What Moonlight Made Her

by Storybelle

Chapter 11. Blood Moon

Finding and contacting the guard had taken all of Shadow’s resources. Luckily Crystal, a born and raised Manehattanite, has a good knowledge of the city and plenty of contacts. Finding a Captain Black Dagger from nearly twenty years ago was a breeze. Getting a message to him was less so but eventually someone gave them his home address. Shadow sent a letter by messenger requesting that he meet her at a cafe and he’d responded, confirming that the next day would be suitable. He hadn't even asked what it was she wanted to talk about. All she’d said was that she wanted to discuss an old case.

She arrives at the café a few minutes before their scheduled meeting time, a quaint local eatery that is apparently not too far from where Black Dagger resides in his retirement. He’d jovially written that his knees weren’t what they were and did she mind making the trip out to the suburbs. The train ride was decent and made quicker by the to go coffee she’d grabbed before hopping on at the station.

She pauses to scan the crowd, shielding her eyes against the bright light with a foreleg. The lunchtime diners are all sitting under forest green umbrellas and enjoying the sunshine. It's busy, everypony enjoying a quick bite outside before they head back to work. She scans the crowd for an older stallion matching his description. Eventually her eyes land on a black pegasus with an ash grey mane. His bulk definitely suggests he was very active when he was younger and still keeps himself in shape now. There’s slightly greying around his muzzle but his eyes look warm as he chats with his companions. When she gets closer, she can see the ornate dagger emblazoned on his flank. That’s him, she thinks brightly, to herself, as she nears the waiting pegasus.

He’s sitting with two mares, sharing a large jug of what looks like lemonade. The older mare is a similar age to the captain. She’s a pretty periwinkle blue pegasus, with a rose pink mane and tail. Unlike Black Dagger she doesn’t have any grey on her muzzle or mane, either through good genes or dye. Her cutie mark is a trio of pink and blue whistles. The younger mare is about Tea Leaf’s age. Her coat is a deep, rich red and her mane is twisted into a fancy hairdo that Shadow has seen on her grandmother a few times. She approaches the group cautiously. She hadn’t realised he’d be accompanied.

“Black Dagger, sir?” she carefully greets, once he is in earshot. He turns to smile at her but his companions don’t look so welcoming.

“This her?” asks the older mare in a not so kind voice, directing the question at the captain. She eyes Moon Shadow with disdain and…suspicion? Shadow swallows nervously. Her best guess is that this is Black Dagger’s wife but she's not sure she understands the hostility.

“I presume so,” Black Dagger replies jovially.

Shadow tries to smile at the table’s other occupants but it soon drops off her face when she doesn’t receive much of a response. Instead, both continue to quietly stare at the intruder, through two pairs of dark, suspicious eyes.

“Have a seat,” Black Dagger offers, not paying the slightest bit of attention to his family’s twin glares. He shoves a chair out for Moon Shadow and she awkwardly climbs into it, trying not to look either mare in the eye.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you during your retirement, Mr Black Dagger,” she begins, politely. She’ll just have to ignore the daggers she’s getting the brunt of. “But I actually have a few questions. As I said in my letter, my name is…”

“Moon Shadow,” Black Dagger cuts her off. “I know, lass. I remember you.”

She gapes at him before closing her mouth, aware that she’s being rude. She hadn’t expected that he’d so easily remember her after all these years. Hundreds of cases and countless victims, witnesseses, suspects...but to be fair, Equestria so rarely sees the kind of crime that her family went through.

Black Dagger chuckles, pulling an empty glass forward and filling it from the jug of lemonade on the table.

“Distinctive name you’ve got there. And asking about a case from nineteen years ago? That case has lived with me every day since then. And when I saw you, well, I just knew. A distinctive little filly, you were,” he warmly explains, sliding a filled glass of lemonade across the table to her. She takes it gratefully and gulps it down, dumbfounded. It’s pretty good actually. Sweet without being overbearing, the right amount of citrus on her tongue.

“So, you remember me?” she finally asks, when the glass has been half emptied. The lemonade hasn’t helped much, delicious though it was, and she briefly wishes for something stronger.

“You bet I do.” He turns away, leaning towards his silent, still suspicious wife. “Wind Whistler, this here is the little filly we rescued all those years ago,” he explains to the older mare. “Don’t you remember the Bramley Lane case?”

Wind Whistler and her daughter turn to look at Shadow with new eyes. Their unfriendly looks warm considerably, tinged with guilt.

“We’re so sorry, dear,” Wind Whistler tells her, fretfully. “We thought you were a journalist, asking all sorts of questions again.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” his daughter comments, reaching for her own glass. “That case got a lot of attention. We’ve had journalists hounding dad for years. We thought you were another one, trying to get some intel from us.”

“No, no!” Moon Shadow waves her forelegs emphatically, in an attempt to calm them. “I was told that your father was the one who dropped me off at the orphanage that night. I was hoping to find out what happened.” she hesitates. “I’m afraid I don’t know very much about what happened to my parents.”

All three of the ponies’ faces fall. Shadow squirms a bit under their pitying looks. She doesn’t like where this is leading. Wind Whistler and the daughter look dismayed but Dagger somehow appears resigned. Like he knew that she’d come and one day he’d have to tell her the truth.

