The sun was setting, the moon was rising, and everypony in Equestria was settling down to sleep. Celestia lay in her bed, staring out the window as the last rays of light left the sky. Though she had seen it so many times, it still struck her how beautiful this scene was. How beautiful those stars, now shining, were. She gave a small smile as she stood up, walking over to her window to gaze upon the beautiful, shining lights that littered the sky. They twinkled down at her, seeming just as eternal as her own sun. She tore her gaze away from them, towards that lovely, glowing moon - and hefted a sigh. Her lovely sister Luna lay up there, asleep, hopefully dreaming peacefully in her slumber. It had almost been one thousand years now, hadn't it? That she'd been up there. Celestia turned her head away. No reason to go getting all depressed on such a beautiful night.
She was about to head back to bed when something caught her eye. Something moving in the sky, so distant away. She stared out at the void and all the stars collected in it, and felt her heart stop. There, to the far west, a star was falling. At first, it was no bigger than the rest, but it quickly doubled in size, then tripled, and kept growing until, suddenly, it was gone. It had hit the ground, somewhere over the western mountains. It had been a long time since Celestia had seen a star fall. The last time a star had died, Celestia traveled for weeks to the top of Lunar Point mountain, and had found a small, blue filly. It had wings, like her, and a horn, like her, and looked like she did in many ways. It had been Luna, and Celestia had adopted her as her own sister. Back then, Celestia's 'Parents' had still been around. They had left, soon after, knowing that their little Tia, who they had found in much the same way, could take care of herself. Ah, but that is a story for another day. Back to the star.
It is commonly belief that, when a star dies, it loses all its magic, and falls. But, that is not the case. A star is made of an immense amount of magic, swirling and curling, shining brightly and beautifully into the void. When a star dies, this large pocket of magic condenses - It becomes something solid, something real. This something is a pony, or another like species - a griffon had been born from it once, as did the first Changeling king - that is powerful enough to hold immense magic. Now, something with that much magic can't live an ordinary life - They are bound by destiny to power, and will eventually become something important to the world - Either as a great leader, or a great change. Perhaps both. Celestia sighed. Knowledge may bring power, but it is a heavy burden to bear.
She knew that this star, just like all the rest, would bring a very important being into this world. She could only hope that this being would bring goodness and harmony to the world. She also knew that she would have to go find it. Hopefully she could raise it to be good, or at least bring it to the land in which it belonged. Resigning herself to a night of no sleep, Celestia turned with a sigh and picked up her crown. She placed it on her head, and spread her wings.
The journey was a long one, made shorter only by her long-distance teleportation. She teleported to the west until she was close enough to smell the stardust, and stopped. Thankfully, this was in an almost exclusively uninhabited area - It was called the Sunless forest, a forest so tall and so dense that neither sunlight nor moon could reach it. Celestia lit her horn, walking through the dense shrubbery beneath the tree's. She pushed her way on wards, treading through the forest to find the starfall sight.
The farther she went, the stronger her sense of unease got. It was like she was being watched - Like the shadows wished to come alive, to steal the breaths from her lungs even as she coughed out the ungodly smell of burnt-out star and ash. She shuddered, looking around her again as she pushed through another layer of underbrush. She let out a startled gasp as she almost fell over the edge of a large crater, stretching out in a rough circle in front of her. She stared around. Down below was a small, curled up foal - its gender indeterminable as of yet. Its coat was red, its mane and tail black, fading to a yellow at the ends. It did have a horn, and two delicate, small, feathered wings. As Celestia glided slowly into the crater, she noticed the ominous presence of dark magic. Alighting next to the foal, it became apparent that the small alicorn was indeed a colt. Celestia stared at him, unsure. How could something this small really be that bad? But she remembered Luna, who had grown so much since they had found her, and let out a weary sigh. This colt would grow. And, judging from the way this place felt, his future would not be a bright one. But, she couldn't exactly leave him here, so...
Softly, Celestia picked up the colt with magic. Small sparks of a black and purple aura of magic fizzled from the tip of his horn, but he was otherwise still. Closing her eyes, she prepared to teleport back home. She'd had enough of this place, and the strange feelings it gave her. With a warm glow and a soft popping sound, she left, headed back for home and a future uncertain.
Behind her, Strange eyes watched from the shadows, curious but dark in nature.
Arriving back at home, Celestia quickly headed for the cellar. She'd need to hide him, this colt. She was absolutely sure that he was dangerous. She quickly descended the stairs, uplifting clouds of dust with her hooves. The cobwebs on the ceiling told of how long it had been since anypony lay hoof in this room. Celestia pulled together a bed of blankets and lay the colt on them Wouldn't be long now, before he awoke. She sat down in front of his bed, her gaze holding a worried look as she stared at his calmly sleeping face. SHe'd have to decide on a name for him.
Thinking back to where she had found him, Celestia attempted to decide on a name. She had, apparently, landed on Sunpeak mountain - it would seem that your starfall sight would have to do with you powers, and who you would become. Sunless forest. Sunless. She shuddered at the implications. This could ot be a good sign. But, it did give her a name. Albeit, not a good one.
A soft, amber hued eye blinked open, fluttering for a moment. Thin red hooves moved slowly, groggily. until the colt was sitting up. He blinked, looking around the room for a moment before his gaze rested upon a pony in front of him. He stared at the tall, intimidating mare before him in half fear, half admiration. "Where am I....?" He murmured softly, blinking sleep from his eyes.
"You are at your home." Celestia answered, voice cold.
"Oh..." The colt murmured, looking around. It wasn't exactly what he would call 'homely', but, then again - he didn't have anything to compare it to. "Why can't I remember anything...?" He asked, looking up at Celestia. He couldn't hold her cold gaze for more than a moment before gazing back down at her hooves.
"Because you were only just born. You came from a star, child, because you are special. This is your world now." She said. The colt was confused. Wasn't the world supposed to have sky, grass, tree's? But, what was a sky? What was grass? What was a tree? He wasn't sure. Maybe this really was everything....
"Okay then." The colt murmured, quietly, laying down on the thin blankets. Celestia turned to leave, already contemplating the magical lock she would place on the door, when the colt asked her one last question, voice wavering in fragile way.
"Who am I?" Celestia turned, and gave him a hard stare.Then she answered, voice cold and dark and made of malice and hatred and everything that would haunt the colt's nightmares.
"You are Eclipsis, the Eclipse."
