Inverno’s Opus in A Minor

by CrackedInkWell

13: Maneler’s Funeral March in A Minor

The Crystal Train was moving Eastward towards Canterlot, and by morning, the countryside had become less mountainous and replaced with thick forests where every half-hour or so they passed a small village or rail station. One of the few to be awake onboard the train was Maneler as he was up since the crack of dawn. He was observing the twilight of the sky change color among the trees that seem to flicker as the train speed on. With a cup of coffee in his cloven hoof, he sat there in the very back of the railcar in peace while in the sleeping quarters, Schubit was snoring away.

Eventually, the stillness was interrupted as the sliding door to the caboose was opened. Professor Key stepped through and was cautious to walk quietly towards where Maneler was sitting. Opening the door to the observation deck, he said, “I hope I’m not interrupting you.”

“Not exactly.” He said between sips. “How far are we to Canterlot?”

“We most likely should arrive there by tomorrow, I think. But I had an idea that I want to talk to you about.”

The deer raised an eyebrow. “Involving what?”

Closing the door behind him, the Professor took a seat across from him. “I’ve been thinking about what you said after we left Sires Hollow. About how you were able to actually speak with your daughter again.”

“Oh, I see.” Maneler put down his mug. “You want me to repeat it again for your own benefit.”

He shook his head. “Not mine… Inverno’s.”

The deer blinked. “Pardon?”

“Let me explain.” Key took a moment to clear his throat. “Lately, my student has some rather mixed feelings about his biological father. On the one hoof, he knows the truth about him. He knows of the torcher chambers, the slavery, the cruelty that he carried out behind his back. On the other… he still sees him as his father. Prince Shining and I have begun to suspect that perhaps the colt hasn’t found the closure to reconcile over what he knows and feels about Sombra. After all, he never got the chance to say goodbye to him. Many ponies like him can’t speak to the dead to tell them what they really think and feel about them to move on. You, however, can.”

Maneler took in a deep breath. “Professor, I understand where you’re coming from but… I don’t know… I don’t know how exactly this type of new magic works or its dangers. And even if I did, this is Sombra we’re talking about. One of the most notorious monsters in Equestrian history.”

“And Inverno’s father.” Key pointed out. “Just tell me one thing: when you were able to talk to your daughter again, were you able to actually touch her?”

He shook his head. “No, my hoof went right through her. But still, I can’t say it would be the same for all spirits that it raised.”

“Look,” the old professor sighed, “you have to understand that everyone on this train - we care about Inverno. He’s the innocent that has been caught up in these unfortunate circumstances. His father, the only family he knew had died, the Empire for a while thought of him to be as big of a monster as Sombra was, and what’s more… he’s lonely for the companionship of those who are like-minded to him. If I had any power, I would have him be my grandson as I’ve never met a colt who is not just talented, but he’s a good colt who deserves to be happy and away from the shadow of his father's. I want to help him, but I can’t do it alone.”

“I don’t know…”

Maneler felt a hoof on his shoulder. “He considers you as a father figure, you know.”

The deer blinked. “He does?”

“Yes, at least in a sense. After what you said to him at Rainbow Falls, he sees you as something like a family. All I’m asking is to give him the same opportunity to make peace with his past, as you did with yours.”

The two of them fell into silence as Maneler witness the sun finally breaking through the tree line. “Does Inverno want this?”

“I think that it would be for his own good to finally tell Sombra what has been on his mind.”

Another pause. Shutting his eyes tight and taking a deep breath, he finally said, “Stop the train.”

---

The train stopped at a ghost town. All around, the abandoned town had no signs of anypony around with only the facades of the wooden buildings still standing while others have been reduced to a pile of planks and rust. The first thing that Inverno noticed as they stepped off was how quiet everything was. Only the wind and the chirping birds were heard in the silence.

Although he was told what was going to happen, he still felt completely unprepared. On the one hoof, there was an anticipation of finally meeting the pony who he knew for most of his young life. On the other, there was dread that sat at the bottom of his heart.

“You know that nopony is forcing you to do this.” Shining reminded him.

Inverno nodded. “I know…”

“But are you sure that you want to meet him?”

The colt hesitated for a moment before nodding. “I have… so many questions to ask… so many things to say…”

Hoofsteps were heard behind them and Inverno glanced over to where the train, the guards, Schubit, and the Professor were to see Maneler walking up to them.

