Eclipse Of The Sun

Luna, if only you could see what we've done now. All the strife we've been through... all in your name. Everything in this valley and on the snow-capped peaks and on the shores in the south - while made by us to assist the Griffons - was truly created for you, so that you may return and have a home you are welcome in.

Into this range we brought not only your loyal guards, but ponies from all walks of life who disagreed with Celestia's rule, allowing us to be something more than runaway fighters. For a time, the Griffon supply runners were our lifeline until we found a way to thaw out the frozen dirt without the constant use of magic. After that, the only thing we needed from them was materials to continue building for them.

Don't get me wrong, we didn't enslave ourselves to their needs. We are close partners as of now, as we found the stone under these mountains is rich with all sorts of minerals. We trade with them for timber, which has allowed us to build our own ships and begin relations with the Zebras. This of course has resulted in some strange situations in Equestria where they are actually refining our ores and then sending the finished product back to the Zebrica, who bought and sent the material in the first place. I wonder if they know they are actually helping us to a degree.

Our existence alongside Equestria is an uneasy one, with admittedly both sides trying to indirectly - for lack of a better word - annoy the other. They could stop and confiscate cargo on a ship that got too close to their ports, and we might scan every inch of a rulebook in search of some reason to incarcerate one of their captains, even if its only for a day or two. It seems harmless and all, but I know that eventually one of us will cross the line; my only fear is by how much. Hostilities grow as we do.

We have been here for a decade, waiting for the day that Celestia realizes she was wrong, or until you can break free of the spell keeping you imprisoned. We have grown strong in your stead, to the point that Equestrians have begun to fear us, having not expected us to even survive in this cold. We feared them from the beginning, but after they simply ignored us we lost that fear and that may prove to be their downfall.

...I do not know if you can even hear what I am telling you. The moon is so far away, it is taking everything I have to try to reach you to the point I doubt my magic has that kind of range; and that is assuming you aren't still Nightmare Moon. Luna, if you can hear me...

I miss you.

Icy wind whipped past Blackest Night as he forced himself against it. The cold bit at the ends of his ears and nose, which were no doubt going to suffer frostbite unless he got inside within the next couple of minutes. Winter had come earlier than usual this year, but thankfully no drastic measures had to be taken.

He risked losing even more feeling in his ears to look up at the night sky. Even after seeing it every night for ten years, it was still incredible to look at; with the entirety of the city being lightless - the moon was perfectly capable of providing what was needed - every star Luna had ever created to fill the night sky was perfectly visible. That, and during the times Night had gone far north and seen the Aurora Borealis, he had insisted that everypony capable of the trip should see the lights at least once. The view of the city from the top of a mountain was quite nice as well, and the multitude of watchtowers surrounding the walls made this a relatively easy matter.

The Unicorn realized he had lost feeling in far more than the tips of his ears and quickly trotted to his destination, a rather sunken-in looking building near the center of the town, alternatively known as his home. He walked down a few stairs, and using a small heat spell to melt the snow gathered around it, quickly entered and closed the door behind him, shutting out the cold. He removed his scarf and jacket, hanging them on a nearby rack and returned to lock the door.

For the leader of the ponies settled in these mountains, his house was extremely modest. It had been built halfway into the ground with roughly a yard of gravel beneath it to prevent the frozen ground from thawing out and shifting. It had a few windows and a skylight, but as of now they had been partially blocked by snowdrifts. There was a currently unlit fireplace on the center of the left wall, a few cabinets with a small oven functioning as a kitchen and a small dining table with a few chairs nearby. His room was on the right, the doorway near a corner behind the table. All it had was a small bed with a nightstand and a chest containing his sword and some armor, which were the only exquisite things he really owned.

Night lit the fireplace with a spell, and while the sudden light initially hurt his eyes, he appreciated feeling warm again. He sat there for a moment, allowing the heat to restore feeling wherever he had lost it to the cold. As he relaxed, somepony knocked on his door. "Who is it?" he called, unwilling to leave his spot.

"It's me, Silver! Can I come in before my wings freeze off?"

Night smirked, purposely going as slow as possible to the door. When he opened it, Silver practically jumped over him to get inside. "You know I don't have thick fur like the rest of you, and I can't wear anything that is worth something in the snow if I expect to fly somewhere-"

"I let you in, didn't I?"

