Night came fast after the encounter with the unicorn creature and Princess Luna finally finished preparing the necessary magic. She raised the moon as soon as the sun dipped below the horizon. It bathed the field in soft light. The guards were on high alert after the encounter and stood nervously outside the camp watching the temple entrance.

        Marigold stood inside Luna’s tent and helped her prepare. She was a young pegasus and beautiful too. Throughout her training she demonstrated exceptional prowess in air combat and reconnaissance. Her first duty was a night honor guard, during that time she had been scouted for entry into the Wonderbolts twice but declined each time. When asked why, she simply stated that they already had enough talented flyers and she instead preferred to be with Luna.

“That thing, Luna. Do you know what it was? Was it... him?”

Princess Luna did not answer at first, she pointed to a chest near the door of the tent and Marigold trotted over to retrieve it and set it on the table. Luna opened the chest and removed an alicorn amulet from its confines.

“Yes Marigold, it was him. The voice and magic were unmistakable.”

The look on Marigold’s face was one of horror, she did not see the monstrosity herself but the guards told her everything.

She moved to stand beside the princess and put a hoof on her shoulder, “Luna... perhaps we should call this off, or return some other time with more soldiers. I have a very bad feeling about this.”

Luna turned and gave Marigold a reassuring smile, “It’s alright to be afraid, I am afraid too.”

Marigold turned to examine the amulet then moved to her saddlebags to begin preparing her weapons. “I’ll follow you wherever you go Luna, you know that. But what is going on? You brought one of those amulets that increase your power substantially. Will you need it?”

Luna levitated the amulet to her peytral plate and locked it into place above the crescent moon. “Marigold, the prison that is located deep within that temple is a unique one. It separates the souls from the body, in doing so the prisoner does not age. It also means that the prisoner is in a state of... meditation. At least, that is what we say... in truth nopony knows because so few have ever been sentenced to it. The ones that were happened so long ago all written records of them are lost. But what is known is that they are in a state of neither life nor death.”

Luna moved to stand before Marigold and looked her straight in the eyes. “There is something very disturbing at work here Marigold. There is no life around this temple and villagers feel that there is a creature or presence that is moving around the area. Then that thing materializes outside the structure itself, bypassing the magical wards and countless other safeguards that are surely in place. I don’t know what’s in there, I don’t know if it is him anymore or that thing. But whatever is in there is getting stronger and soon I believe it will escape. There are things at work here I had not thought possible, having this amulet is just a precaution. I hope I won’t need it.”

Marigold put on a look of stoic determination and cast aside her fear while sliding her shock gauntlets over her hooves. “Entering a forbidden temple that contains a powerful wizard... I feel like Daring Do! As long as you are with us Luna I’m sure we’ll be fine. Ready to go?”

Luna laughed, it was just like Marigold to lighten the mood and joke even in the face of danger. Just like her ancestor once did. “Yes, its time. Lets go.”

They emerged from the tent and briefed the guards on the situation. Each guard was armed to the teeth with shock staves and shock gauntlets, as well as bows and several crystals enchanted with various offensive magic spells. Two guards remained at the camp to watch it and to report back to Canterlot if something went wrong inside the temple.

Princess Luna, Marigold, and the guards flew to the temple entrance and assumed a protective formation around door. Marigold followed Luna and gasped in awe at the size of the temple and the enormous door.

“Luna, if I may, if Aldus did something so terrible to be put into that prison why build a temple for him?”

Luna examined the door then smirked at Marigold, “You mentioned Daring Do, in truth this structure is much like those that are often found in those books. It was built to contain something very powerful and to make sure nothing could get into it or escape from it. Judging from the architecture, I would say this was built by Zebras commissioned by my sister. Whoever is placed inside a soul separation prison is meant to stay there for eternity, there is a certain... honor given to those who are sentenced to such punishment. Aldus was also a high ranking noble and leader of my court.”

Marigold simply nodded considering Luna’s explanation.

“Stand back everypony and ready your weapons,” Luna said as she spread her hooves and charged the spell needed to break the first ward on the door.

A blast of brilliant light erupted from her horn and impacted the door. Luna strained to sustain the beam as the light expanded to cover the entire surface. Once the entire frame was doused in light the sound of gears were heard and the door split down its middle and opened inward revealing the inside of the structure.

Luna collected herself and ignited the tip of her horn with a simple light spell. She moved to Marigold and whispered, “Stay close to me, if you see any shadows move on their own do not let them touch you. Do you understand?”