She knows. She’s always known. There was no her chance of her arriving in Manehattan for somepony to say that her parents were still alive. That they were in hiding or have spent the last nineteen years in a hospital somewhere.

Yes, she’s probably known since she got on that train. Maybe even before. But she can’t mourn. Not yet. There’s still so much to do. Black Dagger has a story to tell her, pieces of her past that Prim Four only half completed. There’s still so many gaps.

“Oh, dear,” murmurs Wind Whistler. She turns back towards her daughter. “Come along, Cerise. We should give them some peace.” She makes one last glance towards Moon Shadow, with a small smile. “It was very nice to meet you, dear.” With that, Wind Whistler and Cerise slip down from their chairs, gulping down the last of their drinks and shrugging on their saddlebags.

Moon Shadow waves awkwardly as they leave, before she finds a renewed glass of lemonade being shoved in front of her muzzle.

“Drink up, lass,” Black Dagger firmly instructs her. “We’ve a long afternoon ahead of us.”

---

Their route to her old house is slow going. Moon Shadow is used to rushing about back in Canterlot, but Black Dagger walks much slower. He isn’t exactly sprightly anymore, either. When they set off from the cafe, Moon Shadow expects to get a cab or get a train. Instead they seem to be taking a leisurely walk down a suburban street in the sunshine. The houses sit in neat rows, with brightly painted doors and carefully maintained front gardens. There are window boxes and blossoming flowers. One has sunflowers by the front gate that tower over the both of them. Another even boasts tiny topiaries shaped like birds. If you couldn’t see the skyline in the distance, with all the towering skyscrapers, it would almost be like you were out in the country. It’s like a whole other world away from the city. Moon Shadow is quietly dazzled by the difference, having never set hoof this far outside of the main city before.

“Peaceful out here, isn’t it?” says Black Dagger, seeing her look at the quaint houses and bird-feeders in the yards. “My wife and I moved out this way a few years back, when our youngest went off to college. Seemed like the best place to retire and still be close to the city we love.” She mutely nods, unsure of the strange feeling in her gut. She grew up in the centre of Canterlot, exposed to culture and politics and every amenity the city had to offer. How very different her life would have been if she’d grown up here. Playing out in her very own garden after school, taking trips into the city only for special meals and visits.

“Is it this way?” Shadow bursts out, almost unable to contain herself. There’s a feeling of urgency in her belly; not quite excitement but almost a desperation, knowing that the answers she seeks are so close. “Along a street like this?”

“It was,” Black Dagger replies, trying to hop up back up onto the pavement and not quite making it. He tries again, without the hop, while Shadow impatiently waits for more answers. “I remember getting called out here and thinking that evil didn’t belong in a street like this.”

“Was that what it was?” Shadow asks uneasily. “I mean, is that what you think it was?”

Black Dagger gives a heavy sigh. Whether it’s from their conversation or the long walk, Shadow isn’t sure.

“Heavy word, evil,” he eventually comments, not quite to her. Shadow listens closely, ears flickering in silent anticipation. “I don’t like to think that there’s anypony in Equestria that’s evil. Or anybody at all. Heck, even manticores in the Everfree Forest aren’t evil. They want to survive, to hunt and eat. But it ain’t evil.”

“But what if there was something?” Shadow pushes, picking up her pace in her excitement. “If not a pony, there must be something in this world that’s evil.”

He shoots her a dark look that makes her suspect that she’s said too much. He seems to know that what attacked her parents wasn’t Equine.

“I expect there is,” he finally tells her, after some drawn out considerations. “But maybe not of this world, if you catch my drift.” There’s a certain type of knowing in his shadowed eyes, one that Shadow cannot yet fully understand. “There’s all sorts in Tartarus for that reason, after all. Now slow up!” Moon Shadow sheepishly screeches to a halt and waits for him to slowly pick his way towards her. Once they’re level she moves again, sticking to his pace this time.

“Nearly there,” he says. “Just around this bend. Sorry about this, I know you’re impatient but arthritis waits for no pony.”

They haven’t even made it to the turn when Shadow’s hair begins to stand on end. Something about this is familiar; unnervingly so. But she feels like she hasn’t seen it properly, or in daylight. It’s as if the memory is faded somehow, greyed and blurred out.

With every step, that feeling only grows stronger.

The street in front of them is exactly like the one before. Tiny red brick houses stand all in a row, with painted doors and manicured gardens. Birds chirp and somewhere a radio plays crackly music. There’s a stallion tending to his roses. He waves cheerily at them before returning to his work. It is a perfectly ordinary suburban street.

But the house in the middle seems somehow different. It as though the paint isn’t bright enough, or there are less blooms on the flowers outside. It is as if the house is lopsided or the bricks are bleeding red. It shouldn’t look or feel any different - but somehow it does. Shadow can feel the hair on the back of her neck rise. This is it. She suddenly, inexplicably realizes. This is the house from my dream.

This is her fillyhood home.

“Is this it?” Shadow manages to ask, her heart pounding furiously in her chest. Black Dagger looks surprised that she knew which house was the right one but nods.

