Twilight had been looking forward to going back into the city.

She'd wanted to get to know these creatures and the ponies from the distant past. It was a chance no other pony in Equestria would ever have, and the potential knowledge she could glean from her arguably living ancestors sent pleasant chills down her spine.

More than that, however, the filly was astounded at just how much life had been born from such a desolate land. As she and Grogar trotted through the streets of Tambelon, neither spoke for a good while.

Twilight looked around in wide eyed wonder while Grogar seemed content to simply drink in the lively atmosphere. It may have been a temporary façade—the dead merely playing at being alive for a time, but for both the undead filly and the demonic ram, it was far more than that.

For Twilight, it was ancient history made real and tangible before her very eyes. For Grogar, it was a living memory of better times long since past. In truth, it wasn't all that different from how things were in Canterlot, albeit without many of the conveniences of the modern era of Equestria, and a lot more variety in the citizens.

Creatures of all types worked and lived with one another to create a unique environment not often seen in Equestrian lands. Most of the towns like this were few and far between, and even then, they were all on the edges of Equestria's borders.

Among the crowd there was laughter, shouting, squabbling, and simple conversation both hushed and open. The grown ups worked in the stalls and buildings, seemingly happy to be able to walk or trot around doing their jobs and joking with one another.

Children played in the streets while mothers watched nearby, laughing and gossiping on as though they hadn't been buried in the ground for countless years.

Musicians and actors took up open air stages, performing for crowds. Artists displayed their works along the road and storytellers regaled the younger townsfolk with tales of wonder and suspense.

It was all truly something to behold.

If Twilight could compare the city of Tambelon to anything, it would've had to have been similar to how the history books described Canterlot during the beginning of Celestia's reign.

History books that failed to mention anything of Celestia's sister, Twilight realized with a small frown.

The fact that ancient Canterlot was so similar to a city that existed so many millennia before it gave some definite credence to Grogar's claim of stagnation, but Twilight found she enjoyed the aesthetic of the town anyway. Still, there were a few things that bothered the filly, and after a decent amount of time had passed, she decided to give voice to her thoughts.

"Um... Father?" Twilight asked, her eyes drawing towards the teal coated, wrinkled old storytelling unicorn mare surrounded by children of all kinds, "can I... ask you something?"

"Of course, my child," Grogar replied, casting his own idle gaze over the citizens who would stop what they were doing and give a slight bow every so often as he passed, "does something trouble you?"

"Well, it's just..." she finally pulled her attention away from the mare across the street and turned to look up at the ram, a bemused frown on her face, "where did all the tools everyp... everyone is using come from? Are they part of the spell that brought them all back?"

"Ah, an astute observation, Twilight Sparkle," Grogar replied with a nod, "yes, you are correct. While inorganic objects have no souls to revive, the spell I created is meant for more than simply 'raising the dead'," he cast a side glance at the curious filly, "the spell is meant to ultimately 'bring back that which was lost to time'."

At Twilight's uncomprehending expression Grogar shook his head and gestured to the entirety of the city before them.

"I've resurrected not only the dead, but the past as well," he continued, "everything you see before you—the stone and metal structures, the fauna, the everyday tools my subjects use, even the seemingly normal appearance of those around you..."

He stopped suddenly, and Twilight fumbled to a stop next to him. The ram looked down and the filly followed his gaze to find a large silver coin that had apparently been dropped on the ground.

Twilight looked back up at Grogar questioningly, and the ram nodded towards the coin in return. With a quizzical frown, the filly took up the coin in her magic and examined it, turning it this way and that.

The coin was emblazoned with Grogar's own face on one side, and what Twilight guessed was the image of his castle on the other. It felt solid in her magic, but at the same time, Twilight could feel that something was off about the coin.

She frowned and narrowed her eyes, concentrating on the sensation of the coin within her aura. It was certainly solid, yet at the same time, it felt somehow... ethereal—like it wasn't really there, and the feeling was oddly familiar.

Then Twilight's eyes widened in realization.

"This is mana, isn't it?" she surmised, "I mean, the coin feels real, but it's... it also feels like I'm touching the magic of another unicorn."

"Indeed," Grogar replied, taking the coin in his own hoof, "much like this silver Tambelonan bit, everything you see here is comprised of mana that has been 'hardened' into a somewhat physical form—a grand illusion given tangibility by the sheer potency of the magic that permeates this realm."

