The Grinning Shadow stayed against a wall of the sewers, its gaze directed onto the white clock that the rats were so preciously guarding from it. Both parties just stared at each other inquisitively, their eyes analyzing every movement the other was doing. Truth be told, even though tensions were high, there was no intent of harm coming from either parties.
"Hmmm. To think their descendants became filthy rats. Or, at least, they left them around here as such. Now I know why I couldn't find Stellar when she was in the sewers. This magic nullifier. I thought that they had all been lost to the ages. I guess one remained, but to be put under the guise of a clock? Such craftsponyship would require centuries of training, something ponies do not have. Hmmmm," the shadow hummed as it continued to peacefully stare at the clock.
"What?!" the whole group shouted.
Before the pegasus could put the bag back over the stallion's head, Cadence cried out to suspend the execution momentarily then turned to face Stellar.
"Is that truly your father?"
"Yes! I thought he was dead or something."
"Why would you think that?" Shining asked.
"I...I don't know!"
"Guards! Take her down to meet her father. I want him to see what he created and what he lost because of it. I'm certain we'll also learn about why he did what he did on the night Stellar fled her home."
The two crystal guards standing watch inside came out onto the balcony and gestured Stellar to walk in front of them and through the Crystal Tower. Everypony witnessing the execution were now in a huge brouhaha. Several were discussing what had happened. Others were still regretting Stellar not being the one on the podium instead of the stallion here. It had been years, but many were still sour over the whole ordeal, especially after the formation of the SPS. So many had been imprisoned since that office had been formed, and it made everypony frustrated about how they should feel about their current rulers.
Several minutes of waiting payed off when Stellar reached the huge crowd. The guards spread the first few unaware ponies while the rest soon departed when they realized what had happened. Stellar was still unsure about how she should feel during this whole event, but she was still conscious enough to notice that several of Life's agents were mixed into the crowd. She knew their ways well enough after seeing the train during so many years.
Finally, she was standing in front of the podium, and the crowd soon grew silent. Anger, sadness, and confusion were Stellar's only expressions at this moment. Her father had certainly hit the bedrock, but he definitely broke through that mineral deposit and fell into the void below. His whole coat had changed color and become muddy, dusty, and crusty. Any semblance of original color he once had were gone under the masses of dirt that had been amassed over the years. Stellar could not see his face as the stallion only looked down in shame and regret, and what could have been seen was completely covered y a mass of dangling dreadlocks.
"So, what is it one of the council members wants with me?" he asked with a rough and quiet voice.
"Dad, do you not recognize me?" Stellar begged as she tapped her chest with a hoof.
"Dad? My only child is dead. By my actions. I did not hold my promise to my beloved, and now all I had was destroyed by my giving into fear."
"Look upwards, stallion!" Stellar commanded.
The pony abided and looked at his conversation partner. Shadowrette cringed internally when she saw his face. It might have been hidden, but her father was good at showing a face of joy and tranquility. He looked stable, for what she could remember, but this one. This was just a former shell of her father. There were bags under his bloodshot eyes that had somehow gotten through his fur. Like the rest of his body, his face was tarnished and crusty, although it seemed that the lining of fur underneath his eyes had been imbued with years of crying.
"Stellar? I thought you were dead!" he spoke in a more joyous tone. He even showed some sort of substitute for a smile.
"Wh...What happened to you?"
"After I gave in to the shadows, I met the Grim Reaper who I thought killed me for breaking my promise, then I found myself in that prison. At first, I tried to escape, but then I gave in and thought over my life. Now I'm going to die. Funny how that works, hm?"
"What?! You chased me through the house with a knife! I was lucky that you didn't even reach me at all!"
"Yes. Your shadow buddies are to thank for that."
The crowd erupted in talk at the mention 'shadow buddies'. Who was the prisoner talking about? The shadow ponies?
"Still, I'm glad at least part of my promise wasn't broken."
"...Even now you're more concerned about having kept a promise to my mother than my well being? I...I need some time alone," Stellar said as she walked through the crowd. She was holding her tears but didn't know if she could keep them in before disappearing through the crowd.
"Stellar, wait! I have one last thing to tell you, but I need to say it quietly into your ears. It's a secret," Stellar's father shouted.
She hesitated at first while the crowd watched her, but the mare still turned around, walked onto the podium, then got her ear closer to her father. He licked his lips, smacked them a bit, then whispered:
"They said he would come back because of you. They said you were once his."
Stellar pulled back immediately from the stallion and stared at him, her face a widened mess of shock and disbelief.
"See? I told you you would ruin everything."
The mare's eyes dotted back and forth between the stallions, but she immediately turned tail and galloped away into the city.
"Hold him down and execute him at once! I want this scum living his last moment with yarn and knitting," Life roared.
The pegasus kicked the stallion behind the head while two guards attached his legs together and wrapped a noose around his neck.
"I'm going into the city to see where Stellar went," Life assured. The group nodded in approval and let him go.
Stellar's father watched as his daughter fled with hidden tears. Even though the watchers saw him as an evil beast and put their views of the shadow ponies into perspective, there was something else brewing within the pony's mind.
"There. I hurt my own daughter even more just so I could send her that message. Happy?"
"Happy?! Haha! HAPPY?! I'm overjoyed! You did more than just break her spirits."
"Fine. Now let me go from here."
"Mmmmm...no," the voice mocked.
"You promised! I need to go console my daughter!"
"You see, that would cause me some unwanted trouble. Plus, I said 'I' would let you go. The problem is, 'I' am not holding you right now. Thank again for your help, foal."
As for Stellar, she was already deep into the city, uncertain of where she was in her plight. She started to sniff quite loudly, but she couldn't keep it in for long, and tears began to well up in her eyes, blurring her vision.
"Stellar?" a familiar voice asked.
"C-Crystal?" Stellar sniffed as she wiped her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm deus ex machina-ing," she joked.
"What?"
"Okay. I was sneaking around here hoping to find some jewels dropped. I was hungry and they're expensive. Plus, my little brother is so annoying!"
"You have a little brother?"
"Yes, but let's talk about you? Why are you crying? Did Crunchy turn you down again?"
"No. I'm done with him. What really happened is that I found out my father was imprisoned for a long time in that prison I was trapped in,"
"You mean the one where you found Life?"
"Yes."
"I take it he's the source of everypony disappearing."
"Yeah," Stellar sniffed.
"Then why don't we walk around have a mare's day?"
"But I have to get back to--"
"No, no. We'll walk around." Crystal hugged the crying pony close to her. "We're both in the streets to get away from something bothering us. How about we go to those sewers again to see the clock?"
"You actually WANT to go into the sewers?"
Crystal's smile disappeared when she just realized what she had said. "You're right. That's a stupid idea. Do you know where we could start and talk?"
"There's the store where I got the clock. The owner said I was supposed to come back when I was twelve, and I never did."
"Then let's go see her! You're overdue!"
"But I--"
"We go now," Crystal growled playfully while she pulled Stellar. She stopped just as quickly as she started and rubbed her forehead. "Do you know where the store is?"