“I’m afraid it is, my lady,” he gravely replies.

Moon Shadow stares up at the house, somewhat stunned. To be here finally and looking at it in person suddenly feels far too big for her to cope with now that the moment is here. It looks like a perfectly normal, two story house but Shadow can’t shake the feeling it gives her.

Shadow takes a step forward, trembling. This was where she spent the first three years of her life. She learnt to walk here. Had her first Hearth's Warming here. Was rocked to sleep in a crib upstairs. She can only imagine what dreams her parents had in this cosy little house, bringing home their first foal to their own little piece of Equestria.

Now it’s all been ruined. Dreams destroyed, parents dead and their little filly all grown up without them.

Shadow chokes back angry tears and feels a strong wing gently wrap around her shoulders.

“There, there,” he calmly soothes her. “Just let it out.”

Moon Shadow quivers for a moment more before bursting into gasping sobs. It occurs to her that this is the only paternal care that has ever been shown to her. There were never any significant male prescences in her life growing up and she never once wanted for it. But now she gratefully leans against him as she weeps and weeps. It seems only fitting, really, as Black Dagger was the one to deliver her from that house towards the path to her new life.

Black Dagger leaves his wing around her until she’s worn herself out.

“Better?” he kindly asks her and she manages a shaky nod. Her head hurts and her eyes are sore but a sort of pressure has been released. It feels good to finally grieve.

“I don’t think we can go inside,” he finally explains, as he removes his wing. Shadow immediately misses the warmth and comfort of it. “As far as I’m aware a family moves in every so often. But eventually it gets to them too and they leave until another tenant is found. No one can bare it for very long. There might be somepony in there now.”

“That’s ok,” Moon Shadow acknowledges, quietly. “This is enough.” He offers her a sympathetic look.

“You want to know the story though, don’t you?” he says. “You didn’t come all this way to not find out what happened.”

“No,” Shadow eventually agrees. She rubs her foreleg over her damp cheeks and red eyes before she turns to watch him carefully. “But even you don’t know what happened.” He may have been a key witness to that night but it’s very unlikely any investigation went very far. Celestia certainly wouldn’t have clued them in. Let them sweep it all under the rug as a mystery and let the trail go cold. What had happened here would quietly pass into history.

He clicks his tongue, looking thoughtful. “That is true.” he hesitates, before addressing her again. He meets her eyes. “To this day I won’t understand what happened that night. I’m not sure I want to. The witnesses we had from that night were spooked something fierce. Barely got a lick of sense out of them,” he comments for a moment, concern crossing his expression.

“They saw something,” Moon Shadow realizes, imaging the scene from that long-ago night. A pony looking out of her window one normal night to see a monster in their mist. Just wide, curved horns and glowing eyes. As Shadow had. “They saw my parents’ murderer.”

“That, they did,” Black Dagger darkly agrees. He turns away from the house and starts walking up the lane. “Come along, my lady. Let’s go sit somewhere quiet, so that I can tell you what I remember. It’s been near nineteen years and that house still gives me the heebie jeebies.”

Shadow offers her foalhood home one last lingering look. It unsettles her that this house will now never know a warm, loving family living in its walls. It should have had her loving family there for the sunny afternoons and cold winter nights and everything in between. Maybe one day it will just fall into disrepair, abandoned and unwanted. But finally she pulls her eyes away and takes off to catch up with Black Dagger.

She has a story to hear.

---

19 years ago, Mid-winter

Everypony had seen it. But, much to Captain Black Dagger’s frustration, no pony was actually able to describe what ‘it’ was.

“It was just horrifying!” The young mare’s teeth continued to chatter, just not from the cold. They’d been doing that since she was brought over for interview.

The Manehattan air was unusually calm for this time of year. There wasn’t even rain scheduled until Friday. Black Dagger would normally put it down to shock and the like, but the rest of the guard that had accompanied him here tonight had point blank refused to set foot in the innocuous, dark house that stood only a few feet away.

“Yes, miss, but what was it?” Black Dagger asked, not entirely patiently. After all, this was the fourth somewhat hysterical witness tonight. Every single one of them was the same. Spooked beyond belief and unable to look away from that house.

“It’s hard to describe,” she falteringly answers. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Black Dagger nods, wearily. He’s heard all this before from witness after witness.
No pony knows exactly what they saw. Every answer vague and unsure.

“Please try, miss,” he encouragingly replies, eyes still locked on the witness. “Three ponies simply do not vanish into thin air with no good reason.”

The mare sniffs and finally nods. She appears tired and scared, fear radiating from her big blue eyes. She can’t be much older than Black Dagger’s own daughter and yet she’s still standing here, in the dead of night, in this suburb of Manehattan, giving her statement to the Captain of the City Guard.

The young mare considers her answer. “It was…large. Much bigger than me.” She eyes the weary captain. “Or you, even.” She continues her description of the beast as best she can. “It had hooves…I could hear them echoing on the cobblestones. Nopony else is up at this time of night normally so you could hear them really loudly. Oh, and there were bells.”

Black Dagger looks up, suddenly hopeful. An actual clue?

