The Edge of Eternity

Four hours had passed since Celestia had been visited by the long thought to have been dead Eclipse, who displayed some strange new abilities that drained the life out of whatever they touched. As soon as Eclipse had vanished Celestia sent two letters out, one towards the Crystal Empire and Princess Cadence while the second went towards Ponyville and Twilight Sparkle. Wisdom had the honor of drafting and sending a letter to the Changeling Empire, directed to Queen Northern Sky and her sisters Harvest Moon and Echo. Neither one of them gave any indication of what they had witnessed earlier that day, but gave the impression that time was of the essence and that they should meet in Canterlot as soon as possible.

Fortunately, they received three replies almost at the same time. Twilight and Cadence replied that they would be delighted to visit Canterlot and leave their duties behind for a few days, though the same could not be said for Northern Sky. It was nearing the anniversary of her father's supposed death and Celestia dreaded the moment when she was going to have to open up all the old wounds that Eclipse's memory would bring. Still, Northern agreed to come to Canterlot while her sisters stayed behind and managed the Empire in her stead. Of the three of them the news that Eclipse was still alive, to some degree, would hurt his daughter more than anypony else and it was already bringing tears to Celestia's eyes by just thinking about it.

Scootaloo and Luna joined them about an hour or two into the wait, Luna dragging her hooves as she sat beside her sister and giving a yawn that indicated that she should have still been asleep. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, had brought along the books she could find, with Wisdom's help, that described the workings of the 'Death Magic' that they had all seen Eclipse use. They needed to figure out exactly how to deal with such real magic, seeing how it had frozen part of the throne room's floor and drained the life out of the grass in Scootaloo's dream. All the while Celestia kept shaking her head, wondering how she could have not seen that those who had foolishly used the magic in the past had been tampering with forces they could not control.

"Princess Celestia," a guard said, walking into the throne room to discover two princesses just sitting around, reading books, with two other ponies leaning against the walls.

"Yes?" Celestia replied, looking up from her book the moment the guard entered the room.

"We've received word that Princess Cadence and Lord Shining Armor will be arriving by train in the next ten minutes," the guard replied, "and that both Princess Twilight and Queen Northern are right behind them."

Scootaloo was pleasantly surprised, she was expecting the groups to arrive sometime during the morning of the next day, but not four hours after Princess Celestia asked them to come. It meant that they could begin planning on how to deal with Eclipse, or whatever his spirit was calling itself now, and the Death Magic that he commanded. She just hoped that the news that Eclipse was somewhat alive wouldn't alarm any of the other Princesses or the Changeling Queen.

"Then we had best welcome our fellow Princesses to Canterlot ourselves," Celestia commented, laying her book on the arm of the throne and raising to her full height, "There's no time like the present."

~Canterlot Train Station~

Scootaloo was surprised to find that there was a large crowd of ponies gathered around the train station, some almost begging for Celestia or Luna to pay attention to them. She spotted her cycle leaning against the ticketmaster's booth, completely ignored by all the ponies who would have asked questions and annoyed her. Not a few minutes after they arrived did the first train arrive, one decorated with an impressive amount of crystals that would make any baby dragon, or grown dragon, jealous of it all. The moment the train stopped and the doors opened Princess Cadence and her husband Shining Armor walked out onto the platform.

"Cadence, Shining Armor, welcome back to Canterlot," Celestia said, welcoming the two back with open wings, "I take it your train had no problems getting here?"

"Only problem we had was getting a seat before they left," Cadence replied, moving behind the taller alicorn while the other ponies on the train went on their way, "We nearly missed the train, but we managed to get on before it left. As soon as I read that you wanted the two of us in Canterlot as soon as possible we dropped what we were doing and left Flash Sentry behind to keep the place from falling apart."

"Why not let Sombra run the Crystal Empire for a while?" Celestia asked, knowing that they had done a fantastic job making Sombra more likeable a year or two ago.

