Chapters A figure stepped out from the bushes near canterlot, walking into the sunlight his gray mane reflected the sun slightly, he wore a set of combat fatigues which had seen their fair share of war over the years.
He beared 4 stars on the collar of his shirt, his wings were wrapped up in bandages along with his right fore hoof he gazed up to the sun, his hat with a hole in it for his cracked and broken horn provided shade for his eyes. He stared intently at the ball of light...
"Home at last..." he said as his horn began charging with magic
Celestia stepped out onto the marble balcony that overlooked her kingdom, She gazed upon the small towns and cities the lay scattered across the land. She sighed as she took it all in, but she did not gaze at all of it alone, followed by other hoofsteps, another dark blue alicorn mare stepped out onto the balcony. She came to her sisters side.
"Isn't it magnificent sister..." Luna spoke
"While you were banished to the moon, I always used to come out here and gaze, at the stars, at the towns, at the ponies..." celestia replied bowing her head
"You seem troubled dear sister?" the smaller alicorn asked
"I am... I-Its just so much to take in... but at everything we've lost to get here..."
"You are still troubled with mother and fathers deaths?"
"Indeed I am lulu, But that was nearly 500 years ago, I still don't know how they died..."
"Tia, there is somethings in life even we weren't meant to know... maybe one day we will..."
"I guess so... Its just-- " she said as she looked up to her sun, it wasn't in the correct position, it was 5 pm, why was it in the center of the sky? she was about to ask luna about it, when lunas moon rose up into the sky in front of her sun causing an solar eclipse...
"sister... does this mean what I think it means...?" luna asked dumbfounded
"Our brother has returned..." celestia said, staring into the eclipse
It wasn't usual for a soldier to walk down to streets of canterlot, Mainly because the armed forces was disbanded and replaced with royal guards 1500 years ago.
But what very few ponies know, is that the military wasn't ever disbanded, it was at war with too much public news releases, a cover up with it being disbanded was set and the military was replaced by the royal guard. All the armed forces members including the royal guards had been sworn in to confidentiality to keep it a secret...
As the alicorn walked down the street his wings were concealed by his pack and duffle bag, If ponies knew there was a male alicorn the entire secrets of the military and canterlot could be exploded to dust...
he marched down the street, the pain in his hoof seared, but he had been trained to neglect it and carry on, he came to the castle gates, the two guards stared at him, It had been years since a soldier had walked into the gates, judging by their armour, they had never seen one, he imagined they probably stopped telling them about the other armed forces... he sighed
"4 Stars, General Eclipse, ID 01770 I have business with the princesses..." eclipse ordered
the two white unicorns stared at him and began laughing
"A 4 star oooooOooOooO Yeah right, you're not wearing royal guard uniform, get lost civilian!!" the younger one ored with a motion of his hoof
"I wish to speak to your senior officer... NOW!!!" He shouted in his drill sergeant's voice, Being taught how to use the royal canterlot voice, it helped him to train new recruits..
the two unicorns shook violently and dashed off to get their officer, they returned within minutes with a pegasus in silver armour with 2 stars on his helmet.
"I was asked a civilian wanted to speak with me? if you're screwing around I will have you put into the stockades and hung for this..." the aged pegasus spoke, he gazed upon the stallion in front of him, he blinked his eyes 'could it be, a soldier? they haven't been in canterlot for years...' he thought to himself
"By lunas stars, Gents raise the gate escort the general to the castle doors... thats an order!!!" the pegasus said, the two unicorns moaned as they completed their tasks...
eclipse walked down the street, flanked by the two young soldiers and the 2 star by his side.
"Its been a long time since we've had One of you in here sir" the pegasus excitedly said
"Indeed it has been.. I didn't know they still taught the guards about us..." eclipse said
"Us?" the unicorns questioned in unison
"I'll explain it to you at the barracks...." the pegasus said as they came to the doors of the castle, no longer needing his escort he dismissed the guards
"Wait" eclipse ordered
"yes sir?" they asked
"what is your name major general?" eclipse asked
"Crossed bayonets sir..."
"You're a good soldier bayonet, You might be called up to the big leagues just yet..." eclipse replied
"T-Thank you...." Crossed bayonets said as he saluted and trotted off...