"After you spent half an hour walking to the door, yes. Anyways, I've got some mail for you. A letter that King Halfbeak wanted me to deliver to you personally after our most recent meeting," Silver said, pulling the letter out of a pocket and handing it to Night. The Unicorn used his magic to break the wax seal, opening the parcel. He quickly read over the writing as Silver took off his snow gear.

"It says that he would like to meet me at the entrance to Ablution Pass tomorrow for a 'private meeting' of some sort, doesn't say exactly." Night said, summarizing the letter. Silver cast him a confused glance.

"The hoofhills? Now why in the world would he want to meet out in there? Has he given up on using his personal quarters, or even a saferoom?"

Blackest Night shrugged. "Guess so. If the rumors are true, he's been dealing with a bit of espionage from what he believes to be Equestria. Maybe he doesn't want them eavesdropping, but I don't think this is the best way to prevent it."

"No, those rumors are false. Like I said, I was just there but I heard no mention of spies or anything similar."

"Maybe he's just old and paranoid, it's always a possibility."

" 'Old'? Night, have you looked in the mirror lately? He's not the only one with gray hair around here."

"Have you? If I remember correctly you got touches of gray in your mane first, not me!"

Silver couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, well, politics will do that to a pony," he said, flashing a hoof in front of his face.

"Politics my flank! If that was true, I'd be so gray I could walk into a quarry and be listed as 'missing in action'. Besides, I'm hardly fifteen, unlike you."

Neither ponies could resist a slight chuckle. It was good to talk to a close friend every now and then. Night never had many to begin with, leaving Silver as one of his few options. "Well, since I'm not nocturnal like the rest of your lot I'd best be headed off for now. Do tell what you and Halfbeak discuss, I'm curious as to what he would drag you all the way out there for. Good night and all that," the Pegasus said, donning his winter clothes again and exiting the house.

Night locked the door behind him before returning to his place by the fire. Writing and sending a letter to the officer in charge of the barracks about needing two guards for a day shift, he sat by and allowed it to burn for another hour or so before deciding he needed some form of rest if he was going to be up during the day. The nocturnality of him and most other Lunars made meeting anypony from a diurnal nation a bit odd, requiring a nap a few hours in advance to ensure they didn't start nodding off later, which is precisely what Night trotted off to do after extinguishing the flames. He entered his room and sat on the edge of his bed, pulling a small box out of his nightstand, a ritual of his performed every time he was about to go to sleep.

He opened the box via magic, revealing a jet-black ring covered with intricate lines and imprinted with the phases of the moon, each symbol made of silver. Night inspected the ring from every possible angle, looking for any sign of damage. Once satisfied, he lowered the item into his hooves, holding it gently and looking up to where the moon might have been. The ring itself had taken two months of pay - both from his normal payroll and every odd job he could find - to have made, being entirely custom. He silently thought about how Luna may have reacted to seeing it; after continuing to think, he decided it would have been completely worth it, if not requiring more work to be close to equal.

He kissed the ring and placed it back inside the box, which he put in his nightstand. He curled up on his bed, drawing the covers almost over his head. He let out one last sigh before closing his eyes, falling asleep after a few minutes of solitary lamentation and silent thought.

"I thought Griffons were supposed to be punctual." Avalanche complained. His snow-white coat - while matching his name - was in stark contrast to Night's pure black fur and Aphelion's only slightly lighter coat.

"Only when they think it will benefit them." Night responded, looking around. He had to admit that it was a little odd; even Griffons didn't show up two hours late.

"Could just be weather delays," said Aphelion, Night's second in command for this excursion. "You know how it can be in Gryphus, with them not having weather control and all."

Avalanche sighed. "I suppose you're right. Still feels weird, though."

I have to admit, I agree, and being so damn close to the Equestrian border isn't helping. If those birds don't get here first, we may be contending to a Celestial patrol, Night thought. And I know those ponies would just love an opportunity to get back at us for real.

"We'll give them one more hour. After that, we'll head back through the pass and I will send a letter to King Halfbeak asking what the hay was going on that made him not show up." Night said.

