The return home had been long and silent, not a word spoken, Shadow simply walked along quietly too caught up in her own thoughts to care. Even the servants left her alone to think, after entering the portal and emerging in his home she began to wonder what was next. Whatever she expected it was nothing more than a continuation of things as they were, more classes, lectures and learning. A week went by as nothing more than a blur before she finally snapped out of her stupor and began to ask more questions though not dealing with her usual lessons. His response had been to have her write them all down and wait till the end of the week when the lessons change.

Today was that day, it had been a week, she had several scrolls filled with questions left unanswered. Taking her seat and looking at the board it simply said: "History, Philosophy, Morals and Ethics." All the books had been removed from her table, even the massive pile Valkardian kept for himself was gone, replaced by four heavy tomes. Speak the devil, he entered not long after and quickly took his place and flipped open the first book before looking at her.

"As you should have guessed today I will be knitting everything you have learned so far together, we will be covering things more broadly and unlike before, I will add my own thoughts to matter and have you speak your own. Rather than listen you will be required to think on what you have learned and form your own opinion of matters and express them to some degree. It does not matter if they are not well formulated, you simply need to have your own opinion and speak it. While that covers the History and Philosophy, the Morals and Ethics will require you to challenge and explain your beliefs. Do you have any questions before we begin?"

A simply "no" was all she said and he immediately went into history and philosophy, most of it explaining what the ancient philosophies were, their morals, ethics, etc. Questions and answers, he would press her to explain herself whether she agreed with them or not. Now and then he would stop and ask if one of the questions she had written down applied and she would ask.

Two days later he was now back to the sisters timeline and her questions and the arguing began. "How could you possibly justify "harvesting" an entire town of ponies? That was morally and ethically wrong! No pony would ever think to do such a thing, well maybe Celestia and Luna but still!" He had taken to simply sitting down, no writing was done on the board, he simply stared at her blankly and answered: "I do NOT justify it morally or ethically. I did it because I needed more bodies, they were not my own, enemies no less, they had what I wanted so I went and took it."

Her jaw dropped. "That's HORRIBLE!"

Valkardian simply smiled at her "That depends on how you look at it, was it so wrong when Celestia burned Fisher's Cove to the ground? They were her enemies. Or is it you object because I killed them then took the bodies? Yes the ponies were "innocent" but they served a lord who was my enemy, one who had gotten it into his mind to war with me. All I did was simply kill two birds with one stone. I nipped a possible invasion in the butt and grew my numbers at the same time."

"That's hardly any excuse! You could have targeted HIM and left the ponies alone!"

"Maybe, but that would be a large risk, assuming I DID successfully kill him, some other noble would have taken over and maybe carried out his plans. My action was more straightforward, never underestimate the power of TERROR on your enemy."

Shadow balked at this "HAH! You certainly have the power to of singled them ALL out and dealt with them! There would have been no to little risk, all you did was make more enemies, had you singled them out then perhaps the ponies might have even, somehow, thought better of you."

Sighing he leaned back "You also forgot that then, like today, ponies believed their rulers were ordained by "gods." Their right to rule was and still is considered DIVINE, some today however now see it as more a genetic thing, they have proper breeding so they get to rule. No amount of singling them out would have worked and it would not have set a precedence. After my attack they clearly understood the price of challenging me."

She let out a "humph" at this "You could still of at least TRIED to spare them, you were older and wiser, you should be better than them!"

"HAH! Be BETTER than them? What is the standard then? Ignore them like Celestia does today till it bites her in the ass? Negotiate and they keep plotting? One should never leave their enemies alive unless there is some outstanding reason for it. I COULD have razed the entire kingdom to the ground but I singled out just the one town and wiped it from the map. Yes, I killed the babies in their cribs but all the neighboring kingdoms backed down immediately. By reaping my bloody harvest at the start it meant more would not die later. I SAVED lives by slaughtering a handful of innocents."

