The unholy, grief riddled howl that echoed through the massive cavern told him that Shadow had come to an inescapable truth: The world was not black and white and that she had just learned today's lesson: PERSPECTIVE. It would be best to give her another day just to be safe, there was one more place to visit on her little "field trip" as she had put it, one last place to BURN that perspective into place. Calling away his soldiers and wraiths to return to their patrols and stations, her howl had triggered a combat reaction in them; now the soldiers were in full combat mode and seeking targets. Sitting on his bench he watched the long empty and shattered fountain. Shadow had her regrets, he had his own as well, long ago he had promised to come visit his friend and her family, promises made and broken.

Staring at a blood stain and the skeleton smashed against the bench Valkardian turned back to his pondering, this place was indeed a lesson learned. Every plan set into motion since this crushing defeat was based on the lessons learned here, this place had never been his, hell he never paid them any attention, it was their lives and they all left each other alone. Blood Lilly had quietly hinted that he should take a little more interest, it would be good for him. Deaf ears. Now they had paid the price for his actions, as ancient as he was he should have known better, that Celestia would have aimed for the EASIEST target rather than assume she would be "wise" and calm down then listen to reason later. No, he made a mistake, a big one, one that he had rectified.

The howling had stopped, she was either too tired to scream or passed out, standing he took one last hard look at the destruction around him. There had been one thing Blood Lilly HAD gotten him to agree too and he was not going to let this one slip through his fingers.

Shadow was too exhausted from screaming and sobbing to move, she just laid there sobbing quietly now on the cold stone staring up. She jumped when a familiar face appeared and looked down at her, part of her wanted to scream why he had not done more, the other wanted to beat him for murdering so many. Too exhausted to do either she settled on sobbing and letting the thoughts stew, Celestia had wiped out a town of bystanders and in return Valkardian had repaid the kindness shown in spades many times over no doubt. What she did not expect was for him to reach down and pick her up.

There was no struggle, to words or fighting, just silence as he carried her off, evil was supposed to be cold but he was not, the warmth coming off of felt wonderful compared to the cold stone. He was still evil but he did not fit any of the cut and clean categories, too strange, one moment sinister the next caring and compassionate. Maybe he was just psychotic, a madman with the powers of a deity if he had beaten Celestia away so handily. An evil madman who had friends once, who cared so much for them he had burned part of Equestria to the ground for it. One who had loved, given it up and accepted the consequences. What was the meaning of good and evil then if the lines were so blurred?

She hardly noticed him entering the tent and placing her on the cot and covering her, he stopped near the flap and told her that tomorrow there was one more thing to see before they left back home. The way he said "home" made her shiver, was it her home now? Still a slave, part student, what was she then? Gripping the covers Shadow covered her head and curled into a ball and tried to shut it all out.

Too soon, it was too soon, she had only just woken up, just laying there and rubbing her face to get the fur unstuck from all the tears. A servant brought her a warm meal a little later along with a bucket of water and a cloth. Eating and wiping herself down she left the tent and looked around, master was sitting near a small magical fire, just staring off into the distance. It was eerie seeing him like this, the past few months she had come to know him a little better through his lessons. He was a good teacher, keeping things simple, easy to follow and understand, taking what she assumed to be joy in each lesson he gave. Honest, logical, straightforward, tactless and a bit of an airhead at times. The last part was a dangerous thought she knew, but still, she had to remind him of what the lesson was about several times because of his tendency to ramble on when teaching a subject he seemed to enjoy.

Now, seeing him like this, regret and a touch of sadness apparent in his eyes it worried her, she had gained a whole new perspective on the world yesterday and now she understood. Good and evil were not so simple to understand, she could not just brush things off one way or another, everyone had their reasons (usually) for doing what they did, sometimes it was wrong, other times right. Or... Other times it could be so muddied and gray it was impossible to say who WAS right or wrong, only a series of bloody back and forth battles; right and wrong having died somewhere along the lines at the start of it all.

Approaching carefully Shadow stopped a few feet away before opening her mouth to speak, it was hard to speak to him, she could see him with more clarity now but that only made things more conflicted. "Master, are we going home today?"

Looking over to Shadow their eyes met, his cold and calculating "Yes, but first there is one more place I want to show you, it will only take an hour to get there." Standing he marched off towards a road that led down a side tunnel, Shadow in tow along with a force of soldiers tailing.

The trip was grisly, skeletons speckled the road now and then, blood stains were everywhere, somepony had dragged themselves along the wall trying to stand before someone cut them with such force there was a deep cut in the stone wall and a severed skeleton below. Arrows poked out of some skeletons, all shot in the back as they had fled down the tunnel, young or old did not matter in the battle. Some held hands, others wrapped around trying to protect others as they fell. She could only imagine what this nightmare would have looked like then let alone now.

Blood stains seemed to increase as they got closer to their destination, shattered armor, weapons and helmets littered the road leading to a large archway, the metal doors blasted off their hinges. Some had died trying to crawl into this chamber, the road was so littered with skeletons now she had to step carefully, Valkardian walked through the archway and disappeared inside. Trying to follow quickly she gave up walking and flew inside being gentle with her wings to not disturb the bones. Inside was a mess, blood coated the walls and an inactive portal stood.

Shards of broken crystal covered the floor, somepony had even tried to shatter the portal itself, trying to deface the runes. Valkardian stood to one side quietly and allowed her to examine the room, it looked as if several had made a last stand here to keep someone from gaining control of the portal and at the last minute destroyed the control crystals robbing Celestia and Luna of access to any survivors.