Thankfully the hoofhills of the Lunar Mountains were nowhere near as cold as the range itself, partially because of the lack of snow in the area. If the opposite was true, the ponies would have left after the first hour of waiting. They passed time with whatever they could think of, from random tricks to jokes to simply discussing the finer points of life. They were just about to start heading back when they heard a voice call at them from a distance. They all turned around, briefly hoping that Halfbeak had finally arrived, but all that hope was lost when they saw the glint of sun shining on polished gold armor.

Six glints, in fact. All of which were approaching from the north. "Sir, we can get away from them if we move now," Avalanche said.

"No. We will stay. They will just follow us - this size of a patrol always has a Pegasus in it - or tell Princess Celestia they saw suspicious Lunar activity on their border and something needs to be done. Besides, I want to find out how pompous they can really get when we've actually possibly done something wrong.

"Stop, in the name of Her Majesty Princess Celestia!" one of them shouted. Yep, this is gonna be real fun...

"You're the only ones moving!" Aphelion called back.

"Sir, I really think you should reconsider leaving before they get too close-"

"Both of you, be quiet. Nopony is going anywhere, Avalanche." Night said. Just his luck they had to encounter a border patrol the day Halfbeak became eccentric with his meeting grounds,

They waited for the border patrol to arrive at their location. It consisted of two Pegasi, Unicorns and Earth Ponies, each clad in their normal golden armor and equipped with swords. Not too much of a threat, but they also outnumbered Night and his crew two to one. As if to add to those odds, the three Lunars were wearing much lighter leather armor to make traversing the mountain pass easier.

"So, will you three enlighten us on why you are on Equestrian territory?" Said a rather burly looking Earth Pony, no doubt their leader.

"We were requested by King Halfbeak to meet here, just outside Ablution Pass, which you can see just behind us. However, he has not yet arrived for almost three hours, and thus we have waited on land that is ours; it seems your pride has caused you to forget that a mile of the hoofhills are our territory as well, and seeing as I can still read the bloody sign from here, it is you that's on our territory."

"Oh my! I did not realize we were in the presence of the one and only Blackest Night, leader of the traitors who killed my comrades and tried to capture Princess Celestia!" the pony said, turning around. His allies looked surprised for a split second, before turning to glare at Night, gripping - but not drawing - their weapons.

The Earth Pony continued. "You know, you were automatically wrong the second you started blabbering about owning the mile of hoofhill. Because, you see, those very hoofhills were claimed by Princess Celestia no more than a week ago. Check and mate, traitor. Now, get off our land before your pals here have to drag your bleeding corpse off."

Night's eyes widened. "Why in the name of the moon were we not informed about this?! We cannot be expected to follow new rules if we did not know them!"

A Celestial Unicorn stepped up beside his leader. "Aw, we sent you a letter, but it must not have arrived. Now, I guess we can give you all of one minute to get the buck out of here, turncoat!" he spat.

Blackest Night was not intending to let these ponies walk away with a victory, not so soon. He began using telepathy to talk to his two allies.

He soon heard Aphelion's response in his own head, but had to read Avalanches mind to know his response.

Night flared his nostrils.

No response. Avalanche seemed uneasy, looking from side to side as if contemplating flying away.

"Time's up," said their leader. "And you're still here."

"Yep."

"Well, everypony, we gave them fair warning. We gave them a chance to leave with their pride, did we not? Now they won't even leave with their lives," the Celestial said, his fellow guards drawing their swords. Night's ponies did the same, taking up a much more defensive stance.

The Earth Pony smiled, lowering the tip of his weapon until it was pointed at Blackest Night's heart. "Charge!"

The six Celestials surged forward, weapons raised. At the very last second, the Lunar guards split up and stepped to the side, attempting to trip their opponents. Aphelion and Night succeeded, hacking the forelegs of the second Earth Pony and a Unicorn before severing their spinal cords. Avalanche had clotheslined an enemy Pegasus, but missed the killing blow and instead taking off one of his wings in a spray of blood. The surviving Celestials backed off, shocked at how quickly they had lost their advantage. It was now an even fight, with the Pegasus writhing in pain and covered in his own blood not counting as a combatant. His screaming almost drowned out the curses the Celestials were shouting.