Marigold nodded and the group proceeded into the temple.

The temple was quite large and the majority of it was built into the mountain like Luna had suspected. After the descent down the initial passageway they came to a large open space that was lined with rows upon rows of books. Marigold’s jaw just about hit the floor.

“Th- There must be thousands of books here.”

Luna chuckled as she moved forward seeking the path deeper into the temple. “He loved to read, even when I met him as a little colt. Its a shame that these are all ruined by aging, though from what I saw outside the temple... I think the world will be better off without some of them.”

Luna turned and motioned for the party to follow, “Come, I believe this passage leads to the main chamber.”

Marigold trotted up to Luna and whispered, “We haven’t seen that... thing yet. That is a good sign isn’t it?”

Luna frowned, “When I hit it earlier I believe I weakened it, but that does not mean it can’t manifest inside where it is no doubt more powerful. Also, we don’t know if anything else is in here, keep your guard up.”

The path ahead finally ended with large door. Luna did not sense any magic on it at all, which was not a good sign. If there was no magic here it likely meant that either it wore off or it was dispelled by that creature. Luna signaled the guards and they assumed formation, on the count of three they breached the door.

The room on the other side was pitch black, and to her surprise the light from her horn did not penetrate far into the darkness. It was as if the dark was fighting against it. Marigold was examining the walls near the door when she found an object.

“Luna, what is this?” she asked, pointing to a glass container connected to a series of tubes.

The princess examined the object then stamped her hoof, “Ah ha! I know what this is! It is a crystal receptacle. Placing a properly charged energy crystal in here should allow its power to travel through these tubes and connect to the other crystals hopefully in here somewhere, lighting the room.”

With care, Luna levitated an energy crystal from Marigold’s saddlebag and touched it to her horn, charging it. She then placed it in the container. At first there was nothing, then suddenly the crystal began to vibrate and light began to fill the tubes and run along the right side of the room.

“Huzzah! Success!” Luna cheered.

Luna, Marigold, and the guards were focussed on the crystal lighting the room. They turned back to the inky blackness at the center of the room only to see a set of green eyes watching them intently from the darkness.

Marigold gasped and two of the guards dropped their shock staves. Quickly regaining her composure, Marigold shouted, “Formation, now!”

The guards quickly recovered and spread into a protective formation around Luna, who simply stared right back at the green eyes.

The eyes in the blackness studied the party, but did not move. The silent staring contest went on for about a minute until suddenly the green eyes grew slightly larger, gave them a wink, then disappeared.

“What-- what was that, Luna?” Marigold asked with fear in her voice.

Luna paused a moment before giving her answer. “There is corruption here, whether it is from him or from this place I cannot be sure yet, but I do know one thing. The last time I felt it was when I was Nightmare Moon.”

The guards and Marigold all took step back after hearing what the princess had just said. But their attention was soon drawn elsewhere when the last bit of light finally finished its circuit around the room. There was a loud crack and suddenly the entire room was alight with bright crystals. They were able to get their first good look at the contents of the chamber and none of them were expecting what was hidden in the darkness.

At the center of the room was some sort of control panel connected to a large cylinder shaped object protruding from the back wall. A faint blue glow could be seen inside. But while Luna was fixated on the control mechanism, Marigold and the guards were staring at the domed ceiling with their jaws agape. Luna looked up to see a large mural covering the entire dome. Multitudes of golden armored ponies stood at the entrance to a large structure high atop a mountain. They completely covered the grounds outside the structure, there must have been thousands of them. The structure was familiar to Luna, it was Moonlock Observatory. But above the observatory was disturbing image. A familiar unicorn hung suspended in the air by black wings in a pose similar to her sister when she raised the sun at the summer sun celebration. The unicorn’s eyes and mouth were alight with a green glow as it gazed up into the sky to behold a large comet streaking toward the mountain.

“I think I know why he was imprisoned now, Luna,” Marigold said.

Princess Luna didn’t say anything at first, but then solemnly nodded.

The guards arrayed themselves in a formation around the cylinder while Luna trotted up to the control panel. Slowly she began to push the crystals into place. While doing so she addressed the party.

“You are all loyal guards of the night and have served me well since my return. Whatever comes out of that prison stand your ground and don’t give in to fear.”