“Bells?” he cuts off her rambling, trying to hide his excitement. “You could hear bells?”

The mare nods, eyes flicking up to the house again. It is something she does quite frequently. It’s as if she needs to check and make sure that it is just a house. It’s like everypony here can’t feel the evil trickling out of it.

“Yes. It scared me. Bells…” She shakes her head, changing whatever she meant to say. “No, it was just one bell. Ringing.”

“What kind of bell? A church bell? Did it sound like large bell or a small bell?” Black Dagger asks urgently. He knows this may be futile, but it also all they’ve got. The smallest detail might help solve the case.

His witness wrinkles up her small nose, considering.

“A small bell,” she says finally, having thought carefully about it for a few minutes. “Like one you might wear? It was ringing as he walked.”

“The suspect was male?” Black Dagger confirms.

She nods. “Yes, I’m sure of it.” She hesitates again before adding her last statement. “Also…he wasn’t a pony.”

Black Dagger resists the urge to bash his head into the cobblestones below. That’s the bit she keeps back until now? “What do you mean, he wasn’t a pony?” he asks through gritted teeth.

“He had horns.” She looks surprised by the captain’s frustrated expression. “What? Didn’t I mention that?”

Suppressing a growl, Black Dagger manages to shake his head.

“Well, he did. Big horns. They looked curvy. And he had a short tail. And his eyes!” She flinches back from the memory, as if it could still physically attack her.

Black Dagger waits for her to continue and is rewarded a moment later with new details about the suspect. “They were red eyes! I could see them glowing even from my living room.” Her cerulean ears flicker back, pressed against her head, a reaction she can’t control. “They were such awful eyes…” she adds in a near-whisper.

Black Dagger sees that she is still very shaken up. Although he wants to press her for more details, he knows that in this state, he probably won’t be able to get much more out of her. Witnesses are only so useful up to a point.

“All right, miss,” Black Dagger soothes. “It’s ok now. He can’t hurt you.”

“May I go now?” Her eyes flicker back, yet again, to that empty house. He suspects that even her house across the street won’t be far enough for her for awhile.

“You may. Just know that we may need to talk to you again at some point so I wouldn’t advise leaving town.” He gestures for another guard to escort the young lady home, even though it’s only a short distance. Nonetheless, better safe than sorry. Something evil walks the streets of Manehattan tonight. It already snatched three ponies from their home.

Black Dagger sighs heavily. Somepony is going to have to go inside eventually. He suspects that it’s probably going to have to be him. The guards on watch are shifting anxiously, their usual calm demeanour cracked. Even the few interviewing those ponies that were brought out of their houses by the excitement are nervous. They too, keep watching the house. They probably don’t even know that they’re doing it.

Black Dagger studies it carefully. It’s not just that the house is dark. Instead, it feels as though there will never be light inside it again. The captain continues to stare down the house, his thoughts as dark as it’s unoccupied windows. What happened? How did something like that creature even get inside the city walls?

“Sir!” Silver Strike, a new recruit to the Pegasus division of the guard, trots over to him. His uniform is still a little too big on him, helmet slipping over his eager brown eyes. The new recruits are always keen at first. “Message from Light Wing, sir!”

“Yes?” Earlier, Black Dagger had requested some of the pegasi do a fly over of the city to look out for the intruder. It was quicker than doing it on foot.

Silver Strike appears either uneasy or unhappy with his discoveries. “They didn’t find anything unusual, sir. No sign of the suspect or missing ponies anywhere, sir,” he reports, a distinct downturn to his mouth.

Black Dagger is not particularly surprised by this news. From the witnesses’ statements, this was no ordinary creature. Unidentified enemies do not sneak inside extremely well-guarded city limits to kidnap three perfectly normal ponies. Nor do they hang around after their crime has been committed.

But why though? Why snatch three relatively unimportant ponies from the suburbs of Manehattan, when you risked everything to get inside in the first place? Why not go for the Mayor or the dozens of ancient relics on display in the Museum?

What exactly was his purpose?

“What did you come here for? What treasure were you seeking?” Black Dagger whispers to himself, quietly.

“I find that clues tend to be inside the scene of the crime, not on display at the front door.”

The gentle, musical voice behind him is extremely familiar and yet so completely out of place on this dark little street. He’d know that voice anywhere - as does every single pony in Equestria.

“P-princess!” Silver Strike stutters, dropping to his knees besides Black Dagger.

Black Dagger resists the urge to roll his eyes. Newbie. He’ll get over his star worship eventually.

“Your highness,” Black Dagger acknowledges, bending his knees briefly, as a more restrained show of respect. “I really must advise you to return to the safety of the council hall immediately.”

“Captain, you and I both know that the kidnapper is no longer inside these walls,” she replies softly. “I’m fine. Besides, I feel that I may offer my assistance in this case.”

Black Dagger becomes aware of a disturbance flitting through the crowd. This is bad. He quickly deduces that the princess’ sudden appearance may make the situation seem worse than it is. They don’t want a panic on their hooves.

“Silver Strike!” he commands and the young pegasus snaps to attention, clearly keen to impress the Princess.