He dropped the coin and watched it clatter to the ground for a moment before slamming a hoof on top of it. There was a sound like a soft sigh, and from beneath Grogar's hoof, a violet wisp of mana rose up and away towards the sky.

Twilight watched it float away for a few seconds before it dissipated another moment later. She looked back over to Grogar just in time to see him remove his hoof from the spot where the coin was... and saw that it was gone.

"That's... amazing," the filly muttered in awe. She swept her eyes over the city and its undead inhabitants, "this whole thing is amazing. I didn't know this was even possible..."

She frowned again as another thought came to her. Turning back around, she spotted Grogar's restored castle in the distance, its many spires cast in a menacing silhouette.

"What about the castle?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the distant structure, "we were able to go inside, and nothing in there felt like it does out here."

"The castle is a... special case," Grogar replied, following the filly's gaze, "while the exterior look of my castle is due in no small part to the same illusion that covers much of the town, the actual restoration of its outer walls and interior are very real."

"How?" Twilight replied, turning back around to face the ram with a bemused tilt of her head, "what makes the castle so different from the town?"

At this, Grogar chuckled and turned to watch the citizens going about their business. He remained silent for another few seconds or so before speaking again, his tone somewhat somber.

"When I spoke of being one with Tambelon, I wasn't merely waxing poetic, child," he explained, "to this day I am... unsure of the reason, but whenever the Mourning Moon appears, I find that my castle is restored to its former glory.

"This is true of the city, but when it comes to my castle, the restoration occurs on its own. Despite that, I feel the castle as if it were a physical part of me, no matter where I may be, and that sensation heightens tenfold when the Mourning Moon rises."

"Wait, so... the castle just... fixes itself?" Twilight asked incredulously, "how is that even possible? Is it the moon?"

"I believe so, but as I said, I have yet to determine the cause," Grogar replied before casting a thoughtful gaze towards the moon in question, "come to think of it, it was only after I'd visited with that spirit that the restoration began... perhaps... it is a blessing of some sort."

He was silent a second, and Twilight was about to speak again when Grogar continued, shaking his head as though dismissing a sudden thought.

"In any case, the castle is mine to mold as I see fit," he smirked slightly as he looked back to Twilight, "I alluded to being able to change my castle at will, and while that has always been true to an extent, never have I held such power over it as I do now."

Twilight wasn't really sure what to say to that. It was certainly impressive, and Grogar in general was perhaps the most powerful mage Twilight had ever seen—most definitely on par with, and maybe even surpassing Celestia herself.

It was hard to say, as the filly had never really seen Celestia perform any particularly jaw dropping magical feats aside from raising and lowering the sun and moon. Not only that, but Twilight was certain Grogar had far more he'd yet to reveal to her.

Despite all of this however, Twilight still found the whole situation with the resurrected town rather unnerving. While the flourishing city was fascinating to witness, and she still wanted to probe the minds of the undead citizens for their ancient knowledge, she couldn't help but notice the odd dullness in their eyes and the somewhat mechanical feel of their movements.

They put on a convincing act of being a normal, thriving society from afar, but up close, even a filly could see that something was wrong. Having them all act like they'd never died, working and playing and laughing, and communicating with each other.

It all seemed rather pointless. In this world full of corrupted mana and nothing else, what did Grogar have to gain by pulling the dead from their slumber? Twilight wanted to enjoy seeing an ancient kingdom come to life, but now that the thought arisen, she couldn't shake it, so she decided to ask.

"That's... really amazing, but I have... another question," Twilight began even more reluctant than the last time, "um... it's about the town and all of this really."

Grogar narrowed his eyes slightly at the hesitation in the filly's tone.

"...Go on."

Twilight swallowed and looked around before staring at her hooves, unable to look the ram in the eye for some reason.

"Why do all of this?" she nearly whispered, unconsciously preparing herself for some kind of backlash for the insolence of her question, "i-it's really impressive—really it is! It's just... it kind of... um..."

She trailed off and clenched her eyes shut, finally losing her nerve. There was a beat of silence, but her eyes snapped open a moment later when she heard the old ram sigh heavily. Looking back at Grogar, she could see that he didn't look angry at her inquiry.

On the contrary, he looked weary, worn, and every bit as old as he was. It was the first time the filly had seen such an emotion from the sometimes angry, but normally calm, collected, dignified, and imperious demon.