Luna slid the last crystal into place and moved to stand beside Marigold. The cylinder began to glow brighter and brighter until there was a crack from the ceiling. The front of the prison collapsed through a slit in the floor revealing the silhouette of a robed unicorn suspended in blue light. Slowly the light faded and the unicorn fell to the ground.

None of the ponies in the room moved while they observed what had just fallen out of the prison. It did not look like the creature that crept from the darkness outside the palace. Instead it seemed to be a simple unicorn with a long snarled grey mane that partly obscured its face. Slowly the unicorn began to stir and pick itself up into a sitting position. It looked straight at Luna and the rest of the party but didn’t say a word.

Luna stepped forward two paces. “Aldus, is that you? Its me, your princess... its Luna.”

The unicorn abruptly turned its head toward the sound of the voice but strangely was not looking directly at Luna.

“That voice... this again? I thought I had conquered these hallucinations... leave me alone, you are not real. You are not the princess.”

Marigold whispered to Luna, “He’s delirious, be careful.”

Luna nodded and stepped forward another two paces, “Aldus this is real, I am real. Can’t you see? You have been released from your prison!”

Aldus shakily stood up and turned his head toward the sound of Luna’s voice. He began to sniff the air around him before finally laughing.

“You are real? Prove it!”

Luna began to collect magic in her horn in preparation for a spell, as she did the crystal lights in the room began to flicker and dim repeatedly.

Marigold whispered, “Princess! The lights!”

“It isn’t me,” Luna said, keeping a close eye on Aldus.

Princess Luna cast the spell on Aldus who did not move until he was enveloped in the levitation field. At first he was startled, then he relaxed.

“This magic, it- it is you. This isn’t another nightmare. Princess Luna, it is you!” Aldus exclaimed with tears forming in his eyes.

Princess Luna floated him to her and wrapped her hooves around him in a tight embrace, which he accepted.

“Welcome back to the world, Aldus. It has been one thousand years. Do I look the same? Am I as beautiful as you remember?” Luna asked with a chuckle, while cupping his face with her hooves. It was then that Luna first noticed his eyes. They were now a dull grey color and glazed over. He moved them in different directions trying in vain to find Luna’s face.

“Oh no,” Luna sighed as she pulled him into a tight hug. “Aldus you are blind, what happened to you? What happened to your sight? What happened to make you be locked away in here?”

Aldus gently pushed Luna away and gave a deep sigh of resignation.

“My princ-- Luna. Luna I will tell you everything. I owe you that for releasing me. The first matter of my sight I will answer right now. My sight was taken from me when I dueled your sister after I... dealt with her army at the observatory. She unleashed the full power of the sun and I was not prepared for it.”

Aldus sat down and turned toward the back of the room where the prison was, “That was my punishment, and what an awful one it was. Made far worse since I wasn’t alone in there.”

“You weren’t in there alone? What do you mean?” Marigold asked.

Aldus snapped his back around to the direction of Marigold and smirked. “Princess, you brought others with you, and one that sounds like she could be a beautiful mare?”

Marigold blushed slightly and grinned at Luna, who rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Yes, I did. The mare’s name is Marigold, she is an officer in my night guard.”

Aldus smiled and bowed, “You have a very pretty name, miss Marigold. It is a pleasure to meet you. I apologize for my no doubt disgusting appearance. Luna, you wouldn’t happen to have a camp near here would you? I would love a change of clothes and a meal. After that I will tell you and miss Marigold everything, and answer any questions.”

“Yes, you will tell me everything.” Luna said as four guards surrounded Aldus. He regarded the guards with a small grin. “This is just a precaution, until you explain everything and I deem you safe you will remain under guard, do you understand?”

“Yes princess, I understand.” Aldus replied. As the party departed the temple Princess Luna sealed the entrance and flew back to the camp.

------------

In Canterlot, Princess Celestia woke from what was otherwise a peaceful nights sleep. She had a very strange dream. Philomena flew from her perch to the bed and eyed Celestia. The phoenix always knew when something was troubling her.

“Oh Philomena, I had a very strange dream. I saw Luna at locked door. I had a very bad feeling about what lurked behind it, and when she opened it she released darkness. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Celestia flew over to the balcony outside her chambers and looked up at the moon. She worried for her sister. In many ways she was still the impulsive young filly Celestia had looked after from so long ago. Luna always thought that what she did was for the right reasons, but sometimes she went about it the wrong way. There was no greater example of that than Nightmare Moon. Celestia had been groomed to rule from an early age, because of this she was never quick to trust anypony. She tried desperately to pass that to Luna but it just didn’t take.