“I can’t promise that I might successfully recreate what happened in Sires Hollow.” He said. “But if this does work, then all I ask is for you to stay close by me.” Looking down, he added: “Are you sure this is what you want?”

Taking hold of Shining’s hoof, Inverno nodded.

“Very well,” Maneler nodded, “I must ask of everypony here for silence. If this is to work, I need silence and no interruptions. That means don’t speak, don’t sneeze, don’t fart, don’t cough or move for that matter if this is to work. And please, be patient with me.”

Inverno saw the deer sat on his hunches while he raised his hooves up as if he’s about to lead on an orchestra. In that silence, Maneler glanced this way and that with a piercing gaze as if he was scanning for anything out of place in this ghost town. After a solid minute with nothing but a breeze blowing in the trees, he closed his eyes hard to concentrate. The colt saw in his eye a tear forming before whispering one word: “Mareia,” before he started to conduct.

At first, a lone trumpet was heard with a drum-like rhythm. It started so simply and soft, but once it reached a higher note, everything, including the wind became still. There was something in the air that every unicorn present could feel was being charged with shivering energy. Then as the trumpet became louder with a full orchestra marching in, Maneler exploded in a flash of light. A blinding moment later, and the illusion took place where they stood at the imposing cast-iron entrance of a graveyard, and Maneler himself wore a black funerary suit and top silk top hat.

Now a rolling drum stiffens the deer as he ceased conducting and opened his eyes. Looking this way and that, he instantly knew that it has worked once again. Looking over to Shining and Inverno, he said in a stoic but serious tone, “Forward march,” before he began to walk past through the gate.

Not wanting to let go, he and Shining followed Maneler behind as they walked among the graves. At first, they could see nothing beyond the foggy tombstones and statues, or monuments that seemed to loom over them. But as they continued to follow the deer further, all-around their eyes caught some kind of movement but couldn’t make it out at first. Then slowly, they could make out outlines of moving hooves, faces, manes, and tails that pieced together the forms of ponies. All of them they can see right through as if they were apart of the mist that was around them.

Inverno looked over to Shining, “Who are they?”

Shining looked around, “I’m not exactly sure… None of them look…” Inverno noticed him trailing off where his eyes widened. The colt scanned over towards the direction that his dad was staring. He found a hoofful of guards nearby, who were just as stunned as Shining was.

“Dad, I think we have to keep moving.” Inverno urged, “We might lose Mr. Maneler in this fog.”

Glancing between him and the ghostly guards, Shining exchanged a wave with them before he had to move on – all the while stopping for a moment to look over his shoulder.

Maneler leads them through the cemetery until he suddenly stopped at another iron gate. In the thick fog, the fencing was in a ring that surrounded a stone gazebo with a black sarcophagus. A shadow sat on top of it with its back against them. “This is as far as I go.” He said as he looked back at them. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“You know you don’t have to,” Shining added.

Inverno nodded. He and his dad opened the gate and walked into the enclosed ring. A hurricane of emotions swirled and collided within the colt as he saw the silhouette of his father. His hooves shook in fear, his heart was sunken in dread, his eyes in anger, his mouth in excitement and longing to reunite. Even when he and Shining stopped halfway, Inverno was petrified to move any closer or to say anything. He felt a hoof on his back and his dad whispering in his ear, “No matter what happens, I’ll be right here beside you.”

A gulp was heard as Inverno gained the courage to take a few more steps forward. “P… Papa?” No response, so he moved a little closer and called out a little louder. “Papa?”

The shadow’s ears perked up. “Inverno?” To the colt, that voice, that deep but concerned voice was unmistakable. Sombra scanned through the fog, “My son? Where are you?”

“Turn around, Papa.”

So he did. Sombra whirled around in which he finally saw him. Instantly he got off his ebony coffin to rush over to him. “SON!” He cried out, his forehooves reaching out to embrace him – only to go right through him as Inverno covered his face in fear. The ghost of the tyrant froze when he felt nothing in his hooves and turned around to see him crowding. “Inverno? Inverno, what’s going on? What’s wrong?” He tried to reach out his hooves to him but try as he might, it only went right through.

“D-Don’t hurt me…”

Sombra was taken completely aback, almost in shock. “What did you say?” When Inverno didn’t reply, he took notice of the other pony that was with them. “Shining Armor? What are you…” He paused as he looked between him and his son that was showing fear of him. Suddenly, his eyes glowed in rage. “What did you do to my son!?” He tried to pounce on him, only to find that like Inverno, he simply went through him, even with the punches, bites, and kicks he tried to inflict, it had no effect at all. “What in Tartarus is going on!?”

