“This is... Awesome! I honestly thought you were lying about this ‘dating Chrysalis’ thing.” said a once skeptical Moon Shadow.

I gave the small mare a confused expression, the very thought that she believed I would lie to her, “Ah, come on now. I’ve been honest thus far with you, why start now? And why would I lie about something like this?” I asked the small mare.

“Well, sure.. I get the part about being a guardian, the part about having a brother that can only exist in his true form inside the dream realm. The part that I’m having a problem with though is having a relationship with Chrysalis, the queen of changlings. So pardon me if I seem a bit skeptical about this whole thing.”

“Now that you say it like that, you make me sound like I live in a fairy tale.” I looked to the path and left to my thoughts for a moment. I shortly returned to our conversation after gathering the right words to continue,“Now that I think about it; back in my world, before I knew this life and land, hearing something like that would make you think that same thing. Damn.” I turned to the small mare and seen a look overtake her face, she seemed to be tired.

I stopped and she followed my lead. I knelt down and looked her in her tired eyes and said,“Want me to carry you the rest of the way?” I asked.

Through a yawn and a tiny stretch, she nodded and I picked her up and held her in my arms. I held her as if she were an infant, though she was ten years old. I'd grown attached to the small mare in the short time of knowing her. She was a troubled child in some ways, but I found it fascinating that she’d been through so much. She told me of the terrible things her sister did to others, and the horrible things she put Moon through. I needed... no, wanted to be the father figure Moon never had, even though I never had the best myself.

It’s strange to say but when you meet with someone that shares your experiences, you understand their pain, and from pain... a friendship is built. A mutual respect for the other. I guess that’s why we became such fast friends.

I held onto the mare tightly and she nuzzled her nose into my neck as she slept soundly. I cracked a smile and spread my wings and took to the air. Moon Shadow had the right to be tired, given her age and the fact we left Ponyville right after I left Tolsa’s tavern. We arrived at the castle at four o’clock in the morning, in only six short hours of travel time. An all time record so far.

I strode through the front gates and after a short walk through the castle, I arrived in the throne room. I was greeted by my love, Chrysalis. “Welcome back, Dark. So I see you do keep your promises.” She said with a smile.

“But of course my queen, I’d never break one with one as lovely as yourself.” Her cheeks turned a bright crimson red as she smiled at my comment.

“And who do you have there? A friend?” Asked the ebony queen.

I turned to the small mare in my arms that still slept peacefully in my embrace. I gave a faint smile and said,“Yes, she’s a friend but she also my daughter.”

Her eyes shot open at my statement,“You never told me you had a child, so who’s the mother?” she asked seemingly worried.

I laughed at her sudden frustration,“I adopted her, and I don’t know anything about her mother. She don’t seem to know anything about her parents. I brought her here with me so she could get to know you, and vise versa”

“Oh.” was all she could say. She approached me and gave the small mare a look over,“This child.. looks familiar though... like I’ve seen her before.” Moon nuzzled into my neck once again and began to snore lightly. “Oh goddess, that was adorable!” whispered Chrysalis.

/////////////////

It was around nine and Chrysalis and I laid in bed in each others embrace, I was fighting to stay awake while she cuddled me while Moon slept in the guest room. I asked for the guards to watch over the room and attempt to scare her when she woke. I thought to myself,‘I feel sorry for the guards, they have no idea what she’s like. It’ll be something to laugh at, at least.’

I closed my eyes and began to fall asleep.

/////////////////

“Oh yeah, right there..” The ebony queen let out a few cries out in pleasure.

“Right here?” I continued pushing harder, giving it my all.

“Yes! on my... this is... this is amazing!” Chrysalis cried out.

Moon Shadow looked to us and her cheeks turned a bright crimson red,“Oh come on! Why do you guys have to make it sound like that? It’s a massage for goddess sakes!” Moon turned around and buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.

I lifted my hands away from Chrysalis’ back and turned to the small mare,“Alright, alright. Let’s just get back to enjoying our picnic.” I reached down and grabbed a bottle of water and unscrewed the lid. Before I took a drink to quench my thirst, I looked to the small mare with a wide smile,“Again, that was some pretty sketchy stuff. So I can see how you’d interpret it that way.”

“Dad, just... just no. Just drink and let’s just forget that happened.” Moon seemed mortified but to be honest, it was hilarious. I gave a quick laugh and took a drink of the water.

“So Moon, please tell me more about yourself. We’ve only been able to talk a couple times now.” said the radiant ebony queen.

“Alright, what do you want to know?”

“How did you and Dark meet?” From this, I pulled the water bottle from my face and felt my heart drop. I turned to Moon and smiled. Moon looked to me with a puzzled expression, as if looking for my approval to tell the truth. I gave a nod and the small mare started explaining everything.