Celestia heard a panicked flapping from inside her chambers and high pitched squawking. Before she turned around to see what was happening she felt a sudden sense of dread. She was being watched, and somehow she knew exactly where from. Slowly, with a shiver Celestia looked up to the only tower that was higher than her own. There, perched at the very top was an all too familiar figure of a black alicorn, its wings spread wide seeming to become the night itself. Its eyes seemed to boil and steam with a vicious green glow. Celestia gasped as the doors to the balcony slammed shut behind her and the black figure took off from the tower and rocketed toward her.

“Ahhh!!!” screamed Celestia as she practically flew out of her bed startling Philomena who had been sound asleep. Celestia quickly opened the balcony doors with her magic and scanned the tower and surrounding skies. She knew Luna would be returning today. It was rare that Celestia would ask her sister about dreams, but this was one thing Luna knew more about than she did.

------------

Marigold stood in Luna’s tent carefully watching Aldus as he finished his third bowl of soup and steamed oates.

“Oh goodness, has food changed since the thousand years I have been imprisoned? Or could it be that anything tastes good since I haven’t eaten since a thousand years?” He asked with a laugh.

Slowly he reached his hoof across the table to feel for where the goblet of water was, but as he did so he bumped it and knocked it off the table. Hearing it shatter on the ground made Aldus wince and frown.

Marigold sighed and brought him over another glass. She grabbed his hoof and touched it to the glass. He looked in the general direction where he perceived her to be and gave a small smile. Earlier he had torn a off piece of his new robes and tied it around his eyes. Marigold heard the stories of the ponies who served Nightmare Moon, how they always fought bravely and valiantly even against overwhelming odds. The bat ponies who were created during the war to serve as new soldiers and assassins. The Lunar Knights who commanded the armies.  But by far the most famous and still talked about story were those of the Shadowbolts. They came out of nowhere in the early battles of the war and wreaked havoc with Celestia’s armies. Some even outflew the wonderbolts when they were under the command of their captain.

But looking at the unicorn before her, Marigold did not feel afraid anymore, she had heard what the guards said and she had seen that shadow creature, or whatever it was. Aldus was nothing like that or anything like the ponies from the old stories. And yet, if what Luna said was true, he was one of masterminds behind it all. He led the court that all the other ponies were a part of. This small blind unicorn was responsible for so much. This was Aldus the Moondeath?

“Am I not quite what you were expecting, Marigold?” he asked, trying to find her in the room.

“What?” she asked, being taken aback momentarily.

“I may not be able to see, but I can feel you staring at me. Are you afraid of me?”

Marigold paused before answering, “No, I am not.”

“You are lying, sweetheart.” He said with a smirk. “I was never a fighter or a warrior, but I did know a thing or two about ponies and diplomacy. I knew how to play the game. I’ll tell you now Marigold, I can see that you are a good pony and a loyal friend to Princess Luna. That is all that we ever tried to give her, all those years ago, love and friendship. So you have nothing to fear from me, or from any of the others, if they were here.”

Marigold struggled to formulate the question, “The others, what were they like?”

Aldus laughed, “Well, they were all my friends, but I was closest to Rigel and Polaris. I met them when I was still in school learning magic from Luna and Celestia. Rigel was like a big brother to me and was my best friend. Polaris was not from Equestria, he came from the Island of Jadeth in the Kingdom of the Silver Isles far to the east. During the war Rigel founded the Shadowbolts while Polaris trained the bat ponies. When I was appointed leader of the Court of the Moon I met Cygnus and Alvina. We--”

“You did a lot of good things back then, Aldus. But now we find out what else you did, you have a lot to answer for.” Princess Luna said as she flew into the tent.

“I’m sorry Luna, I was just curious.” Marigold said with a bow.

“Its alright, Marigold. I’m as eager to hear what Aldus has to say as you are, and he loves talking.”

Aldus smirked and slowly got up from the table. At the request of Luna, Marigold helped Aldus to the center of the tent where various pillows and blankets were set in a circle. The three sat down and waited in silence until Luna finally asked, “The local ponies around here say there is something living near the temple that resembles a black winged pony, there is no life around hear and we encountered some hideous abomination in front of the temple. Adlus... its her isn’t it?”

Aldus looked toward Luna, then the floor before finally raising a hoof to adjust the veil covering his eyes. “Yes... and No.”