Eclipse turned and entered a long wide corridor with 2 levels and a grand staircase in the middle, which had a red carpet snake along to and through the stairs, "Spit... Tia sure has changed the place up... Course the last time I was in the royal castle for a long time it was still located in the ever free, good thing I was here to assist with the construction... Lets see if I can still find my way around this bloody place..." Eclipse wondered as he headed towards the stair case
Author's Note
It has come to my attention that there is no male alicorns in mlp, as tradition in the royal family of England most of the men join the military, I wanted that sort of a spin on it for this... Also, since I'll "try" to go into detail with this later, eclipse is a combination of celestia and Luna, he can raise and set both moon and sun, thus his grey coat...
Marching and Mayhem
Eclipse turned down the next corridor, on one side there was windows looking out at the mountain range, on the other artifacts and other things that you'd expect to find in a castle hung from the walls. He turned down the next corridor only to bump into another alicorn.
"OOF" eclipse said as he pulled himself up straggling under the weight of his pack he pushed himself up to look at the other pony, it was another alicorn. She was purple with a pink strip in her mane.
"So sorry miss." Eclipse said as he helped pull her up
Eclipse thought for a minute, he wasn't supposed to reveal himself or his name to civilians, he began thinking up lies...
"--uh yes, yes I am, A uh royal guard, I uh just got off my shift, yeah just heading to tell celestia the report..." He said, going she would buy his lies, she shot him a look, he knew this look, he saw it almost every day, it was the look if disbelief, her face soon relaxed as a smile washed over it "okay then..." She said as she tooled her book under her wing and dashed off.
"Only gone for 900 years and the worlds changed so drastically, I need to remind myself to take longer breaks from tours..." He rolled his eyes and trotted off to the guest chambers nearby.
As he opened the door he noticed the rooms had changed quite a lot, a mini fridge was in one corner, a door to its own bathroom was right by the door a large king sized bed lay in the middle of the room, a closet was by the night stand, a dresser lay on the other side of the bed. He began tossing his clothes into it and picked out his dress uniform he laid it down on the bed and tossed his dress cap onto of it, he picked out a tie and set it down as well.
Changing out of his fatigues was a nice feeling, he tossed them into the hamper and took a bath, something he hadn't done for a long time. Within minutes he came out clean of all the filth he had gotten from his journey, his grey coat was brighter. He slipped on his shirt and tied his tie, as he put on his uniforms tunic, he heard mumblings from the room beside him, they stopped almost as soon as they started, using his magic he set his cap on his head and left the room.
As he entered the hallway though... There was 12 eyes watching him head towards the throne room...
"Girls we need to get the guards and take down this changeling..." Twilight demanded as she stomped her hoof, her friends were in mutual agreement of yes, they charged down to the barracks to assemble they're small army of guards...
--------------------------/------------------------
Eclipse bursted into the throne room, as he was Soon greeted by an embrace from his sisters.
"Oh Luna, its been so long..." He said as he hugged her
FLASH BACK LUNA'S MEMORY 1003 years ago
Luna sat facing her sister from across the table as they ate their dinner, a smile across Luna's face, something she rarely did as they continued to eat.
"Lulu, have you heard from mother lately?" Celestia asked, her pink mane flowing without any wind
"No, not recently, she said they were going to visit eclipse overseas, she said he's getting a promotion..."
"To what?"
"I'm not sure, captain I think... She was really excited about it... They leave tomorrow... "
"One day we need to go see him... He is after all handling the military by himself..."
"Agr--" Luna was cut off by a magic bubble appearing in front of her, it showed eclipse in a green uniform wearing a brodie helmet, the pouches on his vest open and empty, a lone cross low in his hoof, a cartridge of arrows in it.
"Family, this may be my last message to you, we're pinned down, the HMS mane was sunk with her crew, she took out half of the platoon in the explosion, there's only a quarter of us left we have very limited ammo and are loosing ground fast...
There's no hope out of this for any of us...
I love you a---" the message was cut out by an explosion on eclipses end...