"He said he was slipping into the shadows and would meet us here somewhere," Cadence said, shaking her head as the train departed, "Seeing how he should have memorized the layout of the land he should be around here, somewhere."

Scootaloo cast her eyes to the right of her cycle in time to see a mass of shadows appear on the wall, forming a gateway of sorts before Sombra stumbled out of it. The former king was now devoid of his iron crown, the ironclad hooves, the iron neck brace, and the lush red velvet cape, though now everypony could see the cutie markless area of his rear end. As the gateway disappeared Sombra walked over the edge of the railway, leaned over the concrete, and threw up whatever he had that morning for breakfast.

At least he did it away from her cycle and not near it.

"Ugh, I'm over here," Sombra moaned, heaving up whatever was left in his stomach, "this will teach me to combine dark magic and a transportation spell. It's not worth the stomachache."

As Sombra stumbled over to the group a second train rolled into the station, this one looking like the train that usually traversed the route between Canterlot and Ponyville. Celestia smiled as the train came to a halt and Twilight Sparkle, carrying a bag with a rather large book, emerged with a bright smile on her face. Standing behind her was Discord, who was actually reading a book on the history he had missed and not just eating it page by page.

"Twily, so good to see you again," Shining said, welcoming his sister with open hooves.

"Same to you BBBFF," Twilight replied, casting a look up to her former mentor, "So, who are we still waiting for?"

"Queen Northern," Celestia answered immediately, her eyes lingering on Discord, "I was not aware that Discord was bored with Ponyville and wanted to leave for once. I expected him to have set up a play date with Fluttershy and eat some ridiculous sandwich while commenting on the affairs of Equestria."

"Why Celestia, I'm offended," Discord said, wrapping himself around Celestia like he was a scarf, "I can only apologize so many times for my mistakes and Fluttershy was busy hanging out with General Tick Tock today. I would have hung out with Rainbow Dash, but she was too engrossed in the latest Daring Do book, Applejack's preparing for applebucking season, Rarity's got another line of dresses she needs to get done, and Pinkie's planning some sort of gigantic party that she wont share the specific's with me. Twilight was the only one who was willing to do anything with me today."

Scootaloo watched the second train leave the station, wondering why Twilight had bothered to take the train when she could have simply flown all the way instead. Maybe she wanted to talk with Discord before they came to Canterlot and the train provided them with the time so she could say what was on her mind. Not that Scootaloo really cared when she could easily ride her cycle anywhere and would likely beat any train, pegasus, alicorn, or dragon. Well, counting Rainbow Dash would have been wrong, but before she could really explore that thought some more she noticed something strange.

There was a train, rolling on a track in the middle of the sky. It was an ironclad train that took on the form of a dragon, with the front car of the train appearing as the head of a dragon. She remembered the train from the last time she had visited Manehatten and picked up the cycle from Copper Sprocket; the Flying Vengeance. The story had been that it was supposed to deliver an explosive large enough to take out the Changeling Hive, as Copper and Chrysalis had some disagreements in the past. After the destruction of the original Hive at the hooves of Nexus, Copper had reconstructed the train from scratch and named it 'Forgiveness'. It had been given to Queen Northern as a sign of forgiveness and as Copper's way of saying that she was sorry for the loss of everything that the Changelings held dear, including her parents.

The sky track connected to the normal track and the side wings folded up until you would never know that there had been any wings in the first place. The ponies that had been standing around the station had gone on their way, leaving Scootaloo and her group alone as they waited for the last member of their group to arrive. As the train rolled to a stop Scootaloo caught a glimpse of several pony sized creatures moving around as they prepared to exit the train. When the doors opened two changeling guards stepped out, one decked out in an impressive amount of armor while the second one wore a simple robe that covered most of its lower body. They were Ironside and Shimmer, two of the Changelings most valued guards that watched over the Changeling Queen herself.

Behind them stood a changeling that was the size of Princess Celestia, dressed up in some light green colored armor that seemed to gleam in the sunlight.