“Well, my sister and I were in the Everfree forest doing horrible things to ponies. She had this sense of cruelty I never understood. We were held up inside an abandoned ruin of a castle, torturing all of her ‘Prizes’. I would wander the woods with a seemingly harmless lie, luring ponies to there most certain demise. My sister, Crater crusher, would wait inside the ruin for more ponies or be in the process of ending them. As I wandered the woods, I found an oddly dressed man wandering as well. I asked him if he could help me with my cart, and he said yes.”

She stood from the picnic blanket and slowly began to make her way over to my side. “I lead him for a bit but I could see he was beginning to feel a little skeptical about the whole thing so I faked that I needed to relieve myself and asked him to turn around. He did and I knocked him out with a large branch. He fell like a ton of bricks. Sadly for me, he weighed the same as well. I dragged him for maybe a good ten minutes and my sister took him and strapped him to the table in her torture chamber. I never wanted to be like this, I wanted to leave her, but I knew that she’d track me down and end me as well. So while Crater wasn’t looking, I loosened the straps, but only a little. I got a bit curious about ‘our’ prisoner because his face was covered by his hood. I slowly took it off and found that it was the newest guardian. I jumped back and gasped from the sight, Crater was about to yell at me for the loud noises but then she looked at him too. She gave the idea of killing the guardian a quick look over and processed anyways.”

She sat down beside me and leant against me. “She removed his armor and clothes and his hood. The sight was just a little disturbing though, seeing that he was a human kinda... weirded me out. I’d never seen one before, sure we had that Senior guy but I never saw him in person and without his hood up all the time. Anyways, I knew it was a bad idea to kill a guardian so after placing his gear in the safe in the back room, I took my sister into our room and asked her to rationalise our current problem. She kept going on about revenge of an old friend or something, this was the first of me hearing this so.. you’re in the dark as much as I am. She stormed out of the room and was heading towards the torture room and I followed shortly after her, for if I didn’t follow, I’d be beaten again.”

She laid her head on my legs and I closed my eyes as the small mare recollected her thoughts,“We arrived at the cell and found that the door had been busted off it’s hinges with the table we strapped him on, I found that incredibly resourceful. Crater however, she wasn’t too fond of the idea of letting our captive free. We searched the castle till we both heard the sound of a door being smashed open. She knew exactly where the sound was coming from and dashed towards it. She rounded the corner of the room and yelled out,“There you are!” but that’s all she got out.”

Her expression was one of sadness as she continued,“I watched as she flew out of the window and began plummeting to her death, but she didn’t die from the fall, she died burning to death. As her ashes hit the ground, I looked to the hooded man and asked why he would do such a thing. He said that he didn’t want to do it, but had to and took to the air after some freak out session and blood leaking from his eyes. As I watched him fly away from the castle, I retreated to my thoughts. I thought about my sisters death, I was still mournful for her passing but I wasn’t saddened because of all the things she’d put me through. The beatings, the torturing, the constant taunting. I never felt like a sister to her, just a servant. Family is family though, so I did cry that night.”

She lifted her head off my legs and gave me a hug,“But then one night, Dark came to the ruin. He was drunk but he still came, maybe it was the alcohol talking, or maybe just seeking forgiveness. He pleaded to me for hours, even though he could not see me. I stood and watched as he teared up and asked for my forgiveness. When the sun rose and I stood before him, he said that he’d adopt me and try to make things right again. I’ve never known anyone to care this much about me. It sent many thoughts to my head, but I scoffed them off. I looked to his face and through all the tears and redness, I seen his eyes. And I knew what honest eyes looked like, and they were no different.”

She smiled greatly at me and turned her attention back to Chrysalis,“That’s how we met, and that’s how i’ll always remember it. Painful things did happen that night, but I got actual family now and that means the world to me.”

I looked to the ebony queen and she had tears building up in her eyes,“Moon.. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“There’s no need to be sad, I always wanted to leave Crater, I always wanted a real family, I always wanted someone to love me for who I am and not treat me as a slave. Thanks to Darkmoon, it sounds horrible to say but it’s true, he’s helped me with all of this.”

We continued our picnic, and I had anticipated that it would have been quiet the entire time and prepared for the worst. Luckily for us all, it was far from that. We all talked, laughed and enjoyed our short time together. The sun stepped down and the night had begun to take it’s reign over the sky and we set out for the castle. I carried the filly on my back as she held on tight, as the ebony queen walked beside me leaning against me affectionately.

Family. I had one now.

Bam, kinda blanked for a day or two. But hope you enjoyed the chapter! And I will see you! in the next chapter.

Keep it cool, Condemned.