“I would like for you to instruct the others that all civilians be escorted back to their homes. Essential personnel only. We’re closing off the area.” Silver Strike nods and salutes, dipping into another quick bow before turning and heading to inform their fellow guards of the new instructions. Black Dagger knows that they will be quick and efficient and once the street is cleared, they can start the process of investigating the house.

He turns back to acknowledge the waiting royalty. “We’re going to do an initial sweep of the house,” he informs the princess. “So far aside from first responders, no pony has been inside. We’ve just ascertained that the three ponies who live there are no longer present and that a suspicious figure was seen on this street around that time.”

Silver Strike looks gob founded that he has addressed the princess so, but Celestia only smiles serenely. It’s almost as though she had expected him to say such a thing.

“As you wish, Captain. In fact, I shall have the best eyes on me, as I will be accompanying you into the house,” she says and the look in her eyes lets the captain know that she will not be argued with. But he does his best.

“Princess, I really must protest…!” Black Dagger starts. It goes against everything in his soul to allow their princess into what is obviously a dangerous environment.

The monarch of Equestria does not generally step inside crime scenes...or so one would think, but it doesn’t seem like this princess plans on stepping back.

She only gives the captain another calm, capable look. “Overruled.”

The princess has a funny sense of humour sometimes.

“Alright,” he finally concedes, knowing he has no choice in this matter. The princess outranks him, after all. “But I insist on another member of the guard to accompany us. We may need an extra pair of eyes.”

She inclines her slender head gracefully in agreement. The night remains still, but Celestia’s mane ripples like the Northern winds in Norheigh.

Black Dagger swiftly dispatches Silver Strike to carry out his former orders and to summon White Lightning as quickly as possible. His second in command, Blue Noon, is still at the outlook post but Black Daggers thinks that the sharp-eyed young unicorn would be best for this task.

“Ready, Princess?” he asks, when they are finally ready.

The street has been cleared, and patrolled in case any reporters or nosy teenagers decide to try and sneak past the tape sectioning off the house. It leaves the street eerily empty, quiet in the early morning gloom.

Black Dagger leads the way, followed by the princess and Lightning. They stop at the door. Heart in his mouth, Black Dagger pushes it. It soundlessly slides open, revealing an empty front room.

“Well, that’s not creepy at all.” Black Dagger mutters to himself and tentatively takes a step in, hooves echoing on the hardwood floors. The sound feels intrusive in the room, breaking up the tentative calm of the scene.

If he thought the house’s aura was bad outside, inside it is almost unbearable. He winces as walks fully into the front room, carefully looking back and forth for any clue or sign of a disturbance.

“What is that?” Lightning whispers, stopping just inside the door. He, too, looks pained, yellow ears pressed back against his head. No doubt the magic is pressing down hard on him.

It’s stifling. Manehattan may not have as many unicorns as Canterlot but they’ve spent enough time around powerful magic to be used to it. However, this is thick and cloying. Just trying to resist the darkness creates a painful sting behind his eyes.

“Magic,” the princess tells them grimly. “Ancient magic.”

She looks almost ancient herself. She is so tall and fierce, wrapped in gold, wings held in tightly against her body. Black Dagger is pretty certain in that moment that if it comes down to it and they are attacked, the princess will be the one to protect them.

“Is it... everywhere?” Lightning asks, creeping around the princess to study the windows.

“Yes,” she replies gravely. “I don’t know what was in this house but it was something very old and very evil. There are not many that could leave such a presence long after they’ve left.”

Black Dagger swallows once, hard. “Do you have any idea who might?”

Lightning has left the windows, having not found anything suspicious, and is now helping Black Dagger search the room. It is simple, but tastefully furnished. Something hurts inside Black Dagger’s chest: this place had once been warm and beloved. A family home, with hoof-sewn cushions and family pictures on the mantel. Now it is tainted.

“There are a few I can think of,” the princess concedes. “But most were sealed away in Tartarus or banished from the kingdom.”

“So that would mean one escaped,” Black Dagger concludes. His frown deepens. “It doesn’t explain why he would come here.”

“Is that even possible?” Lightning interrupts, shocked. All eyes turn to him. “Can one escape from Tartarus?”

“It’s possible.” The Captain informs his officer, after a moment’s pause. “Still, with the seals and spells on the gate and Cerberus guarding it, it’s not easy to accomplish,” Black Dagger finishes. There’s nothing to find in this room so, they press on and move ahead to another room, stepping out into a small hallway. There’s a staircase ahead of them but the corridor itself boasts a few more doors, all of which will have to be checked. They begin with the closest door, which turns out to be a small bathroom. Aside from an overly strong smell of incense, there’s clearly nothing there. The next room however ends up being a small study and all three squeeze inside with some difficulty.

“So if we exclude the ones in Tartarus, who else is there? What about the ones that were banished?” Lightning pushes, asking for more details. He’s checking the large shelves that take up the end of the room, while Dagger investigates the desk area, Judging by all the reference books and stationery, this was somepony’s home office.

The princess is no longer listening. Her usually kind lavender eyes have become very distant. Black Dagger always knew that Celestia wasn’t like him or any other pony. She had not aged all the while he had been captain and he suspected that she never would. He still doesn’t know exactly how old she is but at times like these it was easy to see an ancient, rightful vengeance in her; a fearful warrior bearing the crown alone.