“Don’t toy with me Aldus, is it or is it not Nightmare Moon?” Luna asked, her tone now becoming impatient.

“I think it would be best for the two of you if I simply showed you, then explain everything afterward.”

Aldus tilted his head to look directly up, “You can come out now.”

At first nothing happened, then slowly the light from the crystals in the tent seemed to dim and the shadows stretched in unison toward Aldus. Slowly they broke away from their respective objects and slithered across the floor to the unicorn. Princess Luna simply regarded Aldus with a face that could have been hard as stone. “Don’t be afraid, Marigold.” She said in a calm tone, “Nothing will happen while I am here.”

Aldus smiled and nodded toward the princess. “Indeed, as I said before Marigold, you have nothing to fear from me.”

The shadows coalesced into a form that remained behind Aldus for a time, then gently draped itself over him as if it were a blanket. It wrapped tightly around him and ascended to his eyes were it slithered in under the cloth veil and lit his eyes with an emerald green glow.

“Ahh, much better! I knew with its help I could see again, if only for brief periods of time.”

Aldus cracked his neck and examined both Luna and Marigold. “Princess Luna you haven’t aged a day, you are as beautiful and fair as I remember. And Marigold you are even more stunning than I imagined.”

Luna stamped a hoof, “Dispense with the pleasantries and tell me what that is, now!”

Aldus simply nodded as the green in his eyes faded. He raised his right hoof and moved it from side to side. Two images could be seen when he did this, one of his actual hoof and another of some sort of shadowy after image.

He put the hoof to his face and removed the veil from his eyes, “I assume this is what you saw outside the temple when you arrived?” The darkness surrounding Aldus swirled and completely covered him then began to withdraw revealing the mangled disfigured unicorn Luna had attacked when arriving at the temple.”

Marigold shuttered as the green returned to Aldus eyes as he faced her. “You have nothing to fear from me," Aldus whispered. "What you two are looking at is what was left of me after I destroyed Celestia’s army and dueled her.”

Aldus levitated his veil back into the air and the darkness reached out and plucked it from the magical field and fastened around his eyes once more. “What you see here now, is a spectre or a shade. It is all that remains of Nightmare Moon.”

Princess Luna simply sat quietly for a minute taking in what Aldus had just said. “Start at the beginning Aldus.”

Aldus bowed and the shadows receded changing him back to his normal unicorn appearance.

“Once you turned to into Nightmare Moon and declared your intent to Equestria, what remained of the court needed to come up with a way to fight the war. You were not a battlefield commander so the task fell to us. At the very start of the conflict I met with the court, we quickly realized that if we were to survive at all it was imperative to know everything Celestia and her followers were doing. This would allow us to conserve our forces and choose which battles to fight and which to avoid. Alvina the spymaster came up with an idea of interrogation to obtain the information we needed, she suggested that I learn to enter dreams just as you did.”

“Impossible!” Luna snapped, “Only an Alicorn can possess enough magic to take her full essence into the realm of dreams.”

Aldus grinned, “Yes, Luna. Her ‘full’ essence. My way is a bit different. I only use half my essence. Through a combination of early notes on the magic of harmony by Starswirl, a few spells of ‘dark’ magic and one particularly tricky chaos magic incantation, I did it. I split my essence in two and created a shade.”

Marigold was completely lost, “A shade? What is that?”

“You could call it a spectre too if you wish, it is an ethereal representation of half of my essence.” Aldus said, as the darkness began to unravel around him and take the shape of an exact copy sitting beside him.

“Using the shade allowed me to sidestep the immense amount of magic required. I was only able to send it into a limited number of dreamers at a time. The shade is a copy of me so in a sense it is actually me entering the dreams.”

“It took some time, but eventually I was able to enter dreams of prisoners and other nobleponies captured from Celestia’s court. Doing this allowed us to survive what would otherwise have been a quick defeat. However, after becoming comfortable with how it worked I was approached by Rigel, Polaris, and Alvina. They all wished to know why we were fighting for Nightmare Moon, they wanted to know if Princess Luna was still in there somewhere... or if she was gone forever.”

Luna began to tear up after hearing what Aldus said, in reaction to this the shade shifted from the copy of Aldus to the form of a black pegasus mare. Its green eyes looked apologetically at Luna.