“Inverno wants to talk to you,” Shining said sternly. “While he still can.”

“While he still…” Sombra turned back to his son. “Inverno, whatever he told you, don’t believe his-” Although he didn’t feel it, his words were cut when his own son had tried to slap him across the face. But what made it worse, was the look in Inverno’s eyes as they were glowing red.

“How could you?” He said aloud. “After all this time, of everything you taught me, of everything you told me… you lied to me.”

“Son that’s not-”

“No!” The colt snapped at him. “You lied to me every, single, step of the way! You lied to me that you were a good king! You lied to me that the Princesses of the South were dangerous! You lied about how the slaves served us willingly! You lied to me how you were kind, or wise, or honest, or just!” Inverno stopped on the ground in which glowing red cracks formed around his hoof-like broken glass.

“Son,” Sombra raised his hooves. “You must calm-”

“But most of all!” Inverno continued to rant. “You lied about we were beloved by our subjects when they were afraid and hated you! Hated us! So what?! Did you also lie to me about that you play the music that I spent days writing for you?! Or that you didn’t kill the slaves that could have been my friend!? Or did you lie to me every time you said you loved me!?”

Another, powerful stomp and Sombra’s tomb, as quick as lightning formed glowing red cracks before it was instantly reduced to rubble. Nopony spoke in that stunned silence, nothing was heard except for the music that continued to be poured out of Maneler.

But as sudden as that bust of anger came, Inverno's eyes faded into tears. With a head bowed low and hooves over his eyes, he cried. “I-I just wanted to hear you say the truth…”

With a sigh, Sombra went over to his son and sat beside him. “What do you want to know? What would you have me say?”

Inverno sniffed. “I just want to know… Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you lie to me? About what the whole world is like and to have me locked up in an apartment for all my life.”

There was a pause. “You’re not going to like it.”

Another sniff from the colt. “Tell me.”

“No, you are really not going to like it.”

“He needs to know the truth,” Shining said, narrowing his eyes. “It doesn’t matter how unpleasant it is, if there’s any chance for you to resolve this in peace, you have to tell him the truth, the whole truth, and nothing except the truth.”

Sombra hesitated before turning to his son. “Inverno, look at me.” He did so. “Son… the truth is that before you were born, the world I knew from the Crystal ponies has taught me was that if you were different, if you were not in any way like them, there is no opportunity for you. There is no kindness, no acceptance, no way for you to do what you want to do. And because they exclude you, they will still punish you for not knowing things or be as talented as they are. But I when became king, I swore that the dynasty I’ll leave behind will be one of genius. The family I will create shall be the smartest, talented, creative, prophetic children in not only the Crystal Empire, but the world to be as a shining beacon of civilization.”

“Wait,” Inverno interjected, “children? As in… more than one?” His father nodded. “Papa… Why didn’t you te-”

“Hear me out.” Sombra interrupted. “The truth is that you had other brothers and sisters… however, I made it so that none of you knew of the existence of the other. And I did so for good reason: throughout history, kings were overthrown by their own children, and even then, they wage war with each other for the throne. By keeping all of you separated and ignorant of one another, it made things easier to keep all of you in line.”

His son sniffed. “So… how many brothers and sisters did I had?”

“…. That depends, if you mean how many of them survived past the age of one, then you had two sisters and a brother. But under that, the last time I was alive… there were twelve infants.”

“But… did you know who mom was?”

He shook his head. “The perks about being a king is that you get to have your way with any mare you wanted, whether they like it or not. Some of them did get pregnant in which I had them being looked after until they’ve given birth, and after that… I banish them from the kingdom while telling them their foal has died so that they couldn’t be given any claim to power. As to your mother, Inverno… I don’t know where she is, or even if she’s alive.”

Inverno broke down crying again, to which Shining went over to hug him. “But why did you lock him up in an apartment when he was found, he was freezing to death?”

“Firstly, I made sure that I had all my children be as comfortable as possible in their apartments. It’s all for their security, I never lied to Inverno that the world outside was dangerous as I knew that the moment the slaves knew about his existence, they would want nothing more than to harm him. Now you listen to me, Prince Shining, I loved my children, every one of them.”