When he answered, it was with a sort of melancholy that would've made Twilight's heart ache had it the ability to do so. As it stood, she could feel his odd despondency settle over her like a great weight, courtesy of the softly glowing bell around her neck.

"Despite how I may seem to you, child, I still long for my home as it was back then," he explained, his eyes making their way back over to a stage set up in the middle of town. "I still long for the days spent as the king of my land, and to that end I have recreated those halcyon days as best I could with the power available to me."

He watched for a long moment as two troggles and a unicorn mare took to the stage. One troggle began to play a flute while the other pulled a bow across the strings of a violin. Twilight too watched with some interest as the two began to play a rather jaunty tune while the mare who stood in front began to sing.

The composition was masterful, and the mare's voice was beautiful, but strangely enough, Twilight was not moved in the slightest, something that confounded her. In Equestria, music was one of the greatest and most powerful forms of expression, and the three would've no doubt had ponies gathering and cheering in an instant.

Here however, they failed completely and utterly to inspire such emotion. She had regained her emotions, so why didn't the infectious music move her like it would've back in Equestria?

Twilight couldn't understand it, and wanted to ask Grogar why this was the case, but the ram moved on, turning away from the scene to focus on Twilight herself.

"The restoration of my castle has a far greater purpose where you and I are concerned," he continued, before nodding towards the trio onstage, "but this? Most of this is self-indulgence on my part, like looking through an old photo album and remembering the days gone by."

"So.. you don't have to revive them all," Twilight replied, giving a slow nod of comprehension, "you do it because it reminds you of how things used to be?"

"That is a large part of it, yes," Grogar answered. He frowned a moment later, "though there is yet another reason for all of the effort I put into this," he turned back to Twilight, "you see, the Mourning Moon would stir the souls of the dead from their slumber with or without my guidance.

"Without my hoof to guide them however," Grogar's expression turned grim, "they would awaken as nothing more than feral beasts, mindless rotting creatures aimlessly wandering about.

"Without my spell, they are merely tortured souls, tearing each other and anything else to pieces in the agony and madness brought about by their undeath. They would destroy each other utterly, only to reform so that they could repeat the process all over again."

Twilight shuddered at the thought.

"R-Really?" she asked in a near whisper, "but... couldn't you just... control them? You're a necromancer, right?"

"I could, certainly," Grogar replied with a nod, "but what would be the point? They cannot destroy me, they cannot destroy each other—not permanently, and there is nothing else in these empty wastes to destroy. No, it would just be a waste of mana."

"This however," he once more gestured to the city around him, "with this spell, not only can I relive my own past, but the spell also allows these damned souls some semblance of peace. It keeps them focused, and perhaps, most important of all, quells my own eternal boredom in this wretched place."

"Oh," Twilight responded, unsure of what to think. She looked around again before giving Grogar a hopeful look, "can they... do they still have their memories? Would I... be able to ask them things?"

"You could," Grogar replied, knowing full well where the filly was going, "souls are an excellent source of knowledge, child. Many necromancers of old would often reanimate the souls of the dead simply to gain access to the secrets they held within them."

"Really?" Twilight asked, a wide smile adorning her face, "then... then can I go and talk to them? I wanna know more about the past, and maybe learn a few other things!"

"By all means," Grogar replied, pointing a hoof back towards the storyteller they'd left behind, "knowledge is one of the greatest gifts any world has to offer. Go, child, take your fill of it before the Mourning Moon passes, for when it is gone, we will be returning to your lessons."

"YES!" Twilight cried before wrapping one of Grogar's legs in a tight hug, "thank you, Father!"

Grogar merely raised an eyebrow at the emotional display. He didn't respond otherwise, but Twilight was already rushing off towards the old mare surrounded by other children. He watched her go with a small frown adorning his face.

"A brilliant mind, but still a filly through and through," he muttered to himself, "but it matters not. She will learn, she will grow, and when the time is right, she will have all that she needs to become a creature worthy of standing by my side as we take the Land of Light, but I musn't rush things. Patience is a virtue after all."

He allowed himself a small, wicked smile before vanishing into nothingness, the echo of his final words carrying on the ash strewn wind that blew across the city.

I've waited this long, I can wait a little longer...

Next Chapter: The Setting of the Moon Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 24 Minutes