“My friends asked if I could use the technique on Nightmare Moon to see if Luna was still in there. Who was I to refuse such a request? I owed it to them and to you, Luna. So on one of the rare occasions when Nightmare Moon slept, I sent the shade into her dreams. All was fine at first, but I underestimated the power and vigilance of the NIghtmare. It sensed my presence and corrupted it. Throughout the war, from that moment on, I was fighting corruption from the Nightmare. Ultimately my shade, that half of my essence, was completely corrupted. The events at Moonlock Observatory almost allowed the Nightmare to corrupt me completely.”

“But you didn’t become a monster like Nightmare Moon,” Marigold interjected. “Even if you did, it must have only been temporary. That... thing sits beside you now completely passive. Its almost as if it obeys you.”

The shade looked upon Marigold for a moment, then dissolved into shadow again. It wove itself protectively around  Aldus and returned the glow to his eyes.

“I control it because it was part of the agreement we made during my thousand years in that wretched prison. Also, because it is still technically me. The same way Nightmare Moon was still Luna, this shade is still me. It mainly exists within me, but can separate itself like you have seen here for a limited amount of time. I may be powerful and... unique now, but I am no Alicorn. I could not stand against your sister, Luna. But with the help of this shade and access to some spell books I might be able to recover at least some of my sight. The dark magic I siphon from the shade can only give me brief instances of sight when my eyes glow. But, I imagine that it is a slightly off putting display?”

“Just slightly,” Marigold said, rolling her eyes.

“Aldus, what agreement did you make with the Nightmare?” Princess Luna asked.

Aldus again put a hoof to his face and changed back into the horribly broken monstrosity that appeared outside the temple. However, this time inky black wings began to form on either side of him. Slowly they stretched out far enough and flexed.

“What you see now is what destroyed Celestia’s army, this is Aldus the Moondeath, as I came to be called. This is also what Celestia saw when she took my sight and locked me away in that prison. I do not think she knew about the shade and the Nightmare. If she did know, then I do not believe she cared. But when I was put in that prison I was not alone, the Nightmare came with me. It was like throwing a foal in a sack with a beehive. I don’t know how long it went on during those thousand years, but I fought the Nightmare tooth and hoof. At some point I pushed it back, at another it corrupted me completely but I was able to come back from it due to my prior knowledge of dark magic. I probably went insane at some point as well. Eventually it became a deadlock, so I did what I do best. I talked to it. Over a period of time we both came to a conclusion that lead to the agreement. I would allow the Nightmare to remain in my shade and we would both protect each other.”

Princess Luna and Marigold were both speechless until finally the princess asked, “What was the conclusion you came to?”

“The conclusion was that we both loved you, Luna. And we missed you.”

Princess Luna was frozen and at a loss for words. She thought for a moment about what Aldus was saying. He had never lied to her in the past, and certainly never when she directly questioned him like this. There would be time to think on this later.But for now, there was still one more thing she needed to know.

“Aldus, I need you to tell me one more thing. What happened at Moonlock Observatory?”

“As you wish Luna. However, I think it would be better to show you rather than tell you. I’m feeling very tired. Allow me to rest and you can enter my dreams and see for yourself.”

Marigold nudged Luna with a hoof and whispered, “I’m not sure if thats such a good idea, Luna. Perhaps you should do it with your sister present just to be safe.”

“No, this is something I need to see for myself. Once I do, I will get Tia’s version on the matter.” Princess Luna rose into the air and flew to door of the tent. “Marigold, watch him until he falls asleep, when that happens let me know.”

“As you command, Luna.” Marigold replied as the princess disappeared into the night.

“So, you are going to be here until I fall asleep?” Aldus asked in a playful tone. “Any chance I could get a lullaby from that beautiful voice of yours?”

Marigold giggled and trotted over to him, “Well... since you asked so nicely, no.” As she answered she touched one of the tips of her shock gauntlets to Aldus’ chest giving him a slight shock.

He yelped a high pitched squeal and fell over backwards. This caused Marigold to fall to the ground laughing. “No protection from that by the Nightmare?” she asked.

“No... it would seem she thought I deserved it.” he said with a grunt.

“She?” Marigold inquired.

“Yes, Nightmare Moon was a female. But that is a conversation for another time. I like you Marigold, you are a kind mare and good soldier. You remind me of a pony I met when I was a foal.”

Aldus laid down among a group of pillows and closed his eyes. “The war changed a lot of us, it changed me as you could see. But now I have returned to the world when the war is over. I’ll do now what I’ve always done, offer my knowledge and protection to Luna and all her subjects. You can be at ease when I’m around Marigold, goodnight.”