“Princess?” Lightning calls to her, his voice little more than a murmur. They watch the Sun Princess carefully.

Without another word, she moves back through the door – not without some difficulty, as this house was built for much smaller ponies – her multi-hued tail vanishing before the guards realise that they had better follow her.

“What do you think is wrong with her?” Lightning wonders aloud. Dagger nonetheless ignores him and the two trot out the door, following the princess’ path.

For a moment, the two stallions stand in the hallway, disoriented by the eclipsing darkness. Lightning dares to call softly for the princess and, after a heart-stopping moment of silence, she answers.

“I’m up here. Tread quietly.”

The two guards follow the instructions, stepping as quietly as they can up the small staircase. In the upstairs hallway they follow Celestia’s voice again into a dark room. To their immense surprise, they are faced with a child’s nursery.

It would probably be a beautiful room, normally. But the darkness has spread even here. Black Dagger can’t help but shudder at the thought of his two sweet, young fillies in their warm pink bedroom, being exposed to this kind of evil. There’s an overturned night-light, still shining bright shapes onto the walls. A wooden mobile lies trampled on the shag carpet. Black Dagger nudges it reverently with one hoof, flipping it over to examine it closer. The three pony species are carved into it, along with an elegant alicorn figure that appears to be the princess. Somepony carefully carved these figures to hang above their child’s bed and now it’s ruined.

“Judging by the devastation in here, there was definitely a struggle here,” Black Dagger notes. The stillness in the rest of the house was unnerving but to have the origins of a fight here? It makes the captain feel queasy. Who or what could do something like this?

“The couple had a foal. Has a foal,” Lightning corrects himself, shamefaced and shaken. The missing little filly or colt must have been so young. Barely out of foalhood most likely. Perhaps starting to walk and talk. He or she would have been ready for school in just a few years. Dagger feels a twinge of pity for his colleague who is distinctly green looking underneath the daisy yellow fur.

“So they do,” Celestia agrees, walking slowly to the overturned crib. She reaches past it with one hoof, searching under the patterned blankets. There’s a heart-stopping moment before she brings it up again…this time cradling a tiny orange foal in her hooves.

Black Dagger nearly slumps in relief. It’s good to know that after what happened here tonight this little filly survived all of this evil.

“How did she escape?” Lightning asks, looking awed. The princess protectively clutches the filly closer to her chest and the trembling foal nestles up to Celestia’s warmth. She’s brightly coloured, with wild tufts of dark hair. Her eyes are open wide, staring with confusion and fear at the assembled ponies, unsure if they are friends or foe. She must have been terrified, huddled there in the dark, in the wreckage of the room. Wondering where her parents are. Unsure if the monster would come back. So she hid under her blanket, unable to make a sound, waiting to be found.

“We may never know how she came to be so lucky,” answers Celestia, keeping the filly close to her. “In the meanwhile, I think we had better leave and take care of this little one. I’d like the house sealed off, Captain.”

“Right away, Princess,” he agrees, with a swift nod. “What of the perpetrator?”

Celestia looks down at the filly’s forest green eyes, sadly. “Long gone, most likely, Captain,” she says. “I doubt he’s somepony we’ll be able to catch.”

“So that little filly is left without her parents…and he just gets away with it?” Lightning blurts out. Black Dagger resists the urge to kick his officer, even though he understands his junior’s anger.

The princess lifts her head, the filly still cradled in her hooves, to address the second in command. “Far from it,” Celestia replies, calmly. “But it would be a waste of our resources to attempt to send ponies after him. I suspect he’s gone somewhere we can’t follow.” She shakes her head, her eyes back on the filly, as she continues to address the guards. “No. He’ll return someday and then we’ll be ready.”

Lightning’s face is stuck somewhere between professionally dignified and obvious horror. Black Dagger knows because he feels it too. He’s just more practiced at hiding. Murder happens so rarely in Equestria. That two ponies can vanish from their home, leaving behind their young filly, most likely murdered and no retribution for the perpetrator…it seems so very unjust.

But sometimes the Princess knows best.

Lightning is silent, even after they’re back out on the street. After Black Dagger has closed up the board and taped it off (with anti-intruder spells to boot) he finds Lightning sitting on a nearby bench, holding the filly between his hooves.

“Moon Shadow,” Lightning dutifully tells him, as Dagger approaches. “Her name is Moon Shadow, the neighbours said.”

Black Dagger sticks his muzzle in front of the filly to stare at her. So far, she hasn’t made a sound, not a peep. The medic on site had said that it was probably shock or trauma. Aside from being a similar size and colour to a pumpkin, she’s a pretty cute filly. She has big, bright green eyes and tufts of indigo hair that’s just beginning to properly grow out. She sucks mindlessly on her hoof and stares up at the two guards with innocent eyes.

“Who’s a cutsey wootsie little girl then?” Black Dagger asks her and looks up to find Lightning staring at him. Black Dagger awkwardly clears his throat.

“I do have three daughters, you know,” he says, as if that’s an excuse. Even if one of them has already left for college and will soon be making her own way in the world.