A shiver ran down her spine at this, he was too calm about this though history had proven him largely right. "Murder can never be justified!"

"Oh REALLY now Shadow? Murder can never be justified? What IS the definition of murder then? To kill without reason or just cause? Have they changed the dictionary for the millionth time yet to suit their political correctness? I killed, no I slaughtered those ponies for a damn good reason. You lack perspective Shadow, all you see is the bodies, families and lives lost. You do not see that had I not their army would have tried to march on me again and again as the decades wore on. They would have lost no doubt, but the cost in lives would have been higher as more forces were levied or conscripted. Families would have been torn apart, rage and anger against me would have mounted. Instead, by singling one town out and destroying it there was no rage only fear and terror if they dared to think of warring with me."
Taking a deep breath before continuing "Also I did not attack the town I was trading with, I attacked a different one, true some might of had family in the other but all the same I mitigated the damage somewhat."

Shadow was flustered "Murder is still murder. Master."

"Maybe to you Shadow, however I want you to remember this for as long as you live: All is simply a matter of perspective. One's freedom fighter is another's terrorist, murder to one is justice to another. The only thing that makes a difference is if you personally agree with the justifications given. It is all opinion at the end of the day or more aptly it can be looked at this way: Where are YOU standing when that first allow is let fly?"

The last part had her, that was correct, no one went about murdering USUALLY knowing it was wrong, they all thought they were doing what was right either for others or themselves. Where she stood when the arrow flew... That disturbed her, she had to admit silently that it was eerily true, she had no "dog in the fight" as he once put it, all the wars Equestrian's had fought so long ago did not bother her one bit usually. It was not HER family suffering through it, being enslaved by one side or cut down by the other.

*Cough* "Shadow, did you know, right now, there is a war going on the other side of this world? Right now what I call "Asiatic ponies" are butchering each other in a bid for the emperors crown. How do you feel about that?"

Her head snapped up "Nothing... Its bad but... Oohhh..." Shadows eyes grew as realization dawned on her.

His smile grew "You are catching on. Now lets continue with the lesson."

More lessons, they just kept coming day after day. More arguing, debate, Shadow had to admit this was FAR more interesting (thought scary and creepy at times) than any classes she ever had growing up. Why couldn't her classes have been this interesting? Her teachers only ever had them memorize definitions, dates and then cough it back up on demand, there was no requirement to UNDERSTAND what they were learning, no WHY's only absolutes. Valkardian though was making her justify her every belief and pointed out its flaws not that SHE was not doing the same with his. If she nailed him on one (which had been... RARE) it usually came down to "no one is perfect" and moving on.

"So tell me why is Celestia justified in her attempts to "rehabilitate" those deemed evil or why NOT?"

That had stumped her, Celestia had a history (only recent) of doing so, teaching others to embrace, forgive and forget. To simply welcome them back with open arms and have them join the great big herd and go on their merry way. "Umm... She is and is not?"

"Shadow, give a straight answer, do not answer a question with a question unless you require clarity."

"Oh, ah... She is, some have committed minor crimes, they can mend their ways, others though like Sombra are just too evil to be worth it."

"Like me?"

She flinched. "Well... Maybe? I really dont want to answer that one..."

"Go ahead, speak the truth."

"You are beyond redeeming, nothing would ever make you change your ways, nothing, you are set in stone and reinforced with steel. However, you are also not... All? Bad... Evil... Your not wicked or cruel most of the time, you uphold your end of the deal, help others, save lives in your own sick twisted way..." Valkardian just sat there quietly and listened as she kept going.

"So then, you would say that Celestia and Luna are redeemed and "good" now compared to then? So their crimes, though grand in scale are forgivable?"

What? Just a moment ago she finished explaining why he was not redeemable and forever "evil" and now this? "They changed their ways and now try to guide other ponies to a better future so yes."

"Would you have said that of them back THEN?"

....."No..."