It was the Lunars turn. They advanced slowly, spreading out and forcing their foes to only be able to concentrate on one at a time. The remaining active Pegasus and Unicorn looked concerned, but their leader looked flat-out pissed, which was a good sign - angry ponies make stupid mistakes.

Night began to slowly advance, switching his sword from his hooves to his magical grip, twirling it in the air, Their Unicorn turned to face him instead, but before he could make a move Avalanche flew at him, the Pegasus's sword hilted into the Celestial's body thanks to a gap in his armor. He let out a choked scream and fell, clutching at the wound and trying to get the blade out. Avalanche twisted the sword and tried to pull it out, but before he could the Earth Pony turned and swung, placing a massive gash on their ally's already-bloody coat.

Aphelion and Night knew they had to act, before the Earth Pony could kill their friend. Night swung his sword high thanks to his magic, catching his enemy on the back, putting a small gash in the armor. Aphelion ditched his sword and fired a bolt of lightning at the enemy Pegasus, causing him to spasm briefly and fall on the dirt, twitching.

The Earth Pony jumped at the pain of the sudden would, lashing out at Night this time. He hardly dodged the blow, feeling the blade bite into his skin. Night parried a second blow and completely disarmed his opponent with another spell, much to the latter's surprise. the Unicorn then disabled the pony with another blow to the back, then kicked him over and stabbed him in the gut, the blade pinning him to the dirt.

The Earth Pony cringed, doing his best to resist screaming from the pain. Night wiggled the sword around, just to make sure he wouldn't get back up, likely dicing up some more organs in the process. "You're a... bastard..." the pony said, wincing again. "A... cheating bastard..."

Night attempted to pull the blade out, only for his downed foe to use his remaining strength to grab Night by the neck when he got close enough, pulling the surprised Unicorn in until their muzzles were less than an inch apart. "So, you damned cheater, did it feel good?"

"What are you talking about?" Night responded, still trying to wrench the blade free. It was completely stuck.

"Did it feel good when you bucked the princess? We all know you were doing her," he said, beginning to leak blood from his nose and mouth, smiling when he saw the Unicorn's face twist into one of anger. Night felt something inside him snap.

Swords have a good amount of give in them, and can usually bend quite a bit before snapping. However, they do not allow for ninety degrees of give, which Night quickly exposed by snapping the hilt off the sword, leaving a few metal shards sticking out of the grip. He moved the new weapon to his hooves, where he was able to jam the hilt into the Earth Pony's neck, causing him to make a sickening gargle as the shattered blade ripped his tissue apart. Blood spurted from the horrific wound as Night continued to twist the object deeper. More blood sprayed out, a metallic tang invading his senses as the fluid got in his nose and mouth.

Blackest Night allowed all of his built up emotions - whatever they may be - to release, taking it out on the pony under him. He kept on stabbing it until he started hitting dirt that was soaked with blood and covered in shattered bone, and even then almost refused to stop. Something yanked Night off his target, causing him to drop the hilt. He almost lashed out at whatever interrupted him until he saw that it was Aphelion, a look of horror etched on his face.

"Dammit, Night! You killed him, alright! You... You took off his bucking head with that many stabs!" he shouted, shoving Night back on the ground. Night felt himself beginning to calm down. His throat felt sore - was he screaming during that display? - and his eyes were watery, but he couldn't tell if he had been crying or if it was more blood. He spat some of the dark red liquid on the dirt.

"I... I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me..." the Unicorn said, putting his hooves over his head. "I just... he insulted just about everything I hold dear..." He was shaking almost uncontrollably.

Aphelion let out quite possibly one of the longest and most exasperated sighs known to ponykind. "Avalanche is doing fine, wound looks worse than it is, but I need help carrying him back. You know, the only Celestial survivor is that Pegasus over there, and he sure as hay isn't in any condition to move." He pointed at the pony, who was curled up in a fetal position, shaking. Losing a wing was said to be just as bad as losing a horn, and now he had seen both. Night regained control over himself and stood, thankful that somepony had calmed him down.

"Leave them. Their commanders will realize they are missing and send a party to investigate, if that one doesn't drag himself off to the nearest town first." Night responded, slowly standing up. He walked over to Avalanche, who was still laying on the ground. Aphelion quickly got on his other side and together they lifted the wounded Pegasus onto their backs, beginning the hike back through Ablution Pass.