"Queen Northern Sky," Princess Celestia welcomed, beckoning with her wing as the young queen stepped off the train, "it is so good to see you again."

"Likewise Princess Celestia," Northern replied, her voice tinted with a hint of sadness, "It is rare that I leave the Hive, choosing to leave the rule of my empire in the hooves of my grandfather Zircon. After the death of my father and mother I locked myself in my new chambers and refused to see almost everypony that came to my doors, except for my grandfather. He came to me, talked to me about my parents, and finally convinced me to start ruling my empire again. My changelings would like to start working with everypony else again, in Ponyville, Canterlot, and maybe even the Crystal Empire.

I suspect that you didn't call me here to discuss why I haven't been keeping in contact and have something of much greater importance to tell me."

"We do," Princess Celestia said, nodding her head as she beckoned a wing towards the castle, "but what we have to say is not for the prying ears of our ponies to hear. If you will come with us."

Northern nodded and the group, slightly larger than she was expecting by one mad god and one ex-tyrant, began the trek from the train station to the Canterlot Castle. As they walked she began to truly wonder what was so important that they called upon her and invited her to join them in their council. The last time they gathered like it was an emergency was when Tirek escaped, but the changelings had been utterly ignored by the angry monster. That was years ago, before Northern and her sisters were even born.

Plus there was the mare named Scootaloo, who wore a uniform that looked similar to the Wonderbolts costume, who Northern was unsure of why she was here. Northern figured that Scootaloo was there because the Princesses invited her.

They came to the castle much faster than Northern was expecting, but when they reached the council room she found a large circular table waiting for them. All around the room were dozens of shimmering symbols, special runes developed by the Princesses to prevent ponies from eavesdropping on their conversation or teleporting into the room. They were additions to the wards that usually protected the room by keeping its existence hidden from every unicorn in the whole world. Once the doors were closed nothing could pass through and disturb them, at least that was what she had been told.

"Close the doors if you will," Princess Celestia said, looking back slightly as the guards backed out of the room and closed the doors tightly, "Never thought I'd have to use this room again."

"Sister, it just proves how dangerous the current situation really is," Princess Luna replied, taking a seat near her sister while the others gathered around the table.

"So what's the situation?" Twilight asked, opening a pack to reveal writing tools and a decent stack of parchment, "Is it something dangerous like Tirek again?"

"Not like Tirek," Celestia answered, letting out a sigh as she locked eyes with Northern, "but it could be as dangerous, if not even more so, than he could ever be. Something so strange and dangerous that both Luna and I could not believe what was happening before our very eyes. And we weren't the first ones that discovered the disturbance, rather it was Scootaloo who first felt the disturbance and came to us with the news of what was happening. There's no easy way to say this, so forgive me if what I say opens up old wounds.

Northern, your father is still alive."

"Come again?" Northern asked, knowing full well what Celestia had said and still knew that she was messing with her.

"Eclipse is still alive," Luna repeated, shaking her head just a tiny bit, "I thought the same thing when Scootaloo first told me he was still alive, but then he appeared before us with the sound of a bell or clock tower. After that he revealed himself to Celestia and Wisdom, though he is not the same pony you might remember."

"I'm afraid that I don't follow," Northern said, now confused further by Luna's explanation.

"Eclipse has evolved once more," Celestia continued, "He still has his razor sharp claws, the large bat wings, the ability to stand on his hind legs, and the fangs in his mouth, but then we find something different. Now he wears an eerie black robe that covers his body, with the ends moving as if they were simply wisps of smoke, and his coat has changed to a dull grey color. His weapon, the two sided sword he carried, has been replaced by a deadly looking scythe that seems to rest on his back when he has no need of it.

We are unsure if his powers before his death still remain, but he has gained several new abilities that would make fighting him tougher then the last time we fought. He seems to control the power of Death itself, turning the air from warm to freezing cold, leeching the life from the grass, and even freezing the ground in ice. Luna and I are convinced that if he were to touch any pony with his claws that he would drain them of their entire life force, effectively killing anypony who dares to go after him."