"Allow me to clarify for you then, I am set in my ways, I do not argue that what I do is "moral or ethical" by YOUR standards, I have my own standards, written here in this book. I do NOT forgive NOR forget, I am not afraid of getting my hands dirty either. Unlike Celestia I do not see the world through rose colored glasses, I see both the good and bad and deal with it in the most efficient manner possible. Does this make me evil? Absolutely. Do I still care about others? Yes. Frankly I do not want to see any harm come to anyone less the deserve it, on the other hand I could care less, it is their lives, let them live it for good or ill. I do not kill wantonly, each time I kill it is measured and carefully calculated. My reasoning is my own and if others choose to see it as murder, so be it, all that matters is that I know the truth."

"Now Celestia, she is the opposite of me and that endears her to me in some ways, it is why I tried to win her hand so long ago. She believes in benevolence towards all minus a tiny few (pointing to himself) and is more than happy to allow psycho's back into the population so long as they have atoned somehow. On the other hand I would simply kill them now and never give them the chance to try again."

She had to admit that he was indeed hopelessly honest. "Master, you are either utterly psychotic yourself or just damned impossible to understand. I dont know which and it scares me." All he did was smile at her for a minute "True, then again one can not live as long as I have without being a little... Crazy."

Her brain was hurting, it had been more than one straight week of debate, from morning till a break at lunch, starting again till it was time for her dinner, bath and bed. Almost all of her questions were exhausted, only a few remained. Valkardian was off his rocker at times but he also made a great deal of sense as the lessons wore on, his approach was to "deal with it now and never allow it to become a problem later" and if that meant wiping out villages, towns or even a city, so be it. The Dog Wars had been FAR more interesting to discuss morally and ethically than it had been to learn about.

Greedy invaders that tore apart everything in their reckless lust for wealth. They warred with everyone if they even assumed profit was possible, enslaving whole towns and dragging them beneath the earth to dig up precious gems and metals. They had been utterly crushed over time and it took time, they bred and matured like rabbits... Eventually they were reduced to nothing, their underground kingdoms silent tombs of their past glory. Valkardian explained that they never really breached the cave system to the point it became a problem for HIM but all the same, he was not going to allow them the chance.

Strangely enough, Celestia was fighting them on the surface, hunting their colonies down while below Valkardian exterminated them one cave at a time. Neither side ever met, he made certain to keep his distance, something about her inability to see the greater threat at hand if they DID meet. Shadow admitted at the end of the lesson that the near extermination of the species had been justifiable, leaving only a handful of terrified remnants. Celestia had magically altered them to be less hostile and... Carnivorously inclined towards ponies. Cutting back their fertility and bringing the species to a slow crawl. Master admitted he had planned the same thing, the dogs proved to be an excellent source of skeleton workers and he hated to see them wiped out completely.

Today though she was giddy, he explained this was the last class before she moved on to "advanced studies" which he warned would be "absolute hell, but if she focused it would be worth the pain and misery." She had been a little scared at that but he brushed it off and told her it was nothing she was not more than capable of passing at this point. Today though, today was a special subject and THAT is why she was so giddy: Bat pony history.

The history of her race was usually absent in books, they existed but had never been a part of the unification, only appearing in the books much, MUCH later and then on the verge of Nightmare Moons attempt to take over. Those who sided with Nightmare had largely been her own kind and after the brief one month war her kind had been viciously persecuted and chased out. The books back home admitted this was wrong, that ponies acted rashly towards the whole not the few responsible. Still, no book ever said WHY they sided with Nightmare let alone how the bat ponies ever became Equestrians in the first place. Even today they were seen in a bad light, preferring to stay far away in isolated colonies. That was another question she had, why were there so FEW of them?

Sitting through the lecture which at times became part debate Shadow's ears kept lowering, her people were once a nation in the North Eastern part of Equestria, refused unity preferring isolation and neutrality. Vamponies were not common then but they did exist in numbers and largely stayed amongst the bat ponies to aid in obscurity, keeping slaves taken from elsewhere to stay sated in their appetites. The system had worked, at least until Celestia and Luna took over, logically, as Valkardian pointed out, they did NOT want a powerful nation sitting on their border. Especially one that had "evil" living in their midst keeping slaves and thralls, the catch being Equestria was not much better in that regard at this point.