“Uh huh,” Lightning says, looking as if he wants to add ‘that’s no excuse for this stallion’s Captain to go to mush at the sight of a foal.’

“Pretty little thing though,” Black Dagger adds, hurriedly, keen to change the subject.

“But so heavy,” Lightning groans, only half joking. “Are all foals this heavy?”

“Some,” Dagger nods. “Give her to me.” Lightning almost automatically shakes his head.

“I’m supposed to take her to the orphanage, sir!” he protests. Black Dagger ignores him and scoops Moon Shadow off his legs and carefully lifts her onto his back.

“I’ll take her,” he says gently. “You go home and see your fillyfriend. Be back bright-eyed tomorrow morning.” Lightning hesitates, clearly wanting to do his duty but the evening has been too much for him.

“Alright, sir,” he begrudgingly allows. “Until tomorrow, then, sir?” Black Dagger nods, dismissing his colleague and turns to walk away, when Lightning pipes up from behind him.

“Sir? What’s going to happen to her?” he asks worriedly, pointing towards the sleepy filly on Dagger’s back.

He considers the situation, as well as the small filly lying trustingly on his back. “An orphanage for now,” Black Dagger tells him. “They’ll look after her. The Princess will sort the appropriate paperwork and there’s a nurse and a psychologist coming to see Miss Shadow tomorrow to properly look her over.”

“But…after that?” Lightning pushes and Dagger smiles, despite himself. Maybe Lightning is a bit soft on foals, after all.

“I’m sure she has a family,” he assures Lightning. “A grandparent or aunt who can take her in. The city will find them.”

“Sure,” Lightning eventually agrees, the uncertainty still plain on his features. He hesitates, coughing and then finally bows his head. “Well, goodnight, Captain.”

“Goodnight,” Black Dagger replies, watching White Lightning disappear into the darkness. He looks back at the little filly, half asleep on his back.

“Well then,” he says aloud to Moon Shadow, and she half stirs, confused. “Let’s find you a nice warm bed.”

---

“That was it?” Shadow asks, bringing the captain back to reality. He looks up, nearly stunned to be brought back to the present. “There were never any leads? Celestia just said to let it go?”

She honestly doesn’t know what she expected him to tell her. Still, to hear Celestia stepped inside that house, picked up an orphaned little filly and just let the murderer go? That makes her blood boil.

“None,” Dagger said, scratching his head thoughtfully with one hoof. “We never heard anything about him again.” he pauses, considering. “He’s pretty distinctive, you know. We would’ve known if he’d set hoof back in Equestria. But the Princess was right – he vanished without a trace. We’d have wasted resources trying to find him. Although,” he starts, casting another knowing glance at her. He seems to see right through her. “I suppose that’s not what you wanted to hear.”

Moon Shadow lets out a furious, shaky breath. No, this is not at all what she wanted to hear. It was all very well for Celestia – she’d stepped inside that house to find her precious Sandmare safe. She’d never bothered to consider the two ponies who’d given their lives to protect Shadow. And a few weeks later she’d gotten approval to formally transfer Moon Shadow, whisking her away from her first home forever.

Even if Shadow logically understands that Grogar could never have been caught, it cannot ease the painful ache in her heart. She needs justice for her parents. For the life she almost had. For all the lives destroyed along the way.

“It’s not,” she finally agrees, her voice broken with the knowledge. “But I understand.”

Black Dagger smiles fondly at her. “I used to wonder over the years how you were doing,” he tells her. “I visited you a couple of times when you were at Prim Petal’s.” he takes a breath, letting the situation sink in for Shadow. “After you were adopted, I wasn’t told where you’d gone. Said they couldn’t release those details,” he says, shaking his head. He clearly hated having lost contact with her. It must have been very strange for him receiving her letter. “Canterlot, you said?”

Shadow realises he’s still talking and reaches for a quick reply, still reeling from the consequences of Celestia’s long-ago decisions. “Yes.” she nods, her answer succinct. “I live there with my adopted mother. I work at the castle,” she continues to explain, but her heart isn’t quite in the response. Her heart, her very soul is numb.

A young couple stroll by, reminding Shadow yet again that they are not lost in the middle of an evil forest. Rather, they are still in a perfectly normal, natural neighbourhood. They both turn to watch the couple walk by, clearly lost within each other’s company. The two ponies don’t notice the captain nor Shadow in the slightest. This seems somehow unfair to Shadow, given the circumstances. The companions watch the couple vanish around another corner, leaving the two of them alone yet again.

“At least, you turned out alright,” Black Dagger adds, breaking the awkward silence. She resists the urge to snort. He has no idea.

Something suddenly brightens the older stallion’s eyes and he offers he a keenly intriguing look. “Hey, I think there may be something for you down at the station. Might be buried under a pile of old evidence boxes, but if you’ve got an hour to spare…” Moon Shadow nods, curious and hops down from the bench. She reaches out a leg to help Dagger but he brushes it away.

“Get off, lass. I’m not that old,” he grumbles, easing himself down. Shadow smirks to herself, but withholds her comments. Instead, she only watches as he makes his way off the bench, all by himself. Stubborn old stallion, she thinks to herself, a touch fondly. She hopes dearly that they’ll stay in touch after this. She’d like to meet his wife and daughters under better circumstances.