"That is completely impossible," Northern said, catching a glimpse of Discord shaking his head in agreement with her, "I saw my father die before my very eyes, at the hooves of Nexus no less. With his final breath he took Nexus with him, saving Equestria from whatever mad scheme the stallion had planed."

"I'm sure that what you told us wasn't the truth," Celestia replied, tilting her head ever so slightly, "About two weeks after the service Copper came to me and confessed something so shocking that I decided to keep the information hidden from everypony. Do you want to tell them or shall I do it?"

"I'm not sure what your 'truth' is," Northern said, sighing as she stared up to the Solar Princess' eyes, "but you may have the honors if you so desire."

"Very well then," Celestia replied, sighing as she looked at the assembled ponies, "Copper told me that Nexus forcefully ripped Eclipse's hollow out of his body, ripping out all of the powers and abilities that he had spent years mastering. In that instant, as Copper tells it, Eclipse was forced back into the form of a unicorn, the same stallion that Chrysalis tried to corrupt so many years ago. In the instant that followed Nexus became a mockery of what Eclipse had been, but instead of a werepyre he became a fully grown dragon. Then Nexus used Eclipse's powers against him and slew him by blowing a hole where his heart had been.

According to Copper the madness didn't stop there, because the moment you realized that both of your parents had been slain by Nexus you snapped. Your power consumed you, giving you some sort of magical aura that protected you while splitting your tail into three separate pieces. You fought Nexus like a beast, somehow copying a few of your father's attacks and adding your own spin on them before you toppled Nexus. Eclipse's powers consumed Nexus, leaving us without a King that had changed the Changeling Hive for the better."

"I'm surprised Copper told you what happened," Northern remarked, just as the assembled ponies gasped, "The reason I didn't want anypony to see my father's body was because they would have learned the truth about the battle with Nexus. Now you all know and I'm somewhat ashamed that I couldn't trust any of you with what happened."

Luna's ears twitched as she heard, by some unknown means, the chime of a bell tower that shouldn't have existed in such a removed chamber of the castle.

"Did you all hear that?" Luna asked, the room immediately quieting down as everypony heard the chime as well, "I thought the runes prevented this type of thing."

"The runes are designed to block sound from entering or leaving the room," Celestia replied, watching the air shimmer on a blank wall as something pulsed behind it, "Impossible. The runes should be preventing this sort of thing."

Before anypony could move Eclipse, in all of his undead glory, appeared. His claws clicked against the stone ground as he stared up at the group of ponies.

"Impossible," Sombra breathed, fear flickering through his eyes as the stallion took a look at him, "Is your power so great that you can defy Death itself to watch your friends and family grow without you?"

Eclipse didn't reply; instead he silently drew the scythe that rested on his back, the eerie mist that surrounded his legs chilling the stone ground below him. Sombra began to sweat as the stallion took a step near him, the ground turning to ice and causing almost everypony to take a step back. The only one that didn't show any sign of fear was Northern, who now stood beside Sombra.

"Dad," Northern said, extending a hoof past the mist and touching her father's chest, "What's happened to you?"

The moment she spoke Eclipse recoiled, smoke emitting from the area she had touched him as if she had struck out at him with her own magic. Northern was in shock, she couldn't have done something like that, to her father no less, without her horn sparking and pulsing magic along her hoof.

"Nor...Northern," Eclipse struggled to say, "He...Help...m...m...me."

Before Eclipse could touch her again he broke apart into a mist, leaving the room as if he had never been there. The only thing that told them that he had actually been there was the ice on the ground, which was melting as the temperature of the room returned to normal. But Northern had seen something that she was sure that none of the other ponies had seen, something that she was sure would not make sense to any of them. She had seen her father, her actual father, return to the world after her touch had somehow harmed him, which confused her.

Somewhere in the shade of what her father had become existed the pieces of her father's soul, which meant that she could restore him to the peace he deserved. That was if she could figure out what was happening to him.