Tension mounted and finally Celestia invaded, gained, lost, gained again and lost again. Her people were every bit as devious as possible in fighting, able to fight as well at night as during the day and being able to fly as a whole they wreaked bloody havoc. It came to head when patience ran out and Celestia decided to just burn all the forests away in that part of Equestria, driving them back bit by bit as the scorched earth policy destroyed farmland bit by bit. Not that it worked entirely either, many lived in giant caves in the mountains, they would remain the biggest and longest lasting holdout.

Fifty years, deforestation was no small feat and even with the two deity like sisters it took time. They even poisoned a river magically to wipe out towns and cities to bring the war to a close sooner, the river and surrounding land only recovered a few centuries ago Valkardian noted. Well that explained why the grasslands now existed... A surrender was forced when Celestia and Luna made a large magical attack on the population, nightmares at night and blazing forests during the day. Bit by bit in the last five years of the war more surrendered till the cave's remained, they were never conquered, they simply "vanished" en masse. Shadow probed for an answer as to where they went but he ignored her.

The nail in the coffin came with Nightmare Moon's coup de tat, volunteers joined her with the promise that in return they would regain their homeland, this backfired. Celestia won, banished Nightmare to the moon and took precautions of her own. Not willing to allow them to try again she had magically sterilized a large portion of them secretly through tainted food shipments, "gifts" to show her goodwill towards them. It also doubled as a modifier to their genes cutting back reproduction to a rate that would keep them where they were at present: around 2.5% of the total population of Equestria.

Since then Celestia erased their history, wrote them out of the rest, even burying their aiding Nightmare, harmony must be preserved at ANY cost. Valkardian had scoffed at this, harmony cannot purvey without its challenges and hurdles. Erasing all of it merely weakened the nation, without conflict they can not grow, only become set in their ways, slothful and ignorant of the truth. "One must be challenged both in mind and soul to grow, Celestia has gouged that out with a rusty spoon" he proclaimed.

There was nothing to say to this, no questions not that he would answer the one about where her people had gone that held out. Conflicting emotions were burning again, Celestia was not so motherly again, logical, but it still burned in how she treated others who tried to avoid her narrow minded view of how the world should work. Shadows ears perked back up when Valkardian placed a large book in front of her, it was written in that script she had seen in Mossdell.
"That, Shadow, is the REAL language of your people, it was called Krethe, that book is a copy of one given to me by Blood Lilly, she took to languages among other things and recorded your peoples tongue. This is your copy, one of my scribes finished it a few days ago. Once you learn your language you will be able to read the books of your ancestors, their literature, poems, philosophy, history, so on. First, you must learn to read and speak it."

"Will you be teaching me how to speak it?"

"Not for a while, languages were never something I could take to very well."

"Your not from this world, I know that now the more I know about you yet you speak Equus very well..."

Valkardian burst out laughing at this "Shadow, not ONCE have I spoken to you in Equus! I am speaking my OWN language right now, you on the other hand "hear" me because the magic of this world translates it." With a few motions of his hands he spoke again and it was the weirdest language she ever heard and a moment later she could understand him again. "That is what I sound like without the magic translating, then again I CAN speak Equus rather well but your language, your REAL language is one of the few I have any degree of mastery. Now, that concludes your lessons, tomorrow you begin your advanced studies, a servant will collect you and you will follow them wherever they go. A letter with instructions has already been prepared for you, all you need to do is read it and carry them out."

"How long will these advanced studies last?"

"Hmm... Probably five to six months, then your REAL training begins."

Leaving the library Shadow followed a servant to the bathroom. So it all started tomorrow, the "advanced studies" or whatever that meant. Worry worked its way up, what did he mean by her real training would begin after that?