Watching her for a minute, it was not until she looked at him that Valkardian spoke. "The battle ended very quickly, too quickly. Celestia's shock troopers burst through the defenses so fast my soldiers could not respond in time not that it would have mattered. The only thing that saved any of them was Celestia had ordered everyone put to the sword. By the time she realized they had an escape route already planned it was too late to get them all. Luna was left to finish mopping up those hiding while Celestia lead a force down the tunnel after those fleeing. Part of the deal I had with them was that if my soldiers FAILED to protect them, plan B was to come here, a magically sealed room and a small platoon of soldiers guarding it. The servants assigned to the portal would activate it, allow them through and then seal it behind them."

"A major problem in this THEORY of a plan was that it was never rehearsed nor did it have a contingency for what to do if the enemy was ALREADY inside the town when the order to evacuate was given. They all knew the plan true but not how EXACTLY it was to work. The town had its own guard's and militia force but most of them died near instantly in the first attack, the survivors rallied the rest and tried to cover the retreat which turned into a route. Most of those who made it here were those farthest away from the epicenter of the battle, while Celestia knew of the town, she had no idea there was a portal till the last second. Had she known I doubt any would have made it this far."

"The portal was held open as long as logically possible, when the first of her forces began to stream down the tunnel the doors were to be closed, soldiers ushered any of the surviving guard and militia inside before closing the doors and sealing them." Looking at the bones littering the room for a minute he continued "Some of them decided to stay behind and make damn sure no one followed, problem was they did not know about the plan and took it upon themselves to destroy the portal. The servants did not stop them of course, they were carrying out the final stages of the plan so they allowed it and even helped it along." Pointing here and there at skeletons with unique helmets and armaments "Some fifteen died here pointlessly thinking they were saving others without ever realizing that they did not have to stay behind. Celestia blew the doors open after a few attempts and you can see what she did." Valkardian walked to the back of the room where one body was mangled heavily. "This one, I have no idea what his name was and I had no intention then of disturbing his soul to find out, was tortured to find out where they fled. Judging from the torture he refused to talk." Shadow looked as he gestured, the pony had been cut to pieces apparently, fingers cut off and thrown away, then the hands, hooves and on up it went. Even the eye sockets bore scorch marks like his eyes had been burned out.

"Celestia and Luna let themselves go when they attacked, there was no mercy, pity or remorse on their part. It started a war which lasted some five years, this was their first and only victory, they lost every battle after this one. Over five major invasions were made into the caves from various points, two here, this being the aftermath of one. All met the same fate, less than half made it out alive and no bodies were ever found afterwords when they came back. I recycled their dead and used them as my own soldiers. Every battle they lost their numbers dwindled and mine grew or in the last battle, doubled. To this day their forces make no attempt what so ever to enter my caves, no magical probing, no scouts. NOTHING. So the silent, battle-less war rages on quietly between us. Questions?"

Looking at the tortured remains a question formed itself "What happened to the survivors?" Shadow looked expectantly at him, a glimmer of hope written on her face. "The refugees survived, they had to stay in a camp for a long time mind you, it was not easy getting what they needed to the location for a week or so but it all worked out for them in the end. Since I was busy burning the world above to the ground there was plenty of time to loot, frankly I could care less for looting but I took advantage of the situation and had my soldiers cart off enough to clothe and feed an army. It all worked out in the end." Valkardian began to leave the room but before he could leave she had another question: "Where did they go? Did they stay in the caves or go above?" There was no answer, she was left to make her own assumptions, they obviously never came back.

Following him back to town he told her there was one more thing he had to do yet, it would not take very long and to explore more if she so desired but be ready to leave. "Curiosity killed the cat" popped into her head, what could he possibly need to do? Make certain the magic was holding? Visit another grave? Deciding to follow him around he made his way to the outskirts of a small orchard, the strange trees were still an enigma, how they managed to survive in so little soil and that it had to be brought from above... A patch of flowers grew where the waters edge and orchard met, strange, red things that they were. Picking one he walked off to the graveyard, Shadow following a short distance behind.

Again he descended the steps, only this time telling her to hurry up and follow, to quit stalking him. Hurriedly catching up they wound their way down to the tomb of Blood Lilly. Making a quiet mumble over her tomb he placed the flower at the base where a bundle of them laid. Standing he turned to her "the fighting in the house was her husband, Irontip, he is entombed over there, her newborn Amethyst is over there."

Shadow followed his finger as he pointed out sarcophagi and even pointed out a few on the shelves. All but one of her family had died in the attack, the entirety of Irontips family and extended died in the attack. There was no trace that they had ever existed except this one tomb, unknown to the world above. "How old was Amethyst?" Shadow kept eying the tiny stone coffin. "She was... Six months old I think." Walking over he looked down at it, reading. "I marked each one as best I could for "date of birth and death" as best I knew it. Blood Lilly had written me when she gave birth so hers is the only one with an ACCURATE date of birth." He left the chamber not long after, taking one last look before walking out and heading up the stairs, Shadow followed quietly.

"You have a few minutes still before we leave, you can take one last look around if you want. I will call you when it is time to go." Leaving her at the mouth of the catacombs Valkardian walked off, she looked around at the graveyard before heading towards the orchard.

Through the eyes of the wraith that followed her Valkardian watched as Shadow picked a cave flower and walked back into the catacombs, going below she laid the flower at the tiny coffin and mumbled before standing and leaving quickly. This one was worth it so far, he wondered what would happen in the following months, it was almost that time again.

Shadow stood, something just seemed right about what she had done, not leaving a flower at Blood Lillie's did not bother her, she never knew her and frankly had no idea what kind of pony she was. It wouldn't feel quite right to have left a flower for her but Amethyst... This little one whatever her origins did not deserve what she got, it just wasn't right. As she left the chamber taking one last look at Blood Lillie's sarcophagi she noticed the single flower Valkardian left and the bundle beside it. How long had he been coming here?