“So, which way to the station?” she asks him, cheerfully.

---

Moon Shadow sits in a taxi, a small box cradled in her lap. It had taken most of the afternoon, but they’d finally found the evidence box from nineteen years before. The storeroom was bigger than Shadow’s whole apartment block back home, filled from floor to ceiling with boxes and boxes of old evidence. Most of it hadn’t been of any use to them – a hoofprint mould from the scene, paint scrapings; but a few things had been relinquished to Moon Shadow as their rightful owner.

Nestled inside the box was a small shattered photograph, the broken glass missing now. According to Black Dagger, the remains of her old nursery mobile were also included, as well as an old, damaged nightlight, a small, ragged teddy bear and the faded blanket from her foalhood cot. These were all of very little importance to anyone but Shadow, but they were also all that remain of a time she can no longer remember.

Moon Shadow gently touches the wooden figurines of the broken mobile with one hoof. She studies the unicorn, earth pony and pegasus figures, along with the moon and sun carvings. There’s also a rearing alicorn figure, but Moon Shadow tries hard to not look at it.

The photograph holds nothing important. Her parents weren’t even in it. Instead, it shows a newborn Moon Shadow, fast asleep in her crib. On the back, elegant script read ‘Our little Moon Shadow, born October 21^st.’ Moon Shadow stares at the hoof-written script, wondering if her mother or father had written that. Either way, their hoof-writing had been much neater than hers.

Moon Shadow closes the box and leans her head back against the cab wall letting out a heavy sigh. The taxi continues to briskly move down streets, traffic flowing for once at a steady pace. Good, Shadow thinks to herself. She still wants time to eat and be alone for awhile, before she has to go out and work again. She needs to think and reflect on all she’s learned and been through in the short time she’s been here.

Black Dagger had tissues prepared this time, for when she cried over the box in the station. He’d carefully moved the important items to a smaller box for transport and told Moon Shadow to keep in touch. They’d hugged before Moon Shadow hailed a taxi back to her grandparents’ house and watched him as he vanished in the distance.

But now what?

Moon Shadow watches the buildings whip by. She’s nowhere near ready to go back to Canterlot. There’s still so much to do, and so much to find out. At this minute, she doesn’t trust Celestia as far as she can throw her.

Which wouldn’t be very far. Shadow realizes, privately, her eyes on the scenery as it zooms past her. Celestia is kind of long and heavy. Long alicorn legs and big wings. The whole ordeal would be too difficult.

A rut in the ground makes the taxi jump, causing Moon Shadow to spring back to reality and all of the concerns that it provides. All things considered, Shadow is still not so sure of Celestia’s motives. It’s very strange when somepony you’ve loved and admired for so long turns out to be somepony entirely different from who you thought they were. She’s suspicious of Celestia….oh, but how she misses her too.

“Here’s your stop, lady!” the cabbie announces, pulling to a halt in front of her grandparents’ building. Moon Shadow magically lifts her treasured box and hops out, fishing in her saddlebags for the bits.

“Keep the change!” Shadow calls, as she races inside the lobby. She doesn’t bother to watch, as the cab darts around a corner and disappears.

The doorpony only gives her a nod, as she trots across the marble floor to the lift. Admittedly, she looks a bit more like a lady, now that her grandmother has spruced her up. It won’t stick, she thinks with a slight smile, admiring her reflection in the mirror as the lift starts to rise. Still, for now it’s something she could get used to.

The lift opens at her grandparents’ floor, opening right at their front door. She goes to open it, but finds herself grabbing at air instead as the door has already been swung open.

“Miss Duster?” she says in surprise. Her grandparents’ maid stands in front of her, face as expressionless as always. No wonder Lace Bonnet likes her so much. Scary and psychic. “That was impressive. How did you know I was going to be at the door?”

“Welcome back, miss,” she replies formally. “The doorpony rang up to say you had returned.” She takes Shadow’s saddlebags off her, although Shadow refuses to relinquish the box, increasing her grip on her precious childhood mementos. “There’s a guest waiting for you in the lounge.”

“Oh!” says Shadow, thrown. She doesn’t really know anypony in Manehattan and certainly nopony who would make the trip to come see her. “Is it Aunt Crystal?” She turns to walk down the hallway to the main living room. It’s entirely possible her aunt has stopped by to see how her investigation is going. She would prefer to be alone after her long, tiring day, but she’ll make an exception for Crystal.

But the pony sipping tea on the love seat isn’t Crystal Cut. Instead, it is a rose pink mare with pale gold and petal pink hair, tied up in a bun. Her suitcases are still at her feet, but Shadow hardly notices the mess.

Shadow drops her box onto a nearby armchair in shock. Her voice cracks as she calls out the name of her visitor.

“Mommy?”

Author's Note:

Apologies for the massively long chapter once again! I really will try and make them more reasonable in future.

Many thanks again to Alex and Julie for their help. This chapter would not have be what it is without them.

Again, if you save or comment, it means the world to me and Moon Shadow.