“You have a funny way of showing it.” Shining’s eyes narrowed. “But why was he nearly frozen to death?”

Sombra took in a deep breath. “A failsafe. I put a spell on all of their rooms that if something were to happen to me, like say… you and your wife came along to overthrow me for example, that if I died, I’m taking my family with me. So at least they would be spared the aftermath in the hooves of the Crystal Ponies.”

Shining picked Inverno up in his hooves and using his magic he placed him on his back.

“Just so you know,” Sombra added, “that colt you have on your back, he’s the real heir to my kingdom. Not you, or your wife. I may no longer be king, but if I catch so much as a whisper that my son is being mistreated by your hooves, I will bring down the heavens and raise fire from the earth to save him.”

“Mistreated?” Shining got in his face, “Says the stallion that cut off any chances of him having any foals of his own. You had him castrated!”

Sombra frowned, “Believe me, if I did have any other choice, I wouldn't consider it. However, you saw what he did to my grave, and if I hadn’t made him undergo the operation, he might have shattered the whole world in one temper tantrum. Besides,” he lifted a ghostly hoof to grace across his son’s cheek. “Teaching him to be a castrato was a tremendous honor that if I hadn’t done that, my son would never have the voice of an angel that he is ordained to have. If you heard him sing, you would know that it was worth the price.”

Disgust filled Shining’s face as he turned towards where Maneler was. But as he carried Inverno out, the colt looked at Sombra. “Goodbye Papa.”

“Wait!” The dark unicorn cried out as he rushed over and although neither could feel it, he nuzzled him. “Goodbye my Prince, you still have my love.”

Without turning around, Shining carried his son out of the ring and told Maneler that it was time to leave. The deer, who overheard everything, eyed Sombra who looked on and shook his head. While he did see that they came for, to the composer, part of his wish that the exchange never took place at all.

---

The train continued towards Canterlot, and Maneler was making his way through the crystal rail cars towards the front. When he reached the door of the Royal car, he knocked on the door, there he found the Professor.

“Maneler?” Key Signature blinked, “What are you doing here?”

“I want to speak to the colt.”

“Inverno?”

“It’s a personal matter, I wish to speak to him if that’s permitted.”

He was let in as he stepped aside. The deer found Inverno wrapped in blankets in a bunk bed while Shining sat next to him, rubbing a hoof on his back. Maneler bowed before asking, “How is Inverno?”

“Stable now, but still feeling down,” Shining answered.

“Ah…” he nodded. “I see.” Maneler gently walked up to the bed in which he laid himself down in front of it to where he and Inverno were at eye level. “Is there anything that I could do?”

Inverno shook his head. “I don’t know…”

“Look…” He glanced between him and Shining for a moment before saying. “I’m sorry for all that you’ve heard today. Especially when he told you that you had siblings… I just… I cannot say that I know exactly what kind of shock this is to you, but I, however, understand your pain.”

The colt sniffed. “How?”

“As I said before, my family is no stranger to death. I had brothers and sisters that had departed from this world far too soon – those who were so much cleaver and talented than I. Even after all these years, that emptiness never truly faded away.”

“But I never knew who they were.”

Maneler sighed as he rubbed his mane. “I agree, it is a tragedy. And I can see the pain in your eyes that you pine for what could have been. It’s at times like this that even I have to be reminded of what I still have. From what I’ve heard, you have a loving mother, a caring father, and a bouncing baby sister. Not only that, but you have friends who stand beside you such as the Professor and me. Although, between us, I’m not so sure about Mr. Schubit.”

Inverno sat up, “Really, we’re friends?”

“Why not? After all the misfortune that has come in your path, it’s always better to have someone to walk with. Or in this case, someone who has been down that path before.” He smiled, “Will you be alright?”

He nodded. “I’m just still shocked over the fact that I had brothers and sisters… It just, made me wonder whatever became of them.”

Out of the corner of Maneler’s eye, he saw Shining tense up at this. “I understand.” He replied. “Tell me, what do you like to do for fun?”

Inverno shrugged, “I like to create something.”

“Ah… That’s right, I forgot that you compose too.” Then he got an idea. “Have you ever written a symphony before?”

“Well, sort of. Professor Key did the rearranged for other instruments when I only knew how to write for the organ or the piano.”

Eyeing the piano, Maneler waved a hoof at it. “So how about it? How about I teach you the basics of composing a symphony?”

Inverno happily agreed to it.