Luna and celestia stared, their brother had died, Luna began to cry as it sunk in... Eclipse had always commented about her nights, he and Luna shared a very good bond, celestia being the oldest didn't have quite the same bond with him...
"Why Tia... Why did he have to die..." Luna asked tears flowing from her eyes
"Luna... He would've wanted to go out that way... Fighting for what he believed for..." She replied, comforting her sister
END OF FLASH BACK, RETURN TO CURRENT TIME
Eclipse let go of her embrace, it had been about a minute long...
"Why don't we talk over dinner?" Celestia asked
Author's Note
So... A little history, after eclipse's transmission ends, he disappears for 3 years, helping to drive Luna mad, he returns after Luna's banished to the moon, he is found in a POW (prisoner of war) camp that is liberated, he begins to assist with rebuilding the castle in canterlot, before he is called back out to serve after a massive assault on equestrian forces, this is where they go incognito to hide from the press and get more elaborate and successful attacks on the enemy (they will be revealed friends...)
Eclipse was guided into the dining. As they walked towards it, eclipse had flash backs in his memory, laying out the stone work, setting up girders, recruiting friends for work, the memories brought a smile to his face...
As the large doors to the dining room opened, eclipse was met with masked and armoured ponies, arms aimed at him. The room Lost all its cheery colour, the banner lay on the floor in shreds and ashes, bullet holes pepper all sides of the room, he was suddenly in his combat fatigues and equipment, he dove for the table as shots flew passed him. Slamming into the floor, he turned around to check on his comerades, three lay dead at the door way, while two others hid behind the door taking shots every few seconds. Eclipse crawled under the table to the end of it. As he came up he let loose several rounds, all in the directions of the enemy, he felt two searing pains in his chest. He'd been shot, he fell to his knees, he brought his hoof up from the wound, soaked in blood, he fell to the floor--
"E-eclipse?"
He snapped it of his nightmare, he was greeted by the warm colours of the room, the table set, and celestia staring at him face to face...
"S-sorry I-I blanked out..." He stuttered
Luna and celestia looked at each other, they knew that was not what had happened, he had a look on his face as if he'd been killed.
Celestia sighed, she knew what was going on, some of the guards who had been in conflicts in equestria tended to bear that look, it was the look one got, after the horrors of war began to haunt them...
"Ah your highnesses and guard, we've prepared a very delightful meal for you, crystal empire cod fish, with watermelon wine, and a side of dandelion soup or daffodil sandwich with you own toppings, and for dessert, we'vs prepared a very special dish for you... Pegasus lightning whiskey cake, made from many ingredients from around the world... Enjoy" said a mid aged earth pony wearing a chefs hat that said "chef-colt-are-dee"
As they sat down, they began swapping stories...
"So, what have I missed in the last 900 years Tia?" Eclipse asked
"Well I'll tell you the more recent story because I feel a tad lazy to tell you be exact events of the past 900 years..."
"For stirrups sakes Tia, don't get all bloody technical on me..." Eclipse chuckled
"You've got to excuse Tia, she's been a bit... Techie lately..." Luna joked
"Don't make me banish you both to the moon now..." Celestia replied sarcastically, they all broke out in laughter.
An hour or so later
"You don't normally vist us... Why did you come down here anyways...?" Celestia asked
"Well, after I heard about Luna I tried to get down here, but there was an... Incident and the largest buildings at our head quarters were destroyed... They housed many soldiers, mare and stallion, even a couple hundred innocent... I couldn't leave then... A year or so later I received an invitation to my nieces wedding would've loved to join you all... But there was a cart side bombing that took out a few armoured carts in our convoy to the air port... We eventually made it... But were shot down... We all survived...
Other then the mail I kept getting, I didn't know what was happening back home...
