesome and that we’re here for you.”
“That’s right sugar cube,” said Applejack. “We’re not gonna abandon you.”
“You can count on us,” Spike added.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders didn’t speak. They just held him tighter than anyone else, upset that the pony who had saved their lives and who they’d come to love was hurt so much.
Tacitus was flabbergasted. The ponies that had known of his situation back in Canterlot had only put a hoof on his shoulder and looked at him soberly, no trace of real care or concern in their eyes. These ponies were crying along with him, and held him close in an attempt to console him. Twilight saw his confused face and spoke up.
“Tacitus, I can’t even begin to imagine the pain you’ve gone through. None of us here have gone through loss like that, but we still want to help you. Real friendship brings happiness, and real friends are there for each other. They comfort each other and take away each other’s pain. I know we can do that if you let us”
“But it still doesn’t change the fact that something could happen to you. I can’t risk going through that pain again.”
“The odds of something happening to us are astronomical. Besides, friends are there to support each other in times like that. You can’t let that fear keep you from being happy. And even if you lose the ones you love, you always have the memories.” Twilight paused to let that sink in before continuing. “You’re focusing on what happened at the end, when you need to focus on remembering the good times you had with them. Remember what amazing parents they were, how much they loved you, and all you did together. Don't dwell on their death, remember their life”
Tacitus was silent as he listened to her. No one had ever taken the time to say anything like this to him, and he himself had been so lost and alone in his grief to even consider anything like this.
“Your parents wouldn’t want you to spend the rest of your life being miserable. They’d want you to be happy. Please, let us help you. Your friends just want to make you happy again. And we promise, we’ll do our best to make sure you never get hurt again.”
Tacitus looked at her, and all of the others who were gathered around and still embracing him. He looked in their eyes and saw genuine concern and care in their eyes. Even after he told them everything, they were still determined to help him, maybe even more determined than they were before. They hadn’t given up on him. They hadn’t abandoned him.
Thoughts were racing through his head. What should he do? Should he accept them? Should he turn them away? Should he scream at them or just return their embrace and cry in their arms? He clenched his eyes shut as he struggled to figure out what to do.
For some reason, he could no longer feel the tight hold of the ones whom he had just told his story to. All he could feel was a familiar hoof on his shoulder. 
He opened his eyes and saw that he was no longer in his living room. All he could see was empty whiteness, until he turned around and his eyes widened in disbelief. There, looking at him with caring eyes and loving smiles, were his parents. They were exactly as he remembered them, before they were sick. His father had a hoof wrapped around his mother's shoulder and held her close, and gave Tacitus toothy grin that he used to give when he was comforting him when he was sick or hurt. His mother gave him the look she used to give him when he was upset as a colt, a look that was filled with concern and love. He just stared at them for a moment, his mouth agape, before he ran into their arms. 
He found that he couldn’t speak; he couldn’t hear any noise. He didn’t care. He just held them tightly, afraid to let go and lose them again. He was sobbing silently when he finally released his grip just enough to look at them.
They didn’t say a word. They just looked at him and slowly nodded; telling him what was the right thing to do. With tears still streaming down his eyes, he smiled and nodded back at them. The room began to be filled with a bright light. All Tacitus saw was his parents mouthing the words “we love you” before they disappeared.
He was back in his living room, still being hugged by the ponies and the baby dragon. They still looked at him, still longed to help him. He looked back at them, tears once more filling his eyes. But these tears were different. 
“Okay,” he said silently. “Okay. Maybe it’s time I gave friendship another chance. Maybe it's time for me to finally let myself care again."
Words couldn’t express the joy that came over them as they embraced Tacitus even harder, even Discord was getting in on the hug. Exclamations of happiness and endless promises of spending time together graced Tacitus’s ears.Pinkie even seemed to explode confetti.
They were overjoyed that he was finally letting them in, finally accepting their friendship. These ponies really cared about him. They really wanted to make him happy through their friendship. Hope, something that he hadn't felt in a long time, filled Tacitus. Hope for another chance at happiness. Hope for finding ponies he could care about again. As Tacitus listened to his new friends, a smile was present on his face. Not the smile of the “mask”, but a real, happy, smile.