Sinister Shadows

The griffon guards reverted to their changeling forms. Leif laughed.

"Why do this, King Leif? What purpose does this serve other than creating more bloodshed?" Twilight reasoned.

"We will throw all into darkness and despair under King Umbra! All shall fall before the might of the Six Sinestros! You now face Phobus, Sinestro of Terror!" Phobus declared. Phobus leaped upwards into the air, wings beating the air.

"What about your people? The Griffon Kingdoms are suffering!" Twilight cried.

"Mere puppets! I am not King Leif. Both father and son fell to my magic!" announced Phobus. Twilight gasped, but recovered quickly.

"To arms, my Twilight Guard! We must oust this usurper before he brings more havoc to our lands!" Twilight commanded. The Guards formed two circles around Twilight. Judges protected the weaker Magus and Spirits while they cast their spells.

Changelings charged with battle cries of "For The Hive! For the End of All!". The beasts leaped onto the closest Judges, biting and clawing. A judge fell, throat torn by a changeling.  A few changelings got through, only to blasted by magical energies.

"Magic and strength alone will not avail you! Fear bites deeper than any blade!" Phobus shouted. He dived down towards Twilight. Phobus started to spin, using air magic to turn himself into a living spear. Twilight countered with a blast of magic from her horn. Their magic impacted, which resulted in a concussion wave. Phobus was flung back and those on the floor were knocked down.

The Judges were the first to recover. "Kill the monsters where they lay, ponies!" Flash cried.

"You WILL fail! I cannot let you escape, Twilight Sparkle!" Phobus howled. He again went into an aerial dive, but instead aimed for Flash.

Flash rolled to the side. Phobus and Flash faced each other amid the chaos. The two charged each other. Phobus yelled the word "Aero Puncta!" and a knife-like gust of wind shot towards Flash. Flash charged into the gust, protected by his armor. Flash thrust his rapier forward in an attempt to skewer Phobus. The imposter leaped and landed on Flash. The two rolled on the floor, Phobus clawing and Flash kicking.

Twilight watched hopelessly. I can't get a good line of sight. I might hit Flash!

"Blast him, Your Highness! Take us both!" hollered Flash.

"I refuse!" Twilight countered.

Twilight gritted her teeth, lowered her head, focused energy into her horn, and bull rushed towards the two.

I hope this works!  "Let go, Flash!" Twilight warned.

Flash let go and shoved Phobus towards Twilight. Phobus turned towards Twilight, and his eyes widened. Phobus fled into the air. Twilight followed suit.

"Fool, you have sealed your death!" Phobus cackled. Phobus spun back to Twilight.

Lavender and black collided. Twilight was sent sprawling to the floor. Blood trickled from her horn.

"Slaughter them! Revel in their blood and fear!" Phobus declared.

Flash rushed to stand in front of his charge. The remaining Guards did like wise.

"We will not stand idly! You face the Twilight Guard!" Flash yelled.

Phobus laughed. Then his face went rigid with seriousness. "Stand down and give your precious princess to us. Otherwise, these changelings will eat your innards while you lay screaming for pathetic mercy," demanded Phobus.

"We will never hand her over to the likes of you!" yelled one of the Judges.

"Your death wishes are granted. Tear the flesh from their bones!" replied Phobus. The changelings charged from all sides. Even more swarmed from the gorges. The Judges let lose battle cries and the rest pulled out all restraints on their magic. Still, demoralized and outnumbered, several fell before something miraculous happened.

The double doors exploded open, clipping nearby changelings. Debris flew and smoke filled the room. Phobus was stunned momentarily. The Griffon recovered however.

"DAMN you Eclipse! You came sooner than expected. You win this for now!" Phobus screeched.  He dived down into the gorges encircling the throne room.  When the changelings saw Phobus had fled, they began to do so as well.

Twilight struggled to stand up. Flash helped Twilight off the floor. Twilight glanced at the area where the doors once where, and gazed through the smoke. The vague shape of an alicorn could be seen standing.

An alicorn? Could Celestia or Luna come to our aid? But... Phobus was screeching about an Eclipse.

"Who are you?" Twilight asked through the smoke.

"I am Eclipse.  That is all you need to know.  Now we must leave, before Phobus returns with worse things than changelings," replied Eclipse, with the deeper voice of a stallion.  Eclipse turned before the smoke cleared.

Flash looked at Twilight. "We must follow Eclipse," was all he said.

"We must? How can you be so sure?  Normally, you would object to following someone we don't know," Twilight inquired.

"I know of Eclipse, but not personally.  I will explain later.  We must go now though.  Eclipse speaks the true, there are worse variations of changelings," Flash answered. "Can you walk?"

"I can run if I have to.  But you will explain yourself when we get the chance," Twilight confirmed.

Twilight and the rest stumbled through the clearing smoke.  Twilight looked around for the elusive Eclipse.

"Up the stairs! Hurry!" called Eclipse.  The stallion still remained out of sight.

I don't know about this. But I will have to take Flash's word on this.

Through use of magic or physical means, the group followed the voice of Eclipse.  Twilight reached the top of the stairs and realized that this was were the group had slept last night.

Further down the hall, Eclipse shouted, "Follow the laughing griffon statues!  It will lead you to the outside of the mountain!" He still stayed out of sight. Sure enough, in the corner, a laughing griffon pointed in a direction. Better get Viridian and the others before we leave.

The group raced onwards after retrieving Viridian and her guards.

Right.

Up the stairs.

Left.

Up more stairs.

Left.

Right.

Right again.

The group reached a dead end room. Twilight growled in frustration and looked up. And gaped.

A door randomly placed at least 20 feet above the air....

Movement above attracted her attention. Twilight caught a glimpse of Eclipse flying straight towards the door.  Purplish-black energy arced from his horn towards the door.  Eclipse flew through the dust.

I guess that works...

Outside the portal was an unused and decaying balcony overlooking the city. To the right was a rugged path along the side of the mountain. Eclipse was waiting when everyone got through what was left of the door.

Eclipse was a tall and handsome stallion.

Wait... handsome?  This stallion is at best of scandalous personality, and besides that, this isn't the proper time or place.

His coat was a light grey, except for the patches of black above the hooves. His mane was midnight-blue with streaks of black. His eyes... cyan, piercing and scrutinizing. Eclipse wore silvery mithril armor over his muscular but lean frame, edges of the armor decorated with gold.

"We are almost there," he said. Before Eclipse could turn, Twilight interrupted him.

"Before we go any further, I need to know who you are," Twilight demanded.

"You wouldn't believe me, and there are some things that should be kept secret," Eclipse replied.

"If you won't tell her, Eclipse, then I will," Flash announced.

"How do you know who Eclipse is, Flash?" Twilight inquired, narrowing her eyes.

"It is royal duty of Judges to know the history of royalty.  The-"

"Royalty!? You mean Eclipse is from royalty? Which line?" Twilight interjected.

"I will tell you, please be patient Your Highness. The Judges are not a new order. They have been around since the founding of Equestria. We guard the royalty and aid them. This is why I can tell you Eclipse's heritage with certainty," Flash explained.

Twilight hoofed the ground with impatience. "Continue," Twilight commanded.

Eclipse stood forward, staring into Twilight's eyes. "If another were to tell you, then I would prefer to tell you myself," said Eclipse.