I also... Have great news... After nearly 2350 years of war... We have finally won against griffon and pony forces overseas, the document of unconditional surrender was signed by their leader last month, we still have a large base over there, but its being renovated into a capital so democracy can be started again..." Eclipse triumphantly said
"Y-You mean we won?" They both said
"Yes, many mares and stallions are returning home to their families..." He replied
"Wow... That's just... Wow..." Luna said, baffled by the news given to her
"But our war is not over yet... We recieved a threat right before cadences wedding, the same you wrote about in your letters*... We believe they were behind the bombing of HQ... After we captured several changelings, we began to run tests on how to protect our troops from bein copied... It worked, its a kind of bug spray, it kills and protects... But we have reason to believe they wish to terrorize equestria... We don't know when though..." Eclipse said
"You keep mentioning cadences wedding like its a really big deal, she was married to a guard... Shining armour it was I believe..." Luna asked
Eclipse stopped eating, he gave a questionable look to Luna "Private sparkle...?" Eclipse sighed
"Who's that?"
"Shining armour, I was asked to fill in for a Sargent friend of mine for half a year, about 10 or so years ago maybe, anywho I was his drill instructor, we called him private sparkle To help break him down into a soldier, we then refined him, and he earned his Propper name, "private armour". The kid had some talent, I'll admit it, if he hadn't gone and signed up for the guards after graduation, he might be a 3 star by know... Man I never imagined he'd end up as my nephew in law... Dang..." Eclipse said, excited and disappointed by connecting the dots
Luna and celestia giggled at his disappointment, they knew this ticked him off, they always did that to him when he was a colt...
"When I knew about your arrival I contacted cadence and shining to come up here and meet you again..." Celestia grinned
"That'll be very nice, let the boy know who he's gonna be answering to..." Eclipse joked
"Must you always terrorize your soldiers?" Luna asked
"I have fair amount of jurisdiction in the guard, but I don't control it..." Eclipse said " I do think however we should discuss the current matter at hand, we still have the threat of the changelings, I believe we should do something about it, they may be mounting up for an attack... Or perhaps terrorism? Either or, we should probably do something abou--" eclipse was cut off by the dining room door bursting open.
fifteen guards of grey and white lead by Six different coloured ponies wearing strange necklaces walked in, eclipse noticed the purple one was the one he bumped Into on his way to the guest chambers she wore a crown. He stood up from his chair, he stuck out his hoof as if to shake hoofs , the necklaces and crown lit up before eclipse could dodge, he was blasted with a bolt of rainbow colour light, the room when dark, the it returned to bright. Eclipse was gone, his hat the last thing left on his seat...
"No need to thank me princesses, that changeling could've harmed you both..." Twilight said proud of her accidents
She recieved a death stare from the princesses, celestia stood up from her chair aswell ...
"Twilight sparkle, what gives you the notion to vaporize my guests?" Celestia questioned
"He was a changeling, he could've replaced both of you and took over equestria?!?!" Twilight defended
"No twilight... He was our brother..." Luna said in a soft tone
Author's Note
Well... This be the chair... Yes chair not chapter chair... Deal with it, any ways, twilight seems to jump to conclusions very often which kinda gave me the idea for her to think he was a changeling....
Wouldn't I be a straight up jerk if I just ended the story here...
(Well I'm not...)
Darkness...
Cold darkness...
The dark of night, and even day consumed eclipse, trapped, to watch it, but, not see a thing, for all he could view, was bitter darkness, he tried to move, but he couldn't, he could here some sort of mumbling going on near him...
Darkness, cold, and immobile...
This was not how it should end for a soldier...
Any soldier...
Especially in his home land...
Earlier (minus 5 minutes) canterlot gardens.
"C'mon scoot, you can tell us!!!"
"Nah, secrets were meant to be kept, mine hidden..."
"Scoot, it's us, not diamond tiara and silver spoon... You can tell us... Once a crusader Crusader..."
"Always a crusader yeah I know the oath..."
"Spill the beans already girl!!!"
"-sigh- fine..."
A trio of small fillies sat gathered in a white gazebo inside the canter lot gardens. Brought here by there sisters, they had been here for over a week. Orange, white and butter were their coat colours, the trio was more known by the castle staff as the "cutie mark crusaders, after a day or two of shenanigans the staff began helping them with their crusade, it kept the fillies occupied and out of the way, they were currently resting, for once...
"Let's see... Hmmm well... I prefer the colour grey, I think if I did have the chance when I'm older I'd go after a grey coloured stallion... Now you have to tell me yours or else I'll---" scootaloo was cut off by a statue of a unicorn appeared on the near by column which once held discord...
The unicorn wore...
What looked like...
Military clothes...
The fillies shrieked as it appeared and ducked behind the sides of the gazebo.
"What the hay was THAT?!?!" Applebloom shouted as she looked over at her friends.
"-- We should check it out" scootaloo suggested excitedly
"Nooo what if it hurts us?!?!" Sweetiebelle whined
"Ah sweetie belle... It's a statue..." Applebloom said rolling her eyes
"Oh right..." She replied sheepishly
The CMC slowly approached the statue hesitantly.
Discord sat in his small house on the outskirts of the royal canterlot garden, it was small on he outside but on the inside it was a whole-nother world, quite litterally. He silently sipped fine china from a glass of coffee, he liked to enjoy such mornings-- as it were he was floating through space... He felt a suede surge of magic-- something he hadn't felt for a long time.
"Well... Imagine that who would've thought!" He spoke to himself, a space shuttle apeared as he "swam" towards earth, as the door opened he stepped through back into equestria.
"Now time to find you in this game of hide and seek-- if only I didn't know where you were..." He thought aloud
Scootaloo was hanging of the new statue while her friend were examining it.
"Well shoot girls I just don't know what he is??" Applebloom sighed in frustration
"I give up too, there just no clues to who he is.. So much for cutie mark crusader detectives..." Sweetie belle said as she fell to the ground with applebloom
"Hey don't give up yet, statues make 'Great' climing play things--" scootaloo suggested as she swung back and fourth with her wings helping to propell he back and fourth.
"Scootaloo get down before the princess banishes you to the mo--" applebloom started before scootaloo suddenly cut her off.
"HEY this unicorn has wings!!!"
"Wouldn't that make him an alicorn scootaloo?" Sweetiebelle questioned.
"Yeah whatever-- let's try and solve this mystery now" the three got together and jumped up--
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DETECTIVES--" they said "take two" a voice from behind them said.
They shrieked as discord leaned against the statue "what are you little ponies doing it here..?" He asked
"Discord don't do that-- we've had too many jump scares for today!!" Applebloom exclamaimed as her heart started to slow down.
"My apologies" he returned " now if you could step back just a little" he motioned as he flicked his hand at the statue gold dust began coming from all around he statue as the dust cleared he fell from his perch... Face first into the ground.
Author's Note
Short chapter I KNOW SORRY my absence has been extremely noticeable - I know I know- calm down..
Tryin to get my priorities in order this month--- im trying to keep my "a bigger chapter every Friday " rule again-- I've been really busy with stuff my apologies yet again.. The story should pick up again here pretty soon
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The consequences of twilight sparkles action
Meanwhile back in the Luna and Celstias castle.
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE, explain yourself!!!" Celestia barked in her royal canterlot voice.
"Chrysalis returned to take over equestria again...?" Twilight started realizing she might've mis-calculated a mistake
Celestias thoughts ran through her mind, she valued her younger brother, however twilight's voice had a sound of guilt and a touch of confusion. She was at a checkmate with her own mind, she couldn't just banish her student to the moon-- She had lost her sister that way, she didn't wan to lose her student either. As celestias mind countered every single thought she had Luna felt Celestias mind stutter, she stepped in.
"Twilight sparkle, chrysalis has been banished to a land of which she can't return from, we have ensured it--"
"But she might've--" rainbow dash started
"Neigh, she wouldn't dare think such a notion at the thought of herself being destroyed, you however have jumped to conclusions when if you had thought out you plan, we would not be in such a predicament right now-- would we?"
The six ponies in front of her sighed in unison
"B-b-but how???" Twilight stuttered
"Meleniums ago, a colt heir was born to the throne, just years after myself" Luna said as she got up from her chair "As tradition for all royalty is to take to arms if their kingdom needs them, our parents before us fought in many wars to keep the peace in equestria, when we stepped up to rule, our kingdom was threatened by terrorists and ponies who'd wish to stoke us down and enslave us.
"We however could not let this happen, before me or Celestia had a chance out brother was already on the frontline's, he had asked that we stay to keep the peace of the kingdom, while he fought for it overseas, he won the battle for our kingdom, but the threat was still large, he remained overseas to train and defend us. Many a time has he almost died, but he put his soldiers and kingdom before his own life. When ever he did visit, it was for short times. He rushed over here when he heard about nightmare moon--" Luna paused as the horrible name rolled off he tongue, she shuddered slightly, before she could continue Celestia cut her off.
"He came to help save Luna from herself, but he came to late, the battle had been fought and won at a horrible cost, of our castle and our sister" she turned to Luna, who hung he head slightly, but perked up when she heard to the last part " he stayed for as long as he could, but war beckoned him as a terrorist group rose up and attacked manehatten, before anything could be done he was there saving life's, very few ponies and the guard knew who he was, and eventually he faded from history... Only a few pieces of literature remain that note his existence-- all are kept here under lock and key in the royal library."Celestia finished
"And that's the history of our brother Eclipse up until a few years ago." Luna added
"I-I-I n-never kn-knew" twilight said as she slowly started retreating backwards
"As for your punishment twilight sparkle"Celestia started as she took a step foreword, Luna stuck out her fore hoof stopping her sister, she looked at her and nodded, and celestia stepped away, Luna began "As for your punishment twilight sparkle-" Luna was cut off twilight fell to her knees.
"I-I surrender myself for my actions as an apology, I-I am deeply sorry, I never knew he was your brother or hat you had a brother,-- I-I-I-I'm sorry..." Twilight said, as a tear started to well in her eye
"As for your punishment twilight sparkle, You shall not be punished, I believe and have faith in your apology, you and the other elements however shall apologize to Eclipse, he will probably accept it, I believe that it was a complete accident and that you jumped to conclusions before you had your true evidence... You have been excused, But twilight please don't have to make me or my brother or sister need to punish you..." Luna said with a smile
MEANWHILE
Eclipse felt his body began to warm, it was warming very rapidly. He started to feel the slight summer breeze wash over his body. Feeling was restored to his body, he knew it as he fell from the podium down to the ground.
Ashe opened his eyes he noticed he was in the canterlot gardens, he saw three young fillies of orange, white, and yellow state at him, he also sensed nearby magical powers that were close to his own. He ignored the nearby magic and focused and the fillies in front of him.
"Um... Hello?" Was all he could think of, the three fillies were dumbstruck, he'd been in this circumstance before when he was on a mountainous assault when he fell and woke up in a village and had to speak with the ponies there. He sat up and brushed the dirt of his combat uniform, he turned to the fillies who were now shocked even more by his size and that he was an alicorn.
"H-Hi m-my names applebloom, this is sweetie belle and scootaloo" the yellow filly spoke up as she motioned to the other two fillies beside her
"Well well well, little ponies, if it isn't my arch nemesis, Eclipse" discord said as he leaned on the podium
"Discord-- if it isn't the devil himself... I thought you were imprisoned in stone?" Eclipse questioned as he looked his friend in the eye
"No, a thank you would be fine- you were the one in stone."
"Yeah I noticed that... So what have I missed?"
"Nothin' " applebloom said
"Really-- discord how long have I been in stone for?"
"Well... I'd say about maybe an hour at most..." Discord said as he pretended to write up some fake math equation on a chalkboard while he was wearing a lab coat and goggles
"Hmm okay then, I think we should head to the castle and uh, sort this "being imprisoned in stone for no reason" problem , would you like to accompany us, applebloom, scootaloo, and sweetiebelle?" He asked
The trio were confused how he had memorized there names so quick, they shrugged it off and walked to the castle. During the trip Eclipse would be pelted with questions about who he was.
But another magic noticed his energy signature suddenly pop up...
BUT it was not of miniature horse proportions...
Author's Note
Well, sorry tis Saturday chapters late but I've got a new story coming in on line 3 so uh yeah... Anyways title gives it away but whatever, this is the much awaited chapter so hope you enjoy and till next Friday !!
(Just another note-- my minds kinda :P this week, twilight is an alicorn and his is after he coronation... Just stating cause I can't remember when I started this if she was or not... Like I said my mind = :P, anyways if it is the she's still a unicorn, I'll be sure to fix it)